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Another early settler was Lewis B. Fonda, who came
from Plattsburg, N.Y., in October, 1832, and entered the west half of the
southwest quarter of section 32, and still occupies this ground with the
additions he has made to it. He arrived first at Detroit in the old steamer
"Superior," and from there walked to Ann Arbor, where he remained five years. At
the expiration of that time he removed to his land, having in 1834 erected upon
it a frame house, said to have been the first in the county, which was at the
time regarded as a dwelling of considerable pretension. The timber with which it
was built was drawn from Ann Arbor, a distance of eighteen miles, with ox-teams.
At the time that Mr. Fonda entered his land, the only near neighbor he had was a
man named Cornish, who had preceded him and entered 160 acres across the lake in
the township of Green Oak, which was subsequently owned by George W. Walker.
The government road had previously been surveyed, and caused much excitement
among lookers for land, who discovered in the forests lying adjacent to the road
a fine opportunity for speculation. Mr. Fonda on his arrival enjoyed the
hospitality of Mr. Stephen Lee, who had previously located in Green Oak.
The country was then almost entirely unbroken, and numerous Indian wigwams
dotted the banks of the lake now known as Fonda's Lake. In 1833 a man was placed
upon the farm to split rails, and the house having been built the following
year, the family of Mr. Fonda, on their arrival in 1835, found the place in
something like a habitable condition, though it was not until two years later
that they made it a permanent home, meanwhile residing in Ann Arbor.
Ezra Macomber, a native of Massachusetts, settled in Pleasant Valley
in 1834, having entered land in the vicinity of that occupied by Richard
Marsh. He is now residing in Tuscola County.
E. G. Durfee came from Orleans Co., N.Y., to Washtenaw Co., Mich.,
in 1831, and removed in 1835 to the township of Brighton, where his father had
leased a farm on section 34. In the year 1849 be purchased a farm on sections 10
and 20, and has also a blacksmith-shop, to which he devotes a portion of his
time.
Cyrenus Morgan, one of the active spirits of the township, was from
Jefferson Co., N.Y., from whence he came to Brighton in September, 1837, He
bought 104 acres on section 28, and later disposed of it and purchased the farm
he at present occupies, embracing 150 acres. Mr. Morgan has been deputy-marshal
and auctioneer, which positions have given him an extended acquaintance
throughout the county. In the early days of his settlement here he was a
peddler, and traded quite extensively with the Indians in Shiawassee County.
