Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2013, All Rights Reserved U.S. Data Repository Please read U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the US Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= U.S. Data Repository NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization. Non-commercial organizations desiring to use this material must obtain the consent of the transcriber prior to use. Individuals desiring to use this material in their own research may do so. ========================================================================= Formatted by U.S. Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY, MICHIGAN by Florence McKinnon Gwinn Huron County Pioneer & Historical Society, 1922 [page 35] CHAPTER III EARLY TOWNSHIP HISTORY DWIGHT TOWNSHIP South of Port Austin is the township of Dwight, settled in 1856 by HENRY HELLEMS, who was also the first supervisor. Here we find J. F. WEATHERHEAD, who came in 1859 and BENJAMIN CARTWRIGHT, who came in 1861, and bought 80 acres of land. He was the owner of the first wagon, the first fanning mill and the first threshing machine and also built the first brick chimney in Dwight. Other early settlers were THOMAS SULLIVAN, M. FREMONT and PETER SMEADER, who spent nine years in Port Austin before coming here. MAGUIRE FREMONT was an early and well known pioneer of this township. He came in 1856 to Port Austin, where he worked 16 years in a saw mill and in 1879 located land and established a home in Dwight. He was one of the organizers of the Catholic church in Port Austin and was a splendid type of the sturdy and thrifty settlers in this country. Once he walked from Bay City to Dwight, a distance of 78 miles, in one day. The soil in this township is of a gravelly loam na- ture in the northern part and sandy in the southern part. [page 36] PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY The timber was originally hard wood with some pine and hemlock. Bird's Creek and its tributaries run through the township and afford good drainage. All kinds of fruit do well here. The township has several good schools. ===========================================================================