Person:John Lomison (3)

"...John, who married and brought up a family of sons and daughters. He finally settled in the state of Michigan, where he later met with a fatal injury in an accident, which resulted in his death..."

From --Travis Fisher The Vicksburg Semi-Weekly Commercial , Friday, September 5, 1913 (Vicksburg, Kalamazoo County, MI) Annual Reunion of the Krader, Fisher, Hutchinson Families History of the Pioneer Days of the Fisher Family By Mrs. S. Elizabeth Lomison Snyder Let me quote from Emerson, who tells us, "The best servant of the republic is one who knows its parts, forsees its future, lives in its present and is ready for the next step." So the early pioneers of this country must have seen great possibilities in the future of St. Joseph county to leave friends and comfort behind and make the long tedious journey of weeks by wagon to reach this land of promise. We deplore the neglect of our parents and grandparents is not leaving for the rising generation a history of their pioneer days of danger, privation and misfortune; days of toll, days when they were buoyed up with hope and nerved with vigor to build for themselves and their loved ones homes amidst this beautiful scenery, while yet the whoop of an Indian and the howl of the wolf resounded on every side. When the brave pioneers left their eastern home of plenty and comfort and started for the wild western country to take up government land to make homes for themselves this beautiful township was indeed "The happy hunting ground" of the Indian; our rivers and lakes the avenue of travel for hunter and trapper. Among the earliest settlers of St. Joseph county were the "Fisher Family" of whom seven members, out of a family of sixteen, migrated to this county and helped lay the foundation and make it the prosperous county we find it today. "The Fisher Family" came to Michigan settling in St. Joseph county in the days when "Wilderness was king" The first to leave the home in Columbia county, Pennsylvania, were Jonas and Leonard, accompanied by Reuben the youngest member of the family, then a lad of sixteen. On the eastern of this beautiful sheet of water (Fisher's Lake) Jonas and Leonard were among the first to erect their log cabins, hence the name "Fisher's Lake." They partially located on the Pottawatomie Reservation in the fall of 1834. They erected a small log cabin which constituted the grandest architectural monument of the township. It was built by Harvey Kenney, assisted by Jonas and Leonard Fisher and George Leland. This cabin was not occupied by Mr. Kenny until the spring of 1835. He located a claim on the southeast quarter on which the above mentioned cabin was erected. It was widely known by the settlers that the Indians were to yield up their possessions within two years, which had put the land under squatter sovereignty. Under the treaty of Chicago the Indians agreed to surrender up their possessions within the time stated. This treaty was made and confirmed in September, 1833. Squatters commenced to locate claims in the eastern part of the reservation but no claim was located in the western portion in Park township until later in the fall of 1834. Park was settled later than the surrounding country because of the Indian Reservation. This trespassing on the land of the Indians by settlers was regarded by the Indians as a violation of the treaty of Chicago and caused deep apprehension [and] danger to those located there. [Jonas and] Leonard Fisher left their home in Danville, Penn., in company with others and with wagons made their way to Michigan in 1834, Jonas Fisher locating on the southeastern bank of the lake and Leonard on the extreme southern bank where they erected their log cabins, reared their families, cleared their land and lived many years. I think they built their log cabins in the spring of 1835. Jonas later built a small frame house on the site of the old log cabin, but later, perhaps in 1854, built the fine brick home farther to the east and on the road, occupied by Mr. Felker. Leonard Fisher also built farther from the lake as he found his cabin left in the field after the county was surveyed and roads laid out. He built the small frame house which still stands but is in disuse. I think that portion of land is now in posession of Roland Heimbach. Jonas and Mary Fisher were the parents of twelve children, four of whom are now living. Leonard and Sarah Fisher had a family of twelve children of whom but two are now living, Underwood residing at Clear Lake and Mrs. Helen Fisher Bunnell, of Detroit. Leonard Fisher sold his farm in 1854 and moved to Three Rivers, having purchased the Three Rivers House which he managed for many years. John Lomison came to Michigan in the spring of 1836 from Danville, Penn. with his wife, Sarah Fisher Lomison and two small children, Franklin and Clarence; with them were two other families, who, like themselves, were seeking homes in the west. They drove [sic] through with teams and covered wagons and were six weeks on the way. On this journey they encountered all the hardships of the early pioneers such as the swamps of Ohio, crossing the Maumee river which was flooded at that time, and sleeping out at night in tents or wagons. My father, after reaching Michigan and securing a house for his family, resided on Prairie Ronde for a short time, I will say about a year and a half, but do not know positively. He at once went into the wildernes of Park townhsip took up government land, felled trees to build his cabin to which he afterward brought his family and there my mother shared with him the toil and privation and loneliness of pioneer life. My father took up land one mile north of this place and went through all the hardships of the pioneer as there was little that could be bought with money. There were many Indians about at that time and I remember hearing my mother tell that she never refused them anything they wanted; when they came to exchange fish and game for bread, flour or salt pork, she gave them the last she had if need be, rather than incur their displeasure. I have often heard my father tell of the severe winters they had when the country was new, snow usually fell in October or November to the depth of two or three feet and remained until January, then came a thaw which entirely removed the snow; after this it would fall again to the depth of two or three feet and remained on the ground until April. I also remember hearing my father tell of going to town meeting in sleds the first of April, but do not recall the year. In those days anything was fashionable that was comfortable; people manufactured their own clothing largely from wool and flax grown on their own farms. I well remember my mother's old spinning wheel and the miles she walked back and forth every day. She converted the carded rolls of wool into yarn which was knit into stockings for the fmily -- there were eight children, four of whom are living. Two served in the Civil war -- Franklin and Clarence. Frank fell in battle at Port Hudson, La., and lies buried in the national cemetery at that place. Charles and William Fisher settled in Schoolcraft where they lived and died. Daniel Fisher settled on what is now the Childs farm, his log cabin built below the present brick house and near the Portage river. He was the father of three children; E. B. Fisher, who lives in Chicago; Reuben residence not known, and Joseph, at whose home we have our pleasant meeting of today. Daniel Fisher's wife dying soon after the birth of Joseph, my mother cared for him for many months until Andrew Reed, being childless, adopted him and he today lives on the land cleared by Andrew Reed. Daniel Fisher served in the Mexican war and a few days ago I had the pleasure of reading a letter dated January 29, 1848. He told of their trip from Detroit leaving there on the 25th of December, 1847 and having nothing to eat on their bill of fare but tea biscuit and coffee with now and then beans and salt pork. This letter was written to his brother Reuben and was very interesting reading. I also read a letter from his son, E. Ben Fisher, which was equally interesting. He served in the Civil war and was then in Washington D. C. [illegible] prisoners and he himself was later in Anderson prison. Reuben Fisher settled on a farm in Park township, known as the John Childs farm, now occupied by his son-in-law, Reed. He was the youngest of the Fisher family and the last one taken away; the hard labor of the pioneer days did not wear him out as he managed his farm up to about a year before his death, dying at the ripe old age of 92 years. In the spring of 1854 he sold his farm in Park and moved to Alamo township and with his wife and four small children again took up the life of a pioneer. He found Kalamazoo a village, and Plainwell not even on the map. After over fifty years of toil and perseverance he lived to reap the reward of his labors in a fine farm and good comfortable home. Out of a large family of children, but four are left, to be a blessing and comfort to the aged mother who still remains with us, but is past the allotted time of man, now being eighty-seven years old. The other members of the Fisher family who came to Michigan later, were Jacob, who lived with his sons in Shelby, and died and was buried there. Then Christian who returned to Danville, Penn., and died at the home of a son. The only other member of the family of whom I know was Abraham. The father of this large family, after the death of his wife, came to Michigan, somewhere in the forities, [sic] and spent the last years of his life with his children, passing away at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Lomison. I have related all facts I have found of chief interest and garnered from every available source, confining myself as far as possible to original material and memories of the few older members who are left of the early settlers. Would time allow I would with pleasure name each member constituting the familes of "The Fisher Family," the early pioneers who helped make this beautiful country what it is today; and helped to make it possible, by years of privation and toil for us to enjoy the comforts we now possess. But do not think for one moment that the early settler's life was all toil and privation; one of their chief pleasures in social life as the sun was going down in the west was the old fashioned winter evening visit, when a lumber wagon or bob sleigh brought to your door a load of men, women and children. They remained until midnight and during the evening a hearty meal was served of pancakes, sausages, preserves and doughnuts and coffee, and the time spent in telling stories and singing songs. One of the hardships of the young was going to school, as in all new places it takes several years to get school districts started, so for the present purposes they would have a bee and put up a log house, put a window in each side, a door in one end and the building was completed. The furniture consisted of a row of boards for writing desks on each side and slabs for benches, stove and six or eight hickory sticks in the corner seasoning for future use, as at that time they taught only Readin' 'Ritin' and 'Rithmetic, taught to the tune of a hickory stick." The children often walked two or three miles to school. I have heard my father tell of blazing the trees for the older children to go to school by as there were no laid out roads. The first to teach in Park township was Isaac F. Ulrich. This log school house was built in the [-----] 1838 by the contributions of la[-----] material by the settlers and school was taught in in [sic] for the first time in the spring and among the first scholars was Franklin Lomison. The earliest pioneers found Michigan healthy, my father came at the worst time, for later so much ground was plowed up and the malarial gases set free that the country became very sickly. Every family had fever and ague, sometimes every member of the family being down at once; there were no healthy ones except persons just arrived, but the doctor came every day with free good will and dealt out his portion of calomel. He bled, blistered, purged and salivated his patients, but never cured them. The subject of sickness brings to us that of death and the grave; how many nioneers [sic] lie sleeping in nameless graves we shall never know for the avaricious land owners in a few years plowed over the acres where rested the strangers. Even in Three Rivers a row of thick set houses is standing over one of these earliest cemeteries, whence the bodies have never been removed. Everybody attended funerals forty years ago and there was no expense except for the plank coffin and the white cambric shroud which was the burial robe for man and woman like. There were no flowers, no hearse, no undertaker; the body was carried in a lumber wagon and was lowered in to the grave with lines taken from the horses. All remained until the grave was filled in, [and the] head and foot plank set into shape; then it seemed that all was done by kind friends that could be done, for each neighbor had taken part in these sad duties. There were only planks to mark the graves; these soon rotted out and the sleepers beneath passed into oblivion, their friends dead, gone away or worse, indifferent. The resources in an early day were all that the pioneers could ask, notwithstanding they had an abundance of fever and ague which was a sure sign that any man too lazy would no remain long in the country, which accounts for its rapid progress and prosperity; one of the resources was fruit; they were able to pick from field and swamp -- strawberries and blackberries from field and cranberries and huckleberries from the swamp. As I have mentioned before the women of that day wove, spun, colored and made wearing apparel for the family until the invention of machinery which changed everything and the women were arrayed in calico at 12 1/2c and delaine at 25c per yard. Then the spinning wheel and loom were put aside. But with all the reverses the old pioneer he still forged ahead and we today can hardly realize the trials that beset him. The Indian watched the oncoming civilisation and heard the stroke of the ax as the busy pioneer worked day after day felling the mighty oak to build his home. We look upon the country as it is today and then think what it was some eighty or more years ago when the band of men had scarcely touched it and find we now have fine farms, flourishing villages and cities, fine school houses and elegant churches, telephones, electricity, automobiles and our interurban roads. We are amazed when we stop to consider the changes time has wrought. Fisher's lake is now one of the most popular resorts in southern Michigan; its shores are dotted with summer homes on every side, yet, notwithstanding the crowds that come and go from early June until autumn winds blow chill the natural beauty of the lake has not been despoiled; the great trees of oak and hickory still stand and give shade to a wilderness of wild flowers and ferns. When we think of those brave pioneers who have made it possible for us to enjoy the luxuries of today, let us bow our heads in thanksfulness and gratitude to those brave pioneers, our parentsand grand parents. 11:15, 11 October 2010 (EDT)11:15, 11 October 2010 (EDT)11:15, 11 October 2010 (EDT)11:15, 11 October 2010 (EDT)11:15, 11 October 2010 (EDT)11:15, 11 October 2010 (EDT)~

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Compiler: William W. Scott. History Of Passaic And Its Environs. (Lewis Historical Publishing Company, New York and Chicago, 1922)
   pp. 410-412 Harvey Lamberson.
2. ↑ Snyder, S. Elizabeth Lomison. The Vicksburg Semi-Weekly Commercial: Annual Reunion of the Krader, Fisher, Hutchinson Families: History of th. (05 September, 1913).
3. ↑ Compiler: William W. Scott. History Of Passaic And Its Environs. (Lewis Historical Publishing Company, New York and Chicago, 1922).
4. ↑ ^4.0 4.1 1830 Federal Census Online, Record Type: 1830 Census
   Springfield Twp., Huntingdon Co., PA John Lamberson.
5. ↑ ^5.0 5.1 1820 Federal Census Online, Record Type: 1820 Census
   Catawissa Twp., Northumberland Co., PA John Lomason.
6. ↑ Compiler: US Census Bureau. 1850 Federal Census Online, Record Type: 1850 Census. (Ancestry.com, Provo, UT)
   dwelling 83 household 83 Park Twp., St. Joseph Co., MI John Lomison.
7. ↑ Mortality Schedules of the U.S. Census 1850-1885. (1850-1885).
8. ↑ of paralysis.
9. ↑ 1m <10, 1m 16-26, 1f <10, 1f 26-45, 1 farmer
10. ↑ 1m <5, 1m 20-29, 1f <5, 1f 20-29