The records of the County Pioneer Society contain the following items of interest regarding some of the settlers of the township of Leslie: Jacob Armstrong, a native of Charlestown, Montgomery Co., N. Y., removed to Michigan in the fall of 1837m arriving at Detroit September 3d. Mr. Armstrong relates his experiences as follows: "I hired a man and team to transport my goods; arrived at the Freeman bridge, on Grand River, the 9th of September. Found the river impassable on accounts of heavy rains. The causeway, some thirty rods long between the bridge and the north bank, was afloat. I left my goods on the south side, and my wife and I crossed on the floating logs, jumping from one log to another, and came to Leslie that night, five miles on foot. Next morning I started with an ox-team for my goods, the river still impassable for a team. By the help of three hired men we loaded in a wagon what we could draw, and drew it across on plank laid on the floating causeway, and by taking two sets of plank we could shift them every length of the wagon, and by working faithfully all day, part of the time up to our waist in water, we got them over, and arrived at our home in Leslie some time after dark."
The Freeman bridge mentioned by Mr. Armstrong is well remembered by the pioneers, as it was at the place where many of them crossed the river when on their way into Ingham County with their families.
Elijah Woodworth, * a native of Mayfield, Montgomery Co., N. Y., and afterwards a resident of Cayuga County, and a soldier of the war of 1812, removed to Michigan from Aurelius, Cayuga Co., in the fall of 1835. His route lay through Canada, and the journey occupied twenty-one days of time. During the winter the family remained in Jackson County, with Mr. Woodworth's cousin, George Woodworth. In March, 1836, Elijah Woodworth cut his road part way through to Leslie, and finally arrived in the latter township. He crossed Grand River on a raft. He says: "My nearest neighbors north were at De Witt, Clinton Co.; south four miles, and east and west none but natives that I knew of. During the summer new-comers in pursuit of homes found my habitation. Each had his name booked as he came to the door, and his turn of choice of land followed his registry. Amos Wortman, Jasper Wolcott, and myself became their guides in the wilderness. Our provisions were transported some distance and were very dear. I assisted D. F. Dwight to build the first saw-mill in Ingham County, a water-mill at Leslie, in 1836. The mail was brought from Jacksonville. We had no sawed timbers about our mill. Our land was located at Kalamazoo in the order the applications were made.
"Henry Meeker located his land and mill site, and left the same year. When we went out to look land we had to camp in the woods over-night or stay at some Indian lodging. During 1836 among the new settlers were James Royston, S. O. Russell, and E. T. Critchett, of Seneca Falls, N. Y. Plenty of wild animals then roamed our forests, such as bear, wolves, deer; cats, rats, and mice we had none."
During 1836, before a bridge was built over Grand River, it was crossed by incomers on a log raft. Some time in that year, Mr. Oaks was treed by wolves near the river, on his return from Jackson, and remained all night on his perch, badly frightened. Wolves were quite troublesom until the settlers began trapping them for the bounty of seven dollars per head, and their numbers were soon greatly lessened. Bears were also plenty, and it is related that David Ackley killed one with his rifle. He and his wife were out taking a walk, and she at first mistook the animal for an Indian pony.
The first law-suit in the town of Aurelius was between E. T. Critchett, plaintiff, and Elijah Woodworth, defendant. The first death in Leslie is thought to have been that of a daughter of Stephen Kirby. From 1838 to 1840 the settlers were all sick with bilious fever and the auge, and they were so badly shaken up that many became disheartened and returned to their former homes.
Thale W. Huntoon, a native of Charemont, Cheshire Co., N. H., settled in Leslie, Nov. 12, 1840. His parents also came to the township, where they both died. His father's name was Isaac F. Huntoon. When T. W. Huntoon first came to the township the village of Leslie contained but few houses, while he expected to find a thriving town. On arriving there and inquiring the distance to the village of Leslie, he was greatly surprised to find that he was then in the midst of it.
Benjamin Davis, from Jefferson Co., N. Y., removed to Michigan in Octover, 1836, and remained in Wayne County until Jan. 1, 1837, when he settled with his family in the township of Leslie, Ingham Co., where he lived for thirty years, and died at the age of seventy. His son, Richard H. Davis, was but ten years old when the family came to Michigan. The wife of R. H. Davis came to Ingham County in 1841 with her parents, Asa and Orvilla Dubois, who settled in the township of Vevay.
Sidney O. Russell, a native of East Bloomfield, N. Y., settled in Leslie in June, 1836, having been preceded but one day by Ezekiel T. Critchett.
Wheaton Sanders, who was born in Cayuga Co., N. Y., in 1811, came to Leslie in 1839, and settled on a farm to which no road had been cut out, and on which he died, April 22, 1879. He and his wife experienced all the hardships of a pioneer life.
The foregoing items concerning the pioneers mentioned are from the Pioneer Society's records; what follows has been gathered "in the field," among the pioneers.
Amos Wortman, who is now residing immediately north of the village of Leslie, on the farm he first located, came to Michigan in September, 1835, from Genesee Co., N. Y., and was then unmarried. He remained in Jackson until the spring of 1836, when he came to what is now Leslie, purchased government land, and commenced improving it. He boarded for two years with Elijah Woodworth, who lived at the site of the village, and who built the first house in the place. When Mr. Wortman was looking for land he was accompanied by Jasper Wolcott, a young man from his own neighborhood in New York. They stopped a portion of the time, when night fell, with Oliver Booth, the first settler in the township of Onondaga, who had a section of land where Onondaga village now is. Mr. Wortman assisted Elijah Woodworth in building his shanty at Leslie; it stood about sixty rods east of what is now the main street, and Mr. Woodworth says it was, beyond dispute, the first one on the site of the village.
Mr. Wortman assisted many in looking out their land, as also did Mr. Woodworth and Mr. Wolcott. Mr. Wortman was married in October, 1838, and settled upon his place the following spring, having cleared a small tract and sowed about fifteen acres of wheat. The first wheat sowed in the township was put in by S. O. Russell and James Royston, who settled in the summer of 1836. Mr. Wortman helped cut the first road in the township of Leslie, and also helped to cut tracks through the woods in other townships while on "land-hunting" trips. Those roads were scarcely better than cow-paths.
Sidney O. Russell, previously mentioned, visited this region in 1835, and looked it over with the view of some time settling. In May, 1836, he purchased land in what is now the township of Leslie, and in the following month of June he brought in his family and settled with them on a farm, upon which he resided until 1842, when he removed to the village and entered the mercantile business, in which he has since continued. James Royston, Mr. Russell's brother-in-law, came to the township with the latter and settled in the same locality, and at present occupied the farm he then located.
Mr. Russell's wife is a daughter of Mrs. Abbey Haynes, who, after the death of her husband, removed to Michigan from the town of Marcellus, Onondage Co., N. Y., with five children, and settled in the township of White Oak, Ingham Co. This was in 1838; one year later they removed to Onondaga township. Mrs. Russell was the eldest child. Mrs. Haynes, who was resolute, energetic woman, died in 1871. When the family started from New York they had a team of horses, but while passing through Canada one of the horses was traded for a yoke of oxen, ahead of which the other horse was hitched, and slow progress was made over the extremely bad Canadian roads. From Detroit to Ann Arbor the journed occupied two days' time and the wagon contained four persons for its load only. Mr. Russell, who had come two years before, was four days making the same distance.
M. V. Armstrong, now in the undertaking business at Leslie, came to the township in 1845, and purchased the first forty acres of land on section 16, upon which he resided a short time. His wife became ill and homesick, and they shortly returned to Batavia, Genesee Co., N. Y., where she died. He came again to Leslie and purchased forty additional acres of land, returned to New York and was married again, and finally made a permanent settlement here in 1850.
Mr. Armstrong's brother, Jacob, in company with Nelson B. Backus, settled in the township in 1836, at Leslie, or "Teaspoon Corners." He sold eighty acres of the land he had purchased to Mr. Backus, who became a prominent citizen in the township, as did also Mr. Armstrong. These men were the first settlers at North Leslie. Mr. Armstrong, who first purchased on section 9, has resided for several years at Oakley, Saginaw Co., Mich. M. V. Armstrong held the position of commissioner of highways in Leslie about twenty-five years.
Mahlon Covert, from Covert, Seneca Co., N. Y., purchased land in the township of Vevay, in June,1837, and came with his family to the township of Leslie in October following, intending to proceed at once to his place in Vevay. There was so much water on the way, however, that it would have been almost impossible to get through, and Mr. Covert finally traded his Vevay land to John Royston, for land the latter had purchased in Leslie, and settled upon it and still occupies it. Mrs. Covert's brother, Ira Chandler, came with them. A son of John Royston now occupies a portion of the old farm in Vevay. Mr. Covert's son, Ansel R. L. Covert, was elected county clerk in 1856, and removed to Mason, where he lived four years, and in 1861 settled in the village of Leslie, where he at present resides.
Calvin Edwards, from Cayuga Co., N. Y., came to the township of Leslie in 1837 or 1838, with his wife and six children, and located in the same neighborhood with Mahlon Covert. He died in the township. His son, Ogden Edwards, resides in Leslie village, and he and his brother Oliver are the only ones of the family now living in the township. Ogden and Stephen Edwards chopped the first tree felled on their father's place, upon which no improvements have been made, although it was purchased from second hands.
Wheaton Sanders, who accompanied Mr. Edwards to the township, was from the same neighborhood in New York. He is now deceased, but his family occupies the old farm. His brother, Gilbert Sanders, had settled in the same locality a year previous to the arrival to Wheaton Sanders, and is now living at Albion, Calhoun Co.
Arnold Walker, from Seneca Co., N. Y., came to Leslie in 1844, and has since resided in the county, in which he has been and is a prominent and influential citizen. He at present occupies the position of president of the First National Bank of Leslie. He was for some time previous to the Rebellion an officer in the militia of the county, and was captain of the "Curtenius Guards," of Mason. That company was named in honor of Col. F. W. Curtenius, of Kalamazoo. The militia of the State had been allowed to become of little importance, but finally the State Military Board raised three thousand dollars, a portion of which was appropriated towards prizes for the best-drilled and best-appearing companies in the State. In 1857, Col. Curtenius inspected three companies in Mason, -- the "Curtenius Guards," and two companies from Lansing, the "Williams Grays" and a German organization. The prize was awarded to the Mason company, and consisted of one hundred and fifty dollars in money and a brass field-piece. Its officers were each raised one grade in rank, except Capt. Walker, who was promoted to the position of leutenant-colonel of the regiment (Forty-sixth Michigan). The company armed itself with Minie rifles, and became well known for its efficiency and apperance. When the war broke out the services of the company were tendered as a body to the Governor, and the organization was accepted and assignment to the Seventh Michigan Infantry and sent to the front. Capt. Walker was not at the time a member of the company, but was solicited to accept the position of captain. He declined in favor of Capt. McKernan, but offered to go in any other capacity, -- even as a private in the ranks. The position of major of the regiment was tendered him, and would have been accepted but that Monroe County was without representation among the line officers of the regiment, and Mr. Walker was promised a good position in the near future if he did not take the major's commission. The result was he had no chance to go to the front, though always ready. The "Curtenius Guards" covered themselves with glory while in the field.
Nelson Norton, from Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, came with his wife and one child to Ingham County in June, 1838, and settled on section 33 in Leslie, having purchased land of John Western, of Jackson. Mr. Norton himself made the first improvements upon it, Western being only a speculator, owning several sections in this township. In January, 1875, Mr. Norton removed to the village where he now resides.
Rev. Elijah K. Grout, a native of Fairfax, Vt., settled in Leslie in October, 1838, with his wife and three children, -- the latter all young. He purchased forty acres inside of the present village corporation, a portion of the tract now being owned by Arnold Walker. This land he afterwards sold. In the spring of 1839, Mr. Grout assisted in the organization of a Baptist Church at Leslie, and was himself ordained to the ministry in 1841. He served in the ministerial field of labor for nearly thirty-seven years in various localities, having resided at Marine City, St. Clair, Co., from 1847 to 1854, an died at Leslie, Feb. 9, 1878. His loss was mourned by all who knew him. He was a fine type of the pioneer minister, and knew no man as an enemy. His widow is residing in the village, and several of his children live here and at Bay City.
Mrs. Grout is a sister of Henry and Dr. Valorous Meeker, and daughter of Benjamin Meeker, who were among the first settlers in the township of Leslie. Henry Meeker purchased land on section 28 in February, 1836. Henry Meeker, in company with his father, Benjamin Meeker, and Denziel P. Rice, came at nearly the same time with Elijah Woodworth, and soon sent for the family of the elder Meeker, who came the same year (1836). Dr. Valorous Meeker arrived in 1837, and was the first physician who settled in Ingham County. Benjamin Meeker and wife both in this township. Henry returned to Cortland Co., N. Y., but afterwards removed still farther West, and is now living near Milford, Dickinson Co., Iowa. The Meekers, in many respects, were among the most prominent citizens of Leslie township.
Henry Fiske came to Leslie about 1837, and settled on the site of the village. The first township-meeting convened at his house in April of the following year. His log dwelling stood near the present site of the Allen House. Miss ----- Messinger, who came with him, or at nearly the same time, was an early teacher in the Leslie schools. She became the wife of a man names Hill, also an early settler, and they removed from the locality. Both are now deceased.
James Blackmore, the present postmaster at Leslie, emigrated from Stafford, Genesee Co., N. Y., to Henrietta, Jackson Co., Mich., in 1848, and in 1855 came to Leslie and taught school. He removed here in 1858, and engaged in mercantile business in June, 1859.
The resident taxpayers of the township of Leslie in 1844 are included in the following list:
Asher Roginson Joshua Whitney Silas Kirby Sarah Loomis
Moses Curtis Anthony Ingalls Enoch Scovel V. H. Powell
George Higdon Washington Scovel George Huntoon Henry Medbury
John Barry Ephraim Wortman Barna Filkins George Freeman
William Doty Truman Wilbur Jacob Straight James McCray
Clark A. Harlow Whitman Albro Calvin Straight Simeon Polar
S. G. Sanders Peter Ward Widow Mitchell Thomas A. Anis
Calvin Edwards Mahlon Covert Hiram Hodges Daniel Jefford
William Page James Royston John Housel Patrick Brown
John Tuttle John R. Dunsha WIlliam Huntoon Frederick S. Clark
William Page, Jr. Solomon Woodworth ----- Sabens William Barden, Jr.
Enoch Hare Sidney O. Russell Roxalana Dewey Jotham Morse
Thomas Closson Stephen Weeks John R. Hale William Barden
A. C. Harlow Benjamin Davis Thomas Peach Nelson Norton
Wheaton Sanders Elizabeth Gardner (administratix) Joel Scovel Theodore Clark
William Jones Samuel T. Rice Denzil P. Rice Stillman P. Rice
Homer S. King Critchet & Dwight Isaac Denrick D. & W. Wright
Jacob Armstrong Thomas J. Blake Alba Blake Jonas Nims
Nelson B. Backus E. K. Grout Blake & Russell Benjamin Norton
Amos Wortman Daniel Ackley Clark Graves Lester Miner
Abram Housel Henry Meeker Joseph Woodhouse Harlow Norton
James Harkness Valorous Meeker Hared Reynolds Daniel D. Marston
William W. Dewey E. L. Freeman Hiram Austin Lyman G. Miner
Chauncey Smity Henry Fiske Flavel J. Butler W. D. Landfair
Isaac F. Huntoon ----- Barlow Meeker & Powell Joseph Godfrey
Sally Miles J. R. Cowden Josiah Rice
Seneca M. Hale Elijah Woodworth Henry Hazelton
Taken from:
"History of Ingham and Eaton Counties Michigan, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Their Prominent Men and Pioneers", by Samuel W. Durant.
Published by D. W. Ensign & Co., 1880.
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