USA > Michigan > Ionia County > History of Ionia County, Michigan : her people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 39
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Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Robinson, namely : 1. D., who was educated in the public schools of Ionia, including a busi- ness course, is now living at Valasco, Texas, where he is engaged in farm- ing and truck growing: William H., who was married, died in 1898. leav- ing a daughter. Ellen M., a graduate of the high school at Los Angeles, California, also of a normal school, who is the wife of Edward Roberts, a manufacturer of women's apparel at Los Angeles: Charles, the third child, died in infancy.
Politically. Mr. Robinson is a Democrat, but he has never been active in public affairs or held office.
PERRY C. FREEMAN.
One of the painstaking farmers of Boston township, lonia county. is Perry C. Freeman, who was born in Orleans township, near Long lake, lonia county. September 9. 1847. He is a son of C. J. and Lucetta M. ( Thompson) Freeman, both natives of Mexander, New York, where they grew up, attended school and were married. They came to Michigan about 1846, the father entering eighty acres from the government in Orleans township, Ionia county, on which he lived three years, then sold out. Ile became owner of several farms here, purchasing them in a wild state and
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improving them, then selling out at a good price. He finally moved to Grand Rapids, but later came back to this county. He owned the farm where the state hospital at Ionia is located. After selling that place to the state he retired to the city of lonia, where he spent the rest of his life. Hle was a money maker and a well-known and highly-respected citizen. He belonged to the Presbyterian church. The birth of C. J. Freeman occurred on October 10, 1826, and he died on December 29, 1890; his wife was born on March 4, 1826, and died on November 6, 1898. They were the parents of nine children, five of whom survive, namely: Alonzo O. lives in Ionia and is a traveling salesman; Effie A. is the wife of L. C. Wardon, of Ionia; William J., a painter and decorator, lives in Portland, Oregon; Nettie was the wife of John F. Whitmyer; and Perry C., the subject of this sketch.
Perry C. Freeman was reared on the home farm where he worked when a boy, and he received his education in the public schools and the lonia high school. He taught school for a while, then turned his attention to farming, which he has continued to the present time.
On October 6. 1872, Perry C. Freeman married Ruth A. Hall, daugh- ter of Joshua S. and Sarah A. Hall, a native of Ionia township, this county, born on the farm which her father entered from the government. She was born on February 13. 1853. Later her parents located in Orleans township, where she attended the district and high schools, and she taught one term of school. Mr. and Mrs. Freeman began housekeeping on the farm of his father, where they remained three years, then moved to Boston township on his ninety-acre farm, where they spent twenty years, and in 1807 moved to Mrs. Freeman's present farmi of one hundred and forty acres. In connection with general farming he is a breeder of Rambouillet sheep, and he keeps an excellent grade of live stock of all kinds. He is a stockhokler in the Lowell State Bank, also a stockholder in the Automatic National Music Company.
To Mr. and Mrs. Freeman eleven children have been born, eight of whom survive, namely: Mae is the wife of Rev. W. A. Minty. of Fort Dodge, lowa, where he is pastor of the First Congregational church: Belle R. is the wife of E. D. Collar, an auctioneer, and they live in the city of lonia: Nemina J. is single and formerly engaged in teaching: John P. is farming in Boston township; Frank S. is farming on the old home place : Carrie E., who was graduated from the district schools, is the wife of R. A. Kyser and they live in Boston township; Verne .A., who was graduated from the schools of Big Rapids and the Michigan Agricultural College.
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formerly taught school in Bad Axe, is now farming in Boston township: Emery W., who was graduated from the Saranac high school, is unmarried.
Mr. Freeman and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which both are active workers and liberal supporters. They also belong to the Grange. He was formerly a member of the county committee. Poli- tically, he is a Republican.
ALBERT P. BURR.
An advocate of advanced methods of farming is A. P. Burr, of Boston township, Ionia county, and he is therefore succeeding at his chosen voca- tion. He was born in Livingston county, Michigan, near Howell, July 11, 1848, and is a son of John W. and Elvira ( Plato) Burr. The father was a native of Connecticut. The Burr history has been traced back through many generations to English stock. John W. Burr removed with his par- ents to New York state when seventeen years of age, and in a short time went on to Livingston county, Michigan, where his parents spent the rest of their lives. After their death, John Winton Burr removed from the homestead on which he had been reared to a place of his own near North- ville, Wayne county, Michigan. He was married there to a Miss Shay and two children were born to them, James, who died while a soldier in the Civil War, and Jane, who is the wife of W. Cushing, of Alta Loma, Texas. After the death of the wife and mother at an early age, Mr. Burr went back to Livingston county, but retained his farm in Wayne county. While in Livingston county he met and married Elvira Plato, and they went to live on his farm in Wayne county about 1850, and lived there until their son. A. P. Burr, was about fifteen years old, when they sold out and bought eighty acres in Ionia county. It was wild land, but he improved it and added to it until he had a fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres, on which he spent the rest of his life, dying in 1882, his widow surviving until 1884. Besides the subject of this sketch they were the parents of Alma L., who married E. J. Marsh, an attorney of Big Rapids, Michigan ; she became a highly educated woman.
A. P. Burr grew up on his father's farm, helping clear the first eighty, on which land he settled after his marriage, and here he has since resided. The place contains one hundred and ten acres, which he has kept well improved and well tilled. Mr. Burr has always been a great lover of fine
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horses and he was one of the first to introduce Duroc-Jersey and Mule Foot hogs in this section.
In November, 1860, A. P. Burr was married to Anna Remington, a daughter of William and Ann Jeanette ( flood) Remington, and to this union ten children were born, namely: Arthur, a traveling salesman, lives in Grand Rapids: Jeanette, deceased, was the wife of Dr. Fred Joslin, of Big Rapids, Michigan: Mae is the wife of Lewis Pratt and they live in Nashville, Michigan; Charlie makes his home in Pontiac, Michigan; Ahna is the wife of Dell Groulx, who runs an art and music store in Green Bay, Wisconsin; Silas died in infancy; Letha is the wife of Frank Hakes, of Lowell, Michigan; John died when eight months okl; June is the wife of Floyd Behler, a government inspector, living at Nashville, Michigan; Bess, who was graduated from the normal at Big Rapids, is teaching school in Nashville. The mother of the above named children died in 1906, and on June 24, 1909, Mr. Burr was united in marriage with Mrs. Hannah ( Rem- ington ) Hobbs, widow of W. F. Hobbs. She was the mother of two children by her first husband, namely : Nellie Hobbs, born in 1874, became the wife of Bert Morgan, of Pennsylvania, and is now deceased; Harold K. Hobbs, born in 1881, lives in New Castle. For several years Mr. and Mrs. Hobbs had an undertaking and furniture business at Bellaire, Michi- gan, and they lived in Fitzgerald, Georgia, when W. F. Hobbs died.
Politically, Mr. Burr is a Democrat. He has long been a school direc- tor in his district, and has filled all the school offices. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge No. 125. at Clarksville. Mr. and Mrs. Burr are members of the Congregational church and he is a trustee.
JOSEPH F. PINKHAM, M. D.
Dr. Joseph F. Pinkham, one of the best-known physicians of this county, who has been engaged in the practice of his profession at Bekling since 1892, is a native of the English dominion across the border to the north, having been born on a farm in the neighborhood of Richwood, in Oxford county, Ontario, January 2, 1860, son of William and Esther ( Muma) Pinkham, the former a native of Massachusetts and the latter of Ontario.
The Pinkham family of which Doctor Pinkham is a member is descended from Richard Pinkham, who landed at Plymouth Rock from the "Mayflower" in 1620, one of the most active members of that valiant band
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of Pilgrims, and the successive generations of his descendants ever since have done well their parts in the widely separated communities in which they are now represented. William Pinkham was the son of a ship carpen- ter who moved with his family from Massachusetts to St. Johns, New Brunswick, where he plied his trade until his children were well grown, after which he emigrated with his family to western Ontario, where he entered a tract of government land in Oxford county and there established his home, he and his wife spending the remainder of their lives there. William Pinkham was but a child when he moved to St. Johns and was well grown when the family settled in western Ontario. There he assisted in clearing the homestead farm and there, upon his marriage. he established his home. His wife, Esther Muma, was born in Brant county, Ontario, her parents having emigrated to that county from Pennsylvania, their native state. both having been born there, of Pennsylvania-Dutch descent.
To William and Esther ( Muma ) Pinkham eight children were born, six of whom grew to maturity and four of whom are still living, namely : E. F .. of Los Angeles, California: George H .. of Hillside, this state: William, who died in California, at the age of thirty-three years; Fred. who died in California, at the age of twenty years: Joseph F., the subject of this biographical sketch: Frank, who lives in California; William, who died in infancy, and Eliza, who died at the age of ten years. The mother of these children died in 1872 and William Pinkham married, secondly, Sarah Key. to which union three children were born, Burley, who died in Ontario at the age of thirty years: Gordon, who is living in California, and Winifred, who died in September. 1914. William Pinkham remained on the old homestead farm in Ontario until he was eighty-five years of age, after which he moved to California, where his death occurred in December. 1911.
Joseph F. Pinkham received his elementary education in the schools in the neighborhood of his home, supplementing the same by a course in the Collegiate Institute at Brimford. Ontario, after which for three years he was engaged in teaching school in Brant county. During this time he had determined upon a medical career and after careful preparatory study entered the medical department of Toronto University, from which he was graduated, after a four-years course, on June 1, 1892, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Thus admirably equipped for the practice of his noble profession. Doctor Pinkham came to Michigan, opened an office at Bekling, in this county, and has ever since been very successfully engaged in practice in that city.
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On October 16, 1895, Dr. Joseph F. Pinkham was united in marriage to Lydia L. Carnahan, daughter of Daniel Carnahan and wife, of South Haven, this state, and to this union five children have been born, as follow : Esther, who was graduated from the Belding high school with the class of 1916; Frank, a student in the same school: William, also in school; Ruth, who died at the age of three years, and Joseph E. Doctor and Mrs. Pink- ham are members of the Baptist church and take an earnest interest in the general social and cultural activities of their home town. The Doctor is a Democrat, ever taking a good citizen's interest in political affairs, and is a member of Belding Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, in the affairs of which he takes a warm interest.
NATHAN BRADLEY HAYES.
The history of Ionia county is replete with stories of achievement of men who came into this rugged wilderness wresting fame and fortune and contributing to the permanency of its institutions and progress. The Hayes family has ever been one of the dominant factors in all that has tended to make lonia county what it is today. Nathan Bradley Hayes, one of the worthy members of this family, hardly needs introduction to the citizens of this county. Ever in the forefront of all popular movements and always abreast of the best things in the business and social life of Ionia county he has indeed earned his niche in Ionia's "Hall of Fame."
Mr. Hayes is a descendant of sturdy old New York stock, from which state so many of the early settlers of lonia county came. Hector Hayes, his father, was a prominent farmer, who was born in 1804 near Prattsburg. New York. Ilis mother, Lucinda ( Warren ) Hayes was of good old colonial stock, born in Connecticut in 1806, having married in Ontario county, New York. Hector Hayes and wife and two sons. George and Bradley, came to Michigan, settling in North Plains, Ionia county, that section then being a dense wilderness, with burr oak in abundance. At that time there was but one other family in that township. They underwent the hardships of the early pioneers, and endured many privations, the elder Hayes carrying his grain to the grist mill at Marshall, Calhoun county, the nearest mill in that day. They were indeed pioneers who builded well the foundation for the comforts enjoyed by the present generation. Nathan B. Hayes grew up amid these pioneer surroundings, schooled in the hardihood of the times
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NATHAN B. HAYES.
MRS. MARY HAYES.
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and acquired the ruggedness of strength and character that has stood him so well in life's battle. He began attending Olivet Institution at the age of twenty, remaining there for two years, subsequently renting his father's farm two years and in the meantime teaching school during the winter. At twenty-four years of age he acquired eighty acres of land and immedi- ately began improving it. At the age of twenty-nine he married Mary Olmsted. of North Plains, daughter of Jay and Anstus ( Case ) Olmsted. who came from Onondaga county, New York, and had settled here at an early day.
Mr. Hayes early began to take a prominent part in shaping the com- mercial destinies of Ionia county and he was chosen president of the First National Bank of Muir at its organization, filling that office two years, also being elected as president of the Ionia Co-operative Mutual Benefit Association. When the Grand Rapids and Muir Log-Running AAssociation, formed during the early lumber days, was organized he was elected presi- ‹lent and director, serving during its existence. In the educational life of the county he has contributed much that has been of lasting benefit, from the time he was twenty-one years of age, when he was elected school trustee to the present time, always in the forefront in the promotion of the best educational advantages. As early as 1876 Mr. Hayes was a leader in the political destinies of the county, in that year being elected to the Legis- lature on the Republican ticket, running far ahead of his ticket. His service in the Legislature was notable and while there he was a member of the com- mittee which investigated the noted Rose-Douglas university case.
A history of Ionia county is closely intertwined with that of the lumber industry and in the early lumbering days Hayes was a name to be reckoned with in all that concerned Inmber. It might be said that no other man in the history of this county was more prominently identified with that industry than the subject of this sketch. Before the Civil War he was heavily inter- ested in timber lands and as early as 1880 was manufacturing from one to six million feet of lumber annually. With the extinction of the lumber industry Mr. Hayes turned his natural talent to other avenues of endeavor meeting with the same marked success that has been his portion in all his life's work. When the vast wilderness gave way to blossoming farms Mr. Hayes was in the forefront of the agriculture life of this county and has contributed in time and money to make Ionia county as prosperous a farm- ing region as it was a lumber region in the early days. He was one of the organizers of the Farmers' Institutes and has ever been prominent in that (26a)
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work, and has materially encouraged corn growing, offering prizes on his own initiative as an incentive for better corn crops. It is notable how versatile Mr. Hayes has been in his agriculture activity, his success as an apple grower being well known not only in Ionia county but outside the con- fines of Michigan as well.
In the evening of life Mr. Hayes in retrospection can look back over his life's work with no small degree of pride. His has indeed been a life of fruitful endeavor and he now enjoys in travel his well earned years of leisure and at the same time keeping up his interests in the good works of Ionia county, which has ever been dear to his heart and which has been the scene of his life's chronicle.
To Mr. Hayes and wife were born the following children: George B., Hector and Jerry C., all of Detroit, and Austin C., manager of the home place. Mr. Hayes was a member of the board of control of the reforma- tories for eight years and served as president of joint board for a period of five years. These bodies had charge of the Jackson. Marquette and Tonia reformatories. It is noteworthy that Mr. Hayes had a Bell telephone before there was an exchange in the state of Michigan, and the first tele- phone in lonia county was placed in his home and connected him with Muir. Also he had installed on his farm the first windmill north of what is now the Grand Trunk railroad, which passes through lonia county.
Mr. Hayes is president of the lonia County Pioneer Society, an office which he has held for many years, and at this writing ( 1916). there are only three living that were here in 1836.
RICHARD CANNON.
Richard Cannon, a well-known retired farmer of the neighboring county of Montcalm, now living in Belding, this county, is a native of Canada, having been born on a farm near Mt. Pleasant, in Brant county, Ontario. August 11. 1859, son of William and Mary ( Hartley) Cannon, the former a native of London, England, and the latter of Ontario, whose last days were spent on a farm in Keene township, this county, they having been pioneers of that section.
William Cannon was born in London in 1810. only son of Thomas and Elizabeth ( Beckett) Cannon, the former a native of the town of Amersham, in the county of Bucks, Buckinghamshire, England, and the
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RESIDENCE OF NATHAN B. HAYES.
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latter of London, and was twenty years of age when he accompanied his parents across the water. the family settling on September 8, 1839. on a farm in Brant county, Ontario, where the elder Cannons spent the remain- der of their lives. William Cannon married not long after arriving on this' side and continued to make his home on the parental farm until after the death of his parents. Early in the year 1864 he traded the paternal acres in Ontario for one hundred and twenty acres in Keene township, this county, and arrived at the latter place with his family on February 8, 1864, he and his wife spending the remainder of their lives there. They were the parents of twelve children, namely: Thomas, who died in Belding ; Jane, wife of Elijah Swan, of Ada, in Kent county, this state; Mary E .. wife of John Hastings. of Wellsville. New York; William, who died in infancy: William, second, who also died in infancy: Samuel, a resident of Greenville, this state; William, who died in Douglass township, in the neighboring county of Montcalm: Sarah, deceased, who was the wife of Edwin Tasker, of Keene township, this county; Richard, the subject of this biographical sketch; Elizabeth, wife of Irvin Brown, of Easton town- ship, this county; Isaac, a resident of Pine township. Montcalm county, and Victoria, wife of Ellsworth Spence, of Mecosta county, this state.
Richard Cannon was about five years old when his parents came to this county from Canada and he lived on the home farm in Keene town- ship until he was twenty-one years of age, at which time, in 1880, he went up into the pine timber country in Pine township, Montcalm county, where he bought a tract of forty acres, which he proceeded to clear and improve. He presently bought an adjoining tract of twenty acres and it was not many years before he had a fine farm there. Two years after moving to Montcalm county he married and he continued to make his home there until 1912, in which year he disposed of his place and moved to Belding, where he has made his home ever since. Upon moving to Belding he bought the old homestead farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Keene township, buit two years later sold the same. He is now the owner of eighty acres near his old home in Montcalm county and eighty acres in Osceola county, this state.
On February 6. 1882. Richard Cannon was united in marriage to Nettie M. Sparks, one of the ten children of William and Mary (Covert) Sparks, pioneers of Keene township, this county, and to this mion one child has been born, a son, William R., who is engaged in the automobile business at Grand Rapids, this state. Mr. Cannon is a Democrat and dur- ing his residence in Montcalm county he held some minor offices.
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ALBERT MEADE.
As a fariner and stock raiser Albert Meade, of Orleans township. Jonia county, ranks with the most enterprising in this locality. He was born in Greene county, New York, fifty miles from Albany. June 17, 1849. and is a son of William and Sarah ( Post ) Meade, both natives of the state of New York, the father of English descent and the mother of Dutch extraction. These parents grew up in their native state, were educated and married there. In 1857 they removed with their family to lonia county, Michigan, buying the farm on which Albert Meade now resides, consisting of one hundred and ten acres, and on this they spent the rest of their lives, the father dying in 1890 and the mother passed away in March, 1910. Ten children were born to them, five surviving at this writing, namely : William is deceased; Albert, the subject of this review; Elizabeth, widow of George Abby, lives in Ionia county; Mary, the wife of Hans Johnson, lives in Greenville, Michigan; Alice is the wife of John Sherman, lives in Fremont county, Michigan; Edward is deceased; Wealthy is the wife of E. Johnson, and lives in Orleans township, lonia county; the other three children died in early life.
Albert Meade grew up on the home farm and received his education in the district schools. He bought a small farm in Orleans township when starting out in life for himself. He worked in the lumber camps from 1872 to 1882, then settled on his forty-acre farm, where he lived until 1888. when he moved on the old home place, which he subsequently bought, and since that time has added eighty acres and now has a finely improved farm of one hundred and eighty acres, on which he carries on general farming and stock raising, handling all lines of stock, but making a specialty of Durham cattle and Rambouillet sheep, his fine live stock being greatly admired by all who see them. He has made many improvements on the place, including the erection of two large barns in 1913 and remodeling the old barns and other outbuildings.
Albert Meade has been twice married, first, in June, 1872, to Wealthy Palmer, a daughter of Jewell Palmer. Her death occurred in 1873. To this umion one son was born, John Meade, who owns a good farm of two hundred and eighty acres in Orleans township, lonia county. Mr. Meade was married, secondly, on January 14, 1882, to Sarah J. Parker, a dangh- ter of William and Jane ( Evernington) Parker. natives of England, where they grew up and were married, later emigrating to Canada, where they
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spent five years, then moved to Fremont, Michigan, and there the death of Mr. Parker occurred in 1896; his widow still survives. The second union was without issue. Politically, Mr. Meade is a Democrat.
CHARLES E. BRINK.
Charles E. Brink, a well-known farmer of Otisco township, this county, living on his well-kept farm of fifty-nine acres, known as "Fairfield Farm," two miles south and one and one-half miles east of Belding, and who has served as supervisor of Otisco township since 1903, is a native of the Empire state, having been born in New York on July 12, 1854, son of Lorenzo and Mary J. (Robbins) Brink, the former also a native of New York state and the latter of New Jersey.
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