Geneva History Geneva Township History Geneva, originally a part of Lafayette township, in the division in 1837 was made a part of South Haven township. Again in 1845 it was set off from that township as part of Columbia township. Organization Geneva Township can trace it's origins to January 5, 1854, when by resolution of the board of supervisors of the county, it was detached from Columbia Township and organized as a township by itself under the name of Geneva. The first town meeting thereafter was held on the first Monday of April 1854, at the residence of Nathan Tubbs, at which twenty-two votes were polled and the first officers were chosen. Supervisor ; Nathan Tubbs Clerk; Charles N. Hoag Treasurer; Philip M. Brooks Justices of the Peace; Eri Bennett In the years that have followed since they first came together , Geneva Township has adapted to changes in society and expectation. This ability to grow and change has shown the belief that residents have maintained in their mission of service and the spirit of the community. With ceremonies to celebrate its history , the residents of Geneva Township will remember the vision of many people and the hours and years of commitment that have brought the Township to this point. Fittingly, as they look to the past, they will also be casting an eye to the future and to the many ways in which Geneva Township will continue to reach out in our state. Text in part taken from State Of Michigan , Special Tribute to The Residents of Geneva Township`. PIONEERS OF THE TOWNSHIP      The territory embraced in the present township of Geneva was a wilderness long after settlements had been made in other parts of northern Van Buren county.  Clark Pierce, an emigrant from the Green Mountain state, was the first to locate within the boundaries of the township.  He became a resident of Michigan in 1833 and for considerable time lived at St. Clair.  When Van Buren county, "as organized, in 1837, he came to South Haven, of which the township of Geneva was a part, and purchased a quarter section of land along the Monroe road on section thirty-two.  Upon this land, he built a log cabin and kept "bachelor's hall" for a couple of years, his nearest neighbor being at Breedsville  In 1839 he and his brother, Daniel Pierce, rented a farm in Schoolcraft, county of Kalamazoo, where they remained until 1842, when Clark having become a married man, he, with his wife, babe (now Almon J. Pierce, of South Dakota), and household goods, returned to his "log cabin home", where they passed two years as the sole residents, there being no other settler in the township until 1846.      In the meantime the lands where the present city of South Haven is located, having passed into the possession of a company that proposed to build a mill and make other improvements at that place, Mr. Pierce was engaged to move there, open a boarding house and take charge of the property.  In 1845 he took up his residence there with his family, which at that time consisted of his wife and two sons, the youngest of whom was Irving, the first white child born in the township.  They remained there until June of the next year, when they returned to their Geneva farm.  Irving, the son, still resides on the old homestead.      From 1837 till February, 1846, nobody but Mr. Pierce and family had settled in the township.  At that date, Eri Eaton and Andrew Miner came in and settled near the center of the town.  Mr. Pierce afterward removed to Illinois, but returned to Geneva in 1858, where he spent the remainder of his life.  He died March 30, 1900, in his eighty-sixth year.      Mr. Eaton and his son-in-law, Leander J. Eastman, settled on section fifteen and Mr. Miner on section three.      Messrs, Miner and Eaton both lived in the township until their decease.  Mr. Miner died March 7, 1887, in his sixty-sixth year and Mr. Easton followed him a couple of years later, April 4, 1887, aged eighty-five years.       Other somewhat early settlers of the township were:  Philip Hoag, 1848;  Nathan Tubbs (first supervisor of the township), 1849;  Charles N. Hoag, a brother of Philip, 1851;  James Bates, 1851;  Charles Davey, winter of 1851-2;  Moses Welch, 1852;  James Kelly, 1852;  Orrin G., another of the Hoag brothers, 1852;  Philip Brooks, 1853;  Benjamin Knowles, who came with his father to the township of Columbia in 1837, settled in Geneva in 1852;  Samuel Lull, 1854;  Charles Brott, 1855;  Daniel and Mahlon Funk, 1856;  William Miller and George McKenzie, about the same time.  Beginning with the early sixties the township began to settle up quite rapidly.      In 1847, Marvin Hannah as the name was spelled in those early days (it has since added a final "s"), of the village of Albion, Michigan, opened up a settlement on section eighteen, where he built a saw-mill, the first one in the township on the Black river, and also a boarding house, which he placed in charge of Henry Hogmire.  The next year he built a large tannery, the locality being pecuriarly adapted to the tanning business on account of the great hemlock forests that covered no inconsiderable part of the township.  The demands of the tannery for hemlock bark afterward furnished employment to quite a good many laborers and when they had any spare time from their own matters, the settlers employed it in working for Mr. Hannahs.  Bark peeling was a real help to the people at that time and "bark peelers" numerous.  Mr. Hannahs, who was regarded by the settlers as a capitalist, also built a schoolhouse and made other improvements, as an inducement for people to locate in the neighborhood.  He placed Eri Bennett in charge as his foreman.  Mr. Bennett afterward served as supervisor of the town.      Mr. Hannahs named the settlement "Hunter", but his employees nicknamed it "Jericho".  There are few people that remember anything about Hunter, but even to this day the locality is known as Jericho although there is nothing remaining to indicate the business that was transacted there in those primitive days.  Mr. Hannahs himself did not become a resident of the township, but remained in Albion.  He had other large interests in the county, having at one time a grist-mill on the Paw Paw River at Lawrence, which for years was the only establishment of the kind, between South Haven and Paw Paw and which did a very large business, as the compiler of this work knows by reason of having been employed therein in his youthful days in connection with his father, Eber Rowland, who was a Miller by trade, as was the son at that time.  George, the son of Marvin Hannahs, subsequently settled at South Haven, where he was identified with large business interests and became one of the prominent citizens of the county, serving at one time as a senator in the state legislature.  He subsequently removed to California, where he resided until his death. Excerpt from Van Buren County History - Chapter XXVI Statistics: According to the Federal census of 1910 Geneva contained 1,420 inhabitants. Federal census of 2000 list Geneva population at 3,975 inhabitants. In 1854, the year the township was orgainized, its assessed valuation was $72,361, and the entire amount of taxas levied was the sum of $1,106.10 . In 2003, its assessed valuation was $71,646,400.00, and the entire amount of taxes levied was the sum of $2,020,938.25 . According to the official report for the year 1911, there were 304 persons of school age (between five and twenty) in the township; 792 volumes in the district libraries; eight school house, estimated value of property, $10.900; district indebtedness, $120; eleven teachers employed during the year; paid for teacher salaries, $3,597.25. In 2003, Geneva collected $1,190,889.34 in revenue for education, supporting four school districts (Bangor, Covert, South Haven, Van Buren Intermediate) and Lake Michigan College. The first general election held in the township after its organization was on the 7th day of November, 1854, at which fourteen votes were cast, twelve Democratic and two Republian. At the president election held two years later, November 4, 1856, the number of votes polled was thirty-three, twenty-six for John C. Fremont; and seven for James Buchanan. General Election, November 5, 2002 , the number votes polled was 901, 42.4% of the 2,125 registered voters. Results for Office of Governor, Rep. Dick Posthumus 393 votes, Dem. Jennifer Granholm 375 votes, Green - Douglas Campbell 4 votes, US Tax Payer - Joseph Pilchak 2 votes. Nov. 2 , 2004 Geneva saw a total of 1452 voters paticipate, 1237 at the polls, 226 absent voter ballots, 215 returned for processing , equaling 63.32% of the registered voters in the township.