ONEIDA GEOGRAPHY & EARLY LANDOWNERS

From "History of Ingham and Eaton counties, Michigan" - 1880

GEOGRAPHICAL AND TOPOGRAPHICAL.
The township of Oneida occupies a position on the northern extreme of Eaton County, and is bounded east, south, and west, respectively, by the townships of Delta, Benton, and Roxand, and north by Eagle township, in Clinton County. Grand River flows across the northeast corner of Oneida through a deeply-worn channel, and running parallel with it is the Detroit, Lansing and Northern Railway, leading to Ionia and Howard City. The shores of the river are noted for their fine and varied scenery.

Above the village of Grand Ledge the banks slope gently to the stream, but at and below the village they become abrupt and jut boldly out over the waters, laying bare the rugged masses of sandstone which here so closely underlie the surface. This rock, where exposed, is of a light yellow color, but taken from the lower strata is of a soft gray shade, and is much sought after for building purposes and is extensively quarried in the vicinity. At the western extremity of the village a small stream, known as Sandstone Creek, discharges its waters into the river, after passing for some distance through a dark and rocky gorge, or " gulf," grown thick with hemlocks. The admirer of the rugged in nature would not expect, on approaching the river at this point, the beauties which await him, and the surprise on a nearer approach is delightful.

A fine quality of soft coal for use as fuel is mined near Grand Ledge, although scarcely paying to produce for a home market, timber being yet so plenty. The vein averages from eighteen inches to two and a half feet in thickness, and on the farm of W. J. Babcock, north of Grand Ledge, near the county-line, it has been found three feet in thickness. Mr. Babcock has mined more extensively than any other person in the vicinity, and at one time shipped large quantities to Detroit, Ionia, and Grand Rapids. He says it will yield 6000 tons per acre on his farm. The coal on his place is about sixty feet below the surface, yet he does not have to
shaft to reach it and a natural drainage is obtained to the river. A vein has been recently opened on the south side of the river, west of the village, and is eighteen inches thick and of superior quality for fuel.

The portions of the township away from the vicinity of the river and its tributaries are generally rolling, and swamps of considerable size abounded when the town was first settled, but a judicious system of drainage has reduced them materially. The soil is of good quality, and the amount of grain and fruit raised compares favorably with that of any township in the county.

The boundaries of this township were surveyed by Lucius Lyon in 1825, and the subdivisions by Orange Risdon in 1827.


LAND ENTRIES.
The following is a list of land entries in what is now the township of Oneida (town 4 north, range 4 west), as given in the tract-book for the county of Eaton:
Section 1.-1836, W. Thompson; 1837, S. E. Cole.
Section 2.-1831, H. Mason; 1836, W. Packard, IH. Butler, W. Thompson; 1837, S. E. Cole.
Section 3.-1833, I. Wilmarth; 1836, H. H. Comstock, H. Miller, W.Packard.
Section 4.-1836, J. R. Williams, W. Packard, L. H. Parsons, E.Newman,
C. Rollo.
Section 5.-1836, E. L. Akin, Freeman Johnson, J. Tanner; 1837, J.Dobbins.
Section 6.-1836, F. Johnson, O. Rowland; 1837, E. Eddy, J. Dobbins; 1848, V.
Welch, J. Sanders; 1851, J. Sanders; 1854, E.Eddy; 1855, A. A. Jenne.
Section 7.-1836, F. Johnson, B. Jones, T. Strange; 1838, Philip
Eckler, R. Wood; 1839, A. Wood; 1848, S. Clayton; 1854, J.Clayton.
Section 8.-1836, Graham & Church, J. Tanner, S. E. Hitchcock; 1837, Z. Lloyd.
Section 9. —1836, W. Packard, A. Newman, L. H. Parsons, S. L.Gage.
Section 10. —1833, N. J. Brown; 1836, M. A. Perry, J. S. Rapleyer,
S. L. Stoddard, S. B. Croger, W. Henry, L. Newman.
Section 11.-1833, J. Torrey, C. Thayer; 1835, Boyer & Co.; 1836,
Z. Lloyd & Co., J. R. Williams, Z. Lloyd, A. Sumner.
Section 12.-1835, Boyer & Co., - Hatch; 1836, J. R. Williams.
Section 13. —1836, L. Brown, Thomas Beach.
Section 14.-1836, M. Jewell, C. Southwick, E. Tyler.
Section 15. —1836, H. Halbert, Z. Darling, A. Moore, H. Velzy, I.Corbett.
Section 16.-No dates, W. H. Tenear, S. Sunderland, C. A. Matthews;
1851, G. W. Rogers; 1854, C. S. Fairchild, Charles Patterson;
G. Helrey, 11. Sutherland; 1855, S. Doxie; 1860, M. M. Sutherland.
Section 17.-1837, G. Owen, V. Chapin; 1846, E. Sutherland; 1848,
H. Sutherland; 1849, R. K. Stark; 1850, J. Van Gilder; 1851,
H. Westfall, E. Sutherland; 1852, D. Beach, D. Sanders.
Section 18.-1836, Geo. Strange & Co., T. Beach, Wm. W. Norton.
Section 19. —1836, J. H. Loring, R. A. Merritt; 1837, H. Whitney;
1839, J. B. Chapman; 1848, E. Kimball.
Section 20.-1837, E. J. Penniman, T. Mosier; 1848, Wm. Glyn, S.
Sutherland; 1850, Charles Jones; 1851, A. Shurter, Orrison Mosier.
Section 21.-1836, N. Gleason, D. Harris; Berry & Russell; 1837,
W. Whitlock, Timothy Mosier, R. Rix, E. J. Penniman.
Section 22.-1836, E. Parmelee, H. H. Howland, A. Halbert, J.
Berry, S. Russell; no date, John Diebert.
Section 23.-1836, J. Lemmon, P. Blasier; 1837, W. P. Durkee; 1850,
S. Perry, Otto Harman; no date, John Diebert.
Section 24.-1836, George W. Teeple; 1837, T. N. Scranton; 1840, J.
Lewis; 1841, F. Young; 1846, E. M. Fargo; 1848, A. Frizzle;
1849, James E. Johnson; 1850, L. Powers.
Section 25.-1836, T. W. Nichols; 1837, J. Stanley; 1838, T. W.
Nichols; 1840, B. B. Munro; 1847, S. Waldo; 1848, A. Hottenstein, Asaph Frizzle; 1849, G. W. Nichols.
Section 26.-1836, J. R. Nichols, J. Jacobs, D. Monroe; 1837, S. P.
Swartz; 1838, J. Davis; 1850, S. B. Dayton; 1851, W. D. Mann.
Section 27.-1836, Peter M. Kind(Kent), J. Mitchell, T. W. Nichols.
Section 28.-1836, P. M. Kind(Kent), B. K. Gear; 1838, William Henry;
1849, J. L. Mitchell; 1852, L. W. Reynolds.1853
Section 29.-1836, B. K. Gear; 1837, Wm. Densmore, S. Hungerford;
1848, R. Dye; 1849, Christopher Flowers, C. Verplank; 1851, W. Guttery.
Section 30.-1851, Asaph Landers, D. O'Neil, P. Iackathorn; 1854,
J. Hitchman; 1855, George Braley, J. O'Neil; 1858, V. Frisbee.
Section 31.-1837, C. Griswold, J. Hughes, Jr.; 1846, 1848, G. R. Trumbull; 1849,
Jenne & Co.; no date, W. A. Barker; 1852, H. Westfall; 1854, H. A. Moyer; 1855, D. O'Neil.
Section 32.-1836, B. White, D. Harris; 1837, A. Mygatt, J. Smith,
G. H. Hall, L. Sprague.
Section 33-1836, H. Barber, W. Loveland, S. Preston, J. Smith, V.
Criddeman, J. Little.
Section 34.-1836, George Strange & Co. (entire).
Section 35.-1836, D. Allen, James Nixon, James R. Nichols, H.
Thomas; 1837, R. Nixon.
Section 36. —1836, James Nixon, J. Boyce; 1867, Henry H. Crapo.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the first entry in the township was made on section 2, in 1831, by H. Mason. H. Wilmarth, N. J. Brown, J. Torrey, and others purchased in 1833, mostly on speculation. Hon. Henry H.Crapo, of Flint, a prominent manufacturer of and dealer in lumber, and at one time Governor of Michigan, purchased timber lands in the township at later dates.