History of Macomb County, Michigan, Part 82

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 82

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.

one of the projectors, stockholders and Directors of the plank road from Romeo to Detroit via Mt. Clemens, which was an opening for this entire section of country. He was mar- ried, N ,vember 13, 1838, to Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob Beekman, a pioneer of Macomb County. They had six children, five of whom are living . - Henry and Jacob B., twins, Aaron B., James D. and Caroline. Jacob is a Major in the United States Army: Aaron resides at Cadillac, Mich .; James D. lives at Boston, Mass .; Caroline resides with her mother at the family residence on St. Clair street, built in 1872, and not completed at the time of the death of Mr. Rawles, April 4, 1872. He was early in life an attendant upon the Episcopal Church, but eventually connected himself with the Congregational Church at Romeo. Mrs. Rawles is in her sixtieth year.

HENRY RAWLES, son of Aaron B. and Elizabeth (Beekman) Rawles, was born at Romeo August 4, 1839, in the old frame building on Main street, where his father kept store and resided. He was brought up and educated at Romeo, and in 1857 went into business with his father, continuing with and succeeding to him on his death, April 4, 1872. He is engaged in the hardware business, and carries a complete stock of stoves, tinware and hardware, representing a cash value of $10,000. He also does a large amount of business in agricultural implements. Mr. Rawles is a Republican, and cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1860. In 1876, he was a member of the Village Board of Trustees, and has served one term as Marshal. He was married, June 16, 1879, to Miss M. M. Seymour. of Marquette, Mich. They have one son, upward of two years old.

D. H. ROWLEY was born in Livingston County, N. Y .. April 18. 1831. He is the son of Hezekiah and Clarissa Anthony Rowley, the latter a native of Connecticut, the for- mer of New York. Mr. Rowley was educated at New Haven, Conn., and in Oakland County, Mich., whither his father removed in 1835. In 1839, on the death of his mother, he was sent to Connecticut, remaining with his relatives there for two years. In 1845, he entered the dry goods establishment of his father at Orion, Oakland County, where he acquired experience preparatory to his present business enterprise. In 1853, he settled at Romeo and entered the employ of M. A. Giddings as a clerk, where he remained for ten years. In 1863, he went to Pennsylvania and engaged in oil interests, which he operated successfully, returning to Romeo in 1869, and formed a copartnership with Mr. Giddings, which still continues. Mr. Rowley is a Republican; has acted for two years as President of the village, and two years as Trustee of Romeo. He was tendered the position of Cashier of the First National Bank at its organization, but, being in oil transactions in Pennsylvania, declined. He was married, in Oakland County, in 1852, to Eliza A., daugh- ter of Needham Hemingway, a prominent citizen and early settler in that county. They have three children-E. P. Rowley, eldest son, is a lawyer in Detroit; Bruee M. is Gov- ernment Clerk in the office of the Surveyor General at Yankton, D. T .: Helen, the only daughter, resides at home.

HENRY O. SMITH was born January 1, 1817, at Hatfield, Hampshire Co., Mass. He is the son of Obadiah and Susan Norton Smith, the former a native of Hadley, Mass., and the latter of Ashfield, same State. Mr. Smith lived at Hatfield until the age of four- teen, where and at Amherst he acquired his education. He was in the mercantile house of Sweetser & Cutter, of the latter place, nine years previous to his settling in Romeo in 1840. Here he remained twelve years, serving some time as clerk with N. Dickinson & Co., and afterward was associated in business with M. A. Giddings for several years. In 1852, he commenced mereantile operations at Armada, under the style of Lathrop & Smith, which continued four or five years, when he formed a business connection with Dr. John S. Smith. In the fall of 1858, he was elected County Clerk, and went to Mt. Clemens, and continued to discharge the duties of his office six years, being twice re-elected. In the autumn of 1864, he was elected Judge of Probate, and, after a service of three months,

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HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.

resigned. and was recalled to Romeo to fill the position of Cashier of the First National Bank, which he still holds. In the days when the Whig party existed, Mr. Smith sup- ported its measures, but, on the organization of the Republican party, he identified him- self with it. and has ever since advocated and sustained its principles. He was married, in December, 1843, at Armada, to Jane M. M., daughter of Edward Lathrop, of Armada. They have four daughters and three sons. Mr. Smith is attending carefully to the educa- tion of his children, and securing for them the best advantages. His entire family be- long to the Congregational Church. He has owned a fine residence on West St. Clair street since 1865.

EDWARD S. SNOVER. son of Frederick and Charlotte (Squier) Snover, was born in Warren County, N. J., April 5, 1813. His paternal ancestry was of German origin, and on the mother's side. English. His life, previous to his coming to Michigan, was passed in his native county, with the exception of one year. There he received his education in the common schools. He came to Michigan in 1837. reaching Detroit May 20, and locat- ed in Oakland County, where he remained one year. In May. 1838, he started for a trip westward to the Mississippi River, and, returning in August, settled at Romeo. He had learned the trade of a blacksmith, and opened a shop in the village, where he carried on business for twenty years in that line, and added other interests as his means increased. To his shop he added a turning-lathe, and afterward a furnace and wagon-shop, and en- gaged extensively as a manufacturer. He also operated as a money-loaner, buying mort- gages and speculating in various ways. Mr. Snover was a Whig, and transferred his po- litical views and influence to the Republican party, in whose issues and measures he has since been zealously interested. He has served several terms as President and Trustee of the village: in 1860, was elected Justice of the Peace, which office he held twelve years. He was one of the original incorporators of the First National Bank of Romeo, and was actively concerned in its organization, and connected with it for six years, when he dis- posed of his interest therein. During his period of office as magistrate, he served two years as executor on the Dickinson estate, and afterward acted five years as agent in its management. His resources comprise bonds and mortgages, and upward of one thousand acres of land. His outfit was $300, the savings of his own industry after he was twenty- one years old. He was married. June 10, 1841, in Warren County, N. J., to Ann Cook, also a native of that county. They have had eight children. Alice (Mrs. George Parme- lee) died October 19. 1877, leaving two children. Following are the names of those liv- ing: Charlotte. wife of F. A. Scott, resides in Washington; Josephine, widow of J. H. Reed; Cassius, married Ella Hulshart, resides at Yankton, D. T .; Horace G., married Nellie Williams, resides at Port Austin. Mich .; Harriet S., Mrs. Harkman Cornell, of Bruce; Edward J., Detroit; Emma C., resides with her parents.

EDWARD SOULE was born at Middlebury. Genesee Co., N. Y., May 15, 1817. He is the son of John and Sally Ward Soule, both natives of Massachusetts. His father was of French descent, and came to Michigan in June, 1825, and located 160 acres of Gov- ernment land in Washington Township, which was patented by Andrew Jackson. The family, including seven children, followed in September. They took the steamer Supe- rior from Buffalo to Detroit, and made their route thence overland. The same year, the father purchased eighty acres more. and increased his landed estate to 1,500 acres, situat- ed in different parts of the State. He died in September, 1871, at the age of eighty-four; his wife, in March, 1865, at the age of seventy-five years. Mr. Soule was a man of fine physical proportions, stood six feet in his stockings, and weighed 200 pounds. He pos- sessed powers of keen discriminating observation, which supplied him with a valuable knowledge of the world. He read extensively, and acquired the best mental discipline from well-selected books. He took the greatest interest in politics and their bearing on

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the well-being of the country; voted the Democratic ticket until the Free-Soil issues arose, when he became a Republican. The progress of his own county was foremost in his in- terest, and he held open doors for all strangers seeking homes. Mr. Soule, of this sketch, was reared on the farm in Washington until twenty years old, when he located in Addison, Oakland County, where he spent one year, and returned to the home farm, remaining for two years. He was married to Mary A. Skidmore, born in Wayne County, N. Y., Decem- ber 30. 1840. She came to Macomb County in 1846 with her parents. John and Sally Bishop Skidmore, who settled in Washington Township. Mr. and Mrs. Soule took up their abode on the farm in Oakland County, where they lived for nine years. In 1849. they changed their residence to Washington, settling on a portion of the homestead farm. In 1870, they came to Romeo, where they purchased village property. They have had four children, but one of whom survives. John C. Soule is a graduate from Meadville. Penn., and an ordained minister of Washington, Macomb County. He resides on the farm in Washington. Another son, James E. Soule, also graduated, an ordained minis- ter, died in March. 1874, aged twenty-nine years. Two children died in infancy. Mr. Soule is the sole remaining member of his father's family in Macomb County. He has been a member of the Christian Church for forty-four years, and has held office in the church nearly all this time. and his sons were ordained in its service. Mrs. Soule is a member of the same society. In politics, Mr. Soule was first a Democrat, and became a radical Republican. He has been Constable of Washington for twelve years. and Justice of the Peace for eight years. having been twice elected to the office.

JOHN L. STARKWEATHER, attorney, was born October 4, 1844, in Bruce, Ma- comb County: was the eighth child of James and Roxana Leslie Starkweather. (See sketch.) Until he reached manhood, he worked on his father's farm summers and attend- ed school in the winter at Romeo, until 1863. He commenced teaching in the winter of that year. He taught two consecutive winters, and took a course of study at Eastman's Commercial College, at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and graduated December 23, 1865. He was elected President of his class. He took just pride in working and earning his way through the commercial and afterward the law college, wholly through his own exertions. In 1866. 1867 and 1868, he was engaged in mercantile business in Romeo part of the time, as part- ner. devoting every spare moment to reading law. He has been all his life prominently identified with all temperance movements and societies. In 1863, he joined the Independ- ent Order of Good Templars, and held all positions of trust successively; was District Deputy Grand Worthy Chief Templar of Macomb County, and several times represented the county organization in the Grand Lodge. He joined the Sons of Temperance in 1574. and has represented his local division in the Grand Division of the State every year since. In 1879. he was a representative at the National Division of the Sons of Temperance, held at Washington, D. C., a position to which he has been elected annually since. He was elected G. W. A. of the State organization of Sons of Temperance in 1878, and became Acting G. W. P. in 1879. He was elected G. S. of the Grand Division in ISS1, but re- signed through pressing professional business. Mr. Starkweather became a member of the Phi Delta Phi of the University of Michigan in 1870; of the order of Free and Accepted Masons in 1867; the Knights Templar in IS68; the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in 1877; and belongs to the Knights of Honor and Royal Arcanum: has served several times as representative of the two last-named orders in the Grand Lodges of Michigan. In 1876. he joined the Methodist Episcopal Church of Romeo, and has been one of the officers of the society ever since. He has been a Trustee of Romeo, and twice elected to the Board of Education. to which body he now belongs. In 1868, he entered the Law Department of the University of Michigan, where he was established some weeks before his determi- nation was known by his parents or friends. He graduated in the class of 1870, and

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HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.

opened an office in the same year at Romeo, where he has since prosecuted a successful and increasing business. He was examined in open court, in Washtenaw County, Mich .. and admitted to the bar March 27, 1869. . He spent the following summer in the Law Library of Congress at Washington, D. C., where he wrote his thesis and prepared a brief in the railroad case brought against the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company by his mother's heirs for indemnity for the accident by which she was killed. (See sketch of James Starkweather.) He was admitted to practice in the United States Court at Wash- ington, D. C., November 11. 1869. He married Laura E. Spencer, of Armada, June 14, 1871. They have had two sons and two daughters. The eldest child died at the age of two years. Mr. Starkweather is one of the most valuable citizens of Romo. He is public- spirited, generous, sympathizes with movements for the advancement of the general wel- fare, and is a zealous promoter of the moral and religious interests of the community, and a man whose worth and integrity exert a strong influence upon the best interests of society. In politics, he is a zealous and earnest Republican.

JAMES STARKWEATHER, deceased, was born in Preston, New London Co., Conn., October 25, 1801. His paternal ancestry was of Scotch and English lineage, and his father was a soldier of the Revolution. The circumstances of the family were such as to compel the younger members to make early acquaintance with the struggle necessary to accomplish any career of merit in the world-a condition, be it remarked, that has wrought noble results in Macomb as well as other counties in Michigan. At the age of seventeen, Mr. Starkweather turned his face westward, with his small possessions in a small bundle at his back. He sought and found employment, and in 1824 found himself able to visit two brothers in Pennsylvania. He went thence to visit a sister in Western New York, and started for Detroit, where he arrived October 9. He prospected through Oakland and Macomb Counties, and fixed upon Hoxies, now Romeo, as his ultimatum, and, in Jan- mary, 1825, located 160 acres of land near the village. Io the following June, he was taken with fever and ague, and, becoming disheartened, he abandoned his land prepara- lory to returning East. He was fairly started, but met a man who gave him $250 for his claim. With renewed courage, he set out on another prospecting expedition. He wan- dered in the forest some days, and, July 4, 1825, came to Trombley's Mountain, where he spent the night. From that point he took a view of the surrounding country, and once more located 160 acres near the village, where he spent all his life, with the excep- tion of six months before his death. when he resided in Romeo. He was married, Sep. tember 6, 1827, to Roxana Leslie, of the State of New York. She was a woman in every way worthy, and together they braved the vicissitude, and struggles of more than forty years. Fortune was at last propitious, and they experienced the reward of conscientious, laborious and well-directed exertions. September 1, 1868, they set out to visit distant friends, going to Alabama, and returned via Washington, D. C. They took passage No- vember 17, on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. During the night, they were obliged to change cars at the Relay House, ten miles from Baltimore. While crossing to the other line, Mrs. Starkweather was struck by an incoming train and crushed. She lived but three hours. Mr. Starkweather was married again. June IS. 1872. to Mrs. Adeline Mulligan, of Washington, D. C. He died February 10, 1873. The pioneer element of Michigan stands statuesque in the panoramic view of her history during the last seventy years, and no one appears to better purpose than that of James Starkweather. He knew all the pos- sibilities of his life and character; he recognized all his responsibilities, inherent and as- sumed, and he bent his will and purpose only to the command of duty. He met trial with Christian courage, adversity with the hopefulness of integrity, and success with the hu- mility of a true greatness of spirit. His career is held in honored remembrance by his friends, and regarded as a blessed legacy by his children.

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HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.

ELIJAH THORINGTON was born June 9. 1809, at Ontario, Canada. His father. James Thorington, was a native of Rhode Island: his mother, Sarah Phillips, was born in Vermont. They settled in Oakland County. Mich., when their son was seven years old. and. a year later, removed to Shelby. At that time (1818), the county was in an almost primeval condition, and the surveying officers of the Government were deciding limitation lines between the towns of Clinton and Shelby. The family were in straitened eireum- stanees, and, the following spring went to the township of Washington and lived forty years on a farm in a district known as the Thorington settlement. Jannary 18. 1836, James Thorington died; his wife died in March, 1853. Mr. Thorington lived on his home- stead farm of 240 acres until 1870. when he bought his present residence on South Clark street. He was married, February 6. 1834, to Lydia Brown, a native of New York. They had three sons and four daughters. Mrs. Thorington died March 19, 1868, and, in April. 1879, Mr. Thorington was married to Mrs. Phoebe (Lockwood) Mackey. She died in April, 1874. Mr. Thorington belongs to the pioneer element of the county, and has ever ranked among its most respected citizens. He is a Democrat, and cast his first Presidential vote for Jackson He has accumulated a fine property, and was the owner of several farms, which he has divided among his children. He has always been known as a plain, firm, outspoken man, and his judgment accepted as reliable.

NORTON B. THROOP was born in Bruce. Macomb County. February 2. 1842; is son of George and Mary (Nye) Throop. George Throop was born in Lima. N. Y., in 1810, and was son of Birchard and Martha Throop. He was married, in the State of New York, to Mary P. Nye, and in 1830 came to Macomb County. They had two sons and three daughters; one of the latter is deceased. Mr. Throop located 160 acres of Govern- ment land in Bruce, which he cleared and improved. In 1851, he moved to Romeo, where he died in 1874, in his sixty-fifth year. Mrs. Throop died in 1877, aged sixty two. Mr. Throop was a Whig in early life. and joined the Democratic ranks when the exigencies of public affairs brought new issues to the surface. At the raising of the First Congrega- tional Church in the village, he broke his leg by a fall. Mr. Throop, of this sketch, eame to this village with his parents when but nine years old. and in youth attended the pub- lic sehools. In 1864 (May 14), he was married to Harriet, daughter of William Hamilton, a Seotehman. He took charge of the homestead farm in Bruce, where he stayed three years, and sold in 1876, engaging in teaming, which he prosecuted until 1878, when he formed a partnership with F. V. Tedman in the grocery and provision business, locating on the west side of Main street. Nine months later, he embarked in the same business alone, which he pursued a year on the east side of Main street. then ehanging his quarters to his present stand on the west side of the street. He carries a fine line of fancy groceries and confectioners' goods, and is doing a prosperous and steadily inereasing business. He is not a partisan politician, and only takes sufficient interest in party measures to give his support to the man approved by his judgment in any party. Mr. and Mrs. Throop have one son, John W., born in 1873.

W. H. TINSMAN was born Angust 21, 1836, in Washington, Macomb County. His parents, John A. and Sarah A. (MeCracken) Tinsman, both natives of New Jersey, came to this county in 1832 and settled in Washington Township, where his father still lives on the same farm where he at first located. His mother died about ten years ago. Mr. Tinsman was reared on the farm and educated in the district schools of the township, and also attended the high school at Romeo. He was a farmer previous to his embarking in mercantile business at Romeo. He came to this village in 1871. August 28, 1880. he organized, with Charles Willert, a mercantile establishment, which ranks fairly with other business concerns in town. He was married. in 1858, to Mary Jane, daughter of the late Hugh Hosner, of Macomb County. They have four children living -three sons and a

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daughter-Charles W., Homer E .. M. Florence and J. Lewis. The two first named are at the University of Michigan. Edith died in 1870. Mr. Tinsman owns a farm of 200 acres on Section 16, in Washington. He has been leader of the choir in the Methodist Church eight years, and a member of the choir thirty years; also has charge of a musical society in town. Mr. Tinsman, politically, is a Republican.

JOHN R. TURRELL was born April 22, 1811, in the State of Pennsylvania. His birth-place was on the Susquehanna River. He is son of Joel and Mary (Gray) Turrell, the former a native of Connecticut. the latter of Pennsylvania. They went to Monroe County, N. Y., where Mr. Turrell was reared to the age of twenty and bred to the profes- sion of farmer. He came to Michigan in 1831 and located a farm of eighty acres in Washington. east of Romeo, but he lost his health, and, not being able to work his farm. disposed of it and worked at jobbing. chopping, etc., as opportunity presented. In 1836, he went to Port Huron and opened a grocery and provision store, where he operated three years, going thence to Grand River Rapids. He was afterward engaged in grocery and provision trade in Ionia, selling out at the end of three years, and then peddled some years, finally returning to Romeo. He was married. December 27. 1842, to Nancy Dus- ing, born in Rush, Monroe Co., N. Y. He then bought a farm in Addison, Oakland County, where he remained a year, and afterward engaged in threshing about three years. He worked a farm on shares in Lapeer County some years, and then took the Dusing farm in Washington. In 1862, he settled at Romeo. His wife died in March, 1877, having be- come the mother of eleven children, nine of whom are living. He was married again, Au- gust 28, 1878, to Mary Ann Galloway, a native of Canada. Mr. Turrell is a hale, strong man, and has seen many hardships. He has been a Republican since the organization of the party, and has served a term as Street Commissioner of Romeo.

EPHRAIM VANBURGER was born April 4. 1833. in New York; is son of Amos and Mahala (Andrews) Vanburger. They came to Michigan in 1836 and settled at Silver Lake, Oakland County. The father, Ephraim, and a brother and three sisters, had the small- pox. All recovered. Mr. Vanburger came to this county in 1848, and in 1852 settled at Romeo, working as a carpenter about two years. He was then engaged five years in sur- veying and examining land, and then worked as a shoemaker until August, 1862, when he enlisted in the civil war for three years. He was captured in Virginia. June 11, 1864, and was a prisoner at Andersonville, Ga., and Florence. S. C., and honorably discharged June 11, 1865. He was married, August 6, 1865, to Charlotte H. Munroe. They have had two children-Levant, born March 19, 1869, died April 30, ISSO, of hip disease; and Ella. born July 25, 1875. Mr. Vanburger is a radical Republican; has followed the joiner's trade since the war.

LEVI B. VANDECAR was born in Saratoga County, N. Y., September 15, 1850; received his education in the primary schools of his native town, and learned the brick- layer's trade, after which he removed to Macomb County, arriving in the year 1868. He followed the mason's trade at Romeo and at Imlay City, Lapeer County, also at Oxford, Oakland County, and at Lapeer City, a few years, and in 1879 removed to Isabella County, where he located land and resides at the present time; married, February 15, 1871, to Nancy H., youngest daughter of Erastus Day, of Armada Township. She was born Sep- tember 1, 1851. The fruits of this marriage have been: Harry, born at Lapeer City June 12, 1872; Frank, born at Oxford May 18, 1879. While living at Imlay, the family suffered loss by fire of their dwelling house and contents, which calamity was repeated three years later at Oxford. His present business is general merchant and dealer in tim- ber, in which he has been very successful. A post office has been established at his store. and he is the Postmaster, and the office bears his name. He is forward in all society matters, and is, in form of worship, a Baptist, of which both himself and wife are members.

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History of Macomb County, Michigan, Part 82

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