school one winter. He has been Tp. Clerk and County Superintendent of Schools; has been in some official position ever since coming to this county, H. H. Wylie, farmer, is a native of New York; son of Henry C. and Mary L. Wylie, natives of New York, of Scotch descent. In 1846 they settled in Sparta, and in 1859 they came to Tyrone, where the father died in 1877. Mr. Wylie has pursued farming most of his life, and is at present engaged in breeding cattle and sheep-short-horns and thoroughbreds. He owns a farm of 156 acres on sec. 28, worth $60 an acre. Mr. Wylie was married in this county in 1862 to Susan M., daughter of Hon. William H. and Ursula Taylor, born in Eaton county in 1843. The same year of his marriage he made the purchase of his land, which was in a perfectly wild state, and has cleared 130 acres; had nothing to begin with and now owns a beautiful home. He enlisted in the civil war in 1864 in Battery A, 1st Mich. Light Artillery, and served 11 months; was mustered out at Jackson; has held the position of Supervisor three years. Mr. Wylie spends the autumn hunting seasons in the northern woods, where he has killed hundreds of deer. P. O., Kent City. VERGENNES TOWNSHIP. Vergennes is one of the eastern tier of towns, lying on the north side of the Grand river, its center being about 15 miles from Grand Rapids. It is bounded on the north by Grattan township, with Ionia county on the east, Lowell township on the south, and Ada township to the west. It is a land of oak openings, beautiful in its diversity of surface and soil, and one of the most prosperous of the townships of Kent. The surface in the eastern and southeastern portion is very rolling or broken. The timber is mostly of the character known as oak openings, with a few sections of heavy timber, a few tamarack swamps and a small quantity of pine. The soil is mostly heavy, and for general farming seems well adapted. This town has but a few small lakes, and is watered by Flat river, which enters the town near its northeastern corner, and meandering back and forth crossing the line several times, pursues a very serpentine course the length of the township, and crosses the south line about one and a half miles from the southeast corner. This stream, with numerous small tributaries, drains nearly the entire town. Eagle creek, the largest stream in the town emptying into Flat river, rises in, or at least furnishes an outlet for Eagle or Nagle lake, which projects into the town a small distance on the north side. This stream is a valuable little mill stream. The growth of this section of the county may be learned from the fact that in 1838 there were not over 19 families. In 1860 it held its greatest population at 1,344; a decade later this number fell to 1,342. Within the last 10 years a large number of people settled in other districts of the county, or in the Western States, so that now the actual population does not exceed 1,148. EARLY SETTLERS. Sylvester Hodges is accredited with being the first settler within this town, during the year 1836, although it is reported that he first settled in that year in Lowell township, planting the first apple-trees, and helping to build the first house in that village. James S. Fox, Alex. Rogers, Emery Foster, John Brannagan, Wm. P. Perrin, Thompson I. Daniels and Lucas Robinson settled in the township in the fall of 1836, and the spring of 1837 Franklin Kenney, Micah Mudge, Silas S. Fallass, Newcomb Godfrey, J. Wesley Fallass, Elias Walker, Morgan Lyon, Amos Hodges. Chris. Misner, Alfred Van Deusen and Benj. Fairchild came early in the winter of 1837-'8. About February of that year Rodney Robinson, John M. Fox, P. W. Fox, A. D. Smith, O. H. Jones, J. Wells and Geo. Brown came to settle. The township was detached from Kent, and organized under a separate town government in 1838, when there were only 19 families in the township. For several years the farmers had to carry their grists to Ionia, to Grandville or to Kalamazoo to be ground. At this time the township was comparatively an unbroken wilderness. Grand Rapids could boast of but half a score of poorly furnished houses and only two stores, those of Louis Campau and Mr. Watson. The record of this township is similar to that of the others. Its settlers had all the hardships of pioneer life, but in due time these difficulties gave way under the pressing progress of civilization and commerce. The wilderness was soon converted into fine farms, and mills were erected on the several streams; school-houses were erected, villages incorporated and commerce encouraged. Gideon A. Hendricks settled in Vergennes, on section 33, in 1843. He returned to New York State, where he resided until 1860, when he revisited Michigan, and settled on section 2, Vergennes, in 1866. He died in April, 1878. Among the first purchasers of the township lands, as acquired by the United States in 1836, and placed in the market in 1839, were the following: Eliza Andrews, sec. 2, Aug. 19, 1839; John Lloyd, sec. 4, Aug. 8, 1839; Newcomb Godfrey, sec. 11, Aug. 8, 1839; Amos Wood, sec. 12, Aug. 8, 1839; Silas S. Fallass, sec. 13, Aug. 8, 1839; Benjamin W. Towe, sec. 15, Feb. 11, 1840; Ira Bassett, sec. 20, Aug. 8, 1839; Caleb D. Page, sec. 23, July 17, 1839; John J. Devendorf, sec. 26, Aug. 8, 1839; Calvin Kelsey, sec. 29, Aug. 8, 1839; Anthony Yerkes, sec. 32, Dec. 9, 1840; George Brown, sec. 34, Aug. 3, 1839. James Montague, Benj. Toles, Jared Wayles, and a few others made settlements. In speaking of Vergennes in early times, it must be borne in mind that its center was Lowell; that its settlers were mainly there, or in that part of Vergennes which is contiguous. A few pushed up Flat river. The two towns Vergennes and Lowell lived lovingly together as one for 10 years, not following the example of many sister towns, of setting up independent as soon as they had a dozen voters. There was good reason why the two townships should keep together. They were, in sub-tance, one settlement, which the township line about equally divided. This settlement, near the mouth of the Flat river, was the place; the scattered settlers around seemed to be its dependencies. They had lived together as a community; they did not choose to divide; and they did not until both towns were well supplied with inhabitants. ORGANIC. Vergennes was one of the towns earliest organized. By act of the Legislature in 1838, four townships, 5, 6, 7, 8, north, range 9 west, Bowne, Lowell, Vergennes and Grattan, were set off from Kent, and made a town. The first settlement was in what is now Lowell, and the south part of the present town of Vergennes. Its early history is mainly that of Lowell. In 1840, Caledonia was organized; and township 5 north, range 9 west (Bowne), was detached from Vergennes, and temporarily united with Caledonia. In 1846, Grattan, township 8 north, 9 west, was made a town and detached from Vergennes; and in 1848, Lowell (township 6 north, range 9 west) was organized, leaving Vergennes (township 7 north, range 9 west) with the modest limits of a single township. The first meeting was held at the house of Lewis Robinson, April 2, 1838, when the following Inspectors of Election were appointed: Rodney Robinson, John M. Fox, Thompson I. Daniels; and C. A. Lathrop and Matthew Patrick, Clerks. The election by ballot resulted as follows: Rodney Robinson, Supervisor; Matthew Patrick, Clerk; Lewis Robinson, T. I. Daniels and J. M. Fox, Assessors; Porter Rolph, Collector; Everett Wilson, Lewis Robinson and George Brown, School Inspectors; Everett Wilson and Charles Newton, Directors of the Poor; Lucas Robinson, Henry Daines, Philip W. Fox, Commissioners of Highways; Rodney Robinson, Charles A. Lathrop, George Brown, Lucas Robinson, Justices of the Peace; Porter Rolph, A. D. Smith, O. H. Jones and J. S. Fox, Constables; Jacob Francisco, Sylvester Hodges, Fence Viewers. The first general election was held at the house of Lonis Robinson Nov. 5 and 6, 1838, when a vote of 44 was polled, with M. Patrick, Lucas Robinson, Rodney Robinson and Charles A. Lathrop, Inspectors of Election. The principal township officers from 1838 to the present time are named in the following list: |