USA > Michigan > St Joseph County > History of St. Joseph County, Michigan; Volume II > Part 16
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33
On September 29, 1856, Mr. Hill was married to Amelia R. Bowman of Colon, a daughter of John H. Bowman. To them were born two sons, John H. and Elisha B. John died February 27, 1879 and Elisha November 18, 1880, and, August 26, 1892, their mother also departed this life, thus leaving Mr. Hill bereft of both wife and children. As elsewhere mentioned Mr. Hill's second marriage was an event of the year 1894. Although Mr. Hill had been in ill health for a good many years and had endured great suffering, he lived to an old age, being at the time of his death, seventy-four years and eleven months old. Besides his wife and children he left to mourn his loss one brother, Thomas J. Hill and a nephew, Frank E. Hill, who had been associated with his uncle in the bank for twenty years and in whom Mr. Hill had im- plicit confidence.
An extract is hereby appended from an account given in a local paper at the time of the death of this estimable gentleman : "By his honesty and integrity Mr. Hill won many friends and was known all over the country. His word was as good as his bond. As Lawyer Stuart once said of him : 'Mr. Hill is the most refined, most dignified and most gentlemanly business man I have ever met in a country town.' He has been prominently identified with the interests of Colon for more than fifty years and his familiar countenance through the bank window will be sorely missed by the citizens of Colon for many a day to come. He was a great lover of home and family and could always be found at his own fireside, when not at his business.
"The funeral which was one of the largest ever held in Colon, took place from his late residence Saturday forenoon and was at- tended by nearly every business man in Colon, all of whom closed their places of business from 10 o'clock until noon out of respect
653
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
for their departed associate. The floral offerings were many and beautiful, which seemed most appropriate, as Mr. Hill was a great lover of flowers-in his daily life always wearing one of his favorites."
The subjects of this review are of that type of citizenship which has served to give St. Joseph county prestige in the state of Michigan. Upright and generous, always ready to give their support to any cause likely to contribute to the general welfare, never confined within the narrow walls of self-interest, it is seemly that the records of Mrs. Hill and her honored husband should be preserved in this genealogical review.
EZRA C. GRAHAM .- Having by diligence, persevering labor and thrift accumulated a fair share of this world's goods, Ezra C. Graham is now living retired from active pursuits at his beauti- ful home in Three Rivers, St. Joseph county, enjoying the reward of his many years of toil and labor. A native of this county, he was born, March 12, 1847, in Lockport township, coming from pio- neer stock.
James L. Graham, his father, was born near Sandy Hook, New York, August 10, 1807. Reared on a farm, he remained in New York state until about 1830, when, with his wife and three children, he migrated to Ohio, making the journey with teams, and taking along all of his worldly possessions. He became one of the early settlers of Mansfield, where he resided a number of years. Subsequently thinking to still further improve his fortunes by going still nearer the frontier, he made an overland trip with his family and household belongings to Michigan, locating at Long Lake, in what is now Fabius township. At that time the greater part of Michigan was a wilderness, much of the land being owned by the government, and for sale at $1.25 an acre. Deer, wolves, turkeys, wild hogs and other beasts of the forest were plentiful, while the Indians had not yet abandoned their hunting grounds. He lived in Fabius township a number of years, and in addition to farming made a specialty of breaking up new land, using a team made up of fourteen pairs of oxen. He moved to Lockport town- ship during the forties, and was there a resident until his death, in 1850, while yet in the prime of life.
James L. Graham married Elizabeth Paul, who was born, May 2, 1804, a daughter of John Paul. She was accomplished in the domestic arts, having learned the trade of a tailoress when young, and being an expert spinner and weaver. When left a widow with
654
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
a large family of children to provide for, and but small means, she earned sufficient with her loom and needle to keep the family together until the children became self supporting. She also carded, spun and wove the material from which she made the gar- ments for her household, keeping busy all of the time. She lived to a good old age, passing away December 6, 1888, aged eighty- four years. She reared eleven children, as follows: William L., born September 1, 1828; Jane Agnes, born October 30, 1830; Mar- garet Ann, born January 11, 1833; Sarah Elizabeth, born Septem- ber 21, 1834; John Paul, born August 8, 1836; Martha L., born January 11, 1838, died at the age of nine years; Mary Joanna, born November 29, 1839; Charlotte Amanda, born July 8, 1841; Emily S., born March 8, 1843; James H., born March 3, 1845; Ezra C., born March 12, 1847; and Ellis F., born March 11, 1850.
Ezra C. Graham was three and one-half years old when his father died, and six years later, at the age of eleven years, he be- gan to earn his own living, working in a paper mill for forty cents a day. He mastered the trade, and as his service became more useful to the company his wages were gradually increased until he commanded a salary of $75 a month. In March, 1864, Mr. Gra- ham enlisted in Company D, One Hundred and Forty-first Regi- ment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and continued with his com- mand, in the states of Kentucky, Tennessee and Missouri, until receiving his discharge, in December, 1864, when he returned to Three Rivers. In 1867 he went to Kent county, where he was em- ployed in a saw-mill for a year. The following two years he re- sided in Three Rivers, and in 1870 removed to Iowa, locating first in Mitchell county, afterwards going to Worth county, where he bought wild prairie land, from which he improved a farm. Sell- ing out in 1880, Mr. Graham migrated to Traill county, North Dakota, becoming one of the original settlers of Irving township. Securing a homestead eight miles west of the Red river, he began its improvement. In common with the other pioneers, he endured all of the privations and hardships of frontier life for a few years. But the tide of fortune subsequently turned, and slowly but surely prosperity waxed strong, and he, perceiving the future possibil- ities in the new and growing country, invested in real estate, buy- ing extensively in Traill and adjoining counties, and at the same time was profitably engaged in buying horses in Iowa and Minne- sota, and shipping them to Dakota. In 1903 Mr. Graham, having acquired a competency, retired from active business, and having returned to Three Rivers bought his present attractive home,
655
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
which is pleasantly located on the west bank of the St. Joseph river.
Mr. Graham married, July 3, 1866, Evelyn C. Pentlin, who was born, June 28, 1840, in Macomb township, St. Lawrence county, New York, a daughter of Willard Pentlin, Jr. Her grand- father, Willard Pentlin, Sr., was a Scotchman by birth and breed- ing, and on emigrating to the United States settled in Vermont, where he followed the trade of a molder until his death. Willard Pentlin, Jr., was born in Vermont in 1803, and there learned the molder's trade. Going to St. Lawrence county when a young man, he there met and married Serena Cole, who was born in that county, June 8, 1805. In 1852, accompanied by his wife and nine children, he came to Michigan, journeying by canal and lake to De- troit, thence to Adrian by railway. Buying land in Lenawee county, he lived there until 1869, when he settled at Three Rivers, where his death occurred during that same year. His widow sur- vived him, and lived to the venerable age of ninety-three years. Of the children born of their union, eight grew to years of matur- ity, as follows : Melissa, George W., Mary, Julia, Jane, John, Lydia, and C. Evelyn, now Mrs. E. C. Graham.
Mr. and Mrs. Graham are the parents of four children, namely : Albert W., Milton E., Mildred E. (twins), and Royce. Albert W. married L. Jean Liggon, and they have three children, Alberta, Jennie, and Edwin Cole. Milton E. married Emma Riley, and they have three children, Max, Doris, and Evelyn. Mildred E., wife of Robert Corry, has one child, Evelyn Corry. Royce lives at home. Politically Mr. Graham and his sons are all stanch Republicans.
GEORGE S. MITCHELL is one of the well known and highly es- teemed citizens of the village of Colon, where he is engaged in the jewelry business and he is a member of one of the old and honored families of St. Joseph county. He was born on the homestead farm in Colon township on the 25th of November, 1869, and is a son of Dr. Nathan and Harriet (Summereaux) Mitchell. Dr. Mitchell was of English descent and came from Vermont to St. Joseph county, Michigan, in an early day. He located in Burr Oak town- ship, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits in connection with the practice of his profession. Later he removed to Colon township, where he continued to reside until his death, which oc- curred in 1879. He was a Republican in politics, served as justice of the peace and was ever held in unqualified confidence and esteem
656
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
in the community that so long represented his home. He first mar- ried a Miss Trussell and they became the parents of three chil- dren of whom Curtis and Eugene are deceased and Sarah, a maiden lady, resides in Colon. No children were born to his second marriage and his third wife, Harriet (Summereaux) Mitchell, who was born in 1817 and died in May, 1896, was of French lineage on the paternal side and Scotch on the maternal side. Concerning the children of this union the following brief data are given,-Henry, who is a resident of Colon, married Miss Alice Nelson; the second child, a son, died unnamed, at the age of three weeks; and George S., the subject of this review, is the youngest.
George S. Mitchell is indebted to the public schools of St. Joseph county for his early educational training and when about twenty-five years of age he entered upon an apprenticeship to the jeweler's trade, in connection with which he was employed in the village of Burr Oak for eleven years and he is now engaged in the jewelry business in Colon, where he has a well equipped establish- ment. In politics he accords a stanch support to the cause of the Democratic party and he is a prominent and valued member of the Colon Lodge, No. 96, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has passed the various official chairs.
On the 5th of August, 1908, Mr. Mitchell married Miss Eliza- beth Gough, who was born on the 3rd of December, 1883, and who is a daughter of Ellis and Harriet Gough, of Staten Island, New York. No children have been born to this union.
SIMEON DUNN .- For many years widely known as a farmer, a brick manufacturer and a citizen of high repute in Fabius town- ship, the late Simeon Dunn was a native of Erie county, Pennsyl- vania, born on the 25th of September, 1820. His father, Ambrose Dunn, was a farmer and teamster of that state, who passed the later years of his life near the city of Erie, while the grandfather was an Englishman, who emigrated to this country and resided successively in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The mother (nee Jane Clossen) spent her life within the Keystone state.
Simeon Dunn reached the age of nineteen as a resident of Pennsylvania, and then located in Kalamazoo county, Michigan, then being in the third year of her statehood. The youth at once commenced the manufacture of brick in the growing community and was thus chiefly engaged until 1852, when he purchased a tract of land in Fabius township, this county, and located upon it as his homestead, at the same time continuing the manufacture of brick.
-
657
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
When he purchased the place about twenty acres were under cul- tivation, the other improvements comprising a frame house and barn. In connection with the conduct of his brick manufacture, he gradually placed the greater part of his land under cultivation and erected a substantial brick house, in which he resided until his death September 20, 1909. The maiden name of his wife was Esther Blodgett, who was born in Pennsylvania and was a daugh- ter of Ezra and Clarissa (Kibbee) Blodgett. She died December 6, 1897, mother of four children, Eliza Z., Mary E., John S. and Willis J.
WILLIAM G. SIMPSON .- Integrity of character coupled with business acumen are the principal exponents of a successful bus- iness man, and the following is a brief review of such a man, one who is respected and revered by the citizens of Mendon and Men- don township. William G. Simpson is a native son of the "Wol- verine state" having been born in St. Joseph county, May 10, 1865, and is the fourth child in a family of five, two sons and three daughters, born to Josiah and Jane (Gibson) Simpson. Of these children four are living : Mary J., wife of E. Eldridge, a resident of Mendon township, where he is an agriculturist; Sarah J., is the wife of James Ettwein, a farmer of Colon township; William G. is next in order of birth; and James A., a resident of Leonidas township, who is an agriculturist.
Josiah Simpson, was a native of the Emerald Isle, born in 1831. He was reared in his native land till the age of fourteen when he crossed the Atlantic with his parents, coming first to New York state and from there to St. Joseph county, Michigan. He was an agriculturist and a very successful man, and at his death he was a large landowner, having nine hundred acres and excellent buildings. Though virtually a poor boy when he landed in Mich- igan, by his strict economy and business sagacity he became well- to-do. In politics he was a Democrat. He and his estimable wife were members of the United Presbyterian church. He died in 1897, and his wife, who was also a native of Ireland where she was born in 1822, died in 1908.
William G. Simpson of this sketch was reared as a farmer's boy, and received a good practical education in the common schools and at Mendon high school, and also a full business course in Parson's Business College at Kalamazoo. In 1906 he came to Mendon and in the following year he entered into partnership with Sidney Severance in the hardware business which partnership
658
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
existed for two years, when Mr. Simpson purchased his partner's interests. He has a staple line of shelf hardware and the volume of business he does amounts to $12,000 to $15,000 annually. A gentleman of fine business ability and character he has now, by his upright dealings, the full confidence of the people. He wedded Miss Mattie Leiser November 7, 1894, in Mendon township. Mrs. Simpson is a St. Joseph county girl, having been educated in the common schools and being a graduate of the Centerville high school. She has also received both vocal and instrumental musical instructions. Mr. and Mrs. Simpson are members of the Metho- dist Episcopal church at Mendon and she is one of the faithful teachers in the Sunday-school. Her parents, Abraham and Sarah (Leimbach) Leiser are both living and of venerable age. They reside in Mendon. Mr. Leiser, the father, was born in Pennsyl- vania and was an agriculturist. He served three years as a soldier in the Rebellion and received his honorable discharge. His wife is also a native of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Simpson politically is a Democrat and cast his first pres- idential vote for Grover Cleveland. He has been often chosen to represent his township at county conventions. Officially he served as highway commissioner and justice of the peace for a number of years and also was a member of the town council at Mendon. He was a member of the library board and assisted in establishing the beautiful Carnegie library in Mendon. Fraternally he is a member of the A. F. & A. M. at Mendon. Besides his hardware business he has a splendid farm of eighty acres with excellent im- provements in Nottawa township and owns a beautiful brick resi- dence on Main and Pleasant streets in Mendon. Mr. Simpson began in business but a few years ago and has met and is still meet- ing with signal success and he possesses the attributes of a sound and strict business man.
WILLIAM B. TOMLINSON, who has resided at Colon for nearly a quarter of a century as a progressive figure in its building in- dustries and its business activities, is now one of its leading mer- chants and public spirited citizens. He is a son of Orson and Jane A. (Kennedy) Tomlinson, and was born July 9, 1859, in Colon township, about a year after his parents had come hither from Orleans county, New York, where they were born. Later, for a year, the family resided in Illinois, returning then to Colon where the father purchased a farm of sixty acres west of the village, where he spent the remainder of his life. Orson Tomlinson was a
659
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
man of varied and decided abilities. He conducted his farm prac- tically and successfully ; was widely read, an original thinker and a ready speaker and writer. When he first came to the township he served as superintendent of schools and was on the board of examiners for teachers. He was a leader in the local Grange; was reporter for a Three Rivers paper; author of a book en- titled "The Origin, Growth and Tendencies of Education in the United States," and in numerous other respects a citizen whom the community admired and honored.
Seven children were born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Orson Tomlinson. Leona Electa, the first, was born October 16, 1846; is now the wife of Daniel B. Wagner, lives on a farm about a mile and a half from Colon, and is the mother of six children, of whom five are alive. Dina Maria, born January 30, 1849, is living in Michigan, the childless widow of Charles Wilkinson, a former grocer of Colon. Ellen Jane, the third child, was born April 19, 1851, first married Perry Russell, of Manistee, Michigan, by whom she had three children, and, as his widow, wedded William Wendt, a leading lumberman of that place, who is now engaged in the same line of business at Vancouver, British Columbia. Mrs. Wendt's husband is not only a successful lumberman, but deeply interested in all historical work and researches. Orson Charles, the fourth to be born to Mr. and Mrs. Orson Tomlinson, is now an architect of Colon, his birthday, October 11, 1853. He has never married. Minnie Caroline, his younger sister, was born January 24, 1857, and is the wife of William Wildt, of Homer, Michigan, and mother of four children. William B., of this sketch, was the next to be added to the paternal household, and Lucy Amanda, the seventh, was born May 20, 1865, and died in Colon township, unmarried, February 12, 1885.
William B. Tomlinson was a sturdy youth, well educated for one of his day and place, when, at the age of nineteen, he com- menced to work by the month and to teach winter terms of school. He married when twenty-four and for a number of years there- after was employed by neighboring farmers. His next move was to settle in the village of Colon and engage in carpentry and slate roofing for a couple of years. Thereafter, until 1900, he was as- sociated with his brother Orson in the lumber business, since which year he has successfully conducted it alone. Mr. Tomlinson has been of great public service to the community in the man- agement and improvement of its educational system, having served as an active school inspector and member of the board of
660
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
education for the past fourteen years. His marriage to Miss Delia Stailey occurred January 2, 1884, his wife having been born Feb- ruary 28, 1858, at Bronson, Michigan, daughter of Andrew and Catherine Eberhard Stailey, Pennsylvanians by birth and early residence. Two sons were born of this union: Cecil Burr, born October 4, 1887, who is unmarried and living at home, his father's business associate ; and Frank, who died when only three months of age.
JOSEPH FARRAND has been a resident of Colon since 1875 and is a representative of one of the honored pioneer families of St. Joseph county. The lineage in the paternal line is traced back to stanch French-Huguenot stock, the family having been early founded in the state of New York. Mr. Farrand was born in Elmira, Chemung county, New York, on the 5th of May, 1837, and is a son of James Harvey and Fannie Little (Smith) Farrand. Joseph Farrand, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, is sup- posed to have been born in either New Jersey or New York and he came to St. Joseph county, Michigan, soon after the admission of the state to the Union. He secured a tract of wild land on the St. Joseph river and contributed his share to the industrial and civic development of the county. He here continued to maintain his home until his death and was actively interested in public affairs of a local order though he never sought political prefer- ment. James H. Farrand became a successful lumber man and was one of the prominent and influential citizens of Chemung county, New York, at the time of his death, which occurred in 1842, at which time he was about thirty-two years of age. His wife, who was born about the year 1804, in Elmira, New York, died in that place when about eighty-two years old. Both were members of the Presbyterian church and he was a Whig in politics until the organization of the Republican party, when he identified himself therewith and he continued an ardent supporter of its cause during the remainder of his life.
Joseph Farrand is indebted to the common schools of his native state for his early educational discipline. He was for a number of years engaged in railroad contracting and in this connection he was employed by the government in railroad construction work, in the south, during the Civil war, having spent the greater portion of the time in the state of Virginia, and having had charge of six hundred men attached to the Army of the Potomac of the U. S. Construction Corps. He witnessed the battles of Fair Oaks and
!
RESIDENCE OF MR. AND MRS. JOSEPH FARRAND COLON, MICHIGAN
663
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
Fredericksburg and he rendered most efficient service in support of the Union during that climacteric period of its history. In 1875 Mr. Farrand located on a farm southwest of the village of Colon and since 1900 he has resided in the village. He is a stock- holder in the Lamb Knit Goods Company, is also a stockholder in the local banks and has always maintained the attitude of a liberal and progressive citizen and he is a stockholder in the Colon Mills, taking a deep interest in all that touches the welfare of the community. He is a Democrat in his political allegiance, has served as a member of the village council of Colon and also as a director of the St. Joseph County Agricultural Society. He is affiliated with Colon Lodge, Free & Accepted Masons and is a member of the Colon Chapter. Mr. Farrand has been a great lover of fine horses and at different times has owned standard bred stock of the best type. At one time he was owner of the pacer, "Silver Maker," with a record of 2:11. He now owns "Frank Arney," who has a record of 2:20, and Mr. Farrand finds much pleasure and diversion in connection with turf events.
In 1900, Mr. Farrand was united in marriage to Miss Lillian Clement, who was born and reared in St. Joseph county and who is a daughter of Sylvester and Corinth (Legg) Clement. Her father was a successful farmer and stock-dealer and was espe- cially interested in the breeding of high grade horses. Both he and his wife continued to reside in St. Joseph county until their death. Mr. and Mrs. Farrand have no children.
DANIEL W. FEAS .- A man of sterling worth and integrity, Daniel W. Feas fought bravely for his country during the Civil war, and has since been equally as faithful in the performance of his duties as a loyal citizen. He has been actively identified with the industrial interests of Three Rivers for many years, and is well known as one of the successful farmers of Fabius township. He was born, June 29, 1837, in Berks county, Pennsylvania, which was likewise the birth place of his father, Samuel Feas, and the county in which, it is supposed, his grandfather, Henry Feas, spent his entire life.
Learning the trade of a cooper, Samuel Feas followed it in Pennsylvania until 1849, when with his wife and family, which then consisted of six children, he moved to Sandusky county, Ohio, where he lived for two years. Coming from there to Mich- igan in 1851, he located at Three Rivers, St. Joseph county, where he was employed as a cooper until his death, at the age of sixty-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.