[St. Clair County Marriges & Deaths]
Extracted from
History of St. Clair County, Michigan
by A.T. Andreas
History of St. Clair County
Wales Township.
[781] Wales Township was organized in 1841, with Clark S. Cusick, Supervisor. It forms one of the finest agricultural districts of the county; is well watered by Pine River and Perry Creek; is girt by the Chicago & G. T. R. R. and the Detroit & G. T. R. R., and within easy distance of the county seat. Among the first permanent settlers were John Lamb, N. Bartlett, William Chortier, Joshua Tompkins, the Kings and others named in the list of original entries.
The United States lands in this township were first purchased in 1836. The buyers of that year were Abner Coburn, Joseph Pitcairn, S. Mosier, J.L. Barton, E.A. Seymour, Henry Mandel, Elias Eddy, Orus Field, Benjamin F. Tower, Edwin Jerome, Serino Smith, N. Dickinson, William Kellogg, William H. Haggerty, Ebenezer Williams, Linus S. Gilbert, Curtis C. Gates, Avery W. Stowell, Bowen Whiting, Henry J. Avery, H.F. Stockbridge, Samuel B. Linscott, Luke Hemmingway, T.J. Dudley, A. Earl, Samuel Swift, Hiram Bellows, Julius Day, Hugh Gray, Hugh Moffatt, Nathaniel T. Ludden, Hiram Sherman (1837), Anthony Wells (1837), Joseph Chortier, Isaac Hall, Samuel Ufford, Hamilton Morrison, John Beach, Phineas Davis.
The population in 1845 was 114; in 1864, 1,010, and in 1880, 1,820. The area is 23,520 acres, and the equalized valuation $361,735. In 1881, there were 656 school children enrolled.
Grange Lodge, No. 450, of the Patrons of Husbandry of South Wales, was established in 1876. The installation of officers of the Patrons of Husbandry took place January 15, 1876, at the Wales Schoolhouse. The Acting Master, Joshua Tompkins, was the installing officer. His opening address, in explaining the duties of the thirteen officers composing the Grange, was lucid and eminently to the point. This old gentleman deserves more than a passing notice. He is the first man that ever entered the primeval wilderness of Wales, over forty years ago, and has lived on the same spot where he then pitched his tent, a good citizen, highly respected by his neighbors and all who know him. There were none else of the old settlers of early days present, but John Lamb, Sr., now nearly eighty years of age, as fresh and agile as a man of forty years, and, like his neighbor, Mr. Tompkins, highly respected. The following were the officers installed: Master, John A. Lamb; Overseer, Thomas Dunning; Lecturer, David Hawkins; Steward, Jerome Harp; Assistant Steward, Charles Reich; Chaplain, Eli Dutton; Secretary, Melvin Lamb; Treasurer, Abram Yarger; Gate Keeper, James Hill; Ceres, Mrs. James Hill; Pomona, Julia Tompkins; Flora, August Reich; Stewardess, Mrs. Nettie Jeffers. The concluding sentences of the installation were that, directly or indirectly, no partisanship should be exercised by one brother with another, in politics or religion, and only a word of honor vow being administered.
SUPERVISORS.
Clark S. Cusick, 1842; Joshua Tompkins, 1843; Joseph Dutton, 1844-45; Benson Bartlett, 1846; Lewis Persel, 1847-48; Joseph H. Dutton, 1849; J.H. Dutton, 1850; John Lamb, 1851; Hiram King, 1852; Mr. Beach, 1853; W.D. Miller, 1854-57; Joshua Tompkins, 1858; J.P. Tompkins, 1859-60; W.W. Hartson, 1861-64; J. Tompkins, 1865; D.F. Willoughby, [782] 1866-67; Robert Bailie, 1868; W.W. Hartson, 1869-72; R. Bailie, 1873-78; William W. Hartson, 1879; Darwin Drake, 1880; George Clausen, 1881-82.
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
Joseph H. Dutton, 1841; Maurice O'Donnell, 1841; Joshua Tompkins, 1841; John Finkle, 1841; David Donaldson, 1842; Joseph Dutton, 1842; Ebenezer Cole, 1842; Denson Bartlett, 1843; Joshua Tompkins, 1844; James M. Merritt, 1844; Joseph Dutton, 1845; H.S. Woodin, 1845; William Perry, 1846; Holy S. Worden, 1847; Addison Bartlett, 1848; Joshua Tompkins, 1848; John Lamb, 1849; Joseph M. Beach, 1849; Hiram King, 1849; Joseph M. Beach, 1850; Benson Bartlett, 1851; Alfred Godell, 1853; John Lamb, 1854; Samuel Gibbs, 1855; Drury F. Willoughby, 1857-65; John Lamb, 1858; James H. Dutton, 1859-63; W.D. Miller, 1860; D.D. Fish, 1862; William Eaton, 1862; Darwin Drake, 1864; Jacob C. Franz, 1865; John Lamb, 1866; Moses Hart, 1867-72; John T. Smith, 1868; W.J. Cowles, 1869-73; John Allen, 1870; Byron F. Park, 1871; Darwin Drake, 1875-79; William Griffith, 1875; Moses Hart, 1876; Byron F. Park, 1877; W.H. Bailey, 1879; Moses Hart, 1880; William Smith, 1881; Nathan C. Green, 1882.
The whole Republican ticket was elected in Wales Township, 1882. Supervisor - Charles Clausen. Clerk - A.B. Fitch. Treasurer - William Smith. Highway Commissioner - Joseph Stevenson. Justice of the Peace - Nathan C. Green. Drain Commissioner - George Smith. School Inspectors - Robert Bailie, one year; Isaac Green, two years. Constables - Lewis Fitz, Benjamin Signora, George White and Jay King.
Goodels [Goodells], in Wales Township, is fifteen miles northwest of Port Huron. There is a Baptist Church, school, a saw and grist mill there.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.