USA > Michigan > Lenawee County > History and biographical record of Lenawee County, Michigan, Volume II > Part 44
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TILLIAM J. WILBER was born in Knox, Albany county, N. Y., January 16, 1810. His father, Joseph Wilber, was a native of Rhode Island, and son of John and Priscilla Wilber, also natives of Rhode Island, whose ancestors were English. Joseph Wilber died in Knox, in 1812. He mar- ried Ruth Briggs, daughter of Walter and Ruth Briggs, of Schoharie town and county, by whom he had five children, William J. being the fourth child and only son. Mrs. Ruth Wilber was a native of Rhode Island, and died in Schoharie, in May, 1813.
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
William J. Wilber was left an orphan when he was three years old, and resided with his grandfather Briggs until 1819, when Mr. Briggs died. William then resided with his uncles in Schoharie until he was twenty-one. He was brought up a farmer, and has always followed that avocation. In 1835 he purchased a farm in Duanesburgh, Schenectady county, N. Y., residing there until 1837, when he sold out and removed to Ballston, Saratoga county, where he purchased a farm. He resided there until 1851, when he sold his property and came to Michigan and settled on section 12, in Dover, this county, residing there until 1870, when he sold and purchased a farm on section 8, where he now resides. October 28, 1833, William J. Wilber married Lucretia B. Gale, daughter of James and Dorcas (Blackmar) Gale, of Duanesburgh, N. Y., by whom he had nine children, as follows: Adelia, born April 23, 1835, died in infancy ; William Henry, born in Ballston, N. Y., September 9, 1836, died June 27, 1839; James Gale, born same place, October 27, 1838, now a resident of Kilbourn City, Wis .; Mary A., born same place, November 23, 1840, now the wife of Gilbert Torbron, of Clayton; Joseph Oscar, born same place, March 1, 1843, now & farmer of Adrian township; Burr, born same place, October 4, 1845, now a resident of Hillsdale, Mich .; Walter B., born same place, October 8, 1847, now a resident of Portage City, Wis .; Ernest, born in Dover, this county, July 25, 1853, a resident of Denver, Col .; John J., born same place, August 20, 1855, a resident of Dover. Mrs. Lucretia Wilber was born in Duanesburgh, N. Y., October 28, 1811, and died in Dover, this county, October 17, 1867. Her father, James Gale, was born in Columbia county, N. Y., October 12, 1781, and died in Cobleskill, Schoharie county, N. Y., in 1843. He was a farmer, and owned a flouring mill in Cobleskill. He married Dorcas Blackmar, by whom he had nine children, Mrs. Wilber being the second daughter and third child. December 15, 1870, William J. Wilber married Mrs. Fidelia A. McLouth, widow of Peter McLouth, of Dover, and daughter of Brackley and Lydia Shaw, of Dover, by whom he has had one child, William E., born May 17, 1873, died January 10, 1874. Mrs. Fidelia Wilber is the mother of two children by Mr. McLouth, as follows: Charles N. McLouth, born in Dover, October 23, 1851, a resident of Chicago; Edward S. McLouth, born same place, April 19, 1857, a resident of Dover. Peter McLouth was born in Farmington, Ontario county, N. Y., October 18, 1818, and died in Dover, this county, December 28, 1863. Mrs. Wilber's father, Brackley Shaw, was born in Abington, Plymouth county, Mass., in 1790, and resided there until 1815. He served in the war of 1812, being a
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commissioned officer in an artillery company. He came to Michi- gan in 1835, and settled in Dover, this county, on sections 6 and 7, residing there until his death, which occurred May 2, 1869. In April, 1815, he married Lydia Pool, of Abington, Mass., by whom he had eight children, Mrs. Wilber being the sixth child. Mrs. Lydia Shaw was born in Abington, Mass., April 20, 1791, and still resides in Dover with Mrs. Wilber. Mrs. Fidelia A. Wilber was born in Ira, Cayuga county, N. Y., April 30, 1827, and came to Michigan with her parents in 1835.
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OBERT BIDELMAN was born in Manham, Herkimer county, N. Y., April 30, 1811. His grandparents on both sides came from Germany and settled in Herkimer county before the Revolutionary war. When Robert was six years old his parents, Henry and Catharine Bidelman, with their family of ten children, Ann, Abram, Daniel, William, Samuel, Solomon, Robert, Charles, Margaret and Catharine, removed from Herkimer county to the town of Shelby, Orleans county, N. Y., where Mr. Bidelman purchased a farm. Farming was the occupation of the family for some time, until four of the boys were apprenticed to trades. When Robert was sixteen years old he went to learn the saddle and harness maker's trade, with T. J. Streeter, of Medina, remaining there three years. When he was nineteen years old Mr. Streeter imagined that he had received a call to preach, and left his business in charge of Robert. Soon after Justus Ingersoll suggested to Robert to buy Streeter out. Robert replied that he had no money, when Ingersoll suggested that perhaps his father could help him. Robert said his father could not, as he had told the boys that if he gave them their time to learn trades, that was all he could do for them. ' Ingersoll then said if he could buy Streeter out on time he (Ingersoll) would go his security, trust him for leather, and give him a letter of credit with which to purchase hardware. Robert made the arrangement with Streeter, and car- ried on the business there for one year, making his home with John Bagley, father of ex-Governor John J. Bagley, of Michigan. He then removed to the village of Springville, Erie county, N. Y., and carried on business for three years. This he says was the hap-
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
piest period of his whole life, as he made good acquaintances, min- gled in society for the first time, attended the academy there one term, and where. be became acquainted with his future wife. In 1832 the Black Hawk war came prominently before the public, and in hunting up the "seat of war" the location of the present great city of Chicago was brought to the notice of many people in the east, who then foresaw the importance of the locality. Mr. Inger- soll again came to Robert and advised him to go to Chieago and establish himself in business there, at the same time setting forth the future of the place. Accordingly, in July, 1833, Robert left Springville for Chicago, but on arriving there he was so disap- pointed in the looks of the place, everything having so desolate and hopeless an appearance, with only about 300 people, that after remaining about fifteen days he determined to return home and remain until Chicago was large enough to support a harness shop. He returned to Buffalo by the third steamboat that had ever sailed from Chicago, being carried from the beach to the steamer by a yawl boat kept for that purpose. He returned to Medina and remained there until 1845, when he came to Adrian and started in business, building up a good trade, employing from six to twelve men for twenty-one years in the manufacture of harness, saddles and trunks. In 1865, in company with his son Robert Maurice, he went to Toledo, Ohio, and established a large trunk factory, remaining there until 1872. when he sold his interest and returned to Adrian, and again engaged in the harness and trunk business. Mr. Bidelman has been in business for many years, having passed through all of the ups and downs that befall an active life. The panic of 1837 seriously affected him, as did also the one of 1857. He has done a great deal of work and business in his experienee, but his reverses by panics, sickness and fire, have proven his misfortunes. He did military dnty under the old militia law of New York, and was promoted from a private in the ranks to fourth sergeant, then as sergeant-major in Col. Blanchard's staff, and finally to major, and was regularly discharged. In 1853 he was elected alderman of the Second ward of the city of Adrian, was once eleeted a director of the poor, and has served for eighteen years as warden of Christ church, Adrian. August 2, 1837, he married Harriet Louisa Chee- ver, of New Haven, Oswego county, N. Y., by whom he had four children, Robert Maurice, Mary Louise, and William Henry; one daughter died in infancy. Mrs. Harriet L. Bidelman died in Adrian, in 1853. He subsequently married Sarah Cheever, sister of his first wife, by whom he has had one son, who died in infancy. His son William was a soldier in the rebellion, and died in Nash- ville, Tenn., in 1863. His daughter Mary died in 1867. His
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mother died September 10, 1854, aged seventy-six years. His father died September 6, 1859, aged eighty-two years. All of Robert Bidelman's brothers and sisters are dead except Daniel, who lives in Fentonville, Mich., and his sister Margaret, wife of Stephen Young, who resides in Lockport, N. Y. His grandfather, Peter Schen Bidelman, when twenty-one years old was kidnapped in Germany by a sea captain, brought to America and sold for three years' service, to pay his passage.
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ENRY P. HOWE was born in Ira, Cayuga county, N. Y., June 23, 1829. He resided there until he was eight years old, when in the spring of 1837 his parents, Hollis and Julia Howe, with their family came to Michigan. They sailed from Buffalo on the old steamer Monroe, passing through about ten miles of ice in Buffalo harbor in getting into the lake. Before reaching Detroit the shaft of the boat was broken, and after drift- ing about the lake for some time, the steamer Commodore Perry came along and towed the Monroe into Detroit. Mr. Howe first stopped at Truago (now Trenton) on the Detroit river, where he resided about eighteen months. In the fall of 1838 he removed to Lenawee county, and stopped in Dover until the spring of 1839, when he purchased two lots in the then newly-platted village of Clayton, and built a log house. This was the first bulding erected where the village of Clayton now stands. He resided in Clayton until 1857, when he sold out and emigrated to Faribault, Rice county, Minn., where he located land, but resided in the village until his death, which occurred November 24, 1874. He married Julia Bird, daughter of Chauncey and Mary Bird, of Litchfield, Conn., by whom he had three children, Henry P. being the young- est. Mrs. Julia Howe was born in Litchfield, Conn., in 1805, and died in Faribault, Minn., in 1878. Hollis Howe was born in Marlborough, Mass., in 1801, and was the son of Aaron Howe, also a native of Marlborough, whose ancestors came from England. Aaron Howe came to Michigan, and died in Hudson, this county. Henry P. Howe has been been a resident of Michigan nearly forty-four years, and has lived in Lenawee county forty-two years. He resided with his parents until he was eighteen years old, having
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
been brought up a farmer. In the spring of 1848 he hired out to a man named William Reynolds, to assist in driving a drove of cattle to Wyoming county, N. Y., and the following four years he spent in New York and Massachusetts. In the spring of 1853 he returned to Michigan and purchased a farm on section 19, in Dover, this county, where he now resides. At that time the land was covered with heavy timber, consisting mostly of oak, hickory, beech and maple. He has cleared up a good farm, erected a large and handsome dwelling house, with good barns and fine orchard. He has made all the improvements on his farm, which is situated one half mile south of the village of Clayton, and is one of the most desirable places in that vicinity. During Mr. Howe's resi- dence in Dover he has always been ready and willing, to the extent of his ability and means, to assist and recognize all public improve- ments, believing it to be a part of the duty of all good citizens. He has never been a politician, but has always gone to the polls and voted upon all questions from conviction, and not altogether from a party standpoint. March 23, 1853, Henry P. Howe mar- ried Ellen M. Jenks, daughter of Henry and Massilva Jenks, of Belchertown, Hampden county, Mass., by whom he has had four children, as follows: William Frank, born in Clayton village, August 29, 1854, died November 14, 1855; William Clarence, born in Dover, September 18, 1856, died in Cincinnati, Ohio, Jan- uary 18, 1876; Harry Watson, born in Terre Haute, Ind., April 11, 1859, at home; Minnie B., born in Dover, October 8, 1866, at home. Mrs. Ellen M. Howe was born in Belchertown, Mass., April 1, 1825, and came to Michigan with her husband in 1853. Her parents were natives of Connecticut, and were farmers. Her father died in Belchertown, Mass., in 1827, and her mother died in Mill Creek, Huntington county, Pa., September 6, 1850. Massilva Jenks was the daughter of Jared Preston, of Ashford, Conn., whose ancestors came from England.
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2 HOMAS IVESON was born in Beardwood Fold, Manches- ter, England, February 1, 1816, but when he was thirteen months old, in 1817, his parents, John and Ann Iveson, emi- grated to America, and settled in Hyde Park, Queens county, N. Y. John Iveson was born in Haslingden, Lancaster, England,
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December 22, 1790, and was the son of James Iveson. At the age of fourteen John Iveson was apprenticed to a merchant at Ferry Bridge, to serve seven years, but after remaining there five years ran away, going to London, where he learned the cabinet- maker's and joiner's trade. When he came to America and set- tled in Queens county, he found employment with William Cobett, at Carpenter work, continuing with him about one year. Mr. Iveson purchased a farm'in the town of North Hempstead, in Queens county, and resided there until the fall of 1837, when he emigrated to Michigan, and settled in Woodstock, this county, purchasing of Benjamin Tolbert 320 acres of land on section 19, and resided there for several years, when he sold out and purchased a smaller farm on section 30, where he died June 16, 1864. He married Ann Beardwood, daughter of Thomas and Margaret Beardwood, of Blackburn, in Lancaster, by whom he had thirteen children, Thomas being the third child. Mrs. Ann Iveson was born at Tennescowes, near Blackburn, August 7, 1789, and died in Raisin, this county, January 22, 1881, in her ninety-second year. John Iveson was a man of good mind, with an active and bright intellect. His early education was good, and his apprenticeship at the mercantile business tended largely to develop his mind. He was a studious, industrious man, active and energetic, taking an interest in politics and all public matters. He was well and favorably known in Woodstock, as well as the entire county. Soon after he came to America he joined the Quakers. In poli- tics he was first a Whig, but afterward became a Democrat, and was a zealous worker until the time of his death. Thomas Iveson came to America when he was but thirteen months old, and has resided in Lenawee county for forty-three years. He lived at home until he was nearly thirty years old, and was brought up.a farmer. After he was twenty-one he worked at blacksmithing, carpentering and running a saw mill. In 1844 he purchased a farm ou section 13, in Woodstock, and lived there until 1866, when he purchased another farm on sections 13 and 14, where he now resides. Mr. Iveson has always been a hard-working man, commencing in the world with nothing, has raised a family of ten children, and is now in comfortable circumstances. April 7, 1844, Thomas Iveson married Rhoda Kinney, daughter of Amos and Tryphena Kinney, of Woodstock, by whom he has had eleven children, as follows: Joel F., born March 12, 1846, a farmer of Woodstock; Darius J., born January 15, 1847, a farmer of Adams county, Neb .; Joseph, born December 4, 1849, a resident of Vandalia, Cass county, Mich .; Jasper, born October 18, 1851, a resident of Brooklyn, Jackson county; Tryphena A., born May 30, 1853, now the wife
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
of Herman Chapman, of Marcellus, Cass county, Mich .; John, born October 10, 1855, a resident of Woodstock; Anna, born September 30, 1857, now the wife of Fletcher Pierson, a farmer of Adams county, Neb .; Mary C., born September 8, 1859, at home; Amanda, born July 9, 1861, now the wife of Leonard Sanford, of Woodstock; Benjamin F., born January 16, 1865, at home; George, born August 17, 1867, died July 12, 1868. Mrs. Rhoda Iveson was born in Harrisville, Medina county, Ohio, April 14, 1823. Her parents were very early settlers of Medina county, and resided there for many years. Amos Kinney was probably a native of the State of New York, and died there in Essex county, in 1839. He married Tryphena Chapman, daughter of Reuben and Rhoda Chapman, by whom he had ten children, Mrs. Iveson being the eighth child. Mrs. Tryphena Kinney was a native of one of the New England States, and died in Portland, Ionia county, Mich., in 1855, aged about seventy-five years. Mr. Iveson, like his father, was first a Whig, but afterward became a Democrat, and for many years has been active and earnest in his support of that principle. He has never been an office-seeker.
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ZEKIEL M. SANFORD was born in Wales, Erie county, N. Y., September 24, 1823. His father, Malachi Sanford, was born in Phelps, Ontario county, N. Y., December 31, 1798, and was the son of Ezekiel and Susannah Sanford, who were natives of New Lebanon, Conn. Malachi Sanford was brought up a farmer, and resided in Ontario county until 1817, when his parents removed to Wales, Erie county. He resided in Erie county, where he owned a farm until 1837, when he sold out and emigrated to Michigan, first locating in Cass county, about seven miles east of Niles, where he remained only about six weeks. He and his wife were attacked with the ague, which, together with homesickness, soon so discouraged them that they determined to return to New York and purchase a farm adjoining the one they had sold there. Mr. Sanford loaded his effects upon his wagon and started for the east, leaving his farm with a crop of wheat on the ground, determined to go back to his old home and stay there. There probably never was a settler in Michigan who suffered from
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a worse attack of homesickness than he. He came as far east as Woodstock, this county, where his mother, brother and sisters had settled two years previous. He remained with his relatives about a week, who in the meantime persuaded him to locate among them, and he finally traded his farm in Cass county with his brother, for a farm on section 15, in Woodstock, where he resided until his death, which occurred in 1872. He married Balsora Holmes, daughter of John M. and Mercy (Hoyt) Holmes, by whom he had four children, Ezekiel being the oldest, who with his sister Mrs. P. M. Wheaton, are the only survivors of the family. Mrs. Bal- sora Sanford was born at Saratoga Springs, N. Y., February 17, 1793, and died in Woodstock, April 3, 1866. Ezekiel M. San- ford came to Michigan with his parents in 1837, and has resided in Woodstock ever since. He has always followed farming, and assisted in clearing up the country, building roads, bridges, etc. He knows nothing about the easy side of life. He was rugged, strong and ambitious, and was determined to dig out a competence by his own labor. He assisted his father in clearing up the old farm, besides clearing his own. When he commenced ou his land he was eight hundred dollars in debt, his only hope being to clear his land and raise crops His wife was equal to any emergency. She had one young child, which she would take with her into the fields or woods, and assist her husband in burning brush, laying fence, making log heaps, etc. She did her part and more, for she raised her children, did her housework, and worked upon the farm. That was the character of the mothers and wives of the pioneers of Michigan. What would the women of the present time do in such emergencies? Are they equal to the occasion? It is to be hoped that the children and grandchildren of these mothers, when they look over their possessions now, fully appreciate their toil, hardships and self-denial, and bless and revere their memories. Mr. Sanford now owns 270 acres of land, pays his attention to mixed farming, and raises large amounts of grain, together with horses, cattle and sheep. By constant diligence, economy and strength of purpose, he has succeeded in providing for himself and family. He is a fair specimen of what a man with health, strength and perseverence can accomplish by close application and continu- ous efforts, who settles in a new country. In 1876 his house burned up with nearly all its contents. This did not discourage him. His house burned at mid-day, and before night the next day he had erected a shanty near by, and had "moved in." Within six weeks he had erected a large new house, and had it finished and furnished. April 14, 1844, Ezekiel M. Sanford married Margaret J. Beck, daughter of Henry and Sophia Beck, of Woodstock, by whom
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
he has had six children, as follows: Alice S., born November 7, 1846, now the wife of Leonidas Holmes, of Cass, Cass county, Mich .; Lewis K., born March 4, 1854, a farmer of Woodstock ; Leonard A., born September 24, 1857, a farmer of Woodstock; Mary A., born May 8, 1860, now the wife of Sylvester M. Shales, of Woodstock; two children died in infancy. Mrs. Margaret J. Sanford was born in Washington, Washington county, Pa., August 23, 1824, came to Michigan with her parents in 1835 and settled in Macon, residing there about five years, when her father sold and went to Tecumseh and kept a hotel called the Brownsville House, for about two years. He then went to Woodstock and purchased a farm on section 20, which was ever after his home. He was a soldier in the Toledo war, and went to Mexico and served under General Scott through the Mexican war, and died at Joliet, Ill., on his way home, of disease contracted in the service, in 1847. He was honorably discharged, and one son is now living on land secured by his land warrants. He married Sophia Shelby, of Washington, Pa., by whom he had seven children, Mrs. Sanford being the oldest. Mrs. Sophia Beck was born in Washington, Pa., and died in Meridian, Ingham county, Mich., April 11, 1875, aged seventy -four years.
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OHN M. BIRD was born in the village of Litchfield, Litch- field county, Conn., January 3, 1810, where he resided only until he was two years old, when his parents, Chauncey and Mary Bird, removed to Verona, Oneida county, N. Y., where a farm was purchased. About the year 1820 Mr. Bird sold his farm and moved into Vienna township, in the same county, and pur- chased another farm. In 1824 he again sold out and went to Ira, Cayuga county, and purchaseil another farm, where he resided until 1836, when he came to Michigan and purchased new land on the west one half of the southwest one quarter of section 18, in Dover, this county, where he died October 19, 1858. Chauncey Bird was born in Bethlehem, Coun., September 28, 1777, and was the son of Atwood and Elizabeth (Everett) Bird. Atwood Bird was a Revolutionary soldier. The ancestors of the Bird family came from England. Thomas Bird was first known at Hartford,
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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
in 1644, and died about 1660. Joseph and James Bird are found among the first settlers and proprietors of Farmington, about 1660. In 1800 Chauncey Bird married Mary Rood, by whom he had seven children, John M. being the fifth child. Mrs. Mary Bird was born in Killingly, Conn., February 9, 1780, and died in Clay- ton, this county, February 11, 1842. John M. Bird lived with his parents until he was twenty-one. He had always worked at farming and in the spring of 1833 he came to Michigan to look for a home. He prospected through Wayne, Monroe, Lenawee, Hillsdale, Branch and St. Joseph counties, and returned to New York that fall. In the spring of 1835 he again came to Michigan and purchased land on section 18, in Dover, this county, and in the spring of 1836 he settled on it, and has resided there ever since. He has cleared and improved about 150 acres of land, built good buildings, and made a good home out of the wilderness. He has served the township as road commissioner, school inspector eight years, and justice of the peace twelve years. During the early days of the settlement of the township Mr. Bird was active in assisting in the work of organizing schools, and laying out, building and improving roads and bridges. One day in 1835 he went to Lanesville (now Hud- son) to see about some lumber, and on his return through the woods he was chased for some two miles by an old bear, which seemed to contest his right to encroach upon her solitude. He dis- tinctly remembers the month of December, 1836. There was about one foot of' snow on the ground when it commenced to rain about noon, and before night the snow had turned to water and slush. During the night a wonderful change took place, the mer- cury going down many degrees below zero, leaving the ground the next morning covered with a heavy body of solid ice. May 3, 1836, John M. Bird married Elizabeth Carncross, daughter of Lewis and Mary Carncross, of Cato, Cayuga county, N. Y., by whom he has had two children, as follows: Juliet, born in Dover, this county, March 8, 1838, now the wife of E. T. Swift, of Dover; Mary Eliza, born same place, February 11, 1842, now the wife of Paris Buchanan, of Dover. Mrs. Elizabeth Bird was born in Clay, Onandaga county, N. Y., November 7, 1815, came to Michigan with her husband in 1836, and died in Dover, October 3, 1846. Her parents were natives of the eastern portion of the State of New York, were farmers, and for many years resided in Cato, Cayuga county, where they died. February 9, 1848, Mr. Bird married Mrs. Sarah Converse, widow of Edward Converse, of Blissfield, and daughter of Daniel and Sarah (Upham) Wilson. Mrs. Sarah Bird is a native of Vermont, and was born November 2, 1809. Her parents were natives of Vermont, and always lived
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