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TERRITORIAL ROAD RECOLLECTIONS OF THE "OLD TERRITORIAL ROAD" AND ITS TAVERNS
It was a beautiful day as we passed through Marshall. In 1831 Sidney and George Ketchum, two brothers, are said to have struck the first blow to erect their log huts in the then wilderness where Marshall now stands; We found, in 1836, two or three stores here and several houses. Quite an ambitious looking place. Did it pretend to be a village ? Did the poet have any allusion to it when he said:
"In every rustic village!
where Ten chimney smokes perfume the air
Contiguous to a steeple,
Of gentry folks you'll find a score,
Who won't associate any more,
With common country people. "
We could not see a steeple, nor ten chimney smokes, contiguous to it, unless we counted those of the Pottawattomies, who lived in their "country seats" not far off. The poet had no allusion to Marshall.
I think we stayed at Lowell, between Marshall and Battle Creek, the next night. The day following we passed by Polydore Hudson's tavern at the Gulf, just east of Battle Creek. Here we took the old road by way of Jo. Farns-worth's, William Toland's, Warren B. Shepard's, and up the Conway hill to Goguac prairie. The first house west of Conway's was Mott's. Dorance Williams lived on the south side of his farm near the woods. The old road formerly went this side of the prairie. East of him was Daniel Thomas, then Mrs., Peter Michael, in Frederick Peets' log house, Uncle Isaac Thomas, his son Frank, Hiram Orser, and last, John Stewart, were all on the south side of the prairie. On the territorial road west of Mott's, was first Samuel Gregory's log house, and a log building on the northeast corner of his farm, tenantless. Then came Rice's—now W. B. Frink's; Giles Andrus, where his son Herny now lives, was next; then Uncle John Stewart's, in a small frame house where Foster now lives.
Michigan
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