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 Page 141 Page 81: In second line of fourth paragraph, for "Tuesday" read "Wednesday." Page 91: Fifth paragraph, last clause, for "made it," read "it made." Medina: Page 51, first line of Western Fairfield, instead of "March, 1835," it perhaps should read "October, 1834," but this is a disputed point. Page 52: The fourth paragraph should read, "In 1835, William Cavender bought the land owned by William Walworth--the site of the Canandaigua mills-- and in the fall of the same year sold it to Laban Merrick, who commenced building a saw-mill." Page 112: Close of first paragraph, for "Levi Daniels" read "Lemuel Daniels;" for "Patrick Trumer," read "Patrick Trainer;" for "Nathan Stone," read "Nahum Stone." Rollin: The Quaker Mill was built about 1850, by Mr. William Beal. It is now owned by Nelson Perkins. Seneca: Page 119, at end of sixth paragraph, read "and two Representatives, Dr. Jas. H. Sweeney and Elias J. Baldwin. TECUMSEH. Since the first sections of this book were printed, S. C. Stacy, esq., editor of the Tecumseh Herald, delivered an address before the Lenawee County Pioneer Society on the early history of Tecumseh. As in some of its statements it differs from the statements contained in the opening sections of this book, it has been determined to give it to the reader in the form of a supplement. Mr. Stacy was born and reared in that village, and has opportunities for investigation, and is, by all odds, the best authority extant on the early history of the pioneer town: In preparing a historical paper to be read before the Lenawee County Pioneer Society to-day, it occurred to me that a detailed account of some particular event in the county, or of some particular locality, would be more valuable as well as more interesting, than a general sketch covering a larger extent of territory and a longer period of time. Accordingly, we have selected for our theme the "First Settlement of Tecumseh," and we shall endeavor to faithfully portray the principal events which transpired within the present corporate limits of this village, from the time when the first settler trod the virgin soil of the Territory in the summer of 1823, until the first celebration of Independence Day, on the 4th of July, 1826. This period will embrace the first two years of the settlement of Tecumseh. During this time, the civilization of the white man was planted in the then "Far West," a village was established, several families were domiciled in their new homes, a county seat was legislated into existence, and Tecumseh assumed her position as an important geographical point in Michigan. The founder of Tecumseh was a worthy Quaker, of whom we have all heard before, named Musgrove Evans. He was a native of Pennsylvania, but for several years prior to 1823 had been residing in the town of Chaumont, Jefferson County, New York. like many other enterprising men of that day, he caught the Western fever, and in the early summer of 1823 he left his New York home to "seek his fortune," and came to Detroit. At this point he formed the acquaintance of Austin E. Wing, who had already been a resident of the Territory for several years, which acquaintance afterwards ripened into a strong friendship and business partnership, that continued unbroken until Mr. Evans. death. After obtaining from Mr. Wing what Page 142 information he could in regard to the most desirable locations in the interior, he started out to explore the Raisin Valley, for in that early day the valley of the Raisin was justly celebrated for its beauty. Shortly before this time, this portion of Michigan had been surveyed, and the Government lands had been thrown upon the market. Of this trip by Mr. Evans but little is known, as we have neither records nor tradition to enlighten us; but we know the fact that the Quaker pioneer fell in love with the beautiful oak openings around Tecumseh, and the splendid hydraulic power afforded by Evans Creek and the river Raisin, and resolved to make this section his future home. Accordingly, he returned to Jefferson county, enlisted his brother-in-law, J. W. Brown, and a few others, in the enterprise, and made preparations to remove his family West in the coming spring. Mr. Evans spent that winter in gathering his party together, and early in 1824 a company of over twenty, under his guidance, left the town of Chaumont, Jefferson county, New York, to take up their abode among the oak openings of the Raisin Valley, in Michigan. The journey before them was no holiday trip. In fact, they consumed more time and endured more privations and hardships than a like company would to-day in traveling from New York to San Francisco. The party consisted of Musgrove Evans, his wife and five children, General J. W. Brown, Ezra F. Blood, Peter Benson and wife, Turner Stetson and wife, two Fulsoms, father and son; Nathan Rathbone, Peter low, John Borland, Curtis Page, George Spafford, Levi Baxter and Henry Sloate. They came up lake Ontario to Lewiston, and from there to Black Rock, near Buffalo, where they remained for one week on account of the ice. In those days, steam navigation was in its infancy. There was but one steamboat on lake Erie, and passenger tickets thereon, between Black Rock and Detroit, were $20 each. Most people traveling West were unable to pay the fare. The Evans party, therefore, chartered a schooner called the "Erie," (the same craft which subsequently went over the Falls of Niagara,) and as soon as the harbor was sufficiently clear of ice, they weighed anchor and set sail for Detroit. No incident particularly noteworthy occurred during the voyage, and they disembarked in safety at Detroit during the last week :in April, 1824. After a stop of three days in Detroit, the gentlemen of the party started for Tecumseh on foot, taking with them one pony and a French boy to transport their baggage and commissary stores. They followed the St. Joe trail to Ypsilanti . This trail was a narrow track, only wide enough for one man or horse, but well beaten, being worn into the earth from three to six inches below the surface of the ground. There was no mistaking the trail when once seen, nor was there any danger of losing it. It followed a general westward course, winding about among the trees and crossing streams at fordable points. The members of the party, of course, pony and all, were compelled to travel in single file, in orthodox Indian fashion, and when drawn out in that manner they made quite an imposing caravan. From Ypsilanti they followed the same trail to Saline, and thence to the river Raisin, a mile or so north of the present village of Clinton. There they crossed the river and discharged their pony, and leaving the trail, bore off in a south- westerly direction until they reached the eccentric little creek which now bears Musgrove Evans' name, which they followed to its junction with the Raisin, arriving at that point in the afternoon. Here, on the spot where the Globe Mill now stands, they found two or three Indian wigwams. They were deserted, but were in good enough repair to afford comfortable shelter, and in the largest of these wigwams the company passed that Page 143 night. The next morning they explored the section of country adjacent to Evans Creek and the Raisin, and came to the conc1usion that here was the p1ace to "sett1e down" Three or four days were passed in this manner, and the nights were spent in the big wigwam. Finally their commissary stores having become exhausted, they 1eft for Monroe where they expected to meet the remainder of the party. They were one whole day making the trip, traveling on foot. They fo11owed an Indian trail, and arrived just at night in Monroe, as hungry a set of men, probab1y, as Michigan has ever seen before or since. The whole village of Monroe turned out in surprise to meet them, for it was a strange sight to witness a company of white men coming into Monroe from the West. Here they met the women and children of the party, who had just arrived from Detroit in a sail boat called the "Fire F1y," commanded by Captain Harvey. Austin E. Wing met them at Monroe, and here the partnership of Wing, Evan & Brown was entered into, and the determination formed to secure the location of the county seat at Tecumseh. Gen. Brown, and most of the men in the party, then went back to Detroit, and thence East for their families, and while at Detroit, Gen. Brown had an interview with Gov. Cass in regard to the county seat. Evans then hired about thirty men, and they proceeded to Tecumseh, cutting a road as they went along. They followed the genera1 course of the Indian trail from Monroe to Tecumseh, and in due time halted at the east bank of the Raisin, about thirty rods Bast of the present site of the Globe Mill. The river, however, was so high as to render it unsafe to ford it at that point, and so they followed the east bank about two mi1es north and west, and at five o'clock in the afternoon halted their wagons on the flat where the small dwelling house, barn and cooper shop, belonging to the Brownville Mill, now stands. Here the party passed that night, with a few oak trees and the blue dome of heaven as their only shelter. The next morning they commenced work on a 1og house, which was soon erected. Its dimensions were twenty feet square, horizontally, and about nine feet perpendicularly. There was a low garret, two 1ogs in height above the ceiling, which was used as a bed-room for the boys and hired men. There was no f1oor, as the nearest saw-mill was at Monroe, and the roof was covered with bark peeled from elm trees, and until the next November it was provided with neither chimney nor fireplace. A bake- kett1e served the purpose of an oven for several months. For cooking purposes a fire was made on the ground, the smoke ascending through a hole in the roof. Mrs. Benson accompanied this party of workmen to prepare meals for them. She was the first woman in Lenawee county. In this house Evans and his wife, with five children, Peter Benson and wife, and several men, lived during the summer, Mrs. Evans and Mrs. Benson preparing food for from fifteen to twenty persons daily. As soon as the house was completed, Evans returned to Monroe for his fami1y. Having procured ox teams, and packed their household goods and provisions (what little they had) in rough wagons, they turned their faces once more toward the setting sun. This was a beautiful summer morning, the first day of June, 1824. The men traveled on foot, and the women and children found it convenient to rest themselves by walking a part of the distance. It was easier to walk than to ride, and just as cheap. On the afternoon of the second day, June 2d, 1824, they arrived at the Evans mansion, in Brownville, and took up their abode. Their household utensils were but few, and of the rudest kind. They brought no bedstead with them, but a bed was made in each corner of the house by sticking two poles into a hole in each wall, and supporting the outer ends of the poles, where they crossed each other, with a block of wood. Thus a good bedstead was made out of two saplings, and with but a single leg. Tradition tells us that the lord of the house, Musgrove himself, was unceremoniously tumbled out of bed one morning by having the block, which formed the corner post, knocked from under the two saplings. They had no chairs, but used rough benches instead. In the Page 144 following November a floor was laid, a chimney and an out-door oven, and two small shanties were added to the house, for two other families had arrived to occupy the mansion during the ensuing winter. Gen. Brown returned East in July, and had brought back his wife and children, and George Spafford and wife had arrived. Brown brought a dozen chairs with him, and some other articles of household furniture, including a trundle-bed. During the winter of 1824-5, this house afforded a home for Mr. Evans, his wife and six children, Gen. Brown, his wife and six children, Peter Benson and wife, and George Spafford and wife. This log house was the first in Lenawee county, and one of the first ones in Michigan, west of Monroe and Detroit. A building was made near by of tamarack poles, twelve feet square and seven feet high, which was used for a school house, Mrs. George Spafford teaching school there during that winter. Among the farming implements brought to the settlement by Mr. Evans, was one plow. No crops were put in the first summer, except a little corn and wheat and some garden truck, as the season was too far advanced when the new comers arrived. But there was a man in the company, named Fulsom, who was bound to have some plowing done. He wanted to see how Michigan soil looked, for he was confident he could tell by inspection whether it would produce good crops or not. He borrowed Evans' plow, hitched on an ox team, and with Ezra F. Blood to hold the plow, turned the first furrows in the virgin soil of Lenawee county. This plowing took place on the bank of the creek, in the western portion of the village, and near the spot where A. McNeil's house now stands. During the summer, several other families reached Tecumseh from Jefferson county, all of whom had been induced to come West from the representations of Mr. Evans. In June or July, James Patchin arrived with his family, coming by the way of Detroit and Monroe, as the pioneer party had done. He located two lots of land east of Brownville, and built a small log house thereon, where he continued to reside for many years. This farm is now owned and occupied by Jacob G. Roberts. E. P. Champlin arrived with his family about the same time, settled on the land now owned by Elizabeth Whitney, near the Patchin farm, and a little west. These three families have long since been scattered, and the members thereof who lived in that early day have gone to their final home. Mrs. James Patchin continued to reside here until her death, which occurred within the last five years. Turner Stetson and wife came with the original Evans party, but met them at Detroit, and were persuaded by Evans and the rest to accompany them to Tecumseh. Stetson built a house on the bluff of the creek, near the present site of the Episcopal church. He sowed a small patch of wheat in the fall of 1823, as also did Evans, some four acres. The first land bought of the Government was in 1823, when Austin Wing entered two lots, covering the Brownville mill privilege. The next land entered was in June, 1824--one lot by Stetson, extending north and west from the present depot, and the next was two lots, entered by Ezra F. Blood, in June, 1824, about a mile southeast of the village. Upon this same farm Mr. Blood and his family still reside. He is still in good health, and we trust he may remain with us many years longer. Page 145 The next family which arrived was that of Abner Spafford. His family came on the Erie, to Detroit, where they arrived on the 4th of July, 1824. One of Mr. Spafford's daughters, Cynthia, (now Mrs. Wm. W. Tilton, who still resides in Tecumseh,) remembers that celebration vividly, as it was the first time in her life that she ever heard a cannon. Soon after, Mr. Spafford, with two of his boys, started for Monroe by land, driving eleven head of cattle, and Mrs. Spafford, with the rest of the family, five in number, took a sail boat called the Fire Fly and proceeded to Monroe by water. After a week's stay at Monroe, Spafford got two yoke of oxen and a lumber wagon, and with this rig the family started for Tecumseh. They camped out two nights, and on the third day arrived at Musgrove Evans' .They located their house on the flat near the creek, a few rods north of the present depot building. Elevating the wagon-box on crotches and poles, they camped under it until a log house could be raised. This house, like its predecessors, was destitute of floor or chimney. They had no floor until the 27th of November, when the new saw-mill had commenced operations, and enough lumber was obtained to make one. Mr. Spafford's family continued to live here for many years. Two of his daughters, Mrs. W. W. Tilton and Mrs. Webster, still reside here, and one son, Sumner F. Spafford, esq., is a resident of Des Moines, Iowa. Abner Spafford's family lived in this house two years, and then moved upon E. F. Blood's farm. During the fall of 1824, Mr. Blood built a log house upon his farm, the gable ends being finished with the first lumber turned out of the new saw-mill. This building still stands on the bluff of the river, a few rods north of Mr. Blood's present dwelling house. It is greatly dilapidated and rapidly going to decay, but is allowed to stand as one of the very few remaining mementoes of the first year's settlement of Tecumseh. The same fall, an Indian trader, by the name Knaggs, built a small house on the north side of Chicago Street, upon the block east of the East Branch school, and during the winter of '24 and '25, that was the only place of business in Tecumseh. In July or August, Daniel Pitman and his family, consisting of a wife and two children, arrived. He put up a small house on the present site of Dr. Patterson's residence, where he lived for several years. The next summer he erected a store on the same lot and embarked in the mercantile business. A daughter of his, Mrs. E. A. Tribou, still lives in Tecumseh, and James E. and Samuel Pitman live in Detroit. Borland, his wife and two children, arrived the same fall, although late in the season, and took up their abode with Mr. Blood, upon his farm, where they lived for two years, and until Abner Spafford's family moved in. Borland then became the landlord of the Brown tavern. Horace Wolcott and family came about the same time. He entered two lots north of the Evans home, in Brownville, which are now divided into several small farms, and built a small log house there. The family lived there for some years. Peter Low joined the party at Buffalo. He entered a lot on Evans Creek, between Shawnee street and the present village cemetery. He sold this lot in the fall to Jesse Osborn, and took up a part of P. Bills' present farm, east of the road leading to E. F. Blood's present residence, adjoining Mr. Blood's farm. Jesse Osborn and family, consisting of a wife and five or six children, came in during the fall and purchased the lot of Peter Low. He set out a large orchard on this place, afterwards known as the Hoag orchard. His house was on the bank of the creek, a few rods north of John Whitnack's present residence. A few years after Mr. Osborn moved to the town of Woodstock, in this county. Page 146 To him belongs the honor of raising and taking to mill the first wheat that was ground in Tecumseh. The house and the "old barn" remained on the place many years, and we remember the fact that in our boyhood days a favorite swimming place in the creek was behind this same "old barn." In the original party which came with Evans was a Lawyer Rathbone, but as the pioneers were a peaceable set he had no litigation to attend to. But as there was a considerable sickness in the new settlement a physician became a necessity. Dr. Ormsby arrived in the fall of '24 and continued in practice here two years. Mr. E. F. Blood had the honor of going to Detroit after his medicine chest. Thomas Goodrich, Sr., came that fall and located the farm now occupied by Mrs. H. R. Clark, at Newberg. On the 16th of November his family, consisting of himself, wife and seven children, Ira and George Goodrich, with their families, landed at Monroe and came direct to Tecumseh. Ira located a farm one mile north of Newburg. We have thus enumerated (as far as we have been able to gather the dates) all the persons who came to Tecumseh during 1824 with a view of a permanent settlement. When that winter set in, the total population of the village, including men, women and children, numbered about fifty. We will now take a brief retrospect to relate a few incidents of a general character. During the summer of 1824 the principal business of the men in the settlement was building houses and cutting out roads. No.crops of any amount were put In during the season. As often as a new family arrived all hands would turn In and help put up a log house. Nearly all their provisions, flour, merchandise, etc., were carted from Monroe in wagons. Peter Benson, who was in the employ of Mr. Evans as his teamster, did most of this work. He spent the whole summer traveling back and forth between Monroe and Tecumseh. New pieces of road had to be cut every few days, as the soil was marshy in many places and the road would soon become impassable by reason of the mud. The entire stock of sugar, however, was purchased of the Indians. It was maple sugar, and was put up in a vessel called a "mocock." This vessel was made of bark and about the size and shape of a copper boiler. A "mocock" of maple sugar would last a family several months. The mails came up from Monroe at intervals of a week or ten days, whenever Peter Benson came over the road with a load of provisions. During the autumn of 1824 the first saw mill was erected. A dam was thrown across the river in Brownville, which dam remains there to this day, and serves as a highway across the river at the paper mill. The work upon the mill was done mostly by volunteers, the same as the log houses had been raised. Men had but little to do at home, and they were all waiting for lumber with which to finish their houses for winter. The site of the saw mill was east of the bridge across the mill-dam and south of the race leading to the Heck Bros. mill. It was completed in a few weeks, and by November was in running order. Several logs were sawed up that fall, and thus the settlers were supplied with boards with which to build floors for their houses. This mill did valiant service for several years, but it finally went to decay, and the last timber of its foundation floated down the Raisin many years ago. Before Mr. Evans settled in Tecumseh, and during his stay of a few days in Monroe, in April, 1824, a co-partnership was formed between Austin E. Wing, Page 147 Musgrove Evans and Gen. Brown, by the firm name of Wing, Evans & Brown, and very soon after the arrival of the parties, steps were taken to have the new settlement made a county seat. Gen. Brown stopped at Detroit on this mission when he started East for his family, paid a personal visit to Gov. Cass, and the Governor appointed a committee of two, consisting of C. J. Lanmon and Oliver Johnson, who visited Tecumseh and approved the location. On the last of June the Legislature was in session. The committee made their report, which was accepted and adopted. It was stipulated in the enactment that in laying out the village, the company should set apart for the public benefit four squares, viz., one for a court house and jail, one for a public promenade, one for a cemetery and one for a military parade ground, and that they should build a bridge across the River Raisin east of the village. These conditions were accepted. In the meantime Wing, Evans & Brown had entered the land, comprising the present village east of Railroad street, and extending north to the Brownville mill. Upon this tract of land the original plat of the village was made. Musgrove Evans himself, who was a surveyor, laid out the village plat during the summer of 1824. The original plat embraced the territory bounded east by Wyandotte street, south by Killbuck street, west by the present railroad and the section line running directly north from the present depot, and north by a line about ten rods north of the street leading east from Brownville across the river. All of the territory west of the railroad has been attached to the village by subsequent additions. The cemetery square was located on the corner of Ottawa and Killbuck streets, the military square on Shawnee street, the court house and park squares on the west side of Maumee street, and upon either side of Chicago street. The cemetery square has long since ceased to be used for that purpose, but the village still improves it as public property. The park square has been turned over to the school district, and upon that the East Branch school now stands. The court house square, opposite, is still village property, but the building itself has been moved one block further east, and is now used by S. P. Hosmer as a tool handle factory. Time upsets all things. The first court house in the county is deserted by sheriffs, lawyers and judges, and given over to the manufacture of hickory toll handles. But this talk is a digression. Returning to our task, let us trace the history of our village through 1825. During that year but few new settlers presented themselves; but many new buildings were erected and substantial improvements made. Among the arrivals were Curtis Page and William W. Tilton, two practical carpenters. Mr. Tilton came in June, 1825, and he was the man who cut the two small fields of wheat sown by Stetson and Evans the fall before. Soon after, he and Page hired out to Daniel Pitman, and were employed several weeks in building his new store upon his lot at the corner of Chicago and Ottawa streets--Dr. Patterson's present lot. In the fall Mr. Pitman opened his store, and continued in mercantile business there for several years. Thomas Griswold, wife and four children arrived in July, 1825. He entered two lots about a mile north of Wolcotts, on the present Clinton road. The family lived with Evans until November and then moved upon their farm. In the spring of this year Gen. Brown commenced the erection of a large frame tavern on the southeast corner of Maumee and Chicago streets, the present site of George W. Frasier's house. The house was occupied during the summer, and was kept as a public house for ten or twelve years, when it burned down. At the time it burned, it was known as the "Green Tavern." Page 148 On the 30th day of July, a child of Musgrove Evans, little Charley, aged about three years, was drowned in a river, near his father's house in Brownville. George Griswold, who lives in this township, was with Charley when the accident happened. George was four years old. The two boys went down to the river bank directly east of the present mill cooper shop to play, and while there Charley walked out on a plank which had been placed to stand on while dipping up water, and fell off into the river. George shouted for his mother, but gefore anyone arrived Charley was drowned. Col. Hickson and family arrived the same fall, and took up their abode in the building owned by the Indian trader, Knaggs. They lived in Tecumseh a few years, and afterwards moved on a farm just north of Clinton, where Mrs. Hickson still resides, in a hale and happy old age. Theodore Bissell arrived the same summer, remained over one winter, and then returned East. In 1827 he came back and settled here. The first religious service held here was in the summer of 1825, and was conducted by Rev. Noah M. Wells, then pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Detroit. He formerly resided in New York, and Mrs. Gen. Brown was a member of his church there. He came over to Tecumseh to pay the General's family a visit, and as he remained in town one Sabbath, a meeting was held in Brown's tavern, and Mr. Wells preached the sermon. In the fall, Rev. Mr. Bachman, a Methodist, commenced preaching here and continued regularly every two weeks for three or four years, Tecumseh being the principal point in his circuit. He received the magnificent salary of $100 per year. These services were held at first in the school house and afterwards in the court house. During the season of 1825, the settlers were hard at work breaking up the land, tilling and harvesting their crops. A large amount of wheat was sown that fall. It was in the fall and winter of this year that Wing, Evans & Brown started the project of a new grist mill. The first winter (1824-5) had been a very mild one, but the second one (1825-6) was colder, and there was some good sleighing. At this time a sleigh ride was got up to Benjamin's tavern, ten miles this side of Monroe. There were two loads of seven persons. One load contained Theodore Bissell, Horace Wolcott, and five young ladies, from fifteen to thirty years old. They were the only single ladies of a marriageable age then living in Tecumseh. The other load contained Dr. Ormsby, Cousin George Spafford, and five married ladies. As there were but two strings of bells in the county, each load appropriated one string. The husbands of the married ladies had previously gone to Monroe to purchase provisions, and after the two sleigh loads arrived at Benjamin's, the five husbands stopped on their return home, and very unexpectedly found their wives there. The occurrence produced much merriment, and was the theme of gossip in the village for some time afterwards. In the fall of Ô25 or spring of Ô26, Borland made a party at his house on the Blood farm. Gen. Brown hitched up Evans' lumber wagon, put a long board across, and picked up a load of ladies to take to the party. Going home the wagon reach came apart, the board dropped down, and the women were tumbled into the ditch. Mrs. Daniel Hickson was one of the heroines of this accident. Page 149 In the fall of '25 a small frame school house was built on the north side of Chicago street where the old Michigan House was afterwards erected, the present site of S. B. Terry's residence; and in the ensuing winter, George Taylor, father of Mrs. James Pencil, of this village, taught the first regular term of school, in the new building. The first white male child born in the county was George W. Goodrich, who now lives in the township of Clinton. The next child, or rather children, were twins, and Mrs. Peter Low was the happy mother. Peter Low was an uncle of Justus Low, who now lives in Ridgeway. In the spring of Ô26, Evans commenced the building of a large frame house on the corner of Oneida and Chicago streets, and by the 4th of July, in that year, the frame was up and roof on, and it was used for the celebration. This house yet stands and is used by Peter R. Adams, Esq., as his residence. This spring the grist mill, which had been started the previous fall, was completed. The mill was placed east of the Brownville dam, opposite the river from the saw mill, about where the paper mill is now located. But the project came near being a failure for lack of mill stones. Fortune, however, favors the brave. About a mile or so northeast was found a huge boulder of pure granite. With drill and wedges--for they had no powder--two large slabs were split off and worked into suitable size to answer the purpose. Along in June, when the mill was nearly finished, Jesse Osborn and Gen. Brown, in a bantering way, pledged each other, the one to furnish new wheat and the other to grind it on the 4th of July. They kept their word. Jesse Osborn harvested his wheat on ground north and east of Judge Stacy's present house, threshed it with a flail, took a grist to the new mill on the morning of the 4th, and from flour made that morning Mrs. Brown made some cake and biscuit, which were used at the celebration dinner in the afternoon. Sylvanus Blackmar was the miller who ground this grist, and to him belongs the honor of-having ground the first flour ever manufactured in Lenawee county. Another version of that Thomas Griswold ground the first grist. Blackmar was the regular miller, and Griswold worked in the mill. It is quite likely, therefore, that both of them had a "hand in the hopper." For several days prior to July 4th, l826, arrangements were making for an extensive celebration. About noon a procession formed at Brown's tavern. Daniel Pitman was marshal of the day, and road on a small bald-faced pony. Brass bands were not plenty in those days, but music of some kind was necessary, so they got a French fiddler from Monroe, and that Frenchman with his fiddle constituted the band. After forming the procession it was marched to Evans' new house, three blocks up Chicago street, where the exercises were held. During the march, one string of the Frenchman's fiddle broke, and the band cried out, "Stop the procession." The marshal, however, kept the procession moving, but the music after that was rather demoralized. Arriving at Evan's house, the speaking of the day was gone through with and then the company dispersed. Some of the men returned to Brown's tavern for their dinner, and others, with the ladies of the village, made some tables in Pitman's yard, on the corner opposite Evans' new house, and enjoyed a picnic dinner. Mrs. Brown had some cake and biscuit there made from the new flour ground that morning. Page 150 Cynthia Spafford, now Mrs. Tilton, was living in Pitman's family at that time, and she considers that meal was one of the best and most enjoyable picnic dinners she has ever partaken of from that day to this. The first two years of pioneer life in Tecumseh were filled with many privations and trials. Many illustrations of this we have given, and many more will never be recorded. An anecdotes told of Capt. Merritt, an early resident, which shows the feeling of the early settlers. Meeting a friend one day in Monroe, he was asked where he lived. "In Tecumseh," said he. "And where is that?" "It is thirty miles from Monroe," he replied, "and forty miles beyond God's Blessing." Those of us who have come up with the present generation have but a faint idea of the privations and struggles that the pioneers endured who laid on the banks of the Raisin the foundation of the village of Tecumseh. Our allotted task is done, and upon this glorious fourth of 1826, we drop the curtain of our history for the present. Gen. Brown, Mr. and Mrs. Tilton, E. F. Blood, Mrs. Hickson, Sumner Spafford, Sam and James Pitman, and perhaps a few others, are the only persons now living who can remember with any distinctiveness the events of those far off days, and those few persons are rapidly passing away. Peter Benson lives near Grand Traverse, and Mrs. Knaggs, his sister, is living in Monroe. We trust some abler pen may hereafter take up the thread of our narrative where we have left it, and rescue the events of the subsequent five or ten years from the oblivion which now threatens them.