A history of Van Buren County, Michigan a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests Volume II, Part 67

Author: Rowland, O. W. (Oran W.), 1839-
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 586


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 67


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town line next to Hartford, was covered with heavy timber, and here he erected a little log cabin and began to clear his property. The heavy timber soon gave way to the axe, the stumps and brush were cleared from the land, then the plodding ox-teams assisted the farmer to break his ground, and soon the land blossomed forth into smiling fields, rich with grain and agricultural products. From time to time this thrifty and industrious farmer added to his land, and at one time he was the owner of 290 acres, all of which was lo- cated in Keeler township. Politically a Democrat, he served as justice of the peace for twelve years, and he and his wife were con- sistent members of the Christian church, in the faith of which he died in 1879. Samuel Robertson was married to Deborah Crabb, who was born in Ohio in 1820 and died in 1892, and both are buried in Keeler cemetery, where monuments have been erected to per- petuate their memory in the minds of their friends and children.


Burrill A. Robertson, the worthy son of a worthy father, was reared to manhood among pioneer surroundings, and early in life was trained to the habits of industry, integrity and economy. When he began life on his own account, he had no capital other than a strong physique, a willing heart and a determination to succeed, and whatever success has come to him has been well- merited, for it has been but the just reward for years of hard, un- remitting labor. After his marriage he settled on thirty acres of land, a part of the homestead, for which he went into debt, and not only has he cleared this encumbrance, but he has added to his property from time to time and is now the owner of 120 acres of some of the best land to be found in Keeler township. It is in an excellent state of cultivation, and Mr. Robertson's ability as a farmer has enabled him to raise some of the "bumper" crops of this locality. The little frame house that was the first family home of this young couple, has given way to a modern, two-story struc- ture, equipped with all up-to-date appliances, and a splendid barn and numerous substantial outbuildings greatly improve the ap- pearance of the property. Progressive in all things, Mr. Robertson has been quick to take advantage of new innovations, and he now has a high-power automobile, which he finds not only a great source of pleasure, but of much help to him in his farm work. He and Mrs. Robertson are welcomed into the leading social circles of Keeler and have hosts of warm personal friends who are pleased to note their business success and their social prominence. Politi- cally, Mr. Robertson is a stalwart Democrat, and since the can- didacy of Samuel J. Tilden he has supported the principles of this party. He has served as treasurer of the district board for two years and as highway commissioner for a like period. He and his wife are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and give their moral and financial support to all benevolences worthy their consideration.


On November 14, 1876, Mr. Robertson was married to Miss Oretta R. Dean, in Berrien county. Mrs. Robertson was born November .27, 1855, in Bangor, Michigan, and was the eldest of two children born to Daniel R. and Margaret (Ducolon) Dean. Her brother, Frank, is an agriculturist of Bangor, and is married. Daniel R. Dean was born June 27, 1831, in New York, and died March 29, 1902. He was still a youth when he accompanied his parents to


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Van Buren county, and settled in Bangor when the country was one vast wilderness. As a young man Mr. Dean learned the trade of carpenter and joiner, which was his principal ocupation through- out his life, but he also purchased land in Van Buren county, and became reasonably successful as an agriculturist. During the gold rush in the "Days of '49," he went to the California gold fields, but meeting with only partial success returned to Michigan after two years, and there he spent the rest of his life. He and his wife were members of the Christian church, and he was fraternally con- nected with the I. O. O. F. at Benton Harbor. Daniel R. Dean was married to Miss Margaret Ducolon, who was born March 3, 1835, in Canada, in which country she lived until she reached young womanhood, and she now resides in the town of Hartford.


ALBERT HORACE ABRAMS .- Since 1898 actively identified with the grocery business established by his father in Lawrence in former years, Albert Horace Abrams is, by reason of his ever progressing tendencies and his many admirable traits as a business man and as a citizen, recognized in his home town as one of the representa- tive men of that place, and takes prominent rank among the fore- most men of Lawrence. Never a politician, but always deeply interested in all civic affairs pertaining to the welfare of the com- munity, Mr. Abrams has made his influence one of the uplifting elements in the life of his town. Fair minded and honorable in all his dealings, he has established a name, or rather, perpetuated a name which his worthy father established in Van Buren county in the early fifties.


Albert Horace Abrams, born February 27, 1870, in Paw Paw township, Van Buren county, is the son of James Edward Abrams and Helen Beddoe. The former was born on November 11, 1841, in Albany, New York. He was the son of John Abrams, born in 1797, and lived for many years at Newburg-on-the-Hudson, later settling near Albany, New York, where his son James was born. In 1852 he removed to Michigan, bringing with him his family, and there he made his home henceforth. James Abrams was a veteran of the Civil war, offering his services when the war broke out. He enlisted in the Seventieth New York Infantry on April 12, 1861, and in November, 1862 was transferred to the First Reg- ular Cavalry, serving with honor and distinction until he was honorably discharged on December 12, 1864. Following his re- turn to civilian life Mr. Abrams became engaged in agricultural pursuits and the closing years of his life are being spent in that capacity. He was always a firm supporter of the Republican party, and during his life he held various township offices of trust and responsibility. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and an earnest supporter of the faith. His wife, Helen Beddoe, was born in Southfield, Oakland county, Michigan, in 1847, and was the daughter of John and Abagail (Green) Beddoe, who later became residents of Van Buren county.


The boyhood and youth of Albert Horace Abrams was spent in attendance at the district schools of his town until he was six- teen years of age. He then secured employment as a mail carrier on the route between Prospect Lake and Decatur, saving in the


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three years of his service in that capacity, sufficient money to per- mit him to avail himself of a complete course at Parson's Business College in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Following his graduation from that institution Mr. Abrams was employed by the West Chicago Street Railway Company between 1892 and 1894. In 1896 he took a clerkship in the store of his father and in 1898, after having be- come fully experienced in the matter of managing such an estab- lishment, he took over the grocery store in which his father had been occupied for a number of years, and where he had built up a reputation and attained a success of a most worthy nature. Since that time Mr. Abrams has been successfully conducting the grocery business established by his parent, and marked success has attended his well directed endeavors.


Mr. Abrams, during the years of his residence in Lawrence as a man of business, has done much for the advancement of that cummunity. Never actuated by motives of any but the highest order, his service as a member of the village council in 1901-2 was of a nature calculated to tend to the best good of the communal life. He is recognized as an active and forceful citizen, in his capacity as such having a reputation for carrying to successful con- summation everything in the way of public service which may fall to his lot to perform. He is not a man of any political aspirations, believing as he does that such an attitude is harmful to his best business interests, but he is never laggard in the performance of his duty in a civic way, and his political support is always di- rected towards that influence which is for the seeming good of the village. Mr. Abrams is an enthusiastic sportsman, and his annual expeditions in the northern woods of Michigan in the legitimate deer-hunting season afford him a pleasure that he is seldom in- duced to forego. As a disciple of Izaak Walton he is not less deeply concerned. He is absorbed in landscape photography as a pastime, and has produced some particularly artistic work in that line. Mr. Abrams is prominent in Masonic circles, and has been connected with the work of the order for a number of years.


On April 2, 1895, Mr. Abrams was united in marriage with Miss Nellie E. Wakeman, daughter of Nathan B. and Isabelle Wakeman, and they reside in their beautiful and modern home, which ex- presses eloquently in its character the refinement and culture of its owners.


ANDREW BAKER .- A native of the state of New York, but a resi- dent of Michigan from the age of eleven, Andrew Baker of Porter township, where he has for some years been identified with the farming industry, may be called a product of this state without impropriety. For it was here that he grew to manhood, obtained the greater part of his education and made all his preparations for the battle of life.


Mr. Baker's life began in Wayne county in the great Empire state on August 14, 1846, and he came to. Michigan in 1857 with ·his parents, Chauncey and Emmeline (Van Dosen) Baker, who were also natives of New York. For a time after its arrival in Michigan the family lived in Wayne county, but later moved to Van Buren county. Here the father bought land and began an enterprise in general farming and live-stock raising which he car-


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ried on until the time of his death, and which his son is still con- ducting on a part of the old homestead and some additional land.


Of the seven children born in this family, Andrew and his twin brother Andrus, who died some years ago, came second. Of the other, Frank, the first born, is also deceased, and the seventh died in infancy. Those living now are Andrew; Hiram, an engineer on the Michigan Central Railroad; William, a resident of Lawton; and Sarah, the wife of Eaton Kronk of Antwerp township, this county.


Andrew remained with his father until his death in 1903. The following year he went to Battle Creek, where he worked in a ma- chine shop for six years, following which he returned to his former home, with the intention of devoting the remainder of his life to farming. Of his father's farm, twenty-six acres fell to him as his share, to which he added seventy-four acres by purchase, netting him one hundred acres in all. Since that time he has been occupied in the tilling of his farm and in a certain amount of stock raising, a fair measure of success attending his efforts in his agricultural endeavors.


Mr. Baker is a Democrat in his political adherence, and has al- ways been active in the interests of the party. His first interest, however, is in the welfare of his community, regardless of party claims, and he has rendered excellent service to his town in the capacity of school director and treasurer. He is a communicant of the Methodist Episcopal church, and active in all departments of service with which that organization is connected.


Mr. Baker has been twice married. First, on May 30, 1889, to Miss Julia Castener. Three children were born of their union, of which only the youngest, Myrtle, survives. She is the wife of Nel- son Kynien of Battle Creek, Michigan. On June 12, 1895, the wife and mother passed away, and later the father remarried, his sec- ond wife being Esther Conklin, the widow of Samuel Conklin. Three children have been born of this marriage. The first died in infancy ; the second, Nyle, lives in Battle Creek and the third, Warren, is at home with his parents.


CAPTAIN ORAN W. ROWLAND, the author of this history, was born in Savannah, Richland county, Ohio, on the 25th day of March, 1839. His parents, Eber and Jerusha (Fowler) Rowland, were both natives of the state of New York. Captain Rowland was a country lad, and, his father being a miller, he very naturally learned that trade while he was yet but a boy in his 'teens. When he was a youth of fourteen years he came to Calhoun county, Michigan, and spent one winter in the township of Sheridan with the family of his mater- nal grandfather, Edmund Fowler. His parents followed him to Michigan within a few months. While a resident of Sheridan he attended school in one of the primitive school houses of those days known as the "Tamarack," from the fact that it was constructed of logs cut from tamarack trees.


The young man afterward removed with his parents to the town of Springport in Jackson county, Michigan, where he was engaged in milling, working in both saw-mill and grist-mill and for a portion of the time being the engineer, the mills being run by steam power. When he was in his eighteenth year, he came with his father and mother, to Lawrence, Van Buren county, Michigan, in which county


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he has ever since resided, except while in the service in the Civil war and for a short time thereafter. He received a good common school education and afterward attended a private "select" school in the village of Lawrence taught by a very competent instructor, the late Rev. Edwin S. Dunham. At this school he became proficient in the science of mathematics and acquired a good knowledge of English and a smattering of the Latin language. He began teach- ing school when he was nineteen years of age and followed that pro- fession for a considerable length of time, his last experience in that line being as teacher of the Lawrence village school.


Mr. Rowland entered the military service of the country on the 17th day of September, 1861, in Company C, of the Third Michigan Cavalry. At the organization of the company he was appointed as a sergeant and was subsequently promoted to be orderly sergeant. He reenlisted in the same company in 1863, and was soon afterward commissioned by Governor Blair, Michigan's great "war governor," as second lieutenant, and was assigned to Company E of the same regiment. The next year he was promoted to be first lieutenant and was assigned to Company I. Not long afterward, he was promoted to a captaincy and was reassigned to Company C, the company in which he first enlisted. In this capacity he served until the middle of June, 1865, when he was mustered out and honorably discharged, after having been in the service for about three years and nine months.


Five days subsequent to his entry into the service, on the 22d day of September, 1861, Captain Rowland was married to Miss Mary A. Benjamin, daughter of Daniel and Eunice (Hazard) Benjamin, with whom he has lived for upwards of fifty years, they having celebrated their golden wedding anniversary last Septem- ber. To them were born three children-Mary L., Marion O. and Mina B. The first born daughter is now the wife of Henry E. Shaefer, register of deeds of Van Buren county, and has a family of four children, two sons and two daughters. The son resides in the city of Detroit and is the president of the Detroit National Fire Insurance Company. He was formerly connected with the Michi- gan state fire insurance department and for a time was state in- surance commissioner, a position which he resigned to accept the presidency of the company with which he is now connected. He was married to Miss Rose Smith, of Paw Paw, and they also have four children, two sons and two daughters. Captain Rowland's youngest daughter, Mina, died when but twelve years of age of that dread disease, diphtheria.


For a time after leaving the service Mr. Rowland followed his trade of milling, then was engaged in teaching and in the mercantile business in a moderate way. In the fall of 1868 he was elected to the office of county clerk of Van Buren county, a position which he held for four years, and has been deputy for every one of his suc- cessors. While filling the office of clerk, he studied law and was ad- mitted to the bar in the fall of 1872. He has since held numerous other official positions; has filled the office of prosecuting attorney of the county ; had been and still is circuit court commissioner ; was on special duty as a federal agent of the census of 1890, and, as circuit court commissioner, was at one time ex-officio, judge of the


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juvenile court, a position that he held only long enough to get the title of Judge prefixed to his name, the supreme court declaring that the statute which created the office was unconstitutional.


While engaged in the office of prosecuting attorney Mr. Rowland entered the newspaper business. He was, in company with A. C. Martin, his partner, owner of the True Northerner, of which he was the editor for a period of six years. He then sold his interest in that sheet and purchased the Van Buren County Republican, at Decatur, which he and his son published for a number of years. He has served many terms as one of the justices of the peace of the township of Paw Paw, an office which he still holds. He was a member of the board of trustees of the Paw Paw graded schools for about twenty-five years and was president of the board much of the time.


In politics, Captain Rowland is and always has been a Republi- can. His first presidential vote was cast for "Father Abraham" and he has ever been proud of that vote.


Both Mr. and Mrs. Rowland have been members of the Christian (Disciple) church in Paw Paw for the past twenty-five years. Mr. Rowland has been an elder in the church for many years, has taken great interest in all departments of its work and has been especially interested in the Bible school in which he has been a teacher con- tinuously for a longer time than he has been a member of the church.





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