USA > Michigan > Lenawee County > History and biographical record of Lenawee County, Michigan, Volume I > Part 49
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
children, as follows: Sarah A., born July 9th, 1847, now the wife of William Hart, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Elias O., born April 6th, 1849, a resident of Medina; Ida, born November 19th, 1854, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Richard I., born June 12th, 1859, a farmer of Hillsdale county; Elizabeth M., born April 12th, 1863, died September 13th, 1864; Clarence, born January 1st, 1866, at home. Mrs. Wealthy A. Kinney was born in Whitesborough, Oneida county, New York, December 17th, 1824. Her father and mother were natives of Vermont, and moved into Oneida county, New York, in an early day. They came to Mich- igan about 1852, and resided in Adrian for many years. Chester Buck died at Plymouth, Indiana, January 13th, 1872. Mrs. Buck died at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. C. B. Johnson, of Adrian, May 12, 1876. June 15th, 1869, Mr. Kinney married Miss Mary Waggoner, daughter of Israel and Lucretia Waggoner, of Milan, Ohio. Her father was born in New Jersey, in 1790, and previous to 1815, moved to Huron (now Erie) county, Ohio, where he lived until his death, which occurred in 1857. His ancestors came from Germany. Her mother was a daughter of Francis and Lucretia Buck, of Shaftsbury, Vermont. She was a sister of the late Ira Buck, so long a resident of Adrian. She was born in Western Massachusetts, April 1st, 1787. She was a pioneer of Western New York, and went to Buffalo with her brother, Abel Buck, in 1807. She was twice married. Her first husband was Peter Lake, who died in 1816. She married Israel Waggoner in 1819, by whom she had four children. She died in Seneca, October 27th, 1872.
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ON. ORSON GREEN was born in Palmyra (now Mace- don), Wayne county, New York, March 5th, 1812. His father, Capt. Ephraim Green, was born in Thompson, Con- necticut, October 11th, 1773. When a young man he went to New York, and settled in Ontario (now Wayne) county, about the year 1798. He purchased a farm in the woods, and was one of the earliest settlers of what now comprises Wayne county. He always lived there, and was a man of prominence, filling several town offices, and other honorable positions. He was captain of a militia company, and performed a little service in the war of 1812. In 1800 he married Miss Sarah Claghorn, of Williamsburgh,
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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
Massachusetts, by whom he had nine children, Orson being the fourth son and sixth child. Mrs. Sarah Green was born in Wil- liamsburgh, Massachusetts, October 12th, 1776, and died in Mace- don, New York, April 15th, 1843. Capt. Ephraim Green died at the home of his son, James Green, in Otto, Cattaraugus county, New York, while on a visit, in 1857. Orsor. Green lived with his parents until he was twenty-one, and received only a limited education. In the spring of 1833, he left home with a pack on his back, and started for the then wilderness West. He traveled the entire distance on foot, and arrived in Adrian the 2d day of May. After a few days rest he commenced looking for land, and spent twenty-eight days in going through Lenawee, Washtenaw and Wayne counties. He finally arrived at Detroit, and took the old steamboat " Enterprise," for Buffalo, and so on home. Mav 6th, 1834 he again started for Michigan, and after about six days travel, landed at Detroit, going directly to Van Buren, Wayne county, where his wife's relatives lived. May 12th, he arrived at the house of William Beal, who had, during the previous winter, settled in the present town of Rollin. Mr. Green had, by corres- pondence, taken a job of clearing some land for Mr. Beal. In June, 1834, Mr. Green located two hundred and forty acres of land on section ten, in Rollin, where he now resides. He remem- bers the names of the settlers who then lived within the limits of the present township, as follows : Levi Thompson was the first settler ; Erastus Aldrich, Hiram Aldrich, Joseph Beal, Sr., Porter Beal, William Beal, Joseph Beal, Jr., James Sloan, Ephraim Sloan, Warner Aylsworth and John Upton. Mr. Green was elected jus- tice of the peace in the spring of 1837, and held the office for eighteen years. In 1845 he was elected supervisor of Rollin, and held the office until 1853, with the exception of one year, when James Patrick was elected. In 1859 he was again elected, and served one year. In 1863 he was elected to the same office, and served one year. In 1875 he was appointed, by the town board, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the removal of Mr. Dolbear, (who then held the office of supervisor,) to the north part of the State, and was elected for the years 1876-7. In 1858 he was elected to the Michigan Legislature, and was a member of the House. In 1870 he was again elected to the same position, and served through the regular session of 1871, and the extra session of 1872, and was on several important committees. February 6th, 1834, he married Miss Elizabeth Douglass, daughter of Daniel and Han- nah Donglass, of Walworth, Wayne county, New York, by whom he had four children, as follows: Daniel D., born November 27th, 1836, died January 25th, 1848 ; Ephraim C., born January
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
18th, 1838, now a farmer of Rollin ; Sarah M., born November 27th, 1840, at home ; Elizabeth D., born February 5th, 1850, now the wife of Frank Alexander, of Rollin. Mrs. Elizabeth Green was born in Walworth, Wayne county, New York, March 18th, 1814, and died in Rollin, February 25th, 1850. Her father and mother were born in Volentown, Connecticut, her father No- vember 27th, 1769 ; her mother April 12th, 1773. Her father died in Macedon, New York, June 12th, 1827 ; her mother died at Van Buren, Wayne county, Michigan, September 15th, 1836. February 23d, 1863, Mr. Green married Miss Clemenza Douglass, a sister of his first wife. She died August 24th, 1871, without issue.
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TILLIAM WEAVER was born in Clarenden, Rutland county, Vermont, August 1st, 1800. His father, Richard Weaver, was born in Rhode Island, in 1750, and at the age of sixteen he went to sea as a sailor, and followed that occupa- tion until the breaking out of the Revolutionary war, when he came home and enlisted as a soldier, and served until its close. He was married, during the war, to Miss Judith Reynolds, whose parents lived near Albany, by whom he had eleven children, six sons and five daughters, of whom William is the youngest, only three of whom are now living. William Weaver lived in Ver- mont until he was eighteen years old, when he emigrated on foot, to what was then known as the Holland Purchase, in Niagara county, New York, where he worked on a farm until he was mar- ried. He bought land of the Holland Company, on "articles," and from the year 1824 to 1835, he bought and sold several valuable
farms. Holland Company "articles" were considered merchan- dize in those days, and many farms changed hands several times before the company got its pay for the land. In 1835 he sold his article on his farm of eighty acres, for fourteen dollars per acre. He owned this article only about two years, and made about seven hundred dollars, "clear profit," out of the transaction. After this sale, in the spring of 1835, he came to Michigan, leaving the town of Hartland, Niagara county, on the first day of May, load- ing his goods on two wagons, driving the entire distance, unload- ing in Madison township, this county, on the twenty-first day of May, being twenty-one days on the road. He lived in Madison until the September following, when he took up land on section thirty, in what is now known as Somerset township, Hillsdale
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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
county. In June, 1836, he sold this land, and in July he purchas- ed another lot on the same section and range. He lived on this farm, and cleared and fenced it, until 1846, when he sold it, and purchased another lot on section thirty-one, in the same town and range, where he lived until December, 1863. He married Miss Mary Earl, daughter of Richard and Mercy Earl, of Hartland, Niagara county, New York, December 25th, 1821, by whom he had seven children, four sons and three daughters, as follows : Richard E, Loamy, (dead,) Elizabeth, Clement E., Ann, William R. and Charles M. Mrs. Weaver died the second day of August, 1870, while visiting her daughter, in Wisconsin; her remains were brought to Hillsdale, and buried in Oak Grove cemetery. On the 9th of November, 1875, he married Mrs. Matilda Pierce, of North Adams, Hillsdale county. He was elected the first justice of the peace after the organization of the township of Somerset, in 1837, and served four years. He was again elected justice in 1845, and served twelve years. In 1838 he was elected supervisor of his township. In 1840-1 he was again elected supervisor. He was elected township assessor, under the old law, for five years ; was elected two years a constable, and overseer of the poor, one year. Mr. Weaver has always been a strong, active man, diligent, prompt and honorable, and enjoyed the confidence and esteem of the com- munity in which he lived.
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E DWARD W. BEERS was born in Knowlesville, Orleans county, New York, May 4th, 1827. His father, Charles W. Beers, was born in Romulus, Seneca county, New York, August 4th, 1797, where he lived until the spring of 1821, when he moved to Orleans county. He resided there until the fall of 1831. During the summer of 1825 he came to Michigan and prospected for land through Wayne, Washtenaw and Oakland counties but did not locate. In the fall of 1831 he came to Michi- gan with his family, and settled three miles south-east of the village of Ypsilanti, where he lived until the fall of 1833. He then came to Lenawee county and located eighty acres of land on section 19 in Adrian, where he lived most of the time until his death, which occurred June 5th, 1874. December 7th, 1817, he married Miss Keziah Wade, daughter of Jeptha and Sarah Wade, of Romulus, New York, by whom he had nine children, Edward W. being the third son and fourth child. There were six boys and three girls, seven of whom lived to become men and women.
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Mrs. Keziah Beers was born in Morristown, New Jersey, August 16th, 1800, and died in Adrian, February 15th, 1872. Her father, Jeptha Wade, was born in New Jersey, his ancestors coming from Wales. He died in Seneca county, New York, about the year 1807. Her mother, Sarah Wade, was born in New Jersey, and died in Charlotte, Michigan, in 1852. Edward W. Beers lived with his parents until his twenty-second year, when he commenced working by the month on a farm, and continued until the fall of 1851, when he went to California. He took the Panama route, and sailed from New York with 1600 passengers, on board the old steamship Georgia. When about the third day out, nearly one thousand of the sturdy and impatient gold-seekers were most horribly sea-sick, but finally all recovered and the Isthmus was crossed. This was the first ship-load of passengers that ever rode over the Panama railroad, ten miles of which was then completed. Mr. Beers remained in California until January, 1856, when he returned to Adrian. Since that time he has given his attention to farming, and now owns his father's homestead, a place that he has called home for over forty-six years. He now owns one hundred and twenty acres of land, with good buildings and all the comforts of life. March 27th, 1856, he married Miss Hannah B. Hood, daughter of William and Louisa Hood, of Rome, this county, by whom he has had three children, as follows: Elmer S., born July 27th, 1857, at home; Cass H., born August 28th, 1865, at home; Carrie L., born August 29th, 1869, died July 18th, 1874. Mrs., Hannah B. Beers was born in Romulus, Seneca county, New York, November 8th, 1832, and came to Michigan with her parents in 1837, who settled on section 26 in Rome, where they still reside.
RANCIS VAN DOREN was born in Shelby, Orleans county, New York, May 12th, 1820. [For his parents' his- tory, see Edmund B. Van Doren's record.] Francis Van Doren lived with his father until his sixteenth year, when he went to Adrian and learned the cabinet maker's trade with Mr. Carey, and afterwards went to Warsaw, in Adrian township, and worked two years with David M. Haight, manufacturing cabinet work and chairs. He afterwards worked in Homer, Calhoun county, at the same business. In the fall of 1840 he went to Havana, Chemung county, New York, and worked at the sash and blind business for
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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
two years. In 1843 he went to Prattsburg, and worked two years at the cabinet business. He also carried on the business there one year for himself. In 1845 he returned to Michigan, and opened a cabinet shop on his father's farm, in Adrian, and carried it on for several years. In 1863 he purchased forty acres of land on section twenty-two, in Adrian, it being a part of his father's homestead, and has added to it until he owns eighty-eight acres. In 1852 he invented a cultivator and drill, combined, and February 14th, 1860, he patented what is now so widely and favorably known as Van Doren's " Little Giant Hand Corn Planter," which he has manufactured and sold ever since. November 15th, 1846, he mar- ried Miss Sarah Brockway, daughter of William and Dolly Brock- way, by whom he has had one child, Julius, born in Adrian, September 9th, 1849, who now works his father's farm. Mrs. Sarah Van Doren was born in Enfield, Tompkins county, New York, July 15th, 1824. She came to Michigan with relatives, in 1845. Her father was born in Seneca county, New York, Feb- ruary 28th, 1784, and died in Newtown (now Elmira), Chemung county, New York, October 30th, 1848. Her mother, Miss Dolly Burgess, was born in New York city, September 12th, 1782, and died in Adrian, November 1st, 1859. Her father was a sea-cap- tain for many years.
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HOMAS MOSHER, of Raisin, was born in Stanford, Dutch- ess county, New York, December 26th, 1806. His father, Joshua Mosher, was born at the same place, where he run a grist-mill until 1808, when he sold out, and moved to Laurens, Otsego county, where he purchased a farm and saw-mill, and soon afterwards built a grist-mill, and put in a wool-carding machine. He lived in Laurens for several years, when he moved to Skane - ateles, New York. About the year 1800 he married Miss Sarah Hoag, daughter of Paul Hoag, a farmer and Quaker, of Stanford, Dutchess county, New York, by whom he had eleven children. The first child died an infant, but the other ten children lived until the youngest was over fifty years old. Mrs. Mosher died at Skaneateles, New York, in 1860, and Mr. Mosher died at the same place in 1863. Thomas Mosher lived with his father until he was twenty-one years old, and was both miller and farmer. In 1827 he left home, and returned to Dutchess county, and work- ed by the month on a farm, and the following year he went to the
489
OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
" Holland Purchase," Niagara county, where he purchased a farm of sixty acres. In 1832 he sold his farm, and came to Michigan, and arrived in Adrian in May, and took up one hundred and sixty acres of land in Madison, about six miles south of Adrian. He lived upon this land until 1851, when he sold to Elisha Hinsdale, and purchased a farm of Noah Tindall, in Raisin, four miles south- west of Tecumseh, on the Adrian road. January 15th, 1834, he married Miss Lucy Baker, daughter of Moses Baker, a Quaker pioneer of Lenawee county, by whom he had two children, as fol- lows : Isaac, a farmer, and lives upon a part of the home farm ; Sarah, now the wife of Moses Comfort, and lives at the homestead. Mrs. Mosher was born in Macedon, Wayne county, New York, November 25th, 1809, and came to Michigan with her parents in the spring of 1832, and settled at Baker's Corners, in Fairfield. Both Mr. and Mrs. Mosher's ancestors were Quakers, and origin- ally came from New England, the Mosher family being direct descendants of Hugh Mosher, who came from England sometime in 1600.
RS. PHILENA PRATT, of Hudson, was born in Geneva, New York, March 4th, 1791. She was the daughter of Elijah Brown, who was born in Connecticut and was a farmer. During the Revolutionary war he lost all his property, and after the close of the war he moved to Jerusalem, on Seneca Lake, and commenced life a second time. He built the first vessel that sailed on Seneca Lake, and lived in Jerusalem about five years. He then moved to Sodus Point, and lived seven years, and about the year 1804 he moved to the Holland Purchase and bought a farm in the present county of Orleans. He died suddenly in 1805. About the year 1777, he married Miss Barsheba Sheffield, of Groton, Connecticut, by whom he had thirteen children, the subject of this sketch being the only survivor. In 1816 Miss Philena Brown was married to the Rev. David Pratt, of Ridge- way, Orleans county, New York. Mrs. Pratt is the mother of nine children, four of whom she brought to Michigan. James B. Pratt was her only son, and always lived in Hudson, where he was a prominent and well known citizen He was the father of three children: Mrs. Elizabeth M. Buck, wife of Fred. J. Buck, of Adrian ; James C., now of Adrian, and Jennie P., of Hudson. James B. Pratt was born in Ridgeway, Orleans county New York, November 6th, 1824, and died in Hudson December 13th, 1875 .
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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
In June, 1849, he married Miss Dolly R. Lyon, daughter of Baxter Lyon, of Medina, this county. Mrs. Dolly R. Pratt was born in Stratton, Vermont, April 8th, 1831, and died in Hudson, Jan- uary 8th, 1864. Mrs. Philena Pratt came to Michigan with her husband, ir. June, 1837, and settled in this county, Mr. Pratt being the first Presbyterian minister in Lanesville, (now Hudson). There was no church in the village, which then consisted of five houses and a log school house. It was in the Jog school house that Mr. Pratt preached for nearly seven years, before a church was built. He was the first clergyman that preached a sermon in Hudson. He also preached in Rome and other parts of the county. He was the only located preacher in the Western part of the county for several years. He officiated at most of the funerals and weddings in the early days of the settlement, and was always ready and willing to accommodate at all times. He was killed one morning in the spring of 1844, by the limb of a tree falling upon his head. Mrs. Pratt is still living, in her 89th year, the only survivor of her family, having followed her husband and all her children to the grave. She is still in good health and sound mind, and a remarkably well preserved representative of the old Puritan race of New England.
ATTHEW B. McCONNEL was born in Romulus, Seneca county, New York, March 31st, 1813. His father, Amzi L. McConnel, was born in Elmira, New York, December 2d, 1785, where he was a farmer, and lived until 1814, when he moved to Orleans county, New York, purchased a farm, and resid- ed there until the spring of 1833, when he came to Michigan, arriving in Adrian in June, that year. He immediately located the w. } of the n. w. 1 of Section 17, in Adrian, where he lived until July 29th, 1837, when he died, from bleeding at the nose. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and after his death the fam- ily got forty acres of land on his soldier's claim. February 11th, 1811, he married Miss Catharine Beers, daughter of Henry Beers, of Romulus, Seneca county, New York, by whom he had seven children, Matthew B. being the oldest. Mrs. Catharine McCon- nel was of English-Irish extraction, and was born in Elmira, New York, August 3d, 1794. She died in Adrian, February 17th, 1852. Matthew B. McConnel lived with his parents until he was nearly twenty-five years old, and was brought up a farmer. He received a limited education in a district school. At the death of
491
OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
his father, he was made administrator and settled his estate, and in the division of the property, he came into possession of about forty acres of land. At the death of his mother, which occurred a few years later, he purchased the interest of the other heirs in the homestead, where he now resides, having added to it until he owns one hundred and sixty acres of good, productive land. He has never paid attention to anything but farming, and has always look- ed after his own affairs. He has never been a politician, nor an office seeker. He has always worked hard, and has cleared over one hundred acres of timber land. December 26th, 1838, he mar- ried Miss Hannah Soop, daughter of Abram and Maria Soop, of Belleville, Wayne county, Michigan, by whom he had ten children, as follows: Maria, born August 26th, 1841, now the wife of Henry Brazee, of Adrian ; Rachel, born July 11th, 1843, died February 22d, 1845; David, born April 13th, 1845, a farmer of Van Buren, Wayne county, Michigan ; Mathew and Madison, (twins) born July 9th, 1847 ; Matthew died at the age of two years, and Madison is now a resident of Gratiot county, Michigan ; Har- riet N., born July 6th, 1850, now the wife of Eugene Westfall, of Van Buren, Wayne county, Michigan; Isadore, born November 12th, 1858, now the wife of Joseph Marsh, of Adrian ; one child died in infancy. Mrs. Hannah McConnel was born in Cayuga county, New York, March 27th, 1819, and came to Michigan with her parents in 1832, and settled in Van Buren, Wayne coun- ty. She died in Adrian, February 25th, 1862. July 3d, 1862, he married Mrs. Margaret Moody, sister of his first wife. She died September 12th, 1862. January 6th, 1864, he married Miss Harriet McCollum, daughter of Peter and Mary McCollum, of Tecumseh, by whom he has had three children, as follows : Susan J., born March 14th, 1865, at home; Joseph A., born January 12th, 1867, died January 10th, 1873; Eugene, born June 24th, 1869, at home. Mrs. Harriet McConnel was born in Tecumseh, October 12th, 1829. Her parents came to Michigan in the fall of 1828, and settled in Tecumseh. Her father died in Tecumseh, in 1862. Her mother died in Franklin, in 1874.
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WELLA M. CLAPP was born in Salem, Washington county, New York, August 12th, 1800. His father, Stephen Clapp, was born in Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1750, where he lived until the breaking out of the Revolutionary war. He was a soldier in that war and rose to the rank of major and
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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
served to its close. In 1780 he moved to Washington county,
New York, where he became a large farmer and mill owner. In 1777 he married Miss Katy ,Wheeler, daughter of Ephraim Wheeler, of Shrewsberry, Massachusetts. By this marriage there were nine children, eight sons and one daughter, Dwella M. being the youngest son, and is now the only survivor of the family. Dwella M. Clapp lived with his father on the farm in Washington county, until he was nineteen years old, when he went into his brother's store in Salem, where he remained about six years, when he, with two brothers, engaged in the lumber business in Essex county, New York, where he remained for three years. He then went to Pittsford, Monroe county, New York, where he remained with a brother, in his store, three years. He then went to Roch - ester, and became a book-keeper and clerk in Cleveland & Acer's stage office, where he remained until June, 1833, when he came to Adrian, Michigan, and for one year was a clerk in A. W. Bud- long's store. In July, 1833, he purchased of Aaron Baker, two hundred acres of land in the south-west corner of Raisin township, where he still resides. There was a log house and about sixteen acres improved at that time. In the fall of 1833 he was appointed deputy sheriff by James Patchen, who was the first sheriff of the county. He has held several town offices, such as town treasurer, assessor, etc. In religion he is a Presbyterian, having joined that church at Salem, New York, in 1823, and united with the church in Adrian, by certificate, in 1835. In politics he has always been a Democrat, and voted for Andrew Jackson, in 1824. He has, during his residence on his farm cleared, fenced and subdued, one hundred and forty-four acres, and has erected a fine house, and good and ample barns. April 23d, 1834, he married Miss Dorothy A. Acer, daughter of John Acer, of Pittsford, Monroe county, New York, by whom he had three children, as follows: Romanda A., deceased ; Hannah M., wife of George M. Hodges, of Henrietta, Monroe county, New York ; Otis A., now resides on the old homestead. Mrs. Dorothy A. Clapp was born in Henri- etta, Monroe county, New York, September 23d, 1806, and died at her home, in Raisin, this county, February 9th, 1852. August 20th, 1853, he married Miss Harriet Dayton, daughter of Isaac Dayton, of Henrietta, Monroe county, New York. She was born at Henrietta, August 12th, 1813, and died at her home, in Raisin, this county, April 14th, 1876. There were no children by this marriage. His son, Otis A. Clapp, was born June 15th, 1844, at the old homestead, in Raisin, where he has always lived, and now car- ries on the farm. October 12th, 1870, he married Miss Gertie A. Ladd, daughter of Charles E. Ladd, a wealthy farmer, of Henri-
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