Editing Bethel Township, Michigan (section)

== History ==
Eleazar Snow was the first settler in the area in 1830, though he sold out to Moses Olmstead in 1831. The town was first called Elizabeth, probably by Mr. Olmstead after [[Elizabeth, New Jersey]].<ref name="Romig"/> It was organized as a township under that name by the Michigan Legislature of 1836–37, and the first township meeting for the township of Elizabeth was held at the house of Moses Olmstead on April 3, 1837. The Michigan Legislature of 1838-39 changed the name of the township to Bethel, although no reasons for the change were recorded.<ref>{{cite book |last=Johnson |first=Crisfield |title=History of Branch county, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers |orig-year=1879 |url=http://name.umdl.umich.edu/BAD0864.0001.001 |access-date=2008-09-12 |year=2005 |publisher=University of Michigan Library |location=Ann Arbor, Mich. |pages=285–86 |chapter=Bethel Township |chapter-url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=micounty;cc=micounty;rgn=full%20text;idno=BAD0864.0001.001;didno=BAD0864.0001.001;view=image;seq=00000371 }}</ref>