USA > Michigan > Hillsdale County > History of Hillsdale county. Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 55
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RESIDENCE OF S. H. SMITH, WRIGHT , MICHIGAN.
RESIDENCE OF MRS. PERSIS ,WILCOX, WRIGHT. MICH.
PHOTO. AY SPENCER. ..
ROBERT B SAWYER.
MRS. ROBERT B. SAWYER,
RESIDENCE OF ROBERT B. SAWYER, WRIGHT. MICHICAN.
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HISTORY OF HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
ROBERT B. SAWYER
was a native of the town of Hopewell, Ontario Co., N. Y., where he was born on the 29th day of April, 1813. He was a son of Luke and Rhoda Sawyer. Luke was a son of Thomas Sawyer, and was born in Salisbury, Addison Co., Vt., July 8, 1785. At an early age he came to Ca- nandaigua, N. Y., which was then in the midst of a wilder- ness, with his father and his family, and resided with them until, soon after attaining his majority, he met Miss Rhoda Cook, who had formerly resided in Connecticut; and in 1809 was united with her in marriage. He then bought a farm in the adjoining town of Hopewell,-then a part of Gorham,-and lived there until 1817, except a year or two spent in the woolen manufacturing business at "Short's Mills," now known as Shortsville. In the year above men- tioned he bought a new, unimproved farm in the northeast part of the town of Manchester, near the village of Port Gibson, and made a permanent home for himself and family. Luke died on this place, Aug. 13, 1831. His wife survived him thirty years and one day. She lived in Ohio for a short time, and then settled in Medina, Lenawee Co., Mich., and died there, April 14, 1861.
Robert remained on the homestead, working on the farm and attending school, until he reached the age of twenty- five years. His health was poor, and unfitted him for the performance of any kind of hard labor; but he had made good use of his opportunities, and had acquired a good common-school education. Armed with this he left the homestead and went to Wayne Co., N. Y., to teach school, making his home in the town of Ontario. He remained in that county engaged in this business, and varying his labors with an occasional term of study at the Marion and Palmyra Academies, until the summer of 1845. On the 8th day of July of that year he was married to Miss Caro- line W. Webb, a native of Oneida Co., N. Y. He had previously purchased a farm of one hundred acres in the north part of the town of Arcadia. In the spring of 1846 he disposed of this property and came West, purchasing a farm of one hundred acres on Mongoquinon prairie, near Lima, Ind. Here they remained about two years, and had two children born to them: Newton J., on the 4th of August, 1846, and Byron H., on the 27th of November, 1847. Having disposed of his Indiana property, Robert next purchased a one-hundred-acre farm in the town of Gilead, in Branch County. In April, 1851, his brother, Thomas C., who lived in this town near Lime Lake, died, and he was called upon to come and settle the estate. He removed here with his family, then increased by the birth of another son, Orville W. (born April 15, 1850), and lived two years on his brother's farm. Having suffered a great deal from sickness in Gilead, Mr. Sawyer determined not to return there, and purchased three hundred and eighty acres on section 16, on which he moved in the spring of 1853. At that time there was but six acres cleared on the farm, which now has about three hundred and twenty acres cleared, and increased by the purchase of the south- west quarter of section 15, is in a good state of cultivation. Mr. Sawyer's fourth and youngest child, Luke B., was born on this place, Sept. 27, 1855.
By a life of industry and economy, combined with good management of his affairs, Mr. Sawyer has succeeded in accumulating considerable property, and in carving out of the wilderness one of the finest and most productive farms of the township in which he resides. Having a distaste for the cares and duties of public life, he has shunned the cares of office, with one exception. In 1871 he was elected justice of the peace, and retained that position four years.
A few years since he divided a part of his real estate among his sons, retaining two hundred and twenty-five acres for a homestead, and in that pleasant home he and his wife, with their son, Orville W., are living in pleasant retirement.
Of his other children, Newton J. and Luke B. are en- gaged in the mercantile business at Leslie, Ingham Co .; and Byron H., who graduated at the law school at the State University at Ann Arbor, is practicing his profession in Hudson, Lenawee Co.
WILLIAM BREWSTER,
an early settler in the township of Wright, born in Mid- dletown, Conn., where he passed the days of his youth, was a descendant of Elder Wm. Brewster, who came with the band of Pilgrims in the "Mayflower" and settled in Plymouth, Mass., in 1620.
The line of descent is : first, Elder William Brewster ; second, Love Brewster; third, William Brewster; fourth, William Brewster; fifth, Elisha Brewster; sixth, Elisha Brewster; seventh, William Brewster, the subject of our sketch.
His father, captain and owner of the vessel, was lost at sea, the vessel sailing from port, and never after heard of. Thus, at an early age, he was left to depend on his own labor for support. Bound out, at the age of nine years, to learn the carpenter and joiner trade, he served his appren- ticeship and became a skilled workman. Soon after he became of age he went to Charleston, S. C., and spent a year working at his trade. After returning from there, he made his way to Eaton, Madison Co., N. Y., where he found and married his wife, Miss Anna Palmer, on the 8th day of November, 1812. The artillery company to which he belonged having tendered their services to the Government in the war with England soon after, and their offer being accepted, he went with them to Sacket's Harbor, and re- mained until honorably discharged, a few months after. He remained in Madison County a few years, working at his trade ; was burned out during the time, losing about all he had; recovered, with his neighbors' help, some of his loss, and afterwards removed, with his family, to Waterloo, Seneca Co., N. Y.
They were commencing a village there. The country was new, and for three years it was very sickly. They suffered with the rest, as is common in most new countries. Remaining there a few years, pursuing his trade, in 1824 he removed to Geneva, N. Y., where he remained about eight years, leaving many evidences of his skill in public and private buildings. Then he removed to Hammonds-
214
. HISTORY OF HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
port, at the head of Crooked Lake, N. Y. Was there about four years ; then went to Buffalo, in the fall of 1832. Was foreman of one of the shops of Benjamin Rathbun. Rathbun failed, and made an assignment, in 1836.
Business in Buffalo was very much affected ; all build- ing ceased. The financial crisis of 1837 coming on, no work was to be obtained, and not willing or able to remain idle, in August of that year removed to Medina, Mich., where he remained three and a half years.
He had before this purchased eighty acres of wild land in Wright, nine miles from Medina, the place now owned and occupied by his youngest son, E. C. Brewster. Having had a few acres chopped and part cleared, and sown to wheat, in February, 1841, he moved to Wright, and put up the first frame house erected in that township, where he lived, improving the farm, working some for others at his trade the first eight or ten years, until he was in a comfort- able condition.
His children were well brought up, given a good common- school education, and trained in habits of industry and economy. Ever industrious himself, he could not endure a shiftless, do-nothing person or shirk around him. Gen- erally respected for his honesty, integrity, and worth, he died at Wright, March 31, 1868, aged nearly eighty-five years.
His wife was a worthy companion. Skilled in house- keeping, dairy business, spinning, weaving, and sewing of all kinds, she fully did her part in bringing up and training the family.
During the first years of their residence in Wright, the family were indebted to her labor and skill, with the assist- ance of her daughters, for a large share of the clothing they wore. Though not elegantly, they were comfortably clothed. She lived, respected and loved by her children and neighbors, to a good old age, being nearly eighty-five when she died, May 22, 1875. Both were members of the Presbyterian Church, and ever maintained family prayer. They had eleven children,-Mary A., Oliver C., Harriet, Margaret, Wm. W., Frederick H., Eliza J., Frances H., Geo. H., Laura, and Edward C.
Three died in infancy. Frederick H. died of smallpox, in Canton, China, soon after reaching his station, having been sent as a missionary by the American Board of Com- missioners for Foreign Missions. But four of the children survived the parents,-Mary A., married to Thomas Judd, a widow, now lives near South Hadley, Mass .; Wm. W. and George H. live in Hudson, Mich .; Edward C. owns and occupies the old homestead in Wright.
WILLIAM S. VAN FLEET.
This gentleman is descended from a family that emi- grated from Holland to America at an early period of this country's existence, and settled in New Jersey. At a later period his grandfather, Cornelius Van Fleet, removed to Pennsylvania and settled at Muncy, in Lycoming County. His father, Matthias S., born* either shortly before or soon
after the family's removal to Muncy, lived there, and upon attaining his majority was married to Miss Mary Rickard, of that place.
About the year 1820, they removed to Green County, Ohio, near Dayton, and lived there till 1830, when they removed to Wood County,-now Lucas County,- settling in Waterville township, sixteen miles above Toledo, on the Maumee River. At a later date they removed to Maumee City, where Mr. Van Fleet is now living, at the age of eighty-five years. Mrs. Van Fleet died while on a visit at Napoleon, O., Feb. 7, 1870. Their family con- sisted of nine children : Cornelius and John R. were born in Muncy; William S., Charles, Mary A., Sarah J., and Matthias R. were born near Dayton, O .; and Margaret E. and Harriet R. were born at Waterville.
William S. Van Fleet was born near Dayton, Green Co., O., Feb. 5, 1820, and remained at home, working on the farm and attending school, until he reached the age of twenty-two years. At that time, the spring of 1842, he went to Iowa, and in the summer or fall of that year pre- empted a farm of one hundred and twenty acres of govern- ment land. He worked out at anything that offered until he had accumulated enough to enable him to do so, and then, in the fall of 1843, paid up and took a deed of it from the government. He remained on the place three years, and then, leaving it in charge of his brother, John R., returned to Ohio, and engaged in farming one year, after which he clerked three years in a grocery. Then he entered into a partnership with his brother Cornelius, and they took two contracts for carrying the mails from Mau- mee to Fort Defiance and from Maumee to Bryan. After these contracts were abrogate, he worked his mother's farm, near Waterville, a couple of years until his removal to Michigan, which occurred in April, 1854. On the 13th of April he married his cousin, Mrs. Sarah A. Root, widow of Amasa L. Root, and a daughter of Jared and Mary O. Van Fleet, at Medina, Lenawee Co. She was a native of Washington, Lycoming Co., Pa., born in 1824, and came to Michigan with her father's family in 1834.
Mr. Van Fleet had purchased of the heirs of Amasa L. Root fifty-one acres, in the northwest corner of section 19, in the town of Medina, and here they commenced house- keeping on the 1st of May, 1834. In 1859, Mr. Van Fleet purchased eighty acres in section 24 of the town of Wright, adjoining his other land. In 1869 he erected thereon a fine brick dwelling, and changed his residence from Medina, Lenawee Co., to Wright, Hillsdale Co., by simply moving across the road. He now owns ninety-one acres in Medina and eighty acres in Wright. He has always lived a farmer's life, not mingling to any extent in public or political matters, and by thrifty industry has built up one of the pleasantest homes of the vicinity .; He is an earnest and consistent member of the Wright Christian Church, and in every way a reliable and exemplary citizen. With his wife and one daughter, an only child (who was married December, 1878, to Winthrop W. Bennett), he lives in comfort and peace on his farm, enjoying the con- fidence, respect, and esteem of his neighbors and friends.
* In the year 1794.
t See view on another page.
OLD HOME
RESIDENCE OF W. S. VAN FLEET, WRIGHT, MICHIGAN.
RESIDENCE OF WH T. LYONS AND SON, HILLSDALE, HILLSDALE CO, MICHIGAN.
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HISTORY OF HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
WELLINGTON HI. AND HENRY M. PRATT.
These brothers were children of Aaron and Abigail (Eames) Pratt, farmers, of South Framingham, Mass. Both were born at that place, the former May 22, 1843, and the latter Feb. 19, 1842, and lived there until the fall of 1864, attending school at the district school and the academy at Framingham Centre. Henry also attended for a time Frost's Select School at the same place.
In 1852 their father died and their maternal grand- father, Alexander Eames, came to live with them and man- aged the farm.
In 1862, Wellington enlisted in Company H, 44th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, for a term of nine months, and served that length of time under the command of Major-General L. S. Foster, in the Newbern, N. C., campaign.
In the fall of 1864, the two brothers came to Michigan -Henry in October and Wellington in December-and hired out to work for Charles Ames on his farm, in Pitts- ford. They remained with him a little over a year, having leased his farm for one year in the spring of 1865, and then they sold their interest in the lease to Ames, and Wel- lington entered upon the business of buying poultry and produce for the Eastern markets, while Henry bought a flock of eight hundred sheep and took them to Iowa, where he disposed of them, returning to Pittsford in February, 1866. The brothers then formed a copartnership under the name of Pratt Brothers, and came to this town, pur- chasing ten acres of ground on the southwest corner of
section 11, where they opened a small store in a building they had purchased of Charles S. Reed, and moved to the Corners. Since that time they have been engaged in the mercantile business and have also bought and sold large quantities of poultry and produce, besides their lumbering business, which has been quite extensive. They have bought and cleared two hundred and eighty acres of tim- ber-lands, and have bought large quantities of oak logs, which were sawed into chair stuff at their mill and shipped to Boston. They became the owners of the saw- and grist- mills in 1872. Their business annually amounts to from $40,000 to $50,000. To their energy, enterprise, and public spirit, the little village which bears their name owes its existence and growth. They have erected seven of its buildings, including the store and hotel.
Wellington H. was married at Battle Creek, on the 4th of March, 1869, to Miss Julia A. Smith, a native of Romulus, Seneca Co., N. Y., who had resided in Michigan since 1866. They have six children : Agnes M., Ina C., Lena, Eva, Helen, and Clifford H.
Henry M. was united in marriage with Miss Henrietta M. Reed, at Hudson, Mich., on the 21st day of October, 1868. She was a native of Sharon, Medina Co., Ohio. Their children are two in number, Clara L. and William J. Their second child, George A., died Jan. 12, 1874.
Wellington H. has for three years past served the town in the capacity of treasurer, and is one of the trustees of the Congregational Church, which office he has held since its organization. Henry M. is now and for several years has been postmaster at this place.
HILLSDALE.
THE original township of Fayette comprised not only the ground it at present covers, but that now embraced in the township of Hillsdale. In the year 1855 it was divided, the southern half being organized as a separate township and called Hillsdale, which in dimensions may be described as three miles north and south and six miles east and west, comprising the south half of township 6 of range 3, west. The original tract embraced the village of Hillsdale also ; but the growth of this place was so steady and rapid as to inspire a desire on the part of its residents to obtain a city charter. That having been secured, the city became quite independent of the township, with a separate civil organiza- tion. At the time of the early settlement of the township the country was almost uninhabited, and presented the ap- pearance of a vast tract of marsh and wilderness, with an occasional log shanty, and this at long intervals. White inhabitants were few in numbers, the Indians constituting the chief portion of the population, and pursuing their peaceful avocations, depending upon the streams and forests
for their daily subsistence. The early years of the town- ship history are inseparably connected with the Indian bands who, up to the year 1840, remained in the county, and were in constant intercourse with its inhabitants.
The first settlers were Caleb Bates and Jeremiah Arnold, who came early in 1835 and located on the east line of the township. Later in the year came James K. Kinman, with his family and another settler, and located on section 31. Kinman seems to have been the victim of a succession of misfortunes from the time of his arrival. He chose a spot far back into the forest and erected a shanty. With the cold winter came privation and suffering. Finally the family were all prostrated with ague and beyond the reach of help. With no friendly hand to offer aid, and no skill to minister to their ills, death seemed inevitable, when Baw Beese with his roving band discovered them. With a kindly instinct, which was a part of his nature, and for which his memory is still held in pleasant remembrance by many old pioneers, he and his followers devoted themselves to the care of the
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216
HISTORY OF HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
sick ones. They brought water to quench the thirst of fever, and sent to their own wigwams, which dotted the forest for miles around, for corn and meal, with which to make bread. The Indians were dispatched in various direc- tions for game, and returned laden with venison, wild turkey, and birds for the nourishment of their white sufferers. For six weeks these faithful friends watched over and kept from death the family of James K. Kinman, and did not leave them until they were sufficiently recovered to care for them- selves. It was ever afterwards the delight of this family to recall the goodness of Baw Beese, and they were never weary of sounding the praises of his tribe.
Later in the year 1835 came William Bacon, who located on section 28, on a point known as the Lightning-Rod, from the fact that on his place was one of these preventives against lightning, which in the early days was a novelty.
Next came John and Samuel Gilmore, who located on the east side of the town, and afterwards one Cleveland and Rev. Jeduthan Lockwood, a Universalist preacher, who preached the first sermon in the township. George and David Stone arrived in the year 1836, and located a tract in the northeast corner of the township. George Stone, who is still living, remembers passing the shanty of Daniel Putnam on his way to settle upon his purchase, and describes the country as very desolate, with occasionally a log house to indicate the presence of a white inhabitant. At this time there was also a log school-house erected on land of Richard Fowler, half a mile east of Stone's location, and near the line that separates the township from that of Adams. There was also a log school-house one mile north, built by James Mergin, Daniel Putnam, Isaac Martin, John Goforth, and M. Ashworth, with a young lady from the vicinity as teacher. Divine service was held in these school- houses each alternate week, and occasionally in private resi- dences, as might best suit the convenience of the worshipers. These services were conducted from 1836 to 1840 by Elder Parker, who was a most worthy parson and universally beloved by the inhabitants. He officiated on all funeral occasions, and no wedding feast was complete that was not graced with his presence to make secure the nuptial tie. He afterwards removed to Kansas. An early inhabitant named Andrich also preached occasionally, and is described as " a godly man and full of the Holy Spirit." Among the earliest residents on the west side was Garret Searles, who came in 1835 and located a tract on the west bank of Sand Lake. In the north part of the township a location was made by a settler named Crane very nearly as early.
In the spring of 1844, William S. Hosmer and A. W. Pierce came from New York State, having previously purchased a tract embracing 120 acres, lying in the south- west corner of the township, bordering on the township of Cambria. These gentlemen have continued to live here, together with their families, increasing their landed posses- sions, and are now among the representative citizens of the county.
At this time Indians were occasionally to be seen, but the majority of them had departed. Many of the early settlers now living remember distinctly the majestic pres- ence of old Baw Beese, and the imperious dictation he exercised over his followers. This relic of the tribe, how-
ever, left, in many respects, very pleasing impressions behind them. They were scrupulous in the performance of their word, and strictly honest in their dealings. In making their trades with the settlers they were unable to speak the English language, but would extend their fingers to indicate the number of days before their return with the wares they had pledged. No instance is remembered where they failed to keep the appointment. Frequently Baw Beese and his friends would appear at night at the shanty of a settler and request supper. After partaking of a hearty meal, the chief would take from his pouch a silver quarter of a dollar, and lay it beside his plate; then, nodding to his followers, each would in turn follow his example, until the housewife was repaid for her hospitality. They would then wrap them- selves in their blankets, and lie down before the blazing log fire for a night's sleep. A fondness for whisky early de- veloped itself among them, and none yielded more readily to the temptation than Baw Beese himself. On one occa- sion he attempted to cross the St. Joseph River, which runs through the township, on a log which was stretched across the stream. Being under the influence of frequent pota- tions of bad whisky, his head became confused, and he tumbled into the water. He repaired to the house of a near settler, and, pulling out his bottle and taking a good draught, exclaimed : " Baw Beese fall in bish (water) ; take something to keep warm."
The population being so meagre at this time, a funeral was not only a rare but a very impressive occurrence, and the good elder never failed to improve the occasion with a moral lesson on the uncertainty of life and the necessity for preparation to meet the final summons. A family named Bird, living in an adjacent township, lost one of its number about the year 1836, and this is the first death recollected in the vicinity.
During the early settlement of the township very little land had yet been turned over, and, consequently, no rich grass and sweet-scented clover, such as the herds of the present day are fed upon, was to be found. The grass of the marshes was cut and cured, and this afforded the prin- cipal stock of winter fodder.
Jonesville was the principal market for the produce of the country, though Adam Howder's hotel, at Hillsdale, which at the time was the headquarters of travelers and parties who came to the county to locate lands, made large demands upon the settlers for grain and provisions.
The county poor - house was originally located in the township of Hillsdale, on section 28, the site being changed, in 1853, to one on section 26, the east side of which is now a portion of the city. Later it was removed to the township of Cambria.
The surface of the township of Hillsdale is undulating, the western portion being entirely cut by a chain of small lakes, which, together, form what is known as Sand Lake. There is also in the southern part a small sheet of water, known as King Lake, and the northern half of Baw Beese Lake extends into the southeast corner of the township. This lake is memorable not only from the name it bears, but from its being the scene of the regattas of the Hills- dale boat-clubs.
The soil is medium in quality, there being no extended
RESIDENCE OF GARRY SARLES, HILLSDALE, HILLSDALE CO., MICH.
LITTLE
Photos, by Carson & Graham, Hillsdale.
ASA G. EDWARDS.
MRS. ASA G. EDWARDS.
ASA G. EDWARDS.
The great-grandfather of this gentleman was a native of the land where poets were developed "from time im- memorial,"-the rugged home of the Druids,-having been born among the towering mountains of Wales. Upon his father's side his great-grandfather was of French descent. His grandfather was a hardy veteran of the Revolution, having borne arms in the memorable struggle for freedom, which resulted in the birth of a republic destined to become one of the greatest of the nations of the earth ; and his father was of that "sturdy race and strong" which became the pioneers of the " far west," and wrought perseveringly until the forest had disappeared and gardens smiled amain. The latter gentleman was born upon the eastern end of Long Island, N. Y. ; afterwards, with his father, removing to Morris County, N. J., and thence to Seneca County, N. Y .; and in the fall of 1831 emigrating with his family, consisting of his wife and four sons,-Asa G., Richard, Andrew, and Jephthah W.,-to Tecumseh, Lena- wee Co., Mich. The son, Asa G., was then twenty years of age, his birth having occurred at Romulus, Seneca Co., N. Y., Sept. 1, 1811. His mother, Mrs. Electa Edwards, was born at Morristown, N. J., at which place her marriage was consummated with Mr. Edwards (father of Asa).
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