USA > Michigan > Lenawee County > Illustrated history and biographical record of Lenawee County, Mich. > Part 6
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Michigan. After this campaign General Brown was again com- mended. There never was a better or more useful pioneer than General Joseph W. Brown, of Tecumseh. He was practical and thorough, generous and hospitable, shirked no duty, feared no responsibility, and commanded the respect and confidence of all citizens. He lived to a good old age at his home in Tecumseh, honored by all.
He was born in Falls Township, Bucks County, Pa., November 26th, 1793, and died in Toledo, Ohio, December 9th, 1880. His remains lie buried in the beautiful cemetery at Tecumseh.
HON. ADDISON J. COMSTOCK.
Hon. Addison J. Comstock, whose portrait is here shown, was the founder of Adrian. He came to Michigan with his father, Darius Comstock, from Lockport, N. Y., in the fall of 1825, and took up from the govern- ment six hundred and forty acres of land, upon which the city now stands. At the same time his father entered a large tract in Raisin Township, which is now occupied by Raisin Valley Sem- inary. Both immedi- ately returned to Lock- port, where they set- tled up their affairs, and the next year, 1826, came to Michigan and settled in the wilder- ness. Addison J. Com- stock, with his young wife, married in Feb- ruary, arrived at his home in the woods in July. His first work of importance, after putting up a log house, was to build a saw- mill, which he com- Hon. Addison J. Comstock. menced to operate in
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November. This sawmill was an important factor in establishing a settlement. So many settlers came in that in March, 1828, Mr. Comstock laid out and platted the village of Adrian, which was recorded in the County Register's office at Tecumseh, April 1st fol- lowing. This plat contained forty-nine lots, which Mr. Comstock then believed to be sufficient for all time, but in 1837 he added largely to the original plat. On the 4th of July, 1828, a celebration was held, the day being patriotically observed by Mr. Comstock reading the Declaration of Independence. The whole number of people, young and old, in the settlement, numbered about forty. In 1829 a postoffice was established, with Mr. Comstock as postmaster, the first quarter's receipts being nineteen cents. This same year he, with his father-in-law, Isaac Dean, built a gristmill, which was the second in the county. In 1832 he and his father projected the Erie & Kalamazoo railroad from Toledo to Adrian, a distance of thirty- three miles. This was a great undertaking, but with the assistance of enterprising men, both at Adrian and Toledo, the road was com- pleted in 1836. It was operated with horses until August, 1837, when the first locomotive was procured. This was among the earliest railroads in the nation, and was the first in the entire country west of Schenectady, N. Y. In 1836 the Erie & Kalamazoo Railroad Bank was established by some eastern capitalists, and Mr. Comstock was one of the principal stockholders. In 1837 Mr. Comstock was elected a member of the Legislature. In 1848 he was chosen presi- dent of the Adrian and Bean Creek Plank Road Company, and a good plank road was constructed from Adrian to Gambleville, Hills- dale County, the junction of the Chicago turnpike. The road was completed in 1849. In 1850 he was elected a member of the consti- tutional convention of that year. In 1853 he was made mayor of Adrian, being the first mayor elected by the people. On Sunday, January 20th, 1867, he died suddenly, at his home, in the afternoon, after attending church in the morning. Mr. Comstock was a most honorable and exemplary man, and was held in the highest esteem by every person who knew him. He proved in every way equal to the great task imposed upon himself in going into the wilderness and building up a happy community of worthy and prosperous people. He was first in every undertaking that inured to the benefit, comfort or prosperity of the county. In organizing churches and schools, and in building roads, bridges, mills, etc., he was always first with his labor and means. He gave liberally of his land for public purposes, and encouraged every laudable enterprise. He was a man of good business education, and a public speaker of much force and influence. His pioneer life was a grand success, and his happi- ness was in the enjoyment of his good work. A complete history of Mr. Comstock's life and family relations may be found in the "History and Biographical Record of Lenawee County," vol. 1.
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MRS. LAURA S. HAVILAND.
Mrs. Laura S. Haviland was born at Kitley, Leeds County, Ontario, Canada, December 20th, 1808. She was the daughter of Daniel and Sene (Blancher) Smith. Mr. Smith was a native of the State of New York, an approved minister in the Society of Friends (Quakers), and was a man of strong convictions, clear reasoning powers, and earnest and successful in his spiritual work. Soon after his marriage with Sene Blancher he removed to Canada and resided there until 1815, when he returned to his na- tive state, with his family, and settled in Cambria, Niagara County. Here their daughter, Laura S., lived until she was married to Charles Haviland, jr., November 3d, 1825, at Lockport. She became the mother of seven children, five of whom survived her. In September, 1829, Charles and Laura Haviland, with their two infant sons, came to Michi- gan and settled on a wilderness farm, in what is now Raisin Township, Lenawee County, within three miles of where her Aunt Laura S. Haviland. parents had settled four years previously. She proved a true pioneer, being among the first in every movement to better the conditions and alleviate the sufferings of settlers. She was a kind, devoted mother, a faithful, pure and loving wife. About the year 1837, she, with her husband, opened a manual labor school on their premises, afterwards known as the Raisin Institute. Her brother, Harvey Smith, sold his farm of one hundred and sixty acres, and put the proceeds into buildings. This was the first school in Michigan to open its doors to students of good moral character, regardless of sex or color. The first students were nine children taken from the Lenawee County Poorhouse, and wholly maintained by the Institute for more than one year. Her husband died March 13th, 1845. Out of this enterprise has grown the two splendid State Industrial Schools, the one for girls at Adrian and the other for boys at Coldwater. These schools are authorized by acts of the State Legislature, and maintained by the state. Aunt Laura, as she was familiarly called, spent much time at Lansing,
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during the sessions of the Legislature when these acts were passed, in laboring with members in their behalf.
She was one of the organizers of the first Abolition Society, back in the 30's; established the first "underground railroad" depot in the state, and was ever after an earnest and enthusiastic helper of the slaves in their efforts to gain their freedom. So active was she in this work that a reward of $3,000 was offered for her, dead or alive, by the slave interests of the South. But this fact did not in- timidate her in the least, and she continued her zealous efforts until the advent of universal emancipation in 1863. She was a woman of great attainments and wonderful moral and physical courage, a forceful and convincing speaker, possessing rare gifts, with a religious fervor such as few are inspired with. She loved to do a kindly act, to relieve suffering, and comfort the weary and forlorn. In 1864 she went to New Orleans as agent of the Freedman's Relief Association of Michigan, and, in distributing supplies and dis- pensing relief, learned there were three thousand Union soldiers imprisoned on Ship Island and the Dry Tortugas, in the Gulf of Mexico. These men had been sent there by an ex-rebel captain named Attocha, who, after first swearing allegiance, had been re- warded by General Banks, who made him judge advocate at New Orleans. The Government was then drafting men to fill up depleted regiments, while this traitor was decimating the ranks by sentencing men to Ship Island on the most trivial charges, for long terms at hard labor, with ball and chain attachment. Aunt Laura was at once aroused at this outrageous proceeding, and used all her craft and diplomacy in trying to unwind the red tape that made it possible these innocent men should suffer such wrong. Following desperate and fruitless efforts in their behalf, she went to Ship Island, and after a week's investigation was further shocked and horrified at learning the truth. She got at the records, copied from the books the charges that condemned these men, and returned to New Orleans. The facts and records were laid before the officers in command there, but no relief could be had-the tape could not be unwound, and three thousand innocent men were allowed to remain on the white sand, under a tropical sun, because nobody had the courage to act. She came home to Adrian. After a few days' rest, she presented the case to the Hon. Fernando C. Beaman, our member of Congress, and Benj. F. Wade, of Ohio. Within a week, she got word that Judge Attocha had been removed, and that the soldiers would be released as soon as due investigation could be made. This was one of the greatest achievements of her life. She stated the facts and pre- sented the proofs so clear and strong that quick work was done at Washington.
No woman was better or more favorably known among the loyal people in this whole country than Aunt Laura. Her fifty-three years of widowhood were devoted to the righting of wrongs, relieving of suffering, and comforting hopeless humanity. Hers was a life of .
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religious devotion, for it is only those who are impelled with such a mind, such courage, such resources and exalted piety, that can accom- plish such grand results. She was broad, noble and kindly, sweet in her disposition, reverently grand in her instincts, and was graced with modest dignity and pure womanly excellence. Her life and history should be an inspiration to every Christian woman. She made more history, and set a greater example, than any woman who ever resided in Michigan, if not in the nation. A town in Kiowa County, Kansas, and a Friends Academy, established in 1886, were named " Haviland" in honor of her life and work. At the same place a Friends quarterly meeting was also established and named after her. The picture of her kindly face adorns the walls of the academy at Haviland, Kansas, and also the schools at Adrian and Coldwater. She crossed the ocean and passed five pleasant months in England, after she was eighty years old, and was there enter- tained by the best people of the realm. Lenawee County is justly proud of this meek but practical woman. She sleeps beside her kindred in Raisin Valley cemetery. She died at the home of her brother, Rev. Samuel B. Smith, D. D., of Grand Rapids, Mich., April 20th, 1898, having attained the ninetieth year of her age. She wrote a book entitled "A Woman's Life Work," in which she details her eventful career, and records many historical events to be found in no other volume.
A modest monument at present marks her final resting place, but a strong movement has recently been instituted to secure a fund by popular subscription, and erect above her treasured dust a tribute to her memory that shall endure for coming ages.
BIOGRAPHICAL RECORDS.
The following Biographical and Family Records have been obtained by personal interviews with the subjects, or their children, and all the dates and figures are taken from family records. The greatest care has been taken in writing and compiling, every sketch being approved and pronounced correct by the parties of whom it has been obtained. They will be found as reliable as it is possible to make them.
HON. FERNANDO C. BEAMAN was born in Chester, Wind- sor County, Vermont, June 28th, 1814. His father, Joshua Beaman, was born in Lancaster, Massachusetts, and was baptized March 12th, 1769. Joshua Beaman was the descendant of Gamaliel Beaman, who settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts, with his parents, when twelve years of age, in 1635, but removed to Lancaster, the same state, in 1659. He had eight children, four sons and four daughters. Elijah Beaman was the son of John Beaman, who represented the third gen- eration from Gamaliel Beaman, and was born October 10th, 1736, at Lancaster, Massachu- setts. He married Miss Thank- ful Nichols, of the same place, in 1759. Joshua Beaman was the son of Elijah and Thankful Beaman, who were Fernando Beaman's grandparents. Joshua Beaman lived in Lancaster, Massachusetts, until 1787, when he was called out by the Gov- ernment, to assist in quelling Shay's rebellion, after which he removed to Chester, Hon. Fernando C. Beaman.
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Vermont. He resided in Chester until about 1819, when he removed to Chateaugay, Franklin County, New York, and purchased a farm, where he died, April 26th, 1829. About the year 1791 Joshua Bea- man married Miss Hannah Olcott, daughter of Timothy Olcott and Hannah Chandler, by whom he had fourteen children, Fernando C. being the sixth son and twelfth child. Mrs. Hannah Beaman was born in Windsor County, Vermont, in 1773, and died in Chateaugay, New York, March 19th, 1829. Fernando C. Beaman lived at home until the death of his parents, which occurred in his fifteenth year. At that time he had received a good common school education, after- wards working himself through Franklin Academy, of Malone, New York, teaching school seven winters and three summers. He went to Rochester in 1836, and in the following year entered the law office of Haight & Elwood, subsequently reading also with Wm. S. Bishop, a prominent member of the bar of that city. In 1838 he came to Michigan, and early in 1839 was admitted to the bar in Lenawee County, and first settled in Manchester, now in Washte- naw County, where he entered upon the practice of his profession. Later in the same year he moved to Tecumseh, and formed a part- nership with Hon. Consider A. Stacy. In 1843 Mr. Beaman was ap- pointed prosecuting attorney of Lenawee County, by Gov. Barry, and removed to Adrian, the county seat, where he resided until his death. He was twice re-appointed to this position, holding it for six years. During this time he formed a law partnership with the Hon. A. R. Tiffany, and later he became a member of the law firm of Beaman, Beecher & Cooley, composed of himself, the late Hon. Robert R. Beecher, and the Hon. Thomas M. Cooley, afterwards a justice of the Supreme Court. Subsequently Judge Cooley dropped out of the firm, the remaining members continuing until after Mr. Beaman's election, in 1856, as judge of probate for Lena- wee County, which office he held for one term. In 1871, soon after retiring for the first time to private life, he was appointed judge of probate again, to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Judge Beecher, and in 1872 and 1876 was re-elected to the same office. In early life Mr. Beaman was a Democrat of the liberal sort, and after- wards, in 1848, became a Free Soiler, and made a vigorous canvass of Lenawee County in favor of Van Buren and Adams, the presi- dential candidates of the party. In 1854 he attended the Jackson convention, which organized the Republican party, in Michigan, and was one of the vice presidents of that assembly. He was also a delegate to the National convention at Pittsburg, which met for consultation, and paved the way for the organization of the Repub- licans as a National party. The same year he served as one of the presidential electors for this state, casting his vote for Fremont and Dayton. In 1856 he was also a delegate to the Philadelphia conven- tion, which nominated Fremont and Dayton. In 1860 Judge Bea- man was elected to Congress, in the Second district, comprising Monroe, Lenawee, Cass, Hillsdale, Branch and St. Joseph Counties,
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RECORD OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
receiving 19,173 votes against 12,699 cast for the Hon. S. C. Coffin- berry, of St. Joseph. For four succeeding and consecutive terms he was re-elected. In 1862 the district was changed, Branch, St. Joseph and Cass being detached from it, and Wayne added. This was the year when the "Union" movement came so near sweeping the Republicans from their footings, and Judge Beaman only won by one hundred and ninety-two majority over Hon. E. J. Penniman, of Plymouth. In 1864 he defeated the Hon. David A. Noble, of Mon- roe, in the same district, by 2,314 majority; in 1866 he was elected over the Hon. J. Logan Chipman by 3,876 majority, and in 1868 was chosen over the Hon. M. I. Mills by 1,602 majority. In none of these years had Judge Beaman sought the nomination. Of the nominat- ing convention which convened at Monroe to nominate Mr. Beaman's successor, in 1871, J. Fred Meyers, editor of the Dennison (Iowa) Review, who attended the convention, says :
"The Wayne delegation didn't want any change, and urged the Lenawee County delegation to unite with them (they having a majority over Hillsdale and Monroe Counties) to secure Mr. Beaman's nomination, but Mr. B. stood by his previous declaration. When meeting him subsequently, we reported that if he had only given the word he would have been certainly and eagerly nominated. To this he replied that all public men wear out, sooner or later, and that it is the part of wisdom to retire while the public yet desired their services, and not to wait until their welcome was worn out. He felt that ten years of Congressional life was enough for him, and that he ought to retire voluntarily, and not wait defeat either before a convention or before the people."
In May, 1872, he was elected president of the First National Bank of Adrian, and held the position until the bank went into vol- untary liquidation. November 13th, 1879, Mr. Beaman was appointed by Governor Croswell to the exalted office of United States Senator, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Hon. Zachariah Chandler, but owing to ill-health did not accept the position, although it was one of the highest encomiums to his ability, fidelity and personal worth that could be tendered him, coming, as it did, unsought and unexpected. This is not the first time he declined to accept high official stations. Gov. Kinsley S. Bingham tendered him the ap- pointment of Justice of the Supreme Court, to fill a vacancy on the bench, which Mr. Beaman declined. When Senator Chandler was Secretary of the Interior, he tendered Judge Beaman the position of Commissioner of Indian Affairs, which was also declined. May 10th, 1841, Mr. Beaman married Miss Mary Goodrich, daughter of Ira and Fear Goodrich, of Brockport, New York, by whom he had three children, as follows: Mary A., born in Clinton, this county, March 4th, 1842, now the wife of Rienzi H. Baker ;* Elwood C., born in Adrian March 12th, 1845, died July 5th, 1846; Roscoe W., born in Adrian July 18th, 1847, died in Chicago August 31st, 1877. Mrs. Mary Beaman was born in Granville, Washington County, New York, March 16th, 1818. Her father was a native of Owego, New
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York, and died in Rochester, New York, in 1825. Her mother was a native of Vermont, and died at Brockport, New York, in 1851. Mr. Beaman died in Adrian, September 27th, 1882. Mrs. Beaman died September 15th, 1894.
*Rienzi H. Baker and Mary Antoinette Beaman were married in Adrian, November 13th, 1867. Two children have been born to them, as follows: Leslie Beaman, born February 22d, 1871, resides at home; Mary Louise, born in Adrian, October 22d, 1874, and resides at home.
R. H. Baker was born in Dexter, Washtenaw County, Mich., November 3d, 1840. His parents, Hiram and Jerusha (Sawtelle) Baker, were pioneers of Washtenaw County, and settled at Dexter in 1833. Hiram Baker was a farmer, and located government land. After clearing up his farm and putting up comfortable buildings, he engaged in the mercantile business in Dexter with Judge A. D. Crane. He was born near Gorham, Ontario County, N. Y., July 20, 1806. After a short but successful career in Michigan, he died in Dexter, March 10th, 1842, leaving a wife and three children. Rienzi, the youngest, is the only survivor of the family.
Mrs. Jerusha Baker was born near Gorham, Ontario County, N. Y., March 27th, 1807, and was the daughter of Levi and Sarah (Monroe) Sawtelle. Levi Sawtelle was born near Boston, Mass., and was a pioneer in Ontario County, N. Y., where he met and mar- ried Miss Sarah Monroe, who was born in the Wyoming Valley, Pa., and was a survivor of the memorable massacre. Mrs. Jerusha Baker died February 18th, 1867.
R. H. Baker served his country in the Union army, during the great rebellion, for about three and one-half years. He first enlisted as a private in Detroit, April 16th, 1861, in the three months' service, and was discharged at the expiration of that time, but re-enlisted July 26th, 1862, as a private in the Eighteenth Michigan Infantry, and was mustered out in August, 1865. He was promoted to sergeant and afterwards to second lieutenant. He was detailed as aid to General R. S. Granger, and was commended on several occasions for gallant and meritorious conduct.
FLAVIUS J. HOUGH was born in East Schuyler, Herkimer County, N. Y., March 18th, 1823, and came to Michigan with his parents in 1831. His father, Olmsted Hough, was born in Columbia County, N. Y., in 1797. In 1801 his parents removed to Schuyler. Zepheniah Hough, father of Olmsted Hough, was of French and English ancestry. He was a soldier in the Continental army during the Revolutionary War, and died in Schuyler in 1836. He could trace his ancestry back to Normandy, France, from which his fore-
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RECORD OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Olmsted Hough.
Flavius J. Hough.
fathers went to England in the days of William the Conqueror. Two brothers, William and Benjamin Hough, came to America and settled at Norwich, Conn., in 1680, and from these two men all families in the United States who spell their names H-o-u-g-h have descended. Olmsted Hough lived with his parents until he was fourteen years old, when he was bound out to a brother-in-law to learn the trade of carpenter and millwright. When he was eighteen he bought his time. He followed the business until 1830, when he was elected to the New York Legislature, on the "Masonic ticket," and served one term. In June, 1831, he emigrated to Michigan with his family, and settled on a farm on what was then known as " the trail road," running from Tecumseh to Saline. He was always an active, en- thusiastic Democrat in politics, being present and assisting in the organization of the party in this county. At the first state constitu- tional convention he was elected sergeant-at-arms. He was elected the first State Senator of his district after Michigan was admitted to the Union. In 1838 he was appointed by President Martin Van Buren, Register of the State Land Office, then located at Detroit, but resigned when the Whigs came into power, in 1840. In 1844 he was elected Sheriff of Lenawee County, and was re-elected in 1846. He was elected by the Township of Tecumseh to the Board of Super- visors for several terms, and was also made chairman of that body. He was a man of sterling qualities. His life was a strenuous and honorable one, being respected and highly regarded by all. He died in the village of Tecumseh, December 25th, 1865. He was twice married, first in 1820 to Miss Julia Ann Boughton, who died April
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4th, 1829. He next married Miss Mary Boughton, a sister of his former wife, who died in Tecumseh, April 25th, 1890, aged 85 years. Flavius J. Hough, the subject of this sketch, came to Michigan when he was eight years old. He lived with his parents until he was seventeen years old, and was educated in the country district schools, and three years in what was then known as the Tecumseh Branch of the State University. During the winters of 1841-2 he taught school in Raisin Township. For about ten years his princi- pal employment was teaching school. In the spring of 1842 Mr. Hough started for St. Louis, Mo., on foot. He was armed and equipped with a rugged constitution, a good education, and a reso- lute purpose to enlighten and civilize the western youth. He walked from Tecumseh to Chicago, and from Chicago to the Mississippi river. It was at Ottawa, Illinois, that he boarded a boat for St. Louis. He found that city supplied with young men of his class, all clamoring for fame and employment. He made the acquaintance of a gentleman from what is now known as West Virginia, and striking a friendly chord, he accompanied him home, going by river to Sis- tersville, near Wheeling. From here he crossed the mountains to Staunton, and then on as far south as Greensboro, S. C. Here he turned about and headed for home. He discovered that northern school teachers were not appreciated in the south, and, somewhat disheartened, he tramped back. On this trip he walked over 1,300 miles, not including his steamboat excursions. That fall he started out again, by the same conveyance, for New Orleans, but found a school to teach in Butler County, Ohio. Here he remained until 1850, when he returned to Michigan. He at once purchased a farm in Macon, was elected Supervisor in 1851, and served six terms. In 1860 he was elected Sheriff, moved to Adrian, and was re-elected in 1862. In 1863 he was appointed deputy collector of internal revenue for Lenawee County, but resigned in 1864 to accept the appointment of general agent and adjuster of the Michigan State Insurance Company, being a director and stockholder, which position he held until 1879, when the company retired from business. He is now actively engaged in a general insurance business with his son, Frank L. Hough, and is the oldest insurance man in Adrian at this time. September 25th, 1845, Flavius J. Hough married Miss Jane M. Wheeler, daughter of James and Sarah Wheeler, of Macon. Four children were born to them, as follows: James, born Sept. 2d, 1846, drowned in the river at Adrian, June 3d, 1861; Clara J., born August 3d, 1850, died in Macon in October, 1855; Emma R., born. January 7th, 1852, married T. R. Travers April 1st, 1879, who resides in Adrian ; Frank L., born July 6th, 1858. He married Miss Zoe McLain, daughter of Wilmot and Ellen McLain, and they had two children, Roy B., born at Ft. Wayne, Ind., Sept. 23d, 1886; Rudolph F., born at Ft. Wayne, Ind., December 20th, 1891. Mrs. Zoe Hough was born in Minnesota, January 26, 1863, and died in
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