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Evan C. Chalfant arrived with his family in St. Joseph County on November 1, 1832 and settled on a tract of land in section 31, Clay township, where he made his home until his death on January 19, 1870. The land upon which he settled borders on the corporate limits of South Bend on the north, but at that time was an unbroken wilderness, which Mr. Chalfant brought under cultivation through his persistent efforts. He and his wife, Anna, had six children.[24] Evan was the brother-in-law of Thomas P. Bulla, also one of the earliest residents of Clay township.[25] To support and encourage those engaged in agricultural and mechanical pursuits in the County, a public meeting was held on June 12, 1841 to organize an agricultural and mechanical society. Evan Chalfant was among the many pioneers who attended the meeting. To gain membership for the society, a Committee of three was appointed in each township to solicit support; Chalfant was one of the members of the Clay township Committee. On January 8, 1853, in the annual election of officers of the society, he was elected director from Clay Township.[26] Thomas B. Chalfant was one of six children born to Evan and Anna Chalfant. He was a lad of twelve when his parents moved to St. Joseph County. He grew up on the old homestead in Clay Township. In 1848 he married Miss Jane Melling, who was born in Ohio in 1825 and died in 1861, and was interred in Tutt -Stuckey. They had four children: Nancy J., Evan T., William Scott and Sarah Louisa.[27] Both William Scott and Sarah Louisa died as young children and are buried in Tutt -Stuckey. THE EATON FAMILY Among other early settlers in Clay township buried in Tutt -Stuckey are Isaac Eaton and some members of his family. Isaac Eaton was born in Loudon County, Virginia in 1775 but was raised in Maryland. He moved to St. Joseph County in 1830. He served in the War of 1812 with the Virginia militia under the command of General Mason, a Virginian born in the same County with Eaton.[28] When Isaac Eaton came to St. Joseph County he acquired 80 acres of land on Sections 16 and 17 in Clay Township. Both Isaac and Margaret Eaton passed away on their old homestead and were interred in Tutt -Stuckey. They had eight children.[29] Jacob Eaton was one of the oldest and best known of the county's pioneers. He was born in Maryland on May 1, 1819 and accompanied his parents Isaac and Margaret (Metzger) Eaton to St. Joseph County. Mr. Eaton attended the first school in Clay Township and helped clear the ground where St. Mary's Academy now stands, which at one time was owned by his father. Mr. Eaton always played an active role in the county's welfare. Though somewhat limited in his education and reared among the hardships that made up a pioneer's life he was known by his contemporaries as being "progressive and liberal [and] as a man of sound sense, and 8