1880 Map of Iosco Township

254a.

 Image of
Mr. & Mrs. Isaac Stow &
Residence, Iosco Mich

     255. Iosco, the Chippewa name for the small stream now known as Cedar River, is the present title of territory designated in the field-notes of the United States survey as township number 2 north, of range number 3 east. It is situated on the west border of Livingston County, south of the centre, and adjoining township organizations are Handy on the north, Marion on the east, Unadilla on the south, and White Oak in Ingham County on the west. Its surface is slightly rolling and of the character so common to this portion of the State. The principal water-courses are the Cedar River and the West Branch of the same stream. The former enters the township by crossing the south line of section 36, and flows on in a general northerly course through the east half of the town. The latter stream flows in the same direction through the western part of the township. These streams afford no water-power privileges, are sinuous and sluggish in their course, especially the former, which is bordered by bottom-lands and swamps many acres in extent.

     Iosco, or School Lake, containing about 40 acres, is situated upon section 16, and denominated the school section. Another small lake lies upon the line dividing sections 25 and 26.

     The lands of this township originally were termed by the early settlers "heavy-timbered openings," and the task of subduing and making farms of them was tedious and prolonged. The different varieties of oak common to Michigan predominated; but elm, ash, hickory, basswood, soft maple, and tamarack, were plentiful, while black walnut, whitewood, cottonwood, cherry, beech, sycamore, hard maple, and sassafras abounded in most sections.

     The soil is of an excellent quality, and yields large returns as the result of intelligent culture, the principal products being wheat, corn, potatoes, fruits, etc. The soil and grasses are also well adapted to grazing and draining, --- one of the two cheese factories of Livingston County being established here. This factory was built by John Elliott in 1874, and he first began the manufacture of cheese in May, 1875. At the present time milk is used from 100 cows, though in previous years the factory has received the product of twice that number. The cheese manufactured is shipped principally to the New York City market, where it compares favorably with the dairy products of other portions of the Union. The factory, and the large farm upon which it is situated, now belong to the Samuel Medbury estate.

     losco, a post-office station, otherwise known as Parker's Corners, is situated upon portions of sections 8 and 17. Here are the church edifices of the Methodist Episcopal and Protestant Methodist societies, a store of general merchandise, district school-house, cider-mill, a blacksmith-shop, and some half-dozen dwelling-houses.

     The population of the township in 1874 was 943. It now has a voting population of about 275, and the present total population will approximate 1150.

ORIGINAL LAND-ENTRIES

     The first land entered in township 2 north, of range 3 east, was by Alonzo Platt, of Washtenaw Co., Mich., Aug. 12, 1835. His selection embraced the east one-half of the southeast quarter of section 12, and is now owned and occupied by Joseph Loree, Jr.

     Elbert Parker entered the southeast quarter of section 8, Oct. 29, 1835. This location is now known as losco, or Parker's Corners.

     Samuel and William Ranney, from Franklin Co., Mass., purchased a portion of the same section Nov. 5, 1835. A description of their lands will be found in the following complete list of land-entries.

     John Wood, from Washtenaw Co., Mich., purchased the southwest quarter, the west one-half of the northwest quarter, and the southeast quarter of the same quarter on section 11, Nov. 24, 1835.

     On the 27th of November, 1835, Robert J. Barry, of Washtenaw Co., Mich., entered the northeast quarter and the east one-half of, the northwest quarter of section 17.

     These included all the entries for public lands in this township during the year 1835. The next year--1836--nearly the entire township was located, or, at least, all the desirable lands.

     Emigrants from New York, New England, Pennsylvania, and Ohio arrived during the spring and fall in considerable numbers, and then began that tedious struggle with the primitive forests which to subdue and transform into pleasant homes, surrounded by fruitful fields and orchards, as we see 256. them to-day, required years of toil and privation, such as their posterity or successors, now enjoying the fruits of their labor, can form no adequate idea.

     The following is a complete list of those who purchased from the general government lands situated in this township; showing also their place of residence, and date of entry. Those whose names are particularized with a star (*) became actual settlers.

 

256a.

Image of
James Converse 
Residence, Iosco Mich

Image of
Wm. J. Jewell
Residence, Iosco Mich

     257.

THE FIRST AND OTHER EARLY SETTLEMENTS

     It is conceded by all early residents that George C. Wood was the first inhabitant of the territory now known as the township of Iosco.

     His father, John Wood, then a resident of Ann Arbor, Mich., made the fourth entry of lands in township No. 2 north, of range 3 east, by the purchase of the southwest quarter, the west one-half of the northwest quarter, and the southeast quarter of the northwest quarter of section 11, Nov. 24, 1835.

     Upon this purchase, and in a house now owned and occupied in part by James Fewlass, George C. Wood began his residence late in May, 1836.

     As much interest attaches to the journey and settlement of the first settler, the following narration of Mr. Wood's removal from Ann Arbor to his new home, furnished for publication in the Livingston Democrat, March, 1874, by the late Daniel Case, of Howell, is inserted. Mr. Case had then just arrived in Ann Arbor, while on his way to view, for a second time, lands in Howell, Livingston Co., previously purchased by him:

    "We put up at the Western Hotel in Ann Arbor, a small, low house, built in the early days of the Territorial road to Chicago. I thought it was not a very large village. There was not a house from the court-house square to the bridge, and the road was not fenced in. While looking about in the morning, down near the hill towards the river, I saw Mr. George C. Wood, who, with three yoke of oxen, was plowing on the south side of the road. I inquired of him about the county of Livingston, as I wanted to go and see the land I had purchased.

     "He said he was going to within seven or eight miles of my land to live, and would start the next day with a break-up team, and if I would stay and help him finish plowing the piece he was then engaged upon, he would be glad to have me for one of the company.

     "That was my first experience in driving a break-up team. We got it done, and commenced to load the wagon with potatoes, corn, pork, and other kinds of provisions, a break-up plow, etc., making a big load for four yoke of oxen. The next morning, we fixed a place for Mrs. Wood to ride on top of the load, hitched on the oxen, and started. Arriving at Dexter, we turned north, and here left civilization behind us for the land of the Indian, wolf, and deer. At noon we halted beside a marsh in the shade of a tree, unyoked the oxen and let them feed on the tender marsh grass. Our lunch was taken from the wagon, and eaten with as good a relish as in the best dining-room in the State. After the oxen had rested we again started on our way, and at night stayed at a small yellow house, where Dover Mills now are. We put the bells on the oxen, turned them on the marsh to graze, and in the morning  they were ready to go on again.

     "We had to go around the west side of Portage Lake, and arrived at Mr. Sigler's house at noon next day. Sometimes we had to go miles out of our way to get around marshes and swamps. Mrs. Wood was as happy as a lark, and often made the woods ring with her songs. The second night we found shelter at a small log house, situated a few miles north of the village of Pinckney, and the only one in the neighborhood.

     "It was a common thing for three or four families to stop at one house overnight, and sometimes stay till they could get a log house up, and there was always plenty of room. The next day, after making bridges, going around swamps, and fighting mosquitoes without cessation, we arrived at the Cedar River, west of the lands afterwards occupied by Lyman E. Beach, Jr.

     "It took three days to get that load over the river and marsh up to Mr. Wood's house, which was situated upon the premises now owned by James Fewlass, Esq. I worked upon the house for a few days, and there I first heard the howl of a wolf. I thought all the dogs in the country were loose. On the trail from there to Livingston Centre I saw the first naked Indians, and there were large numbers of them."258a.

SIMON P. KUHN

Image of
Simon P. Kuhn
Iosco Mich

     Few men in Livingston County have risen to usefulness and, independence through greater trials and obstacles than he whose name stands at the head of this brief narrative. He was born in Livingston Co., N.Y., Jan. 8, 1820, and came to Michigan with his father, Peter J. Kuhn, in 1834. Lived in Washtenaw County two years, and came to Iosco in the spring of 1837, taking one hundred and twenty acres of land from government, on section 26. The family, consisting of eight children, -- four boys and four girls, -- were in limited circumstances. The first five acres of land cleared was done without the help of a team; this was sowed to wheat the first fall. From this small beginning a large and productive farm was made, on which the old couple died,--Mrs. Kuhn on Sept. 16, 1875, and he on May 11, 1876.

     Simon P., the immediate subject of this sketch, met with an accident when a boy which made him a confirmed cripple. He lived with his father until he was thirty-six years of age. Being ambitious to do something for himself, his father gave him one hundred dollars, and he purchased eighty acres of land where he now resides. Upon this land there was a heavy growth of timber; to remove this, make a living, and improve a farm without means, and being obliged to walk with two canes, was a grave question. All this has been done, other lands added, fine, commodious buildings erected, with such surroundings as indicate the "well-to-do farmer."

     Mr. Kuhn has been twice married. His first wife was Mrs. Lucinda Rounds, formerly Miss Green, of Marion. She died Dec. 28, 1872, leaving one son, Claude M. The second marriage was May 7, 1879) to Mrs. Eliza Monk, formerly Miss Richer, of the county of Norfolk, England.

     Mr. Kuhn and his present wife are active and consistent members of the Protestant Methodist Church, and take a prominent part in the Sabbath-school.

Image of
S. P. Kuhn Residence,
Iosco Michigan

     259. Mr. Wood removed from the township at an early day, and is now a resident of Milwaukee, Wis.

     During the latter part of the summer and early in the fall of 1836, several other families took up their residence in the township, the exact date of whose settlement cannot be readily ascertained. Among them were Ard Osborn and his son Nelson. The former was the first supervisor and treasurer of the township, and purchased several hundred acres, situated upon sections 30 and 31.

     Richard M. Guggins purchased lands upon sections 19, 20, and 21, early in the summer of 1836, and during the same season settled early enough to harvest a crop of marsh hay. George W. McIntosh, from Oakland County, and Andrew Lytle, from Washtenaw County, also settled at about the same time.

     Asel Stow, from Weybridge, Addison Co., Vt., first visited the township in June, 1836, and purchased from Richard M. Guggins, land situated upon section 19. He then returned to Vermont, and in September of the same year, accompanied by his wife and two children, viz., Isaac and Eliza Ann, Seth G. Wilson and wife,--Mr. Wilson being his brother-in-law,--began a journey to his home here in the wilderness. The travelers journeyed via the Erie Canal and Lake Erie. At the same time, Nathan Jones, another brother-in-law, started from Vermont with a horse-team and wagon belonging to Mr. Stow. He accomplished the long drive in safety, and brought in the first team of horses owned in the township. Mr. Wilson is still a resident here.

     Asel Stow, during his lifetime, was prominently identified with the public interests of the township he assisted to found. He was one of the first assessors elected in 1838, and was re-elected during all the succeeding years until 1852, when the office was discontinued.

     His son, Hon. Isaac Stow, the present supervisor of the township, has also been prominent in all undertakings, both public and private, which had for their object the advancement of the best interests of his townsmen. He was an early teacher and school inspector, and since 1865 has filled the position of supervisor nine terms. In January, 1878, he prepared an able and interesting sketch concerning pioneer life in losco, which was read before the Livingston County Pioneer Association, and to which we are indebted for much valuable information.

     James Wright, a native of Dutchess Co., N.Y., emigrated from Manlius, Onondaga Co., N.Y., to this township in 1836, arriving here October 24th. He was accompanied by a large family of sons, viz., William, Isaac S. A., Walter, John W., Elisha C., Thomas, Lewis J., and Leonard W.; Richard Acker, a son-in-law, and Abram Van Buren, who had married his, niece. Mr. Wright was the first settler upon section 29. He was an earnest and sincere member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and at his house, in the spring of 1837, were inaugurated the first religious meetings ever held in the township.

     It is believed that prior to the beginning of the winter of 1836-37, John Wood, the father of Geo. C. Wood, had settled upon the southeast corner of section 17, near where the creek crosses the highway. Here he anticipated the establishment of a village, and tradition saith that a village--on paper--was laid out, as Woodville or Woodbridge, and lots in the same sold to parties in the East at quite a handsome premium. The Woods exercised considerable sharp practice in their land speculations and the ownership of the same, but the purchasers, we believe, all resided east of Lake Erie. John Wood became the first postmaster about 1838, and the road from his residence south into Unadilla township was the first opened. In the spring of 1837 he was elected justice of the peace and school inspector of Unadilla township, and with Jeremiah Nichols, who at the same time was elected highway commissioner, were the first township officers resident in the territory now known as losco.

     In March, 1837, Daniel Person, with his family, came in from Erie Co., Pa., and made the first settlement upon section 24. His purchase included the northeast quarter. He was a native of Windsor, Vt., and the son of a talented Universalist minister. Mr. Person was conspicuous in the early history of losco, and universally respected. He died in 1874.

     During the remainder of the year 1837, and prior to the first township election, which was held at the house of Jeremiah Nichols, April 2, 1838, the population was largely augmented by the arrival and settlement of many families; the first assessment roll, made in May, 1838, showing 53 resident tax-payers.

     Among the pioneers not previously mentioned, and who were here prior to April, 1838, were Peter J. Kuhn, Henry M. Wood, Silas B. Munsell, Levi W. Munsell, Putnam Smith, Peter Chase, James Grimes, Elbert Parker, Peter L. Wilhelm, Daniel V. Van Sickel, Isaac T. Wright, James Miller, Jeremiah Nichols, Simeon Backus, Caleb Barber, Samuel Barber, Lorenzo Backus, Henry Canoll, Lorenzo Canfield, William S. Caskey, Simeon Disbrow, Alfred Denio, David Denio, William Davis, S. Ferguson, John Green, Joab Grover, 260. John W. Hilton. Thomas Hoyt, Lawson Judson, Josiah Loree, John Loree, Wm. Miller, Anson Niles, Patrick Quinn, David Storms, Henry W. Sharp, James Upton, and Joseph C. Williams.

     Prior to and including 1840, additional settlers were Alfred Wells, Lyman E. Beach, William C. Post, Elisha H. Noble, Lorenzo Davis, Joseph B. Cole, Washington Wing, Joseph Post, William Himes, Isaac Ray, and A. M. Odell.

     The following comprises a complete list of those who were assessed as resident tax-payers in 1844, showing, also, the section upon which their lands were situated: (all re-alphabetized by webmaster)

     Additional residents assessed for taxes in 1845 were:

     IN 1846:

     IN 1847:

     IN 1848:

SOME OF THE FIRST EVENTS

     The first dwelling-house was built by George C. Wood, on section 11, in the spring of 1836, and a part of it at least now remains, and is occupied by James Fewlass. The first framed barn was built in the summer of 1838, on section 20, by Richard M. Guggins, and the second by Asel Stow, on section 19, early in the spring of 1839.

     The first birth in the township was a son of Abram VanBuren, in January, 1837. The boy was christened Martin, which made him a full namesake of the President of the United States at that time. The first marriage solemnized was that of William Wright and Miss Lucy Osborn, in the summer of 1837. Both were residents of the township. The ceremony was performed by Elder Sayre at the residence of the bride's father, Ard. Osborn, Esq. The first death was a child of Richard M. Guggins, which occurred early in the spring of 1837.

     The first sheep were introduced from Ohio in the fall of 1839. They were "natives," well adapted to the country at that time, and furnished the base from which some fine flocks were afterwards produced.

     Jabez Paul was the first resident who attended to 260a.

Image of
James Wooden Residence,
Iosco Michigan

     261. the bodily afflictions of the people. He believed in the practice of Thompson, and steamed and sweated his patients without stint. Dr. John R. Goodrich was the first regularly educated physician, and began his practice here about 1842 or 1843. He has been succeeded by Drs. Schuyler, Cooper, Cruickshank, and Cannon.

PRIVATIONS AND DIFFICULTIES OF PIONEER LIFE IN IOSCO ¥

     The trials and privations of those pioneers who settled here from 1836 to 1845 were many and severe. The new-comers usually arrived with very few of the trappings considered indispensable in the ordinary household of older communities; often with no more than could be drawn on one wagon, together with the family and a few boards. These boards were a necessity, as they furnished the only shelter for the pioneer, his family, and effects until a house could be erected. They were arranged by placing one end on the ground or a convenient log, the other on a pole supported by forks driven into the ground. This, with a fire in front, sufficed until a better could be provided. The dwellings were almost invariably of the same type, and, with the exception of nails and a few boards, were built of logs and such other material as could be obtained from the forests without the aid of mechanics.

     With no roads, no bridges over streams, blazed trees or perhaps an Indian trail was the only guide to distant markets and settlements. No flour or other provisions of any kind could be had nearer than Ann Arbor, a distance of thirty or thirty-five miles. Those who had teams frequently drove to Detroit for supplies,--a journey which, in those days of bad roads required about a week's time to accomplish. Flour at that time was worth $16 per barrel; pork, from $12 to $15 per hundred; potatoes, $1 per bushel; butter, 40 cents per pound, and other articles proportionately high. Those who had exhausted their means in getting here and purchasing their lands had a hard struggle for the following two or three years to keep that gaunt spectre, hunger, from the door, and sometimes suffered for the necessaries of life.

     The long and disastrous depression of industrial interests, and the depreciation in values which followed the financial crash of 1837, was a trying ordeal for this township, but yet in embryo. Not until the Summer of 1837 had any produce been raised, the few settlers of the previous year not arriving in season to plant any crops with the exception of four or five small pieces of wheat, probably not more than twenty acres in all the township, and this was nearly a failure. The prostration of business generally effectually checked emigration, and many disheartened emigrants returned to their former homes in the East, consequently the township increased but little in population during the three succeeding years. After the harvest of 1838, considerable surplus wheat was on hand, but the cost of marketing was nearly as much as could be realized for it when there; a load of wheat, requiring four days with oxen to Ann Arbor, would bring from ten to fifteen dollars, but people in those days "cut the garment to the cloth," or, in other words, kept their expenses within their income.

     Notwithstanding the many and serious difficulties which these brave and dauntless pioneer men and women had to overcome, they were generally happy and contented. It would seem almost as though they were especially designed and prepared for their work. They made little of the dark passages of life, and much of its bright ones. All within a radius of miles were neighbors and well acquainted. No aristocracy then the man with forty acres of land had as large a revenue as the one with a half section,--for wild lands produce no earnings,--and was his peer socially. It was a customary practice to gather together on the Iong winter evenings at each other's dwellings and have a merry good time. These free-and-easy social gatherings, devoid of the dictum of fashion or pride of dress, were very enjoyable affairs, and no doubt contributed largely to that fraternity of feeling and interest in each other's welfare which forms so prominent a feature in isolated and sparsely-settled communities.

CIVIL HISTORY

     Iosco was formed from Unadilla by an act of the State Legislature, approved March 6, 1838. The act reads as follows:

     "SECTION 44. All that portion of the County of Livingston designated in the United States survey is township number two north, of range number three east, be, and the same is hereby set off and organized into a separate township by the name of losco; and the first township-meeting therein shall be held at the house of Jeremiah Nichols, in said township."

     Under the provisions of this act, the legal voters of the new township, on Monday, April 2, 1838, assembled at the house of Jeremiah Nichols for the purpose of electing township officers. An organization was effected by choosing Ard Osborn, Moderator; George C. Wood, Levi W. Munsell, and Joab Grover, Inspectors; and Lawson Judson, Clerk. This election resulted in the choice of the following officers: Ard Osborn, Supervisor; Elbert Parker, Township Clerk; Asel Stow, Levi W.