History of Macomb County, Michigan, Part 79

Author: Leeson, Michael A., [from old catalog] comp
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago, M. A. Leeson & co.
Number of Pages: 952

USA > Michigan > Macomb County > History of Macomb County, Michigan > Part 79

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

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HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.

cessor, the Michigan Homeopathie Medical Society; in recognition of his experi- ence, reputation and as a contributor to dental science, the Ohio College of Den - tal Surgery conferred upon him, in March, 1871, the degree of D. D. S. He con- nected himself with the Baptist Church at Troy, Oakland County, in 1843, and at sixteen was appointed one of the church committees; in 1853, he transferred his mem- bership to the Baptist Church in Romeo; in 1872, his connection with that denomination was severed, in consequence of a change of his views, and he has sinee united with the Congregational Church; he was Deacon of the Baptist Church seven years, and for five years was a leading member, paying from one-tenth to one-eighth of the current expenses of the society; he was Superintendent of the Mission Sabbath School, near Romeo, seven summers, and has always been a generous contributor to Christian societies of various de- nominations, adding materially to the advancement of the same in his locality; he is known for his professional benevolence, moderating his charges to the circumstances of his patients, and rendering gratuitous services when the case requires; he is temperate in habits and a Republican in politics. He was married, October 2, 1852, to Elizabeth Clarke, a native of England, who emigrated with her parents from Bedford in 1834: they were on the ocean twenty-one weeks and were wrecked off New York harbor, eseaping only with their lives; Dr. and Mrs. D. have had three daughters and one son; two daugli- ters and the son are now living.

EBER J. DUDLEY, third son of Orsel Dudley, was born June 14, 1836, in Wash . ington, Macomb County; he received a common-school education and lived on a farm until he was twenty-one years old; after that age, he came to Romeo and attended school and afterward taught about six years; in 1861, he engaged in mercantile business, in Brook- lyn, Ray Township, and, three years after, came to Romeo, entering the employ of John WV. Dyar as clerk: after a year and a half, he formed a partnership with Joseph Newman, which relation existed nine years; in 1876, he began business where he is at present es- tablished; he has a very fine assortment of goods, selected in the best of taste as to quality and variety to suit his large trade; he deals exclusively in ladies' goods; he and Mrs. Dudley give their attention exclusively to their business, and both are highly esteemed by their customers. Mr. Dudley was married, November 27, 1863, to Elizabeth Warren, born in New York; they have one son-Frank W., seven years old. Mrs. Dudley's father was a Methodist minister of her native State. Politically, Mr. Dudley is a Republican, though not very active or aggressive; he served as School Inspector of Ray, and three years as Township Clerk of Washington.

ORSEL DUDLEY (deceased) was born in East Bloomfield, N. Y., March 24, 1800; came to Macomb County in May. 1830, and settled in Washington; he was married, May 30, 1822, in New York, to Lucinda Jones, a native of Pompey, Onondaga Co., N Y .: she now lives with her son, aged eighty. Mr. Dudley had small opportunities for education, but he had a passion for books, and acquired a liberal education through reading; he lo- cated 16S aeres of Government land, which he sold afterward and bought eighty: there were five children, four of whom are now living; their record is as follows: Jerome, de- ceased; Olive, living in Washington; Eber (see sketeh); Leonard, residing in Mason, Ing- ham County; Velora, wife of James Gass, of Ray. Mr. Dudley was a man of equable temperament, which made his judgment valuable to his friends: a strong advocate of temperanee, interested actively in politics, leaving the Democratic for the Republican party when slavery became an issue; he died suddenly of apoplexy, January IS, ISSO.

EDWARD R. EATON was born December 1, 1828, in Union, Tolland Co., Conn .; he is the son of William and Fannie Sessions Eaton; his father was born September 16. 1793; his mother August 14, 1795; the former came to Michigan in February, 1836, and bought eighty acres of land in Washington preparatory to establishing a home for his family,

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consisting of his wife, five daughters and two sons, who followed, July 8, 1836; the par- ents lived on the farm until their deaths, the father dying in 1861 and the mother in 1875. Mr. Eaton remained with his father until he was twenty years old, when he en- gaged as a farm hand until April 3, 1856, when he was married to Harriet Nichols, of Macomb, Macomb County; he bought a farm of eighty acres in Macomb, where he lived seven years and cleared nearly the whole of it, when, in 1863, he sold out and bought a farm of 140 acres in Washington, which he has increased by purchase to 215 acres; in the fall of 1881, he removed to Romeo. Mr. and Mrs. Eaton have had four children-a daughter, Fidelia, died in February, 1864, nearly two years old: Van W., is married and managing his father's farm: Fannie is married, and William lives at home. Until 1861, Mr. Eaton was a Democrat, and has since voted the Republican ticket: he was Constable and Justice of the Peace in Macomb County.

SAMUEL HOLBROOK EWELL was born January 3, 1819, at Middlebury, Wyo- ming Co., N. Y. ; his parents, Samuel and Nancy (Hoyt) Ewell, were both natives of Mas- sachusetts, the former born at Norwich, Hampshire County, March 22, 1779, Scotch par- entage, the latter at New Braintree, Worcester County, of Welsh extraction; in 1802. Samuel Ewell and his brother Henry moved to the " Holland Purchase," now the town- ship of Middlebury, Wyoming County, and were the first two of the settlers in the dis- trict who paid for their pre-emption of 160 acres from the products of the land. Mr. E. was married, in 1806, in Chesterfield. Mass., to Nancy Hoyt, and moved to Middlebury the same year; he came to Michigan in 1836, and died at Romeo June 16, 1842, and his wife died September 4, 1873, in the ninety-third year of her age: both were baptized and united with the West. Baptist Church, in Middlebury, July, ISIS, a membership which lasted all their lives; they were the parents of nine children, whose record is as follows: Apphia died at Alexandria, N. Y., aged seventy-one; Laura died at Adrian, Mich., Febr.1- ary 9, 1SS1, aged seventy-two; Sophronia, Widow Mix, lives at Aurora, Ill .; Samuel H. has lived at Romeo since May 28, 1836; Aaron Hall resides in Dakota; Jane Hoyt is the wife of Dr. J. Avery, of Greenville, Mich .; Nancy, Alvina and Sophia reside at Romeo; Loranie died at three months old. Mr. E. of this sketch came to Michigan with his par- ents at the age of seventeen; he attended the high school three winters, and afterward worked at the cabinet-maker's trade three years, with the Messrs. Palmer; in 1843, he commenced working on his father's farm, near the village, where he remained until IS57; he spent three and one-half years in a grist-mill, and, in 1860, went to Pike's Peak; re- turned and purchased the Romeo Argus; a year after, it was burned, with no insurance; he went to work in a wagon-shop, where he remained three years, and, in 1869, in com- pany with Irvin D. Hanscom, purchased the Romeo Obserrer, and they continued its publication until 1874; in 1877, he built a grist-mill on the corner of St. Clair and Bailey streets, where he has since operated; he was married, in December. 1543, to Lucinda Wilcox, who died in July, 1845; in September, 1857, he was married to Cordelia, daugh- ter of John Smith, of Almont; they have one daughter-Leona, born April 1, 1860; she is a young lady of scholarly attainments and graduated with honor at the normal school in June, ISS1; a son, Samuel Leon, born November 1, 1870, is pursuing his studies at Ro-

meo. Mr. E. was in old times a Whig and became an active and aggressive Republican; in 1863, he was enrolling officer for the township of Bruce, and has been a member of the Board of Village Trustees several terms; until the age of thirty-five, he was liberal in his religious views, and at that time became a Spiritualist; in temperament, he is social and genial and inspires those whom he meets with a feeling of ease and confidence: he owns village property and a small farm within the corporation fine, which he manages himself; in temperance, he is a radical, using neither whisky, tobacco, tea, coffee or other stimulants. SEAMON FILLMORE (deceased) was born February 11, 1799, in Genesee County,

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HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.

N. Y. ; was the son of John and Ada (Simmons) Fillmore, the former of Irish descent, the latter of Scotch lineage; he came to Michigan in September, 1832. and located in Ray. Macomb County, taking up two eighty-acre tracts of Government land on the line between Ray and Armada; it was all dense forest and Mr. Fillmore entered resolutely at once upon the self-imposed duties of the pioneer, clearing away the timber, improving the land and making every preparation for the support and comfort of his family: this, at that time, included his wife and three children, which number increased to nine; all sur. vive but two. Mr. Fillmore was married, to Philinda Ashley, in New York, February 16, 1823; she was born September 10, 1806, and is still living at Romeo, corner of Bailey and Washington streets. Mr. Fillmore was a Whig, but took only a moderate interest in politics; he died October 2, 1843, aged forty-five years.

CHARLES FILLMORE was born September 14, 1830, in Genesee County, N. Y .; is the son of Seamon and Philinda (Ashley) Fillmore; when he was two years old, his parents settled in Ray, Macomb County, where he remained on the homestead farm until twenty-one years of age, when he set out for his single-handed struggle with the world. In 1856, he took charge of the Selleck Hotel, at Armada Corners, then a popular and prominent resort on account of location; he managed the house two years, and, during the time, November 9, 1857, was married to Hannah Lyons, a native of Canada; he en- listed in the civil war. in 1861, in Company A. Ninth Michigan Infantry, as a musician. The regiment was ordered to West Point, Ky., where it was stationed during the winter; in the spring of 1862, it was transferred to Murfreesboro, Tenn. ; he was there appointed Drum Major of the band and field music; July 12, 1862, he was captured at Murfrees- boro, and was soon after paroled, and was discharged about the 1st of August after for sickness and disability; he returned to Romeo and engaged with George Washer in the manufacture of boots and shoes, where he remained nearly nine years. Politically, Mr. Fillmore is a Democrat; he was appointed Deputy Sheriff of Macomb County in 1873, and held the position six years; in March, 1876, he was elected Marshal of Romeo, and continues to discharge the duties of the office, in connection with which he is acting as Constable. a position he has filled at different times since attaining his majority. Mr. and Mrs. Fillmore have had four children, three of whom-all sons-they have lost; a daughter, Julia, still survives.

STEPHEN H. FITCH was born July 17, 1807, at Kinderhook, Columbia Co., N. Y .; his parents, Abel and Patty (Barnard) Fitch, were both natives of Connecticut, of English descent; at sixteen, he went to Victor, Ontario Co., N. Y., and, at the age of twenty-one, went to Cattaraugus County, where he remained three years; he came to Michigan in 1831, and settled in that part of Washington which is now included in Bruce; previous to coming, he bought eighty acres of land, but, on seeing it, was disappointed, sold it and bought another farm of eighty acres, three miles north of Romeo, adding forty acres by purchase afterward; in April, 1864, he bought his present property at Romeo. including six and one-fourth acres, and moved into the village; in 1868, he located a farm in Jack- son County, Ala., where he built a house and moved his family; he spent about five years there preparing a home for his family, who were with him two years; in 1873. they re- turned to Romeo. He was married, in July, 1831, to Louisa Collins, of Erie County, N. Y. ; she died in 1844, leaving three of four children living-Martha, Henry C. and Ste- phen. Mr. Fitch was married again. in 1847. to Jnlia Chamberlain, a native of Dela- ware County, N. Y. ; they had one son George B. Mr. Fitch cast his first Presidential vote for Andrew Jackson, and has always belonged to the same party; he was Assessor in Bruce in 1836, and elected Justice of the Peace afterward.

WILLIAM W. GIBBS was born December 21, 1824, in Livonia. Livingston Co., N. Y. : his parents, David and Ruth (Woodruff ) Gibbs, were both of English descent; his

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father was born in Massachusetts, his mother in Connecticut, where they were married; they moved to Chenango County. N. Y., and afterward to Livingston County; they had twelve children, one of whom died at the age of two years: the rest lived to mature years; the father was a carpenter and died, in 1835. from lockjaw, caused by a pistol-shot in the foot: the mother died in 1841. Mr. Gibbs remained at home until his mother's death when he was sixteen years old: he worked about eight years at gunsmithing, and then began studying as a portrait painter and came to Michigan, in 1849, locating at Kalama- zoo, where he remained until June 6. 1852, at which date he came to Armada: January 1. 1853. he came to Romeo and has followed his profession since, acquiring considerable celebrity both as a portrait and landscape painter. Mr. Gibbs' sketches and studies in color exhibit him as an artist of legitimate genius and taste, and one who fully merits all the success and fame he has won. He was married. in September. 1867, to Jane, dangh- ter of Oliver A. and Eliza Jane Lewis. of Dryden, Lapeer Co., Mich .; she was born in that town: they have one son -Willie-aged ten years; they lost a danghter-Alice- when twenty months old. Mr. G. has been a Republican since the formation of the party ; he has been a resident of the county for many years and an interested witness of its growth and development. Some of the original paintings of Mr. G. that may be referred to are the portraits of Henry Stephens and Miss Jennie Mellens, of Romeo; J. Henry Whitte- more, wife and child, and Miss Jessie Fox, of Detroit; family group of John Mellens: ideal sunset in the mountains, owned by Mr. Stephens, Jr., Romeo; hunters' camp in the pine plains in Crawford County, Mich., and moonlight on the ocean, owned by George H. Waterbury.

EDWIN W. GIDDINGS was born June 11, 1815, at Preston, New London Co., Conn. : is the son of Jabez W. and Lydia (Alden) Giddings; his parents were of English descent; his mother was born in Stafford, Tolland Co., Conn .; they removed, in 1830. to Hartford, Conn., where Mr. Giddings passed the succeeding four years on a farm, with limited advantages for obtaining an education. He was married, October 13, 1840, to Martha S. Makepeace. of Brookfield, Mass., who died June 16, 1841. Mr. Giddings was married, November 28, 1843, to Mercy A. Leach, of Honeove Falls, N. Y .; they had two sons and four daughters. Mrs. Giddings died, November 22, 1866. In November, 1838, Mr. Giddings came to Michigan, with Nathan Dickinson, a merchant of Romeo, and an extensive owner of pine lands; they formed a partnership January 1. 1839, under the style of M. Dickinson & Co., a relation which existed until the death of Mr. Dickinson, in 1859: after that event, Mr. Giddings continued in the mercantile business with his sons and others until 1874; on the organization of the First National Bank, he was elected Vice President, and, on the death of Neal Gray, in 1868, was elected President; in 1870, he organized a banking house under the name of Giddings & Moore, resigning his po- sition in the First National Bank; in 1874, Giddings & Moore re-organized as the Citi- zens' National Bank, with Mr. Giddings as President, a position he still retains; Angust 30, 1873, he was appointed a member of the Constitutional Commission under the joint resolution of the Legislature, approved April 24, 1873. Mr. Giddings became a member of the Congregational Church in Hartford, Conn., and, in 1839, connected himself with that society in Romeo.

M. A. GIDDINGS was born at Preston. Conn., May 24. 1824; he is the son of Jabez W. and Lydia (Alden) Giddings, natives of Connecticut. In 1830 his father removed his family to Hartford Conn., where he remained until 1846, when Mr. G. settled at Romeo and opened mercantile transactions on a limited scale. Persistent at- tention to business and careful management have extended his relations and rendered them successful. He commenced operations in an old building previously occupied by J. S. Jenness, and was associated for several years with H. O. Smith; afterward

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the firm style became M. A. Giddings & Co .; in 1856, their new frame building, together with a considerable portion of the business houses of Romeo, was destroyed by fire. when the brick block now occupied by the company was erected. M. A. Giddings & Co. became Giddings, Mussey & Co., and afterward, succeeded by M. A. & A. Giddings; this connec- tion continued for seven years, and, in 1569, the present house of Giddings, Rowley & Co. was established; it is one of the strongest business firms in the place: on the organiza- tion of the First National Bank, in the fall of 1863. Mr G. was one of the original incor- porators and is one of the Directors; he was elected President in 1871, which position he still fills; he also owns stock in the Union Iron Company, of Detroit; he was a stanch Whig and became a Republican in later days, and has since been deeply interested in all the issues of politics; in 1866, he was elected President of Romeo, and afterward served for one term as Trustee; he has been a member of the School Board for six years; acted as its chief officer two years; he united with the Congregational Church soon after mov- ing here, and has been Sunday School Superintendent for thirteen years; he was married. in 1855, to Caroline, daughter of Jacob Beekman, a pioneer of the county; they have one son and two daughters.

DR. WILLIAM GREENSHILDS, of Romeo, was born in the parish of Carmi- chael. Lanarkshire, Scotland, April 1, 1836; he received a thorough preparatory education in the schools of Lesmahagow and entered the University of Glasgow in 1852, and re- mained there as a student until 1859, then took his diploma from the faculty of physicians and surgeons of Glasgow, after a rigid examination, in April, 1859; immediately there- after, commenced the practice of medicine in the town of Douglas, in the parish of his birth; receiving the appointment of surgeon to Riggside & Gillespin Coal Works, which position he filled for five years, besides having a large private practice; in the month of March, 1864, he emigrated to America, settling in the village of Romeo, and established himself in the practice of his profession, in which he has since continued to the present time; for four years, he was the Secretary and Treasurer of the N. E. District Medical and Scientific Association; he is a member of the American Medical Association and health officer of Bruce Township for many years; he is a member of the A., F. & A. M. and Royal Arch and Knight Templar; he is examining surgeon for several insurance com- panies and enjoys an extensive general practice; he is a careful physician and a surgeon of more than ordinary skill. He was married, February 21, 1866, to Mary, oldest daugh- ter of Robert McKay, of Bruce Township; she was born in Bruce February 1, 1845; their children are: John, born December 3, 1866; Jennie G., born May 3, 1870; Robert McK., April 28, 1873. Dr. G.'s father was born in Scotland, in June, 1798, emigrated to America in 1866, located on the Carpenter farm, in Orion Township, Oakland County, where he still resides; he has a family of five children, of whom the Doctor is the fourth.

IRVING DUANE HANSCOM was born in Shelby, Macomb Co., Mich., June 30, 1840; he is the son of George and Sarah ( Van Brundt) Hanscom; his father was born in Gorham, Me., in 1796; his mother was a native of the Empire State, of Dutch extraction, her parents being natives of Amsterdam, Holland. Mr. H.'s parents came to Macomb County in 1820, and took up 160 acres of land in Shelby, on Sections 3 and 4, which was the homestead until their father's death, in June, 1855; the mother survived more than twenty years and died at the age of eighty-four; they had five sons and two daughters. Alfred H. Hanscom, the eldest son, was a lawyer and politician of considerable promi- nence. In 1842, he was a member of the Michigan Legislature, and, in January of that year, was elected Speaker of the House; he was then twenty-two years old; in 1850. he was a member of the Constitutional Convention, and, at the time of his death, in 1859, he was United States District Attorney for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Andrew J. Hanscom is also a lawyer, and resides at Omaha, Neb. ; he was Speaker of the first

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House of Representatives in the Territory of Nebraska. Mr. Hanscom of this sketch was the youngest; he was sent to Detroit to school at eight years of age, where he remained for three years; he subsequently attended the high school at Disco, Prof. A. M. Keeler; the Dickinson Institute, at Romeo, Prof. Isaac Stone, and Dr. Selden's high school at De- troit; at the age of seventeen, he entered Antioch College, Ohio; the next year, he went to Omaha and began to read law in the office of Poppleton & Lake, then the leading at- torneys of that city. He remained one year, and, becoming infected with the excitement growing out of the discovery of gold at Pike's Peak, and, yielding to a desire to visit the gold fields, he left Omaha for a short rest and vacation and to see the newly famous re- gion, but he did not readily detach himself from the influences of the limitless prairies, .the exhilarating atmosphere, the wild adventures and the spirit of unrest fostered by his surroundings there, and he forgot Blackstone; when the mines proved a myth, he resolved to solve the secrets of the sunset side of the continent, and, instead of retracing his steps with the myriads who had failed to find their El Dorado at Pike's Peak, he set out on foot for the Pacific coast and walked 2,000 miles. On the 24th of August, 1859, he reached Sacramento in a terribly demoralized state, physically considered-barefoot, clothes in tatters and nearly starved; he improved his condition by working in the mines and after- ward visited places of interest in California, and proceeded to Mexico, Central America and Cuba and thence home; soon after, he entered a law office in Detroit. August 9, 1862, previous to a contemplated examination for admission to the bar, he enlisted in Company B. Twenty-second Michigan Volunteer Infantry; in six months, he was made Orderly Sergeant by a vote of the company and was subsequently promoted to Second and First Lieutenant, and, during the last year of service, was in command of Company G; he was honorably dis- charged with his regiment, in July, 1865. He then entered the law office of Hon. Elisha F. Mead, and was admitted to practice in April. 1866, by examination before Judge San- ford M. Green, and at once opened an office at Romeo; he was elected to the office of Cir- cuit Court Commissioner two successive terms, was nominated by the Republicans as Prosecuting Attorney, in the campaign of 1876, but was defeated, the county being strongly Democratic; he was again nominated, in 1880, for the same office, and, notwith- standing the strength of the ruling party, he was elected by a majority of thirteen votes over his former competitor. He was appointed by Gov. Bagley a Trustee for the State Insti - tute for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind, at Flint, and was elected Secretary of the Board, which position he resigned four years later because of the press of his own business; he is Acting President of Romeo, to which he has been elected eight times in succession; he is also Director of the Union School, and has been for a long time Trustee of the Congre- gational Church; at the burning of Gray's opera house block, in 1876, he lost a fine li- brary, which constituted the bulk of his possessions, together with all his papers, office files and accumulations of years. He was married, January 17, 1867, to Julia Alice Ab- bott; they have one child-Bessie A., fourteen years of age and of unusually brilliant promise. Mr. Hanscom's character may be inferred from his record : genial, indomitable, persistent, generous, he holds his friendships, compels respect and wins the confidence of all. Irving D. Hanscom was the recipient of the following complimentary letter from the Macomb County bar, June, 1882, previous to his departure for his new home: "Dear Sir -You have been on trial at the bar of this county for some sixteen years; you cannot be permitted to escape to new fields of practice without having passed upon you our delib- erate judgment of you. A brother lawyer of this county, you have been well and fairly tried, and we shall as fairly pronounce sentence. It is, by us, after due deliberation, con- sidered, inasmuch as we have ever found you in all our association and intercourse, at the bar and elsewhere, an honorable, able and courteous gentleman and attorney, that you should bear with you in the future, not only this our earnest indorsement of you as an able

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History of Macomb County, Michigan, Part 79

Author: Leeson, Michael A., [from old catalog] comp Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Chicago, M. A. Leeson & co. Number of Pages: 952

Author: Leeson, Michael A., [from old catalog] comp
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago, M. A. Leeson & co.
Number of Pages: 952