344 GENERAL HISTORY. 



MONTCALM COUNTY. 



This county was set off by an act of the Territorial Legislature, approved 

 March 2d, 1831, and was organized in pursuance of an act of the State Legis- 

 lature, approved March 20th, 1850, 



The section providing for the location of the county seat was amended in 

 1859. 



The county seat is located at Stanton. 



In 1839 and 1840 Luther Lincoln and others built the first saw-mill in Mont- 

 calm county. 



In 1841 Mr. Lincoln and his son, thirteen years of age, were residents of 

 Greenville, they being the sole inhabitants of the county. 



In the History of Michigan Horticulture, in 1880, Prof. James Satterlee, 

 speaking of this county, says : '' The southern tier of townships, which join 

 Ionia county on the north — Eureka, Fairplains, Bloomer and Bushnell — were 

 first settled and show the greatest development in fruit culture of any town- 

 ships in the county. The original timber of these townshij^s was mostly oak, 

 in some places very heavy. It has taken much time to get rid of the stumps 

 and to get good orchards started. The timber of Eureka, being less heavy, 

 was the first cleared, and this township now produces more fruit than any 

 other. There is much high, dry and sandy land, well adapted to peach grow- 

 ing. In the early history of the township peaches never failed. In late 

 years the crop has been more uncertain. Cherries, pears and grapes are grown 

 quite successfully. The first apple orchards were set in the spring of 1845 by 

 W. and R. K. Divine. A year or two afterward Alexander Satterlee set a fine 

 orchard, and orchards were set by Ethan, Henry and Ezra Satterlee, These 

 orchards are all in good bearing condition, only a few trees being killed in 

 the severe winter of 1874-5, Many younger orchards are now in bearing, 

 and the fruit produced is of the very best quality. 



''Orchards are doing better on the high, rolling lands, even where the tim- 

 ber was pine, than on the level lands from which the beech and maple have 

 been cleared. The severe winter of 1874-5 killed or severely injured all the 

 young orchards of the northern part of the county. 



" Little has been done in the raising of small fruits and berries in the 

 county, there being usually such a supply of wild blackberries in the newly 

 chopped pine forests that there is no inducement for the cultivation of such 

 fruits. Strawberries and raspberries do well, however, and enough are grown 

 for home consumption. 



''We consider the future of fruit growing in Montcalm county as very 

 promising. Being near the northern limit of successful culture in the 

 interior of the State, our market will always be good. Good varieties have 

 usually been planted and the quality is always of the best," 



There is an auxiliary horticultural society at Greenville, the report from 

 which in 1881 says: "The horticutural resources of our vicinity are gradu- 

 ally developing, and the apple traffic has recently received an impetus which 

 far surpasses the expectations of a few years ago, 



"This season Mr. B. S, Bigley, of our society (from what fruit growers 

 would call a small orchard), marketed over §200 worth of apples, and people 

 generally now believe in the orchard." 



In the report of this society for 1882 the secretary notes his observations 



