USA > Michigan > Genesee County > History of Genesee County, Michigan, Her People, Industries and Institutions, Volume II > Part 64
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Stephen Jordan married, not long after returning from California, Emily Perry, who was born in Grand Blanc township, this county, daughter of Simon and Sarah (Cartwright) Perry, the former of whom was one of the sons of Edmund Perry, Sr., who brought his family from New York state to this part of Michigan Territory in 1826, he having bought a tract of land in Grand Blanc township from the government in 1825, the Perry family thus becoming the second family to settle in Genesee county. The Perry family exerted a wide influence for good hereabout in pioneer days and left a name that will not soon be forgotten. Elsewhere in this volume there are presented further details regarding the history and the genealogy of the Perrys, to which the reader is respectfully referred for additional information in this connection. In 1830 Simon Perry bought a tract of government land in section 14 of Grand Blanc township, later buying addi- tional land in section II of that same township, and in 1834 built a small frame house on his original "eighty." He had married Sarah Cartwright, daughter of Thomas and Isabel Cartwright. and in that pioneer home was
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born his daughter, Isabel, the first white child born in Genesee county. Mrs. Stephen Jordan was one of the founders of the public library at Atlas and was ever active in local good works. She survived her husband for more than fifteen years, his death occurring in June, 1897, and hers in September, 1914. Of their eight children, three died in youth; Charles died at Atlas in January, 1916, leaving a widow and daughter ; Frank, Jennie and Belle live in Atlas and Louise married Mr. Gale. To this union six children have been born, Mary, who married Ray M. Potter, of Davison township, and Ruth. Perry . A., Lewis S., Carol and Dorothy L.
JOHN COOLEY VAN VLEET.
John Cooley Van Vleet, one of the prominent farmers of Vienna town- ship, Genesee county, was born on a farm in Gaines township on February 25, 1852, he being the son of James and Mary Van Vleet. James Van Vleet was born in Seneca county, New York, on July 28, 1819. He came to Michigan in 1844 and settled in Gaines township, where he remained until 1868, when he was elected treasurer of the county. During his residence in Gaines township he served for eighteen years as township supervisor. He also held the office of justice of the peace and was a member of the state Legislature for four years. After his election as county treasurer he removed to Flint, where he resided until his death, on March 16, 1915. During his residence in Flint he was elected supervisor of that township. Mary A. (Cooley) Van Vleet was born in Seneca county. New York, on May I, 1822, and died at her home in Flint on February 15, 1892.
To James and Mary Van Vleet were born the following children? Albert was born on October 2, 1842, and is a retired farmer living in Dur- and, Michigan; Anna E. was born October 31, 1845, and is the wife of W. H. Fairchild, a Swartz Creek farmer; Jared was born on October 9, 1848, and is at present in the real estate and insurance business at Flint ; John Cooley is the subject of this review.
John Cooley Van Vleet received his education in the district schools of his township and the Flint high school. After graduating from the high school, he returned to his one-hundred-and-thirty-acre farm, in sections 26 and 35, Vienna township. Here he has continued to live a successful life on the farm.
On February 25, 1880, John Cooley Van Vleet was united in marriage
James Van Vliet
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to Ada Martin, of Gaines township. Mrs. Van Vleet is the daughter of William and . Nancy (Brewer) Martin, both of whom are now deceased. They were pioneer settlers of the township. Ada Martin Van Vleet received her education in the district schools and at the Flint high school.
Politically, John Cooley Van Vleet is a Republican and has served his township as treasurer for two years, justice of the peace for the past fourteen years, and for thirty years has been a member of the school board. Mr. Van Vleet's life has been an active and honorable one and he has done much to- ward the advancement of the social and educational life of the community.
GEORGE McKINZIE CAMPBELL.
George McKinzie Campbell, a well-known retired farmer and merchant of Atlas township, this county, an honored veteran of the Civil War, present supervisor of Atlas township, a position he has held for ten years, former treasurer and assessor of that township and in other ways actively identified with the civic interests of his home community and who has been a con- tinuous resident of the village of Atlas since the middle eighties, is a native of New York state, but has been a resident of this county since he was a boy. He was born near the Hudson river, in Columbia county, New York, December 25, 1848, son of John and Barbara (Russell) Campbell, the latter of whom died when he was twelve months old and the former of whom later became a well-known and substantial pioneer resident of this county, where he spent his last days.
John Campbell was born in the Highlands of Scotland. He grew to manhood there and learned the machinist's trade. When about thirty years old he came to this country and in New York state was married to Barbara Russell, who was born in the Lowlands of Scotland and who had come to this country with her parents, John Russell and wife, the family settling on a farm in Pennsylvania, right on the New York state line, southeast of Jamestown, in the latter state. John Campbell built and operated a woolen mill in New York and remained there until 1856, when he came to Michigan with his five sons, the subject of this sketch then being about eight years of age, with a view to acquiring a tract of government land for the purpose of providing a permanent establishment for his sons. He settled in Genesee county, but after about a year's residence here decided to look further and
(11a)
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broke up his home, for about five years thereafter traveling over a good part of the North and Western states before finally coming back to Genesee county and settling down on a farm on the line between Atlas and Davison township, after which he got his sons together with him again and estab- lished his home there, remaining there the rest of his life, his death occurring on September 25, 1869. His five sons were John, Alexander, Allan, James and George M., all of whom save the eldest served as soldiers of the Union army during the Civil War, Alexander and Allan Campbell going to the front in the fall of 1861 with the First Michigan, Engineers and Mechanics, and serving until the close of the war, being mustered out as lieutenants, and James going out in 1864, at the close of the war being sent to Texas with the Third Regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until that command was mustered out, all the brothers returning unscathed at the close of their service.
As noted above, George M. Campbell was but a boy when his father came to this county and when the elder Campbell disbanded his home when he started ont prospecting he was sent back to live with his mother's kins- folk in Pennsylvania, where he remained until his father established his home in this county five years later. In the fall of 1863, before his fifteenth birthday, he attempted to enlist for service in the army, but his father stepped in and put a stop to his soldierly designs. The next fall, however, when not yet sixteen years old, he succeeded in enlisting in Company F. Thirtieth Regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and served with that com- mand until it was mustered out at the close of the war. Upon the com- pletion of his military service he returned home and resumed farm work. In 1869 his right arm was caught in a "jack" of a threshing-machine and was so hopelessly mangled that amputation was necessary. After that dis- tressing experience he attended school a year. In 1871 he married and bought a farm one mile south and a mile and a half west of the village of Atlas, where he established his home and where he engaged in farming for twelve years, at the end of which time he sold the farm and moved to the village of Atlas, where he bought a store and engaged in the mercantile business. A year later that store was destroyed by fire and since then Mr. Campbell, who has ever since continued to make his home in .Atlas, has been chiefly occupied with the duties of the several public offices he has held from time to time ever since the early eighties. The first office to which Mr. Campbell was elected was that of highway commissioner of Atlas town- ship, which office he held for two years. In 1888 he was elected township treasurer, serving two terms and after two years was again elected to that
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office. He was school inspector for two years and then was elected super- visor for seven years and then was elected justice of the peace, but after two years in that office resigned to take the office of township supervisor and is now on his third year of service in the second period, making a service of ten years in that office. In addition to these offices, Mr. Camp- bell also served as assessor and treasurer of his school district for ten years. He is a Republican and for years has been regarded as one of the leaders of the party in his part of the county, having some years ago served as a member of the county Republican committee. Of his brothers, John Camp- bell served two terms as treasurer of Genesee county and for fourteen years was supervisor of Davison township. Alexander Campbell was supervisor of that same township for six years and Allan Campbell was supervisor of Groveland township, in Oakland county, for six years.
It was on September 26, 1871, that George M. Campbell was united in marriage to Inez Harding, who was born on the farm which her husband later bought, southwest of Atlas, and who died at her home in Atlas on November 18, 1914. Mrs. Campbell was a daughter of Daniel and Amerilous (Swift) Harding, the former a native of Rhode Island and the latter of New York, who came to Michigan Territory in 1836 and settled on a home- stead farm in the unbroken woods in section 18 of Atlas township, this county, where they became useful and influential pioneer residents and where they spent their last days.
LEWIS GIFFORD.
Lewis Gifford, manager of the Davison Telephone Company at Davison, this county, for years postmaster of that town and for more than twenty- five years one of Davison's best-known and most progressive merchants, is a native son of Genesee county and has lived here all of his life, with the exception of about five years spent with a milling concern at Bay City. He was born on a pioneer farm in Flint township, May 16, 1859, son of Alfred and Miranda ( Butterfield) Gifford, natives of Canada, who came to this country in 1855 and here spent the rest of their lives.
Alfred Gifford was a manufacturer of agricultural implements and tools in Canada, but upon coming to Michigan he bought a partly cleared farm in Flint township, this county, and was thereafter engaged in farming. To him and his wife there were born four daughters in Canada, and after
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coming to this county four sons were born to them. It was in the autumn of 1855 that Alfred Gifford established his home in Flint township. The railroad had then only reached to Holly, and the conditions in the section in which he settled still retained much of their pioneer aspect. He finished clearing his place and became a substantial farmer, one of the leading men in his community, and on that farm spent his last days, his death occurring in 1906, he then being eighty-four years of age.
Lewis Gifford was reared on the farm on which he was born in Flint township, receiving his elementary education in the district school in that neighborhood and supplementing the same by attendance at the high schools at Flint and at Bay City. For two winters he taught school and then became engaged as bookkeeper in the office of Gates & Chatfield, now the Chatfield Milling Company, at Bay City, where he remained for five years and where, in 1884, he was married. Two years later, in 1886, he returned to Genesee county and opened a general store at Davison, continuing actively engaged in that business there until 1912. In 1897 Mr. Gifford was appointed post- master of Davison and held that office for sixteen years and two months. It was from his office that the first petition was sent to the postoffice depart- ment for the establishment of rural mail routes in Genesee county, and the first of such routes in this county was put in operation out of his office. . The Davison office at that time was given four rural routes and about a year later another was added. In addition to his public service as postmaster, Mr. Gifford also served for a year as treasurer of Davison township, by appointment, and also served for some time as a member of the Davison village council. In 1902 Mr. Gifford created a telephone exchange at Davison, the first local exchange in the east half of Michigan to secure con- nection with the Bell system of long-distance telephones, and his exchange was a success from the very start. In 1908 he incorporated the exchange as a stock company, under the name of the Davison Telephone Company, retaining, however, the controlling stock in the concern, and has since con- tinued to act as general manager and treasurer of the company. The lines of the Davison Telephone Company have gradually extended until the exchange covers both Davison and Richland townships and some territory outside. Mr. Gifford is a Republican and has been recognized for years as one of the leaders of that party in the eastern part of the county. He is a member of the Knights of the Maccabees and of the Order of the Loyal Guard, and he and his wife are members of the Baptist church.
It was in 1884 that Lewis Gifford was united in marriage to Amelia E.
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Williams, who was born at Smitherick, near the city of Birmingham, in Staffordshire, England, daughter of Charles and Esther Williams, who came to the United States in 1872, and settled at Bay City, this state, where they spent the remainder of their lives. To Mr. and Mrs. Gifford have been born four children, Charles R., Rosa E., Neal A. and Veola E., all of whom have received the advantages of a college education. Charles R. Gifford was graduated from the Michigan Agricultural College, and is now living at Detroit. Rose E. Gifford was graduated from the Ypsilanti Normal School and is now a teacher in the public schools at Flint. Neal A. Gifford is finishing his studies in the Michigan Agricultural College, and Veola E. Gifford, who was graduated with the highest honors of her class, winning the scholarship at Ypsilanti in 1915, is now taking a post-graduate course.
FRANK B. LEACH.
Frank B. Leach, one of the best-known and most substantial farmers of Atlas township, this county, proprietor of a fine farm of one hundred and twenty acres situated just opposite the Country Club house west of the pleasant village of Atlas, is a native son of Genesee county and has lived here all his life. He was born on a farm in Atlas township, July 21, 1875, son of George and Anna (Blackmore) Leach, prominent residents of that community, who later moved to the village of Davison; a more detailed history of which family in this county is set out in a biographical sketch relating to William J. Leach, elder brother of the subject of this sketch, pre- sented elsewhere in this volume.
Frank B. Leach was nearly grown when he moved with his parents to the village of Davison, but he has always been engaged in farming. He married in 1899 and in 1902 he bought the farm on which he is now living, opposite the Country Club, west of Atlas. He first bought eighty acres, but about ten years ago bought an additional "forty" nearby and is now suc- cessfully farming one hundred and twenty acres. He has improved his place in excellent shape and in 1913 built a fine new house in which he and his family are very pleasantly situated. He has done well in his farming operations and is regarded as one of the substantial citizens of that part of the county.
It was in 1899, at Davison, that Frank B. Leach was united in mar- riage to Dora Uptegraff, who was born there, a daughter of Christopher
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and Martha ( Oberholser) Uptegraff, for years well-known residents of Davison. Christopher Uptegraff was born at Williamsville, New York, in 1830, and when about ten years old came to this county with his parents, the family settling at Otisville. Christopher Uptegraff early became a black- smith and followed that vocation nearly all his life. His wife, who also was born at Williamsville, New York, came to this county with her parents about 1855, in her young womanhood, and was married a year or two later. For some time after their marriage the Uptegraffs lived at Otisville and then moved to Richfield, where they cleared up a pioneer farm, and later to Davison, where they spent the remainder of their lives and where Mr. Upte- graff and his sons were for some time engaged in operating a brick yard. He died in 1907 and his widow survived until 1913. They were the par- ents of six children, two of whom died in infancy, the others being as fol- low: Charles, of Davison; William, of Birmingham, Michigan; Ellis, of Flint, and Dora, who married Mr. Leach. To Mr. and Mrs. Leach one child has been born, a daughter. Edna May. The Leaches have a delightful home, are good neighbors and take an earnest interest in the general social activities of their home community.
WARREN O. GREEN.
Warren O. Green, one of the substantial farmers of Atlas township, former member of the board of review of his home township and otherwise actively identified with the interests of that part of the county, was born on the farm southeast of the village of Goodrich where he now lives and has lived there all his life, having of recent years taken practically complete management of the large farm his father owns there. He was born on December 28, 1875, son and only child of Frederick A. and Lana M. (Black ) Green, the former a native of the state of New York and the latter of Michigan.
Frederick A. Green was born on a farm in the vicinity of Buffalo, in Erie county, New York, September 6, 1837, son of Alanson and Eliza (Ayers) Green, the former a native of Massachusetts and the latter of New York state, who came to Michigan in the middle fifties and established their home in Atlas township, this county. Alanson Green was born near the city of Boston on September 24, 1804, and when a young man moved to New York state, where in the town of Amherst, Erie county, he married
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Eliza Ayers, continuing to make his home in that vicinity until the fall of 1855, when he and his wife and three sons and two daughters came to Mich- igan, leaving a married daughter back in New York. It was in the latter part of October, 1855, that the Greens came to this county and their first winter here was spent in the village of Goodrich. The following spring they settled on a farm of one hundred acres in section 26 of Atlas town- ship and there Alanson Green and his wife spent their last days, the former lacking but one month and six days of being ninety years of age at the time of his death on July 18, 1894. His wife had died years before. They were members of the Baptist church and their children were reared in that faith. There were seven of these children, namely: Lucy, who married Drulard Dancer; Matilda, who married Jacob Metz and remained in New York : Frederick A., who is still living on the old home farm southeast of Good- rich : Helen M. and Henry M., twins, the former of whom married Worden Delano and the latter of whom died in infancy; Myron A. B., who died while serving as a soldier of the Union during the Civil War, and Oscar L., who lived in Atlas township until his death in 1915.
Frederick A. Green was nineteen years old when he came to Genesee county with his parents in 1855 and he has lived ever since on the place his father then bought in Atlas township. A few years after coming here he married Lana M. Black, who was born on a pioneer farm a short distance northeast of the Green homestead in Atlas township, daughter of Erastus and Sophia ( Britton ) Black, early settlers of that part of the county, both of whom were born in Erie county, New York, and who were married after coniing to Michigan with their respective parents, who were among the first settlers in the lower part of Genesee county, both the Black and the Britton families having come here together from Erie county, New York, about the year 1841. Mrs. Black was a daughter of John and Maria ( Nesmith) Britton, who located near Kipps Corners, in the southeastern part of Atlas township, and Mrs. Britton was a daughter of Albert and Betsy Nesmith, who came to this section of Michigan at the same time as the Brittons. Erastus Black and his brother, Henry, owned a farm southeast of Good- rich, but in the fall of 1856 Erastus Black moved to a farm three miles northeast of there and later into the village of Goodrich, where his last days were spent. About the fall of 1861 Frederick A. Green bought a farm of forty acres of his own, the tract on which his son, Warren O. Green, now makes his home, and two or three years later bought sixty acres adjoining the same, later buying the interests of the other heirs in
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his father's estate and additional land thereabout until he became the owner of five hundred and twenty-seven acres in Atlas township, all of which is now being farmed by his son, the subject of this sketch, who has long been regarded as one of the most progressive farmers in that part of the county. On May 21, 1914, Mrs. Frederick A. Green died, suddenly, of heart disease.
Warren O. Green was reared on the paternal farm in Atlas town- ship and from boyhood has been a valued assistant to this father in the operation of the farm. Upon finishing his schooling in the high school at Goodrich he engaged seriously in the work of farming his father's place and has ever since been thus engaged. After his marriage in 1898 he estab- lished his home there and he and his family are now very comfortably and pleasantly situated. Mr. Green is a Republican, has been a member of his party organization in this county, has served several terms as a member of the board of review and in other ways has done his part as a good citizen to advance the common interests of the community in which he lives.
It was on January 12, 1898, that Warren O. Green was united in mar- riage to Jessie Sweers, who was born on a farm in the southeast part of Altas township, this county, daughter and only child of Oscar and Frances E. (Rhodes) Sweers, both of whom were born in that same township, mem- bers of families who were among the earliest settlers thereabout. Oscar Sweers was born on his father's old farm in the southeastern part of Atlas township, September 11, 1848, son of Manly and Lydia (Van Cleve) Sweers, the former a native of Vermont and the latter of New York state, who were married at Clarence, New York, and in the winter of 1835-36 came to this then Territory of Michigan and settled in section 26 of Atlas township, this county, Manly Sweers buying "Congress land" there at one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre. He and his wife were members of the Congre- gational church and active in good works in the early days hereabout. She died in 1898 and he survived until 1901. They were the parents of twelve children, Spencer, Rachel, Milo, Josephine, Louisa, Nelson, Ellen, Oscar, Daniel, Freeman, Lewis and Mary, all of whom are still living save Nelson, who died at Louisville, Kentucky, while serving as a soldier of the Union during the Civil War; Mrs. Ellen Brown and Josephine, who died in 1916. Oscar Sweers lived on the old homestead until his marriage in 1875. after which he established his home on a farm of eighty acres in that same sec- tion he had bought in 1872 and there he made his home until January 13, 1911, when he retired from the farm and he and his wife moved to the village of Goodrich, where Mrs. Sweers died on June 6, 1913, since which
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time Mr. Sweers has made his home with his only daughter, Mrs. Green. To Mr. and Mrs. Green three children have been born, Rena E., Frances Lana and Frederick Oscar.
CHARLES TAYLOR MOSS.
Charles Taylor Moss, for years one of the best-known merchants of the village of Flushing and also for years one of the most active factors in the public life of that community, for twenty years having been a member of the village council and in other ways identified with the civic affairs of the town, is a native of Canada, but has spent practically all his active life in Genesee county, of which he has been a resident, with the exception of a brief period spent in Colorado, since the days of his youth. Mr. Moss, the son of James Spence and wife, was born at Dundas, in the province of Ontario, Canada, April 29, 1861, of Scottish descent, and was adopted by Charles and Sarah { Wilbee) Moss, the former of whom was a native of England, born at Wiston, who came across the water and settled in Canada, where he married Sarah Wilbee, who was born in Brantford, Ontario, and later engaged in the hotel business in Canada, presently coming to Michigan and locating at Flint, where for many years he conducted a hotel, which he later sold and then moved to Flushing, where he engaged in general farm- ing and stock raising, in which line he was occupied until his retirement from active business and removed to Davisburg, in the neighboring county of Oakland, where he is still living. His wife died in 1901.
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