USA > Michigan > Hillsdale County > Compendium of history and biography of Hillsdale County, Michigan > Part 27
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to a number of local offices while living in Ohio. Both husband and wife are generous contributors to the churches, but they are not members of any church organization. The evening of life finds them well situated in the possession of this world's goods and secure in the respect and cor-
JAMES LONG.
James Long, one of the best-known and most highly respected farmers of Jefferson township in this county, is an old soldier of the Civil War, who enlisted in defense of the Union early in the contest and kept his place at the front until his cause was won and peace was restored be- tween the sections. His service was long, ardu- ous and trying, and he still bears the marks of its burdens in a hip, which was disabled by a wound received in one of its hotly contested bat- tles. He is a native of Erie county, New York, born on April 28, 1840. His parents were Wil- liam and Isabella (Colvin) Long, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Pennsylvania, but of Scotch descent. His father came to the United States with his parents when he was but three years old, grew to manhood in Pennsyl- vania, where they settled on their arrival, there he received a common-school education and fol- lowed farming after leaving school until he re- moved to Erie county, New York, where, in the course of time, he and his wife died, he pass- ing away in November, 1859, aged sixty-nine, and she in 1872, at he age of fifty-five. They had three daughters and one son, all of whom are living and residents of Michigan, except one daughter. The grandfather was William Long, a native of Ireland, where his ancestors had lived from time immemorial, and who prospered in Pennsylvania as a farmer, dying there at a good old age.
In his native state James Long was reared; in its public schools he received his education. There, also, after leaving school, he was en- gaged in farming until 1861, when armed re- sistance threatened the integrity of the Union, and then, among the first, he enlisted in Co. C,
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Tenth New York Cavalry, and was at the front as a part of what later became the Army of the Potomac. In this army he served to the close of the war, being mustered out in June, 1865. He participated in nearly one hundred battles, skirmishes and engagements, and was wounded in the hip at the battle of Brandy Station, where he was captured, but after three days of captivity was exchanged. Among the battles in which he took part, were the most important and sanguin- ary of those fought by the Army of the Poto- mac, and, as it well known, they followed one another in rapid succession, for, no army in the field ever saw harder service and none ever bore hardships more cheerfully or bravely. Its rec- ord has gone into history and is altogether glor- ious, both in general and in detail, every part of the narrative being greatly to its credit. After the war. in which he rose to the rank of orderly sergeant, Mr. Long returned to New York and remained there until 1871, when he came to Michigan and purchased the farm of fifty-one acres, on which he still lives, and which he has made a model of thrift and high cultivation, as well as an attractive home in the matter of im- provements. He was married in Pennsylvania 011 April 20, 1869, to Miss Margaretta Gemmill, a native of Indiana and a daughter of William and Frances (Blaine) Gemmill, her father be- ing born and reared in Pennsylvania and her mother a native of Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. Long have one child, their daughter, Laura, wife of O. D. Andrews, of Hillsdale county. In politic- al faith Mr. Long is a Republican, having cast his first vote for Lincoln for President and been loyal to the party ever since. Mrs. Long is a zealous member of the Baptist church. Both are held in high esteem and have the general commendation and good will of the people of the township in which the greater part of their ma- ture lives have been spent.
CHARLES E. LAWRENCE.
In the virgin soil and primeval forests of Michigan, nature stored mighty wealth for the use of the sons of men, filling the region full
of commercial and industrial opportunities. Then, when her time had come, she brought into the possession of her bounty men who were ca- pable of developing and utilizing her gifts and of multiplying their fruitfulness with widening benefactions. Among these developers and cap- tains of industry, Charles E. Lawrence, of Hills- dale, must be accorded an honored place in the first rank. He has been in business in this sec- tion for nearly forty years, ever being one of the most useful and prolific of the mercantile forces of the community in bringing its resources to notice and placing them into the channels of trade ..
Mr. Lawrence is a native of Geneseo, Liv- ingston county, New York, born in March, 1834, the son of Joseph W. and Susan (North) Law- rence. The father was a blacksmith, who fol- lowed his craft in New York until 1838, then moved to this state and settled in Branch coun- ty, where he entered a farm, which he made his permanent home, and on which he lived and labored until his death. Here also his wife died and in the soil of their adopted state their re- mains were laid to rest. The grandfather, J. W. Lawrence, a native of New York, also came to Michigan, and, after a residence of some years, he died in Branch county at a good old age. Charles E. Lawrence was one of ten children, of whom six are living, his four sisters, and one brother, the latter being a resident of Lansing. One brother of the family was killed in one of the terrible battles of the Civil War. When he was fourteen years old Mr. Lawrence went to Plymouth, Ohio, where he learned the trade of a tinner. He worked at his trade in Ohio until 1852, then came to Hillsdale and was employed at it here by Mitchell & Hall. He later went to Jonesville, where he remained until 1855, then started in business for himself at Goshen, In- diana, and there remained with varying success until 1866, when he again came to Hillsdale, in 1867, opening the business enterprise which he is still conducting, being for a while associated with James G. Bunt. In his business Mr. Law- rence has been very successful, its proceeds have given opportunity for the display of his business
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sagacity and breadth of view, his public spirit and quick mercantile perception in the inaugur- ation and management of many industrial and fiscal enterprises, of whose activities the com- munity is the direct and positive 'beneficiary. Among the institutions of this character, with which he is connected in a leading way, may be mentioned the First National Bank, of which he is a director, the Worthing & Alger Co., the Hillsdale Screen Co., the H. P. Meade Co., the Scowden & Blanchard Shoe Co., one of the founders of the Omega Portland Cement Co., the Michigan Mutual Insurance Co. of Detroit, and the First National Bank of Saulte Ste. Marie. There is scarcely any form of productive enterprise or public interest that has not been quickened by the touch of his tireless hand and widened by the force of his active mind. In politics Mr. Lawrence is a Republican, but not an active partisan, in the ordinary meaning of the term. He has, however, taken interest in party affairs to aid in securing good results, local- ly, and to this end once consented to serve as su- pervisor. He was married in 1855 to Miss Mary Welch, a native of this state. They have one daughter, Mrs. H. P. Meade. Mr. Lawrence is an active working member of the Masonic fra- ternity, belonging to lodge, chapter and com- mandery, and is the oldest member of the com- mandery in continuous connection with the body.
ELLSWORTH LOVELL.
That we have the poor always with us is a fact of Divine declaration, which is also well attested by human experience ; to make provision for the needs of the needy and suffering, is one of the most binding, as well as one of the most beneficent, duties of the more fortunate classes of society. That the provision thus made should be in competent and careful hands is also needful and of prime importance, and this condition is secured in Hillsdale county by having the poor farm under the superintendence of Ellsworth Lovell, one of the best-known and most esteemed citizens of the county, who has demonstrated his capacity for continued service in the office by
showing firmness in his administration of its du- ties as well as benevolence, good judgment and a great kindness of heart. During the five years of his tenure of the office these traits have been conspicuous in his demeanor towards the un- fortunates in his charge, while the interests of the people at large have also been well cared for and conserved.
Mr. Lovell is almost wholly a product of the county, having been brought here by his parents when he was but two years old and having passed all of his subsequent life among its interests and its people. He was born on September 5, 1861, in Fulton county, Ohio, the son of Charles W. and Mary Lovicie (Johnson) Lovell, natives of New York, who were early settlers in Ohio and., from there came to this county in 1863, locating in Litchfield township. There they engaged in farming, continuing their operations in that part of the county until 1869, when they removed to Fayette township, where they now reside and are now conducting agricultural operations. The father has served as a member of the board of county superintendents during the past nine years, and has filled other local offices from time to time. His family consists of three children, two sons and one daughter, all of whom are residents . of this county. The grandfather, Joseph Lovell, a native of New York, came to Hillsdale county in 1862, where he lived until a short time before his death, when he went to Iowa and there passed away from life's activities in 1889.
Ellsworth Lovell was reared and educated in this county and, after leaving school, began life as a farmer on the homestead, where he remained until he was of age. He then rented a farm and worked it until he was made superintendent of the poor farm in 1898. Before that he had been the treasurer, and for three terms the supervisor of Fayette township. Since becoming superin- tendent, he has purchased a farm located one mile east of Jonesville. In politics he has been a life-long Republican, and in fraternal relations is connected with the Knights of Pythias and the Knights of the Maccabees. He was married in this county on December 19, 1883, to Miss Addie A. Guy, a daughter of Oscar Guy, one of
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the leading citizens of the county. They have one child, their son, Eugene Clare Lovell, who is living at home.
CHARLES Y. LOWE.
Charles Y. Lowe, one of the best-known and most successful farmers of Pittsford township, in this county, is a native of the state, born at Monroe on November 7, 1837. His parents were Ezekiel and Sarah (Adams) Lowe, na- tives of New York, the father having his birth in Ulster county, on October 23, 1812, and the mother in Seneca county, on July 28, 1815. At the age of eleven the father became a resident of Seneca county, where he grew to manhood and rceived a common-school education. In 1835 he married with Miss Sarah Adams, and the next year the young couple moved to Mon- roe county, Michigan, where Mr. Lowe learned the trade of milling, which he followed thereafter in connection with farming during the greater part of his life. In 1848 they moved to Hudson, soon afterward to Rollin, where he operated a mill for two or three years, then, about 1850, he bought a farm in Pittsford township, sometime 'later purchasing the York Mills, also in that township, which he operated until his death on June 30, 1880. He was prominent in the order of Odd Fellows, taking a leading part in the affairs of the order in general and those of his lodge in particular, being also an enthusiastic attendant at the semi-centennial of the founding of the fraternity at Philadelphia in 1876. He was a familiar figure at all national gatherings of the order for many years, and he was well known to its members in all parts of the United States. His widow died in 1893. They were the parents of two children, their sons, Charles and George B.
The elder son, Charles Y. Lowe, passed his childhood and youth in this state and after leav- ing school learned his trade as a miller with his father. He worked at this craft at the York Mills for a period of thirty years. At the end of that time he turned his attention to farming. Since he entered upon this industry he has
steadily devoted his energies to it with a grati- fying success and prosperity. His farm is one of the best cultivated and most valuable in the township, being well improved with comfortable buildings and other necessary appurtenances. On February 18, 1865, he was married to Miss Orcelia Rice, a daughter of Moses and Mary H. (Hill) Rice, who emigrated from New York state to Michigan in 1840, settling in Lenawee county, where they resided until the death of the father in 1847. Twenty years later the mother made her home with her daughters until her death in 1888. Mr. and Mrs. Lowe have four children, Maud S., wife of Charles Brown, of Hudson ; Algernon C., also a resident of Hud- son, now engaged in the furniture and under- taking business in partnership with Mr. Brown; Minnie B., living at home, and Nellie R., wife of R. E. Bronson. In political affiliation Mr. Lowe is a Republican, but he is not active in the cam- paigns of his party and has never sought or de- sired public office. He was for many years a member of the order of Odd Fellows and also a Freemason. He and his wife are esteemed members of the Hudson Congregational church, as active in all its works of charity and benevo- lence, as they are in all undertakings for the general good and improvement of the com- munity.
CALEB A. MAPLES.
Very nearly three-quarters of a century have passed since Caleb A. Maples, one of the vener- able and venerated pioneers of Hillsdale county, came to Michigan and became one of the promis- ing forces for the conquest of her people over na- ture, one of the developers of her great natural resources and promoters of her welfare in every line and department of active effort. He was then but two years old, and, therefore, may be properly designated as almost wholly a product of her soil and her institutions. From her fields, which he helped to make fertile and productive, he drew his stature and his strength. In her strenuous battles with the savage in man and beast and the hard conditions of life which she
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laid on her early settlers, he learned self-reliance, endurance, resourcefulness and readiness for emergencies. In the formation of her civil pol- ity, he acquired his first knowledge of the duties and responsibilities of citizenship, in the estab- lishment of her educational and moral agencies, he first realized the need of broad and general systems of public instruction, as the guide and balance for our universal mental activity. And, in the due development and conservation of all political, social and scholastic energies, he gave scope and effectiveness to the public spirit, and a liberality and breadth of view, which have ever distinguished him throughout his long and use- ful life in the county.
The subject of this review was born at Ontar- io, Wayne county, New York, on June 28, 1827, the son of Samuel L. A. and Achsa (Hoising- ton) Maples, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of New York. Both of his grandfa- thers were soldiers in the War of the Revolution, and were both prosperous producers in the domain of agriculture, after the freedom for which they fought was established. After the marriage of his parents they settled in Ontario county, and there remained until the autumn of 1829. They then determined to brave the wilds of the farther West, as Michigan was truly at that time, and, with their two children in a wagon drawn by two horses, they came to this state, making the entire trip with this team. On their arrival in Lenawee county, the father took up a tract of land, which is now included in the city of Adrian, part of it being now the site of the rail- road station. His first duty was to build a shan- ty with a roof of shakes, as a shelter for his family, who had up to this time been staying with a brother-in-law. After living on this land five years, he traded it for a farm in Pittsford township, in Hillsdale county, but remained two years longer in Lenawee on a rented farm. After moving to his new possession in Hillsdale county he built a log house and devoted his energies to clearing his land and making it habitable and productive. Four or five years were passed in this exacting work, then he sold this farm, and bought another in the same neighborhood, on
which he lived for many years. His last days were, however, spent in Cambria township, and the life of his widow ebbed away at the home of her son, Caleb.
Caleb A. Maples reached Adrian when he was but two years old, and the town was but a hamlet of rude cabins. Tecumseh was the near- est milling point, while general supplies were brought from Detroit, then a long and difficult journey from Adrian. Families were dependent mainly for subsistence and comfort on their own resources and exertions. His mother spun and wove flax and wool for all the clothing of her family, and other women did likewise. He re- mained at home until he was nineteen and then started in life for himself. He went to Calhoun county, where he worked eight months on a farm before returning home. Two years later, on December 24, 1848, he married with Miss S. E. Smith, who was born at Wheatland, New York, on March 3, 1830, and came to this state with her parents in 1837. He purchased forty acres of land in Pittsford township, on which there was a small log house, and, in this humble abode, the young husband and his bride began their wedded life. With her hearty and intelli- gent cooperation they became prosperous, adding to their farm until it now comprises ninety acres, by skillful and judicious improvements raising it in value until it is unsurpassed in productive- ness and real worth by any estate of its size in the township. They were the parents of three children, Fidello D., a resident of Pittsford town- ship; Salinda, wife of Franklin Day, also of Pittsford township; Etna A., wife of Fernando Day, of Wright township. Their mother died in September, 1890, and, on February 7, 1894, Mr. Maples was united with his second wife, Mrs. Harriet (Hicks) Convis, widow of Philo D. Convis, a pioneer at Locust Corners, for many years a popular hotelkeeper and farmer of that place. She was a daughter of Barnett and Abi- gail (Wheelock) Hicks, of English ancestry, de- scended from a progenitor who came to this country in Colonial times and took an active part in the struggle for American Independence. Mr. and Mrs. Maples have lived long and use-
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ful lives, and, now that the autumnal evening of their days is settling upon them, they have the pleasing satisfaction of knowing that they have performed their duties well and faithfully, to- ward every interest which they have had in charge, and may feel well assured that they have worthily earned the high respect of the com- munity, which they so richly enjoy and so mod- estly bear.
HON. FRANK A. LYON.
The scion of old Scotch families who for long generations bore their part valiantly in the border wars between Lowlanders and High- landers in old Caledonia, and who, when "war smoothed his wrinkled front," gave themselves as earnestly and as effectively to making their naturally unproductive country fertile and fruit- ful ; being also descended from an ancestry in this country that runs back to Colonial times, with a family record here of loyalty to the land of their adoption, which has been creditable un- der all circumstances, Frank A. Lyon, one of the leading attorneys of Hillsdale, has ever up- held the good name and the manly crest of his forefathers with as much industry, devotion to duty and unquailing courage on the exhilarating field of active professional life, as any of them ever did on the ensanguined ones of military combat, or on the less noisy but more productive ones of agricultural pursuits. His great-grand- father came to America in 1771 and settled at Walworth, Wayne county, New York, where the grandfather, Daniel, a prominent and highly es- teemed Baptist preacher, and the father, New- ton T. Lyon, were born and lived lives of use- fulness, and where Frank A. Lyon himself first saw the light on January 4, 1855. When he was a year old the family moved to this state and lo- cated in Quincy township, Branch county, there seeing true pioneer life.
Here Frank A. Lyon grew to manhood, at- tending the district schools and assisting on the farm until he was eighteen years of age. He then finished his scholastic education at the Quincy high school, attending during the winter
and spring terms, walking four miles every day to and from the school. After leaving this insti- tution, he passed the required examination, se- cured a certificate of qualification and for a few years taught in the district schools. In 1877 he taught the graded school at Girard in Branch county, and later attended the Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso, in that state, and, between times during his course as a teacher and student, learned his trade as a carpenter, and was thereby enabled to make all his time tell in the struggle for supremacy, by working on the farm and also at carpentry when not other- wise engaged, while at school and while engaged in teaching. He was frugal, as well as indus- trious, and, when he had laid up enough money to tide him over a sufficient period for the pre- liminary study that was necessary, he began to read law in the office of Hon. Charles Upson, at Coldwater. He was admitted to the bar in February, 1880, but was not just then prepared to wait for practice, so accepted temporary en- ployment as a clerk at the consolidated Omalia and Winnebago Indian agency in Nebraska. His first years of professional practice began in No- vember, 1880, and were passed at Howard City and Edmore, in Montcalm county. Two years later he moved to Stanton in the same county, forming a partnership with M. C. Palmer, which continued until 1886, when the state of his health induced him to return to Quincy, where he re- mained until July, 1891. He then came to Hills- dale, there succeeding A. B. St. John in a lucra- tive practice, and he has since resided in that city, being engaged in practice of the law and rising by demonstrated merit to a high rank.
Mr. Lyon is an excellent lawyer, with great industry and application in the progressive study of his profession, a capable and conscientious business man, a very energetic and resourceful practitioner and an eloquent and forceful advo- cate. When appointed by Judge Lane, in 1893, to prosecute Dr. Myron P. Foglesong, a promi- nent physician who was charged with having poisoned his wife, Mr. Lyon studied medicine with special reference to the action of mineral poisons on the human system and his knowledge
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on this subject was so extensive and so accurate that in the trial of the cause, which lasted seven- teen days, he baffled some of the best medical ex- perts called as witnesses for the defense. His success in this celebrated case was such that it added much to his reputation as a criminal law- yer, which had previously been so well estab- lished that for six years he had not lost a case in which he was engaged. His services have not been unappreciated by the corporate inter- ests in his city, which, there as elsewhere, are on the lookout for what is best in all lines of pro- fessional life and eager to secure it for their proper use. He is attorney for the First National Bank of Hillsdale and for Hillsdale College. As counsel for the college he has had several import- ant cases, involving in a vital way the question of the corporate powers of such organizations, and he has managed them in a way that brought ad- ditional credit to himself and gave the college authorities great satisfaction.
Mr. Lyon took no active part in politics until 1896 when he "stumped it" in the state in behalf of Mckinley and the Republican ticket in general. His vigor, force and success on the hustings made him the successful candidate of that party, in 1898, for State Senator for the district comprising Hillsdale, Branch and St. Joseph counties ; and, in the ensuing sessions, he well maintained the reputation he had acquired and also the confidence his friends had shown in him, by his manly and fearless stand for what- ever was best in proposed legislation, and his shrewdness in promoting its enactment. He was chairman of the judiciary committee in the ses- sion of 1899, a position of importance always, and of unusual importance at that time, and was fully equal to its exacting requirements. He passed upon the constitutionality of many acts which became laws, and in every instance where the Supreme Court has had occasion to interpret their legality, Mr. Lyon's judgment has been sus- tained by that tribunal. Mr. Lyon has one of the best law libraries in this part of the state, and in his practice at all times he gives abundant evidence that he makes good and diligent use of it. His ability as a lawyer is generally recog-
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