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From History of Ionia County: The first land entry in the present township of Berlin was probably made in July 1833 by John E Morrison who was likewise the first person to make a settlement in the township The land he entered occupies the northeast corner of the township upon section 25 in township 7 and lies upon the river Mr Morrison penetrated into Oakland county Michigan in 1824 and after nine years experience as a pioneer in that locality was dissatisfied with the progress he had made Conceiving that better land could be found farther westward he determined to investigate the matter and endeavored to impress some of his neighbors with similar sentiments His efforts in that direction were however unavailing They declared themselves suited with what they had and intimated to Morrison that he had better remain content or it might be worse for him Young Morrison was however not to be dissuaded and in July 1833 set out alone on horseback over the old Indian trail from Pontiac bound west In narrating that portion of his Michigan experience Mr Morrison remarked that he was more determined than ever to push his project since others opposed it He added with a glow of satisfaction that he never backed out of any enterprise into which he entered although he would have backed out in 1849 when on a tour across the plains to California he was taken sick and felt sure that he would die He had to stick however because there was no help for it As he expected he did find better land farther west and in section 25 as earlier noticed he chose a farm to his liking He hastened back to Oakland county for his family and returning in the fall with his wife and little ones found that he had already got a neighbor in Oliver Arnold a blacksmith who was living on the south bank of the Grand river in what is now Ionia township having come out with the Dexter colony Morrison lodged his family with Mr Arnold until he could prepare a habitation of his own and when they began life in their own cabin they felt no doubt a deal of comfort and satisfaction at first although to recollect afterwards Mr Morrison thought there must have been precious little to be thankful for However he set himself sttirdily to work and pushed aside with vigorous arm the jagged edges and tough knots that faced him in his pioneer's progress until he began directly to reap the reward of his toil in improved property comfort and conveniences Although Mr Morrison was for nearly two years the only settler in Berlin township and lived upon the fringe of an unbroken wilderness he was not entirely out of the world of civilization for there was his neighbor Arnold close by and just over the river was the little community at Samuel Dexter village of Ionia the county seat so that he was not quite so lonesome or isolated as he might have been In 1835 he put out a half bushel of apple seed that came from Ohio and from the orchard that followed he supplied many customers with trees He therefore not only planted the first orchard but raised likewise the first crop of wheat in the town For his first wheat he got two dollars a bushel and for his first potatoes a similar price although these figures were exceptional and must have been realized as the result of an emergency George Hosford who later lived on section 25 in township 7 was among the early comers to Ionia county and at a very early day worked for Mr Morrison in Berlin so that he may be strictly regarded as having been a pioneer of the front rank although not an actual settler in Berlin township until the township was pretty well populated Mr Morrison resided later in Ionia township on the south side of the river but not far from the place of his first settlement in Berlin He was prominent in county history not only as the first county treasurer first clerk of Ionia township and first clerk of Cass but as a surveyor of many of the county's earliest highways He was something of a wanderer too He joined the army of California gold seekers in 1849 lingered awhile in Texas and lived two years in Tennessee but Michigan proved his best love and to he returned to find rest for the soles of his feet and a home that would remain his as long as he needed one on earth From History of Ionia County, Michigan: http://books.google.com/books?id=yz4VAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA303&dq=%2B%22mckelvey%22%2Bionia&ei=uoDYSJHkL5S4yQTdvujrDg#PPA303,M1 On October 15 1873 Marcellus J Allen was united in marriage to Susan S Morrison who was Ixjrn on a farm in what is now South Ionia March 14 1844 daughter of John E and Eliza McKelvey Morrison both natives of New York state and pioneers of this county who spent their last days here the former dying at the age of eighty and the latter at the age of seventy six John E Morrison was the youngest of five children of Joseph Morrison a soldier of the American Revolution and wife the others having been Joseph Anna Susanna and Edward Joseph Morrison was a prominent resident of Elmira New York where he and his wife spent their last days Grandfather McKelvey and wife were among the earliest residents of Ionia county having settled here about six months after the coming of the Dexter colony the first recorded settlers Among their children who grew to maturity here were John Eliza Catherine and Elizabeth John E Morrison and wife were the parents of eight children George who died during his service as a Union soldier in the Civil War Joseph Myra John Susan S Mary Anna and Charles Susan S Morrison received her education in the Ionia schools and was a public school teacher at the time of her marriage to Mr Allen References
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