Argentine

Argentine Township Local History

James H. Murray and William Lobdell settled here in 1836. The first P.O. opened in 1837, named Booton, but due to a similarity of names it was changed to Argentine in 1842, the name Mr. Murray had given the township. The village was platted in 1844. Lobdell Lake, just east of the village, was named after Mr. Lobdell.

By far the larger portion of the lands of Argentine township was taken up in the year 1836 and very little was entered before then. As early as 1825 Samuel Dexter, of New York, entered lands in sections 19 and 27, but for speculation rather than for settlement. Two years later Elijah Crane, of Wayne County, entered eighty acres in section 26. In 1835, James H. Murray and Sally Murray, of Washtenaw County, made entries in lands entered before 1836. The first white men who became residents of what is now Argentine township were James H. Murray and William Lobdell in 1836. Mr. Murray, who formerly lived near Rochester, New York, came from Cayuga County, NY, with his family, and first settled in Washtenaw County. His purchase of land in section 35 of Argentine township was made to secure a water privilege, and as soon as he moved his family, in March, 1836, he built the dam now standing at the village and erected a saw-mill. Two or three years later he built a frame grist-mill. He also built the second hotel in the place, the first having been built by Abram Middlesworth. Argentine soon became a village center of considerable importance. 

Among the earliest settlers who contributed to the growth of the township may be mentioned William Lobdell, William Alger, William Jennings, William and Henry Pratt, Ira Murray, Israel Crow, Calvin W. Ellis, Benjamin Taylor, Amos Sturgis, David Brooks, Solomon Sutherland, Halsey Whitehead, Asa Atherton, and David Brooks. 

A post office was established at the village and called Booton; but, owing to the fact that there was another office in the state with a similar name, it was finally changed to Argentine. James H. Murray was the first postmaster and to him is given the credit for naming the township. Mail was carried on horseback over a route which extended from Pontiac to Ionia. William Hubbard and Brown Hyatt were among the earliest mail carriers. 

A village plat for Argentine was laid out in 1844, but the building of the Detroit & Milwaukee railway through Fenton left Argentine so far to one side as to destroy its prospects of growth as a village. The earliest records of Argentine township can not be found. No records exist earlier than 1850.