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| Grant Township Hall 21 Mile Road & 150th Avenue Big Rapids, MI. 49307 (No offices located there) 1-231-796-9287 website |
| Multi Mag's Grant Township website |
HISTORY OF GRANT TOWNSHIPTaken from the 1880 Mecosta County Portrait & Biographical Album, Chapman Bros., ChicagoThis is slightly smaller than any other township in the county. It comprises all of township sixteen north, range nine west, Congressional survey, except section six and parts of section five and seven, which, being cut off by the Muskegon River, are, for the sake of convenience, attached to Green Township. It is bounded on the north by Osceola County, on the east by chippewa Township, on the south by Colfax Township, and on the west by Green Township. It is watered in the northern part by the Muskegon River and its tributaries, Pogie Creek and Blodgett Creek, and in the southern part by Pickerel Lake River and Ryan Creek. The Township contains several small lakes, drained by these streams, of which the most important are Blodgett Lake, Mud Lake, Pickerel Lake, Young Lake and Little Young Lake. These lakes and streams abound in fish, and no better field for the sportsman exists than Grant township. It has no railroad within its borders and yet much of its territory has been cleared and settled. The township was given a civil organization in 1865, and the first election was held in October of that year. The first white settler was Sylvanus Ford, a single man, who located on section 20 in 1863. The first family to settle in Grant was that of Charles L. Tuttle, who located on section 18, also in 1863. The first birth was that of Irving Tuttle, son of Charles L. and Mary C. Tuttle, which occurred July 4, 1865. The first death was that of Uryal Aldrich, in 1865. The first marriage was that of Uryal Aldrich and Mary Donley, in 1863. The first frame building was a dwelling erected by Sylvanus Ford, in 1871. The first school-house was a log building erected on section 18, in 1868. The first school was taught by Lydia Marsh, in the same year. By the census of 1870, the population was 144; in 1874 it was 179, and in 1880 it was 307. In 1878, Grant Township has 1,231 acres of improved land; in 1881 it had 1,324. Its equalized valuation in 1866 was $44,797; its present valuation is $240,107. Its total vote in November, 1882, was 71. The first officers of the township were: Supervisor, Charles L. Tuttle; Clerk, Abram Van Alstine; Treasurer, Allen Moore; School Inspectors, Peter Long, and S.C. Hemphill; Highway Commissioners. Hugh McCune, R. Whalen, and H.M. Wilder; Justices of the Peace, Sylvanus Ford, Hugh McCune, S.C. Hemphill and R. Whalen; Constables, William White and Joseph Morgan. |
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