Pioneers of Bean Creek Country, Lenawee Co, Michigan; James J. Hagaoam; published by Jas. M. Scarritt, Hudson, MI, 1876 Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Mary Teeter ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgenwebarchives.org *********************************************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm Lenawee County Michigan To The Pioneers Of The Bean Creek Country By James J. Hogaboam Pages 1 through 10 This is an entire book transcribed from a typed version of this book and printed here with permission of Mary Wright, owner of this copy of the book; published by Jas. M. Scarritt, Publisher in Hudson, Mich. 1876. TO THE PIONEERS OF THE BEAN CREEK COUNTRY, AND TO THEIR CHILDREN, THIS BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. BY JAMES J. HOGABOAM HUDSON, MICH. Jas. M. Scarritt, Publisher 1876 INTRODUCTION Page 2 By the term, "Bean Creek Country," would ordinarily be understood the country drained by the Bean and its tributaries. Bean Creek, or Tiffin river, as it is called on the early maps, rises in Devills lake, situate on sections two, three, four, nine and ten in the township of Rollin, and sections thirty-four and twenty- seven in the township of Woodstock, said townships being the two most northerly townships in the west tier of Lenawee county. The creek flows from the western extremity of the lake, on section four in Rollin, a little north of west, to the east and west quarter line of section thirty-two in Woodstock, bends southward, flows through the western part of Rollin and along the west line of Hudson, leaves the county on section thirty, makes a bend on sections twenty-five and twenty-six in the township of Pittsford, Hillsdale county, returns to Lenawee county at the northwest corner of section thirty-six, flows southeasterly across the southwest part of Hudson, northeast corner of Medina, and southwest corner of Seneca township, crosses into the State of Ohio near the southeast corner of section six, township nine south of range one east, and then taking a southwesterly course, empties into the Maumee river at Defiance. Only that part of the Bean Valley situate north of.the south line of Michigan is to be treated of in these sketches. That part of the valley is quite narrow, but embraces portions of two counties, Hillsdale and Lenawee. The township of Wood- stock contributes the most of her waters to swell the Raisin; Somerset divides hers between the Kalamazoo, the Raisin and the Bean; the western borders of Wheatland drain into the St. Joseph, of lake Michigan, and the eastern borders of Rollin into the Raisin; Pittsford and Wright divide their waters between the Bean and the St. Joseph of the Maumee; Seneca divides between the Bean and the Raisin, and even Hudson sends her compliments to the Raisin on the ripples of her Bear creek. Medina town- ship, only, lies entirely within the valley of the Bean, but for the purposes of this book we shall consider the valley of the Bean as including the townships of Woodstock, Rollin, Hudson, Medina and Seneca in Lenawee county, and Somerset, Wheatland, Pittsford and Wright in HiIlsdale county. On the banks of the Bean, within the territory mentioned, are the villages of Addison, Rollin, Hudson, Tiffin, Medina, Canandaigua and Morenci. But as a history of the Bean Creek Country would be incomplete if it did not make mention of all the territory, the trade of which has contributed to the prosperity of the Valdey, we shall include in these brief outlines of history the territory lying at the head- waters of the Kalamazoo and the two St. Josephs, comprising the townsnips of Moscow, Adams, Jefferson, Ransom and Amboy, in the county of Hi llsdale. I am aware that in writing the early history of the country the difficulties to be overcome are very great; that in some of the townships the early records are lost, and in all they are very meager; that many of the early actors have passed away, and the memories of all are failing--but I have endeavored to collect my material from the most trustworthy sources, have verified them, when possible, by reference to contemporaneous records, and have endeavored to digest, write and arrange with an unbiased mind, only solicitous to discover and record the true history of the country and the times. How well I have succeeded I submit to the candid judgment of the old pioneers, than whom more noble and generous men and women never existed in any country. Page 3 The question may be asked, Why did you not wait until more facts and incidents had been accumulated? The answer is, "Procrastination is the thief of time," and while we have been talking and waiting many persons whose supervision would have been desirable have died, and in the course of human life nearly all the old pioneers will pass away in the course of the next five years. It is, therefore, every way desirable that the material accessible should make its appearance, and be submitted to criticism before all the competent critics shall have passed away. The facts and incidents here related were mostly gathered by myself, from interviews with old people and a careful comparison of official records; but I desire to acknowledge valuable aid from newspaper articles prepared by several of the old settlers, among which I would specially name the Hon. Robert Worden, Hon. Orson Green, Hon. George W. Moore, and Beriah H. Lane, esq., of the Bean Creek Country, and A. L. Millard and Samuel Gregg, esqs., of Adrian. It was the original design of the Pioneer Society of Bean Creek Country that sketches prepared by members should be deposited with the Secretary, and that a book should be published by subscription, but no such material has been contributed. All the matter prepared by its members has been given to the public through the newspapers, no manuscripts have been deposited, and the interest appears to be dying out. At this juncture the publisher of the Hudson Post proposed to pay for a part of the labor of collecting material and writing it up. Believing it to be the only way in which such a book could at present be published, I accepted the proposition and commenced the work. It has been a hard task, but if it shall in any way serve to preserve the history of pioneer times, I shall be satisfied. Truly yours, Hudson, Mich., Oct. 1, 1876 THE AUTHOR No Page Number Page 4 1. MICHIGAN SCRAPS OF ITS EARLY HISTORY--INDIAN--TREATIES-- SURVEYS--SETTLEMENT--DISPUTED BOUNDARIES-- GERM OF THE TOLEDO WAR--MISCHIEVOUS OFFICIAL REPORT, ETC. The word Michigan is probably derived from two Chippewa words--Mitchaw, great, and Sagiegan, lake--Great Lake. The territory of Michigan was visited by the French Jesuits, Fathers Chas. Rymbault and Isaac Jogues, at the Sault St. Mary, in July, 1641. Father Mesnard spent the winter of 1660-61 on one of the bays of Lake Superior. In 1665 Father Claude Allonez founded a Mission at La Point, Lake Superior. In 1668 Father Marquette founded a Mission at Sault St. Mary, and in 1671 founded a mission near Mackinaw. In the latter year an agent of the King of France took formal possession of all the country between Montreal and the South Sea. At that time Michigan for the most part was occupied by Ottawas and Chippewas. There were some Pottawatomies and Miamies in the south part, and some Sacs and Foxes along the southern shore of Lake Superior. In 1686 Fort St. Joseph and Fort Detroit were built, the former where Fort Gratiot now stands, at the outlet of Lake Huron; the site of the latter is not known. Both were soon after abandoned. Detroit, now the city of Detroit, was founded in 1701 by De La Motte Cadillac. He landed on the 24th day of July, and on the same day commenced the erection of Fort Pontchartrain. In 1761 the number of inhabitants in the Detroit settlement was estimated at 2,500. In 1763 France ceded her dominion over Michigan to England. In 1774, by act of Parliament, Michigan became a part of the province of Quebec, and Col. Henry Hamilton was appointed "Lieutenant Governor and Superintendent of Detroit." It was here that during the Revolutionary war Indian incursions against the infant settlements of Western Pennsylvania, Virginia and Kentucky, were organized. Michigan was surrendered to the United States in 1796, and became a part of the Northwestern Territory, Gen. St. Clair, Governor. On the eleventh of August of that year Wayne county was organized, and included all of Michigan, the northern part of Ohio and Indiana and a part of Illinois and Wisconsin. The county elected delegates to the first Territorial legislature, which met at Cincinnati September 16th, 1799. The State of Ohio was organized by act of Congress April 30th, 1802, and by the same act the Territory of Indiana was formed, and of it Michigan formed a part. Gen. William Henry Harrison was Governor of the Territory. The ordinance of 1787, by which the Northwest Territory was organized, provided that "Congress shall have authority to form one or two States out of the territory which lies north of an east and west line drawn through the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan." The act of April 30th, 1802, organizing the State of Ohio, fixed for its northern boundary "an east and west line drawn through the southerly extreme of Lake Michigan," but the Constitution adopted by the people of Ohio described as the northern boundary of the State a line running "from the southern bend of Lake Michigan to the northerly cape of Maumee Bay." Congress admitted Ohio without taking any notice of the discrep- ancy, in matter of northern boundary line, between the State Constitution and the enabling act and the ordinance of 1787. By the line described in the ordinance and enabling act Toledo would be in Michigan; by the line described in the Ohio State Constitution it would be in Ohio. The unwarranted departure of the Constitutional Convention of Ohio from the express terms of the ordinance and enabling act laid the foundation for that affair known in history as the "Toledo war." Page 5 On the 11th day of January, 1805, Congress passed an act organizing the Territory of Michigan and by it the legislative power was vested in the Governor and Judges. On the 26th day of February Gen. Wm. Hull was appointed Governor of the Territory, and reached Detroit on the first day of July, but between the date of his appoint- ment and arrival, that is to say, on the eleventh day of June, Detroit was entirely consumed by fire; not a house was left standing; nothing but ashes marked the site of the recent town. On the second day of July, 1805, the government of the Territory of Michigan was organized, and the legislature commenced its session. The territory at that time comprised the Lower Peninsula only, and the Indians claimed title to and were in possession of nearly all of that. By the treaty concluded by Gen. Clarke at Fort Mclntosh in 1785, the Indian title was extinguished to a belt of territory six miles in width, extending along;,the Detroit river from the river Raisin to Lake St. Clair. Aside from this strip of country, the Indians claimed title to the whole of Michigan. South of the river Raisin the Indian country extended to and bordered the waters of Lake Erie, so that the settlements of the young territory were completely cut off from the settled portions of Ohio. On the seventeenth day of November, 1807, the United States government conclud- ed a treaty with the Chippewas, Ottawas, Wyandottes and Pottawatomies, by which the Indian title to the following described tract of land was extinguished, viz: "Be- ginning at the mouth of the river Miami of the Lakes (Maumee), running thence up the middle of said river to the mouth of the great Auglaize river; thence running due north one hundred and thirty- two miles, until it intersects a parallel of latitude to be drawn from the outlet of Lake Huron, which forms the river St. Clair; then northeast the course will lead in a direct line to White Rock, Lake Huron; thence due east until it intersects the boundary line between the United States and Upper Canada; thence southerly, following said boundary line down said lake, through the river St. Clair, Lake St. Clair, and the Detroit river, into Lake Erie, to a point due east of the Miami river; thence to the place of beginning." This tract included that part of the State of Michigan lying east of the principal meridian of the Monroe survey, and south of a line drawn from near the village of Ovid northeasterly, diagonally intersecting the counties of Shiawasse, Saginaw, Tuscola, Sanilac and Huron, to White Rock, on the eastern shore of Lake Huron. The Territory of Michigan was surrendered to the British by General Hull on the seventeenth day of August, 1812, and was put under martial law. On the twenty- ninth day of September, 1813, the Territory was evacuated by the British, and on the thirteenth day of October following, Colonel Lewis Cass was appointed Governor. By proclamation of the Governor, Wayne County was re-organized November first, 1815; and on the fourteenth day of July, 1817, the county of Monroe was organized also by Executive proclamation. On the fourth day of September, 1817, William Woodbridge, Secretary and acting Governor of the Territory, issued a proclamation organizing the township of Monroe. The preamble recites, "Whereas, It appears by the report of John Anderson and Wolcott Lawrence, Esquires, appointed to examine and report in the premises, that a part of the farm of Joseph Loranger, and some adjacent ground on the borders of La Riviere aux Raisins, constitute the most eligible portion thereof. **** "Now, therefore, I, the above named William Woodbridge, do by the power and authority in me for the time being vested, constitute the whole of that certain tract and parts of tracts described in the aforesaid reports, **** into a town- ship for the permanent seat of justice in and for said county of Monroe, to be Page 6 known and called by the name of the town of Monroe. ****" In 1819 Governor Cass concluded a treaty with the Chippewas, of Saginaw, by which the Indian title to a tract of country, beginning at a point near the site of the village of Kalamazoo, and extending to the head of Thunder Bay river; thence by the course of the river to its mouth was extinguished. During the years 1818 and 1819 the Monroe survey was made. It included the State of Michigan, and that portion embraced in Lenawee county was surveyed by Joseph Fletcher during 1819. President Monroe issued a proclamation, dated March 15th, 1820, declaring the public domain then recently surveyed subject to entry from and after the first Monday in July of that year. In the year 1821, Governor Cass and Judge Sibley, of Detroit, negotiated a treaty with the Indians, by which the Indian title was extinguished to all that portion of the territory lying west of the cession of 1807, and also to that portion lying west of the cession of 1819, south of Grand river. This cession included the present counties of Hillsdale, Branch, St. Joseph, Cass, Berrien and Van Buren, the south part of Jackson and Calhoun, the south and west portion of Kalamazoo, the south part of Ottawa and Kent, and the southwest portion of lonia. The treaty was held at Chicago. To reach that point, the commissioners decended the Detroit river, crossed the head of Lake Erie to Maumee bay, ascended the Maumee river to its source, crossed the intervening country to the Wabash, descended that river to the Ohio, the Ohio to the Mississippi, ascended the Mississippi to the mouth of the Illinois, and the Illinois to Chicago. On the tenth day of September, 1822, Governor Cass issued a proclamation altering and defining the boundaries of the counties of Wayne, Monroe, Macomb, Oakland and St. Clair, and laying out the counties of Lapeer, Sanilac, Saginaw, Shiawasse, Washtenaw and Lenawee. The boundaries of Lenawee county are therein thus defined: "Beginning on the principal meridian, where the line between the townships numbered four and five south of the base line intersects the same; thence south to the boundary line between the Territory of Michigan and the State of Ohio; thence with the same, east, to the line between the fifth and sixth ranges east of the principal meridian; thence north to the line between townships numbered four and five south of the base line; thence west to the place of beginning." By the same proclamation the county of Lenawee was attached to the county of Monroe. At the date of its formation the county did not contain a single white inhabitant; but, although the Indian title had been extinguished for fifteen years, the county contained quite a numerous Indian population. The Indian title to that portion of Michigan lying west of the principal meridian had been extinguished by the treaty of Chicago, concluded on the twenty-ninth day of August, 1821, but the Indians re- mained in partial possession of the southern portion of the State until about the year 1839. Sometimes wonder has been expressed that Michigan should have settled so slowly and remained so long under a Territorial government. For some reason the climate and soil of the Territory were strongly misrepresented; and so late as 1836 Michigan was spoken of in the East as the land of savages, venomous snakes and beasts, where all manner of fell diseases lay in wait to make skeltons of foolhardy adventurers. In 1812 Congress directed that 2,000,000 acres of Michigan land should be surveyed and set apart for soldiers in the war with Great Britain, to the end that each soldier should have one hundred and sixty acres of land fit for cultivation. A like amount was also set apart in the Territories of Louisiana Page 7 and Illinois. The lands were surveyed in the latter Territories, but concerning the lands of Michigan, the Surveyor General reported: ÊÊÊÊÊÊThe country on the Indian boundary line from the mouth of the great ÊÊÊÊÊÊAuglaize river, and running thence for about fifty miles, is (with some ÊÊÊÊÊÊfew exceptions) low, wet land, with a very thick growth of underbrush, ÊÊÊÊÊÊintermixed with very bad marshes, but generally very heavily timbered ÊÊÊÊÊÊwith beech, cottonwood, oak, etc.; thence continuing north and extending ÊÊÊÊÊÊfrom the Indian boundary eastward, the number and extent of the swamps ÊÊÊÊÊÊincreases with the addition of numbers of lakes, from twenty chains to ÊÊÊÊÊÊtwo and three miles across. Many of the lakes have extensive marshes ÊÊÊÊÊÊadjoining their margins, sometimes thickly covered with 8 species of ÊÊÊÊÊÊpine called "tamarack," and other places covered with a coarse, high ÊÊÊÊÊÊgrass, and uniformly covered from six inches to three feet (and more ÊÊÊÊÊÊat times) with water. The margins of these lakes are not the only ÊÊÊÊÊÊplaces where swamps are found, for they are interspersed throughout ÊÊÊÊÊÊthe whole country, and filled with water as above stated, and varying in ÊÊÊÊÊÊextent. The intermediate land between these swamps and lakes which is pro- ÊÊÊÊÊÊbably nearly one-half of the country, is (with a very few exceptions) a ÊÊÊÊÊÊpoor, barren, sandy land, on which scarcely any vegetation grows, except ÊÊÊÊÊÊsmall, scrubby oaks. In many places that part which may be called dry ÊÊÊÊÊÊland is composed of little short sand hills, forming a kind of deep basins, ÊÊÊÊÊÊthe bottoms of many of which are composed of a marsh similar to that above ÊÊÊÊÊÊdescribed. The streams are generally narrow and very deep compared with ÊÊÊÊÊÊtheir width, the shores and bottoms of which are (with a very few exceptions) ÊÊÊÊÊÊswampy beyond description; and it is with the utmost difficulty that a place ÊÊÊÊÊÊcan be found over which horses can be conveyed in safety. ÊÊÊÊÊÊA circumstance peculiar to that country is exhibited in many of the ÊÊÊÊÊÊmarshes, by their being thinly covered with a sward of grass, by walking ÊÊÊÊÊÊon which evinced the existence of water or a very thin mud immediately ÊÊÊÊÊÊunder their covering, which sinks from six to eighteen inches from the ÊÊÊÊÊÊpressure of the foot at every step, and at the same time rising before ÊÊÊÊÊÊand behind the person passing over. The margins of many of the lakes ÊÊÊÊÊÊand streams are in a similar condition, and in many places are literally ÊÊÊÊÊÊafloat. On approaching the eastern part of the military lands, toward ÊÊÊÊÊÊthe private claims on the straights and lakes, the country does not con- ÊÊÊÊÊÊtain so many swamps and lakes, but the extreme sterility and barrenness ÊÊÊÊÊÊof the soil continues the same. Taking the country altogether, so far as ÊÊÊÊÊÊhas been explored, and to all appearances, together with the information ÊÊÊÊÊÊreceived concerning the balance, is so bad there would not be more than ÊÊÊÊÊÊone acre out of a hundred, if there would be one out of a thousand, that ÊÊÊÊÊÊwould in any case admit of cultivation. The consequence of such a report being made was that the act locating the 2,000,000 acres of military land was repealed, and Michigan escaped the misfortune of having her best lands long kept out of the market for the benefit of land speculators. Upon the appearance of this report, Governor Cass at once set on foot numerous explorations throughout the interior, and when he had become thoroughly convinced of the falsity of the report, and had collected sufficient evidence of such falsity, he at once used all the means in his power to correct the mis- chievous impression made by the report. It is a trite saying that "a lie will travel faster than the truth," but it was verified in this instance, for it was more than twenty years before Michigan recovered from the effects of the false impression caused by that unjust official report. Page 8 II. LENAWEE COUNTY 1823 To 1833. In the summer of 1823 Musgrove Evans, of Brownsville, Jefferson county, in the State of New York, came into the Territory of Michigan to find for himself and family a home. He formed the acquaintance of Austin E. Wing, of Monroe, a man of considerable prominence in the territory, who afterwards represented it in Congress. Wing informed Evans of a desirable location on the Raisin, within the county of Lenawee, and represented the advantages the county possessed as a farming country, and the wonderful hydraulic advantages offered by the Raisin and a tributary, which united their waters at this place, in such glowing terms that Evans was induced to visit the place, and an agreement was entered into between Wing and Evans to organize a company for the improvement of the almost unrivaled water power. Evans returned to the State of New York to enlist others in the enterprise, and during his absence Wing purchased of the United States the west part of section twenty-seven and the east part of section twenty- eight, in township five south of range four east, which included the water power, and that part of Tecumseh now known as Brownsville, and the tributary stream received the cognomen of Evans' creek. Musgrove Evans was a native of Pennsylvania, but had then recently been an inhabitant of the State of New York. He belonged to the Society of Friends, and was educated. He possessed a well-balanced mind and untiring perseverance, and the survivors of those days agree that he was a noble man. Mr. Evans returned to his home in New York, to enlist others in the enterprise, and secure a few good colonists with which to start the settlement of the new country. He succeeded in inducing his brother-in-law, Joseph W. Brown, also of Brownsville, Jefferson county, New York, to become a partner in the enterprise, and several others to accompany them to their new home in the then far west. Evans and Brown secured the old schooner Erie to bring their colony across lake Erie. The company consisted of Musgrove Evans, wife and five children, Joseph W. Brown, Ezra F. Blood, Turner Stetson, Nathan Rathbone, Peter Lowery, and perhaps one or two others. They arrived at Detroit in the month of April, 1824, Here Evans left his family, and the men procured a Frenchman, with pony and cart, to carry their packs, until they struck the Raisin a little above where the village of Clinton now stands, and there shouldering their packs, they traveled to the proposed site of the new colony at the mouth of Evans' creek. Of course the first thing to do was to prepare temporary shelter for the men, and then immediately the work of organization commenced. A co-partnership was formed between Wing, Evans and Brown, the north half of section thirty-four entered, and a sawmill commenced. They brought forty men from the village of Monroe, thirty-three miles distant, to assist in raising the frame of the mill. Having prepared a rude log house, with bark roof and floors, Evans brought his family from Detroit, and took possession of the mansion house of the county on the second day of June, 1824. Peter Benson and wife, in the employ of Wing, Evans & Brown, occupied the house with them. The Evans family was the first white family in Lenawee county, and Mrs. Evans and Mrs. Benson were the first white women to set foot within the boundaries of Lenawee county. Early in the summer of 1824 a village was platted and named Tecumseh, in honor of the renowned Shawaneese warrior, who had often, tradition says, visited that locality and sat in council around the fires of the resident tribes. As soon as the settlement was fairly commenced,--a village platted and named,-- then a movement was put on foot to establish the seat of justice for the county Page 9 at this, its only settlement, and in its only village of one log house. A petition unanimously signed, no doubt, was sent to Governor Cass, who, in accordance with the territorial statute in such case provided, appointed commissioners to examine, select and report a location for the seat of justice of Lenawee county. They decided to locate it at Tecumseh, and it is related that when the commissioners stuck the stake to mark the site for the court house, the company present, among whom were the proprietors of the village, swung their hats and gave three hearty cheers. Mr. Wing, in the ardor of his enthusiasm, swung his hat with such emphasis that at the last whirl it flew away, leaving in his hand a piece of the brim about as large as a silver dollar. This, perhaps, was prophetic of the early flight of the "seat of justice" to a more southern site. Upon receipt of the commissioners' report, the Legislative Council passed "an Act to establish the seat of justice in Lenawee county," although at that time the county was unorganized, being attached to the county of Monroe. The act was approved June 30th, 1824, and is as follows: Be it enacted by the Governor and Legislative Council of the Territory of Michigan. That the seat of justice in the county of Lenawee be, and the same is hereby established on the northwest quarter of section number thirty-four, in township five south range four east, in the said county of Lenawee, on lands owned by Messrs. Wing, Evans & Brown, agreeable to the plan of a town or village, situated on said northwest quarter section, and recorded in the Register's office, in the county of Monroe, the twenty-sixth day of June, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-four. About the latter part of June a post-office also was established, and Musgrove Evans appointed postmaster. About the first day of July, 1824, Mr. Brown returned to Jefferson county, N.Y., for his family. An extract from a letter, written him by Mr. Evans, will shed some light on the condition of things in this young settlement. The letter bears date "Tecumseh, 8 M., 8th, 1824." After acknowledging the receipt that morning of Brown's letter "of the 6th ult.," the latter says: "The articles thee mentions will be good here, particularly the stove, as it takes some time always in a new place to get ovens and chimneys convenient for cooking. We have neither yet, and no other way of baking for twenty people but in a bake kettle and the fire out at the door." The saw mill was completed and commenced operations in the fall of 1824, and building thenceforth became possible. In the month of June, 1824, Jesse Osburn visited the infant settlement, and selected and purchased a tract of land near where Judge Stacy now resides. In the month of August, that year, he removed his family to the wilds of Michigan. He came by schooner to Detroit; from thence Mr.Osburn drove his own team to Monroe, over the old River road, and his was the first team driven over the route subsequent to the war of 1812. They found bridge frames and stringers, but none were planked. The covering had been removed by the contending armies, and since the return of pease the traffic of Detroit had been carried on by the lake craft. There was but little need of a highway between Detroit and Monroe, as their intercourse could be carried on by way of the lake much cheaper and more easily, and for years the road was traveled only by the French pony trains, the animals carrying about four hundred pounds each. Mr. Osburn brought to the territory two plows of diverse pattern, and one of them deserves, perhaps, a few words of description. Cast iron plows had been made in the latter part of the 18th century, but were not used by farmers until after Mr. Wood patented his improvement in 1819. The plow in general use before that time was a wooden plow, with a wrought iron share or point, and had received the Page 10 cognomen of "bull plow". The introduction of cast iron plows met with great opposition from the farmers of the east. They argued they would spoil the land; that land plowed with them would not produce as good crops as that plowed with the ole bull plow, "for," said they, "it turns a furrow too flat, and does not leave the ground as loose and light as the bull plow does." To express their contempt for it, they dubbed the Wood plow the pot-metal plow. When Mr. Osburn was preparing to come to the Territory of Michigan he purchased a Wood's plow. His neighbors looked at him with astonishment. "What," said they, "you going to use a po-metal plow; why, you can't do anything with it among stones." "That's just it," said Mr. Osburn, "I am going to Michigan, where they don't have any stones." But although Mr. Osburn brought an iron plow to Michigan, he never entirely lost his prejudice against the pot-metal affair. He brought the share of his old bull plow with him, re-sooded it here, and as long as he could find a blacksmith that understood sharpening it, he would plow with no other, and the probabilities are that the first crop of wheat raised in Lenawee county was sowed on land plowed with a bull plow. Mr. A. C. Osburn, of Woodstock, preserves the remains of his father's bull plow, and as the younger readers have, probably, never seen such a plow, a description will be attempted. The component parts of this plow are the "chip," the share, mouldboard, beam, and handle. The "chip" was made out of a round piece, two sides dressed at right angles, so as to present a smooth side on the bottom and to the land; the forward end was formed to fit into the share, and the other was mortised to receive the handle. The "share" resembles the forward part of an iron plow, including the point, and forward portions of mouldboard and landside. To this share and chip was fitted a wooden mouldboard, usually rived out of a piece of timber having the proper wind. The beam was of wood, but little larger than a corn cultivator beam, and was tenanted to receive the handle. A single bolt, which had its flattened head let into the bottom of the chip, and had a nut at its upper end, on top of the beam, fastened the chip and share to the beam forward, while the handle--only one-- fitting on to the tenant.of the beam and into the mortise of the chip, fastened the beam to the chip behind. The rectangular sides of the chip, measuring not more than two inches, formed the bottom and landside. The share was of wrought iron, and was sharpened by being drawn out at a smith's forge. A school house was built by Evans and Brown, of tamarack logs, and was twelve feet square. In that house Mrs. George Spafford taught school in the winter of 1824-5. The Evans' house this winter sheltered Mr. and Mrs. Evans and five children, Mr. and Mrs. Brown and five children, Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Spafford, and from ten to twelve work hands employed at the mill and about the business of the mill firm. On the third day of May, ]824, William Kedzie, of Delhi, N. Y., purchased of the United States government a tract of land in the township of Blissfield, but he did not settle on it until October, 1826. In the month of June, 1824, Mr. Hervey Bliss purchased a tract of land in that township, and moved on it in the month of December following. Mr. Bliss came to this county from Raisinville, Monroe county. He settled in the village of Monroe in 1816, a year later he moved thirteen miles up the Raisin, and settled on government land, but it proved to be on the "Macon reservation." He was driven off by the Indians in 1819, and settled in the township of Raisinville, Monroe county, where he resided until he removed to Lenawee county, as heretofore stated. He built a log house, which he and his family occupied for about twelve years. Mr. Gideon West settled on section twenty-nine in January, 1825. In the spring of 1825 Mr. Bliss lost one of his oxen, and had no means to