A twentieth century history and biographical record of Branch County, Michigan, Part 98

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

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Charles went to school the following fall and winter, and in the spring of 1866 resumed work in the Commercial office at Monroe, where he re- mained one year, completing his apprenticeship, and then started out as a " jour " printer, working on daily papers at Toledo, Sandusky and Detroit until the spring of 1874, when he moved to Lansing, Michigan, where he was employed for nine years in the State Printing Office, during the admin- istration of the late W. S. George as state printer. In the spring of 1883 Mr. Owen purchased the Grass Lake, Michigan, News (his first newspaper venture), which he published until July, 1885, when he sold that paper and bought the Bronson, Michigan, Journal. In October, 1889, he sold the Jour- nal and bought a half interest in the Coldwater Courier. in partnership with Mr. C. H. Newell. which relation continued until October, 1894, when he sold his interest in the Courier to Mr. Newell and bought the Quincy Herald of the late J. C. Joiner, which Mr. Owen has since conducted with marked ability and success, the Herald being one of the most reliable and popular country weeklies in Southern Michigan.

On the 22d of July, 1869, Mr. Owen was united in marriage at the home of the bride in Detroit, to Miss Belle J. Allen, who was born at Cleveland. Ohio, October 30, 1847, and is a daughter of J. J. and Harriet (Thomp- son) Allen. The mother died in Detroit in April, 1883, and the father died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Owen, at Coldwater, Michigan, in Octo- ber, 1893, with whom he spent the latter years of his life. He was born in county Longford, Ireland, in 1809, and when a young man, immediately after being married, came to the United States, first settling in New York city. He afterwards moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and in 1868 moved to Detroit. Mr. and Mrs. Owen 'began their domestic life in Toledo, Ohio, where Mr. Owen was employed on the Toledo Daily Blade for a number of years. Their married life has been very happy, and they have been blessed with four chil- dren: Gertrude May, born in Toledo, Ohio, August 18, 1870; Wilber Allen, born in Detroit, Michigan, June 30, 1873; Charles Wesley, Jr., born in Lansing. Michigan, June 29, 1877, and Isla Belle, born at Bronson, Michi- gan, September 17, 1889. Wilber and Charles are both graduates of the Columbia Law School of Washington, D. C., where they took the night course while in the government employ, Wilber in the Government Printing

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Office, and Charles in the War Department during the Spanish-American war. Wilber and Charles have been engaged in the practice of law at To- ledo, Ohio, for a number of years, in which they have met with marked suc- cess, making a specialty of patent law practice, under the firm name of Owen & Owen. Both are married, and a fine baby girl came to the home of Charles and wife July 20. 1905. Gertrude is a successful milliner, and Isla Belle is still at home, pursuing her studies in the Quincy High School at the time of the compilation of this history, January, 1906.

Mr. Owen has always been a staunch Republican. Both he and his wife are members of the Quincy Presbyterian church, and Mr. Owen is also a member of Mt. Vernon Lodge No. 166, F. & A. M., Maccabee Tent No. 536, Capital Council No. 80, Royal Arcanum, and C. O. Loomis Post No. 2, Grand Army of the Republic.

PASCHAL P. MORRISON.

Paschal P. Morrison, devoting his time and energies to general agri- cultural pursuits in Girard township, was born in Penfield, Monroe county, New York, October 20, 1835. His father, Jonathan Morrison, was a native of Seneca county, New York, and was a son of Samuel Marrison, who spent his entire life in the Empire state. The great-grandfather of our subject was a soldier of the Revolution, who valiantly fought for independence of the colonies. Reared in the Empire state, Jonathan Morrison, after attaining his majority. was united in marriage to Miss Charlotte Burlingame, whose birth occurred in Bloomfield, Ontario county, New York. They began their domestic life in the Empire state, and before leaving the east seven chil- dren were born unto them, but one of the number died in infancy. With the surviving six children they came to Michigan in 1845 and for a few months resided in Washtenaw county, after which they removed to Girard township. Branch county, taking up their abode on section thirty-three. The father there purchased eighty acres of land, which is now in possession of his son Paschal, and throughout the remainder of an active business career de- voted his attention to farming. He became one of the representative and prosperous farmers of the locality and died on the old homestead Novem- ber 24. 1885, at the age of seventy-seven years, while his wife passed away in 1893, at the age of eighty years. The six children who came with them to Michigan were : Nancy, now Mrs. Hames, who is living in Ho- dunk. Michigan; Mrs. Victoria Kingston, who resided in Union town- ship, Branch county: Russell Morrison, who died in Batavia, Michigan, in 1887: Mrs. Marcia Wilcox, a resident of Coldwater; Mrs. Mary Ann Reed, also living in Coldwater; and Paschal P., of this review. Following the arrival of the parents in Michigan two other children were born, but both died in infancy.

Paschal P. Morrison came to Michigan with his parents when a lad of ten years and has since resided in Girard township, with the exception of the brief period spent with the family in Washtenaw county. He early be- came familiar with the labors of the farm and assisted in the development

DPLeonard

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HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY

of the fields and the care of the stock. After his father's death he cared for his mother, and not until she, too, was called from this life did he feel at liberty to marry. He then wedded Miss Augusta Adolph in October. 1895. She, too, lived in Girard township, and she is a native of Germany, born August 28. 1849. Her father was Phillip Adolph, and her mother bore the maiden name of Anna Greuner. Both were natives of Germany, where they were married and where six children were born unto them, as follows: Phil- lip, who is now a resident of Girard: Lena, who died in Germany in infancy ; Anna, who became Mrs. Flandemeyer, and died in Coldwater. Michigan, in 1861 : Willard, who is living in Union township, this county; Mrs. Lena Morrison, who resides in Batavia; and Mrs. Augusta Morrison, the wife of our subject. The father's death occurred in Germany in 1853. and a few years later Mrs. Adolph came with her children to America, locating in Girard township, Branch county, Michigan, where her parents, Anthon and Vancel Greuner, had previously taken up their abode. Here Mrs. Adolph made for herself a good home and reared her family, doing a mother's full duty toward the sons and daughters who were left to her care. She died here March 17, 1891. Mrs. Morrison had cared for her in her declining years, and she, too, resolved not to marry while her mother lived, but in March, 1891, she gave her hand in marriage to Paschal P. Morrison, and their marriage has been a particularly happy one. They have a comfortable home situated in the midst of an eighty-acre farm on section thirty-three. Girard township, and bordering the banks of the beautiful Morrison Lake, which was named in honor of the family. This lake has led to the establish- ment of a favorite summer resort, with numerous cottages, which are occu- pied throughout the summer months. Both Mr. and Mrs. Morrison have spent the greater part of their lives in this locality and are highly esteemed. The friendship of many friends is freely accorded them, and it is with pleas- ure that we present this record to our readers.

D. P. LEONARD.

For many years D. P. Leonard has traveled life's journey, and now. in the evening of a long, useful and honorable career. is enjoying a well earned rest. relieved of the burdens and responsibilities of business life. for through many decades he was laying by the competence which now supplies him with all the necessities and many of the luxuries of life. Depending upon his own resources, he has risen from comparative obscurity to a place of prominence in the commercial world.

Mr. Leonard was born in the village of Smyrna. Chenango county. New York, February 9. 1822. His father. Joseph B. Leonard, was a native of the eastern part of New York, his birth having occurred in Saratoga. He was of Welsh lineage, his ancestors having come from Wales at an early clay and settled in Tompkins, Massachusetts, where they established the first foundry in the United States. Joseph B. Leonard was a shoemaker by trade and he lived to the advanced age of eighty-five years. His wife, whose maiden name was Aseneth Buck, was a native of Massachusetts and died in her sixty-

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fourth year. They were the parents of four children, of whom one died in infancy, while the three sons grew to manhood. Joseph C. and James were both prominent merchants of Union City at one time, but are now deceased.

D. P. Leonard is the youngest of the brothers and the only one now living. He was reared in the place of his nativity and acquired his education in a select school there, but his privileges were somewhat limited, for at the age of twelve years he started out in life on his own account. He began working as a farm hand, being bound out for four years, and according to the terms . of the contract he was to be given his board and clothing and allowed the privilege of attending school for three months in the winter. When sixteen years of age he began teaching in the district schools, following that profes- sion through the winter seasons, while in the summer months he continued at farm labor. He afterward spent one year in Pennsylvania in working at the carpenter's trade, and then returned to Chenango county, New York. There he entered into partnership with his father in the shoemaking business, in which he continued for two years, after which they purchased a farm together in New York. Two years later he bought his father's interest in the place and remained upon the home farm for eleven years, placing it under a high state of cultivation and having a number of substantial improvements made.

On the 13th of April, 1848, Mr. Leonard was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Gates, a daughter of Warren W. and Mary (Wording) Gates. Mrs. Leonard was born in Rhode Island and was a young child when her parents removed to the Empire state. Following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Leon- ard resided in New York for about eight years, and in 1856 came to Mich- igan, settling upon a farm'in Burlington township, Calhoun county, about a mile and a half from Union City. This farm he still owns. It was largely improved by him and he erected substantial buildings there, made good fences. carefully tilled his fields and continued the farm work along practical lines until his labors were crowned with very gratifying success. He resided upon that place until 1892, but in 1889 he had purchased a farm east of Union City, in Union township, and took up his abode in the village, working the farm until about 1900, when he sold that property. He has now a ginsing plant on his lot in Union City. The old homestead property comprises about three hundred acres of rich land, of which fifty acres is timber, while the greater part of the remainder is cultivable and was transformed into pro- ductive fields by Mr. Leonard. He also owns real estate in Union City, in- cluding two brick stores on Main street.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Leonard have been born three children: Dr. Mary A. is the wife of Thomas E. Murphy, editor of a paper at Mercedes, Cali- fornia. She graduated in the Kalamazoo Female Seminary in the class of 1873; also from the Medical College, in Northwestern University of Chi- cago in the class of 1894, and she took up her practice at Portland, Oregon, thence removing to California. Charles J. married Della E. Winans and is now operating the old farm in Calhoun county. He was a student at the Agricultural College at Lansing, Michigan, and was a teacher in both Cal- houn and Branch counties. Hattie C. is at home. Besides attending the

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HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY

High School at Union City she was a student at the Ladies' College at Paines- ville. Ohio. In 1888 Mr. Leonard was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died on the 20th of January of that year.

In his political views Mr. Leonard is a Democrat. He served as super- visor of Burlington township for one term and has always been interested in the welfare and growth of his party. As a pioneer settler he has contributed in substantial measure to the improvement of the county and to the upbuild- ing of Union City. He gave active encouragement to the cement factory here. being largely instrumental in securing its establishment. He has also done much toward promoting other interests of the town which have contributed in large measure to the general prosperity. Mr. Leonard and his wife and daughter. Miss Hattie. all traveled quite extensively, making three trips to California, two to Florida, and also visiting other sections of the country. He has thus enjoyed the competence which has come to him through his well directed labors. His has been a successful career. for he started out in life when only twelve years of age, having nothing to depend on but his own labors. His prosperity has come as the result of hard work and honorable dealing. His progress has not been continuous, for at times he has met diffi- culties and obstacles. On one occasion his house was destroyed by fire, and. another time his barn was burned, but he did not allow those losses to dis- courage him. but replaced the buildings with modern structures, and now has one of the best improved farms of the county. There is no larger barn in this section of the state, for the structure is one hundred and thirty by one hundred and twenty feet. . His life has been honorable. his actions manly and sincere, and his name is a synonym for integrity and straightforward dealing wherever he is known.

REV. FREDERICK M. CODDINGTON.

Rev. Frederick M. Coddington, pastor of the Presbyterian church in Quincy, was born in Sherwood township. Branch county, in 1853. The fam- ily is of English lineage and was founded in America by three brothers who came from England in the early part of the seventeenth century, settling in that section of the country which was called in honor of the mother country, New England. All of the Coddingtons in the United States are perhaps descended from these three brothers, and the number bearing the name is now a large one.

Chester T. Coddington, father of our subject, was born in Tompkins county. New York, in 1818, and died in November, 1884. He was a farmer by occupation. as was his father, Robert Coddington, while the latter was likewise an elder of the Presbyterian church. Chester Coddington left the state of New York in the fall of 1839 and settled in Sherwood township, where he took possession of a third of the land which his father had pre- viously entered from the government. There he lived and prospered, and eventually died upon another farm that, during his latter years, became a part of the site of Sherwood village. When he came to Michigan he was a member of the Presbyterian church, but as there was no congregation of

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HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY

that denomination at that time, he united with the Congregational church of Union City about 1846, and died while identified therewith. He was one of a family of ten children, eight sons and two daughters, all of whom reached mature years, namely : John M., who studied for the ministry; Reuben P., who came to Michigan two years after Chester's arrival, and was a prosper- ous farmer, a very influential man in the county, and became the owner of one-third of the land which his father had originally possessed in Sherwood township; Martin Luther, who came some years after Reuben's arrival, and took the remaining third of the land, prospering as a farmer up to the time of his death, which occurred when he was fifty years of age; James, Stephen, Eliza, Ophelia, Theron and Theodore, all now deceased.

Chester Coddington was a life-long supporter of the Whig party until its dissolution, when he joined the ranks of the Republican party. His brothers who came to Michigan were also Republicans, while those remain- ing in the east gave their allegiance to the Democratic party. Chester Cod- dington served as a justice of the peace, and was influential in community affairs. His life was upright and honorable, and all who knew him esteemed him for his genuine worth. He married Prudence Hess, who was born in the state of New York in 1815 and died in 1866. She was a daughter of Frederick and Jerusha Hess, who was of German descent. She held mem- bership in the Methodist Episcopal church, and her husband gave the site from off his farm on which the Methodist church of the locality was built. This was the first church edifice erected in the township of Sherwood. In the family of this worthy couple were three children: James D., who died in childhood; Frederick M .; and Hiram D., a farmer of Sherwood town- ship. Chester Coddington had been previously married, his first wife having been Elizabeth Lee, a member of a pioneer family of Branch county. She was an early school teacher and understood the Indian language. The first wife died about 1848. Unto this marriage were born five children, of whom one died in infancy, while the others were: Elisabeth Ophelia, who at the age of twelve years became a member of the family of her paternal grand- mother, filling the part of a daughter, sister and home-keeper, until all that family have passed away-herself still. remaining as the sole representative of a once large and merry family; Charles D., a farmer residing in Mason county, who is a pensioner of the Civil war and a member of the Grand Army of the Republic; Orpha G .; and Margaret Ely. The second wife of Chester Coddington was the mother of our subject. His third wife was Salena Leatherberry, a daughter of Abel Leatherberry, and a native of Ohio. She is now living in Sherwood at the age of seventy-three years.

Mr. Coddington was reared upon the home farm, attended the district schools and was a student in Jonesville Union School and Albion College. At the age of twenty-six years he began teaching and was superintendent of the schools of Sherwood from 1879 until 1881. In the school year of 1881-2 he was principal of the high school at New Troy, and was superintendent of schools at Three Oaks in 1883-4. In the meantime he had been preparing for the ministry, and in March, 1885, was ordained a minister of the Con- gregational church at Athens by a regularly constituted council of the min-

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HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY

istry of that church. He was then acting pastor of a charge at Athens, and later he became pastor of the church at Pinckney, where he remained for two years. He afterward spent three years in Leslie, Michigan, and more than five years in Litchfield. He continued his labors for four years in Laings- burg, and in Otsego for nearly three years, and in April, 1902, he came to Quincy, since which time he has been pastor of the Presbyterian church here.

Rev. Coddington was married in August. 1882, to Miss Esther L. Evans. who was born in Quincy township in 1859, and was a daughter of Joseph and Theodosia Evans. Her father came to Michigan in 1852, settling in Quincy township, Branch county. He was of Scotch and French lineage and was a skilled carriage maker. In his family were two children, the son being Frank L. Evans, superintendent of the public schools of Frankfort, Michigan, and also editor of the Benzie County Patriot, published at Frankfort. Mrs. Cod- dington was a teacher in the schools at Sherwood when her husband became superintendent there. She has an adopted daughter, Amy J. North, who became a member of their home when sixteen years of age, and was married in February, 1896, to William J. Mcllwain, a farmer of Calhoun county, Michigan.

Mr. Coddington is the owner of a farm of ninety acres in Quincy town- ship, and this brings him a good return, which makes an excellent supplement to his salary received from the church. Where national questions are in- volved, he is a Republican, but at local elections votes for candidates of the Prohibition party. He has served as school examiner and is always inter- ested in educational advancement. Fraternally he is a Mason. For twenty- one years, however, he has given his almost undivided attention to the work of the ministry, and his labors have been crowned with a high measure of success. He is a speaker of force, logical in argument and strong in his presentation of his cause. He is likewise a forcible and entertaining writer and has produced some publications, including a work entitled " As They Did It," or " The First Church of Warden," published by Jennings & Pye of Cincinnati ; while the same publishers are soon to read the manuscript of another instructive and entertaining religious novel written by him, entitled " The Mortgage on the Old Farm," with the view of putting it in book form. (The manuscript of this book has not yet been in the hands of any publisher. ) He is a man who enjoys the highest respect of all, regardless of denomina- tional preference, and his work has been a potent power for good wherever he has labored.

MRS. GEORGE E. LORING.

Mrs. George E. Loring, well known in Branch county, is living upon a farm on section thirteen, Girard township, where she owns eighty acres of valuable land. Her residence is an attractive modern frame house built in pleasing style of architecture and standing in the midst of a well-kept lawn. Everything about the place is neat and thrifty in appearance, giving indication of the careful supervision of Mrs. Loring. In her maidenhood Mrs. Loring bore the name of Mary Calkins, and her birth occurred in Schenectady county,

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New York. February 19, 1840. Her father, Orville Calkins, was a native of Glenville, Vermont, where the days of his boyhood and youth were passed, but soon after he attained his majority he removed to the Empire state, and was there married in Cambridge, Saratoga county, to Miss Janet Ferguson. They reared their family of children there, and Mrs. Calkins died in that locality. Mr. Calkins subsequently came to Michigan in 1852 and estab- lished his home in the township of Batavia, Branch county, where he resided for a few years, after which he removed to a farm in Girard township. Later he located in the village of Tekonsha, where his remaining days were passed. Mr. Calkins was a stone mason by trade and for many years followed that pursuit, giving his attention to that business while in Tekonsha. His life was upright and honorable, and in all of his business dealings he was straight- forward and reliable, so that he became known in the community as a man of genuine worth, worthy the high regard of all. He died in Tekonsha in 1893 in the eighty-seventh year of his age.

In the family of Orville and Janet ( Ferguson) Calkins were a son and four daughters, who reached manhood and womanhood: Harrison, whose death occurred in the Empire state; Mrs. Sarah Brown, who died in Butler ; Mrs. Nancy Eldred, whose death occurred in Tekonsha in 1895; Mrs. Cath- erine Sawyer, who is living in Butler, Branch county, Michigan; and Mrs. Loring.

In her father's home Mary Calkins spent her girlhood days and was trained to the duties of the household, while in the public schools she ac- quired her education. On the 8th of October, 1859, she gave her hand in marriage to George E. Loring, who was a native of Medina county, Ohio, where he was born February 12, 1834, his parents being John and Mary (Merritt) Loring, both of whom were natives of the state of New York. After living in Ohio for a number of years they came to Michigan, where they reared their family, casting in their lot with the pioneer settlers of Branch county. They found a district which was little improved and with strong purpose and laudable determination Mr. Loring began the work of making a home on the frontier. He met the difficulties that usually con- front the pioneer, but he diligently pursued his work, and in the course of time developed an excellent farm property on section twelve, Girard town- ship, where he and his wife spent their remaining days.

George E. Loring, reared to the occupation of farming, followed that pursuit throughout the greater part of his life, but also had other business interests. As he prospered in his undertakings he added to his landed pos- sessions until he had acquired several hundred acres in this immediate vi- cinity. He was one of the first residents of this section to make a specialty of fruit raising, in which he was very successful, particularly in the line of apple growing, his orchards at one time being considered the finest and most attractive in the county. In all of his work he was progressive and kept in touch with modern ideas concerning agricultural development.

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of Branch County, Michigan, Part 98

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