USA > Michigan > Genesee County > History of Genesee County, Michigan, Her People, Industries and Institutions, Volume II > Part 61
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Jerry F. York remained on the old home farm until his marriage in December, 1877. after which he began farming for himself: For two years he continued farming on the old home place and then moved to the village of Goodrich, where he made his home for sixteen years, a part of which time he was engaged in the harness business. In January, 1896, he bought a farm of sixty acres in section 10 of his home township and ever since has made his home there, doing well at his farming operations and becoming quite well circumstanced. Since moving there he has bought more land adjoin- ing and now has a well-kept farm of one hundred and twelve acres. He and his wife are members of the Maccabees and he is a member of the Masonic lodge at Ortonville.
Mr. York has been twice married. It was on December 23, 1877, that he was united in marriage to Rachel Ann Baxter, who also was born in Atlas township, daughter of Eli and Rachel Ann (Cummings) Baxter, both members of old families in this county, having come here with their respective parents in the days of their youth and growing up amidst pioneer conditions of living. Eli Baxter, who lost his life while serving as a soldier of the Union during the Civil War, was a son of Edward and Mary (Herrick) Baxter. Mrs. Rachel A. York died on May 26, 1880, leaving one child, a daughter, Leno, who married Robert Goodfellow, now living at Castle Rock, Washington, and has four children, Lee, Warren, Loretta and Lola Lillian. On April 22. 1896, Mr. York married, secondly, Eva Cummings, who also was born in Atlas township, daughter of Edward and Susan (Dalby) Cum- mings, the former a native of this county and the latter of Erie county, New York, who are still living on the old Cummings homestead north of Atlas, for many years honored and useful residents of that community. Mr. and Mrs. York are rearing a lad, Clarence Streater, whose care they assumed in June, 1906, wien he was six years old. Jerry F. York is a Republican and has been treasurer for twelve years of school district No. 10, Atlas town- ship, and is serving his third term as justice of the peace.
Edward Cummings, father of Mrs. York, is an honored veteran of the
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Civil War and for many years one of the most influential residents of his part of Genesee county. He was born on a farm in section 3 of Atlas town- ship, January 22, 1844, son of Lewis and Elsie (Cummings) Cummings, both natives of Erie county, New York. Lewis Cummings was born in 1814, son of Stephen Cummings and wife, the former of whom was a soldier in the War of 1812, and grew to manhood on a farm in his native county. There he married Elsie Cummings and in 1836 came to the then Territory of Michigan with his wife and two children, Rachel and Orlando, and settled on a tract of four hundred acres in section 3 of Atlas township, this county, which he had picked out on a previous trip to this part of the country, and there he and his family established their home in a little log house, being among the very earliest of the settlers of that part of Genesee county. Lewis Cummings was a good farmer and a man of excellent judg- ment and prospered in his affairs, until he presently came to be regarded as the wealthiest man in Atlas township, the owner of six hundred and forty acres of fine land and ever interested in movements having to do with the advancement of the community of which he was from the very first one of the leading factors. He was for many years a member of the Congregational church at Goodrich and was ever foremost in local good works, so that at the time of his death on October 1, 1883, he was widely missed in that com- munity. Lewis Cummings was thrice married, his first wife, Elsie, having died in 1851, leaving seven children, four sons and three daughters, Orlando, Oscar, Stephen, Edward, Rachel, Loretta and Elsie.
When the Civil War broke out Edward Cummings was still in his teens, but he enlisted for service in the Union army and served until the close of the war as a member of Company I, Thirtieth Regiment, Michigan Volun- teer Infantry. Upon the completion of his military service he resumed his place on the old homestead farm in Atlas township and has lived there ever since, the owner of two hundred and twenty acres of his father's consider- able estate. On April 19, 1866, he was united in marriage to Susan Dalby, who was born about twelve miles from the city of Buffalo, in Erie county, New York, in 1839, daughter of Benjamin and Sarah C. (Paxton) Dalby, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of New York state, who came to Michigan with their family in 1855 and located about twelve miles south of Pontiac, whence they moved to Goodrich, in this county, where Benjamin Dalby conducted a blacksmith shop the rest of his life, his death occurring about 1871 and that of his widow in the spring of 1888. On April 19, 1916, Mr. and Mrs. Cummings celebrated their golden wedding anniversary and were the recipients of heartfelt congratulations on the part
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of their hosts of friends in this county. During her earlier years Mrs. Cum- mings was a school teacher in this county, having taught sixteen or seven- teen terms of public and private, or "select" school, and among the hosts of youngsters who learned their letters under her careful tutelage was the editor of this history, who has never ceased to entertain the highest regard for his old teacher.
NATHAN A. SEELYE.
. Nathan A. Seelye, a well-known and substantial farmer of Atlas town- ship, this county, and the owner of a fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres in the northeastern part of that township, is a native son of Genesee county and has lived here practically all his life. He was born on a farm in Davison township, July 17, 1851, son of Abel and Eliza (Townsend) Seelye, the former a native of the state of New York and the latter of Vermont, who had come to this county in the days of their youth and who spent the rest of their lives here.
Abel Seelye was born in Saratoga county, New York, April 1, 1819, son of Abel and Abigail (Seeley) Seelye, who came to Michigan in terri- torial days and became substantial pioneer residents of Genesee county. The senior Abel Seelye was born near Bridgeport, Connecticut, a son of Nathan and Deborah (Gregory) Seelye, both members of old New England fam- ilies, the first of the Seelyes in this country having come from England more than two hundred and fifty years ago. Among the children of the senior Abel Seelye were two sons, Abner and Alson, who came to the Territory of Michigan in September, 1835, and built a cabin on a tract they had secured from the government in the north half of section 33 of Davison township. this county. In the spring of 1836 Alson Seelye went back to New York and in April of that year drove through from eastern New York to the lake, accompanied by his sister, Deborah, proceeding thence by boat to Detroit and thence driving through to Pontiac and from there following the trail into the wilds of Genesee county until they reached the homestead cabin in Davison township, where they prepared for the coming of the rest of the family, the father and mother and Abel, Abner, James and Arsena, who joined them in the new home in the wilderness in August of that year. There the elder Abel Seelye and his wife spent the rest of their lives and their children continued to make their home in this county, with the exception of Ahner, who moved to Cass county, this state.
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The junior Abel Seelye was eighteen years old when he came to this county and he entered heartily into the general family task of preparing the forest homestead for cultivation. The second day after coming here he split his foot most severely while chopping in the woods and there being no doctor nearer than Pontiac, his sister, Debbie, acted as surgeon and skillfully sewed up the wound, undoubtedly thus preserving the foot. After his marriage in 1846 he and his wife started housekeeping on a farm he had bought in section 26 of Davison township, but presently traded that place for a farm of sixty acres in section 22 of that same township and there spent the rest of his life, his death occurring on November 14, 1892. His widow survived him about three years. During the early days Abel Seelye, Jr., held several township offices and was later highway commissioner. He was reared a Whig, but upon the formation of the Republican party gave his allegiance to that party and was ever thereafter an earnest worker in the ranks of the party in this county.
It was in 1846 that Abel Seelye, Jr., was united in marriage to Eliza Townsend, of Davison township, who was born near Lake Champlain, in Vermont, daughter of Isaiah Townsend and wife, the latter of whom was an Abbott, who later moved to a farm near Batavia, New York, where the mother died. Afterward Eliza Townsend and two of her brothers came to Michigan, about 1840, and settled in Davison township, this county, where and in Richfield township Miss Townsend was engaged in teaching school until her marriage to Mr. Seelye. Some time later her father came out here and made his home with the Seelyes, where his last days were spent. He was born in Vermont, son of Thomas Townsend, who, with two of his brothers, was a soldier in the patriot army during the Revolutionary War. To Abel and Eliza (Townsend) Seelye nine children were born, the first four of whom died in infancy or early childhood, Cecelia, Abigail and Adel- bert dying within one week, victims of an epidemic which swept through that part of the county. The eldest of the survivors of this family is Nathan .A., the subject of this sketch. the others in order of birth being Edgar J .. of Detroit; Edith, wife of C. S. Moss, of Flint; Clarence, who died in infancy, and Aldruda, who died in March, 1893, at the age of thirty-three years.
Nathan A. Seelye lived on the paternal farm until he was twenty-two years of age, after which he began working on his own account and pres- ently made his way into the lumber woods in the vicinity of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, where he had relatives and where he married in 1874. In the fall of that same year he returned to Genesee county with his wife and the
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next spring began farming on a rented farm in Davison township. The following spring he began working his father's farm and was thus engaged nearly all the time until in March, 1890, when he rented the John McNeil farm of one hundred and sixty acres, the northwest quarter of section II in Atlas township. In 1893 he bought that place and has ever since made his home there, becoming very well circumstanced. In addition to his gen- eral farming Mr. Seelye has given considerable attention to dairying during recent years and has a fine herd of Jerseys. He is a Prohibitionist in his political views, a member of the Grange and of the Gleaners and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Nathan A. Seelye has been twice married. It was on July 2, 1874, in Sheboygan county, Wisconsin, that he was united in marriage to Adelaide E. Townsend, who was born in that county, daughter of Hiram and Eliza (Baldwin) Townsend, the former a native of Vermont and the latter of New York state, born near Batavia, and to that union eight children were born, namely: Elrick A., of Lansing, this state, who married Bessie Rouser and has three children, Harold, Ralph and Robert, the former of whom had a twin brother, who died in infancy; Laverne E., of Hopkins, this state, who married Martha Bullock, of Lapeer county, and has three children, Edna, Nellie and Dillman ; May, who married William R. Nutter, of Lansing, and has one child, a daughter, Thelma; Abel, of Elba township, Lapeer county, who married Emma Nutter, a sister of William R., and has two children, George and Albert: Edith Amanda, who died when about eight weeks old; Bela, who lives at Silver Lake, Oregon; Edgar J., who also lives at Silver Lake, and Nathan A., who married Eva Andrews, of Mt. Morris, this county, and is now farming with his father. Nathan A. Seelye, Jr., has but recently returned from the vicinity of Silver Lake, Oregon, where he and Bela and Edgar each have taken up three hundred and twenty acres of land, upon which they are basing high expectations. The mother of these children died in July, 1904, and on June 10, 1908, Mr. Seelye married Mrs. Margaret G. (Hartnell) Magee, of Detroit, widow of William Magee, a former well-known resident of this county.
Margaret G. Hartnell was born in Yarmouth, Canada, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Rock) Hartnell, natives of England, who emigrated to Canada and located at Yarmouth, later, when their daughter was about two years old, moving to a homestead farm in Osborne township, Ontario. There Margaret G. Hartnell grew to womanhood and married William Magee, who was born on a pioneer farm in that same vicinity and who was an expert carriage- and wagon-maker. For three years after their marriage
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they lived at Whalens Corners, not far from their old homes, and then moved to Elandville, in that same township, moving thence to London, Ontario, where William Magee followed his trade until the fall of 1882, when he came to Michigan with his family and located at Davison, this county. In the spring of 1890 he moved onto a farm in Richfield township and two years later moved to Juniata, in Tuscola county, and continued farming there until 1898, when he moved to Flint, where he worked at his trade for about two years, at the end of which time he moved to Pontiac, where he engaged in mercantile business. Two years later he moved with his family to Shoal Lake, Manitoba, where he and the family engaged in the mercantile and restaurant business, but two years later returned to Michigan and located at Detroit, where Mr. Magee died on October 31, 1906, and where his widow was living when she married Mr. Seelye.
To William and Margaret G. (Hartnell) Magee six children were born, as follow: John Wesley, who died when six months old; Eva Jane, who married George Tweed, who died in May, 1912, leaving two children, May and Clyde, his widow later marrying William Foster, of Watertown, this state; Charles Ross Magee, of Racine, Wisconsin, who married Clara Moss and after her death married Jeannette Granish and has two children, Alice and Lucy Margaret; George T. Magee, of Detroit, who married Flora Mckenzie and has five children, Grace, George, Beatrice and Bernice (twins) and Harry Elmer; Edgar J. Magee, unmarried, and Elsie, who married Elmer Schuknecht, of Detroit.
STEPHEN D. McCANDLISH.
Stephen D. McCandlish, a well-known and substantial farmer of Atlas township, this county, proprietor of a fine farm of one hundred and eighty acres in section 19 of that township, where he has a beautiful home, a mod- ern house and well-kept grounds, is a native son of Genesee county and has lived here all his life. He was born on a farm adjoining that on which he now lives, in the western part of Atlas township, October 6, 1862, son of John and Margaret (Stevens) McCandlish, prominent residents and pioneers of that part of the county, further particulars regarding whose history and genealogy are set out elsewhere in this volume.
Reared on the home farm, receiving his schooling in the district school in that neighborhood, Stephen D. McCandlish has continued to make his
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home in the vicinity of his boyhood home and has been a farmer all his life. When he was seventeen years old he and his three brothers began farming in partnership and continued that arrangement for fourteen years. After the marriage of his elder brother, John E. McCandlish, Stephen D. McCandlish made his home with that brother until his own marriage in 1891, after which he established his home and began farming alone on the farm on which he now lives and where he ever since has made his home. On his home tract there in section 19 Mr. McCandlish has eighty acres. In 1913 he bought a tract of one hundred acres east of there and separated from the same by the old McCandlish homestead tract and has since been farming, with the assistance of his son and his son-in-law. both farms and has done very well. Mr. McCandlish has a fine brick residence, well-kept farm buildings, con- crete walks about his place and other improvements in keeping, the farm being regarded as one of the model places thereabout.
It was on January 1, 1891, that Stephen D. McCandlish was united in marriage to Emma E. Rockafellow, who was born at Atlas, this county, daughter of Robert Thatcher and Amanda ( Hull) Rockafellow, both natives of New York state, but counted among the earliest residents of this county, having come here in early childhood with their respective parents, back in territorial days. Robert Thatcher Rockafellow was born at Mt. Morris, New York, January 19, 1836, and was but six months old when his parents. Elias and Catherine (Thatcher) Rockafellow, came to Michigan and settled in this county, thus having been among the county's earliest residents, as they were among its most useful and influential pioneers. The Rockafellow family in this country traces descent back through Germany to France, cen- turies ago. Elsewhere in this volume, in a biographical sketch relating to Emrie Rockafellow, a grandson of Elias Rockafellow, there is set out in some detail something of the history and genealogy of that pioneer. Robert T. Rockafellow grew to manhood in this county and became one of its best- known carpenters and millirights. On July 4, 1861, he married Amanda Hull, who was born at Plymouth, New York, July 13, 1834, daughter of Noah and Alta (Booth) Hull, who came to Michigan in 1836, arriving at Flint in September of that year. At that time Flint was a hamlet of but six houses and Noah Hull, who was a carpenter and builder, at once entered into the growing activities of the even then promising outpost in the woods and became one of the county's most vigorous pioneer personalities. In the spring of 1837 he established a saw-mill at the point where the Irish road crosses Flint river, in Richfield township, and operated the same until the fall of 1846, in the meantime continuing his activities as a builder, and then
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moved down into Atlas township and became one of the first settlers in the village of Goodrich, many of the early houses in which village' were con- structed by him. He built the first church in Goodrich and the first church at Atlas. About 1853 he moved to the latter place and many of the early houses in that village were erected by him. There he continued to make his home the rest of his life, his death occurring in 1867. His wife had pre- ceded him to the grave nearly twenty years, her death having occurred in the fall of 1845. less than ten years after she came to this county. For a time Robert T. Rockafellow lived in Davison township, but most of his life was spent in Atlas, where he died on March 16, 1913. His wife had pre- ceded him to the grave many years, her death having occurred on January 10, 1896. They were the parents of two children, Mrs. McCandlish having a brother, Frank Rockafellow, a well-known resident of Atlas. To Mr. and Mrs. McCandlish two children have been born, Frank A., born on April 6, 1894, who married Mabel Cheney and has one child, a daughter, Margaret, and Grace, born on September 1, 1896, who married Eldon Upper, a mem- ber of one of the old pioneer families of Richfield township. Both Frank McCandlish and Eldon Upper are living on the McCandlish place, the former having charge of the east tract of one hundred acres, and are progressive and energetic young farmers.
CHARLES E. SUTTON.
Charles E. Sutton, president of the Lennon Commercial Bank and one of the best-known and most substantial farmers of Clayton township, this county, proprietor of a fine farm of two hundred and ten acres on rural route No. 2, out of Lennon, his home being situated two and one-half miles north and two miles east of that village, is a native son of Michigan and has lived in this state all his life. He was born at 'Royal Oak in the neighbor- ing county of Oakland, November 18, 1866, son of Benjamin and Penelope (Gibson) Sutton, both natives of England, who were married in their native land and in 1851 came to the United States, proceeding at once to Michigan, where they spent the rest of their lives.
Upon coming to this state with his family Benjamin Sutton located at Detroit, where and in the vicinity of which city he lived for awhile, later moving to Royal Oak. where he made his home for some time and then moved over into Shiawassee county, where he lived for seven years, at the
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end of which time, in 1881, he bought a farm of forty acres in Clayton township, this county, and there established his home, improving and develop- ing the farm and becoming one of the valued members of that community. They moved to Lennon, where he died and his widow later returned to the home farm which was occupied by the youngest son, where she died. Benjamin Sutton and wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church and their children were reared in that faith. There were eleven of these children, nine of whom grew to maturity and seven of whom are still living, namely: John, who lives at Judds Corners; George, of Pontiac; Mary, widow of George Weller, of Corunna; Sarah, wife of S. W. Howes, living near Lennon; Frank, of North Dakota; Charles E., the subject of this bio- graphical sketch, and Fred, who lives at Little Rock, Arkansas.
Charles E. Sutton was about fifteen years old when his parents located in Genesee county and he grew to manhood on the home farm in Clayton township, completing his schooling in the district school in the neighborhood of his home and proving a valuable aid to his father in the work of develop- ing and improving the home place. At the time of his marriage in 1890 he bought forty acres of the old Smith Lyons farm in Clayton township and there established his home and has continued to reside there ever since, he and his family being very pleasantly and very comfortably situated. As he prospered in his farming operations, Mr. Sutton added to his land holdings until now he is the owner of a well-kept and highly improved farm of two hundred and ten acres. In addition to his general farming, Mr. Sutton has for years given much attention to the raising of high-grade cattle and sheep and ships in carload lots. He also has given proper attention to the gen- eral business enterprises of his home community and in 1913 was elected president of the Lennon Commercial Bank at Lennon and is now serving in that capacity. That bank formerly was operated by Bert Jenny as a private bank, but after he had operated it about three years it became so deeply involved that it was necessary to close it. The company of which Mr. Sutton is the head then took over the bank. paid its obligations dollar for dollar and reorganized the concern as the Lennon Commercial Bank, with a capital stock of ten thousand dollars and has since done a good busi- ness, the bank being now recognized as one of the most substantial and flourishing financial institutions hereabout, a valuable adjunct to the com- mercial life of the prosperous farming community which it serves. The present officers of the bank are as follow: President, Charles E. Sutton ; vice-president, J. B. Moore : cashier, George Evans, and directors, Charles
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E. Sutton, J. B. Moore, Ernest Dieck, Frank Moore, Herbert Collins and William Woolley.
It was on September 2, 1890, that Charles E. Sutton was united in mar- riage to Grace Pixley, who was born in the state of New York and who came to Michigan with her parents in the spring of 1877, the family settling in Genesee county, her schooling being completed in the school near her home. To this union two children have been born, Ralph P., born on Sep- tember 16, 1891, who was graduated from the Flushing high school, attended college one year and is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and Muriel, who was graduated from the Flint high school, attended college one year, married Frank W. Moore and lives in Clayton township. Mr. and Mrs. Sutton are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and take an earnest interest in the various beneficences of the same, as well as in all neighbor- hood good works, helpful in the promotion of all movements having to do with the advancement of conditions in their home community.
NICHOLAS MURPHY, JR.
Nicholas Murphy, Jr., clerk of Mt. Morris township and one of the best-known and most progressive young farmers in that township, is a native son of Genesee county and has lived here all his life. He was born on a farm in section 13 of Mt. Morris township, about three miles east of where he now lives, February 12, 1888, son of Nicholas and Mary Isabel (Hannan) Murphy, the former a native of Canada and the latter of the city of Flint, in this county.
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