USA > Michigan > Jackson County > History of Jackson County, Michigan > Part 84
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Andrew G. Irwin, of Brooklyn village, was born in the north of Ireland, Dec. 27, 1790. His father's name was Robert Irwin, and was a farmer by oecnpation. He came to America with his family in 1828, and settled at Bath, Stenben Co., N. Y., where he pursued his calling. Andrew's advent to America preceded that of his father by about five years. He also located in Bath, where he remained until 1841. For a time after his arrival he followed farming by the month, and afterward acted as salesman in retail mercantile honses of that locality for a considerable time, until he was able to purchase a stoek for himself, when he commenced ped- dling goods through the country, until 1837. He was possessed of an ambitious spirit, which prompted the turning of his path westward, and in the fall of this year landed himself in Man- chester, Washtenaw Co., where he bought 240 acres of the virgin soil of Washtenaw county at Manchester. He was prospered in business, and in 1841 he sold this place and removed to Columbia tp. and invested in 50 acres of land adjoining the village of Brook- lyn, which has since in part been added to the village plat, and of which he still owns 35 acres. Mr. Irwin married Miss Harriet Blood, daughter of Asa Blood, of Bath, N. Y., in 1829. They have no children of their own, but have furnished home and school-
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ing to 10 homeless and destitute children. Mr. and Mrs. Irwin have been members of the Presbyterian Church since 1838, and Mr. Irwin has been Ruling Elder in the same church for 37 years past.
Daniel S. Johnson, of Columbia tp., was born June 3, 1814, at New Paltz, Ulster Co., N. Y. His father was John Johnson, who was a farmer and mill-owner at New Paltz. He was a native of New Jersey, was an Anti-Mason and a politician of strong Repub- lican principles. He was also a professional surveyor and engineer, and at one time was appointed Acting State Surveyor of New York. In 1812 he married Miss Jane Conklin, and they had 9 children. Daniel lived at home until 1844, when he came West and settled in Columbia tp., on sec. 22, and bought 153 acres of B. Dubois. This property was taken from the Government by Jona- than Gilbert. Mr. Johnson has 2 sisters, who came to Michigan with him, Susan and Elizabeth, who are members and managers of his household, as he is still a single man.
Dr. L. M. Jones, Brooklyn, whose name is familiar to many cit- izens of Jackson county, is a member of one of the oldest families in this State. His father, Beniali Jones, came to Michigan in 1828, and located 220 acres of land in Hillsdale county, on which is situ- ated the present village of Jonesville, he being the founder, and for many years its most active and influential citizen. Here he erected at the time a large hotel, which he conducted as the Fayette House. This was the first frame building in Hillsdale county. He also developed a large farm adjoining the village. To these two enter. prises he devoted his entire time until abont 1834. Having greatly failed in health on account of the responsibilities of his business, be closed out his interests there and went to San Antonio, Texas, and engaged in the mercantile business until 1839, and in that year opened a plantation, in which business he continued until his death in 1863. He married Miss Lois Olds, daughter of Daniel Olds, of Painesville, Ohio, who was a soldier of the Revolution under George Washington, and followed him through that great and notable conflict.
The Jones family consisted of 7 sons and 1 daughter, Leonidas M. being the 3d, and was born Ang. 24, 1822, at Painesville, Ohio. He received his early education at Jonesville, and afterward at- tended the Western Homeopathic College, of Cleveland, Ohio, where he graduated in 1858, and immediately commenced prac- tice at Camden, Hillsdale Co., and in July, 1860, opened his present office in Brooklyn. Of the extent and success of Dr. Jones's prac- tiee, little needs here to be stated, as his popularity among his numerous patrons is a satisfactory index. He was married July 3, 1845, to Miss Charlotte A., daughter of Jonas Holcomb, a farmer, and a pioneer of Camden tp. They have 1 son and 1 daughter liv- ing -Oliver Q., a physician of Hanover, this county, and Ella M., now Mrs. Dr. R. V. House, of Tecumseh. The reader will find a portrait of Dr. Jones no page 803 of this volunie.
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John Ladd, of Columbia tp., one of the pioneers, and a highly respected citizen of Jackson county, was born Feb. 23, 1808, at Windham, Windham Co., Conn. His father was John Ladd, a farmer and a native also of Windham county. The Ladd family are descendants from pure English stock. In 1814 Mr. Ladd's father emigrated from Connecticut to Oswego county, N. Y., where they remained five years, and in 1819 they removed to Oneida county, where the father and mother both spent the re- maining years of their lives.
Mr. Ladd, after coming to Michigan, first settled in the town of Norvell (then Napoleon), where he remained 23 years, and then re- moved to his present home on sec. 20, where he owns 320 acres of improved land and 70 acres of timber. In 1836 Mr. Ladd mar- ried Miss Frances Stevens, daughter of a farmer of Williamstown, Connecticut. Mrs. Ladd died in 1840, leaving 1 daughter, Sarah, now Mrs. N. H. Barnes, of Brooklyn. In 1844 he again married, this time Maria Lewis, daughter of John R. Lewis, a farmer of Connecticut. Maria Ladd died, leaving 2 children, John R. and Fred ric Etta. He again married, in 1853, Miss Sarah Cults, daughter of Samuel Cults, a farmer of Pennsylvania, who came to Michigan in 1835, and settled in Napoleon. Sarah Cults Ladd has 4 children-Effie M., now wife of George A. Garry, a lawyer of Grand Rapids, Mich., Sumner R., Inez and Frank L.
W'm. C. Love, one of the pioneers of Columbia tp., was born Jan. 23, 1813, at Hartford, Washington Co., N. Y. His father, Calvin, was a native of the Empire State, and was a son of John Love, who was a farmer of Cayuga county, N. Y., and a Green Mountain boy. Wm. C. received his education in Erie county, N. Y., and came to Michigan with his father in 1830, who located 160 acres of land in sec. 13, where he lived until his death, in 1842. He was a man of temperate habits, generous and noble impulses, and a loyal and public-spirited citizen. W. C. located for himself 60 acres adjoining his father's on the west, to which he has added and which he has much improved until his farm property comprises 213 acres, mostly tillable and productive. April 13, 1834, he married Miss Mary Boyers, daughter of John Boyers, a farmer of Erie county, N. Y. Five children have been born in this family: Helen H., now wife of Judson Freeman, is the only one now living. The names of the deceased are Olive, George, Julia M., and John C., who served his country as one of the noble boys in blue, and returned home after three years of steady and valiant service, after which he married Miss Hattie M. Gros- venor, of Norvell tp., and settled on a farm on sec. 12. He died May 9, 1877, leaving a family of 6 children-George F., Tracy, Lyman, Mary, Laura and Carrie. Mr. Love is a man of sterling qualities, and a character beyond reproach or comment. Mrs. Love was born July 25, 1815, in Erie county, N. Y. Mr. John Boyers, her father, was a man of property and of public spirit. He was a soldier, and the Captain of his company in the war of 1812.
L. M. Jones Me.D
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Amasa W. Marsh was born in the town of Pompey. Onondaga Co., N. Y., Oct. 17, 1816. His father, Samnel T. Marsh, was a tanner and currier by trade. He settled in the town of Pompey when a young man, where he lived until his death, which occurred in 1829. Amasa then left home to live with an uncle, Philo Peck, in Van Buren tp., same county, and there he spent his boyhood and youth, at times attending school. He came to Michigan and settled on his present property in 1839, his brother, Samuel T., having preceded him in 1834, and his mother and sister Martha coming in two years later, in 1837. Mr. Marsh has been twice married. His first wife, nee Lydia Lindsley, died Jan. 26, 1851, leaving 2 sons-Clifton and Homer. June 8, 1854, he again married, this time, Miss Eliza Totten, daughter of Samuel Totten, a farmer of Tecumseh, Lenawee Co. Mr. Totten was a native of Albany county, N. Y. The American branch of the Totten family originated in England, 4 brothers having come to America before the American Revolution. Samuel Totten's family consisted of 8 children-Amos J., Philip, Henry, William, Eliza A., George, Juliette and Charles. Mr. and Mrs. Marsh have 4 children- Laverne, Hortense, Florence and William. Hortense is now Mrs. Fred Fork, of Liberty.
The lamented Samuel T. Marsh, whose death Dec. 12, 1880, citi- zens of this county were suffered to mourn, was one of the fathers of Jackson county, having come into Columbia in the year 1834, at the same time with his fellow townsman, Anson H. De Lamater. He was born April 5, 1812, in the village of Oran, Onondaga Co., N. Y. His father, also Samuel T. Marsh, was a pioneer of Onon- daga county, and a prosperons tanner by trade. He was of New Eng- land nativity and had a genuine Yankee parentage. Samnel T., Jr., had the advantages of a common-school education, which he improved in his boyhood, and afterward a course of study at Caz- enovia Seminary. At the age of 15 he acquired the tanner's trade of his father, who died in 1827. During the next seven years he worked at his trade, and in the spring of 1834 he came to Michigan and settled on sec. 20, this tp., where the results of his life's work can be appreciated only when looked upon. The Marsh homestead consists of 160 acres of rolling, finely subdued and pro- duetive soil, on sec. 20, fronting the south shore of Clark's lake. Samuel T. Marsh and Miss Jane De Lamater were married Sept. 17, 1835, and have I daughter, Mary Jane, who is now Mrs. Uriah H. Gates, of Litchfield, this State.
Mr. Marsh was a public-spirited citizen, and a man with a full heart and open hand for any and every good work.
John B. Martin, one of the substantial and well-to-do citizens of Brooklyn was born April 14, 1837, in the town of Fayette, Hillsdale Co., this State. His father, Isaac G. Martin, was a mill- wright by trade, and that was the occupation of his life. Isaac was the son of a cloth dresser, John Martin. an Englishman, and came to America in 1822, at the age of 19. He died in the town of Aller,
48
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Hillsdale Co., Nov. 26, 1864, at the age of 61. He married Miss Mary Goforth, daughter of Richard Goforth, a carpenter who emi- grated from England to America in 1821. She was born May 26, 1809. They had 3 children-Emeline, now wife of George Knapp, a farmer of Branch county, this State; John B., and William, a re- sident of Quincy, Mich. John B. married Miss Lucinda Smith, daughter of Robert Smith, a farmer of Hanover tp., and they have 2 children -- Charles B., born Aug. 7, 1864, and B. Franklin, born June 28, 1879. Mrs. Martin was born Dec. 14, 1843.
Reuben Mathus, son of Henry, who was a son of William, was born Oct. 15, 1835, in the town of York Haven, York Co., Penn. His father was a net-maker and his grandfather was a livery man and a farmer, in Pennsylvania. Reuben received his education in Northumberland county, Penn., where he learned the blacksmith's and carriage-maker's trades, which at intervals he followed until 1861, when he enlisted in the 3d Mich. Cav., in Co. K., and served three years in defense of the stars and stripes, after which he re- enlisted and served 18 months more, making four and a half years of constant service for his country, when he received his discharge at San Antonio, Texas. Aug. 14, 1867, he married Miss Laura Taylor, daughter of Eli Taylor, a farmer of Rome, Lenawee Co., a native of Westchester county, N. Y., and they have 4 children: Nettie May. Albert C., Levi J. and Willis B.
Daniel Myres was born in the town of Hiram, Portage Co., Ohio, June 15, 1834. His father, Daniel Myres, was a former resident of New York, but moved to Ohio, where he followed his calling, that of a distiller, and came to Michigan in 1836, and settled in Lenawee county, Cambridge tp., where he died in 1844. He was the father of 11 children, 5 sons and 6 daughters. Daniel was the fourth son. He received his schooling at Cambridge, where he lived until he moved to Jackson county, in 1874, where he purchased 40 acres of land of the De Shay estate. Oct. 28, 1875, he married Miss Laura H. Shores, daughter of Jonathan, a farmer of Coles county, Ill., formerly of Brooklyn, in this tp., where she was born Sept. 22, 1859. They have 2 children- Lillie Adell and Alma Gale. Mrs. Myres' ancestry were of Scotch descent, and parents were natives of New Jersey. Her father died in Huron county, at the age of 76.
Lewis L. Nash was born in Bowerstown, Otsego Co., N. Y., May 2, 1809. His father, Moses Nash, was a farmer, and a resident of Milford, Otsego Co., but moved to the Holland pur- chase in 1810. His family consisted of 11 children, 8 daughters and 3 sons. Lewis was the eldest of the children, and received his schooling mostly at Newstead, where he lived 39 years, when he came West, but to return upon the sad event of his father's death. He remained there about 17 years. April 9, 1834, he married Grace Gardner, daughter of William Gardner, an old soldier of the war of 1812. He was a farmer, and a native of Otsego county, and of the town of Elizabeth. They have had 10 children, 6 sons and 4 daughters. Alphonzo, Della J., Olilla and
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Diadema are still living. Mr. Nash owns 40 acres on sec. 11. He is advanced in years, and is known as a man of honest pur- poses, steady, frugal, and a law-abiding citizen.
Dr. Emmet N. Palmer, of Brooklyn, was born June 9, 1840, in Bridgewater tp., Washtenaw county, this State, and is a son of Col. D. W. Palmer, an attorney at law, and a farmer of Bridge- water. He is held in high esteem by his fellow citizens, and has for several years been elected to the Clerkship of his town, and the office of Justice of the Peace. Emmet N. received his early education at home, and finished with an academic course under Prof. Estabrook, of Ypsilanti. He afterward graduated at the medical department of the Michigan University, in class of 1869, and commenced practice in Manchester, Washtenaw Co., the same year, where he continued until 1872. In 1869 he was appointed surgeon of the Michigan Southern Railroad Company, in which capac- ity he served three years, and afterward occupied a similar position with the Detroit, Hillsdale & Southwestern Company. In March, 1872, he engaged in the drug business in Brooklyn, where he continued three years, and then sold out to Woodward & Dresser, and has since devoted his time to the practice of his profession. During his residence in Brooklyn he has held a position on the school Board of Village Trustees, nine in number, and served one year as member of the village Common Council. Aug. 21, 1870, he married Miss Nettie L. Williams, daughter of Frederick Will- iams, a farmer of Washtenaw county, and they have 1 son, now nine years of age.
Mr. Palmer's office is at Dresser's drug store.
Oscar B. Palmer was born in the town of Bridgewater, Oneida Co., N. Y., April 12, 1835. His father, Jonathan R. Palmer, was one of the earliest settlers of Columbia tp., having located on Clark's lake in 1835. He, however, soon removed to sec. 34, where he developed a good farm and raised a family of sons- Alonzo R., Oscar B., Albert P. The family are of New England parentage. Mrs. Jonathan Palmer was Miss Huldah Randall, a daughter of Benjamin Randall, a pioneer of this tp. Oscar Palmer was married Oct. 21. 1866, to Miss Mary M. Wright, daughter of Ira Wright, of Oneida county, N. Y. He was a farmer and a native of England. They have 5 children-Luman F., Alice L., William E., Edward L., Luther E. Mrs. Palmer was born July 6, 1845.
Stephen N. Palmer was born in the town of Lenox, Madison Co., N. Y., Feb. 7, 1816. His father, Joshna G. Palmer, was a farmer, and one of the early settlers of Madison county. He was a native of Connecticut, and when a young man moved to Madison county, and settled at Brookfield. He was a mechanic by trade, but turned his attention to farming. He married Miss Esther Randall, sister of Elder Joseph Randall, a native Baptist divine of that section. Stephen N. came to Jackson county in 1845, and located on sec. 7, this tp., then Napoleon. This property was purchased from second hands by his father, and at that time con-
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sisted of 160 acres, to which Mr. Palmer has, from time to time, added, until now he owns 360 acres, which is mostly under improve- ment, well fenced, and upon which he has erected first-class farm buildings, including a spacious and modern farm dwelling. Mr. Palmer received his schooling at Lenox, and in 1838 married Miss Rebecca A. Farley, daughter of Abiah Farley, a laborer of that section. They have had 5 children-Joshna G., Helen L., wife of George Luce; Maria, wife of Edgar N. Randall, of Bridgewater; Mary, now Mrs. Austin Miller; and Alonzo D., the eldest, who lay down his life for his country in the war of the Rebellion. He enlisted in the 7th Mich. Inf., Co. B, in 1861, and fought in the battles of Fair Oaks and Williamsburg, passed through the cam- paign of Chickahominy and Yorktown, and fell at the battle of Antietam. He, with four others of his comrades, who lost their lives in this, one of the severest battles of the war, were buried on the battle-field, and their remains were brought home by Mr. Stephen N., who, with much difficulty, made the journey to the scene of their death in person. Alonzo Palmer was a brave soldier, and the account of the imposing burial services of these four young martyrs, that appears in the sketch of Columbia tp., was a just tribute to the departed heroes.
Mr. and Mrs. Palmer are members of the First Baptist Church of Napoleon, of long standing.
Warren R. Palmer was born March 4, 1833, at Sodus, Wayne Co., N. Y., and is a son of Reuben Palmer, a shoemaker of Jack- son city. He has also made farming a business, but is now retired. He married Miss Alvina Munson, who died Feb. 5, 1880, at 80 years of age. Mr. Palmer came from New York to Jackson county in 1853, with his family of + children, and settled on a farm in Leoni tp., which he has since sold. Warren R. is a tinner by trade, having learned the business in New York, and first worked in Jackson city, afterward Eaton Rapids, and in Lansing. In 1870 he purchased a farm on sec. 27, Columbia tp., where he now lives. He married, Oct. 24, 1857, Miss Mary Ann, danghter of J. M. Coykendall, a farmer of Leoni. Mr. C. was a native of Genesee county, N. Y., and a son of Joel Coykendall, a brewer, and he brought with him to the West a family of 5 children. Mr. and Mrs. Palmer have 3 daughters-Stella, Della and Blanche.
William S. Palmer, one of the pioneers of Jackson county, came to this State in 1853, from Madison county, N. Y., town of Lenox. He was born in Connecticut, Sept. 28, 1802, and his parents were of New England ancestry. He received at his house an early common-school education, and finished in Madison county, when he came to Michigan and settled on his present farm on sec. 13, of 83 acres, which he purchased of Daniel Welch. Hc married Miss Priscilla Palmer, daughter of Stephen W. Palmer, of Madi- son county, N. Y., Aug. 26, 1824, and they have 1 son, Austin S., who lives on the homestead. He was born June 15, 1832, in Madison county, N. Y. Ile married Miss Carrie, daughter of Peter Betsinger, of Lenox, a farmer of that vicinity. They have
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no children of their own, but an adopted daughter, Ida C. Palmer, formerly Ida C. Betsinger. She was born Sept. 15, 1870. Mr. Palmer is a member of the Presbyterian Church, of Brooklyn, and of Brooklyn Masonic Lodge, No. 169.
Theodore H. Purker, one of the respected citizens of Columbia tp., was born at Schroeppell, Oswego Co., N. Y., March 31, 1833. His father was Hiram Parker, a farmer of Oswego county, whose family consisted of 2 sons, Theodore H. and Edward N., and 1 daughter, Minerva, now Mrs. Wm. Bishop, residents of Ionia. Theodore H. received his early education at Schroeppell, finishing at Fulton Seminary, about 1852, at the age of 19. He then made a trip to the far West, to California and Nevada. The Parker family being of a mechanical turn of mind, Theodore H. took up readily and acquired the use of tools, and made the use of them a considerable source of revenne to himself while on his Western trip, and also devoted a portion of his time to mining. He re- mained in the West three years and then returned to Onondaga county, where he remained until 1869, when he came to Michigan and settled on secs. 19 and 20, 198 acres, mostly improved. This property was taken from the Government by Mr. David Howland, in 1838. Mr. Parker was married to Miss Eliza M., daughter of Asa Barnes, a farmer of New York, but formerly from New Eng- land, Jan 12, 1860, and they have 6 children living, the eldest having died at the age of 14 years, July 5, 1878. The remaining 5 are Hattie J., Mary E., Edward B., William T. and Albert R.
Mrs. O. S. Peterson .- The family of which Mrs. O. S. Peter- son, of Columbia tp., is a member was one of the first to locate on Clark's lake, and justly deserves mention in this book. In 1855, when Jackson county could boast of as much wild timbered lands, and forests filled with Indians and wild beasts as any county in the Territory, Mr. Daniel Peterson, with his family of 6 sons and 5 daughters, pressed his way westward, and in the month of June halted his ox-team on the north bank of the beautiful sheet of water bearing the above name, that of its discoverer. Here he took from the Government 160 acres of that heavily timbered and very fertile soil. Mr. Peterson was a man of much resolution and a brave heart, and knew that with the co-operation of the then quite able-bodied sons he could conquer the kings of this forest and turn his sylvan retreat into rolling wheat-fields, and make for his family a home; and this they immediately set to work to ac- complish. The family, however, remained on this spot but a few years, and moved upon sec. 15, where he erected a small frame dwelling and developed a good property. This home he occupied until his death in 1824, and since has been owned by one of his sons, O. S. Peterson, one of the older sons of the family, and still a resident of this tp. He was born in Washington county, N. Y., and came West with the family in 1835. He received his educa- tion at Fort Edwards, his native home. With industry and careful management he has made for himself and family a comfortable
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home, which consists of 100 acres on sec. 10. Ang. 22, 1853, he married Miss Susan Jane Conover, daughter of William Conover, a farmer by trade, and a resident of Maryall, Bradford Co., Penn.
Orremus Phelps was born Sept. 10, 1810, in the town of Shore- ham, Vt. His father, Joseph Phelps, was a farmer of that place, from whence he moved in 1815 to Steuben county, and pursued farming there until his death in 1868, at the age of 83. His mother's name was Annie Bissell; she also died in Steuben county one year before her husband, in 1867. Orremus remained on the farm until 1844, when he removed to Jackson county and settled in the town of Lib- erty, where they remained nine years. In 1853 they removed to Columbia tp., and settled on the farm they still occupy, on sec. 32, where they own 115 acres. Nov. 26, 1833, he married Miss Clara G. Pond, daughter of Josiah Pond. He was a shoemaker by trade, but devoted most of his life to agricultural pursuits. He was born in Shoreham, Vt., in 1791. He was a public-spirited man and a loyal citizen. In 1820 he left Vermont and settled in Steuben county, N. Y., where he lived 12 years, and then came to Michigan and located in Liberty tp., where he died in 1865, at the age of 74.
Mrs. Phelps' mother's name was Nabbie Gates, and her Grand- father Gates' name was Gabriel, who was a soldier of the Revolu- tion and a pensioner. They are of New England descent and of Puritan stock. Mrs. Phelps has 6 children, 5 sons-Myron W., Melvin, Edgar L., Jimri and Freeman A., and 1 daughter, Olive Ann. They have grandchildren, as follows-Jerome, Owen, Martin O., Lillian, Daniel and Eva, children of Edgar Phelps; Ambrose, Harry E. and Fredric, children of Jimri; Burtie and Percy F., sons of Freeman.
Truman Pickett, of Jefferson village, is another one of the pres - ent residents who can relate from experience many of the trials and hardships of an early-day pioneer life. He was born May 20, 1824, at the town of Orangeville, Wyoming Co., N. Y., and is a son of Amos Pickett, deceased Nov. 23, 1838. He came to Michigan and settled in the town of Leoni, this county, on sec. 17, in 1836. His family consisted of 9 children-Julia, Celestia, Amos, Sidney, Lewis, Mary, Emily, Hannah, and Truman, the youngest, who was but 14 years of age when his father died. He received most of his educa- tion in Michigan, and in early manhood learned the carpenter and joiner's trade, which has been the chief occupation of his life. His mother was Hannah, daughter of Acil Gridley, a millwright by trade and a resident of Connecticut. She was born Oct. 18, 1782. May 6, 1846, Truman married Miss Eliza Kelsey, daughter of J. Kelsey, then a farmer of Chautauqua county, N. Y. He afterward came to Michigan and settled in Napoleon, this county, in 18- but afterward moved to Illinois, where he died in 1860, at Hoyleton. Mrs. Pickett's mother was Susan Bruce, daughter of Acil Bruce, Winfield, Herkimer Co., N. Y., where Susan was born Feb. 22, 1808, and is still living, in Ingham county., this State. Mr. and Mrs. Pickett have 4 children-Anna, Mary, Amos and James.
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