THE SEBEWA RECOLLECTOR (IONIA COUNTY, MI) Bulletin of the Sebewa Center Association;
AUGUST 1995, Volume 31, Number 1. Submitted with written permission of Editor Grayden D. SLOWINS:

SURNAMES:

GARLOCK, POWELL, BROWN, SAYER, DILLEY, GUERNSEY, PEACOCK, STAMBAUGH, BAUGHMAN, INGALL, BRAKE, SLOWINS, KLAHN, WENGER, McCARTNEY, GILSON, KING, RICKEY, CORNELL, PIERCE, HARMON, WELD, PACKARD, SHOWERMAN

(PHOTO ON FRONT PAGE: KEWEENAW COUNTY COURT HOUSE – EAGLE RIVER)
Our Court House photo this month is of the KEWEENAW County Court House in Eagle River. It was built in 1866, with the jail next door, and neither has changed much in 129 years. At that time the Cliff Mine had just opened and Eagle River was a boom town, with a huge new ore dock, crushing mill, warehouses, boarding houses, saloons, and the majestic Phoenix Hotel.

RECENT DEATHS:

MERTON R. (MIKE) GARLOCK, 74, born June 2, 1920, husband of Elaine, father of Bruce, Gordon & Donald GARLOCK, Kay BARCROFT & Karen MORSE, brother of Doris & Harlan, son of Ira & Ruth POWELL GARLOCK. He farmed at Carson City, was a beloved teacher at Lakewood, past president of the Lake Odessa Library Board, member of Grand Valley Rock & Mineral Society, a dedicated founding member of Lake Odessa Historical Society and a long-time member of Sebewa Center Association. His mother was a daughter of Horace POWELL, brother of Stanley’s father, Herbert, and son of Joseph PRIESTLEY POWELL, who settled on POWELL Hwy., Ronald Township, in 1845. Joseph turned down a swampy farm that became the “Loop” in Chicago, in order to purchase a well-drained quarter-section in Ronald Township, and we are all the richer for it.

MINNIE A. BROWN, 95, born August 17, 1899, widow of A. BURTON BROWN, mother of Walter, Wayne, Wendell & Weldon BROWN & Betty DUFFEY, sister of Merle & Layton SAYER, daughter of John & Sarah DILLEY SAYER. John SAYER was the son of John & Christena K. SAYER. Sarah DILLEY SAYER was the daughter of Thomas & Eliza DILLEY, who settled in Sec. 35 Sebewa, on Eaton Hwy. before 1875. The SAYERS settled across the road in Sunfield & Roxand Townships.

IVAH A. GUERNSEY, 94, born November 30, 1900, widow of Ambrose GUERNSEY, mother of Harlan, Wilson, Eugene, Lewis & Martin GUERNSEY, and Loretta BALYEAT, sister of Homer, Robert, Theodore, Wayne & Harlan PEACOCK, Jr., Catherine SMITH & two other sisters, daughter of Harlan & Alice HITCHCOCK PEACOCK, daughter of Georgia & Thomas JEFFERSON HITCHCOCK, who settled on 20 acres at the north end of CASSEL Rd. Sec. 10 Sebewa, now owned by Hazel CATT RICHARDSON, right after the Civil War. Harlan PEACOCK was a son of Benjamin PEACOCK, who settled on what is now the Duane & June PINKSTON farm on KNOLL Rd. Sec. 5 Sebewa. Harlan PEACOCK ran the West Sebewa General Store. Her great grandparents, John Joy PEACOCK & Margaret Caroline DOWNING PEACOCK, brought their young family by covered wagon in 1865 to a log cabin in Sec. 6 Sebewa on Knoll Rd. just off State Rd.

RONALD M. STAMBAUGH, 81, born April 23, 1914, husband of Ruth, father of Dale STAMBAUGH & Mary HETCHLER, brother of Kyle & Cale STAMBAUGH, son of Odi BAUGHMAN & Fred STAMBAOUGH, son of Elias & Isabell STAMBAUGH, who settled in SW ¼ Sec. 25 Sebewa before 1891.

MABEL INGALL, 90, born November 11, 1904, widow of Neil INGALL, mother of Barbara JOHNSON & Richard INGALL. Neil was son of Melvin INGALL, son of William & Sarah INGALLS, who settled in Sec. 30 Sebewa on TUPPER Lake Rd. prior to 1875.

THINGS I REMEMBER (continued) by Crystal Lovina BRAKE SLOWINS 1904-1984:

Aunt Inez KLAHN’S girls, Myrtle and Ruth, often came to play with Mable and me, and we went to their house too. When I was 4 1/2, Ruth was old enough to start school and I wanted to go too, so Mother let me. I didn’t like it after all. Back then nothing was done to interest the little folks. That winter we children all had the whooping cough, so they kept me home after that and I actually started school the next year, when Aunt Mary WENGER was the teacher and lived with us. She was very good with little folks and kept them interested.

So my first teacher was Grace WEBER, but I only went a short time that year. Then came Aunt Mary WENGER, Grace SULLIVAN, Nellie CASTLE (married at Christmas – then her name was VALENTINE), Emma TASKER, Eunice CAIRNS, Aunt Flossie WENGER for two years, and Mabel BOWLAS. I usually liked school and my teachers, but the two I liked the least were Grace SULLIVAN and Emma TASKER. Strange how children will notice grownups’ attitudes. I don’t believe Johnnie was going to school yet then, but he went one day and it was cold and mother put a little overcoat on him that had been cousin Oliver’s. It was clean and good, but of course old fashioned, and I remember Miss SULLIVAN laughed at it and I didn’t like that. Then we girls often wore aprons to school over our dresses. One day I wore one that was patched. It was just a little patch and Mable had done it well, but Miss TASKER said “Who patched your apron?” Strange that a pupil would think less of the teachers for that, and I hope I never gave any of my pupils reason to dislike me by criticizing their clothes.

There wasn’t much playground at the school when I first started, just about the width of the school house on each side. Then Jack COOL gave land as far as the corner on the south. When no longer used for school, it and the rest was to go back to his heirs, which it did after he, his wife, and even daughter Nadia were gone, and just before Elwood died. We had a variety of games that we played at school: Pom Pom Pull Away, Rover Red Rover, Statue, Baseball, Anti Over, London Bridge, and In and Out the Window. Then in winter, if Friend’s Pond was frozen over, we went there to play at noon. Or if sliding was good, we went to the hill which started up by the “40” and we rode down to the four corners north of there. One or two years the older boys had a toboggan and all of us could pile on that. Some tied sleds behind. Of course we had to walk half a mile to walk to that hill, then after we slid down we had to walk half a mile back up and another half mile back to school after the first bell rang. We wouldn’t get very many rides in a noon hour, even tho we ate our dinners at recess so as to have more time.

My going to school there was an era of several “firsts”. One was the use of individual folding cups for drinking – although when I taught school later none of the schools I taught had yet started individual cups and towels and I started them on that. Colgate sent samples of toothpaste and we were introduced to that. Before that we used a little salt or baking soda. Then when I was in the 3rd or 4th grad, they began doing away with slates. Before that older children had large double slates & we smaller children had single sided slates. We used tablets some too. The slates were noisy and dusty, as mostly we used a “slate rag” to clean them – some used their sleeve. Some parents thought it too expensive to buy pencil and paper for all use.

In the Fall of 1909, when I was five, Uncle Fred’s decided to go to California. Their son Oliver had died in April at age 15 and Uncle Fred was despondent. My father wanted a larger farm, so he rented Uncle Fred’s for three years and sold the forty acres to Mr. & Mrs. Wm. DRAPER – relatives of the COONS. My folks did most of their trading at Freeport at that time, and as there was no High School at Clarksville yet then, Elwood went to Freeport, as did Glen SLATER and Con SULLIVAN from our neighborhood and Cloyd BARCROFT from near Freeport. Elwood, Glen & Cloyd were the only ones in their graduating class. Cloyd was our distant cousin on the WENGER side.

My folks bought a cream separator while living on the “40”. It was a U.S. and had a rectangular pan. Before that they had a milk cupboard (milksafe). It had screens in the doors and milk was set in there in earthen crocks. When the cream came to the top, it was skimmed off with a skimmer made specially for that. I remember going to the Creamery at Freeport with my father. The neighbors took turns hauling the cream. We were equal distance from Clarksville and Freeport – five miles. Mrs. COOL later said I was the one she most often saw going to town or elsewhere with my father. I expect the reason for that was that Mable and Elwood would be in school and John was too young.

Uncle Fred’s old house stood just south of their new ivory brick one. We children used much of it for a playhouse, and thought we were lucky to each have a room. Johnnie and I spent much of our time catching fish and frogs from the stream that ran across the farm. They were small, but Mable cleaned and cooked them. Whenever the roadside grass was long enough, we children watched the cows while they pastured there. All children in the neighborhood did the same. Sometimes we got to playing with our dolls and things and the cows got all mixed together.

We attended the church there at the corners regularly, from the time we moved there from Pinhook. Never was there a service that we didn’t attend, even tho there might be two or three on some Sundays, unless we were ill. Mr. EGGERMAN and family lived east of the church and he was the janitor. When they sold their farm to Simon & Eva SEARS, who had lived near Lake Odessa, the congregation voted to have my father as janitor. When they got a new minister, he told the people a janitor was hired not elected. But my father continued as janitor, partly because we were the only family close to the church who attended there. My father also held various offices in the church, including Church School Superintendent, Adult Class Leader, etc. Mother taught the young women’s S.S. class and Aunt Inez the young men’s S.S. Class when she was here. I began teaching the Primary Class at age 17 and taught until I married and moved away.

The United Brethren Annual Conference was held at various places before they started holding it at the Sebewa Campgrounds. Once they held it on Uncle Fred’s field while we lived there. Neighbors offered room & board to those who attended. The church men hurried to set up the big tent and paint the benches green. One dignitary stuck fast and when he was pulled loose, his pants were green. I guess the grownups didn’t think that as funny as the kids did.

I don’t think we had a telephone until we lived on Uncle Fred’s farm. They were not real common yet then. I know Grandma BRAKE was afraid to talk on one. Ours was out of Clarksville. Once a day there would be a long ring and everyone went to listen as “Central” would give the weather forecast and the time of day – both “Sun Time” and “Standard Time”, of which there was a half-hour difference. Farmers all went by sun time and trains were on standard time. If there was a long ring any other time, it was some emergency, usually a fire. Central would announce where it was and anyone near would go to help.

There were no cars in the neighborhood until we lived on Uncle Fred’s, when Jack COOL, Nadia’s father, bought a Ford. That is the first car I remember riding in. But Mother said that when we were still living on Grandma BRAKE’S farm, Dan GOOD and wife came to visit and gave us a ride in their Olds. Dan and Mother were first cousins. He was a founding partner and owned half interest in the Woolworth Stores. He had clerked for John Seibert at Caledonia, and then they went partners as SEIBERT, GOOD & Co. in Ft. Wayne, IN, then Grand Rapids, MI, then Chicago, IL, then everywhere as Woolworth’s. When his share of Woolworth’s revenues amounted to a million dollars, Dan GOOD retired, declaring he had enough.

Sometime after we left the “40”, Joe and Emma COON moved from their little house on the north forty of the father’s eighty and lived with his parents, Grandpa and Grandma COON. Some years later, Joe COON bought a parrot named Ida, and an Edison phonograph – one like you see in the ads, with a dog beside the horn. It had cylinder records. Joe and Emma weren’t much on neighboring, but they seemed to like my folks and invited us up there many evenings, even when we lived on the SLATER farm, to listen to the phonograph and see the parrot show off. One record, “The Preacher and the Bear”, was all about a bear chasing a preacher up a tree. We children would listen to that as often as he’d play it. Also he had a recording of his father reading the 23rd Psalm – which we thought was really something, to hear “Grandpa COON” on a record. Joe COON used to hire my father to cut his grain with the binder. Dad always thought Joe was afraid to ride the binder on those side hills, because he had a binder setting right in the shed. Years later my brother John bought the Benedict farm and later added the COON forty. Joe & Emma COON had a foster son named Ray FERRY, who served in Germany during WWI, came home and married their daughter. They lived at Plainwell and just closed up the farmhouse after her parents died. So John got it with machinery, furniture, clothing, dishes, and even canned food. He sold it to Dick CLINE.

When we lived on the “40”, there was a store about a mile to the north owned by ABBOTTS, as I mentioned. These country stores were common throughout the country. My folks, as well as many others, bought round crackers by the barrel there. Neighbors would go together and buy a bunch of bananas. In those days the dining room table was never completely cleared. The sugar bowl, salt & pepper shakers, spoon holder, and cracker bowl were left on all the time. Mother’s cracker bowl was silver, had a handle and a cover, and the word “Crackers” on the side. I often wonder what ever became of that bowl. By the time we lived on the SLATER place that custom began to change.

Our neighbors west of us on the north side of the road at Uncle Fred’s were Park and Alice OSBORN. She was Jack COOL’S sister. The next farm west belonged to William & Lewis COOL. Mrs. OSBORNE had a married daughter and grandson. She gave me the daughter’s doll and doll bed. Her husband was a carpenter and had made the bed. It must be around 100 years old now. Mr. OSBORNE gave Johnnie a set of blocks he had made for his grandson and a long stick with a groove in it and a box of marbles. We spent hours playing with that. Mrs. OSBORNE often took Mable to town with her with the horse and buggy. She would buy candy – either creams or gum drops. If there were green pieces, she would throw them away – saying they were poison – probably colored with Paris Green. Mable hated to see them thrown away and would have been willing to take a chance on them.

Sime and Ev SEARS had no children, so they had Johnnie and I at their house a great deal. Took us to town with them, etc. She told us stories at bedtime – her version of Jack and the Beanstalk is the only one I ever heard like it. She’d say “My hitchit, my hatchet, my little red jacket, and up I go”, and told it in quite a different way. The folks sometimes invited them to have Christmas with us.

When we went anyplace in summer, we went with the double buggy if all the family were going. The boys sat in front with Dad and we girls in back with Mother. We also had a single buggy with a top and one without a top. In winter we used a cutter or a sleigh. While we lived on Uncle Fred’s farm, the folks usually made a trip to Lowell in the Fall to buy clothing and supplies. They put the horses in a livery stable and bought dinner at a restaurant, which was quite an event.

My father was a great lover of horses. He never kept any very long that didn’t look good. He was known for his nice horses and he broke colts to the harness – I don’t remember that he did it for others – just his own. One time he had one hitched up to an older horse and was driving down the road. Mother was watching and suddenly said “Oh, they are running away”, and was really frightened for Dad. He guided them into the fence, where they had to stop. Uncle Fred’s ha a horse named Pet, who was afraid of cars. Once she started to run away when Arletta, their oldest daughter, was driving. Arlette was equal to any emergency and got her calmed down.

Uncle Fred had left his tools and livestock with the folks for the three years, until he decided whether he wanted to stay in California. My father did not wish to buy that farm. It was not well drained and was also more land than he wanted. Instead he bought the Peter SLATER farm half a mile east of the Pleasant Valley corners. Peter’s son Ed had been living there. He and his wife separated at that time. She moved with her two sons, Glen and Merton, to a farm north of the corners across from Mr. & Mrs. Jack COOL. John and Nellie Sullivan and children had been living there. They rented Uncle Fred’s farm. We all moved the same day. Must have been a bit confusing. This was in the Fall of 1912. (To be continued)

GRACE GILSON CELEBRATES ONE HUNDRED YEARS (Reprinted from BONANZA BUGLE)(Story by John WAITE):

Just one hundred years ago, Grace May McCARTNEY was born on May 22, 1895. She was born in the McCARTNEY family home in Lake Odessa, Michigan, to William H. and May E. (CORNELL) McCARTNEY.

Grace’s father, William H. McCARTNEY, was born in 1863, in Seneca County, Ohio, the son of Charles and Julia (KING) McCARTNEY. Grace’s mother, May E. CORNELL, was born in 1870, in Ionia County, Michigan, the daughter of Alanson and Alice (RICKEY) CORNELL. William H. and May E. were married in 1891, in Lake Odessa. Mr. McCARTNEY had previously settled in Lake Odessa in 1889. He and his brother, Hale, had opened McCARTNEY Brothers General Store. Over the years Mr. McCARTNEY became a prominent citizen of Lake Odessa being elected Village Treasurer in 1893, Village President in 1898, a director of the Lake Odessa Milk Condensing Company and Vice President of the Lake Odessa State Savings Bank for forty-four years. He operated McCARTNEY’S General Store until his death in 1933. Mrs. McCARTNEY also died in 1933.

At her birth, Grace was not given a name. She was called “Baby” for the first three years of her life. At that time her parents allowed her to choose her own name….which she chose “Grace”. The birth certificate not only recorded her name as “Baby” but listed her as a boy. This was not corrected until many years later.

Grace was one of four children born to William H. and May E. McCARTNEY. Her two brothers and one sister were: William C. McCARTNEY, born May 26, 1892; Alice J. McCARTNEY, born May 29, 1893; and Arthur H. McCARTNEY, born May 4, 1898.

Grace grew up in Lake Odessa as the village itself was “growing”. The place was a booming town and she witnessed its expansion at the turn of the century. Grace tells of the “Four Big Stores” that were in Lake Odessa in those early days. They were: The TEW Store, the MINER Store, the TOLLES Store, and of course, McCARTNEY Brothers General Store.

In 1895, the McCARTNEYS purchased two lots on the northwest corner of Fourth Avenue and Second Street. Here they built a two story brick building which still stands on that corner. The main floor was occupied by the McCARTNEY Store while the second floor housed the McCARTNEY Opera House. The opera House was the scene of many productions and a center of social life for Lake Odessa.

The McCARTNEY Store was divided into two sections. The north section sold groceries and related items, and men’s wear, shoes, boots, rubbers, work clothing, shirts, underwear, etc. As it was purchased, coffee was ground in a big manually cranked coffee grinder. Chewing tobacco was sold from wooden pails. Pipes, pipe tobacco and cigars were sold but no cigarettes. Three kinds of cane sugar, light brown, dark brown, and white, were kept and sold from large wooden barrels with wooden lids. The barrels were mounted in such a way that they would swing out from under the counter for easier handling. Two big wheels of cheese were in the cheese case, one a mild Colby, the other an aged sharp cheese, which was cut from the wheels as sold.
The store took in produce from farmer’s wives, especially eggs and butter. In the spring they bought maple syrup and maple sugar, shipping most of it to customers in Oregon, Washington and California. The south section of the store sold women’s and children’s goods, including all kinds of yard goods, dress materials, patterns, hosiery, shoes, and just about everything needed in a small town and farming community when women made most of their dresses and the children’s clothing.

As Grace grew up she enjoyed the many activities of a child. She remembers playing in the creek that used to run through Lake Odessa and right through Main Street. In the winter the children would damn up the creek and make a skating pond. At her home on Sixth Avenue, horses, cows and other farm animals were kept as well as a garden and other features of an early 1900s home.

As she reminisces, Grace recalls that she has witnessed the change in transportation from horses, buggies and wagons, to the automobile to the airplane and then space travel. She tells of the days before electricity. Doctor Hines was a dentist in Lake Odessa, coming here in 1900. She can remember him and his drill. It was operated by a foot pump so if he pumped fast the drill ran fast but as he tired the drill slowed down as he worked on teeth, filling cavities and other dental work. From the days of horse and buggies and no electricity to one hundred years later—the computer age and almost the 21st Century….Grace has witnessed great change.

As a student of the Lake Odessa School System she graduated in 1913. Grace was one of fifteen class members and remains the oldest living graduate from Lake Odessa High School. 1995 would mark eighty-two years since her graduation. The class motto of 1913 was “Climb-through the Rocks Be Rugged.”

Grace then went on to further her education at McLICHLEM-DAVENPORT College in Grand Rapids. She graduated from that institution in 1915 with a degree in office management.

As Grace finished college and returned to Lake Odessa she soon became involved in many areas. On April 23, 1915, she became a member of Central Methodist Episcopal Church. After this she was employed as a stenographer and teller at the Lake Odessa State Savings Bank. She remained here until the banks closed in the financial crisis in 1933. Union Bank was organized in July of 1934, at which time Grace was offered the position of assistant cashier. She remained in this position for thirteen years. In 1957 she was elected as a director of Union Bank, making her the first and only woman to sit on the Board of Directors. Grace was also the first woman to be elected to a village position. She was elected as Lake Odessa Village Treasurer in 1927-28 and the first woman Village Council Member.

On November 4, 1943, Grace McCARTNEY was married to Leon T. GILSON. Mr. GILSON was a widower having been previously married to Pearl DEEMER in 1912. Two sons were born to Leon and Pearl GILSON: Thomas GILSON, born in 1913; and Mark GILSON, born in 1918. Thomas GILSON died in 1970 and Mark GILSON is currently living in South Carolina.

Leon T. GILSON had also grown up in Lake Odessa, the son of William and Ida (BISHOP) GILSON. He was born on November 10, 1887. The GILSON family had a great interest in music. His father, uncle, brother and cousin were all involved in local bands. Leon also followed in this musical tradition as he played the cornet. Early in life Leon had been a salesman for Wilson ELLIOT and Company Clothing Store, starting there in 1909. In 1914 he went into business with Carl CAMPBELL forming CAMPBELL and GILSON Clothing Store. Later Morley HOUGH became a partner with Mr. GILSON to form GILSON and HOUGH Clothing Store. Mr. GILSON then sold his part of the business to Mr. HOUGH. Leon GILSON was Lake Odessa’s Village Clerk in 1918-19 and Village Treasurer in 1920. He was Postmaster in Lake Odessa from 1933 to 1950.

The marriage of Grace McCARTNEY and Leon GILSON took place at the Methodist Parsonage. They were accompanied by Morley and Lottie HOUGH as their witnesses to the ceremony. Grace and Leon were to enjoy thirty-four years together as husband and wife.

From 1946 until 1970 Grace and Leon spent their winters in Florida. A total of thirty-three winters were enjoyed before Mr. GILSON’S death in Hollywood, Florida on March 4, 1977. Following his death, Grace lived with her sister-in-law, Vera McCARTNEY, here in Lake Odessa. After this Grace spent eight winters, with good friend, Ethelyn CHASE, in Bradenton, Florida. In 1983, Grace moved to Emerson Manor being one of the first residents. In 1993, she moved to Lake Manor where she presently resides. Grace has been involved in many areas throughout her life and her many interests have kept her a part of our community. She remains in good health and enjoys her many friends. A celebration was held on May 21, 1995, to honor Grace’s one hundredth birthday. Many family members and friends joined together to wish her a happy day and continued blessings. HAPPY ONE HUNDRED GRACE GILSON! (Reprinted from BONANZA BUGLE)(Story by John Waite)

AMERICAN GINSENG; from a handwritten manuscript written by Dale S. Pierce, ginseng grower in Portland Michigan from about 1900 to 1928. Dale Pierce is the father of Geraldine TORP-SMITH who found the manuscript among her father’s papers. Rts 1/23/1995.

Ginseng is produced artificially in nearly all the states where it has grown wild. It is susceptible to several fugus diseases, some of which are fatal. These conditions make the culture of the plant somewhat difficult, in fact only one grower out of 6 is successful.
A ginseng seed requires 18 months time to germinate and then from 7 to 10 years to grow a mature crop of roots. After a crop of roots is harvested they are dried. This requires from 4 to 6 weeks time.

Owing to the fact that wild ginseng is so near extinction that growing it artificially will no doubt be a permanent industry.
The Chinese are so discriminating in essential features that it is going to require very much patience and painstaking on the part of the growers.

The quality of the root is determined by the color, character and texture. This can be acquired only by giving the roots plenty of time to mature.

The principal ginseng market in America is New York City. Bought largely by fur buyers and sold to the Chinese exporter who ships the roots to the Celestial Kingdom. Ginseng has been used by the Chinese for about 6000 years and no doubt always will be. They know its value as a medicine. They also use it in religious rites and ceremonies.

GOLDEN SEAL. Golden Seal, Hydrastis Canadensis, is also a valuable medicinal plant which is largely grown by ginseng growers as a side line. This herb is used mostly in America and Europe and is acknowledged by the Medical Fraternity as one of the best medical herbs known. It is used for several purposes. Physicians say that in the last few years no end of uses have been found for hydrastine (produced from golden seal root) and scientists have failed to find anything that will substitute. Growing golden seal will thus also prove to be a permanent industry.

REPORT OF FIRST MEETING OF SEBEWA SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 4. (About 1849?):
To Walter HARMON, a taxable inhabitant of School District No. 4, of the Township of Sebewa. Sir, you will hereby notice that we, Benjamin WELD and Wm. PACKARD, School Inspectors of said Township of Sebewa have formed a school distict in said Township, numbered it, and bounded it as follows to wit:….the first meeting of said district will be held at the school house in said district on the 27th of September, 1847, at four o’clock PM, and you will in pursuance of the laws notify every qualified voter of said district either personally or by leaving a written notice at his place of residence of the time and place of said meeting. Then and there to transact such business as the law requires. Given under our hand this 18th day of September, 1847….A parcel of land 5 rods by 8 rods, or ¼ acre, was leased from Jacob SHOWERMAN for 25 cents per year for 20 years. Jacob SHOWERMAN was also paid ten dollars, being in full for building a school house (of logs). In 1848 they voted to raise five dollsars to repair that schoolhouse. They also voted that one cord of wood be delivered by the first day of December for each scholar that attends school.”