VILLAGE EXTENSION

     About eight years after the survey and location of the plat of Howell, by Crane and Brooks, the village began to extend eastward beyond its original limits; not because the number of actual settlers was too great to be accommodated with lots upon the plat which was first recorded, but owing largely to the fact that speculators -- among whom were many who were supposed to be of the farseeing kind, like Peter J. Desnoyers, of Detroit, and others had absorbed a large number of the lots here, with no intention of settlement, but in the expectation of realizing a handsome advance on their investments at the county-seat of Livingston. So, in the year 1843, Mr. Peter A. Cowdrey, who had acquired the title to the east half of the southwest quarter of section 36, platted and laid out that tract as an addition to the village of Howell,* and commenced the sale of lots. On the 14th of August, 1844, he advertised his addition in the Livingston Courier as follows:

LOTS AT HOWELL FOR SALE

     "The plat of the eastern part of the town, and in which the site of the county buildings is located by an act of the Legislature, can be seen at the store of A. Whipple, with the prices and terms.

"P. A. COWDREY."                           

     The act of Legislature referred to in this advertisement was that (approved March 20, 1841) which extended the limits of the county-site so as to embrace all of the west half of section 36. The result of this enactment, together with Cowdrey's timely platting of "the Eastern Part of the Town," was to extend the settlement eastwardly along Grand River Street, and eventually to carry the business of the village away from the "public square," around which the projectors had expected to see it located.

HOWELL IN 1844

     Within a period of ten years from the time when the Sages, the Austins, and John D. Pinckney built the first cabin here, Howell had increased in size, and attained the proportions of a very respectable village, not only in population, but in regard to the business transacted within it, as will be seen from the following summary of its principal business and business men, as they were in the autumn of the year 1844.

     First in importance on the list here (as at all county-seats) come the lawyers. Howell's first attorney, Wellington A.. Glover, had died in 1843, but five others were here at the time named, of whom the senior (with respect to date of establishment in the county) was Josiah Turner, whose 148. business card announced him as "Attorney and Counselor-at-Law, Master in Chancery, County Clerk, and justice of the Peace; Office, north side of the Public Square." Then, there were L. H. & L. K. Hewett, "Attorneys and Counselors-at Law, and Solicitors and Counselors in Chancery;" Richard B. Hall, "Attorney and Counselor-at-Law and Land-Agent;" and James H. Ackerson, "Attorney and Counselor-at-Law."

     Of physicians residing and practicing here there were Dr. Gardner Wheeler, the pioneer practitioner of Howell; Dr. William Huntington, successor to the office and practice of Dr. Charles A. Jeffries (who had removed), and Dr. E. F. Olds, "Physician and Surgeon, Residence at Morris Thompson's Office, at E. B. Taylor's store," his advertisement having been issued and dated while Mr. Taylor was alone in business, before his partnership with Mr. McPherson.

     The tailors of the village were Mulloy & Harrington, whose shop was located on Main Street. They guaranteed good fits and low prices in clothing.

     Andrew L. Hill was carrying on "Wagon-Making in all its branches, from an ox-yoke to Buggies of a superior kind, at the old Stand, west of the Presbyterian church," and he also announced that "he designs in future to keep constantly on hand and make to order Cabinet-Ware of every description; and from much experience and practice he feels assured that both in Style and durability his work will compare with that done at the East.''

     Eli Carpenter announced "to the City of Howell, and the inhabitants of the surrounding Country, that he is prepared to furnish Saddles, Bridles, Martingales, Trunks, Valises, and Harness of every description."

     Hickey & Galloway had then just commenced the foundry business, and manufactured stoves, agricultural castings,etc. Their foundry-building was located on East Street, north of the main thoroughfare.

     The Livingston Courier having been established in Howell for about a year, was then enjoying a good patronage. Its office of publication was on Main Street. Proprietor, Nicholas Sullivan; Editor, L. H. Hewett. Job printing-office connected with the establishment.

     The Howell Lyceum was in full tide of successful experiment, and weighty questions were being discussed at stated times by the ablest disputants to be found among the citizens of the village.

     The old frame school-house on lot 36 had overflowed, and other rooms were then rented for the use of the surplus scholars who could not be accommodated within its walls, but no select schools had yet been established in the village, as they were a year or two later.

     There were three church organizations, Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian; but only the last named had a house of worship,--the others holding their services in the village school-house. These churches will be found more particularly mentioned in following pages.

     Of merchants, the senior was Almon Whipple, he having commenced the business in Massachusetts in 1825, and in Howell in 1840. He, with his partner, John Curtis, had been the successors of Edward F. Gay, at the store southwest of the public-square, but Mr. Curtis had died in 1841, and not long after, Mr. Whipple had abandoned the old store as a business stand, and had removed to a wooden building standing where is now the store of George Greenaway & Son, at the northeast corner of East and Grand River Streets. At that time the name of "Grand River Street"--although so designated on the Crane & Brooks plat --appears not to have been in use by the people of the village, as the advertisements of merchants and others located on it invariably mentioned their places of business as "on Main Street, Howell."

     Riddle & Hinman's store was in a building known as the "Old Fort," which stood on the south side of the main street, where S. F. Hubbell's block now is. This mercantile firm was composed of William Riddle and Derastus Hinman. The firm had previously been styled William Riddle & Co., and was then composed of Riddle, Hinman, and L. K. Hewett; but Hewett retired from the partnership, April 15, 1844, leaving the firm as above named.

     The store of Taylor & McPherson (Enos B. Taylor and William McPherson, successors to E. B. Taylor) was on the north side of the main street, at or near the corner of Walnut Street, and a short distance west of the present store of William McPherson & Sons.

     The firm of Turner & Isbell, composed of Josiah Turner and Nelson G. Isbell, were then in business here as merchants, the partnership having been formed September 25th in that year. In their first business card, issued at that time, they announced themselves as "general merchants, and dealers in drugs and medicines, in the store lately occupied by Josiah Turner;" and they pledged themselves "to sell as low for cash or produce as can be bought this side of Lake Erie." Their store (where H. C. Briggs' jewelry-store now is) was the same in which judge Turner and Mr. McPherson had commenced merchandising in 1841, with a small stock of goods which they purchased of Wellington A. Glover, who had himself been a 149. merchant here in a small way, and for a short time. Turner & McPherson had sold out, after a few months of unsuccessful business, to Giles Tucker, who removed the stock to Shiawassee County. Mr. Turner had commenced again (alone) in the same business and same building, in the early part of 1844, and received Isbell as a partner in September of the same year, as above stated. Mr. Isbell had arrived in Howell in the preceding summer, from Charleston, Saratoga Co., N.Y.

     At the same time (the fall of 1844), William R. Melvin, besides being engaged in the business of blacksmithing and carriage-ironing, was also a merchant in the village, and announced himself in his business advertisement as "Dry Grocer, Main Street, Howell." His store was on the north side of the street, where H. H. Mills is now doing business. He was succeeded at that place a few months later by "Chester Hazard, Dry Grocer," as is learned from the business card of the latter, dated in the following April.

     The mercantile firm of Lee & Brother (George W. and Frederick J. Lee) had not commenced business in Howell in 1844, but was established here in the following year. With them, as a clerk in their store, came Leander C. Smith; and all three of these gentlemen achieved pecuniary success, and became leading citizens of Howell. Among all the residents of the village, from 1835 until the present time, few have done as much towards its prosperity and the advancement of its material interests as Col. George W. Lee. He has since removed, and is now a resident of Washtenaw County. Mr. F. J. Lee and Mr. L. C. Smith still live in Howell, both widely known and wealthy.

     Of public-houses in Howell, at the time mentioned, there were three, including one on the Grand River road, something more than a half-mile east of the centre, but still within the limits of the village, and two more were added during 1845. Further mention of these public-houses will be found below.

HOWELL THE HOME OF HILARITY

     It was about this time, and during the other years of the decade which succeeded 1840, that the village of Howell acquired much of the reputation which seems to have been universally accorded her of being the home and headquarters of unlimited and unrestrained fun and jollity. The Hon. Jerome W. Turner, in the address from which a quotation has before been made, said,--

     "Howell was town from the start, with a grin on its countenance, which never relaxed but continually flowered into guffaws. Men from the East, who had no design of settling here, staged it out from Detroit, or over from Dexter, to spend a few days in laughing. One man I know, who resided in the city of New York, who has since told me that he was accustomed to travel through almost every town in the United States large enough to hold a meeting-house, without finding one that could equal Howell for fun. There was an abandonment about it, too, that gave it zest; men laughed in hearty, deep-chested tones here in the woods, and assembled to see the perpetration of a practical joke in more numerical strength than they did at a funeral. Nobody was in a hurry; no one was careful, or troubled about many things; we had actors and an audience. Men forsook what little business they had for simple sport. One man I knew--Elijah Coffren, who now lives in Greenville, Montcalm Co., a carpenter and joiner by trade -- who would come down from the roof of a promising job to join in a little hilarity, and not be able to get a way from it so that he could return in a month. The super-urgent business was fun; that was a complete plea to any declaration for damages on account of delay in work. Even shows, which are supposed to carry about with them a sort of stereotyped humor which can make an hour passable, were tame concerns here in these early days, and it was two to one that something laughable would happen to them before they left the place. Subjects of mesmerism underwent copious inundations of coldwater; the magic lantern cuirass suddenly grew cloudy with ink, and the return of pewter and tin sixpences astonished the showman when he counted tip after the performance Apropos of this, there were at an early day, organized in Howell, companies of 'squirters,' armed with pint and quart squirt-guns, with which they deluged all bibulous individuals. A man could get on a drunk in the daytime, but he had need to watch the sun very closely, and not be seen around after nightfall.

     "Some of the subjects of this sport were somewhat ugly; for instance, Levi Bristol, a square fighter a man who would have been known as an athlete among the Thebans, but who usually got 'corned' when be came to town. He was emphatically an ugly customer, and he asserted, in all forms of forcible inelegance, that the first man who squirts any water onto me I'll get his head knocked off.' I remember, as though it were but yesterday, his standing one afternoon nearly in front of Mills' dry-goods store,--present location,--and he looked like one of Dumas' 'colossal wrestlers' in the Olympic ring, as be dared the whole town to furnish him an antagonist who should come bearing a tin squirt-gun. Boy as I was, I had read the story of Goliath of Gath, and when I saw a single person, a stripling in size, emerge from a building on the street, with a quart tin squirt-gun at 'present arms,' and advance towards this gawk, I must confess I thought I could see a complete repetition of that historical incident. I do not know that I was certain then, or that I am entirely positive now, who the lad was who went out against him, but he had a wonderful similarity to one Leander Smith, who once lived in Howell, so similar as to puzzle people as to the question of identity. A fine stream from the youth's gun struck Bristol fair and square in the eyes! Bristol plunged down like a kingfisher, and whirled himself along in knots and spirals through the dirt of the Street, uttering the most abominable yells that ever issued from human lips. He did not seem to know where he was going, or to have the least care. He burst through the front door of Elisha Hazard's grocery, knocking over the counter, and roaring like a bull of Basham! Well, whisky and pepper-sauce, in equal parts, is not a very pleasant eye lotion, and Bristol's visits to Howell became more and more infrequent, and of a less turbulent character. . . The general store was the rendezvous, and its mammoth stove became somewhat of a social shrine. There the people gathered, and there they brought out their jewels, like the toads, after dark. These jewels served our purpose then, let us hope they may not be entirely unregarded now."

     Another phase of the peculiar jocularity which reigned in Howell in the early days is thus described by Judge Turner:

     150. "There lived here, a good many years ago, a man who was familiarly called 'Old Cuff Simons,' of genial good-nature, but who was prone to take too much liquor. The boys, on certain occasions of his intoxication, would deluge the old man with water to an extent which would satisfy any reasonable Thompsonian. One evening they were engaged in this pastime in a hotel kept by George Curtis, in this place, and an elderly stranger, who happened to be present, thinking it to be an imposition on the old man, strongly remonstrated with the boys against what he termed 'such shameful conduct.' But what was his surprise when Simon turned upon him with an open jack-knife, saying, 'You're a transient person (hic), mind your own (hic) business; the boys are going (hic) to have their sport.' In New York or Boston such interference might have been regarded as timely by a besieged drinker, but, at Livingston Centre it was resented by the victim with far more warmth than by his persecutors."

     To many people of the present day it will doubtless seem like a very questionable compliment to a village or a community to say of its people that they "forsook what little business they had for simple sport," or that they collected in numbers to witness the perpetration of that most objectionable of all forms of "fun,"--a practical joke. It might have been more profitable as well as more creditable to the early residents of this village if, instead of assembling in force to witness the persecution of a poor unfortunate drunkard, they had devoted half the amount of time to bring about his reformation, and the other half to attending to "what little business they had." And as to the mechanics of the place, it cannot be denied that if, instead of abandoning promising jobs for a month at a time, for the sake of " hilarity," they had continued steadily at work it would have been better for themselves, their families, their employers, and the Community.

     The sport--such as it was -- frequently took place at the village stores, or perhaps quite as often at the public-houses; as in the case of "Cuff Simons," above narrated, and as in another instance, of a less pitiable and more ridiculous character, which is related by Hon. J. W. Turner, as follows:

     "In those early days 'court week' was the occasion of the new county. Everybody was at court. The crowd that gathered at Sliter's at such times was far beyond all his limited sleeping accommodations. His bar-room was literally covered with jurors and witnesses during the nights. One night, when the floor was about as densely populated as it could be with sleepers, two lawyers (rumor says from Ann Arbor) crawled out the back way, and by inducements, in the shape of Indian corn succeeded in calling two large hogs to the bar-room door, and getting them inside, They then started Sliter's bull-dog after the hogs, and quietly but swiftly retired to their beds by a rear passage. If Sliter's dog ever had any failings they could not be urged against his persistence as a biter. Some canines you can call off, but Sliter's had to be choked off. His dental grip was, in every way thorough. The scene that followed would probably baffle description, The squealing of a captured porcine is always very thrilling, but when dinned into the ears of sleeping men at the dead of the night, and accompanied by various kicks and thumps on their bodies, it is alarming. It was no doubt a night or great watchfulness,--at least after this occurrence. It is said that the innocent causes of this nocturnal disturbance were George Danforth, a man of pleasant memory, and Olney Hawkins, Esq., yet living. I regard the statement, however, as calumnious."

PUBLIC-HOUSES IN HOWELL SLITER'S

     The old Sliter Tavern, mentioned above as the scene of the swine-hunt among the sleepers, was situated about three-fourths of a mile east of the centre of the village, on the South side of the Grand River road, where Charles Wilber afterwards lived. The landlord, Shubael B. Sliter, a native of Antwerp, Jefferson Co., N.Y., emigrated from that place to Michigan as early as 1835, and located at Ann Arbor. From thence he removed, in the fall of 1839, to this place, and purchased from Simon P. Shope a tract of land which included the house which Shope had purchased from Alexander Fraser, and which the latter had built for his own occupancy. To this Sliter built a log, and afterwards a frame addition, and made of it the well-known pioneer tavern, which, although located at so considerable a distance from the "Centre," and approachable only " by crossing about as bad a specimen of corduroy-road as ever was traveled," became one of the well-known "institutions" of early Howell, and, as appears, was well patronized, and frequently even overcrowded, particularly during sessions of the Circuit Court, and on occasions of other public gatherings. On Such occasions a free carriage of some sort was run by Sliter between his tavern and the court-room. Mr. Turner, in describing its landlord, says,--

     "Shubael was a man who turned his quid of tobacco slowly in his month, as though a too sudden and abrupt removal would disturb the continuity of his ideas. To all appearances he. was a slow-moving man; it was only apparent, however. He adopted Sir Francis Bacon's maxim for his motto: 'Let us go slow, that we may get there the sooner.' he seemed to loaf, as sporting men say of a horse who lingers along the track; and yet he was the paradox of rapidity. He moved like the seemingly-spent cannon-ball, which takes off the foot, if it is reached out to stop it. Aside from his sharpness at a trade, which was universally conceded, he was famous as a litigant. Sliter was either plaintiff or defendant in more suits, at an early day in Howell, than all the rest of the men combined. L. K. Hewett was his attorney, and to him he went, simply asking him to write down what was necessary for him to prove. The result was that somebody else always paid the costs because invariably proved it."

     Mr. Sliter, however, was never a man of any prominence, and would now hardly be mentioned, or even recollected as among the pioneers of Howell, but for his proprietorship of the well - remembered old tavern-stand. Soon after 1850 he removed to Deerfield, and afterwards to Kent Co., Mich. Recently he came to Howell to revisit the scenes of his earlier years, and he died here October 151. 20, 1879. The old house which he once kept as a tavern was eventually destroyed by fire.

THE EAGLE HOTEL

     The erection of the old Eagle Hotel (or tavern) by Crane and Brooks, and its opening as a public house by Amos Adams, in 1835, has already been mentioned. Originally it was about 26 by 40 feet in size, but was afterwards increased by additions until it became, during its day, the largest public house in Howell. Besides its legitimate purpose as a house of entertainment, it was made to do duty in its early years as a place of holding elections, public meetings of various kinds, and religious worship, and at different times it also contained the post-office of the village, some of the county offices, and a store, the last named being kept in it by Mr. F. J. B. Crane, who put in an exceedingly meagre stock of goods, and after continuing for a very short time, abandoned the project. The tavern was sold in 1837 to Joseph H. Steel, who became its landlord. His successors in the proprietorship were George Curtis and Hezekiah Gates; after which Gates retired, and the house was carried on by Curtis alone. After Mr. Curtis' death (Oct. 4, 1848) it was managed by Mrs. Curtis and her brother, Marvin Gaston; then by Mr. Gaston alone; then by William E. Huntley; and later, by W. E. Huntley & Son, under whose proprietorship it was burned September, 1857.

THE OLD STAGE HOUSE

     The hotel known as the old "Stage House" and located on the south side of Grand River Street, about midway between East and Walnut Streets, was commenced to be built in 1840, by Allen C. Weston, who was the proprietor of a stage-line, or of some kind of public conveyance running between Detroit and Howell, and which he had established in the fall of 1838. Before the completion of the house, however, Mr. Weston's eyesight had become so badly impaired as to incapacitate him for business, and he exchanged the stage house and stand with Benjamin J. Spring, for property owned by the latter, on section 15, in Howell. Spring moved to the village in 1841, completed the house, and opened and kept it for the purpose intended by Mr. Weston. He also ran a stage-line between Howell and Detroit, making three trips per week (Weston 's line had made but one trip per week). He built and put upon this line a clumsy open stage-wagon, which he named the "Red Bird," and which became well known, and somewhat famous in its day. This is described by Hon. J. W. Turner as having been "a vehicle of a bright and tawdry red color,-- compactly built, for it had to serve not only as a stage on dry land, but also to perform the office of a yawl, through what was known as 'the rapids,' in the vicinity of Detroit." His pet, "Red Bird," was often driven by Spring himself, who was not a little proud of his skill as a reinsman; though his pride in this particular received a heavy blow from a circumstance which occurred in the summer of 1844,--in this way: He was returning from Detroit on the "box" of the "Red Bird," and arriving at Howell rather late in the evening, drove his horses directly into a hole which had been dug during his absence, for the reception of a flagstaff to be reared on the following day, in honor of the Democratic Presidential candidates, Polk and Dallas. The hole, which was near the front line of the present court-house Square, had been left unguarded, and it was not, perhaps, through carelessness or lack of skill in the driver that the accident occurred, but it furnished an opportunity for the perpetration of innumerable jokes at Spring's expense, and much to his disgust. He finally sold his stage-line and hotel, and the latter being afterwards devoted to other purposes than that of a public-house, was burned in the great fire of September, 1857,--the same which destroyed the Eagle Hotel.

     After Mr. Spring abandoned keeping the Stage House as a hotel, he became landlord of a public-house in Novi, Oakland Co., where he remained three years, and then returned to Howell. Later, he removed to a part of the James Sage farm, which he had purchased or contracted for, and where he spent the remainder of his life. During his palmy days he was noted among the people of the village and far-famed through all the surrounding country for his inimitable wit and as a chief promoter of the fun and jollity for which Howell was so much celebrated. And to this day the survivors of the old settlers, who knew him in his prime, warm up at the mention of his name, or of the scenes in which he was a principal actor; and they declare, with unanimous voice, that there never lived a man gifted with keener wit or more mirth provoking qualities than Benjamin J. Spring. He died at the Sage house, west of the village, on Christmas-day, 1853. His widow married Elisha Case, and now resides in Brighton.

THE TEMPERANCE HOTEL AND ITS PROPRIETOR

     The next two public-houses opened in Howell were the Temperance Hotel, built by Edward F. Gay, and the Union Hotel, by Hezekiah Gates. Both these houses were built in the spring and summer though several citizens of Howell feel confident that Mr. Gay's house (if not the other) 152. was built earlier. But all these doubts are set at rest by a paragraph which is found in the Livingston Courier of April 30, 1845, to this effect:

    "The enterprising spirit now being exhibited by the citizens of Howell is truly commendable. Building after building is daily going up, and the clink of the mason's hammer together with the constant thumping and sawing of the carpenter and joiner, is the music with which our ears are constantly filled. Our friends, Messrs. Gates and Gay, are each putting up large and commodious tavern-houses that would grace any of our Eastern cities. Mr. Gates' is 50 by 80 feet. Mr. Gay's will be of brick, but not quite so large on the ground. Several dwellings and stores are going up in the course of the season. All is noise and bustle in Howell."

     This fixes conclusively the date of the building of the two hotels named. The location of the Temperance Hotel was on the south side of Grand River Street, adjoining the site of the present National Hotel on the west, and directly fronting the street which bounds the west side of the Court House Square. It was the first brick building erected in the village and township of Howell, and has been mentioned as the first of that kind in the county of Livingston. It was certainly the first public-house operated on temperance principles, not only in the county, but in all this section of the State. The bricks for it were burned on the farm of Mr. Gay, south of the village, and the lime for mortar was furnished from the kiln of Mr. Z. M. Drew, near the Marion line.

     It seemed rather strange that Mr. Gay, who had had no experience in hotel-keeping, and who, moreover, had very little inclination towards the calling, should have suddenly commenced the erection of a public-house; but the matter has since been explained by himself (in his address before the Pioneer Society, before quoted from), and the reasons which he gave show pretty clearly that he did not regard the practical jokes and roystering which were then prevalent in Howell as being very creditable to the place. He said,--

    "Perhaps at no time has our town suffered more on account of intemperance than at this period. Whisky ran riot through our streets. It was about the time of the settlement of the city of Owosso, and as many of the early settlers of that town were former residents of Ann Arbor, their transit to and from those places was through Howell, and they thus came in contact with our hotels, kept by Spring, Gates, and others. These passing travelers, many of whom were my former acquaintances, made bitter complaints to me of our hotels, saying that they were sometimes obliged to resort to the street for safety or quiet on account of the noisy riot within, and quite frequently would resort to my house, half a mile away, to spend the night, in order to avoid the hotels of Howell. To these old acquaintances I was indebted for the first suggestion to build a temperance hotel in Howell. I will here say that, in common with my fellow-citizens, I liked to make money and become rich, but I liked something else far better. I liked to have a sober and intelligent community. To help promote this object alone induced me to build, and then keep, the Temperance Hotel.

     "In undertaking this I was to meet some opposition. Secretiveness was, never a prominent characteristic of mine, and when I had determined upon this undertaking, and chosen my location, it was natural for me to talk the thing over among our citizens, saying I intended to go to Detroit the next morning to purchase said corner lot for the purpose pose of building the hotel. Neighbor Gates was soon apprised of my intention, and sprang his trap on me, for the next morning I learned he had gone in the night to Detroit and purchased the corner. The only thing for me to do then was to take the next best, and I then purchased and built upon the site of the present Weimeister block the first brick building erected in our town, if not in the county, and opened and kept it as a hotel for some eight years, until a better state of things came about. Meanwhile, Gates commenced building on his corner lot, but failed while it was yet unfinished. . . . It is a pleasure to me to say that, though never sailing under false colors, the Temperance Hotel never suffered for want of patronage. The patronage given to this hotel, though, might not in all cases be credited to temperance men; for, notwithstanding the prominence given to its character by its glaring sign, 'Liberty and Temperance,' still there was sometimes evidence found in the private rooms of the guests that they had made provisions for the dilemma, in the shape of a private brandy-bottle"

     The builder and landlord of the Temperance Hotel was a brave and noble man. The Hon. C. C. Ellsworth,* who knew him well, mentions him as "one who, standing almost alone in the new Western life here, raised his standard of reform and nailed his flag to the mast. You will never forget his motto, for he kept it flying in the face of the wild life of this new country when the popular breeze was in the opposite direction. But he never furled his flag for friend or foe, but bravely faced the music, howe'er the winds, did blow. 'Liberty and Temperance,' --grand words! Sentiments for which men have dared to die! When freedom to the slave was all unpopular, and bondage was the fate of millions in our land; when it required the pluck and bravery of a Garrison, of a Wendell Phillips, to declaim against the crime of crimes, then Howell had a man who was true to a royal nature and fearlessly proclaimed his hatred of the great national sin; and, thank God! the brave old man lived to behold the great iron doors of the house of American bondage swing wide open and God's burning light of truth pour in upon the poor benighted creatures who had only known imprisonment and stripes before. Temperance, too, was a forbidden theme, and unpopular in our new world; and yet the banner of reform was kept steadily to the breeze, and every man, woman, and child who passed the unpretending Temperance House had sounded in their ears the holy truth which that sign proclaimed. The very air was laden with the silent influence of those thrilling words, Liberty and Temperance, and they have told for good. God would not have it otherwise! Eternity will reveal their saving power!" Many others who were intimately acquainted with Mr. *Now of Greenville, Mich., formerly a prominent lawyer of Howell. 153. Gay have borne testimony to his admirable traits of character and sterling virtues. As an index of the high estimation in which he was held by his fellow-citizens the following incident has been related. In the spring of 1838, in the course of a conversation between several persons in Howell in reference to the chances of success between the two political parties at the then-approaching township election, Benjamin J. Spring remarked that he believed the Whigs would be successful, for that the votes of such men as E. F. Gay (who was an uncompromising Whig) would go a great way. He was reminded that Mr. Gay lived in Marion, and could have no vote in Howell. "But for all that," replied he, "his very shadow will carry a good deal of influence." And certainly Spring could not be suspected of any undue personal bias in favor of the man whom he thus eulogized.

     Mr. Gay kept the Temperance Hotel until 1853. He resided for a short time at Grass Lake, Mich., but returned to Howell and spent the remainder of his life upon a farm which he purchased near the present residence of Alexander McPherson, Esq. He died there April 22, 1873. The Temperance House, after Mr. Gay's retirement from it, became known as the "Livingston Hotel," but was still conducted on temperance principles, and was kept successively by Nathaniel Smith, J. H. Peebles, and Charles Barber. After them came Elbert C. Bush, who called it the Bush House, and kept it. until 1869, when it was demolished to give place to a brick block built by John Weimeister.

UNION HALL

     The public-house before mentioned as having been in the course of construction in the spring of 1845 was built by Hezekiah Gates, upon the southeast corner of East and Grand River Streets; this being the location on which Mr. Gay had intended to build the Temperance Hotel, but which Gates had purchased away from him. This house was known as Union Hall. Its first landlord was Mr. Gates. Then the house came into possession of Taylor & McPherson, and was carried on by E, B. Taylor for a short time. The next proprietor after Taylor was S. S, Glover. Those who succeeded Mr. Glover in the proprietorship were James Lawther, 1850; George Wilber, J. Smith & Son, Smith & Marble, William E. Huntley & Son, Elisha E. Hazard, V. R. T. Angel, B. R. Smith, Jonathan Price, and Roberts & Beach. The building was burned during the occupancy of Mr. Beach, in the year 1871.

     SHAFT'S HOTEL

     The hotel now known as the Rubert House, situated on the southeast corner of Court and Grand River Streets, was built some thirty or more years ago, by William C. Shaft, who at one time ran a line of stages--such as they were--between Howell and Detroit, in opposition to Benjamin J. Spring. The writer of this has no knowledge of the standing of the house kept here by Mr. Shaft, but an allusion to it has been found in the shape of a scrap of rhyme, forming one of a series of verses, entitled "Bangle's Stroll about Town" (i.e., the village of Howell), which was printed in the year 1849, in "The B'hoys Eagle," published at Ann Arbor. It was understood that "Bangle," the author of the "Stroll," was a gentleman who was then a law student in Howell, since then a member of Congress, and now a resident of Greenville, Mich. The verse relating to Shaft's ran as follows:

     The next landlord of the house after Mr. Shaft was Elmer Holloway. After him came-- Vanderhoof, who was its proprietor at the time of the great fire of 1857. Vanderhoof was succeeded by W. E. Huntley & Son, who had been burned out from the Eagle Hotel in that fire. After Huntley came Amos S. Adams, who was keeping the establishment in 1860 as the "Adams House." Adams was succeeded by Joseph H. Steel, who was followed by the brothers Cyrus and Handel Winship, who named it the Winship House, and were keeping it as such in 1865. A short time afterwards, the property was purchased by Benjamin H. Rubert, who added a third story to the building, named it the Rubert House, and has continued as its proprietor to the present time.

THE MELVIN HOUSE

     The hotel located on the northwest corner of East and Sibley Streets was opened as the Melvin House, by William R. Melvin, in 1869. The building had been erected by him in 1861, to be used for mechanic shops, and was remodeled and enlarged for hotel purposes at the time mentioned. In 1874, after Mr. Melvin's death, it came into possession of R. M. Johnston, who carried it on for a time as the Melvin House, and then changed the name to that of Johnston House. After him it was carried on under the same name by A. H. Gibbs, George Lovely, F. S. Davis, and John M. White, the present proprietor, who has recently changed the name to that of Commercial Hotel.

MILLS AND MANUFACTORIES

     The pioneer manufacturing enterprise of Howell was the saw-mill built by Moses Thompson in 1836. From his ownership it passed to that of his son Morris. In the year 1849, Morris Thompson, in partnership with George W. and Frederick J. Lee, commenced the erection of a grist-mill, on the same stream, above the saw-mill. This, known as the Howell Grist-Mill, was completed and put in operation in 1850. A few years later this, with the old saw-mill property, came into the sole possession of George W. Lee, who afterwards sold to William Williamson, who was the owner of the mills and privileges in 1865, and who in that year manufactured more than 1000 barrels of flour, in addition to the custom work of the mill, and at the same time did a very thriving business in the saw-mill. Mr. Williamson sold the mills to Zebulon M. Drew, whose successor in their proprietorship was Thomas Birkett, of Washtenaw County. Since Mr. Birkett's occupancy the mills have been owned and operated successively by William Y. Munson and Calvin Wilcox, Munson, Wilcox &, Co., and Thomas Hoyland, the present proprietor. As the work required of the mill became much greater in latter years than formerly, and as the supply of water in the stream constantly decreases, a steam-engine was added to the machinery of the mill, and is now in use as an auxiliary to the water-power at times when the latter is insufficient.

     The Howell Steam Saw-Mill, the location of which was upon the site of the present City Mill, was built in 1850; the proprietors in its erection being D. D. T. Chandler, George W. Kneeland, and Shubael B. Sliter. Mr. Sliter states that the enterprise was conceived and commenced by himself, and that the interests of Messrs. Chandler & Kneeland were sold by him to them. However this may have been, he (Sliter) soon retired from it, and the establishment was owned and operated by Chandler & Kneeland, and theirs are the names which appear on the assessment rolls of that time as the proprietors. The mill was destroyed by fire in 1851, and was rebuilt by Judge Kneeland. A large amount of work was done here in sawing plank for the Detroit and Howell and Lansing and Howell plank-roads, which were in process of construction about this time; and it was largely in anticipation of this work that the first mill was erected. The establishment passed from Judge Kneeland to the ownership of Aiken Holloway, who was running it in 1858; and from him to John Hoyt, who was operating it in 1861. The engine by which its machinery was driven was one which had then recently been built for Mr. Hoyt by B. C. & H. B. Curtis, and was the first steam-engine ever built in Howell. The mill afterwards passed into the hands of J. R. Axtell, and from him to John I. Van Deusen. In 1865 it had been refitted, and was carried on by Taylor & Van Deusen, who, in addition to its legitimate business, had added that of the grinding of sorghum sugar-cane for the manufacture of syrup. This enterprise was neither long-lived nor very successful. A few years afterwards stave-, heading-, and shingle-mills were added, and these were in operation about 1871 by Van Deusen & Whipple. In 1874 the mill was remodeled into a grist-and flouring-mill, with two run of burrs.

     It was owned and operated in 1875 by Latson & Wright, who added another run of stones, and improved it to its present excellent condition. It is now run by Mr. Wright: Its location is in the southwestern angle of Walnut and Westmore Streets.

FOUNDRIES AND MACHINE-SHOPS

     The first iron-working establishment in Howell was the foundry of Hickey & Galloway, which was located on the lot now occupied by the residence of Hon. A. D. Waddell, East and North Streets. This foundry was built in 1844, and made its first castings on Wednesday, Oct. 16th, of that year. Its work was "the manufacture of box, cook, and parlor stoves, plows and hollow-ware," and all kinds of agricultural implement castings. Hickey & Galloway sold to Lemuel Spooner and Edward Thompson, whose successor in the business was W. O. Archer. Mr. Archer sold to Abijah W. Smith, with whom Dexter Filkins had an interest in the establishment. A few months after coming into Mr. Smith's hands it was destroyed by fire, and was never rebuilt.

     The "Phoenix Foundry and Machine-Shop," located on the west side of East Street, south, was built in 1857 by A. W. Smith, above mentioned 155. as the last proprietor of the old Hickey & Galloway foundry. The Phoenix started in blast about the 15th, of May in the year, named, and on the 25th of the same month "Smith & Co.," the proprietors, announced to the citizens of Livingston County and the surrounding country that their foundry and machine-shop was then in full operation, that they were making the celebrated Starbuck, Wayne County Improved, Livingston County, and Michigan Straight-Line Plows; also the double-team plows known as the Bathgate, the Curtiss (several sizes), the North Bend, and "the celebrated Seventy-Six," and "every kind of cornplows that may be wanted." In this line of business the foundry continued until Feb. 22, 1860, when the works were destroyed by fire, the loss being estimated at $7200, about two-thirds insured.

     The establishment was rebuilt on the same site by Benjamin C. and Henry B. Curtis in the same year. These proprietors were engaged, more than Mr. Smith had been, in the manufacture of machinery, and in 1861 built the first steam-engine ever manufactured in Howell--it being built for the Howell Steam Saw-Mill of Mr. Hoyt, and placed in operation in that mill in October of that year. Mr. Hoyt, in his advertisement of the refitting of his establishment, spoke of this engine as "comparing favorably with the best engines made in the State of Michigan."

     In 1862, Curtis sold to Floyd S. Wykoff, who, in 1865, was doing business at the place as a "manufacturer and dealer in all kinds of agricultural implements, reapers, mowers, threshing and wood sawing machines, cultivators, field-rollers, plows, and every variety of castings." After Mr. Wykoff, the foundry and machine-shop was owned by John H. Galloway, and later, by Henry B. Curtis, of the firm of Curtis & Son, who are the present owners.

     The "Howell Foundry," situated on the north side of Grand River Street, west of Centre Street, was built in 1849 by Stephen Clark. The business carried on by him was the manufacture of stoves and agricultural castings. In 1859 the establishment came into possession of George W. Taylor and George L. Clark. In 1864, Taylor sold his interest to John H. Galloway, and the firm became Clark & Galloway, who, in 1865, were doing, in addition to the work of the foundry, a business in mowers and reapers, horse-pitchers, and every kind of agricultural implements. In the spring of 1867, F. S. Wykoff and Hudson B. Blackman were added to the firm, which afterwards was changed to Wykoff, Clark & Co. (William Williamson being interested). In October, 1874, the firm became Wykoff, Clark & Imman, and in December, 1876, the business was purchased by J. M. Clark, the present proprietor.

WAGON-SHOPS

     The first wagon-shop in Howell was that opened by Andrew L. Hill, in 1842. He announced himself as a manufacturer of every kind of wagons for farm or other use, "also Buggies, Buffalo Wagons, and Sleighs," all of which he promised to build for customers in a manner and style as thorough and workmanlike as could be procured in any shop east of Lake Erie. The first cutter built in Howell was made by Mr. Hill for Philander Glover, from whose estate it was purchased in 1844 by Judge Turner, and used by him during several winters.

     The next wagon-shop, after Hill's, was opened by W. R. Melvin and James Lawther, blacksmiths, in 1846. After Lawther withdrew from his partnership, Mr. Melvin continued in the business for many years, and as late as 1868 was carrying it on at his "Arcade Shops," on East Street, where the Commercial Hotel now stands, --this hotel being, in fact, the old Arcade shop-building remodeled. Benjamin Scofield was another of the early wagon-makers, having his shop on the north side of Grand River Street, west of the present store of William McPherson & Sons.

     Williarn Sowle was also engaged in wagonmaking in the village at an early date, and since the time of these early manufacturers there have been a number of others engaged in the business in Howell, but none of these establishments have been on a scale sufficiently extensive to require especial mention among the manufacturing industries of the village. The same is true of those above noticed, and they have only been mentioned because they were among the earliest, and, during the time of their existence, were relatively more important than they could have been regarded among the business enterprises of later years.

HOWELL PLANING-MILL

     John W. Wright built the first planing-mill in Howell village in 1869, commencing business on the first of August in that year. This mill was located on Clinton Street between Centre and Walnut. It was destroyed by fire, April 27, 1875. Soon after this he built the present Howell Planing-Mill, on East Street, in the extreme southern part of the village, below the railroad track. The business of this mill is the manufacture of sashes, doors, blinds, mouldings, and the dressing of lumber for building purposes. It is still owned and operated by Mr. Wright.

     156.

EDUCATIONAL

THE HOWELL PUBLIC SCHOOLS

      It is evident that the first settlers in Howell moved promptly and energetically in the matter of providing the means of education for their children. It was in April, 1836, that the organization of the township was perfected by the election of its first officers, among whom were F. J. B. Crane, Jonathan Austin, and Joseph Porter, school inspectors. Before the 21st of the following month School District No. 1 (embracing the village of Howell) had been laid out, and on that day a meeting of the taxable inhabitants of the district was held at the house of Amos Adams, at which meeting a district organization was effected by the election of David H. Austin, Justin Durfee, and Amos Adams as Directors, Jonathan Austin as Clerk, F. J. B. Crane as Treasurer, and John D. Pinckney as Collector of the District. Ten days after this meeting another was held at the same place, "for the purpose of deciding upon a Cite for a school-house for said district. . . . Whereupon the following proceedings were had: F. J. B. Crane, a resident of said district, offered as a present Lot No. 36, in the village of Howell, upon condition that said district should cause to be erected a frame school-house thereon. On motion of Mr. Adams, Resolved, unanimously, that the district accept the offer made by Mr. Crane;" after which the meeting adjourned, to meet on the 5th of June at the same place. At the adjourned meeting "David H. Austin was appointed Chairman, and Jonathan Austin was present as Clark. Resolved, That 350 Dollars be raised in said district for the purpose of erecting a frame school-house, and completing the same."

     But for some unexplained reason the school-house was not built until the following year. Probably the reason of the delay was the lack of funds, and the difficulty of obtaining lumber, which could not then be procured nearer than Green Oak or Hamburg. Moses Thompson's mill had then just been commenced, and there was a prospect of its early completion and of a consequent facility for obtaining the necessary lumber. This may or may not have had an influence in causing the postponement of building operations.

     In the spring of 1837 the school-house was erected on the lot donated by Mr. Crane. Sardis Davis was the master-carpenter, and hewed the timber for the frame. The lumber was sawed by Morris Thompson. The siding and interior finish, desks, and other fixtures, were of whitewood, hauled from Salem or Plymouth. The building was completed during the spring months, and on the 17th of June, 1837, there was held in it a district-meeting, of which David Austin was chairman and Jonathan Austin clerk. At this meeting David H. Austin was elected moderator of the district, Ely Barnard assessor, and Edward F. Gay director; and having made such election, it was

"Resolved, That this meeting expect that the director they have chosen will use efforts to have a school commenced in this district without longer delay."

     The person who first wielded the teacher's rod in Howell was Miss Abigail Adams, daughter of Amos Adams, though whether her first teaching was in the school-house, or in a private house before the school-House was completed, is not entirely certain. There is little doubt, however, that she was the first teacher in the school-house in the summer of 1837. The first male teacher in the Howell school was Justin Durfee. Mr. E. F. Burt taught here for four years, commencing in 1838. Later came William Pitt Glover, who had the reputation of being unnecessarily severe in the infliction of punishment on his pupils. Among the earliest of the female teachers, besides Miss Adams, were Miss Farnsworth, Miss Waterman, Miss Clarissa Rumsey, and Mrs. Joseph B. Skilbeck. The male teachers who succeeded Mr. W. P. Glover, and taught in the old frame school-house, or in rented rooms, until the completion of the first brick school-house, were William O. Archer, winter terms of 1845-46 and 1846-47; Henry H. Harmon, winter terms of 1847-48; John S. Dixon, winter terms of 1848-49.

     The school-house built in 1837 appears never to have been satisfactory to the people, or adequate to the wants of the school. In the second year after it was built the sum of forty dollars was expended in repairs upon it, and repairs to a greater or less extent were made upon it in every year until its final abandonment as a school-house. At a school meeting, held in the evening of the first Monday of October, 1845, it was "voted to raise two hundred Dollars for the purpose of Erecting a School-House;" and at an adjourned meeting held on the first Monday in the next following month, it was "voted to Locate the School-House on Lotts Nos. -- ;" ¥ and at the same time it was voted that "the Board be instructed to rent the meeting-house for the purpose of a district school." But at a special meeting of the district held Dec. 15, 1845, "the vote passed at the annual [October] meeting to raise Two Hundred Dollars for the purpose of building a School - House was reconsidered; and also the vote for Having two schools was reconsidered''

     157. From that time until the spring of 1847 the school-house question seems to have been less agitated; but at a meeting held March 10th in the year last named, it was

     "Resolved, "That in the opinion of this meeting the district ought to build a new school-house, and that said house should be thirty by forty, and one story high." "That in the opinion of this meeting the district ought to build a new school-house, and that said house should be thirty by forty, and one story high."

     A committee of five was appointed "to draft a plan of said house, internal and external, and to select a suitable site on which to place it;" and J. H. Rasco, E. E. Gregory, J. Peterson, William McPherson, and H. S. Hamilton were constituted such committee. This committee, at a meeting held on the 24th of the same month, reported a plan for a brick school-house forty feet long by thirty feet wide, one story, with side walls twelve feet high and one foot thick, with two doors in the front as principal entrances, and (after a long specification of other particulars) "the whole to be crowned in the centre of the roof with a small belfry." This report was unanimously adopted, and J. H. Rasco, Edward F. Gay, George W. Jewett, Alvin L. Crittenden, and Stephen Clark were appointed a committee "to locate a site for said house and ascertain the value thereof."

     There is no record of the result of the labors of this committee; but at a meeting held on the 9th of September in the same year, William E. Huntley, N. J. Hickey, and Matthew West were appointed "a committee of three to select a site for a school - house," and it was "voted to raise a tax of three hundred dollars per year for three successive years for the purpose of building a schoolhouse; voted to build said house of brick." And at a meeting held on the 27th, it was "voted that the report of the committee be accepted, and that the location be accepted that is recommended by the committee;" though what that location was does not appear upon the record.

     On the 25th of September, 1848, a meeting was held at the school-house, and at this meeting it was, on motion of R. P. Bush,

     "Resolved, That the district board be and they are hereby authorized to sell the district school-house within twenty days, provided it will sell for five dollars; and provided further, that the said board can procure a suitable place for a school the ensuing winter."

     And at an adjourned meeting, held on the 28th, it was "voted that the district board be and they are hereby authorized to engage the room known as the Howell Academy room, for the use of the district, for a school the coming winter, upon the terms proposed by Mr. Clark, to wit, at the rate of forty dollars per annum." At the same meeting it was voted to raise $1000 " for the purpose of building a school-house for said district; the said amount to be raised in three successive years (commencing with the present year), one-third in each year;" and also the sum of $200 was voted to be raised, "to be appropriated in purchasing or procuring a site for the school-house," and $100 was raised for the purpose of "inclosing the school-house site and erecting necessary outbuildings;" also, $50 (to be raised in the following year), "for the purchase of a bell for the district school-house."

     The proceedings of this meeting seem very obscure and hard to understand, for after the passage of the above-mentioned votes, the meeting, on the same evening, proceeded to vote "that a committee of three be appointed by the chair to designate a site for the school-house, with instructions to report at the next adjourned meeting of the district," and the chair appointed as such committee Messrs. George W. Lee, William McPherson, and Elijah Coffren. Another committee was ordered to prepare a plan for a school-house, and H. S. Sparks, R. P. Bush, and Elijah F. Burt were appointed as such committee; whereupon the meeting adjourned for four weeks, "to meet in the Howell Academy Room."

     At the meeting held pursuant to the above-mentioned adjournment, on the 26th of October in the same year, it was "voted that the action of the District Board in selling the old School-House belonging to the District, and appropriating the proceeds arising therefrom to the payment of the rent of the room engaged for a winter school, and to repairs of the same, is hereby approved;" which shows that Howell had no longer a public schoolhouse, but was dependent on the accommodations of a rented room for the holding of the sessions of its school. At the same meeting the committee to whom was referred the selection of a site for a school-house reported, "recommending that the site be located upon the old public square provided a title to the same can be obtained. This report was laid upon the table, "after considerable time spent in discussing the subject," and a new committee of five was appointed, charged with the duty of designating a site; the committee so appointed being L. H. Hewett, Fred. C. Whipple, H. S. Sparks, William McPherson, and Nelson G. Isbell. This committee, at a special meeting held for the purpose (Nov. 1, 1848), made two reports: "one recommending that the site of the schoolhouse be removed from its present location on lot No. 36, Crane & Brooks' Plat, to land adjoining said lot, offered by Mr. Jewett; and the other recommending that it be removed to the Northwest Corner of the Court-House Square;" but both these reports were rejected by the meeting, and a 158. new committee, consisting of E. F. Burt, George W. Jewett, L. K. Hewett, N. J. Hickey, and Josiah Turner, was appointed, charged with the same duty. Two weeks later, at a meeting held pursuant to adjournment, this committee asked and received leave to hold another session, but the meeting afterwards unanimously
"Resolved, That the district board be and they are hereby authorized and directed to purchase for the district lots Nos. 15 and 18 on Crane & Brooks' plat, provided they can obtain the same at an expense not to exceed $130."

     These lots form the site of the present Methodist church, on Walnut Street. But at the next meeting, held December 8th, the vote directing the Board to purchase them was rescinded; and, at the same time, upon Mr. Galloway's offering a resolution to the effect "that the school-house site be removed from its present location on lot 36, of Crane and Brooks' plat, to the north end of the Court-House Square, provided eight rods in width across the north end of said square can be obtained without expense to the district, except the expense of making the necessary papers," the chairman (George W. Jewett) said he could not entertain it, and resigned the chair; whereupon Edward E. Gregory was made chairman, and put the question, which was decided in the negative.

     It may be objected that the above is an unnecessarily minute account of the various proceedings had by the district on the subject of a change of site and erection of a new building, but it has been given for the purpose of showing the long series of tribulations through which the people of Howell passed before attaining the object they had in view.

     Finally, the question of the location of the school-house site was definitely settled at a meeting of the qualified voters of the district, held Dec. 15, 1848. At this meeting, of which Dr. Gardner Wheeler was chairman, it was

     "Resolved, That the site of the school-house be removed from lot No. 36 of Crane & Brooks' plat, and located upon the block upon said plat comprising eight lots numbered as follows, to wit, lot, Nos. 173 to 180, inclusive; and that the district board be directed to purchase the said lots for that purpose."

     Upon the first vote being taken on this resolution, it was lost, the necessary number not voting in the affirmative; but this action was afterwards reconsidered, and a second vote taken, which resulted in its adoption by 50 yeas to 17 nays. Thus the school-house site was established,--it being the ample grounds (bounded by Hubbell, McCarthy, Crane, and East Streets) which are now occupied by the noble edifice of the Howell Union School.

     A site being now definitely fixed upon, a meeting was held pursuant to public notice, "at the district school-room," Jan. 19, 1849, "for the purpose of adopting a plan for a school-house for said district;" and at that meeting it was, on motion of Mr. Jewett,

     "Resolved, That the district board be and they are hereby instructed, authorized, and empowered to erect or cause to be erected a brick school-house on the site located for that purpose, 38 feet by 48 feet, two stories high, with a cellar under so much of the same as they shall deem necessary, and finish and prepare for use so much of said building as the money already voted to be raised [$l000] will accomplish."

     This resolution was adopted by the requisite number of votes, but the end was not yet; for, on the 12th of February next following, George W. Lee and thirty-eight others, taxable inhabitants of the district, addressed to the board a written request that a meeting be called "for the purpose of taking into consideration the propriety of building a CASTLE: for a school-house, and, as the District Board complain that we do not direct them, we will ask them to listen to us for once, and see what the district thinks." Thereupon a meeting was called, and held on the 19th of February, and at that meeting the resolution previously adopted "was reconsidered and indefinitely postponed." A resolution was then adopted by the necessary vote, authorizing and directing the board to cause a school-house to be built on the established site; said house to be erected upon a suitable foundation, to be built of brick, two stories high, to be twenty-six by thirty-six feet on the ground, and ten feet between joints, and finished complete." This vote was final, and, under the authority conferred by it, the "brick school-house" was built in the summer and fall of 1849, on the site now occupied by the Union school-house.

     The contract for building the house appears to have been awarded to Elijah Coffren, at $1000, though the contract price is not mentioned in the district record. The building was nearly or quite completed in September; and at a district meeting held in the Presbyterian meeting-house, in Howell, on the 24th of that month, it was "voted that the sum of six hundred and seventy-eight dollars and seventy cents be raised the present year upon the taxable property of the district for the following purposes, to wit:

 The last payment on Coffren's contract, and also the final payment on the school-house site, were 159. provided for by a vote passed in the following year to raise the necessary amounts.

     In 1849, a law was passed by the Legislature (approved March 31st enacting that, in districts containing more than one hundred scholars between the ages of four and eighteen years, the district board may be enlarged by adding thereto four trustees, provided the district determine to do so by a two-thirds vote at any annual meeting." And as this district contained more than that number of children prior to its annual meeting in September 1849 (the last held before the occupation of the brick school-house), it was at that meeting "voted to elect a board of trustees agreeable to act No. 183, of the session laws of 1849; "and the meeting then proceeded to elect George W. Jewett, R. P. Bush, James Lawther, and William McPherson as the first Board of Trustees of the district.

     At the same time a resolution was passed authorizing, the district board "to offer Mr. John S. Dixon the sum of three hundred dollars for his services as teacher of the district school for one year." But it appears that Mr. Dixon did not accept the offer, for the board soon after employed Mr. Willis Wills, who assumed authority as the first teacher in the (then) new brick school-house. But he proved unsuccessful as a teacher, and is represented as having been incompetent and exceedingly cruel. The result was that the school was broken up before the completion of his winter term of 1849-50.

     It became apparent very soon after the first occupation of the new school-house that it was inadequate to the needs of the district, and that it would perhaps, after all, have been better to build the "Castle" as at first proposed. At a district meeting, held Sept. 30, 1850, less than a year after Mr. Wills had opened school in the new building, it was:

     "Resolved, That the district board be authorized, in their discretion, to rent another Room, and employ one or more Teachers in addition to the present number, for the Winter Schools."

     A room was accordingly rented from Mrs. Frink, at $32.50 per annum, as appears from the record of bills allowed at the annual meeting in 1851. Again, in 1852, the board was authorized to procure additional room for the winter school, and the sum of $15 was allowed to Josiah Turner for room rent; and at an adjourned meeting, held Oct. 3, 1853, a resolution passed "that seventy-five dollars be raised to procure and furnish necessary school-rooms for the ensuing year." The audited account district for the same year show that over $180 was spent for repairs on the school-house, and that Josiah Turner and Almon Whipple received $25 each for rent of school-room. In September, 1854, at, the annual meeting, a committee was appointed consisting of F. C. Whipple, G. Isbell, Elijah F. Burt, John H. Galloway, and W. A. Clark, "to report some feasible plan for enlarging the present school-house or, building a new one;" and at a special meeting, convened on the 21st of April, 1855, for the purpose, this committee presented their report:

     "That there is immediate and pressing necessity for further school accommodations, and without these, it is impossible to carry out the plan of a Union School with success. Of this there  can be but one opinion, and the only question is, bow best to secure them, with due reference to economy, at the earliest practicable period."

     They then proceeded to recommend the enlargement of the house:

     "by extending it south, in the same form and size of the present building, forty-eight feet, by taking out the south gable end of the present building down to the bottom of the upper story; the present school-room in that story can then be enlarged to any desirable extent, with room for one or two recitation-rooms at the south end. And the lower story of the proposed addition can be conveniently divided into two school-rooms of suitable size for small children. By carrying out this plan, ample accommodations will be afforded for all the scholars of the district for a long time to come. It is deemed of equal importance to the perfection of a Union School that the same, in all its departments, should be under the immediate supervision and control of one principal teacher. This cannot well be done unless the departments are all under the same roof."

      The cost of the proposed addition, including necessary furniture and fixtures, was estimated at $1000; which sum the Committee recommended to have raised in the (then) present year, and that the building be contracted for and commenced with the least possible delay. The report was accepted, and, on motion of F. C. Whipple, was adopted "after an animated discussion by a number of persons." The meeting then voted to raise the sum of $1000 to be placed at the disposal of the board, who were authorized and instructed to contract for the proposed enlargement of the school-house, to be completed on or before Dec. 1, 1855, at a cost not exceeding $1200.

     The above proceedings and the remarks of the committee on the enlargement of the house are given more at length, because they have reference to the inception of the project for establishing and maintaining a Union School, -- an institution which has since been brought to a high degree of excellence in Howell, and of which the people of the village are now so justly proud.

     "The vote to raise, $1000 for the enlargement of the school-house was afterwards (Sept. 24, 1855) reconsidered, and it was voted to raise, instead, the sum of $750 for the purpose, and the board was instructed to contract for the erection of the addition