Map of Genoa Township 1880

290a

Image  of
Chester Hazard Residence,
Genoa, Livingston County, Michigan

     291. THE northwest corner of Genoa township is at the geographical centre of Livingston County. The township is bounded north by Oceola, east by Brighton, south by Hamburg, and west by Marion. It is crossed diagonally, near the centre, from southeast to northwest, by the Detroit, Lansing and Northern Railroad, upon which is a flag-station at the corner of sections 14, 15, 22, and 23. The old "Grand River road," now a toll turnpike, extends across the northern portion of the town, and through some of its best-improved parts. On section, 6 the Ann Arbor road leaves the first-named highway, and after a course of several miles enters Hamburg from section 33. 

     The water area of Genoa is extensive, although no streams of note flow within the township. Numerous lakes, which are peculiar to and characteristic of Michigan, exist, of greater or less area. Of these the finest is Long Lake, on sections 3, 4, 9, 10, and 11. Its shores are for the most part wooded, and abound in pleasant camping and fishing resorts. Much of the lake is shallow, and filled with the grassy growth common to the waters of the county. This, pleasant sheet of water was one of 292. the prominent landmarks known to the early settlers, and more than one pioneer camped with his family on its shore and admired its beauty. The origin of its name is apparent when a glance is taken, at the map, or at the lake itself. Its length is about one and three-fourths miles, and its average width in the neighborhood of one-fourth of a mile.

     Crooked Lake, lying south of the centre of the township, on sections 21, 22, 27, and 28, is a large body of water, of such peculiar form as to render its name appropriate. In its southern arm are several small islands, as shown on the map. Its outlet flows south, and furnishes power at least at one point before it joins the Huron, viz., at Petteysville, in Hamburg township. Peet, Lime, and other lakes in the township, some of which are not possessed of names, are of lesser area. Round Lake lies partially in Oceola and partly in the northwest part of Genoa. Ore Creek, after leaving the township of Brighton, crosses the southeast corner of Genoa, in which it receives one or two small tributaries. Tamarack swamps are common in portions of the township, and open marshes are met with in numerous places.

     The general surface of the township of Genoa is undulating, with occasional fertile plains, and, in the southern portion, high gravel ridges. Its soil is generally productive, and many of its farms are improved to an extent which gives evidence of their value, as well as the thrift and enterprise of their owners. The township has not as large an area available for agricultural purposes as some others in the county, yet it ranks among the first in importance, and is strictly a farming township.

LAND-ENTRIES

     The following is a list of those who entered land in what is now Genoa township, together with the sections upon which they located and the years in which the entries were made:

     Although the first entries of land in Genoa were made by Almon Maltby* and John White in May and July, respectively, in the year 1833, yet it was not until the second year afterwards that a settlement was made. The veil of uncertainty is thrown around the first improvements and their projectors, but the following are the facts as near as can at present be ascertained:

     In the summer of 1835 the township received the advance guard of its pioneer army in the persons of Thomas Pinckney and Pardon and Ely Barnard,--the latter two named being brothers, all since deceased. Pinckney came from Dutchess Co., N.Y., and the Barnards from Madison County, in the same State. It has been the general opinion heretofore that    Pinckney's log house was the first structure built in the township for the use, of a white family, and such is probably the case, although it can have the precedence by only a few days to that built by the Barnards. Both were built in the summer of 1835. Thomas Pinckney was a brother of John D. Pinckney, one of the early settlers of Howell, in which village the latter's widow yet resides.

     In the fall of 1834, Ely Barnard visited Genoa, and entered considerable quantities of land for himself and his brother. Ely Barnard was at the time a single man, and, with his brother, "kept bachelors' hall" in 1835 in the log house they had erected. Pardon Barnard had come in the spring of that year to the State. He was a native of the town of Lenox, Madison Co., N.Y., where he was born Jan. 11, 1812. In 1832 he was married to Eliza A. Curtis, of Morrisville, N.Y., and in 1834 was licensed as a Methodist preacher. In November, 1835, he moved his family into the log house in Genoa, his wife's brother, Burr Curtis, coming with them. The father of the latter, William T. Curtis, moved into town in June, 1836, with his wife and daughter,--the latter afterwards becoming the wife of Ely Barnard, who was much of a sportsman and a true lover of the chase. He was also a man of remarkable business capabilities, and one of the foremost citizens of the town and county in which he had made his home. Burr Curtis is now a resident of Howell, where also dwell Pardon Barnard's widow and one son, William. A second son, Henry, lives at Brighton, to which place he moved, from Howell, in August, 1879. Mrs. Barnard, Sr., relates that from the time when she came to Genoa it was six weeks--and long enough they seemed to her--before she saw another white woman.

     The farms of the Messrs. Barnard were upon the Ann Arbor road, and are now owned by Henry Spencer and William Bell. Thomas Pinckney's Place was in the eastern part of town, on the Grand River road, and is the present property of Andrew Pless.

     Joseph A. and Asahel Dibble were among the pioneers of the last-mentioned part of the township, arriving in June, 1837. The latter is deceased and the former resides north of Howell.

     John W. Lawson settled west of Long Lake in the summer of 1836, and built his house in the fall of the same year, it being well under way in November, when C. W. Burwell arrived. Mr. Lawson's son, John, occupies the old place at present. In this locality are some of the best improved farms in the township. A plain of considerable area offers special attractions and advantages to the agriculturist, and the settlers were not slow in appreciating them.

     Two of the most attractive places along the Grand River road in Genoa are those owned by William and Albert Tooley. The latter came from Wayne Co., N.Y., in June, 1841, and settled on the farm east of the one on which his brother located in September, 1844. William Tooley was 294. accompanied by his wife. The land on which these gentlemen settled was originally located by their half-brother, Samuel West, but he made no improvements whatever upon it. The two brothers are still residing upon the homesteads they originally settled, and which they have so extensively improved.

     The following sketch of the early history of Genoa was prepared by Mrs. C. W. Burwell in 1877, and read before the June meeting--in that year-- of the Pioneer Association:

     "The first location was made in what is now Genoa, on section 25, near Brighton village, May 13, 1833, by Almon Maltby, and sold by him to B. Cushing, in 1841. Mr. Maltby is still living in the town of Green Oak has held the office of supervisor of that town, and other offices; is to-day one of our best citizens.

     "The second location was made on section 10, July 22, 1833 (land now owned by Henry Weimeister, on Long Lake), by John White, an Englishman and a bachelor. He built a small log house and then went to Detroit to live, where be died in 1847. After his death, A. Harvey, of Detroit, an administrator of White's estate, sold the land to C. P. Bush.

     "The third location, 240 acres on section 5, by John Drew, Aug. 13, 1833. These were the only lands located in 1833, and the first in the township as above stated.

     "The fourth location was made Aug. 9, 1834, by Alexander Fraser, of New York City (father of Mrs. John D. Pinckney, of Howell), on section 13, now owned by N. S. Benjamin.

     "The fifth location was made by Thomas Pinckney, on section 13, Sept. 30, 1834. Mr. Pinckney soon settled on his land, and there the first white child in Genoa was born. This land is now owned by A. Pless.

     "The sixth location, October 24, on section 9, by Zachariah Sutton, and sold to John V. Lawson, July 9, 1836, who settled on it that year. It is now owned by his son, J. W. Lawson.

    "Charles A. Green located on section 13, Aug. 22, 1834, forty acres, now owned by Louis Meyers. Ely Barnard, of Madison Co., N.Y., located on sections 7, 8, 17, and 18, in all 240 acres.

     "Chester Hazard located the southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of section 3, and other lands, Nov. 3, 1835, Mr. Hazard still lives on and tills, or oversees the tilling of his farm, and is now a very old but hale man.

     "C. W. Burwell located lands in 1837 on sections 4 and 5.

     "Thomas Pinckney built the first house in the town, and Pardon Barnard the second, I believe. Mr. F. Curtis was the first supervisor of the town of Genoa under that name in 1837.

     "Ely Barnard was the first register of deeds for the county and clerk of the first Board of Supervisors in 1836. He was afterwards a member of the State Legislature, and one of the members to amend the constitution in 1850. The first year after the town was organized the valuation was $60,000; no town tax; $18 State, and $110 county tax.

      "John Ellis located in 1835, where C. W. Burwell now lives; Samuel West, where the Tooleys live, afterwards the Bush farm, where C. P. Bush settled in 1837, first in a log house on the site of what is now the Widow Sweet's house and farm.

     Afterwards he built the first frame house** in Genoa, in 1838 or '39,--a part of it is yet standing on the farm now owned by Kinsley Tooley, in full view of our beautiful Long Lake. C. P. Bush settled first in the town of Handy, and then here, in the fall of 1837. He was a 'mighty hunter.' The first winter of his residence here be shot thirty-three deer, besides other game, and his neighbors well remember the savory bits be sent so often. "Mr. David Hight is still living, aged ninety-six or over. The writer and family came to Michigan and settled in Genoa in the autumn of 1836. The face of the country was even then very pleasant. These openings were not at all like timbered woods, but like trees set in a park, as they were by the All Father. One could walk anywhere be pleased, as there was no underbrush. We stayed in Ypsilanti a short time. In the mean time Mr. Burwell came out to Livingston and engaged a man to put up for us a log house. It was to be finished in three weeks. Within half a mile of our place were two families (transient settlers) living in shanties, one on the site of our neighbor's (Mr. Crostick's) old house, the other exactly opposite. The last-mentioned family agreed to vacate and rent to Mr. Bush for twenty-five cents. He paid in advance, and when we came we took possession. It was about 17 by 14. There were eight in our family, including three little children. There we stayed six weeks. Our goods, except some of our beds and bedding, were still in Detroit, and our journey to Detroit in those days was about like going to California now. Mr. Fraser, our nearest neighbor west, and the only one between here and Howell, kindly lent us a small iron kettle and spider, a teakettle, and a tea-pot without any cover. Of our  'opposite neighbor' we borrowed one plate, one knife and fork, and one chair, all of which we courteously left for the mistress of the mansion. The rest used cleaned chips for plates, and pocket-knife and fingers for forks. The meat was fried in the spider and served in the same. Thanks to our Michigan appetites, nothing before nor since was ever eaten with a better relish than was that fried meat, well-watered gravy, excellent potatoes, bread, cheese, etc. Can't remember that we had a spoon; think that we all dipped our morsels in the same dish,--said spider. We brought a cow with us, and to change our diet occasionally made a dish of thickened milk, the milk well diluted with water, to make it go further, until about the color of clear-starch, -- delicious nevertheless.

     "There are few evils so bad but some good comes out of them, and when at last our house was so we could move into it, no room ever was in (thanks to our shanty experience) seemed to me so grand and spacious as did that log house, with its clean hewn logs, rough board floor, a partition for bedrooms, a fireplace, the back of which took in almost the whole end of the house; a stick chimney, through which we could look up and see the stars; round stones for a hearth,--no others could begot at that time of the year --and such fires as high as our heads, made of oak limbs and logs crackling and sparkling, making the room glow like a fairy palace. The pine boxes were soon converted into closets and shelves for dishes and books, by the ingenious hands of the hired man that came with us from York State; with old white muslin for curtains, it all looked indeed homelike and cosy. Thanks again to the shanty, it magnified by comparison every after-comfort and convenience. We can never fully appreciate the value of what we have never had. There is nothing like a new country experience to make us appreciate home comforts, as they are brought about one by one by our own exertions. And the greatest blessing of all, we were in perfect health; especially were the children so much better than they ever were in New York. That alone would have reconciled us to any amount of discomfort, but we were resting very comfortably after we got settled. The winter was very mild, with only snow enough to be pleasant, as were many of the succeeding winters. The deer were very numerous--would come sometimes almost to the door, and if we went only a little distance from the house we were almost sure to see two or more of the graceful creatures. Once, and only once, we were surrounded by wolves. We did not seek for nor admire them as we did the deer. Game of all kinds was very plenty, also fish in great abundance in our numerous lakes,--a great help and luxury to new-comers. Our nearest neighbor, until after the Tooleys came, was the family of John T. Lawson, about three-quarters of a mile east of us, where his son, John W. Lawson, now lives. They came in the spring of the same year we did. I think Mr. Pardon Barnard came a year before; he lived about three miles from us,--near neighbors in those days,--and we visited them and others often, and they us, 295. with oxen and sleds. The sleighing was good, and riding through among the trees very pleasant, oxen notwithstanding. Mr. Curtis, too,--Mr. Barnard's father-in-law, lived near them, and came soon after we did. One knows how to value good neighbors and pleasant intercourse with them in a new country. Before the next winter the Hon. Charles P. Bush settled near us, as I mentioned elsewhere. He was one of the first to represent our county in the Legislature, and helped to bring about the removal of the capital from Detroit to Lansing, Ingham Co., then a 'wild wood,' and very few settlers between Howell and there. A few years after, Mr. Roswell Pettibone settled and lived many years on the place now owned by Mr. Conrad Shoenhals. He now lives in Oceola, but is a near neighbor yet. Our neighbor, Rev. William Stedman, came in a few years later than we did; he settled on the place owned now by Mr. Fitch, and resided there until recently; he lives now in the village of Howell. Mr. Brewster Carpenter came still later, and settled about one mile, I think, from what was the Buckland place, on the Ann Arbor road, and is still living on the old homestead. Mr. A. Dibble also settled on the same road in either 1836 or '37, but has left long ago; the place is now owned by Mr. Garlock. Mr. William Shaft settled on the adjoining farm, now owned by Mr. Wesley Garlock.

     "Mr. William A. Buckland, now deceased, located and resided for many years on the corner of Grand River and Ann Arbor roads, now owned by the Messrs. Hubbard. Mrs. Buckland was the daughter of Dr. Wheeler, of Howell, still well remembered by pioneers of Howell and Genoa. Mrs. Buckland resides at present with her family in the village of Howell.

     "For several of the first years we all went visiting and to meeting (as we sometimes had preaching at our different houses), and to church at Howell,--after one was organized there,--with our own ox-teams. A horse at the church door was a rare sight. We could not boast of their speed, but they were safe, especially if a man was at their heads, and their lack of speed was only a source of merriment, as was every other annoyance from what we had not, but hoped some time to have. . . .

    "In the spring of 1839 we commenced our first school in District No. 2, consisting of three families,-- Lawson, Bush, and Burwell,--nine children in all, part of them hardly old enough to go, but we must send all we could of those nine. All are still living, and heads of families, except George Lawson, who died in early manhood. Our first school-house (log, of course) was nearly opposite Mr. Lawson's house, and on his land. Our first teacher was Miss Electa Bush, a daughter of John Bush, of Handy, and mother of Mrs. John W. Lawson. She was then a very young girl. C. W. Burwell, being director, went after her with his pony. She rode and he walked back, a distance of fourteen miles. A killing matter that would be now, but teachers were not so plenty then. District No. 2 built the second school-house in Genoa, I think, that in the Benjamin district being the first. ....."

     Mr. Burwell and his family still reside on the place they settled in 1836, and he has grown old in the land of his adoption.

     Chester Hazard, from Steuben Co., N.Y., came to Genoa in 1835 and purchased land, returning afterwards for his family. July 4, 1836, he left his home and started on the overland journey to Michigan, accompanied by his family. His wagon was drawn by two yokes of cattle, and nine additional head were driven. The trip was made through Canada, and in the course of time Detroit was reached. Mr. Hazard's brother, Stewart Hazard, was then living in Wayne County, and with him the family stayed until some time in the month of August, when they proceeded to the new home in the wilderness. One child had been buried before leaving New York; but four sons and three daughters accompanied their parents to Michigan, and aided in the conquest of the difficulties which there beset them. On the place adjoining Mr. Hazard's, at the east, a log house had been erected by Mr. Butterfield, of Kensington, Oakland Co., but it had not been completed. Mr. Butterfield informed Mr. Hazard that if he chose to finish it up he was welcome to the use of it until he could build for himself, and his offer was gratefully accepted. William Wood, a carpenter and joiner by trade, who had been one of Mr. Hazard's neighbors in the State of New York, came to Genoa early in 1837. He wished for work to enable him to purchase some land, and Mr. Hazard employed him to build the frame house which is still standing on the latter's place. Mr. Hazard cut whitewood (tulip) trees on his own farm, drew the logs to Maltby's mill below Brighton, and had them sawed into lumber. This was in the winter of 1836-37, and it was principally of this lumber that the house was built. Mr. Hazard is of the opinion that his was the first frame house erected in the township. When he arrived here his nearest neighbors were Thomas Pinckney and Lucius H. Peet. Manning Hathawily came soon after. In early life Mr. Hazard learned the trade of tanner, currier, and shoemaker at Arlington, Bennington Co., Vt., and conducted a moderately extensive business in that line while living in New York, but never after coming to Michigan. In 1842 he was elected treasurer of Livingston County, which office he held two successive terms, residing during, the time at Howell. While absent from the farm his son-in-law, Abram Upthegrove, kept a hotel in the house he had vacated. In 1848, Mr. Hazard was chosen to the State Legislature, and has also held other offices, having been a justice of the peace for many years, and supervisor of Genoa several terms, etc. Since 1849 he has resided upon his farm.

     Lucius H. Peet for a number of years kept a tavern in the log house he had erected on his place. A frame house was subsequently built by Jacob Euler, who had purchased the property. The farm is now owned by Henry Ratz, as is also the one near, which was settled quite early by Louis Dorr.

     The Manning Hathaway place was purchased by Charles and John Myers in 1837, in which year they came, and is now owned by Louis Myers. These two brothers stayed for a short time with Mr. Hazard upon their arrival. Their father followed them, and settled in town in 1838. Mr. Hathaway removed from the township.

     When Chester Hazard came into town with his 296. family he left a portion of his household goods in Detroit. He subsequently went after them, and on, the way met Patrick Bogan, who was out on a peddling tour, and expressed himself as desirous of purchasing some land. He had a description of a certain tract with him, and was quite free in showing it, and Mr. Hazard advised him to be more quiet about it, or he would run the risk of having some other person reach the land-office and locate it before him. Hazard told Bogan where he lived, and on the return of the former from Detroit the latter came to see him. Mr. Hazard conducted him to his land, and he settled upon it, and lived there until his death, which occurred about 1876-77. Mr. Bogan was a native of Ireland, and the father of the present postmaster at Genoa Station.

     Mr. Hazard mentions the fact that upon his arrival in town he found the deer to be very plenty. He had never in his life killed one, but it tempted him to such an extent to live, as it were, among them, that he finally went to Ann Arbor and had a rifle made. The weapon proved an excellent one, and its owner seldom missed a shot with it at any distance. On one occasion he killed four deer inside of six hours, coming to the house twice in the time. Whenever the supply of fresh meat gave signs of failing, Mrs. Hazard mentioned the fact, and her willing lord, as soon as a leisure moment offered, took his rifle, and soon returned with an addition to the larder. On five successive occasions he went out, and inside of two hours returned with a deer he had slain. Mr. Hazard does not claim to have been the hunter which Charles P. Bush undoubtedly was, as he hunted from necessity many times, while Bush was a genuine lover of the sport, and passed more time in that way than perhaps any other man in the township.

     Erastus Watrous, from Connecticut, came to the township in June, 1836. He was then a bachelor, but afterwards married a Miss Walker, of Oceola, the ceremony being performed by Chester Hazard, Esq., who was called upon to do the greater proportion of such business in the township during his long service as magistrate. Mr. Watrous, whose home was on the northeast shore of Long Lake, is at present residing in Howell.

     Richard Behrens, from Hanover, Germany (near Bremen), emigrated to the United States in 1837, and located in New York. In 1845 he came to Genoa and settled on section 14, where he still resides. A few other German families had previously settled in the township.

     Henry Hartman, from the State of New York, came to Detroit in 1836, and obtained employment at his profession, that of a cook. In 1841 he removed to Genoa and settled on the farm he still owns, his first house having stood on the opposite (south) side of the road from the site of the present one, or on section 23. His son, John G. Hartman, at present occupies the place, and Mr. Hartman. lives in Brighton, where he is engaged in the grain trade. His father, Martin Hartman, entered the land in 1836, and settled upon it with his youngest. son, John Hartman, who yet resides on the South-line of the same section (23).

     William Suhr, from the city of Hamburg, Germany, came to Michigan first in 1838, but did not, settle until 1842, when he located on the place he now owns and occupies in Genoa, on the eastern and most picturesque shore of Crooked Lake. He was accompanied by his wife. Mr. Suhr, who is possessed of most excellent business tact and is a neat penman and accountant, holds the present position of secretary and treasurer of the Livingston County Mutual Fire Insurance Company, beside numerous others of greater or less responsibility. He has also held the position of town clerk of Genoa since 1850, with the exception of the three years from 1861 to 1863, inclusive; and without flattery it may be said that the township records of Genoa are the neatest, most thorough, and convenient of any in Livingston County.

     Gustav Baetcke, also from Hamburg, settled where be now lives in 1837, having previously resided one year in Oceola. The same year in which he located in Genoa, four other Germans settled with their families, viz.: George Ransher, Martin Hartman (who had purchased in 1836), Charles Conrad, and Jacob Euler. These, with Mr. Baetcke, were the first of the nationality to settle in the township. Jacob Euler was the pioneer, having entered his land in 1835. The others, except Mr. Baetcke, entered in 1836.

     William Suhr lives in the frame house he built and moved. into in 1842. Like all the dwellings of that day, it originally possessed a huge fireplace, but that has been removed and a stove substituted. The early settlers suffered considerably at times from. scarcity of food and clothing; yet, withal, --they were sociable and happy. From the beams in the house hung festoons of dried pumpkin, known in the parlance of the day as " Michigan apples," and a frontiersman's house was scarcely homelike in the fall and winter without this appendage. Most of the pioneers of this township were men in the prime of life, and the heads of families.

     Joseph Rider, from Oswego, N.Y., in company with his father, Joseph Rider, Sr., came to Michigan in 1833, and settled in what is now the township of Milford, Oakland Co. In December, 1835, the son removed to the place he at present 297. occupies, upon section 17, in Genoa. His mother died several years before the family left the State of New York. While building their log house on the place in Genoa, the Riders boarded with a man named Johnson, who had squatted and erected a log cabin on a piece of land to the eastward, which had been taken up by a man named Cole. Johnson remained, but a short time; the place is now owned by Mr. Holtforth.

     As soon as the Riders completed their house they moved into it. Hay and stock were brought in from Oakland County. The senior gentleman died during the war of the Rebellion, and the son still lives on the old place. The log house stood about twenty-five rods east of the present frame residence.

     Another early settler in the same neighborhood was Freeman Fishbeck, who married a sister of Joseph Rider, Jr., while living in Oakland County, to which he had come with the Rider family. He purchased in Genoa a short time previous to the date of Mr. Rider's purchase, and the latter helped him build a house, after which the elder Rider went to Ohio, and his son boarded for a time with Mr. Fishbeck. Mr. Rider, Jr., was soon afterwards married to Mr. Fishbeck's sister, Miss Isabella M. Fishbeck, and was one of the earliest residents of the township who took upon himself bonds hymeneal. The father of Freeman Fishbeck and sister, Jacob Fishbeck, lived in the township of Marion. The son is at this date (1879) a resident of Howell.

     David B. Pierce, who married a sister of Mrs. Joseph Rider, Sr., came from New York with the other two families, and when Fishbeck first located in Genoa, Mr. Pierce built a house on a portion of his (Fishbeck's) land. He was a carpenter and millwright by trade, and built the mills at Milford and aided in building one in the township of Brighton. He also aided in erecting numerous barns and other buildings. The first mill he built in Michigan was for parties at Kensington, Oakland Co. He is now deceased.

     Edward Latson settled in the northwest part of the township in 1836, and still resides on the place he then located. The land was purchased from the government in 1835.

     Charles P. Bush came to the township of Handy in 1836, in company with Calvin Handy and family, from Danby, Tompkins Co., N.Y.,--his native place. These were the first settlers in the township named, and Mrs. Handy was the first white woman who had ever set foot within its limits. Both men purchased land. Mr. Bush built a log house on his place, and returned to New York for his family. In the spring, of 1837 he moved with them to the place he had prepared, and was also accompanied by his brother, Richard P. Bush, and their cousin, John Bush, both having families with them. The Bush's were connected with the Platts, of Oswego, N.Y., one of the prominent families of the State.

      The Messrs. Bush all located in Handy. Crops had been put in, and after that of C. P. Bush's was harvested in 1837, he sold out to John B. Fowler, brother of Ralph Fowler, of Fowlerville, and moved in the fall of the same year to Genoa township, in which he purchased land on sections 8, 9, and 10, and made the first improvements upon it, although buying from second hands. He at one time owned about 1700 acres in this township. The old home in Genoa is now owned by the heirs of Newberry Sweet. Mr. Bush's house was at first half a mile or more back from the Grand River road, south of John Lawson's present place, and there his youngest son, Elbert C. Bush, now of Lansing, was born in 1838. Mr. Bush ere long moved up nearer the highway, and built one of the earliest frame houses in the township. The latter place he owned at the time of his death, which occurred in Lansing, where members of his family at present reside. The only one left in Livingston County is his son, Isaac W. Bush, Esq., of Howell.

     Mr. Bush has elsewhere been mentioned as a hunter of note. So much of one was he that he would acknowledge but one superior in all this region at the time, and that was "Old Si Badgero," a professional hunter, who lived in Conway township. Elias Sprague, then of Brighton, and now living in Cohoctah, was nearly the equal of Mr. Bush, but the latter always claimed superiority. But few men who ever hunted with Mr. Bush were able to follow him all day in the chase, and he always went on foot. Joel Rumsey, of Oceola, was one who claimed equal endurance. As a rifle shot Mr. Bush was unexcelled. He finally moved to Lansing, where he was frequently known to cross Grand River in the winter after a deer. His official record will be found elsewhere in this volume.

     Andrew Sharp, from the town of Bennington, Genesee Co., N.Y. (now in Wyoming County), came to Michigan with his father, Andrew Sharp, Sr., in the fall of 1837. They stopped for one week at Pontiac, and then moved into Genoa, and settled on the place where the elder Sharp's widow and widowed daughter--Mrs. Melvin--now live, on the west line of town. Andrew Sharp, the son, was then but twelve years of age. He at present resides a mile south of the old place. His father purchased his land in Genoa, of a brother, who lived in Eaton County. Mr. Sharp, a blacksmith