Banner 8-24-2023

The Hastings Banner — Thursday, August 24, 2023 — Page 7

Biography of Calvin Hill,

founder of Middleville – Part 2

Banner July 23, 1914.
Editor’s note: The following was prepared
for the Barry County Pioneer Society by C.R.
Watson, of Irving.
The history of this settlement would be far
too brief were not mention made of the hos-
telries that flourished in those days. Travelers
were abroad in the land, and the country was
full of agents selling lands and prospectors
looking for townsites and emigrants who
sometimes bought their land of slick-tongued
agents back cast and then journeyed west to
find they had been gold-bricked. Houses of
entertainment for man and places of shelter
for the beasts were necessary in those pio-
neer settlements. About 1840, Calvin G. Hill
erected a building on the hill in the west side
of the Thornapple settlement to be used as a
store building, but it was never used for that
purpose. At first, it held a select school, then
passed into possession of Chas. V. Patrick
and later came to be owned by Philip Leon-
ard and was known as Leonard’s Hotel.
In the early fifties (1850s), Chas. V. Pat-
rick built a village tavern, a framed building
on the site where the present hotel now
stands. The “Middleville Inn” and this hotel
were formally opened to the public with a
grand ball and reception on New Year’s Eve

1852. The landlord was Ralph Bugbee, who
      remained tavern keeper in Middleville but a
      short time when Chas. V. Patrick himself
      took possession. This has been described by
      Mrs. Jennie Lee as having been a very pre-
      tentious affair for those times, and guests
      flocked in from the country about on every
      side, coming from points distant like Hast-
      ings, Orangeville, Yankee Springs and Prai-
      rieville. The banquet supper was in the
      charge of Mrs. Charles Williams, who acted
      as caterer. After the banquet, the guests
      repaired to the dance floor, above which was
      a swinging floor, or in other words, there
      were no center posts underneath, and the
      boards making up the floor were not fas-
      tened to the sides of the building so that
      when the dancers were stepping off the mea-
      sures of the light fantastic formations, the
      floor would move up and down not unlike
      the motions of a ship at sea, and the harder
      they danced, the more the floor would rock
      up and down, and the more wavy effect
      would be felt by the parties stepping off so
      lively and brisk to the tunes of “Virginia
      Reel” and “Money Musk and the Good Old
      Hornpipes, Clogs and Schottisches.” No
      doubt they got all the sensations in those
      days that are accredited today to the tango
      and the turkey trot.
      So great an attraction was this dancing
      floor that the boys used to climb up the posts
      on the front porch of this hotel and, standing
      on the balcony, look through the windows at
      the merry couples of dancers. Whether this
      was tried more than once, we are not aware,
      but four young men tried it one evening after
      this time to the annoyance of the floor man-
      ager whose name it will not be seemly to
      mention here. He was a good floor manager
      as he had always been successful in putting
      downstairs any characters not desirable who
      made themselves conspicuous by their pres-
      ence. On the night when these four young
      men tried to see the sights through their
      stand by the front windows, the floor manag-
      er ordered the boys down or else take pun-
      ishment by being pitched up and thrown
      bodily to the street, some dozen or more feet
      below. Three of these young men shied
      down three convenient posts, but the fourth
      stood his ground and was soon at it “hammer
      and tongs” with the floor manager, who
      found he had got hold of a match and then
      some. The floor manager was bested up
      there on the narrow porch and had to turn the
      management of the hall and the swinging

floor over to a friend for the rest of the eve-

ning. It was a blow first in those days, and

the word came after if any apologies were to

be made.

In addition to dances given in the old tav-

ern, there were “singing schools” given in

the frame schoolhouse up on Arlington Street

by way of variety, and at this time, a man

whom no one seems to know by his real

name but who went by the title of “Yankee

Stimson” used to give entertainments in the

Leonard Hotel on the west side of the village.

“Yankee Stimson” was an actor and enter-

tainer of varied accomplishments, and the

repertoire of his class of entertainment was

exceedingly varied. He used to give “con-

certs” at which a small fee was charged for

admission. The things that he was capable of

doing at these concerts have not been forgot-

ten, and we are informed that he could play

the buffoon or the sage with equal grace. He

kept the audience laughing with his “funny

stories” and his “comic songs” which he ren-

dered upon these occasions, being a sort of a

musician and juggler as well. His visits

helped to break the monotony of the routine

of everyday life, and he was always given a

hearty welcome when, upon his itinerant

journeyings, he held forth at Middleville.

Philip Leonard, proprietor for some few

years of Leonard Hotel on the west side, took

for a wife Miss Della Hill, daughter of Squire

Hill, and whenever occasions of an important

nature brought a bevy of guests to Landlord

Leonard’s house of entertainment, then the

unmarried daughters of Squire Hill were

called upon to help their sister Della out with

the culinary work as well as acting in other

capacities as waiters at tables and the thou-

sand and one things which needed doing at

those times.

Miss Jennie Dennis came to Middleville in

1851 and describes the town as being com-

posed of a row of low buildings situated on

what is now on the east side of the river and

running from near the river part way up the

hill eastward. Most of these buildings, with

the exception of possibly two or three small

buildings, were on what is now the west side

of East Main Street. Here it was that the pio-

neer merchants and traders did what business

there was to be done with the few white set-

tlers and the members of the Ottawa and

Chippewa Indians who were to be seen sup-

plying their wants from the supplies that had

been brought from a great distance to catch

their eyes. They traded notions and other

gewgaws to the Ottawa and Chippewa Indi-

ans who used to live up on Section 1, close

by the Coldwater or Little Thornapple rivers

and with remnants of a tribe, presumably

Pottawatomies, who lived south and east of

Middleville near the river at certain seasons

of the year.

Prominently identified with the mercantile

life of the village for many years was Isaac

N. Keeler, a pioneer merchant who came to

this settlement as a peddler, his entire stock

being carried at the time in a tin trunk. This

was in the year of 1850. Deciding upon

locating at Middleville, Mr. Keeler bought

$300 worth of merchandise in New York

City, which was brought so far as Galesburg

by way of water routes and railroad and

thence overland with wagons to Middleville.

He kept (a) store in a part of A.C. Bruen’s

house for a short time, and then after build-

ing a store across the street, he moved his

stock to that location about where the big

double store now stands, kept by Nelson &

Son. Mr. Keeler had a thriving business, bar-

tering with the Indians during the early years

of his merchandising at Middleville. This

was the pioneer store of the village, with Mr.

Keeler retiring from active business after 10

years.

In 1848, Dr. S.S. Parkhurst came to Mid-

dleville, being at the time a medical student

working his way through college. He

promptly undertook to teach the village

school in order to augment his income with

the understanding with the school board that

whenever it was necessary to do so, he could

close the school to minister to the bodily

comfort of those needing a doctor’s care.

Although he had to frequently let out school

to see patients, still he taught out the term.

He returned to college, graduating in 1850,

and came back to practice medicine in the

village. It is said that at one of the Indian

pow-wows held about upon the site of the

present Middleville Inn, one of the Indians

was taken sick, and Dr. Parkhurst was called

to administer unto him. The Indian recov-

ered, and ever after, Dr. Parkhurst was held

in great esteem, so much so that in 1851, he

was called out to the Chippewa Encamp-

ment on Section 1, Thornapple Township, to

see two sick Indians – Kennebec, a chief,

and a squaw of Chippewa (whether he had

more than one not known) ... afflicted with

consumption. Chippewa’s dwelling, unlike

the other wigwams of this settlement, was a

log hut with a lean-to adjoining it made out

of cloth or hides – a sort of shed addition.

When Dr. S.S. Parkhurst made this trip, he

was gallant enough to ask two young ladies

to accompany him, Miss Jennie Dennis and

Miss Harriett Hill, they being delighted with

the prospects of a trip to the Indian Encamp-

ment. The Indians were preparing some

potatoes for eating by roasting them on the

coals of fire.

It so chanced that down in Orangeville, a

village tavern had been built and opened up

in 1855, and the citizens planned to celebrate

the occasion with a “blowout,” as it was

called, on the Fourth of July. To do this in the

right way, they went over to Hastings to bor-

row a cannon known to belong to some citi-

zens of the town. The cannon was down at

Middleville... in the possession of John F.

Emory, landlord of the Middleville hostelry,

and who, by the way, was planning upon a

Fourth of July celebration for Middleville.

The Orangeville parties came on to Mid-

dleville, having in their possession an order

with which to get possession of the cannon,

but Landlord Emory refused to give it up.

Defeated for the time being but not disheart-

ened, the Orangeville men sent back home

for reinforcements, first drawing off with

their forces awaiting their arrival, and when

more help came, they made an attack after

midnight and succeeded in carrying off the

cannon by reason of superior numbers. Land-

lord Emory tried boldly to hold his ground

and was assisted by his wife, who exercised

some sharp military movements on the

invaders’ flanks with a broomstick, but the

storming party got away safely with their

prize, landing in Orangeville at daylight.

Afterward, Emory sought redress by causing

the arrest of the invaders of his place of busi-

ness but was glad to compromise the matter

by dropping the suits when they came to

prosecute him for selling liquor illegally.

Such are a few of the incidents briefly told

relating to the early settlement made upon

the Thornapple by Calvin G. Hill, who

passed to the Great Beyond in 1867. His

remains are at rest in the cemetery just east of

the village in which he had such an important

part in laying out as a town site and which,

during his life, he saw grow from a council

grove used by the Indians from time imme-

morial to be a thriving and growing village.

The pioneer’s life was indeed a remarkably

changing one.

Part 1 of the “Biography of Calvin Hill,

founder of Middleville” can be found in last

week’s issue of the Banner.

Night owls

Why do owls stay up at night?

Zelezina, 8, Md.

Dear Zelezina,

I love how humans use figures of speech

about animals to describe their behavior. An

early bird is someone who likes to get up

early. A night owl is someone who loves to

be awake late at night–like an owl.

I talked about why owls stay up all night

with my friend Dr. Marcie Logsdon. She’s a

wildlife veterinarian at Washington State

University.

She told me that for many owls, the dark

is a good time to catch a meal.

“Owls are just taking advantage of a time

when they can excel at finding prey because

there are a lot of other things that are active

at night, too–like rodents,” Logsdon said.

It’s such a good time to hunt that those

owls’ bodies have adapted to the dark.

That’s why they have big round eyes. Big

eyes with large pupils let in more light. That

helps owls see in darker conditions.

Those big eyes can’t move around like

our eyeballs–because they’re not balls. Owl

eyes are shaped like bells. Their skull bones

hold those bell-shaped eyes into their heads

with no space to move. To look around, an

owl turns its whole head.

The internal structure of an owl eye is

special, too. Most vertebrates have rod cells

and cone cells in their eyes. Cones detect

colors. Rods detect light and motion.

Diurnal animals are awake during the day.

There’s lots of light, so it’s useful to see lots

of colors. It makes sense that diurnal animals

have more cones than rods in their eyes.

Nocturnal animals are awake during the

night. Since you can’t really see color in the

dark, nocturnal animals have more rods

than cones. Their eyes are optimized to

detect movement–like prey sneaking

around–even in very low light.

Owls use their ears to hunt at night, too.

Logsdon told me scientists tested how well

barn owls hunt for mice in completely dark

rooms. They had no problem picking out

those tasty squeakers in the dark.

“Instead of having nice symmetrical ears

like we do, a lot of owls have slightly offset

ears,” she said. “Sound hits them at slightly

different times so they can pinpoint where

the sound comes from. Some owls do that

with the soft tissues–like our ear flaps.

Some owls have changes in their skulls that

help offset their ears.”

You might be surprised to hear that not

all owls stay up all night. Some owls are

awake during the day–although that’s not as

common. Some owls are crepuscular. That

means they prefer to be awake at dawn

when the sun is coming up or dusk when the

sun is going down. Some owls are cathem-

eral. That means they’re awake at random

times without any real pattern.

That’s like me. Cats have random periods

of sleep and wakefulness. That’s how we

get the best figure of speech of all: the cat

nap.

Dr. Universe

Elaine Garlock

The freight house and depot will be open to

visitors on Saturday, Aug. 26 from 10 a.m. to

2 p.m.

By last weekend, the Habitat house had a

new look with a white plastic envelope cov-

ering the entire structure. Roof boards are in

place. The interior layer is in place with no

openings yet for doors and windows.

More than two years ago, the local Lions

Club installed the first metal ramp for a per-

son needing a wheelchair. Until that time, all

the ramps the service club had installed were

built with lumber. The metal ramp was much

quicker to install and could be used again in

another location. The day came last week

when at least eight vehicles appeared on

Johnson Street intent on moving that first

ramp to a new location almost across the

street. The workers worked speedily and

moved the ramp from its mooring to a long

utility trailer hitched to a pickup truck. It was

moved a few roads north and to the opposite

side of the street where the preparation work

had been done weeks earlier. The helpers

were very meticulous in making sure all the

components were aligned. A wooden rollway

at the lower end of the set had been built

weeks ago. Now it is ready for use by the

resident, a man with multiple health issues.

For this project, most of the Lions workers

were neighbors and Yonkers family mem-

bers.

Last week’s hosts at the community Thurs-

day night dinner were members of Living

Gospel Church who had so many workers

they even had greeters. Instead of baked

goods for dessert, they provided ice cream

bars.

The planting barrels on Fourth Avenue are

really striking in their beauty. The central

plants are yellow and red cannas which are

now so tall they reach more than five feet

high. The lower plants are colorful begonias

which complement the central flowers. This

annual project is the handiwork of the local

arts commission.

With beautiful weather and typical summer

temperatures, there was heavy boat traffic on

Jordan Lake on Sunday. Many cottage own-

ers had their craft in the water. The public

landing at the foot of Tasker Road on the

north edge of Woodland Township was filled

and the overflow traffic consisted of at least

five rigs parked along the drive downward to

the landing. More than 25 pickup trucks were

using the site by midafternoon. By the end of

the day, the number of users would be much

higher because of in and out traffic from early

morning to dusk.

Do you have a question? Ask Dr. Uni-

verse. Send an email to Washington State

University’s resident scientist and writer at

[email protected] or visit her website,

askdruniverse.com.

Thursday, Aug. 24 – Movie Memories &

Milestones watches a 1944 film starring Anne

Baxter, John Hodiak and Charles Winniger, 5

p.m.

Friday, Aug. 25 – Friday Story Time, 10:

a.m.

Monday, Aug. 28 – Crafting Passions, 10

a.m.

Tuesday, Aug. 29 – Baby Cafe, 10 a.m.;

mahjong and chess, 5 p.m.

Wednesday, Aug. 30 – Itsy Bitsy Book

Club, 10:30 a.m.

More information about these and other

events is available by calling the library, 269-

945-4263.

HASTINGS PUBLIC

LIBRARY SCHEDULE

Pierce Cedar Creek Institute

events for Aug. 24-

Aug. 1-31 – August Storywalk Book:

“Berry Song” by Michaela Goade. The

Storywalk is free and self-guided.

Saturday, Aug. 26 – Learning the Land

Hiking Series: Prairie Fen Promenade, 10

a.m.-noon. Institute members can join the

hike for free. Non-members must pay $

to register.

Those interested can register for these

events and find more information at cedar-

creekinstitute.org/events.html.

MICHAEL KINNEY

PLUMBING

Licensed Master Plumber

Licensed Journeyman Plumber

New construction, remodel, repair, drain cleaning.

BRADFORD WHITE WATER HEATERS

Same Day Installation

Office (269) 948-

Mobile (269) 838-

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