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The Hastings Banner — Thursday, September 30, 2021 — Page 7

Gates, Spalding,

Orange suggested

for local township names

The 16 townships that currently make up
Barry County were once one large township,
then four townships, separating repeatedly
until each of the 16 measured 36 sections in a
6-mile square grid.
Marshall L. Cook, in the July 31, 1941,
Banner, wrote about how the townships were
named, revealing that the process could be
contentious and that some had been known
by other names.

How the townships of Barry

County received their names

History of bestowing names is interesting

Four honored New England and New York

towns from which pioneer settlers came

M.L. Cook
The writer recently received a letter from a
woman in the southwestern part of the county
asking how Orangeville derived its name.
The writer was able to give the answer from
information he obtained from the History of
Barry and Allegan Counties, which was pub-
lished many years ago [1880].
After having answered the inquiry, it
occurred to him to look in the same volume
for the history of the names of all the 16 town-
ships of this county. This is presented below.
ASSYRIA – While that township was a part
of Johnstown, a post office within its present
limits was called Assyria. After the township
was separated from Johnstown, Feb. 29, 1844,
the name of the post office was given to the
township. The first town meeting was held at
the home of Cleveland Ellis, who was elected
the first supervisor. Forty-three votes were
cast. John S. VanBrunt was chosen clerk. Mr.
VanBrunt later moved to this city and for many
years operated the horse-driven bus that car-
ried people to and from the passenger depot,
which was then the present freight depot.
Many years later, the passenger station was
built in its present location. [A circa-1890 his-
tory on the township’s website doesn’t specifi-
cally say why the name Assyria was chosen,
only that the post office needed a name that
was not the same as another post office in the
state. It may have been selected for the ancient
empire referenced in the Old Testament.]
BALTIMORE – Until 1849, this township
was part of Johnstown, but was informally
christened Baltimore as early as 1842 by lead-
ing men in the township who came from
Baltimore, Md. In 1842, Thomas Dowling,
after whom the village probably was named,
and Andrew Kelley, brothers-in-law, both from
Baltimore, Md., selected farms on Section 15.
BARRY – In 1836, all of Barry County
was one township called the Township of
Barry, and was named in honor of Postmaster
Gen. [William T.] Barry, a member of
President [Andrew] Jackson’s cabinet. In
1838, by act of the legislature, the county was
divided into four townships, the southwestern
quarter of the county being called Barry,
which then included Hope, Prairieville and

Orangeville. In 1841, the west half of Barry

was set off and named Spalding, in honor of

C.W. Spalding, who settled on a farm in

Prairieville Township in 1835. Hope was

made a separate township in 1850, leaving

Barry at its present size.

CARLTON – This township, together with

Woodland, Castleton and Hastings, was made

by the legislature one township and was

called Hastings. Carlton was set apart as a

township in 1842 and was named Carlton at

the suggestion of Zebulon Barnum, a pioneer

who came from Carlton, N.Y.

CASTLETON – Castleton was a part of

Hastings Township until it was made a sepa-

rate township in 1842. According to the his-

tory mentioned, the honor of christening this

township was awarded to William P.

Wilkinson, an early settler there. He desired

to give it the name of his native village in

Vermont, so he called it Castleton.

HASTINGS CITY – a Detroit banker

named Eurotas P. Hastings was the owner of

a large tract of land, including the present

limits of the city of Hastings. It appears that

the site of Hastings was designated as a coun-

ty seat and was named Hastings in honor of

the Detroit banker mentioned. That was in

1837, when four men living in Marshall pur-

chased the land from Mr. Hastings and laid

out the plat for the future county seat.

HASTINGS TOWNSHIP – The name

Hastings given to the county seat also was, by

act of the legislature, given to Hastings

Township when it was organized.

HOPE – This township was part of Barry

until 1850, when it was set apart and named

Hope. The story goes that Salmon C. Hall,

then a representative in the state legislature,

gave the name Hope to this township because

he remembered a peculiar expression a pio-

neer of the township, William M. Campbell,

often used in reference to conditions, as he

frequently did. Mr. Campbell would say he

“hoped things would improve by and by.”

There were some people who did not like the

name and tried to change it to Cedar Creek,

but the movement failed.

IRVING – A.E. Bull was the first settler in

Irving Township, taking up 40 acres on

Section 33, where he resided for a time.

However, his land holdings included what

became afterward known as Bull’s Prairie in

Rutland. He was a forceful man. Previous to

a legislative act of 1839, Rutland was a part

of Yankee Springs, and what is now Irving

was part of Thornapple. In 1839, the present

Irving ad Rutland townships were designated

as the township of Irving by the legislature.

Mr. Bull was a great admirer of Washington

Irving and asked that the township be given

that name in honor of his favorite author. In

1847, Rutland was separated from Irving.

JOHNSTOWN – In 1837, the four town-

ships of Assyria, Maple Grove, Baltimore

and Johnstown constituted one township,

which was called Johnstown. It appears that

a Quaker preacher named John Mott, living

in Jackson County, purchased a large tract of

land in the southeastern part of Barry County,

where he intended to locate a colony of

Quakers, or Friends, as they were pleased to

call themselves. In accordance with Quaker

custom, Mr. Mott was always called John by

his Quaker brethren. Early settlers and land

seekers who came into that area designated

it as “John’s Town” because of his large

holdings of land. So, when the county was

divided into four townships, the southeast-

ern quarter was named Johnstown. The proj-

ect of settling a colony of Quakers in that

area was abandoned, and the Mott tract of

land was sold to other settlers. In 1844, the

township was divided, the west half retain-

ing the name of Johnstown, and the east half

Assyria. In 1849, the northern half of

Johnstown was set apart as the township of

Baltimore. Johnstown retained its present

name and the limits it has today.

MAPLE GROVE – Maple Grove was a

part of Johnstown until 1844, when it became

a part of Assyria Township. It was said to

have been christened Maple Grove by the

wife of one of its early pioneers. The name

was, no doubt, given because there was so

much maple timber in the township.

ORANGEVILLE – This township was a part

of Prairieville until 1847, when the legislature

set it apart and gave it its present name. The

name is said to have been given at the sugges-

tion of Peter Falk. He wanted it called Orange,

which was the name of the Ohio township from

which he moved to Michigan. Since there was

another Michigan township called Orange, that

name was rejected. A compromise was reached

by calling the township Orangeville.

PRAIRIEVILLE – Until 1841, this was a

part of Barry Township. In that year, what are

now Orangeville and Prairieville townships

was set apart under the name of Spalding, in

honor of C.W. Spalding, a pioneer who

bought a farm in the township in 1834 and

moved there in 1835. He was prominent in

the early history of the township and of the

county. How it came to be called Prairieville

is not explained in the History of Allegan and

Barry Counties. However, that history does

mention that the prairie land found on Gull

Prairie extended north from Kalamazoo

County into Prairieville Township. That may

account for the change in its name from

Spalding to Prairieville. In 1847, it was sepa-

rated from Orangeville and given the name

Prairieville instead of Spalding.

RUTLAND – We have explained that this

township was a part of Yankee Springs and

then of Irving. It was set up as an independent

township in March 1847. The name was

bestowed, according to the History of Allegan

and Barry Counties, at the suggestion of

Winslow W. Ralph, one of the early settlers,

who came from Rutland, Vt., and wished to

honor his former home.

THORNAPPLE – This township received

its name from the Thornapple River. The

river was so named because there was such

an abundance of thornapple trees growing on

and near its banks. It was so named before

Thornapple Township existed. The township

was organized in 1838. At first, it included

Irving, Rutland and Yankee Springs. The last

named was set off in 1839 as was Irving,

which then included Rutland.

WOODLAND – This township was includ-

ed with Carlton, Castleton and Hastings as

one township until 1842, when it was made a

township by itself. The name Woodland is not

explained. It was probably given because the

township was so densely covered with woods.

[The local compilation, The History of

Woodland, Michigan, 1837-1987 was limited

to the same assumption of the early heavy

forested lands:

“During the winter of 1841-42, the

Michigan legislature enacted measures nam-

ing Township 4 North, Range 7 West, as the

township of Woodland. The original name

proposed by the pioneers was not Woodland

at all, but Orange. However, it was discov-

ered by the legislature that there already was

an Orange, Michigan, and so they changed

the name to Woodland, for reasons that at the

time must have seemed obvious.” Ionia and

Kalkaska counties are both home to an

Orange Township.”

YANKEE SPRINGS – This township

received its name in a peculiar manner. Henry

Leonard and family, and with them a young

man named Charles Paul, were driving toward

Thornapple Township. When they reached the

springs that gave the name to Yankee Springs,

they stopped to eat their dinner and quench

their thirst with the fine spring water. Later a

stranger joined them. Their talk revealed the

fact that all of them had come from New

England and were therefore entitled to be

called Yankees. Someone in the party suggest-

ed they ought to give the name Yankee Springs

to this place where they had been refreshed.

Accordingly, young Paul stripped the bark

from one of the large trees near the springs and

carved the name “Yankee Springs” upon that

tree. The name seemed to stick. William Lewis,

who established his hotel that made the name

famous as Yankee Springs, was very proud of

the name. It was believed that his influence

resulted in first naming the township Yankee

Springs. But Calvin Hill, a prominent pioneer

living in the northern part of the township, did

not like that name. His neighbor and friend

Nathan Barlow was then a member of the leg-

islature. Through him, Hill had the legislature

change the name of the township to Gates, in

honor of the New York town from which Mr.

Hill came. Yankee Bill Lewis was wrathy

when he found the name had been altered. He

stirred up enough opposition so that the fol-

lowing legislature restored the name of Yankee

Springs, which it has ever since retained.

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The Thornapple River, named for the many thornapple trees on and near its

banks, was called such before the township was similarly named. In this 1909 post

card, sent from N.E.H. to Mr. A.H. Mottinger of Oswego, Ill., mentioned the area,

saying “This is a very pretty place up here. The country is full of little lakes. Sorry I

didn’t bring my fish pole. There is a lake seven miles from here that has 95 miles of

beach – so it isn’t so small.”

This “Causeway east of Delton” from an early 1900s post card must have seemed like a great improvement to the pioneers of

that time. (Images from Fred Jacobs’ post card collection)

Wolves were a constant challenge for early settlers who tried to raise sheep. But by
1909, the date of this post card, local farmers seem to have prevailed. This particular
card was sent by Flossy Bolo of Maple Grove, who would have been 13 at the time.
The back of the card bears only her name, no message, and contrary to the verdant
image on the front, it was sent in January to Miss Effa Dean in Long Beach, Calif.