USA > Michigan > Shiawassee County > Past and present of Shiawassee County, Michigan, historically; with biographical sketches > Part 62
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After Mr. Shuster had erected a log house upon the land which he had purchased, he commenced cutting logs on the river to obtain the means to support his family. He was a good worker and a better financier. Twenty- four years ago on the first day of January he moved into the brick house in which he lived at the time of his death, November 15, 1905, at the age of eighty-four years. He hired the laborers who worked upon the house, superintend personally its construction and did not permit a piece of imperfect material to be placed in the building. When completed it had cost him the sum of two thousand and two hun- dred dollars, every cent of which he paid in cash. When we consider the difficulty of ob- taining money in those days, when most men struggled for an existence, we must admit that this is a record of which to be proud.
Mr. Shuster's second wife was Lucy, widow
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of Jacob Rush. Her maiden name was Free- man. To them were born five children. Eliza- beth Ann is the wife of Horace Hayt, of Owosso; Jane is the wife of John Dellamater, of Rush township; Athelia is the wife of June Johnson, of Chesaning, Michigan; Leslie re- sides in Rush township, and Edna is the wife of George Brock, formerly of Saginaw, Michi- gan. Since the death of Mr. Shuster Mr. Brock has had the management of the farm.
In early days Mr. Shuster often carried upon his shoulders a bag of meal from Owosso to his home, a distance of nine miles, through the woods. Although the feat mentioned is but one of the many hardships which he encoun- tered.
Politically he was affiliated with the Demo- crats, but was independent in local affairs. He held the office of highway commissioner for a period of fourteen years, but never sought political office. He was a man highly respected by all who knew him.
JOHN SIMPSON
The surroundings of a home and the in- fluence of a father and mother go far to mould the character of the boy or girl and to start them on the right road to good manhood and womanhood. The boy who is left in infancy without either, and who is compelled to meet the hardships and evils of the world alone is as gold tried in the fire if he arrives at manhood without dishonor.
John Simpson was born in Scotland in the year 1826, being a son of William Simpson. His parents both died in Scotland when he was but a child. The only recollection he has of either of his parents is that of being lifted in some one's arms to look upon the face of his dead mother.
Subject lived with his paternal grandparents until he had attained to the age of twelve years. At that early age he had to shift for himself, and he began earning his daily bread
by working on a farm by the month. He la- bored thus for nine years, and though he had to bear the hardships of an orphan and the sorrows of childhood alone, he came to his majority with his character unblemished, and so he has preserved it throughout his long and useful life.
At the age of twenty-one years he married Jane Gordon. She was born in 1828, and died in 1903. The companion of his youth and his first true friend lies buried in the ceme- tery at Henderson. To them were born two children. The older, John, died at the age of three years. The second, Jane, was born in 1853, and she is the wife of John Telfer, who conducts a general store in the village of Henderson, where he is also postmaster, Mr. and Mrs. Telfer have four children, Harry, Daisy, Grace and Lyman.
Our subject was the third in a family of four children, who are now widely separated. The oldest, William, is a shoemaker by trade and resides in Scotland; the second, Jane, lives in Scotland; and the fourth lives in Hamilton, Ontario.
Mr. and Mrs. Simpson sailed from Aber- deen, Scotland, on the 8th day of April, 1854, and two months were consumed in making the voyage. They landed at Quebec and went from there to Hamilton, Ontario, where they resided about two years, then removing to Detroit, where he was employed for four years at construction work and repairing on the Michigan Central Railroad. He then came to Rush township in the year 1868, and pur- chased eighty acres of wild land. Not a stick of timber had been cut on the land and the timber was the heaviest in this section. He built a log house upon the land and for the next few years labored as a section hand upon the Michigan Central Railroad, to obtain a living for himself and family. In connection with this labor he succeeded in clearing a few acres of the land and in planting crops. He has continued his labors until now he has a very fine farm, located in section 22. Politi-
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cally he has always been a Republican. In early days he was a member of the Presbyte- rian church, but at present belongs to the Dis- ciples' church. For the last few years he has rented his land, and though he is now seventy-nine years of age he is still in good health. His daughter and her husband live with him. Although adyanced in years he is not a man that can bear to be idle. He man- ages the farm, repairs fences and sees that everything is kept in first-class condition.
HARRISON SMITH
Harrison Smith, the subject of this paper, now a resident of Owosso, has for nearly forty years been a highly honored citizen of Venice township, and, as one of the most substantial farmers of the county, is enjoying the rewards of an industrious life, directed by sound judg- ment and morality: He was born in Orleans county, New York, on November 24, 1821, and his parents were also natives. of the Em- pire state. His father, George Washington Smith, was born in 1796, and died, at the age of eighty-eight, in 1884; his mother, Almira (Lee) Smith, died in New York state in 1830.
The father of our subject was married four times, Harrison being the eldest child by the first marriage. His brother Orson, next to him in age and now deceased, married Harriet Patterson and was the father of five children. Lee, the third, living in Missouri, married Har- riet Smith, and they are the parents of four children. The fourth, Nelson, who is a resi- dent of New York state, has been twice mar- riage of George W. Smith was to Mrs. Polly whom he had two children, and, second, to Mrs. Ann Eliza Buckland. The second mar- riage of George W. Smith was to Mrs. Polly (Whaley) Jenning, by whom he had four chil- dren. ' Harvey is married and lives in Cali- fornia. Henry died when a small boy. Mary J., deceased, married Solon Parish and had two boys. Sabrina Mariah is now Mrs. Cline, lives at Adrian, Michigan, and has two chil-
dren. The third wife, formerly Lois Wheat, . became the mother of one child, who died in infancy. The fourth wife was a widow named Patterson.
Harrison Smith obtained his early educa- tion in the district schools of Orleans county, New York, and until he was nearly twenty-two years of age he assisted his father in his saw mill. He then started out to carve for him- self an independent career, having, as a founda- tion for the future, one hundred acres of im- proved land, presented to him by his father. It was about this time that the young man was introduced to the Wolverine state and its fair prospects, through a visit which he made to Tuscola county, whither he was invited to at- tend the wedding of his cousin. That entire region was then virtually a wilderness, there being only nine families in the county named, and the wedding 'of his cousin was the first ceremony of the kind between white people ever performed within its limits.
Mr. Smith returned to Orleans county, where he successfully cultivated his farm for several years, but his visit to the west had set at rest all doubts as to his final residence. At first he traded his New York farm for eighty acres of wild land in Ottawa county, Michigan, which, in turn, was exchanged for the one hundred and ten acre in section 10, Venice township, where he resided until Oc- tober, 1905. This tract was also unimproved, but he built a log house and a frame barn, and cleared and broke the land; later, he erected a comfortable frame residence, transforming the wild, crude piece of land into an attractive, up-to-date homestead. Following the example of his father, he has also given to each of his sons forty acres of land.
Mr. Smith has been thrice married. He first wedded Mrs. Louisa (Holt) Hopkins, who died in New York state, childless. He later married Sarah Wager, who died March 3, 1885, at the age of forty-four years, leaving three children : Lewis Eugene, born in May, 1861, married Nellie Warren, from whom he
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was divorced, their children being Everett and Fern; his second marriage was to Naomi Brees ; they have no children and live with our subject. Mary was born in 1865, and died in May, 1883. Willis Henry, born in Decem- ber, 1867, married Minnie Bernear and lives on a forty-acre farm which his father gave him. He has five children-Frankie, Ada, George, Gertrude and Rodger. Mr. Smith's third mar- riage was to Mrs. Emily Jane Paine, widow of Damon E. Paine. She was born in 1828 and had one child by her first marriage, Viola Ce- lestia, who was born in 1858, and who mar- ried William Ackland, becoming the mother of three children, Wallie, Flora (deceased) and Irene. Mr. and Mrs. Ackland reside in Mor- encie.
Our subject is not a member of any political party, being too busy a man to devote any time to politics. To illustrate how he has kept himself aloof from politics, it may be stated that he has voted for but one president in the course of his entire life.
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Both Mr. and Mrs. Smith are Seventh Day Adventists and are prominent in practical works of charity. . Mr. Smith is one of that stalwart band of pioneers, now diminished to such small proportions, who have been priv- ileged to see the wild country over which they once hunted deer and other game, blossom into scientifically cultivated farms and beautiful villages and cities.
J. L. SMITH, M. D.
Of the followers of Esculapius practicing in Durand, Shiawassee county, none is more pro- gressive in his professional ideas and tenden- cies than our subject. The tendency of the time in professional circles is a dissatisfaction with one's acquirements and a feverish anxi- ety to rend the veil of future discoveries and inventions, taking to one's self all the advan- tages that may be utilized. On the whole, this is a wholesome condition of affairs. Dr. Smith
is no exception to the rule, being ambitious to stand in the front ranks of his profession. He is a skilled physician and surgeon and his prac- tice is large and of a representative character. Since the year 1875, with the exception of four years passed at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he has been known as one of the most successful phy- sicians of Shiawassee county.
Ohio is the native place of Dr. Smith, who was born in Coshocton county, where he spent his boyhood days and where he acquired his early education in the district schools.
Dr. Smith is a son of Jacob and Mary (Thompson) Smith. His father was born in Virginia, in 1813, and his mother was a native of Scotland, her birth having occurred in 1814. For a time our subject attended the Hopedale Academy, at Hopedale, Ohio, later was a stu- dent in the Iron City Commercial College, at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and he finally entered the Western Reserve University, at Cleveland, Ohio, being graduated in the medical depart- ment of this institution as a member of the class of 1873. He later took a post-graduate course in the College of Physicians and Sur- geons in Chicago.
The young physician started out for himself by locating at Strasburg, Ohio, where he prac- ticed successfully. In the year 1875, being dis- satisfied with the field of his activities, he removed to Vernon, Michigan, where he re- mained, with the exception of a few years in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, until he came to Durand, in the year 1896. Since locating in Durand he has met with marked success and his strict attention to business and the welfare of his pa- trons has won for him many friends. He is ever found ready to lend a helping hand to one who is needy.
Dr. Smith has been twice married, first to Jennie Patterson, daughter of John Patterson, of Strasburg, Ohio. Mrs. Smith died in Ver- non, Michigan, in 1880. In the year 1893 Dr. Smith was married to Miss Florence Will- hide, of Hagerstown, Maryland. Two children came to bless the home of Dr. Smith-a son
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and a daughter. Lillie is following the call- ing of an actress and her stage name is Lillie Morrell, and the son is a conductor on the To- ledo & Ann Arbor Railroad.
Dr. Smith is a Democrat, and though not an office-seeker, he was for one term president of Vernon village and also, for the same length of time, president of Durand. He interests himself in everything that can be of advantage to him in the acquiring of knowledge pertain- ing to his profession. He is a member of the Michigan State Medical Society and also of the Shiawassee County Medical Association.
In social life, Dr. Smith affiliates with the Masonic order, Knights of Pythias, Knights of the Maccabees, Foresters and the Dramatic Or- der of the Knights of Khorassan, at Saginaw, in all of which he takes an active interest. He is a warm admirer and personal friend of W. J. Bryan.
NELSON SMITH
It is a pleasure to preserve the history and the recollections of the men who have taken part in the development of a community. No more valuable hour can be spent than to hear them impart the knowledge which they have acquired in many years of life and experience. The step may be slow, but they have not much farther to travel. The eye may be dim, but they need not look far to see the goal.
Nelson A. Smith was born in Genesee county, state of New York, on the 2d day of February, 1826. His father, Sanford Smith, was born in Jefferson county, New York, and his mother, Laura (Tanner) Smith, was born in the state of Vermont. His father came to the state of Michigan, in the fall of 1842, and settled in Burns township, a short distance from where our subject now lives. ,
Sanford Smith traded land in New York state for three hundred and four acres of land in Shiawassee county, Michigan, and made his first trip to the state for the purpose of seeing the land, not having seen it before
he traded. He erected a small log cabin on the land and returned to the state of New York, and rented the land he had formerly owned there. After two years he returned to Michi- gan and started to clear and improve the land. He died three years later, in 1848.
· Our subject is one of seven children, all of whom are dead but himself and one brother. He received his early education in the state of New York, in the town of Perry. He first worked on the land which his father owned, and his father afterward gave him a deed of forty-eight and one-half acres of wild land. - He later purchased eighty acres. There was but fourteen acres cleared on the eighty, the re- mainder, of over one hundred and twenty acres, he has cleared and improved himself. This is a great work for one man to accomplish. His farm is located in sections 2 and 3, Burns township.
Nelson Smith has continuously lived upon the farm which he first owned. He has erected good buildings, made general improvements and has one of the finest farms in Burns town- ship. In the year 1852 he visited the gold fields of California, going by way of New York and the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Upon this trip he was gone nineteen months, which is the longest period he has been absent from his farm since he located upon it. In early days he drove the Fentonville stage.
In 1851 Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Jane E. Barnum. Her father was an old and highly esteemed settler of Michigan, lo- cating near Byron in the year 1837. To our subject and wife has been born one child, John S. Smith, who now resides on the farm with his father. Mr. Smith gave his son a liberal education, sending him to the high school at Byron, and college at Kalamazoo. He is still a very studious and scholarly man.
John S. Smith married Samantha Burlin- game, whose parents were old settlers, and very much respected people of Burns township. To Mr. and Mrs. Smith have been born four children. The oldest, Jeanette, is a graduate
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of Mount Pleasant Normal and is a kinder- garten teacher. The second, Lulu, is a normal- school graduate, and is now engaged as a drawing teacher. The third, H. Brayton, is attending the Michigan Agricultural College. The fourth, Ruth, is attending school in By- ron, and expects to specialize in music.
Our subject and his son are both Republi- cans, and the son has held the offices of justice of the peace and school inspector.
OTTO L. SPRAGUE
Among the prominent young business men of Owosso is Otto L. Sprague, the druggist. Mr. Sprague is a native Wolverine, having been born at Farmington, Oakland county, Michigan, January 19, 1865. His parents, John and Helen (Lee) Sprague, were for many years residents of Oakland county, where the father was engaged in farming. When our subject was seven years of age his father moved to Caro, and later, in 1886, to Owosso, where he now resides, being engaged as mail carrier.
In the year 1882 Otto L. Sprague was grad- uated in the Caro high school, and soon after- ward he accepted a position in a drug store at that place, being subsequently employed at Fair Grove, Bad Axe and Traverse City. The firm of Sprague & Company was formed in 1890, since which time Mr. Sprague has been identified with the business interests of the city of Owosso.
July 27, 1886, Mr. Sprague was united in marriage to Mabel A., daughter of Henry P. and Emily (Wilson) Atwood, of Caro. To Mr. and Mrs. Sprague three children were born-Lee Atwood, Jonathan Henry and Rob- ert Wilson. Jonathan Henry is the only sur- viving child and is a pupil in the Owosso public schools.
It is scarcely necessary to say that Mr. Sprague affiliates with the Republican party. He believes in its principles and is enthusiastic
over its triumphs and victories. He has served the city as clerk one term and was for two terms city treasurer. In 1900 Mr. Sprague was supervisor of census for the eighth con- gressional district of Michigan. He is now serving his third term as deputy oil inspector for the twelfth district of Michigan. Mr. Sprague has developed the social and fraternal side of his nature by his association with the Odd Fellows, the Maccabees and the Masonic fraternity. Mr. Sprague readily comprehends the fact that nothing succeeds like success, and acts accordingly. He never waits for an op- portunity, but makes for himself opportunities and improves the advantages afforded. His friends say of him, "Otto usually has his hat the right side up when the plums fall." He is greatly appreciated for his public spirit in his home town, where he is best known. '
GEORGE W. STANLAKE
George W. Stanlake was born in Waterford, Oakland county, Michigan, December 28, 1849. He is a son of Charles Stanlake, who was born in Devonshire, England, February 7, 1824, who died in Owosso township, May 12, 1899. His wife, Caroline (Derby) Stan- lake, was born in the Empire state, and she passed to the life eternal in 1884, in Owosso township. The father of Charles Stanlake was William Stanlake, who came to America when the former, Charles, was only twelve years old. In 1836 he located in Water- ford, Oakland county, Michigan, where he bought one hundred and sixty acres of land from the government. This he cleared and improved, and there he lived until the date of his death. Our subject's father was one in a family of ten children, two of whom died in England. Five sons and three daughters ac- companied their parents to America, and all have 'since passed away. They were named respectively Charles, John, Thomas, Robert, William, Mary, Jane and Charlotte.
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Our subject's father attended the district school in Oakland county, living at home with his parents. When his father died he stayed on the farm and took care of his mother, real- izing that
There is none
In all this cold and hollow world, no fount Of deep, strong, deathless love, save that within
A mother's heart.
Charles Stanlake was married in Oakland county and lived on the old homestead until 1856, when he sold his interest in the farm and moved to Shiawassee county, buying eighty acres in Owosso township. Of this there were about seven acres cleared, with no buildings. As soon as possible he erected a house, in which he lived for thirty years afterward. He cleared and improved the land and in later years built a commodious residence. In poli- tics hè was a Republican, but he never held office. He was a member of the Protestant Methodist church at Burton and was active in all that pertains to the betterment of society. He had a family of ten children-such a fam- ily as would now delight the heart of Presi- dent Roosevelt. The first-born of the house- hold was the subject of this sketch, George W. Stanlake. The others are: Henry, who lives in DuPlain township, Clinton county, Michi- gan ; James, who lives in Owosso, being em- ployed in the Estey factory; Harvey, who lives in Detroit, and who is a contractor and builder ; William, who resides at Kingston, Canada ; Fred, who lives in Owosso; Martha, who is the wife of Orrin Williams, of New Haven township; Elizabeth married Joseph Bradley and they live in Owosso ; two children were born to them and both died in infancy.
Mr. Stanlake was afforded the advantages of the district schools of Owosso and Middlebury townships and subsequently attended a select school in Ovid. He started for himself at the age of fourteen years, working on a farm sum- mers and attending school winters. This he
continued until twenty-five years old, when he purchased forty acres of improved land, but he soon afterward sold this and bought one hundred and twenty acres, partly improved, on section 27, Middlebury township. The place had a log house and barn. He subse- quently built a frame house, added to the barn and built another. He lived there until one year ago, when he leased the Marshall farm and removed there. He still owns his farm, of one hundred acres, which he cleared, im- proved and fenced.
Mr. Stanlake was married to Amah Haight, November 8, 1870. She was born in Steuben county, New York, October 12, 1852. A sketch of her family is given in connection with that of her brother, Clarence Haight, elsewhere in this work. To Mr. and Mrs. Stanlake were born three children, two of whom died in infancy. One son, Claude, aged twenty-six years, is single and lives with his parents.
Mr. Stanlake has always been engaged in general farming. He buys and feeds stock, but not extensively. He is a Republican and was supervisor of his township for twelve years "in succession and is now serving his second term as township treasurer. He was also highway commissioner one year.
Though not connected with any church the family are regular attendants of religious ser- vices and help to support the good work. It is said by his neighbors that Mr. Stanlake hasn't an enemy in Middlebury. Certain it is that he is extremely popular and that he pos- sesses the confidence of his neighbors in an unqualified degree.
WILLIAM W. STEELE
The subject of this sketch is a farmer and the son of a farmer-a representative of that band of sturdy men who did so much in the early days of Michigan to make it what it is to-day, one of the most beautiful and prosper-
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ous commonwealths in the entire sisterhood of states. It may never have occurred to the cas- ual reader that it requires fully as much cour- age and fortitude to enter a virgin forest in a new country and chop down and carve out a home and farm as it does to shoulder a musket and fight the battles of one's country. The order of courage in either case is varied but a trifle.
William W. Steele is a native of the Empire state, a fact of which he is justly proud. He was born in Fulton county, New York, May 15, 1837. His father, Newcomb W. Steele, was likewise a native of New York state. He died, however, at the age of forty-five years, just in the prime of manhood. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Ann Forbes, was born in New York state, and survived her hus- band nearly a quarter of a century, having died at the age of sixty-eight years. Mr. Steele's parents were married in their native state, but removed to Michigan when he was only one year old. They settled at Oxford Corners, Oakland county, on a forty-acre farm of un- improved land, which an uncle of the subject of this sketch had bought from the govern- ment and had given to his brother, Newcomb W. A log shanty was built and the work of clearing the farm commenced. They con- tinued to live there for about twelve years, when the father died. His, widow then re- moved to Metamora, Michigan, where she bought forty acres of land, all improved. She lived there about five years and then married a second husband, in the person of Stephen Chase, who owned one hundred and sixty acres near Fortuneville. There they lived for about ten years, then removing to Inde- pendence, Oakland county, where they re- mained until they closed their earthly careers.
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