FAEMERS' INSTITUTES. 



31 



RURAL TOWNSHIPS OF WASHTENAW COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Augusta 



Bridgewater 

 Fredom 



Lima . 



Lodi 



Lyndon 



Northfield. 

 Pittsfield.. 



Salem 



Sharon 



Superior . . 

 Webster... 



Total , 



Township. 



1850. 



808 

 ,147 

 ,21.5 



912 

 ,234 



901 

 ,116 

 ,2.32 

 ,343 



868 

 ,127 



924 



12,827 



1860. 



1,140 

 1,290 

 1,316 



998 

 1,319 



821 

 1,.S73 

 1,331 

 1,.359 

 1,000 

 1,346 

 1.106 



14,419 



1,592 



1870. 



1,470 

 1,379 

 1,261 

 1,052 

 1,344 



823 

 1.300 

 1,121 

 1,216 

 1,087 

 1,268 



974 



1880. 



1,640 

 1,255 

 1,373 

 1,021 

 1,377 



735 

 1,273 

 1,233 

 1,192 

 1,161 

 1,253 



969 



14,295 '' 14,482 



187 



1890. 190O. 



1,789 

 1,084 

 1,134 



991 

 1,264 



617 

 1,210 

 1,158 

 1,182 

 1,014 

 1,096 



863 



1,739 

 1,011 

 1,013 



961 

 1,121 



665 

 1,260 

 1,050 

 1,158 



984 

 1,039 



747 



13,382 12,754 



-1,100 



Between 1850 and 18G0 all of them increased in population except one, 

 and the total increase was about 1,600. During the following decade 

 six of them gained and six lost, but there was a net loss of about 100, 

 which was undoubtedly due to the civil war. Between '70 and '80 there 

 was a small net gain of about 200, notwithstanding the fact that seven out 

 of the twelve lost. The census of 1890 showed that a general falling otf 

 had set in. All of these toAvnships but one diminished in population and 

 the net loss was 1,100. This movement continued during the decade just 

 past, but with some abatement. Only two townships gained and the net 

 loss was about 600. At the present time the total population of the 

 twelve townships is 12,754, a little less than in 1850 and twelve per cent 

 less than the maximum of 1880. 



Thus if one should draw a curve representing the history of popula- 

 tion in these townships, this curve would rise rapidly between '50 and '60, 

 fall slightly between '60 and '70, rise again slightly between '70 and '80, 

 and after that fall continuously, though at a rate that diminishes as we 

 approach the present year. 



It is possible, though it would be rash to assert it as a fact, that Wash- 

 tenaw county is in some measure representative, as regards these changes, 

 not only of southern Michigan but of the northern United States west of 

 the Mississippi. Some time ago, before the results of the census of 1900 

 were available, I examined the movement of population in ten rural 

 townships of Connecticut, taken from different parts of the state, 

 and ten from New York, taken in like manner. The result was much 

 the same as in Michigan, except that the decline seemed to begin a little 

 earlier. There was an almost universal falling off between '80 and '90, 

 only one of the twenty townships showing an increase. There was a 



