USA > Michigan > Lenawee County > History and biographical record of Lenawee County, Michigan, Volume I > Part 28
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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
which his,father purchased, it being the first taken from the govern- ment in the township. He has been elected to every township office, except constable, having been supervisor three successive terms. The farm which he owns was new when he commenced on it, but he has cleared up one hundred and forty acres, and erected a very fine house, with good barns, and all the other improvements and conveniences necessary. November 15th, 1854, he married Miss Marietta Mann, daughter of Gilbert B. and Almira Mann, of Madison, by whom he has had two children, as follows; Irving P., born in Fairfield, October 20th, 1855, at home; Gilbert, born in Fairfield, April 5th, 1860, and died March 14th, 1864. Mrs. Marietta Shumway was born in Guildhall, Essex county, Vermont, February 24th, 1834. Her father was born in Orford, New Hampshire, December 11th, 1804, and died in Madison, this county, August 8th, 1873. Her mother was born in the same place, and died in Palmyra, this county, April 27th, 1847. The name of Shumway is rare in this country, and comes from France. At the time of the persecution of the Huguenots, Peter Shumway came to America, and settled in Oxford, Massachusetts, and all persons in this country, by that name trace their ancestry back to him.
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RS. MARY A. BRADISH was born in Truxton, Cortland county, New York, January 25th, 1814. Her father,
Daniel Jennings, was born in Burlington, Otsego county, New York, August 18th, 1792; he died October 6th, 1868, in Ontario, New York. Her mother was Miss Polly Clark, daughter of Simon Clark; she was born in Coleraine, Massachu- setts, November 9th, 1792; she died in Ontario, July 25, 1861. Polly Clark's mother was Mary Wallace, a native of Edinburgh, Scotland. Daniel Jennings and Polly Clark were married in Truxton, Cortland county, N. Y., October 17th, 1811. They had twelve children, six sons and six daughters, Mary A., being the oldest daughter and second child. Miss Mary A. Jennings came to Michigan with her brother, Russell Jennings, in 1837. June 21st, 1838, she was married to Calvin Bradish, of Madison. In 1833 Mr. Bradish came to Michigan and settled on section 17, in Madison, where he lived until his death, which occurred February 19th, 1867. He was born in Palmyra, (now Macedon), Wayne
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
county, New York, December 27th, 1808. He was a well known and prominent man of his township, was active, enterprising and public spirited, holding several township offices. By his marriage with Mary A. Jennings he had three children, as follows: Horace C., born in Madison, April 21st, 1839, a farmer of Madison ; Orin H., born in Madison, March 7th, 1841, a farmer of Madison ; Charles C., born in Madison, September 28th, 1845, a farmer of Madison. Mr. Bradish took up, from the government, in 1833, 160 acres of land, and purchased eighty acres adjoining. He subsequently purchased forty acres more, owning, at his death, 280 acres of land. He was a brother of A. W. and Norman Bradish, now residents of Madison. He was a prominent member of the Free Will Baptist church, and was consistent and earnest in his convictions. Mrs. Bradish survives her husband and has always resided on the old homestead since his death. She has been a member of the Free Will Baptist church about fifty years, and is still a zealous and active worker in the cause.
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REDERICK T. CLARK was born in Hamilton, Madison county, New York, April 3d, 1834. His father, William G. Clark, was born in the State of New York in 1804. The first business he ever did was to drive stage on the old Albany and Buffalo route. He afterwards took a contract on the Erie canal, and assisted largely in constructing that important thoroughfare. He subsequently kept the Eagle hotel in Hamilton, New York. In 1836 he came to Michigan and took the contract to build the Michigan Southern railroad from Monroe to Adrian. About 1844 ' he purchased the furniture in the old Franklin house, which was burned down in 1846. He bought out Samson Sammons' interest in the old Michigan Exchange, and called it Clark's hotel. This house stood on the corner of Maumee and Winter streets, where the Lawrence house now stands He remained here only about eighteen months, when he went to Toledo and kept the old Indi- ana house for about one year. He went to California in 1849. He mined it a short time in California, and afterwards became general manager of the California stage line, subsequently own- ing a stage line from Sacramento to Marysville. He afterwards held a position under a large contractor on the Union Pacific rail- road. He was also a short time a contractor under General John
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C. Fremont on the El Paso, or Southern Pacific railroad, in Texas. From here he went on to the Northern Pacific railroad, from where all trace of him has been lost. In 1830 he married Miss Hannah E. Noble, of Hamilton, New York, who was born in Vermont. They had two children, Frederick T. Clark, and Mary F. Clark, now the wife of Eli Parsons, of Toledo. Mrs. Clark died Novem- ber 30th, 1876. Frederick T. Clark came to Adrian, Michigan, with his parents in 1836, where he received his education. In 1858 he went to Hamilton, New York, and worked as a clerk in a grocery store for four years. He then went to Syracuse and was clerk of the Syracuse house four years, when he returned to Adrian. In April, 1861, he was elected Recorder of Adrian, and was re-elected the two following years. In 1865 he went to Hudson, Lenawee county, and opened a hat, cap and fur store, where he lived about eight years. In 1871 he went to Jonesville and kept the Bronson house for six months, and from there he went to White Pigeon, Michigan, and took charge of the Railroad eating- house. August 18th, 1873, he purchased the furniture and fix- tures of the Railroad eating-house in Adrian. In April, 1875, he was elected Alderman of the First ward, of Adrian, on the Demo- cratic ticket. May 21st, 1864, he married Miss Helen J. Shapley, daughter of Horace B. and Charlotte E. Shapley, of Hamilton, Madison county, New York. They have never had any children, but in 1877 they adopted Miss Lizzy, and have made her their heir.
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RA BIDWELL was born at Colbrook, Connecticut, Septem- ber 14th, 1804. His father, Asa Bidwell, was a farmer, who married Eunice Underwood. They were among the pioneers of western New York, having, with their family of eleven children, removed from Colbrook to the town of York, Livingston county, about the year 1822. Ira Bidwell was self educated; lived with his parents on the farm until the age of twenty years, at which time his father gave him the privilege of going out into the world on his own account, or remaining a few years longer on the farm, in which latter case he promised to help him purchase a piece of land. He chose the former course, taught school for a short period, saved a few dollars, and with this small capital and "honesty, perseverance and economy" as his motto, set out in
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
reality to try and make a fortune. He went to Rochester, New York, purchased a few goods, traveled from place to place, sold mostly at auction, succeeded, in a small way, and established a little credit. He afterwards located in Bergen, Genesee county, in the same State, and was engaged in business there about one year, during which period he married Clarissa P. Wilcox, daugh- ter of Captain Austin Wilcox, an old and prominent resident of that place. From Bergen he removed to Brockport and from thence to Rochester, where he opened trade on a larger scale. He did not remain there long, yet long enough to lay the foundation of his future prosperity. While residing in Rochester, himself and wife experienced religion and united with the Methodist Episcopal church. From Rochester he removed with his family, in 1833, to Geneseo, Livingston county, and entered into trade, with Jabez Ranney as partner; remained there about two years, and then removed to Milan, Ohio, in 1835, and was there engaged in trade until the fall of 1836, at which time he removed with his family to Adrian, Michigan. Ira Bidwell developed large originality and business tact, and was a man of untiring activity. He inaugurated the novel and then effective method of advertising his goods and merchandise by using comical pictorial wood-cuts in his newspaper announcements, and by issuing large, illustrated and humorous hand- bill posters. Trade came to him from a large extent of country surrounding Adrian, and his business prospered, so much so, that he eventually became the widest known, and ranked as the heaviest and leading merchant in Southern Michigan. He was a man of irreproachable integrity, honest and exemplary in all life's rela- tions. He enjoyed the confidence and esteem of all who knew him; every trust confided to him was executed with fidelity, and confidence in his word or promise was unbounded. He was an energetic but unassuming member of the Methodist Episcopal church and by his liberal donations and contributions, that church and society in Adrian, during the many years of its existence and worship while located on Toledo street, have reason to remember him with an enduring memory. In his charities he was liberal, but modest and retiring, bestowing with a free and generous hand, not only to the church and charitable institutions, but particularly to the deserving poor, who in him always found a friend in deed. In the year 1850 Ira Bidwell in connection with William H. Waldby opened a banking institution in Adrian. It became
firmly established, and in 1851 Mr. Bidwell relinquished his interest in the same to Mr. Waldby. In 1853 Mr. B. visited the then territory of Minnesota, made some investments and was for many years thereafter, connected with banking and prominent
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in business circles at St. Paul. His wife was sister to William S. and Henry H. Wilcox, of the city of Adrian, and Austin Wilcox, of Adrian township. She died at the city of Adrian in August, 1861. By her, five children were born: the oldest, Amanda M., married to George Hannahs, now resides at South Haven, Michi- gan; Louise E., married to William H. Waldby, still resides at Adrian; Henry E., resides near Plymouth, Michigan; Albert I., resides near Jacksonville, Florida; and Homer Alonzo died in infancy. After his wife's decease, Ira Bidwell made St. Paul, Minnesota, his permanent home, and in 1863 married Mrs. Eunice B. Minor, who still survives him. He was, for many of the last years of his life, in feeble health and died at Palmyra, Wisconsin, June 23d, 1876. His remains were brought to Adrian and buried in Oakwood cemetery.
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SAAC A. DEANE was born in Phelps, Ontario county, New York, November 6th, 1811. His father, Isaac Dean, was born in Plainfield, Connecticut, March 14, 1771. When a young man he learned the trade of carpenter and mill-wright, and moved to Ontario county, New York, in 1800, where he owned a saw and grist-mill, and lived until his removal to Michigan. In 1828 he emigrated to Michigan, and arrived in Adrian on the 20tlı day of May that year, and immediately purchased a village lot on the corner of Maumee and Winter streets, and built the first hotel in Adrian, (it was also the first frame building,) where the Law- rence house now stands. The hotel was called the Michigan Ex- change, and was formally opened July 4th, 1829, when a "dance" took place in the ball-room in the second story. The building was finished that year. Mr. Deane kept the house for about ten years, when he rented it, and never did any business afterwards. In 1829 he and his son-in-law, Addison J. Comstock, built the "Red mill," Mr. Deane superintending the work himself. This was the first mill built south of Tecumseh, and Mr. Deane started the mill and "ground the first grist." In the fall of 1833 he purchased eighty acres of land on the Territorial road, in Adrian township, three and a half miles west of Adrian, and built a saw-mill on the west branch of the Raisin, which ran through the farm. He lived in Adrian until his death, which occurred March 3d, 1858. Isaac A. Deane came to Michigan with his father in 1828, and lived in
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Adrian until the spring of 1834, when he moved upon his father's farm, of which, in about three years, he came in possession and where he still resides. Mr. Deane is one of the oldest residents of the county, and if he had never left Adrian he would now be the oldest male resident of that city. June 5th, 1834, he married Miss Sophia Field, daughter of Pliny Field, a pioneer of Adrian town- ship, by whom he has had one child, Albert E., now of Palmyra, born June 29th, 1849. Mrs. Sophia Deane was born July 22d, 1812, in Phelps, Ontario county, New York. She came to Michi- gan with her parents in 1830, and her father, Pliny Field, took up one hundred and sixty acres of land in Adrian township, on the Territorial road, about two and a half miles west of Adrian, which, during the last few years, has been sold for one hundred dollars per acre. The farm is now owned by George Whaley. Mr. Deane has never been an office-seeker or office-holder, but has always voted the Democratic ticket. Mr. Deane assisted in rais- ing the first frame building-a barn-that was ever raised in Bliss- field, for Mr. Giles. Several others went from Adrian to assist at the same time. He, in company with E. C. Winter and E. A. Washburn, went to Chicago to the Indian treaty in 1833, driving his own team there and back. This was the final settlement be- tween the United States and the Pottowattomie Indians for their land east of the Mississippi river.
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AMES K. JEFFERY was born in Cheriton, Kent, Eng- land, January 29th, 1803. His father, James Jeffery, was born in Folkestone, in the same county, February 27th, 1777. He was a farmer, and always lived in Kent. He died December 7th, 1839. In 1796 he married Miss Rebecca Sand- ford, daughter of Mark Sandford, of Folkestone, Kent, England, by whom he had thirteen children, James K. being the fourth child and second son. Mrs. Rebecca Jeffery was born in Folke- stone, in Kent, in 1777, and died there in 1843. James K. Jef- fery lived with his parents, who were wealthy farmers, until he was twenty-seven years old. When he was seven years old he was sent to a boarding school, where he stayed six years. When he was fourteen years old he was sent to France to school for the pur- pose of learning the French language. He was brought up a gen- tleman's son, and never did any work in England. After he was
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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
about sixteen years old he spent his time in fishing, hunting, and other youthful sports, until 1830, when he decided to come to America. March 8th, 1826, he married Miss Harriett Marsh, daughter of Edward and Mary Marsh, of Dover, Kent, England, by whom he has had eight children, as follows: Harriett H., born in Sandgate, Kent, England, December 3d, 1826, now the wife of Cornelius Knapp, of Rome; Margaret, born in Sandgate, October 28th, 1827, now the wife of Daniel O'Dell, a farmer near Stockton, California ; Rebecca, born in Sandgate, November 18th, 1828, died June 29th, 1845, in Rome; Eliza, born in Vernon, Oneida county, New York, October 28th, 1830, now the wife of William Willitts, of Mason, Ingham county, Michigan ; Nancy, born in Westmoreland, Oneida county, New York, August 17th, 1832, now the wife of Jared Rider, of Mason, Ingham county ; Eleanor, born in Westmoreland, New York, February 8th, 1834, now the wife of John Hart, of Stockton, California ; Edward J., born in Westmoreland, New York, April 23d, 1835, a resident of Portland, Oregon ; Susannah, born in Rome, this county, Sep- tember 19th, 1840, now the wife of George W. Darling, of Wood- stock. Mrs. Harriett Jeffery was born in Dover, Kent, England, August 11th, 1800. Her father died when she was very young, and she was brought up by an uncle, Captain Edward Hollands, a sea-faring man. She has but very little knowledge of her parents' history. May 8th, 1830, James K. Jeffery, with his wife and three children, sailed from Rye, in a vessel bound for the United States, and landed in New York, July 4th, that year. After rest- ing a short time in Williamsburgh, he went to Oneida county, New York, and in the spring of 1831 leased a farm near Hamp- ton village, and worked it one year. (This was the first work he ever did, and got along very well.) In 1832 he purchased a farm in Westmoreland, and erected an elegant house, but the shrewd Yankees soon discovered that he was unused to doing business, and after about three years he abandoned the farm and gave it to a man if he would pay his (Jeffery's) debts. In the spring of 1836 he came to Michigan, and located one hundred and sixty acres of land on sec- tion seven, in Rome. He afterwards purchased two hundred and forty acres more, adjoining. He lived there until 1842, when he purchased ninety acres on section eight, where he built a large house and kept a tavern for about four years, and has resided there ever since. When Mr. Jeffery came to Michigan in 1836 he left his wife and children at Westmoreland, New York, in a rented house, intending to bring them on when he had located land and erected a house. During the summer, Mrs. Jeffery was notified that she must move out of the house she occupied, as it had been
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
sold, and would be moved some half mile away. She had some friends in the vicinity who finally advised her (as no other house could be found) to load her goods on a canal boat and start for Michigan, telling her she was accustomed to traveling, &c. She finally, in September, started with seven children, the oldest child, a girl, being scarcely ten years old. In due time she arrived in Buffalo and was snugly stowed away on board the "Jefferson." The vessel was to leave early in the morning, and during the night a thief stole a trunk from the deck and was making off with it, when he was discovered by an Irish woman, whose husband was drunk. She at once gave the alarm, crying "thief !" "thief!" The cry aroused her husband who rolled over and fell down the cabin gang-way, who, upon landing at the bottom, cried "murder !" "blud !" "fire !" "fire!" The cry of fire echoed loud and clear throughout the vessel, and a terrible panic at once ensued. The alarm was soon over, but every body was terribly frightened. Every thing went well on the voyage until the steamer ran aground in the river about twelve miles below Detroit, in a dense fog. She was so hard aground that it was impossible to get her off without "lightening." The passengers and all their baggage were put on board two sailing vessels until the steamer could be got off the bar, when they were again put upon the steamer, in a pouring rain, and finally landed at Detroit. Before Mrs. Jeffery started she had written to her husband, supposing he was in Rome. He never received the letter, however, as he was then in Detroit at work with his team, while his log-house was being built in readi- ness for his family. When she arrived in Detroit she expected to find her husband waiting for her, but she was nearly overcome with grief and trouble when she found he was not there. The steamer was behind time, and was obliged to start immediately on her return trip, and Mrs. Jeffery, with her children and goods, were set upon the dock, in the rain, between eleven and twelve o'clock at night. She finally, through the aid of a truckman, got to a hotel, where she was insulted and annoyed during the night. The next morning she went to a hotel kept by an Englishman, where she remained nearly two weeks. One day while passing down the street to a drug store for medicine for her sick children, she saw a young man whom she knew in the State of New York. When she saw him she burst into tears, but soon told him her troubles. "Why," said he, "don't cry, I can find Jeffery in five minutes." And in five minutes, sure enough, there was a happy woman. Mr. Jeffery had been in the city several days, and was in the same house at one time, but did not recognize her. Soon after, Mr. Jeffery brought his family to Rome, but found his house
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unfinished. He lived with a neighbor-Mr. Goodman-for six weeks. He moved into his new house in December, and in Feb- ruary it took fire and burned up, with all its contents. This oc- curred while Mr. Jeffery was off in the woods hunting deer. In 1863 his large house burned, with considerable loss of household goods. In 1876 his large barn was burned with all its contents, including two horses.
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ILLIAM A. WHITNEY was born in Shelby, Orleans county, New York, April 21st, 1820, and in June, 1828, came with his parents, to Adrian, Michigan. His father, Capt. James Whitney, was born in Warwick, Orange county, New York, February 10th, 1783. In 1801, on foot, and alone, he went to Romulus, New York, where he married, November 9th, 1806, Mary Frisbie, who was born in New Haven, Connecticut, June 11th, 1786, daughter of Abel and Rebecca (Hayes) Frisbie. They dwelt in Romulus till the spring of 1814, then moved to Shelby, New York, where they bought, of the Holland land company, two hundred acres of land, on what was known as the Holland Pur- chase. Here he resided until the year 1827, when he sold his farm and the same year came to Adrian, Michigan, where he purchased four hundred acres of land, on the west side of the River Raisin, all now within the city limits. He returned to Shelby the same fall, where he remained through the winter, and in the spring of 1828, moved, with his family, consisting of eight children, to his new, wilderness home, where he arrived about the first of June of that year. He lived in Adrian until the year 1833, when he sold bis farm there, and soon after purchased another, containing eight hundred acres, surrounding Sand lake, in the town of Nottawa, St. Joseph county, Michigan, where he dwelt till 1839, when he again sold, and moved to Moulton, Allen county (now Washington, Auglaize county), Ohio, where he died, August 11th, 1851; his wife died August 28th, the same year. They were buried in Fort Amanda cemetery, at Amanda, Allen county, Ohio. William A., the subject of this sketch, was the sixth child and fourth son. He lived most of the time with his parents, until he was eighteen years of age, when he went to Attica, New York, in the employ of Messrs. Elias T. Stanton and David Scott, as clerk, in a dry goods store, where he remained for two and one-half years, when he re- turned to Adrian, and continued in the same business until the fall
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
of 1847. September 14th, 1847, he married Miss Ellen Maria Bixby, daughter of David and Laura Bixby, who settled in Adrian in the year 1827, and were among the very earliest settlers of then town of Logan. Mrs. Ellen M. Whitney was born in Albion, New York, April 6th, 1825. December, 1847, Mr. Whitney en- gaged in hotel keeping, and opened, in Adrian, the New Franklin hotel, which he kept about one year, when he sold out, and again engaged in the mercantile trade, which he continued most of the time until the year 1858. In the spring of 1859, the year the first stone pavement was laid in Adrian, he was elected to the office of city recorder, and was re-elected in the spring of 1860, and held the same till April, 1861. In the fall of 1862 he was elected reg- ister of deeds of Lenawee county, and took possession of that office January 1st, 1863. He was re-nominated, and elected, in the fall of 1864, and held the office two years more, his second term expiring January 1st, 1867. He was a clerk, from about that time until the spring of 1869, with the Michigan State Insur- ance Company, when he was appointed postmaster of Adrian, which position he held for four years, from May 17th, 1869, to May 17th, 1873, when his term of office expired, and he engaged in the printing business, and founded the Adrian Daily and Weekly Press, which business he followed until April 5th, 1878, a period of nearly five years, when he sold out. He is the father of two children, as follows : Dwight A., born in Adrian, Michigan, June 21st, 1848, married, at Grand Rapids, January 25th, 1870, Miss Marion C. Lawrence. Her parents are Willis T. and Marion Law- rence, now of Adrian. They have one child, named Lena B., born in Adrian, April 21st, 1873. Dwight A. Whitney is now the manager of the Lawrence hotel. Fannie Lee Whitney was born in Adrian, July 16tlı, 1859, and was married, December 18th, 1878, to O. F. Berdan, a violinist, composer, and, at present, music publisher, in Adrian. Mr. Whitney being one of the earliest pio- neers of Adrian, has always felt a proud interest in the prosperity and history of the same, as well as of the whole county. In Novem- ber, 1867, he wrote the early history of Adrian, extending from 1825 to 1835, which was published, at that time, in the Adrian Daily and Weekly Times. February 17th, 1875, he wrote the first call for a county pioneer meeting, which met on the 27th of the same month, and organized the Lenawee County Pioneer Society, and he was elected its first secretary, which office, with the excep- tion of one year, he has held ever since, without compensation. In the year 1879 he, in company with Mr. Richard I. Bonner, can- vassed the county of Lenawee, and made biographical sketches of the early pioneers, and published, in book form, Whitney & Bon-
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