USA > Michigan > Kalamazoo County > Compendium of history and biography of Kalamazoo County, Mich. > Part 22
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WILLIAM KILGORE.
Among the progressive and wide-awake farm- ers of Portage township none has or is entitled to a higher regard for substantial merit and upright and useful citizenship than William Kilgore. He belongs to the first generation of the hardy yco- manry of Michigan born on its soil, having come into the world in Kalamazoo township. this county, on May 28. 1845. His parents were John and Catherine (Martin) Kilgore, an account of whose lives will be found in the sketch of their son Hiram elsewhere in this volume. In the county of his nativity their son William was reared to manhood and in its schools he received his education. Among its people also he began the battle of life for himself and among them he has continually fought it ever since. He remained at home until he reached the age of twenty-six. then worked three years at the trade of a cooper. making barrels for use in grist and flour mills of this section. The next five years he passed in running the mills in association with his brother Hiram. After that he wrought at the carpenter trade one year, then in 1880 began farming on his own account on sixty acres of the homestead, .to which he has since added forty. He was mar-
ried in 1874 to Miss Frances N. Cornwell, a daughter of Jacob and Maria ( Wissler) Corn- well, who settled in this county in 1855. Three children have blessed their union, Jennie, wife of Frank J. Fornoff, of Portage township, and Mabel F. and Monroe W., who are living at home. Politically Mr. Kilgore is a Democrat, and hav- ing an earnest interest in local affairs and a genu- ine desire to aid in promoting the welfare of the community, he has filled a number of township offices. Fraternally he is a Freemason and a Modern Woodman of America. Belonging to an old. numerous and respected family here, and himself one of the early inhabitants of his town- ship, Mr. Kilgore's name is prominently con- nected with all that is valuable and worthy in the achievements of this people, and the general esteem in which he is held gives proof that he has met his responsibilities as a man and a citizen in a capable and estimable manner, performing his various duties with fidelity and ability and hold- ing up ever before others the good example of an upright character and a lofty ideal of manhood.
GEORGE E. KILGORE.
When the early settlers of Michigan invaded its untrodden wilds and began to hew out for themselves opportunities for advancement and homes for their families they opened the way to a gradual development of the unbounded wealthi of the section and the erection here of a great commonwealth. results which have followed grandly in their wake. But at the same time they left to their immediate descendants a destiny of toil and privation in carrying forward amid dif- ficulties and dangers which they themselves con- fronted but did not wholly overcome, the great work they had begun. Among those to whom this heritage came was George E. Kilgore, who was born in Portage township. this county, the son of John and Catherine ( Martin) Kilgore, and the brother of Hiram and William Kilgore, ac- counts of whose achievements are recorded on other pages of this volume. Born to the destiny of which mention has been made, and inheriting with it a firmness of fiber and a force of char-
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acter which fitted him well for his part in the work his parents had begun, he cheerfully ac- cepted his lot and entered upon the performance of his duties as soon as he was able, receiving what preparation for them was possible through the schools of the period of his youth in a new country and through assisting in the later labor of clearing his father's farm and enlarging its till- able acreage. His life began in the house in which he now lives, on February II, 1848, and in this house, hallowed by the trials and the tri- umphs of his parents and his older brothers, he has passed the whole of his life so far. He began operations for himself as a farmer on the paternal homestead and he has never varied from this oc- cupation or the scene of its activities. He was married in Allegan county in 1880 to Miss Rosa Baker, who was born in that county. Her par- ents, Jackson and Emma (Adams) Baker, were early settlers there, the father having been born in Canada and the mother in Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Kilgore have five children, John J., George A., Catherine E., Melvin and Martha R., all liv- ing at home. In politics Mr. Kilgore is a Demo- crat, but while he supports his party with loyalty, he has never been an active partisan and has never sought office. When he took the homestead to work it on his own account, it was in a forward state of development and had on it good improve- ments. But being a progressive man, he has not rested on accomplished results, but has steadily pushed the improvement and productiveness of the place until it is largely increased in value and comfort through his efforts, and has kept pace with the general advance of interests in the town- ship. At the same time he has given due atten- tion to the general needs of his community and has not suffered them to lapse or languish for want of any aid he could give to their advantage. He is regarded on all sides as a good citizen, an enterprising farmer and a man of genial social disposition.
NORTON POMEROY.
The scion of an old and distinguished New England family on each side of his house, promi- nent in the history of that section of the country
from early Colonial times, his father's ancestors being pioneers of Northampton, Mass., and his mother's of Somers. Conn., some members of whom settled later in New York, Norton Pome- roy left the scenes made memorable by them in his young manhood and came to the wilds of Michigan to make a home and a name for himself and aid in the development of this region as they did in the development of their early homes. He was born of the New York branch of the Pomeroy family, coming into the world at Lockport, Nia- gara county. on May II. 1823. His parents were Jabez and Phebe (Hopkins) Pomeroy, the for- mer a native of Connecticut and the latter of Madison county, N. Y. The father was a cloth dresser and while at his trade also engaged in farming for many years. He removed to the Holland Purchase in western New York about 1820, and the next year he returned to Madison county in the central part of the state and was married, making the trip both ways, a distance of somé three hundred miles in all, with a team. He passed the remainder of his life on his west- ern New York farm, dying in February, 1879. His wife died in Kalamazoo in 1870. They had six sons and three daughters who grew to ma- turity, of whom three of the sons and two of the daughters are living. The Pomeroys came to this country in 1635 from England, where the family had long been domesticated, and settled in Mas- sachusetts and Connecticut. Norton Pomeroy grew to manhood in his native place and was educated in its district schools. He had the usual experiences of country boys of his day and lo- cality, working on the paternal farm in summer and attending school in winter, with but little out- look into the world beyond his immediate neigh- borhood. After leaving school he engaged in farming and teaching until 1845. Then a young man of twenty-two, he came to this county and settled on a tract of land in Pavilion township which his father had purchased some years pre- vious, buying it of the government. He at once began to clear and improve his land, and to this work he devoted himself until 1866, when he moved to a farm just outside the city limits on which he lived until his death in July, 1893. He
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was a Republican in politics but never an active partisan. In 1851 he was married to Miss Jane Chipman, whose parents were pioneers of this county, coming here from Vermont. By his mar- riage Mr. Pomeroy became the father of seven children. Willis M., Wardell J., Clara T. (de- ceased ), S. Ada, Jennie B., Clemana C. and Orphia L. Their mother died in 1870, and in 1872 the father married again, his second wife being Mrs. Mary E. (Byrne ) Pomeroy, the widow of his younger brother, Lewis S. Mrs. Pomeroy had two children by her first marriage, her sons Harry K., who is living at home, and Llewellyn S .. a civil engineer. To her second union three children have been born, Arthur B., a resident of Kalamazoo, Beatrice and Alice G., all of whom are living. Mr. Pomeroy attended the Presby- terian church and took an active interest in its affairs. He was well known throughout the county and everywhere was highly respected as a good farmer, an upright man and an excellent citizen.
CHESTER A. WILLIAMS.
The great state of New York challenges the world in its progress, development, industrial, commercial and educational wealth and political power. These are present and manifest evidences of the industry, ingenuity, enterprises and breadth of view of its people. But it has another claim to the admiration of mankind, and that is in the triumphs of its offspring in colonizing the wilds of the western country in this land beyond its borders, and the mighty commonwealth they have helped to build up therein to add to the great- ness of our Union, and the wealth and conse- quence of the American people. Among the most prominent and prosperous of these, her foster children, is the state of Michigan, whose early settlers were in large part from her restless and all-conquering populations. They came hither when the region was a primeval wilderness, bask- ing in the noontide sun with a wild vegetation of variegated beauty, whose annual decay had been enriching the soil for centuries, or deeply shaded by a forest growth that had run riot in luxuriance for ages before America, at the bidding of Colum-
bus. rose from her slumbering couch to greet her lord. One of these hardy New York pioneers, who came thus into the wilderness with no capital but his resolute spirit and all-daring determina- tion, and helped to push along the superstructure of a giant commonwealth whose foundation had been laid by carlier arrivals from the same section, was the late Chester A. Williams, of Alamo town- ship, this county, who was born in Seneca county, New York, on November 5, 1825. and became a resident of Michigan in 1854. He was the son of Robert Williams, himself a native of the Em- pire state, where he passed his life in the peace- ful pursuit of farming. He and his wife had three sons and three daughters. Of these, three of the daughters are living. Chester was reared in his native state and there received a common- school education. After leaving school he made choice of an occupation as a farmer and followed it on rented land there until 1854. Then realizing that there were better opportunities for him in the unbroken wilds of the farther west, where there was yet an abundance of unoccupied land for the thrifty worker, he came to this county and se- cured by purchase eighty acres of a domain which had never yet been furrowed by the plow and was covered by a dense growth of timber. On this he built a small log cabin for a dwelling and began to devote himself exclusively to clearing and improving his land. He did all the work of clearing it himself, and for years the sound of his gleaming ax was a familiar one in that vicinity. He also replaced his first unambitious dwelling with a commodious and comfortable residence and added other buildings that were needed as rapidly as he could, meanwhile bringing the land to an advanced state of cultivation and reaping good an- nual harvest as the result of his industry and care. He made a model farm of his purchase and was enjoying its fruits in full measure, when the spirt of modern commercialism seized upon it. and the postoffice of the same name was estab- lished there. With proper consideration the village was named in his honor and he was appointed its first postmaster, a position which he filled accep- tably for a number of years. One of the leading industries of the town is a large heading mill
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which does a flourishing business. Here he con- tinued to live until his death, in August, 1894. Mr. Williams was twice married, first in New York to Miss Catherine Allen, who died in this county in 1870, leaving no children. His second marriage occurred in 1871 and was with Miss Harriet Tallman, a daughter of David and Eva- line (Tripp) Tillman, who was born in Wyoming county, N. Y. They had three children, Ed- gar, living at home ; Harry, mail carrier of Alamo township, and Belle, the wife of C. E. Price, who is also living at home. The father never took an active part in political contentions, but he never shunned the proper duties of good citizenship in the way of aiding the life and progress of all commendable enterprises for the welfare of the community. Among the respected citizens of his township he stood in the first rank and none bet- ter deserved the station.
JOHN M. SELKRIG.
Although but ten years old when he accom- panied his parents to this county in 1851 from their New York home, John M. Selkrig began at once to perform his part in clearing the wild land on which the family settled, the exigencies of the situation requiring the aid of every available en- ergy in redeeming the tract from the wilderness and maintaining a living on it. He had but lim- ited opportunities for schooling and these were amid the most primitive facilities. The wants of the body had to be first cared for by the pio- neers, and those of the mind had to take care of themselves in a large measure, but as the tuition of nature and experience was all around them, these were not wholly neglected. In books used by such teachers the words are too simple to need much schooling, and their meanings are too com- prehensive to leave their student without a rich fund of ready knowledge and a preparation for energetic action in any emergency. Mr. Sel- krig was born in Onondaga county, N. Y., on February 28, 1841, and is the son of William and Abigail (Gross) Selkrig, the former a native of Troy, N. Y., and the latter of Connecticut. The father was a manufacturer of woolen goods in
New York and followed his business there until 1851. He then moved his family to Kalamazoo county and bought a farm in Alamo township, on which he lived until his death in 1871, his wife surviving him eight years, and dying on the farm in 1879. The land on which they established themselves was the virgin forest, densely covered with the wild growth of centuries, and their first work on it was the erection of a little log shanty - for the accommodation of the family. After this was completed they gave themselves zealously to the clearing and cultivating of the farm, and kept on improving it and enlarging its response to their diligent and systematic tilling until it be- came a fruitful farm and comfortable home, and death released them from their toil. Their family comprised two sons and two daughters, all of whom are living, John and his sister, Mrs. Mary G. Upham, being the only ones now resident in this county. He cleared the greater part of the farm, and on the death of his parents became its owner. It has been his life-long home in this county, and its condition furnishes a striking tribute to his skill and enterprise in managing its operations. His sister keeps house for him, and together they pursue their wonted way with good annual returns for their labors, in a material way. and crowned with the lasting esteem of all their neighbors and acquaintances. Mr. Selkrig is an ardent Republican from firm conviction, and gives his party his best support on all occasions without a desire for any of its honors or emoluments for himself. He is an earnest member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church, and one of its main sup- ports in his section of the county. Fifty-four years of his life have been passed amid the people surrounding him, and after this long period of trial and triumph, there is not one who does not feel for him the utmost good will and regard, a public estimation in which his sister has an equal share.
EDWIN CORBIN.
After taking an active part in the great Civil war of 1861-5 in this country, which settled long contentions between the sections and for- ever removed the cloud of human slavery from
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our political sky Edwin Corbin became again a resident of this county, and resumed the farming operations he had abandoned to go forth as a volunteer in defense of the Union, and since then he has been one of the industrious agricultural promoters of this part of the state, winning suc- cess and a competence for himself by his efforts and aiding in building up the county for the gen- eral weal of its people and all the elements of its commercial and moral greatness and power. He was born in Trumbull county, Ohio, on January 29, 1837, the son of Palmer and Mariah ( Pier- son) Corbin, natives of the state of New York, who moved to Ohio early in their married life and in 1842 changed their residence to the un- farmed but promising wilds of Michigan. They located in Alamo township on leased land, and a few years later bought a tract of unbroken waste there on which they settled and began the work of transforming their wild domain into a produc- tive farm and comfortable home. The mother died in 1843 on this farm and the father in 1851. he having succeeded before his death in getting a large part of it cleared and under cultivation. Four of their children grew to maturity, and of these, three of the sons are living, Edwin being the only one resident in Alamo township. The father was a man of prominence in his section of Ohio, a zealous Whig in politics and a captain of militia officially. Being but five years of age when the family moved to this county, Edwin has passed almost all of his life here. He received a common-school education and acquired a thor- ough knowledge of husbandry in working on his father's farm and others in the vicinity. for he left home at the age of fourteen and began mak- ing his own living. In 1861 he enlisted in the Union army for the Civil war in Company F, Third Michigan Cavalry, and was soon with his regiment in the Western division of the Federal army. He was in active service almost from the start and took part in many engagements that are historic, among them the battle of New Madrid, Mo., and that of Pittsburg Landing or Shiloh, Tenn. He was also in the contest at Corinth, Miss., and in much other hazardous and trying service in the southwest and south. He was mus-
tered out in 1863 and passed the next two years in Illinois, then coming to Kalamazoo county, he purchased the farm on which he now lives in Alamo township. He was married in 1863 to Miss Jeannette Lamb, the daughter of Allen and Mary (Blair) Lamb, carly settlers in Dupage county, Ill. Two children have blessed their union, their sons William T. S. and Ernest, both of whom live in Chicago. The father is a Repub- lican in political faith and warmly supports his party, although for himself he has never sought or desired public office. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and take an active part in church work. They are highly respected citizens and whether measured by the material results of their labor or the pub- lic esteen in which they are held, they have passed their forty years of life in this county to good purpose.
ZARDIS SANFORD.
Zardis Sanford, of Alamo township, whose fine farm of two hundred and forty acres on sec- tions 8 and 17, with its wealth of good buildings and other modern improvements, is one of the pleasant features of the landscape in that portion of the county, was born in Cattaraugus county, N. Y., on June 13, 1829, and was fourteen years old when he accompanied his parents, Tilly and Nancy (Stetson) Sanford, to this county in 1843. the trip being made in a wagon which conveyed the younger members of the family and the household goods over the long stretch of inter- vening territory of alternating hill and plain, wild and woodland, swamp and water course, between the old home and the new. His father was a na- tive of Massachusetts, and when a young man journeyed on foot from that state to western New York, becoming one of the earliest settlers in what is now Wyoming county, and locating near Silver lake. In 1838 he made a prospecting tour to this county, and was so well pleased with the land and the promise of advancement here that he traded his land in New York for a farm in Alamo township. On this he built a frame cabin, which was still standing a year prior to
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KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
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his death, and in 1843 he moved his family hither, making the trip with a horse team, and being three weeks on the way. On the farm, which he then carved out of the wilderness, he lived until his death in 1853. at the age of fifty-nine. His widow survived him thirty-five years, dying in 1894. She found the duty of rearing her fam- ily and carrying on the development and cultiva- tion of the farm a trying one, but she faced it fearlessly and performed it faithfully, losing no step in the advance and working out a substantial and enduring success, which her children have continued in their various lines and localities. She was a devout member of the Methodist church from her girlhood, and her husband also belonged to that organization. The family comprised five children, two' of whom have died. Albert, the oldest son, went to California in 1850, and died there ten years later. Edwin passed from this life in 1852. Ariston, the second child in the order of birth, is a resident of Van Buren county, this state, and Adeline J., the widow of Wilson Henry, has her home at East Jordan, Mich. Zar- dis, who was the third born of the children, re- ceived his education in a little country school of the early days, located three miles from his home. and alternated his duties there with work on the home farm from his boyhood. He aided his fa- ther greatly in clearing the land, breaking it for culture and building its fences and other improve- ments. A great hunter. in his youth and early manhood, he pursued the chase with ardor and pronounced success, helping to furnish the table with venison and other wild game, while gratify- ing his love of sport. He cherishes a fine pair of antlers from a deer that he killed in 1848. In- heriting his father's love of adventure and dispo- sition to see and conquer new lands and enliven his experience with variety of scene and achieve- ment. in 1851 he went to California by way of New York and the Isthmus of Panama, leaving home on October 6th, that year, and arriving at San Francisco on January 14. 1852. He at once engaged in mining and was fairly successful in his operations. On April. 5, 1859, he started homeward and reached Michigan on May 20th following. The death of his brother, Albert, in
the Golden state soon afterward obliged him to return thither for the purpose of settling up the estate of the deceased, and he remained in Cali- fornia from February 7 to July 4. 1861. Before making this second trip to the Pacific coast, how- ever. he was married in 1860 to Miss Frances Bachelder, a native of Perry, N. Y., whose par- ents were early settlers in Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Sanford have liad seven children. Of these Addie and Fred are dead; Lillette is the wife of George Hammond, of South Bend, Ind .; Wilby E. is married and lives at Kalamazoo; Clark is the husband of Millie Myers; Luella is the wife of Wilbur Snow, of Climax township, ex-sheriff of the county, and Newman is living at home. Their mother died on November 29. 1885, and on June 1, 1888, the father married Miss Elizabeth Keech, a native of Canada, whose parents, George and Sarah (Cushman) Keech, natives, re- spectively, of New York and Canada, became residents of Allegan county, Mich., in 1857. Mr. Sanford gives his attention to general farming on a large scale, and is very successful in his work. He is a Republican in politics and has frequently represented his district in the conventions of his party. In local affairs he is prominent, and in all progressive measures for the benefit of his community he is earnestly, intelligently and help- fully interested.
CHARLES SEARLE.
Coming to Kalamazoo county from his home in western New York nearly forty years ago, and living here ever since busily occupied in farming on land which he took up in its wild state and has improved to great value and an advanced condition of productiveness, Charles Searle has devoted more than half of his life to the development of the county and has to his credit a record of useful industry and practical achievement worthy of the respect and emulation of all classes of our citizens. He has met the re- quirements of his situation courageously and faithfully, and performed his duty in all respects in a manly and straightforward manner which has gained for him the confidence and good will
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