USA > Michigan > Lenawee County > History and biographical record of Lenawee County, Michigan, Volume I > Part 44
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save this stranger." It is due to the clergyman, however, to say that he has always steadfastly adhered to the belief that whom God has called to preach, should do so free-without money or price, provided, his family does not absolutely suffer thereby. Believing his labors ended in Pennsylvania, Mr. Smith, in the spring of 1865, removed to Deerfield, Lenawee county, Michigan, arriving there April 7th, having previously purchased a farm of Philip Cannon, near Deerfield village. He associated himself with the Free- will Baptist church, in Bedford, Monroe county, and was its pastor
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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
one year, holding two revival meetings there, with fruitful results. For the past few years, owing to age and failing health, he has had no stated charge, but continues the work of volunteer ministry when and where circumstances and his physical condition will per- mit, and will no doubt die, like a faithful soldier, " on the field of battle," and " with the harness on." In April, 1868, he sold his farm, and purchased a house and lot in Deerfield village, where he now resides, honored by his children, and loved and respected by all. The children of Jedediah Smith are as follows: Philinda, born in Preston, Chenango county, New York, November 20th, 1825, wife of Leander Bickford; residence, Webster City, Iowa ; Lewis, born in Sherman, Chautauqua county, New York, Septem- ber 17th, 1827 ; operates a carriage and blacksmith shop, in Deer- field, Lenawee county, Michigan; Emeline, born in Sherman, Chautauqua county, New York, December 17th, 1829, wife of Stephen Bloomfield; residence, Deerfield, Lenawee county, Michi- gan; Susan M., born in Sherman, Chautauqua county, New York, December 21st, 1839, wife of Benjamin Cannon, and resides in Summerfield, Monroe county, Michigan ; Eliot J., born in Sherman, Chautauqua county, New York, December 13th, 1841 ; resides in Adrian, Michigan, and is now, and for several years, has been the editor of a Democratic paper, the Adrian Press. Of these, the first three named, are children by Sally Smith ; the last two, by Lucy Smith, the second wife. Mrs. Sally Smith was born in Preston, Chenango county, New York, October 10th, 1803, and died on the date before mentioned. Mrs. Lucy Smith was born in Canaan, Wayne county, Pennsylvania, June 9th, 1815, and resides with her husband, in Deerfield. Her father, George Morgan, died October 1st, 1879, at the advanced age of ninety-seven years.
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ON. HIRAM S. EDDY was born in Clarendon, Rutland county, Vermont, June 6th, 1812. His father, Zephaniah H. Eddy was born in Vermont, where he lived until he was about twenty-six years old, when he moved to Monroe county, New York, purchased a farm living there until his death, which occurred in 1818. About 1810 he married Miss Catharine McCay, daughter of David and Christiana McCay, of Rutland county, Vermont, by whom he had five children, Hiram S. being the oldest. Mrs. Catharine Eddy was born in Vermont, and some
433
1
OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
years after the death of Z. H. Eddy, she was married to Caleb Lammon, of Perinton, Monroe county, New York, came to Michi- gan in 1832, and settled in Madison, this county. Mr. Lammon died in Kalamazoo, Mich., some few years ago, and Mrs. Lammon died in Fairfield in 1869. Hiram S. Eddy was brought up a farmer, and afterwards worked at the carpenter's trade. His edu- cation was. confined to a few terms in a district school. At the age of fifteen he commenced to work by the month, which he fol- lowed until he came to Michigan, which was during the year 1832. At this time he was twenty years old, and for a year or more he worked at carpentry or on a farm. When he first came, he took up some land in Palmyra, but soon after sold it and purchased the n. w. ¿ of the s. w. ¿ of section one, and the n. part of the e. } of the s. e. ¿ of section two, in Fairfield, where he now resides. In the spring of 1837 he was elected constable and collector, which office he held for seven or eight years. In 1848 he was elected supervisor of Fairfield, which office he afterwards held, at different times for about eight years. In 1855 he was a member of the House of Representatives of the Michigan Legislature. Since 1848, he has undoubtedly administered on more estates and settled more heirship property, than any man in the southern portion of the county. In 1867 he purchased a large farm in Butler county, Iowa, and commenced farming there on quite a large scale. Several seasons he has raised four hundred acres of wheat. In 1873 his wheat crop amounted to nearly six thousand bushels. The land is worked "on shares," Mr. Eddy receiving one third of all the products. October 14th, 1835, he married Miss Margaritta L. B. Graham, daughter of Wanton and Mary Graham, of Madison, this county, by whom he has had seven children, as follows: Darwin S., born September 14th, 1837, and died December 26th, 1837; Helen Maria, born April 3d, 1839, wife of Joseph Packard, of Butler county Iowa; Parley J., born July 17th, 1842, died March 8th, 1851; Albine T., born February 12th, 1845, wife of William G. Gilbert, of Rome, this county; Wanton G., born August 3d, 1850, of Fairfield, this county ; Lucien F., born Sep- tember 25th. 1854, at home; Choice L., born January 8th 1859, at home. All of the children were born in Fairfield. Mrs. Mar- garitta Eddy was born in Perinton, Monroe county, New York, November 30th, 1817, and came to Michigan with her parents in 1833, and settled in Madison, this county. Her father was born in Cheshire, Massachusetts, in March, 1790, and died in Ingham county, Mich., November 8th, 1865. Her mother was born in Cummington, Massachusetts, in May 1790, and died in Seneca, this county, August 31st, 1878.
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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
LONZO L. SMITH was born in Paris, Oneida county, New York, April 25th, 1814. His father, Isaac Smith, was born in Connecticut, May 3d, 1787, where he lived until after he was twenty-one. He then went to New York, and finally settled in Paris, Oneida county. He was a carpenter and joiner by trade, and followed that business until he was about fif- ty years old. In the fall of 1835 he came to Michigan, and settled on section ten, in Woodstock, on the Chicago turnpike, where he lived as long as he was able to attend to any kind of business. He died in Woodstock, November 2d, 1863. March 10th, 1813, he married Miss Mary Selleck, daughter of Peter and Mary (Lockwood) Selleck, of Paris, Oneida county, New York, by whom he had twelve children, Alonzo L. being the oldest. Mrs. Mary Smith was born in Connecticut, November 22d, 1790, and died in Woodstock, January 16th, 1879. Alonzo L. Smith lived with his father until he was twenty-one, and learned the carpen- ter's trade. He came to Michigan with his parents in 1835, and followed his trade until the spring of 1839, when he settled on land, on section eleven, in Woodstock, that he had purchased about three years before. He taught school during three winters, in Cambridge and Woodstock. Since 1839 he has followed farming exclusively, and still lives on the land he purchased in 1836. Since his residence in Woodstock he has been elected highway commissioner, and has filled the office of school inspector for at least twenty years. He was also elected justice of the peace, and served one term. Mr. Smith has been a very active man, and taken an interest in public affairs. From the first he was active in organizing the school districts in the township, laying out roads, building bridges, etc. He is probably as well known as any man in the township. March 29th, 1837, he married Miss Lovina B. Blackmar, daughter of Charles and Eleanor Blackmar, of Cam- bridge, by whom he has had five children, as follows : Mary E., born December 14th, 1838, now the wife of Richard Van Camp, of Somerset Centre, Hillsdale county ; George W., born. June 2d, 1842, a farmer of Woodstock ; Cynthia A., born May 10th, 1845, now the wife of Joseph N. Windle, of Nelson, Kent county, Mich- igan ; Harriet M., born May 21st, 1850, now the wife of Warren Seger, of Rome; Loren A. born July 2d, 1852, died April 8th, 1868. Mrs. Lovina B. Smith was born in Wales, Erie county, New York, December 16th, 1812. She came to Michigan with her parents, and settled in Cambridge, this county, in June, 1829. Her father, Charles Blackmar, was born in Massachusetts, Decem- ber 25th, 1784, and died of cholera, in Cambridge, this county, August 22d, 1834. Her mother was Miss Eleanor Rice, who was
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
born in Rhode Island, March 20th, 1790. She died in Wood- stock, March 20th, 1856.
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OHN FOSTER, JR., was born in county Derry, Ireland, March 21st, 1807. His father, John Foster, Sr., was born in the same place in 1780. In 1812 he purchased a farm in Ballymuldirg, and always lived there until his death in 1865. In 1806 he married Miss Nellie O'Neil, daughter of John O'Neil, of Maghrafelt, by whom he had four children, John being the oldest. Mrs. Nellie Foster was born in Maghrafelt and died in Ballymul - dirg in 1819. The ancestors of John Foster, Sr., came from Scotland. John Foster, Jr., the subject of this sketch, lived with his parents until he was twenty-five years old. In April, 1832, he came to America, and landed in New York, June 8th. The cholera broke out in the city a short time after his arrival, and he went to Farm- ington, Ontario county, New York, and worked for a farmer until the spring of 1835. That spring he came to Michigan, and land- ed in Adrian on the 15th of May. He immediately commenced looking for land, and on the first day of June he located from the government the w. ¿ of the s. e. ¿ of section 27, the n. w. } of the n. e. ¿ of section 34, and the n. e. ¿ of the n. w. ¿ of section 34, in Rollin, where he has resided ever since. He has cleared one hun- dred and ten acres, built a good house, barns, sheds, &c. During the winter of 1835-6, he, with one of his neighbors, went to Adrian to the old Red mill. They went with an ox team, being compelled to go by the way of Devil's lake and thence through Rome Centre. They were two days on the road, and waited three days in Adrian for their "grist." Their money gave out on Sunday morning, and they were obliged to eat parched corn and drink river water for breakfast. Their grist was to be ground that morning, but just before their turn came, the mill-dam gave way, and they were obliged to go home without their flour. April 17th, 1832, he married Miss Jane Foster, daughter of John Foster, of Ballymul- dirg, Ireland, by whom he has had five children, as follows: John B., born in Farmington, Ontario county, New York, September 29th, 1833, now a farmer of Rollin; Mary M., born in Farming- ton, December 26th, 1834, now the wife of Oscar F. Richmond, of Jonesville, Michigan ; Samuel, born in Rollin, June 26th, 1836, died November 16th, 1846 ; Esther J., born in Rollin, December 12th, 1838, now the wife of William Ball, of Rollin ; Daniel R.,
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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
born in Rollin, July 9th, 1841, of Rollin. Mrs. Jane Foster was born in Dinemony, county Derry, Ireland, in 1801, and died in Rollin, February 11th, 1874. Her ancestors came from Scot- land.
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EACON ISAAC ADAMS was born in Tioga, Pennsylvania, December 16th, 1802. At ten years of age he was left fatherless. At fifteen he experienced religion and was bap- tized into the Burns church, by Rev. Jesse Brayman ; so that for over sixty-one years he had lived in the Good Shepherd's fold. Of this long privileged life he said: "In all this time my fellow- ship with the church and its members has been harmonious and unbroken." For ten years he was clerk of the Baptist church in Tioga. There, in 1824, he joined in organizing a temperance society, whose written constitution and pledge he had framed, but a few months before his death, and sent to the Tioga church-the beginning of his unwearied faithfulness through life as a total abstinence worker. There he was twice married; and thence with his second wife he came to Tecumseh, and commenced on his new farm, in 1835. He immediately joined the church in Adrian, where the earnest Marvin Allen was spoken of by him as his first pastor in 1837. In 1839 he, with others, organized the Tecumseh church, in which he was an officer through most of the forty years ensuing. He was an industrious, provident, intelligent and suc- sessful farmer, held in high esteem and honor in the town and county. The chastenings of his Father's love were many upon him. Three times the wife and mother were taken from him and his little children. Of his source of comfort he said : " I record it as my experience that in the christian religion I have found a sure antidote for all the sorrows of life; and although death has visited my family nine times, by God's grace I have been enabled to say, 'Not my will, but Thine, O, Lord be done.'" Referring again to his domestic life he says: "For fifty-four years, by God's assistance, I have maintained the family altar. And weak as my efforts in His service have been, He has rewarded them by the hopeful conversion of all my children, and by a firm and unswery- ing hope, grounded on the atonement of Christ, that at death I shall be rewarded with the crown of eternal life. For the past forty years I have not doubted ny adoption as a child of God, notwithstanding I feel an abiding consciousness that I am a sinner.
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
I have discarded all self-righteousness, and trust alone in the atoning blood of Christ. Here my soul finds an anchor, sure and steadfast. And now I am awaiting the call of the Master, not anxious whether my days be few or many; and commending it to the world as my testimony, living and dying, that the christian religion is the only true source of blessing in this life, and the only sure ground for the expectation of blessedness hereafter. Amen ! ISAAC ADAMS."
For more than forty years in Michigan, Isaac Adams had done well his part towards the supply of our churches and enterprises with this reliable class of helpers and leaders. Throughout this period he was prominent in his church, his association, the convention and its different boards, and all the reform movements that had been progressing around him. Our educational work and mis- sionary interests have from the first enjoyed his fervent prayers and hearty gifts. And in the last cares of his christian steward- ship, the Tecumseh church and the causes of our State convention received affectionate and liberal recognition. From his ascending spirit his mantle has fallen. Upon the sons that survive him, and upon many of the sons of Zion, may it be found fittingly resting, and be long and faithfully worn. A cancerous affection having developed in the temporal muscles of the face, he at four different times subjected himself to surgical operations and hospital treat- ment ; insisting upon these at the last, less with the expectation of cure, than with the hope of preventing that form of the malady which he most deprecated. In this his prayers were answered; but it was through many suffering's that his patient and even cheerful endurance won its beautiful and precions tribute to the "grace sufficient." His death occurred at Tecumseh, January 23d, 1879. His funeral was a crowded service in his loved place of worship, and on the Lord's day, the pastor, Rev. Mr. Conley, preaching of the peaceful end of the upright, and other churches were repre- sented in the arrangements. The widow, who has faithfully shared with him the duties, joys and trials of the last thirty years, was comforted by the presence of her only son, a lawyer in Chicago, and the other dutiful children.
YRENUS WHALEY was born in Cato, Cayuga county, New York, October 31st, 1816. His father, John Whaley, was born in Washington county, Vermont, in 1786. He lived in Vermont until the breaking out of the war of 1812, 56
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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
when he enlisted, and served through the war. He participated in the battles of Lundy's Lane, Chippewa, and many others. He was severely wounded, and received a pension from the govern- ment. After the close of the war, he settled on some land in Cayuga county, New York, and lived there until the fall of 1840. He then moved to Gorham, Fulton county, Ohio, where he lived until his death, November 23d, 1851. About the year 1807 he married Miss Samantha Needham, of Palmyra, New York, by whom he had four children. She died in 1814. In 1815 he mar- ried Miss Matilda Collins, daughter of John and Prusia Collins, of Cato, by whom he had thirteen children, Cyrenus being the oldest. Mrs. Matilda Whaley was born in Greenfield, Saratoga county, New York. Her grandparents came from Scotland, and settled in New Jersey. Mrs. Whaley died in Morenci, November 23d, 1878. Cyrenus Whaley lived with his parents until he was about eleven years old. His father then "hired him out" to a farmer, for three months, for three dollars and twenty-five eents per month. Each succeeding year, until he was nineteen, he practiced the same thing, when Cyrenus made up his mind that he would work no longer and give all his earnings to his father. He started for the West, going as far as Buffalo on the canal, when, on his arrival there, he was attacked with such a severe home-sickness, that he walked'all the way back, making a distance of forty miles, through the snow, the last day. During the next four years he remained in Ononda- ga county, and worked by the month, and in 1839 came to Michi- gan, and settled in Columbia, Jackson county, on land that had been purchased for him by a brother-in-law. He did not like the country, and soon moved to Gorhanı, Fulton county, Ohio, and purchased forty acres of land, paying for it by chopping and clear- ing twenty acres. An invoice taken after he had moved into his shanty, ten by fifteen, shows that his entire worldly goods consisted of one bed and bedstead, six chairs, one table, six plates, six cups and saucers, six milk pans, one gallon crock, one bake kettle, one frying pan, one kettle, one tea-kettle, one axe, one " fiddle," three dollars and twenty-five cents, cash. His principal assets were pluek, courage, and a determination to have a home of his own. After two years hard labor, an invoice would have shown a very satisfactory result. He then owned eighty acres of land, a good yoke of cattle, one wagon, one cow, six hogs, and some poultry. He has the old fiddle still, and says it earned him many dollars when he most needed them. In 1842 he sold out in Gorham, and purchased a new farm, on section sixteen, in Seneca, where he now resides. This was all new land when he purchased it. He has cleared and improved one hundred acres of it, and he says it is in
439
OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
the best and most productive part of Lenawee county. Besides clearing his own farm, he has cleared about one hundred acres of heavy timbered land for other people. In his younger days he was a powerful man, and could, perhaps, cradle more wheat and chop more wood in a day, than any man in the county. February 4th, 1835, he married Miss Sally Gorham, daughter of Shubael and Polly Gorham, of Elbridge, Onondaga county, New York, by whom he has had seven children, as follows: Squire M., born in Skaneateles, New York, April 28th, 1838, a farmer of Seneca ; Helen, born in Gorham, Ohio, March 15th, 1841, now the wife of Henry Hayward, of Seneca ; Philetus S., born in Seneca, August 21st, 1842, a farmer of Seneca ; Eska, born in Elbridge, New York, May 4th, 1846, now the wife of William Weatherby, of Chesterfield, Fulton county, Ohio; Cyrenus C., born in Seneca, October 21st, 1850, at home ; Alice, born in Seneca, June 27th, 1852, died March 10th, 1859 ; Maud, born in Seneca, December 25th, 1854, died March 11th, 1856. Mrs. Sally Whaley was born in Elbridge, Onondaga county, New York, July 4th, 1818. Her father was born in Pomfret, Connecticut, in 1779, his ancestors coming from Ireland. He died in Elbridge. New York, in 1850. Her mother was Miss Polly Carpenter, who was born in Herki- mer county, New York, in 1796, and died in Morenci, in Novem- ber, 1866. Mr. Whaley feels that he has prospered, and perhaps, with the opportunities he has had, done as well as any man in the county, but he is not selfish enough to forget that his wife (who has now lived with him about forty-five years,) has done her full share, and has often, by her good advice, cheerfulness, and hope, helped him through a difficulty. He believes the pioneer women did as much to make Lenawee county what it is, as the men, and is willing to accord them all the credit.
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TEPHEN A. EATON, of Hudson, was born in Perinton, Monroe county, New York, August 13th, 1825. His father, Silas Eaton, was born in Duanesburg, Montgomery county, New York, February 22d, 1798, where he resided until his twelfth year, when he removed with his parents to Perinton, Monroe, county, New York, where he was educated, and lived until he was married. He lived in Western New York until 1834, when he came to Michigan. He first came in the spring of that year, and located land on sections seven and eight in the present township of
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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
Hudson, in June. He then returned to New York and brought his family, arriving in Adrian, October 10th, and immediately started with teams, with his goods and family, for Mr. Kidder's house on Bean creek. On the night of the 11th he was obliged to camp in the woods, and on the following morning Mr. Eaton re . marked that he would not move again if he was sure he was on his own land; he was suspicious that he was in the neighborhood of' it, but did not know. He therefore went on to Mr. Kidder's who was to show him the land, and afterwards discovered that he camped on his own premises. His family was the seventh to settle in the present town of Hudson, and he was afterwards active in organizing the township. Mr. Eaton at once took an interest in the improvement and development of the township, and was prom- inent and efficient in all that tended to enhance the interests and add to the comfort and prosperity of the settlers. He lived on his farm until 1837, when he removed to Keene, Hillsdale county, where he was postmaster, under appointment of Martin Van Buren. In 1840 he removed to the village of . Hudson. He was supervisor during the years 1848-9, and was postmaster of the village for eight years, under Presidents Pierce and Buchanan. He built five miles of the superstructure of the Michigan Southern railroad, including bridges, between Hudson and Pittsford, in 1839-40. He never did any active business after 1860. He died in Hudson, August 21st, 1876. November 18th, 1819, he mar- ried Miss Eliza Simmons, of Victor, Ontario county, New York, by whom he had six children, as follows: The first born died in infancy; Harriet M., now the wife of J. M. Johnson, of Toledo ; Stephen A., of Hudson; Constantine S, who died in Hudson after living to the age of manhood ; Hervey, died at Barnes' Barn, California, in the spring of 1852; Ransom J., now a resident of Hudson, and of the firm of Eaton Brothers, furniture dealers. Four of these children came to Michigan with their parents from New York. Mrs. Eliza Eaton was born in Victor, Ontario county, New York, in June, 1803, and now resides in Hudson with her son, R. J. Eaton. Mrs. Eaton is the oldest lady resident of the township of Hudson, who came here the mother of a family. She still retains all her faculties, physical and mental, without in- firmity of any kind. Stephen A. Eaton came to Michigan with his parents in his tenth year, and has called Hudson his home since that time. He was educated in the district schools of Hud- son, and four terms at a select school in Adrian. At the age of fourteen he commenced clerking in the store of C. H. and H. M. Boies, of Hudson, and has followed merchandizing ever since. He spent four years as a clerk in Adrian, with Redfield & Kim-
441
OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
ball, and Walker & Chaffee. In the fall of 1847 he commenced business for himself, and has continued ever since, and is the oldest merchant now doing businese in the village. August 30th, 1852, he married Miss Amy A. Eaton, daughter of Joshua C. and Mary Eaton, of Perinton, Monroe county, New York, by whom he has had two children, as follows : Mary N., born January 26th, 1857, died February 26th, 1860; Addie G., born in Hudson, September 19th, 1861, at home. Mrs. Amy A. Eaton was born in Perin- ton, Monroe county, New York, July 28th, 1827. Her father was a native of New York, and traced his ancestry back to the Mayflower. Two men by the name of Eaton were among the Pilgrims, and settled in Connecticut. Her mother was Miss Mary Newell, who was a native of Southington, Connecticut, and died in Perinton in 1836.
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AMES N. A. L. SIMONDS was born in Wheatland, Mon- roe county, New York, August, 27th, 1824. His father, Nooney Simonds, was born in New York in December, 1790. When a boy he was apprenticed to a woolen manufacturer, of Trenton, New York, and after working there for several years he moved to York, New York, and established a woolen mill of his own, which he run for three years, when he sold it and went to Wheatland and purchased a farm and water power, and again built a woolen factory on Allen's creek. He lived in Wheatland until the fall of 1835, when he went to Huron county, Ohio, and purchased two thousand acres of land from a land agent, who did business .for a sea captain, who then resided in the city of New York. The captain, after hearing of the purchase, repudiated the action of his agent, and Mr. Simonds lost the property but recov- ered his money. The property has since become very valuable. After this transaction-the same fall-he came to 'Tecumseh with the intention of purchasing what is now known as the "Globe mill" water power, with the farm attached, but he considered the price too high, and finally purchased of Amos Hoag a water power, it being the s. 2. of the w. ¿ of the n. w. ¿ of section 22 ; also the n. } of the w. ¿ of the n. w. ¿ of section 22, of Stephen Titus ; also the e. ¿ of the n. e. Į of section 22, of Lodema Hoag ; also the s. w. 4 of section 22, of Israel Hoag ; also the w. } of the s. w. Į of sec- tion 36, of George Cleveland ; all in the township of Raisin. He
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