Map of Handy Township 1880

Image of
Mr & Mrs Marvin Gaston & Residence,
Handy, Michigan
232a.

    233. THE territory designated in the field-notes of the United States survey as township No. 3 north, of range No. 3 east, was organized as a separate township in 1838, and derived its name from Calvin Handy, its first settler.  

       It is situated upon the west border of Livingston County, north of the centre.

     Adjacent township organizations are Conway on the north, Howell on the east, Iosco on the south, and Leroy and Ingham Counties on the west.

     The surface, while comparatively level, undulates sufficiently to allow good surface-drainage; the more elevated portions being found in the northern part.

     The principal water-courses are the Cedar River and its branches. The main stream, or that which bears the name of Cedar River proper, enters the town by crossing the south line of section 34; thence it flows in a northerly direction through the central part of the township, until reaching the centre of section 10 when its course is changed to the northwest, finally passing into Conway from the north line of section 5. It again enters Handy, and forms a junction with the west branch in the north part of section 6.

     The East Branch enters from Howell township, and intersecting sections 24, 13, 14, and 23, makes a junction with the main stream in the north part of section 22. The West Branch first makes its appearance by crossing the south border of section 31, and flowing to the northwest, cuts the southwest corner of the same section, and passes into Ingham County. It re-enters the township by crossing the west line of section 19 and thence continues northerly, through the west tier of sections, until joining the main stream near the extreme northwest part of the township.

        Springs abound in many places, and, taken altogether, the township is well watered; yet no lakes are found within its borders, and its area of swamp surface is comparatively small.

        In a state of nature it was heavily timbered with the deciduous trees common to this portion of the State; consequently its soil is strong and rich, well adapted to grazing, and the successful cultivation of corn, fruits, and the various cereals, and in the quality and quantity of its productions per acre, Handy is not surpassed by any township in Livingston County.

     It contains the thriving village of Fowlerville, and in 1874 the census reported a total population of 2144. The present voters are 600 in number, and the present total population will aggregate 3000.

ORIGINAL LAND-ENTRIES

     The following comprises a list of names of those who purchased of the general government lands situated in the township of Handy, with the sections on which they purchased and the dates of the several purchases. Those designated by an asterisk (*) became residents in the township.

     On the 25th, of March, 1836, Calvin Handy, a native of Bennington, Vt., then of Danby, Tompkins Co., N.Y., purchased from the United States government the southeast quarter and the south part of the northeast fractional quarter of section 2 in this township. He immediately began preparations for making a permanent settlement upon his purchase. Early in May of the same year he shipped his household goods, together with a wagon and some agricultural implements, via the Erie Canal and Lake Erie to Detroit. His family, which consisted of himself, his wife, Patience, and children, Polly, Homer, and Eliza, traveled by the same route and mode to the City of the Straits. All arrived safely. He then bought a yoke of oxen, loaded his effects and the members of his family upon the wagon, and began. a tedious journey over the Grand River Turnpike towards the western part of the newly-organized county of Livingston. During the latter part of May they arrived at the log cabin of Sardis Davis, who was then living a 236. short distance south of the present village of Howell. But the last day of their journey was marred by an accident which befell Mrs. Handy. The roads were very bad, full of ruts, roots, stumps, and mud-holes, and on the wagon, perched above the goods, sat Mrs. Handy, with her children. An unusual jolt of the wagon threw her, with her youngest born, to the ground, and before the vehicle could be stopped one wheel passed over her foot. A stout shoe Protected the member sufficiently, however, to prevent dislocation or the bones from being crushed, but she was rendered lame and almost helpless for some weeks afterwards.

     Mr. Handy's family remained under the hospitable roof of Sardis Davis--the pioneer of Marion for some three weeks, or until his own cabin could be erected and rendered habitable. This was accomplished on the 16th of June, 1836. The same afternoon Frederick B. and Cecil D. Parsons, with four other men as companions, arrived at the cabin, and, after engaging the services of Charles P. Bush as guide to show them land in the present town of Conway, requested of Mr. Handy the privilege of sleeping on his floor through the night. He answered them in the negative. They seemed much astonished at this peremptory refusal; and when the spokesman had recovered sufficiently to inquire why, they were quietly informed that his cabin possessed no floor, but that his wife would endeavor to make them as comfortable as possible. Mrs. Handy--the first white woman to reside in the township, and at present a resident of the village of Fowlerville--relates that she then took from some of the packing-boxes beds and bedding, and spread upon the ground, in the centre of the cabin, a bed, upon which these six weary men reposed their heads and shoulders, while their lower extremities swung around the circle ad libitum. The children, meanwhile, were made cosy by stowing them away in the half-emptied packing-boxes. Thus passed the first night in the first settler's habitation in the township of Handy. Helen, another daughter, was born to them a few years after their settlement here. In 1839, Mr. Handy became the second supervisor of the township which bears his name. In later years he filled many other official stations, and during a long residence was ever held in high and deserved esteem for his genial qualities and obliging nature. He was born in 1798, and died May 29, 1874.

     Charles P. Bush reached the settlement one week later than Mr. Handy. He was also from Danby, Tompkins Co., N.Y., and, after building a log house, clearing land and sowing a crop of wheat, returned to New York. In June, 1837, he again came to Handy, and with his family settled upon the northwest quarter of section 11. He was a gentleman possessed of a keen and discriminating intellect, which he had matured by reading and reflection. Ready in expedient, and always foremost when occasion required, nature stamped him as a leader, and he became at once the counselor and friend of the early settlers. A few years later he became one of the most prominent men in this part of the State. In 1840 he was elected to represent Livingston County in the State Legislature, and was re-elected three successive terms. In 1845 he was elected State Senator from the district of which Livingston County formed a part. He became president of the same body in 1847, and by the election of Governor Felch to the United States Senate, Lieutenant-Governor Greenly filled the office of Governor, and Senator Bush became Acting Lieutenant-Governor of the State. His vote decided the location of the capital at Lansing, and he presided over the last senatorial session in the old capitol in Detroit, as also the first which sat in Lansing. Soon after the location of the capital in Lansing, Mr. Bush removed thither, and until his death was identified with the history and public interests of Ingham County.

     Harvey Metcalf, a veteran of the war of 1812, and son-in-law of Amos Adams, one of the conspicuous pioneers of Howell, purchased the southeast quarter of section 11, Nov. 28, 1835. Early in the spring of 1836 he came on from Geneseo, Livingston Co., N.Y., and began an improvement upon his premises. He boarded with Mr. Adams, and succeeded during the summer in clearing a few acres, sowing the same to wheat, and building a substantial log cabin.

     James E. Head was another immigrant to the township during 1836. He purchased lands situated upon section 12, and until the settlement of his family, in 1837, boarded, while here, with Calvin Handy.

     In the spring of 1836, John B. Bowler and Martin W. Randall set out on foot from Geneseo, Livingston Co., N.Y., and proceeding through Canada, finally arrived at Howell, Mich. By the aid of Amos Adams, they located lands on section 33, in Conway, and on sections 4, 7, and 8, in Handy.

     Mr. Ralph Fowler has recently prepared for publication a comprehensive sketch relating to the early settlement of Handy, from which much valuable information, has been obtained. The following is his account of the journey, and the subsequent settlement of himself and Martin W. Randall during the month of November, 1836.

     In September, 1836, the brothers Ralph and 236a.

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Mr & Mrs Edwin Nichols & Residence,
Handy Michigan

     237. John B. Fowler, Mrs. Harvey Metcalf, and her sister, Mrs. Winship, started from Geneseo, Livingston Co., N.Y., for a journey to Livingston Co., Mich. Mrs. Metcalf purposed joining her husband already here, while the Fowler brothers were to determine by a view of the country upon the propriety of settling upon lands previously located for them by Amos Adams. At Buffalo they took passage for Detroit on the steamer "Commodore Perry," which required three days and nights to accomplish. The United States Hotel, and Eagle Tavern, in Detroit, were so full of speculators, land-lookers, and mud, that they could not obtain lodgings, but these were finally found at the City Hotel. The next morning, after much difficulty, a chance was found for the women to ride through to Howell; while the Messrs. Fowler, and their brother-in-law, J. G. Knight, journeyed along on foot. Their route led them over the Grand River road, upon which government employees were then at work, between Detroit and Grand Haven, and they found the road muddy and lonely. The first night was passed at "Uncle Rodgers," at the "Home," whom many will remember. The travelers were hungry and weary. So, after refreshing themselves, they quickly retired for much-needed rest. But Uncle Rodgers, wishing to make things pleasant and agreeable, got out a martial band, which made the wild woods ring, much to the disgust of his guests, however. The second day the team reached Howell, but the pedestrians came short, and sought shelter for the night at Mrs. Lyons, who lived in a little shanty on the shore of Long Lake. A bare floor was all the accommodation the house afforded. A short walk in the morning brought them to the house of Amos Adams, in Howell, where a good breakfast and rest awaited them.

     After resting one day, the brothers, accompanied by Amos Adams as a guide, started out to look at their lands in Handy and Conway. We here continue the narrative in Mr. Fowler's own words: ¥

     "When we struck the line between sections 10 and 11 in Handy, Mr. Adams said, 'Boys, if you live to be as old as I am you will see a village here as large as Geneseo, N.Y., called Fowlerville.' We had taken with us a small quantity of bread and pork, expecting Mr. Metcalf to come up to his place that day, bringing provisions, etc. So we ate our lunch and traveled all day in the woods. Towards evening Mr. Adams started on his return home to Howell My brother and myself went to Mr. Metcalf's house that night; he had not yet arrived, but we slept in his house. The next morning we ate the remainder of our lunch, and started for Conway to see our lands on section 33, expecting Mr. Metcalf would come that night surely.

     "Towards night we again returned to the empty house, only to meet disappointment; being very weary and hungry, and not daring to start for Howell at so late an hour, the route being designated only by marked trees, we concluded to go to Mr. Calvin Handy's house--the only family as yet living in the township--to try and get something to eat. Mrs. Handy said her husband had gone for provisions, and she was expecting him home at any moment; that she had a little flour and a wild turkey, killed that day by Mr. J. E. Head, and she would divide with us. We were very glad to get a cup of tea, and returning to Mr. Metcalf's cabin, slept the second night on the ground between the sleepers. About midnight the wolves commenced to howl around us. It seems that Mr. Metcalf, while breaking ground for his wheat, had the misfortune to lose an ox by death, and it seemed then as if the wolves had gathered by thousands at the spot where its carcass lay, or had lain. This was the first howling of the wolves we had yet heard. The turmoil finally ceased, and we slept on till morning. Soon after daylight we arose, and started for Howell, feeling as if we were fifty or sixty years old, and beginning to think that we already had about enough of Michigan.

     "There was but one house on the road to Howell, and that at the Six Corners, occupied by Mr. Stebbins. One of the greatest difficulties encountered on this expedition was in obtaining water to drink. All the surface water was full of wigglers, and the only way we could keep them from slipping down our throats was by spreading our handkerchiefs upon the water and drinking that which came through the meshes.

     "When we arrived at Howell we learned that Mr. Metcalf's oxen had strayed away, and that be had been searching for them the past two days, which accounted for his non-appearance at the cabin, and our fast. Mr. Adams soon announced breakfast. It was then about ten o'clock in the forenoon. We went in and found upon the table some coffee, bread, and butter. He said, 'I eat this and then go to bed.' We followed his advice, and arose at supper time feeling very much refreshed. The next morning we started on our return to Detroit, not yet fully determined as to the undertaking of making Michigan our home. We wanted large farms of our own, however, and as we walked through the townships of Salem and Plymouth, and saw the crops -- and the enterprise of the people settled there, we came to the firm conclusion, before reaching Detroit, to make Michigan our permanent place of residence. From the latter city we took passage on the steamer 'Sandusky' for Buffalo, arriving there in two days and three nights,--a very short trip for those days.

     "Upon arriving at our home it was settled that Martin W. Randall and myself, with our families, should start upon a journey to Michigan in the fall. All arrangements were completed as rapidly as possible, and, early in the morning of October 17, 1836, we bade adieu to our families in Geneseo, and with two covered wagons--two yoke of oxen hitched to one, and a span of horses to the other--began our return trip to the Peninsular State. We traveled through Canada, and had a good time. On the 9th of November we arrived in Handy,--then Howell township. Our house, which Mr. Adams had hired built for us, was only partially completed. A roof covered but one side, and there was no floor. Mr. Harvey Metcalf had got settled in his house, and we stayed with him two or three days. We moved into our house with only half of the floor laid. Except the door, the house was built without using a board. Oaken shakes and shingles constituted the roof, gables, and upper floor. the lower floor was made from basswood logs, split through the centre, spotted on the ends so as to rest firmly on the sleepers, and, being hewed smooth on top, made a good finish. A mud-and-stick chimney, the fireplace embellished with wooden crane and trammels, completed the first appointments of the cabin.

     "Our goods had been shipped from Geneseo to Detroit, and we expected to find them in the latter city on our arrival, but, to our great disappointment, they had not yet arrived. After the completion of our cabin, Martin W. Randall, with his horse-team -- the first ever owned in the township, returned to Detroit, expecting to find the goods surely at that time, but still they were not there.

     "Here we were, in the woods, sixty miles from where anything 238. could be obtained,--Mr. Randall, wife, and one child, and myself, wife, and two children,--with no cooking-utensils, or anything to sleep upon, except a quilt or two which we had brought along in our wagons. I think Mr. Randall had part of a bed. 'Necessity is the mother of invention,' and this, with kind neighbors, overcame a great many difficulties. We borrowed a few plates, knives, and forks from Mrs. Handy and Mrs. Metcalf, --the lady representatives of the only families then in the township, and from the Indians a baking-kettle. In a shanty in the west part of Howell, where some men had been chopping, we found a three-pail kettle, which we also took, and with a tin bake-oven, which we had bought in Detroit, our kitchen utensils were complete.

     "Now for sleeping accommodations. We found, by way of Mr. Adams, that a young man by the name of Flavius J. B. Crane the proprietor and original owner of part of the village plat of Howell-had a piece of factory-cloth. We bought it, made a bedtick of the same, also some sheets, and filled the tick with marsh hay. A bedstead was made of ironwood poles and bark, and by the help of quilts, before mentioned, and a good fire, we managed to pass the winter very comfortably.

      "Mr. Randall, after a few weeks, built a shanty on the east half of the southwest quarter of section eleven, on lands owned by John B. Fowler. Thus situated, with but four families in the township, viz., Messrs. Handy, Metcalf, Randall, and myself, was passed a very pleasant winter.

     "We were well surrounded by Indians, there being three winter-camps near us, two on section ten, and one on section two. There must have been as many is forty or fifty Indians in the three camps, and they had thirty ponies running in the woods. The question naturally arises, 'Were you not afraid of the Indians ?' Never but twice. The first time was when they had all been to Detroit to transact some business with the government, and on their return came to our place, on their main trail to Grand River and the western part of the State. They came along about the middle of the afternoon, some one hundred of them, with fifty or sixty ponies and many trappings, the snow being some six inches deep. Many of their sleds were made of deer-skins by spreading them on the snow with the hair-side down, filling them with all they could lay on, and then lashing the load fast with ropes made from basswood-bark, passing them through holes made in the edge of the skin, and then over to the other side. It was surprising to see the amount they would pile upon one skin . Then they would hitch a rope to the neck of the skin, and the same again to a pony's neck, making quite a good running sled.

     "Thus they came upon us. We had not seen many of them before, and were somewhat afraid as they came in, filling the house like a town-meeting. We put on a big fire and let them work. Putting bells on their ponies, they turned them out, which made the woods ring with their jingle.

    "Soon they began to cut poles, peel basswood bark, and prepare their quarters for the night. They stuck stakes on each side of a large oak-tree that we had felled near the house, tied poles near the top of these stakes, laying others on them and back on the ground, covering all with a kind of web-cloth made from flags or rushes, for some fifty feet on each side of the log, then built a fire along the front, after which they spread down their bear and deer skins and blankets, making the whole look very warm and comfortable. After eating their supper of venison, cold boiled squirrels, and musk-rats, they went to bed.

     "It was quite a sight for us to see them. Each one of full size had his blanket, which was tucked in at the edge over the head, and under the feet.

     "In the morning Okemos and his tribe, or those that were with him, went on to the place now called Okemos, while the others, being a part of the old Shiawassee tribe, went into the three camps before mentioned.

      "There was one very old man with the latter party, some ninety-three years old as near as we could judge from marks and signs. He was sick, and had. every appearance of having the consumption.

     His camp was pitched on section 2, northeast of John A. Tanner's log house. He finally died, and the funeral ceremonies lasted for some time. He must have been one of much distinction, as other tribes came from long distances to attend his funeral. After his death they wrapped him in a clean, white blanket, and laid him in a little place divided from the main camp by hanging blankets around him. One of the old squaws sat by the body nearly all the time for each evening for four or five evenings. Others would play and beat their musical instruments all night. These instruments were of different kinds, one being made of red cedar, and resembling a clarionet. This was split in the centre, a hollow dug out the size they wanted it, curves were cut around between the finger holes, and then the whole fastened together with the sinews of animal. Another instrument was made by stretching a deer-skin over a hoop similar to a tambourine, and others still had drums very similar to our bass and tenor ones. They made a fearful noise, and could be heard a mile or more. A grave was dug to the depth of three feet, in it was placed some elm-bark, and then, when the body was deposited, the same was filled with the mould of the forest, and covered with round poles some six inches in diameter, neatly notched together at the corners. About two feet from the head of the grave, they set a post about three inches thick and three feet high, on the side of which next to the grave they cut a notch, and painted above the notch the picture of a turkey, and below it that of a deer.

     "For some three weeks after the burial, some one of the squaws kept a fire between the head of the grave and the post, made of sticks about six inches long, split fine, and set upon end in a round form. This fire was kept burning daily. After the funeral they also climbed to the top of a large beech-tree and there hung their musical instruments, where they remained four or five weeks after the funeral ceremonies.

    "The second fright we had arose from the doings of a young man who brought whisky into or near their camps for the purpose of selling it to the Indians. Early the next morning the Indians caught their ponies--a thing they had not done for months--and came galloping to our houses, demanding 'Whisky! whisky! Shemokeman whisky! Wishicheere whisky!' Some of them, when refused and informed that we had no whisky, seemed determined to search the house; but we finally satisfied them that we had none, and away they went in search of it in other directions. We soon found a keg of the young man's fire-water, to which an axe was applied, and thus ended our second fright.

     "On the 1st of May, 1837, John B. Fowler and family, Ruel Randall and wife, and John A. Tanner, then a boy seventeen years of age, and in the employ of John B. Fowler, arrived in the township. They came from Geneseo, N.Y., with ox-teams, through Canada. The first Sunday morning after their arrival, my brother and myself strolled through the woods and came to a cleared spot or an opening of about an acre, where we sat down under a large oak and talked of our mother, who had been a Methodist all her days. 'Right here,' my brother says, 'if we live long enough, we will have a Methodist church.' When the village plat was surveyed, the stump of the same tree still remained there. Remembering the conversation of my brother and myself, I marked the lots for a Methodist church, and in about twenty years the church was built upon that site."

     Charles P. Bush, Richard P. Bush, and John Bush, from Danby, Tompkins Co., N.Y., arrived June 1, 1837. The former, as before mentioned, settled upon section 11, while Richard settled upon section 1, and John upon section 2.

     Stephen Avery, from Livingston Co., N.Y.; Alanson Church, from Genesee Co., N.Y.; Alanson Knickerbocker, from Wayne Co., Mich.; Seymour and Jesse Norton, from Genesee Co., N.Y.; John B. LaRowe and Elijah Gaston, all settled in the spring and summer of the same year (1837) 239. The resident tax-payers in 1837, the sections upon which their lands were located, the number of acres owned, value of real and personal estate, and the amount of tax paid by each, are shown by the following table:

     This assessment was made while Handy was still a part of Howell township. The total assessed valuation of real and personal estate in township 3 north, of range 3 east, was $55,300, and the amount of tax levied upon the same was $194.82.

     Prior to the first township election, which was held April 2, 1838, the following additional settlers were already here, a majority of whom had come in before the beginning of the winter of 1837 and 1838, viz.: Samuel Conklin, Benjamin H. Briggs, Dennis Conrad, William Nash, George Austin, William Bumfrey, William Benjamin, and Almon Whipple.

     The latter gentleman was a native of Hardwick, Mass. With his father he removed to Otsego Co., N.Y., in 1817, where he remained until 1837, when he came to Michigan and settled in the northeastern part of Handy, or the Gaston neighborhood. In 1838 he purchased goods in New York, and opened the first store in the township. During the fall of the same year he was elected clerk of Livingston County. He then removed to the village of Howell, where he continued to reside until his death, which occurred Feb. 14, 1878.

     At about the time that Mr. Whipple established his store, Elijah Gaston opened his house to the public as a tavern, and received the appointment of postmaster.

     People in the vicinity anticipated the building up of a village. They had some reason to expect it, as the highway for general travel and the hauling of freight west from Howell led in the same direction.

     Among other early settlers who came in during the years from 1838 to 1844 were Hiram Mace, James W. Armstrong, Joseph S. Schofield, David C. Griswold, William I. Bowen, Eleazer C. Tucker, -- the first blacksmith,-- John D. Van Blaricom, David Fredericks, John M. Jones, Harley Bement, H. B. McCumber, John Everts, John Ray, Edward H. Jubb, Ira Sargent, Benjamin Curtis, Levi Bristol, Orson Swift, William T. Davis, Rial Hyslington, Daniel Benjamin, Andrew Miller, Ezekiel Little, Perry Dorrance, James Grimes, George B. De Graff, William Marsh, Marshall Porter, A. Cook, Joel C. Choate, Philetus Brown, and Enoch H. Marble.

      The resident tax-payers in 1845 were:  (re-alphabetized by webmaster)

     The resident tax-payers in 1845 (cont.) were:        (re-alphabetized by webmaster)

     Additional tax-paying inhabitants in 1846 were:  (re-alphabetized by webmaster)

IN 1847  (re-alphabetized by webmaster)

IN 1848  (re-alphabetized by webmaster)

     The increase in population during the years to 1850, however, was slow, and the faces of the inhabitants were constantly changing. Many came, and after a residence of but a year or two, removed to some other locality where markets were more accessible. The soil was good, and large crops greeted the toiling husbandmen when harvest 240. came, but the profits were consumed in the struggle to reach distant avenues of commerce.

     In 1842 the State appropriated a small sum for opening a road between Fowlerville and Lansing. It was expended under the supervision of Mr. Mullett, of Detroit, but the benefits arising from it amounted to but little, and, as it was not used as a through route of travel, it soon grew up to brush in many places and became practically closed. At last, in the spring of 1849, Messrs. Ralph Fowler, of Handy, and O. B. Williams, of Williamston, went over the line of the present Grand River road and solicited subscriptions for opening the said road west from Fowlerville. They obtained, in goods and money, subscriptions to the amount of $600. Special township-meetings were held in those towns lying along the line of the road, viz., Leroy, Wheatfield, Phelps, and Meridian, and sums varying from $200 to $250 were raised in each.

     Messrs. Fowler and Williams then began anew the struggle against nature's obstacles and the noisy opposition of those who were interested in the northern route already established. Bridges were built over the two Cedars and the streams west of the Meridian line. Mr. Williams then commenced at the Meridian line with three men and two yoke of oxen, while Mr. Fowler began at Fowlerville with the same amount of help. The brush was again cleared away, and the wet and miry places corduroyed. At the expiration of three weeks' time they met at Williamston.

     Then, in order to get the mail-route changed from the Howell and Okemos road to the present Grand River road, Messrs. Seymour, of Lansing, O. B. Williams, of Williamston, Ralph Fowler and George Curtis, of Fowlerville, and Hezekiah Gates, of Howell, established a stage-line, and placed upon the new road a stage to run between Howell and Lansing. The stage consisted of a lumber-wagon drawn by a span of horses. It made tri-weekly trips, or out one day and back the next, and they let no man walk for want of money. This enterprise was continued one year. The prime movers had then accomplished their object, viz., the establishment of post-offices at Fowlerville and Williamston, and they then sold out. Mr. Fowler relates that he kept one man and a team of horses on the road during the time mentioned that he lost one horse valued at $125, owed the company $10 at settlement, and that he came out by far the best of any one in the company.

     In 1849 the Howell and Lansing Plank-Road Company began laying planks over the same road, and completed their work in 1852 and '53. From the latter time can be dated the beginning of Handy's prosperity. The village of Fowlerville was platted, David Lewis was appointed postmaster, and places of business sprang up on several corners.

     But the busy life of the plank-road was of but short duration. The building and opening of the Detroit and Milwaukee and the Jackson and Saginaw Railroads suddenly shut off the travel from the plank-road, and then succeeded several years of dull times, and the hauling of produce from twenty-five to thirty-five miles, which, together with the war of the Rebellion, helped to retard the growth of business and population.

     In 1865 the people began discussing the question of extending aid to railroads, but it was not until the summer of 1871 that their fondest hopes were realized by witnessing the iron-steed race across the borders of their township.

     Since the latter period, remarkable changes have taken place. The population has more than doubled. Acres hitherto lying waste have been brought under cultivation. The primitive log cabin, and the but little better small framed house, have given place to commodious residences, rich in finish and architectural design. Herds of blooded stock crop the rich pasturage which everywhere abounds, and large, well-stored farm-buildings inform him who would note it that the citizens of Handy of to-day are in the full enjoyment of that prosperity which is the sure reward for those who industriously and intelligently cultivate the soil.

     But very few of the pioneers of 1836 and 1837 now remain, and it is not our purpose or province to individualize a few in disparagement of the many. Therefore, we believe that we but echo the best sentiments of her citizens when we assert that to the sterling worth, the broad and liberal teachings, and unswerving integrity of such pioneers as Ralph Fowler and John A. Tanner, is due the present proud position which Handy occupies among Livingston County townships.

     The latter gentleman, besides holding many other positions of trust and honor, has represented his township sixteen times as supervisor, and was one of the very few Livingston County representatives who marched under the folds of the starry banner as it waved victoriously over the plains of Mexico.

FIRST EVENTS

     Among some of the first events not already mentioned, we here add that Calvin Handy owned the first cow and oxen. The first steam saw-mill was built on section 18 by William R. Spafford in 1847; later it was owned by Conway & Wilbur. Elijah Gaston built the first framed barn on section 1. Richard P. Bush erected the first framed house on section 12 in 1853. The first log school-house 240a.

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Mr & Mrs George Lovely &
Farm & Residence, Handy Michigan