Atlas of Berrien County, Michigan / compiled from actual surveys and the county records by W. W. Graves.

:B: P- TZ - R I E T_` / 0 -T r]U C Y-.

ferry was established this year by Benjamin and Joseph Finch. A road was surveyed in
May by Samuel Marrs, from St. Joseph through Wolf Prairie to Niles; roads were also laid out
from the Indiana State line through Bertrand to Niles, and Pokagon to Niles. The county
was organized in 1831, receiving its name from Hon. J. M. Berrien, a member of President
Jackson's cabinet, with St. Joseph as the county seat. The first deed recorded in Berrien
county was made November 22, 1831, by Eber Griswold and Marinda Griswold, his wife, conveying to Wm. Liston lot No. 23 in Wm. Justice's plat of Niles, and recorded at 4 o'clock
P. M. the same day. Obed P. Lacy, Register.
Berriens 1owrisship.-Joh n Johnson was the first settler in this township, and
located his farm in Section 29, in 1827. G. H. Claypool, in the fall of the same year, settled
on eighty acres in the same section. These two families were the only residents of the township
for two years. In the summer of 1829, Isaac and John Smith located in Sections 13 and 24,
near Smith's lake. In 1831, Win. Lemon came from Ohio, and located in Section 19 (the
D. B. Townsend farm); the small creek that runs through this place furnished the power for
the first saw-mill in the township, which was built by him a short time after. Michael Hand
located in Section 31 the same year. Hugh Marrs entered land in Section 7, and Adam
Michael, in 1832, located in Section 21; with him came Isaac Murphy, who located in Section
15. Prior to 1832 all voters in the southern half of the county were obliged to go to Niles
to vote. The township was organized during that year, and extended west to the lake.
Julius Brown came from Niles that year, and located in Section 7. Among the early settlers
who came after this were James Gillispie, who settled in Section 21; Elias Parker, in Section
29, where he built a saw mill; John Powers, in Section 15; Thomas Riggin and Hiram
Hinchman, in Section 23. In October, 1834, Andrew Tate settled in Section 17. Cyrus
Hinchman settled inSection 11. On this farm he raised the largest pumpkin ever seen by the
"oldest inhabitant "; it required two men to lift it into the wagon. He took it to Niles and traded it for a barrel of salt. Richard McOmber settled in Sections 16 and 17 (now the County Poor
Farm). David Moore and Martin Friley settled in the north part of the township. In 1836,
Henry Rush settled near the town line, in Section 5. Among other early settlers were Francis
R. Pinnell, Thomas Easton, E. B. Walker, Nathan Fitch, Silas Ireland, Shadrach and Eli
Ford and Andrew Burk.
St. Joseph.-The permanent settlement of St. Joseph dates from 1828, when the
Indians ceded the land to the United States, and Major Calvin Brittain located there. Major
Brittain was employed the year previous as teacher at the Carey Mission, and he hastened to
secure the first claim at the mouth of the river. At this time the river emptied into the lake
near the present location of Cooper, Wells & Co.'s knitting factory. Augustus B. Newell came
in 1829, and built a log house below the hill, near the foot of State street. Major Brittain
made his home with Newell, and during the year built a small warehouse near the present site
of the freight house of the Chicago & tVest Michigan Railroad Company.
In May of this year Daniel T. Wilson came; his father's family came in the fall, and with
them came Pamelia Ives (Mrs. Calvin Bartlett). Benjamin Chandler also came in 1829, and
built a house on the bluff. Benjamin C. Hoyt arrived in July of the same year, and engaged
in the mercantile business. Other settlers who came about the same time were Calvin Bartlett, Wm. Huff, Major Timothy S. Smith and L. L. Johnson, who located near the lake shore
about a mile north of the village, the place now known as " Double L Gap." During 1829 and
1830, the land in this part of the county was surveyed by John Mullett, Deputy Government
Surveyor, and in 1830, Major Brittain and Mr. Newell entered the lands already secured by
pre-emption. In 1831, the village was laid out by Major Brittain, the Mansion House was
built on the bluff by Mr. Newell, the Government lighthouse was commenced, and a post-office
was established, Major Brittain being appointed postmaster. The first marriage in St. Joseph
occurred this year at the Mansion House, the contracting parties being Calvin Bartlett and
Pamelia Ives, the ceremony being performed by Major Timothy Smith. Their oldest son,
Amos C. Bartlett, was born the following year, and was the first white child born in St. Joseph;
he, in his manhood, became a well known and popular steamboat captain. He is now a resident
of Buchanan. Owing to the widespread terror caused by the Black Hawk war in the spring
of 1832, but few settlers located in St. Joseph that year or the year following; among the few
who came were Edward P. Deacon and Wm McKaleb, who in 1832 built a steam saw-mill on
the river bank between the bayou bridge and Main street. It was during this year that the
first attempt was made to navigate the St. Joseph river with a steamboat. The boat was called
the Newburyport, and, in command of Capt. White, made a trip as far as Berrien, where she
ran aground, and was brought back in a damaged condition, and the experiment was abandoned
until the following year, when Deacon'and McKaleb built the Matilda Barney, Daniel Wilson,
captain, and Leverett Plum, engineer. The Matilda remained on the river several years.
During the winter of 1833-34, another tavern, the Michigan House, was built; it was a
log building, and stood below the hill, west of State street. In March, 1834, the village of St.
Joseph was incorporated by an Act of the Legislative Council of the Territory; at this time
the village contained twenty-seven dwelling houses. At a meeting of the " Freemen " at the
school-house on the first Monday in May, 1834, the following village officers were declared
elected: Thomas Fitzgerald, President; E. P. Deacon, Treasurer; Fowler Preston, Marshal;
B. C. Hoyt, James F. Lord, Wm. McKaleb, Calvin Brittain and John Wittenmeyer, Trustees.
The sum of $400 was levied for the use of the corporation this year. As money was scarce, it
was difficult to collect taxes, and an ordinance was passed by the Trustees some months afterward authorizing the Marshal to take promissory notes from the residents of the village for the

unpaid part of the tax, "which notes may. be paid by digging and' burning stumps in the streets
at twenty-five cents per stump." This year (1834) was far more active in improving St. Joseph
than any of its predecessors. Large amounts of freight were received for the inland towns,
such as Kalamazoo, Schoolcraft, Paw Paw, Three Rivers, South Bend and Niles. The merchants of these towns had their goods shipped to St. Joseph, and taken up the river. A large
number of new residents were added during this year. Among the number were R. B.
Duncan, George and Edward Kingsley, Curtis Boughton, Samuel R. Russell, Robert Hollywood, Hiram Brown and Edwin Richardson. In,the autumn of 1834 the first survey of the
Detroit & St. Joseph Railroad was made by Lieut. Berrien, and a corps of engineers. This contemplated road raised the hopes of the people; speculation ran high, and so did the price of
real estate. About this time the sand hills north of the river were purchased by Gurdon S.
Hubbard & Co., at a large price, and laid out into lots and streets. From a plat of the contemplated city on record at the Register's office, we learn that the larger portion was to have
been north of the river; the streets and lots as laid out, extended from the lake to the Paw Paw
river; a canal was to be dug from the Paw Paw river to the lake, by the " Double L Gap,"
and this would be lined with mills and factories; on the south side of the river, various lots
were set apart for religious and educational purposes; the court house was to stand on the
northeast corner of Broad and Main streets. Visions of a great city floated before their eyes. If
all the land within five miles of the mouth of the river had been a swamp, the unlucky owner
of which would have been glad to sell for $1 an acre, St. Joseph might have been a rival of
Chicago; but it stood high and dry, and its healthfulness was all that could be desired. The
pioneers had a good thing, and they knew it, and the moving spirits of the village, by showing a
disposition to control the affairs of others, and by asking an enormous price for the land, drove
many men away who would otherwise have settled there.
IWoyalto;.-John Pike was the first settler in Royalton township. He located in
Section 1 in 1832. The next settler was Jehiel Enos, who entered eighty acres adjoining Pike
the same year. He sold out in 1835 to Josephus Gard, who moved onto it. In 1834, Major
Timothy S. Smith laid out and recorded a village in Section 1, and called it Royalton; but it
proved to be only a paper town. In the spring of 1834, David Shearer, his son Eli, and Adam
Briney came from Ohio, and located in Section 19. David entered 160 acres; Eli, 80; and
Briney, 160. They returned in the fall for their families. David Shearer was a widower with
seven children, and he married a widow with six, so that, when he started for Michigan, he had
a family of thirteen children. When the Shearers came in, Clark Pennell and his father were
keeping what was known as the "Buckhorn tavern," on the St. Joseph road, a log concern,
afterward kept by D. M. Drum. It received its name by reason of a pair of buck's horns
placed over the tavern shed by Wm. H. Tryon, who was a noted deer hunter. In the fall of
1834, Rowland Tryon and his sons WTilliam H. and John settled in Section 29. William H.
still lives on the old farm. William Miltenberger, with his family, came in 1835, and settled in
Section 30. William Baumgartner came with him, and eventually settled in Section 18.
David Ball settled in Section 13 the same year, and in 1839 sold to Robert Hollywood. His
sons, Job B. and Robert T. Hollywood, still own the place. Theodore C. Abbe and two
brothers settled in Section 12. Samruel Danforth settled in Section 7 in 1838, and his son, J.
B. Danforth, afterward settled in Section 12.
Oronoko.-The ground now occupied by Berrien Springs was originally known as
Wolf Prairie, and, with its fine location and rich soil, had a great attraction for settlers, the
first of whom was John Pike, who came in 1829. This part of the county not having been
surveyed at that time, he pre-empted a few acres on the river bottom, which is a part of what
is known as the Shaker farm, now owned by H. J. H-owe. In 1831 he sold his claim to
George Kimmel, and in 1832 moved to Royalton township.
In 1829, Mr. George Kimmel, from Somerset county, Pa., visited the county, and in 1830
entered about 2,000 acres in and around Wolf Prairie. In 1831 he and his two sons,
Wellington and John, and several laboring men arrived, and cleared the land now occupied by
Mr. Howe; the remainder of his family did not arrive until 1833. He built the first saw-mill
in the township in 1832, on Lemon creek. His daughters, Mrs. Susan Kephart, of Berrien
Springs, and Mrs. Hester B. Stevens, of Niles, still own large farms which their father gave
them out of this tract. He also gave land to his daughter, Julia A. Dougherty, which is now
owned by her children; and to his daughter, Mary Graham, which is now owned by George
Graham. Francis B. Murdoch, son-in-law of Mr. Kimmel, came from Eli Ford's mill at
Niles, in 1831, with his wife and one child (Geo. H. Murdoch), having received 120 acres of
land from Mr. Kimmel. He built a house near the site of Mrs. James Graham's residence.
Mr. Kimmel also gave large farms to his grandsons, George Graham, James Graham and
Geo. H. Murdoch.
Pitt Brown was another settler in 1831. He was proprietor of the ferry which he
established soon after his arrival, and was the first postmaster; he kept the office in his tavern,
which he built at the foot of the hill below the west end of the bridge, where he afterward
had a store in company with Robert E. Ward, and with him also established a distillery.
Edward Ballengee came in 1832, and purchased an unfinished house near the present
location of the Defield House. In April of the following year he moved his stock of goods
from Indiana, and opened a store. Thomas Love was subsequently his partner in business.
Lyman A. Barnard came to Wolf Prairie in 1830. In 1832 he built a fifteen-ton vessel at
La Grange Prairie, and named it the Dart; he hauled it with ox teams to the river at Niles,
and floated it down to St. Joseph, where he put in masts, and sailed it several months between

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