USA > Michigan > Hillsdale County > Compendium of history and biography of Hillsdale County, Michigan > Part 29
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Charles E., a farmer of Litchfield township; Samuel W., a lawyer of Chicago, Illinois; Eras- tus P., Jr., who died when three years old; Al- fred L .; Lucy J., now a resident of Litchfield ; Maggie, now the wife of Dr. G. W. Hill, of Reading. Mr. Norton was a man of active pub- lic spirit and progressive ideas, who gave the township good service as a member of the board of supervisors, as a township clerk and in various other local offices. He was a devout and serv- iceable working member of the Baptist church, taking great interest in every good enterprise for the advancement of the community or the elevation of its people. He lived a useful and productive life and died holding a high and se- cure place in the regard and good will of all classes of the citizens of his portion of the state.
HARRY C. MILLER, M. D.
Although one of the younger physicians and surgeons of the county, and having but recently entered upon the practice of his profession, Har- ry C. Miller, M. D., is already well established in the confidence and esteem of the people, both in professional circles and generally, and he is making steady progress in building up a busi- ness that is growing in volume and becoming more and more representative of the best ele- ments of the community in character. He is a native of Nova Scotia, born at Halifax on De- cember 26, 1874. His parents, Willard and Rhena (Hays) Miller, were also Nova Scotians by nativity. They are now living at Waverly, in Nova Scotia, where the father is engaged in the manufacture of powder.
Doctor Miller lived in his native land and there attended school until he was thirteen years old, then went to Boston, Massachusetts, where . he remained until he was eighteen, thence com- ing to Hillsdale College for a two years' course. At its conclusion he entered Detroit Medical Col- lege for his professional training and was grad- uated from that institution in 1900. He at once began practicing at Findlay, Ohio, but remained there only a few months, before the end of the year coming to Cambria, where he has since re-
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sided, actively engaged in a medical practice of a general character. He is the township health officer, being vigilant and firm in the discharge of his duties in this capacity, while to every pro- fessional call he gives a very careful and a con- scientious attention. As a member of the Tri- State Protective Association, he is serviceable to the organization, and has aided materially in spreading its influence and enlarging its useful- ness. He also belongs to the Masonic order and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, holding membership in lodges of these orders at Cambria and Reading. On June 7, 1900, the Doctor was united in marriage with Miss Ellen C. Gardner. a daughter of Prof. George B. Gardner and a . native of Hillsdale. In professional circles the Doctor is well esteemed by his brethren and in social circles by the community in general. In al! the relations of life he has so far maintained a high standard of manhood, and, with a com- mendable industry and public spirit, he is work- ing his way steadily to the front rank in all lines of active usefulness.
NELSON P. NYE.
Nelson P. Nye is one of the pioneers of Hills- dale county who has long been an active factor in making Pittsford township one of the finest agricultural regions of southern Michigan. He neither found nor inherited, but literally hewed out his opportunities here, and, with innate pluck and energy, he has used them to the best ad- vantage, raising himself from obscurity to con- sequence among his people, and creating his es- tate, from a worldly wealth consisting of the clothes on his back and six dollars in money, to one of competence and established comfort. He was born at Plainfield, Otsego county, New York, on February 28, 1817, the son of Joseph and Sally (Clark) Nye, the former a native of Con- necticut and the latter of New York, where she died in April, 1858. They were the parents of ten children, nine of whom attained maturity, Nelson P. being the seventh in the order of birth. He remained at home with his parents until he was twenty years of age, receiving a good com-
mon-school education and acquiring habits of in- dustry and frugality and skill in agriculture in the labors of the farm. He began life for him- self as a hand on neighboring farms, and, after eleven years of such experience, in 1838 he came to Michigan, making the trip by way of the Erie canal to Buffalo, thence across the lake to Toledo, from there to Adrian by rail. From Adrian he proceeded on foot to Bean Creek Valley, where his elder brother, Austin, lived, arriving at his destination with the six dollars in his pocket. which was the sun of his earthly capital, except the courageous heart, vigorous body, determined energy and resourceful nature with which he was endowed. But five years had then elapsed since the first settlers had located on the virgin soil of this now prolific region, and all the conditions of the wildest frontier life were still upon it, rendered more striking by contrast with the lit- tle openings that civilization had made in the primeval forest. He worked for his brother for a year, then, for five laborious years, he was bus- ily engaged in chopping timber to get it ready for logging and in clearing his land for cultiva- tion. After three years of this productive in- (lustry he bought a tract of sixty acres of land at $6 an acre, paying $150 in cash and giving his obligations for the balance at 7 per cent inter- est. On August 19, 1843. he married with Miss Mary A. Hale, a native of Essex county, Eng- land, whose parents, John and Rachel ( Buck) Hale, came to America from that country in 1830 and settled at Palmyra, New York, where the mother died soon after their arrival. In 1841 the father came to Michigan, bought timber land in Pittsford township, this county, there built a log house and cleared a farm from the wilderness. Here he lived until a short time before his death. He spent his last years at the home of Mr. Nye, of this review, passing away in 1884, aged eighty- four years.
After his marriage N. P. Nye located on his own land and began housekeeping in. the log house he had previously built. He cleared his tract, bought another, and kept continuing and repeating this process until he owned 200 acres, which, by continued and skillful effort, he has
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made one of the best and most productive farms in this part of the country. Here, during the three-score years which have passed since he took up his residence on this land, he has been actively and profitably engaged in farming and raising stock, improving his own condition by steady progress, contributing substantially to the growth and development of the township at the same time. His influence for good to the community has been felt in local public affairs no less than in the domain of agricultural and industrial prog- ress. For twelve years he served the township capably and faithfully as clerk, for an equal pe- riod as justice of the peace, has also been super- visor and school inspector, to these positions and their important duties giving the same conscien- tious and careful attention that he did to other more pretentious official requirements and his own business. In 1884 he was the census enu- merator for the township, while in many other ways he has been of highly valued service to the people. He was the father of ten children, all of whom reached years of maturity and became well settled in life. Two have recently died, Isa- belle M., wife of Frank Gilbert, of Cleveland, Ohio, and John H., of Cincinnati. The living ones are: Permilla, wife of Samuel Dickerson, of Chicago, Illinois ; Louisa R., widow of Finley Beazell, of Cincinnati, Ohio; Alfred F., of Pitts- ford; Theresa A., also of Chicago; David C., of Pittsford; Nelson P., Jr., of Cleveland; Nettie W., wife of Augustus C. Childs, of Redlands, Calif .; Eugene F., living at the parental home. Mr. Nye has been a Republican in politics since the organization of that party, being previously a Whig, while Mrs. Nye is a devoted member of the Congregational church at Hudson.
RODERICK D. LANE.
This gentleman who is one of the substantial and progressive farmers of Cambria township, is a native of Geauga county, Ohio, born at Kirkland Flats on November 29, 1834. His parents were Lyman L. and Nancy (Cost) Lane, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of Virginia. The father was a farmer and moved
to Ohio, about 1832, where he remained until 1837, then came to Lenawee county in this state, locating in the town of Fairfield where he resided until his death in 1882, his wife having passed away in 1878. Their family consisted of two sons and five daughters. Of these Roderick and two of his sisters are all that remain. The father was a man of local prominence, called on from time to time to fill local offices of importance. The grandfather, Jason Lane, was also a native of Connecticut and a farmer. He moved to New ·York, from there to Ohio, and, in 1836, came to Lenawee county, Michigan, where he was en- gaged in farming until his death.
Roderick Lane was reared on his father's farm in Lenawee county which he assisted in clearing up and making fertile, and was educated at the district schools in the. neighborhood. He re- mained at home until August 6, 1862, when he enlisted in Co. I, Eighteenth Michigan Infantry, in defense of the Union in the Civil War, and for three years was in active service with the Army of the Cumberland. He participated in all the important engagements of that division of the Union forces, was wounded twice in battle, and was mustered out at Nashville, Tenn., in 1865 with the rank of sergeant which he had earned by meritorious service. He then returned to this state and again engaged in farming in Lena- wee county, remaining there until 1879 when he came to Hillsdale county and purchased the farm on which he now resides, which consists of eighty acres of well improved and highly culti- vated land and is one of the pleasant and valu- able homes of the township in which it is located. He was married in this county on December 30, 1867, to Miss Helen Hancock, a sister of J. A. Hancock of Cambria township, and they have two children, their son Arthur L. of this township and their daughter Lunette, widow of L. E. Saunders, who died in October, 1902. Mr. Lane is a Republican in politics, constant and steady in his loyalty to the party, and has filled a num- ber of offices in the township. He belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic in fraternal circles, and is one of the most respected and appreciated men of the township, being upright in conduct,
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elevated in character, enterprising in business and entertaining in social life. His circle of friends is large and their regard for him is cordial.
OWEN O'HANLON.
On the farm on which he now lives in Allen township, the life of Owen O'Hanlon began on December 17, 1852, and, on that farm, the whole of it so far has been passed. His parents were Thomas and Jane (Shannon) O'Hanlon, natives of New York state, of Irish ancestry. The father . was born in Elmira and the mother at Baldwins- ville. He came to this county to live in 1841, and purchased eighty acres of land in section 36, in Allen township, and afterward purchased forty acres more. In course of time, he bought another farm in the county. On February 4, 1847, his first marriage occurred and secured for him a faithful and energetic helpmeet. Their land was all wild land which had never felt the hand of cultivation, presenting all the exacting conditions of the unbroken frontier and requiring all the strenuous efforts involved in those conditions for its subjugation and proper tillage. They grad- ually cleared it up, and, before death ended their useful work, they had made it over into product- ive and attractive farms, fruitful with all the products of advanced husbandry and fragrant with the flowers of cultivated life. The mother died in 1863 and the father in 1897, at the age of seventy-nine. On April 4. 1867, he married a second time, being united in this wedding with Miss Eliza A. Crocker, who died in 1879. There were four children in the family, three of whom reached years of maturity, the son, Owen, and two daughters, all of whom are living, residents of this county. . The father was a man of local prominence, much esteemed for his uprightness of life and his wisdom in reference to public af- fairs. He acceptably served seven years as town- ship supervisor and was a valued member of the Reading Lodge of Masons. The grandfather was Owen O'Hanlon, a native of Ireland, belong- ing to a family long resident in the Emerald Isle and connected in a leading way with its turbu- lence in times of war and its progress and so-
cial elevation in times of peace. He was a coop- er by trade, and also a farmer, and held a high place in the regard of his American countrymen for his mechanical skill, his excellent character and his abundance of knowledge in various lines of thought and industry. He died in 1860 at Horseheads, New York, where much of his ma- ture life was passed. Five sons survived him, two of whom are still living, one in this county and one in New York.
His grandson, Owen O'Hanlon, the subject of this review, grew to man's estate on the paternal homestead and was educated in the dis- trict schools of the neighborhood. As soon as he left school he took a vigorous hold on the farming enterprise and has been connected with it ever since. The improvements begun by his parents have been continued and enlarged in scope by himself, the farm being the product of their joint efforts and creditable alike to the ge- nius and the skill of both. Mr. O'Hanlon mar- ried in 1880 Miss Eugene Orr, a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Frick) Orr, early emi- grants from, first Vermont, and, second, Indiana, to this county. Her father died in Reading town- ship in 1887, where her mother is still living. Mr. and Mrs. O'Hanlon have one child, their son, Hugh, who is attending school at Hillsdale. In politics, Mr. O'Hanlon, like his father and his grandfather, has been a lifelong Democrat, and, like them, he has taken an active interest in pub- lic affairs. He served as supervisor of the town- ship in 1893, and, in 1902, was the candidate of his party for clerk of the county, but was un- able, notwithstanding his personal popularity, to overcome the large adverse majority of the coun- ty. He is well-esteemed as a wise and safe coun- selor and a citizen of public spirit and progress- ive ideas. He was elected supervisor in the spring of 1903, and is now serving in that responsible office.
HON. J. M. OSBORN.
Nearly ten years have passed since, on De- cember 9, 1893, death ended the useful labors of Hon. John M. Osborn, of Pittsford township of this county, and, in that time, his reputation for
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integrity and force of character, fine business ca- pacity, uprightness of life and for all the graces of an elevated manhood has grown and strength- ened. He was born at Perrinton, Monroe county, New York, on March 9, 1819, the son of John and Mercy Ann (Swift-Eaton) Osborn, the scion of an excellent old English family, members of which settled in this country in Colonial days. His paternal great-grandfather remained loyal to the crown during our Revolutionary struggle and at its close returned to England. At his death, tradition reports, his estate was confiscated, be- cause the heirs were all citizens of the new re- public on this side of the Atlantic. His son was a native of New England, where he married, and where his son, John, father of John M. Osborn, was born and reared. After leaving school he learned the trade of cabinetmaking and subse- quently that of carpenter and joiner. When the War of 1812 began, he promptly joined the army in his country's defense, and was in the force that crossed the Niagara River at the storming of Queenstown Heights, and, after a severe en- gagement, at great odds against them, for want of support and by reason of the British receiving reinforcements, they were ordered to lay down their arms, which they did by throwing them as far as they could into the river. Mr. Osborn was soon after paroled, but, to the end of the war, he quietly did service to his country in aid- ing the transportation of supplies to the troops on duty. After the war was over he settled at Perrinton, New York, as one of the earliest pioneers of the section, resumed work at his trade of carpenter and joiner, and, at one time, took a contract for excavation work on the Erie canal, which was then in building. In 1838 he visited this state and bought a tract of land in Pittsford township, Hillsdale county, and, in 1840, became · a resident of the county, locating at Lanesville, as Hudson was then called, and there worked at his trade, in the fall of that year bringing his family to his new home. He continued work at his trade until 1847, when his son, John M. Os- born, traded a residence which he owned in the village, for eighty acres of farming land in the township, which thereafter was a part of the
family homestead, and here the parents died. They had three children, Eliza Ann, who died at the age of six years; John M., and Delora O., the recently deceased wife of William Baker.
John M. Osborn attended the public schools near his home until he was about fourteen years old, then began to earn his own living by work- ing on a farm at six dollars a month, except dur- ing the winter months, when he was able to still attend school, although irregularly. As time passed, and his usefulness increased, his wages were increased until they reached the munificent sum of thirteen dollars a month when he was sixteen. He was a great and reflective reader and utilized his spare time on the farm in improving his education, gaining a cumulative knowledge of business principles and keeping posted on current events. When he was nineteen he be- gan teaching school at Fairport, New York., two years later becoming a resident of this state and continuing this occupation at Hudson. His first school here was opened in the back room of a grocery, but, before the term had closed, a school- house was built and occupied. Mr. Osborn re- mained in that section of the county for several years, teaching in the winter and working on the construction of the Michigan Southern Rail- road in the summer, actively assisting the civil engineer in establishing the grade, estimating the quantity and the value of the excavating work. . the amount and the cost of the material, and the worth of special labor. He subsequently worked as a laborer in constructing and, later, in keep- ing in repair, the section of the road near which he lived. At other times he was engaged in the cultivation of the soil, farming until 1846. In that year he formed a partnership association with William Baker and started a merchandising business under the name of J. M. Osborn & Co., they trading goods for every kind of farm pro- duce, and he continued in this enterprise with some change of partners until 1851. For seven years following that date he bought and shipped black walnut lumber to eastern markets. In 1858 he opened a drygoods store in partnership with S. A. Eaton, as Osborn & Eaton, and they con- ducted a flourishing business until 1863, when
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they closed the partnership by selling out. Mr. Osborn afterward conducted a similar business alone for three years and during this period death robbed him of both parents and his wife. A lit- tle later, yielding to strong importunity, he formed a partnership with Moses Perkins, and, as Osborn, Perkins & Co., they organized a bank at Hudson, which was carried on under the per- sonal supervision of Mr. Osborn until he retired from the firm. The institution is now conduct- ed by Thompson Bros, and is in a flourishing condition. In 1883 Mr. Osborn was chosen to manage the affairs of the Hudson woodenware manufactory, and, by his judicious management, he made the enterprise a paying one, which it had never been before. In early life he was a Dem- ocrat in politics; but his opposition to slavery made him a Free-Soiler when that party was organized, and later he became a Republican.
Mr. Osborn was honored with almost every office in its gift, and, in 1869;and again in 1871, he was elected to the Legislature. In 1875 he was chosen to represent his county in the State Sen- ate, in that body enlarging the usefulness he had shown and the reputation that he had won as an active and far-seeing lawmaker in the lower house. He always took a sagacious in- terest in all national affairs, and, although never seeking a Federal office, he was appointed a U. S. inspector of wagons by President Garfield, in this position, as in all others, rendering efficient and valuable service. In business, in political affairs and in public life, Mr. Osborn always kept prominently in view the advancement and devel- opment of the community in which he lived. He was potential in inaugurating and pushing to a successful completion the construction of the Cincinnati, Jackson & Michigan Railroad, which runs through Hudson and was completed in 1887. He subscribed liberally to the stock of this enter- prise and, in every way, gave it his most zealous and helpful support. In fraternal circles he was an enthusiastic Freemason, belonging to lodge, chapter and commandery, ascending thirty-two rounds of the mystic ladder of the Scottish Rite, and ninety-six of that of the rite of Memphis. In religious affiliation he belonged to the Meth-
odist Episcopal church. Mr. Osborn was mar- ried three times. His first marriage was in 1851, with Miss Elizabeth Daniels, a native of Wayne county, Michigan, who was his companion for fifteen years, dying in 1866. On April 5, 1870, he married with his second wife, Mrs. Harriet A. (White) Robinson, of Jacksonville, Tompkins county, New York, who was born on May 28, 1832, the daughter of Rev. William and Prudent (Wickes) White, of that state. Her father was of Quaker parentage, but became a Baptist min- ister, and, for many years, he was actively en- gaged in preaching in New York and Ohio. In 1852 he settled in Hillsdale county on a farm he purchased in Wright township, which he sold after a few years' residence on it, and bought another in Linden township, Genesee county, where he passed the remainder of his days, dy- ing in old age. His widow survived him several years, passing away in 1889, at the home of her son at Linden in that county. His third mar- riage occurred on October 3, 1891, with Sarah Tucker, a native of Meridian, Cayuga Co., New York, a daughter of William and Anna (O'Con- nor) Tucker, natives of Limerick, Ireland, where they were reared and married, soon after that event coming to America, settling at Meridian as farmers. They lived there until their deaths in the later sixties. Mrs. Sarah Osborn was reared and educated in New York and came to Michigan in 1878.
JOHN H. PARISH.
John H. Parish, one of the substantial and enterprising farmers of Allen township in this county, to the development and progress of which he has devoted forty-seven years of his useful life, is a native of the city of Exeter, Devonshire, England, where his parents, Henry and Mary (Undeshay) Parish were also born and where his ancestors have lived for many generations. He first saw the light of this world on August 23, 1840, and had the usual experience of boys and youths of his day and locality, growing to the age of sixteen in his native county, working at anything he could find to do, attending school, and also learning the business which has largely
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engaged his attention and energies through life. He came to the United States in 1856, making his way at once to Hillsdale county and to the town- ship in which he has ever since resided. His par- ents both died in England, four of the family of their three sons and three daughters are now liv- ing, a daughter and John H. being citizens of Hillsdale county. After his arrival in Michigan John H. Parish attended Hillsdale College, there finishing the education he had begun in his na- tive land. But, for a time, he first worked on a farm, then, after leaving college, he taught school. In the meantime he determined to secure a per- manent means of livelihood, learned his trade as a carpenter, and, for a number of years there- after, he worked at this occupation with industry and became a successful builder, operating in this county and at Saginaw. He also conducted a sawmill and a cooper shop from 1867 to 1895. In the year last named he sold out all his other interests and has since devoted himself with dili- gence and ardor to the work of his farm, which he has raised to a high state of fertility and en- riched with excellent improvements.
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