USA > Michigan > Lenawee County > History and biographical record of Lenawee County, Michigan, Volume I > Part 12
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ACOB G. ROBERTS was born in Sparta, Livingston county, New York, June 17th, 1811. His father, Peter Roberts, was born in Morristown, Morris county, New Jersey, and when a boy, moved to Tioga county, Pennsylvania, with his parents. When Peter Roberts was in his twenty-first year, he again moved with his parents to Livingston county, New York, where he purchased a farm where he always lived, and died in November, 1850. He married Miss Elizabeth Gilman, daughter
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
of Philip Gilman, of Sparta, Livingston county, New York, by whom he had eight children, three sons and five daughters, Jacob G. being the second son and fifth child. Mrs. Elizabeth Roberts was born at Sunbury, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, in June, 1794 and died at Grand Rapids, Michigan, in June, 1868. Jacob G. Roberts lived with his father on his farm, until he was twenty-one. In the spring of 1832, he immigrated to Michigan, and arrived in Tecumseh on the 12th of May. He left his father's home in New York, with a rifle and a pack on his back, and nearly three hundred dollars in borrowed money. He was in com- pany with a young man, (John Gould, who now lives in Ohio, just over the Michigan line, about two miles west of Morenci,) and walked to Buffalo, but the lake was full of ice and the boat could not get out. They then walked to Dunkirk, where they boarded the little steamboat "Sheldon Thompson," Captain Walker in command, and after a five days' voyage of rough weather, they, with two ladies from Cleveland, were landed in a yawl boat in the marsh of Monroe. Here he again shouldered his gun and pack and took the Indian trail for Tecumseh. After remaining in and about Tecumseh for a short time, he located 160 acres of land- the farm now owned by Thomas Sutton, four miles south of the village. After holding it about one year he became "scared" about the sickness which prevailed here then and sold out to Amos Hoag, and returned to New York, where he purchased a farm and after living there twenty-one years he returned to Tecumseh in 1854, and purchased the James Patchen farm, where he now resides, one and a half miles north-east of Tecumseh village. This is said to be the first farm "paid for " in Lenawee county. It was taken up by James Patchen, the first sheriff of Lenawee county. Mr. Patchen lived on the farm-consisting of 210 acres -until he died, Mr. Roberts purchasing it of his heirs. October 24th, 1833, he married Miss Sarah McGinley, of Groveland, Livingston county, New York, by whom he has had four children, as follows: Henry C., born October 3d, 1835, a farmer of Franklin, this county; Morris, born February 28th, 1838; he enlisted as a soldier in the war of the Rebellion, and joined company F, 26th Michigan Infantry, and was promoted from the ranks to first lieutenant, and died in the hospital at Alexandria, Virginia, of typhoid fever, September 14th, 1864; H. Brant, born February 28th, 1843, a farmer of Clinton township, this county ; Theodore C., born October 15th, 1844, died April 11th, 1858. Mrs. Sarah Roberts was born in Manchester, Wayne county, New York, August 2d, 1810. Her father, Charles McGinley, came from Ireland, while Washington was President
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of the United States. He died in Groveland, Livingston county, New York. Her mother was born near Harrisburg, Pennsyl- vania, in 1775, and died in Groveland in 1859.
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RSAMUS LAMB was born January 23d, 1819, in Erie county, New York. His father, Nahum Lamb, was born in Charlton, Massachusetts, in 1794, and his grandfather was a non-commissioned officer in the Revolutionary war. Nahum Lamb was a farmer in Wales township, Erie county, New York, in comfortable circumstances, and married Miss Betsey Holmes, daughter of Ebenezer Holmes, a well-to-do farmer and pioneer of the same county, in 1817. She died at her husband's home in 1833. Orsamus Lamb came to Michigan with his father, who settled in Lenawee county, in the present town of Woodstock, in November, 1834. His father took up a farm on the line of the Chicago turnpike, on section ten, town five south, of range one east, now owned by Garrett F. Harris. About twenty years ago, the old gentleman sold his farm, and moved to the village of North Adams, Hillsdale county, and engaged in the mercantile business, where he is still living. Orsamus Lamb lived in Woodstock as a farmer, until January, 1868, when he removed to the city of Adrian. During his residence in Woodstock he held several public offices of importance and trust, having been elected school inspector when he was but twenty-one years of age, which office he held for six years. He was also elected to the office of justice of the peace at the age of twenty-three, and held it for twenty-six consecutive years. He was elected supervisor of Woodstock for nineteen years. In 1867 he was appointed county drain commis- sioner and held it six years, when he resigned to accept the office of justice of the peace, to which office he has been twice elected, and his term will expire July 4th, 1881. March 13th, 1839, he married Miss Caroline Osborn, daughter of Jesse Osborn, one of the very earliest settlers of Lenawee county. Mrs. Lamb was born in Ovid, Tompkins county, New York, in 1824, and immigrated to this county when she was three months old. Their family consists of two sons, Charles H. and Franklin D., and one daughter, Phebe A., now Mrs. Mitchell, all living in Blissfield, this county. Mr. Lamb has always been a prominent man in the county, earnest, energetic, and diligent, constantly working for
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
the advancement and improvement of the county, and the welfare of the people. He is a self made man, with a laudable ambition for the honor and respect of his fellow citizens. In politics he has always been Democratic, and has ever taken an active part in all campaigns, as an organizer and public speaker.
B RONSON HOPKINS was born in Cambridge, Franklin county, Vermont, April 26th, 1807. His father, Frederick Hopkins, was born in the State of New York, 1761, and took part in the Revolutionary struggle, and died in Cambridge, Vermont, in 1845. His mother was Miss Ruth Safford, daughter of General Samuel Safford, of Revolutionary fame. Bronson Hopkins lived in Cambridge until he was twenty-four years of age, and then immigrated to the Territory of Michigan, and landed in Monroe, in June, 1831. Here he engaged with Sybrant Van Nest, then a hardware dealer, in Monroe, to learn the tin smith trade. He remained there until December 1835, when he came to Adrian. He at once engaged in the hardware, tin, and sheet iron business with Amos Bigelow, and continued until December, 1841, when they were burned out. Most of the time since that, he has followed his trade, up to within the last four or five years, when he retired from business altogether. In June, 1836, he married Susan Maria Winship, who came here from New Hartford, Oneida county, New York. She died February 8th, 1838. In 1840, he married Mrs. Mahala D. Page, widow of Benjamin Page, who came here in 1838. She died in September, 1852. By this. marriage he had one daughter, Laura C. Hopkins, who was born in July, 1843. She now lives in Rochester, New York. In April, 1855, he married Mary E. Baragar, daughter of John Baragar, a pioneer of this county. By this marriage he has had one son and two daughters. The son died in 1864. Mr. Hopkins has always been an active, honorable citizen, and has held several offices of responsibility and importance in the city. In 1846 and 1848 he was elected village trustee. In 1843 he went into the fire department, where he served for about seventeen years, commenc- ing as a member of a hook and ladder company, and filled all the offices up to chief engineer, which office he held for about seven years. In politics he has been Whig and Republican. In religion he has been a Congregationalist, but afterwards withdrew and
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joined the Presbyterians. He was a deacon in the Congregational church, and is now an elder in the Presbyterian church.
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ORMAN GEDDES was born in Livonia, Livingston county, New York, April 14th, 1823, and is of Scotch descent. His great grand-father, James Geddes, with his three sons, Paul, William, and Samuel, came to America in 1752, settling in Pennsylvania. His mother was the daughter of the oldest son Paul, and his father, son of the youngest, Samuel. His father, Samuel Geddes, married his cousin, Elizabeth Geddes, in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, October 7th, 1802, and soon after removed to Livingston county, New York, where they resided until 1833, when they removed to Niagara, and thence, in 1835, to Cambridge, Lenawee county, Michigan, where they died, his father in 1848, and his mother in 1865. They had four sons, Paul, James, William, and Norman, and two daughters, Margaret and Caroline, all of whom are living, save James and Margaret. Paul was one of the pioneers of Cambridge, settling there in 1833. He has for many years resided in Battle Creek. James, the second son, was for fourteen years, treasurer of the county of Lenawee. He was never married and died in 1864. William, the third son, and Caroline, the youngest daughter, live at Springville, in this county, where their father located his farm in 1833. Margaret married Charles A. Emerson, and died in the State of New York, in 1875. When Norman was seventeen years of age, having received a common school education, he commenced teaching, and having taught two terms, spent some time at the branch of the Michigan University, then located at Tecumseh, after which, in 1843, he entered the law office of Hon. Richard Butler, at Mt. Clemens, and pursued his legal studies under his, and the direction of the late Giles Hubbard, Esquire, supporting himself meanwhile by teaching, until in 1846, he entered the law office of the late A. C. Harris, Esquire, at Adrian, and was admitted to the bar in the same year. After his admission he taught two terms, as an assistant in Professor Hance's academy, an institution of considerable note in Adrian at that time, and has ever since been in practice of his profession, with the exception of some six years, during which he had charge of the collection department of a large commercial house in Buffalo. Soon after his admission to the bar
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
he formed a law partnership with Hon. Smith S. Wilkinson, now of Iowa, which continued some three years. In 1854 he formed a partnership with the late Lucien B. Bowen, which continued until Mr. Bowen's failing health compelled him to retire from practice. In 1865 he formed a law partnership with Charles R. Miller, Esquire, which continues to this time. In 1849 he was elected recorder of the village of Adrian, which office he held for three
years, being twice re-elected. In 1851 he was elected justice of the peace. In 1864 was elected circuit court commissioner, and was re-elected in 1866, holding the office four years. In 1869 was elected mayor of the city of Adrian. At the close of the war of the Rebellion, he was active and prominent in the organization of the Lenawee County Soldiers' Monument Association, and also of the City Soldiers' Monument Association and was secretary of both bodies, and as such performed a large amount of efficient labor, and at the celebration of the completion of the monument on the fourth of July, 1871, was chosen orator of the day. Mr. Geddes was married October 19th, 1848, to Miss Laura E. Casey, daughter of the late Lyman Casey, Esquire, then of York, Livingston county, New York. She died April 21st, 1851, leaving one son, Frederick L. Geddes, now a lawyer at Toledo, Ohio. On the 29th of November 1853, he married Harriet D., youngest daughter of the late Hon. Jobn Barber. She died on the 30th of April, 1857, leaving one son, Herbert Geddes, who resides in Colorado, and one daughter, Harriet E., now the wife of Mr. W. N. VanBrunt, of Mt. Clemens. He was again married, Septem- ber 15th, 1859, to his present wife, Miss Jane M., daughter of the late Isaac Terry, Esquire, of Royalton, Niagara county, New York, who has borne him two children-Ada, who died April 1st, 1865, aged four years, and Clifton T., now about thirteen years of age. Mr. Geddes has been largely identified with the growth, prosperity and success of Adrian college, and for many years has been president of its board of Trustees, and untiring in his efforts to secure to the college that recognition and appreciation from the citizens of the city and county which its merits and location entitle it to receive at their hands.
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AMUEL G. CONKLING was born in Orange county, New York, April 11th, 1797. His father, Samuel Conkling, was born in Southold, Long Island, New York, in 1764, and just after the Revolutionary war, went to Orange county with his
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father, where he lived as a farmer until his death, in 1842. He married Miss Martha Jackson, of Orange county, by whom he had nine children, six sons and three daughters. Her father, Alexander Jackson, was an Irishman, born upon the high seas. She died in the fall of 1846, in Orange county. Samuel G. Conkling lived with his father on the farm until he was twenty- three years old, when he purchased a farm near the old homestead where he remained until the spring of 1833, when he emigrated to Michigan, and arrived in Tecumseh on the 23d day of May. He immediately took up a quarter section of government land in Raisin, on section eleven, town six south, range four east, which he still owns. He lived upon this farm for thirty-five years, clearing up 130 acres, building a good house, barns, sheds, etc., and it is now a most productive and desirable home. He left the farm in November, 1867, and has since that time resided in the village of Tecumseh, resting in his old age upon the results of his early labors. January 24th, 1821, he married Miss Julia Ann Corwin, of Orange county, New York, by whom he had twelve children, four dying in infancy, the remaining eight living to become men and women, as follows: Hudson W., of the firm of Brewer & Co., foundrymen of Tecumseh; Henry C., ex-State senator and ex-county clerk, now a general produce dealer of Tecumseh; Alanson and Arminda (twins) ; Alanson died while a soldier in the Rebellion, at Vicksburg, in February, 1863; Arminda was the wife of George W. Ketcham, and died in Tecumseh, October 20th, 1873; Samuel L., of Chicago, in the employ of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern railroad; Emeline, wife of Stephen P. Twiss, of Kansas City, Missouri, a prominent lawyer of that city; John, a farmer of Raisin, who resides on the old homestead; Delia E., was the wife of the Reverend William B. Hendryx, of Tecumseh, who died June 21st, 1867; She was also the wife of the Reverend Theron L. Waldo, now of Painted Post, New York. She died January 16th, 1873, in Manchester, Washtenaw county. Mrs. Julia A. Conkling was born in Orange county, New York, November 12th, 1801, and was soon after left an orphan. She died September 7th, 1876, in Tecumseh. Mr. and Mrs. Conkling were members of the Presbyterian church, both uniting at Middletown, Orange county, New York, about 1819, and united with the church in Tecumseh by certificate in 1833. He has been a ruling elder in the church for over forty years. In politics he was formerly a Whig, and naturally became a Republican on the formation of that party. He was elected supervisor of Raisin in 1844, and was twelve years justice of the peace in that township. Mr. and Mrs. Conkling
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
lived together for over fifty years and celebrated their "golden wedding" in Tecumseh, January 24th, 1871. Mr. Conkling retains his physical and mental faculties to a remarkable degree.
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ARON J. SINCLAIR was born in Summerfield, Monroe county, Michigan, November 23d, 1838. His father, Asa Sinclair, was a pioneer of Monroe county, coming there from the State of New York, in 1832, and settling upon a farm in Summerfield, which he cleared up from the wilderness. He also made a large amount of potash each year. His mother was a Miss Polly Bragg, second wife of Asa Sinclair. She was born in New York, and came to Michigan with her husband. Asa Sinclair was the father of twelve children-five by his first wife, and seven by his second. In the spring of 1841 he sold his farm in Monroe county, and purchased a farm in the township of Rollin, about one mile south of the village. Here he was also engaged in mak- ing potash, as well as farming. He died in March, 1846. Aaron J. Sinclair was but three years old when he came to this county, and lived with his father until his death. As his father died poor, his mother was obliged to find homes for her children, and Aaron, since that time, has "shifted " for himself. His opportunities for education were very meagre, and his school days could almost be counted on his fingers. When he was about twelve years old he ran away from Rollin, and finally landed in the then village of Toledo, and at once engaged himself to Captain Edward Van, of the canal boat Creole, and was initiated into the mysteries of canal driving. He remained with Captain Van about eighteen months, when he met with an accident and was obliged to return home, much to the surprise of his mother and the neighborhood, as they had supposed he had been killed or drowned -- the woods having been searched, and the mill-pond and Bean creek dragged for his body. After recovering from his injuries, he again went to Toledo and worked on the canal, but soon left, and went to Muskegon into the lumber woods. This was another venture, and in company with John N. Kealy, walked from Rollin to Grand Rapids, begging their way, being twelve days on the road, nearly the entire distance being through the primitive forest. After a few years of similar life, he finally went back to Rollin and learned the millers' trade, in the old Rollin Mills, and the Addison Mills,
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which business he afterwards followed, until 1873, when he engaged himself to the Michigan State Insurance Company, as special traveling agent, which position he now holds. In 1873 he was elected secretary of the Odd Fellows' Mutual Relief Association, of the State of Michigan, and has held the office ever since. March 26th, 1859, he married Miss Eliza Jane Edgar, daughter of James Edgar, of Cleveland, Ohio, by whom he has had three children, only one of whom, Miss Edith A., is living. In 1864 he purchased the Pioneer flouring and saw mills, of Pioneer, Ohio, and in 1865 he engaged in the hardware trade, in connection with his milling business. He was an active man of the village, building several houses and other buildings, during his residence there. In 1868 he disposed of all of his interests in Pioneer, and removed to the town of Amboy, Hillsdale county, where he engaged in the mill business. + In 1871 he came to Adrian, and for nearly two years was engaged in milling. He was made a mason, and joined the Jeremiah Moor lodge, No. 95, of Morenci, June 17th, 1864; afterwards he joined the Pioneer lodge, of Pioneer, Ohio, and then Hillsdale chapter, but has since dimitted from all of the above lodges, and is now a member of Temple lodge, No. 168, of Adrian, and Adrian chapter, No. 10, and has always been a prompt and active member; he is also an Odd Fellow, and first joined the order in Joy lodge, No. 441, of Pioneer, Ohio, in 1870, afterwards taking a withdrawal card, and is now a member of Adrian lodge, No. 8. I. O. O. F., and Lenawee encampment, No. 4. He is also a member of the Working Men's Mutual Aid Association, of the city of Adrian. Mr. Sinclair has been a successful business man, accumulating much valuable landed property. Although he is no farmer, he rerlizes that the virgin soil is the source of all wealth, and has wisely put his savings into landed property. He is well known as an upright, prompt, energetic man, full of push and business, and for a person without any schooling or early advan- tages, is a bright example of American thrift and industry.
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ON. SIRRELL C. LEBARON was born in Woodstock, Windsor county, Vermont, January 25th, 1807. He was educated at Woodstock, and at the age of eighteen he went to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He was a delegate to the Clay convention at Washington in 1832, and was a great admirer and warm friend of Henry Clay. He came to Tecumseh on the 5th
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
of July, 1832. He was the second clerk of Lenawee county, taking the place of Daniel Pitman, who left here and went to Texas, about the year 1834. He held this office until Michigan became a State, when he was elected the first clerk of the county under the State organization. He was a member of the Legisla- ture in 1840, and was elected county judge the same year. June 3d, 1832, he married Miss Maria C. Tribou, daughter of Isaac Tribou, of Woodstock, Vermont, by whom he has had six children, as follows: Maria Adelaide, died in infancy; Sirrell Leroy, died in 1861, at the age of twenty-five; Delos C., a merchant of Toledo, Ohio; Florine Z., the wife of William H. Waring, of Tecumseh, died in 1871; Inez E., with her parents; Tribou E., a merchant in Toledo. Mrs. LeBaron was born in Woodstock, Vermont, in January, 1807, and came to Tecumseh with her husband in 1832, and first saw a log house in Michigan, but says she was never homesick a moment, as the country was so much more beautiful than she had expected. During the years 1837-8-9 Mr. LeBaron was a merchant of Tecumseh, and when he quit business in 1839, he had " wild-cat" money enough, that he had taken, dollar for dollar, to paper his house with, and he says that was about all it was good for. He opened the first grammar school in the county, in 1832, and in 1836 he sold his benches and school fixtures to Benjamin Workman, who continued the school until 1838, when he went to Canada. In 1842 Mr. LeBaron was the assignee of the old charter bank of Tecumseh, and was also assignee for the Judge Blanchard estate ; administra- tor to the Major Mills estate, with twelve heirs, and the Owen estate of Clinton, and was at that time under seventy thousand dollars bonds.
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DGAR A. TRIBOU was born in Pomfret, Vermont, April 3d, 1820. His father, Isaac Tribou, removed from Pomfret to Woodstock, Vermont, when Edgar A. was about two years old. Here he was engaged in the manufacture of wagons and carriages. He was born in Massachusetts, and married Miss Priscilla Smith, of Massachusetts, by whom he had seven children, three sons and four daughters, Edgar A. being the youngest. He lived in Woodstock, and died there in 1846, in his sixty-eighth year. His wife died in the same place, in her ninety-fifth year, in
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1868. Edgar A. Tribou lived in Woodstock until he was about seventeen years old, when he emigrated to Tecumseh, Michigan, in May 1837. Here he engaged as a clerk, in the store of Hewett and LeBaron, serving with them about two years, subsequently; going into B. J. Bidwell's general store, then one of the largest in the county. He remained with Mr. Bidwell about twenty-six years. He afterwards, in 1865, in company with L. C. and L. I. Bidwell, sons of B. J. Bidwell, engaged in the mercantile business, at the old stand, on the corner of Chicago and Railroad streets, and remained there about five years, when Ward & Tribou purchased the Bidwell interest, and run the store for about two years, when Mr. Tribou retired from the business. In 1874 he was appointed postmaster of Tecumseh, and was re-appointed in 1878, and still holds that responsible position. Mr. Tribou has been township treasurer of Tecumseh, and trustee of the village. May 21st, 1849, he married Miss Catharine E. Pitman, daughter of General Daniel Pitman, (a pioneer of Lenawee county,) of Tecumseh, by whom he has had four sons, as follows : Lester P., now teller in Bills, Lilley & Company's bank, Tecumseh ; the second son died when five months old; James H., third son, is assistant postmaster of Tecumseh; the fourth son died when about eighteen months old. Mrs. Tribou was born in Canandaigua, New York, September 17th, 1824, and came to Tecumseh with her parents in 1826. Her father, General Pitman, was a prominent pioneer in this county, and was at one time manager of the Palmyra and Jacksonburg railroad, and was prominent in many important undertakings and improvements in the early days of Tecumseh. In religion, Mr. and Mrs. Tribou have always been Episcopalians, and Mr. Tribou is now, and has been twenty- five years, superintendent of the Sabbath school of that church. In politics he has been Whig and Republican.
UCIUS LILLEY was born in Homer, Cortland county, New York, February 21st, 1823. His father, Zenas Lilley, was a farmer of Homer, Cortland county, who came there with his father, Zenas Lilley Sr., from Massachusetts, and took up his farm from the government. In 1834, Zenas Lilley Jr. moved to Wayne county, Ohio, and purchased a new farm, and with the help of Lucius, who was the oldest of the family, cleared up,
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