Pioneer history of Ingham County, compiled and arranged by Mrs. Franc L. Adams, secretary of the Ingham County pioneer and historical society.

CHAPTER II
INGHAM COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
F. L. A., MASON, MIcII.
General history of Ingham county; Ingham county in 1838; history of the Hog's
Back; Ingham county's one lynching; early newspapers; papers by Peter Lowe
and Peter Linderman; pioneer officers of the county.
"The history of a country is best told in a record of the lives of
its people," and no more fitting introduction to a history of Ingham county could be given than in these words of Macaulay.
A writer of more obscure fame has said that to give the history of a
nation is to tell of its wars, the causes and the results. The territory now known as Ingham county cannot boast of any wars, in
the sense of which we speak of war, but the people of early days
certainly engaged in many conflicts against the intrusion of foes
found in the wilderness and morass of this territory, as they struggled to build their homes.
The elements, the fastnesses of the forests and swamps, the devastation wrought by the wild beasts which infested the country,
and the tact and courage they were compelled to use in their dealings with the savages, placed them in the list with the patriot
pioneers of this land. The wars and their causes are thus accounted for, and the results need not be enumerated, for we,
today, are enjoying the peaceful homes. well cultivated, prolific
farms, schools and churches, factories, and all improvements, conveniences and luxuries which modern methods can give, and which
this early bloodless warfare made possible for us.
That this section was once the chosen seat of the Indian tribes
of the northwest is a fact well known. All know the story of the
noted Chief Okemos, head of a tribe of the Ottawas, and the trails
that he and his braves made as they crossed and recrossed this
part of Michigan are still remembered by the older inhabitants,
who have no trouble in naming the exact locality of some of them.
Scientists tell us that the contents of the mounds found in dif