USA > Michigan > Lenawee County > History and biographical record of Lenawee County, Michigan, Volume II > Part 29
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EORGE B. HORTON was born in Lafayette, Medina county, Ohio, April 17, 1845. His father, Samuel Horton, was born in Lincolnshire, near Boston, England, December 9, 1818, where he lived until he was seventeen years old, when he, with a schoolmate, determined to emigrate, and going to London, found a ship about ready to sail; they took passage, and landed at New York, after a voyage of one hundred and four days. Dur-
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ing the voyage seventeen passengers perished from starvation, and Mr. Horton was so reduced in strength and vitality that he lay in Castle Garden, N. Y., for six weeks before he was able to do any work. After recovering he found he had beenr robbed of nearly all his effects, but had money enough to take him as far as Trov, where he found employment with some lumbermen to work in the woods of Herkimer county. He remained in Herkimer county three years, when he became of age, and in the fall of 1839 he re- turned to England, where a little property had been left him by his father. He returned in the spring of 1840, and was married in the spring of 1841. That fall he went to Medina county, Ohio, and purchased a farm in Lafayette township, where he resided six years. In the fall of 1847 he sold out and went to Royalton, Niagara county, N. Y., and in 1851 he came to Michigan and pur- chased a farm on section 6, in Fairfield, where he resided until his death, which occurred April 25, 1872. In 1853 Mr. Horton com- menced the manufacture of cheese in a small way. He owned ten cows, but his friends and neighbors told him he could never suc- ceed, that he could not sell his cheese, and that good cheese could not be made in Michigan, any way. He persevered, however, and found no trouble in finding ready sale for his products. He increased his dairy from year to year, and in the spring of 1866 erected the first cheese factory, and was the first successful cheese maker in Michigan. Previous to his death he had made a reputa- tion as a dairyman and farmer second to no man in the west; he owned 469 acres of land with his factory, and between forty and fifty cows. He was an enterprising, honorable, unassuming man, a good neighbor and kind friend. His success in the cheese busi- ness was the undoubted cause of the erection of nearly twenty cheese factories in Lenawee county. February 14, 1841, Samuel Horton was married to Miss Lucina A. Perkins, daughter of Joseph and Harriet Perkins, of Salisbury, Herkimer county, N. . Y., by whom he had three children, as follows: Alice M., born in Lafayette, Medina county, Ohio, March 26, 1842, now the wife of Cosper Rorick, of Seneca, this county; George B., born April 17, 1845; Harriet A., born in Fairfield, this county, October 16, 1853, now the wife of Dr. H. S. Jewett, of Dayton, Ohio. Mrs. Lucina A. Horton was born in Salisbury, Herkimer county, N. Y., April 14, 1822. Mrs. Horton was the first cheese-maker in Lenawee county, having learned the business in Herkimer county. Most of the prominent cheese manufacturers of the county received their first instructions from her. She was the superintendent of her husband's factory for eight years, and gave it her entire atten- tion. Her parents were pioneers of Herkimer county. George
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
B. Horton, the subject of this sketch, always lived with his parents, and at the death of his father assumed his large and im- portant business. Besides looking after the large farm, he has managed two cheese factories that have on an average distributed $35,000 annually among the patrons. He was elected president of the Agricultural society of Lenawee county in 1878, and still holds the position. He identifies himself with all matters that tend to advance or better the condition of farmers, and is now serv- ing the fourth term as master of the Lenawee County Grange. The entire estate is still kept intact, and many improvements have yearly been made. January 3, 1878, George B. Horton was mar- ried to Miss M. Amanda Bradish, daughter of Norman F. and Caroline Bradish, of Madison, this county, by whom he has had one child, Alice Louise, born September 27, 1878. Mrs. George B. Horton was born in Madison, this county, June 18, 1854. [For her family relation see Norman F. Bradish's record, in volume 1 of this work.
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ENRY SCHWARTZ was born in Alsace, Germany, April 10, 1833, and lived there until he was nine years old, when he came to America with his parents in 1842, and settled in Lorain county, Ohio. His father, John Schwartz, purchased a farm and resided there until his death. When Henry Schwartz was thirteen years old he went to Cleveland, where he found employment in a general grocery and supply store, and remained until 1851, when he came to Adrian in the employment of the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana railroad. He first com- menced as fireman with George W. Shipley. After about two years he was promoted to engineer, in 1853 he was given charge of the locomotive "Niagara," and after a few months he was still further promoted to passenger engineer. He continued to serve as engineer until the great "Footboard" strike, which occurred Jan- uary 17, 1866, at 12 o'clock noon. At that time the principal shops of the entire road between Toledo and Chicago were located at Adrian, and besides the offices, nearly all the general officers of the road, from superintendent down, and most of the engineers, who ran over the east end of the road, resided in Adrian, and all
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the stirring scenes and events of the great strike took place in the " Adrian yard." The strike was made on the part of the Brother- hood of the Footboard (which was a society composed of locomo- tive engineers and firemen), because they believed they were not getting sufficient pay for their services. Henry Schwartz was a member of the society, and obeyed the will of the majority, and stopped work promptly at the time specified. This was the last of his railroad career, and soon after he formed a partnership with a brother engineer, Frederick G. Gippert, purchased a building on Maumee street, in Adrian, and carried on a tobacco and cigar store and saloon, for a few years, when Mr. Schwartz purchased Mr. Gippert's interest, and carried on the business until his death, which occurred December 6, 1879. Mr. Schwartz was a man of honor and integrity, a kind husband and father, with more than ordinary intelligence and capacity. He was quiet and unassuming in his nature, firm in his convictions, and earnest and prompt in every transaction. With a genial, mild disposition, and being naturally social and entertaining, he drew around him many warm friends and adherents. August 15, 1854, Henry Schwartz married Miss Anna Barbara Mennel, daughter of John and Caroline Men- nel, of Arzberg, Germany, by whom he had six children, as fol- lows: Carrie S. F., born September 28, 1857, now the wife of Frederick Matthes, of Adrian; Fred. G., born July 4, 1859; Ella V., born May 10, 1861; Margaret, born April 26, 1863; Sophia F. C., born June 26, 1865; the first child died in infancy. Mrs. Anna B. Schwartz was born in Arzberg, Germany, March 26, 1831, and came to America in 1853. Her father died in Ger- many, but her mother came to America in 1855, and died at the home of her daughter, in Adrian, March 23, 1876.
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TILLIAM CROCKETT was born in Sodus, Wayne county, N. Y., February 4th, 1828. His father, Nathan- iel Crockett, was a native of the State of Maine, and was born in 1799, where he lived until he was about thirteen years old (his parents having died, when he went to the State of New York), and finally settled in Wayne county, where he purchased a farm, and resided until the fall of 1836, when he sold out and came to
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Michigan, and settled on section 35, in Ogden, this county. About the year 1823 he married Miss Mary White, daaghter of William White, of Wayne county, N. Y., by whom he had eleven children, William being the third child. Mrs. Mary Crockett was born in Maine, in April, 1805, and is now living in Ogden. Na- thaniel Crockett died March, 13th, 1872. William Crockett came to Michigan with his parents, in 1836, when he was eight years old, and has resided in the town of Ogden ever since. When his parents settled in the township there were but very few settlers, and the town was con-idered nothing but a cottonwood swamp, most of the east half being under water half the year. Mr. Crock- ett remembers most of the settlers who had located here previous to 1836, and had made a beginning. They were as follows : Erastus Brockway, on section 3, still living; Elisha Benton, on sec- tion 33, still living; Samuel Graham, on section 29, still living; Andrew Sebring, deceased, on section 28; William Johnson, de- ceased, on section 29; Nathaniel Graham, on section 29, deceased ; N. B. Carter, on section 8 ; Ephraim Hicks, on section 6; Gideon Sheldon, deceased, on section 15; Jacob Gilbert, deceased, on sec- tion 15. At that time there were no settlers in the east half of the town, and for many years there were no settlers east of Na- thaniel Crockett's and no roads were cut through. Many times the water was so deep that for miles it would come up to the ox- bows, as the oxen wallowed through the woods. It was some time before anything except corn and potatoes could be raised, and they would often drown out during the "June freshets," which then occurred almost annually. Wheat was a failure until the timber was considerably cleared off, and the ditch system was inaugurated. There was not a frame house or barn in Ogden in 1836, and the first frame barn Mr. Crockett saw was Norman B. Carter's. Wil- liam Crockett lived with his parents until he was twenty-one, but worked the farm for some time, during which time he purchased a farm on section 14 in Ogden, where he now resides. He has seen the township brought from a primitive, worthless state, to one of the best and most promising in the county. He has spent nearly his entire life in this work, and has done his share in bringing about the great change. He has assisted in clearing away the wilderness, and subduing the rank and almost impene- trable swamp. He has expended much time and money, besides cheerfully paying all assessments for the ditching system that has proven so generally beneficial to every resident. He has grown up with the town, and has prospered slowly but surely as the town advanced in productiveness and value. The township is now al- most entirely settled up, with but very few swamps and " cat holes."
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Mr. Crockett's present valuable and very productive farm, was, in 1836, an impenetrable and worthless swamp, covered with water almost the year round. December 12, 1856, William Crockett was married to Minerva Ann Potter, daughter of Morey S. and Mi- nerva (Jones) Potter, of Amboy, Fulton county, Ohio, by whom he has had four children, as follows : Almond P., born Novem- ber 1, 1857, a farmer on section 11, in Ogden; Eldora L., born June 26, 1861, at home; Ida May, born January 22, 1867, at home; Pliny D., born August 14, 1873, at home. Mrs. Minerva Crockett was born in Richfield, Herkimer county, N. Y., May 27, 1837, and moved to Fulton county, Ohio, with her parents, in 1844. Her father, Morey S. Potter, was born in Rhode Island, May 26, 1799, and moved to Herkimer with his parents, in 1809. December 25, 1820, he married Minerva Jones, daughter of Jona- than and Polly (Hopkins) Jones, of Herkimer county, N. Y., by whom he had nine children, Mrs. Crockett being the eighth child. They have forty-two grand children and twenty-six great grand- children. They are still living on their farm in Fulton county, Ohio.
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AMES CLEGG was born in Orton, Westmoreland, England, May 20, 1821. He lived in Westmoreland, and followed farming and butchering until the spring of 1849, when he came to America, sailing from Liverpool in the ship Constitution, Capt. Brittain, April 10th, and landed in New York, May 21st. He immediately came to Adrian, where his brother, Richard, then lived. He worked at whatever he could find to do for the first summer, and during the winter of 1849-50 he went to school in the old " white school house," which then stood on the corner of Front and Clinton streets, in Adrian, on the lot where W. S. Sears' residence now stands. He afterwards worked for his brother, and J. C. Turner, in the butchering business, and subsequently became a member of the firm for a short time. In the spring of 1851 he went back to England, and was married, but returned again in October. In the spring of 1852 he commenced business for him- self, and after about two years he again became a partner with his brother and Mr. Turner, in the meat business. Subsequently this
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
firm purchased the old red mill, in Adrian. In the spring of 1861 James Clegg and Marvin Cleveland opened a meat market on South Main street, and afterward built a fine brick store on the same street. In 1853 he built a house on Budlong street, and in 1866 he purchased a farm on section 12, in Dover. He followed farming until his health failed him in 1869, when, thinking it would benefit him, he went to England in August, where he was taken sick and died at Stott's Farm, Barttle, January 14, 1870, and was buried at Croscrake church, Westmoreland. His disease was cancer in the stomach. He was an honest, industrious and thrifty man, a good husband and father, an honorable and respected citizen. June 16, 1851, James Clegg was married to Mary Ann Elleray, daughter of John and Mary (Sisson) Elleray, of Preston, Lancashire, England, by whom he had nine children, as follows: William E., born July 22, 1852, a farmer of Dover; John T., born May 6, 1854, a resident of Battle Creek, Mich .; Mary Eliz- abeth, born December 3, 1855, now the wife of M. E. Washburn, of Adrian; Richard J., born June 26, 1858, at home; Unella, born April 27, 1865, at home. Four children died in infancy. All born in Adrian. Mrs. Mary Ann Clegg was born at Spout House, Crostwait, Westmoreland, England, October 12, 1830. Her father was born in the same town, and was a farmer. He died there, but the date is not known. Her mother was born at Spout House, in 1809, and died at Preston, in Lancashire, in 1851. She was of a wealthy family, and was a woman of rare at- tainments, many attractions, and in the very prime of life. She was murdered one evening, while going home from the death-bed of a relative. Her body was thrown into a canal, and was dis- covered the following morning. Mrs. Clegg went to England for her health. accompanied by her oldest son, in 1862. She also went again in 1878, accompanied by her daughter Unella, and visited her husband's grave, and her relatives, remaining there some time. [See Richard Clegg's record ou page 507, Vol. 1, of this work.]
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ELVIN T. NICKERSON was born in Junius, Wayne county, N. Y., March 19, 1819. When he was eleven years old, in 1830, his father, Lewis Niekerson, sold his property in Wayne county and came to Michigan, and settled (36)
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on section 15, in Logan, now Madison. Melvin was brought up a farmer, and lived with his father until his death, in 1836. At that time the country was very new, and it was a struggle, even among the most experienced farmers and pioneers to get a living. The family was left, without the wisdom and experience of a husband and father, and the trials and hardships were borne and buffeted by the widow and her three sons, the oldest of whom was not nineteen years old. When Melvin was twenty- one he purchased the interest of his two brothers in the home- stead, and has lived upon it now over fifty years. The family were poor when they came to Michigan, only possessing money enough to purchase eighty acres of land, and a cheap yoke of oxen. There were but five or six buildings in Adrian at that time. After a small piece of land had been cleared off, and got ready to plant to potatoes and corn, no seed could be had nearer than Bliss- field. Messrs. Bliss and Kedzie, who had been in there then some five years, had made a good start, and could accommodate the set- tlers to quite an extent. The red mill was running in Adrian, but there had not then been grain enough raised to supply the settlers, who were coming in very fast, and it became necessary to go to Monroe after flour and meal. The only persons now living in Madison who were here in 1830, besides Mr. Nickerson, are his brother Ira, Ebenezer Bassett, Charles Bassett, born that year, Mrs. Bassett, Mrs. Helen E. (Bradish) Carpenter, and Myron Bradish, also born in April, that year. Melvin T. Nickerson's father, Lewis Nickerson, was born at Cape Cod, Mass., about the year 1794. His father was a sea captain, and owned a merchant vessel trading between Boston and Southern ports. About the year 1800 he sailed from Boston, with a full cargo, and some money on board, but neither his vessel nor himself was ever after seen. About the year 1806, one of the sailors who sailed with him, appeared in Boston, telling the story of the fate of the vessel. He reported that when about three days sail from Boston, the vessel was at- tacked by pirates and immediately boarded, the crew bound and forced into the hold, and the hatches nailed down. The bucca- neers then plundered the ship and scuttled her. The sailor said that during the time the pirates were boarding the vessel, he slipped over the side into the water, and grappled the rudder-chains until the vessel sunk, when some planks floated from her decks, upon which he remained until the following day, when he was picked up by a passing vessel bound for South America. The attack on the vessel was made just at dusk, and the darkness afforded him a means of escape. The story of this sailor was generally believed in Boston, but the widow of Capt. Nickerson had grave doubts
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
and suspicions of the fellow, and thought perhaps he was in league with the pirates, and was cared for by them. About the year 1815, Lewis Nickerson married Miss Betsey Blood, of Windsor, Vt., by whom he had three children, Melvin being the second child. Mrs. Betsey Nickerson was born in Windsor, Vt., in 1796, and died in Madison, this county, in January, 1846. June 6, 1844, Melvin T. Nickerson married Amanda G., youngest daughter of Col. Calvin and Nancy Bradish, of Madison, by whom he has had six children, as follows: Norman F., born December 2, 1847 ; Helen A., born October 25, 1856; Nettie E., born Janı- ary 11, 1862. Three children died in infancy. Mrs. Amanda G. Nickerson was born in Macedon, Wayne county, N. Y., Jannary 30, 1818, and came to Michigan with her parents in 1831. [For her family relation see Augustus W. Bradish's record in the first volume of this work.]
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EORGE BUCK was born in Palmyra, Wayne county, N. Y., March 21, 1814. His father, Reuben Buck, was a native of Massachusetts, and after he was married he moved to Wayne county, N. Y., settling in Palmyra, where he purchased a farm, and resided until 1832, when he sold out and moved to Yates, Orleans county, and purchased a farm, but after about three years his wife died, when he sold his farm and lived with his chil- dren during the balance of his life. He died in Dover, this county, in 1862. About the year 1803 Reuben Buck married Mary Gidley, of Massachusetts, by whom he had fourteen children, George being the fifth child and third son. Mrs. Mary Buck died in Yates, Orleans county, N. Y., in November, 1839. George Buck lived with his father until he was twenty-one, but worked by the month on farms after he was eighteen, his father taking his wages. When he was twenty-one he had no money nor a decent suit of clothes, but he found plenty of work at fair wages until the spring of 1837, when he was married and came to Michigan, arriving in Adrian in May. His wife had a brother, Aaron S. Hamlin, and a sister, Mrs. John Bovee, who lived in Dover; a bargain had been made previous to his coming in regard to some land on section 29, which Mr. Buck purchased, and where
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he now resides. The land was entirely covered with heavy timber, and no chopping had ever been done on it. There were no roads cut through, and the only way to get from one neighbor to another was by marked trees. He cut a road from John Bovee's to his place, a distance of over two miles, to get his goods in. During the summer of 1837 he assisted in cutting out about five miles of road on the section line, from his southwest corner, east toward Adrian. During the fall of 1838 a school-house was erected on the southwest corner of section 29, in Dover, and a fractional dis- triet was formed, comprising a part of the towns of Seneca, Hud- son and Dover. The following men assisted in building the school-house, and supporting the school: George Back (who cut the first brush, which he did while the others were talking and arguing over the matter), George Hawkins, Gilbert Hutchins, Moses Bennett, Hudson; Horace Rice, Philip Smith, Isaac War- ren, Mr. Jones, Abram Deline, Harmon Vedder, Mr. Palmer, Jacob Bovee, William Torbron, Aaron S. Hamlin, Dover; Moses Vail and Mr. Irish, Seneca. The school was opened that winter, Almeron Perkins being the teacher. Mr. Buck was here three years before he owned a team, and was compelled to pay twenty- five cents per bushel for having his wheat carried to Adrian to be ground into flour. In 1837 he paid $2.50 per bushel for wheat, and then paid twenty-five cents per bushel additional for milling. In the spring of 1838 he took fifty pounds of maple sugar on his back to Adrian and traded it for salt pork, which he "backed" home most cheerfully. February 7, 1837, George Buck married Miss Adah Hamlin, daughter of Aaron Hamlin, of Yates, Orleans county, N. Y., by whom he had one son, Leeman, born in Dover, April 19, 1838, was a soldier in the war of the rebellion, and member of Company F, Fourth Michigan Infantry, and was killed at the bat- tle of Antietam. Mrs, Adah Buck died in Yates, Orleans county, at her father's house, of consumption, August 16, 1839. The death of his wife was a serious blow to Mr. Buck and nearly used him up, and had he not been endowed with more than usual cour- age, he would have given up all attempts to make a home in Mich- igan, for he was left quite penniless. But he re urned to his home in the woods, and May 3, 1840, he married Miss Harriet C. Smith, daughter of William and Betsey Smith, of Pittsford, Hillsdale county, by whom he has had twelve children, as follows: Paulina, born August 21, 1841, died April 7, 1850; Lyman J., born Jan- uary 20, 1843, was a member of Company I, Eighteenth Michigan Infantry, and served through the rebellion; Frank B., born Octo- ber 31, 1844, a resident of Greenwood, Nebraska; Helen M., born November 9, 1846, at home; Filmore C., born March 4, 1850, a
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
farmer of Dover; Adah, born April 13, 1852, now the wife of Isaac N. Smith, of Palmyra, N. Y .; George E., born May 1, 1854, a farmer of Palmyra, N. Y .; Dwight C., born December 27, 1856, a farmer of Medina; Charley P., born February 19, 1859, at home, and works the farm; Josephine E., born April 20, 1861, now the wife of Will R. Bryan, of Adrian; Della R., born September 28, 1863, at home; one daughter died in infancy. Mrs. Harriet (. Buck was born in Wheatland, Monroe county, N. Y., January 2, 1822, came to Michigan with her parents, and set- tled in Pittsford, Hillsdale county, in the fall of 1837. Her father was born in Dalton, Mass., in 1794, and died in Pittsford, Hills- dale county, in September, 1864. He was the son of George Smith, who came from Germany during the Revolution, and set- tled in Dalton. Mrs. Buck's mother was Betsey Richmond, who was born in Dalton, in 1798, and died May 3, 1861, in Pittsford. She was the daughter of Zimri and Susan Richmond, a Puritan family of Dalton.
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OHN KINZEL was born in Arzberg, Wunsiedel, Bavaria Germany, June 29, 1834. He resided there until April, 1853, when, having finished his trade of baker, he came to America, landing in New York, June 14th. Failing to meet friends and relatives there whom he expected to see, and whose as- sistance he expected to enlist in finding employment, and after look- ing about for two weeks in search of employment, he finally came as far west as Monroe, Mich., only having money enough to reach there, where he happened to meet John Sheffer, who was then in the confectionery business in Adrian, and engaged with him and came to Adrian. He then learned the confectionery business, serv- ing three years. He stayed in Mr. Sheffer's employ until August 8, .1859, when he entered into a partnership with Charles F. Smith, in the confectionery business, on Manmee street, Adrian. This partnership existed until January 20, 1874. During thirteen years this firm was one of the most flourishing and prosperous in- stitutions in Adrian. Mr. Kinzel was always active in the growth of the city, cerceting a fine brick residence on the corner of Locust and Frank streets, and the firm erected three good brick stores.
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