Oceana County MI Archives History - Books .....Township Of Hart 1882 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/mi/mifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Jan Cortez http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00020.html#0004939 December 17, 2008, 6:26 pm Book Title: HISTORY OF OCEANA CO., CHICAGO, H.R. PAGE & COMPANY, 1882 This fine agricultural township was, prior to 1861, a portion of Elbridge, which then included four towns, exdtending from east to west. The following is a list of the leading officers of the town: SUPERVISORS. - Josiah Russell, 1861-'62; Robert F. Andrews, 1863-'65; David L. Garver, 1864; Abijan W. Peck, 1866; Theron S. Gurney, 1867; Ahaz A. Darling, 1868-'69; William J. Sprigg, 1871-'72; David Johnson, 1873-'74; Enoch T. Mugford, 1875--'76-7-'78-9-'80-1-2. CLERKS. - James H. Slater, 1879-'80-82; Abijah W. Peck, 1861-'62; Leonard E. Clark, 1863; Peleg A. Hubbard, 1864; William H. Cheney, 1865; William H. Leach, 1866; William A. Peck, 1867; C. A. Gurney, 1881; John M. Rice, 1868; Theron S. Gurney, 1869-'70-1; Charles W. Slaten, 1872; Marcus H. Brooks, 1873- '74-5-6-7-8. TREASURERS. - Charles W. Wilson, 1861; Daniel M. Wentworth, 1862-'64-5; Nehemiah Miller, 1863; George B. Rollins, 1866; David Benham, 1867; Frederick G. Reeding, 1868-'69; John Westbrook, 1870-'71-2-3; Josephus S. Peach, 1873- '74; Peleg A. Hubbard, 1876; Mills H. Bosworth, 1877-'78; William D. Markham, 1879; Isaac D. Reed, 1880. The first birth in the town was that or Flora McAllister, May 22, 1856. The first boy born was George A. Glover, December 16, 1856. The first house was built by Nelson Glover, December 16, 1856. The first marriage was that of Charles Williams to Mary O. Rollins. The first death was that of the wife of James Mooney, in 1859. The first school was taught by Mary O. Rollins. The first marriage in what is now the village of Hart, was that of Melvin A. Luther to Ida J. Corbin, at her father's house, by Rev. G. D. Lee, August 5, 1860. Huff & Cheney kept the first store. The first man buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery was H. H. Fuller, killed by a falling tree, in 1861. Amont the early births may be mentioned that of W. E. Mugford, November 3, 1858. Hiram E. Russell visited the township in 1855, and located a homestead on Section 18, January 1, 1856, when there was not a house in the town. In that year Glover, Jenks and Rollins built, and Russell built in November. The first brick store was erected in 1881, by W. Coolidge, - "The house that Jack built." The first postmaster was W. H. Leach, in 1864. The first hotel was opened in 1867 by B. Moore. The first county building in Hart was occupied in 1864, and still stands on the hill east of the old sawmill and gristmill. The county officers all occupied one room. The only other buildings in the village then were Corbin's log boarding-house, and the house and office now occupied by L. A. McIntyre & Son. The first house in the village was Corbin's log boarding-house. The first drug-store was by Dr. M. R. Chadwick, in 1868; the second was by J. K. Flood, in 1869. The first hardware store was by Cilver & Slater, about 1866. The first newspaper was the Journal, May, 1869. The first church was by the Old School Baptists. EARLY SETTLEMENT. In the Spring of 1856 Nelson Glover settled on the farm on which he still resides, and the same Spring there also settled a man with his family just across the river from him, named William Dunham, and the east of Glover, on the same side of the river, was Jacob Schrumpf, another Scotchman named McAllister, and also Joseph Booth, and a Mr. Green. In the same Spring Dr. Ira Jenks came from Kent, in company with two other men, wending his way via Croton, on the Muskegon, across the Marengo Plains, through the wilderness, with a pocket compass, to the lake shore below Pentwater, and two sawmills and a boarding-house, with one partly built was all there was then of Pentwater. Dr. Jenks came up the woods, and called on Glover. In June he came again, and chopped on his place, having had to cut a road four miles into his place. His bark shanty had no floor, no door, no windows, and the bark had curled so that one could put one's head out of the cracks, if one wished. In about three weeks, George W. Light and Edward Davis, with their families, settled on what is VanWickle's place. Judge Russell, with his two sons, Hiram and George, came in for a few weeks, and did some chopping on their place this season, but the judge and his family did not move in until 1859. In the Spring of 1857 there were ten families, - N. Glover, W. Dunham, J. Schrumpf, J. McAllister, S. Rollins, James Brooker, Ira Jenks, V. Satterlee, G. W. Light, E. Davis, H. H. Fuller. W. H. Leach put up the first frame dwelling in the village, and was the first postmaster, succeeded by the present Circuit Judge Russell. Robert McAllister was the first stage, as he carried the mail on his back from Pentwater to White River. If he had passengers, it is not known how he carried them, as even "the boot" of the stage was full. After this, the mail was carried by one man and three horses. The man rode one horse, and the two remaining horses brought up the rear. Until 1865 the people of Hart got their mail at Pentwater. In 1869 Collins & Roddy carried the mail. The Methodist Episcopal Elder A. A. Darling was the first preacher. In 1869 Elders Crane and Pratt preached in Huff's Hall, and a church was commenced that year. H. Brooks and Miss Ettie Vanwickle were the first teachers in the new union school. B. Moore erected and kept the first hotel. Nelson Green was the first judge of probate, followed by Josiah Russell, Charles Camp, and Amos Crosby, etc. Nelson Green was the first county surveyor, succeeded by Josiah Russell, and then H. C. Hawley. Tyler Carmer was the first jailer, succeeded by O. P. Fortner. J. Palmiter published the first newspaper. In 1869 36,086 pounds of maple sugar were made in this town. The first Episcopal service in Hart was in 1869, by the Rev. Dr. Pitkin. G. Rollins, Daniel Wentworth and Mr. Spoor, who were among the earliest settlers of Hart, were three ship carpenters, who came to build a vessel for C. Mears, at Pentwater, and Rollins came in first and picked out land for himself and the others. It was his house that the first town meeting of Elbridge was held in, that town then including four towns. Rollins and Spoor are dead, and Mr. Wentworth is in Maine, visiting the scenes of his boyhood. Additional Comments: HISTORY OF OCEANA CO., CHICAGO, H.R. PAGE & COMPANY, 1882 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mi/oceana/history/1882/historyo/township121gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/mifiles/ File size: 7.0 Kb