Allegan County, Michigan - Chapter 14: Eakly Supekvisobs and Commissiowbhs, 1880

Chapter 14: Eakly Supekvisobs and Commissiowbhs

Allegan County : First Record of Supervisors - Equalizing Assessment Kolls - Sums TOted for Bridges - County Contingent Fund - Township Expenses - Place to keep Prisoners - Poor-Fund - Votes on County Buildings - Wolf-Bounty - Establishment of Board of Commissioners - First Commissioners of Allegan County - Reestablishment of Board of Supervisors - First Board under new first Action - Second Meeting - Equalizing Valuation - Abstract of Assessments for 1839 - Meeting in October, 1839 - Taxes Raised Apportionment of Taxes to Townships - Re-establishment of

" On this 4th day of October, 1836, being the first Tuesday of the said month, the day appointed by the Laws of this State for the Annual meeting of this Board, the following persons. Supervisors of the several townships in the said county, are convened in the village of Allegan - that is to say : Hull Sherwood, Jr., Supervisor of the township of Otsego ; Alexander L. Ely, Supervisor of the township of Allegan ; Daniel A. Plummer, Supervisor of the township of Newark ; John Murphy, Supervisor of the township of Plainfield.

At this first meeting bills were audited to the amount of $28, and it was voted that orders on the treasurer should be issued in favor of the several parties.

The supervisors presented the assessment-rolls of their several townships for examination, and the board proceeded to ascertain whether the valuations had been made in just proportion in all the townships in the county. It was then ordered

" That the valuations in the townships of Otsego and Plainfield be confirmed ; that there be added to the valuations in the township of Allegan twenty-two per centum, and that there be added to the valuations in the township of Newark fifteen per centum."

At the meeting held pursuant to adjournment it was ordered " That there be raised by tax upon the county the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars to be expended in repairs on bridges in the county as follows : For the bridge across Gun River, $30 ; for the bridge across Pine Creek, $75 ; for the bridge across Schrobel Creek, $75 ; for bridges between Allegan and Newark, $75."

Also, " That there be raised by tax upon the county the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars for a county contingent fund." This order was reconsidered, and three hundred and fifty-seven dollars was inserted in the place of two hundred and fifty. Still later, at the same meeting, it was ordered that four hundred dollars should be inserted in place of three hundred and fifty-seven. This last amount was not changed, and constituted the contingent fund of the county for that year.

On application of the supervisors of the several townships, it was ordered that the following sums be assessed for township expenses: On the township of Allegan, one hundred and fifty dollars; on the township of Otsego, seventy-five dollars ; on the township of Plainfield, fifty dollars ; on the township of Newark, seventy-five dollars.

A meeting of the board of supervisors was held on the 7th day of March, 1837, at the office of the county clerk, in Allegan, at which the chairman and clerk were authorized to procure and prepare some suitable place to confine prisoners.

At a meeting held in November of the same year it was unanimously resolved that one hundred dollars should be raised to constitute a poor-fund, and also that the sheriff should be authorized to procure a suitable place for the confinement of debtors and criminals ; provided, the expense should not exceed.one hundred dollars for one year.

At the same meeting the clerk was directed to put up public notices in three places in each township, requesting the qualified electors at the next town-meetings to authorize the board of supervisors, by a vote of said electors, to borrow on the credit of the county such sum as the body should deem proper, not exceeding fifteen thousand dollars, for the purpose of erecting county buildings, pursuant to an act of the Legislature passed March 20, 1837.

A bounty of five dollars was authorized to be paid by the county treasurer for each wolf that should thereafter be taken and killed therein ; the proof of the same to be a certificate of a justice of the peace, based upon the oath of the claimant or a competent witness, and on the production of the scalp.

By the provisions of a law passed by the Legislature in 1838, the powers and duties of the board of supervisors were transferred to a board of county commissioners.

The first commissioners of Allegan County were Oshea Wilder, of Newark ; Silas F. Littlejohn, of Allegan ; and Hull Sherwood, of Otsego. These officers were duly qualified on the 20th of December, 1838. The board then organized, with Silas F. Littlejohn as chairman, and adjourned to meet at Allegan on the 15th of January, 1839.

The business of the county was transacted by the new board until the office of county commissioner was abolished and that of supervisor was revived, by an act of the Legislature approved- Feb. 10, 1842. The powers which had been exercised by the commissioners were then resumed by the supervisors of the county, whose first meeting under the new law was held July 4, 1842. As they were not all present, the board adjourned until the next day, when the townships were represented as follows : Lintsford B. Coats, Otsego ; Archibald Jameson, Plainfield; Joel Brownson, Martin ; Stephen A. Morrison, Newark ; John H. Billings, Manlius ; Amos D. Dunning, Watson ; John Weare, Trowbridge ; Alexander L. Ely, Allegan. Alexander L. Ely was elected chairman for the ensuing year.

From that time until the present the board has exercised the legislative authority of the county. An account of its action in regard to the poor-farm and the erection of county buildings is given in Chapter XVI.

When Barry County was organized by the Legislature in March, 1839, county commissioners had just been substituted for supervisors throughout the State. Commissioners were accordingly voted for at the first election for county officers, on the 4th of April following, and Calvin G. Hill, John Bowne, and Nelson Barnum were duly elected. The following is the record of the first proceedings of the board :

"At the first meeting of commissioners-elect for the county of Barry, held ot the county-seat, to wit, the village of Hastings in said county, on the thirteenth day of April in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine, - present, Calvin G. Hill and John Bowne, -

" Three numbers were prepared by the clerk, and the commissioners present drew for the term of time for holding their said office. Whereupon it was found that Calvin G. Hill drew for one year, John Bowne for two years, leaving the term of three years to Nelson Barnum, who was absent by reason of sickness.

" The commissioners present then took the oath of office prescribed by law, and organized the board by choosing Calvin G. Hill chairman for the legal term, and then proceeded to business.

" On motion. Resolved, That John J. Nichols, of Barry, John W. Bradley, of Yankee Springs, and William P. Bristol, of Johnstown, be and are hereby appointed superintendents of the poor, in and for the county of Barry, for the term of one year from the date of their said appointment. On motion, the board adjourned without date."

It will be seen that the only business done at the first meeting was the appointment of superintendents of the poor, but on the 8th of July, 1839, pursuant to public notice, the board convened for the purpose of examining the assessment-rolls of the several townships and other business. After a proper examination of the rolls it was resolved, " That to the township of Yankee Springs twenty per cent, be added in order to produce an equal relative valuation in the several townships in the county.''

At a meeting of the board of commissioners on the 15th of October, 1839, it was resolved that a State tax of two mills upon each dollar of valuation should be assessed in the county of Barry for the year 1839, and that there should likewise be assessed a tax of one and a half mills on each dollar for county purposes for the same year. At the same meeting the following resolution was also adopted :

" Resolved, That the amount of moneys to be raised in each township for different purposes, for the year 1839, should be as is herein set forth, and that the ratio should be as set forth in this exhibit."

Early Courts

The commissioners transacted the business of the county until July 4, 1842, when the functions of the board of supervisors were restored. Supervisors from the townships of Spaulding, Barry, Thornapple, Yankee Springs, Irving, Hastings, Johnstown, Castl^ton, Carlton, and Woodland constituted the first board under the new arrangement. The business of the county has since been transacted by the supervisors. Their action in regard to the county buildings and the poor-farm will be found in Chapter XVI.