USA > Michigan > Kalamazoo County > Compendium of history and biography of Kalamazoo County, Mich. > Part 56
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with first-rate buildings and other necessary con- veniences. On this farm he has resided thirty- three years continuously, and during that period he has been one of the most active and service- able promoters of every commendable enterprise for the good of the section. He was married in 1872 to Miss Lavina French, a native of Kalama- zoo county, and a daughter of Richard French, one of the county's prominent citizens. They had one child, their son, Buell E. Cook, who is living at home. The mother died in 1885. From the dawn of his manhood Mr. Cook has been actively engaged in breeding draft horses of the Perch- eron strain, and has become one of the leaders in this industry in the county. Much of his prod- uct is shipped to the commercial centers, many of his best horses going to New York city. Mr. Cook is one of the leading Republicans of the township, and is always earnestly alive to the best interests of his party, as he is to the best in- terests of the county in every way. But he is not an office seeker, and desires none of the honors of public life. In the fraternal life of the commu- nity he is active as a Freemason of the Knight Templar degree.
GEORGE G. BOND.
Born on the farm which is still his home in Brady township, this county, where his life be- gan on March 15, 1843, the interesting subject of this brief review grew to manhood under the influence of the stimulating pioneer life that pre- vailed in his boyhood and youth, and had not wholly disappeared when his young manhood dawned. He went to school in one of the primi- tive log school houses of the time, and had all the luxury of its slab seats with their pin legs, and its clumsy floor of puncheon. The school house had, however, one luxury not at all common in the neighborhood at the time; it was heated by the first stove used in the county. Mr. Bond attended this school in winter and worked with his father on the farm in summer. His parents were Amos and Nancy (Gossard) (Downey) Bond, the for- mer a native of Vermont and the latter of Penn- sylvania. The father was a farmer and became a
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resident of Michigan early in the '30s, locating in Oakland county, where he lived until 1837, meanwhile serving as sheriff of the county. In 1837 he entered a quarter section of wild land which is the splendid farm on which his son George now lives. The land when he took pos- session of it was all heavily timbered and without roads, bridges or other conveniences of life, and to clear it and bring it to its present state of de- velopment and improvement involved a work of prodigious extent and continuous exactions. In this work Mr. Bond engaged actively until the beginning of the Civil war, and then, following the example of his father, who had been a soldier in the war of 1812, he enlisted in defense of the Union in the First Michigan Cavalry, Company I, which was afterward consolidated with Com- panies L and E. His regiment became a part of the Army of the Potomac, and later served under Sheridan and Banks. Mr. Bond saw much active and dangerous service, taking part in the battles of second Bull Run, Gettysburg, and many others of the leading engagements of the war. When he settled on his unbroken tract of land, the elder Bond built a log dwelling, and during the re- mainder of his life cleared forty acres. He died on the farm on November 21, 1851, his last wife also dying there and passing away on January 5, 1859. In the war of 1812 he was a soldier in the Twenty-sixth New York Cavalry, and made an honorable record, serving through the whole of the contest. He was a firm Democrat in political faith and took an active part in the campaigns of his party. After his removal to this county he was a poormaster in Brady township a number of years. He was also a charter member of the first Masonic lodge in the county, which was organ- ized at Schoolcraft. He was twice married, and by his second wife had two children, his son George G. and his daughter Anna L., now Mrs. Canavan, of Brady township. Mrs. Bond, the mother of these children, was born at Greencastle, Pa., on February 1, 1811, her maiden name being Nancy A. Gossard. She was first married in Pennsylvania to William Downey, by whom she had five children, and with whom, in 1837, she came to Michigan, where Mr. Downey died three
years later. After the grand review of the army at Washington at the close of the war, Mr. Bond of this sketch accompanied his regiment across the plains and at Willow Springs, Dak., took part in a desperate battle with the Indians. In the Civil was he was present in sixty-eight battles and skirmishes, but seems to have suffered no disas- ter in the contest except that at Union Mills, Va., he was thrown from his horse and rendered sense- less by the fall, and his comrades had a hard struggle to restore him to consciousness. When he retired from the army he returned to his old home, and on December 4, 1866, was married to Miss Elizabeth Eberstein. They have one child, their son George Amos. Mrs. Bond was born in Calhoun county, Mich., on November 20, 1841, and is the daughter of Conrad and Lena (Setz- ler) Eberstein, pioneers of that county and na- tives of Germany. The father came to America in 1829 and the mother in 1830. He passed a year in Boston and six months in Detroit. From the latter city he went to Sandusky, Ohio, where he was married, his bride living at the time on a farm near Sandusky with her parents. The same year, 1831, they moved to Michigan and located in Calhoun county, making the journey with teams and came near being drowned while swim- ming the Maumee river. After a married life of fifty-three years they died in 1890, the father's death occurring in February and the mother's in April. They reared a family of eleven children, all of whom are living and married. After his marriage Mr. Bond took possession of a part of the Bond homestead in this county, on which he has ever since lived. He has purchased additional realty, and now has a choice farm of nearly one hundred and twenty acres, one hun- dred of which he has brought to a fine state of cultivation and improvement by his diligence and enterprise. He conducts a prosperous industry in general farming, and raises superior Norman horses and roadsters, and has a flock of fine wool sheep. He is greatly interested in national poli- tics as a Republican. In fraternal life he has been a Freemason since 1867, and also belongs to the Knights of Pythias and the Grand Army of the Republic.
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KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
ROBERT D. JENKINSON.
This esteemed public official, who is now the supervisor of Brady township, this county, was born in the township on the farm on which he now lives, coming into the world on March 9, 1870. His parents, Francis and Clarissa M. (Nash) Jenkinson, were early settlers in the ' lowed farming all his life. He was married in
county, locating here first about 1841. The father was born and reared to the age of thirteen years in county Wicklow, Ireland, and the mother in the state of New York. In 1832 the father emi- grated to this continent and joined an older brother in Canada, where he remained two years, then moved to Buffalo, and during the next two years was a sailor on the lakes and lived at va- rious places in the state of New York. In 1837 he located in Chicago and passed the ensuing year working on the canal. After that he lived at different places in Illinois until 1840, when he came to Michigan, and at the mouth of the Kala- mazoo river assisted in building a large saw mill, at which he worked in winter, sailing the lakes in the summer. In 1841 he located in Kalamazoo county, entering eighty acres of government land in Brady township, which was covered with heavy timber. During the winter months he wrought at clearing and improving his land, and in the summer was employed on the river. In 1849 he moved to Wisconsin, and in 1852 went to Oregon and California, crossing the plains with teams. He passed two years in Portland, Ore .. then went to California, and during the next four years followed mining and lumbering at different points in that state. In 1858 he re- turned to this state by way of the Isthmus of Panama. and again engaged in river work, tak- ing flour down to the lake. Two years later he once more turned his attention to farming in this county. and in this he has been engaged ever since. He and his wife were married in 1859. and had five children, three of whom are living. Vienna, now Mrs. Dr. Collier, of Vicksburg ; Robert D .. and Carrie, now the Mrs. Ihrman, of Kalamazoo. The mother died on December 18, 1904. The father is an earnest and zealous mem- ber of the Masonic order. The grandparents on
the father's side, Robert and Elizabeth (Bestell) Jenkinson, were natives of Ireland, and passed their lives in that country, the grandfather being of English ancestry. They were the parents of eighteen children. Robert D. Jenkinson, the im- mediate subject of this sketch, grew to manhood and was educateed in this county, and has fol- 1901, in the month of December, to Miss Luella Collins, a native of this county, and daughter of Charles Collins, of Pavilion township. In po- litical faith he has been a life-long Democrat, and has served as township clerk five years, as school inspector, and two years as supervisor. He is one of the well known farmers and public men of the county, and throughout its extent he is highly respected and esteemed.
WILLIS W. MORRISON.
Mr. Morrison, who is one of the leading and most progressive farmers of Pavilion township. this county, was born in Tompkins county, N. Y., on November 28, 1852. His parents. Charles E. and Electa A. (Knettles) Morrison. were natives of Lansing, Tompkins county, N. Y., and farmed there successfully until 1867, when they came to Kalamazoo, and soon afterward bought the farm on which their son now lives. The father was born on June 1, 1821, and the mother on April 20, 1818. In Kalamazoo county he bought and improved three hundred and sixty acres of land. and on this he lived and labored until a few years before his death, which occurred in Kalamazoo on March 8, 1894. He filled the office of super- visor in 1873 and 1874, and was also a justice of the peace for a number of years. He was a leader in the Republican party, and a man of influence in its councils. The mother died in New York in 1866. They were the parents of two sons, Willis IV. and his brother James K .. who is also a resi- dent of this county. In 1868 the father married Miss Matilda Bogardus. They had one child. their daughter. Anna B., who lives in Kalamazoo. The grandfather was James Morrison, a well known cabinetmaker of unusual skill, of Lansing. N. Y., who died there about the year 1870. Wil-
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lis Morrison became a resident of Kalamazoo in 1866, and attended school one year in the city. Hc then went on his father's farm, and has resided on the same place ever since, inheriting it on the deatlı of his father. He was married in Decem- ber, 1896, to Miss Julia Smith, a sister of AAlbert Smith (see sketch of him on another page). Mr.
Morrison is a well-known Republican and has . now living on the old homestcad. James died filled a number of local offices in the township.
CHARLES E. MORRISON.
For a period of nearly thirty years Charles E. Morrison was a resident of Kalamazoo county and during one-third of the timc or more of Kala- mazoo. He was a citizen of prominence and in- fluence in the county from an carly date after his arrival in the state, and while he lived in the city had high rank as one of its leading and represen- tative business men. He came into the world on June 1, 1821, the son of Judge James and (Ryder) Morrison, natives of New York state. The father was a farmer who passed his life in the peaceful pursuit of agriculture in his native state, a "type of the wise who soar but never roam, true to the kindred points of Heaven and home." Giving the attention due from a good citizen to the public affairs of his locality, he rose to influence among his fellow men there and had much to do with the direction and control of the county government. His father, also named James Morrison, was a native of Scotland and came to the United States at the close of the Revolution and settled in Vermont. Some years afterward he moved to central New York, then as much of a wilderness as Michigan was half a century later, and there he followed his craft as a cabinetmaker and undertaker until his death. Mr. Morrison's father was twice married and had a family of three sons, two by the mother of Charles and one by his second marriage. Charles E. Morrison was reared and educated in his native state. " He began life as a farmer there and was engaged in this occupation until 1866 in New ' York. In that year he came to Michigan and pur- chased a farm in Pavilion township in 1867, on which he lived until 1885. He then moved to
Kalamazoo and became a prominent lumber mer- chant, continuing in the trade until his death in 1894, and adding largely to its volume and im- portance in this section. He was married Janu- ary 24, 1844, to Miss Electa A. Nettles, who was born, like himself, in the state of New York. They had two sons, Willis and James, the former June 2, 1905. Their mother died in 1866, and on December 30, 1868, the father married a second wife, Miss Matilda Bogardus, a native of New York. Of their union one child was born, their daughter, Anna B. Morrison. Mr. Morrison was a Republican in political affiliation and as such served as supervisor of his township. He was a man of great liberality, especially in support of churches and schools, and had a commendable public spirit in reference to the progress and de- velopment of the county and state, withholding his aid from no worthy enterprise looking to these ends, and considering all such undertakings with wisdom and breadth of view for the endur- ing welfare of his section and the permanent ben- efit of its people.
MRS. HULDAH M. ARMSTRONG.
This venerable lady. who is now treading upon the edge of four-score years, and who has been a veritable "mother in Israel" in Kalamazoo county, came hither as a bride sixty years ago. and is now one of the few of the very early set- tlers left among this people who can recount from personal experience the trials, privations and dangers of pioneer days, and the resourcefulness and personal courage necessary to overcome them and establish a civilization in the wilder- ness, which she can at this time see blooming around her as a garden, rich in all the elements of material, intellectual and moral greatness. She was born in Monroe county. N. Y .. on March 3. 1826, a daughter of William G. Collins, now many years deceased (see sketch of Ferdinand V. Collins on another page for family history). Mrs. Armstrong grew to womanhood in her na- tive state, attending the district schools when she could. On December 25. 1845, she was united
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KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
in marriage with John Moore, of New York state, and the next year they came to Michigan in company with another family, making the whole of the journey with teams, coming by way of To- ledo to Hillsdale and Sturgis, and spending a few weeks in Lagrange county, Ind. They then came on to Pavilion township, this county, and joined Gould Richardson, a cousin of Mrs. Armstrong's mother. In the fall following they purchased eighty acres of wild land and built a log cabin for a dwelling in which they lived until the death of Mr. Moore on January 10, 1857. Five chil- dren were born to them, and Mr. Moore died when the youngest was three months old. Mrs. Moore reared them and also built the frame house in which she now lives, remaining a widow until 1863, when she married William P. Arm- strong, a native of Ohio. They had three chil- dren. two of whom are living, Albert J. and Gennevieve M. Mrs. Armstrong is an ardent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and takes an active interest in all its good works. She has been an industrious and prudent woman, faithful to every duty, and accepting every con- dition in life that has come to her with resigna- tion and a spirit of cheerful determination to make the most of it, and her long career of use- fulness has won her the universal respect of the people of the county and the high regard of all who know her and her record intimately Span- ning as she does in her one life the long interval between the remote dawn of history in this re- gion and the present activity of the section, she is a venerated link connecting the beginning of civilization here and what it has grown to, and a striking memorial of the heroic race that laid the foundations of the development and progress which now signalize this part of the country.
JOHN H. RICHARDSON.
A pioneer of Pavilion township, who became a resident of the section when he was but eight years of age, now sixty-seven years ago, and par- ticipating in all the arduous duties and meeting faithfully all of the exacting requirements of frontier life when the region was still largely in
the possession of its wild inhabitants, men and beasts, John H, Richardson, of the Vicksburg neighborhood, has been one of the makers and builders of the county, and may enjoy the pleas- ing reflection that the work of himself and his companions of the early days was so well done that the superstructure built upon the founda- tions of civilization they laid here is solid, sub- stantial and enduring as well as comely in all re- spects. Mr. Richardson was born in Cattaraugus county, N. Y., on October 14, 1830. His parents, Gould and Eunice (Hawley) Richardson, also were natives of New York state, where the father farmed until 1831, then moved to Pennsylvania, where he remained until 1838. In that year he brought his family to Michigan and bought four hundred acres of wild land in Pavilion township, this county, on a part of which his son now lives. The father, with the aid of his family, cleared a large portion of his land and lived on it until his death in 1872, at the age of seventy-two years, the mother following him to the other world in 1881. They had four sons and two daughters. Of these, three of the sons and one of the daugh- ters are living. The father was a leading Demo- crat in the public life of the county and filled with credit a number of local offices. His father was a Revolutionary soldier, and the grandson. John H. Richardson, still has the rifle the gallant patriot used in the memorable contest. John H. Richardson, as has been noted, was but eight years old when his parents brought him to this county, and under the conditions obtaining at the time his opportunities for securing an education were very limited, being confined to a few months' attendance at one of the primitive schools. in the vicinity of his home. At an early age he began to take his part in the work of clearing and cultivating the paternal homestead, making a full hand in the arduous labor in his early youth. He remained at home until he reached the age of twenty-five, then bought eighty acres of the home- stead which were a's yet uncleared and unbroken, and which he has now nearly all cleared and un- der cultivation. In 1856 he was married to Miss Catherine Hass, a native of Germany who came to this county with her parents in 1848. Mr. and
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Mrs. Richardson have had six children, four of whom are living: Jerry, one of the leading mer- chants of Vicksburg; Rosa, wife of Frederick Horsfall, of Vicksburg; Herbert, also a resident of Vicksburg; and Gertrude, wife of Wells Adams, of Kalamazoo. Politically Mr. Richard- son is a Democrat, and has served in a number of local offices. He is highly esteemed as a use- ful pioneer and an excellent citizen, and as such is widely known in all parts of the county.
FERDINAND V. COLLINS.
This venerated pioneer of Pavilion township, this county, whose life in the section of nearly sixty years has been one of prolonged service to it and its people, and whose example shows im- pressively the power of persistent industry, fru- gality and thrift, when coupled with business sa- gacity of a high order and general uprightness of character and conduct, in this land of striving progress and boundless opportunity, was born in the town of Barre, Orleans county, N. Y., on De- cember 29, 1827. He is the son of William G. and Caroline (Clark) Collins, the former a native of Rutland county Vt., and the latter in Ontario county, N. Y., and one of their seven children. four of whom, Huldah M., Benjamin C., Jeannette and himself are living. The father was born on August 8, 1802, and lived until 1894. The mother's life began on November 14. 1806, and ended on January 24, 1891, when she was nearly eighty-four years old. The former was reared on a farm in his native state until he reached the age of six, when the family moved to Monroe county, N. Y. In later years he mar- ried there and at once located in Orleans county. the same state, which at that time was nearly all wilderness. He evolved a farm from the for- ests, and a few years afterward took up his resi- dence in Wayne county whence he came to Mich- igan in 1846, journeying from Rochester to Buf- falo on the Erie canal, from that city to Detroit over the lake, and thence to Galesburg on the Michigan Central Railway. He bought a part of the farm now owned by his son, and took posses- sion of the log house that stood on it. He was
one of the most energetic of the pioneers who opened up this country, and in the years of toil that followed his settlement here, he made many valuable improvements, In his political views he always adhered steadfastly to Democratic prin- ciples, and in the matter of public improvements in the township and county he was one of the readiest, most energetic and most resourceful of the carly settlers. In his service as highway commissioner in the early days he was of great benefit to the section through his breadth of view and enterprise in opening and constructing roads. His great-great-grandfather came to this country from Ireland, and was an early settler in Ver- mont. Ferdinand V. Collins was eighteen years old when he accompanied his parents to this state and he at once engaged in the laborious work of clearing the new land on which the family settled. and preparing it for cultivation, and therein was of great assistance to his father in improving a farm out of land redeemed from the unbroken wilderness. He now owns three hundred acres of fine farming land, of which two hundred and forty acres are under the best and most advanced cultivation. The place is well supplied with buildings for every needed purpose, there being on it several large frame barns built at different times, and a commodious brick residence of at- tractive architecture and fitted up with every modern convenience. Here he and his son carry on an extensive business in general farming, and make a specialty of fine wool sheep and Durham cattle. ()1 December 20, 1857. Mr. Collins was united in marriage with Miss Harriet Weston, who was born in the state of New York on May 13. 1836. They have one son, Willie L., who married Miss Jennie Milham, and has a son named Glen T. and his daughter, Lucile, which makes four generations living on the farm. As a leading and intelligent citizen of the township who has risen to prominence by his native force of character and ability, Mr. Collins wields a po- tential influence in the county, and has been con- spicuous in the management of public affairs in a number of official capacities. He has been town- ship treasurer four times, township clerk one years, and overseer of highways many years. In
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KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
politics he supports with the ardor born of firm conviction the principles and candidates of the Democratic party. One of the wealthy men of his township, he is also one of the most modest and unassuming. He looks upon all his fellows as worthy of his regard until they prove them- selves otherwise; yet with all his consideration for others, and his disposition to take the best view of human character, his experience has given him a keen insight into the recesses of hu- man nature, and he is not easily imposed upon.
ALBERT W. SMITH.
Albert W. Smith, a former treasurer of Kala- mazoo county and a prosperous and pro- gressive farmer of Pavilion township, was born in Windsor county, Vt., on October 29, 1849. He is the son of Henry F. and Arvilla (Whitmore) Smith, natives also of Vermont. The father, whose whole life was passed in industrious and profitable farming, came to Michigan in 1853, and located in this county two miles and a half south of Schoolcraft. In 1859 he bought the farm on .which his son Albert now lives, which they cleared by their joint la- bor, and on which he resided until his death in 1889, at the age of eighty-one. The mother died in 1882, aged sixty-four. They had a family of three sons and three daughters. Of these, Al- bert and his three sisters are living and all resi- dents of this state. The father served as a justice of the peace and in other local offices. The grand- father, Thaddeus Smith, was born in Massachu- setts, but lived nearly all his life and farmed in Vermont. Albert W. Smith passed his boyhood from the age of ten years and his youth on the farm which is now his home. He attended when his circumstances allowed the district schools in his neighborhood, and thus secured a good ele- mentary education. At the age of twelve he took charge of his father's farm, which he managed for his father until the death of the latter, having al- most entire control of it from the age mentioned. He made a full hand in all the work of clearing and breaking the land, and took a very active part in all the farming operations. He lived on this
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