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

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I'1IONEE R IISTORY OF INGII[AM COUNTY

and taking to the wild flower-bordered footpath that ran through
the woods from the old Benton House to the new State Capitol.
They called it Washington Avenue, deep mud though it was.
That Sarah was in love that day in the spring woods is now
historically proven; but that she came out in the clearing to meet
quite by accident the young sergeant-at-arms at the new Capitol,
as he should leave the task of keeping a majority lot of Democrats
and a handful of Whigs in order, and return to the Benton House,
is something we will have to imagine. Lovers in the woods
about Lansing in the spring of 1849 were, we may well guess, not
different than lovers in the parks will be in the spring of 1921.
Edward Randolph Merrifield, history now relates, was in love,
too, that spring day. Some years later he was to lose his job in
the Auditor General's office because of party reasons and with a
young wife and a small boy, Robert Thomas Merrifield, on his
hands, he was to be very distressed in mind and not know which
way to turn. What the Republican party would do to his love
dream a few years later he could not suspect-the party had not
arisen.
"Oh, phsaw!-why need those old-timers have worried?" said
someone to whom this little story was related just before the
typewriter began relating it to the linotype.
"Looking back to their time, a worry seems so incongruousthose pioneer folks were in the hands of a kind Providence."
So, in the woods of Michigan in '49, they recklessly loved and
married and then worried and their worries changed to good fortune quite magically and life went on about as today. The young
clerk by losing his job got into merchandising and made a fortune
here.
But we must get back to our love story we just picked up on the
edge of the woods. Love story, yes; but the young people were
not admitting the fact, not even to themselves-oh, mercy no!the game had only begun. Still there were some things young
Edward Randolph Merrifield, hero of the Mexican War and then
sergeant-at-arms of the house, wanted to say and yet appear very
casual in the saying.
"Clerk Hovey told me today that Speaker Leander Chapman
had told him that the Legislature is going to adjourn in a day or
two-April 2 is the day set. More than 260 bills have been made