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

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GRAND HAVEN TOWNSHIP.

This township has a mean width of about four and one-half
miles from east to west, and an extreme length of about nine miles,
with the city of Grand Haven occupying the north end of the town.
SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION.
Nothing can be said of the settlement of this township as distinct from that of the village of Grand Haven, which was the nucleus
for at least all the northwestern part of the county. The pioneers
of the city were the first settlers in what was known as Ottawa township until the year 1363, when it was changed to Grand Haven.
Ottawa township was co-extensive with the county (save two congressional towns organized as Talmadge), and was organized in April
1838. Wm. Hathaway was supervisor, and the election took place
at the house of Nathan Troop. It may be regarded as the parent
town from which, by successive pruning, all the other towns have
been separated, until it finally gave up its name, and in fact when
separated from the city in 1867, the town dwindled to quite a small
affair. The city limits are pretty extensive, and the population of
the town numbers but 642 according to the last United States
census.
SUPERVISORS.
In 1867, the year the city was chartered, the town officers were:
Supervisor- R. W. Duncan, the Grand Haven lawyer; Clerk-John
Fuite; Treasurer-Jacob De Boe. J. Mastenbroek was supervisor
in 1876-7-8-9, and Henry Saul in 1880-1.
STATISTICAL.
The town contains 18,319 acres of land. The valuation of real
estate as equalized by the County Board of Supervisors has been of
late years as follows: In 1877, $106,720; in 1878, $98,305; in 1879,
$86,471; 1880, $80,672; 1881, $81,827.
SOIL, PRODUCTS, ETC.
The town contains over 16,000 acres of taxable land, and its general quality is seen in the fact that although adjoining a flourishing
city, where "corner lots" command good prices, the lands of the town
are rated at about $5.00 per acre on an average for purpose of taxation.
A considerable portion of the town consists of a series of sand
hills, some of them about 200 feet in height, and since experiments
have demonstrated that much of these are valuable for horticultural
purposes, it is possible that a great change will soon take place.
There is a considerable portion of marsh in the town, too little
above the lake or river level for thorough drainage.
FRUIT.
Peach Plains settlement, to the south and east of the city limits
is a tract of about 2,000 acres that is becoming famous as one of
the choicest fruit regions, although it is less than fifteen years since
it was first selected.
The pioneer in fruit growing, and still a leader in that line, was
the Hon. Townsend E. Gidley who bought about one-third of the
lands of the Robert Stuart estate, which had been out of the market

for about a score of years since the death of the owner, and amounted
to about 2,000 acres. Mr. Gidley bought the lands near the river
about two miles to the southeast of the city, paying about $15 an
acre, for what now would be worth perhaps $30. He has now 70
acres of orchard with over 10,000 trees, chiefly peach, with apple,
plum and cherry, and his heaviest crop has been 5,000 baskets.
Mr. Walter Phillips is next south of Mr. Gidley, and is quite
extensively into fruit. He has also an elegant residence. He has
been quite successful with small fruits, of which he has 20 acres.
Mr. Smith is next south, next James Seek, who is on the river.
On the west side of the road past Mr. Gidley is E. T. Andrews,
Mr. Bissell, John and Johannes Goudberg. Messrs. Norcross, father
and son, are nearer Pottowatamie Bayou which extends west from
Grand River nearly one and a half miles.
Mrs. Woolcot and son are energetic fruit growers, and have a
small but well cultivated plot of 15 acres. The most successful in
strawberries in 1881 was E. Branch, who has fifteeu acres next to
Norcross,
The Hon. D. B. Conger, on Peach Plains, is an old resident, an
extensive peach raiser, with more or less small fruit. He is a man
of energy and of great will power. He was educated for the law,
has been in Australia and in many other foreign lands, was senator
in Wisconsin for two terms, and has been in Peach Plains about
twelve years.
G. R. Harris is a successful grower of small fruits, having a
fine location of 20 acres; and two Hollanders, Messrs. Gringhuis and
Grubno, have 40 acres each of all kinds of fruit, and are earnest,
successful men.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
GEO. W. AIKEN, of Section One, was born in Rumney town,
N. H., in 1846, and spent his youth boating on the lakes until 1875,
when he settled on his present place. In 1872 he married Emillia
Doud, born in Wayne County, N. Y., in 1845. They have one
child, Jesse MI., born in 1874.
ANDREW M[. COLE, of Section Thirty-Five, was born in Wilson,
Niagara Co., N. Y., in 1824, and moved thence to Lockport, N. Y.,
where in 1861 he enlisted in Company M. Eighth N. Y. Artillery,
under Capt. Catheren. He was present at some hot engagements,
of which the principal were the battles of Winchester, Cedar Mountain, and Antietam. In 1863 he took his discharge. From Lockport Mr. Cole then moved to Battle Creek, and there engaged in
mercantile business. In 1876 he settled on his present place. In
1848 he married Miss Mary A. Culver, born in Royalton, N.Y., in
1826.
HoN. T. E. G1IDLEY, after having passed the first few years of his
business life in mercantile pursuits, at Poughkeepsie N. Y., the place
of his nativity, warned by his failing health, closed his business,
and in the Spring of 1833 sought and found, or rather made a home
in the then far away and almost untrodden wilds of central Michi

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