Plainfield presents many variations in soil and surface. High bluffs along Grand river, and the Rouge, present the beholder with many magnificent outlooks, over lowland, water course, hillside and plain, rarely excelled; and no more beautiful spot can well be found than the little prairie set in hills, lying on the Grand Rapids and the Ionia State road, just north and east of the little village of Plainfield. There is a troublesome amount of stone in some portions, and some sand along the western line; but as a general thing, the soil is a rich clay loam, rendering this a firstclass agricultural town. Its timber is mainly oak, with some beech and maple, and considerable pine along its western borders. Its principal productions are wheat, wool, corn, oats and potatoes, all of which it exports in fair quantities; but most of wheat, wool and corn. Its rich intervals of grass lands, its numerous spring brooks, and clear and rapid watercourses, peculiarly adapt it to dairy purposes; but no especial attention is paid, as yet, to this healthful and lucrative branch of husbandry.

It also lies within the great western fruit belt, and where the altitude is favorable, gives splendid returns of apples, peaches, cherries, currants, and the small fruits generally; but in the bottom lands and low situations, the returns are by no means sure, the frosts destroying the peaches, and the winters killing the trees. It presents many fine locations for vineyards, and the hardier varieties of grapes ripen nicely here; but nothing worthy of note is being done in this branch of horticulture.

There are several inconsiderable lakes in the town, but only two are worthy of note, namely: Scott's lake, lying on section 17, about three-fourths of a mile long, and half a mile wide, quite deep, and well stocked with fish; and Crooked, or Dean's lake, on sections 33 and 34, one mile long and half a mile wide. It has an island of one acre, is generally shallow and quite destitute of fish. These lakes are adjacent to no highway, hence are only visited by fishing parties, or hogs seeking aquatic sports. But for what it lacks in lake views, it makes ample amends in river scenery.

Grand river enters its borders by its eastern boundary, at the northeast corner of section 36, reaches the highest northern point at the exact center of section 23, where the bridge on the Grand Rapids and Lonia State road, crosses the stream; then it sweeps away to the southwest, its banks adorned on either hand with billowy maples and grand old elms, that have shed their leaves for

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centuries on its waves, leaving the town by its southern line, on the southeast quarter of section 31.

The Rouge river, so called from the peculiar tint of its waters, enters the town from the north, on the west half of section 1, and runs southwesterly, debouching in Grand river, on the line of sections 22 and 23. The G. R. & I. R. R., entering the town on section 1, and leaving it near Plumb's mill, on section 31, crosses this stream six times within two miles; hence as may readily be seen, it is very crooked in its course, and being very rapid, presents vast facilities for manufacturing purposes. In 1840, Gideon H. Gordon erected on section 15 the first mill placed upon the stream. It is only a saw-mill now, and owned by Mr. Waters, of Grand Rapids, but then it had a small grist-mill attached, and there the settlers and Indians carried their corn to be ground.

In 1847 a saw-mill was erected by Roberts & Winsor, on section 2, at a point then called Gibraltar. It is now owned by H. B. Childs & Co., who erected in its near vicinity a paper-mill in 1866, which was destroyed by fire in 1869, but rebuilt the second year by the enterprising proprietors. It is on the line of the G. R. & I. R. R., and the place is now known as Child's Mills Station.

In 1850 a saw-mill was erected by Robert Konkle some 40 rods from the mouth of the Rouge. It is now owned by Tradewell & Towle. Save the above, no use is made in this town of the immense water-power of the stream, amply sufficient to drive a continuous chain of machinery several miles in extent.

Mill creek runs through the southwest corner of the town, and as early as 1838 a sawmill was erected on this stream on section 31, by Daniel North. It is now owned by Eli Plumb, who erected a flouring mill at the same place, in 1866. It lies on the line of the G. R. & I. railroad, and is known as North's Mills Station. There is also a railway station at Belmont, about six miles northeast of Grand Rapids. It lies in the midst of a fine farming district, and has a large hotel, kept by Mr. Post, for the accommodation of parties of pleasure.

ORGANIC.

The township of Plainfield was organized in April, 1838. The freeholders assembled at the log school-house on section 23, with James Clark as Moderator, and Zenas G. Winsor, Clerk. The officers elected at that time were: Gideon H. Gordon, Supervisor; Esthel Whitney, Town Clerk; James R. Francisco, Collector; George Miller, Justice of the Peace for one year; Zenas G. Winsor, Justice of the Peace for two years; Samuel Baker, Justice of the Peace for three years; Daniel North, Justice of the Peace for four years; Geo. Miller, Township Assessor; Andrew Watson, Township Assessor; Daniel North, Township Assessor; Esthel Whitney, School Inspector; Z. G. Winsor, School Inspector; Cornelius

Friant, School Inspector; William Livingstone, Highway Commissioner; Warner Dexter, Highway Commissioner; A. D. W. Stout, Highway Commissioner; Jacob Friant, Overseer of the Poor; Jacob Francisco, Overseer of the Poor; Esthel Whitney, Fence Viewer; James Clark, Fence Viewer; Ezra Whitney, Constable; Henry Gordon, Constable.

In the following list the names of the principal township officers from the date of organization to the present day are given:

P. B. Wilson.....

Geo. H. Curtis..

William Wall.

EARLY LAND-BUYERS.

The first patentees of the lands in this township were: Drury Fairbanks, section 20, Nov. 7, 1835; Louis Genereau, section 23, Oct. 16, 1833; Mason Beals, section 22, July 31, 1839; Luke Sweetzree, section 25, Feb. 18, 1836; Lucius Boltwood, section 25, Feb. 18, 1836; Edward Robinson, section 26, March 24, 1836; Amaziah Carpenter, section 27, April 29, 1836; Daniel North, section 31, Aug. 2, 1839; Amos F. Royce, section 34, April 6, 1837; Billius Stockings, section 34, July 15, 1837; Samuel Mandell, section 27, April 6, 1837; and John Hart, section 27, April 6, 1837. The pioneer settlers were William and Silas Livingstone, who built a shanty on the bank of Grand river, section 20, March 2, 1836. It appears that the Livingstone brothers engaged with the Kent Company to take out timber for their "Big Mill" at Grand Rapids. After their contract was completed, the brothers made the locality their home as squatters, purchasing the lands in 1839. In the fall of 1836 Thomas Friant and his son Jacob, built a log hut on section 23. In March, 1837, Cornelius Friant and family arrived and settled on section 24. The same year George Miller located on section 23; James Clark, on section 24, and Warner Dexter on section 14. In 1838 Zera Whitney, on section 15; Gideon H. Gordon, on section 15; and Daniel North, on section 31; and in 1844 Samuel Post settled on section 8, while his father, Jacob Post, and seven other sons, settled about the same time. In 1845 Samuel Gross made his way with his family, by the aid of his ax, to a home on section 2; and in 1846 Chester Wilson settled on section 12.

Although the lands were being surveyed and rapidly located, they were not in the market, and it was no uncommon thing to see

white men and Indians tilling their corn in the same fields, in amicable proximity to each other. But in the fall of 1839 the great land sale came off, when the settlers secured their claims, and the red man vanished from the scene, leaving naught in memoriam but the bones of his dead, on section 23, where the burial mounds, worn by the attritions of the plow, are fast being leveled with the surrounding country.

The first family to settle in the woods of Plainfield was that of Cornelius Friant. The second family on the ground was that of George Miller, and the deprivations which fell to their share was the common lot of all who made their homes in this new land at that early day. Grand river was the only thoroughfare and means of communication with the outside world, hence the settlers depended mainly on what they raised, and their own ingenuity, to prepare it for food. Pork, if imported, was $60 per barrel. The nearest flouring mill was 60 miles away, and the bread eaten in the family of Mr. Miller for 18 months, was ground in a coffee-mill.

The first marriage was performed by the giant Justice of the Peace, Samuel Baker, a huge piece of human architecture, molded like one of those basaltic pillars in the North of Ireland, near which he was born. The contracting parties were William Livingstone and Margaret Miller, daughter of George Miller, and the date May 13, 1838.

The first birth was that of Cornelia Friant, who married Henry Hall, of Grand Rapids. She was the daughter of Cornelius Friant, a settler of 1836, and was born in June, 1838. In the fall of 1838 the second birth occurred, in the family of George Miller, a twin girl and boy, living but a short time, making the first deaths, also, among the settlers; and the greatest delicacy loving friends were able to offer Mrs. Miller during her confinement, was boiled wheat.

Immediately after, in the winter of 1838, the accidental shooting and subsequent death of Peleg Barlow, who had come to seek a home, but had not located, cast a saddening gloom over the little band of pioneers. The event is fully noticed in the county history, in this volume.

The first church was erected by the Protestant Episcopal Society in 1852. The building is picturesquely situated on the bluff above the village of Plainfield, is a wooden structure 30x60 feet in size, painted brown, and has a tower 60 feet high. It was erected in 1852.

Plainfield was organized in 1838, from townships 8 north, ranges 10 and 11 west, except what lies south of the Grand river. In 1846, township 9 north, range 11 west, was detached from Courtland and added to Plainfield; also, 1847, what of township 8 north lies south of Grand river.

The first school was in the winter of 1837-'8, in a log schoolhouse, near Friant's. It was taught by Jonathan Whitney. The next summer the school was kept by Miss Mary Francisco. The school-house was this year burned and rebuilt.

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