The History of Marshall Township

Marshall Township was formed in 1832. It originally included in its limits all of the entire territory of Calhoun County, and was a constituent of Kalamazoo County. It was named after the then chief justice of the Supreme Court, John Marshall. No election was ever held under the law for representation in the county of Kalamazoo so it was reorganized in 1833, when it became one of the three constituent townships in the formation of Calhoun County. In 1859 an area two miles square including sections 25 and 26, south half of sections 23 and 24 and north half of sections 35 and 36 were set off and included in the formation of the City of Marshall.

The land is generally level and was originally covered with native hardwood trees such as white and burr oak. It is well drained by the Kalamazoo River. The Kalamazoo River flows westward where its source for water power helped to create the village of Ceresco. In 1838 a man named Munson built the first sawmill in Ceresco. It 1839 a flour mill was built by John Pierce, Jos. Frink and S.S. Alcott. They laid out a village naming it Ceresco from the name Ceres (goddess of harvest).

One of the early settlers to the township was a man named Fuller. Others were: John Bertram, Thomas Burland, Thomas Knight, Stephen Kimball, Henry Frailing, Daniel Woolsey, B.F. Curtis, Cyrus Hubbard, Allen Miner, Freeman Hotchkiss, Isaac Lockwood, James Connolly, George and Joseph Bentley and D.H. Godfrey. The first farms were started by John Bertam and Stephen Kimball in 1832 with crops of corn and wheat. John Bertram built the first frame house in 1832 and also the first frame barn to be built in the county.

Source: History of Calhoun County, L.H. Everts & Co. 1877.

Historical Sites:
The Lockwood Farm is designated as both a State and National Register property. The Bellevue Plank Road Marker is located at the curve of G Drive North and 16 Mile Road. The monument commemorates the Marshall to Bellevue wooden plank road. It is maintained by the Township.