USA > Michigan > Ionia County > History of Ionia County, Michigan : her people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 23
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To George W. and Sarah 1. ( Preston ) Nichols nine children were born, as follow: Lucy, wife of Uriah H. Lazelle, of Lansing, this state;
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Mattie, wife of A. A. Ellis, of Grand Rapids; Truman 1, who makes his home on the old homestead in Eaton county; Emma, deceased, who was the wife of Frank A. Foreman, of Grand Ledge, this state: Zina, unmar- ried, who is still living on the old homestead: George E., the immediate subject of this biographical sketch; Martin .A., deceased; Albert Newton, still making his home on the old farm, and Charles W., a prominent attor- ney of Lansing.
George E. Nichols was reared on the old homestead in Eaton county, receiving his elementary education in the district school in that neighbor- hood. supplementing the same by a course in a private college at Grand Ledge. from which he was graduated. He then began the study of law in the law office of his brother-in-law, A. A. Ellis, at Muir, this county, and was admitted to the bar in April, 1883, immediately thereafter entering upon the practice of his profession at fonia, where he ever since has been continuously engaged, during which time he has become recognized as one of the leading lawyers of the state. Mr. Nichols has been engaged as counsel in many cases of state-wide importance and during the hearing of the famous copper country strike cases performed a signal service in behalf of the state, acting as a special prosecutor, representing the state of Michi- gan, under the direction of the attorney-general. Mr. Nichols is a Repub- lican and for years has given his most thoughtful and intelligent attention to the political affairs of the state, with particular reference to local politics, and long has been regarded as one of the leaders of his party in this section. In 1900 he was elected to represent this senatorial district in the upper house of the Michigan General Assembly and his service in the Senate during the ensuing term was of large value to his constituents and to the state at large. Senator Nichols was the originator of the movement for the promotion of good roads, fathered by the Michigan Owners Automobile Association, and is one of the directors of that association and its general counsel. He is prominently connected with several important enterprises throughout the county and is looked upon as one of the leading men of affairs hereabout, being a director of the Belding-Hall Refrigerator Com- pany, of Belling; a director of the National Bank of lonia: a director of the Ramsey-AAlton Furniture Company, of Portland, and of the Western Woodenware Company at the latter place.
On October 10, 1888, George E. Nichols was united in marriage to Harriet Kennedy, who was born in lonia, daughter of James and Eliza .A. ( Moseman ) Kennedy. To George E. and Harriet ( Kennedy ) Nichols one child has been born, a son, James K., a graduate of Olivet College, who
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now ( 1916) is a member of the senior class of the law department of the University of Michigan. Senator and Mrs. Nichols ever have been earnest and helpful participants in the social and enltural activities of their home town and are held in the highest esteem by all thereabout. Mrs. Nichols is a member of the Presbyterian church and for years has been actively identified with the various beneficences of that locally influential organiza- tion. Senator Nichols is a member of the lonia lodges of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of the Knights of Pythias. of the Knights of Maccabees, of the Modern Woodmen and of the Royal Arcanum, in the affairs of which several organizations he takes a warm interest.
HENRY B. DARNELL ..
Henry B. Darnell, a farmer in section 34, Berlin township, Ionia county, Michigan, having more than a local reputation as a breeder of Hol- stein cattle, was born in this same township on April 21, 1866, on what is now known as the Ellis Durkee farm, in an old log school house into which his parents had moved immediately upon coming to this county, there being no house on their farm. Henry B. is a son of Francis and Elizabeth Ann ( Wallace ) Darnell, the former of whom was born in Northamptonshire. England. The father of Francis died when he was two years of age and. when he was twenty-one years of age. in company with the mother and a brother, he came to America, locating in New York state, where Francis hired out to a Captain Root, with whom he remained nine years. It was there he married Elizabeth Ann Wallace, who was also in the service of the captain. She was an Irish girl, born at Rathfryland, County Down, coming to New York state alone when twenty-three years of age and for eleven years she was in the service of Captain Root. Francis and Elizabeth Ann were married in 1862 and reached Berlin township. this county, in the spring of 1866, shortly after which Henry B., the subject of this sketch, was born. Francis, in partnership with his brother. Thomas, owned one hundred and seventeen acres of land, on which both families settled and lived for a number of years. Francis eventually bought out Thomas's interest and the latter then moved close to Berlin Center, where he died. Francis remained on the one farm until his death, November 16, 1893. his widow following him on April 19, 1903. They were the parents of two children, of which Henry B. is the younger. The eller son is William J .. engaged in farming in California.
MR. AND MRS. HENRY B. DARNEL.I.
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Henry B. received his education in the early township schools near his home and remained under the parental roof until the time of his marriage on September 26, 1896, to Ella Whitter, a daughter of Alexander and Emily ( Woon) Whitter, both of whom were born in Canada. Alexander Whitter's father was originally from Massachusetts and went into Canada where he married the mother of Alexander, while the parents of Emily Woon came from England and settled in Canada, where she was born. Shortly after marriage, Alexander Whitter and wife came to this state and county, locating in Odessa township, where they lived about a year and on that farm Ella ( Mrs. Henry B. Darnell ) was born. They eventually returned to Canada where he is still living, although she passed from this life in 1893. There were eleven children in the Whitter family. Ella being the eldest. John is in Seattle, Washington; Jeff, Ida ( wife of Edward Til! ) and Cuyler, all in Canada; Arthur in lonia, this state; Violet, wife of Marion Jacobson, residing in Detroit; Bertha ( Mrs. Victor Pollard) living in Canada, as does also Edith. Clara, the eighth child of the family, is the wife of Arthur Barnhardt and lives in Three Rivers, this state, while George. the youngest of the family, died in young manhood, in 1914.
Henry B. Darnell and wife continued to make their home on the family homestead after marriage and in due time, purchased the interests of the other heirs. He has added eighty acres to his farm, making him the owner now of one hundred and ninety-seven. This farm is on rural route No. 39. out of Lake Odessa and appearances indicate good management and pros- perity. Mr. Darnell conducts general farming and stock raising, dividing his attention between his thoroughbred cattle and hogs, which he feeds for the market. The family has always stood for the highest and best in com- munity life and the present representatives are in every way worthy of the highest esteem. Mr. Darnell is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, through local lodge No. 422 at Sebawa. Mrs. Darnell is a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal church at South Berlin, in the work of which he is also interested. A Republican in politics, Henry B. Darnell has evinced his interest in local affairs in many ways. He has been township highway commissioner for two years, and had much to do with the road-tax law and previous to that, served for one year as township treasurer. He is at present. and has been for the past fifteen years, a mem- ber of the school board.
There are six children in the Darnell family: Frank A., born Sep- tember 7, 1807, is a graduate of the Odessa high school and is engaged (16a)
1
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with his father on the farm; Arthur, February 4, 1900. is attending the district school, as is also William J., April 8, 1903; Myrtle E., June 14. 1905; Floyd E., December 12, 1907, and Violet M., March 29, 1914. This promising young family is being well educated and raised so as to fill places of usefulness in the community in years to come.
JAMES LEE FOWLE.
James Lee Fowle, secretary and treasurer of the Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Company of lonia county, a veteran of the Civil War and one of the best-known citizens of this section of Michigan, is a native son of Mich- igan, having been born on a farm in Moscow township, Hillsdale county, this state, November 11, 1842, son of Charles and Statira ( Kies) Fowle, both natives of New York state and early settlers of Hillsdale county. where their last days were spent.
Charles Fowle was born in western New York, son of Benjamin Fowle and wife, the latter of whom was Elizabeth Lea, and was reared on a farm there. His father was a native of Yorkshire, England, who had come to America and located on a farm in western New York, where he made his home until about 1832, at which time he emigrated with his family to Mich- igan and located in Hillsdale county, where he became a large landowner and took an influential part in the development of that part of the state. About 1851 or 1852 Benjamin Fowler, who was now a widower, went to Wisconsin and settled on Rock Prairie. Rock county, Bradford township. where he spent the rest of his life. Benjamin Fowle was upwards of eighty years old at the time of his death in 1860. He and his wife were the par- ents of seven children, Jacob, Susan, Benjamin, James, Elizabeth, Charles and Martha. Charles Fowle remained in Michigan and became the owner of several hundred acres of fine land in Moscow township. Hillsdale county. where he reared his family in comfort. He was married three times. Tc his first union two children were born, Mrs. Susan M. Stevens, now of Moscow. Hillsdale county, and Hanford Fowle, deceased. His second wife, Statira Kies, was the daughter of John and Betsy Kies, pioneers of Mich- igan, who died in Moscow township, Hillsdale county, where they had made their home for many years. John Kies was a graduate of Harvard College. an excellent farmer and a man of large influence in his neighborhood in
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pioneer days. He and his wife were the parents of eight children, Statira, Harvey, James, George, Julia, Charlotte, Allen and Esther.
To Charles and Statira ( Kies) Fowle nine children were born, namely : Ann Eliza, widow of Horace Baker, of Moscow township, Hillsdale county, this state; James L .. the immediate subject of this biographical sketch; Benjamin, deceased; Francis, deceased: Emma, who died in infancy: Otto, of Sault Sainte Marie, this state; Cordelia, wife of George W. Knight, of Battle Creek, Michigan: Ida, deceased, and Elizabeth, wife of William E. Foster, of Cleveland, Ohio. The mother of these children died in 1858, aged about forty years. Charles Fowle later married Mrs. Isabelle Gris- wold, to which union one child was born, who died in infancy. Charles Fowle spent his last days on his old home farm in Hillsdale county and was past seventy-eight years of age when he died in 1889.
James L. Fowle was reared on the paternal farm in Hillsdale county and was about fifteen years old when his mother died. He attended the old log-cabin school house in the neighborhood of his home in the days of his early youth and later entered Hillsdale College. In the fall of 1858 he quit college and went to Wisconsin and for two years attended school there. He then began clerking in a store and was thus engaged when the Civil War broke out. In September, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company F, Thirteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and when the com- pany was organized he was elected third duty sergeant. He served with the Thirteenth Wisconsin until that regiment was mustered out at San Antonio, Texas, on December 24, 1865. seeing much active service, and was mustered out as first lieutenant of his company and acting adjutant of his regiment. During his service in the army Mr. Fowle had secured a fur- lough, in the spring of 1864, to marry a Michigan girl and in April, 1866, four months after the conclusion of his military service, returned to this state and located on a farm of one hundred and twenty acres on section 33. Ronald township, this county, where he remained until his appointment in 1887 as secretary and treasurer of the Farmers Mutual Insurance Com- pany of Ionia county, after which he moved to lonia, which has been his place of residence ever since. During all these intervening years Mr. Fowle has given his most thoughtful and intelligent attention to the duties of his position with the substantial insurance company which he so worthily repre- sents and there are few men in this part of the state who have a wider acquaintance than he, or who are held in higher regard .. Mr. Fowle is a Republican and ever has given a good citizen's attention to local political affairs. During his residence in Ronald township he served the people of
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that community as township clerk, treasurer and supervisor and since he has been living in fonia has served as a member of the board of public works for three years and as a member of the school board for nine years, also as one of the county superintendents of the poor for a like period.
On March 9, 1864, James L .. Fowle was united in marriage to Kath- arine E. Hammond, who was born at Ypsilanti, this state, September 23, 1843, daughter and only child of Dennis and Sarah ( Opdyke) Hammond, natives of New York state and early residents of Ypsilanti, where for years Mr. Hammond was engaged as a private tutor, later becoming a farmer. To this union four children have been born, Louise, James J., Margaret and Otto. Louise Fowle, who died in 1910, married John Sessions and to that union ten children were born, William L., Marion, Donald, Harold, Clar- ence, Elsie, Louise, Ruth and two who died died in infancy. James J. Fowle married Mary Fox, of fonia, to whom was born one daughter, Flor- ence L., now Mrs. Glenn P. Burkhart. of Fowlerville, Michigan. Margaret Fowle married Dr. Lorne G. McAloney. of Portland, Oregon. Otto Fowle, the youngest of the four children, met a tragic death on Thanksgiving Day. 1887.
Mr. Fowle is an active member of William H. Borden Post No. 211, Grand Army of the Republic, Department of Michigan, and for eight years served as commander of that patriotic organization. He also is a member of lonia lodge No. 548, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and in the affairs of both of these organizations takes a warm interest.
ROSCOE A. HEARSEY.
Roscoe A. Hearsey, well-known proprietor of Hearsey's planing-mill at lonia, this county, for many years one of the most active and progressive manufacturers and business men of that city, widely known and highly- regarded throughout the country, is a native son of lonia county, and one of the oldest, if not the very oldest. continuous residents of this county. having been born on a farm, then in the wilderness, three miles west of where the city of lonia now stands. July 16, 1858, son of Mason and Caro- line (Cornell) Hearsey, the former a native of Maine and the latter of the state of New York, who were among the very earliest pioneers of this sec- tion of Michigan, and for many years honored residents of this commun- ity, whose large part in the development of the social and material growth
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of the community gave them a prominent place in the pioneer life of this region.
Mason Hearsey was reared on a farm in Maine and acquired a good education in the well-organized schools of his home neighborhood. He was one of the three children born to his parents, he having had a brother, Amos, and a sister, the latter of whom married a Mr. Woodard. His father was a soldier in the War of 1812 and his grandfather was a "minute man" during the War of the Revolution. Mason Hearsey grew to man- hood on the paternal farm in the East and then came West, settling in the wilderness in the woods at a point three miles west of the present city of Ionia, and there bought forty acres of timber land, a part of the farm now owned by Burton Babcock. Shortly after coming here he married Caroline Cornell, whose parents, Alfred and Nancy (Colwell) Cornell, were among the earliest settlers of this section of what was then the territory of Michi- gan. Both were natives of Rhode Island, who after their marriage had gone to New York, settling in the Utica neighborhood, where their children were born. Later they emigrated to this region, becoming pioneers of Ionia county, settling on a wilderness tract one mile west of where the city of Ionia later sprang up, and there established their home. Both Alfred Cor- nell and his wife took an active part in the early affairs of their community and were highly respected residents of that section. Both lived to be past eighty years of age. They were the parents of nine children, Thomas. Daniel. Alanson. Nancy, Mary, Delia, Lydia. Caroline and Sarah.
After clearing a part of his woodland tract in what is now Easton township. Mason Hearsey, who was an excellent carpenter, having learned the trade in his Maine home, recognized a field of wider usefulness to the pioneer community and left the farm, moving into the then promising ham- let of lonia, where he became a building contractor and where he spent the remainder of his life. It was in 1842 that Mason Hearsey settled in Ionia. At that time there were only five houses on the north side of Main street and but one dwelling house and three or four barns within two miles of the hamlet south of Main street. Mr. Hearsey built a carpenter shop on Main street and also erected his dwelling house on the same street, mak- ing his home there until 1866, in which year he bought a lot in the west part of the town and built a new house. Not only was Mason Hearsey one of the most active building contractors in the thriving city of his home, but he was also recognized as one of the most influential factors in the civic life of the developing community. For nineteen years he served as justice of the peace at Ionia and also served as county clerk and as county treasurer
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at different times, in all his public service giving his most thoughtful and intelligent attention to the common good. He died at the age of seventy- three years and his widow survived him about fifteen years, she having been seventy-nine years of age, lacking one month, at the time of her death. Mason Hearsey and his wife were earnest members of the Baptist church and for many years were regarded as among the leaders in good works hereabout, being held in high esteem throughout the entire county. They were the parents of four children, of whom the subject of this biographical sketch is the eldest, and of whom he and his sister, Mrs. Gertrude Daniels, widow of L. Mortimer Daniels, are now the only survivors, their brothers, Herbert and Mason, being deceased, the former having died in infancy.
Roscoe A. Hearsey, eklest of the four children of the pioneer couple above mentioned, was four years of age when his parents moved from the farm where he was born to the little hamlet of Ionia in 1842 and he has lived there ever since, having thus been a witness of the growth of the city almost from its very beginning, there having been, as noted above, scarcely half a dozen houses in the place when he became a resident. He grew up in the village, acquiring his education in the early subscription schools there, and became an expert carpenter and cabinet-maker under the skillful direc- tion of his father. He married in 1860, and in 1872 built a planing-mill on Main street, near Dexter street, doing a thriving business there from the very start of the enterprise and continuing at that location for ten years, at the end of which time, in 1882, he built his present milling plant on Dex- ter street and has there conducted his business ever since, during that time having furnished the greater part of the building material entering into the construction of the buildings in lonia. As his business prospered. Mr. Hearsey gradually enlarged and extended his planing-mill plant. He has ever been locally noted for the straightforward manner in which he con- ducts his business affairs and for many years has been recognized as one of the leading men of affairs in this county, the general business community holding him in the very highest regard.
On May 3, 1860, Roscoe A. Hearsey was united in marriage to Melvina Daniels, who was born in New York state on December 16, 1839. daughter of Philander Daniels and wife, both natives of that same state, who later came to Michigan, locating at Jackson, this state, where their last days were spent, both living to good old age. Philander Daniels and wife were the parents of nine children, Miriam, Helen, Melvina. Mortimer, Eugene. Emergene, Jennie, Lucina and Emaline. To Roscoe A. and Melvina ( Dan- iels ) Hearsey three children have been born, Wallace, who is actively asso-
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ciated with his father in the management of the planing-mill, married Mary McGannon: Winifred, a well-known milliner at lonia, and Jessie, who died when she was about seven years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Hearsey are mem- bers of the Baptist church, in the various beneficences of which they for years have been warmly interested, and ever have been active in good works. They have lived together for more than fifty-five years and have hosts of friends throughout the county, all of whom hold them in the highest esteem. Mr. Ilearsey is a Democrat and served two terms in the lonia city council and two terms as a member of the board of public works, in both of which capacities he rendered good service in behalf of the public. He is a mem- ber of the local "tent" of the Knights of Maccabees, in which order he has passed all the chairs.
FERMAN G. WILSON.
Ferman G. Wilson, a farmer, living out of Saranac, lonia county, Michigan, was born in Keene township, where he has passed his entire life, on October 25. 1862. the only child of George B. and Nancy ( Follet) Wilson. George B. Wilson is a native of New York state and Nancy Fol- let was born in Nova Scotia. For many years they were among the leading farmers of Keene township and were well-known people. Her death occur- red in 1909 and George B. Wilson now resides in Saranac.
Ferman G. Wilson was reared in Keene township and as a boy attended the district schools near his home, supplementing that training with more advanced study in the schools of Saranac. He remained with his parents until twenty-two years of age, when for a time he worked out among neighboring farmers. He was married on October 7. 1885, to Samantha A. Jepson. born at Pownal, Bennington county, Vermont, on March 13, 1865. She is a daughter of Charles and Caroline A. ( Babcock) Jepson, who came to Michigan in May. 1865, and located on the farm where Mr. and Mrs. Wilson now reside. There she died on August 23, 1892, and he survived until February 27, 1901. There were originally four children in the Jepson family, three of whom are now living. Audra C., the eldest of the family, is the wife of Albert Wells; Mrs. Ferman Wilson is the next in order of birth, and Avis A. is Mrs. Albert F. Haskin.
Mr. and Mrs. Wilson have two daughters. Ferne E. was born on April 9, 1887, and is a graduate of the Saranac high school in the class of 1906. She is now the wife of Lynn A. Kosht. Hazel C., born on Decem-
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ber 27, 1892, graduated from Saranac high school with the class of 1911, and is Mrs. Frank J. Fisher. Both these young women for a time taught in the public schools of lonia county.
Mr. Wilson is a Knight of the Maccabees, while his wife is a member of the woman's auxiliary, and he also holds membership with the Modern Woodmen of America. Mrs. Wilson is a woman in other fields than the domestic circle and besides being a member of the Ladies' Literary Society is active in Woman's Christian Temperance Union work. She has acted as president of the local organization. having filled all other offices within the gift of her society, has been a member of the county board and for two years was vice-president-at-large. Interested in club work in general. she was member of the federated board of Ionia county for four years. While not actively interested in politics, Mr. Wilson gives support to the Republi- can party. He is financially interested in the Co-operative Creamery Com- pany at Saranac, being a stockholder in that organization. The Wilson family is one of the most highly esteemed of the community, each individ- ual member standing for whatever is the best good of the community in all lines of development.
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