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 92
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The inhabitants of the islands were but partially civilized at that date, and their primitive style of dress somewhat shocked the delicacy of the females of the party; but Dr. Judd and other prominent gentlemen, together with the assistance of the ladies, succeeded in bringing about a more refined con- dition of affairs, and eventually society became greatly improved. After several years in the service of the mission, Dr. Judd was called into the service of the government, which was weak and nearly powerless to sustain itself against domestic violence and the insolence of certain foreign powers.
The seizure of the islands by Great Britain, under the direction of Lord George Paulet, and the complications with France, are matters of history. The representatives of the United States, also, pursued a very unwise course ; but through the influence of Dr. Judd, and the mutual forbearance of the various powers, the difficulties were amicably settled.
Dr. Judd filled with great credit both the positions of secretary of state and minister of finance, and during the occupation by Lord George Paulet he was concealed for some time in the tombs of the deceased sovereigns, with the valuable archives of the government in his possession, for safe-keeping from the hands of one whose predecessor did not scruple, on a former occasion, to lay in ashes the public buildings and archives of our government at Washington.
At the earnest request of the king, Dr. Judd accepted the appointment of minister plenipotentiary to the respective governments of the United States, France, and England. He was accompanied by the two princes of the royal family.
Dr. Judd was eminently successful in his mission. He was cordially received by the different governments to which he was accredited, and had a personal inter- view with Louis Napoleon, then president of the French republic, in whom he recognized more distinguished abilities as a ruler and statesman than Americans, and particularly American newspapers, were willing to accord. The two princes, Lot and Alexander, were educated and accomplished gentlemen, and were every- where well received. Together with Dr. Judd they dined with Lord Palmerston, then premier of England, and were treated with distinguished consideration both
in Europe and the United States. Their experience abroad was well calculated to give them enlarged views, and to be of great benefit to them when called to the helm of state in their diminutive and isolated island kingdom.
Upon Dr. Judd's return from Europe he came to Michigan to visit his mother, brothers, and sister, and remained a week or more in Troy. The princes accom- panied him, and, in company with Mr. Henry A. Judd, visited Orchard Lake, Pontiac, Rochester, and other places of interest in the vicinity. Many of those who participated in the pleasures of that reunion are still alive, and remember well the incidents herein narrated.
Before leaving for his adopted home in the broad Pacific, Dr. Judd made ar- rangements for his mother and sister to follow him to Honolulu, which they did the following year, making the voyage around Cape Horn, which occupied one hundred and forty-four days.
Mrs. Betsey Judd made her home at the islands for the remainder of her life, which terminated in May, 1876, in the ninety-third year of her age, after a resi- dence of about twenty-three years at Honolulu. She outlived both her husband, her son, and her son's wife, and passed away in the full possession of her facul- ties. She had lived to witness the reign and death of four kings of the Hawaiian Islands, and the beginning of the reign of a fifth.
Mrs. Dr. G. P. Judd exercised great influence over the upper and better classes of the people of the islands, and always presided with dignity when called to en- tertain persons of high degree. Mrs. Betsey Judd left one daughter, Harriet B., yet living at Honolulu, and one, Mrs. Asher B. Bates, of San Francisco. Mr. Bates was formerly a lawyer of good standing in the city of Detroit, and subse- quently of Jackson, Michigan. In later years he became attorney-general of the Sandwich Islands monarchy, and after his removal to San Francisco filled the position of register in bankruptcy.
He died while residing in the last-named city, a few years since. Another son, William P. Judd, died some years since. His remaining family are mostly in California. His oldest daughter, a most estimable lady, and beloved by all who knew her, died within the past year. She was the wife of L. C. Risdon, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, a son of Orange Risdon, whom many will recollect as a pioneer and surveyor in this part of the State.
Henry A. Judd has resided on the farm now occupied by him for nearly forty years. He and his wife, formerly Mary Ackley, are the parents of two sons and three daughters, now living. One of the daughters is married, and has one child. Mr. Judd is a thorough and accomplished farmer, a man of good practical sense, and respected by the community who know him best.
ANDREW JACKSON CROSBY.
This gentleman came from a family remarkable for its longevity. His father, Tertullus Crosby, was born February 2, 1775, and lived until September 14, 1874, having become almost a centenarian. There is a photograph of a family group in the possession of A. J. Crosby containing the picture of the father, his son, his grandson, his great-granddaughter, and his great-great-granddaughter, making five generations having a direct lineage. His father married Elizabeth Jones, who died June 29, 1839. After this his father made his home with An- drew J., and lived with him until his death, nearly thirty-four years.
The subject of this sketch was born in Columbia county, New York, June 13, 1815, and was the youngest of eight children. In 1816 his father moved to Onondaga county, where young Crosby lived until he married Lurania W. Miles, of Homer, Cortland county, New York, in 1838. Six years later, in 1844, he moved to Livonia, Wayne county, Michigan, where he resided until 1855, when he removed to Farmington, Oakland County, and from there to Troy, where he now resides, owning a fine farm on section 30, well stocked with Spanish merino sheep and Berkshire hogs.
Although not exactly a pioneer Mr. Crosby has had his share of trials, resulting from bad roads and other inconveniences attending a new country, and has con- tributed his share in the work of transforming the country to its present condition.
Mr. Crosby has been twice married, the last time in Farmington, June 25, 1865, to Mary Jane Roberts. By this marriage there was one child, Lemuel R., born September 12, 1866, and died September 24, 1867. By the first wife there were two sons,-Andrew Jackson, born September 9, 1840, and Tertullus M., born May 4, 1847. The oldest son served one year in the First Michigan In- fantry in the late war, and Tertullus served through the war as a member of the Tenth Michigan Cavalry.
Mr. Crosby is a farmer, and attends strictly to that business; but he has frequently held town offices, having been town clerk in 1852, supervisor in 1853, and justice of the peace in 1862. He has also been repeatedly urged to allow the use of his name for legislative honors, but the cares of his farm were too pressing, and have lately engrossed his entire attention.
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
297
REA-SC
Zada Hoornktan
WILLIAM POPPLETON .*
William Poppleton was born at Poultney, Vermont, in 1795. When but sev- enteen years old he removed to Richmond, Ontario county, New York, with his parents, where he was married in 1814 to Zady Crooks, with whom he lived hap- pily for forty-eight years, and in whom he found a most faithful helpmate.
In 1823 he visited Michigan, then almost a wilderness, and located from gov- ernment the west half of the southeast quarter and the east half of the southwest quarter of section 20, in the township of Troy, in Oakland County, and two years later, with his little family, consisting of his wife and two children, Orrin and Sally (aged respectively eight and seven years), he took a final leave of western New York and resolutely pushed out with a team for newer and wilder scenes, for larger and grander prospects.
In December, 1825, after thirty-two days of toilsome journey through Canada in a covered emigrant-wagon, straggling along over rough pathways of the almost unbroken forests, much of the way frozen and covered with snow, he arrived safely at his homestead, and at once, with axe in hand, began unflinchingly to fell the giant forest and to carve out a fortune and a name, with an intensity of purpose which never for one moment wavered.
Little by little he added to his first purchase,-now of the government, then of some weary and homesick settler,-until, in 1845, just twenty years from the time he had bidden his friends in the east good-by, he was the undisputed owner of twelve hundred acres of land, much of which was in good tillable condition. Upon this large tract (the most of which was in one body) he went on rapidly making im- provements, until from the dense forest of Michigan there had been made farms as fair to look upon and in as high a state of cultivation as any in the far-famed Genesee country he had so recently left. In 1856 he moved upon one of his farms adjoining the village of Birmingham, and abandoned almost entirely all personal connection with farming operations. Here in his pleasant village retreat, with his faithful partner in life, he enjoyed a well-earned repose, until her death, in De- cember, 1862. After that bereavement he seemed to lose much of the vigor of constitution which he had previously enjoyed, and, although the fire in his soul was not one whit abated, the " earthly tabernacle" was slowly but surely going to decay.
Of the confidence of the people of his township he always possessed a large share, and in all matters which affected the material welfare of his section he was first and foremost. To him the present excellent and superior condition of the public highways of the township are due ; his early interest and example in im- proving them certainly merits the commendations of the present and future gen- erations. His counsel was taken into the highest consideration, and if not in the beginning, at the end was almost invariably acknowledged to be the soundest and best. Although his education from force of circumstances was limited, still, his
indomitable energy and superior judgment frequently placed him in positions which those of far better advantages might well have been proud.
He was often in possession of the highest offices in his township, and in 1842 represented his county in the State legislature, which then held its sessions at Detroit.
His compeers were Governors Fitch, McLelland, Richardson, Barry, and many others known to the early settlers, whose names are identified with the pioneer legislature of Michigan.
He was always an unflinching and uncompromising Democrat, true to his party when in the right and the land which gave him birth.
Being the son of a Revolutionary sire, he placed a just estimate upon the value of liberty, and having been educated in the Jeffersonian school of politics, it was impossible for him to do otherwise than square every political measure with those immortal principles which, in years gone by, had brought prosperity to his country.
Mr. Poppleton was the father of seven children, two of whom died in infancy, two in ripe womanhood : Hannah E. married R. P. Bateman, and died in March, 1854; Carrie J. married Judge George B. Lake, of Nebraska, and died in Feb- ruary, 1860.
The remaining two sons and one daughter are yet living. Mr. Orrin Popple- ton, the eldest survivor, prominently known in business circles in this section of the State, of unblemished private and public character, is residing at Birmingham, where he has been engaged in mercantile business continuously since August, 1840, being, perhaps, the only merchant in the county dating that far back. He has met with far more than ordinary success,-fully illustrating the invariable rule that success is attendant upon a persistent and untiring pursuit of a single calling. The next in age, a daughter, married D. Hoxsey; is a substantial, matronly woman, and living upon a large, finely-cultivated farm in Troy.
The other surviving son, Andrew J. Poppleton, of Omaha, Nebraska, just past the meridian of life, is a man of unchanging purpose, and to contemplate whose life and character would be a just source of pride to the most ambitious parent. Having been liberally educated in a school that has given such men to e country as Seward, Dix, Wright, etc., and having adopted the profession of law for his pursuit in life, he set out, in 1851, in company with Governor Richardson, upon a pilgrimage westward, being the first to plant permanently the standard of civiliza- tion upon the farther banks of the Missouri, at Omaha, where there was not even a cabin to indicate that human life existed in all that vast prairie wilderness,-a poor spot, indeed, to gratify the high hopes and lively imaginations of youth ! But he had an unfaltering trust in the ultimate prosperity of his adopted home, and to-day he excels in rapidity of advancement, even in the city where he lives and labors, unrivaled in his profession in all that region, and known as its attor- ney wherever extends the interests of that last great work of our country, the Union Pacific railroad. In addition to these honors, following closely the foot-
# By O. Poppleton.
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HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
steps of their sire, the sons have each held the responsible and honorable posi- tions of legislators and other public trusts in their respective States.
We speak thus freely of the living, because they constitute the best illustration of industry, economy, and temperance, infused by a will with which there was not even a " shadow of turning." Such was the discipline of the elder Poppleton,- not tyrannical, but severely just ; not unparental, but dutiful ; not exacting, but keenly alive to the best interests of his offspring. He tried to cut his "jewels" -- a parent's greatest work-with a master-hand, sparing no defect, wasting no lus- tre. Far-seeing, earnest, cautious, persevering, unconquerable, was this prominent landmark and pioneer in the history of Oakland County. That he was faultless his best friends would not for a moment pretend, but while he had a few imper- fections, he possessed innumerable virtues,-virtues of such endearing and sterling quality that they challenged even the admiration of his enemies.
In his sphere he had planned great things, and successfully executed them ; where countless numbers would have failed, he has been more than triumphant. His indomitable spirit overturned every obstacle in the conflict of life; he out- rode every storm upon its troubled sea; and, having gone to his rest,-passed for- ever from the busy stage of human action,-let the faults, if there were any, be covered, that the story of more than a common career may stand as an example to the present and coming generations, beautiful and useful.
Alas ! has stern Death the old house once more invaded, Although garner'd are the buds, the bloom, and the vine ? Yet the oak which so many long years has shaded The hearthstone,-grim monster, must this also be thine ?
Oh, too true ! must the charm of the fireside be broken ; The dear ones who have met there can linger no more; For the last loving word of affection is spoken,- The greeting, the blessing, and the parting is o'er.
But, away down the future, when time shall have ended, And eternity begins its unending rounds, Shall the vase, sadly shatter'd, be cunningly mended, And the harp, all unstrung, then regain its sweet sounds.
JOSEPHUS SMITH
is a son of Hiram Smith, and was born in Genesee county, New York, March 27, 1822. At the age of seven, in September, 1829, he came to Michigan with his parents, who settled in Troy, where Josephus at present resides.
On the 27th of December, 1860, he married Jane M. Stone, of Grand Rapids, Michigan. By this union there is one child,-Harriet S.,-who is now the only member of his family besides himself and wife.
Mr. Smith is a farmer, but engages in insurance to some extent, besides hold- ing various public offices, being at present supervisor of his town. He has fre- quently been called upon to serve his townsmen in an official capacity, and is one of the foremost men of Troy.
A. C. TROWBRIDGE.
This well-known citizen of Troy is a son of Abner and Sally Trowbridge, of Painted Post, Steuben county, New York. His mother's maiden name was Cas- taline,-an English family. The ancestry of the Trowbridges is traceable to three brothers of that name, who came from Holland to America at an early day, and settled in New York and New Jersey.
The subject of this sketch is one of a family of nine children, and was born January 27, 1806. His educational privileges were limited to the common schools, which he was permitted to attend when his services were not required on the farm. He led the life of a farmer, in New York, until September, 1831, when he resolved to go to Michigan to seek his fortune in its wilds. Arriving at Detroit on the 20th of that month, he at once proceeded to Troy Corners, in which vicinity he has resided ever since. He now entered the store of E. W. Peck, where he served as a clerk several years, but always having a strong desire to return to the farm.
On the27th of February, 1836, he married Rhoda M., daughter of George Postal, of Avon township. Mrs. Trowbridge was born November 9, 1815, at Herrington, New York, and came with her parents to Michigan in 1817. After living in Detroit two years they moved to Avon, Oakland County, being among the first settlers of the county. Immediately after his marriage Mr. Trowbridge purchased a farm on section 2, which he has improved and where he now resides. Here they had born unto them a family of eight children, five of whom live to bless the aged couple who so wisely counseled and directed them to become useful men and women :
Sarah C., born May 28, 1837; married John Frank.
Charles P., born January 22, 1839; died August 2, 1839.
Lucy P., born October 29, 1841 ; died September 8, 1842.
James H., born January 10, 1843.
George W., born January 6, 1845.
Frankie E., born July 8, 1847; died January 8. 1850.
Ida M., born November 6, 1849; now Mrs. Samuel Butler. Ella J., born January 11, 1853.
Mr. and Mrs. Trowbridge are members of the Presbyterian church, and were connected with the society at Troy Corners until its dissolution.
Although not an active politician, Mr. Trowbridge has taken a deep interest in the vital questions of our government. Casting his maiden vote for General Jackson, he was a stanch Democrat until the Free-Soil movement ; then was one of the first in the town to act with that party. When the Republican party was organized he became a member of that body, and has since acted with it, although conservative in his views, and earnestly desiring the union of the North and the South.
JESSE L. AND OLIVIA P. STOUT.
Jesse Lee Stout was the son of David Stout, and a native of Tuckerton, New Jersey. He came from a family of remarkable longevity, being one of the fifth generation from their paternal ancestor, Richard Stout, an Englishman, who settled in New York city previous to the year 1640. The maternal ancestor was a Danish lady, Penelope von Princeps, who, with her family, was wrecked off Sandy Hook, where nearly all who escaped the perils of the sea were murdered by the savages on shore. The history of the early New Jersey families records the fact that Penelope, wounded and left for dead, was finally discovered and cared for by an Indian chief, who thought to get a price as a ransom from the colony in New York. After her recovery she reached her destination, where she met her future husband, Richard Stout. It is presumed that " he loved her for the dangers she had passed, and she loved him that he did pity them." At least, they married, raised a large family, and with it moved to Middletown, New Jer- sey, where they purchased a tract twelve miles square. Prior to the war of In- dependence this town contained more than two hundred persons bearing the family name. It is quite probable that most of the Stouts in the United States descended from the first proprietor of Middletown. Jesse Lee Stout was born in 1805, and when a mere child came with his parents to Ontario county, New York. He was educated at the Canandaigua academy, and in 1828 was married to Olivia Price Abbey, the second daughter of John Abbey, an early settler of the county.
In 1831 the family removed to Michigan, settling in Troy, Oakland County, upon the southwest quarter of section 9. In 1837 the eighty acres next west on section 8 were added to the homestead, and the entire original estate is still retained by the family. Mr. Stout lived to see his adopted State rise from a Ter- ritory to the position of a State, and the primeval forest change to the culti- vated field. He died at the homestead in 1874. In his character generous and unassuming, in habits strictly temperate and industrious, in his religious life con- sistent and exemplary, he illustrated the sterling virtues of a pure life, and in death he will not be forgotten.
His wife, OLIVIA PRICE ABBEY, at the date of this notice, survives him. She was born in 1805, in Ontario county, New York. A pioneer in western New York, and a pioneer in Michigan, she doubly realized the meaning of the word. To the mother, whose domain is the little world of her cabin home, the privations of early settlers are well known and appreciated. The present genera- tion will never realize how much of their own comparative ease has depended upon the fortitude and bravery that nerved that mother's heart and led her to master the adverse circumstances of early settlements.
Mrs. Stout has raised a family of four children,-three sons and one daughter. The latter, Ann Elizabeth, died in 1848, at the age of fifteen years. The sons, Byron G., William H., and Wilbur F., are at this writing all living. What they may yet do to make them worthy of mention in a history similar to this remains for the future. We may safely say that they will attain such distinction if they emulate their parents' virtues.
BENJAMIN PAGE
was born in the town of Paris, Oneida county, New York, June 6, 1813. At the age of sixteen he left his home, and at the age of nineteen he carried on the joiner's trade with George Tibbits, in Onondaga county. In 1836 he moved to Troy, Michigan, where he worked at his trade for twenty-five years, then settled down as a farmer, on the Silas Sprague place, his present home.
He was married, March 2, 1837, to Lorana Sprague, by whom he had eight children,-four boys-James, Henry, Frederick, and Charles-and four girls,- Harriet, Adelaide M., Sarah, and Adele.
Mr. Page is a prominent man in the official business of Troy, and has been justice of the peace for twenty-four years.
.
A. LITTLE-C3
JOSEPHUS SMITH.
A. J. CROSBY.
A. PARTRIDGE.
..... ...
W. CAMPBELL.
BENJAMIN PAGE.
ALFRED WINDIATE.
MRS. ALFRED WINDIATE.
Achi
D& IRR
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RESIDENCE OF ALFRED WINDIATE, WATERFORD, OAKLAND CO., MICH.
JOHNSON NILES.
MRS. JOHNSON NILES.
RESIDENCE OF GEO . H. NILES, TROY TP., OAKLAND CO., MICHIGAN.
FRANK FORD.
MRS. FRANK FORD.
RESIDENCE OF FRANK FORD, TROY TP, OAKLAND CO. MICHIGAN
299
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
LONGACTECO.
WASHINGTON STANLEY.
WASHINGTON STANLEY.
This gentleman was born in Shaftsbury, Vermont, April 22, 1807, and was the youngest of twenty-one children, of whom three sisters are now the only surviving members. At the age of seventeen he married Lydia H. Barton, of the same place. Becoming dissatisfied with working on the mountains, and feeling convinced that it was no place for a young man with a growing family, he threw his axe into a brush-pile and declared that he would not do another day's work in Vermont. They then moved to Castile, New York, where they lived two years. From this place he went to Michigan, in 1826, taking with him his widowed mother, who died at his home.
He settled in Troy, and purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, taken
LON
MRS. WASHINGTON STANLEY.
from the government by Daniel Burrows, and having on it a rude log house, covered with basswood slabs. He began the work of improving his farm with all diligence, and was prospered to an unusual degree, owning at the time of his death, April 10, 1873, four hundred acres of land, which is now owned by his children. Lydia H. Stanley died January 20, 1841.
Mr. Stanley was twice married ; the second time, in February, 1842, to Cath- arine E. Barringer, of Richmond, New York, who was born August 16, 1808, and who came to Michigan in 1838. By this marriage he had one daughter,- Mrs. Frank Ford,-who now owns the old homestead. By the former marriage he had five children, and of these a son and a daughter are the only ones now living.
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