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

INGHAM COUNTY NOTES

177

made the abstracts of Lenawee and Allegan counties. He is now
in correspondence with nearly all the owners of unoccupied lands
in this county.
The strenuous life of the pioneers had a natural tendency to
make them serious minded, but even then it did not always deprive them of their sense of humor, as the following story goes to
show.
Anson Jackson, the first surveyor in this section, was pretty well
posted in regard to the forest lands in this vicinity, and was very
helpful to the pioneers who entered on these lands. John Rayner,
one of the early settlers, took up a large tract of land near Mason,
and depended on Jackson to lay out the boundaries for him.
Only the choicest timber was of much value in those days, and
this the settlers would take wherever they could find it on the
government land, if they saw a chance to make a little money on it.
One day, the story goes, Mr.Jackson went to Mr. Rayner
and said, "I know where there are some fine black walnut trees
that we can sell, and if you will furnish the team and help on the
work, I think we can make a good thing out of it." Mr. Rayner
consented, and after traveling a long distance they came to the
trees in question, which they harvested and sold, dividing the
profits.
Some months later Mr. Rayner thought he would look over his
belongings, and as he traveled about he came to a place that
looked very familiar to him, where was the stumpage of a fine lot
of black walnut trees.
He immediately interviewed Mr. Jackson and learned the practical joke which had been played on him, when the surveyor led
Mr. Rayner round and round through the forest to this place on
his own land, where he had not only furnished the trees for the
logging enterprise, but did a part of the work and all of the hauling. Tradition fails to tell how Mr. Rayner took the joke, or
whether he ever got even with Mr. Jackson.