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In the spring of 1833, Evert Woodruff entered
160 acres on section 34, and took up his residence upon it, with his
family, on the last day of May, of that year. To Mr. Woodruff the
township is largely a debtor for the enterprise he manifested in the
erection of mills, which aided greatly in its development. In the fall
of the same year of his arrival he built a saw-mill, and a grist-mill
was erected the year following, being supplied with water-power from a
stream on which it was built, known generally as Woodruff's Creek. It
was at that time the most northerly mill in the county, all the other
mills being in the southerly range of towns. Evert Woodruff bore a
reputation far and wide for sound business principles, probity, and
honesty. His dealing with his customers was modeled after the good old
golden rule, and no charge was ever made that too much toll was
exacted at the Woodruff mills. His son, Egbert Woodruff, was the first
child born in the township, and soon after, Richard McConnell was born
in the neighborhood, a very early birth, and possibly the second.
Mr. Woodruff's miller, Mr. Scollard, was a
man whose eccentricities were only equaled by the fidelity with which
he served his employer. He was a man of muscular frame, and the
weighty bags of grain were lifted and tossed as easily by him as
though his employment were a mere diversion. Combined with a certain
brusqueness of manner was an earnest desire to satisfy all customers,
and to receive a snubbing from the miller rendered it by no means
certain that the grist would meet a similar indifferent handling. Mr.
Woodruff and his miller are both remembered by the survivors of those
early days for many acts of kindness in the neighborhood, to whose
comfort they were large contributors. On one occasion a settler
appeared at the house of Mr. Scollard with an urgent request that he
should depart from his inflexible rule to grind no grists on Sunday.
He was told at once that the Sabbath was a day of rest, and that both
mill and miller were entitled to the respite from labor which the
fourth commandment enjoined upon them. The man explained that he had
started the previous Friday from home, a distance of many miles,
hoping to return on Saturday, and on the way he had met with an
accident which had rendered haste impossible; at home were his wife and children
entirely destitute, and depending upon the flour which he should bring
them for food. The heart of the miller relented, the grist was ground,
and the man went on his way rejoicing.
The first marriage-service was performed by
Justice Peavey. This event occurred in 1834, and the happy couple were
named respectively Mr. Joseph L. Briggs and Hester Fisher, the
marriage taking place at the house of the justice.
Fred W. Goodenoe entered land on section 2 in
1833, and added to it in 1836. He made rapid progress in the
improvement of his possessions. Soon after his arrival he cleared 25
acres, and when his nearest neighbor came, in 1835, had already
erected a house and barn and dug a well.
None of the early pioneers were better known
or more distinctly remembered than Robert Bigham, or "Uncle
Robert," as he was more frequently called. He was born near
Belfast, Ireland in 1789, emigrated in 1810, came to this township in
1834, and for years kept a house of entertainment about one mile north
of the village.
Many of his surviving neighbors recall the
quaint old sign "Call and C," which was planted some
distance beyond his house to attract the eye of the traveler in search
of food and shelter. This old sign was long a landmark, and those who
responded to its invitation to "Call and C" Uncle Robert
always found a warm welcome. His bearing was cordial alike to rich and
poor. He possessed all the qualities that make the excellent landlord,
and, together with the good cheer which his wife provided with a
liberal hand, his unfailing humor was always a source of diversion to
his guests, and his tavern a resort for some of the most prominent
characters in the State. Mr. Bigham purchased a tract of land of the
late Governor Kinsley S. Bingham, but by mistake settled upon land
adjoining, to which John Cushing afterwards laid claim and obtained,
Bigham retiring to the tract of 147 acres, which he afterwards
occupied. Later still he purchased the land on which the tavern was
located, and at the time of his death, which occurred Sept. 30, 1876,
was living in the village of Brighton, having been the proprietor of
the present Brighton House.
Aaron H. Kelly, lately deceased, entered 63
acres on section 6, and 208 acres on section 7, in 1833. He built a
substantial house and a sawmill, and made many improvements on the
land he owned.
