They reached the present site of the village of Lyons at sunset on the 4th of July, 1833, and so exhausted was Mrs. They made the journey on horseback from Laing's to the mouth of the Maple, following Indian trails and fording streams. At Detroit he hired seven teams to carry his supplies westward, and, accompanying them as far as where Laingsburg is now, there left the party, and with his wife and child pushed on through the woods for the mouth of the Maple. He returned at once to New York State, and, shipping appliances for the erection of a mill, started with his wife and child for the scene of his future operations. Libhart visited the country in the spring of 1833, in company with William and Russell Libhart and William Delap, and selected the mill-site, besides a considerable tract of land in the same vicinity. Libhart on Libhart Creek, about two miles west of Lyons village, in 1833. It is pretty certain that the first saw-mill built in the county was the one erected by H. There was a bridge over the Grand River at Genereauville at an early day, as a connecting-link in the stage-route between Detroit and Ionia via Lansing, and an attempt was likewise made by the Campaus (who came into possession after the departure of the Genereau's) to found there the village of Genereauville, but the scheme came to nothing.Įarly Settlements - The Pioneer Saw-Mill in the County Louis, the son, got himself into the State's prison through roasting an Indian to death, and left the old man to carry on the business, which did not, however, last very long after that.
The place was commonly spoken of as Genereauville, and was well known far and near. The river has in Ionia township no mill-power, but on Prairie Creek, flowing from the north into the river, there are three excellent mill-sites.Īs early, perhaps, as 1830 or before, Louis Genereau, assisted by his son Louis, Jr., established an Indian trading-post in Ionia township, on the Grand River, about one mile west of the present village of Lyons. Two railways cross the town between east and west, following essentially the course of the Grand River, which enters at section 13 and emerges at section 19. The surface of the country, especially in the south, is exceedingly hilly, but the soil is fertile while, as to waste land, there is but little to be found. Apart from the city of Ionia - which has, indeed, nothing in common with the township - the latter has a population of eighteen hundred and fifteen, or an increase of three hundred and nineteen since the year 1874. Ionia's present boundaries are Ronald on the north, Orange on the south, Lyons on the east, and Easton on the west. The seventh town north in range 6 west is now known as Ionia township. Ensign & Co., 1881 transcribed by Genealogy Trails Transcription Team Source: "History of Ionia & Montcalm Counties, Michigan. Ionia Township History in Ionia County, Michigan