The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1871-05-19

and it is just cause of pride to the
citizens of Decatur. Long may it stand
as beacon light to the present and
coming generations. 1t has we'll been
said, that the condition of the school
house is sure guarantee of the charac.
ter of the inhabitants of the place. AT
least it shows the estimate they put
upon education, and its effect on the
masses
In the first five years of Decatur's
existence as a village, there were about
seventy.fve buildings erected, large and
small. One dozen Of them were small
dwellings, put up by one man to rent
He was Familiarity called Bob Willis,
and the most of the tenements he once
owned are still in state of preserva-
ton on different streets. Whiskey was
the ruin of this once prosperous land
lord, and he long ago left the place
bankrupt. A large number of build.
ings for the size of the place, were
erected in the year 1850. The first one
of any considerable dimensions, was the
house now owned and occupied by
Joseph Dodge, opposite the Duncombe
House, on the corner of Pbel ps and ST.
Mary's streets. During the same year,
the present Downs House was built for
a store fronting the Depot, also at the
same time, Theodore Phelps built a
dwelling house near the rear end OF
Browning's Drug Store it was after
wards sold and moved near, or is per-
haps the same building used for the
Decatur Brewery. The same year the
Hotel kept by Clayton little, was built
by DR.. Bartholomew for a drug store,
and bis family lived in the back part of
it. This was too slew business for the
ambitious Dr., and he sold out and went
to the Isthmus of Darien, but, like all
or nearly all the deserters from the
Wolverine State, he came back years
ago, and may now be reckoned as one
of Michigan S permanent citizens. The
smart and growing village of Hartford
now claims him as a resident in the old
business again, connected with his wide
practice.
The first couple married in the village
of Decatur, was i. 7. Odds and Miss
Mary Elliot, May 18th, 1850. The
marriage was solemnized by George
Sherwood, the first Ju stice of the Peace
in the town. They hired their board
until August, for one dollar and twelve
cents, or nine York shillings per week.
When they went to housekeeping they
lived much cheaper than that. The
price of best -four that year, SO says
Mr.. Olds' old account book, was but
three dollars barrel, pork three cents
per pound, beef one and half, vsnison
for nothing, except the sport of shooting
Wood was six shillings cord, butter
fifteen cents per pound, eggs eight cents
per dozen, fifteen pounds good white
sugar for one dollar, buckwheat -four
one and half cents per pound, and all
other articles of food low in proportion.
The year 1850, the latter part of
summer and the fall, almost every body
in the country was sick with the fever
and ague, and the long siege of that
dreaded shaking, always brings unpleas-
ant recollections to the old settlers.--
The swampy locality in the vicinity of
Decatur, was particularly afflicted and
the only wonder is, that the whole mass
of the population did not fee, and make
a subject for another poem by some
modern Goldsmith. But there they are
living, in some respects in pleasant con-
trast with the olden time, though at the
present time, the support of family
probably involves more labor than it did
then. True, mechanics and farmers
wages are doubled, and SO is every arti-
Gle of provisions and probably rent
Then, the clatter of one steam engine :
only was heard, and that was the NOV '
ing power of sawmill on the ground
where Myron Hinckley's stave factory
is located. This saw mill was put up ]
in 1S4s, and owned by Geo. Bennett
and VIM. Canoll. Now, seven steam
engines daily throw up their hot vapor
to the winds. and turn the machinery
that is grinding out variety Of indis
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