MADISON TOWNSHIP
The first settlers of this Township were Nelson and Curran Bradish, who came in 1827. They were soon followed by Samuel Carpenter, Nehemiah Bassett, J. L. Edmunds, William Brooks, Stephen and Cassander Peters, Elijah Johnson, Reuben Mallory, Samuel and Reuben Davis, John and Joel Fitch, Levi and Josiah Shumway, Nathaniel Cole, Aaron Baker, Lewis Nickerson, Calvin Bradish, and many others. Some of these men still live in Madison, and the prosperity of others remain to keep up the progressive tide of civilization. The Township was organized April 7, 1834, and called Lenawee, but in 1838 the name was changed to Madison, owing to the fact that very many of her citizens came from Madison, in New York State. The first saw-mill was built by Calvin Bradish. Isaac Colvin was the first town clerk, and Garrett Tenbrook the first supervisor. The first school-house was a log one, built in what is now Madison Centre: Ebenezer S. Carpenter was the first to teach in it, but Miss Emeline Bixby was the pioneer teacher of the town, -- teaching at C. Peters’s private house. Myron, son of Nelson Bradish, was the first white child born in Madison, in April, 1830. Nelson Bradish built the first log house, and his wife was the first white woman in the Township. Madison is a fair alternation of openings and heavy timber; soil, sandy. There are over 13,000 acres of land under cultivation, and in amount of productions Madison stands the third township in the County, aggregating $288,039 in 1870. A. W. Bradish was Supervisor in 1861 and 1862, and Township Clerk from 1845 to 1861 inclusive, and for the last four years; to him we are indebted for many items from the town records.
Copyright Ed Van Horn, 2006, Port St Lucie, Florida