History of Oakland County, Michigan, with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, palatial residences, public buildings, fine blocks, and important manufactories, Part 80

Author: Durant, Samuel W
Publication date: 1877
Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts & co.
Number of Pages: 553

USA > Michigan > Oakland County > History of Oakland County, Michigan, with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, palatial residences, public buildings, fine blocks, and important manufactories > Part 80

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July 25, 1859, Mr. Skidmore was married to Mrs. Lavinia Eisenlord. Her father, Daniel Huntington, was born in the State of New York, March 16, 1796, and in 1817 was married to Mary Ann Cole. In 1829 they removed to Ohio, where Mr. Huntington died in 1869. They were the parents of eight children, of whom two settled in Michigan, one went to Missouri, one to Iowa, one to Cali- fornia, and one to Canada; another is still living in Ohio. Lavinia H. Huntington (now Mrs. Skidmore) came to Michigan in 1855, and was married to John P. Eisenlord, since deceased.

Mr. Skidmore, by his second wife, is the father of four children, all sons. For four years Mr. Skidmore held the position of township clerk in Rose, and has been since his residence here a popular man. Mrs. Skidmore (then Mrs. Eisen- lord) had one son when she was married to Mr. Skidmore.

In his life of twenty-nine years in Oakland County Mr. Skidmore has wit- nessed many changes, not the least of which are in himself. He is now well advanced in years, though yet strong and vigorous, and has well performed his part in developing the resources of the town in which he lives.

ELIAS DOTY.

This gentleman was born in the town of Solon, Cortland county, New York, July 23, 1815. His father, Isaac Doty, a native of Washington county, New York, emigrated with his family to Michigan in 1828, and settled at Ypsilanti, Washtenaw county, where he built a woolen-mill, and operated it a number of years. Isaac Doty had followed farming for a few years previous to his removal to Michigan, but his trade was that of a manufacturer of woolen goods. He lived at a number of places both in Michigan and Ohio, but was never entirely satisfied until he came to the place where his son, Elias Doty, is now residing.

On their trip to Michigan, the family drove through to Syracuse with their team. From that point they took passage on the canal to Buffalo, and from Buf-

Mrs M. D. Elliott

RESIDENCE OF HON. MARCUS D. ELLIOTT, ROSE TP, OAKLAND CO., MICH.

ELIAS DOTY .

MRS. ELIAS DOTY. (No 2)

MRS. ELIAS DOTY. (No1.)

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RESIDENCE OF ELIAS DOTY, ROSE TP, OAKLAND CO., MICH.

HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

265

falo to Detroit they made a lake-voyage on the old steamer " William Penn." Arri- ving in Michigan, then very sickly, the family was attacked by fever and ague, and for four or five years some of them were under the doctor's care. Mr. Doty (Sr.) was almost completely broken down, but finally recovered, in a measure. This sickness was the more severely felt, as they had come from an extremely healthy locality in Cortland county, New York. Isaac Doty died very suddenly on the 26th day of July, 1855, in his seventy-second or seventy-third year. His wife died five years previously. Her maiden name was Charlotte Loomis, and she and Mr. Doty were married in Washington county, New York, October 5, 1806. Their children were as follows :

ENos, born September 8, 1807.

ELIZABETH, born March 1, 1809.

TOBIAS, born April 11, 1811. ANDREW, born May 5, 1815.

ELIAS (birth given at head of this sketch).

SILAS, born July 13, 1817.

AMOS, born June 17, 1819.

SARAH, born December 11, 1820.

EUNICE M., born February 26, 1822.

PERMELIA, born June 21, 1824.

These are all living except Enos, Amos, and Permelia. Isaac Doty and wife removed to Cortland county, New York, soon after their marriage, and there all their children were born.

Elias Doty was married in Rose township, on the first day of March, 1842, to Miss Zevia Jayne, of Cortland county, New York. He had removed with his father to Rose in 1836. He first purchased land in Springfield township, but finally made his permanent home in Rose. He has occupied his present place for twenty-three years, having first located on the farm next east of it, and afterwards exchanged with his brother Enos.

Mr. Doty has for nearly the whole of his life followed the occupation of a farmer, and beyond dispute has made a decided success of the business. The first land he ever purchased was an eighty-acre lot in Monroe county, Michigan. He now owns three hundred and forty-six acres in the farm where he lives, beside other land in the township; some in Livingston county, Michigan, and two hun- dred acres in Kansas. In politics he was a Whig until the Republican party was formed, since which time he has worked with that political organization. Mr. Doty has been twice married, his first wife having died March 19, 1872. She was born July 25, 1820, and became the mother of nine children, as follows :

MARTHA ANN, born April 16, 1843; died May 25, 1843. MARY PERMELIA, born September 5, 1844.

MORTIMER, born May 26, 1846 ; died June 14, 1846.

EDWARD E., born June 12, 1847. PARDON HICKS, born March 13, 1849.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, born January 14, 1852.

OLIVIA, born May 26, 1854. ENos, born December 27, 1858. ISAAC, born February 3, 1862.

Mr. Doty was married on the 17th of March, 1875, to Mrs. Louisa (Brown) Rogers, a native of Cayuga county, New York.

CALEB EVERTS.

The subject of this sketch was born in the town of Pawlet, Rutland county, Vermont, July 15, 1812. When but two or three years of age his parents, Gil- bert and Polly Everts, removed to the town of Granville, Washington county, New York, and in 1819 they again packed their worldly goods and moved farther westward, to the town of Wheatland, Monroe county, New York. The family at that time consisted of Gilbert Everts, his wife, and three children. Mr. Everts, the elder, died in the last-mentioned county, February 14, 1827, and his wife fol- lowed him April 4, 1833.

Caleb Everts is the eldest of a family of seven children. After his mother's death he worked out by the month until 1836, in the fall of which year he started for Michigan. A friend had purchased land for him in Hillsdale county, and Mr. Everts made the trip to Michigan to examine it. He returned to New York the same autumn, and. on the 11th of December following (1836) was married to Harriet Middleton, a native of Monroe county, New York. In the spring of 1837 he visited Michigan a second time, and then returned to New York, where he worked a farm for three years. In the fall of 1840 he purchased the place where he now lives from Warren Hitchins, who had cleared and broken a couple of acres, and built a small log cabin. In the fall of 1841, Mr. Everts removed his family to Michigan, and settled on the farm he had purchased the year before. He was accompanied by his wife and two children.

Mrs. Everts was born April 21, 1817, in the town of Greece, Monroe county, New York, where her father, William Middleton, had settled before the now flour- ishing city of Rochester was much more than a lone hamlet in the woods. He was from the State of Connecticut.

Mr. and Mrs. Everts are the parents of seven children, born as follows :

WILLIAM T., September 24, 1837.

GILBERT, February 11, 1840 ; died March 2, 1843.

GILBERT T., November 26, 1843.

ANGENETTE, November 16, 1846.

CALEB, September 6, 1848.

EUGENE O., March 4, 1850.

HARRIET M., December 16, 1855.

William T. Everts was married to Helen Powers March 25, 1860; now living in Highland township.

Gilbert Everts was married to Catharine Fletcher; now living in Rose township. Angenette is the wife of Charles House, of Highland.

Caleb married Lizzie Jones, and is now living at the old place with his father. Harriet M. Everts is now the wife of James Decker, and is living in Rose town- ship.

When Mr. Everts and his family started for Michigan, they sent one load of goods from Brockport to Buffalo by canal, and transported another load overland. His cousin, Gershom Everts, and his sister came with Mr. Everts and family. From Buffalo they proceeded to Detroit, on the steamer " Milwaukee," and from Detroit to Rose by team. Mr. Everts' wagon had not been unloaded since he left his old home, and they were therefore enabled to start immediately from Detroit. Their passage up Lake Erie was attended by much rough weather. On arriv- ing at their farm in Rose, they moved into the old log house built by Hitchins, and occupied it as it stood for about two years, when a frame addition (standing north of Mr. Everts' present residence) was built to it. . The fine frame house Mr. Everts now occupies was built in 1856, and he moved into it the fall of that year.

Mr. Everts is politically a Democrat, having always voted with that party. He has held numerous township offices during his residence in Michigan. He is the present owner of eleven hundred and sixty-five acres of land, including two hun- dred and eighty acres near Owosso, Shiawassee county.

Mr. Everts great-grandfather is said to have been the first one of the Everts family who ever set foot on American soil. The family is of English descent. Gilbert Everts, the father of Caleb, served three months in the war of 1812, and was at the battle of Plattsburg, September 11, 1814.

ASA REYNOLDS,

son of Asa D. and Betsy Reynolds, was born in Schenectady county, New York, November 25, 1810. At the age of seven he moved with his parents to Avon, Livingston county, New York, and remained there assisting his father on the

VANIN

NYDER

ASA REYNOLDS. [FORMERLY OF ROSE TOWNSHIP.]

farm until 1834. Being then in his twenty-fourth year, he removed to Monroe county, and taught school one winter. This year he was married to Sarah M. Lurvey, a native of Avon, New York. They raised a family of three children, namely :

266

HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

Mary E., born March 24, 1836; married Luther W. Cole, and now resides in Rose.

Sarah A., born February 17, 1842; married Jerome E. Carver, and now occupies the homestead farm with her husband.

Bettie M., born March 3, 1844; married C. L. Miles in August, 1862; died January 30, 1876.

April 25, 1846, Mrs. Reynolds died, leaving a family of little ones to the care of her widowed husband. Deeming it necessary that they should have some one to look after them besides himself, he married again, this time to Mary Gage, January 28, 1847. She was born in Wendell, Cheshire county, New Hampshire, January 17, 1808. This marriage was blessed with one child, Jennie L., born October 19, 1847 ; married Cornelius Mahaney, and resides at Fenton.

Mrs. Reynolds proved a second mother to the little ones, and brought them up as tenderly and carefully as their own mother could have done. Hence a singu- lar harmony existed in the Reynolds household, not usually found where a step- mother is introduced. The family cherish her with a great deal of filial regard and affection. In October, 1836, Mr. Reynolds removed to Michigan, and settled two eighties, one in section 17 and one in section 18, in Rose township, where he resided for over thirty years, afterwards removing to Fenton, where he now resides. He was elected a justice of the peace in Rose for four terms, aggregating a service in that capacity of sixteen years; was also supervisor for ten years. In November, 1854, he was chosen to represent his district in the State legislature, and did so to the entire satisfaction of his constituents and to that of the people generally. In politics he is Democratic; in religion, liberal- never having affiliated with any denomination or church. He is a gentleman well and favorably known in Rose township, and in various other parts of Oakland and Genesce counties, and deservedly enjoys the respect and confidence of those whose acquaintance he has made. He is a man of a kindly and genial disposi- tion, large hospitality, considerable intelligence, and unquestioned integrity. He has administered satisfactorily on a large number of estates, and has held various other positions that have required sound judgment and irreproachable honesty to fill.

MARCUS D. ELLIOTT.

This gentleman was born in Montgomery county, New York, January 19, 1827, and is a descendant of the old "Yankee" stock, his parents both being natives of the State of Connecticut. In 1829 they removed to the town of Decatur, Otsego county, New York. There young Marcus attended district school until he was nine years old, when he was able to help more or less about home, and after that only attended winters until he was sixteen. He also worked summers for farmers living in the neighborhood. In the summer of 1844 Mr. Elliott's parents moved to Michigan, and the young man, then seventeen years of age, borrowed forty dollars with which to buy his "time" of his father, and worked nearly the whole of the following year to pay the debt. In June, 1846, he followed his father to Michigan, and worked for farmers after arriving there, in the neighborhood of Holly, Oakland County. At the breaking out of the Mexican war he walked in the morning of one day to Pontiac to enlist, but owing to some misunderstanding with Colonel Beach, the recruiting officer, he returned to Holly, walking back the s.me day, and making nearly fifty miles since he had left home in the morning. The following day he went over into Rose township and hired out to a farmer named Leland, for the sum of twelve dollars per month. He worked that season, and has since been a resident of the township.

Mr. Elliott was married January 1, 1852, to Miss Arvilla A. Seeley, of Rose township, then in her twenty-first year. She was born in the town of Ballston, Saratoga county, New York. Her father, Isaac Seeley, removed from that town in 1837, and settled in Rose township, Oakland County, Michigan, on the north- east quarter of section 4, being among the earlier settlers of the township. The necessarily severe labor and many ills subject to the improvement of a new country soon undermined his health, and in the summer of 1844 he was attacked with typhoid fever, which resulted in his death in September of the same year.

In the winter of 1854 Mr. Elliott settled on the farm where he is now residing,-the east half of the southeast quarter of section 5,-and in his stay upon it of twenty-three years has made it one of the finest farms in Oakland County.

Politically Mr. Elliott is a true and stanch Republican, and at the breaking out of the great civil war in 1861 enlisted as soon as arrangements could be made for leaving home. His enlistment occurred on the 27th day of October, 1861. He joined Captain M. F. Lockwood's battery of light artillery at Monroe, and was appointed sergeant. In March, 1862, the battery was ordered to report at Benton barracks, Missouri, and thither it repaired under command of Captain Samuel DeGolyer, of Hudson, Michigan. From Benton barracks they were .

ordered to New Madrid, Missouri, there to report to Major-General Pope. They arrived at that place the latter part of March, 1862, and in June one section of the battery was ordered to Memphis, whither it proceeded under command of Lieutenant T. W. Lockwood, and was made a part of the garrison at that city. Sergeant Elliott was with the command and acted as orderly, quartermaster- sergeant, and general duty sergeant. They remained at Memphis until the following September, when orders were received to report at Columbus, Ken- tucky, at which place they were joined by the rest of the battery. About this time the rebels were threatening Hickman, Kentucky, and a section was ordered to that place in command of Lieutenant W. H. Weston, Sergeant Elliott accom- panying it in the same capacity as at Memphis. In the latter part of the month of November they rejoined the battery at Columbus, and the entire command was soon ordered to report to Major-General Grant, at La Grange, Tennessee, at which place the Army of the Tennessee was organized and General Grant placed in command. The battery was assigned to the Third brigade (Leggett's), Fourth division (Logan's), of the Seventeenth army corps, under General James B. McPherson, with Major C. J. Stolbrand as chief of artillery. They were marched to Holly Springs, Oxford, and Water Valley. While at Holly Springs Sergeant Elliott was promoted to orderly sergeant of the Eighth Michigan Battery, Light Artillery. There was no hard fighting, but "plenty of hard marching through mud and snow." On the return of the army the whole command reported at Memphis, at which place it arrived some time in the month of January, 1863.

About the middle of February the command left Memphis by steamer and landed at Lake Providence, Louisiana, but on account of the overflow of the Mississippi and the cutting of the levees, the army was removed to Berry's land- ing, about five miles above. Left Berry's landing the last of March, and went to Milliken's Bend, a few miles up the river from Vicksburg, where they dis- embarked, and marching across the country west of the river, opposite Vicks- burg, crossed the Mississippi below, at Bruinsburg, on the 30th of April, 1863. On this expedition Sergeant Elliott was promoted to second lieutenant. After crossing the river, on the night of April 30, they started early in the morning (May 1) for Port Gibson, a small place about twenty miles to the eastward, where the rebels were in force under General Bowen. The fighting on this day was the first the Army of the Tennessee had yet engaged in, as an army. The rebels were defeated, and retreated precipitately towards Jackson, Mississippi. In this engagement the Eighth Battery sustained a loss of several men killed and wounded, and some of their best horses were badly used up on the march. One gun burst, and was left on the field.

May 14, 1863, the rebels made a stand at Raymond, and a portion of the bat- tery narrowly escaped capture, although after sharp fighting the enemy was defeated and driven back. The next day lively fighting occurred near Jackson, but the rebels retreated in haste before the charge of the Union troops. The same evening the victorious army entered Jackson, and the next morning (May 16) started on its return to Vicksburg. A few miles east of Clinton the Confed- erate troops were again encountered in force, and the battle of Champion Hills was there fought. The battery suffered severe loss in this engagement, some of its best men being killed or wounded, and many of the horses disabled. About four o'clock in the afternoon the rebel line was broken, and the " chivalry" re- treated to Black River bridge, where on the following day (May 17) another battle was fought. A heavy charge drove the rebels from their works, and after burning the bridge they retreated to Vicksburg. On the 19th [18th ?] the army began the siege of that place, the Eighth Battery occupying a position on the left of Fort Hill, and nearly in the centre of the besieging army. During the siege, which lasted forty-seven days, or until July 4, Captain . Samuel DeGolyer was dangerously wounded, and afterwards died, while more than half of the men and horses were killed or disabled.

After the death of Captain DeGolyer, the command of the battery was as- sumed by Lieutenant T. W. Lockwood, but his health being very poor, he resigned in the month of August, 1863, and the command was assumed by Lieu- tenant Elliott. Early in the month of September Lieutenant Richmond was promoted to captain, and Lieutenant Elliot to first lieutenant. In January, 1864, Captain Richmond resigned, and Lieutenant Elliott was promoted to captain of the battery that he had built up from the ruin that was left after the siege of Vicksburg. The siege and sickness had most thoroughly done their work, and at the close of the terrible Vicksburg campaign hardly a man was fit to do guard duty or care for the horses.

In the month of February, 1864, the battery was with General Sherman on the Meridian campaign, and after returning most of the men re-enlisted as vete- rans, " for three years or during the war." The army left Vicksburg on the 1st of April, 1864, and proceeded by boat to Cairo, Illinois, from which place Captain Elliott was ordered to Michigan with the re-enlisted men, on a thirty-days' fur-

CALEB EVERTS.

MRS. CALEB EVERTS.

RESIDENCE OF CALEB EVERTS, ROSE TP., OAKLAND CO.,MICH .

HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

267

lough. At the expiration of their leave of absence they repaired to Kingston, Georgia, and rejoined the command early in the month of June. They were engaged under Sherman in all the battles of the Atlanta campaign-Resaca, Dalton, Kenesaw Mountain, and Marietta-and the battles near Atlanta, which took place on the 20th, 22d, and 28th days of July ; also at the engagement at Jonesboro', south of Atlanta, September 1, 1864. On the evacuation of Atlanta the battery was ordered to report at Chattanooga, at which place it arrived early in November. From thence it was sent by rail to Nashville, arriving there just in season to take part in the fight with the rebel General Hood's army, December 16 and 17.

Up to the Atlanta campaign Captain Elliott had been strong and healthy, but after it his health entirely failed him, and on the 27th day of December, 1864,

his term of enlistment having expired, he was mustered out of the service. He reached his home in Michigan on the 5th of January, 1865, ruined in health and broken in constitution, and from the effects of the exposure and hardships to which he was subjected he has never fully recovered. Since the war he has been engaged in farming, and has given considerable attention to breeding merino sheep.

In the fall of 1870 he was nominated on the Republican ticket for repre- sentative in the legislature from the first district of Oakland County, and was elected.

Mr. Elliott is a man universally esteemed by those who know him, and they are the best judges who have longest been acquainted with him, of his true worth in the community of which he is a member.

SOUTHFIELD TOWNSHIP.

THIS township lies upon the base-line between Farmington and Royal Oak, and has Bloomfield for its northern boundary. Its surface in the north portions is rolling, but grows more level towards the south. Upon these more level parts the original forest was heavier and denser, while the parts which are more rolling were also more open.

The waters of the township are the east and west forks of the Rouge, which enter it respectively on sections 2 and 6, and join on the northwest quarter of 16, forming the main stream, which flows in a very meandering course, and leaves the township at the southeast corner of section 32; Dry run, which rises in the springs of the northeastern part of the town, and leaves it from section 33; and Lee's creek, which has its sources in Farmington, and in the northwestern part of Southfield, joining the main Rouge in the southeast quarter of section 30.

There are the usual signs of ancient Indian occupation, but no indications that this was ever one of their great central points, or the seat of any of their perma- nent villages, though there are those living who recollect small patches of maize and irregular clusters of neglected apple-trees on sections 9 and 30, particularly in the former, where now is the farm of Mr. Brooks ; there was also an Indian sugar-orchard there. These sections were originally laid off as Indian reserva- tions, but upon the admission of the State they were disposed of in the usual way for the benefit of the educational fund, and the Indians were reimbursed in the form of annuities.

FIRST ENTRIES AND SETTLEMENTS.

The earliest entries of lands in the township were made in the year 1821. The first was by John Wetmore, in May, and a little later in the same year were those of John Monteith and Peter Desnoyer, non-settlers; Desnoyer being a French merchant in the city of Detroit, who probably never saw the lands he entered.

The first actual settler in Southfield was, beyond a doubt, John Daniels, who came in the year 1823, and commenced work on his land, in the southwestern quarter of section 4,-now the farm of John C. Daniels,-then went east for his family, with whom he returned early in the following spring; and with him also came Martin Lee and William Lee, Edmund Cook, and George White. The Lees located on section 18; Cook settled on the southeast quarter of section 7, where now is the farm of Robert Johnson, but afterwards removed to Ohio, where he died. White settled on section 18, near the Lees. On reaching his land, his entire movable effects consisted of a wife and five children, a barrel of pork, a bag of dried apples, and fifty cents in money. Notwithstanding which, by the exercise of industry and frugality he became reasonably prosperous, and lived for more than a half a century after his settlement, filling public offices and gaining the confidence and respect of his neighbors and townsmen. He died in 1875, at the age of eighty-two years.

In the same season, and at very nearly the same time, came Dillucena Stough- ton and Eli Curtis. Stoughton purchased the east half of the northeast quarter of section 6, now comprehending the eastern part of the village of Franklin. Mr. Curtis purchased on sections 3 and 4; his house being erected in the northeast corner of 4. His pecuniary circumstances were better than those of most of the first pioneers, and from the capital which he brought he reaped the full measure of the advantage which capital is sure to command, particularly in a new country. About 1840 he became a convert to the doctrine of " Millerism," and removed to the city of New York, where he was engaged in the publication of a

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History of Oakland County, Michigan, with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, palatial residences, public buildings, fine blocks, and important manufactories, Part 80

Author: Durant, Samuel W Publication date: 1877 Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts & co. Number of Pages: 553

Author: Durant, Samuel W
Publication date: 1877
Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts & co.
Number of Pages: 553