The organization of this township was effected under an act of the Legislative Council, approved March 11, 1837, directing that “All that portion of the County of Jackson, designated in the United States survey as Township 2 South, of Range 3 West, be and the same is hereby set off and organized into a separate township, by the name of Parma, and the first township meeting therein shall be held at the house of John Graham, in said township.” The first township meeting was held at the house of John Graham, in April, 1837, at which time John Barnum was elected supervisor. At a subsequent election, held Aug. 21 and 22, 1837, for representative 77 votes were polled in the township, 41 for Isaac S. Crary, and 36 for Hezekiah G. Wells.
The township of Parma was comprehended originally in the district known as Spring Arbor, which included what are now designated as the townships of Pulaski, Hanover, Concord, Spring Arbor, Parma, Sandstone, Springport, and Tompkins.
The first land entered in the township was located by George Ketchum, being the farm now owned by B. F. King, better known as the Barber place. Here was kept what was known as “Ball’s Tavern,” the name of the occupant being emblematically made known by a large wooden ball placed on the top of a tamarack pole. This land was located in 1831, but was not settled upon immediately. The first permanent settler was Elihu M. Goold, who located a farm, now owned by Horace King, in the fall of 1832, and came on with his family June 19, 1833. He was soon surrounded by neighbors, and Parma now took her place among the prosperous and enterprising settlements of Jackson County. Henry Nicholson came in 1835 and located land, and became a settler in 1837.
The first railroad station in this vicinity was opened in 1845, and was known as Gidley’s Station, situated on the line of the Michigan Central railroad, 86 miles west of Detroit, and 10 miles west of Jackson.
Outside the village there is an old Quaker church, which, however, is not now occupied, the sect having become almost extinct in this section, and the Campbell church near the north line of the town. There are four school districts in the town and six fractional districts.
The surface of the township is generally rolling, it is very well watered and has a soil unsurpassed in fertility. All crops raised in Michigan are grown here with certainty and abundance.
On the 25th of January, 1866, a great conflagration visited Parma village and destroyed much valuable property. The business portion of the village was entirely destroyed. Since that time, however, the Aldrich Block and other substantial business blocks have been erected, and the place is rapidly growing in wealth and population.
The plat of Parma village was made by James M. Gould, on April 5, 1848. It was first called Groveland. This was, however, changed to the present name in 1849. The village was not incorporated until Dec. 31, 1864. The first election of village officers took place in Washington Hall, on the first Tuesday in March, 1865. Parma was for years widely known as Cracker Hill, and even letters for Parma were often so directed.
The first store in Parma was erected by William Kassick in 1846. Lyman Warren and Lafayette Fisher were associated in the grocery business, and Walter Fergurson was also engaged in the same kind of trade at an early day. In 1849 P. E. Aldrich moved his store here from Gidley’s Station, where he had been both postmaster and merchant. J. P. Robbins, Esq., moved his store to Parma the same year, and carried on the manufacture of boots and shoes. Mrs. Zimri Laurence moved in also from Gidley’s. The first warehouse was built by Isaac Cushman, in 1848, the growth of the County in agricultural wealth demanding a place where goods could be stored, and where grain and produce could be exchanged or shipped away. Levi Summers erected a blacksmith shop in 1849, and Asa Caswell had a shop of the same kind in 1848. Dr. P. K. Gibson was the first physician in Gidley’s, and Dr. Brown at Parma. Dr. A. B. Crawford and Dr. D. W. Armstrong came shortly after.
The Union church was built in 1851, and was owned jointly by the Presbyterians and Methodists, one society occupying the house one week and the other the next. They continued to worship in this way until 1868, when the Methodists sold out their interest, and erected a very fine brick church. This church is in the township of Sandstone, as is also the fine high-school building. The Baptists have a very good house of worship also.
The village is a pretty and lively place, located mainly on the south side of the Central railroad, which passes through it. It has a population of 1,000 people, and is well built up with excellent private and business houses. It contains three churches, thirteen stores, a lodge of Masons, Odd Fellows, and Good Templars, a Grange, one steam flouring-mill, one sash, door and blind factory, a splendid Union school—which stands among the best in the State —and the usual number of shops, etc.
