On 18 Feb 1817, at a meeting of the commissioners of Huron County, the townships of Bronson and Norwalk were set off from the township of Huron. On 4 Mar 1822 the County commissioners ordered that Fairfield and Bronson be organized with township privileges, and that this new creation be named Bronson. The election of township officers was held at the house of Ezra Herrick on 1 Apr 1822. In the spring of 1823, Fairfield was detached from Bronson and organized as a separate township.
Some other early settlers, and the dates of their arrival in Bronson, were:
Martin Kellog 1816. | Aaron Fay 1816. |
Eliphaz Bigelow 1816. | Simon Amnurman 1816. |
David Clark 1816. | Reuben Pixley 1817. |
Nathan Sutliff 1817. | William W. Beckwith 1817. |
Major Eben Guthrie 1817. | Jabez Deming 1817. |
Jonas Leonard 1817. | David Cole 1817. |
Abijah Rundell 1817. | Nathan Tanner 1817. |
Peter Seifert 1817. | Robert S. Southgate ca 1817. |
Thomas Hagaman 1818. | Amos Deming 1818. |
Daniel W. Warren 1818. | Nathan Keith ca 1819. |
Ezra Herrick 1819. | Henry Terry 1819. |
David Conger 1819. | Prince Haskell ca 1821. |
Edward L. Cole 1821. | Lemon Cole 1821 |
Daniel Brightman 1823. | Bethuel Cole 1823. |
Jonathon Hull 1823. | Aro Danforth 1824. |
Joel Blick 1824. |
The first white child born in Bronson was Timothy T. Newcomb, son of Benjamin and Stata Newcomb, on 6 Jul 1816.
The first couple to be married was Lott Herrick and Lola Sutliff, on 16 Oct 1818.
The first death was that of Benjamin Newcomb, who was killed by the kick of a horse, 4 Jul 1816.
The first school was kept by Lola Sutliff, in the log barn of Martin Kellogg, in the summer of 1818. Her students were:
Maudane Kellogg | Lucy Kellogg | Rebecca Kellogg |
Polly Kellogg | Lucy Ammerman | JaneAmmerman |
Tina Ammerman | EleanorAmmerman | John Ammerman |
Peggy Welch | John Welch |
The teacher received seventy- five cents a week; the wages paid by the parents in proportion to the number of children sent.
The first log house school was built in the fall of 1819 on the north part of Nathan Sutliff's farm. Martin Kellogg taught school there the next winter, and was the first male teacher in the township. He had about twenty students and was paid fifteen dollars per month.
The first post office was established in the center of the township ca 1829. John Lyon was the first postmaster.
No grist mills were ever built in Bronson. In the early days of the township, the settlers obtained their grinding usually at the grist mill of David Mack, at Macksville in Peru Township , or sometimes at Carkhuff's mill in Greenfield Township. Early Population Indicators.
In the 1827 Census of Bronson Township, there were 68 white males over the age of 21 listed as living there.
1840 Census-- 1,291
1880 Census-- 1,092
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