no wagon tracks to be seen, no evidence whatever of travel,-nothing but the blazed trees to direct my course. This road subsequently became a thoroughfare to Hastings and Grand Rapids. As settlers came in other roads had to be made, and thus they became multiplied until they pointed in all directions from this center. In speaking here of roads I wish it understood that they were not as now, four rods wide, but merely trails cleared from timber and underbrush the width of the track, and generally sought the best grounds for a road, no matter how crooked or how they varied from a direct course. The ground adopted for a cemetery was a park south of the school-house, now known as the "old cemetery." It contained then but two graves; now who can count the number there that sleep the sleep that knows no waking? In 1840 we had no physician, and none nearer than Battle Creek and Gull Prairie. Of course settlers could not be exempted from sickness, for such is the lot of the human family everywhere. We can readily imagine now that it could not have been very consoling to the sick man to be told that there was no medical relief at hand, or to be had, but this was one of the trials incident to early pioneer life, and had to be endured. Supplies of all kinds had to be brought in by wagon; even merchandise was then brought from Detroit and Toledo in that way. As a consequence, store goods were high and agricultural products low. The poor pioneer found himself in his dealings short at both ends. So it was,-difficulties, trials, want, and poverty of all sorts were ever around and about the pioneer. But those times are now happily passed, daylight has broken in upon them, and none need be more rejoiced than they.

The first circuit preacher located here was Rev. Mr. Bush, a Methodist, and as good a Nimrod as ever shouldered a rifle. His table could at any time command the rich, savory venison, the prize of his own hunting expeditions. Previous to his coming there was occasional preaching by an itinerant from Gull Prairie. Then we had no school-house, and needed none, for children were few and far between; but they soon came around thick and fast, how and whence could not very easily be divined. The result was that in 1841 we had a school-house erected and ready for use. The first school teacher was Miss Spaulding, now Mrs. Henry Knapen of Gull Prairie. The first fourth of July celebration was held at the grist-mill in 1840, which was then just completed, and wound up with a dance, as a matter of course. It was then just as it is now, only the dances were different; then we had French-four, Scotch-reel, Money Musk and the like, and were content.

The first span of horses owned here was by Levi Chase, and I think he procured them in the spring of 1841. We felt then as if we were getting along in the world and took comfort, for then it was oxen or by foot. Most of the men coming into the settlement here came on foot, and generally had a rifle on their shoulder. It was very seldom, indeed, that they ever went from their homes without this indispensable weapon. At times there would be quite a number of Indians encamped on the present city site, and to their credit be it said we always had the best understanding with them. Their trade amounted to a large aggregate at the end of the year, and was eagerly sought after. There was probably no county in the world more favored with game than this was at that date. This constituted the great attraction for the red man, and gave him plenty to do.

The site of the city, a part of which we are here occupying, was, at that early period, a mere heterogeneous area of thick tangled under

brush and towering forest trees, but today assumes the shape of a beautiful city, with streets well defined and crossing at right angles, lined with as solid and substantial brick blocks and comely dwellings as are found anywhere, size and age considered. Thus has the woodman's axe triumphed where the raging storm and tempest of centuries have ignobly failed. Well may we pause here and exclaim, What is man, that the fury of the storm and tempest shrink abashed at his genius and power? The townships of Thornapple, Prairieville, Orangeville, Barry, Johnstown, Maple Grove and Assyria were not so intimately known to us here, hence I cannot speak of them as definitely as could be wished. Suffice it for the present to say, that the four southern townships, being nearer to the tide of emigration south, contained the majority of the population in 1840. The four townships now known as Johnstown, Assyria, Maple Grove and Baltimore were in one township, and called Johnstown. The four southwestern townships were known as Barry. The four northeastern, including Hastings, were in one, and called Hastings. The northwestern were divided in three townships, and called Irving, Thornapple, and Yankee Springs.

I have now briefly and imperfectly alluded to the early and later achievements in this State and county, and nothing has been said about the women and the important part they have been called upon to perform in the great work of making this State and county the objects of our pride and rejoicing today. It is needless for me to remark here, that without their helping hands the rapid and marvelous transformation from a wilderness to a paradise of luxurious productions which are now annually extracted from the soil would not this Centennial day be witnessed. Women's sacrifices and trials in the early days of this county were often more than man's, owing to her peculiar relations in the family and her dependence on the strong arm of her husband for protection. Frequently she would be compelled to be alone while her husband would be off to mill or on other necessary business, far from neighbors, and subject at any time to visits from prowling savages; still she bravely stood the test. We therefore gladly award to her her share of the reward and glory incident to the grand achievements of the past.

Not only to the pioneer is the State indebteded for its present advanced condition in the Union, but to all whose lot and heritage is with us today. All have labored for its upbuilding, and are alike entitled to the reward and glory incident thereto.

In conclusion permit me to say that I confidently look forward to still grander developments in the future of our State. To the rising generation is committed the great work of the future, and that it will prove true and faithful to the spirit of the past I have the utmost confidence. As the fathers have laid the foundations of our noble institutions firm and deep, so must their sons and daughters carry along and build them up to their final consummation of glory and usefulness.

BENZIE COUNTY.

SECTION 7. The People of the State of Michigan enact, All that part of the county of Leelanaw which lies south of the south line of township 28 north, shall be and remain the county of Benzie, and the several town

ships thereof shall be attached, for civil and municipal purposes, to the county of Grand Traverse.

Approved February 27, 1863.

SECTION 1. The People of the State of Michigan enact, That the county of Benzie, consisting of the territory embraced by the present county of Benzie, be and the same is hereby organized into a separate county, by the name of Benzie; and the inhabitants thereof shall be entitled to all the privileges, powers, and immunities to which, by law, the inhabitants of other organized counties in this State are entitled.

SEC. 2. At the township meeting to be held in the several townships in said county on the first Monday in April next, there shall be an election of all the county officers to which, by law, the said county may be entitled, whose term of office shall expire on the first day of January, A. D. 1871, and when their successors shall have been elected and qualified.

SEC. 3. The county canvassers, under the provisions of this act, shall meet on the second Tuesday succeeding the day of election, as herein appointed, in the village of Benzonia, in said county, at the house of John Bailey, or at such other place as may be agreed upon and provided by said board, and organize by appointing one of their number chairman and another secretary, and shall thereupon proceed to discharge all the duties of a board of county canvassers, as in other cases of the election of county officers, as prescribed by the general law.

SEC. 4. The location of the county-seat of said county shall be determined by the vote of the electors of said county at a special election, which is hereby appointed to be held by the several townships of said county, on the first Monday in July next. There shall be written on the ballots then polled by the qualified electors of said county, one of the following names of places, to wit: Frankfort, Benzonia, and the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section 28, township 26 north, of range 14 west; and that one which shall receive a majority of all the votes cast at such election, shall be the county-seat of the county of Benzie: Provided, That in case no one of said places shall, at said election, be designated such county-seat in the manner aforesaid, another election shall be held on the first Monday of October next, in the same places, at which the said electors shall designate, by majority vote, one of the two above named places which shall have received the highest number of votes at said July election, to be the county-seat of said county of Benzie.

SEC. 8. The said county of Benzie, when so organized, shall be attached to the thirteenth judicial circuit, and the judge of said circuit shall hold two courts therein each year.

SEC. 9. This act shall take immediate effect.

Approved March 30, 1869.

Benzie, named from Aux Bec Scies, is the French designation of that important river on which the village of Frankfort is situated. It was first corrupted by American sailors into Betsey river, and then refined into Benzie for a county name. In this county is Grand Traverse College, in the township of Benzonia.

Frankfort, the county-seat of Benzie county, is a thriving village in Crystal Lake township, settled in 1854. County-seat located as provided for in section 4 of act to organize the county of Benzie; approved March 30, 1859.

BERRIEN COUNTY.

Be it enacted by the Legislative Council of the Territory of Michigan:
SEC. 13. That so much of the country as lies within the following
boundaries, viz.: beginning on the boundary line between this Territory
and the State of Indiana, where the line between ranges sixteen and
seventeen west of the meridian intersects the said boundry line; thence
west along the boundary line to Lake Michigan; thence along the shore
of said lake to the intersection of the line between townships two and
three south of the base line; thence east on a line between said townships
to the intersection of the line between ranges sixteen and seventeen west
of the meridian; thence south on the line between said ranges to the
boundary line between this Territory and the State of Indiana, be and
the same is hereby set off into a separate county, and the name thereof
shall be Berrien.

Approved October 29, 1829.

Be it enacted by the Legislative Council of the Territory of Michigan, That the county of Berrien shall be organized from and after the taking effect of this act, and the inhabitants thereof be entitled to all the rights and privileges to which, by law, the inhabitants of the other organized counties of this Territory are entitled.

SEC. 2. That there shall be a county court established in the said county, which court shall be held on the first Tuesday in July, and the third Tuesday in December, in the year 1832, and on the same days every year thereafter.

SEC. 3. That a circuit court shall be held in said county, and that the several acts concerning the supreme, circuit, and county courts of the Territory of Michigan, defining their jurisdiction and powers, and directing the pleadings and practice therein in certain cases, be, and the same are hereby made applicable to the circuit and county courts in the aforesaid county of Berrien.

SEC. 4. That the county of Berrien shall be one circuit, and the court for the same shall be held on the first Tuesday of August in the year 1832, and the same day every year thereafter.

SEC. 5. That all suits and prosecutions, and other matters, now pending before the circuit or county courts for the county of Cass, or before any justice of the peace for said county, shall be prosecuted to final judgment and execution, and all taxes heretofore levied, or which may hereafter be levied for the year 1831, in said county of Cass, shall be collected in the same manner as though the said county of Berrien had not been organized.

SEC. 6. That the circuit and county courts shall be holden at the house of Almanson Huston, in the village of Niles, in said county or at such other place in said village of Niles as the said courts shall deem expedient.

SEC. 7. That whenever the county-seat is permanently established in said county of Berrien, and accommodations are provided at such place for holding courts, they shall be held at the county-seat, as shall be provided for that purpose.

SEC. 8. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after the first day of September, A. D. 1831.

Approved March 4, 1831.

:

BERRIEN. This county was named from John M. Berrien, Attorney General in Jackson's cabinet from 1829 to 1831, a U. S. Senator from Georgia, and Judge of the Supreme Court of that State. Born 1781, died 1856.

The county-seat of this county is located at Berrien Springs, on the St. Joseph river, 10 miles northwest of Niles and 15 miles southeast of St. Joseph. It was settled in 1829, and incorporated into a village in 1863.

EARLY HISTORY OF BERRIEN COUNTY.

BY DAMON A. WINSLOW.

[Read before the Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan, February 2, 1876.]

Mr. President, Pioneers of the noble Peninsular State, and Ladies and Gentle

men:

I cannot appear before you claiming to be a very old pioneer. I came, however, in time to receive a few "bites" from the "wild-cats" of 1837; but, as they at that time had but little vitality, the injuries were trifling. In speaking of the early history of Berrien county I must of necessity refer to matters connected with the history of the State at large, and mention facts and incidents known to all readers of history; yet, on an occasion like this, I deem it not amiss to refer to such history so far as it relates to that county.

Of the early history of Berrien county but little is comparatively known, as most of its history is to be found only among the musty archives of the Romish church, yet the county has a record of very great interest. Next to Sault Ste. Marie, I believe Berrien county has a history antedating any other portion of the State of Michigan.

The St. Joseph river, which traverses almost the entire length of the county, was discovered by Father Allouez, a Catholic priest, between 1669 and 1672,-over two hundred years ago. He found his way from Canada to the falls of St. Mary in the year 1666, and he established there a mission among the Indians. Two years afterwards he was joined by the celebrated Father Marquette and Father Dublou. In the course of the next three years they made a circuit of Lake Michigan, and discovered the bays and river, and gave them the name "Miami." The travelers ascended the Miami far enough to ascertain the course and size.

It is not possible in the few remarks I have to make, or in the time I can occupy on an occasion like this, to more than briefly refer to the more important incidents connected with the history of the settlement of Berrien county.

In the year 1673 Father Marquette and M. Jolliet left Green Bay with a small party of men in canoes, and ascended the Fox river to the portage. They then carried their canoes across the portage to the Wisconsin river, then floated down the great river to the Arkansas river. On their return they ascended the Illinois river to its source.

It is not absolutely certain, but highly probable, judging from subsequent events, that Marquette and his party ascended the Kankakee river and discovered the portage between the waters of the Kankakee and St. Joseph rivers, a distance of only two or three miles. If they did discover this passage then they must have ascended the St. Joseph to the lake.

In the year 1679 the renowned traveler in the new world, Robert de