• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

AN EARLY HISTORY OF LAFAYETTE/PAW PAW, MICHIGAN Table of Contents History of Paw Paw Township, Michigan, Part-1 ................................................................................1 Pioneers of Paw Paw Outside of the Village.............................................................................. 1 Later Settlers........................................................................................................................ ..... 7 The Crooked Paw Paw................................................................................................... ............ 8 Forest Adventure of a Pioneer........................................................................................ ........... 9 Indian Skulls..................................................................................................................... ......... 9 Organization and First Town Meeting........................................................................... ............. 9 Township Civil List.......................................................................................................... ......... 10 History of Paw Paw Township, Michigan, Part-2.................................................................... .......... 14 Paw Paw Village............................................................................................................. ......... 14 The People............................................................................................................................... 14 Public Houses - Daniel O. Dodge's Tavern in Paw Paw Village...................................................17 The Great Immigration of 1836.................................................................................................17 Early Merchants................................................................................................................. ..... 18 Lawyers, Doctors and Newspapers..................................................................................... ..... 18 The Postmasters of Paw Paw............................................................................................... .... 18 Mills and Millers.......................................................................................................................19 First Wedding, Birth, and Death................................................................................................20 Indian New Year Calls.............................................................................................................. 20 The First Fourth of July Celebration....................................................................................... .. 20 Village Incorporation and List of Officers................................................................................ 21 Paw Paw Fire Department............................................................................................... ........ 22 Fires............................................................................................................................ .... 22 Telegraph............................................................................................................................ .... 23 The Press of Paw Paw.............................................................................................................. 23 Banking.................................................................................................................................... 23 Organizations........................................................................................................................... 24 The Opera House......................................................................................................................26 The Library and Literary Association.........................................................................................26 History of Paw Paw Township, Michigan, Part 3.................................................................... .......... 27 Prospect Hill Cemetery............................................................................................................. 27 Religious Societies in the Township..................................................................................... .... 27 Schools.....................................................................................................................................32 History of Paw Paw Township, Michigan - Part 1 From: History of Berrien and Van Buren Counties, Michigan With Illistrations and Biographical Sketches of Their Men and Pioneers. D. W. Ensign & Co., Philadelphia 1880 Press of J. B. Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia. THIS township, originally called Lafayette and rechristened Paw Paw in 1867, is known in the government survey as town 3 south, range 14 west, and is bounded on the north by Waverly, south by Decatur, east by Antwerp, and west by Lawrence. It contains in addition to the usual township allotment of thirty six sections about a section and a half in the northwest corner, which was taken from the southwest portion of Waverly for the sake of convenience, this part being separated from the rest of the township of Waverly by a swamp. Three Mile, Four Mile, and Eagle Lakes, and some smaller sheets of water pleasantly diversify the surface of the township; while the west branch of the Paw Paw flowing north through Paw Paw village furnishes at that point excellent water power, which is liberally employed. The Toledo and South Haven Railroad connects Paw Paw village with Lawrence, while the Paw Paw Railroad unites the same place with Lawton, on the Michigan Central road. Paw Paw village is the seat of justice of Van Buren County. The township was named from it in 1867, and it was itself called after the river, named by the Indians from the paw paw fruit, growing thickly upon its banks. The population of the township in 1874 was 2752, and the assessed valuation $744,800 in 1879. PIONEERS OF PAW PAW OUTSIDE OF THE VILLAGE In 1833, E. L. Barrett, induced by Peter Gremps, for whom he afterwards worked, came with his wife and several small children, and settled upon 160 acres of land near Paw Paw village before there was a framed house in the county, Capt. Barrett took especial pride in fine oxen, and at one time owned nine pairs, which he "broke" and trained with great care. He named them, respectively, Nick and Duke, Buck and Bright, Brin and Berry, Jim and Larry, Spot and Spark, Charley and Ned, Bill and Joe, Sam and Ez, Ben and Tom. - 1 - With his oxen he used to break a great deal of land for new settlers, and boasted of breaking several hundred acres in a year. Capt. Barrett built on a village lot in Paw Paw what is said to have been the first frame house in the county. He sold it to a man who moved it away, and while he was building another his family lived two weeks in the horsestable. He drove the first team from Paw Paw to Little Prairie Ronde, and upon his return experienced the exciting sensation of being chased by a panther and a pack of wolves. His first mercantile venture was the purchase of a barrel of whisky, at five "York shillings" a gallon, and the sale of it to thirsty settlers at fifty cents a pint, at which business he would have made a fortune in quick time could he have continued it extensively. He drove the first team from Paw Paw to Breedsville, when he moved thither the family of Mr. Brown, the father of Smith Brown. After living a few years in the village, during which time he logged and broke land, Mr. Barrett located permanently on his farm, north of the village, removing subsequently to a place on section 36, where he has since lived. John Agard located in 1833 upon a place on section 1, cast of Paw Paw River, and established a trading post at which he did a large business with the Indians, trading for furs, sugar, etc. He had on his place a dozen or more log huts, in which he stored his goods, and until his death his post was a famous resort for Indians, and usually presented a very busy scene. After his death, his family moving away, it was abandoned. Mr. Agard died suddenly of heart' disease, in October, 1835, and was buried on his place; his coffin being made by Williamson Mason, who still lives in Paw Paw village. William Gunn settled upon section 1, and was about the only settler who in 1833 and 1834 did much at farming. He removed in after years to Iowa. South of Agard's post was William Acklcy, who, with Enos L. Barrett, dug the race for Willard & Grenips' grist mill, in 1838. He moved to Indiana. In June, 1835, John Lyle and John K. Pugsley (the latter a bachelor), living near Utica, N. Y., started in company for the West, intending to look for land in Illinois. Journeying by way of the lake to Detroit, they traveled on foot over the Territorial road to Paw Paw, and just before reaching Jesse Abbe's tavern, on that road, in Antwerp, they overtook Edwin Barnum, who was bound for Paw Paw. When they reached the site of Paw Paw village, they found there, on the east side of the river, but two houses, one of which was Daniel O. Dodge's tavern, where they stopped for the night. Barnum remained in Paw Paw, and after a while settled on a farm a mile and a half west of the village, where he built a cabin 10 feet by 16 and went to keeping "bachelor's hull." - 2 - Lyle and Pugsley pushed on for Illinois, skirting the shore of Lake Michigan, and after a tedious tramp reached Chicago. They prospected a while in that vicinity, but found the prairies too low to suit them,

Load more

  36

Copy Link