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In the year 1833,
Melzer Bird,
a nephew of Gardner Bird, was induced, by the emigration of his uncle to
Michigan and the advantages the State offered to young men of energy, to place
his name upon the roll of pioneers. He arrived from Ontario County, N.Y., in
1833, and entered 120 acres on section 14. In May of the following year he
started in a wagon drawn by oxen and laden' with his wife and two children, and
such household goods as he could bring, and wended his way to the tract of land
which was henceforth to become to them a home. They came by way of Detroit and
were exceptional in the fact that they experienced very little difficulty in
reaching their destination. They followed the Indian trail, which was an
unerring guide, and on their arrival found a welcome to the home of
Gardner Bird
until Melzer could erect a, shanty for himself. The same summer he cleared 10
acres and sowed it with wheat, fencing three sides of, the lot, the fourth side
joining his uncle's land, which rendered fencing unnecessary. He was rewarded by
a harvest of 200 bushels, which he regarded as a very satisfactory return for
his industry, and Mr. Bird, in the winter, recalled with gratitude the progress
he had made during his first season as a pioneer. Indeed, he and his family seem
to have been fortunate in escaping many of those deprivations and annoyances
which are incident to early emigration, and in a very pleasant interview with
this venerable gentleman, the writer was unable to recall to his mind any
memories of early days which did not afford a pleasing retrospect.
A post-office was established very early in the neighborhood, which was
known as the Pleasant Valley office, and for years Elijah Marsh held the
position of postmaster. His successor was Peter Delamater, who, not
wishing to qualify, transferred the emoluments of the office, together with its
honors, to
Melzer Bird, who held it for six years and distributed the not very
weighty mail which arrived weekly from Brighton, or Ore Creek, as it was then
designated.
The first residents of the township early turned their attention to the
means of education for their children, and erected, in, 1834, on government
land, on section 11, a small log school-house, in which the little ones of the
neighborhood were congregated under the supervision of Miss Sarah Huntley,
of Hartland. The teacher enjoyed in turn the hospitality of all her patrons, and
was certainly the earliest instructor in the township, as the building in which
she taught was unquestionably the first school-house in the township, The
little community were saddened by a death which occurred June 13, 1835, at the
house of Mr. Robert Edgar. A young man, named Abram L. Andrews,
twenty-seven years of age, had been induced, by the hope of improved health,
from the active exercise that the clearing of a new country necessitated, to
enter 80 acres of land on section 23. He lived but three weeks in his new home,
and there being at the time no clergyman to perform the funeral rites, Mr. Edgar
officiated on the occasion and delivered an address.
Melzer Bird
took from his barn the boards with which to make the coffin. This was the
first death which occurred in the township. One of the earliest settlers
mentions another early death, that of Abel Whalen, a teacher, which
occurred in a house on the hill north of the Woodruff mill.
Benjamin Blain emigrated to the State of Michigan from Orleans Co.,
N.Y., in 1833. Having a brother in Green Oak, he repaired to his house, on the
banks of Silver Lake, and remained with him a brief time, meanwhile locating 160
acres of land on sections 5 and 6, in the township of Brighton. For a year and a
half he was employed by Kinsley S. Bingham and Robert Warden, but
being desirous to establish a home for himself, he began, in October, 1834, the
erection of a log house on his land. This house, though simple in design,
required as much time and labor in the construction as many more elegant
habitations of the present day. Very few tools were procurable with which to
assist the work, but Mr. Blain made stakes for the roof and cut sticks for the
chimney and in the ensuing spring secured boards enough at Woodruff's saw-mill
with which to lay two floors, a ladder serving as staircase from the lower to
the upper story. Four acres of the land were cleared and planted with potatoes.
The first winter his quarters were shared with
Seth Bidwell and
Leonard Barnham, the latter gentleman afterwards becoming sexton of All
Saints' Church, of New York City.
Upon the occasion of Mr. Blain's first visit to the place not a tree had
been felled from the forest standing on the site of the future village of
Brighton. The Indian trail followed the course of the present Grand River
Street, turning to the left near the house now occupied by George Cushing,
crossing the creek just above the residence of John A. Meyer, and
returning in a line nearly parallel with the street. Mr. Blain was skillful in
the use of the rifle, and found in the forests of Livingston County an ample
range for the gratification of his favorite pastime. The first year of his
residence, eighty deer were among the trophies of his skill. For six years he
continued the isolated life of the hunter, varied occasionally by long
pilgrimages in search of land. He seemed a veritable Leather-Stocking, a kindly,
silent soul, delighting in hunting, and loving solitude. His present home is far
from the traveled thoroughfare, and accessible only through a succession of
fields and gates. On the west bank of a beautiful lake is located his quiet
residence, where, with an oldtime hospitality, he welcomes his friends and
enjoys with them the recollection of his early years.
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