Village of Breedsville

Breedsville, MI

About

History of Breedsville, Origins of Columbia Township

In May, 1835 Rev. Jonathan N. Hinckley and Barnard M. Howard, both from
Monroe Co., NY, visited the region now known as Columbia Township, then
unorganized territory attached to Cass county, and purchased several tracts of
land in the immediate vicinity of the present village of Breedsville.

Upon the south side of the creek, and east of the present mill yard, they erected
the walls of a log house, and after covering them with a bark roof they returned
to their homes in the State of New York. Early in the fall of the same year a party
of about 25 persons, all from Monroe Co., NY started out for the purpose of
making a settlement on the new purchase.

They journeyed via the Erie Canal to Buffalo, thence by Lake Erie to Detroit. In the
latter city they bought an ox-team and wagon. Upon their wagon they loaded their
household goods and the small children, and then, with the major portion of their
number on foot, set out via the Territorial road for Paw Paw. It occupied two days
to cut out roads and make their way from the last-mentioned settlement to the cabin
awaiting them on the banks of the outlet. Here all arrived safely, however, Oct. 1, 1835,
and here began the first settlement of any importance in the northern half of Van Buren county.

The unfinished cabin was soon made in a habitable condition. The next house built was for
Mr. Brown’s family, which was followed soon after by the one erected for Mr. Watson’s
occupancy. These three houses sheltered the colonists during the first winter. Prior to that time,
however, William A. Babbitt joined them. Elder Hinckley returned to New York in January, 1836,
and did not again make this locality his residence until several years later. The first death occurred
during the winter of 1835-36, in the person of Sarah Taylor.

During the year 1836, Jonathan N. Howard and others erected houses for themselves, and Silas
Breed built his saw-mill, which was then valued at $700. The events of the year 1837 were the
organization of South Haven Township, of which the residents were nearly all members of the
Breedsville settlement; the arrival and settlement of Elijah Knowles, William Bridges, and George
Cochrane, from Livingston Co., NY; Dr. Hervey Manley, from Ashtabula Co., Ohio; and Myron
Hoskins, from Paw Paw. Mr. Hoskins settled in Paw Paw in 1835, and it is believed erected the
first framed house in the township.

The first child –Nancy– was born to Jonathan N. Howard and wife in 1837, and during the fall of
the same year the second death took place. Samuel Watson, then about sixty years of age, had
gone on foot to Paw Paw in quest of medicine for some member of this family. Upon his return he
died alone in the woods, where his body was found upon a search being instituted. The parties
named in the first marriage contract were George Cochrane and Miss Sarah Watson. By whom
they were married, or the precise date of the wedding is unknown.

In 1838 the first tannery was commenced by Elijah Knowles and John Barrows, the first school-house
– in which Lorenzo D. Cate taught the first school — was built, and the settlement was still further
increased in numbers by the arrival of Jephtha Waterman, Horace Humphrey, John Barrows and probably a few others.

For several years the early residents procured their mail-matter at Paw Paw. Upon the establishment
of the Breedsville office, Amos S. Brown became the first postmaster, and Jesse R. Brown carried the
first mail between Breedsville and Paw Paw. Thomas P. Page settled in the village of Breedsville in 1841.
He, with many others, kept an open house for the accommodation of travelers. About 1848, when the
stages began running between Paw Paw and South Haven, he opened a regularly licensed hostelry.
Charles W. Luce, a present prominent resident of the township, settled on section 23 of the same year.
Alexander Lytle, township treasurer for a long period of years, early purchased lands situated upon
sections 28 and 34, and settled here in 1842. Other early settlers, who were here prior to 1845, were
Peter Smith, Lyman Loomis (the first supervisor of Columbia), Jethro Barber (one of the earliest pioneers
in the county), Amos E. Barber, Edmond Sawtell, David Barker, Hiram Chappell, James Richards, S.N. Pike,
A. Bugsbee, and James Moore.

Jonathan N. Hinckley, a grandson of Elder J.N. Hinckley, came from Barry, Orleans Co., NY, in the fall of
1845, and settled where he now resides, having purchased an improvement made by Jephtha Waterman.
Mr. Hinckley drove out his team of horses, coming by the route south of the lakes. In the spring of 1846 his
family, accompanied by his brother Marenus, joined him here. Henry Mower was his nearest neighbor on the
east, and Paw Paw the nearest post-office station. Among other quite early settlers in this township were
E.L. Bushnell, who first came to Van Buren County in 1833; John King and his brother, 1845; Eli Bell, 1849;
A.H.L. Teal, 1851; the Lacells, 1852; E.T. Pepper, 1854; Dr. H. Anderson, 1855; R. Jones, 1856; and James
Thompson, 1857. In 1858 the first grist-mill was erected by Heath, on the outlet of Great Bear Lake. No improvements
of any importance, except in the vicinity of "Pecktown," were made in the northern part of the township until
1868 to 1870, when they were hastened by the contemplated building of the railroads.

Breedsville was settled by a group from New York in 1835, one of them of the group
was Silas Breed, and this is who Breedsville was named after. Mr. Breed built a sawmill
to harvest lumber for future settlers in this area. It was incorporated as a village in
1883 and is locate in Columbia Township which is in the central part of Van Buren County,
junction of the county roads 380 and 215. It is a small community charm that features the
quiet home settings where we welcome everyone with open arms. It has a few business located
in the village. It also features the South Branch of the Black River and two beautiful
parks where you can sit down and have a picnic and let the kids run and play.