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 54
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67
Percy F. Harris received a good education in the public and high schools of Decatur, Michigan. He was given a good agricultural training, and when his father died, in 1906, he took charge of the home farm, the management of which has been under his care ever since. Although still a young man, Mr. Harris has been very suc- cessful, and his property produces as fine crops as any of its size in the township, while he has also had success in the raising of blooded cattle. He is a stanch adherent of Republican principles, although so far he has been too busy with his agricultural opera- tions to think of entering actively into politics. Socially he is con- nected with the Gleaners, in which he is very popular. Mrs. Har- ris still survives her husband and resides in Decatur. The family is well known in Decatur township, and its members have many warm, personal friends.
On November 24, 1909, Mr. Harris was married to Miss Clara A. Scott, daughter of Asa A. and Hattie (Wickers) Scott, and this family is also one of the prominent ones of this community. Mrs. Harris' only sister, Weltha, is the wife of Allen Morehouse, a resident of Three Oaks, Michigan.
JAMES C. MCLAIN .- Ever since its incorporation Van Buren county has been noted for its phenomenal development as a farm- ing and fruit growing country, but especially has this growth and development been noted in the past few years, during which time the residents of this section have taken up scientific treatment of this naturally fertile and productive soil and brought Van Buren up to the front rank of Michigan counties. James C. McLain, one of the successful farmers and stock raisers of Porter township, who is engaged in operating one hundred acres of land in section 15, has been closely identified with the development of Van Buren county for many years. He was born in Pennsylvania, October 16, 1856, and is a son of John and Nancy (Christy) MeLain, natives of the Keystone state, where the father followed the blacksmith
1051
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
trade all of his life and died in 1909, his wife passing away in 1898. They were the parents of nine children, as follows: Mary, the wife of J. D. McMath, residing in Pennsylvania; Sarah, the widow of John Z. Ross, of that state; a child who died in infancy ; James C .; Rachel, who is deceased ; Maggie, the wife of S. A. Mar- tin, of Pennsylvania; Agnes, the wife of William C. Thompson, of that state; an infant deceased; and John, who lives at the old home in Pennsylvania.
James C. McLain remained with his parents until he was nine- teen years of age, assisting his father in the blacksmith shop, but this work not proving congenial he began farming, and continued to work at that occupation for one year in his native state. He then spent one year in the oil country, and at that time decided that a better field for his abilities lay in the West, subsequently, in March, 1878, coming to Michigan and locating in Porter township. In 1884 he was married, and two years later came to take charge of his father-in-law's farm, a tract of forty acres, and in addition to operating this land he also rents sixty acres in the same township. Farming and stockraising have claimed his attention and he has been successful in both branches, being rated among the good, practical agriculturists of his section. Although a very busy man, Mr. McLain has found time to act as township treasurer for two years, as township clerk for nine years and as school moderator of his district. He is a Mason and a Modern Woodman, and he and Mrs. Mcbain are consistent members of the Methodist Protest- ant church.
On October 1, 1884, Mr. McLain was married to Miss Fanny Mclain, daughter of William H. and Fanny (Clubine) MeLain, natives of Pennsylvania. They came to Michigan in 1846, settling first in St. Joseph county, where Mr. MeLain followed the trade of shoemaker until the fall of 1854, when he came to Porter township, Van Buren county, and purchased a tract of land, which he im- proved and operated until his death, in October, 1907, his wife having passed away the July previous. They had lived together during sixty-seven years of happy married life. They had a fam- ily of ten children, as follows: John C. of South Dakota, formerly treasurer of Van Buren county; Philip F., residing in Oregon; Hamilton H., a resident of South Dakota; George W., deceased ; Mary, the wife of C. L. Balch, of Lawton; Isabella; David M., de- ceased ; James W., deceased ; Fanny, who married Mr. McLain; and Charles, who lives in Colorado. Mr. and Mrs. James C. McLain have had one son, Glenn G., born May 26, 1886, who now is engaged in business with his father.
. WILLIAM S. CHARLES .- Ireland has furnished the United States with many of its representative men, and they are to be found in every rank and walk of life. The sons of Erin possess those quali- ties which make for success and bring them into favorable notice, so that they are welcomed in any community. A notable example of the self-made man of Irish birth is found in the person of Will- iam S. Charles, of Bangor, now living retired after many years spent in agricultural pursuits, and a veteran of the Civil war
1052
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
whose record is one that is a credit to himself and his countrymen. Mr. Charles was born in the north of Ireland, June 28, 1839, a son of John and Jane (Kinnen) Charles, originally of Scotland.
The Charles family came to the United States in 1850, locating first in Allegany county, New York. John Charles had been the owner of flax and grist mills and quarries in Ireland, but on locat- ing in this country he took up farming in New York state, where he died at the age of seventy-six years, his wife passing away when she was seventy-two. They had a family of thirteen children, as follows : One who died in infancy ; Esther, who is deceased ; David, residing in Bangor; John, Eliza and Thomas, who are deceased; William S .; Mary, Anna and Margaret, the latter of whom is de- ceased; Robert, who enlisted in the Civil war at the age of four- teen years, served three years in the Union army, and died in Van Buren county ; Andrew, who is now residing in Nebraska; and Richard, who is deceased.
William S. Charles left home at the age of sixteen years and came to Michigan, settling in Van Buren county, where for some- thing over four years he worked at lumbering and as a farm hand. In 1860 he purchased forty acres of land in Bangor township, and he was engaged in clearing this property for cultivation when, in the fall of 1861, President Lincoln issued a call for additional vol- unteers to suppress the growing rebellion in the Southern states. Mr. Charles was among the first to respond, enlisting from Van Buren county and going to Grand Rapids, where on October 14, 1861, he was assigned as private to the Second Michigan (or Ross) Battery, which was afterward changed to Battery B, First Michi- gan Light Artillery. The new recruits were transported to the scene of conflict in a very short time, drills were instituted and organization perfected, and in January, 1862, Mr. Charles was promoted to the rank of corporal at Benton Barracks, St. Louis, Missouri, having command of a detachment of men and duties as a soldier. His first engagements were at Pittsburg Landing and Shiloh, on April 6 and 7, 1862, and in the latter struggle he worked a twelve-pound Howitzer almost entirely alone. When it would recoil he would pick up the trail by the lunett and run it ahead alone, continuing this action until the ammunition belonging to two guns was all gone. He pulled the lanyard that fired the last shot that was fired out of the battery before it was taken, and when the ammunition was all spent he was too exhausted to join the straggling retreat of the Union soldiers. After limbering up his piece he sat down to recover his breath and sufficient energy to carry him to safety when he did make the start to rejoin his con- mand; otherwise he would doubtless have fallen by the wayside and have become a Confederate prisoner. It was at the close of this engagement that General Sidney E. Johnson, of the Confed- erate forces, was killed.
Shortly after the battle of Shiloh Mr. Charles was transferred to Battery D, First Missouri Light Artillery, in which organiza- tion as corporal he had charge of a line of caissons in the siege of Corinth, Mississippi, which lasted from May 10 to May 31, 1862. On the 31st of July of that year he was promoted to the rank of
1053
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
duty sergeant and early in August he was detached to recruiting service. This work being completed by the latter part of Novem- ber, he returned south and rejoined Battery B, First Michigan Light Artillery, at Columbus, Kentucky. He there learned that the substitute who had taken his place while he was engaged in re- cruiting service had been killed by being struck by a cannon ball. At Columbus Mr. Charles had charge of a small fort and magazine, twenty men and eight siege guns for three days, as the Confed- erates were expected to attack at any time. When the battery got its guns at Corinth, in January, 1863, Mr. Charles was placed in charge of a gun and detachment of men. On April 10, 1864, he was promoted to the rank of first sergeant, at Pulaski, Tennessee, and while serving in that capacity took part in many engagements and skirmishes, among which may be mentioned those of Resaca, Georgia, on May 9, 1864; Lays Ferry, Georgia, May 14, 1864; Cal- houn Ferry, Georgia, May 15, 1864; and Rome Cross Roads, May 16, 1864. While engaged in a skirmish at the latter place a com- rade, Lieutenant Wright, while engaged in adjusting the sight of his gun, was struck in the shoulder by a minie bullet, disabling him so that Mr. Charles had to take command of his section. Aris- ing to the emergency of the occasion, he limbered up the ten-pound Parrott gun alone, picked up the trail and drew it down a hill about six rods, and its own momentum was such that it would have crushed him had he not been lucky enough to have struck the lunett on the pintle hook, as the barrel of this gun weighed one thousand one hundred and sixty pounds, to say nothing of its setting. This incident of a lone soldier limbering up a ten-pound Parrott gun by himself is mentioned in Grant's History of the Civil War, al- though the name of the soldier is not there given. As it was, Mr. Charles saved the gun from falling in the hands of the enemy.
After the engagement at Rome Cross Roads came the battles at Cove Springs, Georgia, October 13, 1864, and Turkey Ridge, Ala- bama, October 26, 1864. After the latter engagement Mr. Charles was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant, the language of the commission reading: "Knew ye that reposing special trust and confidence in the patriotism, valor, ability and fidelity of William S. Charles, in the name of and by the authority of the people of the State of Michigan, I do hereby appoint him Second Lieutenant, Battery B, First Regiment Michigan Light Artillery Volunteers, to rank as such from the 28th day of October, 1864. (Signed ) Henry H. Crapo, Governor." After his appointment to the rank of second lieutenant Mr. Charles participated in the engagements at Griswold, Georgia, November 22, 1864; Ogechee river, Georgia, December 18, 1864; and Savannah, Georgia, December 11 to 20, 1864. At Kelly's Creek, South Carolina, while in charge of a foraging expedition, his company drove Wheeler's Cavalry, killing and wounding a number of them. No report of it was made, as there was no organization there. Other engagements followed this, notably that of Salkehatchie River, South Carolina, February 6, 1865; Columbia, South Carolina, February 15, 1865; Cox Bridge, North Carolina, March 20, 1865; and Bentonville, North Carolina, March 21 and 22, 1865. In all these engagements Mr. Charles par-
1054
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
ticipated, at all times having charge of a line of caissons if noth- ing more important was required, and between engagements he was out with his forage party much of the time. Five miles north of Sharon, South Carolina, he, in company with four men, went in pursuit of some Confederates they knew to be in hiding in the neighborhood. At Grant's Mills they came to a place where a boat had rubbed on the shore and some trees, and leaving one man in charge of their horses they strapped revolvers around their necks and struck boldly into the water, which was more than waist deep. They followed the trail of the boat rubbing on the trees for about three-quarters of a mile, when they came to a small house built on some stumps, with the cane brakes thick all around, and there they captured nine Rebel prisoners. On the afternoon of the same day Mr. Charles personally took five prisoners one and one-half miles from the pond. He turned them over to division headquarters, General Davis commanding. Mr. Charles was mus- tered out of the service at Detroit, Michigan, June 14, 1865, at the close of the war.
On his return from the army he again took up the occupation of an agriculturist, settling on the land which he had purchased before going to the war, and to this he added from time to time, being wonderfully successful and accumulating six hundred acres in Bangor township and one hundred and twenty acres in Waverly township. He continued to do general farming, stock-raising and peppermint growing until his retirement from active life in 1879.
On October 9, 1865, Mr. Charles was married to Miss Mary Jane Cramer, daughter of Abraham and Mary (Sterling) Cramer, na- tives of New York, and she died, leaving four children : Frank Lee, living in Bangor township; Carrie Belle, who married Charles I. Barker, a well-known Chicago attorney; and Frederick Grant and Fred Lee, both deceased. Mr. Charles is independent in politics, and has served Bangor township as treasurer. He is a popular comrade of the Grand Army of the Republic, a consistent member of the Episcopal church, and a prominent Mason, having attained to all of the degrees except the thirty-third.
Just as he proved himself a brave and faithful soldier during the dark days of the Civil war, so has Mr. Charles fulfilled his duties as a citizen in times of peace, and he has ever been known as a progressive and public-spirited citizen, and one who was al- ways ready to assist in forwarding measures for the benefit of his community. He has an enviable reputation as an agriculturist. taking the premium for apples at the Centennial in 1876, and rais- ing the first full car of onions that was shipped out of the states of Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin, this car going to Chi- cago. During the year 1881 he raised ten thousand bushels of onions on ten acres of land.
JOHN MARSHALL, a citizen of Porter township who has always been closely identified with movements calculated to be of benefit to his community, is one of the leading farmers and stock raisers of Porter township, where he has resided all of his life, and the owner of an excellent tract of two hundred acres of well culti-
1055
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
vated land. Having been eminently successful in his own under- takings, Mr. Marshall has been called upon at various times to fill positions of importance in his township, and he is justly regarded as a prominent factor in the public life of his section. John Mar- shall was born in Porter township, Van Buren county, July 24, 1854, and is a son of John and Grace (Hayne) Marshall, natives of County Cornwall, England.
The parents of Mr. Marshall came to the United States in 1851, and first located in Onondaga county, New York, from whence in 1853 they moved to Michigan and settled on a forty-acre tract of land in Porter township, where John Marshall died in December of the same year, his son having not yet been born. The widow remained on the Porter township property, securing the deed to the land at Lansing and having it made out to her son. Another child, a daughter, had died in infancy and was buried in New York. Mrs. Marshall took for her second husband John Barker, who is also now deceased, and they had a family of five children, as follows: George H., who is deceased ; Ella J., living in Porter town- ship ; Mary E., the wife of George I. Hathaway, of Porter township ; Irwin M., living in Porter township; and Joseph H., who is de- ceased. Mrs. Barker died in 1906.
John Marshall grew up on the farm in Porter township, receiv- ing his education in the district schools, and later attending the Lawton High School for a short period. When he was eighteen years of age his stepfather furnished him with a team with which to work his forty-acre farm and forty acres more which he had pur- chased, and when his stepfather died he took charge of the two farms with his half-brothers. Mr. Marshall has always been a hard- working, industrious agriculturist, and from time to time he has added to his property until he is now the owner of two hundred acres, all under a high state of cultivation, where he is carrying on general farming and stock raising. Long years of experience have given him an intimate knowledge of soil conditions in this section, and he has so operated his land as to get the very best of results. He is a Republican in his political views, and in 1885 was elected to the office of township clerk for four years. On the expiration of this term of office he was elected supervisor, and in 1898 was candidate for the office of county treasurer, being elected to serve in that capacity for two terms. His majorities at the various elections proved his popularity and the confidence and esteem in which he is held by his fellow citizens. While serving in the office of county treasurer he was electel president of the Van Buren Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Company, which has grown rapidly under his management and has ably held its own with the old line companies in the field. His fraternal connections are with the Masons and the Modern Woodmen, and in his religious views he is a consistent Methodist.
On April 18, 1883, Mr. Marshall was married to Miss Idale Van Antwerp, daughter of Freeman and Harriet (Cook) Van Antwerp, pioneers of Van Buren county, whose other two children were : Daniel C., a resident of Lawton; and Anna, who is deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Marshall have been the parents of five children, as
1056
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
follows: Grace H., who is a teacher in the Paw Paw High School; and Anna M., Eva L., J. Freeman, who died December 9, 1911, aged twenty years; and Mary E.
GEORGE BURLINGTON .- Orphaned at the age of four years by the death of his mother, and from that time left largely to the care of his father, who had plenty of work on his large farm to occupy the greater part of his time and attention, leaving com- paratively little for the supervision and rearing of his offspring, George Burlington grew to the age of eighteen very much as cir- cumstances dictated, and his subsequent success in life, his straight- forward manhood, his sterling citizenship, and all the other qual- ities which distinguish him and have won him the universal esteem of the whole county in which he lives are rather the results of in- herent uprightness and force of character than of inculcation. He demonstrated that he had the mettle of a true and self-reliant man even in his youth, for he began the battle of life for himself be- fore "manhood darkened on his downy cheek."
Mr. Burlington is a native of Van Buren county, having been born in Porter township on a farm of which the one he now cul- tivates was a part. His life began on March 9, 1881, and he is the ninth and last child of James W. and Mary E. (Rich) Bur- lington, the former a native of Somersetshire, England, and the latter of the state of New York. The father came to the United States when he was twelve years old and found a new home in Onondaga county, New York, where he grew to manhood on a farm near the city of Syracuse. In 1861 he enlisted in the One Hundred and Twenty-second New York Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered into the service a short time afterward, but did not reach or come near the scene of actual hostilities until late in August, 1862. From that time until he received a serious wound in the battle of Cold Harbor, which raged during June 1, 2 and 3, 1864, he was in the very thick of the fight. He had conducted himself with such gallantry that he was promoted corporal sergeant of his company on May 5, 1864. He took part in the battles of South Mountain and Antietam, Maryland, September 14 and 17, 1862; Williamsport in the same state, September 19 and 20, same year; Fredericksburg, Virginia, December 13, 1862; Marye's Heights, Salem Heights, Deep Run and Banks' Ford, Virginia, in May and June, 1863, the fighting in this series of engagements be- ing almost continuous until the last one ended on June 13, and and after that the regiment had two or three weeks' rest. It was resting for a gathering storm, however, and not from one that was retiring. General Lee crossed the Potomac and invaded Penn- sylvania, and Mr. Burlington's regiment was in the force that was assembled to drive him back. It confronted him on the bloody field of Gettysburg on July 1, 2 and 3, 1863, and helped to harass him on his memorable retreat, engaging him in stubborn battles at Funkstown, Maryland, on July 12 and 13, 1863. It was also in the contest at Rappahannock Station, Virginia, on November 7, 1863, and the one at Mine Run, Virginia, which lasted, with in- termittent fighting from November 26 to December 12 of that
1057
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
year. The spring and early summer of 1864 brought some of the hardest fighting of the war, and he was in the very midst of it. His regiment fought in the terrible battle of the Wilderness, May 5, 6 and 7; the battle of Spottsylvania Court House, June 9-12; and the battle of Cold Harbor, June 1, 2 and 3, of that year. At the deluge of death last named Mr. Burlington received a gun- shot wound in his left foot that disabled him for further service. It was a severe and dangerous wound, and his system was also run down also from the effects of a sun stroke received while he was on dress parade at Goose Creek, Virginia, on August, 1863. He was taken to Emory Hospital in Washington for treatment, and was finally discharged from that institution on March 18, 1865.
After his discharge he returned to Syracuse, New York, and soon afterward was married. In 1867 he came to Michigan and Van Buren county, and took up his residence at Lawton in Porter township. Here he was variously employed for a year or two, then rented eighty acres of land, which he farmed three or four years. Having been successful in his operations, he then bought forty acres, to which he added forty by one subsequent purchase and forty more by another, all in section 16, Porter township. Some time later he bought an additional tract of eighty acres, and he owned all of this land at the time of his death, which occurred in September, 1902. His wife died in 1885. They were the par- ents of nine children, of whom their son George was, as has been noted, the last born. The others, who are all living, are: Frances, the wife of Irwin M. Barker; James C .; Grace T., the wife of C. H. Mohney; Guy T .; Nellie, the wife of Claud Miller, of Cass county ; Floyd and Roy, who also live in Cass county ; and James W., whose home is at Decatur. The four first named are residents of Porter township, Van Buren county.
George Burlington was but eighteen years old when he went to Allegan county and opened a butcher shop. This he conducted six years, then sold it and located on forty acres of land which he owned in that county. He farmed this land for two years, then traded it for a house and lot in Wayland, Allegan county. But he did not remain there. He returned to his father's farm, of which he now cultivates sixty acres. On this he does general farming and raises live stock as extensively as his facilities allow, and with gratifying success in both departments of his enterprise.
Mr. Burlington was married on December 15, 1903, to Miss Hattie M. McLoud, a daughter of Henry W. and Nina (Talladay) McLoud, natives of Michigan. Their offspring numbers two, Mrs. Burlington and her sister Edith, who is the widow of the late Claud Sias, of Kalamazoo. Mr. and Mrs. Burlington also have two children : Their son James W., who was born on November 20. 1904, and their daughter Frances E., whose birth occurred on October 3, 1910.
Mr. Burlington is a Republican politically, a Freemason and a Woodman fraternally and a Methodist in church connection. He is one of the progressive and enterprising men of his township, both in his own affairs and in reference to the development and improvement of the locality in which he lives. He is always to be
1058
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
counted on for his assistance in all worthy undertakings designed to advance the interests of the township and county and promote the welfare of their people. He is well known throughout the county and everywhere he is well esteemed as a man and citizen. The people admire him for his integrity in business, his example in public spirit, his devotion to the interests of his section and lis uprightness in private life.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.