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Brighton, though not the oldest, is by no means the least considerable of the townships of the county of Livingston. Like many other townships it had at first no separate organization, but composed an important part of the township of Green Oak, and it was not until April of 1838 that it was accorded a distinct existence. The first meeting was held at the residence of Daniel Lane, on section 17, William A. Clark, D.D., being chosen moderator, and the first supervisor elected was Richard Lyons; William Noble, Jr., being made township clerk, and Maynard Maltby and Philip S. Hubbell elected justices of the peace.
It seems an established fact that Elijah Marsh was the
first settler in the township of Brighton outside the village limits. He left
Hadley, Mass., in 1832, and purchased from the government, on the 20th of
October of that year, the southwest quarter of section 12. Later he added
40acres on section 1. With Mr. Marsh came Job Cranston, who shared with
him all the privations of his pioneer life, having entered at the same date 80
acres on the same section. These two settlers for a brief period lived alone,
with no neighbors save the migratory Indians, who paid them brief visits, and
furnished them venison and other game for the very scanty returns they were able
to make. Soon, however, their loneliness was cheered by the presence of
Gardner
Bird, who reached the county in February of the following year, and
entered 160 acres on sections 11 and 17. Mr. Bird devoted himself at once to
clearing a tract of land whereon to erect his cabin and sow his grain. Meanwhile
he enjoyed such rude hospitality as was cheerfully accorded him by his
neighbors. After this he returned, and in April brought his family, Mrs. Bird
being the first married lady who took up her residence in the township.
Meanwhile, Messrs. Marsh and Cranston had returned for a visit to their
families, and Mr. and Mrs. Bird were left the sole occupants of the forest of
Brighton from April until the following September.
Mr. Marsh, as soon as he was able, employed two men to split rails with
which to enclose a portion of the land he had purchased, and on his return from
the East made a comfortable home for his wife and children in the shanty he had
occupied. Three children were born after the removal of Mr. and Mrs. Marsh to
Michigan, the first of whom, born April 22, 1834, was among the first in the
township.
Mr. Marsh might be termed a Yankee peddler, and followed this calling soon
after he became a permanent settler in the township, loading his primitive cart
with such marketable wares as were in demand among his patrons, and depending
upon his faithful oxen to carry him from point to point. The nearest
blacksmith-shop was eighteen miles away, and Ann Arbor the nearest market town.
Mr. Marsh died in 1857, and his son, Richard J., now occupies a fine farm
opposite his father's former home.
Mr. Bird remembers the difficulties he encountered in reaching his new
home; and the absolutely unbroken condition of the country. Deer and wolves
roamed the forests, at pleasure, and forty of the former were seen by him on his
way to his new possessions. After the land was sufficiently cleared to admit of
being broken, the plow became a necessity, and he was compelled to travel to
Dexter, twenty-two miles away, to have the irons sharpened and repaired when
necessary. Mr. Bird before coming to Brighton, had resided for a brief season in
Webster, Washtenaw Co. On one occasion, when coming from there to Brighton, he
brought with him a hog and nine pigs, driving them the distance of eighteen
miles. After remaining a few days to split rails, he returned to Webster,
leaving, as he supposed, his recent acquisition of stock behind, but his
surprise was great to find that they had followed him and arrived almost as soon
as himself, much preferring the comforts of civilization in Washtenaw County to
pioneer life in the wilds of Brighton. While Mr. Bird was breaking up his land
the lad he employed to drive the ox-team, was confined to the house by illness,
but the work was not impeded, for Mrs. Bird herself went into the field with the
oxen and assisted to plow four acres. Joseph Bird, their oldest son, born
in Michigan, was among the first children born in the township, the date of his
birth being October, 1834.
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