USA > Michigan > Shiawassee County > Past and present of Shiawassee County, Michigan, historically; with biographical sketches > Part 59
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William T. Reed started for himself at the age of twelve years. The first season he
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worked for an uncle, for his board and clothes and five dollars in money. He worked on the farm in summer and went to school in winter during a period of about eight years. He then rented land and fairly began to hustle. In 1876 his wife's father gave her thirty acres of timbered land, on sections 32 and 33, Fair- field township. This Mr. Reed reclaimed. When he moved to the place he had thirty- five dollars, the price of a cow he had just sold. He built a frame house to start with and to this he has since added, besides erect- ing a good frame barn. In 1893 he bought, in connection with his brother-in-law, Frank L. Wait, forty acres, which they divided equally. In 1902 he purchased twenty acres of improved land, on section 1, Ovid township, and he now owns seventy acres in all.
September 8, 1872, Mr. Reed married Susan Wait, who was born August 15, 1853. Her parents settled in Fairfield township, and her mother used to conduct the farm, milk the cows, etc., while the husband and father was away working at his trade, that of carpenter. Mrs. Reed often hunted the cows after dark. Her mother was a tailoress and earned much of the money at that time to support the fam- ily, having been a very industrious, hard-work- ing woman. Mrs. Reed and her brother Frank plowed and sowed the first piece of wheat put in on the farm. See sketch of Frank Wait, elsewhere in this volume, for family record.
Mrs. Reed has a homespun tablecloth fifty- four years old. It was made from flax her grandfather Wait raised in Ohio. Her great- uncle Hyde wove it and her mother spun it. It is in excellent condition, appearing as if new.
Following is a brief record concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Reed: Bertha, born June 18, 1877, died September 10, 1877 ; Judd, born February 5, 1879, died April 24, 1879; Harry, born November 23, 1881, married Ger- trude Simmons, November 22, 1904, and is a bookkeeper in the State Savings Bank at
Ovid, Michigan; Florence was born October 25, 1895.
Our subject was the fifth of seven children, all of whom are living. Garner, born October 6, 1845, lives in Durand, Michigan; he mar- ried Polly Palmer and they had the following named children: Bell, Steel, Bert, Jennie, Webster, Phœbe, Albert, Beulah and William, the last named being deceased. James, who was born October 29, 1846, lives in Detroit; he married Julia A. Tillotson, and has one child, Daffie. Pauline, born September 12, 1848, lives in Idaho ; she is the widow of Eben- ezer Netheway, and had three children, -- Mel- vin, Smith and Beulah. Alanson S., born Oc- tober 11, 1850, lives in Owosso, Michigan; he married first Lizzie Smith, and they had two children,-Robert, deceased, and Arthur. His second marriage was to Nellie Garnet, and they had two children-Clara and Clyde. Our subject was next in order of birth. Sara A., born January 1, 1855, lives in Owosso, Michi- gan, being the widow of Amos Covert. Mary J., born January 26, 1859, lives in Fairfield township; she married Orin Darling and had seven children,-Earl, Ray, Nora, Ina, Paul, Vern and Grace.
Mrs. Reed's parents were members of the Methodist Episcopal church and her father was a Democrat. Her great grandfather, Cor- nelius Thomas, was a sea captain. He lived at New Haven, Connecticut, and sailed to the West Indies ; her grandfather was born in 1795 and was a captain in the war of 1812. Her uncle, Julius B. Wait, was taken prisoner at Murfreesboro, in the civil war and died from the effects of wounds received while in the hands of rebels. Two other uncles, Enos A. and John B. Wait, also were in the civil war.
Our subject's parents were members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and his father in politics was a Democrat. He, too, is a Demo- crat, but votes for men he considers the best, regardless of politics. Mr. Reed is affiliated with nearly all the fraternal orders in Ovid,-the Odd Fellows, the Maccabees, the
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Grange and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He was master of the latter for two years and is now a trustee, and he also is treasurer of the Grange. He has served as school director for twelve years and justice of the peace one term. He has settled several estates and enjoys the confidence and esteem of the people of his township. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
AUSTIN E. RICHARDS
Among the native sons of the Wolverine state we may point to few whose records are more honorable and more bright than that of him whose name initiates this sketch. His private life is irreproachable and his public career has been marked with a good measure of success.
The bench and bar have many able repre- sentatives in Shiawassee county-men who stand high in their profession, because of their deep study of the best authorities on legal lore. Of these various gentlemen of attainments none stands higher, nor are their services more sought, than he whose name heads this sketch. Austin E. Richards was born in New Haven township, Shiawassee county, in 1860. He is a son of William and Rhoda Richards. The father was a native of England and the mother was born in the Empire state. William Rich- ards came to this country with his parents when but a lad of five years, the family set- tling in Washtenaw county, in the year 1857. They later moved to Saginaw county, where they remained three years, then coming to New Haven township and engaging in farming. William Richards eventually sold his farm in New Haven township and located permanent- ly on a farm in Burns township, where he lived until the day of his death, which oc- curred in 1871. His wife is still living, making her home in the village of Byron.
To William and Rhoda Richards were born three children: Frank, a farmer in the town-
ship of Burns ; a daughter, Elma ; and the sub- ject of this sketch.
Austin E. Richards was reared in Burns township, receiving his early education in the district school. He spent some time in the graded school at Byron and later at Corunna. After this he studied law in the office of Hon. Hugh McCurdy, of Corunna, and in the year 1886 was admitted to the bar. He immediately began the practice of his chosen profession in his home town at Byron. His ability as a student and an attorney was soon recognized and he readily took rank among the first of the profession in Shiawassee county.
Mr. Richards had barely reached his major- ity when he was elected justice of the peace- a position usually reserved for those of more advanced years. A few years later he was chosen to represent his township on the board of supervisors, a position he occupied for sev- eral years, during a portion of the time being chairman of the board-a compliment rarely paid to one of his years.
In the fall of 1890 he received the nomina- tion for circuit court commissioner and was elected for the term of two years. To better meet the growing demands upon his time and talent he soon thereafter removed with his family to Corunna. Two years later he was elected to the office of prosecuting attorney, which position he retained two terms-a period of four years. Some years since Mr. Richards formed a partnership with A. L. Chandler to better care for the growing interests of his office, while giving his personal attention to his official duties. He was later for a time as- sociated with W. J. Parker, but at present the sign on his office door reads, "Austin E. Rich- ards, Attorney and Counselor at Law." For six years Mr. Richards served Corunna as city attorney, to the entire satisfaction of all con- cerned.
June, 1888, Austin E. Richards was married to Miss Inez, daughter of George H. Fisher, of Illinois. Two children have been born of this union, Hugh McCurdy and Gretchen.
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Mrs. Richards is a lady of refinement and cul- ture, and is an esteemed member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church, an organization in which she takes a deep interest. Our subject is fraternally allied with the Masonic order, including Corunna Commandery, Knights Templar. Politically Mr. Richards affiliates with the Republican party, taking pride in its history and having faith in its future. He is interested in every movement tending to the betterment of society and the upbuilding of his adopted city. He was one of the park com- missioners which laid out at Corunna the beautiful park which is to-day the pride of her citizens. Mr. Richards is active and indus- trious, and his many friends predict for him greater attainments and larger success in the years yet to come.
JOSEPH S. RIDLEY
Joseph S. Ridley was born on the 4th of October, 1833, in the town of Beckley, county of Sussex, England, and came to the United States in the spring of 1842, living in the state of New York for twelve years, after which he removed to Calhoun county, Michigan.
At the age of sixteen years he began to shift for himself and from that time forward was self-supporting. For three years he worked by the day or month on a' farm, for fifty cents a day and nine dollars a month, in the state of New York, near his father's home. He then moved to Calhoun county, Michigan. With the money obtained through his labors he bought eighty acres of wild land, about eight miles from Battle Creek. He improved twenty acres of it, after chopping out a road for about a mile, and lived there for eight years. Dur- ing the blighting panic of 1857 he had the mis- fortune to lose his land and everything else he had accumulated about him. - This indeed proved a sad blow. To a less courageous man it would have proven a blow from which he would never have recovered, but as has been
forcibly . said, "Calamity is men's true touch- stone." This proved true in his case. He did not stop and grow weary, but redoubled his en- ergies. He removed to Marengo township and rented a farm and began the battle anew. He continued to live there until the fall of 1870.
A fair degree of success having crowned his efforts, he then changed his home to Shiawassee county, where he bought forty acres of wild land, about six miles from Owosso, paying four hundred dollars for it, and after paying the taxes, he had just one dollar left. He built a log house and moved in, but it being cold, and late in the season, he was unable to plaster the house. He filled the cracks with moss from the trees. Later he bought forty acres more, making eighty acres. He lived in the log house ten years. In 1880 he built the house he now occupies, a fine brick structure. His spacious barn was erected in.1876.
His father, William Ridley, was born in England, November 19, 1795, and died at the age of eighty-six years, and his mother, Sarah (Offin) Ridley, also a native of England, was born in 1798, and died at the age of seventy years. William Ridley was a laborer and farmer, but never owned a farm, preferring to rent farms. He died at Albion, Michigan, and his wife passed away at Marengo, Michigan.
Joseph S. Ridley was the tenth in a family of twelve children, as follows: Henry, Sophia, William, Elizabeth, Francis, Hannah, Mark, John, Mahala, Sarah, George, and our subject. All these grew to maturity and were married, except Elizabeth, who died at the age of four- teen years, and Francis, who died at the age of eighteen years. Strange to relate, Mr. Rid- ley is the only member of this family now liv- ing. He went to a district school when quite young, and later in life did chores for his board and went to district school for three months.
Mr. Ridley was married March 15, 1856, to Margaret Kennedey, a native of Nova Scotia, where she was born in 1836. Her father was a carpenter and shipbuilder, and died in Chicago. .
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Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ridley. Harriet, born April 8, 1857, died at the age of twenty-two years, of typhoid fever. She was the wife of Daniel Ream and lived in the town of New Haven. They had two chil- dren. Edith, who was born in 1876, married Edward Vincent and lives in Middlebury, Shi- awassee county ; Alta, born in 1879, married Otis B. Cook, and they have two children, Rolland and Reba. All live with Mr. and Mrs. Ridley. George was the second child of Mr. Ridley and was born May 1, 1860. He died at the age of twenty years, having married Ida Burch and having lived in New Haven. They had no children. Since the death of the daughter Harriet, the grandchildren have made their home with Mr. and Mrs. Ridley.
Mr. Ridley has always been a staunch Re- publican, having cast his first vote for John C. Fremont. He is not a member of any church, but believes in doing as he would be done by. Both he and his wife are blessed with good health, a good home, and a host of friends and kind neighbors.
THEODORE W. ROSE
The father of the subject of this sketch was a New York lumberman and merchant and later became a hardy Michigan pioneer, and the son, Theodore W. Rose, a substantial and honored farmer residing on a finely improved eighty-acre homestead in section 13, Caledonia township, is himself a native of the Empire state, born in Cortland county, on the 11th of November, 1845. He is a son of Edward and Lucinda B. Rose, his mother dying when he was an infant of one month. The father was born March 10, 1817, and was in early life a farmer. He was married in Cortland county, New York. For many years he was also a lumberman, it often being necessary, in his part of the state, to combine the labors of the forest and the field in order to be assured of a livelihood. As, at other periods in his life,
he was proprietor of a drug store in Cortland county and of a dry-goods establishment in Yates county, New York, it is certain that Ed- ward Rose was a man of varied business abil- ity
In 1852 the father of our subject migrated to Michigan, where for three years he followed his old occupation and business of lumbering. In 1855 he purchased eighty acres of land in section 26, Caledonia township. About half of the tract had been chopped but not wholly cleared, and its improvements consisted of a log house and a small barn. But the new proprietor set vigorously to work, cleared up the farm, erected a good residence, substantial barns and other buildings and transformed the primitive homestead into a modern piece of farm property ; there he resided, with his sec- ond wife and children, until about thirteen years ago, when he located in the village of Corunna and retired from active life.
Edward Rose married as his second wife Ann Eliza Crandall, a native of New York, and a resident of Corunna. She has attained to the age of seventy-three years. There was only one child by the first marriage, the sub- ject of this review. The second union brought three children. ' The eldest, Ida, was born in October, 1856, and died in September, 1876. The second, E. L. Rose; was born on the old homestead, in Caledonia township, where he now lives. He was married in December, 1886, to Catherine Rigoulet, a native of France, born December 5, 1867, a daughter of Fred and Catherine ( Boure) Rigeulot, who are living on a farm in Caledonia township. To Mr. and Mrs. E. L. Rose two children have been born, Grace, November 20, 1887, who lives at Rome, and Edward. The third child of Edward Rose and his second wife was Min- nie, now Mrs. H. L. Towler, of Corunna.
Our subject received his primary education in the district schools of Penn Yan, New York, and later attended the high schools at Flint and Corunna. Until he had attained to his majority he worked upon his father's farm, so
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that he was obtaining also that practical educa- tion which comes from contact with continu- ous and methodical work, the while forming those habits of industry and economy which are of such untold value to those who have their way to make and to keep in the world. For the succeeding seven or eight years he fol- lowed the lumbering industry, living during the greater portion of his days in the woods and along the rivers of Michigan.
In 1871 Theodore W. Rose married Miss Catherine Brands, of Caledonia. She was born July 17, 1846, and died February 12, 1886. Of the six children born to them, four are living : David, Percy, Rose, Saralı (now Mrs. Shutte- worth, of Corunna), Roy R. and Melbourn, the last two named living at home.
Our subject was united in marriage a sec- ond time to Mary (Nye) Chase on the 31st of October, 1889. His present wife is the daugh- ter of Myron and Lovina (Tunnicliffe) Nye. her parents being proprietors of the popular Nye Hotel, in Owosso. The fruits of the sec- ond marriage have been H. T. Rose, born October 16, 1891, and Mabel Irene, born Sep- tember 26, 1893.
Prior to his first marriage Mr. Rose had only forty acres of land in Hazelton township, He there established his first homestead, resid- ing upon the farm three years. He then dis- posed of that property and bought the sixty acres upon which he now lives, in section 13, Caledonia township. The tract was entirely wild, but he cleared and improved it, added twenty acres to the original farm, and now pos- sesses a homestead which bears every evidence of prosperity and good taste.
According to the modern standard, which is the best, our subject is still in the prime of life, and as he is already in comfortable cir- cumstances and enjoying harmonious domestic relations, his status is as satisfactory as usually falls to man. His friends and neighbors have expressed their confidence in him and his abil- ities by electing him school inspector for sev- eral years. In politics he is a Democrat. He
is a man of unassuming disposition and habits.
J. D. ROYCE
Among the prominent and influential men of Shiawassee county who, by their good charac- ter and habits of industry and thrift, have won a position of trust among their fellow men, we find J. D. Royce. He has shown himself deep- ly interested in all movements tending to the betterment of conditions in his county and town and in stimulating the enterprises of the community at large. In this way he has made himself a leader in various movements of im- portance.
Our subject is a native of the Wolverine state, his birth having occurred in Deerfield township, Livingston county, Michigan, in the year 1856. His parents, John A. and Hannah E. Royce, were natives of New York and came to. Michigan in 1845, settling in Living- ston county. Thirty-seven years ago the par- ents moved two miles east of Byron, making this the family home, and here the father died in 1873. The mother lived to the advanced age of seventy-three years, her death occur- ring in April, 1904. J. D. Royce is one of a family of eight children, three of whom are now living: Howard W., a resident of Chi- cago; L. P. Royce, of Owosso, and our sub- ject.
When eleven years of age Mr. Royce moved with his parents to Genesee county and there attended the district school. He received the early educational advantages common to farm- er boys of that time, and after leaving the district schools he attended the high school at Byron, thus being prepared for the practical work of a business career. Naturally of a bright and assimilative nature, the subject of this sketch acquired more in actual and prac- tical experience than through his text books in school. He has been a deep reader from his younger manhood and has to a great extent
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made up the deficiencies in his early education, being an intelligent and well-informed man. Living so near the county line, he was always deeply interested in Shiawassee county. Our subject taught school for a time and then for many years clerked in stores at Byron and Milford.
J. D. Royce was married in 1882 to Miss Vira A. Webster, daughter of Dr. H. Webster. Mrs. Royce's father was one of the oldest prac- titioners in the county. He located at Byron at an early day and died while living with our subject, in this county, in 1898.
The union of our subject and wife was blessed by the birth of one child, a son, Vernon W., born in July, 1883. He is now prominent- ly identified with the Chicago Edison Com- pany, in Chicago. Vernon graduated from the Corunna high school in 1902 and afterward took a course in a correspondence school, studying "Mapping and Surveying."
The social side of Mr. Royce's life has been cultivated to a considerable extent, as he is prominently allied with the Masons, including the Commandery of the Knights Templars and also the Elks, Knights of Pythias and Macca- bees.
Our subject has always been active in politi- cal affairs. He believes in the principles and policies of the Republican party and in its abil- ity to best manage the affairs of the American people. The father of our subject was like- wise a Republican, and during the Rebellion was a very active Abolitionist, but on account of his health was refused for service in the army. He was also an old and stanch Presby- terian and lived his life in harmony with the precepts and teachings of the church.
For three years Mr. Royce was engaged in the dry-goods business at Byron. He was township clerk of Burns township and at dif- ferent times has held various village offices, president, trustee and clerk.
In the year 1896 J. D. Royce was elected to the position of register of deeds and he is now serving his fifth term. With one exception he
has been incumbent of the office the longest of any register in the state, an evidence of the trust and esteem in which he is held in the com- munity.
FRED S. RUGGLES, M. D.
Dr. Fred S. Ruggles is one of the prominent physicians and surgeons of the village of By- ron and of Shiawassee county. He is the son of Ephraim H. and Susan Ruggles and was born in Vermont, June 15, 1856. His parents were likewise born in the state of Vermont. His father is deceased but the mother is. still living in the old Green Mountain state, at the advanced age of eighty-five years. She is a member of the Free Will Baptist church, as was also her husband, and he adhered to the Republican party. They had three sons. Hal- sey B. and Charles are farmers, and the third son is the subject of this sketch.
The rudiments of Dr. Ruggles' education were received in the splendid schools of Ver- mont, and his higher literary training was se- cured in the Lyndon Institute, at Lyndon Center, that state. After thus acquiring a splendid preliminary education he entered the University of Michigan and took a course in the medical department, graduating with the class of 1881.
On the 29th day of June of the same year he was united in marriage with Adell Knapp. Her father was one of the early settlers and leading citizens of Salem, Michigan. Both of her parents are dead.
After graduating in the University of Mich- igan Dr. Ruggles located at Byron and com- menced the practice of his profession. He thereafter practiced in Ypsilanti a short time, but returned to Byron, where he has been a successful practitioner for the last twenty-two years. He is a skilled physician and surgeon, his services being in requisition by the best families of the county.
Politically the Doctor is a Republican and he is a member of the Masonic blue lodge of By-
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ron, and of the Maccabees and the Woodmen. He is a man uniformly respected in the com- munity in which he lives, and has a host of friends and acquaintances throughout the county. He is an active politician and has done much good for the party with which he affiliates.
The people of Byron have honored him by electing him to the highest office within their gift. He filled the office of president of the vil- lage, with the ability and good judgment that are characteristic of the man. For eight years he has held the responsible and honorable position of president of the school board of Byron.
He was chairman of the committee that had charge of the erection of the beautiful monu- ment to Ellen May Tower. His efforts in pro- curing this patriotic token to the memory of a noble woman were untiring. It is fitting that in connection with his biography should be given the inscription which the monument bears :
"Erected by patriotic citizens, loving friends and Michigan National Guard to the memory of a noble woman who died at Porto Rico, December 8, 1898, while serving as nurse in the United States volunteer service. Ellen May Tower."
To subject and his wife has been born one child, Agnes, wife of John Foster, a pharma- cist at Pontiac, Michigan.
SAMUEL RUNYAN
This gentleman was born in Wayne county, Ohio, October 2, 1833. His father, Samuel Runyan, also a native of the same county, died in Ohio, at the age of fifty-eight years. Although not very prominent in the public affairs of life as they go, Samuel Runyan is in many ways a remarkable man and has seen and knows much about the activities of the times in which he has lived and labored. Mr. Runyan continued to live at home attending
school, etc., until his father's death. When he had reached the age of seventeen years, he began working on the Wabash & Miami canal, running from Toledo to Terre Haute, Indiana. He followed this vocation for eighteen years. He then refused a job as steersman on a steam- er, at fifty dollars per month, and decided to come to Michigan and make a home for him- self. This was in 1866, soon after the close of the civil war. He bought eighty acres from the government in Rush township, paying two dollars for the entire eighty. At that time the country was a wilderness. He built as soon as possible a log house. This was covered with shaker roof. When this roof was half finished Mr. Runyan had just one dollar in money left. This he spent for butter to put on Johnnie cake for the children. The marsh, which con- sisted of one thousand two hundred acres of land, was covered with huckleberries, from which, in three weeks, he picked and sold one hundred dollars worth. This proved a god- send, so to speak, as he greatly needed some of the "sinews of war" to keep the wolf from the door.
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