USA > Michigan > Lenawee County > History and biographical record of Lenawee County, Michigan, Volume I > Part 30
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53
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UTLER HOLLOWAY was born in Conway, Massachu- setts, February 14th, 1814. His father, Dr. William Hol- loway was born in Massachusetts in 1781, where he resided until about the year 1816, when he emigrated to York, Living- ston county, New York, where he practiced medicine until he came to Michigan in 1833, and settled in Raisin, where he continued the practice of medicine until his death, August 10th, 1852. He was
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married three times, and had nine children, five by his first wife and four by his second, Butler being the youngest son and fifth child by his first wife. Dr. Holloway died in Raisin, August 10th, 1852. Butler Holloway came to Michigan in the spring of 1833, when he, with his brothers, William, Edwin and Silas, purchased of Haskins & Oaks three hundred and twenty acres of land, and took up two hundred acres all in one tract, on sections thirty-three and thirty-four, in Raisin, and the intersection of the east and west, and north and south roads near the old residence, has been known as Holloway's Corners for over forty years. Butler Hol- loway, after this purchase was made, took for his share the s. w. } of section 33, and has cleared it from the wilderness, erected a fine brick house, with good barns and out-buildings, has put in five miles of tile drain, and it is now one of the most productive farms in the neighborhood. He has lived here for forty-five years, and intends to stay by the old home that has done so well for him, until he dies. He recounts many incidents of early times-of times when he did not know where he was to get his next meal, until he could kill it with his rifle. He tells of starting out before day-light in the morning to hunt deer, when he wore gloves on his hands, with his coat tied over his head to keep the mosquitoes from "bleeding him to death ;" and of hunting his cows after dark in the evening when he was obliged to carry a hickory torch to keep the wolves away. He now has two hundred acres in the home farm, besides twenty acres of timber land in Ridgeway. April 2d, 1846, he married Miss Ann Richard, daughter of Archi- bald Richard, of Raisin, by whom he has had three children, as follows: Ellen Z., born in Raisin, April 11th, 1849, and died in Raisin, October 22d, 1875; George R., born in Raisin, April 19th, 1852, a farmer and heir to the old homestead ; one daughter died an infant. Mrs. Ann Holloway was born in Antrim county, Ireland, May 13th, 1818, and came to Michigan and settled in Raisin, in 1833, with her parents. [For her family relation see John Richard's record.]
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ILLIAM KEDZIE, JR., was born in Stamford, Dela- ware county, New York, June 29th, 1816. His father, William Kedzie, was born in Roxboro, Scotland, where he lived until the age of fourteen, when he emigrated to America with his brothers and sisters, landing in New York. He went to Washington county, New York, and settled in Salem, where he
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
married Miss Margaret Telford, and soon after moved to Stamford, Delaware county, about the year 1810. He resided there about ten years, when he removed to Delhi, in the same county, and purchased a second farm, and resided there for six years, clearing up about one hundred acres of land in the meantime. In the spring of 1824, he came to Michigan and purchased three hundred and four acres of land in the then township of Blissfield, now Deerfield, being the first land entered in the township, and re- turned to Delhi, remaining there until the spring of 1826, when he sold his farm and emigrated to Michigan territory. He took passage on a canal boat at Utica and came to Buffalo, where he remained four days waiting for a steamboat-the old Superior- which was the only one at that time running between Buffalo and Detroit. At Detroit he transferred his goods to the steamer Chip- pewa, which brought his family to Monroe, landing there the 13th day of May, 1826. Here he rented some land and stayed until the fall of that year, when he moved upon his farm in Blissfield, into a new and unfinished log house, without doors or windows. During the winter of 1826-7, he let a job to Benjamin and Na- than Tibbets, of chopping thirty acres, a portion of which was cleared and planted to corn and potatoes in the spring of 1827. For several years after this, the nearest grist and saw-mill, post- office, blacksmith shop, store and doctor were at Monroe, a dis- tance of twenty-five miles For about one year after his settle- ment, there was no bridge at Petersburg, and in going to mill, grists had to be ferried at that point across the river in a large canoe, and the wagon taken apart and transferred in like manner. The horses then were made to swim the river, when the wagon was put together again, horses harnessed, &c. The same opera- tion had to be repeated on their return. On the 5th day of August, 1828, Mr. Kedzie died, which was the first death and burial in the township, leaving Mrs. Kedzie a widow with seven small children, alone in the wilderness. Mrs. Kedzie remained a widow, and lived most of the time on the homestead, until the fall of 1874, when she died at the age of eighty-two years and six months. There were five sons and two daughters in Mr. Kedzie's family, William Kedzie, Jr., being the third son. He was mar- ried on the 6th of October, 1842, to Miss Catharine M. Russell, of Petersburg, Monroe county, by whom he had five children, as follows: Charles E., born December 13th, 1843, died April 30th, 1852; Emma E., born October 25th, 1845, married Edward Hun- ter, and resides in Deerfield; William H., born April 27th, 1851, married Augusta Blinn, and resides in Mentor, Lake county, Ohio; James E, born April 13th, 1853, married Miss Nellie E.
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Webster, and lives in Deerfield. Mrs. Catharine Kedzie died July 4th, 1854, aged thirty-one years. Mr. Kedzie was again married to Miss Marion W. Burnett, January 25th, 1855, by whom he had seven children, as follows: Frank R., born March 22d, 1856, now in Dakota territory ; Fred S., born May 3d, 1858, died September 6th, 1859; Jennie A., born July 7th, 1860, at home ; Kittie M., born April 4th, 1862, at home; Mary B., born December 11th, 1863, at home; Alfred S., born January 3d, 1866, at home; Albert, born April, 1868, and died April 1st, 1870. Mrs. Marion W. Kedzie died May 21st, 1874, aged forty-one years and four months. Mr. Kedzie married his third wife March 3d, 1875. She was the widow of the late Emory Corbett, of Pal- myra, and daughter of Moses Valentine, one of the earliest settlers of Blissfield. Mr. Kedzie is still living on the old homestead, in Deerfield, where he has resided for fifty-three years.
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OHN RICHARD was born in Antrim county, Ireland, in November 1806. His father, Archibald Richard, was born in the same county, about 1782, his ancestors coming from Scotland. He was a farmer in Ireland, and carried on a large farm for that country. He married Miss Jane Haney, of Antrim county, by whom he had eleven children, three sons and eight daughters, John being the second child. In the spring of 1828 Archibald Richard emigrated from Ireland to America, and settled in Geneseo, Livingston county, New York, where he purchased a farm, and resided until the fall of 1833, when he came to Michi- gan, arriving at Tecumseh, from Detroit, by teams, through the mud, in September. He took up the w. } of the s. w. } of section 14, in Raisin, and at once settled in the woods, with his family, where he resided until his death, in 1854. Mrs. Jane Richard was born in Antrim county, Ireland, in 1796, and died in Raisin, in September, 1852. John Richard lived with his father, in Ire- land, until the spring of 1825, when he was about eighteen years old ; he came to America, landing in Baltimore, about the 1st of June. He had commenced to learn the brick and stone mason's trade, in Ireland, but that trade was dull there, and he went to New Jersey, and worked in the iron furnaces until the fall of 1827, when he returned to Ireland. He remained in Ireland until the following spring, having persuaded his parents to come with
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
him and try their fortunes in America. The family landed in New York, in June, 1828. In the fall of 1831 he again returned to Ireland, and in January, 1832, he married Miss Elizabeth Sher- rard, daughter of Thomas and Ann Sherrard, of Antrim county, Ireland, by whom he has had one child, a son, Alexander, born in Geneseo, Livingston county, New York, January 6th, 1833, now a farmer, and resides on his grandfather's old farm, in Raisin. Mrs. Elizabeth Richard was born in Antrim county, Ireland, in Septem- ber, 1802, and came to America with her husband, in 1832. Her father, Thomas Sherrard, was born in Antrim county, Ireland, and died at the same place. Her mother, Ann Sherrard, was also born in Antrim county, and died there. John Richard now lives on the farm he purchased a wilderness, it being the w. } of the n. w. 1 of section 23, in Raisin. He now owns one hundred acres of highly improved land, with good and adequate buildings. He has always been a prominent man in the township, and although he has not been on the " winning side," in politics, has been twice elected treasurer, and twice supervisor of Raisin. He has been active in all improvements in the township, more especially in the welfare of the schools and churches. He is an active member of the First Presbyterian church, of Raisin, and aided largely in the building of the fine church edifice which stands on his farm. He also assisted liberally in building the first two Presbyterian church edifices in Tecumseh. Mr. Richard says, about the only incident of early times he can call to mind now, as being hard to bear, was living in a log cabin twelve feet square, without any chimney, and during the cold winter of 1833-4 they were obliged to leave the door open to let the smoke out.
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LFRED L. MILLARD was born in Moravia, Cayuga county, New York, March 6th, 1814. His father, Jesse Millard, was born in Vermont, October 6th, 1784, where he lived until he was married. He then moved to Sempronius, Cayuga county, New York, and engaged in merchandizing, where he lived until 1819, when he removed to Milan, in the same coun- ty, and lived until 1833, when he removed to Auburn. He resid- ed in Auburn until the fall of 1835, when he came to Michigan, and settled in Dexter, Washtenaw county, where he engaged in merchandizing, and milling. He erected a flouring-mill, saw-mill,
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and woolen factory, in Dexter, and remained there until about 1843, when he removed to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he died, February 8th, 1871. Mr. Millard comes from Puritan ancestry, tracing the line back to the time when a man by the name of Mil- lard came from Wales, carly in the last century, and settled in New England. About the year 1802, Jesse Millard married Miss Lu- cinda Loomis, of Bennington, Vermont, by whom he had twelve children, eleven of whom grew to be men and women, and nine are still living. Alfred L. was the fourth son and sixth child. Mrs. Lucinda Millard was born in Hinsdale, Massachu- setts, September 17th, 1785, and died in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, September 24th, 1861. Her ancestors were Puritans, and always lived in New England. Alfred L. Millard lived with his parents until his nineteenth year, when he went to Auburn, New York, and commenced the study of law, with the Hon. M. S. Myers, who was at that time clerk of Cayuga county, Mr. Millard acting as his deputy. He remained there until July, 1836, when he came to Michigan, and settled at Dexter, reading law a few months at Ann Arbor, with the Hon. Olney Hawkins. He was admitted to the bar January 17th, 1837, during the first session of the Supreme court held in the Second Judicial circuit, under the State organiza- tion, the judges of the court, at that time, being William A. Fletch- er, George Morell, and Epaphroditus Ransom. Immediately
after his admission, Mr. Millard commenced the practice of his profession, in Dexter, where he remained until 1841. He then came to Adrian, and became a member of the law firm of Baker, Harris & Millard. After about two years, this firm was dissolved and soon afterwards Baker and Millard formed a new one which continued several years. He afterwards formed a partnership with H. D. Condict, which lasted about two years. Mr. Millard has been a prominent lawyer and practitioner in the courts of the county and State, and also in the Federal courts, for forty-two years. He has never been an office seeker, never having aspired in that direc- tion. He has served, however, as master in chancery, circuit court commissioner, and alderman and city attorney of Adrian. He was elected president of the board of public schools, of Adrian, in September, 1859, and served six years. January 1st, 1877, he formed a law partnership with Seth Bean, which still continues. He has twice been a prominent candidate before the convention of his party. for nomination as judge of the Supreme Court of Mich- igan. September 4th, 1843, he married Miss Harriet E. Truax, daughter of Abraham and Minerva Truax, of Adrian, by whom he had seven children, as follows : Melancthon, born July 30th, 1844, now practicing law, at Cleveland, Ohio ; Addison, born
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
March 25th, 1852, a resident of Cleveland, Ohio ; James Lindley, born March 16th, 1855, a resident of Chicago ; Robert, born August 15th, 1856, now a resident of Toledo ; Minerva Louise, born August 11th, 1860, died May 24th, 1867; two others died in infancy or early childhood-all were born in Adrian. Mrs. Harriet E. Millard was born in Schenectady, New York, in February, 1818, and died in Adrian, March 17th, 1868. Her father, Abraham Truax, was born in Schenectady, New York, December 27th, 1794. He resided in Kingston, Canada, for several years, where he was engaged in merchandizing until the Patriot war, when he went to Rochester, New York. He came to Adrian in 1842, where he died, December 3d, 1862. July 30th, 1869, Mr. Millard married Miss Grace G. Grieve, daughter of William and Jessie Grieve, of Perry, Wyoming county, New York, by whom he has one child, Grace G., born December 3d, 1873. Mrs. Grace G. Millard was born in Castile, Wyoming county, New York, March 6th, 1836, and came to Adrian, as a teacher in the public schools, in the fall of 1864. Her parents were natives of Scotland, and came to this country in 1833. Her father died at Castile, in March, 1851. Her mother is still living, and resides there. In 1869 Mr. and Mrs. Millard went to Europe, and visited the British Islands, spending several months in England and Scotland. Mr. Millard has always been a Democrat, and his party has been in the minority most of time in the city, county, State and Nation, for twenty-five years.
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ILLIAM H. WALDBY was born at Cooperstown, Otsego county, New York, May 16th, 1826. His parents were Ralph Waldby, his father, by trade a printer, born in Yorkshire, England, in 1801, came to this country when four years of age, with his parents; resided the last twenty-four years and upwards of his life at Adrian and vicinity, and died June 25th, 1878 ; and Mary Ann Waldby, his mother, only daughter of Ebe- nezer and Ruth Ingals, born in Otsego county, New York, in 1805, and who died at Adrian, Mich., June 16th 1871. In 1829 William H. Waldby removed with his parents, to the city of Utica, New York, residing there nine years, where he received his educa- tion, the last three years attending the Utica Academy, under the instruction of William W. Williams. At the age of twelve years,
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and in the year 1838, he removed with his father's family to the village of Rome, New York, at which time his father purchased a printing office and founded the Rome Sentinel newspaper. Young Waldby entered the office at that time, learned the art of printing, and kept his father's books. At the age of seventeen, he became a clerk in the store of Adam Van Patten in Rome, and in the year 1845, his father having sold the Sentinel office and removed to Utica, he also returned there and became clerk in the dry goods store of Edward Vail. In July, 1846, in company with his broth- er, E. I. Waldby, he came to Adrian, Michigan, William H. Waldby as clerk in the old Bidwell store, (where William A. Whitney, then a young man, was also employed,) and E. I. Wald- by found employment in the Watch Tower office, of which news- paper R. W. Ingals, an uncle, was proprictor. After clerking for the Bidwells for three years, in 1849, a clothing store was started in the then new brick store, second east of where the Lawrence hotel now stands, under the firm of Bidwell & Waldby, and managed successfully by the junior partner, W. H. Waldby, for one year. In 1850, Ira Bidwell decided to open a banking office in Adrian, and offered William H. Waldby an interest, in and management of the same, which was accepted. The bank was opened in the old Franklin house block, south room, on Main street, and remained there until the completion, in 1851, of the new business block and banking house, on the south side of Maumee street, between Main and Winter, being the store now occupied by A. H. Wood. In that year Ira Bidwell retired from the busi- ness, selling his interest to William H. Waldby, by whom the business was successfully continued.
In 1855 Mr. Waldby purchased the business lot on the south-east corner of Maumee and Main streets, and in 1857 erected and occupied the banking house which still stands, and there continued the business until 1872, the latter portion of the time and for some years, with his brother E. I. Waldby, as partner. In 1872 he sold the building, business and good will to the First National bank, of Adrian. In the spring of 1873, at the request of business friends and other citizens he accepted a nominated for mayor of the city of Adrian and was elected to that office by a majority of 614, receiving also a majority in each of the four wards of the city. He served one year, until the spring of 1874. William H. Waldby was married in Adrian, May 6th, 1851, to Louise E. Bid- well, daughter of Ira and Clarissa P. Bidwell, who were among the early settlers of Adrian. They have had two daughters, the first of whom, Clara B., died in 1865, and the other, Bertha Louise, is still living.
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
ON. JOEL CARPENTER was born at Potsdam, St. Lawrence county, New York, September 3d, 1818. He is a brother of the late Guy Carpenter and of David Carpen- ter, sketches of whose lives are given on other pages of this work. He is a direct descendent from the Carpenters of Surrey, England, through William Carpenter, who settled near Rehoboth, Massa- chusetts, in 1638, and whose great-great-grandson, the Rev. Ezra Carpenter, of Swanzey, New Hampshire, born at Rehoboth in 1698, was the great-great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch. His great-grandfather was Greenwood Carpenter, of Swanzey, New Hampshire, for many years high sheriff of Cheshire county. His grandfather, William Carpenter, whose wife was a daughter of the Rev. Clement Sumner, of Keene, emigrated to St. Lawrence county, New York, in 1806, and died at that place In 1843, in the ninety-second year of his age. Joel Carpenter lived with his father on the family homestead until his eighteenth year, when he entered St. Lawrence academy where he attained an ordinary English education. September 15th, 1838, at the age of twenty, he left his father's house and arrived in Blissfield, Lenawee county, September 23d. During the winter of 1838-9 he taught a district school near the present village of Deerfield, in this county. On the 10th day of June, 1839, he entered the office of Halsey & Greenly, in Adrian, the county seat, as a student at law. He was admitted to the bar April 9th, 1842, Justice Fletcher presiding at the court. October 12th, 1842, he married Miss Theodocia A. Carpenter, youngest daughter of the late Dan Carpenter, of Pots- dam, New York, and returning to Blissfield he opened a law office at that place in the winter of 1842-3. He buried his young wife December 7th, 1843. December 25th, 1844, he married his second wife, Minerva L. Mead, daughter of Hon. Darius Mead, of Bliss- field. Three children were born to him by this wife. Clement D., born March 23d, 1848; Carrie F., born August 6th, 1850 ; and Minerva E., born February 24th, 1852, and died March 18th, of the same year. His son, Clement D., is a practicing young lawyer, of Toledo, Ohio. His daughter, Carrie F., resides with her father. Minerva L. Carpenter, his second wife, was born at Sonesborough, Massachusetts, August 3d, 1823, and came with her father to Blissfield in 1833. She died March 12th, 1852. In April, 1850, in company with his brother, David Carpenter, he went into the mercantile business, and two years later, having bought out his brother, he formed a co-partnership with his brother- in-law, the late Marvin L. Stone, in the same business, and after Mr. Stone's death, July 24th, 1854, he carried on the business alone, until the fall of 1858, when he sold out and again opened a
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law office. September 1st, 1859, he married his third wife, Miss Lucy M. Gilmore, daughter of Asa Gilmore, of Tecumseh, by whom he had one child, Guy D., born September 23d, 1861, and who died March 4th, 1864. Lucy M., his third wife, was born at Tecumseh, January 28th, 1838, and died October 1st, 1861. January, 14th, 1864, he married his present wife, Miss Esther C. Newton, daughter of Ezra Newton, of Blissfield. She was born at Blissfield, May 24th, 1833. Mr. Carpenter has held many positions of trust and honor from the people. He has been supervisor and postmaster of Blissfield, enrolling officer and deputy United States assessor during the Rebellion ; was State Senator for two terms, beginning January 1st, 1859. He introduced and secured the passage of the first general insurance law ever adopted in this State, under which himself and the late Royal Barnum, of Adrian, organized the Michigan State Insurance company, of Adrian. ' He is a warm Republican in politics, and was always a strong anti-slavery man. He attended, as a delegate from Michi- gan, the great Free Soil convention, held at Buffalo, August 9th, 1848. He was also a delegate to the celebrated convention held "under the oaks" at Jackson, in 1854, which first organized and named the Republican party. He is a man who has always been true to his friends, and his great influence and tact in the conventions of his party have secured to him a strong following in the southern part of the State where he is best known.
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APT. DANIEL HICKS was born at Newburgh, Orange county, New York, April 11th, 1813, and removed to Adrian, Michigan, in the spring of 1837. In 1840 he was elected register of deeds, of Lenawee county, and in 1846, county clerk, holding each office one term. He was partial to military life, and before coming to Michigan, commanded the Governor's Guard, in the city of New York. May 10th, 1842, he organized the Adrian Guards, and was captain thereof until 1847. During the war with Mexico, he raised, and was commissioned as captain of Company G, First Regiment of Michigan Volunteers. He was stationed, with his command, near Vera Cruz, until the close of the war, when he returned home. He was subsequently appointed, by President Taylor, receiver of monies, at the Sault St. Marie, where he died from cholera, on the 9th day of August, 1849.
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
LEMENT E. WEAVER was born in Hartland, Niagara county, New York, July 18th, 1832. His father, William Weaver, was a pioneer of that county, and came there from Vermont in 1818. His mother was Miss Mary Earl, daughter of Richard and Mercy Earl, who was born in Penn Yan, Yates county, New York, on the 25th of November, 1805. Her father was a pioneer of Yates county, and became a farmer in comfortable circumstances. He was also a soldier in the war of 1812. Cle- ment E. Weaver came to Michigan with his parents in 1835. He lived with his father on his farm, in Hillsdale county, until he was eighteen years old, when he commenced teaching school, and continued for about ten years. During this time he taught one year in the city of Jackson, and two years in the village of Hud- son. He was one of the nine scholars who comprised the first school that was organized in his neighborhood, and the second in the township, and received the most of his education in the schools of Somerset. In 1851 and 1854 he attended the Michigan Cen- tral college (now Hillsdale college,) then located at Spring Arbor, Jackson county. In the summer of 1853 he attended the high school of Adrian, J. Q. Disbrow being the teacher. His father's family was the first to settle in the southwest corner of Somerset, and their nearest white neighbor was one mile distant, in the township of Moscow. The summer camp of old Baw Beese, chief of the Pottawatomies, was located one mile southwest from his father's house. He was intimately acquainted with the old chief, and nearly the entire tribe, and his father was looked upon as a white chief, and did much for the comfort and enjoyment of the Indians. This old camping-ground is now used as a cemetery for that entire neighborhood. The first burial there took place in the spring of 1840, the person being Miss Rachel Randolph, aged eighty-five. Her brother, Reuben Randolph, who died at the age of ninety-six, is buried in the same place. His son, Samuel, was buried in the same ground, in July, 1879, aged eighty-three. C. E. Weaver's oldest sister, Loamy Dunn, was buried there in February, 1846. Mr. Weaver commenced the study of law in 1855, and afterwards went into the office of Andrew C. Mercer, of Hudson, in 1856. In the fall of 1856, he, with Mr. Mercer, went to the territory of Nebraska, where Mr. Weaver remained one year, and upon his return read law with Probate Judge Webb, of Hills- dale, for one year. Subsequently returning to Hudson he read law with Mr. Mercer, and was admitted to the bar of Hillsdale county in the fall of 1859. He remained in Hillsdale one year, when he went to Hudson and formed a partnership with Mr. Mercer in 1861, while Mr. Mercer was Prosecuting Attorney of
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