USA > Michigan > Shiawassee County > Past and present of Shiawassee County, Michigan, historically; with biographical sketches > Part 45
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 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71
351
SHIAWASSEE COUNTY
to Michigan with his family, locating in Rush township, Shiawassee county and buying eighty acres in what is known as Rush Center on section 15. This land was in a state of na- ture, being heavily timbered. He felled the first tree ever cut on the premises. A log house was built as soon as possible, and in this the family lived several years. For nearly five months there were nothing but Indian trails for ox teams to pass over in going to Owosso. The land was cleared and fine build- ings afterward erected, making the spot one of the handsomest and best in Rush township. After the death of this good man, the chil- dren settled up the estate without the appen- dage of an administrator, without a word of dispute, even, thus evincing a commendable spirit of justice and fairness not often seen under similar circumstances, leading one to in- fer that good blood courses through the veins of this family of children. They gave their mother more than she was entitled to under the law and more than was needed to support her in good style the rest of her days. When she died, her property was also satisfactorily divided among the heirs. Leneous, a son, bought the old homestead, which he still owns. The father was a Republican in politics, but not an office-holder or an office-seeker. Our subject's parents were both members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Each spring they would be the first to organize a Sunday school, which was held in the district school-house. They were considered pillars in the church, and were most active Sunday school workers. Mr. Hook was a very temperate man, never having used liquor or tobacco in any form. He never contracted debts to any extent, and if he owed a man five cents in making change he made haste to pay it. His rule was a good one-to look out for small debts and the big ones would look after themselves. There were five children in this family, our subject being the first born; David lives in Owosso and is a carpenter ; Leneous lives in Henderson, Mich- igan, and still owns the old home farm; Will- iam lives in Gratiot county, where he owns an
eighty-acre farm. Thomas died at the age of seventeen years from the effects of an injury received while wrestling on a straw stack.
Sylvester M. Hook was educated in the dis- trict schools of Rush township and lived at home until twenty-one years old. He then bought forty acres on section 9, Rush town- ship, near his father's home, and began to clear it. He constructed a frame house in which he lived until it was destroyed by fire. The house and contents were valued at one thousand dollars, and the loss proved a very severe one. He rebuilt at once another frame house, the one in which he now resides. He was married to Augusta Jones September 26, 1878. She was born in Hudson, Michigan, September 9, 1860, and died September 17, 1895, aged thirty-five years. Her father was Daniel Jones, an early settler of Rush. He cleared his farm and made it a good one. Both her parents are now dead. Mr. Hook had three children by that marriage: Nina Pearl, born September 7, 1886, is living at home; Flossie Fern, born January 27, 1890, died at the age of six months; Walter Waldo, born December 23, 1893, died when three months old.
Mr. Hood was married a second time Feb- ruary 9, 1897, when he wedded Mrs. Carrie Myres, who was born December 22, 1863. They have three children: Inez Marie, born September 10, 1898; Harold M., born Novem- ber 27, 1900, and Christobell, born June 14, 1903.
Mr. Hook has been a vigorous and inde- fatigable worker, and his efforts have resulted in a beautiful farm, carved from a wilderness. He has been engaged extensively in fruit cul- ture. He had a pear orchard of one hundred and sixty-five. trees. It, unfortunately, was stricken with "fire blight" and had to be cut down, thus causing a great loss to the owner. One year he shipped one hundred barrels of pears to Detroit and realized three dollars per bushel. He has picked and sold as high as eighteen thousand boxes of blackcap raspber- ries in one season. A few years ago he raised
352
PAST AND PRESENT OF
a great many strawberries, and is now prepar- ing the ground to engage in their growth again. In 1902 he built a barn thirty-six by fifty feet, at a cost of eight hundred dollars, besides his own labor, and paid for it in two years. The wall of the barn is composed of stone and cement, with cement floors through- out. He is getting ready to build a fine new house. He has never owned more than the forty acres, and with the exception of one year has never farmed any other land but his own. Everything he has gained has been pro- duced from this little farm of forty acres. It is fine land, however, and under the highest cultivation. He is a firm believer in the idea that one acre properly cultivated is better than two acres not half looked after. Thorough- ness is one of Mr. Hook's mottoes, and he has made this win. In politics he is a Republican, but never has held office nor does he aspire to one. He is a member of the Methodist Epis- copal church, but his wife is not a communi- cant. She is religiously inclined, however. He is a Gleaner and has been conductor in that organization for two years. Like his father and brothers, he is strictly temper- ate, using neither liquor nor tobacco. He stands high in his township and is indeed a model citizen and a thorough farmer.
JAMES A. HOPSON
James A. Hopson is a native of Chautau- qua county, New York, where he was born November 12, 1853. He is a son of Oliver Hopson, also born in the same county, August 10, 1829. His mother, Julia (Churchill) Hop- son, was likewise a native of Chautauqua county, where she was born December 3, 1831. and died January 5, 1891. This honored couple were married October 10, 1850, in the county in which they were born. James' father was always a farmer and owned land in New York state. In the fall of 1860 his father removed to Michigan, locating in Oak- land county. He continued to live there until he located in Shiawassee county, in the spring
of 1862. His grandfather, Arthur Churchill, who had settled in Oakland county some years previously, assisted the family in securing their new home. They drove there with ox teams. At that time there were five children in the family, James being only eight years old; he drove a team and led a cow. The family lived in a vacant house two miles east while their home was being built. This was a log house sixteen by twenty-four feet, in di- mensions, with one window only. They could look up through the stove-pipe hole in the roof and see limbs of trees. For eight or ten years they lived in this house. It was then replaced by a frame building. Oliver Hopson bought eighty acres, which tract is now owned by his son James. The latter's father was one of four children ; while his mother also was one of four children. James Hopson was second in a family of seven children : Leslie lives in New Haven township; Frank is a resident of Owosso; Carrie is Mrs. James Warren, of Dakota; Nettie is Mrs. L. G. Cram, of New Haven townshp; Minnie is Mrs. George Butcher, of New Haven township; Arthur died when a small lad.
Mr. Hopson was educated in the district schools of Oakland county and New Haven township. He lived with his parents until twenty-two years old when he received forty acres of wild land, part of the old farm. This he cleared and there made a home. He was married December 25, 1876, to Ellen Butcher, daughter of John Butcher, whose sketch ap- pears elsewhere. They had one child, James, who was born January, 1877, and who is now living on a farm in New Haven township. His wife died in January, 1877. Mr. Hopson was married a second time, Feb- ruary 31, 1879, to Esther Smith, who was born in Canada. She died in November, 1887. She was a daughter of Isaac Smith, now de- ceased. He lived for many years in New Ha- ven township. Of this second marriage two children were born-Nora, now Mrs. Neal Parkinson, of Spokane, Washington, and Belle, who lives at home and is unmarried.
353
SHIAWASSEE COUNTY
Mr. Hopson married a third wife, August 22, 1888. Her name was Mary Brooks, and she was born in Oakland county, November 3, 1866. Her parents are both dead. Two children were the result of this union -- Earl. born July 30, 1893, and a baby born February 10, 1905. About nineteen years ago he re- moved to Edmore, Michigan, where he was engaged in the grocery business for two years. He then returned to his farm and now owns one hundred and twenty acres, the old farm of eighty with forty acres which he bought himself. He has lived on this place for about twelve years, and has greatly improved it by adding to the buildings, etc. He was a Re- publican formerly, but is now a Prohibitionist. He was treasurer of his township some eight years ago, but he pays special attention to farming. He has represented his party in county and state conventions on repeated oc- casions. He is a member of the Wesleyan Methodist church, and is a citizen of whom any community might justly be proud.
H. WILSON HORN
H. Wilson Horn was born in Ashland county, Ohio, June 16, 1850. He is a son of Solomon and Mary J. (Bower) Horn. The parents were both born in the state of Ohio and were married there. They reside on their farm in Shiawassee township, Shiawassee county. The father is seventy-eight years of age and the mother ,eightv-two. They were married in 1849 and came to Michigan in 1854. They purchased a farm of eighty acres in Rush township, the land being entirely un- improved. There were no roads laid out nearer than the Goss school-house, and our subject's father followed an Indian trail from that point to his land. He built a log shanty, with roof slanting one way, and in this they lived eight years. They then constructed a larger log house, in which they lived for sev- eral years, after which they constructed a small frame house. About twenty-three years
ago they removed to Shiawassee township and purchased one hundred and sixty-three acres of land, mostly improved, where they now live. At the time when they came to Rush township Indians were plentiful and our sub- ject remembers of their camping in front of his father's shanty.
Subject had seven brothers and sisters. three of whom are living. He is the oldest of the family and remembers many interesting episodes regarding the life of the early set- tlers. His father is a Democrat and has held many town offices. For several years every man in the town held an office, and they still had a minor office or two to spare. The sec- ond child, John, died at the age of thirty-six years. His wife and four children reside in Rush township. The third, Marguerite, died at the age of fourteen years. The fourth, Ann, died at the age of thirty-six ; she was the wife of William Kohlmeyer, of Rush township. The fifth, Emma, is the wife of A. Amos, of Grayling, Michigan. The sixth, Lucy, died at the age of twenty-one years. She was the wife of William Dutcher, of Owosso. The seventh, William, died at the age of fourteen years. The eighth, Rose, is the wife of De Witt Carr, of Shiawassee township.
The subject of this sketch was educated in the district schools of Rush township. He re- sided with his parents upon the farm until he had attained to the age of twenty-three years. He then purchased eighty acres of land, con- taining part of a frame house, and about two acres had been cleared. He resided here about four years clearing up the farm. He then went to the state of New York and for about nine months was engaged in peddling wares of va- rious kinds. He returned to Michigan and purchased forty acres of land, with about ten acres improved, on which he resided about one and one-half years. He then went upon his father's farm for one year.
The following thirteen years he lived upon a farm of eighty acres which he purchased and improved, in Rush township. This farm he sold, and purchased the sixty-five acres of
354
PAST AND PRESENT OF
land where he now lives. His present farm was somewhat improved when he purchased it, but he has added a barn and other buildings. painted the buildings, constructed fences, and generally improved and beautified his sur- roundings.
In 1873 he married Frances A. Leonard. who was born in Rochester, New York, April 18, 1846. She is a daughter of B. F. Leonard and Malancy (Robbins) Leonard, a highly re- spected family of Rochester. In her father's family there were five children, of whom she is the youngest. Mr. and Mrs. Horn have three children. The eldest, Solomon, born July 2, 1876, married Eva Mitchell, and they reside in Bennington township; Ada, born January 24, 1878, is the wife of William Spen- cer, of Owosso; William, born April 23, 1880. married Pearl McIntosh, and they reside in the city of Lansing.
Mr. Horn is a Democrat. He has held the office of justice of the peace four years. He has held the office of deputy sheriff for four years, and has been recently appointed for an- other term of two years. He is a member of the lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Henderson. He is principally en- gaged in general farming upon the one hun- dred and five acres of land which he owns in Rush township.
1
J. J. HOWARD, M. D.
Among the honorable vocations or profes- sions there are few indeed that offer more or better opportunities for helping humanity and blessing the race than that of the faithful and sympathetic physician. J. J. Howard, son of Timothy . and Catharine (O'Brien) Howard. was born at Ann Arbor, Michigan, May 1, 1866. The father was a native of the Em- erald Isle, having been born at Cork, Ireland. The mother, though of Irish descent. was a native of the Wolverine state, having been born in Washtenaw county.
In the year 1850, at the age of fourteen
years, Timothy Howard turned his back upon his mother country and sailed away for the shores of America, "the land of the free and the home of the brave." After his marriage he moved into Ingham county and settled upon a tract of land at White Oak, the tract being for the most part in a wild state. Im- provements were made as fast as circum- stances would warrant. The land was cleared. buildings were erected and as the years went by five young Howards came to brighten the lives of this industrious couple. The data given concerning the family are brief: Mary C. grew to young womanhood and was for some years a teacher in the public schools. She died at the age of twenty-five years. Our sub- ject was the eldest son. M. T. is deceased. W. J., a lawyer, is located at Houston, Texas, where also resides his brother, M. J. Howard, also a lawyer.
Dr. Howard received his early education at the Fowlerville high school, later attended the Michigan Agricultural College, class of 1889, and he was graduated in the Detroit College of Medicine with honor in the class of 1893. receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine. He also took a post-graduate course in the Chicago Medical School.
Feeling himself equipped for the practice of his chosen profession, May 25, 1893, he opened an office at Byron, giving strict attention to his calling and building up a fine practice. For some years he was alone, but later he entered into copartnership with Dr. Albert L. Bran- nack. While his attention has been given to general practice, diseases of the eye, ear, nose, and throat are his his specialties. October 25, 1905, Dr. Howard removed his family to De- troit Michigan, where he is engaged in the practice of his profession. His address is 671 Junction avenue.
On January 9, 1894, Dr. Howard was united in marriage to Miss Catharine, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. P. Zimmer, pioneer residents of Ingham county. Mrs. Howard was of a fam .. ily of ten children, both to her parents, five only of whom are living at this date. To Dr.
355
SHIAWASSEE COUNTY
and Mrs. Howard have been born three chil- dren-Byron, born March 22, 1896; Gladys A., born February 18, 1898, and Austin Z .. born February 6, 1901. All are at home with their parents and in attendance in the public schools.
Dr. and Mrs. Howard and their families ou both sides give loyal support to the tenets of the Roman Catholic church. The principles of the Democratic party harmonize with the views of both the Howards and of the Zim- mers back to the date of their landing at Cas- tle Square Garden, New York. While the parents of Dr. Howard have passed out of this life, Mrs. Howard's parents are both liv- ing.
Dr. and Mrs. Howard were among the best of Bryon's good citizens, and counted their friends by the number of their acquaintances.
STEPHEN M. HUBBELL
Stephen M. Hubbell was born in Northum- berland, Canada, March 4, 1853. He is a son of Samuel M. Hubbell, who also was a native of Canada, where he was born August 18. 1817, and who died January 2, 1895, on a farm in Middlebury township, Shiawassee county. His wife was Sara (Moon) Hubbell, likewise born in Canada, August 9, 1822, and died in Middlebury, April 18, 1903. They were mar- ried in Canada and lived on a farm. In 1867 they came to Michigan and settled on one hun- dred and twenty acres in Middlebury. This the father bought from George Wright. About eighteen acres of it was cleared and contained a log house and barn. At the time of his death all was cleared and under cultivation, except- ing a wood lot of sixteen acres. He built a ^large frame house and two big barns, with numerous other buildings. Samuel M. was the only son of Martin Hubble, a native of Connecticut, who removed to Canada when a young man. Samuel M. had three sisters. Our subject's mother was one of six children. His father was a Republican, but never held
office. Both parents were members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Stephen M. Hubbell is one of a family of seven children, four of whom are still living : Louisa was born October 18, 1840. The name of her first husband was Ferguson, and they had two children; her second husband is named Williams ; they live in Owosso town- ship, having had three children, Lovina, born June 7, 1844, married Edwin Nichols, and they live in Fairfield township. William Riley was born October 12, 1846, and died April 22, 1884; he was married and lived on forty acres of land, part of the old home, given him by his father. Neona, born July 13, 1848, is the wife of M. H. Campbell, of Middlebury township. Nancy, born May 14, 1851, married Thomas Ireland and died June 19, 1881. Mar- tin C., born November 14, 1856, died February 1, 1888, in Owosso.
Our subject, Stephen M. Hubbell, received his early education in the schools of his dis- trict. He afterward took a three months' term in the normal school at Valparaiso, Indiana. He has never married and may now be con- sidered fairly in the bachelor row. He seems to have forgotten the admonition of Cowper, the poet, in these words :
What is there in the vale of life Half so delightful as a wife,
When friendship, love and peace combine To stamp the marriage bond divine?
The stream of pure and genuine love Derives its current from above ; And earth a second Eden shows, Wher'er the healing water flows.
Our subject always lived at home with his parents, and since their death has inherited a fine eighty-acre farm, part of the old home- stead. He has made some additions to the buildings and fenced the farm anew, making it a splendid and valuable property. For some ten years he has been engaged in raising regis- tered Red Polled cattle. He keeps about eight cows and sells that number of calves each year for breeding purposes. For the last six years he has been agent for the American Wire
356
PAST AND PRESENT OF
Fence Company and has spent a good deal of his time on the road selling that fence. In politics he is independent, always voting for the best men, as he judges them, but he has never held office, nor has he been an office- seeker. Neither is he a member of any church, but he is enrolled on the roster of the Grange. Mr. Hubbell is considered an honorable man in his business transactions and stands high in Middlebury among his neighbors.
EDGAR HUGHES
Edgar Hughes was born in Rush township, Shiawassee county, Michigan, on the 5th of November, 1855. He is a son of William Hughes and Louisa (Ayers) Hughes. They were married in the state of Ohio and came to Michigan in the year 1854, settling in Rush township. The father purchased eighty acres of wild land, constructed the first log cabin in the part of the township where the land was situated, and started to make for himself a home from the wilderness.
It is a grand lesson for the youth of the present generation to contemplate the courage and perseverance required and possessed by our subject's father and mother, who left their home in the state of Ohio and alone, with an ox team and a lumber wagon, leaving behind them their relatives and friends and all that was dear, following mere trails for roads. through a wilderness of woods filled with wolves, bears, and other wild animals, made a trip of over two hundred miles for the pur- pose of establishing a home and getting a start in the world. Shortly after their arrival their oxen escaped and wandered far into the forest, in the direction of their old home. Our subject's father followed them, but was ull- able to find their whereabouts until late in the evening. He could not return home that night and after tying the cattle with bark which he peeled from a basswood tree he climbed up among the branches of a tree, where he slept all night, this precaution being necessary to protect him from the wolves and other wild
animals. He had a logging bee seven years after he came to Rush township, at which every man in the township, numbering eleven, was present. These are but a few of the cir- cumstances which go to illustrate the sacrifices necessary to develop a country. Yet these men found time to be patriotic, and when the war broke out in 1861 William Hughes en- listed in the army, and he died in the service of typhoid fever at Ypsilanti.
Our subject has one brother, Wheelock, living in Owosso, Michigan, and one sister, Wilhelmina, also living in Owosso. After the death of the father, the mother married Lafayette Miller, who was killed about thirty- five years ago by a tree falling upon him. There was one child by the second marriage. Cora, principal of the Emery school at Owosso.
Mr. Hughes remembers many of the inci- dents of those early days, has seen the deer feeding with the cattle and heard the wolves howl about the log cabin-door. He remem- bers of many of the men who lacked the cour- age to win, selling their claims for a jackknife and returning to places where life was easier if not so profitable.
Mr. Hughes was married December 2, 1885, to Rosa Seelhoff, who was born February 5. 1860. She is a daughter of Frederick and Augusta (Brant) Seelhoff, honored residents of Rush township. Mr. and Mrs. Hughes have three children --- Lloyd, born January 4. 1888; Blanche, born March 30, 1892, and Florence, born July 18, 1903.
After the death of his mother, Mr. Hughes purchased the interest of the other heirs in the old homestead of eighty acres, where he now resides. He has replaced the log cabin by a fine, large frame dwelling house. In 1897 he erected a large and substantial barn, and in 1900 erected a second barn on his land. In addition to the old homestead he has pur- chased an adjoining sixty, making him a fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres of land. Of the last farm purchased, about twenty acres had been chopped over. This he put in
357
SHIAWASSEE COUNTY
a state of cultivation and cleared the remain- der of the land. It is a pleasure to look at his fine farm and its improvements, but in looking we should also try to see the days of hard labor and the self-denial it has cost.
Mr. Hughes is usually aligned as a Repub- lican politically, but in local affairs exercises his judgment of the man regardless of parti- sanship. He is engaged in general farming, but makes a specialty of raising potatoes.
WILLIAM CHARLES HUME, M. D.
It gives us pleasure to chronicle the events in the career of a man whose tendencies have always been in an upward direction. We fre- quently associate chance with success, but the etymology of the word allows no such associa- tion. Success is that which crowns achieve- ment, and there must be vigor and force to achieve. He whose name heads this sketch is a successful man, not only in the practice of his profession, but also in rising to the best ideal that we have of manliness. He is en- dowed with a bright intellect, and is one who is held in the highest esteem by his friends and associates.
Dr. Hume was born in Lenawee county. Michigan, March 23, 1848, and is a son of Alonzo and Elizabeth (Hopkins) Hume, til father a native of New York and the mother of Lincolnshire, England. The father, who was a farmer, died eight years ago, at the age of seventy-six years, and the mother ten years ago, at the age of seventy-three.
Alonzo Hume settled in Lenawee county in 1830, when he bought one hundred and sixty acres of wild government land, his nearest neighbor being twenty miles away. He cleared up the farm and here dwelt until six years before his death, which occurred at Lansing, Michigan. He was prominent in political af- fairs and gave his support to the Republican party. He was for many years supervisor and also held the office of township clerk. The family were communicants of the Methodist church.
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.