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BATTLE CREEK BY A. D. P. VAN BUREN
Isaac Merritt was the youngest of the three brothers. He was a man of active temperament and enlisted into his new life here with prudence and zeal. Ardent and full of hope, he commenced the work in earnest, and, like his brother, contributed largely to the improvement of the town. He had a fine appreciation of the beautiful. Phrenology would have given him a large bump of order. His buildings and grounds 'gave evidence of his taste in the arrangement, so as to show to the best advantage. The construction of his house and the embellishments of its surroundings attracted the attention of every one, and conveyed the idea that a gentleman of refined taste was the designer of all this. He laid the foundation of his first house here in 1836. It was built so that the veranda, which ran the full length of the front, came out to the street. It occupied the grounds where the old American Tavern now stands. In 1837 he removed his family from New York to this place. Quite a sensation was created in the little hamlet in the woods when his elegant turn-out made its appearance on the street leading to his residence. It was a great display for those by-gone days. There was a span of beautiful white horses and a carriage pronounced splendid, for that time, with a colored coachman. The old settlers will recognize in this coachman the well known Lewis Jackson, whose lively humor, jokes, and witty sayings are yet remembered with the many excellent traits of the man. For several years after, whenever the carriage appeared on the street it was sure to elicit this remark, "that is the establishment of a well-bred gentleman. " His house was tastefully fitted up. Esther, his wife, was a plain little Quaker lady, genteel in deportment, and the very pattern of neatness and order, so that everything in the house was in keeping with its surroundings.
Michigan
Page 28
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