HISTORY OF TUSCOLA COUNTY
Page 174
TOWN OF WATERTOWN
Watertown was set off from Millington by the board of supervisors at a meeting held January 6, 1857. The first election was ordered held on the first Monday of April, 1857, at the house of Jethro Johnson, and Andrew Fitz-Gerald, Nathan M. Berry and Curtis Coffeen were named as inspectors of election.
DESCRIPTIVE.
The articles describing the physical features of
Watertown and its early settlement are from the pen of Hon. Enos Goddrich, a
well known citizen of the town.
“Watertown is designated by the government surveys as town 10 north, of
range 9 east. It occupies a position midway between the village of Vassar on
the northwest and the city of Lapeer on the southeast, and is on the summit
between the waters of Flint and Cass Rivers. According to the minutes of survey
of the once contemplated East Saginaw & St. Clair Railroad, made in 1873, under
the superintendence of William B. Sears, chief engineer of the Flint & Pere
Marquette Railroad, the highest elevation crossed between Flint and Cass Rivers
is on the northwest quarter of section 28 in Watertown, and a few rods north of
Cedar Lake, when the altitude was found to be 300 feet above the Saginaw River
at South Saginaw. Cedar Lake on the same quarter section was found to be 270
feet above the water of the Saginaw.
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“STREAMS AND SPRINGS”
“In consequence of its location on the divide between
Flint and Cass Rivers, Watertown has no large streams of water, but this
deficiency is made up by an abundance of small, pure and rapidly flowing spring
brooks. The northwest part of the township is drained by the small tributaries
of Goodwin’s Creek, a stream for many years celebrated as the scene of extensive
lumber operations of Avery & Murphy, and out of which they have floated some of
the choicest pine timber that ever grew on Michigan soil. Out of this small
stream, by the aid of dams to treasure up the water for the time of need, these
enterprising men have driven into the Cass River as high as 13,000,000 feet of
logs in a season.
“The pine has nearly all departed and gone out to seek the markets of the
outside world. Those who are familiar with the nature of the pine (which, by
the way, is the emblematic tree of our State) have learned that the best of pine
never grows on poor land. Poor sandy soil in many cases produces a great growth
of pine in quantity, but on such land the timber is very liable to be ‘punk
rotten’ and defective. But where the soil is rich and produces (as it does here
in Watertown) a thrifty growth of beech, sugar maple, basswood and rock elm
timber, interspersed with pines, we find what is known among lumber dealers as
the ‘cork pine,’ the trees being very large, tall and remarkable free from
limbs. Various instances have occurred, where from seven to nine thousand feet
of saw logs have been taken from a single tree.. Formerly Avery & Murphy had
nearly one hundred million eet of pine in Watertown, but the quantitiy has now
been reduced to about five millions. That the reader may judge of its superior
quality it need only be stated that in the spring of 1872 Avery & Murphy sold at
one sale to a large dealer of Detroit, Mr. Merrill, twenty-five million feet of
logs, a large part grown in Watertown, for the round sum of $300,000, being
twelve dollars a thousand feet in the log. In the southeast part of Watertown
also once stood a choice tract of pine timber, which has all disappeared. It
was here that E. J. White, of Lapeer, and Mr. Brockway, of Saginaw, sold in the
spring of 1871, to the late Gov. Crapo, 1,200 acres of pine lands for $62,500.
When it is considered that a haul of five miles is necessary to reach the waters
of the Flint River, the value of the timber from this tract of land may be
better appreciated; and, if we are not misinformed, Thomas foster took ten
thousand feet of saw logs from one tract and fifteen millions from the whole
tract. But the monarchs of the forest are gone from Watertown, and with the
exception of almost five million feet standing in the southwest part of the
township, there is none left.
“The soil is varied, as is usually the case in every township in the State,
but the prevailing surface soil is dark gravel, and the whole township may be
said to be underlaid with a clay subsoil. Here and there the clay crops out
upon the surface, and in some cases it sinks to the depth of four or five feet,
but over a large part of the township it is deposited at the bottom of the
furrow, where it can be brought up with the plow and mixed to suit the taste of
the cultivator. The gravelly surface soil above alluded to is varied in its
character, sometimes loamy, sometimes aluminous, but in most cases the silicates
predominate. Clover luxuriates upon it, and in no place this side of Kentucky
does the blue grass flourish more luxuriantly or adhere more tenaciously when it
once gains a foothold. An inherent moisture almost everywhere pervades the
soil, even on the highest ground which renders it proof against drouth, except
in the most extreme cases.
“AGRICULTURE
Is rapidly taking the place of the lumbering interest, and, let no one thank, that in a town of so much good pine there could be no good farming land. On the contrary, many whole sections were almost exclusively timbered with beech, maple and basswood, and even where the scattering pine grew we find some of the choicest of farming land. As an illustration of this fact I would state that the enterprising Thomas Foster, widely known as a breeder of blooded horses, and one of the owners of the world renowned ‘Mambrino Gift,’ is opening up a farm on the Crapo pine land, which bids fair to become one of the finest in the State. This farm, besides possessing the choicest of soil, is watered by Elm Creek and a large number of never failing springs.
“The ‘Spring Hill’ farm of Avery & Murphy on sections 28, 29 and 33, is also looming up into large proportions,, and will perhaps ultimately be the largest farm in the township.
“THE HOME OF THE BEAVERS.
“Among the relics of antiquity, the beaver dam is
frequently to be met with in a remarkable state of preservation. Elm Creek,
which heads in Cedar Lake and flows in a southeasterly direction to the Flint
River, abounds in these ancient remains. In one place, upon the farm of the
writer, is to be found one of these beaver dams distinctly traceable, fifty-six
rods in length. But the beavers and the red men have departed. The deer, the
wolf, and the panther have no longer a home among us. Man, the ‘lord of
creation,’ is unscrupulously appropriating to himself those privileges which for
countless ages have belonged to the beasts of the forest.
“For my own part I confess that it is not without some feelings of regret
that I look out from year to year and behold the primeval forest fading away
before the woodman’s ax. I have been an active instrument in producing this
cha. ge, and yet at times I feel as if there was something sacrilegious in this
waging a war of extermination upon the works of nature. Often has my heart
thrilled to the sentiment of the poet Ossian, where he says:
“The murmur of thy streams, O, Lora, brings back the memory of the past.
The sound of thy woods, Garmallar, is lovely to my ear.’
“There is no place like the woods for day musings and profound
contemplation. If it be true, as Fenimore Cooper remarks, that, ‘To admire the
works of nature is to worship the Being who created them,’ then have I been a
devout worshiper from childhood to youth, and from manhood to age. My earliest
recollections are associated with the woods, and in after life from scenes of
amusement-from the halls of legislation-from the haunts of crowded cities my
thoughts and feelings and sympathies have reverted back to the primitive scenes
of nature. From the heartlessness and ingratitude of ‘a stormy and unstable
world’ it is sweet to flee away to the woods, the lakes and the streams; and,
lying down upon the mossy bank, to cast far upward a gaze upon the deep blue
sky, and contemplate and beauty of that Being ‘whose house is not made with
hands, eternal n the heavens.’”
LAND ENTRIES PRIOR TO 1860
SECTION 1. Sarah r. Patterson, November 1, 1853
Vincent H. Lewis, May 6, 1854
John Turner, May 16, 1854
Ira s. Begel, November 11, 1854
Chas. Dickerson, December 6, 1854
Wm. H. Leggett, December 20, 1854
Alexander Carr, January 5, 1855
John Smith, April 3, 1855
SECTION 2 John Turner, May 16, 1854
Featherston Colling, November 20, 1854
Jas. A. Rogers, December 6, 1854
Benjamin Fox, July 28, 1855
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SECTION 3 Royal C. Remick, February 7, 1853
John A. Grant, November 14, 1854
Featherston Colling, November 20, 1854
Joseph Colling, November 20, 1854
Jas. L. Carr, January 5, 1855
Henry Fox, July 17, 1855
SECTION 4 Royal C. Remick, August 13, 1852
Franklin Wright, February 9, 1856
Alphret J. Glynn, June 26, 1856
SECTION 5 Royal C. Remick, August 3, and 13, 1852
Royal C. Remick, February 7, 1853
Thos. Duncan, October 10, 1855
Royal C. Remick, April 11, 1859
SECTION 6 Royal C. Remick, August 3 and 13, 1852
Royal C. Remick, November 6, 1855
Royal C. Remick, November 1, 1859
SECTION 7 Royal C. Remick, August 3 and 13, 1852
Royal C. Remick, February 7, 1853
Charles Merrill and Royal C. Remick, March 25,
1856
SECTION 8 Royal C. Remick, August 13, 1852
Royal c. Remick, February 7, 1853
Thomas Duncan, October 10, 1855
SECTION 9 Royal C. Remick, February 7, 1853
Chester Baxter, October 6, 1853
Benjamin Decker, March 5, 1854
Orial Inman, April 10, 1855
Samuel P. McNeal, October 30, 1854
SECTION 10 Anson Read, April 18, 1854
John Turner, May 16, 1854
Moses Bradley, July 3, 1854
Eratus A. Wood, July 3, 1854
James Dockerty, November 10, 1854
Joseph Colling, November 20, 1854
SECTION 11 Elijah W. Way, February 20, 1854
Adorno Johnson, April 14, 1854
John Turner, June 3, 1854
Franklin A. Wright, October 26, 1854
Nahum N. Wilson, January 27, 1855
SECTION 12 John Punderson, February 15, 1854
Lewis Sweitler, November 11, 1854
Andrew Fitzgerald, December 25, 1854
James McCartney, December 25, 1854
Hiram Greenman, April 3, 1855
Walter Fitzgerald, April 4, 1855
SECTION 13 John Punderson, April 18, 1854
Edmund Elward, September 25, 1854
Jacob W. Brown, October 12, 1854
Patrick O’Neill, November 1, 1854
Jacob W. Brown, September 1, 1854
Nathan Potter, March 5, 1856
SECTION 14 William W. Turner, May 16, 1854
Marinda G. Manwaring, June 8, 1854
David C. and Sam’l Goodsell, September 27, 1854
Charles Turner, April 4, 1855
SECTION 15 Chester Baxer, March 9, 1852
Nahum N. Wilson, June 8, 1852
Anson Read, April 18, 1854
Wm. W. Turner, May 16, 1854
Jospeh Moon, December 2, 1854
James Decker, September 3, 1855
SECTION 16 A. L. Kinney, May 15, 1855
J. Sheffield, June 16, 1855
C. Sheffield, June 16, 1855
A. L. Kinney, June 16, 1855
D. Laymon, July 2, 1855
Preserved Sweet, April 14, 1856
John H. Markell, May 26, 1856
SECTION 17 Christopher Gugerty, December 25, 1854
Jacob Decker, June 16, 1855
David J. Traver, August 15, 1855
Edward H. Thompson, May 10, 1856
SECTION 18 Edward H. Thompson, May 10, 1856
SECTION 19 Chester Baxter, August 29, 1853
Merial Henry, May 6, 1857
SECTION 20 Samuel Parker, February 17, 1852
Chester Baxter, November 24, 1853
John Patterson, July 2, 1855
Wm. Fitz simmons, April 9, 1856
SECTION 21 John McCartney, October 18, 1851
Ira Davenport, May 6, 1854
John Turner, May 16, 1854
Roswell D. Miller, July 2, 1855
Samuel Pendill, August 11, 1855
SECTION 22 Chester Baxter, March 9, 1852
Chester Baxter, August 29, 1853
Jospeh Moon, December 2, 1854
Robert B. Conklin, January 2, 1855
SECTION 23 Chester Baxter, February 17, 1852
John N. Wilson, April 25, 1853
Enoch J. White, May 7, 1853
Silas Murch,, December 2, 1854
Robt. B. Conklin, January 2, 1855
Geo. Turner, April 4, 1855
Edmund Turner, March 5, 1856
SECTION 24 Chester Baxter, August 29, 1853
James H. C. Blades, March 8, 1854
Geo. Turner, April 4, 1855
Nathan Potter, February 1, 1856
Nathan Potter, March 5, 1856
SECTION 25 Enoch J. White, December 15, 1852
Enoch J. White, January 5, 1853
Enoch J. White, April 18, 1853
Albert Cosby, July 27, 1855
Nathan Potter, February 1, 1856
SECTION 26 Enoch J. White, December 17, 1852
Nahum N. Wilson, June 8, 1852
Enoch J. White, January 6, 1853
Enoch J. White, May 7, 1853
Chester Baxter, August 29, 1853
Enoch J. White, July 25, 1854
Nathaniel M. Berry, October 24, 1854
SECTION 27 Chester Baxter, February 17, 1852
Nahum N. Wilson, September 22, 1852
Chester Baxter, August 29, 1853
Ira Davenport, May 6, 1854
Enos Goodrich, September 24, 1855
Enos Goodrich, February 7, 1856
SECTION 28 Chester Baxter, February 7 and 17, 1852
Chester Baxter, August 29, 1853
Horatio Belcher, August 3, 1855
Anthony Walling, September 5, 1855
SECTION 29 Chester Baxter, February 7, 1852
Samuel Wilson, March 9, 1852
Nahum N. Wilson, June 8, 1852
Chester Baxter, October 6, 1853.
SECTION 30 Chester Baxter, August 29, 1853
SECTION 31 Chester Baxter, August 29 and 31, 1853
SECTION 32 Calvin C. Waller, December 19, 1836
Chester Baxter, October 6, 1853
SECTION 33 Calvin C. Waller, December 19, 1836
Alva Bishop, January 23, 1837
Chester Baxter, February 7, 1852
Chester Baxter, May 21, 1852
Nahum N. Wilson, June 8, 1852
SECTION 34 Samuel P. Snow, February 17, 1852
Chester Baxter, May 21, 1852
William W. Turner, May 16, 1854
Isaac Davis, August 28, 1855
Enos Goodrich, September 24, 1855
James Day, December 20, 1855
Dwillis M. Johnson, April 27, 1859
Jasper Johnson, September 20, 1859
SECTION 35 Enoch J. White, July 25, 1854
Augustus Welch, October 7, 1854
Enos Goodrich, September 17,1855
Curtis Coffeen, September 26, 1855
James Congdon, October 27, 1855
SECTION 36 Enoch J. White, December 15, 1852
Enoch J. White, January 5, 1853
Jesse H. Barber, December 20, 1853
Enoch J. White, February 11, 1854
Augustus Welch, October 7, 1854
Samuel Sabin, June 8, 1855
Curtis Coffeen, September 26, 1855
Jeremiah Chapman, October 20, 1855
John Schuman, January 26, 1856