USA > Michigan > Hillsdale County > Compendium of history and biography of Hillsdale County, Michigan > Part 73
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Mr. Watkins is energetic, progressive and thrifty, being out of debt and with capital to prop- erly push his enterprises and make himself use- ful in the community and helpful to others who are going through the struggle he has had. He is a Republican in politics, with an earnest interest in the welfare of his party, and breadth of view and public spirit in helping to conduct its affars. He has rendered faithful service to his township as highway commissioner during the past two years, performing his official duties with an ere single to the general good of the community and without reference to personal interests for himself or others. He is a valued member of the lodge of Foresters at Hillsdale. On January 10, 1883,
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he was married to Miss Etta Foust, a native of Montpelier, Ohio, daughter of Edwin and Eliza- beth (Cope) Foust, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Pennsylvania. For a number of years they have been residents of Jefferson town- ship in this county. Mr. and Mrs. Watkins have three children, their daughters, Alta M., Grace and Avice E. The parents are members of the South Jefferson Congregational church.
LIBEUS H. ROOT.
A prosperous farmer and a highly respected citizen of Hillsdale county, Libeus H. Root, of near Waldron, was born on February 23, 1849, in Medina township, Lenawee county, Michigan, and is the son and only living child of Henry W. and Ellen F. (English) Root, the former a native of Jefferson county, New York, born on October 5, 1822, and the latter of Ireland, born on April 22, 1823. Henry was a son of Amos, a New Englander, who moved his family to Lenawee county in this state about the year 1836, and several years låter went into Indiana, locating near Lima, where he died. His son married in 1847 and settled in his native county, remaining there until about 1855, when he came to Wright township in this county and took up his residence on the farm on which Libeus now lives. He se- cured 160 acres of land, all in section 23, 120 acres being in the home place and forty in an- other tract. Twenty acres were already cleared, and during his lifetime he cleared and improved most of the rest, remaining on the farm until his death in 1864. His widow survived him many years, dying on the homestead on January II, 1892. They were the parents of three children, two of whom died in childhood. In politics. the father was a decided Republican, and in religious faith he belonged to the Church of Christ.
He was a good man, an upright citizen, of influence and wide public esteem. From the time he was twelve years until he reached his legal ma- jority he worked for his uncle, A. W. Powers. and at the close of his term of service the uncle gave him the choice between forty acres of land and $100 as the reward for his fidelity. He chose
the land and found himself better off in the end for doing it. In the early period of his life with his uncle he was obliged to go out into the un- broken forest of evenings from three to five miles to hunt up and bring in the cattle. He was a charter member of the first Church of Christ or- ganized in Wright township, and for a number of years was an elder in it. The son Libeus moved with his parents to this farm when he was six years old, and as soon as he was able began to work on it. He attended the public school in . the vicinity until he was sixteen, and was then obliged to leave on account of the death of his fa- ther, as his services were needed at home to look after the farm under his mother's supervision. A year later he was allowed to attend the Hudson High School six weeks, and still later he had the benefit of two terms at a select school taught by Professor D. E. Haskins. On reaching manhood he assumed charge of the farm and his mother made her home with him until her death. The fa- ther was $2,200 in debt at his death, and the mother and son assumed the debt and paid it off.
The estate was therefore never probated, de- scending to the son by operation of law. On April 21, 1897, he was married to Miss Ella Staples, a daughter of John and Mary Staples, the former a native of England and the latter of Pennsyl- vania. Her father came to America with his par- ents, and at the age of ten moved with them to Medina township in Lenawee county, and there he married in course of time and settled as he supposed for life ; but later the family moved to the vicinty of Waldron, where the parents died. They were members of the United Brethren church and active in church work. After his mar- riage Mr. Root rented his farm to a tenant and made his home at Prattville, not having engaged in farming actively since 1892. But after living a year at Prattville, he moved back to the farm, and in the spring of 1903 he took charge of it again, and he now expects to manage it during the rest of his life. In addition to his farming operations he has at time dealt in lumber and at one time owned a sawmill. Since he was eighteen years old he has been a member of the Waldron Church of Christ, and after her marriage his wife
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also joined, she having previously belonged to the United Brethren. Both are active in church work. Mr. Root belongs to the Knights of Pyth- ias at Waldron, and he and his wife are members of Lima Creek grange, he being a charter mem- ber. He is a Republican in politics and served two years as township treasurer.
REUBEN W. FREEMAN.
The first born in a family of eight children, thrown upon his own resources at the age of thir- teen, with nothing to depend on but his own nat- tiral abilities of mind and spirit and his physical power to do and to endure, Reuben W. Freeman is essentially a self-made man, who neither found nor inherited, but hewed out his opportunities for advancement in the struggle for supremacy among men. He was born at Canton, Wayne county, Mich., on January 26, 1835, the son of Gideon and Hannah (Huston) Freeman, who were prominent among the pioneers of that coun- ty. When their son, Reuben, was five years old, they moved to Hillsdale county where they resid- ed three years, then moved to Washtenaw county and lived there for a time. The father was a prosperous and prominent farmer, a leading spir- it in all works of progress and improvement. He was connected with the construction of the Michi- gan Central Railroad and with other enterprises of value to the county and state. At a ripe old age he died in Clinton county, his wife closing her eyes in her last sleep in Calhoun county. Three of their eight children, two sons and one daugh- ter, are living.
Reuben W. Freeman received a good com- mon-school education, mainly through his own exertions, by which he afterward gained in the hard but effective school of experience a goodly store of that worldly wisdom which can only be acquired from that exacting task-master. In his twenty-first year he went to California, where he was engaged for two years in mining. He then returned to his native state, and, locating in Litch- field township, he purchased his first farm of John and James O'Neil and later purchased of Milton P. Herring the farm on which he resided until
1899, when he moved to the town of Litchfield, having sold the farm and bought the fair grounds located there. In political allegiance Mr. Free- man is independent, taking no part whatever in the contests between the old parties. He is serv- ing the township as a justice of the peace, dis- charging his official duties with credit to himself and benefit to the town. He also takes an active and constant interest in all matters pertaining to the domain of agriculture. He was the efficient president of the St. Joseph Valley Agricultural Society of Litchfield during its existence, in this connection also being a useful and stimulating member of the Patrons of Husbandry, holding af- filiation with the grange at Litchfield.
In June, 1858, he was married with Miss Mary L. Mead, a native of Phelps, Ontario coun- ty, N. Y., who was brought to Michigan by her parents when she was but four years old, at the time of her marriage being a resident of Eaton Rapids in this 'state. They were the parents of six children : William R., of this county; Mary L., wife of G. M. Gardner, of Grand Rapids ; Nora, wife of Charles Sheppard, of Allen town- ship ; Fred E., living at Litchfield ; Allie M., wife of A. G. Griffin, of Kent county, this state ; Ralph, a resident of Battle Creek. Their mother died in 1880, and, in 1881, Mr. Freeman married his sec- ond wife, Mrs. Ursula (Rumsey) Van Aken, who died in 1893. His third wife was Miss Sarah Ly- dabrant, who died in 1899, while his fourth life partner was Miss Mary J. Farnum, with whom he married in 1900, who still abides with him. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
M. F. CUTLER.
Having been a resident of this county since he was two years old, receiving his scholastic training in the public schools and at Hillsdale College, and since leaving school actively en- gaged in business and at time creditably con- ducting the administration of important public offices within the limits of the county, M. F. Cut- ler, the pioneer merchant of Pittsford, has been an active, zealous and useful factor in promoting the growth and progress of this part of the state,
MR. AND MRS. R. W. FREEMAN.
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developing its material resources and augment- ing its mercantile enterprise for many years. His life began on May 30, 1845, in Wyoming county, N. Y., where his parents, William H. and Mary E. (Fisher) Cutler, were profitably en- gaged in farming at the time. The father was a native of that state and the mother first saw the light of this world in Massachusetts. Both belonged to old families connected with the his- tory of their respective sections of the country from Colonial times.
They removed to Michigan in 1847, and on the virgin soil of this new domain continued the farming industry they had been successfully con- ducting on the older one of their former home. They entered eighty acres of government land in Girard township, Branch county, on which they settled, and to the development and cultiva- tion of which they devoted their energies until the autumn of 1860, when they removed to the city of Hillsdale, where they passed the remain- der of their days, the father dying there in 1863 and the mother in 1875. They had two children, their son, M. F. Cutler, and a daughter. The fa- ther was not an active partisan, taking very little personal interest in political affairs beyond what a conscientious discharge of the duties of citi- zenship required, but in this he was never lack- ing. The grandfather, Luther Cutler, was also a native of New York and a farmer there. He came to Michigan in 1848 and settled in Branch county, where he died at a ripe old age.
M. F. Cutler's first business enterprise after leaving college was a general store on College Hill in Hillsdale, which he early started, and conducted for a period of two years in partner- ship with C. H. Sayles, and together they opened and for three years operated a general store in that village. At the end of that time Mr. Potter became interested in the establishment and a member of the firm, and later N. C. Spears pur- chased the interests of the other two partners and the firm of Cutler & Spears was formed. This firm cotinued to carry on the business until 1891 when Mr. Spears retired and since then Mr. Cutler has conducted it alone. He also has another store in which he has an extensive trade
in hay, farm produce and similar commodities. His intelligent and helpful interest in public af- fairs has brought him into prominence as a citi- zen of enterprise and breadth of view, and he has served as a popular postmaster of the vil- lage, holding this office from 1872 to 1885. He was also township clerk for two years. In 1870 he was married in Rhode Island to Miss Mary B. Sayles, a sister of his former partner, and a native of that sturdy and busy little state. They have two children, their sons, William H., who is in the business with his father, and Alvin S., now a civil engineer in the employ of the Minne- apolis & St. Louis Railroad. In politics Mr. Cut- ler has been a Republican during all of his mature life, and in religious belief he is affiliated with the Wesleyan Methodist chuch.
L. S. HACKETT.
L. S. Hackett, for many years a prosperous and successful farmer in Ohio and this county, and previous to that an esteemed public school teacher, who is now living at Pittsford and is en- gaged in commercial and insurance business, is a son of Benjamin and Sabrina ( Miller) Hackett, and was born in Wayne county, New York, on February 5, 1844. His father was a native of New York of Irish ancestry, and his mother, of the same nativity, was of Scotch origin. The fa- ther aided in the construction of the Erie canal, and during the whole of his mature life was en- gaged in works of construction of great public utility. Moving to Fulton county, Ohio, in 1849, he there purchased a farm, on which he passed the remainder of his days, dying on July 18, 1896, having survived his wife eleven years, her death having occurred on March 21, 1885. He was a son of Benjamin Hackett, a soldier of the Colo- nial army during the Revolution, and he inherited the patriotic spirit of his sire, taking an active in- terest in the promotion of every public enterprise where he lived, and filling with credit a number of local offices in his township. His family consisted of eight children, six of whom are living, four of them at Metamora, Ohio, one at Toledo, and L. S., the subject of these paragraphs, at Pitts-
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ford in this county. The two who are deceased passed away in childhood.
L. S. Hackett was five and a half years old when he moved with his parents to Fulton coun- ty, Ohio, from his native state, and he there grew to manhood, diligently working on his father's farm and attending the public schools until he reached the age of seventeen. He then began teaching, and for eight years he continued to fol- low this occupation, having made special prepara- tion for the work by attending a select school three miles from his home, walking that distance twice a day during the term. While teaching he continued to help his father on the farm during the summers until he was twenty-one. He then began farming for himself, working by the day or the month until his marriage, on November 25. 1867, with Miss Emily Patterson, of Fulton county, who was a daughter of Able and Amy Patterson, natives of Ashtabula county in the same state. Her parents had moved into Fulton county when there were no roads in their neigh- borhood and county and state lines were not yet definitely laid down; and it chanced that they built their residence directly on the state line of Ohio and Michigan. At this home the father died and the mother lived for sixty-two years ; but she is now making her home with Mr. and Mrs. Hackett.
After his marriage Mr. Hackett rented iand for two years in Fulton county, and again taught school for two years. In 1869 he purchased forty acres of land in that county, which was partially cleared. He paid $1,200 of the purchase money down, leaving a debt of $400. After a residence of two years on this place he moved to Wright township, in this, Hillsdale county, and he bought eighty acres of land, soon afterward selling his place in Ohio. He borrowed all the money that he put into the Hillsdale county farm, but soon had sufficient of the land cleared to make a living for his family and begin to pay off the debt. He lived on this farm twenty years, clear- ing it of timber, improving it with tile draining containing 40,000 tile-pipes, adorning it with fine buildings and fruitful orchards, and adding to its extent by a subsequent purchase of forty acres
more, and putting the whole extent into first-class farming condition. In 1900 he determined to retire from active farming and moved to Pitts- ford village, where he has since been living, act- ing as the agent for the Plano and Champion machine companies, and since 1893 doing con- siderable business as an agent of the Michigan Mutual Cyclone Insurance Co.
Mr. and Mrs. Hackett are the parents of two sons, John E., now a hardware merchant at Pratt- ville, this county, and Frank L., a hay merchant at Pittsford. In politics Mr. Hackett has always been a stanch Democrat, and in 1892 was elected supervisor of Wright township, and reelected in 1893, while in 1898 and 1899 he was again chosen to this office. He is a member of the Masonic lodge at Waldron, of which he was secretary for twelve years, and he belongs to the R. A. chapter at Hudson. He is also the secretary of Pittsford Lodge of Odd Fellows, and a member of Waldron Lodge of the Knights of Pythias, the Maccabees, the Arcanum and the Grange. While supervisor in 1898-99, he was on the building committee that arranged for the erection of the Hillsdale county courthouse.
WILLIAM DRAKE.
The pioneer life of Hillsdale county and other parts of southern Michigan is so well and so fully exemplified in the history of the old Drake family, of Amboy township, that we feel called upon to give an account of it somewhat more at length than is customary in a publication of this character. William Drake, the immediate sub- ject of this writing, was born on March 28, 1828, at Lyons in Wayne county, N. Y., and is the son of Amos and Catherine (Whaley) Drake, natives of New York, and of English an- cestry, who were early settlers in New Jersey. The father, Amos Drake, grew to manhood in New York and there married and settled down to farming and carpenter work. In 1838 he bought 130 acres of land in what is now Amboy township, in this county, purchasing it of John Merchant, of his native state, who had previous- ly entered it, and on this wild land he moved his
HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
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family in the autumn of that year. The entire township was at the time a dense forest and still in the possession of its wild inhabitants, man and beast, James Fullerton being the only white settler within its limits.
Mr. Drake built a log cabin, 16x20 feet in size for a dwelling, just high enough to have one log above the door, and furnished with a pun- cheon floor, part of which rested on the leaves. There was a hole in the roof for the escape of the smoke from the fire, which was built against the end of the house, the logs being covered with mud to keep them from catching fire. So door had been cut in the building when the fami- ly arrived and they were obliged to climb up on the roof and enter through the hole. They came to their new home on the Erie canal to Buffalo, from there to Toledo on Lake Erie. The father brought a team of horses to Adrian, one of which he sold, trading the other for a cow and a pair of three year old steers. These steers he broke to work, and with them, and a small pung which he made, he made the early clearings of his land. He arrived with but five dollars in money, but wild game was plentiful and they had a little flour on hand at the start. This was well, for there was no mill nearer than twenty- five miles, and it required a toilsome and tedious journey of forty miles to reach that, for there was but one road in this part of the country, the old Territorial or Chicago road.
In the spring of 1839 they got about four acres cleared and in corn and two more in turnips and other garden vegetables. These crops and the efforts made at cultivation attracted deer to this section in great numbers for food, and in the next winter Mr. Drake killed nine. In 1842 a number of other families moved into the neigh- borhood, bringing brighter prospects for greater comfort. Amos Drake built the first framed barn of the section and his son, Sidney, the first framed house. The father died in 1873, aged seventy-two, and his widow in 1882, aged eigh- ty-two. They were the parents of seven children, William, the fourth born, being the only one now living. One daughter, Jane, was the first person married in the township, and a justice named
Fowle came sixteen miles to perform the cere- mony. Another daughter, Sarah, was the first person who died and hers was the first burial in the town. Amos was the first postmaster at Bird, being appointed in 1841, and he was also for a number of years a justice of the peace. He helped to organize the first Baptist church, and, from the organization until his death, he was one of its deacons. The church was built upon his land and he contributed liberally toward its erec- tion. The last public function he attended was the dedication of the present church which re- placed the old one. Both himself and his wife were helpful to the sick and needy, and were among the most esteemed and influential citizens of the county.
Their son, William, came to the county at the age of ten and grew to manhood on the farm. He was sent to school in New York and Ohio, and attended two terms at Plymouth, living there at the home of an aunt. When the first school was opened in the township he was a pupil in it until he came of age. It was taught by Miss Lucia Cohoon, who afterward became the wife of his brother, John. William also entered the first high school opened at Hillsdale, but was called home on the day of its opening by the death of his brother, Sidney. The next winter he taught school, and in the following spring contracted for eighty-five acres of land, a part of the farm on which he now lives, on which he made a cash payment of fifty dollars, which was a considerable sum in those days. For teaching school Mr. Drake received $16 a month and boarded himself, and he was paid fifty cents a day for chopping wood and splitting rails, seventy-five for haying and one dollar for harvesting. He built a cabin 18 by 24 feet large on his land, and, on October 26, 1851, he married. Miss Lucy Alfred, a native of Wayne county, N. Y., a daughter of Pomeroy and Mary Alfred. She was born on December 15, 1829, and her father died when she was only eleven months old, leaving a widow and seven children without any special means of support, the eldest child being but thirteen years old. The mother kept the family together and reared them mainly by her diligent industry in spinning and
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weaving. She and Mrs. Drake came to Amboy in 1846, and the mother acquired forty acres of land. She finally gave up housekeeping and lived with her children, dying at the home of her son- in-law, James Snow, on April 3, 1878.
After his marriage William Drake started life on his farm in a very good house for the period, and one of its appurtenances of very special in- terest was a new cooking stove, which was a nov- elty in the neighborhood. By hard work and per- sistent application he cleared up the farm and increased it in size by purchases. He now owns 150 acres in the home place, and has in addition forty acres, which his son cultivates. The old gentleman has passed his life on the farm, and much enjoys its quiet pleasantness.
He has always taken deep interest in agricul- ture and was for many years director of the Hilldsale County Agricultural Society and was twice chosen its president. Mr. Drake and wife have reared a family of four children, losing a fifth one by death in its infancy. Those living are Jchiel, Frederick, Susan and Mary C. All are married and have children. Both of the par- ents are active members of the First Baptist church of Amboy, of which Mr. Drake has been a trustee from the organization of the congrega- tion in 1850, and a deacon for fifteen years. He was also superintendent of the Sunday school for twenty-five years, and his wife was for forty years a teacher of one of the classes. Their son, Jehiel, is now the superintendent. In its earlier history Mr. Drake took a very active interest in the Grange movement, but not much lately.
In politics Mr. Drake was a Whig until the Republican party was formed, and since then he has belonged to that organization. He voted for Henry Clay for president and has ever been active in political matters. He was supervisor of Amboy township for nearly ten years, seven years by election, the other terms by appointment. He was also township treasurer two terms and school inspector and clerk two terms. In 1871 and 1872 he was a member of the state Legislature and rendered efficient service on the committee on state fairs and the special committee for con- trolling the order of business in the body. He is
now seventy-six years old, but he is still active in politics and takes as great an interest as ever in public affairs. He acted as chairman of his county convention in 1902 and also presided over the convention, which chose delegates to nomin- ate state officers. He has belonged for a long time to the Michigan Pioneers Society. A re- markable fact to be noticed in the history of the family is that neither Mr. Drake nor any of his children, his sons-in-law or his grandsons, twen- ty-five in number, have ever used tobacco in any form or drank intoxicating beverages.
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