The History of Ovid Township

The question arises, why is it that Ovid township, lying upon the eastern border of Clinton county, was one of the last in being settled. What explanation there is, will be disclosed by this article. The surface of the country confined within the borders of this township is level, the soil fertile; the township is traversed from north to south by the Maple river and its tributaries.

The settlement of Ovid is linked with the establishment of Rochester colony in Duplain in 1836. Samuel Barker located upon section six of Ovid township in July of that year, and erected his log cabin upon the north line of that section. Reference to a county map will show that he was a neighbor of the Duplain settlers of the same period. Barker staid on section six until December, 1836, when he moved over to the Colony with his friends.

The cabin with its bark floor and roof was not long vacant. In the early part of 1836, Allen Lounsbury and William H.. Farager had located land on sections four and six, and in December, I836, Lounsbury arrived with his family from Oakland county, having made the journey by means of an ox-team and wagon. Lounsbury took up a residence in the Barker cabin while he built his cabin on section four, in which work he was aided by Enoch Willis, a brother-in-law.

The Lounsbury family suffered its share of privations which were the lot of the pioneer. On one occasion in the spring of 1837, the head of that household started on foot for Laingsburg for a supply of flour which the family was in need of. Not being able to obtain any at Laing's store, he continued to DeWitt, where he was successful. Shouldering his load, he trudged home and reached his destination after a three days' absence. In 1837 the southern portion of the township received as its first settler, who was the third to enter the township, John Cross, who arrived with his family in September of that year. Mr. Cross and his brother, Thomas Cross, had been through the country the year before in search of a location and had built a rude cabin on section thirty-six. This dismal home to which the family came, had no floor, nor doors, and not even a window. The first nights after their arrival the family slept in the wagon box until a bedstead could be made. They prepared their meals over a log fire, not having a stove. These settlers suffered considerable difficulty in warding off starvation. In 1838 found the senior Cross preparing to remove his family to the east. It was his intention to wait until a later day, when the country should be more generally civilized, before he proceeded farther in clearing and improving his land. In 1844 he returned to the cabin, where he had left his goods stored, with the intention of returning to his estate, but found that his precautions had not been effective and that his outfit had been stolen by some unscrupulous wanderer.

The next settler to take possession of Ovid lands was William Van Sickle, who built a cabin in the southern part of section thirty-one in the summer of 1838. A small clearing was made, but here all attempts at improvement ceased. Inquisitive persons began to investigate, and it was concluded that this cabin was nothing less than a bogus dollar mint. An expedition set out from Detroit, upon information furnished by Henry Leach, of Scioto, and captured Van Sickle and his gang, while they were engaged in the act of coining counterfeit Mexican dollars. This locality has retained the name "Bogus Settlement" to date.

In 1837 Stephen Pearl settled at the present site of Shepardsville; in the fall of 1839, Jobey Denison, later famous as a bear-hunter, came to the township. Later Frederick Cranson, John Voorheis, Moses Smith and Joseph Parmenter arrived. David Cranson began a clearing on section twenty-five in 1838, and in 1839, Mr. Voorheis moved with his family into the inhospitable shanty left by his predecessor, and began operations. At this time the country north of section twenty-five was an unbroken wilderness. Solomon Bush and 0. Carpenter took up land on section twenty-four. In 1840 the tax-roll was as follows:

Allen Lounsbury, section 4, 160 acres.
Enoch Willis, section 5, 80 acres.
William Farager, section 6, 240 acres.
John Jessop, section 9, 160 acres.
Stephen Pearl, sections 9-10, 60 acres.
Frederick Cranson, section 15, 40 acres.
Jude Carter, personal.
David B. Cranson, section 25, 160 acres.
William Van Sickle, section 31, 160 acres.
John McCollum, section 31, 80 acres.
James Nelson, section 31, 80 acres.
Enos Kenyon, section 25, 80 acres.
Jobes Denison, section 35, 120 acres.
Lawrence Cortright, section 36, 80 acres.
William Swarthout, section 36, 320 acres.
James Gunsally, section 5, 80 acres.


A survey of the above record indicates that in 1840 only nine sections of the township had resident land owners upon them.

The settlement of Ovid township must be associated with that of Duplain, insomuch as the first settlements in both townships were made by the same group of immigrants from the east. The Rochester colony originated in the city of Rochester, New York. At a meeting of those interested on February 29, 1836, articles of association were entered into. By these articles, the organization was designated as "The Rochester Colony." The raising of a fund for the purchase of lands was provided by these articles. One peculiar provision regarding purchase and ownership of lands was as follows:

"Deeds for any purchase of lands may be executed to the agents as grantees, but expressed to be to them as joint tenants in common, in order that there may be a survivorship on the death of either. The lands, although conveyed thus absolutely for the sake of convenience, shall be considered as purchased and held in trust for the subscribers who contribute to the funds."


It was the plan that the lands purchased by the company should be surveyed and divided into farm lots of eighty acres each and village lots. A share consisted of one farm lot and one or more village lots. The lots were drawn at Rochester city, and each subscriber received a contract in writing from the company's agent, securing to him an interest in the land which fell to him in drawing. After a share-holder had made an actual settlement upon his land or had improved the same to the extent of one-fourth of the cost, value thereof, he received a deed of the fee title to his share. Should any land be left, it was provided that the same should be sold at auction, and the proceeds divided among the share-holders. The intention of the association was to establish an actual settlement and community in the far west and as a precaution, their articles provided that in case any subscribing shareholder failed to make improvements within eighteen months after drawing his share, as required by the bylaws, his holding should be forfeited and sold at public auction. The proceeds not exceeding original cost were paid to the subscriber, aftertaxes. assessments and charges were deducted, and if any balance remained, it went to the share-holders in good standing. Any person was entitled to membership and a vote in the association by subscribing for one share of one hundred and twenty-five dollars, five dollars payable at once and the balance payable upon call. In this manner a purchasing fund was provided for. As has been stated, some of the lands purchased and surveyed under this arrangement lay in Ovid township. The tax-roll of that township for 1840 shows an assessment to James Gunsally upon "lot 43" upon section five thereof. Samuel Barker, the first Ovid settler, was the owner of a colony lot on section six and settled there.

At a meeting of the association on April 2, 1836, W. G. Russell, Joseph Sever and E. R. Everest were authorized to act as agents for the association as provided for in the original articles. Among the original subscribers were the following: E. R. Everest, W. G. Russell, Joseph Sever, W. P. Stanton, Jacob Martin, Oliver Bebee, Benjamin Carpenter, Joseph Atwood, Calvin Brainard, William Chynworth, Samuel Barker, M. T. Croode, Francis Faxon, Samuel Graves, John Ferdon, Electus Boardman, E. W. Collins, Samuel Brass, Henry Wilson, Rufus Collier, Jr., Martha Osborn, V. R. Cook, P. A. Ford, Rowley and Brittan, and E. Rowley. Many of these names are familiar ones in Clinton county history.

At the meeting for drawing lots, after the agents of the association had arranged for the purchase of a tract in Clinton, on June 29, 1836, lots were drawn as follows:

Edward R. Everest, farm lots 4, village lots 12.
William G. Russell, farm lots 2, village lots 5.
Joseph Sever, farm lots 2, village lots 7.
John Ferdon, farm lots 2, village lots 7.
William Cynowirth, farm lots 2, village lots 9.
Benjamin Carpenter, farm lots 3, village lots 13.
Samuel Graves, farm lots 3, village lots 10.
Oliver Bebee, farm lots 2, village lots 5.
Samuel Barker, farm lots 2, village lots 4.
M. R. Croode, farm lots 2, village lots 8.
Jacob Martin, farm lots 1, village lots 4.
John Boardman, farm lots 1, village lots 3.
Electus Boardman, farm lots 1, village lots 5.
Edwin W. Collins, farm lots 1, village lots 1.
Rufus Collier, Jr., farm lots 1, village lots 1.
Van Rensselaer Cook, farm lots 1, village lots 1.
Joseph Atwood, farm lots 1, village lots 1.
W. P. and FH. Stanton, farm lots 1, village lots 1.
George S. Shelmire, farm lots 1, village lots 1.
Henry N. Sever, farm lots 1, village lots 1.
Samuel Brass, farm lots 1, village lots 3.
Simanous Britton, farm lots 1, village lots 3.
Martha Osborne, farm lots 1, village lots 2.
P. A. Ford and E. Bliss, farm lots 1, village lots 2.
Rowley and Britton, farm lots 1, village lots 2.
Eleazer Rowley, farm lots 1, village lots 3.
Calvin Brainard, farm lots 1, village lots 5.
Francis Faxon, farm lots 2, village lots 5.
Sylvester Bliss, farm lots 2, village lots 5.


It will be seen from the above table that two thousand six hundred acres of Clinton county lands were opened to probable settlement by that proceeding of June 29, 1836.

John Ferdon, Samuel Barker, whose land lay in Ovid township, and Oliver Bebee, were the first shareholders to enter upon their possessions. Joseph Sever and Francis Faxon followed them. In 1839 the list of resident tax-payers of the township of Duplain contained the names of E. R. Everest, Francis Faxon, Oliver Bebee, Joseph Sever, John Copeland and Samuel Barker, of the Colony settlers. Of these, E. R. Everest was assessed upon four hundred and eighty acres.

Referring to the three commissioners or agents, W. G. Russell, Joseph Sever and E. R. Everest, appointed by the association on April 2, 1836, they began operations for the selection and purchase of lands for the "Colony," immediately and on April 12, 1836, Russell and Sever began their journey westward. The attention of the agents had been directed before their departure to various localities. Different sections of Ohio and Indiana were pointed out to them as worthy of investigation. In Michigan the Grand River region was subject to exploration by them, as was the vicinity south of the present site of Grand Rapids; Ingham, Eaton, Barry and Clinton counties, together with the Saginaw country, were also to be investigated by these servants of the Rochester company.

In May following, these agents had made their purchase of sections twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three and the south-west quarter of section thirty of Duplain township; then known only by the terms of the United States survey; and sections six and seven of Ovid township, whose settlement has already been mentioned herein. The tract thus purchased consisted of a fraction over four thousand three hundred acres. The purchase price was $5,003.82.

The story of the laborious wanderings of these agents, and the selection of land in Clinton county, is told by a letter written by Agent Russell to his colleague Everest, which was as follows:

BRONSON MICH., May 11, 1836.
E. R. Everest; Sir: We arrived in Detroit Friday, 22d of April, making ten days from Rochester; found the roads bad. The Ball horse tried and we had to put him off. We exchanged him for a pony and paid $35. We stayed in Detroit until the Monday following; got what information we could from Messrs. Alcott, Ketchum, Strong and others that we thought advisable to inquire, and started on the Pontiac turnpike leading through the northwest part of the territory. We stopped and explored different sections of the country. We found all the important points taken, excepting one which lies on the Maple river. We spent some four days in that part. We think that the water privileges are good and the land first best. Sever and myself are much pleased with it, although it is timbered land. The timber is beech, maple, hickory, oak, bass, butternut and black-walnut, and as handsome as you ever saw, and well watered with beautiful springs. There is a contemplated canal to connect the Maple and Shiawassee together near this place, which, if that takes place, will cause a great drift of business through this section of the country, as it will save something like one thousand miles of water-carriage around the lakes. We thought best to look further, and went to Barry county. We went, but soon returned. Got satisfied that it was too heavy timbered and rough, broken land for us. We then made up our minds that the Maple river must be the place. We started off for Bronson that night; rode until eleven o'clock in the evening; put up at a tavern, and got permission to sleep on the floor. Started in the morning; fell in company with a speculator; was satisfied that he was after our land. Feeling determined not to give it up, I changed horses with Sever, the other man being ahead a mile or two. I set out, determined not to loose the prize if I lost the horse. After we got within fourteen miles of Bronson I had a fresh horse to contend with. For four or five miles I let him go ahead, until we got on the last ten miles to the office. I passed him within a few miles of the office and got in my application a few minutes before him, after coming ten miles in forty minutes. The country around this place is new, and if any family should leave Rochester for this, they had better bring everything they want for family use. There is no house near. If any one should set off before we got home you must direct them from Detroit to take the road leading northwest fifty miles to Grand Blanc; then take a west course to Mr. William's on the Shiawassee river, where they will get all the information necessary. We applied on Friday last, and are to have our duplicates at nine o'clock this morning. We are to leave this place for the Maple today, with Mr. Hill, to make the survey and lay the lots. We feel glad to get away. It is like town-meeting here every day (Sundays excepted). We shall be in Rochester about the middle of June probably.

WILLIAM G. RUSSELL.
For the Colony.


The lots for the colony were platted by Calvin G. Hill, surveyor, who was accompanied by Agent Russell and Sever in the work. The plat of the survey was recorded- October 27, I837. This plat was forwarded by "E. R. Everest, acting agent for the Rochester Colony." The village plat was recorded at the same date. The village survey was made by one Benjamin H. Brown.

The Maple river, which crossed section twenty-nine of the colony purchase in a northeasterly course, offered good water-power facilities, whose value to the colony was early appreciated by its agents. After the return to Rochester of Russell and Sever, the day after the meeting at which the lots were drawn, the company decided to sell the water-power privileges on section twenty-nine. They were desirous of having mills established there, however, indicating again their serious intentions towards permanent settlements. It was estimated that there was power enough to run two saws and three sets of stones-the colony would at first need lumber and grist mills above all other enterprises. Willis Tempshall purchased the site, and as part of the purchase contract, bound himself in the sum of three thousand dollars to have a saw-mill running with at least one saw within one year, and a grist mill, with at least one run of stone, within two years. The purchase price was one thousand one hundred and fifteen dollars.

In July, 1837, John Ferdon, Oliver Bebee and Samuel Barker, who were subscribers to the articles of association at Rochester, accompanied by their families and Ellen Lowe, began the journey westward. Of their company of sixteen persons, ten were children. The journey to Detroit was by the water route, and from that point by the customary ox-team outfits. They traveled the Grand River trail to a point north of Laingsburg. and from there northward through the wilderness. They cut a road of twenty miles through the forest, reaching their destination on July 28, 1836.

These settlers spent their first night after their arrival upon the Bebee lot, locating on Ferdon's lot the next day. Here they erected a house of logs and with bark roof and floor. This rude structure stood upon what is now Greenbush, the Ferdon lot lying to the western border of what is now Duplain. The Barker cabin on section six of Ovid, which has already been referred to, was the next to be built. Bebee's cabin was next built in Duplain, being the first to be erected within the borders of that township, the first two named being in Greenbush and Ovid, respectively. The Barker and Bebee families were close neighbors as their cabins faced each other, one being upon the north border of Ovid, and the other upon the south line of Duplain. The progress of the colony was slower than expected by its founders. Joseph Sever and Francis Faxon were the next to arrive, Sever bringing his family with him. Faxon built a cabin and made a clearing and returned to Rochester, arriving later with his family in September of 1837. David Watson, a blacksmith, had already joined the settlers at this time. On November 15, 1837, Charles Baldwin arrived. As has been stated, Barker, who had settled in Ovid, moved across the line in December of the same year. His short trip of three miles northward was full of trouble, requiring a whole day. In fording the river the wagon became disconnected and was repaired only after tedious efforts by its owner.

Watson, the blacksmith, began to work at his trade in a shop on section thirty-one in 1837. Oliver Bebee, one of the first arrivals, was a carpenter. Samuel Brass, a later arrival, was a shoemaker, and later kept a store at the Colony. Tempshall finally established his saw-mill and grist-mill for the Colony. These mills were a great benefit to the community, as before their erection the settlers were compelled to travel to Ann Arbor, Pontiac and even Detroit, with their grain. Edward R. Everest opened a store, and through his efforts a post office was established. Dr. William B. Watson was the first physician to minister to the sick of the colony. A Methodist exhorter named Whiting was a resident of the community. He preached the funeral of Fidelia Carpenter, whose death in 1838 was the first in the colony.

After the Rochester colony had established itself, other settlers began to locate upon various sections of the township. Duplain township was first called the township of Sena, and the following list of resident tax-payers shows the situation in 1840:

John Burnett, colony lots 1 and 2, 160 acres.
Sterry Lyon, colony lots 2, 80 acres.
Sterry Lyon, section 11, 40 acres.
Abram Becker, colony lot 21, 80 acres.
Francis Faxon, colony lots 16 and 34 and southwest
quarter of section twenty-four, 320 acres.
Oliver Bebee, colony lots 32 and 33, 160 acres.
Joseph Sever, colony lots 8 and 14, 160 acres.
Samuel Barker, colony lot 19, 80 acres.
Grove Cooper, colony lots 31 and 32, 160 acres.
H. M. Sever, colony lot 18, 80 acres.
Oliver Everest, colony lot 17, 80 acres.
John Ferdon, colony lot 29, 80 acres.
Benjamin Carpenter, colony lot 28, 80 acres.
David Watson, colony lot 26, fr 20 acres.
Samuel Brass, colony lot 25, 80 acres.
Tempshall and Sever, mill lot, 9 acres.
Nathan Lowe, section 34, 160 acres.
Charles Stevens, section 27, 80 acres.
Sidney L. Smith, sections 27 and 23, 240 acres.
R. E. Craven, sections 10, 11, 22, 23, 400 acres.
Thomas Craven, Sr., section 14, 160 acres.
Thomas Craven, Jr., section 14, 80 acres.
Liberty Carter, section 24, 160 acres.
Patrick Galligan, section 12, 80 acres.
William B. Watson, section 2 and 21, 160 acres.
Chandler Coy, section 35, 80 acres.
Benjamin Hicks, section 11, 40 acres.


As a matter of fact, Liberty Carter did not actually settle upon section twenty-four until the spring of 1841; Patrick Galligan began began his clearing about the same time on section twelve.

The story of further progress of the colony will be taken up when the history of the village of Mapleton is given. This village was for years the center of the life of the little pioneer community, and its record is full of interesting items.

As has been stated, the new township was named Sena, but this name, like that of Wandagon, was not acceptable to the people, and Mrs. Watson, the wife of Dr. William B. Watson, suggested the name of Duplain, which became the name of the township March 20, 1841. The Maple river, it will be remembered, was called by the early French travelers "La Riviere du Plain," and doubtless the new name was suggested by this.

The township of Greenbush, as it exists at the present time, borders Duplain upon the east and Essex on the west, and lies in the northern tier of townships of Clinton county. Its position, as regards the township of Duplain, and the fact that the Rochester colony settlers located themselves upon the Maple river in the southeastern portion of that township, accounts for the fact that the settlement of Greenbush was made at about the same time that the New York colony entered the township to the east. On the other hand, as has been stated herein, Essex township received its first actual settlers upon section eight in the northwestern region of the township, and as this township developed, its settlements extended from the Maple River village southeastward. In the southern portion of the present township of Greenbush, the newcomers encountered a vast area of swamp and marsh land, which impeded the progress of the township. It has already been observed that when John Ferdon, of the Rochester association, came with Bebee and Baker to the Rochester colony in 1836, he built his cabin across the line in Greenbush township on section thirty-six. Ferdon's land lay in both townships. Ferdon's residence upon his land in Greenbush was marked by experiences incident to pioneer life in a wilderness. This sturdy pioneer earned a reputation in his day as a great bear hunter. One story relates that in 1847 Ferdon killed nine bears aided only by a club and his hunting dog. It is also stated that Mr. Ferdon brought a stock of goods with him from the city of Rochester to his Clinton county home. It was his policy and practice to employ as many men as possible in clearing his lands, he having acquired a considerable acreage since his arrival in the county. From his cabin store-house in Greenbush, he distributed supplies to the men in his employ, and thus disposed of his stock of goods.

When Stephen Pearl came to Ovid in 1837, Samuel Rowell accompanied him and remained for a time at the Lounsbury residence in Ovid township. Later he purchased thirty acres of land of John Ferdon on section thirty-six and took up his residence. It may be stated that Mr. Rowell lived upon this place until 1876 and that his son, Stephen, still resides upon the homestead.









Source: Source: PAST AND PRESENT OF CLINTON COUNTY - 1906 CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN




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