USA > Michigan > Montcalm County > History of Montcalm County, Michigan its people, industries and institutions...with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families Volume II > Part 63
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WILLIAM P. LUNN.
William P. Lunn, ex-register of deeds of Montcalm county, Michigan, is now a farmer in Fairplain township, and was born in Macomb county, Michigan, September 30, 1842, son of George and Hannah (Thirsk) Lunn. His father was born in England in March, 1799, and was reared in that country. His education in the schools of that country was limited. He became a farmer and was a foreman on a large farm, and came to the United States in 1833. Hannah Thirsk was also born in England, in 1800, and was well educated for her time. After her marriage to George Lunn, they came to the United States and located in Detroit, Michigan, at which time their means were quite limited. Later, he purchased a small farm in Macomb county, Michigan, upon which he lived until 1843, when he traded that farm for one hundred and twenty acres, where William P. Lunn now resides, but which at that time was in woods. He made the trip to this farm with three teams of oxen, and here he and his wife spent the rest of their lives. He was a local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal church. Of their eight children, two were living in 1915. They are, George N., who is an orange farmer near Los Angeles, California, and William P.
William P. Lunn was a lad five years old when he and his parents located in Montcalm county, Michigan. When old enough he attended the district schools of his neighborhood in the winter season and worked on the farm during the remainder of the year, until he enlisted in the Civil War. He served in Company A, Twenty-first Michigan Infantry Volunteers, from August 5, 1862, until June 10, 1865, and was with his regiment at all times and in all battles in which it participated. The regiment was a part of the Army of the Cumberland, and was with General Sherman on his march to the sea. He enlisted as a private and was discharged as a duty sergeant.
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At the close of the war Mr. Lunn returned to the old farm in Fairplain township, where he then owned eighty acres, and later purchased eighty addi- tional and one hundred acres of timber land, making in all two hundred and sixty acres. On June 24, 1868, he married Eusebia B. Sprague, who was born in Ionia county, Michigan, and who died in December, 1896, the mother of three children. These children are Guy W., a graduate of the Greenville high school and of the electrical engineering department of the state uni- versity, and is chief electrician of Fisk Station, Edison Lighting Company of Chicago; Ernest, also a graduate of Greenville high school, and of the state university, is now in Chicago with the Pullman Car Company, and Bertha who is a graduate of the Greenville high school and attended school at Lansing, Michigan, is the wife of William Wycoff, a farmer.
Mr. Lunn was married later to Mrs. Almira Chaffee, on June 3, 1898. She was a native of Kent county, Michigan. He is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is recording steward, and is also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic post at Greenville, Mich- igan. In politics, he is a Republican. He served six years as superintendent of his township and was register of deeds of Montcalm county, Michigan, from 1895 to 1898, inclusive. He moved from Stanton to Greenville, where he lived two years, and then came to the farm where he now resides. Mr. Lunn is a quiet unassuming man, and an honorable citizen of Montcalm county, and is now justice of the peace of his township.
WILSON WHEELER.
Wilson Wheeler, well-known and prominent farmer living near Miller, in Fairplain township, Montcalm county, Michigan, was born in Fairplain township on October 1, 1856, the son of Squire W. and Eliza (Buchanan) Wheeler, the former a native of Ireland.
Squire W. Wheeler came with his family to America in 1855, and settled in Montcalm county, where he engaged in general farming until October 23, 1861, when he enlisted for service in the Civil War and served until 1864, when he died as a prisoner of war in Salisbury prison. Squire W. and Eliza Wheeler were the parents of the following children: Sofia, Frances, George B., Mary, Elizabeth and Wilson, the latter of whom is the only one who survives.
Wilson Wheeler was educated in the public schools of his native town-
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ship, after which he became a lumberman, working in the woods of his community for five years. Later, having married, Mr. Wheeler secured eighty acres of land in Fairplain township, Montcalm county, where he is now successfully engaged in general agricultural pursuits.
Wilson Wheeler was married to Addie Giffith, and to this marriage was born one child, Mary B., who is deceased. Later, on May 21, 1900, Wilson Wheeler was married to Emma Drier; to this marriage no children have been born.
In fraternal life Wilson Wheeler is prominently connected, being a member of Pearl Lake Lodge No. 324, Free and Accepted Masons, and of Even Lodge No. 87, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In politics, Mr. Wheeler is a Republican.
D. DARWIN DILLEY.
D. Darwin Dilley, successful farmer, prominent business man and lead- ing citizen of Fairplain township, Montcalm county, Michigan, was born in Fairplain township on December 15, 1874, the son of Hebron H. and Jennie (Fran) Dilley, natives of Stark county, Ohio, and Scotland, respectively. Jennie (Fran) Dilley came to America with her parents when she was seven years of age, and settled in Stark county, where she later was married to Hebron H. Dilley, who after working as a farm helper in Montcalm county, Michigan, for some time, purchased a farm to which he took his wife and where he lived as general farmer until a short time before his death, in 1902. Jennie, the wife of Hebron Dilley, preceded her husband in death by about one year. Hebron Dilley was a leader in political circles of his community, having served his township as treasurer and as supervisor. In politics, Mr. Dilley was an ardent Republican. Hebron and Jennie Dilley were the par- ents of two children, Margaret, who is the wife of LeRoy Fowler, a farmer of Fairplain township, and D. Darwin, the subject of this sketch.
D. Darwin Dilley received his early education in the common schools of Fairplain township, after which he was a student at the Greenville high school for three years and later was a student at the Ferris Institute of Big Rapids, Michigan, for some time. After the completion of his education, Mr. Dilley became a farmer, a line of work in which he has since been engaged with notable success, on a farm of one hundred and twenty acres, . located about six miles east of Greenville. In addition to his agricultural activity, Mr. Dilley has been active in business circles of his community,
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now being the owner of considerable stock in the Greenville Independent Company.
In 1897 D. Darwin Dilley was married to Carrie Bowers, and sixteen months later Mr. Dilley suffered the loss of his wife by death. On April 15, 1903, he was married to Florence Smith, who is the daughter of William A. and Harriet Smith. Mr. and Mrs. Dilley are the parents of one son, Har- old, who was born on December 12, 1904, and who now is a student in the public schools of Fairplain township. Mrs. Dawson is an active member and worker in the Methodist church at Greenville.
Mr. Dilley has taken a leading part in the political affairs of his com- munity, he having served Fairplain township as supervisor for two terms. as well as having been an influence and a worker in the ranks of the Repub- lican party in Montcalm county. Mr. Dilley is a well-known member of Greenville Lodge No. 96, Free and Accepted Masons, and in social and public matters is conceded to be one of the men of value to the community.
GEORGE J. PIERSON.
George J. Pierson is the son of George J. Pierson, who is a native of Ontario county, New York, and who, in turn, is a son of George M. Pier- son, also a native of the same county and state. George M. Pierson was the father of eight children, five of whom are now living: T. M .; George J .; T. P .; A. L .; and Mary, wife of Isaiah Blair. In 1852 the parents of these children removed to Montcalm county, Michigan, George J. being seven years of age at the time. T. M. was also born in the state of New York, but the other children were born after the family's removal to Michigan.
George J. Pierson, the subject of this sketch, was educated in the dis- trict schools and reared on the home place until he was twenty-one years of age, at which time he learned the trade of carpenter and continued in this for some years. To the local political life of Pierson township he has been an active contributor, serving as township clerk and treasurer. He also was appointed postmaster for two succeeding terms, both being under Grover Cleveland's administration. In his agricultural interests he is the owner of one hundred acres of land, all well improved and cultivated, which is now under other management since his retirement to the town of Pierson.
In December, 1875, George J. Pierson was united in wedlock to Carrie A. Godfrey, a native of Jonesville, Michigan, where she was educated, and
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with this helpmeet has been able to meet the issues of life with fortitude and wisdom. He has been a member of the Masonic order for the past forty years, being a member of Cedar Lake Lodge No. 213. Politically, he is a member of the Democratic party and has always taken great interest in party issues.
GEORGE W. MILLER.
George W. Miller, a farmer of Montcalm county and representative of that county in the 1915 state Legislature, was born in Fairplain township, Montcalm county, February 10, 1852, the son of Lester R. and Louise M. (Kent) Miller. Lester R. Miller was born in Chili, Monroe county, New York, August 27, 1827, and died at Greenville, Michigan, June 10, 1901. He was the son of Isaac Denison and Deborah (Church) Miller, the former of whom was born in Hartford, Connecticut, June 7, 1799, and died in Eureka township, Montcalm county, February 28, 1857; and the latter, the daughter of Uriah J. and Martha (Cowdery) Church, born in Granby, Hart- ford county, Connecticut, November 5, 1799, and died in Eureka township, May 28, 1868. To Isaac D. and Deborah (Church) Miller were born ten children, Richard C., Jane Angeline, Amelia, Emily, Lester R., Martha Edwina, Mary Adelia, Elijah Talcott, Lucinda Elmira and Adaline Deborah. All of these children are deceased except Adaline Deborah, who resides in Oregon.
Lester R. Miller lived in New York until 1830, when his parents moved with their family to Detroit, where they remained for five years, when they moved to Oakland county. At the age of twenty years, Lester R. Miller started out for himself, working at various places until he was twenty-four years of age, when he came to Montcalm county with a team and but little money. He purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in this county and, after remaining here a few months, he walked back to Oakland county and was married to Louisa M. Kent, the daughter of John Kent, on Decem- ber 25. 1850. Her family also moved to Montcalm county shortly after her marriage to Mr. Miller and here they lived until their deaths. To Lester R. and Louisa M. ( Kent ) Miller were born two children, George W., the sub- ject of this sketch, and Alice Delphine, the widow of Byron Griffith, of Duluth. Mrs. Louisa M. Miller died in October, 1857, and in 1860 Lester R. Miller was married, secondly, to Sarah L. Cole, and to them were born three children, John C., whose history is given elsewhere in this volume;
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Agnes S., the wife of Elmer S. Wolverton, and Mabel, who died in infancy. Lester R. Miller was a hard-working farmer, improving his land and culti- vating it as highly as possible with the crude methods and implements of his day. He was compelled to work almost entirely with oxen, which, of course, was very slow, and, when his crop was harvested, he had to haul it to Grand Rapids for market, receiving only fifty cents a bushel for wheat. He lived on his old home farm in Montcalm county until six years before his death, when he moved to Greenville.
George F. Miller was educated in the district schools of his home neigh- borhood and later attended the high school at Greenville for a few years. He lived at home until twenty-four years of age, when he was married and moved on the old homestead farm, which he had previously purchased and where he lived for three years. At that time he bought one hundred and twenty acres near Miller's Station and moved there, the station being named for him. Mr. Miller went to South Dakota in the fall of 1882 and took up a pre-empted claim of one hundred and sixty acres, his family coming to the farm in the spring of 1883. Besides his first claim, Mr. Miller later took up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres and a tree claim of one hun- dred and sixty, all three tracts adjoining. This land was twenty miles from a railroad and was joined on the west by the unsurveyed government land. In the summer of 1886 the Great Northern railroad built a line across his farm and located the site of the town of Claremont on a portion of his land which he had sold to the railroad company. Mr. Miller and his family resided on the South Dakota farm until in the fall of 1905, when they returned to Montcalm county and moved to their present farm. This farm consists of one hundred and twenty acres located in section 21, and besides this farm Mr. Miller owns eighty acres adjoining on the east and still retains seven hundred and ten acres in South Dakota.
George W. Miller was married on December 21, 1875, to Jennie Barnes, the daughter of Charles and Cordelia ( Dibbens ) Barnes, the latter of whom was a doctor and well known in this part of the county. To Mr. and Mrs. Miller have been born two children: M. Hugh, who resides on the South Dakota farm, married Maud J. Weaver and has five children, and Marie H., who lives at home with her parents.
Fraternally, Mr. Miller is a member of Pearl Lake Lodge No. 324, Free and Accepted Masons, at Sheridan. Politically, he is a Republican and has always taken a very active part in politics, not only in local elections, but has filled several prominent state offices. When Mr. Miller first moved to
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South Dakota it was still a territory and he took an active and prominent part in helping to organize it as a state, after which he was senator from Brown county in the first state Senate, serving one term. He also held several county and township offices in Brown county and was president of the Farmers Warehouse Company there. He served as supervisor of Fair- plain township for eight years or until his election to the state Legislature, of which he is a member. Mr. Miller is well known and highly respected in this county, as is proved by the important offices which he has filled and his long tenure in these offices.
SILAS KENT.
Silas Kent is one of the representative farmers of Fairplain township, Montcalm county, Michigan, and is the owner of two hundred acres of well improved land in sections 8 and 40, one hundred and sixty in the former and the balance in the latter. The home place is known as "Maple Lawn Farm." Silas Kent was born on May 22, 1847, in Oakland county, Michigan, and is the son of James and Sally Anna (Teeter ) Kent. James Kent was the son of John Kent and his wife, who were of English and Dutch descent, respectively. James Kent and Sally Anna Teeter were born and reared in New York state and came with their parents to Oakland county, Michigan, where their marriage occurred. After their marriage they remained near Pontiac, Michigan, until their third child, Silas Kent, was five years of age, and then removed to Eureka township, Montcalm county, Michigan. James Kent then purchased eighty acres of land near Greenville, on which they remained for many years. His first wife died and he was married again.
Silas Kent left his parent's home at the age of twenty-three years and became an employee of different farms, and worked some in the lumber busi- ness as well. He was united in marriage to Ida Baker, daughter of Chester and Mary J. (Carney ) Baker, on March 10, 1875, and they are the parents of one child, Lela May. She is a graduate of the Greenville schools and is the wife of Robert A. Scott, who is a farmer and lives on a farm adjoining that of his father-in-law. They have one child, Robert Kent Scott, who is in the fourth grade at school. Lela May (Kent) Scott is very proficient in music.
Silas Kent gained possession of his first place through a trade which was made with a cousin. Henry Kent. He and wife are members of the
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Methodist Episcopal church, of Fairplain, Michigan, in which he has served as trustee for many years. Politically, he is a Republican and has acted in the capacity of highway commissioner for two terms.
Chester Baker, father of Ida (Baker) Kent, was born in New York state and moved to Jackson county, Michigan, with his parents. His wife was born in Niagara county, New York, and moved to Jackson county, Michigan, with her brothers and sisters. She was married in Napoleon, Michigan, where they lived for several years, removing to Montcalm county, Michigan, when their daughter, Ida, was a child of seven years.
W. A. TALLMAN.
W. A. Tallman, prosperous farmer, extensive stock raiser and a citizen who has been active inthe official life of Fairplain township, Montcalm county, Michigan, was born in Eureka township, Montcalm county, a son of John R. and Elizabeth H. (Slawson) Tallman, natives of New York state.
John R. Tallman, when a young man, came to Michigan from his home in New York state and located in Otisco township, Ionia county, where he lived with his parents until they moved to Eureka township, Montcalm county, where he was married to Elizabeth H. Slawson, who came to Eureka township, Montcalm county, from her home in New York state when a young girl.
W. A. Tallman was educated in the public schools of Eureka township, Montcalm county, and afterward helped cultivate the home farm which was cared for by his mother after the death of the elder Tallman, when W. A. was but nine years of age. Later, W. A. Tallman became the foreman of a farm in Fairplain township, where he was employed for three years, after which he purchased eighty acres of land in Fairplain township, to which Mr. Tallman added forty acres and a farm which he cultivated for about four years. After this time, Mr. Tallman disposed of his land and returned to the farm where he was first employed, and rented land there for three years, after which he purchased a farm in Ionia county, which he. never cultivated and which he later sold. At a later time W. A. Tallman purchased three hundred and twenty acres of land and after one year added forty acres, until now he is the cultivator of three hundred and sixty acres of land in sections 18 and 19, of Fairplain township, Montcalm county, near Greenville. W. A. Tallman is one of the most successful farmers of the county, his products
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being of the best, while his interest in the raising of Shorthorn cattle, Polled Durham cattle and Poland China hogs has given Mr. Tallman a place of importance in the stock raising circles of the community.
On January 29, 1887, W. A. Tallman was married to Cora D. Russell, a daughter of Andrew J. Russell and wife, of Fairplain township. To the marriage of W. A. and Cora D. Tallman have been born two children, Russell, who died when one year of age, and Gertrude, who now lives at home.
W. A. Tallman has taken a prominent place in the official life of Fair- plain township, having served as road supervisor, and for nine years has been an active and influential member of the school board for district No. 7, of Fairplain township. In politics, Mr. Tallman is an ardent Republican.
LUTHER R. STONE.
Luther R. Stone, a prominent farmer of Fairplain township, Montcalm county, was born in this township, January 16, 1866, the son of Alfred and Abigail E. (Howe) Stone. Alfred Stone was born in New York state and moved to Allegan county, Michigan, with his parents, where both died when he was still a small child and he afterward made his home with his brother. Abigail E. Howe was also born in New York state and moved with her parents to Allegan county, where she met and married Alfred Stone and where they lived for about three years. In 1854 they came to Fairplain township, this county, being among its earliest settlers, and here purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land, which they cleared and improved. Alfred Stone died on this farm in Novmeber, 1896, but his widow still survives and resides on the old home place. They were the parents of six children: Albert, who resides in Crystal township; Willis, who died at the age of twenty-nine years; Mary, who is deceased; Luther R., the subject of this sketch; and twins, who died in infancy.
Luther R. Stone was reared on his father's farm in Fairplain township and received his education in the schools of his home neighborhood. Some years ago he moved to Day township, but lived there only one year, when he returned to Fairplain township and has resided here ever since. Mr. Stone owns one hundred and sixty acres of excellent land at Miller's Station, in section 9, Fairplain township, and also sixty acres in another tract in section 9. Mr. Stone resides on the one-hundred-and-sixty-acre tract, which is well
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improved and kept in a high state of cultivation. He employs all of the latest methods of farming and his farm is modern and up-to-date in every respect.
On January 15, 1890, Luther R. Stone was united in marriage to Effie Pratt, the daughter of Curtis and Rhodie (Burlingame) Pratt. To this union have been born two children, Glenn, who is at home, and Ada, who is the wife of Glenn McBride, of Rockford, Michigan.
Fraternally, Mr. Stone is a member of the Greenville Lodge No. 96, Free and Accepted Masons. Politically, Mr. Stone is a Republican and has always taken an active part in all of the political affairs of his township and county. He has served two terms as township clerk, is serving his second term as a member of the board of review and has been school director in district No. I, which is his home district. Mr. Stone has a large number of friends throughout Montcalm county, by whom he is well liked and highly respected.
CHARLES O. BURGESS.
Charles O. Burgess, owner of the Sidney Elevator Company and the proprietor of a lumber yard at Sidney, Montcalm county, Michigan, was born in Baltimore township, Barry county, Michigan, on December 21, 1873, a son of Jerome and Clarissa (Hammond) Burgess, natives of Horner, New York, the former of English descent, the latter of English and German descent.
Jerome Burgess was a farmer of New York state, cultivating his farm there until 1877, when he moved with his family to Stanton, Montcalm county, where he has since made his home. Jerome and Clarissa Burgess are the parents of two children: Carrie L., who, after some years as a school teacher in the schools of Montcalm county, died on February 10, 1899, and Charles O., the subject of this sketch.
Charles O. Burgess was educated in the public schools of Stanton, Montcalm county, after which he was employed in the flour-mills of Stan- ton for two years and then he went to Big Rapids, Michigan, where he con- tinued his education, securing a life certificate in the common courses in one year. On account of failing health, he discontinued his studies and after three years devoted to the regaining of his health, he lived on a farm near Crystal, Michigan, for some time, and then came to the town of McBride,
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Montcalm county, and afterwards returned to Stanton. After four years at Stanton, Mr. Burgess again found himself in failing health and in Novem- ber, 1907, he went to Ft. Collins, Colorado, where he remained for nine months. Having regained his health, Mr. Burgess returned to Stanton, Michigan, a short time afterwards coming to the town of Sidney, Mont- calm county, where he operated an old feed-mill, in partnership with another miller of Sidney. In October, 1912, Mr. Burgess purchased the entire interests in the feed-mill, and operates this mill now as a part of the Sidney Elevator Company, of which he is the proprietor. In addition to his other interests, Mr. Burgess is the owner of a lumber yard at Sidney.
On June 17, 1895, Charles O. Burgess was married to Cora M. Kich- land, a daughter of Martin Kichland and wife, farmers living near Crystal, Michigan. To the marriage of Charles O. and Cora Burgess have been born three children, Harold Udell, Helen Lucille and Harland Wendell.
Charles O. Burgess is connected with the Northwestern Life Insurance Company and is a man who is active in the promotion of the business life and projects of Sidney and of Montcalm county. In politics, Mr. Burgess is a Republican.
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