The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1871-08-18

same irons again, after having ground
one bushel only This Mr.. Longstreet
divided with Mr.. Dodge, who was out
OF -four though keeping hotel.
In 1886 Deacon Van Antwerp and
family came into the township of Ant.
werp, yet unorganized, and without
name or significance, Cass county being
the inde6nate term designating all South
Western Michigan Mr.. Van Antwerp
had exchanged property in Livingston
county, New York, for one thousand
acres of wild land near Lawton, which
he had not seen. The perils of the
long journey, with the large family, con
sisting of himself and wife, and four
children, besides father and mother, can
better be imagined than described -
The journey was performed through
Canada with teams during a long rainy
spell, in which they never saw the sun
until they reached Michigan. The
roads portion Of the way were nearly
impossible, and sometimes but seven
miles day could be accomplished As
they reared Detroit they found bridge
gone across an arm of the lake, and the
women and children walked over the
string pieces, and the teams forded
around the piers, having woman for
pilot. Their household goods and pro
visions were brought by water to De.
troit and the teams that brought the
family sent back after them, besides
hiring another team, which cost ninety
dollars. This last journey consumed
two weeks of diligcnt labor. Though
it was as early as June when they ar
rived at their new home, it took all the
rest of the season to build the rude
shanty, aud get the balance of goods
moved into it. While the teams were
gone to Detroit, Mrs Van Antwerp did
the family cooking by a fire out of doors,
and they sat down to a table made of n
single board, put across the corner of
the shanty between the logs. Their
seats at the table consisted of another
board inserted below the table. The
scene of this plain living was on the
farm at present owned and occupied by
Edwin Smith.
The township of Antwerp was organ
lied in the spring of 1887, with about
a dozen voters, who elected Andrew
Longstreet Supervisor. The naming of
the town was given to Deacon Van Ant.
wcrp's father, he being the oldest man
in the town. His choice of Antwerp
was made from town of that name in
Holland. in the old country, from whence
he removed to New York state. The
inhabitants of the country were very
scattering at that early day, and every
old settler knew almost every man in
the whole community. The year that
Mr.. Longstreet came, his wife did not
see woman from June till Christmas !;
then they went with three other couples
sixteen miles visiting. This was none
of your fashionable calls, but starting
at three o'clock in the morning, it lasted
until night the next day. Neighbors
sixteen miles apart were glad TO see each
other then, and there was no hypocrisy
about it. Unlike the invitation we
read of, that the innocent little girl gave
a near neighbor, "Mama wants you
should take tea with us this afternoon,
she wants it done with" The last part,
though honest, covered little more
than the instructions.
The year 1888 was excessively dry
and hot, and, consequently general
time of sickness. Within the acquaint-
ance of the Van Antwerp family, dur
ing that year, there were twenty deaths
of grown people, many of them heads
of families One young man died at
Mr.. Van Antwerp's, and there were but
three well persons to be found, within a
reasonable distance, to bury him. For
the first few years of the settlement, un.
til sufficient provisions could be raised
for the rapidly increasing population
Prairie Ronde was the nearest market
place. The first wheat the Van Ant
werps bought, was obtained of Mr.. Mes
bit, but it was yet in the bundle, and
Mr.. Van Antwerp threshed it on the
barn floor with his horses for thrcshinc