Titus "Potato" Bronson: Ann Arbor's Pioneering Potato Man
Titus Bronson, Courtesy of Kalamazoo Valley Museum
"A man who produces a potato for his fellowmen, is a greater benefactor to his race than the man who produces a gold dollar; for the potato is, of the most value to mankind." - Carlyle
Ann Arbor history books are replete with stories of our city's founders, John Allen and Elisha Rumsey, but have you ever heard the story of Ann Arbor's pioneering resident Titus "Potato" Bronson?
Titus Bronson was born November 27, 1788 in Middlebury, Connecticut to former revolutionary war soldier Titus Bronson and his wife Hannah Cook. He was the fifth born in a family of eight children. In 1819/1820, several Middlebury families moved west to settle in Talmadge, Ohio (near Akron) and Titus was part of that group. It was during his time in Ohio that he crossed paths with John Gilkey and his life turned to potatoes.
Neshannock Potatoes
John Gilkey was an Irish immigrant farming potatoes in Mercer County, Pennsylvania. After a few years of planting red, blue, and white potato varieties, his plants cross-pollinated. He named the new type of potato "Neshannock," after a nearby creek. The Neshannock was a large and long potato, reddish purple in color, with streaks of the same color through the flesh that generally disappeared after the potato was cooked. Most importantly, the Neshannock was more productive and tastier than older varieties. While prospecting around the Ohio/Pennsylvania border, Titus Bronson encountered John Gilkey and his Neshannock potatoes. He saw the potential in a crop of these large, delicious, high-yielding spuds, bought some, and planted them. His first crop of potatoes grown in Talmadge, Ohio secured a high price. Soon he was traveling from neighborhood to neighborhood, planting and selling potatoes, until much of the area was supplied with the Neshannock variety and he had earned the nickname "Potato Bronson". He was the Johnny Appleseed of spuds.
Neshannock Potato Historical Road Marker - Lawrence County, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
Ann Arbor
Much of what is known about Titus Bronson's time in Ann Arbor comes from the writing of his old friend, Ann Arbor pioneer John Geddes. According to Geddes, Titus Bronson saw the Michigan territory (Michigan would not become a state until 1837) as an opportunity for more prospecting and expanding his potato business. In 1823 he found his way to Snow's Landing (today’s Ypsilanti Township/Van Buren County) where he planted his first crop of potatoes. On May 5, 1824, shortly after Ann Arbor's founding, Titus Bronson purchased 160 acres of land in Ann Arbor township. Considered the first settler to bring potatoes to Ann Arbor, his crops greatly supplemented the diets of the early residents. Geddes described Titus "Potato" Bronson as a tall, raw-boned man, of slovenly appearance. With a quirky walk and outspoken views on politics, he was not very popular in town. His Neshannock potatoes, on the other hand, were a favorite of the earliest townies. During his brief years in Ann Arbor, Bronson bought and sold several more pieces of land. At one point he even traded property with one of Ann Arbor's founders, John Allen.
In 1826, Titus Bronson sold all of his Ann Arbor land, and travelled back to his hometown of Middlebury, Connecticut. In 1827, he married a widow, Sally (Richardson) Bartholomew. Their wedding record reads "Middlebury, January 18, 1827. This may certify that Titus Bronson of Anarbor (sic), Michigan and Mrs. Sally Bartholemew of Tallmadge, Ohio, have this day been united in marriage." The couple moved to Talmadge, Ohio the following spring, and Titus returned to Ann Arbor in the summer. Records seem to indicate that he no longer considered himself a permanent resident of Ann Arbor, and would pay with potatoes to temporarily stay in people's homes.
Kalamazoo
In 1829, Bronson was on the move again. With nearly 900 residents, he found Ann Arbor to be overpopulated. Following the St. Joseph Trail, he headed west through the Michigan territory. (Today the ancient Native American pathway is in bits and pieces of Michigan Avenue, U.S. 12, and vast swaths of I-94.) After roughly 100 miles he discovered an area on a beautiful river and decided it would be his new home. In 1830, he traveled back to Talmadge, Ohio to collect his wife and children, and John Geddes recalled them stopping their wagon and oxen in Ann Arbor on the way to their new land. The area Titus discovered would eventually become known as the Village of Bronson, which we now know today as the city of Kalamazoo (not to be confused with Bronson, MI in Branch County). Titus Bronson used the money he earned from selling potatoes in Ann Arbor to purchase the land where downtown Kalamazoo is currently located. According to Kalamazoo legend, had it not been for the intervention of his wife, he might have exchanged it all for $100 and a gun. Next time you visit Kalamazoo, remember that the city's beginnings were based on the funds of hungry Ann Arbor residents eating lots of potatoes.
In the mid-1830s, Titus Bronson was on the move again; Village of Bronson residents changed the name to Kalamazoo, which Titus wasn't happy about. He moved to Iowa where he lost his life savings in a bad land deal, and then lived briefly in Illinois. In 1843, the highly respected farmer's journal The Cultivator reported the Neshannock potato "one of the most valuable of table potatoes, white, mealy and of good flavor", although Titus Bronson was no longer in the business. In January 1853, while visiting his brother back in Connecticut, he died. His headstone in the Middlebury Cemetery reads "A Western Pioneer, Returned To Sleep With His Fathers".
Titus Bronson's Headstone, Middlebury Cemetery, Middlebury, CT. Not etching the image of a potato into this stone was clearly a missed opportunity.
Potatoes Coast To Coast
In the nineteenth century, the Neshannock became the standard commercial potato in the United States. A very productive and excellent all-purpose potato, it was prized for its size, wonderful flavor, and ability to keep. During the Irish famine of 1846-1847, several thousand bushels of the potatoes were shipped to Ireland. By 1851, Neshannock (under the name Gilkey) were leading prize-winners at fairs all over the United States. During the Civil War, the Neshannock potato was a favorite food of both Union and Confederate soldiers. By the 1870s, Neshannock potatoes were being shipped by rail to California. It seems that Ann Arbor, thanks to Titus "Potato" Bronson, was on the cutting edge of the potato scene when it was founded in 1824. We thank him for his starchy offerings.
