EATON COUNTY. 287 



EATON COUNTY. 



This county was set off by act of the Legislative Council of the Territory, 

 approved October 29th, 1829, and was organized in pursuance of an act of 

 the State Legislature, approved December 29th, 1837. 



The county seat is Charlotte, which was settled in 1839. 



The county was named in honor of John H. Eaton, secretary of war 

 under Andrew Jackson. 



The first parcel of land was located in this county in July, 1831, on Grand 

 river, in the town of Oneida. The land remained unoccupied, and was, sub- 

 sequently, the first land sold within the county for non-payment of taxes. 



In February, 1833, the land was purchased, on which the village of Char- 

 lotte was subsequently located. 



On November 5th, 1835, Bellevne, the first village in the county, was laid 

 out, the first actual settlement having been made here in July, 1833, by Cap- 

 tain Reuben Fitzgerald. 



E. W. Barber, now of Jackson but formerly of this county, states that 

 some apple trees were planted in this county as early as 1840, and that, 

 although in many cases neglected and browsed by cattle, some of them are 

 yet living and in good condition. 



He farther states that his uncle, Orrin Dickinson, moved to Vermontville 

 in 1838, bringing with him apple seeds from Vermont, from which were pro- 

 duced trees which now constitute thrifty orchards. 



He states also that Jay Hawkins, another early settler, brought in and 

 planted seeds, the trees from which are now the best existing reminders of 

 the beginnings of civilization here, and closes with the remark that the f)lant- 

 ing of fruit and nut bearing trees along highways has been too long neglected. 



Esek Pray (Pom. report, 1880, page 220) states that ''J. C. Woodbury, of 

 Bellevue, was the proprietor of the first nursery in the southwest part of the 

 county. Jesse Hart, of Brookfield, in the south part of the county, still liv- 

 ing, brought apple seeds with him in the fall of 1837, put them into the 

 ground at once and raised a nursery, supplying himself and neighbors. 

 Nathan H. Pray (my father), of Windsor, in the east part of the county, in 

 the fall of 1837, planted and raised a nursery from the seed, having the seed- 

 lings grafted, and supplied many in his vicinity. Jay Hawkins, of Vermont- 

 ville, in the west part of the county, planted the first apple seeds in the county. 

 He also grafted pears in thorn bushes, and from them the first pears were 

 grown. S. S. Church and Walter S. Fairfield started the first peach nursery 

 in Vermontville from pits. The people of Vermontville planted the first 

 fruit seed from the fall of 1836 until the fall of 1837. Star Hoyt, of Sun- 

 field, in the north part of the county, sowed apple seeds about the same time, 

 from which many of the early orchards sprang." 



The Eaton County Agricultural Society was organized in the year 1855. 



In 1869 an early freeze occurred, by which many apples were frozen before 

 gathering. 



The orchard committee of the State Pomological Society in 1872 awarded 

 a first premium to Joseph Gridley, of Kalamo, for a collection of varieties 

 of apple trees. He was also awarded two premiums in 1873 : a third pre- 

 mium for an apple orchard for profit, and a first premium for a bearing 

 apple orchard. 



