USA > Michigan > Ingham County > Lansing > Past and present of the city of Lansing and Ingham county, Michigan > Part 42
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Many a time in the early days has our sub- ject seen his father bring in wild deer, which he shot before breakfast. The father was a very successful hunter, a veritable nimrod.
Morris Haynes is an intelligent and well- informed man and his reputation for in- tegrity and honor is known throughout the county.
EGBERT HEMANS.
Our subject, who is comparatively a young man, has been engaged for some time in farming, in which he has proved very successful. He is energetic and industrious, and is counted as one of the representative men of his community.
Egbert Hemans was born in Onondaga county, N. Y., Feb. 10, 1861, and is the son of John and Lovina (Sherwood) He- mans, whose history appears elsewhere in this volume.
Our subject received his education in Ma- son, attending until about twenty years of age, when he began farming on the old homestead, where he still resides. This farm comprises two hundred and twenty acres of well improved land, located in Onondaga township.
Sept. 9, 1885, Mr. Hemans was united in marriage with Miss Minnie, daughter of William and Susan Sear, who are natives of England, and now reside in Mason. Unto our subject and wife were born two chil- dren : John, Sept. 19, 1887, and Harris, May 26, 1895, both at home with the parents.
Mr. Hemans is active in the political affairs of his town and county, and has served as Township Treasurer for two terms. being elected to the position by the Democrat party, of which he is a staunch supporter, believing that its principles are best fitted to govern the people. Fraternally, Mr. Hemans is a member of the Masonic order at Onondaga, also of the Grange and the order of Foresters, in all of which he is deeply interested.
Our subject is engaged in general farm- ing and raising pedigreed Shropshire sheep, and is counted as one of the progressive men of today. He is a member of a prominent pioneer family of the county, which has been active in promoting any measure which look to the moral and business upbuilding of Ingham county.
SAMUEL AND BENJAMIN HART. (DECEASED).
During the years 1851-1852 there emigra- ted from England to the New World, two sons of Benjamin and Lucy ( West) Hart, bearing the names of Samuel and Benjamin. The parents of these children were natives of England and there lived and died. Short- ly after the coming of Samuel and Benjamin to America, James, another brother, followed them. Benjamin Hart, whose birth oc- curred March 9, 1827, was married about a month before he sailed from England, to Francis Cornell, who was of English birth, the date of her nativity being June 19, 1830.
After the arrival of the two brothers in
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America, they worked on a farm in Mich- igan for one year and then bought two hun- dred acres of wild land on section 16 of Williamston township, from the State of Michigan, in the year 1853. This land they began to clear and built a log house, where they lived and worked in partnership for three years. They then divided the property, each taking one hundred acres, and built homes and lived there until their deaths.
Benjamin Hart became a large land own- er and was worth several thousands of dol- lars at the time of his death in 1900, the third day of January. His wife died June 4, 1904. To them seven children were born, five of whom are now living : Josephine, who is Mrs. J. E. Frost of Wheatfield; Lucy J. Torrey, born February 3, 1856, lives at Alba, Michigan; Bertha, March 27, 1858, now Mrs. Millman of Bath, Michigan; George Hart, died March 17, 1890, at the age of twenty-eight years; Frank, lives in Locke township; the sixth died in infancy, and Nellie Hart, who owns the home farm and lives there part of the time, and also with a minister's family on the Forster place, in Williamston.
Samuel Hart was born February 5, 1824, and March 17, 1864, was married to Miss Esther A. Rinard of South Bend, Indiana, who is still living. To them three children were born: Charles F. Hart, born March 4, 1872, lives in Williamston township on the home farm: Urvin S., February 28, 1875, and Rosa May, born February 27, 1877, now Mrs. Peter Clever of Williams- ton.
Samuel Hart was a supporter of the Democracy, though not an office holder. He was always in good health until the last year of his life, when he was troubled with heart disease, which caused his death.
Charles F. Hart, the son of Samuel Hart, is a member of the Board of Review and is
also secretary of the Grange of Williamston. He votes for the principles of the Republican party and is a prosperous farmer located on one hundred and eighty acres of land in sec- tion 16 of Williamston township.
GOTTFRIED HERRE.
Gottfried Herre was born in Badenburg, Germany, Oct. 23, 1824, and is the son of Andrew Herre, also a native of Germany. Andrew Herre died at the age of forty-eight years or in 1833, when our subject was but nine years old, and the mother died at the age of eighty-five. Our subject's parents lived and died in Germany, where the father was engaged in the occupation of a weaver. To them were born six children: Henry, now eighty-four years of age, the only one besides our subject who is living. He is a resident of the home country; Henrietta, married and lived in Germany, now de- ceased ; our subject ; Fred, died in Germany at the age of fifty years ; Fredericka, died in Germany at the age of forty; Frank, came to America and died about thirteen years ago.
Andrew Herre was a linen weaver, at which he always worked, but was the owner of a small farm.
Gottfried Herre was educated in the vil- lage schools of Germany. He learned the blacksmith's trade, beginning at the age of fourteen. When he reached the age of twenty he went for himself and worked at the trade wherever he could find work. At the age of twenty-nine he came to America, . and located in Cleveland, where he worked one year, then came to Williamston, Michi- gan, and worked there one year in partner- ship with John Burklee. He then bought eighty acres of wild land in Alaiedon town- ship and lived there about one and a half years, when he sold the farm and settled in
GOTTFRIED HERRE
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MRS. GOTTFRIED HERRE
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Okemos, bought a lot and worked at his trade. He purchased ten acres of land and run a wagon shop in connection with black- smithing. At this he worked for eighteen years, then traded his business to William Turner for one hundred acres of land and moved onto the farm. This was partly im- proved, with a small, frame house and an old stable. Our subject rebuilt the house, built new barns and made of it one of the finest home farms in the community. He later added thirty acres to the farm. Here he lived until 1894, when he retired and left the farm in charge of one of the boys.
April 8, 1855, Mr. Herre was married to Louise Tachs, born in Mecklenburg, Ger- many, Sept. 23, 1834. Her parents lived and died in Germany, both passing away at the age of eighty-five. Her father was a farmer by occupation. Mrs. Herre and a sister, Mary, were the only ones of the family who came to this country. Mary was the wife of Henry Dickman, residents of Alaiedon town- ship, and both are deceased.
Seven children have been born to our sub- ject and wife: Emma, Aug. 25, 1856, the wife of Henry Foster of Haslett Park. They have three children, Sydna, Nellie and Lena ; Pauline, July 10, 1858, was the wife of Fred Simmons of Montcalm county, and died thir- teen years ago; Louise, Feb. 22, 1860, the wife of Elias Spross, living on part of our subject's old farm. They have three chil- dren, Nettie, Harold and Otto: Carl, born Nov. 21, 1861, married Sarah Raby, is em- ployed in the Lansing Wagon Works, and they have two children, Florence and Eva; E. G., born Aug. 11, 1862, married Etta Phillips and lives on the old homestead; Herman, Aug. 20, 1864, married Belle Swarthouse, lives on forty acres of the old home and has two children. Ray and Bernie, and Otto was born Sept. 23, 1865, and died at the age of three months.
Our subject has always been a Democrat and though several times a candidate was never connected with any office. The family are members of the German Lutheran church at North Lansing and are highly respected people of their locality. The characteristic German thrift and energy has been promi- nent throughout their lives and by means of it they are in possession of a comfortable competence for the declining years of their lives.
JAMES W. SHAY.
James W. Shay, a pioneer resident of the Township of Onondaga, was born May 25, 1833, in the State of New York. His par- ents, Asel B. and Polly Ambrose Shay, were natives of the Empire State and emigrated to the wilds of Michigan in 1833 and set- tled in the County of Washtenaw. The father lived to the advanced age of eighty- six and died in Mecosta county, while the mother died at the age of eighty years in Augusta, Washtenaw county, Michigan.
James W. was the youngest of four chil- dren born to his parents : Mary Ann, born in 1826, was twice married, her first husband. Judson Anderson, dying, when she married Monroe Smith. Mr. Smith was a member of the 27th Regiment of Michigan Infantry and followed the fortunes of his regiment for eighteen months and went down in that awful storm of leaden hail in the great three days' struggle between Grant and Lee in the Wilderness, Va., May 7, 1864.
"Rest on, embalmed and sainted dead, Dear as the blood ye gave ;
No impious footprints here shall tread The herbage of your grave."
Two sons live to enjoy the blessing of a peace purchased by the sacrifice of a father, William W., residing at Big Rapids, Mich-
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igan, and Joseph Monroe of Mecosta county ; Lucy, born in 1821, was the wife of Duncan Minzey and they resided upon a farm in Superior, Washtenaw county. She died at the age of fifty-seven years, leaving two daughters, named respectively Adeline, now Mrs. Frank Hamby, and Jane, who married Charles Switzer, and lives in Supe- rior ; John, born in 1829, resided in Wex- ford county, and died in Lenawee county, leaving a wife, who resides near Cadillac, Michigan.
Mr. James W. Shay was educated in the common schools in Washtenaw county, liv- ing at home until he arrived at the age of his majority. Starting out for himself at twenty- one years of age, he purchased forty acres of land near the old homestead and lived upon it one year, when he came to Ingham county in 1865 and settled upon the farm where he has since resided. He was united in marriage July 4, 1854, to Miss Phebe Ann, daughter of Oscar and Sarah Muir McLouth. Oscar McLouth was a na- tive of the State of New York and was born in 1805 and died at the untimely age of thirty-one years. His wife was born in Scotland in 1811. Her parents emigrated to this country when she was seventeen years of age. The family consisted of four chil- dren beside the parents: Amanda, born in 1830, the wife of Absalom Warner, who re- sides in Charlevoix Co .; Margaret, born in 1832, the wife of Geo. Jackson, of Lenawee county, and they have four children, the father being dead; Oscar, Jr., born Christ- mas, 1836, now a resident of Tompkins, Jackson county, and pensioner of the Civil War. He enlisted as a private in Company B, 20th Michigan Volunteer Infantry, was twice wounded in action and finally dis- charged at the end of his service. Mrs. Shay's great-grandfather, John McLouth, was a soldier in the Revoluntary War, and
an uncle, Nathan McLouth, served in the Mexican War under Gen. Winfield Scott in 1848 and there died.
To James W. Shay and wife, a daughter was born, June 24, 1856, Minerva C., who was united in marriage to W. K. Haynes, who was born in New York, June 28, 1848, and was the son of Camos and Mary Gray Haynes, natives of the Empire State. He came to Michigan in the year 1875 and set- tled in the Township of Onondaga, Ingham county. They were the parents of four sons, who became residents of this county : W. K., as stated above ; Charles, a prosperous farmer of Aurelius township and a man of irre- proachable character; A. B. was a well- known attorney at law, located at Mason and died in 1892 on the IIth day of Feb- ruary, and his widow, a lady of refinement, is a resident of New York City, and Wesley, who is a resident of Antrim county. Three children have been born to W. K. and Mrs. Haynes, James B., March 12, 1877, mar- ried to Nettie Taylor, now a resident of this township; Arthur K., November 28, 1882, married Blanche Cazier and their home is in Eaton Rapids ; Jessie G., August 1, 1886, at home with the parents. Mr. and Mrs. Haynes have always resided at the Shay home, Mr. Haynes having had the manage- ment of the farm for many years. The premises indicate the deft hand of a woman in the cultivation of plants and flowers.
Mr. Shay came into the township and purchased the original eighty acres when it was in its primitive state, heavy timbered. Forty-one years have brought marvelous changes to the country. The forests were felled, good, substantial buildings erected and few farms in the vicinity present a more inviting view to the passerby than the Shay home. Stately forest trees have been pre- served, for shade and beautifying the land- scape and under this roof, one unconsciously
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experiences that "At home" feeling, which is a stranger in many homes. Mr. Shay is a loyal republican, with faith in his party to keep the ship of state off the breakers. He has for many years been an honored member of the I. O. O. F. and in his religious views, he is liberal. "With charity for all and malice toward none" he is going toward the ciose of life's eventful day.
BYRON HOLT.
Among the prosperous farmers of Ingham township, we find the name of Byron Holt, who came to Michigan from the Empire State in 1843, his birth having occurred November 15, 1831, in Orleans county. His father, Silas Holt, was born in Truxson, N. Y., February 14, 1802, and the mother, Emily ( Hicks) Holt, also a native of Trux- son, was born July 13, 1804.
In August of the year 1835 Silas Holt. came to Michigan and took up one hundred and sixty acres of land from the government, which is the farm now owned by William Howlett, part of it being in Bunkerhill and the rest in Ingham township. Here he built a log house and stable and made his home. Here he lived until the death of his wife in the early seventies. He then sold the farm and went to live with his son, John in Bunk- erhill township, where he died in 1879 in the month of December. Although he always owned and lived upon a farm, he was a car- penter by trade and always worked at it. He was formerly a Whig but became a Re- publican when the party was formed out of the old Whig party. He was active in polit- ical interests but would never consent to hold office. He belonged to no church or fra- ternal organization. His wife was a mem- ber of the Baptist church.
Byron Holt was the fourth child in a fam- ily of nine: G. A., born May 17, 1836, a
farmer and lives in Locke township. His wife was Martha Muscat and they have three children; Rominer, born November 16, 1827, married Hattie Hopkins, worked in a foundry in Dansville, became a farmer and moved to Kansas, then to the state of Wash- ington and finally to Oklahoma, where he died in September, 1902; Mary Adeline, born February 2, 1830. She married first Manley Gray and then John Spencer. She is a widow and lives with her son in Mason ; Samantha, born December 25, 1833, was the wife of Elam Hopkins and afterwards mar- ried Melvin Titus. She is a widow and lives in Mason; Almira E., born March 7, 1836, the wife of Hiram Burrell. She is a widow and lives with a son in Ohio; Squire, born January 14, 1838, his wife was Hannah Lord and he is a resident of Munith, Mich- igan ; Harriet Viola, born February 1, 1840, wife of George Lord of Stockbridge, died January 23, 1905; John Charles, born July 15. 1842, his first wife was Etta Whipple and the second, Sarah Bradfield. He lives in Bunkerhill township.
Our subject was educated in the district schools of Ingham township, and April 15, 1855, was married to Minerva N. Felton, who was born in Oneida county, N. Y., Sep- tember 14, 1833, and was the daughter of Abner and Elizabeth (Briggs) Felton, na- tives of New York. The father was born March 12, 1792, and died March 9, 1860, and the mother, August 28, 1793, and died March 2, 1860.
Mrs. Holt was the ninth in a family of ten children, two now living: Manforn, born February 3. 1817, whose first wife was Susan Riggs and the second, Jane Herring- ton, lived in Stockbridge; Daniel, born De- cember 29, 1817, died in 1900. His wife was Margaret Hayes and they lived in Cali- fornia : Hannah, born March 17, 1819, the wife of Sam Hayes; Susan, born May 24,
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1822, the wife of Rube Smith, formerly lived in Stockbridge, now lives in Kalamazoo county ; Mercy, born April 26, 1824, died December 18, 1845, the wife of Ira Beebe; Clarissa, born February 9, 1827, the wife of Robert Wilson, lives in North Lansing; Eliza, born May II, 1828, the second wife of Ira Beebe. Her second husband was Horace Lyons : Jedson, born July 10, 1831, died December 9, 1893 ; our subject's wife; Ab- ner, born April 19, 1839. married Nancy Douglas. He died March 26, 1889.
Byron Holt bought eighty acres of the one hundred and sixty which his father owned and after his marriage he built a log house and stable and made his home here. He has since added forty acres and built a fine house and barns. Our subject and his brother, Squire, enlisted in Co. B., 26th Regiment of Michigan Infantry in August, 1862, and served until the close of the war. The brother Squire had two fingers nearly shot off one hand but our subject was fortunate in not being wounded during the whole war.
To Mr. and Mrs. Holt have been born seven children : Ida, May 18, 1857, married Sam Miller of Missouri and they have five children ; Samantha, April 28, 1859, married Charles Fortman of White Oak; Lee, June 17, 1861, died at the age of three years ; Mina, March 17, 1863. married Frank Pultz of Missouri; Squire, March 24, 1868, mar- ried Linnie Eggleston of Ingham township; Wert B., October 28, 1870, married Lucy Down, lives in Saginaw, employed in the Automobile Works, and Chester P., July 2, 1873, married Amelia Bachelor and practises dentistry in Stockbridge.
Our subject has always given his support to the Republican party though never an office seeker. He was formerly a member of the G. A. R. Mrs. Holt's parents were formerly the owners of Peal Shanty in Stock- bridge township.
Our subject is successfully engaged in general farming in Ingham township, where he is well and favorably known.
ROBERT L. HEWITT (DECEASED).
Robert L. Hewitt was born in Leoni, Jackson county, Feb. 15, 1843, and died May 26, 1904.
He was the son of Jeptha and Mary (Fox) Hewitt, the father having been born in Vermont, Oct. 14, 1807, and the mother in Vermont also, in 1814. A complete record of the life of Jeptha Hewitt can be found elsewhere in this volume in the sketch of Frank Hewitt.
The boyhood days of Robert Hewitt were spent in Leoni, Jackson county, where he ac- quired his early education. Here he lived until 1855, when the parents moved to Oke- mos. Later our subject completed his edu- cation at Lansing under the instruction of Prof. Taylor and Prof. Olds. Not being strong, physically, Mr. Hewitt devoted him- self to teaching, and was employed in Lan- sing, and later in Minnesota, until 1871, when he returned to Michigan and accepted a position in the office of the Secretary of State. He assisted in the census of 1874 and had charge of the ones taken in 1884 and 1894. He was in the office of Secretary of State until the year 1900, where he gave the most efficient service.
It had always been the ambition of Robert L. Hewitt to make a model country home, and in 1902 he returned to the farm to carry out his plans. The farm consisted of one hundred and eleven acres, which he bought from his father some years before, and was the old homestead of his parents. To which he soon added forty acres.
Nov. II, 1875. Mr. Hewitt was united in marriage with Alice M. North, daughter of one of the earliest settlers of Ingham county.
CHAS. G. JENKINS, M. D.
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Mrs. Hewitt was born in Delhi township, April 19, 1851. They were the parents of three daughters : Harriet, born Jan. 9, 1880, now teaching in Little Rock, Ark .; Alice, born May 14, 1881, at home with the moth- er, and Mary Eliza, born Nov. 4, 1884, at home. The mother of these girls died Sept. 15, 1885, and July 31, 1890, our subject was married to Lydia, daughter of William Sam- uel and Christiana (Shipp) Taylor, all na- tives of England. Mrs. Hewitt was born January 1, 1850, while the birth of her father occurred in 1785, and that of her mother, June 1, 1808. William S. Taylor died Sept. 16, 1851, and his wife May 22, 1901.
Mrs. Hewitt is one- of seven children : Jane, born April 19, 1839, the widow of N. K. Johnston, in California: Thomas, born Sept. 18, 1841, deceased; Elizabeth, born Feb. 10, 1848, is the wife of Rev. J. Fletcher of Allegan county. The other members of the family are deceased.
Mr. Hewitt was a staunch Republican, though he never held office except as con- nected with the Secretary of State. He was a member of the Central M. E. church of Lansing and was always found active in its work. He was also connected with the fraternal orders of Masons, Royal Arcanum and the Grange, in all of which he was counted as a valuable member. Mr. Hewitt was highly respected in his community, and the upright life which he led has left its im- press upon his family and neighbors.
CHARLES G. JENKINS, M. D.
Dr. Jenkins, one of the leaders in his pro- fession in Lansing, is a native of Woodville, Jefferson county, N. Y., and was born July 2, 1864. His parents were Abiah and Phi- lura P. Jenkins, father and son being born in the same village, the former, September 10.
1823. The mother was born August 14, 1824, and died in 1890. The head of the family was a farmer and moved to Ingham county, Michigan, in April, 1867. There he purchased another farm and for forty-three years lived the life of an industrious, hard- working agriculturist, selling his farm in 1900 and retiring in his old age to make his home with his son, then a prominent and prosperous physician.
Our subject acquired his early education at the Mason High School, from which he graduated in 1881. During the following decade he was engaged in school teaching. Three years after his marriage he entered the Medical Department of the Michigan Uni- versity and completed the full course in three years. During his senior year he was as- sistant to the professor of eye, ear, nose and throat diseases, when he acquired a scientific and practical knowledge, so necessary to the successful practice of this profession. Dr. Jenkins spent the first seven years of his pro- fessional practice in Mason and there estab- lished a good practice. Desiring a more thorough knowledge, he took a post gradu- ate course at his alma mater and the Chicago Eye. Ear and Nose Hospital, locating in Lansing in 1901 to continue his special work in the lines mentioned. In this he has met with signal success, nor is his reputation confined to this immediate locality as he has gained an extensive and desirable practice in other localities in the State. Conscientious and painstaking in his chosen vocation, he is succeeding in establishing a reputation sec- ond to none in the capital city.
Dr. Jenkins was married in 1888 to Miss Jennie A. Noyes, daughter of B. B. Noyes, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this vol- ume. Three children have been born to them: Lella Mae, October 1, 1889, now in the Lansing High School: Karl Noyes, March 25, 1895, and Maurice Jerome. June
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14, 1902. Both husband and wife are mem- bers of the Baptist church, the doctor being on the Board of Tustees. He is a Mason of high standing, having served as Worshipful Master in the Blue Lodge before coming to Lansing. At the latter city he became identi- fied with Lansing Lodge, No. 33, Capital Chapter, No. 9, and has held the office of High Priest: He also belongs to Lansing Council, No. 29. R. and S. M. Mrs. Jenkins is affiliated with the Eastern Star and is Recorder and Collector in the "Court of Honor."
In politics, Dr. Jenkins is a Democrat, al- though his time is too fully occupied with his professional duties to allow him to do more than falls to the lot of every good cit- zen. His interest in public education, how- ever, had induced him to serve upon the Board of School Examiners in 1886, he be- ing at that time a resident of Mason.
AARON T. INGALLS.
The greater portion of the life of Aaron T. Ingalls has been devoted to the agricul- tural calling. He has, however, made several speculations in land, engaged in the mercan- tile business at Leslie and for three years managed the Leslie hotel. He was born at Bergen, Genesee county, N. Y., in 1830, and was the son of Benjamin and Malina ( Hum- phrey) Ingalls. Benjamin Ingalls was born in 1804 in Vermont and the mother was a native of New York and lived until the year 1855. The father died in February, 1894.
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