The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1871-05-26
correspondence OF the True Northerner.
LOCAL HISTORY.
SefRg RecOii6cti0Rs and "reminiscences
Of TIE Early settlers.

10 the last ten years, or since the
commencement Of oar civil war, the
history Of Decatur is nearly identical
with that of every other new place in
the uorthwos., which owes It's existence
% the enterprise of some wealthy aud
successful railroad company. It's pro.
yress towards success has been some
what spasmodic from the first. 1t may
be safely regarded as general truth
that " great expectations are seldom
realized by but few Of those smart
places, where the fttui scream of the
iron horse first jars the primitive trees
Of the forest. 1t usually takes about
quarter Of century TO put the ques-
ion TO fair test, and to bring the or
iginal owners oi the land in such local
tiles to their right minds. These TEN
por4ry fits of insanity have to be en-
joyed by every new railroad to@p, for
they ale all blind aud deaf and dumb
to the experience of their neighbors :;
theg must have a glorious de!usion Of
their own 10 fit them for the reyerses
which bat aw escape. For instance,
The present year is the year Of jubilee
Tor the Michigan Lake Shore Railroad,
aud the Kalamazoo and South Haven
Railroad, because they have temporarily
pu. new life into the inhabitants along
their ines. he Michigan Central
railroad is main thoroughtare and Que
II tbe most important CONNECTING links
between tae Atlantic aud the Pacific,
anu yet in the villages that num6cr
from twelve hundred 20 two Thousand F..
inhabitants, real estate can be purchas /
Ell to day, with perhaps very few eX-
1epJioas, cheaper than it can where
there Is . Great city in contemplation,
g ii some OF these litde villages on the /
low roads Their quarter Of a century
Of experience Is in the future, or Their
aigh figures would speedily come down
% the reach of all actual settlers, AID
n tois course is their oaiy guarantee Ct
success. We have proof OF this in the
history Of East Bridgeport, C5aneaG-
cut, which is nov prosperous city Of
IN thousand inhabitants, The iaad
n which The most Of this mauu.aotur-
d. o.'y is buii, was purchased by p
2. Buaua ia 1861, only seven Gears
IL the present time. The first purchase
7as mace twenty years a.,o ar The rate
Il Giy dollars per acre aud from ,ha.
1og.as to two hundred dollars. After
lccAa,jag ,hi. Old farm with about
s.t dozen ordinary bindings or II,
10 advertised { Tor safe n yiila2 lots
- .ha same price taat it cost by the
.age. .al then furaished the building
uatcria. 10 actual residents GA credit,
curing himself by mortgage aud re-
:ginS pay in monthly iustaiu ynts.-
st the end Of five years, those nechau-
les and working men who heretofore
we're paying high rent, had houses and
Jts Of their own, costing abont thirteen
Aundred dollars each, aud some Of them
IS they are located now are worth SOW
lai thousands, If there is but one =.
T. Barnum 10 the world, aud this almost
> miracle coull be wrought in the land
# steady habits, we know Of farms De-
7ceu New Buffalo aud Saugatuck, and {
,one Of them are in the rich valley Of
the Paw Paw, that would make their
owners wealthy in ten years if they
we're saked into village lots and every
alternate one given away to actual set. {
tiers, who would build on them tidy
aud inexpensive houses.
There are vacant lots IN the village {
Of Decatur now, probably hundreds
Of them within the corporation. which ,
if they had been sold any time after '
the organization of the village, aud be- ,
lore the close of the war, when there
was plenty of money, the sale would
have doubled abe wealth, population Q
and Influence of the village at the pres.
ent time. Now the owners OF them
are minus the interest on the invest !
ment, the taxes from year ia year, and
large per cent OF depreciation 10 value,
which is the result of combination OF i
causes, and though not altogether
chargeable to this oversight, large {
-. No