History of Hillsdale county. Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers.

HISTORY
OF
HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

BY CRISFIELD JOHNSON.

9

CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
Makers and Writers of History-Interest Attached to all Beginnings
-Interest in Pioneer Life-History hitherto Written long after
Death of Actors-More Rapid Custom of the Present Age-Evidence
from Living Lips-Plan of the Work-Books Consulted-The
Result Submitted.
TIE individuals more or less connected with history have
long been divided into two classes: " those who make history," and " those who write history." In one sense, the
former class comprises the whole human race, for every
human being contributes something to that great stream
of events, the course of which is mapped and the flow of
which is recorded by the pen of the historian; but the expression is commonly applied to the actors in the more important or more interesting scenes in the drama of life.
Among these scenes a deep interest has always attached
to the conquest of the wilderness by civilization, to the
foundation of new nations, states, cities, and communities,
and to the first critical years of their development. The
trivial wall, over which according to tradition Remus
leaped, and which Romulus stained with his brother's
blood, still interests the imagination of mankind-because
it was the first of Rome's defenses-almost as strongly as
do the Pantheon, the Coliseum, and all the other mighty
ruins of the seven-hilled city. Thus, too, the little band
of Puritans, who amid poverty, hardship, and danger,
planted the banners of civil and religious freedom on the
rock-bound coast of New England, still live on the page
of history, more conspicuous than any of the swarming
millions who have since occupied the land.
For the same reason, though in lesser degree, the pioneers
of every State and county, who with adventurous steps have
defied the wilderness and endured the toils of frontier life,
have been objects of especial interest to all who came after
them, and enjoyed the blessings which they secured:
Hitherto, however, it has generally been the case that
those who "made history" had long been in their graves,
sometimes for centuries, ere those who "wrote history"
began their work. The latter could only rely upon doubtful
traditions, or at best upon a few worn and scattered manuscripts, for the material from which they were to construct
their enduring records. Endless mistakes were naturally
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the consequence, numerous conflicts were wagei over disputed points, and many of them are unsettled even to the
present day.
But in our more rapid age the muse of history often
stands, pen in hand, beside the pioneer, the workman, and
the soldier, ready to record their deeds ere yet the hunter's
antlered victim ceases to quiver beneath his fatal shot, ere
yet the echoes of the woodman's axe die away in the distance, ere yet the foeman's blood is wiped from the warrior's
steel.
In harmony with this spirit of the age, the publishers
of this and other similar works seek to obtain the greater
part of their history from living lips. In the county of
Hillsdale this can be done with great facility. Many of
the men and women who led the vanguard of the army of
civilization in its attack on the forest still live to testify of
the scenes through which they passed. From these we
have sought with all possible diligence to obtain the facts
regarding the development of every township in the county,
and of the county at large.
Besides the evidence thus procured from original sources,
we give a succinct account of the early discoveries which
gave the French what they considered a title to all this
region, and a more complete narrative of the actual early
possessors of the soil,-the Pottawattamie Indians.
Going into detail as much as we do, our plan is necessarily somewhat different from that of ordinary histories.
It embraces: first, a general history of the county; second,
a special history of the city of Hillsdale and of each of the
eighteen townships. The general history, in the first place,
comprises a consecutive record of everything of importance
that has occurred in the territory of the present county of
Hillsdale, or has been done by the inhabitants of that territory, whether red or white, from the earliest accounts down
to the present time, including the savage deeds of the
Indians of the St. Joseph Valley, the treaties by which the
land was acquired by the whites, the early development of
the county, and the gallant achievements of Hillsdale soldiers in the war for the Union. This record occupies
twenty chapters, and adheres closely to the chronological
order. The remaining five chapters of the general history are
occupied with statistical and miscellaneous matters, which
could not well be worked into the continuous record.
The histories of the city of Hillsdale and the various
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