USA > Michigan > Ionia County > History of Ionia County, Michigan : her people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 22
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No. 175, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and to the encampment. He is also a member of the lonia Lodge No. 76, Knights of Pythias. He is also a member of the Modern Woodmen, and the Knights of Maccabees. lle is a Republican in politics. He was chairman of the city committee for two terms, and has been on the county committee eight years. Mrs. Slye was born in Ronald township. lonia county, Michigan. Her father was a native of Ohio, and her mother was born in Indiana. They now reside at Palo. He is a retired farmer. They are the parents of the fol- lowing children: Lillie M., and Louis Stanley. The father of Henry Minier was John G. Minier.
After his marriage, Mr. Slye lived on a farm for six years and then moved to lonia, where he went into the real-estate and auction business. which he has followed ever since. He is a high-class auctioneer, and makes a specialty of selling farms at auction. He has established a reputation for getting good prices and has conducted many large sales. On one occasion he sold thirty thousand acres of land in Wyoming at auction in one day. He frequently has calls from long distances to make sales and has answered many of these calls. He has made a thorough study of his business and is extremely proficient.
HIRAM MASON BROWN.
Hiram Mason Brown, well-known and well-to-do pioneer farmer of North Plains township, this county, has been a witness to the development of that part of lonia county since the very beginning of a social order there- about. He is a son of the first permanent settler in North Plains township and has lived there all his life, taking an active and useful part in the develop- ment of that region. He was born on the farm where he now lives, in section 31. North Plains township, January 24. 1839, son of Judge Hiram and Mary ( Wilder ) Brown, who occupied the first permanent home erected in that township and were for years prominent and influential residents of this county.
Judge Hiram Brown was the first county judge elected in lonia county and had previously served the pioneer community as sheriff of the county. He was the first postmaster of North Plains, for many years was justice of the peace in and for his home township and was, in one capacity or another, busy in the public service almost continuously during the long period of his residence here. As leaders in the work of the church in early days here he
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and his wife exerted a wonderful influence for good upon the life of the community during the formative period here and their memories long will be cherished.
Hiram Brown was born at Bristol, New York, December 30, 1802, son of Warren and Betsy ( Allen ) Brown, natives of Connecticut, the former of whom was born on September 1, 1778, son of Thomas and Catherine (Cooper) Brown. Thomas Brown was born in Connecticut on April 28. 1754, fifth in direct descent from John Brown, who, with two brothers, came over in the "Mayflower." He married Catherine Cooper, born on December 27, 1757, who was a first cousin of John Hancock, whose name leads the list of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. From Con- necticut Thomas Brown moved to Herkimer county, New York, where his children, including Warren Brown, were reared. He served throughout the Revolutionary War as a soldier of the patriot army and was a man of unusual vigor. His wife died on March 31, 1846, and he died a little less than three years later, at the home of his daughter in Hudson, Michigan, in February. 1849, he then being ninety-four years and ten months of age. Warren Brown left the family home in Herkimer county at the age of twenty-one and went to Bristol, New York, where he married Betsy Allen, daughter of Titus and Thankful (Goodwin ) Allen, natives of Connecticut, who later settled in Erie county. Pennsylvania, and of this parentage Hiram Brown was born. Warren Brown died on July 8. 1867.
Iliram Brown grew up at Bristol, where he was born, and in 1826 married Mary Wilder, who was born at Wilder's Point ( now Seneca ). New York, April 12, 1803. daughter of Daniel and Polly ( Mower ) Wilder. The Wilder family in America originated with a widow, Martha Wilder, who with her two sons landed at Higham, Massachusetts, in 1637. Daniel Wilder was a son of Gamaliel Wilder, who was a son of Jonas Wilder, who moved from Lynn to Hartford, Connecticut, when that region was still called "the wilderness." At the age of ninety-seven Jonas Wilder still was a sturdy. industrious man, seldom losing a day from his customary vocation by reason of infirmities incident to old age. Gamaliel Wilder was the original pur- chaser of the township of Bristol, Ontario county, New York, at six cents an acre, and was the first white settler in that township. He built a grist- mill, a saw-mill and a distillery about 1775 and was long the dominant force in that then rapidly developing community. Previous to and after his mar- riage, Hiram Brown was a blacksmith, a school teacher and a singing teacher at South Bristol and was a man of influence in his community. In 1835 he decided to put in his lot with that of the pioneers who then were pushing
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up into this part of the territory of Michigan and he came to Ionia county, where he bought four eighties on the line between Ronald and North Plains townships, comprising portions of sections 25 and 36 in the former town- ship and in sections 31 and 32 in the latter. He employed Elijah Pinkney to build a cabin on the place, returned to New York for his family and in the fall of 1836 he and Hector Hays brought their families out here. The families came together by lakes as far as Detroit, where they separated, the Hays family going around by water to the mouth of Grand River and thence up to a point near their future home: while the Browns came over- land through the forest by ox-teams, arriving at their destination on October 4. 1836, several days before the arrival of the Hays family, Hiram Brown thus having been the first white man to make a permanent residence in that part of Ionia county. The site of his cabin was in an old Indian clearing, near a stream, in section 31, North Plains township. He found that Pickney had not completed the cabin and the family was compelled to camp for nine days while the finishing touches were being put on the same.
From the very beginning of his residence in this county Judge Brown took an active part in civic affairs. He was elected sheriff of the county, his term of office ending in 1846, and in that same fall was elected first judge of Tonia county, the court having just been established by the Legislature in that year. He took office on January 1, 1847, and performed a notable public service in organizing the court. In 1846 he procurred the establish- ment of the North Plains postoffice and was appointed postmaster on March 31 of that year, holding the office many years. Judge Brown also was a township official in one capacity or another nearly all the time and for years was justice of the peace. He and his wife were earnest Methodists and their cordial hospitality toward missioners and the Indian followers of the latter earned for their home the name of "Methodist Tavern" in pioneer days. Mrs. Brown died on February 14. 1879, after fifty-two years of wedded life, and Judge Brown survived her a little more than four years, his death occurring on April 1. 1883. They were the parents of four children, their first-born, a daughter, dying when two days ok. Caroline, the second born, married W. W. Mitchell, former county prosecutor, and died on February 2, 1866. George MI. Brown, the first son, now deceased, born on January 13. 1831, grew to manhood in this county, married and reared his family on a farm in section 36, Ronald township, and Hiram Mason.
Hiram Mason Brown, second son of Judge Hiram Brown and his wife and the only one of their children born in this county, was reared on the pioneer farm in North Plains township and has lived there all his life. Hle
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entered Olivet College in 1856 and attended there two terms, after which he entered the Michigan State Agricultural College at Lansing. He still has in his possession a program of the junior "exhibition" of that college. given on November 1, 1860, in which he read a paper on "The College One Hundred Years Hence." When the Civil War broke out the students were fired with patriotic zeal and the entire class enlisted in the Engineers and Mechanics Corps. Governor Blair hastened to the college and informed the boys that he could not permit them to leave college and would not receive them into the service. This, however, proved no deterrent and the boys dropped out one or two at a time until practically the whole class were enlisted in the service. H. M. Brown and his boon friend. W. D. Castle, procured commissions to enlist men for the navy and secured seven recruits whom they took to the naval recruiting station at Chicago, where they finally were sworn in as landsmen and assigned to the Lower Mississippi squadron. While in Chicago Mr. Brown was offered eighteen hundred dollars to go as a substitute for a drafted man, but his patriotism would not permit him to accept the offer. He was in the service until honorably discharged on August 5, 1865.
Upon the completion of his military service Mr. Brown returned to the old home and settled down on the farm, where he ever since has made his home. On December 25, 1869, he married Helen May Burdick, who was born in Fonia township, this county, November 11, 1847. daughter of Levi and Polly S. Burdick, who came here from New York state in 1846 and settled in Ionia township. She was educated in the Ionia high school and in the Female College at Lansing, was a member of the Church of Christ and during her long life in this community exerted a fine influence for good. She died on December 11, 1903. To Mr. and Mrs. Brown but one child was born, a son, William Mason Brown, born on December 7, 1870, who has always remained on the old home place and is associated with his father in the operation of the same. Hiram M. Brown is a life-long Republican and has always been active in local political affairs. For four terms he served as justice of the peace in and for his home township. He is a mem- ber of the Grand Army of the Republic and of the Order of Gleaners and has been a Mason since 1864, in which year he became affiliated with Lyons Lodge No. 37, Free and Accepted Masons, of which his father, Judge Brown. was the first master. Mr. Brown has the first bank note ever issued in lonia county, the same being note No. 1, issued by W. Honeywell, date of March 19, 1838, of the denomination of twelve and one-half cents. He also has
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a fine collection of Indian relics, chiefly stone implements of war and the chase and unique designs of pottery. Mr. Brown was one of the leaders in the work of organizing the Union church and was chairman of the build- ing committee which had that work in hand. He has ever stood for good government and progress and has long been regarded as one of the most substantial factors in his community.
William Mason Brown. only son of Hiram M. and Helen May ( Bur- dick ) Brown, was united in marriage, August 16, 1893, to Floy Heydlauff, who was born in Ronald township. this county, daughter of Charles M. and Ida A. (Hicks ) Heydlauff, the former a native of California and the latter of the state of New York. Charles M. Heydlauff, a well-known farmer of Ronald township, is a son of George J. and Mary ( Rounds ) Heydianff, natives of New York, who came to lonia county in an early day and went from here to California in the days of the rush to the gold fields, but later returned to this county. To W. M. Brown and wife six children have been born, Judge C. M., Mary Mar, Merle ( who died at the age of two years ). Ada May, Clee F. and Myron F. Mr. and Mrs. Brown are members of the Disciples church and he is a member of the Order of Gleaners.
JOHN C. SMITH.
John C. Smith, proprietor of the "Berlin Center Progressive Farm," in Berlin township, lonia county, Michigan, successful farmer and stock raiser and also well known as local minister of the Free Methodist church, is a native of Kansas, born in Lynn county, that state, while it was still a ter- ritory, on August 18, 1860. He is the eldest son of Francis M. and Nancy M. ( .Anderson ) Smith, both of whom were born in Kalamazoo county, this state, in the vicinity of the city of Kalamazoo.
Francis M. Smith, father of John C., was the seventh son of Allen Howard and Elizabeth (Yates ) Smith, who came from their native state of Ohio and located in Kalamazoo county while this state was still a territory. They farmed there until 1867, when they moved to Saranac, this county, owning what was known as the "Guide Board" farm, and there after a few years her death occurred and he soon followed. Elizabeth Yates was of German extraction, while Allen Howard Smith was of Irish parentage. Nancy M. Anderson, subject's mother, was a daughter of Archibald and
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Nancy ( Woodworth ) Anderson, both of whom were born in the state of New York, of Scotch ancestry, the fourth generation back having come from that land. Archibald and Nancy ( Woodworth ) AAnderson were mar- ried in their native state and came to Kalamazoo county. this state, in the early days. They prospered and became fairly well-to-do and after his death at his home in Kalamazoo county, she travelled considerably. death overtaking her at Vicksburg, Michigan.
Francis M. Smith and wife, parents of John C., shortly after their marriage went to Kansas, locating in Lynn county, where he had home- steaded one hundred and sixty acres of land two years previously, and became a prominent citizen of his community. He was a member of the Kansas Home Guard and in 1861, at the outbreak of the Civil War, enlisted as a private in Company N. Twelfth Kansas Volunteer Infantry, in which he served until the close of the war. He was one of four sons of his par- ents to enlist in that conflict and was the only one who came through unin- jured, the others either losing their lives or being badly maimed. Mrs. Smith kept her family as best she could in the absence of husband and father, but in 1863 she brought her children back to Kalamazoo county. Here she remained and here the father rejoined them at the close of the war. They remained in Kansas but two years longer, when they sold out and came to this state, locating in lonia county, where he bought a farm in Boston township, near Saranac and remained until the death of his wife in 1884, when Francis M. returned to Kansas. There, in company with his youngest son, he lived until 1896, when they returned to this state and located in Isabelle county, where Francis M. spent the remainder of his life. He died on February 12, 1896.
John C. Smith was one of a family of six children, five of whom grew to maturity and but two of whom are now living. The other remaining member is a brother, Archie F., a farmer at Blanchard, Isabelle county. this state. Nettie 1)., deceased, was the wife of Allen E. Hinkley, of Lansing : Ernest A. died in childhood ; Lnella died when a girl, and Edith A .. deceased, was the wife of Otto Townsend. John C. Smith received his earlier educa- tion in the district schools of Boston township and took more advanced studies in the high school of Saranac. He continued to reside under the parental roof and from the time he left high school until the time of his marriage, he engaged in teaching school, following this vocation in the dis- · trict schools of lonia county.
On August 5, 1882, John C. Smith was united in marriage with Lilly . A.
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Curtis, a daughter of Sheldon R. and Nancy A. ( Barnard ) Curtis, a detailed account of whose family will be found elsewhere within this book. For two years after marriage, John C. Smith rented the Curtis farm and then in 1884. upon the death of his mother, he bought from his father the family homestead in Boston township, this county. There he resided until the fall of 1892, when he disposed of that farm and bought forty acres in Berlin township, adding another thirty acres later on, and here the family has since resided. Mr. Smith has made great improvements in this farm since obtain- ing possession of it. The residence was erected in 1915 and all buildings are new since 1910, the entire place having an air of prosperity.
Mr. Smith is a man who finds time for activity along other lines than his farming interests. In 1913 he was one of the prime factors in the organ- ization of the Farmers Co-operative Creamery at Saranac and in apprecia- tion of his services, he was made secretary-treasurer and general manager, retaining that position for two years. During that time he placed the busi- ness on a firm basis and paved the way for its subsequent growth. He is still a director of the company and takes great pride and interest in its achievements. Politically, Mr. Smith gives stanch support to the Democrat party, has in the past served for four years as school inspector; from 1896 to 1900 he was clerk of Berlin township, and is at present a school director for his home district. For several years he has been government agricul- tural reporter for this section, and has in many other ways evinced his keen interest in the development of the various phases of community life.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith have three children. Ray .A., the eldest, is a graduate of high school and taught two terms. He has since taken up farming as his life vocation and resides on an excellent farm of one hundred and twenty acres, which he owns in Berlin township. Beulah D., the wife of Earl Adgate, is a graduate of the Saranac high school and also the Mount Pleasant State Normal. She spent three years in teaching, two years in her home district and the other year in the Pewamo high school. Leon S., the youngest of the family, is also a graduate of the Saranac high school and spent three years in successful teaching in the Ionia county schools after which he matriculated at Albion College, where he studied four years, obtaining his Bachelor of Arts degree in June. 1915. He now has an excel- lent position as a teacher of science in the high school of Biwabik, Minne- sota. John C. Smith has always been a temperance worker. Ile never aspired to political office.
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WILLIAM F. BRICKLEY.
Another well-known farmer of Orange township, lonia county, who is making a success by specializing in raising thoroughbred live stock, is William F. Brickley. He was born in Niagara county, New York, near the city of Lockport, February 18, 1850, and is a son of Jacob and Rebecca ( Zacharius ) Brickley, both natives of Seneca county, New York, and when young in years they came to Niagara county, that state, with their parents, and there they were married. Both families were Pennsylvania-Dutch stock, the progenitors of each coming to America a number of generations back. In 1866 Jacob Brickley and wife came to Michigan, locating in Orange township. Ionia, where he bought eighty acres in section 29, where they spent the rest of their lives, her death occurring in October. 1866, not long after they came here. Jacob Brickley died in July, 1885. They were the parents of three children, namely : William F. of this sketch; Maryetta is the wife of C. P. Smith and they live in Danby township; Warren lives in Berlin township.
The subject of this sketch received his education in the public schools, and he remained at home with his parents until on March 1, 1875, when he was united in marriage to Ada Miriam Wilson, a daughter of William A. and Eliza ( Pound) Wilson, he a native of England, from which country he came to America with his parents. William A. Wilson was six years old when he was brought to Livingston county, Michigan, but later the family removed to Chatham. Ontario, then to Essex county, that province, where he grew to manhood. Eliza Pound was born while her parents were en route to America. The family located at Hamilton, Ontario, where Eliza grew to womanhood and was educated. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson were married in Canada, coming to Michigan in 1868. Mrs. Brickley was born in Essex county, Ontario, where her parents settled upon their marriage. Mr. Wilson bought one hundred acres in Orange township, fonia county. and here he and his wife spent the rest of their lives, his death occurring in March, 1895, and she died in April, 1908. They were the parents of six children, four of whom grew to maturity, three now living. namely : Ada M., wife of our subject: Ted W. lives in Portland, lonia county; Culmer died in 1895: and Nellie, who is the wife of John Adgate of Orange town- ship.
Mr. Brickley purchased eighty acres in 1876 in section 18, Orange town- ship where he resided until 1896, when he bought one hundred acres in
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section 20, Orange township where he has since resided and to which he has added from time to time until he now has a fine farm of two hundred and fifty-four acres, which he has brought up to a high state of improve- ment and cultivation, his place being known as Maple Dale Farm. He is carrying on general farming and stock raising successfully, making a specialty of thoroughbred Durham cattle and Poland China hogs.
To Mr. and Mrs. Brickley two children have been born, namely : Minnie Eliza, who is the wife of Cornelius Friedly, and they live in Boyne City, Michigan: Fred W .. who has a half interest in his father's business. He married Dorothy Sammain, of Sebewa township, and they reside across the way from the home of his father and to them two children have been born. William and Adabelle.
Mr. Brickley and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. in which he is a trustee. He is a Prohibitionist in his views, but usually votes the Republican ticket. lle was supervisor of his township in 1910, and he was treasurer of the township in 1890. His son, Fred W .. was township treasurer in 1913 and 1914, and township clerk in 1908-09.
HON. GEORGE E. NICHOLS.
Hon. George E. Nichols, for years one of the leaders of the bar at Ionia, this county, one of the best-known and most prominent lawyers in Michigan, former state senator from this district and for years one of the most active promoters of the best interests of this section of the state, is a native son of Michigan, having been born on a pioneer farm in Oneida town- ship, in the neighboring county of Eaton, August 8, 1861, son of George W. and Sarah i. ( Preston ) Nichols, both natives of New York state, who had accompanied their respective parents to this section of Michigan in the days of their youth and here had spent the remainder of their days, for many years having been accounted among the most influential and useful residents of their neighborhood.
George W. Nichols was the son of Truman Walker Nichols and wife, the former a native of Vermont, who, with their children, left New York state at an early day in the settlement of this section of Michigan and came here, locating in Eaton county, where, in Oneida township, Truman W. Nichols entered about a section of land from the government and there established his home. he and his wife spending the rest of their lives there,
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the latter dying in her seventieth year and the former living to the great age of ninety-seven. Truman W. Nichols was a man of extraordinary strength and vigor, both he and his wife having been of the true pioneer breed, and they were influential factors in the development of the com- munity in which they settled. The ninetieth anniversary of the birth of the old pioneer was celebrated by his family and friends in fitting fashion at the old homestead and, in order to show that he was just as vigorous as anyone present, the hale old gentleman mounted a horse and galloped down the highway as fast as he could make the horse go. Until his last illness came upon him Mr. Nichols had never known an ill day and never had employed a doctor in his own behalf. He and his wife were the par- ents of eleven children, Holbert, Martin, Jason, George W .. Hiram, J. Wes- ley. Sophronia, Pharazina, Maria, Olive and Melinda. The homestead farm is still in the ownership of the family after all these years and has the added distinction of never having had a mortgage on a single acre of it.
George W. Nichols was fifteen years of age when he came to Michigan with his parents in 1834 and he immediately began to make his influence felt as a definite factor in the life of what then was known as the "Canada settlement" in Oneida township, over the line in Eaton county, where his father had entered his homestead. He did his part well in the work of developing the homestead tract and presently married Sarah L. Preston, a neighbor girl. daughter of Samuel S. and Rebecca ( Sprague) Preston, also natives of New York state and early settlers of the "Canada settlement" in Eaton county, who were the parents of five children. Jasper C .. Horace, Charles. Sarah L. and Samantha. After his marriage Mr. Nichols con- tinned to make his home on the homestead place, farming a portion of the same, and there both he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives, the latter dying in 1908, at the age of seventy-nine, and the former living to the age of eighty-one. George W. Nichols was for years one of the most influential citizen of his community and rendered valuable service in various public capacities. He early became an ordained minister in the Methodist church and his labors in that connection proved a powerful influence for good throughout the whole countryside. During the Civil War, Mr. Nichols acted as a recruiting officer and his services in that behalf were of great aid to the Union cause in that section. In all the relations of life he ever was faithful and true and his memory and that of his good wife long will be cherished throughout this region.
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