USA > Michigan > Hillsdale County > Compendium of history and biography of Hillsdale County, Michigan > Part 22
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.Among this number none confronted condi- tions more bravely, or conquered them more com- pletely, than the parents of Mr. Clements, who, in 1837, in the decline of their lives, determined for the good of their children to emigrate from the section in which they were well established, and in which they had by arduous toil developed a pleasant home, and seek wider opportunities
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and more far-reaching benefits in this fair state, which was then a part of the far. untrodden and almost unknown West. They settled on a tract of 240 acres of land, which was almost entirely uncultivated and heavily timbered, except that a small log house had been erected and about fifty acres cleared. They resolutely set to work to clear it for a home and for cultivation, and here the mother died in 1856, after nineteen years of life in this state, and the father in 1868, he having reached the patriarchal age of ninety- four. Of their children, Samuel came to Michi- gan in 1835, and settled at Detroit, Christopher came a year later, settling on a farm in Pittsford township, where he died aged ninety-one years.
Young Cornelius Clement was but fourteen years old when he came with the rest of the fam- ily to Hillsdale county, and with them he at once went to work at clearing and farming the land on which they located. At odd times he at- tended the primitive schools of the vicinity and thus completed the education begun in his na- tive state. In 1844, after reaching his majority, he took up and began to develop the farm of 175 acres on which he now lives, and which is now entirely cleared, thoroughly tile-drained and well improved. In 1852 he married Miss Harriet A. Cline, a native of Niagara county, New York, who died on April 7, 1897, leaving four children, three of whom are living: Alonzo, at home; Adelia, wife of D. E. Bennett, of Pittsford town- ship : Emma, wife of John Anderson, of Colon, in this state. In politics, Mr. Clements began life as a Whig, casting his first presidential vote for Henry Clay ; when the Republican party was organized he warmly espoused its principles, vot- ing for its first presidential candidate, Gen. John C. Fremont, and standing by it loyally ever since, although he has never been an active partisan or sought office for himself. He is a member of the. Congregational church at Church's Corners, in Wheatland township, and takes an active part in all its works of practical benevolence. Rest- ing serenely now in the evening of life, on the verge of four-score years, he has the pleasing retrospect of a creditable career, with duty faith-
fully performed and every faculty of his nature put to proper use ; and he is secure in the last- ing esteem of the people, among whom he has labored, and to whom his example has been an incitement and a stimulus for good.
HON. JAMES COUSINS.
Hon. James Cousins is the present capable and popular supervisor of Jefferson township in this county, and is completing his eleventh year of service in the position. The affairs of the township have been well cared for in his charge and every public interest has prospered under his management. He is a native of Hertford- shire, England, where his family has resided for many generations, and was born on March 3, 1849. His parents, William and Mary (Docker- ill) Cousins, were also English by nativity and passed their lives in Hertfordshire. The father was a prosperous manufacturer of brick-tile and pottery, and carried on the business on a scale of magnitude and with enterprise and vigor. The parents had five sons and two daughters, and of these two sons and one daughter are living, all now residents of Hillsdale county.
James Cousins was educated in the schools of his native land, where he grew to manhood. There he learned the trade of a baker and con- fectioner, and for a number of years worked at it near his home. He then learned the brick and tile business, with a view to succeeding his fa- ther in this line of activity, but, in 1868, he came to the United States and made his way direct to this county, where he bought a farm in Adams township, on which he lived some years. He then purchased the one on which he now lives in Jefferson township, which comprises 180 acres and is well-improved and in an advanced state of cultivation. He was married, in 1878, to Mrs. Emma (Hale) Cousins, a native of the same part of England as himself, and a daughter of Ed- ward and Phoebe Hale, also native there and be- longing to old families resident in Hertfordshire from time immemorial. Mrs. Cousins came to the United States in 1865 as the wife of an
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James Cousins
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elder brother of Mr. Cousins, and by her former marriage she has a son and two daughters.
In his political views Mr. Cousins is a Repub- lican, and has rendered good service and brought credit to his party as a private in the ranks and also as a valued public official in several capacities. He was highway commissioner for the township for three years, has served eleven years as super- visor, and, from 1894 to 1898, represented the county in the State Legislature. He holds mem- bership in the Masonic order and the Patrons of Husbandry ; in the latter he is master of the local grange. He was president of the county fair association for two years and, in this position, was able to demonstrate his interest in the cause of agriculture, and his executive ability where its welfare is concerned, and for many years he has been a director in this organization. In offi- cial stations of responsibility and importance, in the management of his farm and in his other business, and also in the performance of every duty of citizenship, he has demonstrated his devotion to the land of his adoption, and has shown an elevated patriotism and public spirit with an uprightness of life that are highly com- mendable, and have won him the approval of all classes of his fellow men.
CAMBRIA TOWNSHIP.
When Cambria township was created it was named by Hiram V. Weaver, the first settler within its borders and the father of Olive Roby Weaver, the first white child born on its soil, the birth occurring on September 2, 1836. Twelve families settled in the township between 1835 and 1840, who nearly all lived in the western part of the new political creation. The first death was that of Mrs. Abel Bailey, on February 22, 1837. The first transfer of land recorded by the register of deeds was a conveyance from the United States to Hiram V. Weaver of the southwest quarter of section No. 17, recorded on October 20, 1835. The first estate, with an inventory of personal property, filed in the probate court was that of Mr. Weaver and bears the date of July 12, 1841. There are now but two persons living in the
township who moved into it with families prior to 1840. These are Moses Willits, eighty-six years of age, and Mrs. Mary Smith, who has accomplished eighty-two years of useful exis- tence.
The early pioneers who thus laid the founda- tion of the present prosperous and progressive township were men of heroic mold and lofty cour- age. With unfaltering foot they strode into the very heart of the wilderness to hew out for themselves new homes wherein their hopes might expand and flourish. They were fashioned for sturdy work, fit progenitors of the thrifty, progressive and self-reliant people they begot. No toil deterred, no danger daunted, no hard- ship dismayed them. With unyielding will they pressed their way over every obstacle, to meet fate on almost equal terms. And it is a char- acteristic proof of their public spirit and breadth of view that one of the first public interests to which they gave attention was a system of in- struction for their children.
On March 16, 1839, a school meeting was called by a notice posted at the house of Gailord Doud. A district was organized at this meeting and these school officers elected: Abel Bailey, moderator ; Ira Mead, director; Barron B. Wil- lits, assessor. In the ensuing fall, after due de- liberation at several meetings as to size and style of architecture, a log schoolhouse 18x20 feet in size was erected at a cost of $190, and named "Dawn of Education." Miss Dorothy Globe, the first teacher, received for her dual services as instructor and janitor one dollar a week and was "boarded around" the district. This primitive schoolhouse supplied the population thirteen years, and in this simple structure the first Sab- bath-school of the township was organized by William Mabbs in 1840 with Ira Mead as super- intendent. The first Scripture lesson studied in this school was the first five verses of the second chapter of St. Matthews's gospel.
On April 5, 1841, the first township meeting was held, officers being chosen as follows: Jacob S. Hancock, supervisor ; Nathan H. Frink, clerk ; Ira Mead, treasurer ; Warren Smith, collector ; Job A. Smith, Samuel Orr and Barron B. Wil-
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lits, school directors ; Potter G. Card and James Wilson, directors of the poor ; Lorenzo Rice, Par- don Aldrich and Silas Doty, commissioners of highways; Pardon Aldrich, Lorenzo Rice, Ira Mead and Samuel Orr, justiccs of the peace for one, two, three and four years, respectively ; Alan- son Van Vlack, Job A. Smith and Abel Bailey, assessors ; Alanson Van Vlack, John Ferguson, Albert Dresser and Warren Smith, constables. Thus Cambria township started off in its political existence with a full complement of officers, al- though, owing to the want of men, some of its Icading citizens were obliged to fill two or more positions at the same time. Since then the super- visors have been : Lorenzo Rice, Pardon Aldrich, Ira Foster, Ira Mead, Daniel Weaver, Barron B. Willitts, Andrew J. McDermot, William French, Charles G. Robertson, Bani Bishop, Perry Se- bring. Orange Porter, Edward Jones, William Carpenter, Luther Wolcott, Malcolm E. Dow, Avery A. Smith, Alexander Hueston, John Hueston, Erwin S. Marsh, George Burgess, Ncw- ton Gregg and John French, the present incum- bent. The soil of this township has been found fertile and responsive, the natural advantages of the region were numerous and valuable ; the peo- ple have ever becn diligent and energctic; the spirit of enterprise and progress has been awake and active ; the development and advancement of the township have been steady, rapid and con- tinued ; its citizens have enjoyed at a minimum cost, the best blessings of freedom, civilization and good government.
PARMENUS CUNNINGHAM.
For thirty-seven years Parmenus Cunning- ham has lived and worked on the Pittsford town- ship farm, in this county, where he now lives and carries on a thriving and progressive farm- ing industry, which exemplifies, in the excel- lence of its management and the success of its operations, all that is most advanced and liberal in agriculture and most cogent and enterprising in business. He was born on March 8, 1833, in Erie county, New York, whither his parents, Joel and Celinda (Dopkins) Cunningham, had moved
from their native county of Herkimer, in that state, soon after their marriage. The father was also a farmer, a man of public spirit and earnest devotion to the welfare of his country. He was a member of the New York state militia at the time of the War of 1812, and with his company engaged in that contest with ardor and com- mendable gallantry, participating in a number of its important battles, being at Fort Erie when it was destroyed and at Buffalo when that city was burned by the British and Indians. He came to Hillsdale county in 1849 and settled in Jefferson township, on 200 acres of timber land which he purchased, and on which he lived for a number of years, clearing it for cultivation and improv- ing it for a home. From there he moved to Pittsford township where he died in 1883. His wife survived him eight years, dying in 1891. They were the parents of two sons and of cight (laughters, and of these one son and thrce daugh- tres are living, Parmenus being the only one resident in this township. Their grandfather, Layton Cunningham, was a New York farmer and died in Erie county of that state.
Parmenus Cunningham grew to manhood in his native state, and accompanied his parents to Michigan in 1849. He assisted in clcaring the several tracts of land on which his parents lived in this county, and remained at home for a num- ber of years after their settlement. In 1865 he took up his residence on the farm which he now occupies and has made it his home ever since. He was married on August 14, 1853, to Miss Francina Estes, a native of Genesee county, Ncw York, born at the city of Batavia. In 1839, while she was yet a child, she accompanied her parents to Hillsdale county, and, on the wild land in Pittsford township on which they settled, she saw much of the hardship, and performed much of the arduous labor, incident to frontier life, aiding and cheering her parents by her fidelity to duty, and, in course of time, closing their eyes in death on the paternal homestead. Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham have had eight children, seven of their offspring are living. They are Allen B., of Wheatland; Eva, wife of E. L. Bailey, of
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California; Frederick S., of Pittsford township; Edward E., of Nebraska; Alta, wife of S. O. Kenyon, of Paw Paw, Michigan; Affa, wife of R. Sage, of Pittsford township; George R., liv- ing at home. Mr. Cunningham is a Republican in political faith, but not an active partisan. In all that pertains to the welfare of the community, he takes an active and helpful part, but has no desire for public office, being well contented to leave its honors with its cares to those who wish them. He and his wife are earnest and service- able members of the Free Baptist church. They have eight grandchildren and two great-grand- children, the latter being children of their eldest son, Allen B. Cunningham.
JAMES W. DANIELS.
James WV. Daniels, of Woodbridge township, one of the progressive and enterprising farmers of that part of the county, was born in the ad- joining township of Camden, on January 19, 1863. His parents were John and Sarah (Ham- lin) Daniels, the former a native of Devonshire, England, and the latter of the state of New York. The father was born on July 17, 1826, and grew to manhood in his native land and received his education in the common schools of that country. He worked on a farm at a shil- ling a day in order to get money to pay his pas- sage to this country, where he saw hopes of larger opportunity for a man in his condition, and, by the time he reached the age of twenty- five years, he had saved enough for the purpose at this small wage. In 1851 he made the trip and located first in the state of New York, where he secured employment on a farm at $40 a year. Being thrifty and industrious, content to live fru- gally, he saved the major part of his wages, and, in a short time, was married in his new home, to Miss Sarah Hamlin, a lady living in the neigh- borhood. In 1853 they moved to Michigan and settled in Hillsdale county on forty acres of wild woodland, which he purchased for a home. He built a rude log shanty on the land and began its preparation for cultivation. In ten years it
was cleared and in a promising state of cultiva- tion and he sold it and bought eighty acres in Woodbridge township, which was also an un- broken forest and which he lived to clear and hand over to his son in good condition.
It is the tract where the son, James, now lives, one of the desirable farms of its size in the town- ship. The father here resided until his death on September 7, 1899, and it is still the home of the mother. Their family consisted of five children, of whom three. are living, Orrie J., wife of Ernest Hillard; Sarah J., wife of Henry Van Aken; James W. The father never took active inter- est in politics or sought or accepted public office, finding enough to occupy his time and energies in his agricultural operations. His son, James, was reared on the paternal homesteads in this county, and the one he now occupies has been his home ever since it came into possession of the family. He married in 1883 Miss Celia Salmon, also a native of this county, and they have two children, Benjamin and Ethel. Mr. Daniels is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, belonging to the lodge at Cambria, and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Protestant church. They are well-esteemed in the township, having a host of warm and inti- mate friends, who make their pleasant home a frequent resort. While not an active partisan, and in no sense an office-seeker in politics. Mr. Daniels has nevertheless an abiding interest in the welfare of his township, and never hesitates to give active support to any good enterprise which promises to promote that welfare. He is public spirited and progressive in his views, and firm and forcible in expressing and in maintain- ing them. He has a high place in the public es- timation and well deserves it.
JOHN G. DARLING.
Death is rapidly gathering into his everlast- ing embrace the pioneers who settled this county and started it forward on a broad and enduring basis toward its present state of splendid devel- opment and substantial progress. One of the
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few remaining members of that hardy race, who dared fate into the lists against them, and met her with all her assistant forces of wild men, wild beasts and wild nature armed against them, on almost equal terms, is John G. Darling of Allen township, who endured all the struggles, hardships and privations, faced all the toils and dangers of frontier life with a resolute and un- conquerable spirit, and who is fully entitled to enjoy the fruits of his labor, which he sees blooming and coming forth abundantly around him. He is a native of Penfield, Monroe county, New York, born on April 26, 1815, the son of John and Eunice (Booth) Darling, also natives of New York. His mother died when he was but eleven years old, and soon thereafter his father was married to his second wife, formerly Miss Betsey Leinbarker, also of New York state, and in 1833 they came to Michigan. The parents lived at various places, the father finally dying at Eaton Rapids, in Eaton county. He was a farmer by occupation, leaving his farm to engage in active service in the field at the first call to arms in the War of 1812. After the battle of Queenstown in Upper Canada, where the gallant Canadian General Brock was killed and the American forces were repulsed, in company with his brother, William, Mr. Darling swam the St. Lawrence at Flat Rock, and was carried three miles down the river by the current. He was the father of ten children, all now deceased, except his son, John G. The grandfather was Zebeniah Darling, a native of Long Island, a great lover of horses, who was known far and wide in his section of the country as a promoter of racing as a legitimate and exhilarating sport. After his death his wife moved to Hillsdale county, where, in the course of time, she died.
John G. Darling did not have the advantages of educational facilities at the schools, never hav- ing been able to attend them. But he was of a studious and investigating disposition, became well-informed and fairly well-educated through his own exertions, and, being handy with tools, as well as long-headed in study and reflection, he acquired considerable mechanical skill as a
millwright and carpenter. In 1833 he accom- panied his parents to this state but did not then make his home here. The journey to this then new and untamed region was made by teams though a portion of Canada, the remainder of the way being by canal. When they arrived at Detroit they found the river frozen over, and they crossed on the ice, dragging their goods aft- er them. The father entered eighty acres. of government land situated twenty-six miles south of Ypsilanti, on which he built a small log house for his home and commenced the clearing of his land and the preparing of it for cultivation. On this pioneer home his son, John G., lived and labored with the rest of the family during the summer, returning to New York as winter approached, to help his brother in caring for the horses belonging to the Erie canal, while nav- igation on this great waterway was closed. In this way he passed his time until 1841, when he purchased 160 acres of land of J. P. Cook, in Allen township, on which he settled soon after- ward and began his clearing and farming oper- ations. In 1844 he went to Constantine and entered the employ of Governor Berry, who was operating a gristmill at Mooreville, building arks for him wherewith to transport flour down the river. He also completed the first warehouse lo- cated at that point and assisted in repairing a number of the neighboring mills. He then came to Hillsdale, worked for Cook & Ferris and did some work on the mill at Jonesville. The first five bridges put up on the railroad between Ypsi- lanti and Ann Arbor were erected by him, and he sawed most of the timbers on which the strap- iron was laid for the first division of the road between Ypsilanti and Dexter. At Dexter he operated a sawmill, another in St. Joseph county, and, prior to locating permanently in this state, he had done similar work in the state of New York. The farm which he bought of J. P. Cook in Allen township is his present residence. At one time it comprised 200 acres, and here he lived and worked at farming and also at car- penter work for many years, building many of the early houses in the section around him and
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many of those at Hillsdale, walking from his home to his work in the morning and back in the evening.
Mr. Darling has been married three times : first, in New York, on June 11, 1840, to Miss Cynthia M. Mason, who died at Ann Arbor on May II, 1841 ; second, in 1846, to Miss Lucy A. McConnell, who became the mother of four chil- dren: Andrew J., of Eaton Rapids ; Nelson A., deceased ; John H., living on a part of the old homestead; Oscar M., also living on a part of the old homestead. Mrs. Lucy A. (McConnell) Darling died on December 5, 1882, and, in 1883, Mr. Darling married with his third wife, Mrs. Ellen R. Chamberlain. They have one child, a daughter, Elsie J. Darling. A Republican in politics, Mr. Darling has never been an active partisan. He has been a member of the Baptist church since he was sixteen years old. Coming as he did to the county in the very early days of its settlement, he found the region full of Indi- ans, and, although they were in the main friend- ly, and he often hunted with them and frequently repaired their guns, they were sometimes aroused to hostility and became very troublesome. The trying scenes and experiences of the early days yet linger in his memory, forming the theme of many interesting conversations with those who have followed him and with his early associates in the county, who seemingly never tire of listen- ing to the narratives of the heroic times in this part of the state.
John H. Darling, son of John G. Darling by his second marriage, who lives on and cultivates the principal part of the family homestead, was born on this estate on March 28, 1856. During all of his mature life he has been a farmer by occupation, and in this pursuit he has sustained the reputation for integrity of character and skill in his craft which has ever distinguished his long line of worthy ancestors. He married in 1890, on March 15, with Miss Nellie J. Kilburn, a daughter of Albert and Mary J. (Eaton) Kil- burn, the former a native of Jackson and the lat- ter of Eaton county in this state. Her mother died on September 7, 1885, and her father now
resides in Allen township, this county. Mr. and Mrs. Darling have four children, Leva, Lucy, Lynn and Lida. Mr. Darling is one of the es- teemed citizens of the township, conducting his business on a high plane of uprightness and with broad and progressive views. He takes an intel- ligent and abiding interest in the affairs of the township, also giving freely of his counsel and his substance to the promotion of any good enterprise for their advancement or improvement. His citi- zenship is elevated and elevating; his industry is productive and stimulating ; his social quali- ties are attractive and inspiring. In his capaci- ties and inspirations he is one of the representa- tive men of the county.
ANDREW L. DAVIS.
For forty-two years a resident of Jefferson township in this county, all the while living on the same tract of land, and for fifteen years su- pervisor of the township, Andrew L. Davis is one of the best-known men in this part of the county and one of the most serviceable to its every interest of value. He is a native of Or- leans county, New York, born on December 5, 1833, his parents being Rufus and Julia ( Blanch- ard) Davis, also natives of New York where the mother died and the father carried on successful farming operations and also worked at his trade as a carpenter. Their family consisted of six children, three of whom are living, two sons and one daughter. After the death of their mother the father married again but had no children by the second marriage. He came to Michigan in 1864 and settled near Flint, in Genesee county, where he died in 1865. The grandfather was Elisha Davis, a soldier in the War of 1812 from his native state of New York, and, after the war, became both a farmer and preacher, after a high- ly useful life, dying in New York at an old age.
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