USA > Michigan > Genesee County > History of Genesee County, Michigan, Her People, Industries and Institutions, Volume II > Part 31
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elected county road commissioner, which office he still holds. Mrs. Ottaway is a member of the Methodist church at Flushing. Fraternally, he is a mem- ber of Flushing Lodge No. 223, Free and Accepted Masons, and of Flint Rapids Chapter No. 116, Royal Arch Masons, while he and his wife are charter members of Flushing Chapter No. 176, Order of the Eastern Star. Mr. Ottaway is a past master and past high priest of the Masonic lodge at Flushing and takes a warm interest in Masonic affairs. The Ottaways have a very pleasant home and take an earnest interest in the general social activities of the community in which they live, helpful in promoting all movements designed to advance the common welfare thereabout.
ELVAH VICTOR PARTRIDGE.
Elvah Victor Partridge, a prominent farmer of Genesee county was born on a farm in Flushing township on May 15, 1881. the son of William E. Partridge and wife. He grew to manhood on the home farm, where he now resides, and was educated in the schools of Flushing township and at the Flint Normal School. After completing his schooling he returned to the home farm and assisted in the management of the place. At the death of his parents, he purchased one hundred acres of the heirs in section 12. Flushing township. Since that time Mr. Partridge has added to the farm forty acres in section 6 of Mt. Morris township. He has a well-culti- vated farm and has improved the same in admirable fashion. There he is doing general farming and is also interested in the raising of Durham cat- tle and Duroc hogs. He also handles a number of good sheep.
William E. and Sarah ( McDowell) Partridge, the parents of Elvah V. Partridge, were born in the state of New York and in Flushing township, this county, respectively, the former on February 21, 1841, and the latter on January 3, 1849. William E. Partridge came to this county as a young man and settled in section 12 of Flushing township, where he lived until his death in 1908. His widow survived him about four years, her death occurring on February 15, 1912. They were the parents of four children, Earl, Herman, Elvah and one who died in infancy.
Earl Partridge was born in Flushing township on November 14, 1873. There he grew to manhood, receiving his schooling in the district school and at the Flushing high school. He later attended the Flint Normal School and then took a course in engineering and for a time operated the engine at
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the fire-clay pit. He also operated the engine for the Armstrong Spring Company for a year, at the end of which time he returned to the old home- stead and worked the farm for his mother and at her death purchased sixty acres of the place, to which he has added twenty acres.
On April 22, 1900, Earl Partridge married Amanda Stimmens, who was born in Detroit on April 13, 1879. Her mother having died when she was but a child, she was placed in a school in Detroit, her father having returned to Germany. Earl and Amanda Partridge are the parents of four children : Helen M. and Margurete, twins, born on March 22, 1903; Julia, born in 1905, and Gladys, in 1908.
Earl Partridge has a well-cultivated farm and has improved the same in excellent shape. He has a modern house and well built barns and is engaged in general farming and stock raising. Fraternally, Mr. Partridge is a Gleaner and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
GEORGE H. EDDY.
George H. Eddy came West from Warren, Rhode Island, and in time purchased his farm in Flint township, where he still resides with his family.
LEMUEL RICHMOND.
With a little study and experience it is always possible to determine exactly what particular crop should succeed another, and any up-to-date farmer knows the value of proper crop rotation. This problem seems to be well understood by Lemuel Richmond, of Fenton township, this county. He has lived in this locality for over three decades and has watched closely the best methods of farming. He was born in Washtenaw county, Michigan, August 8, 1867, and is a son of Horace and Antoinette (Cowden) Rich- mond, and a grandson of Ira Cowden, a farmer, who was born in Cattara- gus county, New York. Horace Richmond was born near Delhi Mills. Michigan, in 1837, and his death occurred in 1883. His widow survived him thirty years, dying at an advanced age, on January 6, 1914. To these parents three children were born, namely: Mattie, who died in December, 1915, when fifty years old; Lemuel, the subject of this sketch, and Hattie, who lives in California. The father of these children spent the major por-
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tion of his life in Washtenaw county, this state, where he engaged in farm- ing and in the milling business, owning a mill at Amy at the time of his death.
Lemuel Richmond was educated in the common schools at Amy. In 1884 he came to Genesee county and located on his present farm in Fenton township, where he owns a well-improved and productive farm of one hun- (red and twenty-three acres.
On September 18, 1889, Mr. Richmond was married to Ida J. Badgley, a daughter of Chauncey Badgley, an early settler in Genesee county and a veteran of the Civil War. His wife was Anna Doty before her marriage. He was an active member of the Methodist church.
Seven children, all living at home, have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Richmond, namely: Helen, Jay, Horace, Ulda, Eldon, Leslie and Lemuel. Jr. Mr. Richmond is a member of the Methodist church at Fenton and is a member of the Gleaners.
E. B. STILES.
Much depends upon the kind of start one gets in this world, just as it does in a race. The horse that gets the best start. all other things being equal, will almost invariably win the race. So in the race of life: If one is properly started, with suitable grooming, such as good educational and home training, he will lead in the race in after years. E. B. Stiles, who operates an elevator in Linden, Genesee county, seems to have had such a start.
Mr. Stiles was born in Livingston county, Michigan, August 27. 1875. and is a son of W. B. and Ella ( Whitney ) Stiles. The maternal grand- father. B. G. Whitney, who was a native of the state of New York, devoted his life to general farming : he spent forty years in McComb and Genesee counties. Michigan, dying in the latter. He was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Grandfather W. B. Stiles was also a native of the state of New York. He married Cornelia Rumsey and devoted his active life to farming. The father of the subject was born in the state of New York and received a common school education. He came to Michigan when twenty years old and joined his brother in Livingston county, where he bought forty acres of land, and here he married Ella Whitney, who was born in Macomb county, this state; they are living in Argentine, where he is engaged in the lumber business. He is a member of the Methodist Epis-
& B Stiles
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copal church. They are the parents of seven children, all living, namely : E. B., Cornelia, E. R., D. Roy, Floyd D., Jennie and Mabel.
E. B. Stiles received his education in the public schools of Livingston and Genesee county, also attending the normal school in Fenton. On June 6, 1894, he married Lena B. Struble, a native of Genesee county and a daughter of R. K. and Catherine (Dodder) Struble. The father came here from Ohio in pioneer days and was at one time supervisor of his township.
Mr. Stiles owns an excellent and well-improved farm of two hundred and seventy acres in .Argentine township, Genesee county, which he operated five years. He has been engaged in the elevator business since 1904 and has been very successful in the same, carrying on a large business all the while. He first owned an elevator at Davisburg, then at Fostoria, then bought a half interest in the elevator at .Argentine, which he later sold. He now owns a half interest in the elevator at Fostoria and is the sole owner of the elevator at Linden. He is a member of the Advent church.
ERNEST L. BAILEY.
Nature has given most men sufficient natural ability to succeed in farm- ing, but so many are indifferent, apathetic or unwilling to put forth the proper amount of physical and mental exertion to reap large rewards in this great- est of all callings. Ernest L. Bailey of Flushing township, this county, has succeeded as a farmer because he has been both industrious and a close ol:server. He was born in the above-named township and county, Novem- ber 6, 1871, and is a son of Edwin A. Bailey, who was born near Stockport, England. October 18, 1840, and who came with his parents, William Bailey and wife, to the United States when young, the family locating in what is known as the English settlement in Flushing township, this county. William Bailey there purchased sixty acres of timber land, which he cleared and transformed into a good little farm through much hard work and privation. William Bailey, who was a native of England, was an expert miller and also a finisher of woolen goods and had never attempted farming until coming here. He and a Mr. Reed were the original settlers in the English colony. He married Mary Goodard, a native of England, whose death occurred about 1845. as a result of the hardships encountered in the new country. His death occurred in 1873. Five children were born to them, namely : Maria, who died in childhood; Thomas, who also died in childhood; Hannah,
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who married Enoch Vernon, one of the early English settlers in this county, now deceased, his widow making her home with her children, five sons and two daughters, all surviving, the fruit of her union with Mr. Vernon; Edwin A., the father of the subject of this sketch, and John H., who now lives retired in the village of Flushing.
Edwin A. Bailey was sixteen years old when he went into the lumber woods after his arrival in this county and performed a man's work, later returning to the home farm, assisting his father clear and plant the land to crops, thus, like the sons of all pioneers of those days he learned the mean- ing of hard work. He remained with his parents until his marriage when he located in section 5 of Flushing township, where he purchased a farm of his own, which he operated until 1894, when he retired from active life, moved to the village of Flushing and lived there quietly until his death. which occurred on March 31, 1913. He married Ellen S. Wood, who was born in the English settlement here. August 26, 1843, a daughter of James and Sarah (Burgess) Wood, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. To Edwin A. Bailey and wife five children were born, namely : Randolph W., born on September 29, 1867, who is farming in Shiawassee county, married twice. the last time to Etta Harkness, who is the mother of eight children, five of whom are living; Ernest L., the subject of this sketch ; Mabel, born on April 12. 1877, who married N. A. Morrish, a farmer of Clayton township, this county, and has three children; Milton E., May 25, 1879, who lives on the old Bailey homestead, is married and has one child, and Vera, February 9, 1885, who married Carl Wilcox, a druggist and mer- chant of Henderson, this state, and has one child.
Ernest L. Bailey received his schooling in the district schools and worked on the home farm until he was twenty-one years of age. After making two moves he located on the farm he now owns, which he purchased in 1908. He has always lived in his present vicinity. He owns a well- improved farm of one hundred and twenty acres, which farm was one of the first to be cleared in the English settlement. A general store was located on it for some time in the early days, which was the trading points of the settlement. There is also a tenant house on the farm which is supposed to be the oldest building in that community.
In 1804, Ernest L. Bailey was married to Florence Hallock, who was born at Vernon, Shiawassee county, November 8, 1874. a daughter of Dewitt and Helen (Bigelow) Hallock, for many years residents of a farm in that county, but now living retired in Flint. To Mr. and Mrs. Bailey one child
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has been born, a son, Raymond H., born on July 13, 1896, who was gradu- ated from the high school at Flushing with the class of 1916.
Politically, Mr. Bailey is a Republican. He is a member of the Masonic Order, lodge No. 426 at Montrose, also of the Order of the Eastern Star, lodge No. 351, at Montrose, and is a member of the Gleaners at Brent Creek. He attends the Methodist Episcopal church at New Lothrop.
CHARLES S. MORRIS.
A well-known citizen of the village of Gaines, this county, is Charles S. Morris, who hails from the old Empire state and who, since taking up his residence here, has won a prominent place among the enterprising men of his locality. He was born in Niagara county, New York, July 30, 1866, a son of W. O. and Lavina F. (Winchester) Morris. The father was also a native of that county, where he grew up on a farm. The mother was a native of Quebec, Canada, from which country she moved as a small girl with her parents to Niagara county, New York, where she grew to woman- hood and married Mr. Morris. The parents of the latter lived and died in that county.
When Charles S. Morris was about fourteen years old, about 1880, his parents moved with their family to Shiawassee county, Michigan, the father buying a farm of eighty acres in Burns township, where they lived about six years; then located in North Newberg, later moving to Pittsburgh, where the father was in the government service, then returned to Shiawassee county and settled in Morrice, where the parents of the subject of this sketch still reside. Three children were born to them, namely: Charles S., the subject of this sketch; William, who died when about fifteen years of age, and Lewis E., who died when twenty-five years of age. W. O. Morris has always been active in political life, a stanch Republican, and has filled the office of justice of the peace for a number of years. He is a member of the Methodist church, of which he is a trustee and in which he is an active worker. Many years ago he joined the Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Charles S. Morris received his schooling in the district schools and the Morrice high school, and remained at home until he was twenty-five years of age. From early youth he has followed mercantile pursuits, starting out as a clerk and later entering business for himself. He was in Detroit for
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some time, then moved to Gaines, this county, in the fall of 1898, first con- ducting a barber and confectionery business, which he continued until in February. 1915. He began his present mercantile business and also estab- lished himself as a funeral director. April 1, 1916. Mr. Morris was reg- istered in 1910 as a licensed embalmer and by the state board of health in JOI1.
Charles S. Morris married Ella E. Steele, a daughter of Richard Steele, of Shiawassee county, and to this union two children have been born, Wayne E. and Gwendolyn, the latter of whom died when five years of age. Mr. Morris is a Republican and has served as clerk of the village of Gaines for seven consecutive terms ; also served on the village council for a number of years. He is also justice of the peace and a notary public and has discharged his duties as a public servant in an able and satisfactory manner. He is a Royal .Arch Mason and a member of the Knights of the Maccabees and of thie Gleaners.
FRANK HOLSER.
Frank Holser, one of the prominent and successful farmers of Flush- ing township, was born at Waterford, Oakland county, Michigan, on July 12, 1865, the son of John and Mary ( Forster ) Holser, natives of Germany, the former born on March 28, 18144, and the latter, October 19, 1819. They were married in 1843. and to this union the following children were born in the Fatherland: Louise, born on July 21, 1844, who died on the voyage to the United States, October 6, 1848; Caroline, on February 21, 1846, wife of J. S. Jones of Clayton township, this county, and Mary. October 4, 1848, who died in 1809. She was the wife of Albert Chapman, now deceased. The following children were born in the United States: John, Jr., born on September 16, 1851, now deceased; Louis John, July 30, 1853, now living at Pontiac ; Lonise, January 2, 1855, wife of David F. Ranney of Boston : Henry Phillip, October 5, 1857. now deceased; Anna Mary, January 10, 1860, who died on December 2, 1885: Charles John, March 25, 1862, now living in Colorado, and Frank. The father died on July 6, 1886, while the mother lived to be eighty years of age and died on March 4, 1899.
John Holser and family landed in New York city in October, 1849. The family remained there for some years and then moved to Rochester, New York, in the vicinity of which city Mr. Holser worked on a farm for four years. In 1857 he came to Michigan and located at Pontiac, where
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he was engaged by a produce merchant, for five years; after which he pur- chased ten acres of land, in Waterford township, seven miles from Pontiac, where he engaged in truck farming. He later sold that tract and purchased forty acres, to which he later added fifty-six acres, and there was engaged in general farming and stock raising until the time of his death.
Frank Holser, after completing his schooling in the common schools of the township, returned to the farm, where he assisted his father. Upon the death of the latter he purchased the home farm of the heirs and con- tinued to make his home there, his mother living with him.
On February 25, 1892, Frank Holser was united in marriage to Emeline Paine, who was born in the village of Flushing on July 21, 1871, daughter of William and Ruey Ann ( Richardson ) Paine, and who completed her schooling in the Flushing high school.
William Paine was born in the state of New York, in 1838, and was but an infant, about one year of age, when his parents came to this county, settling on a farm in Flushing township. As a young man he engaged in farming, at which he continued until his death on April 30, 1909. He was also interested in the oil fields of Pennsylvania. He was a stanch Repub- lican and took much interest in local politics. Fraternally, he was a mem- ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Ruey Ann ( Richardson) Painc was born on Jannary 4, 1848, and is still living at her home in Flush- ing. She and William Paine were the parents of the following children : Mary, born on March 4, 1868, is the wife of Samuel Jones of Clayton town- ship: Emeline, wife of Mr. Holser ; Hattie, born on April 12, 1874, wife of George Judd, of Flushing township; Willard, October 16, 1875, now liv- ing at Grand Rapids; Alice: Nellie, the wife of Ray Budd, of Flushing township, and Frank, born on March 4, 1886, who died in infancy.
To Frank and Emeline (Paine) Holser have been born the following children : Erwin F., born on November 29. 1892, is a graduate of the Mich- igan Agricultural College and is now living in Detroit; Howard P., February 25, 1899, who was graduated from the Flushing high school in 1916; Mabel, November 13, 1905, and Nellie, March 26, 1909.
After purchasing the old homestead of ninety-six acres, Mr. Holser added sixty-four acres to the tract and made that place his home until 1904. when he sold the place and purchased his present home in section 34, known as "Spring Brook Farm." and one of the best farms in the township. There he has built a modern house, with steam heat, water and electric lights. In 1906 he built a barn, thirty-four by sixty-two feet, all modern, with cement floors and electric lighted. In 1915 he purchased twenty acres across
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the road from his home. On the home place he has built some small barns, hog sheds and chicken houses, all of which are modern and equipped with electric lights. Mr. Holser is engaged in general farming and in the raising of pure-bred stock. He has a fine herd of Durham dairy cattle with which he has been most successful. In connection with his other work, he is much interested in his White Leghorn chickens, settings of eggs from his flock being in wide demand.
Mr. Holser is a Democrat and while living in Oakland township served as treasurer, highway commissioner and as a member of the school board. He also served on the board in Flushing township. He is a member of the Gleaners and takes much interest in the workings of that order. His influ- ence in the community is always for the good, and he takes much interest in all that tends to the advancement of the best interests of the county.
IRA T. SAYRE.
Ira T. Sayre, of Flushing, was born in Hector township, Schuyler county, New York, on March 6, 1858, the son of Augustus and Sarah (Terry) Sayre. Augustus Sayre was born at Scott's Corners, township of Ovid, Seneca county, New York, November 23, 1827. He followed farming all his life, and in May, 1850, came to Michigan, and took up land in section 23, Flushing township, this county, where he lived for four years, at the end of which time he returned to New York state and lived there until 1864, when he returned to Flushing, and again took up his residence on the land which he had purchased in 1850. He made his home on that farm until 1890, in which year he built a home in the village of Flushing, where he lived until his death on February 12, 1909. He took an active part in the early develop- ment of this community, was prominent in the affairs of the Methodist Epis- copal church, and served as school trustee in Flushing.
In October, 1856, Augustus Sayre was married to Sarah Terry, who was born on September 23, 1836, in Hector township, Schuyler county, New York, where she lived until her marriage. She is still living in Flushing. To Augustus Sayre and wife three children were born, Ira T., Franklin P. and Julia M., the latter of whom, the wife of A. E. Ball, died at her home in Redlands, California, November 4, 1904. Augustus Sayre was the son of David Halsey and Sidney (Aston) Sayre, the latter born in Newtown Hamilton, county of Armagh, Ireland, in 1800. David H. Sayre was born
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at Southampton, Long Island, New York, December 31, 1798, in a house built in 1649 by Thomas Sayre, who was the original Sayre coming from Europe to America, he having settled there in 1639. The house in which he lived was torn down in 1915, at the time being recognized as the oklest house built of wood in the United States. David H. Sayre lived in his Long Island home until 1816, when he moved to Lodi township, Seneca county, New York, where he lived until October 12, 1878, on which date his death occurred at an advanced age. He was a son of Caleb Sayre, born Septem- ber 14, 1764, in the old Sayre homestead on Long Island. Caleb Sayre moved to New York about 1820, with his son, David, where he lived until his death, in 1847, at the age of eighty-three. Elizabeth Halsey, wife of Caleb Sayre, was born in Rensselaerville, Albany county, New York, Sep- tember 16, 1771, and died on April 9, 1853. Caleb Sayre was a son of Joshua Sayre, who died on June 12, 1806, and Abigail (Cooper) Sayre, who died in 1812. Joshua Sayre was a son of Ichabod Sayre, Jr., who was born at Southampton, Long Island; he was a son of Ichabod Sayre, Sr., who was born in 1666, and died in 1745, and Mary (Hubbard) Sayre, born on Novem- ber 17, 1674. Ichabod Sayre, Sr., was a son of Francis and Sarah ( Wheeler ) Sayre, natives of Bedfordshire, England. Francis Sayre was a son of Thomas Sayre, born in Leighton Buzzard, in July, 1597, and who came to America with his father, Thomas. Thomas Sayre came to America in 1634, and settled in Lynn, Massachusetts, and was the founder of the well-known Sayre family in the United States. Thomas Sayre was a son of Francis and Elizabeth Sayre; Francis was a son of William and Alice (Squyre ) Sayre. the former of whom died in 1564. The first known ancestor of William Sayre was also named William, and he was born in 1310.
Ira T. Sayre received his early education in the district schools of Hector township, Schuyler county. in the state of New York, afterwards attending the Flushing graded schools and the high school, from which he was gradu- ated. He attended the Michigan Agricultural College at Lansing, then took a course in law and medicine at the State University at Ann Arbor. He was admitted to the bar by the supreme court at Lansing, June 16, 1881, and returned to Flushing to begin the practice of his profession. He continued in the practice until 1898, when he turned his attention principally to fruit farming. He owns rental property in Flushing and in Flint, and devotes most of his time and attention to the real-estate and insurance business.
On August 5, 1884, Ira T. Sayre was married to Julia E. Niles, who was born in Flushing, December 25, 1866, and has always made that place her home. To this union three children have been born Helen L., born
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