USA > Michigan > Lenawee County > Illustrated history and biographical record of Lenawee County, Mich. > Part 13
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HON. JOEL CARPENTER was born at Potsdam, St. Law- rence County, New York, September 3, 1818. He was a brother of the late Guy Carpenter and of David Carpenter. He was a direct descendant from the Carpenters of Surrey, England, through William Carpenter, who settled near Rehoboth, Massachusetts, in
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1638, and whose great-great-grandson, the Rev. Ezra Carpenter, of Swanzey, New Hampshire, born at Rehoboth in 1698, was the great- great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch. His great-grand- father was Greenwood Carpenter, of Swanzey, New Hampshire, for many years high sheriff of Cheshire County. His grandfather, William Carpenter, whose wife was a daughter of the Rev. Clement Sumner, of Keene, emigrated to St. Lawrence County, New York, in 1806, and died at that place in 1843, in the ninety- second year of his age. Joel Carpenter lived with his father on the family homestead until his eighteenth year, when he entered St. Lawrence Acad- emy, where he attained an or- dinary English education. September 15, 1838, at the age of twenty, he left his father's house and arrived in Blissfield, Lenawee County, September 23. During the winter of 1838-9 he taught a district school near the present village of Deerfield, in this county. On the 10th day of June, 1839, he entered the office of Halsey & Greenly, in Adrian, the county seat, as a student Hon. Joel Carpenter. at law. He was admitted to the bar April 9, 1842, Justice Fletcher presiding at the court. Octo- ber 12, 1842, he married Miss Theodocia A. Carpenter, youngest daughter of the late Dan Carpenter, of Potsdam, New York, and returning to Blissfield he opened a law office at that place in the winter of 1842-3. He buried his young wife December 7, 1843. December 25, 1844, he married his second wife, Minerva L. Mead, daughter of Hon. Darius Mead, of Blissfield. Three children were born to him by this wife: Clement D., born March 23, 1848; Carrie F., born August 6, 1850, and Minerva E., born February 24, 1852, and died March 18 of the same year. His son, Clement D., is a lawyer, of Toledo, Ohio. His daughter, Carrie F., died at Blissfield, February 16, 1891. Minerva L. Carpenter, his second wife, was born at Lanesboro, Massachusetts, August 3, 1823, and came with her father to Blissfield in 1833. She died March 12, 1852. In April, 1850, in company with his brother, David Carpenter, he went into the mercantile business, and two years later, having bought out his brother, he formed a co-partnership with his brother-in-law, the late Marvin L. Stone, in the same business, and after Mr. Stone's
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death, July 24, 1854, he carried on the business alone until the fall of 1858, when he sold out and again opened a law office. September 1, 1859, he married his third wife, Miss Lucy M. Gilmore, daughter of Asa Gilmore, of Tecumseh, by whom he had one child, Guy D., born September 23, 1861, and who died March 4, 1864. Lucy M., his third wife, was born at Tecumseh, January 28, 1838, and died Octo- ber 1, 1861. January 14, 1864, he married his fourth wife, Miss Esther C. Newton, daughter of Ezra Newton, of Blissfield. She was born at Blissfield, May 24, 1833. Mr. Carpenter has held many positions of trust and honor from the people. He has been super- visor and postmaster of Blissfield, enrolling officer and deputy United States assessor during the Rebellion; was State Senator for two terms, beginning January 1, 1859. He introduced and secured the passage of the first general insurance law ever adopted in this state, under which himself and the late Royal Barnum, of Adrian, organ- ized the Michigan State Insurance Company, of Adrian. He was a warm Republican in politics, and was always a strong anti-slavery man. He attended, as a delegate from Michigan, the great Free Soil convention, held at Buffalo, August 9, 1848. He was also a delegate to the celebrated convention held "under the Oaks" at Jackson in 1854, which first organized and named the Republican party, and was one of the delegates-at-large to the Republican national convention in Chicago, in 1880, that nominated Garfield. He died at his home in Blissfield, January 22, 1891.
ROBERT S. MORELAND was born in Adrian, Mich., Febru- ary 8, 1854. His father, James Moreland 3d, was born in Dromara, County Down, Ireland, February 14, 1816, where his father, James Moreland 2d, and his grandfather, James Moreland 1st, owned a farm and lived and died. The wife of James Moreland 1st was Ann Scott, who was born and died in the same county. The ancestors of the Moreland family fled from Scotland during the religious perse- cutions. The Morelands were inhabitants of the Moorlands of Scotland, hence the name Moreland, as distinguished from the Highlands. James Moreland 2d, in 1788, married Miss Margaret Curry and six children were born to them, the youngest of whom, Samuel Moreland, settled in Somerset, Hillsdale County, Mich., and died there, May 20, 1881. Mrs. Margaret (Curry) Moreland died in 1804, and about two years subsequently Mr. Moreland 2d married Miss Fanny Magee, and six children blessed this union, James Moreland 3d being the third son and fifth child. Mrs. Fanny (Magee) Moreland was born in Antrim County in 1780. Her father, John Magee, was of Scotch extraction, whose ancestors were among the first of the dissenters to flee from Scotland, settling on an
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island called Island Magee, which island derived its name from this family. James Moreland 2d died on the farm where he was born, in 1828, and his wife, Fanny Moreland, died there in 1842. James Moreland 3d lived in Ireland until 1837. He learned the weavers' trade, but upon going to Scotland he found employment in a large
Residence of Robert S. Moreland, No. 15 Front street, Adrian.
iron smelting works at Dalry, where he remained until the spring of 1841, when he came to America, landing at Quebec July 1. He came to Michigan in November, 1843, and in the spring of 1844 settled in Adrian, where he resided until 1863, when he moved to Hudson, this county, May 30. In 1849 James Moreland 3d married Miss Ann Stephenson, daughter of William and Martha (Small) Stephenson, of County Monaghan. Ireland, and four children were born to them, as follows : Fannie Jane, born in Adrian, April 21, 1850; Robert S., born in Adrian, February 8, 1854; James H., born in Adrian, February 19, 1857; William T., born in Hudson, Mich., July 7, 1864. Mrs. Ann Moreland was born in County Monaghan, Ireland, in 1829, and died in Hudson, this county, January 1, 1871. She was a sister of the late Dr. Robert and John Stephenson, and came to
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America with them in 1847. Robert S. Moreland, the subject of this sketch, was educated in the public schools of Adrian and Hudson, and attended Eastman's Business College at Poughkeepsie, N. Y. In the fall of 1870 he accepted a position in John K. Boies & Co.'s general store, in Hudson, as bookkeeper and cashier. He held this position until the spring of 1873, when he went to Chicago as book- keeper for the wholesale grocery firm of Boies, Fay & Conkey. He remained there for about six months, when the late M. E. Chitten- den, who was then engaged in the wholesale oil and tobacco business in Adrian, offered him the very desirable position of manager of the office business of the firm of M. E. Chittenden & Co. After a service there of eight years, a co-partnership, since known as Moreland Bros. & Crane, for carrying on the business of jobbers of oils, tobacco and cigars, in the city of Adrian, was organized, which firm is still doing a prosperous business, and is one of the solid com- mercial enterprises of Adrian. The firm originally consisted of R. S. Moreland, J. H. Moreland and Eugene W. Crane. The original firm existed until April 14, 1895, when James H. Moreland died. For business reasons the firm name has never been changed, and is con- tinued by the surviving partners. In the spring of 1884 Robert S. Moreland accepted the position of secretary and treasurer of the Musselman Tobacco Company, of Louisville, Ky., without relinquish- ing his interest in the Adrian firm. He remained in Louisville four years at a lucrative salary, but returned to Adrian in 1888, and resumed his duties with the successful firm that he helped to estab- lish, since which time he has given his entire attention to the busi- ness in Adrian. Moreland Bros. & Crane's business extends through Southern Michigan, Northern Ohio and Indiana. Robert S. More- land is vice president of Waldby & Clay's State Bank, treasurer of the Adrian Building and Loan Association, one of the really pros- perous institutions of the city. He is also vestryman of Christ (Episcopal) Church, of Adrian. November 14, 1873, he married Miss Ella J. Dickinson, daughter of Dr. Julius C. and Phoebe (Tabor) Dickinson, of Hudson, Mich., by whom he has had three children, as follows: Fred L., born March 9, 1876, married Miss Irene Morgan, daughter of Dayton B. and Julia (Morrison) Morgan, of Adrian, February 22, 1899, and they have two children, Charles Tabor and Helen I .. both born at Montgomery, Alabama. Anna L., born Octo- ber 18, 1877, died April 18, 1898, at Sea Breeze, Florida, and was buried in Oakwood, at Adrian. Jennie M., born July 11, 1879, married Charlas M. Smith, of Montgomery, Alabama, June 5, 1900, where they now reside. They had one child, Robert Milton, born August 15, 1901, died November 6, 1901. Mrs. Ella J. Moreland was born in Hudson, Mich., August 8, 1851. Her parents were pioneers of the Bean Creek Valley, and her father was one of the first physicians to settle in that part of Lenawee County. He was born in Potsdam, N. Y., August 10, 1821, and graduated in medicine from a Cleveland college in 1846, died at DeLeon Springs, Florida, March 12, 1893,
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and is buried in Oakwood, Adrian. His father was Anson Dickin- son, and his mother was Miss Eliza Carpenter, both being natives of New York. Dr. Julius C. Dickinson settled in Hudson in 1848, as a physician. He married Miss Phoebe J. Tabor, March 22, 1848, daughter of Thomas and Abigail (Drew) Tabor. She was born in Bradford, Vermont, July 31, 1824, came to Michigan with her parents, and settled in Adrian in 1837. James H. Moreland 3d, third child of James and Ann Moreland, was born in Adrian, February 19, 1857. He was educated in the public schools of Adrian and Hudson, Mich., and at the age of nineteen commenced the study of medicine with his Uncle, Dr. Robert Stephenson, of Adrian, Mich. After a year's study he deserted the Esculapian followers and entered upon a commercial career, the successful outcome of which indicated that his choice of vocation was a happy one. At the age of twenty- one he entered the employ of M. E. Chittenden & Co., and from a small beginning advanced himself with this firm to the position of traveling salesman, building up and controlling a very large trade throughout the territory in which he traveled. It was through his standing as a business man of honorable methods, coupled with his sympathetic and genial qualities, that enabled him to transfer the trade that he secured to the establishment of the firm of Moreland Bros. & Crane. On February 16, 1882, he married Miss Susie B. Treadwell, only daughter of Chauncey and Marcia Treadwell of Wheatland Township, Hillsdale County. One child was born to them, Robert T. Moreland, January 8, 1889, the mother yielding up her life for the birth of her baby, eight days after, January 16, 1889. James H. Moreland died April 14, 1895. He was the victim of an accident, which, through the severity of the injury, necessitated the amputation of his limb. The injury had progressed to a point where medical science was powerless to aid him, and he passed away at Asheville, N. C., where he was removed in a hope that the change might benefit his condition. Fanny J. Moreland, first child and only daughter of James and Ann Moreland, was born in the City of Adrian, April 21, 1850. She was educated in the public schools of Adrian and Hudson, Mich., and after graduation, became a teacher, which vocation she has successfully followed for a number of years, being now employed in the public schools of Adrian. William T. Moreland, fourth child of James and Ann Moreland, was born in Hudson, July 7, 1864. He was educated in the public schools of Hudson and at Eastman's Business College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Upon the establishment of the firm of Moreland Bros. & Crane, in July, 1881, he was employed by this firm as shipping clerk. He has remained with this institution, advancing through the different po- sitions; and at present is in charge of the oil and gasoline depart- ment. On May 11, 1899, W. T. Moreland married Miss Carrie E. Sword, only child of Mr. and Mrs. E. C. Sword of Adrian, Mich. One child blessed this union, Edwin Stephenson Moreland, being born in Adrian, Nov. 2, 1900.
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WILLIAM ALLEN UNDERWOOD, oldest son of Daniel Kings- ley Underwood and Maria Agnes (Mitchell) Underwood, was born at Adrian, Michigan, November 16, 1846. He was educated in the public schools at Adrian, and finished his preparatory course for college at Williston Seminary at Easthampton, Mass. In the fall of 1863 he entered Yale College as a freshman, and remained through his fresh- man and part of his sophomore year, when he returned home, and the following autumn en- tered the University of Michi- gan as a sophomore and re- mained during the sophomore and junior years. He was very anxious to go into business, and at his earnest solicitation his father permitted him to leave college at the end of the junior year, but would not hear of his entering into any busi- ness, insisting on his becom- ing a lawyer. The result was, that he entered the office of Eldredge & Walker, in Adrian, . as a student in the summer of 1867, and went to the Law School at Ann Arbor in the fall of that year. After being there a time he determined William Allen Underwood. that he could not to the best advantage carry on his studies at Ann Arbor, for some reasons which seemed to be well known to himself. After consultation with his father, he returned to Adrian and again entered the office of Eldredge & Walker in January of 1868, and remained there until September of 1868, when he entered the Law School at Albany, New York, taking the full course, grad- uating there in 1869, and there being admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of the State of New York. After graduating he re- turned to Adrian and during the next few months continued his stud- ies in the office where he had previously been. He was admitted to the bar at Adrian, and then for a short time took up his residence in Chicago. While in Chicago he became ill, and for several months was able to do but very little, with the result that he returned home and after a few months entered the office of the late Consider A. Stacy as a clerk. This was in 1871. He remained with Judge Stacy as a clerk for two years, and then entered the firm, composed of Judge Stacy and his son Scoville, and upon Scoville's retiring in 1876, a new firm was formed called Stacy & Underwood, which con- tinued until sometime in 1879, when it was dissolved and Mr. Under-
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wood began business for himself. He continued by himself until the fall of 1881, when he entered partnership with the late Seth Bean and the firm was called Bean & Underwood. This continued until some time in 1884, when the Hon. Victor H. Lane was admitted to the firm and the firm became Bean, Underwood & Lane, and so re- mained until the 1st of July, 1885. In 1874 Mr. Underwood was ap- pointed by the late Chief Justice Waite of the United States Supreme Court, to be Register in Bankruptcy for the Second Congressional District of Michigan. He continued to hold this office until the spring of 1876, when he resigned, and in the fall of that year was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Lenawee County, and was re-elected in 1878. In 1884 Mr. Underwood was one of the two delegates from the Second Congressional District of Michigan to the National Re- publican Convention at Chicago. During the last three or four years previous to 1885 Mr. Underwood had been developing, in addition to his legal practice, a business for people in the East throughout the West, and that took such a course that he was solicited by some of his clients to establish himself in Detroit, as being a better place from which to carry on that class of business. The result was that in July, 1885, he moved to Detroit and entered into partnership with Henry M. Cheever, Esq., of the Detroit Bar. This partnership lasted for only seven months, when it was dissolved and Mr. Underwood started in business for himself. His stay in Detroit, however, was comparatively short. He then removed East, remaining a short time in Boston, and finally, in 1889 settled in New York. In 1891 he opened a law office there, where he still continues as a member of the firm of Underwood, Van Vorst & Hoyt. In 1870 Mr. Underwood married Miss Virginia Garland Deas, a daughter of the late Col. Geo. Deas of the United States Regular Army, and his wife, Mrs. Eliz- beth Garland Deas. Two children have been born to them-Eliza- beth Garland Underwood and Ethel Virginia Underwood, both born in the old Underwood homestead at the corner of Broad and Church streets in Adrian, being the same house where Mr. Underwood was born-both of whom are still living. In this connection it may be of interest to say that this house was begun by Dr. Underwood pre- vious to his marriage, and he and his wife began housekeeping there. Both their children were born there. Dr. and Mrs. Under- wood both died and were buried from there. Both of Mr. William A. Underwood's children were born there, and from that house Mr. Underwood's only brother, Charles, was buried.
ALFONSO R. TAYER was born in Clarkson, Monroe County, N. Y., May 5, 1835. His father, Gersham R. Tayer, was born in Stephentown, New York June 28, 1793, and when young learned the blacksmith's trade. About the year 1815 he married Delia D. Perry, who was born in Rhode Island, May 10, 1796. About this time
-
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he removed to Clarkson, Monroe County, N. Y., where he established a shop for forging out plowshares to be used in excavating and con- structing the Erie Canal. He resided there until the fall of 1835, when he came to Michigan and located on Section 5, in Madson. The land had not been improved enough to produce sufficient to sup- port his family, and he erected a blacksmith shop and did a great deal of much-needed work for the settlers. He cleared up his land as soon as possible, and raised a family of ten children to man and womanhood. He erected a good dwelling and commodi- ous barns, and fenced and improved the farm to a high state of cultivation. He re- sided there until his death, Aug. 5, 1853. His wife, Delia D. Tayer, died at the old home in Madison, in October, 1876, in the 86th year of her age. Alfonso R. Tayer was always a farmer, and ran the home farm for many years. He was domestic in his habits, Alfonso R. Tayer. and honorable and earnest in all his relations of life. Sep- tember 19, 1860, he married Miss Julia F. Sword, daughter of James and Ruth Sword of Adrian, and one son was born to them, Fred S., born in Madison, October 17, 1872. Mrs. Julia F. Tayer was born in Harmony, N. Y., September 1, 1833, and died in Madison, this county, April 10, 1876. In January, 1877, he was married the sec- ond time to Miss Mary P. Sword, also a daughter of James and Ruth Sword, and one daughter was born to them; Harriet Ursula, born in Adrian, December 9, 1878. Miss Mary P. Sword was born in Har- mony, N. Y., May 16, 1837. Her father, James Sword, was a native of England. He came to the United States about the year 1817, and settled in East Bloomfield, Ontario County, N. Y. There he learned the potter's trade, and made earthenware for several years. In the fall of 1837 he came to Michigan, first settling in Rome, this county, but he removed to Adrian in 1839, and ever after resided there. He followed his trade in Adrian for some time, but finally established a brick yard, which he operated for several years, and the business is still being carried on by his youngest son, E. C. Sword. When a boy, James Sword entered the British army as a drummer boy, and participated in many great battles. He afterwards served as a sol- dier, and the last engagement he took part in was the battle of
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Orthez, fought February 27, 1814. The British army was com- manded by the Duke of Wellington, while the French army was under the command of Napoleon. His father was a colonel in the British army. October 28, 1821, James Sword married Miss Ruth Durham, and they raised a family of ten children, all born in the State of New York. James Sword was born at Margate, Kent, England, January 14, 1795, and died in Adrian in April, 1878. Mrs. Ruth Sword was born in Vermont, October 24, 1800, and died in Adrian in August, 1884.
COL. BENJAMIN F. GRAVES was born in Charlotte, Chau- tauqua County, N. Y., May 19, 1839. His father, Zurr H. Graves, was born in Onondaga County, N. Y., in 1818, and came from sturdy stock, as the family consisted of 19 children, and with one exception all made men over six feet in height. Zurr Graves' father, Waters Graves, was a giant in stature, a master builder in Colerain, Mass., and was the father of nineteen children. In early life Zurr Graves was a blacksmith, but afterwards studied law, and in 1845 went to DeKalb County, Ill., but afterwards moved to Butler County, Iowa, where he practiced until 1862, when he enlisted in the Third Iowa Battery. After serving about two years, he was wounded and so badly disabled that he was discharged from the service. He died at Panama, Shelby County, Iowa, April 11, 1893. He had a brother, Almiron Graves, who was a blacksmith, and lived to be 87 years old. He was the father of twelve boys and six girls. All his sons weighed two hundred pounds and upwards. All were blacksmiths, together with the remarkable fact that nearly every one of the eighteen chil- dren had double teeth, upper and lower, both front and back. He also had a brother, John W. Graves, of Medina, N. Y., who was one of the leading lawyers of Western New York. He was one of the eminent men of his section, and was appointed Assessor of Internal Revenue by President Lincoln. In the spring of 1838 Zurr H. Graves married Miss Alvira Fisher, daughter of Benjamin and De- light Fisher of Charlotte, N. Y., and became the parents of two sons, the youngest of whom, Roswell W., was a member of the 103d N. Y. Infantry, served about three years in the great Rebellion, and died in the service in November, 1864. Mrs. Alvira (Fisher) Graves was a native of New York, and died in Charlotte, that State, about 1880. Capt. B. F. Graves passed his early years upon a farm. His limited circumstances compelled him to enter upon the active duties of life with a common school education, leaving the high school of Sinclairville, in Chautauqua County, in 1859. For the following eighteen months he was actively engaged in lumbering in Warren County, Penn. Early in the spring of 1861 his lumber in- terests called him to Pittsburg, Pa., where he found himself in the midst of active preparations for war. Recruits were being rapidly
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enlisted, companies and regiments were leaving for their rendezvous, and on his way home via Cleveland, early in April, he enlisted in Co. G, 19th Ohio, and went with that regiment through its West Virginia campaign, participating in the battle of Rich Mountain. At the end of five months, that regiment, having completed its term of enlistment, was mus- tered out, and Mr. Graves at once entered the service again as a private in the 2d Ohio cavalry, and with that regi- ment took part in the battles of Independence, Mo., Pea Ridge, and a dozen other engage- ments that took place in South- western Missouri, Arkansas, Indian Territory and Kansas. Early in 1863 in a cavalry charge made by that regiment near Elks Mills, I. T., he was badly injured, and when the regiment returned to Columbus, Ohio, in that year to recruit, he was discharged for disa- bility. During his service with that regiment he was three times promoted for gallant conduct in action. After leav- Col. B. F. Graves. ing this regiment he again en- tered the service with a cap- tain's commission, but finding he was no longer fit for active service, he resigned and commenced the study of law. He was admitted to the bar at general term, Buffalo, N. Y., and in 1871 removed with his family to Big Rapids, in this State, where he entered upon the active duties of his profession. He was three times elected prosecut- ing attorney of Mecosta County, and held the office of city attorney of Big Rapids for three terms. He was a member of the board of education in that city and agent for the reformatory institutions of the State. He moved to Adrian in February, 1879. Since coming to Adrian, Capt. Graves has been employed in his profession, but is an active, public-spirited man, ready to help in the promotion of any enterprise that promises to aid the community. He is an enthusiastic Grand Army man, and served four terms as commander of Woodbury Post, No. 45. He was a delegate from this department to the Portland encampment in 1885. He was Judge Advocate of the Department of Michigan, G. A. R., during Washington Gardner's administration as Department Commander. In 1892 he was Member of the Council of Administration of the National Encampment at Washington. He was one of the Managers of the Michigan Soldiers' Home and
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