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

INGIIAM COUNTY HISTORY

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In the Michigan State Gazeteer for 1863 is found the following
description of Ingham county:
"Ingham is situated in the south central part of the State, and
is bounded on the north by Clinton and Shiawassee, east by Livingston, south by Jackson, west by Eaton, and contains 564 square
miles. The surface is gently undulating in the southern part of
the county, but in the north part it is level, and there are extensive
marshes. No county in the State contains a greater variety of
soil, and it is to this circumstance, added to its central position,
that it was selected as a favorable locality for the Agricultural
College at Lansing. The soil is exceedingly productive. The
county is intersected by the Grand and Red Cedar rivers and
their tributaries. The following is a list of the towns: Alaiedon,
Aurelius, Bunkerhill, Delhi, Ingham, Kinneyville, Lansing, Lansing City, Leroy, Locke, Mason village, Meridian, Okemos village, Onondaga, Stockbridge, Vevay, Wheatfield, White Oak,
Williamston. The population in 1860 was 17,456. The value of
real estate owned is $6,106,798; the whole number of occupied
farms, 1,576; acres improved, 81,295; acres unimproved, 93,151;
total wheat in 1860, 140,043 bushels; rye, 7,683; Indian corn,
233,426; oats, 103,757; potatoes, 85,607; wool, 89,803 pounds;
butter, 400,055 pounds; maple sugar, 190,514 pounds.
"There are four water and four steam flouring mills; capital invested in them, $50,500; manufacturing 31,324 barrels of flour;
annual product estimated at $182,625. There are four water and
twenty-one steam saw mills, with a capital invested of $67,600,
producing annually 11,418,000 feet of lumber, estimated to be
worth $87,717. Aggregate of capital invested in all kinds of manufactures, mills included, $215,165, yielding an annual product of
$521,325.
"The whole number of children, between the ages of 5 and20,
is 6,388, of whom 5,569 regularly attend school. Amount raised
by rate bill, $1,299.51; raised by two mill tax, $5,933.39; qualified
male teachers, 65; female teachers, 183. Mason is the county
seat. The Amboy, Lansing and Traverse Bay Railroad is completed from Lansing to Owosso, in Shiawassee county."