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

LANSING TOWNSHIP AND CITY, WITII HISTORY

461

deep and there seemed no bottom to the mud. I unhooked the
chain and let the lead team go ashore; then cut some poles to
lengthen the chains, took my oxen to hard land, hitched the
combination of chain and pole to the wagon tongue, and with my
team pulled through to terra firma. One of the oxen belonging to
our new friend had been broken to ride, the yoke was adjusted
and I assisted the lady to mount. She started back for her
cabin and we continued our journey.
"I mention these incidents to show the trials and tribulations
encountered and endured by the early settlers of this country.
That night we reached a settlement of three or four families who
had located on or near the present site of Unadilla village. Here
we rested for three days, then resumed our journey and at the end
of the second day reached the home of Henry Clements, a mile
from the land that I had already located from the government.
There were already three families quartered in the Clements mansion, and we made the fourth. This palatial residence was in a
crude state. It was a structure 16 x 18 feet. No windows had
yet been put in, no doors hung, no chinking between the logs, yet
it offered shelter to four happy families. The women did the
cooking by log fires out of doors.
"I set about immediately to build a home on my land and in
about two weeks we moved into our first home in Michigan. It
was a log house 16 x 24 feet. When we took possession there was
only one-third of the roof on, and only eight feet space of the floor
laid. The openings had been cut for doors and windows, but
these necessary adjuncts to our comfort had not yet found a resting place in the niches prepared for them. Neither had the chimney been built, but we managed to keep quite comfortable by a
fire built on the ground in one end of the house. Our first night
in the new home was made memorable by a heavy snow storm, and
it required a good share of the next forenoon to shovel the snow
out of our cabin. But in due time we were comfortably housed
for the winter. My land was in the town of White Oak, four miles
east of Dansville, where we remained nine years, at the end of
which time I had cleared fifty acres of heavy timber land, had it well
fenced and under cultivation. During this nine years of pioneer
life in Ingham county many hardships and privations were endured which, if our young people nowadays, who are just starting