Past and present of Shiawassee County, Michigan, historically; with biographical sketches, Part 53

Author:
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Lansing, Mich. : Hist. Pub.
Number of Pages: 580

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JOHN NORTHWOOD

The father served in the British army. He also served in the army of the United States, having been a member of the Fourth Con- necticut Infantry, serving from May 4, 1861, to May 4, 1864, when he was discharged, at Bermuda Hundred. In the year 1861 his reg- iment was transformed into what is known as the First Connecticut Heavy Artillery, and with this he served until the date of his dis- charge. After remaining out of the service for one year he enlisted, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the marine service, for four years, but was discharged on the 30th of Oc- tober, 1867, on account of disability. He died in December, 1870, at Augusta, Maine.

Colonel John Northwood came with his parents to Wellington, Lorain county, Ohio, where they lived for a period of one year af- ter which they removed to' New Hudson, Oakland county, Michigan, and from there to Detroit, where the father was engaged in the

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Wetmore & Company crockery store. In the year 1854 he located one hundred and sixty acres of government land in Maple Grove township, Saginaw county, Michigan. After building a log house the father moved his family to the farm, and it has been the home of the subject of this sketch from that time until the spring of 1905, with the exception of five years spent in sailing on the lakes. The land was cleared and improved under the supervision of our subject and he has added to the first purchase until he now pos- sesses two hundred and twenty acres of land, so highly improved that it is a monument to the ability of the owner.

January 27, 1864, Colonel Northwood was united in marriage to Martha Ann Packard. She was born June 24, 1844, and died May 26, 1903. Her father and mother, Origen and Savillah (Hartsock) Packard, were among the first pioneer families of Flushing township, Genesee county, Michigan, where they lived from the year 1835 to the time of their death. Our subject and his wife had one child, Mary Savillah, who was born in the year 1865. On the death of his sister, Eliza, our subject adopted her son, John W., then nineteen months old, and he now resides in the township of Hazelton.

On the 20th of July, 1861, Colonel North- wood enlisted, at Flint, in Company C, Six- teenth Regiment of Michigan Volunteer In- fantry, in the service of his country. He was mustered into the service at Detroit and sent to the front, where his blood was offered upon her altar and his name made famous through- out the state of Michigan. He was in the battle of Big Bethel, the siege of Yorktown. the battle of Hanover Court House, the battle of Mechanicsville, and, last, in the battle of Gaines Mills, where he was wounded in both arms, suffering amputation of the right arm, near the shoulder joint. He was afterward captured at Savage Station and was trans- ferred and confined in Libby Prison for twenty-six days, when he was exchanged. On the 18th of August, 1862, he was discharged, from the hospital at Philadelphia.

No man in the state of Michigan merits and has received more political and social honors than the subject of this sketch. So- cially he is a Master Mason. Of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows he is past grand master and past chief patriarch of the encampment of the branch of the order. He is a past department commander of the Grand Army of the Republican, of Michigan, and is now commander of the post at New Lothrop, Shiawassee county, to which place Colonel Northwood removed in the spring of 1905. He is also a member of the National League and of the Sons of Veterans.

Politically he is a Republican. He held the office of supervisor of Maple Grove township, Saginaw county for seven terms, 1876 to 1883, was elected to the office of town clerk six terms, and held the office of justice of the peace for twenty years.

He was elected to the state legislature of 1885, and introduced the bill providing for the Michigan Soldiers' Home, at Grand Rapids. He was appointed paymaster of the Michigan National Guard, with the rank of colonel, by Governor Luce. He served as school director twenty-seven years. Of no man can it be more truthfully said that he has given of his time and talents for the good of his country. His home, completed in New Lothrop in the spring of 1905, is a beautiful structure, handsomely decorated, having all the modern improvements, a fitting abode for a man of honor and distinction.

The subject of this sketch was again mar- ried on the 24th day of October, 1905, to Mrs. Hattie R. Scribner of Antrim township, Shia- wassee county, Michigan. This union, like the first one, is a happy one. Mrs. Northwood's par- ents were natives of the Empire state. Her fath- er, John Graham, came to Michigan with his parents when but a lad, the family settling upon a tract of land in the county of Living- ston. John Graham was united in marriage in the year 1853 to Miss Jeanette Hamblin, whose parents were also settlers of Living- ston county.

To Mr. and Mrs. John Graham were born

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five children. The following brief data are given : Loay M., born in 1855, married W. N. Martin, and died 1889 ; Hattie R., born in 1860, is the wife of Colonel Northwood: John, Jr., born 1864, lives at Byron, Shia- wassee county; Will Alling, born in 1868, lives at Detroit, Michigan; O. D. Graham, born in 1870, lives at Ionia, Michigan.

John Graham was a veteran of the, civil war, entering the service of his country as a member of Company I, Third Michigan Cav- alry, in January, 1864, and following the for- tunes of his command until Febraury 12, 1866. He was mustered out at San Antonio, Texas. He died in February, 1904, at the age of seventy-one years.

JOSEPH L. OLCOTT

The subject of this memoir was a native of Madison county, New York, where he was born March 8, 1835, having been the only son of Harry and Sarah (Gray) Olcott, who lived and died in Madison county, New York, Jo- seph L. having been but three years of age at the time of his mother's death. He lived on the farm with his parents until the war broke out. This was a time when

There was mounting in hot haste the steed ; The mustering squadron and the clattering car

Went pouring forward with impetuous speed, And swiftly forming in the ranks of war; And the deep thunder, peel on peel, afar And near ; the beat of the alarming drum Roused up the soldier, 'ere the morning star ; While throng'd the citizens with terror dumb, Or whispering, with white lips-"The foe! they come! they come!"

Mr. Olcott enlisted in Company C, Thirtieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served three years. He was wounded in the right thigh in the battle of Shiloh, and was afterward dis- charged for disability. In 1866 he removed to Shiawassee county and located in Benning- ton township, where he died in 1903, on the homestead where his widow now lives. His

first wife was Anna Gale, sister of Charles Gale, a banker of Owosso. For thirteen years he lived on his father-in-law's farm. His wife died January 4, 1878. They had no children. For his second wife he married Lila L. Godfrey, who was born in Erie county, Pennsylvania. She is a daughter of Loomis and Eliza (Peer) Godfrey -- both na- tives of New York state. Loomis Godfrey still lives in Erie county, Pennsylvania, and of his four children Mrs. Olcott was the oldest. The others are: C. G. Godfrey is engaged in the furniture and undertaking business in Bancroft; Rose is the wife of Louis Pease, now living in Pennsylvania, and they have one child, Lewis ; W. H. Godfrey lives in Da- kota.

In 1876 Mr. and Mrs. Olcott settled on the farm where she now resides. It consisted of one hundred and sixty acres-all improved except about twenty acres. This was after- ward cleared and fifty acres added to the farm. Soon after removing there the house was burned. Another was erected and six years afterward this also was burned. A fine large brick house took its place. The follow- ing children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ol- cott : Harry is now deceased; Fairy lives in Erie county, Pennsylvania, aged twenty-three years, and is single; Curtis is eighteen years of age, is single, and lives on a farm near Durand, with a man who worked Mr. Olcott's farm in 1904; Lloyd is aged ten years and is at home; an adopted daughter, Vera, now twelve years old, lives at home and is attend- ing school.

Mr. Olcott was always a Democrat but never aspired to office. He was a Mason and for twenty-five years was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. For several years Mr. Olcott was in poor health and dur- ing the last four years of his life was a con- firmed invalid, the result of a wound received in the war and already referred to. His widow was a graduate of the school at North East, Erie county, Pennsylvania, known as the Lake Shore Seminary. For six years she was engaged in teaching in that institution.

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She had an uncle and aunt living in Shia- wassee county, and was thus induced to re- move to this county. For two years prior to her marriage, Mrs. Olcott taught school in Perry village. At the time of his second mar- riage, and for some time afterward, Mr. Ol- cott made a specialty of raising fast horses. He was a pensioner and his widow now re- ceives the same.

BRAYTON M. ORMSBY

The subject of this sketch was but a mere lad when the clash of arms took place be- tween north and south, in our great civil war, as he was born in Lorraine township, Jeffer- son county, New York, April 6, 1854. In 1861 his father, Loren Ormsby, removed to Michigan, locating in Saline township, Washtenaw county, where he remained until January, 1863, when he enlisted in Company D, Sixth Michigan Heavy Artillery. He saw but one engagement, however, and died from diarrhea, at Vicksburg, Mississippi, July 3, 1863. He was born in New York state, in 1818. His wife, Lydia (Mandeville) Orms- by, was born in Jefferson county, New York. in 1820. She died in Shiawassee county, Michigan, December 30, 1885. She had been previously married to George Batcheler, by whom she had two children,-Frank, who is deceased, and Mary Jane, who now lives in Three Oaks, California. The latter has been twice married-first to a Mr. Potter, by whom she had one child, Frank, while the second hus- band was a Mr. Stevenson. The parents of Brayton M. Ormsby had four children, he being the third. The others are as follows : Kath- erine Rose, who was born in 1848, lives in Caledonia township; she married John Par- sons, and has eight children,-Mattie, Bertha, Gilbert, Ester, Flora, Edna, Bessie and Ber- nice. William A., who was born in 1850, lives in Portland, Oregon ; he married and has one child,-Edna. Florence E., who was born in 1857, lives in southern California, and has one son, Fred Pixley.

Brayton M. Ormsby's half-brother, Frank, enlisted in New York state, for service in the civil war, but was discharged, for disability, before leaving the state for the front. He subsequently came to Michigan and enlisted in the same company and regiment as did his father. He came home at the close of the war. After Loren Ormsby enlisted he bought forty acres of land in Caledonia township, Shiawassee county. It was half cleared but he never moved on to it. His wife, however, afterward, made that her home and pro- ceeded to clear the balance of the forty acres. The family lived there three years and then sold it and moved to Oakland township, Oak- land county, where they bought twenty acres, mostly improved land. The family remained there for seven years, when Brayton M. and his mother removed to Avon township, same county, where the former rented a farm for three years. In September, 1877, Brayton and his mother sold twenty acres in Oakland township, and removed to Hazelton township, Shiawassee county, where they bought eighty acres of wild land. There was a small house on the place, but no barn. Later in 1898, they built a frame house. Brayton cleared this eighty acres and in 1888 he bought forty acres on section 8 ; all but five acres of this has been cleared. In 1891 he purchased forty acres more,-twenty-five acres of which was timber and fifteen acres stump land. This too, save ten acres, has been improved. In March, 1902, he added to his possessions one hundred and twenty acres of improved land on section 6, upon which he has since built a good house and barn. Fifteen years ago a fawn was shot in his woods by one of his neighbors.

September 28, 1879, Mr. Ormsby married Martha Jane Chase, who was born May 29, 1860,-a daughter of Charles B. and Maria (Holden) Chase,-both natives of Steuben county, New York. Her father was born March 29, 1820, and died April 29, 1890; her mother was born February 27, 1826. She is now living with her daughter, Mrs. Koan, in Venice township. Mrs. Ormsby was the fourth of nine children, as follows : Hattie,

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who was born in 1852, lives in Corunna ; she married R. Houghton, and they have two · children,-Alice and Leonard. Abbia Detta. born in 1854, lives at Port Allegheny, Penn- sylvania ; she married Edward Chase and has two children,-Cora and Willis. Charles, born in 1856, lives in North Dakota; he mar- ried Emma Teirce and they have two children. -- Nina and Neva. Timothy, born in 1862. died in 1899, a bachelor. George, born in 1864, is now working on the county farm in Shiawassee county; he married Anna Her- rick, and they have no children. Willett and Wilson, twins, were born August 18, 1866. Willett died November 5, 1897, in Venice township; he married Nettie Jacobs, and is survived by no children. Wilson was killed on a railroad in New York state, February 14, 1893. Ora, born in 1869, married Peter Koan, and lives in Venice township ; they have two children,-Nellie and Ernest. Mrs.

Ormsby's father came to Hazelton in 1855 and bought two hundred and forty acres of wild land. He then returned to New York state. In 1860 he removed here with his family, making his home on the land formerly pur- chased. He lived here until his death. He first built a log house and eventually cleared all the land. His nearest neighbors were two miles distant. They made beds on the floor when they first came there. He owned one hundred acres at the time of his death.

Four sons were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ormsby, three of whom are living: Loren B., born June 21, 1880, died August 10, 1880 ; Fred, who was born July 3, 1883, lives in Hazelton township; he married Frances Shooks, and they have one child, Doras, born October,23, 1901. Leslie was born Decem- ber 30, 1886, and Jay, April 2, 1895. .

Mr. Ormsby is a member of the Christian or Disciples church, and his wife belongs to the Weslevan Methodist church. Mr. Ormsby has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for twenty-nine years and is now treasurer of his lodge. He is also a Granger. His wife belongs to the Daughters of Rebekah.

Mr. Ormsby is a Republican in politics and has been director and moderator of his school district. His great grandfather, Almond Ormsby, was born in Vermont, and his grandmother was a native of Holland.

H. W. PARKER

It is a mark of great esteem to have the confidence of the community in which one lives, because confidence is a plant of slow growth. Emerson says that "Confidence is that feeling by which the mind embarks in great and honorable courses with a sure hope and trust in itself." It goes without saying that the gentleman whose name heads this sketch has the confidence of those who know him, especially those who know him inti- mately. The fact that a man holds a govern- ment or state office, by appointment or other- wise, does not always imply that he is a man above reproach, because many such appoint- ments, sad to relate, are bestowed upon the merest political tricksters and schemers. This is not the case, however, with H. W. Parker, the popular postmaster of Bancroft. He has "earned his spurs," by a correct business and social life, and is therefore entitled to what- ever honors he may have showered upon him in this regard. He is a native of Burns town- ship, Shiawassee county, where he was born June 3, 1870, and is a son of George A. and Florence (Gaylord) Parker. He received only an elementary education, in the district schools, living on the home farm until he was twenty-five years of age. He then engaged in the grain and produce business with his father, under whom he was assistant postmas- ter at Bancroft from 1889 to 1897, inclusive. Hence, when he assumed the position of post- master himself, he was well equipped for the duties of the office. He but recently entered upon a third term as postmaster. George A. Parker, father of our subject, was born in Marion, Livingston county, Michigan, August 24, 1843. February 12, 1862, he was mus- tered into the Union service at Flint, Michi-

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gan, becoming a member of Company A, Tenth Michigan Infantry, under Captain H. S. Burnett. With his command he went to Hamburg Landing, Tennessee, where his reg- igment was attached to Grant's army. He was in action at Corinth, Shiloh, Booneville, Iuka, Huntsville and Nashville, to Stone river and Chattanooga, and participated in all the en- gagements of Sherman's grand march to the sea. At Kenesaw Mountain a ball passed through his right elbow, and he was sent to the hospital for treatment. For a year after this he served on detached duty in the post quartermaster's office, at Louisville, Kentucky. He remained in the service until after Lee's surrender at Appomattox, when he was mus- tered out and honorably discharged. While in active service in the battle at Farmington. Mississippi, in 1862, he was detailed by Colonel Charles McLum to carry a message to Loomis' Battery. While on the way a shell burst near him, knocking him down and, it is supposed, forcing some small fragments into his right eye. This impaired the sight of that member so as to eventually result in its total loss. At the conclusion of the war he returned to the farm and its duties. He was still but a young man, being only a trifle past his majority. During the administration of Governor Rich, who recognized the patriotism and ability of Colonel George A. Parker, the governor gave him the appointment of assist- ant paymaster general of the Michigan Na- tional Guard, which position he retained for the term of four years. To Mr. Parker is given the credit of drafting the resolution which secured to the Grand Army of the Re- public in Shiawassee county the beautiful memorial rooms on the ground floor in the new court house, and also of the painting of the corps badges which adorn the walls, in connection with other historic views. It is designed to place in these rooms relics of the war,-a provision that will be greatly appre- ciated by old soldiers, each of whom will cheerfully contribute something to this collec- tion of ever increasing interest. Colonel Par- ker has always been prominently identified

with the Grand Army of the Republic and other soldier organizations of Shiawassee county, as well as with the state militia. He is a public-spirited citizen who always reflects honor upon the community in which he lives. To such men the public owes a debt of grati- tude.

David and Sarah (Rust) Parker, the grandparents of our subject, were natives of New York state, first becoming residents of Michigan in 1829. Thirty years thereafter they located in Antrim township, Shiawassee county. David Parker was a man of strong character and clear convictions of duty and received many marked tributes of the high estimation in which he was held. He served with credit as township clerk, supervisor and later as sheriff, being elected to the office last named in 1868, and holding it four years. For a period of eight years he was a resident of Owosso, where he was engaged in the manu- facture of brick. His death occurred Janu- ary 6, 1888, at the age of seventy-eight years. When the father of George A. Parker as- sumed the duties of the office of sheriff, the latter was appointed under-sheriff, filling the position for four years. Later, George A. Parker removed to Bancroft and established a large and profitable produce business, his customers being scattered all along the route of the Grand Trunk Railroad. As illustra- tive of the magnitude of his trade, it may be stated that during a single season he shipped seventy-seven thousand bushels of potatoes and forty-seven thousand barrels of apples. He also became quite an extensive land owner, and he has platted sixteen acres as an addition to the city. His service as postmas- ter was during Harrison's administration and he also filled the office of justice of the peace for sixteen years. He married Florence L. Gaylord October 10, 1868, his wife being the daughter of John and Hannah (West) Gay- lord, who, in 1852, located as the first white settlers on the Indian reserve at Nagg's Bridge. A farmer by occupation, Mr. Gay- lord held the postmastership of Burns for a quarter of a century. He was a man of strict

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integrity as well as of wide personal popular- ity. He was a member of the Congregational church and a practical Christian, his death occurring in 1886. Mrs. Gaylord, the widow, lives at the home of her daughter, Mrs. George A. Parker. Mr. and Mrs. Parker had two children, -- H. W., who is the subject of this sketch, and Ethel, who is unmarried, and who lives at home. H. W. Parker has also been honored with the clerkship of his town- ship for two years. In politics he has always been a sound Republican, is a member of the Congregational church and identified with the Maccabees, and the Masonic fraternity and Knights of Pythias.

September 21, 1899, Mr. Parker married Helen, daughter of Henry Goodrich, a con- tractor and builder of Bancroft, the place of her nativity. She is the youngest in a family of three children. The other members of the family are Bert F., a traveling salesman, and Jessie L., now Mrs. Eugene Harris, of Ban- croft. Mr. and Mrs. Parker have no children.

W. L. PARKER

It was said by a philosopher of the old time that "when he shall have succeeded then will be our time to rejoice and freely laugh." If this remark be a truism, then W. L. Parker has reason to "rejoice and freely laugh" over his success in life, so far as business is con- cerned at least. Men are largely judged in this life by their business success,-by the amount of money they have accumulated, either by fair means or foul; that seems to make but little difference in the eyes of the world. A Quaker once said to his son upon leaving home, "My son, get rich honestly. if thee can, but get rich !" But, then, after all is said and done, are the words of Ben Jonson not true, that

He that departs with his own honesty For vulgar praise, doth it too dearly buy.

1860,-one of the most notable years in the nation's history, the year that sounded the death knell of human slavery on this conti- nent, in the election to the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. Our subject's father, W. H. Parker, a native of the Empire state, was born April 1, 1838. The mother was born December 18, 1846, her maiden name being Harriet J. Nichols. W. H. Parker located in Oakland county in 1856. He was a worker in marble, a monument builder, and was en- gaged in that business in Oakland county. He died, however, in Caro, Tuscola county, No- vember 13, 1902.

W. L. Parker was educated at Vassar, Michigan, and after his school days, engaged in the monument business at Caro, with the purpose, in the words of Hamlet, a trifle changed, that graves shall have living monu- ments. He remained at that place for seven- teen years and then, in 1898, removed to Owosso, that growing city offering a larger field for his operations. At first he began in a small frame building, and he and his son did all the work. At the beginning of the second year, however, he found it necessary to ex- pand his quarters, so leased a large brick building. The third year he added machin- ery, and the fifth year brought the business to so large proportions that he was forced to build a large factory, which is equipped with all the latest conveniences for conducting a business of this character, such as steam power, pneumatic tools, etc. He employs twelve cutters and, with a single exception, conducts the largest monument works in the state. This represents the result of close at- tention to business and of square and hon- orable dealing.

On Christmas day of 1859 Mr. Parker mar- ried Ida M. Huston, who was born in Grove- land, Oakland county. They have two chil- dren: Leslie H., born May 25, 1881, is fore- man of his father's business; and Harry G., born May 23, 1887, is the pneumatic-tool worker in the institution. The subject of this sketch was the second of five children. Nora

Mr. Parker is a native of Michigan, having been born in Oakland county, January 27, is now Mrs. Drake; R. C. now works on the

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Grand Rapids Railroad ; Leo G. is a barber in Tuscola county; Ray conducts a bicycle and gun shop.

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Past and present of Shiawassee County, Michigan, historically; with biographical sketches, Part 53

Author: Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Lansing, Mich. : Hist. Pub. Number of Pages: 580

Author:
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Lansing, Mich. : Hist. Pub.
Number of Pages: 580