USA > Michigan > Van Buren County > A history of Van Buren County, Michigan a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests Volume II > Part 28
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Dr. Nathan Cook passed the remainder of his life in Van Buren county and was one of its best known citizens. Game was plenti- ful in these days and he did much hunting, becoming an expert in shooting deer when they were running, and if he saw them stand- ing still he would start them before attempting to shoot. He was town clerk and all business was transacted at his home. He died January 31, 1867, at Porter. His wife died in the same town, July 12, 1887, aged eighty-four. Their daughter, Harriet Cook, married Freeman Van Antwerp, (as noted above). In 1863 Freeman Van Antwerp engaged in the livery business and ran a stage line from Paw Paw to Lawton, having the contract to carry the mail. He died in Paw Paw, Michigan, October 16, 1865. Both Mr. and Mrs. Van Antwerp were members of and attended the Presbyterian church in Paw Paw for many years.
Freeman Van Antwerp left three children to be reared by their
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mother,-Daniel Cook, a lad of thirteen when his father died; Idale (wife of John Marshall, of Porter township), whose birth had occurred February 23, 1855; and Anna, who was born No- vember 22, 1862, and who died March 14, 1878. Mrs. Van Ant- werp, soon after her husband's death, bought a tract of sixty acres of land in Porter township, and there she went with her three chil- dren, superintended the management of the farm and the bringing up of her children, the youngest of whom was but three years old when her father died. The mother lived to see her son prosper in his undertakings, her elder daughter married and she buried her youngest child. On the 17th day of November, 1904, the mother was summoned to the Great Beyond.
The first five years of Daniel Cook Van Antwerp's life were spent in the township which is named in honor of his family, then one year at Porter, where he began going to school at six years old, then returning to Antwerp, where he spent five years, then four years in Paw Paw, where he attended the high school and left on account of poor health. After his father's death in Paw Paw he removed to Porter township. When eighteen years old he began to farm the land which his mother had bought and in 1881 he bought one hundred and forty acres of land in Porter township. Some of this tract he sold and now owns one hundred and twenty acres in that township. On the 27th of February, 1911, he moved to Lawton, that his daughter might have the advantages afforded by its schools, but he and his wife still own two hundred acres of land, which he rents to farmers.
On the 25th day of February, 1891, Mr. Van Antwerp married Miss Laura A. Hayne, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Turner) Hayne, both natives of Cornwall, England, where also their mar- riage occurred. They came to America in 1855, and settled in Wayne county, Michigan. The father died June 13, 1905, in Porter, and the mother's demise occurred September 11, 1892, in Porter. Of the four children who were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hayne two died in infancy ; Mrs. Van Antwerp is the third and her brother, John D., resides in Porter township. Mr. and Mrs. Van Antwerp have had two children,-Elwyn H., born December 1, 1891, who died on March 18, 1896; and Idale Elizabeth, whose birth occurred July 10, 1897.
In politics Mr. Van Antwerp is a Republican and for two years he held the position of commissioner of highways in Porter town- ship, which office was given him unsolicited. His fraternal connec- tion is with the Modern Woodmen of America and in a religious way he and his wife and daughter hold membership with the Meth- odist church. He has resided only a short time in Lawton, but he has already made his presence felt and his fellow citizens re- gard his coming to the town as an event of which they have reason to be proud.
JOHN BAILEY .- A man who plays an active and useful part in the many-sided life of Paw Paw, Van Buren county, Michigan, is John Bailey, who formerly was identified with the agricultural in- terests of Waverly township and who at the present time is en-
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gaged in the livery business of Sage & Bailey, which is one of the thriving and well-conducted enterprises of the town. He is a native son of Michigan and has been a resident of this township since the year 1885. Mr. Bailey was born in Jefferson township, IHillsdale county, Michigan, on the 25th day of January, 1864. His father, Josiah Bailey, was born in 1831, in Lenawee county, Michigan. As a young man he farmed in Lenawee county for a number of years and subsequently removed to Jefferson, Hillsdale county, where he passed the remainder of his days, the demise of this good citizen occurring in 1878. He laid the foundations of a happy marriage in 1854, at Medina, Mary Jane Bump, born No- vember 12, 1836, becoming his wife. She survived him for more than a quarter of a century, her summons to the life eternal com- ing on February 3, 1904. They reared the following son and daughters : Hortensie, Susan, and John.
John Bailey, youngest of the children of Josiah and Mary Bailey and the immediate subject of this review, spent his early years in Jefferson county and for his education is indebted to the country schools of the locality in which he spent his boyhood. At the time of his father's death he was a boy of about fifteen years, but he was capable and serious and of the type which assumes responsi- bility successfully, and he at once took upon himself the manage- ment of the farm and continued at the head of its affairs until 1888. In that year he made a radical change by coming to Wa- verly township, where he purchased a farm of eighty acres and proceeded to improve this and to engage in its cultivation. He was very successful in his operations in connection with the great basic industry and in time gained a comfortable competence. In 1905 he purchased a half interest in the livery stable business in connection with his present partner, Joel Sage, the firm being known under the caption of Sage & Bailey, and he has continued engaged in this fashion up to the present time. Mr. Bailey and his partner keep from fourteen to twenty good horses and in addi- tion to operating a fine livery they have a sales stable and also run the local stage and baggage business in connection with the various trains coming into Paw Paw. He is a progressive, public-spirited citizen who does all in his power to support and encourage all such measures and institutions as shall contribute to the general wel- fare.
Mr. Bailey was first married in 1886, Mary Weatherwax, of Hillsdale county, becoming his wife. Two daughters were born to this union, namely : Bessie, who married George Rock and is the mother of a son and daughter named Clyde and Laura; and Delta, who is still at home. The mother passed away February 12, 1896, mourned by all who know her. On April 8, 1899, Anah Noyes, a native of Hillsdale county, became the wife of the sub- ject. Mr. and Mrs. Bailey share their home with an adopted son, Eugene. They are well and favorably known in the community and their circle of friends may almost me said to be coincident with that of their acquaintance.
In his political affiliations Mr. Bailey has ever given hand and heart to the Republican party. He gave his maiden vote to its men
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and measures, and his loyalty to the party which produced such men as Lincoln, Mckinley and Roosevelt is unswerving. His fra- ternal allegiance is given to the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows.
GEORGE W. MERRIMAN .- Banker, lawyer, farmer, fruit-grower and public official of a high rank, George W. Merriman, of Hart- ford, is justly considered one of the leading and most useful citi- zens of Van Buren county. He has been a resident of the county for twenty-nine years, and in that time has been tried in several lines of useful endeavor and never been found wanting in in- tegrity, ability or fidelity to duty in any. He has risen to conse- quence and influence among the people, and has always used his influence and his opportunities for their welfare, the progress and improvement of the county and the betterment of the whole state, in every way open to him.
Mr. Merriman was born in Savannah, Wayne county, New York, on February 4, 1851, and is a scion of a family, on his father's side, that has been resident in this country for more than three hundred years. He is a son of Elijah and Maria ( Winegar) Merriman, also natives of the state of New York. Elijah Merri- man was a son of Elisha; Elisha, a son of Charles; Charles, a son of Joel. And so the lineage runs back in unbroken succession to very early in the seventeenth century, when Captain Nathaniel Merriman of England came to this country and settled in Rhode Island. From that time to the present the name has been promi- nent in the history of New England and many other parts of the country, and members of the family have dignified and adorned every worthy and commendable walk of life.
George W. Merriman was reared on his father's farm in Wayne county, New York, and educated in a district school. After com- pleting his education he became a teacher, and was principal of the Union school at South Butler in his native county when he was only twenty years of age. At the age of twenty-one he came to Michigan and located in Plainwell, Allegan county, where he served as cashier of the Exchange Bank for eight years. He then left the bank for the purpose of pursuing a course in the study of law in the University of Michigan. He was graduated from the law department of this institution in 1882, with the degree of LL. B.
Immediately after his graduation he came to Hartford as the head of the Exchange Bank in that town, and he has been conduct- ing this with expanding business and steadily increasing popularity ever since. Mr. Merriman is also interested extensively in farm- ing and fruit-growing, and he does some business in the line of his profession as a lawyer. But his other duties are too numerous and exacting to allow him to devote himself to this exclusively or to any considerable extent.
On June 25, 1882, he was joined in marriage with Miss Jennie Sherman, a school teacher at Plainwell, Michigan. The fruit of this union was one child, Harry J. Merriman, who was born at Hartford, this county, on July 25, 1883, and who is now associated with his father in carrying on the bank. His mother died in 1888,
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and in 1894 the father was married a second time, being united on this occasion with Mrs. Jennie (Smiley ) Phelps, a native, like himself, of the state of New York.
Mr. Merriman, the elder, is a Freemason of the thirty-second degree. In Blue Lodge Masonry he belongs to Florada Lodge, No. 309, at Hartford, and to Lawrence Royal Arch Chapter at Lawrence. His membership in the Scottish rite and A. A. O. N. M. S. (Saladin Temple) is held in Grand Rapids. He also belongs to the Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of the Macca- bees, and has been the worshipful master of Florada lodge and held prominent positions in the other fraternities of which he is a member.
In political faith and action he has for many years been one of the most influential and valued members of the Republican party, and his wise counsel and efficient work in its behalf have been highly appreciated by both its leaders and its rank and file, locally and throughout the state. He was one of the delegates from Mich- igan to the national Republican convention of 1892. From 1895 to 1899 he was a member of the state senate. He served six years as a member of the state prison board, two of them as its presi- dent, and for twelve years has been a member of the state central committee of his party. His services to his party and to the people in the several public offices he has held have been conspicuous in their usefulness and extent, and his record in this connection is highly creditable to him, and also to the people who have known how to estimate him properly.
In the matter of public improvements for the township and county in which he lives Mr. Merriman has also been of great service to the people. He judges of every project with intelligence, supports those he favors with great zeal and energy, and aids in guiding all the progressive tendencies of his locality along lines of wholesome development, enduring good and in behalf of the best interests of the people. All his business enterprises, also, contribute to the general weal and help to increase the material wealth and commercial importance of the county.
Harry J. Merriman, the son and only child of George W., and his assistant in the bank, is a young man of ability and promise. He married Miss Nora Spaulding, of Hartford. They have two children, their daughters Ruth and Catherine. The young man is a worthy follower in the footsteps of his distinguished father, and shows by his daily walk and conversation that the fine ex- ample of citizenship which is always before him has made its due impression on him. He, also, stands high in the regard of the people and fully deserves their confidence and esteem.
EDWARD GEORGE .- A striking example of cheerful self-sacrifice to one's country is found in the career of Edward George, a well known resident of Lawton, Michigan, who in the full bloom of young manhood marched away to the defense of the flag of his nation, and returned home shattered in health and spirit and only a shadow of the splendid specimen of young America who so readily had answered his country's call in its time of need. Every
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veteran of the Civil war is entitled to our respect and honor, and ยท when it has happened that one has sacrificed his ambitions, his manhood and all that makes life dear, then he is doubly worthy of our reverence. Mr. George was born August 7, 1840, in Wayne county, New York, and is a son of Charles G. and Phoebe M. (Hoag) George, natives of Vermont.
Mr. George's parents came to Michigan in 1843, locating in Marengo township, Calhoun county, where the elder George car- ried on carriage and wagonmaking until 1849, and then sold out and came to Keeler township, Van Buren county, and purchased one hundred and sixty acres of farming land, on which he carried on agricultural pursuits until his death, October 29, 1898. His wife passed away February 17, 1857. having been the mother of four children: Almira, the wife of Goram O. Abbott, of Berrien county ; Edward; William G., a veteran of the Civil war, and now a resident of Brunswick, Georgia, with which land he became acquainted while a soldier in the army : and Stephen F., who died in infancy.
Edward George received his education in the schools of his na- tive locality and in Keeler township, and he worked on the farm until he was twenty-two years of age. At this time. his youthful patriotism being inflamed by the stories of those who had already been to the front, he enlisted in Company I, Twentieth Regiment. Michigan Volunteer Infantry, under Captain C. C. Dodge. Private George was one of the most popular men in his company, and he was always in the thick of the fight and fighting bravely in a regiment that was noted for its brave, hard-fighting men. Faithful in his service, loyal to his company and proud in keeping up the standard of its ability, and cheerful to a degree on marches that taxed the stamina and temper of the bravest among his companions, Mr. George was a general favorite with men and officers, and there was universal sorrow in the ranks of his company when it was learned that he had been severely wounded in the hip. He was taken to the hospital at Fredericksburg, from whence he was re- moved to Patterson Park Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, where he was kept until convalescent, when he was taken to Fort McHenry and there later received his honorable discharge. Everything that could be done for his injury was resorted to, but he has been an invalid throughout life, he being paralyzed from the hip down, and during the last twenty-four years he has been compelled to use a wheel chair. The same cheerfulness and patience that characterized his army service and cheered many of his comrades on some soul- trying march or kept up their spirits while in the thick of the hard- fought engagements that marked the course of the Twentieth Mich- igan have never deserted Mr. George, and in spite of his affliction he has been able to accomplish much and to complain little. Ever since his return from the war he has lived in Van Buren county, and he now owns a fine home in Lawton, where he is a popular member of the Grand Army Post. In political matters he is a life-long Republican.
On March 2, 1864, Mr. George was married to Miss Mary M. Austin, daughter of Harvey H. and Calista (Barry) Austin, and
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she died January 5, 1902. One daughter has been born to this union : Annette C., born April 4, 1871, a graduate of the Lawton High School, who has taught in that institution, and is now keep- ing house for her father. Mr. George is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and with his daughter affiliates with the Congregational church.
GEORGE H. BARKER is widely known throughout Van Buren county, where he holds highest standing as a splendid citizen and successful, up-to-date agriculturist. Like so many of the county's best stock, he is a native of the Empire state, his birth having occurred there on August 12, 1832. His parents were Lucian and Lucindy (Bly) Barker, the father a native of Massachusetts and the mother of New York. Mr. Barker first took up his residence within the boundaries of the Wolverine state when he was a small lad. his father removing to Michigan in 1838 and locating in Wash- tenaw county. The elder gentleman took up farming land and he followed this occupation until his summons to the Great Be- vond. He and his good wife were the parents of a family of pioneer proportions, ten boys and girls coming to live beneath their roof-tree. Concerning them the following brief data is herewith entered. Mary is the widow of William Bush, of Ann Arbor, Mich- igan ; Russell, now deceased, was the captain of a company in a Michigan regiment of infantry at the time of the Civil war; Ellen is deceased; the subject is fourth in order of birth; Jane is the widow of James Hawkin, of Detroit; Nancy is the widow of Ben- jamin Todd, of Flint. Michigan; Philander D., a young soldier in the Third Michigan Cavalry, gave up his life at the time of the struggle between the states to the cause of freedom ; Frank resides at Whitmore Lake, Michigan; Sarah is deceased; and Angeline is the widow of Chester Todd. of Detroit.
Mr. Barker entered upon his career as a farmer at the age of sixteen years, taking up that occupation in association with his brother-in-law. At the age of twenty-one years he located on a quarter section of his father's land. this being situated within Section 22, in Covert township. In addition to his general farm- ing he also followed saw-milling for a time. He then returned to New York, where he remained for two years, but in 1856 he came back to Michigan. His father had met with reverses and when his land was sold for taxes Mr. Barker bought it, securing a quarter- section at the remarkably low price of one hundred dollars. Then, in evidence of his generosity, he gave his father a quit claim deed to the whole property and his father deeded him eighty acres. At the demise of the elder gentleman Mr. Barker bought out the rest of the heirs and he has ever since retained this property, which has steadily increased in value and which now is one of the well- known homesteads in this part of the county.
In 1861 Mr. Barker went to eastern Michigan, and there lived for two years. While there he married and when he returned to Covert in 1864 he brought back with him a wife. The maiden name of this estimable lady was Sarah C. DeWolf and the date of their union was January 15, 1862. Her parents, both now deceased,
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were Jason and Elizabeth (Near) DeWolf, of New York. Their children were five in number and as follows: Anne, wife of Henry Doane, of Livingston county, Michigan; Hiram J., of Livingston county, Michigan, a soldier in the Civil war; Mrs. Barker; Mary L., wife of Thomas Winneger, of Howell, Michigan; and Horace Wesley, deceased. Into the home of Mr. and Mrs. Barker were born the following five children: Hiram D., deceased; Zilpha V., wife of Elmer Oliver, of Monroe county, New York, and mother of one child, Grace Eloise; Grace A., wife of Robert Ballou of Covert; George Cecil, deceased; and Ernest H. The last-named was married to Lottie Walters, of Chicago, and their four chil- dren, Cecil E., G. Herbert, Katheryn L. and Walter G., give to the subject and his wife the pleasant distinction of grand- father and grandmother.
Mr. Barker, throughout his long and useful life, has been in harmony with the policies and principles of the Republican party and he has ever done all in his power to support its causes. His fine principles and stanchness of character have placed him in the possession of the general confidence and he has been confided with the keeping of some of the most important offices in the gift of the county. For nine years he served as supervisor and he has given most efficient service as treasurer and township clerk. IIe is one of the influential members of the Grange and his church home is the Congregational, to whose support he has ever con- tributed generously. Mr. Barker has now retired from the more strenuous duties of the great basic industry of agriculture and resides in Covert, where he owns and occupies a fine commodious residence, and in leisure well-earned enjoys the fruits of his former industry and thrift.
LEVI NELSON LYLE .- It has been given to some to help develop the country, to shape their surroundings according to their needs, and to bring forth the present high degree of civilization. Van Buren county, Michigan, became the home of many a sturdy pi- oneer who did not ask for anything more than wild timber land to work upon. Bravely, uncomplainingly, these forerunners of civilization went to work and now many of them have laid down the burdens of life, although it was given to most of them to see in some measure what they had accomplished. The son of a pi- oneer and a citizen who has himself developed an excellent farm from what was before only a tract of wild woodland is Levi Nel- son Lyle, residing in Paw Paw township.
Levi Nelson Lyle was born in a rough hewn shanty in the woods of Paw Paw township, Van Buren county, March 29, 1846, his birthplace having been about thirty feet from where now stands the home of his nephew, Jay Lyle. His parents were John and Ann (Armstrong) Lyle. His grandfather, John Lyle, Sr., was a native of Cornwall, England, and was born on Christmas day. 1793. With his family he immigrated to America in 1832 and in the spring of 1835 came to Michigan, locating his home in the wilderness, a mile and a half north of Paw Paw. He died Decem- ber 4, 1867, leaving a wife, ten children and numerous grand-
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children to mourn his loss. John Lyle Jr., eldest of the ten chil- dren of the foregoing, was born in Devonshire, England, January 5, 1818, and came to Michigan with the family. At that time the only fashion in which he could find his way from his farm to Paw Paw was by marking the trees, this primitive method of blaz- ing the trail being the forerunner of the beautiful roads of to- day. The farm which he cleared became one of the best in the country and was his home until his death, October 5, 1899. He hauled his wheat to St. Joseph with a yoke of oxen, taking three days to make the trip, and received for it fifty cents per bushel, which was considered a very good price in those days. He was married here to Miss Ann Armstrong, who had come to Paw Paw from New York at a time when the village of Paw Paw consisted of two log stores and a hotel. He died on his farm, having sur- vived his wife three years. They were the parents of four chil- dren: Levi Nelson; Olive and Oliver, twins, who are deceased ; and Marshall, also deceased.
Levi, the eldest of the children, grew to manhood on his father's farm. He first went to school in an old log schoolhouse on the Henry Hinckley place, but later a new schoolhouse was built on the crossroads corner, about forty rods from the family residence, which made it much more convenient. He later attended school for a time in Paw Paw, boarding with a family in the west part of town and also attended school for a time in Decatur. Professor Bellows being at the head of the high school. At the age of twenty- one years his father gave him eighty acres of land, which at that time was covered with a heavy growth of beech, maple and bass- wood timber that, were it all standing today, would be more valu- able than the land, but not foreseeing its future value Mr. Lyle cut it down mercilessly, and in clearing the land he resorted to what was called "niggering it out," that is, he would lay pieces across each other on the tree and about twenty-five or thirty feet from the butt would build a fire, burning out the limbs and in many instances consuming the larger part of the tree, thus saving a great deal of chopping. Mr. Lyle boasts that he has gone to bed at times leaving as many as thirty "niggers" working for him. or in other words consuming the fallen timber. The method and the expression were common in pioneer days, though the young people of today would scarcely understand the significance of the latter. Both Mr. Lyle's father and his grandfather made a vast amount of maple syrup from the trees now cut down and Mr. Lyle still owns a small grove of maples from which he gets syrup each year, his output last year being about fifty gallons. Mr. Lyle has added to his property from time to time and now owns about two hundred acres, on which he carries on general farming. He is also interested in dairying. owning a fine herd of cattle, at the head of which is Dexter, a three-year old registered Guernsey bull and the registered cow. Belinda Hillcrest. He is considered one of the skilled farmers of his district and is known as a good neighbor and a public-spirited citizen. A staunch Republican in his political views, Mr. Lyle has served as township commissioner and his fra-
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