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 
<walmar@bigfoot.com>


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Pages 111 Through 120
  

Page 111

heed their queries, and the boy merely said, &quot;Guess there is some mistake about
it, but I am darned glad of it.&quot; The boy thinks he saved about four days' time.

The farmers of Wheatland were almost overjoyed when the Talbot mill started,
but when the Rollin mill was put in operation a few months later, they thought
themselves out of the woods. The township of Wheatland is entirely an agricultural
town; with trivial exceptions, no other business is carried on within her borders.
Of churches, she has a sufficient number to accommodate her church-going people.
It seems to be conceded that the first church organization was the Free Will Baptist.
It was organized by Father Whitcomb and the Rev. Jonathan Thomas, in l837. Both
branches of Methodists had church organizations and buildings in an early day. The
class organizations of the Methodist Episcopal church were effected very soon after
the first settlement was made, probably in l836, or not later than l837. In a very
early day, the Rev. Mr. Parker settled in the township, and, soon after, the Rev.
Mr. Doolittle, both of them local elders, and they did much to promote the growth
of the church. With such laborers as these to supplement the regular work, it is
no wonder that Methodism flourished, and as early as l844 had church buildings in
use. The membership of other churches were not idle. The early Lanesville
Presbyterian and Congregationalist preachers were self-constituted itinerants,
and at first gave half of their time to the Wheatland appointment; but very soon
such labors were too infrequent for the Wheatland work, and they set up for themselves. 
At first, a very large portion of the Hudson church was made up of citizens
of Wheatland, but these, with only a few exceptions, in l842, transferred their
membership to the Wheatland church, which has become a very influential body of
christians. The Baptists (the regulars), also, several years ago, effected an
organization in the township, and in the early literature of the denomination the
Wheatland church was often mentioned as being called upon to give counsel to sister
churches.

In the matter of schools, Wheatland is not one whit behind her neighbors. Her
schools, from very early times, have been considered in the van for learning,
management and ability. The people have showed their appreciation of good schools
by building excellent buildings and sustaining them liberally, and lately an
institution has been opened to teach the higher branches of learning, and it is
to be hoped that it will prove a success.

The farmers of Wheatland have never been over-anxious for political preferment, 
but they have furnished the State two excellent legislators in the persons
of Mr. Robert Cox and Albert B. Slocum. They have also, for years, furnished the
Board of Supervisors with a presiding officer. Her supervisors have been the
following: l835, Heman Pratt, probably; l836, Heman Pratt; l837, '38 and '39,
John Bailey; l840 and Ô4l, Lyman Pease; l842, '43 and Ô44, John Humphrey; l845,
'46 and Ô47, Zebulon Williams; l848, John Humphrey; l849 and '50, Zebulon Williams;
l85l and '52, John L. Taylor; l853 and '54, John Humphrey; l855, Ebenezer Trumbull;
l856, John F. Taylor; l857 and '58, John McLouth; l859, Albert B. Slocum; l860
and Ô6l, Jno. McLouth; l862, Thos. Robbins; l863, Ô64 and Ô65, Jno. McLouth; l866,
Benjamin F. Tabor; l867, John McLouth; l868, '69 and Ô70, Benjamin F. Tabor; l87l,
John McLouth; l872 and '73, Myron McGee; l874, '75 and Ô76, Benjamin F. Tabor.

                     V I I I. P I TTSFORD.


The first township meeting of the township of Pittsford was held at the house
of Alpheus Pratt, on Monday, the second day of May, l836. Why it was not held in
April does not appear. Robinson H. Whitehorn was moderator, and Urias Treadwell
clerk of the meeting. These, with John L. Taylor, a justice of the peace of the
township of Wheatland, but residing within the limits of the new township, were



Page 112

the inspectors of the election.

Officers elected:--Elijah B. Seeley, supervisor; Urias Treadwell, township
clerk; John L. Taylor, Robinson H. Whitehorn, Elijah B. Seeley, and Sidney S.
For, justices of the peace; Cyrus King, Austin Nye and Jesse Smith, assessors;
Ozen Keith, John Williams and Ira Rose, commissioners of highways; David Strunk,
collector; David Strunk, Jesse Kimball and Reuben Mallory, constables; Alpheus
Pratt and Daniel Loomis, poormasters; Cyrus King, Daniel Loomis and Gaylord Tabor,
school commissioners; Urias Treadwell, Sidney S. Ford and Robert Worden, school
inspectors.

The town was divided into four road districts, Charles Ames, Robert Worden,
Ozen Keith and Abraham Britton were the overseers, and each district was six miles
long. In consequence of some of the officers failing to qualify, a special township 
meeting was held September 12th, and Daniel Loomis elected school commissioner,
and Elijah B. Seeley and Robert Worden justices of the peace.

OFFICIAL REGISTER FOR 1837.--Supervisor, E. B. Seeley; township clerk, Eldad
B. Trumball; justice of the peace, Russell Coman; assessors, R. H. Whitehorn,
Henry Ames, Ira Rose, Benjamin Estes, Royal Raymond; commissioner of highways,
John Williams, Gaylord B. Tabor and Daniel Loomis; collectors, Jesse Kimball and
Calvin Pixley; constables, James S. Sprague, Calvin Pixley, Jesse Kimball and
Geordious Houghton; overseers of the poor, Charles Ames and Alpheus Pratt; school
inspectors, Urias Treadwell, Robinson H. Whitehorn and Laban J. Aylesworth.

The business of 1837 having all been disposed of, the record of that year
closes with this announcement: &quot;The meeting for the year 1838 is now adjourned
to the quarter stake on the section line between sections fourteen and twenty-
three, or at the school house to be built thereat, to be held on the first Monday
in April next.&quot;


At that time persons desiring to be married had to procure a license of the
township clerk. Mr. Trumbull licensed four couples for that business during the
year. As a reminder of olden times and ways, one of the entries is here given:

Whereas, Robert O'Mealy applying for a license, according to law, to be united
to Sarah Peters in the bonds of matrimony, this is to certify that I see no reasons
why the said Robert O'Mealy and Sarah Peters should not be united in the holy bonds
of matrimony, and accordingly grant the same. E. B. TRUMBULL, Town Clerk.
Pittsford, Setp. the 18th, 1837.

In like manner Christopher Clement and Alice Fish were licensed Sept. 21,
1837, Edward Edgerly and Lucinda Britton, December 8th, and James Fuller and
Esther Stuck, December 30th.

OFFICIAL REGISTER, 1838.--Supervisor, Elijah B. Seeley; clerk, Eldad B.
Trumbull; assessors, Isaac A. Colvin, Timothy Johnson, Calvin Pixley and Ira
Rose; commissioners of highways, Ozen Keith, George Goodrich and Lester Monroe;
collector, Willard F. Day; school inspectors, Laban J. Aylesworth, Cyrus P. Lee
and Urias Treadwell; constables, Willard F. Day and Cyrus P. Lee; overseers of
the poor, Charles Ames and Samuel Day.

The reader will perhaps have notices that some of the officers elected in
1837, and also in 1838, were residents of town eight south, one west (Wright) .
Such was the case with Russell Coman, elected justice of the peace, and Calvin
Pixley, elected assessor in 1837, and Timothy Johnson and Calvin Pixley, elected
assessors in 1838; but then it will also be remembered that Pittsford then extended

Page 113

to the State line.

OFFICIAL REGISTER, 1839.--Supervisor, Isaac A. Colvin; clerk, Willard F.
Day; treasurer, Ozen Keith; assessors, David Strunk, Peter Clement, Lester
Monroe; collector, Willard F. Day; inspector, Robinson H. Whitehorn; directors 
of the poor, Samuel Day and Alpheus Pratt; commissioners of highways, Jams Earl,
Gaylord Tabor and Linus Monroe; justices of the peace, Abiathar Power and George
Goodrich.


Here is an item, the last clause of which is respectfully commended to
modern undertakers: &quot;Voted that the town should pay for the coffin which was
procured for Henry Prentiss, five dollars.&quot;

Some time during the summer of 1839, the government removed the Indians
from Squawfield. They had encamped on the little St. Joseph for years, and this
village was the home of the Chief, Bawbeese. Mr. E. E. Maxson had now become
the owner of the land, and of course he wanted possession. By the treaty of
Chicago, 1821, the Indian title had been extinguished to the land in Hillsdale
county, but the Indians had not yet been removed to their trans-Mississippi
reservation. Mr. Maxson was very anxious to have the government move the Indians,
but as long as they were peaceably disposed and injured no one the government was
not swift to act. About this time occurred a trivial circumstance which was made
the lever to effect their removal. Warren Champlin was then quite a lad, in his
teens, perhaps, and was a great favorite with the Indians. He shared their sports
and felt quite at home with them. One evening he went down to bathe in Mallory
Lake; his younger brother, then a child, accompanied him. Leaving his brother on
the shore of the lake, with a white companion and two young Indians he took a
canoe and pushed out into deeper water. While bathing he heard a scream, and
looking up he saw a young Indian brandishing a knife and in mimicry passing it
around the scalp lock of the little boy. Warren at once came to the shore. He
found the boy almost dead with fright; but Bawbeese, who had come out on hearing
the cry, explained that the Indian was only showing his companions how to scalp
an enemy.

Maxson took advantage of this incident, it is said, to represent to the
government that the Indians were troublesome, and an order was made for their
removal. The detachment of soldiers arrived in the neighborhood in the evening,
secured guides, and late in the night, when it was supposed all the straggling
parties would be in, proceeded to the village. The approach was stealthy, and
a line of troops had been formed around it before the alarm was given. When the
Indians were awakened by the officers they were very much alarmed. The squaws
and pappooses rushed as if they would gain the woods, only to meet a line of
bayonets. Then they turned back and made night resound with their lamentations.
But lamentations were useless; the troops were there for a purpose, and that purpose 
must be accomplished. The squaws and pappooses were loaded in wagons, and
the Indians, unarmed, were compelled to march with the soldiers. All were taken
except Bawbeese and his squaw. She had recently been confined, and they were
left until she should be able to go. After she had recovered and they had bade
adieu to their friends among the whites, they, too, turned their faces toward
the setting sun.

Although the township had had white inhabitants for six years, it still
might (in 1839) be called a wild country. Many quite extensive fields had been
brought under cultivation, yet the largest part of the township was forest,--
gigantic forest,--and wild game was still abundant. Eldad B. Trumbull, who
worked on the lanesville mill at its building in 1834, and settled in Pittsford


Page 114

the following year, has, ever since his first settlement, kept a daily journal
of his business affairs and those things which more nearly appertained to himself 
and family.  In looking over the entries from 1835 to '40, one is astonished
at the amount of game he killed, and still did a day's work every week day and
attended worship nearly every Lord's day. Mr. Trumbull tells that his wife was
provoked at him because one when they were out of meat and a deer came into their
door-yard on Sunday, he refused to shoot it. Mrs. Trumbull says she yet thinks
it would have been excusable.

But the scene has changed; fields are the rule, and woods the exception; but
many of the brawny arms that felled the forests are dust, and others have ceased
the active duties of life and await the summons. Their labors have made the township 
of Pittsford one of the finest in Southern Michigan. It is mostly agricultural,
as its many fine farms attest. Indeed, it might be said to be entirely so, as its
manufactures are only those necessary to change the form of farm products to fit
them for the table and market. Lowe's mill, in the southeastern, and Wood's mill,
in the western part of the township, are almost entirely employed with farmers'
grinding. Pittsford has had many saw mills within her borders, but as her fine
forests have disappeared, so also her saw mills have decayed or been removed
nearer growing timber.


Pittsford has furnished the State with legislators and the county with executive
officers. In the legislative office, Elijah B. Seeley, Robert Worden and John M.
Osborn, as Representatives, and John M. Osborn as Senator, have served the State;
in the county, Robert Worden has guarded the treasury, and Wray T. Palmer and
William F. Day have recorded indentures.

Politically, the township is at present Republican. From 1836 to 1842 it
was strongly Whig; afterwards the parties were more evenly divided, so it was
not difficult to elect a good man on either ticket, as the frequent election of
such men as Seeley, Keith and Day shows; but in 1854 a large part of the Democrats
became Republicans, and since then it has been strongly Republican.

The following have been its supervisors: 1836, Ô37 and Ô38, Elijah B. Seeley;
1839, Isaac A. Colvin; 1840, Elijah B. Seeley; 1841, Ozen Keith; 1842, Elijah B.
Seeley; 1843, Jesse Kimball; 1844, Henry Ames; 1845, and '46, Ozen Keith; 1847,
Jesse Kimball ; 1848, Ozen Keith; 1849, Elijah B. Seeley; 1850 and Ô51, Ebenezer
Stewart; 1852, Nelson P. Nye; 1853 and Ô54, Ozen Keith; 1855, Martin H. Webb; 1856,
Ô57 and 58, Willard F. Day; 1859, '60 and 61, Eli Bush; 1862 to Ô65, both inclusive,
Sidney Green; 1866 to '69, both inclusive., Truman N. Wadsworth; 1870, Ô71 and '72,
Henry Lane; 1873, Truman N. Wadsworth; 1874 and Ô75, Henry Lane; 1876, Truman N.
Wadsworth.

As a reminder of the days when men used to be licensed to sell liquors, the
following item is given:

We, the undersigned, the township board of the township of Pittsford, county
of Hillsdale, and State of Michigan, do hereby grant unto George Miller, the town-
ship of Pittsford aforesaid, license to sell wines and spirituous liquors by
retail, in a certain building owned by him, near the school house on the northeast
corner of section No.4, in said township, from this date until the 13th day of
April next, provided that the wines and liquors so sold be not drank on or about
the premises aforesaid of said Miller. Given under our hands this 30th day of
Aug. , 1845.

Ozen Keith, Supervisor.                 David Kemp, Justice.
Wm. Edmonds, Justice.                   R. D. Winegar, Dept. Clerk.
J. C. Hogaboam, Justice.                          Township Board.


<Page 115


Some of the early settlers of Pittsford have died, among whom are:
Champlin--William, March 15th, 1873, aged 73 years; Rhoda, wife, Oct. 18th,
 1866, aged 68 years.
Ames--Charles, Sept. 4th, 1873, aged 74 years; Sarah, his wife, Dec. 24th,
1869, aged 72 years. (For deaths of other pioneers of this town see Necrology
of Hudson.)

                         IX. SOMERSET.

The surface of the township of Somerset is broken into numberless conical
shaped hills, and interspersed with numerous small lakes and large springs of
the purest water. The highest land in Southern Michigan is within its borders,
yet in some parts it needs the services of a drain commissioner to adapt the soil
to more perfect cultivation. In quality of soil and beauty of scenery it ranks
with the best townships of Southern Michigan.

In the winter of 1836-7 John McLouth built a saw mill on the north branch
of Posey creek, a tributary of the Bean, and in 1837 William Webster built another
saw mill on the same stream; both were long since abandoned.


The township of Somerset was organized in the spring of 1837. It had formerly
belonged to the township of Wheatland. At first the settlement along the Chicago
road in town five south was the strongest, but the emigration of 1835 and Ô36
centered mostly in town six south, giving it the advantage in point of numbers,
and in consequence each part desired a separation. The northern people sent a
petition, asking that the towns might be divided and that the northern town might
be allowed to retain the old name and organization. They were met in committee
on townships by a petition of the southern people asking for a separation and
that the southern town might be allowed to retain the old name and organization.
The Legislature decided in favor of the southern town, and five south became
the new town and was named Somerset.

The first township meeting was held at the house of Cornelius Millspaw, on
Monday, the third day of April, 1837. The Legislature directed it to be held
at the house of Thomas Gamble. Why it was changed is not known. Officers elected:
Heman Pratt, supervisor; John McKnight, township clerk; Amos Fairchild and
William Weaver, justices of the peace; William Mercer, Alvah Foster and Orson
Herrington, assessors; Daniel Strong, Chauncey Kennedy and Jonathan Haynes,
commissioners of highways; Samuel A. Clark, collector; Cornelius Millspaw and
David Weatherwax, directors of the poor; Warner Bunday, Alvah Foster and Arza
Finney, school inspectors; and Samuel A. Clark, Daniel Millspaw and William
Howard, constables.

At a subsequent election, that is to say, in 1839, Timothy Gay was elected
a justice of the peace.

As late as 1842 the township paid bounties for the destruction of wolves.
Indeed, the township seems to have been noted for its abundant supply of game.
Elias Alley, esq., relates that he killed seventy-six deer within six weeks.
time.

Cornelius Millspaw built a saw mill on Goose creek, a tributary of the
Raisin, in the winter of 1838. The saw mill has gone to decay, and now a
flouring mill occupies its place. This last was built by Harrison Fitts, in
1851 or Ô52. It is now owned by Jesse Tucker &amp; Son.

Page 116

There was a Presbyterian church organized in 1836, at what is called
Somerset Center, and worship was maintained there for many years; but the
society, which was considerably scattered, was partly absorbed by the church
at Gambleville and partly by a church in the west part of the township, and
the house was sold to the Methodists.


In 1841 Newton C. Wolcott commenced manufacturing rakes on the head waters
of Goose creek, and the business developed extensively, and for a time it was
the leading rake factory in Michigan; but of late the prison makes rakes so much
cheaper than he can, that he has ceased manufacturing.

The township has furnished Hillsdale county two judges, (Heman Pratt and
William Mercer,) and the State one legislator, in the person of Dr. Root, of
Gambleville.

Supervisors--1837, Heman Pratt; 1838, William Weaver; 1839, Elias Branch;
1840, William Weaver; 1841, Azariah Smith; 1842, Ô43 and '44, William Mercer;
1845, Jabez S. Mosher; 1846 and Ô47, Chester Hunt; 1848 and '49, William Mercer;
1850 and '51, Chester Hunt; 1852, Daniel C. Crane; 1853, Ô54 and '55, William
Mercer; 1856 and '57, William P. Richards; 1858, William Mercer; 1859, William P.
Richards; 1860, George A. Smith; 1861 and Ô62, Sanford Hopkins; 1863 and '64,
Newton C. Wolcott; 1865 to Ô73, both inclusive, Sanford D. Hopkins; 1874, '75
and '76, Andrew N. Westcott.

Township Clerks--1837, John McKnight; 1838 and '39, W. S. Branch; 1840,
James Gowans; 1841 and Ô42, Charles Farnsworth; 1843, George L. Moore; 1844,
Jabez S. Mosher; 1845, George L. Moore; 1846, John M. Munson; 1847, George L.
Moore; 1848, Ô49 and '50, Oliver Lathrop; 1851, Charles Farnsworth; 1852 and Ô53
Orson Herrington; 1854, H. H. Davis; 1855, Charles B. Moore; 1856 and Ô57, Roswell
R. Farnsworth; 1858 to '62, both inclusive, Aaron Bickford; 1863, Dennis Clancy;
1864, Aaron Bickford; 1865 and '66, Dennis Clancy; 1867 and Ô68, Warner Bunday;
1869, David A. Terrell; 1870 to '76, both inclusive, Oscar D. Brown.

                           X. MEDINA.

The mill, commenced building in 1835, was finished in the spring of 1836,
by Laban Merrick, and the first lumber was sawed on the 12th day of April.
William Walworth built a small mill on Lime creek, section 21. It was a patent
arrangement, and ground coarse grain only. Tyler Mitchell was the carpenter and
millwright, and the mill commenced grinding in June, 1836. Walworth died in
August--the second death in the township, the first having been Loren, a son; of
John Knapp, April seventh. In the spring of this year Mr. George W. Moore became
an inhabitant of the township; he had purchased his land in the spring of 1834.
The Rev. David Smith preached in the township. He was a Presbyterian clergyman
sent out as a missionary, and supported by the Presbytery of Western New York.
He lived in a small house on the farm of Simon D. Wilson, in Seneca, and preached
in private houses. He removed to Illinois in the spring of 1837. In June the Rev.
Edward Hodge became the pastor of the Baptist church, organized at Canandaigua in
January of that year. He had a salary of two hundred dollars. He lived in the
township of Dover.

The spring of 1836 was a very severe one for the inhabitants of this part
of the Valley. The most of them had moved in, in 1835, and as yet had not raised
a crop, and provisions were very scarce and dear. Even had there been provisions
that could have been bought, many of the settlers could not have purchased, as
they had used up their means in purchasing land and moving in. One man had planted
some potatoes in the spring of 1836 and obliged to dig them up and eat them. It

Page 117


was all they could get to eat. Flour, when obtainable, was sixteen dollars a
barrel; pork, thirty to thirty-two; oats, one dollar and seventy-five cents a
bushel; and salt, ten dollars a barrel. Some families were obliged to live for
weeks together without bread, and depended upon the rifle for their daily subsistence. 
Said the Rev. William E. Warner to Mr. Moore, one day in the fall of
1836, &quot;We are having snug times at our house; for our breakfast this morning we
had nothing but pumpkin sauce to eat, and Mrs. Warner thinks these are rather
hard times.&quot;

The hard times, however, did not have the effect to suspend the execution
of the Divine command, Gen. 1:28. On the 14th day of July, 1835, a son was born
to Charles A. Prisbey. The boy afterwards died at Murfreesboro, Tenn. June 27th,
1863, while a member of the 24th Wisconsin infantry. On the 14th day of November,
Orrin Green was born. On the 18th day of February, 1836, a child was born in the
family of Lewis Shepardson, and on the same day a child was born in the family of
a Mr. Bayless, in the south part of the township. On the 24th day of August, 1836,
Henry C. Foster was born. He, also, died in the service of his country, at Athens,
Alabama, Sept. 24th, 1864, a member of the 18th Michigan infantry. In the summer
of 1836, Ansel Coats and Phoebe York were married, Daniel H. Deming officiating,
and September 18th, J. D. Sutton and Abigail Knapp were married.

This young town must have begun to feel the curse of intemperance, for on
the fourth day of July, 1836, Dr. Hamilton delivered a temperance lecture at
Canandaigua.

The Rev. Lorenzo Davis having been sent to the newly organized Bean Creek
mission of the Methodist Episcopal church, preached in Mr. John R. Foster's
house. Mr. Foster had already built his second house, and the pioneer building
was used as a church and school house. Mr. Davis continued to preach in that
house once a month during that conference year.

Mrs. Dr. Hamilton taught the school in the Canandaigua school house in the
summer of 1836, and that fall a frame school house was built in that village.
Then Canandaigua aspired to be the metropolis of Medina township. The same fall
a log school house was built on the farm of Benjamin Rogers, southeast quarter
of section twenty-three. Medina had three schools in the winter of 1836-7; the
third was taught by Miss Colgrove, in John R. Foster's house, near the northeast
corner of section three.

In December, 1836, the Baptist church of Canandaigua voted to hold their
meetings in the village of Medina. The meetings were held at the dwelling house
of Deacon Cook Hotchkiss during the winter of 1836-7 and the summer of 1837.

Medina village, as it then began to be called, had no physician, and,
ignoring the Divine command, they coveted their neighbor's doctor. Dr. Hamilton
had built a new frame house in the village of Canandaigua, and to induce him to
move to their village, the people of Medina purchased the house, and the doctor
moved in December, 1836. As the villages are only about one mile apart, it
practically could make but little difference whether he lived at one or the other
of the places; but for the oldest village to lose her only doctor to enrich her
rival, was rather humiliating. But their cup of humiliation was not yet full.
The only frame dwelling house in the township was within her borders, and this
the Medina people determined should not be,--they would remove it. Twenty of
her most stalwart men went down there, with fifteen yoke of oxen collected from
among the farmers of Medina and Hudson, to accomplish the removal. Shoes were
placed under the building, the oxen hitched to it, and &quot;Whoa,&quot; 
&quot;Haw,&quot; &quot;Get up,
Bright,&quot; and away the house went towards Medina. To avoid the bridge, they cut



Page 118

a road through the woods, north of the creek. The route they were compelled
to take to avoid the bends of the creek made the road nearly two miles long,
and the house was two days in transit; but at last Medina had one frame house,
Canandaigua none.

In the winter of 1836-7 the Medina Mill Company built a saw mill in the
village of Medina. They commenced sawing lumber April 1st, 1837.

On the eleventh day of March, 1837, the Legislature set town eight south,
one east, off from Seneca, and gave it the name of Medina. The act directed
the township meeting to be held at such place in the township as the sheriff
of Lenawee county should be proclamation designate. Accordingly, the sheriff
issued a proclamation as follows:

                         PROCLAMATION.

Notice is hereby given to the electors residing in township eight south,
of range one east, to meet at the house of John Dawes, in said township, on the
first Monday in April next, at ten o'clock A.M., and there proceed to elect
township officers for the year coming, agreeable to law. Given under my hand
at Adrian, this 29th day of March, 1837.

          J. H. CLEVELAND, Sheriff of Lenawee County.


On the 20th day of March, 1837, the Legislature passed a supplemental act
detaching fractional town nine south, one east, from Seneca and attaching it to
Medina. But the action of the Legislature was probably unknown to the sheriff,
hence the notice is only to the voters residing in town eight.

At that time the following named persons were voters in the township of,
Medina as it was then actually organized, although only those living in town 
eight south participated in the township meeting: Nathaniel W. Upton, John R. 
Foster, John Knapp, Cook Hotchkiss, Charles Prisbey, Samuel Fincher, Ebenezer
Daniels, John C. Hotchkiss, Artemas Allen, Dr. I. S. Hamilton, Rev. William E.
Warner, Abel Platts, Patrick McKenny, Tyler Mitchell, Patrick Dillon, William
Cavender, Samuel Gregg, S. Dewey, Orrin Pixley, Charles Baldwin, Lawrence
Reubottom, Hiram Lucas, Asa Farley, Lewis Shepardson, Amasa Converse, N. K. Green,
John Dawes, Levi B. Wilder, Benjamin Holmes, James McQuillis, Ben Rogers, Abner
Rogers, Chester Savage, Justus Coy, Orvi II Woodworth, Cassius P. Warner, John
Powers, Ethan Barns, Seneca Barns, Rollin R. Hi II, Orlando Whitney, John S. Sweeney,
John D. Sutton, Henry S. Smith, Samuel Kies, Horace Garlick, E. H. Johnson, Levi
Goss, Benjamin Hornbeck and Hiram Wakefield, heads of families, and Eli Upton,
George W. Moore, Andrew McFarlane, James Burns, Patrick Trumer, Levi Daniels,
James Rogers, Charles Stone, Newton Dawes, Alonzo S. Hume, Benjamin Converse,
Nathan Stone, John Seeley, J. M. Baggerly, and Zebedee Baggerly, unmarried men.

In accordance with the sheriff's proclamation, the township meeting was held
on Monday, the 3d day of April, and officers were elected as follows: Rollin R.
Hill, supervisor; John Dawes, township clerk; George W. Moore, Noah K. Green and
James A. Rogers, assessors; Orlando Whitney, John S. Sweeney and John Powers,
commissioners of highways; Asa Farley and John D. Sutton, school commissioners;
Benjamin Rogers and John Knapp, overseers of the poor; Asa Farley, James A. Rogers,
Henry S. Smith and Samuel Kies, justices of the peace; Charles StoRe, collector.

The justices elect drew for term, with the following result: Henry S. Smith,
four years; Samuel Kies, three years; James A. Rogers, two years; Asa Farley, one
year. The voters thought it necessary to offer a five-dollar wolf bounty.


Page 119

The new township government did not start off very smoothly. Hitherto,
there had been both school commissioners and school inspectors, but the Legislature 
abolished the office of school commissioner at their session in 1837.
The people evidently thought it was the inspectors that were abolished, for
they elected school commissioners but no inspectors. Then, also, they were
in a muddle with their justices.

In 1836, Cook Hotchkiss was elected a justice of the peace for the township 
of Seneca, which then included Medina. The Medina people thought it not
best to have a Seneca officer hold over amongst them, and persuaded Hotchkiss
he had better resign his Seneca office and be elected anew, and they evidently
supposed he consented to do so, for at their election they elected the full
complement of justices, but omitted Hotchkiss from the list. When the election
was over, the new justices learned, to their dismay, that Cook Hotchkiss had not
resigned, and did not propose to resign. Here was a muddle. The law provided
for four justices, and no more. Four had been elected on a general ticket, and
now that there was room for only three, how could they tell which one was not
elected. Thus reasoning, they called a special township meeting to rectify the
errors. The special township meeting was held on the 2Oth day of June, at the
house of John Oawes. Or. I. S. Hamilton, Rollin R. Hill and Noah K. Green were
elected school inspectors, and Asa Farley, Noah K. Green and John Oawes, justices
of the peace. Henry S. Smith and John Kies were left out of the deal this time,
and now it became a question who was elected to the office. As to Farley, there
could be no question; but Smith and Kies, or Green and Oawes--which? Recourse
was now had to the prosecuting attorney, and he advised them that there was
nothing in the law to prevent their having five justices in such cases, and that
the first was the valid election. Later in the season, Samuel Kies removed from
the township. Another special meeting was held, and Samuel Gregg elected justice
to fill the vacancy.


Early in 1837, the wounded honor of the people of Canandaigua was somewhat
healed by the coming of Or. Angell, a botanic physician; but soon after, a new
wound was inflicted. A Mr. Stephenson prepared the timbe for a new hotel building
which he proposed to put up in Canandaigua, but being somewhat impecunious, he
mortgaged the timber. Afterwards, being unable to payoff the mortgage, he sold
the timber to Charles A. Prisbey and C. P. Warner, of Medina village, without disclosing 
the fact that it was mortgaged. Prisbey and Warner drew the timber to
Medina and constructed the tavern now owned by Mr. Allen. The mortgagee made
them pay his debt, but Medina had a frame hotel.

Another little incident occurred about that time, which tended to even matters
up a little. In the fall of 1836, an itinerant fruit tree vender brought some apple
trees to Canandaigua to sell to the farmers of Medina and Seneca. He had fifty
more than he could dispose of, and these he buried in Cavender's field. In the
winter, a Medina man coming by the field, discovered the tree tops covered with
snow, and asked Burns Cavender what it meant. He said Gregg had thrown a drunken
Indian out of his bar-room, he had died from exposure, and his body was buried
lightly and covered with brush. The Medina man went home, revolving in his mind
the tragic death of the Indian. He called a secret council, and it was determined
that the matter must be investigated and Gregg punished. In the dead of the night,
six of Medina's most valiant sons sallied forth, armed with axes and spades, for
a march on Canandaigua. They came to the spot and attempted to remove the brush,
but their butt ends had sank in the mud and frozen down. The axes were called in
requisition, and the brush cut away even with the ground. Then the digging com-
menced, and in the course of an hour's hard work the bodies and roots of the trees
were exhumed. They went home sadder and wiser men, desiring above all things to


Page 120

keep their agency in the matter a secret. But &quot;murder will out,&quot; and they had
to pay for the trees; and what was of more consequence to them, be jeered at
by the Canandaigua folks.

On the 7th day of March, 1837, a church was organized in the south part of
the township, and called the First Congregational church of Medina. It had eleven
members, and the Rev. Paul Shephard was its first pastor.

On the 20th day of May, the name of the Baptist church was changed to &quot;The
Baptist church of Medina,&quot; and in the fall a small church building was built. A
post-office was established at the village of Medina this year, and Artemus Allen
was made postmaster. Mr. Lauren Hotchkiss came into the township from Adrian,
whither he had come in 1831.


In the summer of this year, 1837, the Medina Mill Company built a grist-mill.
The building was one and a half stories high, and 24 by 36 feet. In it were placed
two run of stones. I. H. Luddon, was the millwright, and J. C. Lewis built the
wheel. The old building now forms the north and lower portion of the Kerr mill.
The first flour was ground in this mill on Thanksgiving day, 1837. In the fall,
George W. Brower built a saw-mill on Lime Creek, on section twenty-three, and
commenced sawing in December, 1837.

Canandaigua was platted October 26th, 1835, by Ira White, but Medina village
was not platted until a year and a half later. The plat was made and acknowledged
by Asahel Finch, Cook Hotchkiss, Artemus Allen and L. Hotchkiss, March 30th, 1837.

In 1838 B. F. Hutchinson purchased the Canandaigua saw-mill, and built an
addition to it in which he put the Walworth grinding mill. Dr. Rufus Kibbie
settled in Canandaigua this year, and resided there and practiced medicine until
he removed to Coldwater.

The Legislature, at its session in 1838, chartered the Medina &amp; Canandaigua
Railroad Company. Cook Hotchkiss, John Knapp, B. F. Hutchinson, Samuel Gregg,
William Billings, Artemus Allen and Ebenezer Daniels, were the corporators named
in the act. The subscription books of the company were to be open two days each
in the villages of Medina and Canandaigua. Thirty days' notice of the time when,
and place where, such books would be open, should be published in the Constitutionalist 
or Watchtower. The route was to be from Morenci, through Canandaigua and Medina,
to some point on the Southern Railroad in Lenawee county.

In the fall of 1837 the new township furnished the State a legislator in the
person of Lauren Hotchkiss. The subsequent year, 1839, he was ordained to the
ministry of the Baptist church, and was the pastor of the Medina church several
years on a salary of $125 a year; and if times were hard, and his people could
not well pay, he did not exact all of that. In 1840 he built a saw-mill, at what
is now Tiffin, and about 1844 or Ô45 a mill was built by Nathan Bassett for carding
wool, and, later still, for fulling, shearing, coloring and pressing cloth.
Weaving and spinning were also carried on to some extent in the establishment.
About 1854, Mr. Hotchkiss bought the property, exchanged the machinery for flouring
apparatus, and began grinding grain. The mill was afterwards the property of Morse
and Christophers, ahd now is owned by C. C. Morse &amp; Sons.

This year, 1839, Medina had its first celebration of American Independence,
at Canandaigua. The committee of arrangements were A. L. Downer, B. F. Hutchinson,
F. H. Hagaman, John McGowan, John D. Wolf, Phi 10 Wilson, Orlando Whitney, Hiram
Lucas, Lawrence Rheubottom, william Billings, Samuel Kies and Robert Sloan;