USA > Michigan > Gratiot County > Biographical memoirs of Gratiot County, Michigan : compendium of biography of celebrated Americans > Part 15
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Jesse Huff, father of Mrs. Church, was born March 1, 1820, in Harrisburg, Penn- sylvania. He was of German and English
extraction, and was the eldest of seven sons born to Richard and Cathreen (Thralls) Huff. All these sons have passed away except J. R. Huff, of Milton Center, Ohio, who is now eighty-one years old. Jesse Huff spent his boyhood at his native place, later migrating to Ohio and locating near Toledo, when that city was so young it boasted of only a double log hotel, a post- office and a blacksmith shop. He bought a farm of one hundred acres at Gilead, and owned the transfer canal-boats operating between Toledo and Cincinnati, giving his personal supervision to both for many years.
Mr. Huff was twice married, first to Susanna Welech, by whom he had three children : John, of East Tawas, Michigan ; Mrs. Elizabeth Phelps, and Mrs. George Durgee, of Osseo, Michigan. Jesse Huff's second wife, Elizabeth Smith, was born July 20, 1832, daughter of William Smith, of Waterville, Ohio. William Smith was of English and Irish lineage, his father be- ing a soldier of the King's army in the Rev- olutionary war. But he made havoc with his career and fortune by his marriage with a Rebel Colonist Irish girl, Catherine Mc- Lain, of Rhode Island, being promptly cut adrift from his family and fatherland forever.
Jesse and Elizabeth (Smith) Huff be- came the parents of five children, all of whom survive, namely: Susie A., Mrs. I. H. Church, of Gratiot county, Michigan ; Mrs. Marion R. Older, of Clarion, Charle- voix county, Michigan; Miss Ida I. Huff, of Hillsdale county, Michigan ; and George S. and Jacob D., both of Indianapolis, In- diana, commonly known as Huff Brothers, the wizard inventors of Indiana.
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W ILLIAM L. HUTCHINSON, for- mer supervisor of Sumner town- ship, is one of the thrifty, practical farmers of that community, and is actively engaged in cultivating one hundred and twenty acres of land in Section 10. He was born in the county of Elgin, Ontario, near St. Thomas, August 16, 1866, son of Lexy L. and Jane (Anderson) Hutchinson, natives of Canada, both of whom are now deceased. The fath- er died September 12, 1866, aged forty-nine, and the mother, in November, 1871, when thirty-five years of age. They were both members of the Baptist Church. William L. was the youngest of their children, the others being : Alice J., Mrs. Thomas J. Tur- rill, a farmer of Merrill, Michigan; Anna E., wife of Henry Coburn, a farmer living in Seville township, Gratiot county; and Louis J., who died at the age of twelve years.
William L. Hutchinson was about eight years old when he came to Gratiot county to live with his relatives, having lost his father when he was an infant of a few weeks, and his mother when he was in his sixth year. In Sumner township he developed into manhood, receiving there a common-school education and being trained to the healthful and satisfying pursuits of agricultural life. Mr. Hutchinson was married November 20, 1887, to Miss Mary Lanshaw, who was born in Germany September 23, 1863, daughter of the late Henry and Dora Wink Lanshaw, the former of whom died in Sumner town- ship and the latter in Germany. After his marriage Mr. Hutchinson settled on the farm upon which he now resides, in Section 10, Sumner township. The tract consists of one hundred and twenty acres, and ninety acres of it are cleared, forty-five of which
Mr. Hutchinson has himself made pro- ductive.
Mr. and Mrs. Hutchinson have two chil- dren, Dora J. and Annie M. Mr. Hutchin- son has served his township as supervisor for three terms with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of his constituents. Fra- ternally he associates with the I. O. O. F., K. O. T. M. M. and P. of H. Mr. Hutchin- son is industrious and honest, and possesses the primary qualities of a first-class citizen.
R EV. WILLIAM J. CORNWELL, jus- tice of the peace and one of the most respected citizens of Lafayette township, is in every way one of the representative men of that section of Gratiot county. He was formerly in the active service of the ministry of the United Brethren Church. Mr. Cornwell was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, August 28, 1839, son of Anderson and Eliza Jane (Coulter) Cornwell, the former a na- tive of Virginia and the latter of Ohio. Both parents died in Hancock county, in the latter State. They had a family of ten chil- dren, William J. being the eldest.
William J. Cornwell spent his early life in Ohio on a farm. In the fall of 1881 he came to Gratiot county and settled in Ham- ilton township for two or three years, after which he located in Lafayette township, of which he has since been a resident. From 1891 until 1901 he was active in the min- istry of the United Brethren Church.
Mr. Cornwell was married in Ohio to Sarah Lucas, by whom he had children as follows : Lettie J. (deceased), George A. (deceased), Mary E., John W., Ora and William H. The mother of these died in Ohio. Mr. Cornwell married (second) Feb- ruary 28, 1884, Adeline Tewksbury Brown,
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widow of Ezra Brown, and by this marriage he had one daughter, Lois, who is deceased. Mrs. Adeline Cornwell was a daughter of Elijah and Matilda (Hinds) Tewksbury, the former of whom died in Ohio and the latter in Middleville, Barry county, Michi- gan. They had seven children, of whom Mrs. Cornwell was the youngest. She was married to Ezra Brown in 1866, in Ottawa county, Michigan, and they came to Gratiot county in the fall of 1867, locating on Sec- tion 34, Lafayette township, where he died in April, 1881. They had a family of six children : Mary, who died at the age of thir- teen years ; William; Jennie, who died when seven years old ; Louisa, who became the wife of Edmund Hill, and died in Hamilton township December 29, 1903; Alice, the wife of Howard Kenney, and Edna, the wife of Albert Davis.
Mr. and Mrs. Cornwell have resided since their marriage on the present farm, a fine place of fifty-five acres, which she owned and which is well improved, most of it be- ing under cultivation. Mr. Cornwell built the house on this tract, which is supplied with substantial buildings. Mr. Cornwell has held the office of justice of the peace for four years. He formerly took a very active part in township affairs, and has been prom- inently identified with the Democratic party.
W WILLIAM H. STEDMAN, who has been prominently identified with the agricultural interests of North Star township, Gratiot county, for a number of years, was born March 29, 1841, in Warren, Warren county, Pennsylvania, son of John WV. and Mary P. (Sharp) Stedman.
John W. Stedman was born September 14, 1808, in Connecticut and his wife in New
York, May 5, 1813. His death occurred in Ashley, Michigan, about a year and a half after removing from Gratiot county, Octo- ber 22, 1890. He had settled in North Star township, Gratiot county, in 1857, coming from Livingston county, where his wife had died April 26, 1852. Mr. and Mrs. Sted- man were the parents of seven children who grew to maturity, of which family our sub- ject is the fifth member.
When he was fifteen years old William H. Stedman came with his father to Gra- tiot county, and has been a resident of North Star township since that time, with the ex- ception of the time spent in his country's service. Mr. Stedman enlisted August 8, 1862, in Company A, Twenty-third Michi- gan Volunteer Infantry, and served gallant- ly until July 12, 1865, when he was mustered out of service. He was a participant of the siege of Knoxville, Tennessee, and at Paris, Kentucky, being in the campaigns in East Tennessee. After the war Mr. Stedman re- turned to North Star township, where he has since engaged in farming. He has a fine farm of eighty acres on Section 25, which he has improved with good, substan- tial buildings.
Mr. Stedman was married February 28, 1866, in Washington township, Gratiot county, to Miss Lucy Ann Bovee, born De- cember 3, 1842, in Dover township, daugh- ter of Jacob and Esther (Marlatt) Bovee, natives of Holland. They died in Dover township, Lenawee county, she in her forty- eighth year, while he was seventy-nine at the time of his decease. Mrs. Stedman was the eighth member of a family of twelve children. To Mr. and Mrs. Stedman these children were born : Vienna, who is the wife of H. A. Wright; Marvin N. and Willie A.
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Willie A. Stedman was born in North Star township, February 25, 1879, and was reared on his father's farm, upon which he has al- ways lived. He was married June 25, 1901, to Maud Lindsey, born in Shiawassee county, Michigan, November 13, 1881, and to this union one child has been born, Wilma I.
William H. Stedman has held the office of highway commissioner of North Star for two years, being an ardent Republican. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity.
W ILLARD DAVIS TUCKER, editor and proprietor of the Gratiot County News, was born March 25, 1841, in Bainbridge, Chenango county, New York, son of Davis and Catharine (Lake) Tucker, also natives of that State. The fam- ily stock on the paternal side originated in England and Wales, the American branch to which Mr. Tucker is related being from Connecticut and Vermont.
Davis Tucker, his father, was born in Cherry Valley, Otsego county, New York, August 21, 1808, and was the second of eight brothers, sons of Caleb and Thirza (Foster) Tucker. Mrs. Tucker, the mother of Willard, whose maiden name, as stated, was Catharine Lake, was born in Dutchess county, New York, September 24, 1808, the fifth in a family of eleven children. Her father, John McCord Lake, was a Connecti- cut Yankee, of French and Irish ante- cedents, and her mother, Betsy .(De La Matyr) Lake, was the daughter of Capt. William De La Matyr, of Brooklyn, de- scended from Dutch stock and belonging to the family of De La Matyrs who trace their ancestry to one Hollander of that
name, an emigrant to the United States, who some time in the seventeenth century located at what is now Brooklyn, New York.
Davis Tucker's family consisted of seven children : Emeline H., Thirza J., Albert C., Sarah V., Amelia C., Willard D. and M. De Ette. Besides Willard D. the only one now living is Albert, who is a resident of Eaton county. In May, 1844, the family settled in Michigan, locating at Grass Lake, Jackson county. There the father engaged in farming until the spring of 1854, when he purchased a large tract in the township of Mattison, Branch county, to which he re- moved with his family, and where he died October 4, 1854. The remaining members removed to Springport, Jackson county, and to the adjoining townships of Hamlin (Eaton county) and Clarence (Calhoun county), where they purchased farms and engaged in agricultural pursuits.
Willard D. Tucker was educated in the common schools, and in the early years taught three terms. In the summer of 1864 he enlisted at Springport in Company D, Twenty-eighth Michigan Volunteer In- fantry, being mustered into the service at Marshall, Calhoun county, on September I, 1864. The regimental organization was afterward completed at Kalamazoo, to which point Mr. Tucker was transferred, and in October he was ordered South, being engaged in Kentucky and Tennessee and participating in the battle of Nashville un- der General Thomas. The regiment was afterward assigned to the Twenty-third Army Corps, which it joined in North Car- olina and with which it remained until the close of the war. Mr. Tucker was dis-
Willand D. Pucken .
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charged from the service at Beaufort, North Carolina, June 15, 1865, returning home with health greatly impaired.
In September, 1866, after his health had been virtually restored, Mr. Tucker re- moved to St. Louis, being accompanied by his mother and youngest sister, De Ette. There for a period of fifteen years he en- gaged in building operations. His sister died November 8, 1871, and his mother, August 18, 1882.
Mr. Tucker purchased the St. Louis Herald in March, 1881, and continued its publication until December, 1887, when he removed the plant and the paper to Ithaca, the county seat. He bought the Advance, published there, and consolidated the two journals under the name of the Gratiot County Herald, selling the publication in July, 1892, to J. N. McCall. In December, 1895, he purchased the Gratiot County Neres, established at Ithaca during Septem- ber of the preceding year, and, as its editor and publisher, has since conducted it. The paper is Democratic in politics, popular lo- cally, and ranks as one of the best of its class in the State.
On December 17, 1883, at Jackson, Michigan, Mr. Tucker was married to Miss Mary Louise Briggs, the estimable daugh- ter of Ira R. and Eliza Briggs, of St. Louis, his wife being born in Wales township, St. Clair county, Michigan, June 30, 1860. They have one child, Verne Willard Tuck- er, born at St. Louis, Michigan, October 25, 1884, a graduate of the Ithaca schools (1902) and of the stenographic and type- writing department of the Ferris Institute, Big Rapids; he is at present in the employ of the Sprague Publishing Company, of Detroit, publishers of The American Boy.
Mr. Tucker has been quite prominent in local politics. In 1868, on the incorpora- tion of St. Louis as a village, he was elected street commissioner ; in 1873 he was chosen a member of the village board of trustees, and re-elected when the village was re- incorporated; held the village clerkship in 1875-77, and in 1875 served as clerk of Pine River township; was village marshal in 1877, supervisor of Bethany township in 1880-82, and presiden't of the St. Louis vil- lage board in 1883 and 1884. In 1880 and 1884 Mr. Tucker was the Fusion candi- date for judge of probate, in the latter year coming within thirty-nine votes of an elec- tion. As he was a candidate of the minority party, however, his failure was but the common lot of several of his associates. In 1902, as Democratic candidate for State senator for the Nineteenth District (Gratiot and Clinton counties), although he failed of election he ran considerably ahead of his party vote. In the election for the same office, in 1904, he also ran ahead of his ticket in nearly every precinct of the dis- trict, Ithaca (his home township) giving him eleven majority, notwithstanding that the normal Republican majority is one hun- dred and seventy-five. Though defeated with his ticket, the result was highly grat- ifying to Mr. Tucker, as well as to his friends.
Mr. Tucker's Democracy is of the rad- ical, progressive 'type. He desires to have it distinctly stated in this sketch that if he could have his way he would inaugurate and maintain governmental measures and methods calculated to bring about a more equal and just distribution of the blessings as well as the evils of life, even though to accomplish this end it became necessary for
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the general government to acquire posses- sion of, and operate, all the so-called public utilities. In his ideal government he would limit the list of millionaires to the least possible number, and he would eliminate pauperism altogether.
C HARLES ROOKS, whose fine farm of one hundred and twenty acres is located in Section 26, Bethany township, Gratiot county, is one of that township's leading and influential citizens. He is an honored survivor of the Civil war. Mr. Rooks was born July 13, 1840, in Erwin, Steuben county, New York, son of David M. and Sophia (Thompson) Rooks, natives of New York. Mrs. Rooks died in Corning, New York, after which Mr. Rooks came to Gratiot county, Michigan, where he died at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. Joel Rowley, of Bethany township, at the age of eighty-six years.
Charles Rooks, who was the youngest of a family of nine children, was reared in Steuben county, New York, where he re- mained until eighteen years old. In May, 1859, he came to Gratiot county and worked in St. Louis until he enlisted in the army, August 9, 1861, in Company C, Eighth Michigan Volunteer Infantry. He served thirteen months with that regiment and was then transferred to the United States Reg- ulars, Engineers Battalion, Company A, at Sandy Hook, Maryland. At the battle of James Island, South Carolina, Mr. Rooks was wounded in the side by a spent musket- ball. He saw a great deal of active service, and was a participant in some of the most serious battles of the war, among which may be mentioned : The siege of Fort Pulaski, Georgia; Wilmington Island, Georgia;
James Island, South Carolina; the second battle of Bull Run; Chantilly, Virginia ; South Mountain, Maryland; Antietam, Ma- ryland; two at Fredericksburg, Virginia, in December, 1862, and again in the following June; Gettysburg ; the Battle of the Wilder- ness; Spottsylvania Court House; North Anna River; Cold Harbor, and in front of Petersburg. At the latter place Mr. Rooks' time expired, September 26, 1864, and he was mustered out of service.
After the war Mr. Rooks returned to Michigan, and on May 12, 1869, in Sag- inaw, he was united in marriage with Mrs. Sarah (Vliet) Harris, widow of William B. Harris, a soldier of the Civil war, who died in Bethany township January 8, 1867. The parents of Mrs. Rooks were Nathan and Sarah (Jewell) Vliet, natives of New Jer- sey, who came to Michigan and settled in Independence township, Oakland county. In 1838 they located in Gratiot county, settling in Fulton township, and a few years later located in Pine River township, north of St. Louis, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Mrs. Vliet died when over sixty years of age, in August, 1865, while Mr. Vliet died in his seventieth year, in Decem- ber, 1870. Mrs. Rooks was born May 30, 1839, in Independence, Oakland county, the seventh child in a family of nine, and came to Gratiot county with her parents. By her first marriage she had three children : Cora, the wife of William G. Ward; Sarah, the wife of Harry Snook, and William B., who married Ida King.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Rooks settled on the farm on which they now re- side in Bethany township, located on Sec- tion 26, and consisting of one hundred and twenty acres, nearly all of which is im-
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proved, and upon which have been erected neat, modern buildings. To Mr. and Mrs. Rooks one child has been born, Charlie, who is married to Ella King. Mr. Rooks has held the office of township commissioner. He is a valued comrade of Billy Cruson Post, No. 347, Grand Army of the Republic, and has been commander of that post. Formerly Mr. Rooks was associated with the Union Veterans' Union of St. Louis, Michigan.
Mr. Rooks successfully carries on gen- eral farming and is continually improving a property which is already very valuable. His standing in the community is that of an honest, upright and public-spirited citi- zen, as ready now to support good govern- ment as he was to preserve it in the dark days of the Civil war.
L EMUEL WAGGONER, who conducts
one of the best patronized mercantile stores in Breckenridge, Michigan, was born at Saratoga Springs, New York, September 29, 1857, son of Norman and Marilla (Ha- zelton) Waggoner. The parents were na- tives of New York, and the mother died in Saratoga Springs when in her thirty-ninth year. The father located in 1878 in Ionia county, Michigan, where he lived two years, and then removed to Clinton, county and set- tled on a farm near Fowler for two years. He then went to Petosky for a few months, from there to Wheeler township for two years, and then located in Breckenridge, where he died September 1, 1896, aged sixty-eight years.
Lemuel Waggoner was the youngest of the two children born to his parents and came to Gratiot county with his father. On locating in Breckenridge he engaged in a mercantile business, which he has continued
to the present time, and he also owns a forty- acre farm in Wheeler township, which is well cultivated. Mr. Waggoner has held the office of township treasurer. Fraternally he is a member of the Free Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Mr. Waggoner was married in Saratoga county, New York, to Mary J. Stanton, who was born in New York, a daughter of Archi- bald Stanton. Two children were born to this union : One who died in infancy, and Rhoda M., the wife of Dr. R. W. Drake, of Breckenridge. Mrs. Waggoner died in Breckenridge, March 20, 1904, and Mr. Waggoner has since married Miss Helen Monroe.
E 'LON P. POTTER, county drainage commissioner and ex-chairman of the board of supervisors of Hamilton township, Gratiot county, Michigan, is one of the prom- inent men of his section, and was a member of the board for a period of fifteen years, and was the presiding officer of same. He was born in Onondaga county, New York, May 30, 1854, son of John and Mary ( Preston) Potter, who came from New York to Hills- dale county, Michigan, in 1869. In 1876 they removed to Eaton county, where they remained and both died-the husband Oc- tober 18, 1903, aged eighty-three, his widow October 21, 1904, aged eighty. The chil- dren born to Mr. and Mrs. John Potter, be- sides Elon P., who is the fifth, were as fol- lows : Myron A., a farmer of Eaton county, Michigan ; J. Edgar, who died in July, 1903 ; Fidelia J., Mrs. James Jones, of Coldwater, Michigan; Desiah H., deceased at the age of eight years, and Jane, who married A. J. Sebring, of Grand Ledge, Michigan.
Elon P. Potter accompanied his parents
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to Michigan in 1869, living at home until he was twenty-six years of age. He was married in Hillsdale county February 13, 1876, to Miss Catherine Gittings, and the couple came to Gratiot county in 1880 and settled on Section 10, Hamilton township, where they have since resided. Mr. Potter owns eighty acres of good farming land, seventy of which are improved, and the fact that he has been an agriculturist since he was fifteen years old indicates an unfailing persistence and accounts for his success as a practical farmer. To Mr. and Mrs. Potter three children have been born : Howard A .; Maud D., wife of Claude Hill, a farmer of Hamilton township, who has two sons, Forest and Elon; and Mabel E.
Mr. Potter held the office of supervisor of Hamilton township continuously from 1890 to 1905, being elected on the Repub- lican ticket. In the latter year he received the appointment of county drainage com- missioner. He has taken an active part in all township and county matters and has been chosen a number of times as delegate to county conventions. In every capacity he has proved himself an efficient and faith- ful official, is popular with both parties, and has many warm friends who are gratified at his business success and political promi- nence. Fraternally Mr. Potter is a member of Lodge No. 256, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and of Sickels Tent, No. 803. K. O. T. M. M., both of Edgewood.
G EORGE P. YOUNG, postmaster of Breckenridge, Michigan, has been prominently identified with the political and business interests of that section for a num- ber of years. He was born February 17, 1855, in Jackson county, Michigan, the son
of James and Lucretia (Howland) Young, the father being a native of Pennsylvania and the mother of York State. They were married in Brooklyn, Michigan, where Mr. Young pursued the tailor's trade and where his son George P. was educated and advanced sturdily and naturally to manhood. There the mother was quite prominent in the work of the Presbyterian Church, being one of its charter members. She died in North Adams, Michigan, her husband passing away in St. Louis, Missouri. Both parents were members of the Eastern Star Lodge. The other children, besides George P., born to this union were as follows : Howard, who died in 1895; Eugene, furniture dealer and undertaker at North Adams, Michigan ; Edward, a bookkeeper with the Illinois Steel Company, Joliet, Illinois ; and Nellie, living in Brooklyn, Michigan.
After completing a common school edu- cation in Brooklyn, George P. Young worked on a farm until he settled in Hills- dale county, where for three years he was employed by his brother, at North Adams, in a furniture and undertaking business. After leaving his brother's establishment, for two years, at Jackson, Michigan, he was connected with the Smith Purifier Com- pany, and in the fall of 1883 located at Breckenridge.
As a resident of Breckenridge Mr. Young first engaged in an undertaking and furniture business, in which he continued for five years, after which he formed a part- nership with H. M. Boneman, purchasing the hardware and implement stock of D. W. Breckenridge. In this business Mr. Young continued until the spring of 1900, when he sold his interest, and six months later purchased a stock of merchandise in Mar-
2
Gro. P. Young
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lette, Michigan, where he remained only a few months before returning to Brecken- ridge. In 1901 he was appointed postmas- ter, and has since performed the duties of the position in a business-like and able manner.
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