HISTORY OF TUSCOLA

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TOWN OF NOVESTA

     On the east line of Tuscola County, next south of Elkland, east of Ellington and north of Kingston, lies the town of Novesta.  Cass River and its south branch flow through the north tier of sections separating from the rest of the town about 1,900 acres.
     White Creek flows through the southern  part of the town.  The soil in the northern part is a gravelly loam:  in portions, especially further south, appears more of a clay loam.  Along White Creek in the river bottoms the land is a black loam or muck, of a very rich and productive character.  The natural growth is beech, oak, maple cherry, basswood, pine and hemlock.  with more of the latter two, than in towns to the north and east.  This town was one of the last in the county to be reached by the advancing tide of settlement, which extended generally over the county from 1850 to 1860.  For this there were several reasons:  the primary reason was that logging operations had not to any extent reached the incut, and the character of the county to the south judged from that along the river where  more of a sandy soil is found.  That the country was little thought of, if not actually in disrepute, is shown from the incident related of the earliest settler in the town who settled on the southwest quarter of section 10 8n 1864.Making his way out one day to the river, traveling by compass and by the blazed section lines, he came out upon the "tote" road near the river and met a lumberman who inquired whence he came.  Being informed, he asked, "Have you killed anybody?"  Mr. Bridges answered that he had not.  "Then what in H--ll are you down there for?"
     Another hindrance to the settlement of the town was the lack of means of communication with other settlements.  Streams had not been bridged, and the only means of reaching the line of travel to the north of Cass River was by boats and rafts.  David M. Houghton, one of the early settlers of the town going in, In 1808, relates that having occasion to take a pig across the river he could find no means of crossing except a log, the boats and rafts having been carried away by the June freshet.  Cutting a pole with which to propel his craft he put the pig on in front of him and crossed in safety, for though this was piggy's first experience in river driving, it was not Mr. Houghton's who was an expert in the handling of such craft.
     Shortly after Mr. Bridges came Reuben A. Mosher.  Few settlers followed until 1866, when the first considerable logging operations commenced.  here as in so many other towns the lumber camps were the advance posts, the vedettes of civilization and like vedettes their work being done they fall back.

ENTRIES OF LAND PRIOR TO 1869

TOWNSHIP 13 NORTH, RANGE 11 EAST

SECTION 1     Martin Watrous, May 19, 1853
                         Hermon Camp, August 4, 1856
                         William Final, February 4, 1865
                         John Bachman, November 7, 1867

SECTION 2        Stephen D. Sayer, January 28, 1854
                            Samuel Lewis, April 1, 1854
                            Stephen D. Sayer, May 19, 1854
                            Hermon Camp, August 4, 1856
                            Anson G. Miller, February 6, 1865
                            William C. Yawkey, 1865
                            John Bachman, October 7, 1867
                            John Bachman, November 7, 1867

SECTION 3       Samuel Lewis, March 27, 1854
                            Henry D. Braddock, November 14,1 855
                            Hermon Camp, August 4, 1856
                            William Finch , April 15, 1863
                            Anson G. Miller, February 6, 1865
                            George Wyekoff and Samuel Samson, 1865
                            Francis Palms, December 22, 1866
                            Ephraim Farr, November 14 1867
                            David M. Houghton, May 27, 1868

SECTION 4        Henry D. Braddock, November 14, 1855
                            Henry D. Braddock, October 8, 1856
                            Z. Washington Wright, December 18, 1856
                            David Wright, January 9, 1860
                            Townsend North, January 9, 1861
                            Francis Palms, December 22, 1866

SECTION 5        William H. Green, July 15, 1850
                            Eurotas Morton, March 8, 1853
                            Henry D. Braddock, August 3, 1855
                            George H. Sanford, October 30, 1858
                            Martin Watrous, November 16, 1858
                            William C. Yawkey and Joseph Lawrence, February 7, 1865.
                            Joseah Grant, February 13, 1864
                            Francis Palms, December 22, 1866
                            Martin Watrous, ______________

SECTION 6        Paschal Richardson, November 2, 1848
                            Henry D. Braddock, August 3, 1855
                            George H. Sanford, October 21, 1858
                            Martin Watrous, January 30, 1858
                            George H. Sanford, October 25, 1858
                            Townsend North, May 18, 1861
                            William C. Yawkey and Joseph Lawrence, February 7, 1865
                           

SECTION 7        William H. Green, July 15, 1850
                            Volney Chapin, June 9, 1851
                            Eurotas Morton, March 8, 1853
                            Thomas Aymer, March 7, 1861
                            William C. Yawkey, February 13, 1865
                            B. B. Briggs, September 12, 1864

SECTION 8        George H. Sanford, October 30, 1858
                            A. Stevens, March 19, 1860
                            Francis Palms, December 22, 1866
                            John J. Hubinger, June 20, 1867

SECTION 9        Joh Briggs, July 20, 1866
                            Francis Palms, December 22, 1866
                            Henry P. Atwood, March 13, 1867
                            Warren T. Sheffer, January 29, 1868
                            John L. Woods, November 4, 1867
                            John G. Hubinger, June 20, 1867
                            L. K. Bridges, March 17, 1865

SECTION 10        James M. Baldwin, May 18, 1853
                            Samuel Lewis, March 27, 1854
                            Alexander C. Watrous, July 28, 1856
                            George H. Sanford, March 19, 1860

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                            Warren T. Sheffer, January 29, 1868
                            William Hought and S. P. Randal, January 6, 1868
                            L. K. Bridgers, March 17, 1865

SECTION 11        William H. Green, August 30, 1850
                              James M. Baldwin, June 16,1853
                                Samuel Lewis, April 21, 1854
                                George H. Sanford, January 21, 1860
                                Oliva C. Black, 1864
                                William Finale, December 22, 1866
                                Seymour Watson, March 18, 1864

SECTION 12        James M. Baldwin, June 16, 1853
                             Hermon Camp, August 4, 1856
                            A. H. Gates, March 19, 1860
                            Charles E. Starling, January 21, 1861
                            Sault Canal Co., May 25, 1855
                            Seymour Watson, March 18, 1864

SECTION 13        Samuel Lewis, March 27, 1854
                              Samuel Lewis, April 21, 1854
                             Samuel F. Jones, May 2, 1854
                            Alfred H. Wright, May 4, 1855
                            Hermon Camp, August 4, 1856
                            William Finale, December 18, 1860 

SECTION 14        James M. Baldwin, June 16, 1853
                              M. Watrous, ____________
                              John G. Hubinger, May 24, 1864
                              E. Eddy, S. and N. Avery, January 2, 1866
                              David G. Slafter, February 21, 1867
                              Seymour Watson, March 18, 1864

SECTION 15        James M. Baldwin, August 9, 1853
                              Isaiah Warren, November 11, 1856
                              Rhoda C. Beach, May 23, 1857
                              William A. Heartt, April 4, 1867
                              John S. Woods, November 4, 1867
                              J. G. Hubinger, February 24, 1866

SECTION 16        G. W. Dennis, January 31, 1868
                              Traverse Leach, December 14, 1868
                              R. H. Warner, December 14, 1868
                              Thomas McQuillan, January 31, 1868

SECTION 17         Frank P. Sears, September 21, 1859
                              H. M Youmans and A. Welden, March 7, 1867
                              John G. Hubinger, June 20, 1867

SECTION 18        Townsend North, December 8, 1860
                              Alfred Welden and Henry Youmans, January 8, 1867
                              H. M. Youmans, October 21, 1867

SECTION 19        Delia a. Baldwin, July 28, 1853
                              William Pinkerton, November 19, 1866
                              Martin Watrous, May 19, 1859
                              M. M. Parkerton, November 19, 1859
                              John Hubinger, _____,____
                              Martin Watrous, May 10, 1859
                              T. North, December 8, 1860

SECTION 20        Martin Watrous, December 24, 1863
                              John Emmens, November 7, 1867
                              Ralph c. Smith, October 27, 1868
                              B. F. McHose, November 8, 1866

SECTION 21        John G. Hubinger, August 8, 1866
                              Wm. A. Heartt, April 4, 1867
                              John S. Woods, November 4, 1867
                              Henry Sheffler, November 9, 1867
                              John G. Hubinger, December 21, 1867

SECTION 22        John G. Hubinger, February 24, 1866
                              J. J. McKenney, April 16, 1867
                              J. L. Woods, November 4, 1867
                              Wm. A. Heartt, June 15, 1868

SECTION 23       Samuel Lewis, April 17, 1854
                             Thomas W. Palmer, May 20, 1864
                              J. G. Hubinger, February 24, 1866
                              J. G. Hubinger, August 20, 1864
                              Edwin Eddy, August 30, 1867
                              M. Miller and Wm. Thompson, October 29, 1867
                              E. Eddy, December 2, 1867
                              J. M. Lamb, September 18, 1867
                              Sault Canal Co., May 25, 1855

SECTION 24        Isaiah Warren, November 11, 1856
                              E. Eddy and S. and N Avery, January 2, 1866
                              Sault Canal Co., May 26, 1855

SECTION 25        Thomas W. Palmer, May 20, 1864
                              J. G. Hubinger, August 6, 1866
                              E. Eddy, August 30, 1867
                              R. H. Wells, November 4, 1867
                              J. S. Woods, August 4, 1867
                              Wolcott Wilcox, April 12, 1868

SECTION 26        J. G. Hubinger, February 24, 1866
                              J. G. Hubinger, August 5, 1866
                              J. S. Woods, November 4, 1867
                              Thomas H. Hunt, March 22, 1859

SECTION 27        W. Woodson, et al., August 16, 1866
                              Joshua Manwaring, April 2, 1867
                              B. F. Hillicker, March 17, 1866
                              J. M. Lamb, September 18, 1867
                              Thomas H. Hunt, March 26, 1859
                              Otis Van Tassel, March 3, 1858

SECTION 28        Townsend North, November 15, 1861
                              B. F. McHose, Janaury 7, 1862
                              John G. Hubinger, August 15, 1861
                              H. H. Van Tassell, December 18, 1867
                              John G. Hubinger, December 21, 1867

SECTION 29        Martin Watrous, May 10,1 859
                              Townsend North, February 4, 1867
                              B. F. McHose, Janaury 7, 1862
                              Willam Tennant, March 1, 1866
                              Franklin D. Curtis, November 7, 1867

SECTION 30        Martin Watrous, March 19, 1853
                              Delia A. Baldwin, july 28, 1853
                              William Fenner, October 20, 1860
                              Benj. F. McHose, October 27, 1860   
                              Benj. F. McHose, February 12, 1862

SECTION 32        David G. Slafter, July 30, 1858
                              David G. Slafter, January 30, 1858
                              Robert O. Curtis, Jr., November 7, 1868

SECTION 33        James O. Valentine, January 14, 1868
                              Robert O. Curtis, Jr., November 7, 1868
                              William H. Wills, May 11, 1868
                              Benajah W. Turner, September 1, 1859

SECTION 34        Alanson C. Valentine, January 14, 1868
                              Thomas H. Hunt, March 22, 1859

SECTION 35        Amos F. Hubbard, September 2, 1858
                              J. G. Hubinger, August 6, 1866
                              J. Manwaring, April 27, 1867
                              A. F. Hubbard, August 22, 1867
                              J. S. Woods, November 4, 1867
                              Thomas H. Hunt, March 22, 1859

SECTION 36        Robert Davis, July 3, 1857
                              J. Manwaring, April 22, 1867

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                          Reuben A. Mosher, April 10, 1867
                          John L. Wood, Novmeber 4, 1867
                          Jeff. A. M. Green, December 18, 1867
                          J. G. Hubinger, August 6, 1866
                          Thomas W. Palmer, May 23, 1864

     The township having for town purposes been attached to the township of Elkland from the first, steps were taken in 1869 for a separate organization.  Upon application made by the required number of freeholders the county board of supervisors ordered an election, appointed a board of registration and inspectors, and designated the name of the new town.
     It is said that some members of the county board being assembled in Farley Craw's store at Centerville, the question of name for the new town came under discussion.  Mr. Craw, pointing to a stove in the room, the name of which was "Vesta No. ___," suggested that the words be reversed to form the name "Novesta"  The suggestion was adopted.
     A caucus was held at the house of David M. Houghton and officers nominated.
     The registry shows the following legal voters in teh town of Novesta April 3, 1869, viz.,:  Levi H. Bridges, Thomas McQuilling, David M. Houghton, James Farley, Charles H. Hardy Abram G. Houghton, Franklin D. Curtis, Robert O. Curtis, Warren T. Sheffer, James O. Valentin, William H. Brown, Robert H. Warner, Albert K. Bridges, Alanson C. Valentine, Henry Sheffer, Samuel R. Brown, David M. Houghton, Ephraim Farr.
     The first township meeting was held at the residence of Levi K. Bridges April 5, 1869.  It was unanimously voted to raise the following moneys:  For highway purposes, $500; for contingent expenses, $250; for school purposes, $250.  The total number of votes cast was fifteen.  It is evident that there was but one ticket, and that every candidate modestly refrained from voting for himself, for every candidate elected received fourteen votes.  The officers elected were as follows:  Supervisoer, Robert H. Warner; clerk, James Farley; treasurer, James McQuilling; justices, Levi K. Bridges, Abram G. Houghton and Robert O. Curtis; commissioners of highways, Levi K. Bridges and Alanson Valentine; constables, Warren T. Sheffer, Henry Sheffer, Franklin D. Curtis and James O. Valentine; school inspectors, Charles H. Hardy and David M. Houghton.
     A special town meeting held July 3, 1869; William H. Brown was elected supervisor to fill vacancy.
     A meeting of the town boards of Elkland and Novesta was held September 13, 1869, for the purpose of apportioning the property of the former town of Elkland, form which Novesta was formed.  A settlement was effected by giving the town of Novesta an order on the county treasurer for $1,150.  School tax to the amount of $343,11.
     August 28, 1869, the school inspectors of Kingston and Novesta met and organized fractional District No. 1.
     The treasurer's report for 1869 shows debits as follows:
                Amount of town tax..........................................    $    903.09
                School tax........................................................          173.81
                Highway tax.....................................................          162.59
                State and county tax.........................................          190.76
                Returned tax....................................................            40.50
                                                                                            _________
                                                                                            $   1,470.75
Credits as follows:
                Amount of county treasurer's receipts..............    $    1,260.59
                Error in assessment.........................................                 8.14
                Town orders...................................................             124.54
                Cash on hand..................................................               69.48
                Amount of collector's fee...................................                 8.00
                                                                                                  ________
                                                                                            $    1,470.75 

     A special town meeting held May 21, 1870, authorized the issue of bonds to the amount of $1,000 for a bridge over Cass River on the section line.
     At the annual town meeting in 1874 thirty votes were cast. 
     It is noticeable that large sums of money have from time to time been expended on highways and bridges, not less than $7,000 having been spent on the latter.  The citizens evidently recognized the fact that liberality provided the means of intercommunication and of reaching markets.  This they have accomplished under great discouragements, their bridges having been frequently damaged or totally destroyed by fire and flood, to be as often rebuilt.
     The fire of 1871 was not nearly so destructive in the town of Novesta, as that of ten years later.  Not only were there fewer settlers but the fire does not appear to have been so extensive.  The fire was most in the pine and slashings, where dry fuel was found.  On the low ground the muck took fire, and burned with a smouldering flame.  David M. Houghton was the only person who failed to escape to the river.  This was owing to the sickness of his wife.  they were supposed to be lost, until the second day after the fire, when friends arrived and assisted in carrying Mrs. Houghton out.  Their barn, sleigh, corn, fences and other property were destroyed; their house escaped.
     The fire of 1881 was much more general and much more destructive, though unattended with loss of life.  the following is a list of losses:  John Dickerson, house and barn;  John Van Kaughnet, house and barn;  Archibald McPhee, barn;  Charles Curles, hay; William Hartwick, hay;  William Marsh, household goods, hay;  Edward Deneen, hay and straw;  James Abeal, barn, wheat, implements;  Roswell Allen, hay;  James Bruce,  house and barn;  James Phillips, house wheat; W. A. Yorke, house, straw;  Edward Balch, house and lumber;  Aaron Huffman, house;  A. Phillips, house; Archibald McArthur, house and barn;  H. B. Hubbard, tools and implements;  Orlando Strickland, house;  a. G. Houghton, stable, lumber;  John Scriver, house, stock;  Michael Race, hay;  John McLean, barn; Silas Woods, cooper shop, stock, household goods;  Warren Barry, household goods;  Martin Anthus, house; William H. Brown, hay;  M. H. Quick, cut lumber;  James Mattoon, house and barn;  Daniel McClory, hay;  a. R. Thompson, hay;  Morrison Jones, two houses, hay;  H. C. Downing, house, grain; Ogden at well, household goods;  Chester Hall, house; James Wilson, saw-mill, tools;  William Balch, house, barn, implements;; M. Devall, household goods; H. Firman, household goods;  Dugald McArthur, house, wheat;  Silas Huffman, barn;  T. Spenser, barn;  H. H. Wilson, barn;  S. Slack, bar;  Alexander McCullum, stock, implements;  John Joynt, house, barn, hay; S. D. Snyder, house;  George Johnston Elwell, lumber;  Reuben Mosher, house, barn, hay, tools; Blades, barn, straw, hay; William Cooper, hay and lumber; David Harris, barn, hay;  George Hanshaw, house, barn, hay, mill damaged.  As a general rule, the destruction of buildings, especially barns implied the loss, also, of contents, and that the crops, whether garnered or in the field, were destroyed, fences burned, valuable standing timber ruined; in short, the shelter and food of family and stock, if any of the latter were left, was swept away.
     That the suffering through the fall, winter and spring that succeeded, was not greater, was due to the generous benefactions which poured in form the whole country, and not least, form neighboring town.  Of this hearty sympathy and these noble charities, doubt not the angel of mercy has made due record.
     The recovery from the effects of this great disaster has been rapid.  Houses and barns have been rebuilt; a fruitful soil has

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yielded its increase, and signs of renewed prosperity are seen everywhere.  The charred timber is being sawed into lumber by the mills in the town, and the traces of fire are gradually disappearing. 
     The bridge across Cass River, to connect with Cass City, the market town, was rebuilt in 1882.  It is a combination bridge, strongly built of iron and wood, with heavy stone abutments, and cost about $3,500.
     The construction of the Pontiac, Oxford & Port Austin through the town, and the establishment of a station, will give improved facilities for marketing produce, and bring in new settlers to improve the large area of yet unsettled territory.
    The first school district, Fractional No. 1, was organized in August, 1869, in connection with the town of Kingston.
     The annual school report of the town of Novesta, for the year ending September 4, 1882, states that the directors for the ensuing year were Reuben Mosher, Levi S.. Atwood, M. H. Quick, Hiram H. Wilson.  There were four school districts, and the same number of frame school-houses.  Whole number of children of school age, in the town, 164; number that attended school during the year, 147.
     There is no church edifice in the town, but occasional services are held by the Free Methodists in the school-house, in the north part of the town.

TOWNSHIP OFFICERS.

STATISTICAL
     Census of 1870:     Population, 105; families 24; dwellings, 24, farms, 2; voters, 29; number of acres improved, 18; number of cows, 2; number of oxen, 4; pounds of butter made, 300; bushels of wheat raised, 12; bushels of potatoes, 125.
     Census of 1874:    Population, 171; number of horses, 11; number of oxen, 11; number of cows, 30; bushels of wheat raised, 416; bushels of corn, 640; bushels of potatoes, 1,356; tons of hay, 34.
     Population in 1880, 356.  Total equalized valuation in 1882, $137,370.

BIOGRAPHICAL

     JOHN DICKSON, one of the oldest settlers of the township of Novesta, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, February 4, 1825.  When about seven years of age, his mother and family came to America and after landing in New York, went directly to Port Stanley, Ont., and settled in the northern part of the township of Yarmouth, in the county of Elgin.  When fourteen years of age he was bound to a farmer until he was twenty-one.  After serving his time he went on the lakes, as a sailor, for four seasons, and then worked at various occupations till 1857, when he married Miss Catherine McCallum, of Yarmouth, who was born January 12, 1836, and is the mother of eight children.  Sarah Jane, born July 15, 1859; Archibald Alexander, born May 3, 1860; Catherine Margaret, born January 31, 1863; Daniel, born April 6, 1865; John, born May 14, 1868; George Washington, born October 2, 1870; Flora Janett, born August 20, 1873; and Edith, born October 20, 1879.  In the spring of 1858 Mr. Dickson and family went to Oakland County, Mich., and stayed two years, when they returned to Canada, and worked a farm five years.  They then returned to Oakland County, Mich., and settled in the township of Oxford, where they remained four years, then (1870) came to the township of Novesta, and took up a homestead on section 9, where they now reside.  Mr. Dickson and family have passed through many of the hardships incident to pioneer life, having come to the township when there were no roads and but few neighbors, and have succeeded, through great privation and suffering, in establishing themselves in a comfortable home.  During the devastating fires of 1871 and 1881, they lost everything of a perishable nature, and were, for the time being, rendered homeless and destitute.  Their fortitude and energy, under the most trying circumstances, are worthy of emulation, and are records to which they can point with becoming pride.
     ABRAM G. HOUGHTON was born in Bennington County, Vt., in 1843.  When five years of age, he moved with his parents to Ontario, N.Y., where they resided about four years, then came to Oakland County, Mich., and settled in the township of Springfield.  In 1861 he enlisted in Company I, of the Tenth Michigan Infantry, and served to the close of the war.  Was with General Sherman in his memorable march to the sea, and was in sixteen general engagements, receiving one wound.  Returning from the war he engaged in lumbering in Ogemaw County till 1878, when he went to Cass City.  In 1880 he moved to Novesta, and settled on section 3, and helped to organize the township, and has since held the office of clerk.  He was married in 1866, to Miss Alice N. Rock, whose father is a well-known resident of Flint.  They have four children.
     R. H. WARNER, one of the early settlers of the township was born in Macomb County, July 3, 1836, and remained at home with his father until twenty years old.  He had the advantages of a common school education, and after leaving home taught school six years, up to the spring of 1864,when he married Miss Almeda M. Houghton, of Groveland, Oakland County, formerly of Bennington County, Vt.  Dec. 2, 1864, Mr. Warner enlisted in the Second Michigan Infantry, Company F, and served to the close of the war.  In the battle of the Wilderness he was severely wounded, and was discharged June 25, 1865.  In August of the same year he came to Tuscola County and settled on a farm he had purchased on section 3, township of Ellington.  This he sold the following year, and lumbered for two seasons on the north branch of the Cass River.  In 1869 he purchased a farm in Elkland, which he kept one years, and has held all other township offices except clerk.  When organized, there were but five families and seven voters in the township.  In 1882 Mr. Warner, in company with George N. Houghton, built a steam saw and shingle-mill; but sold his interest in July.  Mr. Warner is a man of enterprise, and has amassed a good property.  His six children are:  Myrtle L., born Oct. 1, 1865; Walter, born Dec. 7, 1867; Olive May, born Dec. 25, 1873; Robert, born Sept. 28, 1874, and Mary E., born May 4, 1880.
     J. R. LEWIS was born in the township of Bruce, Macomb Co., Mich., Oct. 22, 1842, and when seven years of age moved with his parents to Dryden, Lapeer County.  In 1862 he enlisted in Company K, Fourth Michigan Cavalry, and was in active service three years.  In the battle of Stone River his horse's head was shot off, and he was wounded, at the battle of Shelbyville, below the left knee in a saber charge, which has made him a cripple for life.  He was discharged on a general order, July 7, 1865, and returned home where he was married Sept. 22, 1866, to Miss Minerva Jane Rease, of Metamora, Lapeer County.  In 1873 he went to Sanilac County, and was elected clerk of the township of Sanilac, and served

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one year.  March 31, 1875, he came to Tuscola County, and resided for a while in Cass City, removing on the 14th of November to Novesta, where he located on section 9.  In 1876 he was elected township clerk, and held the office five years.  November, 1881, he was appointed supervisor, and the following spring was elected to the office which he has since held.  When he first came to the township, he had few neighbors, no roads or clearing on his place.  His first work was to build a shanty which he covered with boards and "shakes," and which had no doors or windows.  He assessed the township that year, and had to buy a pair of rubber boots to wade through the water to accomplish his work.

     GEORGE N. HOUGHTON was born in Rensselaer County, N.Y., Nov. 15, 1836, and while young moved to Bennington County, Vt., where he resided until thirteen years of age, receiving the rudiments of an education.  he then went to Yates County, N.Y., where he attended the common schools, and in 1861 enlisted in Company C, Fifth Regiment of General Sickles' Independent Brigade, and served six months, when he was discharged for disability.  He then returned to Yates County, and in 1862 came to Jackson, Mich., where he engaged in farming three years, then ran an engine one year in Genesee County.  In the fall of 1864 he came to Tuscola  County, and bought 240 acres of land on section 24 in the township of Elklland, and engaged in farming and lumbering till the fall of 1881, when he sold one-half of his farm, and bought 40 acres on section 16 in Novesta.  In the spring of 1882 her formed a partnership with R. H. Warner, and built a steam saw and shingle-mill, having a cutting capacity of about 2,000,000 feet per annum.  Dec. 27, 1864, he married Miss Sarah Tinney, of Genesee County, formerly of Syracuse, N.Y., and has seven children.  Mr. Houghton has had a large and varied experience in pioneer life; but has struggled through his many difficulties, one of which was his heavy losses in the fire of 1881.

     WILLIAM A. YORKE was born in the township of Yarmouth, Elgin county, Ontario, July 27, 1845.  When nine years of age his father died, and he remained at home until sixteen years old, after which he worked around for three years, when he came to Michigan, and was back and forth for the three succeeding years.  In 1867 he purchased a small farm in Middlesex County, Ont., which he retained three years, when he sold out and bought a farm of fifty acres in the township of Caradock, upon which he resided eight years.  In 1879 he come to Tuscola County, and purchased 160 acres on section 36 in the township of Novesta, where he has since resided.  He was married June 10, 1868, to Miss Mary A. Sells, of Middlesex County, Ont., and has three children---Lewis A., born Sept. 28 1869; David F., born Jan. 12, 1872, and Alma Etta, born April 18, 1879.  Mr. Yorke suffered largely by the fire that swept through Tuscola and Sanilac Counties in 1881, but has recovered from his losses.  He was elected justice of the peace in 1881, and is at present township treasurer.

     ROBERT O. CURTIS, one of the oldest settlers in the township, was born in the township of Dryden, Lapeer Co., Mich., February 1, 1843.  After he was eighteen years of age he commenced business for himself, working on a farm, in a saw-mill, and in the lumber woods till the fall of 1868, when he took up a homestead in what is now the township of Novesta.  During the winter of 1869 he worked in the woods, and the following spring finished his house.  His father and brother helped him carry a cook stove three miles through the swamp to his place, where he began keeping bachelor's hall.  He remained on the place, as the law required, to make good his claim; and having realized $160 form the sale of some personal property, he purchased 160 acres of land.  He was married May 28,1878, to Miss L. V. Cooper, formerly of Augusta, Granville County, Ont. Mr. Curtis suffered somewhat in the fire of 1871 and that of 1881 lost all of his farm fences.  He has seen some of the hardships of pioneer life in Tuscola, and also rapid improvedment and development of the surrounding country.   Was one of the organizers of the township, of which he has since been a resident.

     WILLIAM H. BROWN was born in Ontario County, N.Y., September 1, 1825,  where he attended the common schools and acquired a fair education, becoming in after years a teacher.  In the spring of 1843 he came to Wayne County, Mich., with his father, and in the spring of 1869 came to Novesta and settled on section 6.  He was married in 1846 to Miss Nancy Fisk, of Brandon, Rutland County, Vt., and has had eleven children--seven of whom are living.  Mr. Brown came to the county with a family of eight children, and with but $20 in is pocket, two months' provisions, a yoke of oxen and a cow.  Previous to bringing his family he had built a house, but in order to support his family was obliged to get out pine which he could convert into the necessaries of life, his little boys going to Cass City by boat after supplies.  Sometimes their stock of provisions would become exhausted and they would then have to subsist on wild fruits.  Mr. Brown was appointed supervisor the first eyar of his residence in the township, and held the office six years, and has also held the office of highway commissioner.

     JOHN MCLEAN was born in the township of Clark, Durham County, Ont., 2, 1847.  When three years of age his parents moved to Elgin County and located on lot 9, in the seventh concession of the township of Allborough.  He acquired some property there which he sold in 1879, and came to Novesta, where he settled on section 2.  Nov. 10, 1871, he married Miss Eliza Paterson, of Allborough, formerly of Trafalgar, Canada, and has three children: Maria, born Sept. 22, 1872; Margaret Jane, born January 27, 1873, and John William, born July 24, 1877.  Mr. McLean had but a poor chance to get an education, being put to work at an early age, but by industry and frugality he has succeeded in securing a good home.

     LEVI S. ALWOOD was born in Harrison County, Ohio, Oct. 13, 1826, and while quite young moved to Fulton County with his parents.  He had the advantages of a common school education, and resided there until 1861, when he came to Tuscola County and settled in Elkland, on section 34.  In 1870 he removed to Indian Fields and lived on a farm near Caro, where he remained until 1873, when he sold his property and went to Tennessee.  He settled in Coffee County, remaining there until 1876, when he removed to Illinois, where he resided about two and one-half years.  In 1879, he returned to Tuscola County and, in 1880, purchased eighty acres of land, which he traded for property in Cass City, and in the fall of 1881, traded that for land in section 10, in Novesta.  He was married in July, 1849, to Miss Delilah McQuilling, of Fulton County, Ohio, who was born in Wayne County, Ohio, in 1830, by whom he has ten children of whom nine are now living.  Mr. Alwood has been a hard-working industrious man, working in the woods winters and on the farm summers.  He kept the hotel now occupied by George Tennant, in Cass City, and has held all the township offices except those of supervisor and justice of the peace.

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     MICHAEL HENRY QUICK was born in the town of Jasper, Steuben County, State of New York, on the 20th day of February, 1849.   His father, Ira C. Quick, was a native of Caroline, Tompkins County, New York, and with his wife, whose maiden name was Elvira Norton, of Bennington, Vermont, settled at an early day in the county of Steuben, New York.  Of their four children but two survive, Michael Henry and Benjamin.
     The subject of this sketch descended from English and German stock on the paternal side, noted for the industry and push characteristic of the settlers of the State a century ago.  Upon the maternal side the descent was directly English, and the line traces back into the period of the Revolutionary war.   His grandfather, Captain Norton, was found among the Green Mountain boys who stood before the proud army of Prescott at the battle of Bunker Hill.
     Young Henry, with but little money and scant education bade farewell to the paternal roof at the early age of eighteen, and bent his land of boyish dreams and imaginations.
     Directing his course to the Peninsular State, and to Tuscola county, he sought and explored its newest portion, and made a fine selection of land at the center of the township now known as Novesta, and five miles from Cass City.  In 1871 he had an opening of about four acres surrounded on all sides by dense forests.  here he moved with his young wife just previous to the great fire of that year.  The raging element approached him on October 8th, at 12 m., with deafening sound and terrible darkness, licking up all his standing crops, corn, potatoes, and all rapidly became a mass of smoking cinders.  Heroically did the lone two wrestle with flames all that afternoon and night to protect and save their house from the devouring element when other hearts would have quailed and fled in terror.  With true courage and manly purpose, though somewhat disheartened, he struck anew upon the ashes of his summer's labor and rapidly added acres to the fields that now make his happy rural home.
     In the summer of 1881, the great fire that swept over so large a portion of northeastern Michigan, visited him with all its horrors to the destruction of fences and other valuable property, but the same determined energy that saved his house ten years before saved his buildings in this terrible ordeal, while a half score of his neighbors' buildings melted down with the devouring element.
     A charter member at the organization of his township he took a position as one of its officers, and his fellow townsmen have honored him with the gift of their suffrages each year, till he has served them in most of the offices within their gift.  He has served his county as an able and honored juror, and represented it in the conventions for the nomination of State officers.  Active in the measure of the drainage of a large tract of land, his influence was given to the State legislature and an appropriation was made by the State to open what was known as the "lost channel" of White Creek, thereby opening for settlement a large portion of his own township and that of Kingston adjoining.  The construction of this work was given him by a commission from the governor.
     He has been active in educational enterprises for education of the youth growing up around him. nor has he neglected his own culture.  Surrounded with the current literature of the day, he has found time to so apply himself to study that he has mastered well the elements of the English language.  Religiously he is a Disciple, choosing the liberal views of that rapidly growing denomination so largely predominating in the Western States, preferring the New Testament of Christ as a religious guide, rejecting all human formulas.

     ELLEN JULIA QUICK, wife of M. H. Quick, is the second daughter of Dr. S. J. Smith, of Fair Grove, who is a graduate of Cleveland Home-opathic College of Medicine, and a minister of the Disciple Church; was born in Aroostook County in the State of Maine, and received her education in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, graduating from the academy at Salem, Ohio, and began teaching, and followed her chosen profession till her marriage.  She is the mother of four children:   The eldest died soon after its birth;  Clarence Stanley Quick, born Nov. 18, 1874; Clyde LeRoy, born June 7, 1877; Ginevra Claronelle, born May 9, 1881.  In 1873, about the first of February, Mrs. Quick was taken sick with the erysipelas which affected the brain and she for a time lost her reason, and was taken to her father's in Fair Grove, under whose treatment, in conjunction with Dr. L. N. Parmenter, she has fully recovered.  Mr. Quick spent all his means in his wife's sickness, and when she recovered he began on a new farm, and is now in properous circumstances.