Past and present of Washtenaw County, Michigan / by Samuel W. Beakes, together with biographical sketches of many of its prominent and leading citizens and illustrious dead.

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PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.

cupied in the fall of 1824 by Charles B. Taylor
and family who thus became the first settlers in
Webster. Thomas Alexander, from Wales, was
the first settler in southeastern Webster in May,
I826. He had first settled in Ann Arbor. The
same year Luther Bryden and Israel Arms, both
of Massachusetts, settled in Webster and in I827
'Charles Starks, of Pennsylvania; Salmon H.
Matthews, of Massachusetts'; Peter Sears,
Sturms Kimberley, Ezra Fish and Ira Seymour.
Among the arrivals in I828 was John Williams,
and in 1829 Munnis Kenny. Munnis Kenny was
a strong man in the early history of Washtenaw.
Born in Vermont, he had received his academic
education in New Hampshire and his collegiate
education at Middlebury and Williams Colleges.
He practiced law and was a member of the New
Hampshire legislature before coming to Michigan. In Webster he located a 24o-acre farm
and devoted himself to agriculture. But he took
a strong stand on political matters and was regarded as a party leader. He presided at conventions, drafted platforms and was often called
on to lead his party. He was one of the main
'organizers of the Washtenaw Farmers' Mutual
Fire Insurance Company, and was for many
years its secretary. He died in April, I862, and
his descendants have proven worthy of him.
Dixboro was among the first hamlets in Washtenaw county. We have seen that Elbridge Gee
built the first house in Superior, but not at Dixboro. To John Dix belongs the honor of making
the first settlement at Dixboro, and for a long
time he was supposed to have been the first settler of Superior. He built his first house in
June, I824, and soon after built the first frame
barn in the county. This was in July, I825.
The following year he built a sawmill, and two
or three months later a grist mill. Besides these
he kept a store for the accommodation of his
neighbors, thus making Dixboro quite a center
in early pioneer life. Captain Dix was a man with
a history. Born in Littleton, Massachusetts, in
1796, he went to sea at sixteen years of age,
served on a privateer in the War of 1812, was
afterwards wrecked on the island of New Zealand, and was a man of remarkable physical and
mental vigor; but he is said to have been the most

unpopular man in Washtenaw county, and one
reason given by the older settlers for this fact
was that he was from Boston. His wife was
known to the early Washtenaw settlers as "Lady
Trass." She belonged to a good Massachusetts
family, was a fine horsewoman, and a fine shot.
Captain Dix was a man who did things, and if
he had been content with his life in Washtenaw,
Dixboro, which was named after him, might
have been more than the hamlet that it is. He
left the county in I833 and was one of the filibusters who seized Texas, and during the Civil
war was three times arrested and in danger of
being hanged because he persisted in remaining a
Union man, in which opinion he remained until
the close of the war when he was honored with
Federal and state offices, and when he died was
the chief justice of his county. In September,
1825, Colonel John Brewer and brother, and
Hiram Robinson, of Cayuga county, New York,
settled in what is known as the free church
neighborhood in Superior, but were not able to
get title to their land until July of the following
year. Soon they were joined in this section by
Hiram H. Tooker, Ebenezer Stacey, John Bramble, John Newell, Moor Spears and Robert Barr.
Tn the same township, two and a half miles distant, the pioneer was Henry Kimmel, who came
from Somerset county, Pennsylvania, in I825.
He had been prospecting, however, the year before through Indiana and Michigan, and picked
Superior as the best of all the lands he saw. He
sold out mill property he had acquired at
'Kaskaskia, Indiana, and removed to Superior.
His caravan has been described as, first a primitive ox cart, the fellies of which were eight inches
wide and without tires, so made as not to sink
into the ruts, drawn by four yoke of oxen, the
cart being filled with ox yokes and feed for
horses. Behind this cart came several yoke of
oxen driven by men hired for the purpose of
taking the lead and fording streams. Next came
a four-horse team with a large wagon containing
the tents and cooking utensils, including a barrel
churn in which butter was made on the way.
Then came a team with a light wagon containing the family trunks and provisions. This was
followed by another wagon for the cattle drivers,