USA > Michigan > Branch County > History of Branch county, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 48
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Mrs. Susan Nicholls, the venerable old pioneer lady re- sides in the village of Quiney, and has a vivid remembrance of the early privations and struggles of the first settlers in Branch County. On one ocasion she was much frightened by a " big Iudian," who had entered the house without her notice. Her little daughter first saw him, and they were all in great fright ; but he proved to be friendly, and de- parted with a huge slice of bread and a smile of satis- faction.
The reader will find on another page the portraits of this worthy old couple of Branch County pioneers.
DANIEL H. SMITII.
The ancestors of Daniel II. Smith were English, and emigrated to the New World at an early date in the history of the English colonies. They settled in Massachusetts at first, but afterwards removed to the State of New York. Askum Smith, the father of our subject, was born and reared in New York, and in early life was married to Mabel Hayes, in Essex Co., N. Y. In 1832 he removed to Liek- ing Co., Ohio, where, in the following year, he died, leaving his wife with three children,-Daniel H., Mary A., and Leroy, the latter of whom has since died. The widow- Mrs. Mabel Smith-died in 1865, at the age of sixty-three years.
Daniel H. was born on the 10th day of December, 1821, in Jay, N. Y. He attended school until he was twelve years of age, when the family removed to Ohio, and his father's death, which occurred soon after, put an end to his school days, as from that time he was obliged to earn his own living, which he did by working on the public works and at various other employments. At the age of twenty he entered into a life partnership with Miss Ann Akin, of Shelby Co., Ohio. They were married on the 22d day of July, 1841. After his marriage he engaged in farming in Shelby County for two years on rented farms, after which he purchased eighty aeres of wild land, on which he erected a log house, and in a few years, by industry and good man- agement, he was able to purchase an addition of forty aeres of partly-improved land adjoining his first purchase.
D. H. SMITH ,
MRS. D. H. SMITH .
RESIDENCE OF D. H. SMITH, QUINCY, BRANCH CO., MICH,
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HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
In 1860 he erected a large frame barn and brick resi- denee. In 1862, when the Rebellion broke out, he was among the first to respond to the call for volunteers. He left his farm and family and enlisted in the 50th Ohio Infantry. He served all through the war, participating in numerous battles and skirmishes, in all of which he escaped without a wound. At the close of the war he was honor- ably discharged, and returned to his family.
The following year he sold his farm in Shelby and made a tour through several of the Western States in quest of another location, finally purchasing a farm of one hundred and forty acres in the town of Quincy, Branch Co., Mich., where he has ever since resided. It is situated just out of the western suburbs of the village of Quincy, and is finely adapted to the production of all the fruits and grains for which Quiney is so justly celebrated, is provided with con- venient and comfortable barns and ont-buildings, and a beautiful Gothic farm-house surrounded with evergreen trees and shrubs, making altogether one of the finest and most desirable farm-homes in that part of the county.
Mr. Smith and his esteemed wife are the parents of three children, -- Mary A., who is married and resides in Ohio ; James R., who is married and resides in Kansas; and Martha J., also married and living in Quincy.
Mr. Smith has been for over thirty years an honored member of the Masonic fraternity, and whether as appren- tice, master, or companion of the Royal Arch has ever been known and esteemed by the craft as that best and truest type of a Mason-an honest man. lle has at various times held positions of trust and responsibility, among which may be mentioned that of' superintendent for many years of the Shelby Turnpike Company. A Republican in politics, houorable and liberal in all his dealings, a kind husband and father, he commands the confidence and esteem of all. By reference to another page of this work may be found the portraits of Mr. Smith and his wife, with a view of their beautiful farm-home.
DR. EDSON BLACKMAN.
Adam Blackman, one of the ancestors of' Edson, was one of the early emigrants from England to the New World. Ile was a graduate of Oxford in 1620, and settled in Connecticut, where he was engaged in the ministry. The Blackman family remained in Connecticut until 1835, when Eli W. Blackman, the father of our subject, emigrated to Michigan, and settled at Morenci, Lenawee Co. Ile was engaged at that place in farming up to 1852, when he sold out and removed to Allen, Hillsdale Co., where he remained until his death, in 1866, aged seventy. ITis widow died in 1876, at the age of eighty. They were the parents of four children,-Sarah M., John, Edson, and Viola. Of these, Sarah M. and Edson are living. Edson Blackman was born Nov. 22, 1839, at Morenei. He was reared on the farm, but obtained a fair education in the common schools, and after he was twenty years of age, he was engaged in teaching schools in various places in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan, and in attending the college at Hillsdale for several terms. He had decided on the medical profession,
and all his spare time in and out of college was devoted to that study. He entered the Eclectic Medical College at Cincinnati, in 1864, and graduated at that institute in 1866. Soon after, he commenced the practice of medicine
Photo. by E. Kindmark, Coldwater.
DR. EDSON BLACKMAN.
at White Pigeon, Mich. In March, 1866, he was united in marriage to Miss Melinda A. Morehouse, of Saratoga, N. Y. He remained in practice at White Pigeon for ten years, and had built up a lucrative business, when he sold out with the intention of removing to Saratoga ; but the illness of his aged mother at Allen prevented him, and he finally decided to settle in Quiney, where he has since re- sided, and established a lucrative practice, as well as wou the confidence and esteem of a large circle of friends.
The doctor is known and appreciated among his numer- ous patrons as a patient, sociable adviser, and among the citizens generally as a gentleman. He is at this time supervisor of Quiney, and is regarded as a rising man in his profession. The doctor and his estimable wife reside in a cosy home on Chicago Street. They are the parents of four children,-Mary G., Jesse E., J. Morehouse, and Cora M.,-all at home with the parents.
JOSEPH S. SWAN.
The ancestors of Mr. Swan were among the early set- tlers of New England. Nathan Swan, the father of Joseph, was a native of Connecticut, and in early life was married to Beulah Gates, of Washington Co., Ohio, to which place he had emigrated from Connecticut. He was engaged in farming in Ohio until 1850, when he removed to Michigan and bought a farm in Quincy, Branch Co., where he still resides. His wife died in 1865, at the age of sixty years.
They were the parents of six children, named Joseph S., Amy, Elizabeth; Levi, Zebedee, and Beulah, who are all married and have families. All except Zebedee reside in the township of Quincy.
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HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Joseph S. was born in Washington Co., Ohio, on Nov. 7, 1824. He was reared on a farm, and grew up to manhood with a strong, vigorous constitution, inured to hard labor and industrious habits. He remained with his father until he reached his majority, when he struek out for himself. IIe left home in 1846, and came to Quincy, Branch Co., possessing, upon his arrival, two dollars and fifty cents. He then hired out to work by the month for James Clizbe, with whom he remained two years, during
JOSEPH S. SWAN.
which time he married Miss Louise Mowry, the daughter of Samuel Mowry, an old settler of Quincy, April 9, 1848. For the next two years he worked the farm of his father- in-law on shares, meanwhile having purchased eighty acres of wild land in the township of Quincy, upon which, in 1852, he erected a log house, moved in, and commenced to clear off and improve his own farm. For the next few years he was engaged alternately in jobbing and clearing lands for himself and others. He has, with his own hands,
ehopped and cleared over two hundred acres of heavy tim- ber land in Quincy. By incessant toil and good manage- ment he in a few years became known as a well-to-do farmer, and as he prospered in his financial resources, he made many improvements on his farm. In 1861 he erected a fine farm-residence, and at this time he has one of the finest situations in that part of the county. Ile has a finely- cultivated farm, on which he raises all the various grains and fruits and stock for which Southern Michigan is noted.
MRS. JOSEPH S. SWAN.
In 1862 his wife died, and left him with the eare of three yonng children,-the youngest an infant ten days old. In the following year he filled the vacancy in his home by a marriage with Miss Elizabeth Weaver, daughter of Jacob and Charlotte Weaver, old settlers of Quincy. By this second union there are no offspring. The names of his children are Lydia M., May A., and Nathan S. Lydia is a teacher in one of the Detroit schools, and the others are at home with their father.
CHARLES N. WILCOX.
Jehiel Wilcox, the father of our subject, was a native of Dutchess Co., N. Y., and when a young man went to Ver- mont to work at his trade as a shoemaker, where he married Miss Chloe Nicholls. In 1827 he removed to Western New York, and the town of Evans, Erie Co , finally became his home, where he and his wife still reside on their farm. They are the parents of thirteen children,-seven sons and six daughters. Charles N. is the eldest of this large family. Six of the sous became engaged in the boot and shoe trade. Charles N. was born Oct. 13, 1824, at Sandgate, Vt. He obtained a fair education in the English branches, and, in the intervals of attending school, worked at shoemaking in Evans and its vicinity until he was twenty-one years of age, when he was married to Miss Maranda U. Jackson, of Evans, Feb. 6, 1851. After his marriage he commeneed business for himself in a boot- and shoe-store in the village of Pontiac, Erie Co. After about two years he was obliged
to relinquish his business in consequence of ill health. After a two years' rest he engaged in the same business in the same place, and, selling out, was for the next four years engaged in the same business at Angola. Ile then made a tour through the Western States in quest of a location for business, and finally decided to locate in Michigan, settling in the village of Quincy, Branch Co., which at that time was a small hamlet consisting of a hotel and a few small business houses. Ile had on his arrival a few hun- dred dollars with which to commence business, and was the first to open a boot- and shoe-store in Quincy. For the next twenty years he steadily pursued that business, and, as he was at the same time actively engaged in buying lots and fitting them up for sale by erecting buildings, etc., the growth and prosperity of the village may be considered as largely due to his enterprise and activity in all measures for the improvement of the town. He is at this time the owner of a large amount of real estate in the village, consisting of
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Photos, by E. Kindmark, Coldwater."
ALVARADO BROWN.
MRS. ALVARADO BROWN.
B. F. WHEAT.
MRS. B. F. WHEAT.
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HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICINGAN.
lots, residences, stores, etc. He has been a member of the village board almost continuously, of the school board for many years, and has always been active in the tem- perance reform. He is an attendant at the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which his wife is an honored member. They are the parents of three children, named Leroy De- forest, Francis Delos, and Ida May. Francis died at ten years of age. Leroy and Ida are at home with their parents. Leroy is in business for himself in the sale of boots and shoes in Quincy.
The residence of Mr. Wilcox and his worthy lady is on Chicago Street, and is a beautiful and cosy home.
B. F. WIIEAT
is of English extraction. IFis ancestors emigrated to this country at an early date and settled in the Massachusetts colony, where the family remained until Benjamin, the paternal grandfather of our subject, removed with his family to the State of New York, and settled in Phelps, in Ontario County. IIe died in 1817, at the age of eighty- three. His son Benjamin, who was born in Conway, was a farmer and also a mechanic. His wife's maiden name was Luany Sprague. They were the parents of eight children, as follows : Submit, Julia Ann, Sydney, Louise, Benjamin F., Jane, Charlotte, and Corydon. Of these all are living at this time except Submit, Julia, and Charlotte. Benjamin was a volunteer in the war of' 1812, and died in 1844, at sixty-four years of age, his widow dying in 1859, at seventy-five years of age.
Benjamin F., who was born at Phelps, Ontario Co., N. Y., Ang. 18, 1817, was reared a farmer, alternately assisting in the farm labors and attending the common schools until he was nineteen years of age, when, becoming desirous of going West, he removed to Lenawee Co., Mich., and for the first two or three years was engaged in the carpenter business in what was known as the Bean Creek country. During this time he formed the acquaintance of Miss Mary D. Hermance, a native of Fredonia, N. Y. Their acquaintance resulted in marriage, and they were united on the 5th day of May, 1839. They soon after settled on a farm between Canandaigua and Morenei, where he remained six years, and then moved into Adrian, where he engaged in the lumber and saw-mill business. In 1852 he removed to Quiney, Branch Co., where he erected a building for a store on the corner of Main and Chicago Streets, and engaged in the sale of goods. At the expira- tion of three years, being compelled in consequence of fail- ing health to relinquish that branch of business, he sold out the store, and since, that time has been engaged in buy- ing and selling produce. He was also postmaster for eight years, and in 1862 was in the mercantile trade again for a year, since when until a year ago, buying and selling grain and produce has been his principal occupation.
Mr. Wheat has been generally successful in his business ventures and has accumulated a comfortable independence for old age. He is held in great esteem by all who know him for his sound judgment, unflinching business integrity, and honorable dealing. In politics he is a Democrat of the old school ; in religious sentiment liberal in his views, toler-
ant and charitable to those with whom he differs, present- ing in his life and character all the traits of an American gentleman.
Mr. and Mrs. Wheat are the parents of two children,- Luany, the eldest, being the wife of Thomas II. Smith, a lawyer of Los Angeles, Cal.
In 1861, Edward S., at the age of nineteen, was one of the first to respond to the call for volunteers, and enlisted at the first call for three months' men, in the celebrated Loomis Coldwater Battery, and when it was found that the war was likely to continue he promptly re-enlisted and assisted in enlisting the men and organizing the 4th Michi- gan Battery, in which he became lieutenant, and with which he remained during the war, a portion of the time serving as chief of ordnance on the staff of Gen. Van Cleve. He participated in many of the hard-fought battles of the war, among which were Shiloh, Perryville, Stone River, Chickamauga, Murfreesboro', and many others, in all of which he proved himself a hero. At the time he was stationed at Murfreesboro' he became acquainted with Miss Emma Spence, the daughter of Hon. William Spence of that place, to whom, at the close of the war, he was married, and they settled on a plantation near Murfrees- boro'; but soon after, being appointed revenue assessor, he ceased farming, and for the last seven or eight years he has resided at Nashville, serving as United States marshal for that district.
Mrs. Wheat is a life-long, honored member of the Epis- copal Church ; she was confirmed in the city of Adrian many years ago, and is to-day a zealous churchwoman, res- pected and esteemed by all her acquaintances.
The reader will find by reference to another page of this work the portraits of Mr. Wheat and his wife, which, together with this brief sketch, will stand as a tribute to their lives and characters.
ALVARADO BROWN.
Nicholas Brown, the father of our subject, was a native of Massachusetts. Ile was in early life married to Susan- uah Johnson in Herkimer Co., N. Y. His occupation was that of a mechanic and machinist. In 1813 he removed to Ontario Co., N. Y., and settled on a farm in the town of Farmington, where he remained until 1825, when he re- moved to Orleans County, and the same year died at the age of forty-eight years. His widow died the next year, at the age of forty-eight years. They were the parents of seven children,-four sons and three daughters,-of whom Alvarado was next youngest. He was born Jan. 15, 1809, in Newport, Herkimer Co., N. Y. He attended school, and worked at farm labor until after the death of his parents, when the family became dispersed, and each went out to seek a living for himself.
After his mother's death, Alvarado attended the academy at Gaines for a short time, and then was engaged for about three years in working out by the month. During this time he married Miss Almina Davis, of Ridgway, July 1, 1833. After his marriage he bought a small farm, ou which he was engaged for the next three years. About
25
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HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
that time, determining to " go West," he sold out and went to Indiana, where, in the town of York, Elkhart Co., he bought five lots of government land. He remained there four years, and then exchanged his lands in Endiana for a farm in the township of Quincy, Branch Co., Mich., which has been his home ever since, although he has sold and ex- changed farms and residences many times since. Mr. Brown has all his life been engaged in farming, never en- gaging in uncertain projects of speculation, and it is entirely due to his shrewdness and sagacity, as well as his prudence and economy, that he has been uniformly successful in his business, and that he is now, in the closing years of a long and active life, able to retire from laborious pursuit with a competency for old age. About four years ago he gave up farming and contemplated making his home in Colorado, where his children are located ; but after visiting that country he decided that he liked his old home best, since which time he and his esteemed wife have resided in the village of Quiney, where they are appreciated by a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. Mr. Brown at this time, although seventy years of age, has the appearance of a healthy old gentleman, and, with his excellent wife, seems to enjoy life with as keen a zest as in their more youthful days. They are both honored members of the Baptist Church, in which they have been active workers for up- wards of forty years.
They are the parents of three children, named Helen M., Mary M., and Florence Ina. They are all married, and are citizens of Colorado. Helen is the wife of Charles Lazenby, and resides on a farm twenty miles from the city of Den- ver. Mary is the wife of L. II. Cole, who is largely en- gaged in stock-raising, and resides in the city of Denver ; Florence is the wife of A. J. Williams, a banker of Denver.
Mr. Brown has, at various times, occupied important positions, which he has filled with honor to himself and profit to his constituents, such as magistrate, two consecu- tive terms in the State Legislature, and member of the convention that revised the constitution of the State. His private character is without reproach, and he has ever been known as a just and upright man.
His wife was the daughter of Joseph and Dolly Davis, of Ridgeway, N. Y., and was born on the 27th day of De- cember, 1811, at Goshen, Madison Co., Vt. She has proved to her husband a helpmeet indeed, fully sharing and sym- pathizing with him in all the toils, sieknesses, and anxieties through which he has passed in a long and active life, and it may be said of her that " the heart of her husband doth safely trust in her."
LUCAS JOSEPH.
Among the hardy old pioneer settlers of Branch County we notice Lucas Joseph, of Quiney. He resides one mile south of the beautiful village of Quiney, on the same spot he first selected in 1837, and he is living in the same house erected by him in 1844, which was the first frame house built between Quiney and Hanchett's, in Algansee. In this house he was married, and has reared a large family of children, and although he has bought, sold, and exchanged
many traets of land, it is remarkable in a Western man that in all these years he has never changed his residenee. Matthias Joseph, the father of Lucas, was a native of Strasburg, France, and in 1817 emigrated with his family to the United States, and settled in Easton, Pa. Five or six years afterwards he removed to Tompkins Co., N. Y., where he remained about eight years, and then removed to Chili, Monroe Co., N. Y., where, in 1850, he died at sixty- five years of age. His widow died in the city of Rochester in 1864. They were the parents of eight children, as fol- lows : Rose, Martha, Lucas, Mary, John, Elizabeth, Law- renee, and William. Of these all are living except Martha.
Lucas, the eldest son, was born Oct. 14, 1817, at Easton, Pa. His opportunities for acquiring even a common-school education were very limited up to his thirteenth year, after which his school days were over, and he was put to work out by the month and year at farm labor, his father colleet- ing his wages.
When Lueas was nineteen his father gave him his time, and he went to work for himself. He worked out a few months and got together a small sum of money, and then started for the West. He eame to Michigan, and when he arrived in Adrian he had but three dollars, of which he expended two dollars and seventy-five cents for a pair of boots, and the remainder for postage.
Hle then went to work for Ira S. Mudge, south of Adrian. He made a bargain with Mudge for eighty acres of wild land, in the township of Quincy. For this land he worked eight months, and also cleared off eighteen acres of land. After paying for his land he went to work clearing off a small piece of four aeres on his own land, which he put into eorn.
During the next few years he was engaged alternately in working out by the month and clearing and improving his land. In 1844 he erected the house in which he has ever since lived. The first year he lived alone aud kept " bache- lor's hall," when Isaac Coon moved into his house and Mr. Joseph boarded with the family until his marriage with Miss Phebe F. Coon, Oet. 20, 1847. Mr. Joseph was for many years engaged in the nursery and fruit-tree business, he being the first to establish a nursery in Branch County and the first to sell fruit-trees. This, for about twenty years, was his principal occupation, although at the same time he carried on farming, and at intervals bought, sold, and exchanged lands, and occasionally dealt in land-warrants, bought and sold stoek and produce. Mr. Joseph, although of Franco-German origin, presents a fine type of the uni- versal Yankee, in the multiplicity and variety of oceupa- tions he has been engaged in, and in the energy and perse- verance with which he carries through to success whatever he undertakes. His whole life has been characterized by determination and push. The village of Quincy owes much to his energy and foresight, for soon after the construction of the Michigan Southern Railroad, the question of whether a railroad station would be located at Quiney or at a point three miles east depended upon the ability of the people to build a freight-house. Mr. Joseph, with his usual zeal, took hold of the matter, erected the building, and thus secured the location. He is widely known over the county as one of the solid, substantial old settlers of Quiney, and
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HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
is held in great esteem by his fellow townsmen, and their confidence in him has been frequently manifested by placing him in positions of responsibility. He is at this time sery- ing his second term as drain commissioner. In politics he is a Democrat of the Jackson type, and believes in the maxims of the fathers of the Republic.
Mr. Joseph and his worthy wife are the parents of ten children, named Francis J., Irvine E., Eugenia, Duella,
May, Maud, Ray, Orr, Iva, and Clint. All are living ex- cept Irvine, May, Ray, and Orr. Eugenia is the wife of Amos Gould, and resides in the township of Quincy. Duella is the wife of M. S. Segur, and resides in the village of Quiney. Francis is at present located in California, and the others are at home with their parents. His home-farm consists of one hundred and forty-six acres, and he owns in various other places six hundred and twenty-two aeres more.
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