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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PIONEER HISTORY OF INGIIAM COIUNTY

to get to Saline, Washtenaw county, a distance of forty miles,
and which can be covered now in two hours.
We came from Saline to Jackson, and stopped there until we
looked up land, which was in Vevay Township, Ingham county.
We went to the land office in Kalamazoo and took up the land,
paying $100 for 80 acres. We started from Jlacklson on oMonday
morning, cut our way to Vevay, fording Grand river. We built a
shanty on the place I now live on. This was the first blow struck
in this part of the town, July, 1836. Michigan at that time was a
territory. In the winter of 1837 it was admitted as a state.
The first time I went to Mason there was a small piece chopped
on the section line, where the I)onnelley Houlse now stands, by
E. B. Danforth. The next spring he sowed it to turnips, raising
the largest I ever saw. Our nearest saw alnd grist mill wias at
Jackson. Some would like to know how we got along without
lumber to build with. For floors we cut nice basswood and split
them into plank, "spotted" them on the under side and laid them
down as even as we could, then adzed them off, which made quite
passable flooring. For roof we peeled bark. For gable ends we
split shakes.
The first lumber we had we got in Jackson, to make a coffin for
a sister of mine. She died April 7, 1837. I think she was the
first person who died in the town. The first marriage was Jasper
Wolcott and Harriet Sergeant. She is now the wife of Edwin Hubbard. The first birth in the township was Nelson Wolcott, son of
Jasper Wolcott.
The first saw mill built in the county was by E. B. Danforth.
A man by the name of Lacy took the job in the summer of 1836.
The first grist mill was started by Mr. Danforth, who got a pair of
mill stones-about 20 inches in diameter-set them in the corner
of his saw mill and propelled them by the bull wheel of the mill.
Many a bag of corn have I carried on my back from my place to
Mason, without any road, to get it ground. The first road we
had from my place to Mason was cut in 1837.
When Deacon Barnes moved to Aurelius those were times that
tried men's souls. It was just after General Jackson vetoed the
United States Bank and removed the United States deposits,
which caused a panic and many hard times. Good money was
not to be found. All the money we had was "wild cat" and was