Walter King Hough and Ebenezer Hough Purchases Property – September 23, 1831

On September 23, 1831, Walter King Hough and Ebenezer Hough bought properties in Section 28 of what is now Almont Township between Van Dyke and Shoemaker Roads.  Walter and Ebenezer were cousins and, at that time, were living in Bozrah, New London County, Connecticut. 

Two years later, in the spring of 1833, after purchasing property on the south side of Hough Road, Walter and Ebenezer took a barge across the Erie Canal to Buffalo.  From Buffalo they either came to Detroit by ship or they traveled overland.  It seems most likely that they traveled by ship.  From Detroit to Almont would have been by either a horse-drawn wagon or a cart drawn by oxen.  If they came using horses, the animals would have been draft animals and not riding horses.  Whatever they brought needed to be able to do work lifting and dragging materials.  No roadway existed westward from Port Huron, so they had to come to Almont from Detroit.

Walter and Ebenezer began by clearing their property and building log cabins.  They would also have built barns and out-buildings for their animals.  No later than early July, with the buildings constructed and enough ground cleared to allow them to plant crops the next spring to feed their families, they returned to New London County – retracing their journey to Michigan.

The winter of 1833-1834 was spent preparing to move.  Their farms were put up for sale. Any belongs that they were not going to take with them, were sold and/or given away – probably given to cousins.  Those things that they were to be taken with them were packed for the journey.  In the late winter but no later than the early spring,  Walter King and his brother Edward Hyde, Ebenezer and his brothers Jedediah and Witherell, and cousin John Bailey Hough with their families came across the Erie Canal to Buffalo and then on to Detroit.  This is in accordance with the histories written on the early settlers of Almont.  However, the actual timeline was more disjointed and complicated. 

Walter and Ebenezer made the first purchase of land in 1831, came back in 1833 and built log cabins and farm buildings and cleared land but didn’t stay.  They returned home to Connecticut.  They both had two daughters born in Connecticut.  Ebenezer’s daughter Lydia was born before they purchased the land and Walter’s daughter Eunice was born in 1832.  They both had a daughter born in the spring of 1834.  Walter’s daughter Clarissa was born on April 13^th and Ebenezer’s daughter Jane was born on May 10^th.  It is likely that they came together but probably not until July or August.  This also indicates that they returned to Connecticut no later than July of 1833.