USA > Michigan > Shiawassee County > Past and present of Shiawassee County, Michigan, historically; with biographical sketches > Part 51
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
"I was absent on furlough when the spring campaign of 1865 opened and, as the record was short, sharp and decisive, victory had perched upon the banners of the Union forces before I rejoined by command. I was pres-
MR. AND MRS. GERSHOM W. MATTOON
403
SHIAWASSEE COUNTY
ent, however, and took part in the grand re- view at Washington, following the close of the Rebellion, after which the Michigan cav- alry brigade was sent on an expedition to the far west, going by the way of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and the Mississippi and Mis- souri rivers, landing in Leavenworth, Kan- sas, early in June. Here the command was given a new outfit, and on the 17th day of June, started on a march across the plains of Kansas and Nebraska; we arrived about the 28th of July at Platt's Bridge Station, a point on the overland route to California. The com- mand had covered about one thousand, one hundred and fifty miles in forty-one days. The purpose of the expedition was to protect the thoroughfares from roving bands of Indians. This duty was performed until about the first of October, when we returned to Leaven- worth, Kansas, where we were mustered out and honorably discharged, returning to our state and homes, every man for himself, happy in the thought that we had met and dis- charged the arduous duty of soldiers in a manner meeting the approbation of the Amei - ican Republic."
During its term of service the Sixth Michi- gan Cavalry carried on its rolls of muster one thousand, six hundred and twenty-four offi- cers and men. Its casualties figured up seven officers and ninety-five men killed in action ; eighteen · died of wounds, and two hundred and sixty-six from diseases. This gallant command, under the leadership of the brave and dashing Custer, won for itself an enviable reputation of never dying fame.
'Midst tangled roots that lined the wild ra- vine,
Where the fierce fight raged hottest through the day,
And where the dead in scattered heaps were seen,
Speechless in death they lay.
After the civil war our subject located in Clinton county, selecting for his labors one hundred and twenty acres of wild land. He resided there from 1866 to 1869, when he sold his property and removed to Shiawassee
township. In the meantime he had married, and in the latter year went to reside on the farm owned by his wife's parents, working it on shares afterward purchasing it. The tract then consisted of about one hundred and twenty acres of land, partly cleared ; he has since cleared the entire farm, remodeled the buildings, and erected others, and brought the entire homestead up to the modern standard of cultivation and mechanical conveniences. It is one of the pleasant rural homes of the county, and has been christened "Rockleigh Farm."
For many years after the war of the rebel- lion Mr. Mattoon was a Republican; of late years he has not been a close adherent to any party, but has been independent in politics, as in many other things. He is not bound to any political or religious creed which interferes in any manner with his individual ideas of right and wrong. In short, he has been almost too independent to be a successful politician. He is, however, prominent in local military af- fairs, being Commander of the H. F. Wallace Post, Grand Army of the Republic, at Cor- unna, and colonel of the Shiawassee County Battalion. The latter organization is com- posed of soldiers of the county who have served in any war. It is not a secret organi- zation. The members are not obliged to at- tend the meetings, the binding force being rather of a social nature, founded upon a common love of military affairs and comrade- ship.
Colonel Mattoon was married September 27, 1868, to Miss Agnes A. Lindley, who was born in Niagara county, New York, May 1, 1848, being a daughter of David A. and Char- lotte (Sweet) Lindley. Father and daughter were natives of the same county, the birthday of the former being March 18, 1813, and the date of his death, January 12, 1895. Her mother also was born in Niagara county, New York; September 8, 1817, and died January 28, 1892. Both were descended from genera- tions of agriculturists, the family coming west and settling in Livingston county in 1848. In the year 1852 they moved to the farm now in possession of Colonel Mattoon. Mr. and Mrs.
404
PAST AND PRESENT OF
Lindley lived upon the old homestead until ten years after Colonel Mattoon's marriage, to their daughter, and then they removed to Shiawassee village.
Mrs. Mattoon was the eldest of three chil- dren. Her brother, Charles A. Lindley, was born October 6, 1844, and is a resident of Shiawassee township. Mercy E., who married Charles A. Lamb, was born April 29, 1849.
Colonel and Mrs. Mattoon are the parents of two children. Britton W., who was born November 20, 1869, married Carrie Hoising- ton. They are the parents of one child, Mil- dred, born May 28, 1898, and they reside on a portion of the homestead. Lottie L., now Mrs. Allen Goodall, was born June 27, 1874, and is living on the farm adjoining the old homestead on the west. Mr. Mattoon is a man of strong convictions, firm in his decis- ions, and actuated by the principles of right and justice.
SELDEN S. MINER
Selden S. Miner, at present circuit judge of the thirty-fifth judicial circuit of Michigan, was born in Livingston county, this state, June 5, 1854, and is a son of Ezra and Ann (Skidmore) Miner, natives of New York, who came to Michigan in the year 1836.
Patriot blood flows through the veins of Judge Miner and on this account he feels that he does, indeed, love more truly the country for which his ancestors suffered in past times. His father was born in Steuben county, New York, and his grandfather, also named Ezra, was born in Connecticut and took part in the war of 1812. He was a sailor on the high seas for twenty years and then settled on a farm in New York, after which he came to Michigan, spending his latter days with a son at Osceola, and dying at the age of eighty years. His father, Seth Miner, was likewise a native. of Connecticut, and was a Revolu- tionary soldier, having been taken prisoner early in the war and having been kept in pris- on for six years.
Our subject's father was a farmer and came to Michigan in 1836, locating in Hartland township, Livingston county, where he bought unimproved land and devoted himelf to its reclamation and cultivation. At different times he resided in Cohoctah, Conway and Handy townships, Livingston county. He was an extensive land-owner and a public-spirited cit- izen. The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Ann Skidmore. She was born near Springwater, New York, and died in Livingston county, Michigan. The father died in Owosso, in June, 1903. Mrs. Miner was the daughter of Benjamin Skidmore, an early settler of Lapeer county, Michigan, where he located in 1836. He was a soldier in the war of 1812 and died at the age of ninety-two years.
Our subject was reared in Livingston county, where he secured his early educational discipline. At the age of seventeen years he entered the Corunna high school, in which he was graduated in 1875. Early in life Mr. Miner had felt a desire to make the law his profession, and he began its study at Ann Ar- bor and was admitted to the bar in 1887. The young lawyer initiated his practice at Corun- na and was there engaged in the work of his profession until the spring of 1893, when he removed to Owosso, having since been count- ed one of the prominent members of the bar of this city. During our subject's residence in Corunna, he was chosen as mayor of that place for one term, was supervisor of the sec- ond ward and president of the school board.
June 5, 1879, Judge Miner was united in marriage to Miss Effie Jones, of Washtenaw county, and five children have come to bless their home: Willman; Maud; Harold, who graduates from the University of Michigan this spring and will then enter West Point; and Leon, a law student at the University of Michigan. Mrs. Miner is a member and worker of the Congregational church and is one of its prominent members.
The enterprise and public spirit of Judge Miner make him a prominent man in Republi- can circles. He has always been a delegate to the county conventions and generally to the
1
405
SHIAWASSEE COUNTY
state conventions. While a resident of Cor- unna, he was prosecuting attorney from 1888 to 1892, and since becoming a resident of Owosso he has been chosen by his fellow townsmen to represent them in the official ca- pacity of city attorney, which position he cap- ably and ably filled for two years. He was elected circuit judge of the thirty-fifth judicial circuit, comprising Shiawassee and Livingston counties, in the spring of 1905.
Judge Miner is closely identified with the Masonic order, in which he is actively inter- ested. He has ever contributed substantial aid to good causes, and aided in the promo- tion of measures and enterprises tending to the betterment of society and the advancement of education. The profession which he has chosen has ever received his close attention, and in every walk of life he has played a man- ly part.
CHARLES H. MITCHELL
The subject of this sketch is fortunate in being a member of one of the prominent fam- ilies of Shiawassee county, where he was born on the 12th of July, 1862.
It will be impossible within the compass of the present volume to give a complete history of the life of his father, Newcomb Mitchell. He was one of the prominent and thrifty citi- zens of this county, and in his home his father, who was of Irish extraction, passed the last few years of his life. Polly (Howe) Mitch- ell, mother of Newcomb Mitchell, died in the year 1873. Up to the age of twenty years Newcomb Mitchell worked at his trade, that of mason, in various cities, sending to his par- ents the money he earned. In 1848 he came to Shiawassee county and settled upon the ninety acres of land which he occupied until the time of his death.
January 1, 1856, he was united in marriage with Eliza Phelps, and it was by their united efforts that the estate was converted into one of the most handsome and comfortable in the county.
Their union was blessed with eight chil-
dren. The first, Adella, born May 21, 1857, is the wife of Seth Newell, of Owosso. The second is the subject of this sketch. The third, Frank, born February 15, 1864, lives in Owosso. The fourth, Rose May, born July 19, 1867, is the wife of William Bently, of Shiawassee township. The fifth, Arthur A., born March 12, 1869, died at the age of twen- ty-six years. The sixth, Lena, born April 25, 1871, is the wife of Charles Sager, of Ben- nington. The seventh, Edna E., born October 1, 1873, married William Fenner, and both are deceased. The eighth, Effie F., was born August 2, 1879, and is now living with the mother in Owosso.
The subject of this sketch lived at home un- til he had arrived at the age of twenty years. He attended the district school of Bennington township and thus acquired his early educa- tion.
At the age of twenty years he was united in marriage to Etta Beardsley. She lived sixteen years after their marriage, and bore him one child, Claud, who is at present working in Flint, Michigan.
March 6, 1900, Mr. Mitchell married Flor- ence. Strong, daughter of Rev. Frederick Strong, of Owosso. She is a sister of Arthur P. Strong, whose biography appears in the present volume. One child has blessed this union, Mildred, who was born March 6, 1901.
When Mr. Mitchell started for himself his father purchased for him eighty acres of land, on which he now resides, in section 19, Ben- nington township. The land was partly im- proved, having a log house and small farm buildings. When his home was broken up by the death of his first wife he went to the vil- lage of Laingsburg, where he conducted a meat market for the period of one year. He spent the winter of 1898 in California and af- ter his return to Michigan spent four years upon the old farm, working the place and looking after the interests of his mother.
All the buildings on his farm at the present time have been erected by our subject him- self. In 1904 he replaced the log house with a new frame dwelling, which is in keeping with his improved financial condition. He has
.
406
PAST AND PRESENT OF
purchased, in addition to the land he already owned, forty acres of land, making him a fine farm of one hundred and twenty acres.
In politics Mr. Mitchell is a Republican. He has held various town offices, and commands the respect of all who know him.
JAMES H. MITCHELL
James H. Mitchell was born in Bradford, Canada, June 5, 1853. His father was born in the state of New York, and died at Spring- field, Oakland county, Michigan, at the age of seventy-six years. The mother of our subject was born in Canada, where she was married and where the family thereafter resided until about the year 1863, when they moved to Oakland county, Michigan, settling in Spring- field township. The father bought forty acres of well improved land and there the parents resided until their death, the mother dying at the age of sixty-one years. The parents were members of the Baptist church, and the father was always a stanch Republican, but never aspired to office. In the family there were eight children, of whom the subject of this sketch is the fourth.
The oldest, Henry Mitchell, now resides at Fentonville, Genesee county, Michigan. He has been married twice. His first wife was a Miss Robinson, and to them were born the following named children : Alfred, William, Mary, Ernest and Edwin Howard. His sec- ond wife was Miss Emma Bush, and to them were born two children, Charles and one who died in infancy. The second child was a son, Ozias, who lives in Midland county, and who is a carpenter by trade. The maiden name of his wife was Johnson. There are no chil- dren. The third child, Laura, is now the wife of James Canada, of Bay City, Michigan, her husband being an engineer in a hotel. They have three children : George, William and Walter. The fourth child, Martha, who is now deceased, married Mr. Mero, of Chesan- ing, Michigan, and they had three children. The fifth child died in infancy. The sixth child, James H. Mitchell, is the subject of
this sketch. The seventh child, Mary, is the wife of George Chase, of Ludington, Michi- gan. He is an engineer. They have two chil- dren. The eighth and youngest child, Wes- ley, lives at Holly, Michigan. He married Miss Ellen Jackson. They have two children. His occupation is that of blacksmith.
The subject of this sketch received his edu- cation in the district schools of Springfield township, Oakland county, Michigan, and and lived with his parents until he was sixteen years of age, when he started in life for him- self, working for several years on a farm, by the month. He was married November 10, 1880, to Mary A. Flower, who was born in Macomb county, Michigan, June 28, 1850. Her father, Alanson Flower, who was born in New York April 22, 1810, died in Lenox, July 24, 1876, and her mother, Angeline (Col- lins) Flower, who was born in Massachu- setts, March 12, 1810, died February 16, 1888. The parents were married in New York state in 1835, and two years later they came to the state of Michigan, settling at Lenox, Macomb county. They bought two hundred acres of government land. This land they cleared and improved in that early day and there made their home until the death of the father, when the mother went to live with her son, Edwin, in Oakland county, where she died. They had four children; the oldest, who is dead, was named Liddie. She became the wife of James Baird, and lived on a farm in Lenox township, Macomb county. They had three children, two of whom are living, Pearl and Walter. The second child, Norman, is now dead. He married Betsy Bates, enlisted in the Fourth Michigan Infantry, in 1864, and died in the hospital, of fever, in 1865. They had no chil- dren. The third child, Edwin, is living in Highland, in Oakland county. He married Sarah Gleason, and they have no children. The fourth child is the wife of the subject of this review. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell have one child, Floyd, who was born September 2, and who lives at home with his parents.
After his marriage, Mr. Mitchell purchased eighty acres of improved land in Oakland
-
407
SHIAWASSEE COUNTY
county, where he resided about four years. He then sold out and rented land until the year 1887, when he came to Shiawassee county, purchasing an eighty-acre farm, on which he now resides. The farm, which lies on section 10, Hazelton township, was only partly im- proved, about one-half being under cultiva- tion. The buildings consisted of an old log house and barn. In 1890 he built a fine large barn and in 1892 a beautiful eight-room frame house. He has otherwise improved the farm and it is now one of the best in the locality. In politics he is a liberal Republican, with prohi- bition sentiments. He is a member of the Methodist church, of the Grange, and of the Maccabees, in which last he was two years chaplain.
WILLIAM H. MITCHELL
It is a happy provision of nature that youth cannot peer into the future and see the ob- stacles to be met with in life's pathway, else we fear there would not be, as a general thing, much incentive to proceed on the jour- ney! In the words of the poet Longfellow, then,
How beautiful is youth ! how bright it gleams With its illusions, aspirations, dreams ! Book of Beginning, Story without End,- Each maid a heroine and each man a friend !
How truthfully the picture is expressed ! It is an interesting fact that a great majority of the farmers of the country began the battle of life when mere lads and with but limited educations. Indeed, it is doubtful if the aver- age sons of the average farmers were to be "sifted" through various grades of the various departments of our high schools and colleges until they reached the age of twenty-one or twenty-five years, even one of them would be- come a farmer. But be this as it may, the subject of this sketch began to "bump up" against the world at the age of thirteen years, when he commenced to work on a farm by the month. He was born in Ontario, Canada,
June 13, 1859, and is a son of Elisha and Bar- bara (Huntsberger) Mitchell, both of whom are natives of Ontario, and both of whom died in Rush township, Shiawassee county, Michigan, at the respective ages of sixty-eight and sixty-four years. Elisha Mitchell was of Irish descent, and his wife had the blood of the Pennsylvania Dutch coursing through her veins. They were married in Canada.
In 1880 our subject came to Michigan and settled on eighty acres, in Rush township, which he had bought two years previously, and upon which he had caused some improve- ments to be made. When his parents re- move here subsequently from Canada, he let his father have the farm. They built a frame house and log stable, and his parents lived there until their death. The farm is still owned by younger members of the family. Elisha Mitchell was a Republican, but was not prominent in politics, and never held office. In religious belief he and his wife were Men- nonites, who are not common in this country. They are protestants, but reject infant bap- tism and baptize adults only on a profession of faith, and practice non-resistance and ab- stinence from oaths. They thus combine some of the leading principles of the Baptists, with some of the distinctive views of the Friends.
Our subject's father was one of a family of seven children, three of whom are now living, -Richard in Rush township, Andrew in Mid- dlebury and Nelson in Fairfield. His mother was the first of a family of seven.
October 12, 1882, William H. Mitchell was married to Eliza Jane Scott, who was born on the farm on which she and her husband now live and which Mr. Mitchell bought of Humphrey Scott, his wife's father, who was one of the pioneers of Rush township, having located there when it was a wilderness and . having cleared the land and erected buildings, making the farm a splendid property. The old gentleman is still alive and lives in Bur- ton village, aged seventy-six years. The maiden name of his wife was Hannah Ling, and she died about twenty-six years ago.
Our subject was the second in a family of
25
408
PAST AND PRESENT OF
eight children, six of whom are still living. Jacob is single, and resides on the old farm in Rush; William H. is the subject of this re- view ; Amos, who died at the age of twenty years; John, who lives in Rush township, married Marilla Shaw, and they have two children ; Samuel lives at Colon, Michigan, married Cora Miller; Mary married Fred Downey, of Rush township; Agnes is unmar- ried and lives with her brother, Jacob; Men- asa, who lives on the old farm, married Erma, daughter of John Crane.
Mrs. Mitchell comes from a family of four · children, all of whom are living. James is a resident of Idaho ; Mrs. Mitchell was the next in order of birth; Libbie married George Coakes, of Owosso township; and Ada mar- ried Ed. Lusk, of Owosso.
As previously stated, Mr. Mitchell pur- chased his present farm of one hundred and ten acres from his father-in-law, in 1904. For ten years previously he had worked land on shares. For several years before securing his new home it had been rented, and naturally it had run down. He is rapidly changing the condition of things, however, and hopes to erect some buildings in the near future. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell have two children: Har- vey, born September 20, 1883, lives in North Dakota and is single; and Ray, born March 9, 1897, is at home. Mr. Mitchell affiliates with the Republican party, but has never held office. He belongs to the Maccabees at Owos- so and the Modern Woodmen of America at Henderson. Mr. Mitchell combines all that goes to make up a good citizen, a kind father and a popular member of the community in which he is now a worthy factor.
FRANK G. MORRICE
But one man in one hundred makes a suc- cess of the business which he chooses for his life's occupation. His success is due to su- perior judgment and fitness for the work in which he is engaged and in his courage to ad-
vance undaunted through difficulties that come to all men.
Frank G. Morrice was born in Shiawassee county on the 12th day of January, A. D. 1844. He is a son of William Morrice, who was born in Scotland March 3, 1800, and who died in Shiawassee county July 7, 1873. Eliza- beth (Cooper) Morrice, mother of our sub- ject, was born in Scotland in 1803, and died in Shiawassee county in 1892. The parents were married in Scotland and came to Amer- ica in 1836. After two years spent as a day laborer William Morrice purchased one hundred and sixty acres of wild, unimproved land in Perry township. He spent the re- mnainder of his days upon this farm, improv- ing it and purchasing more land until he be- came one of the largest land-holders in Shi- awassee county. A few years before his death he sold his land to his sons, and retired. He died at the age of seventy-three years. Po- litically he was a Republican, but never con- sented to run for any office of importance, though often urged to do so. Both he and his wife were active members of the Presbyterian church. They had five children. Alexander, the eldest, served during the entire period of the civil war and died of consumption con- tracted during his term of service in the army. The other children are William G., mentioned elsewhere in this volume; John A., who died in 1857; Francis G., subject of this sketch; and Mary, wife of Warren Manning, who died in 1870.
The subject of this review lived at home until he was twenty-five years of age. His early education was acquired in the district schools and he afterwards took a commercial course at the Detroit Business College. He was married to Irene M. Walters August 11, 1869. She was born in Lodi township, Washte- naw county, August 10, 1847. Her father and mother were David and Emaline (Wheeland) Watters, who were among the pioneers of Washtenaw county, where they were farmers. Mrs. Morrice is one of eight children, of whom Giles, Willis, Delbert and Elmer are now living at Morrice.
WILLIAM G. MORRICE
411
SHIAWASSEE COUNTY
Mr. Morrice purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land where he now lives, in sec- tion 23, Bennington township, in 1869. The land at that time was only partly improved, with no buildings worthy of mention. This beautiful farm, with its large and commodious house and good barns, offers the most fitting tribute that can be made to a successful man.
In 1892 Mr. Morrice erected his dwelling house, which is the last, but not all of his at- tractive improvements, and he now occupies one of the finest farms in Shiawassee county, consisting of two hundred and thirty acres of land, seventy acres having been added since his original purchase.
Mr. and Mrs. Morrice have four children : Amy, who was born December 22, 1870, is · now the wife of G. S. Field, of the law firm of Barber and Field, of Detroit ; Maud, who was born October 1, 1875, is at present engaged as drawing teacher in the Owosso and Cor- unna public schools ; Ward, born June 6, 1886, is single and lives at home ; and Mable, who was born September 1, 1880, died January 17, 1891.
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.