USA > Michigan > Branch County > A twentieth century history and biographical record of Branch County, Michigan > Part 95
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Joseph P. Farrand, reared upon the old home farm under the parental roof, early became familiar with the best methods of tilling the soil and caring for the stock. In the winter months he attended the district schools. wherein he mastered the common branches of English learning, and he con- tinued to aid in the operation of the home farm until 1859. He was mar- ried October II, 1857, to Miss Olivia C. Smith. a daughter of Thomas Smith, and he continued to carry on general agricultural pursuits on the old farm homestead until 1861, when in response to his country's need he
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offered his services to the Union for three years and became a member of Company D, Eleventh Michigan Infantry. The regiment was attached to the Army of the Cumberland, and he went south to join the command. He was then sent to Detroit to draw back-pay and was ordered to join his regiment, which was then with Sherman on the march to the sea, but an officer in command, recognizing his clerical ability, prevented him from doing active work in the fields and he put him on detached duty. While on his way to join his regiment, they got as far as the High Truss Bridge on Greene river, Kentucky, on the Nashville Railroad, and here his detach- ment was held to guard this bridge from the rebels. They were attacked Sunday morning about four o'clock and the action continued till ten o'clock, but were under fire three days. They were surrounded by General Bragg's army of sixty thousand men, but Mr. Farrand was paroled on the field. He was discharged in 1865, but continued to serve two and a half years, or until the records were sent from Detroit to Washington, D. C. While he was on detached service in the south Mrs. Farrand acted as volunteer nurse in the hospital for a year. Mr. Farrand's early progenitors were soldiers in the Revolutionary war.
About 1868 Mr. Farrand engaged in the conduct of a meat market in Detroit, and on selling his business there he removed to Toledo, Ohio, be- coming fireman on the Lake Shore Railroad, his run being between Toledo and Elkhart. He afterward went to Kansas and for six months was em- ployed as fireman on the Missouri Pacific Railroad. Later he was made an engineer and continued in the employ of the railroad company for eight years. On the expiration of that period he came to Michigan on a visit and accepted a position with the Lake Shore Railroad as engineer, continu- ing in that service for four years. About 1880 he became proprietor of a hotel at Clinger Lake and was also engineer on the boat, remaining at that point for four years. In 1884 he went to Elkhart, Indiana, where for four years he conducted a restaurant, and in 1889 he rented the Williams farm, upon which he lived for three years. He next rented a farm at Colon for two years, and in 1893 began the operation of the farm which his wife inherited, of one hundred and twenty acres on section thirty-three. Bronson township.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Farrand have been born two children: Burt, who died in infancy ; and Willis Smith. The latter, born in 1869, lives at Bron- son, Michigan, where he is foreman of the American Truss and Post Com- pany. He married Miss Bell Poiser, and has a family of three children : Burt Elliott, Harry Elmer and Inez May. He is a natural machinist, and he was only fifteen when he made a complete engine.
In his political views Mr. Farrand is a Republican, having always sup- ported the party since age gave him the right of franchise. He belongs to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and holds membership in Has- kett Post No. 85, G. A. R., at Elkhart. In all matters of citizenship he is interested and supports all movements for the general welfare with the same loyalty that he displayed when on southern battlefields when he espoused the Union cause.
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HENRY C. WHITLEY.
Henry C. Whitley, who is engaged in loaning money on farming lands and makes his home in Coldwater, was born in Rochester, New York, Janu- ary 7, 1839. His father, John H. Whitley. was born in 1814 and died in 1860. He came to Rochester, New York, in 1835, when a young man of twenty-one years, where he engaged in the boot and shoe business. There his death occurred when he was in his forty-seventh year. His wife bore the maiden name of Eliza Gosnell and was born in 1812. while her death occurred April 18. 1881. She went to Rochester, New York, when about twenty-five years of age. In their family were eleven children, ten sons and a daughter. the latter being the youngest of the family.
Henry C. Whitley, the second son. was reared in the place of his na- tivity to the age of twenty-three years and was educated in the public schools of Rochester. He entered upon his business career as a bookkeeper, which profession he followed for seven years in the east. On the 31st of Decem- ber, 1862, he arrived in Coldwater, where he accepted the position of book- keeper and salesman for the firm of Dickinson and Webb, general merchants. He remained with this house as an employe until 1869. when he was admit- ted to a partnership, the firm name being then changed to Dickinson, Webb & Company, and later to Dickinson & Whitley, which relation was main- tained until the death of the senior partner in 1904. at which time the busi- ness was closed out. For many years he has been engaged in placing loans on realty, his business proving profitable because he has endeavored to sat- isfy his patrons.
In 1861, in Rochester, Mr. Whitley was united in marriage to Miss Ellen C. Judson, a daughter of A. B. Judson, of that city. They have one daughter, Laura W., now the wife of Frank B. Moore. a manufacturer of book-cases in Detroit, Michigan, as a member of a stock company.
Mr. Whitley has never wavered in his support of the men and meas- ures of the Republican party since age gave to him the right of franchise. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and is well known in Branch county, having been a resident of Coldwater for forty-three years. He is delighted in the changes which have occurred, being anxious for the best development of the county along material, social, intellectual and moral lines. His labor and persistency of purpose have been the resultant factors in his own successful career, and as the years have gone by he has gained an enviable position as a representative business man and valued citizen of this place.
L. F. SCHEIDLER, M. D.
Dr. L. F. Scheidler, who is engaged in the practice of medicine and also superintends his farming interests on section twenty-one, Ovid town- ship, is a native of Ohio, his birth having occurred in Seneca county on the 19th of February, 1855. His father, Daniel Scheidler, was born in Pennsylvania in 1824, and when quite young went with his parents to Ohio, being reared, educated and married in Seneca county. He devoted his at-
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tention to agricultural pursuits as a life work and became a representative citizen of the community in which he lived. He wedded Miss Katherine Ann Killinger, who became a resident of Stark county, Ohio, in her early girlhood and there spent her youth. In 1862 Mr. Scheidler brought his family to Branch county, Michigan, taking up his abode on the present farm in Ovid township. He bought one hundred and forty-eight acres of land, of which he cleared fifty-two acres, and his attention was given to the further cultivation and development of the property, with the result that he was known as an enterprising and prosperous agriculturist of the com- munity. In his political views he was an earnest Republican, actively asso- ciated with the work of the party. He possessed many excellent traits of character and was well known in Branch county, where the circle of his friends was almost co-extensive with the circle of his acquaintance. His death occurred May 12, 1880, while his wife died in 1874. They were the parents of eleven children, six sons and five daughters, all of whom were born in Seneca county, Ohio.
Dr. Scheidler, the youngest son and ninth child, was seven years of age when his father came to Branch county, and for three years he was a student in the public schools of Coldwater. Having completed his literary course the problem confronted him as to a choice of a life work, and after careful consideration of the matter he determined to engage in the practice of medicine. In 1884 he went to Chicago and matriculated in the Bennett Medical College, from which he was graduated in the class of 1889. He then returned to Branch county and entered upon the active work of the profession at Kinderhook, where he remained for about seven years, when he returned to the old home farm in Ovid township. He is still practicing, receiving a large patronage from the residents of Ovid township, and his knowledge and ability well qualify him to care for those who come under his professional charge. At the same time he is managing his farming in- terests, having a good tract of land on section twenty-one.
On the 12th of August, 1883, Dr. Scheidler was married to Miss Lulah Thompson, a daughter of Joseph and Emma (Butterfield) Thompson, who were farming people of Branch county, coming to this state from Ohio. Mrs. Scheidler was born in Seneca county, Ohio, in 1862 and was brought by her parents to Michigan in her early girlhood days, so that she was largely reared and educated here. The doctor and his wife now have one son, Dwyte, who was born June 27, 1884. Dr. Scheidler votes an inde- pendent ticket, and though not active in politics he is interested in all that pertains to his county's development. In his business life he displays a marked energy and enterprise and these qualities are essential to success in both professional and agricultural lines.
THOMAS C. KNAPP, M. D.
Dr. Thomas C. Knapp, who is living retired in Union City, was born in Vermilion county, Ohio, March 27, 1840, his parents being William and Clara (Day) Knapp. The father was born in Pennsylvania and became
Thomas e Knapp. N. D.
mas Bathrene Knall.
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one of the pioneer residents of Ohio, where he remained until his removal to Branch county, Michigan, in 1840, locating here when this was a fron- tier district. He settled first in Union township about a mile south of Union City, and a part of his land is now within the incorporation limits. He bought his property at six dollars per acre, becoming owner of a tract of one hundred and ninety acres, which he greatly improved. He added many buildings there, fenced his land and continued the work of cultiva- tion along most modern lines, making his farm a very productive and valt- able one. He continued to engage in general agricultural pursuits through- out his entire life. His wife was born near Rutland, Vermont, and they became the parents of thirteen children, twelve of whom reached manhood or womanhood. There were five daughters and eight sons.
Dr. Knapp, the ninth member of the family, was not yet three months old when brought by his parents to Branch county, and his boyhood days were spend on the old homestead farm in Union township, while in the common schools he obtained his early education. Through the sum- mer months he worked in the fields and remained with his father until twenty-one years of age, when he started out in life on his own account. He then purchased a piece of land, but afterward sold that property, and at the time of the Civil war he put aside all business and personal considerations. enlisting in 1862 as a member of Company K. Seventh Michigan Volunteer Infantry. With that command he served until hostilities had ceased. the stars and stripes having been raised over the capitol of the southern Con- federacy. He was several times wounded, the first time at Brush Creek. Virginia. He took part in many important engagements, including the battles of the Wilderness, Cold Harbor, Spottsylvania and the siege of Petersburg. and he was also slightly wounded there. He was with Han- cock's corps and second division, and he received an honorable discharge at Elmira, New York, in July, 1865, returning to his home with a creditable military record.
When the war was over Dr. Knapp made his way again to Union City. and in this locality purchased a farm. He had been married on the Ist of January, 1863. to Miss Catherine Tylor. a daughter of Lansing and Mary (Lenderman) Tylor. Three children graced this union: William C .: Ada. the wife of T. F. Robinson: and John C. Both sons are farmers of Union township and Mr. Robinson follows the same pursuit.
Dr. Knapp took his bride to his farm and continued to engage in general agricultural pursuits until 1880, when he traded his property in Michigan for a tract of wild land in North Dakota. He then removed to that state and began the cultivation of his place, making his home thereon until 1902, when he retired to Union City. Here he again bought land in Union township, but one-half of his farm lies across the boundary line in Calhoun county. He has one hundred and sixty-five acres, which he rents and makes his home in Union City. When a young man he studied veteri- nary surgery and has practiced the profession for about forty years. being quite successful in that department of work. He was appointed territorial veterinary for North and South Dakota when all were embraced within
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one boundary under the territorial government, and for three years he occi1- pied that position. Mr. Knapp has always been an earnest Republican, and has been elected supervisor for nine different terms in North Dakota. He was chairman of the board twice during that period, and he has ever been interested in matters pertaining to general improvement and substantial development. He has made an untarnished record and unspotted reputa- tion as a business man. In all places and under all circumstances he is loyal to truth and right, justly valuing his own respect as preferable to wealth and position. He has, however, in a business career won gratifying success. so that he is enabled to live retired and yet enjoy all the comforts and many of the luxuries of life.
JOHN H. WILKINS.
In the populous and prosperous county of Branch there are very few people who can boast a continuous residence here of sixty-eight years, but such has been the experience of the gentleman named above, Mr. John H. Wilkins, one of the respected and well-to-do agriculturists of this portion of the state. In fact, a history in detail of his life and experiences would prove to be at the same time a fair and accurate history of Gilead township and Branch county, for all of its development and improvement have been accomplished during his lifetime.
The Wilkins family is of English descent, the paternal great-grand- father of our subject being named John Wilkins, who came from Great Britain to America with his family in the latter part of the eighteenth cen- tury, locating in New Jersey. John Wilkins' wife's name was Hannah and they were married in England, while one of their sons, Thomas, who was born in New Jersey, July 25, 1774, became the grandfather of our subject. Thomas married Elizabeth Miller, whose father, Zepheniah Miller, was killed by the Indians on the Delaware river when Elizabeth was but a child, she and her mother escaping the Indian slaughter by hiding in a cleft of the rocks on the river banks until after the slaughter. Thomas Wilkins and Elizabeth Miller were married in New Jersey and they soon thereafter re- moved to Ross county, Ohio, where they made a home and raised their family. Their children numbered nine, seven of whom grew to maturity, as follows: Samuel, Thomas, Keturah, Hannah, John, Zepheniah and Ben- jamin, the last named being our subject's father.
Benjamin Wilkins was reared in Ross county, Ohio, on the home farm, where he was born March 20, 1814, and in the late twenties he accompanied his parents in their removal to Marion county, Ohio. In 1831 Benjamin made a prospecting trip into Branch county, Michigan, and returned to Ohio, where he was married in the year 1836 to Malinda Matson, a native of Genesee county, New York, where she was born November 23, 1819. She was the daughter of Job Matson, a native of Vermont, who had seven children, Allen, Esther, Dinah, Catherine, Job, Susan and Malinda.
Soon after their marriage Benjamin and Malinda Wilkins came to this county and located land on section thirteen, in what is now Gilead town- ship, securing one hundred and sixty acres from the government, to which
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he later added one hundred and forty-five acres additional. He cleared the most of the original one hundred and sixty acres and also a portion of the one hundred and forty-five acres, and was a hard-working and indus- trious man in spite of physical infirmities. Nine children were born unto Benjamin and Malinda Wilkins, as follows: The eldest. John H., is the subject of this review; Keturah Walter lives in Gilead; Charlotte died at the age of twelve years; Thomas A., Job. Allen and Almon died in infancy ; Hannah Outwater died in 1875: Sussanah Bixler lives in Gilead. The father and mother of this family were most highly esteemed people, the former being in earlier years a member of the Disciples church and the lat- ter a Free Will Baptist. although both later were Adventists. Benjamin Wilkins died August 17. 1874, while his wife passed away February 28. 1883.
Our subject, John H. Wilkins, was born in Gilead township March 20, 1838, and with the exception of two years in infancy, when he was in Ohio, his entire life has been passed here. Growing up on the farm, he assisted in the clearing and improvement of the same. and September 20, 1860, he was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Graves, who was born in Cayuga county, Ohio. August 17. 1844. She was the daughter of Almond S. Graves, who was born in Oneida county, New York, in 18II, and Almina McClaflin Graves, who was born in Ohio in 1823. Almond S. Graves and his wife came to Michigan and Branch county in 1857, locat- ing on section fourteen, Gilead township, where Mr. Graves purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land and made a home. Three daughters were born to them as follows: Elizabeth Wilkins is the wife of our subject ; Lucinda Kinzie and Hattie Sanders live in Gilead township.
The marriage of John H. Wilkins and Elizabeth Graves Wilkins has been blessed with the birth of twelve children, three of whom, E. E., Almon B. and Homer, died in infancy. A record of the others. all of whom are living. is as follows : William H. married Jennie Conklin and their home is in Kinderhook township. They have three daughters living, Ethel, Louise and Mildred, the eldest of whom, Ethel. is the wife of Clyde Brown, of Kinderhook, they in turn having one daughter, Catherine. Benjamin mar- ried Bertha Aldridge and they have a daughter, Gertrude, their home being in Gilead. Emory married Dessie Doerr and they have three children, Verald. Clyde and LeMoyne. Almina M. is the wife of Edson Foster, their one son being Paul. Charlotte is the wife of Jay Steffey, their sons being Clifford and Maurice. Fred married Effie Flint, they having two sons, John and Ira. John Delos married Vera Case. They have two chil- dren. George and Janet. Burton M. married Valma Weaver. their one daughter being Geneva. Harry E. married Carma Pifer and they live at the Wilkins home. With the exception of the eldest son. William H., who resides in the adjoining township of Kinderhook, all of the children live in Gilead township, near their parents.
The farm of Mr. John H. Wilkins now embraces one hundred and sixty acres of fertile land, the same including the most of the original farm obtained by Benjamin Wilkins from the government in the early thirties,
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and which has ever since been in possession of the family. Mr. and Mrs. Wilkins have the original deed of their land, executed by President Martin Van Buren in the year 1839, on May Ist. This is a valuable souvenir in their home. They also have an old wooden clock which is yet keeping time, and it is over a century old. Mr. Wilkins has helped his mother card and pick wool for making their clothes, and even helped her put in the loom. His grandfather Matson brought a cow from Ohio in the pioneer days, and to-day Mr. Wilkins has on his farm a descendant of that cow. In relics he has fire tongs and shovel of over one hundred years of age. Mr. Wil- kins has cleared the greater part of this place and he has also made all of the improvements, including the buildings, which are substantial and mod- ern. He is in politics a Republican and he has filled numerous offices. He was township treasurer for three years, an office also filled by his father in the early days of the township, and for thirty years he has been a school officer, having been director, assessor and moderator. His first presidential vote was cast for Abraham Lincoln and he has always been loyal to his party. In former years he was an Adventist and he and his wife have al- ways been church attendants. Mr. Wilkins has also always been deeply interested in Sunday-school work and was superintendent thereof for many years.
During his life-long residence in Gilead township he has ever been iden- tified with all movements tending toward the uplifting and betterment of mankind and in the development and improvement of this part of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Wilkins have reared their large family of children well and carefully and now they see them all with families and comfortable homes of their own. They have fifteen grandchildren and one great-grandchild, and all of these descendants live within a few miles of the old homestead, where they often gather in reunion. Here upon the farm which has been their home for so many years Mr. and Mrs. Wilkins still reside, passing their declining years in comfort and with the consciousness of well-spent and honorable lives.
BURNLEY FOOTE.
Time and man have wrought many changes in Branch county. The traveler of a few decades ago looking upon the great forests could scarcely realize that within a comparatively short time the timber lands would be cleared and that to-day Branch county would be considered one of the best farming districts of this great state. Mr. Foote is a worthy representative of agricultural interests, living in Matteson township. He was born in Martinsburg, Knox county, Ohio, on the 17th of July, 1840. His father, Garwood Foote, was a tanner, currier and shoemaker, acquainting himself with those trades in early life. He was born in Vermont on the 17th of April, 1814, and was reared in the town of Sharon, Rutland county. In early manhood, however, he left New England and emigrated to Ohio, taking up his abode in Knox county about 1835. There he established a tan yard and embarked in business, following that trade for some time. He also engaged in shoe making in Knox county and was a worthy representative
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of the industrial life of that section of Ohio. He was married there to Miss Celestia Eddy, a daughter of Peter Eddy, of St. Lawrence county, New York, where she was born November 22, 1816. Her girlhood was passed in the Empire state and she accompanied her parents on their re- moval to Ohio, where they settled in a pioneer district. Mr. and Mrs. Foote became the parents of five children, three sons and two daughters, of whom Burnley is the eldest. The others were: Jerome, Peter, Angeline and Emily. The mother died in Knox county, Ohio, in 1851, and the father afterward married again, in 1853, his second union being with Lucinda Dillan, the widow of Simon Dillan, by whom she had three children, two sons and one daughter, Josephine. By the second marriage there were also three chil- dren, two sons and a daughter. In 1863 Garwood Foote brought his family to Illinois, settling near Bloomington, where he remained until 1876. He then sold his farming interests and closed out all of his business affairs and retired to private life, making his home with his children up to the time of his death, which occurred October 16, 1891. He was a stanch Democrat and a man of genuine personal worth, respected and honored by all who knew him.
Burnley Foote was reared and educated in the county of his nativity and his time in his boyhood was divided between play and work as he per- formed the tasks assigned him by his father. When the country became involved in the Civil war he was a young man of twenty-one years, and in the first year of that long and fierce struggle he offered his services to the gov- ernment, enlisting in Company B, Fourth Ohio Infantry, with which he served for two years and five months. He afterward spent one year and eight months as a member of the Fifth Illinois Cavalry. He participated in the sec- ond battle of Bull Run and in the engagements at Grafton, Clarksburg, Ber- erly, Buchanan, Philippi, New Creek and Oakland. At the last place he went into winter quarters and was there taken ill and discharged on a surgeon's certificate of disability. Mr. Foote then returned home, but when he had regained his health he re-enlisted on the 22d of February, 1864, in the Fifth Illinois Cavalry. with which he served throughout the remainder of the period of hostilities. His last service was in chasing the James boys and Quantrell's gang. When the war was ended he returned to Springfield, Illi- nois, and was mustered out October 27. 1865. He had been a brave and loyal soldier and returned to his home with a creditable military record.
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