BERRIEN COUNTY. 237 



IFruit Growers and Shippers/' for that entire region; prefacing it with a 

 short history, from which we quote: — 



"13. 0. lloyt, Esq., banker, of St. Joseph, one of the oldest residents, com- 

 ing here in 1829, states that he foand a seedling peach, planted by old Wil- 

 liam Burnett, who had been dead over twenty years. That tree lived and 

 bore fruit for ten or more years thereafter. The first peaches ever sent to 

 Chicago market came from Mr. Hoyt's garden in 1839, on the bluff, on what 

 is now (1873 ) the property of E. M. Edwards, Esq. They were seedlings; and 



were bought by the cook of the steamer , were packed in barrels, and 



taken to Chica^^o on speculation. 



''Simeon Wilson, another pioneer, who is still living here, and a large fruit 

 grower, says the Burnett orchard, now owned by the Langley estate, had 

 seedling peaches when he settled here, in 1831. As soon as the first settlers 

 made their clearings they planted apple seeds and peach pits, and nearly 

 every one had a few seedling trees. 



*' Peach culture was of slow growth, attracting very little attention in the 

 days of no cities, remote settlements and sparse population. Before peaches 

 were sold in Chicago from this region, even before St. Joseph could supply 

 itself with fruit, Mr. Brodiss, who lived six miles this side of Niles, 

 brought his seedling peaches, by the canoe load, down the St. Joseph river 

 to peddle in St. Joseph. This was in 1834. About this time a family named 

 Abbe entered and made a settlement on the east end of the tract of land, 

 the west end of which is now occupied by Benjamin Williams. They set out 

 a lot of improved peach and apple trees, which friends in Rochester provided 

 to plant in the new country. The orchard was set near the Card school- 

 house. When the Abbe place was abandoned the peach trees were trans- 

 planted to Royalton, on the land now occupied by Messrs. Curtis and Noble 

 Martin. Fruit was brought from them to St. Joseph in 1837. The apple 

 trees were removed to the orchard of Stone Bronson — the first, we believe, 

 ;in that township. 



" Captain CurtissBoughton settled in St. Joseph in 1834, his father, Gains 

 Boughton, in 1837. The son bought peaches by the barrel and dry goods 

 box, in 1840, carried them on his vessel and sold them in Chicago, making 

 enormous sums of money. Captain Boughton has sold peaches at the rate 

 of $45 per barrel. This gave the whole country the peach fever, and the 

 whole lake shore, from New Buffalo to the extreme north, has been catching 

 it ever since. Gains Boughton and Mrs. Boughton produced the peaches, 

 and Captain Boughton sold for the whole country. 



"Mr. Hoyt states that, in 1842, he procured from Long Island buds of 

 improved varieties, to start a nursery. No improved fruit went to Chicago 

 until after 1844, when he sent over a few baskets of Crawfords, which the 

 boys peddled out at ten cents each. After 1845 the shipment of choice fruit 

 began to increase, beginning with a few hundred baskets (three pecks), and 

 reaching several thousand in 1855, when a great many Crawfords were 

 shipped. They generally sold the fruit in St. Joseph, for 83 per basket, to 

 buyers for the Chicago market. He had a tree which he set in 1842 which 

 bore fruit last season (1872). In 1841 the sleet killed all the buds of seed- 

 ling trees, and that is the only year, up to the present time, that he has been 

 without peaches. 



"The Hon. H. C. Morton, of Benton Harbor, who, in 1835, located on the 

 farm now occupied by him, says: 'The first peaches were seedlings. Craw- 



