A twentieth century history and biographical record of Branch County, Michigan, Part 110

Author: Collin, Henry P
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing
Number of Pages: 1198

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In 1868 Mr. Pitcher managed to save from his earnings the sum of five hundred dollars and with this he came to the west in 1869, settling in Batavia township, Branch county. He invested his capital in eighty acres of land and at once began the further development and improvement of his farm. which he continued to cultivate until 1881. In that year he retired from active business, taking up his abode in Coldwater, where he has since lived, enjoying a well earned rest.

Mr. and Mrs. Pitcher became the parents of seven children. Louis W., who was a soldier of the war of the rebellion, enlisting when only fifteen years of age. is now a prominent insurance man of Chicago. Frank, who was a telegraph operator, is deceased. Emily R. is the wife of J. Holmes and they reside with her father. Charles is living in Coldwater and Clara and David Augustus are also of this city.

In ante-bellum days David Pitcher was a staunch abolitionist, greatly op- posed to the institution of slavery and when the Republican party was formed to prevent the further extension of slavery he joined its ranks and has since been one of its stalwart advocates, but has never sought or desired office. He has lived an earnest Christian life and is well versed in the Bible and at all times has been honorable and straightforward, in his relations with his fellowmen. He belongs to Butterworth Post, G. A. R., and thus maintains pleasant relations with the comrades with whom he served upon the battle- fields of the south. He has never been afraid of work and his unflagging industry and perseverance were the strong and salient elements in his success. He is now eighty-three years of age-a venerable and respected citizen of Coldwater. He can look back over the past without regret, for his life his- tory contains many traits of character worthy of admiration and of emulation.

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SAMUEL FISK.

Samuel Fisk, now living a retired life in Coldwater, was born in Newark. Wayne county, New York, October 13, 1834. His parents, L. and Adelia (Wells) Fisk, were also natives of the Empire state, in which they spent their lives, the father following the occupation of farming in order to provide for his family, of wife and nine children-six sons and three daughters.

Samuel Fisk was reared to the occupation of farming, working in the fields through the summer months, while in the winter seasons he attended the district schools, acquiring a good practical education. He came to the west in 1867, following his brother, George W. Fisk, who recently died in Branch county, Michigan. Here Samuel Fisk settled, taking up his abode south of Coldwater, and the brothers carried on agricultural pursuits together for twenty years, meeting with very desirable success. Samuel Fisk was afterward alone in his farming operations for a brief period and in 1897 he removed to Coldwater, where he retired from active business life.

In this county, in 1874, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Fisk and Miss Clara S. Conover, who was born in Huron county, Ohio. They have two children, Albert Jerome and Carlottie B., the former a farmer of Branch county. In his political views Mr. Fisk is a Republican and for eight years he served as supervisor of Coldwater township, proving efficient and capable in that office. He was influential in community affairs on the side of improve- ment and progress and has taken a just pride in what has been accomplished in Branch county during the long years of his residence here. Active and honorable in all business transactions, he won a competence that now enables him to live retired and that classes him with the substantial residents of Cold- water.

BENJAMIN R. FERGUSON, D.D.S.

Dr. Benjamin R. Ferguson, who, in the practice of dentistry in Cold- water. has built up a lucrative business that is indicative of his excellent work- manship and professional skill, was born in Ovid township, Branch county, May 10, 1854. His paternal great-grandfather, Israel Ferguson, was a native of Putnam county, New York, and was of Scotch lineage. His son, Abraham Ferguson, removed from the Empire state to Michigan, in 1835, and in 1867 became a resident of Coldwater, where he died in 1874 at the advanced age of eighty-one years. He was a good man, who lived an upright and honor- able life in consistent harmony with his profession as a member of the Bap- tist church. His early political support was given to the Whig party and later he became a Republican. He married Sarah Roberts, whose birth occurred in Columbia county, New York, and she was of Welsh descent. She lived to be eighty years of age and was a life-long and consistent member of the Baptist church. In the family of Israel and Sarah ( Roberts) Ferguson were ten children, of whom two died in infancy. Of the others five sons and three daughters are yet living, the eldest being eighty-seven years of age, while the youngest is more than sixty-eight years of age and all are married and have reared families.

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Dr. Ferguson's father was born in the state of New York and is now one of the oldest citizens of Branch county, where he has lived for many years. He came here with his parents in pioneer times and has since been an inter- ested witness of the development and growth, of this section of Michigan.

Benjamin R. Ferguson was reared and educated in Branch county, spend- ing his boyhood days upon the home farm. His early mental training was received in the district schools and when eighteen years of age he entered the schools of Coldwater. Later he took up the study of dentistry in this city and subsequently entered upon practice in Olivet, Michigan, but since 1881 has conducted an office in Coldwater. Success has attended his efforts, for he possesses the mechanical skill, theoretical knowledge and business abil- ity without which no man is ever successful as a member of the dental fraternity.

In 1876 Dr. Ferguson was married to Miss Ella Walker and they now have a son and daughter, Glenn W. and Cora M. In his fraternal relations he is connected with the Knights of the Maccabees and the National Union and religiously with the Baptist church. Whatever he has accomplished and whatever success he enjoys is attributed entirely to his own efforts, for with no outside aid or influence in the beginning of his business career he prepared for his chosen calling and has steadily worked his way upward, depending entirely upon his capability for the building up of a practice.

JOHN SECOR.

John Secor is the owner of two hundred and thirty-eight acres of valuable land in Michigan and since 1900 has resided upon his present farm on Section 21, Bronson township. He was born in Bronson township, in 1856, and is a son of Benjamin K. and Louise M. (Young) Secor. The father was born in the Empire state and removed to Toledo, where he lived for a time. About 1852, however, he came to Branch county and settled in the village of Bron- son, where he engaged in general merchandising with David F. Gates for several years. At the outbreak of the Civil war, however, his patriotic spirit was strongly aroused and he offered his services to the government, enlist- ing in Company G, Nineteenth Michigan Infantry. He was captured and died as a prisoner of war in Tennessee. He had previously purchased a small farm in Bronson township, southeast of the village. In the family are two sons, John and James.

John Secor was but a young lad at the time of his father's death. He was reared upon the farm and pursued his education in the district schools of the neighborhood. He continued upon the home farm until 1893, coming into possession of the property in 1890. He also extended its boundaries by the addition of thirty-four acres and transformed it into very rich and productive fields, adding all modern equipments and accessories. In 1893 he rented the Wallace Monroe farm north of town for seven years. living thereon until 1900 and during the same time he continued to cultivate his own farm of seventy-eight acres. In the latter year he purchased one hundred and eighteen acres on Section 21, Bronson township, known as the Latta farm,

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to which he removed and on which he has since made his home. In 1903 he sold his original farm property and later purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land in St. Joseph county, Michigan, so that his entire holdings com- prise two hundred and thirty-eight acres at the present time. He carries on general farming and raises feed for his stock. Everything about his place is kept in good condition and he is one of the representative agriculturists of his community, his enterprise and perseverance proving the elements that have brought him success.

In 1877 Mr. Secor was united in marriage to Miss Alvira A. Johnson, a daughter of Morgan Johnson, of Bethel township. They have three children : Joseph Benjamin, who married Anna Gairn and lives at Three Rivers, St. Joseph county ; Louisa A., the wife of Arthur Lindsey, of Litchfield ; and John Morris, who is eight years of age. In politics Mr. Secor is a Repub- lican and has been a member of the school board for four years, the cause of education finding in him a warm friend and one who does all in his power to promote the welfare of the schools. In his farming operations he has so (lirected his efforts that his work has been attended with a gratifying measure of prosperity.

AUGUSTUS A. CLEVELAND.

Augustus A. Cleveland, who since September, 1889, has resided upon his present farm in California township, was born in the neighboring state of Indiana, his birth having occurred in Elkhart county on the 13th of October. 184-1. His father, Joseph Cleveland, who was the son of Harden and Betsy Mason Cleveland, was born in Lake county. Ohio, and in early life learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed in connection with farming, de- pending upon those two pursuits as a means of livelihood throughout the entire period of his mature years. He was united in marriage to Miss Harriet Seward, who was also a native of Lake county, Ohio, and was a daughter of Nathan Seward. Their marriage was celebrated in the Buckeye state and they became the parents of twelve children, of whom three died in infancy. Of the others Tracy, Mrs. Portia Brindle and Mrs. Lillian Noyes, are now

deceased. Mrs. Laura Tupper is living in Cass county, Michigan. Mrs. Althea Sanborn makes her home in Kirtland, Ohio. Mrs. Frances VanDusen is living in Coldwater. Seward makes his home in Coldwater, and Mrs. Jennie Taylor is a resident of Batavia, this county. Both of the parents died in Batavia. where they were respected citizens. They had become residents of Branch county during the period of the Civil war and remained here until called to their final rest.

A. A. Cleveland spent his boyhood days in his father's home in Elkhart county, Indiana, where he lived until seventeen years of age. No longer able to content himself at home while the country was engaged in Civil war he enlisted from Elkhart on the 3Ist of December, 1861, entering the service the following day as a member of Company C, Ninth Indiana Infantry, with which he served for three years and nine months. Although but a young lad no veteran of twice his years displayed greater loyalty or valor upon the field of battle. The regiment was attached to the Army of the Cumberland

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and he participated in many of the important engagements of the war leading up to the final victorious result. He was in the battles of Pittsburg Landing, Stone River, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Nashville and other battles and skirmishes of less importance. He was also on the Atlanta campaign under General Sherman and was wounded in front of Atlanta. During the last two years of the war he served as orderly sergeant and was honorably discharged in September, 1865, having for almost four years worn the blue uniform of the nation. Every duty assigned him in connection with his military service was faithfully performed and he returned home with a cred- itable record.

When hostilities ceased Mr. Cleveland came to Branch county, making his way to Batavia, where his parents had removed during his absence at the front. He lived there for ten years, working his father's farm, after which he removed to Bronson, where he remained for a short time. He next estab- lished his home in Algansee township in 1878 and there resided until Septem- ber, 1889, when he removed to his present farm on Section 4, California township. Here he owns forty acres of productive land on which are good buildings. The place is neat and well improved and he carries on general farming, his labors bringing to him a good living. He has always devoted his attention to general agricultural pursuits and his work is at all times characterized by unfaltering diligence and by practical methods.

On the 24th of November, 1868, Mr. Cleveland was united in marriage to Mrs. Theresa Welch Sprague, who passed away in October, 1886. His second marriage on the 28th of June, 1888, was to Miss Dana Purdy, who was born in Ovid township, Branch county, July 24, 1861. The Purdys are one of the old families of this part of the state and the original American ancestors came from England to the new world. Joseph Purdy was born in Rutland, Vermont, March 1, 1767, and his wife, Sally Smith, who was born November II, 1769, was probably a native of the same state. In early life they removed to Canada, settling near Montreal. At the beginning of the war of 1812. feeling that he would be pressed into English service against his native land, he returned to Vermont. During the second year of the war (being driven out by the Indians), with his family, he removed to Monroe, Ohio. They had eleven children, several of which came to Branch county in 1836. In later years the parents also established their home here, their last days being spent in Algansee township.

Horace Purdy, the eldest son of Joseph and Sally Purdy, and the paternal grandfather of Mrs. Cleveland, was born March 14, 1791, in Vermont, and was married to Sally Thompson, of the same state. A few years of their married life were spent in Canada, where their eldest child, Phoebe, was born. After their return to the United States the first authentic record we have of them is that they lived in Seneca county, Ohio, as early as 1818. From there they removed to Branch county in 1836. It was in Seneca county, Ohio, that Orange Purdy, father of Mrs. Cleveland, was born on the 7th of July, 1830. He married Miss Martha Parker, whose birth occurred in Hillsdale county, Michigan, July 18, 1841. She was the daughter of Abel and Climena ( Pease )

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Parker. Her mother was a native of the state of New York and her father of Connecticut, having been born in that state December 19, 1798. Abel Parker was the son of Silas Parker, who was born near Hartford, Connecti- cut, and removed from that place with his family, making his way to Oneida county, New York. He settled on Onondaga Pike, where he kept a tavern for many years and in the days when the spirit of anti-masonry ran high, because of the disappearance of Morgan, the Masons used to meet and hold meetings in his hotel. He was also a colonel in the war of 1812. The wed- dling of Orange Purdy and Martha Parker was celebrated in California town- ship and they became the parents of three children: Fred Purdy, now living in Algansee: Orange J. K. Purdy, a resident of Montana ; and Mrs. Dana Cleveland. The father, Orange Purdy, was a soldier of, the Civil war, en- listing as a member of Company G, First Michigan Sharpshooters. known as Hall's Sharpshooters. He joined this command September 23, 1864, and was discharged on the 13th of June, 1865, for General Lee had surrendered and the war had been brought to a close. He at once returned to his home in Branch county but died soon afterward, passing away on the 19th of De- cember, 1865, when only thirty-five years of age. He had followed farm- ing in Algansee township prior to the war and was a respected and worthy citizen. His health was undermined by his military service and he prac- tically gave his life in defense of his country. His widow long survived him and passed away on the 10th of July, 1897, when fifty-six years of age.

Mrs. Cleveland has long been prominent in the work of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, recognized as one of its active representatives for fifteen years. She has been secretary, treasurer and president of the county association and is now filling the position of county treasurer. She has also been a leader in the work of the district, which comprises the coun- ties of Branch, Calhoun, Barry, Eaton and Jackson, acting as corresponding secretary for three years and at this writing, in 1906. is acting as district pres- ident. Her interest in behalf of the cause of temperance has been far reach- ing and beneficial and her labors in the organization have well demonstrated her fitness for leadership. She likewise belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church and has strong sympathy with every movement that tends to uplift and benefit humanity. Both Mr. and Mrs. Cleveland are well known in this county, for her entire life has been passed here and Mr. Cleveland has been a resident of the county since his return from the war. He joined the army as a boy, he returned a man, for there has been no movement in all the country's history that has so rapidly developed the manhood and strength of the young people of the nation as that chapter in her annals. In days of peace he has been equally loyal to his country and his co-operation can always be counted upon for the furtherance of measures that have for their basis the upbuilding and improvement of the county, state or nation.

LEVI SANDERS, M.D.

Dr. Levi Sanders, specialist on ruptures and chronic diseases, has head- quarters both at Bronson and Petoskey, Michigan, and conducts a practice that extends over a wide territory.

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Dr. Sanders was born in Gilead, Branch county, Michigan, December 21, 1840, son of Josiah and Mary (Miller) Sanders, natives of Ohio who moved from the Buckeye state up into Michigan in the year 1832 and settled on a farm in Branch county. Both are deceased. In the district schools of his native county Dr. Sanders received his early education, attending school during the winter months and in summer working on the farm. He con- tinued farming for some years and then turned his attention to the study of medicine, matriculating at Bennett College, Chicago, and graduating there with the class of 1880. He began the practice of his profession at James- town, Indiana, where he remained six years, from there returning to his native county and locating at Bronson, where he has since maintained his home, dividing his time, however, for some years past between this place and Petoskey.

He married, in 1868, Miss Lodema Jameson, a daughter of James Jameson of Cayuga, New York, and they are the parents of six children : John, Lowell, Emery, Irving, Milton J. and Lola A., wife of Charles WV. Clark of Sturgis, Michigan.

During his residence in Bronson Dr. Sanders has shown himself to be a public-spirited citizen in the best sense of that term. He served as a mem- ber of the village council and for six years was president of the school board. He has membership in Mystic Lodge, A. F. & A. M., is identified with the A. O. U. W .. and politically is a Republican.

The Publishers, in acknowledging their indebtedness to the work of Rev. Collin, whose scholarly efforts and unabating interest in every department of the undertaking insure to the public the faithfulness of the endeavor and the value of the volume as a history of the county, take this opportunity in the closing pages of the volume to give a brief sketch of the life of the author and editor.

Like many of his fellow citizens, of the present generation as well as of the pioneer past, Rev. Collin is a native of New York state. Born in Benton township. Yates county, July 26, 1843. he was the first child of Henry Clark and Maria Louise (Park) Collin. He grew up on his father's farm and became accustomed to its duties, so that he is not without personal appre- ciation of the toils through which the early agriculturists of Branch county passed in transforming it into the beautiful region it now is. From the dis- trict school of his neighborhood he entered Penn Yan Academy, where he prepared for entrance at Genesee College, at Lima, in the fall of 1861. In the middle of his college career he transferred to Yale College, where he was graduated a Bachelor of Arts in July, 1865, and later received the A. M. degree. That the traditions and inclinations of the Collin family toward higher education were up to the highest New England standards is shown by the fact that for twenty years Yale College had one or more of the Collin boys within her classic walls as a student.

From September, 1865, to July, 1866, Mr. Collin taught in a private

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school, "Immanuel Hall." in Chicago, belonging to his uncle, Rev. Roswell Park. D.D., founder and first vice president of Racine College. Wis. The three following years he pursued the theological course in Union Theological Seminary of New York City, graduating there in June, 1869. His clerical career began with license to preach by the fourth presbytery of New York, April 12, 1869. He preached in the Congregational church of Seymour. Con- necticut, from July. 1869, to July. 1870, being ordained by a Congregational council in that place, November 25. 1869. In May, 1871. he went abroad. studying German three months near Hanover, and in October. 1871, entered the University of Berlin, where he studied theology, and in the following year in the University of Leipsic. After traveling in Ireland. Scotland, England. Germany. Austria, Italy and Switzerland, he returned to America in Septem- ber. 1872. and in June of the next year entered on his duties as pastor of the Congregational church at Oxford. Chenango county, New York. In October. 1878. he was called from this position to the pastorate of the Presbyterian church of Coldwater, where his active service continued for nearly twenty- seven years, from December, 1878, to March 31. 1905. In the following May he entered upon his duties as editor of this volume. His enthusiasm in all literary matters and especially in the local history of his county, and his ranking scholarship, were the qualities that caused his selection to this posi- tion. His interest in the work has never flagged, and is perhaps best shown by the fact that he intends to continue the collation of facts and the preserva- tion of matters of historical value in Branch county, supplying the incentive and inspiration which are always necessary to preserve the immediate past from total oblivion.

HECKMAN BINDERY INC.

SEPT 94

Bound - To -Pleas& N. MANCHESTER, INDIANA 46962

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of Branch County, Michigan, Part 110

Author: Collin, Henry P Publication date: 1906 Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Number of Pages: 1198

Author: Collin, Henry P
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing
Number of Pages: 1198