History of Muskegon County, Michigan: with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers.

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FRUITLAND TOWNSHIP.

This fine township, which is an off-shoot from Dalton Township, was organized by the Board of Supervisors of Muskegon
County, in October, 1869, and derives its name from the successful
culture of fruits of all kinds. Rightly it is named a "land of fruit,"
as the soil along the White Lake on the northeast quarter, and Lake
Michigan on the west is admirably adapted to the culture of grapes
and peaches, of which there are some fine farms, notably that of
Charles N. Merriman, between Duck Lake and Lake Michigan, Jos.
Hagreen, south of White Lake, and Messrs. Kelly and Braman of
the same place. The soil along the lake is, of course, sandy and
somewhat light, but in the interior 'and towards the southeast it becomes a heavy clay'loam mixed with gravel and sand, and the soil
is well adapted for apples, plums, pears, etc. The whole township
is indeed fine land and will shortly be a garden. It was all covered
with a heavy growth of timber, chiefly pine, and this was mainly
taken up by non-residents, and thousands of acres are still held in
this way by G. B. Slocum, C. Mears and others. The pine has
nearly disappeared, and fruit growing has taken its place. Wheat
and corn also flourish, for instance, there are few finer farms in the
county than that of Ole. E. Gordon in the east of the township.
This township is he first of the second tier of towns reckoning
from the north, on the west side of the county, and is Township 11,
north, Ranges 17 and 18 west. Range 17 is full, but 18 is simply a
gore, which was'until recently attached to White River. The township is bounded on the north by Whitehall, on the east half of its
boundary and on the northwest by a line continued straight on from
the Whitehall boundary across the southwest portion of White Lake
to the new channel or harbor. On the west, Lake Michigan is the
boundary, trending to the northwest. On the east Dalton, on the south
Laketon. It is six miles from north to south and varies from seven
to five miles across from east to west. There are two small lakes
on the west, of which the northern one, two miles south of White
Lake on the Lake Michigan shore, is called Duck Lake, about two
miles long and half a mile wide. It was here that the first settlement was made by Chas. Mears, near its mouth; and here he erected
a sawmill about 1840, C. Mlears being one of the first purchasers of
pine lands herb. Below Duck Lake is Muskrat Lake, which is very I
small. Duck river comes winding across this flat township by a
quiet course and by several branches, watering the whole center of
the township, and is the only stream of any consequence.
ORGANIZATION.
The township was organized in October, 1869, and the first
election was held on April 4, 1870, at which fifty-two voters were
present. There being a tie for Supervisor between H. S. Tyler and
Ezra Stearns, on drawing lots it was given to the former. 'J. S.
Taylor was the first Clerk; O. E. Gordon,' Treasurer; D. E. Califf
and Jno. Dorman, Justices of the Peace; Webster Thompson, Commissioner of Highways; C. E. Califf, Thos. Dorman and E. Saeens,
Constables; H. R. Newlun, Inspector of Schools; C. E. Califf, Overseer road district No. 2, H. Marvin for No. 1, and MI. Speed for
No. 8.

Successive elections have been held each year. At that of 1881
there were only fifty-four voters, no more than ten years before;
for, since lumbering is over, the population is not increasing. John
F. Culver was elected Supervisor, as he has been almost yearly since
1877. He is a fine sturdy specimen of the stalwart American, and
gives good satisfaction in his office. He is a veteran of the last war,
and came with his aged parents here from Wisconsin in 1864. H.
R. Newlun is Clerk, and is struggling with a new farm on the Southeast. E. Stearns is Treasurer; Jas. D. Depue and Joseph Hagreen
Justices; R. N. Poulin Commissioner of Highways and of Drainage;
J. A. McMillan, Superintendent of Schools, and C. E. Califf, In
spector of Schools; Frank Jones, O. E. Gordon, J. W. Krupp and
R. Robison, Constables; Z. Bates, Overseer for Road Dist. No. 1,
T. Keiller for No. 2, C. E. Califf for No. 3, L. Cole for No. 4, J. F.
Culver for No. 5, D. F. Depue for No. 6, and C. A. Wickstrom for
No. 7. J. F. Culver has also been town clerk, as has also J. A.
McMillan. There is no debt on the township, and they have never
borrowed.
SAWMILLS
The sawmills are two in number. The first, that of Duck Lake,
built in 1840, by C. Mears, was a water mill; afterwards, to increase
his lumbering, a large steam mill was built, but fire consumed both
mills, and only the water mill is now operated. The other sawmill
is that owned since 1879 by Capt.'James Dalton, and built by Geo.
Rodgers at an early day on the south shore of White Lake. This
Rodgers was from near Grand Rapids, and had previously built the
mill at Long Point on White River.
Just across from Dalton's mill, and now operated by Weston &
Hafer, Mr. Rodgers was drowned in crossing White Lake, and Cohn
& O'Brien had his mill, afterwards,Kelsey & Green, then Major
George Green alone, and last Capt. Dalton. Rodgers bought the
site from one Barnhart, a clever young fellow who had worked for
C. Mears, and had married an Indian woman.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
CHAS. MEARS was the first settler in Fruitland, and purchased
over 2,000 acres of pine land, chiefly around Duck Lake, at the government price of $f1.25 an acre, and some for scrip at even less.
Mr. Mears, who bought in 1843, still has the greater portion of this,
although it is nearly stripped of timber, and is interested with Mr.
Merriman in fruit growing on a large scale. Whein he came to this
region there were 3,000.Ottawas, who have since moved to the Pere
Marquette region. They were a quiet, peaceable race, and well liked
by the Whites. C. Mears' men were among the first settlers. J.
Philbrick was one of his foremen. About the first house built was
that of Mr. Doan, which was on the Pick place on Whitehall town
line. This was probably the only house outside of Duck Lake in
1850. Next a Mr. Dexter, now deceased, built a log house south
of White Lake, but left before 1850. Seever, a German, took his
place. Joseph Hagreen, south of White Lake, has a fine fruit farm.
He came in 1850, and his daughter, Maggie, born in 1858, is prob

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