Village Of Breedsville

In May, 1835 Rev. Jonathan N. Hinckley and Barnard M. Howard, both from Monroe Co., NY, visited the region now known as Columbia Township, then unorganized territory attached to Cass county, and purchased several tracts of land in the immediate vicinity of the present village of Breedsville. Upon the south side of the creek, and east of the present... mill yard, they erected the walls of a log house, and after covering them with a bark roof they returned to their homes in the State of New York. Early in the fall of the same year a party of about 25 persons, all from Monroe Co., NY started out for the purpose of making a settlement on the new purchase. They journeyed via the Erie Canal to Buffalo, thence by Lake Erie to Detroit. In the latter city they bought an ox-team and wagon. Upon their wagon they loaded their household goods and the small children, and then, with the major portion of their number on foot, set out via the Territorial road for Paw Paw. It occupied two days to cut out roads and make their way from the last-mentioned settlement to the cabin awaiting them on the banks of the outlet. Here all arrived safely, however, Oct. 1, 1835, and here began the first settlement of any importance in the northern half of Van Buren county. This party of emigrants was composed of the following named persons: Rev. Jonathan N. Hinckley, William N. Taylor, Silas Breed, his wife and children, Stillman, Phoebe Ann, Hinckley, Joshua, and an adopted daughter named Sarah Taylor, Samuel Watson, his wife and children Leonard, Lyman, Sarah, and a grandson, whose name is unknown, all from the town of Parma, Jonathan N. Howard and his wife, Elizabeth from the town of Sweden; Amos S. Brown, his wife, and childrenElizabeth, Amos S. Jr., Wells G., Minerva, and Jesse R., from the town of Ogden. The unfinished cabin was soon made in a habitable condition. The next house built was for Mr. Browns family, which was followed soon after by the one erected for Mr. Watsons occupancy. These three houses sheltered the colonists during the ...Read More