2024.04.39

”Have a Nice Settlement” by Kit Lane for the "Village Patchwork" exhibit. William G. Butler, the founder of Saugatuck and the first white settler in Allegan County didn’t exactly rush into the area. He was born in Connecticut and, as an adult, moved to Pennsylvania where he ran a store, found a wife and was married. Butler, his wife, Mary and at least one child moved on to Elkhart, Indiana, where he attempted to run a store with little success. In 1830, hearing of the money to be gained by land speculation in the Territory of Michigan he went exploring on horseback looking for a likely settlement site. He returned to Elkhart, packed up his wife and (by this time) two children, and took a riverboat up the St. Joseph River to St. Joseph at the mouth where he bought passage on a passing sailing vessel heading north on Lake Michigan. When they arrived at the mouth of the Kalamazoo River the sailboat anchored off shore while Butler and family, with all of their belongings (tradition has it, including a covered soup tureen) were rowed ashore in a small boat. The captain waved, probably yelled something like, “Have a nice settlement,” and sailed away. After camping for a time at the mouth the family built a raft and poled their way upriver to the flat spot near the lake and built a cabin. Butler, along with investors Griffith, Mason and Hoffman (whose names are preserved on village streets), entered the land and platted a village in 1834. Douglas began about twenty years later when some former Saugatuck men bought farms on the south side of the river. It was not until 1861 that a small village was platted and called Douglas.

1830 Settlement, pioneer era

Winthers, Sally

07/29/2024

08/16/2024