USA > Michigan > Oakland County > Portrait and biographical album of Oakland County, Michigan, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county > Part 27
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The first Presidential vote cast by Mr. Calkins, was for the opponent of William Henry Harrison, and the last one he has deposited prior to this date (1891), was for Gen. Fisk. Ile has been a Good Templar and Mason, but is now a demitted mem- ber of the last order. During the war he was con- nected with the Union League. His neighbors and fellow-citizens have considered him worthy of their
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suffrages for responsible local positions, and he has been Township Clerk, Justice of the Peace and School Inspector. The good he accomplished while working in the ministry, cannot be estimated until time shall be no more, as it is a constantly widen- ing circle. Sufficient is known, however, of his life and character to stamp him as one worthy of re- spect and deep friendship. Having first visited Detroit when its population was about four thou- sand, and Woodbridge Street was the only one of any consequence, he has a good fund of early re- collections from which to draw entertainment. Ile remembers being all day traveling nine and a half miles from that city, and three days in reaching Lyon Township. Ile has furnished a very inter- esting series of pioneer sketches for the local pa- pers.
NGUS McCALLUM. Many beautiful farms will be seen by the traveler through West Bloomfield Township, but none more at- tractive than that of Mr. McCallum, on section 9. It consists of one hundred and fifty acres of land which is carefully and intelligently tilled and systematically managed. The land is at the west end of Orchard Lake, from the waters of which the residence is but thirty or forty rods dis- tant. The dwelling is a two-story frame, comfort- able and home-like in appearance and giving evi- dence of the presence of an orderly and refined woman within. The grounds in front of the house are adorned with evergreens that are kept well trimmed and form beautiful vistas through which to gaze upon the clear waters of the lake. Among the farm buildings are two large barns and such granaries and sheds as the extent of the work car- ried on makes convenient.
As the patronymie indicates Mr. McCallum is of Scotch blood and his birthplace was Paisley, Scot- land, where he opened his eyes to the light Septem- ber 20, 1847. He was the first child born of the union of Archibald and Mary (Taylor) McCallum, the other members of the family circle being Mar- garet, Peter and Archie (twins) and Mary. Arch- ibald McCallum had been previously married and
by his first wife, whose maiden name was Robert- son, he had three children-Elizabeth, John and Ellen. The parents emigrated in 1850, and in July, shortly after their arrival on American shores, were settled on the farm which the son now occupies. There they spent the remnant of their days.
The father was a tanner by trade and followed that occupation in his native land, and for nine years after his emigration he operated a tannery in Pontiac. From that time he devoted himself en- tirely to agriculture. Hle purchased seventy-nine acres of land in 1850 and in 1864 bought eighty acres more. He died well off. He had an excel- lent education, was a man of wide reading and information and was an earnest, working member of the Presbyterian Church. His wife was a mem- ber of the same religious body and shie too was active in the work carried on by the same. Mr. McCallum took little interest in politics except to keep posted regarding the issues of the day and vote the Republican ticket.
Angus McCallum was but three years old when his parents came to this State and his life thus far has been spent on the farm he now owns. After the death of his parents he bought out the interest of the other heirs and retained the homestead in which he had a share. Naturally deeply interested in matters pertaining to the welfare of agricult- uralists, he is a member of the Patrons of Industry. He has held the offices of Township Clerk and Treas- urer and always votes the Republican ticket. He was married April 16, 1873, to Miss Lucy Crick- more, a native of West Bloomfield Township, and daughter of Robert and Mary ( Neat) Crickmore. Their marriage has been blest by the birth of one daughter, Mildred E. The McCallums have good standing in society and have many warm friends.
h IRAM CURTIS was born in Addison Township, on the farm where he now re- sides, November 5, 1848. His father, Zimri Curtis, was a Vermonter, who came to Mich- igan at an early day and was one of the first to en- ter land in this township. Here in the days when
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the country was full of game and Indians, he built a log house and cleared and improved his land. His death occurred in 1873 when he was sixty-five years old. His wife was Amanda Lockwood of New York. She survived her husband nine years and died in her seventy-first year.
Seven children were given to Zimri and Amanda Curtis, all but one of whom are still living. Mr. Curtis was born in the log house which his father built and attended school in the log schoolhouse. Hle began life for himself about the year 1870, and at that time undertook the management of the old homestead upon which he still lives. Shortly after his father's death he bought the property from the other heirs. His marriage took place in 1872, his wife being Almira Burns, a native of Addison township and a daughter of Alanson and Julia Burns.
Three children have been sent to eluster about the hearthstone of our subject. They are by name, Mande, Zimri and Blanche. The parents of these children, with true benevolence have added to their household an adopted daughter, Alvira by name. The political preferences of Mr. Curtis are em- bodied in the platform of the Democratic party. He, however, has taken only a quiet part in polit- ical movements, being satisfied with casting his bal- lot on election day for the men and the measures which he esteems best. His two hundred aeres of fine land are in an excellent state of cultivation and a credit to the farmer who owns them.
E RASTUS WOODRUFF, a prosperous and progressive farmer of Novi Township, is a son of John Woodruff, who was a farmer and soldier in the War of 1812, and whose native home was Canandaigua, N. Y. Ile removed to Mon- roe County. the same State, in 1808 and remained there till 1823. llis father, Charles, was an Eng- lishman who came to America and settled in Con- nectient upon a farm before the Revolutionary War, in which he served as a Dragoon, and bore to his grave a slight wound received in that confliet. The mother of our subject, Polly (Sage)
Woodruff, was born near the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania. She was of Welsh descent and her father also was one of the Revolutionary hereos.
The parents of our subject were united in mar- riage in New York and resided there in various localities until 1834, when they came to Michigan and made their home in West Bloomfield Town- ship, on an unbroken farm for which they obtained a Government patent signed by Andrew Jackson. Here they had to cut their own way through the woods and clear a spot to erect the log house in which to establish their happy home. They lived on this place until 1843, when they removed to Ionia Connty, and made their home again in a shanty on a new farm in Orange Township. Mr. Woodruff was fatally injured while felling trees and died June 1844. His wife followed him to the grave two years later. Of their seven children two only are living.
The birth of Mr. Woodruff took place January 20, 1820, in Monroe County, N. Y. Ile was thirteen years old when he came to the West and enjoyed greatly the pioneer life, intercourse with the Indians and adventures with wild animals. There was no school near him for several years and he received but little school education. lle had command of his own time after he was nineteen years old and although empty handed and without means he went to work in good earnest. For six years he served Jacob Hosner, at $12 per month.
The marriage of our subjeet with Miss Melinda Bullock, was solemnized by Elder Eri Prince, October 22, 1843. This lady is a daughter of Amos M. and Sallie (Allen) Bullock, both New Yorkers who came to Michigan in 1836 and made their home in West Bloomfield Township. Ilere they took up thirty-six acres of land from the Government and for years lived in a log house with one window and no chimney. They were the parents of seven children three of whom are now living. Mr. Bullock died in 1851 and his good wife survived him until 1873.
Mrs. Woodruff was by birth a New Yorker and ber natal day was January 10, 1823. She received an excellent district school education which she improved to such an extent as to become a teacher after she came West, and received the munifieient
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salary of 81 a week. This young wedded couple settled on the farm owned by John Woodruff and remained there for three years. They then removed to a new farm in Orange Township, Ionia County. Ilere again on a new farm they built a log house and cleared away the timber. After fifteen months . they returned to West Bloomfield Township, and undertook the same work. After clearing thirty aeres they exchanged it for land in Clinton County, but never removed there.
It is now thirty-eight years since Mr. Woodruff came to Novi Township, and made his home on sixty-five aeres of raw land. He afterwards added to his farm till he now has one hundred and twenty- six acres, twenty aeres of which he cleared himself. Six years ago, he erected the neat residence whieli now takes the place of the little log shanty which was their first home on this land. The new house eost over $1,200 besides the labor Mr. Woodruff placed upon it. Ile is actively carrying on the farm him- self and with his noble and faithful companion has gained unaided the fine property which they now possess. Five of their seven children live to cheer the hearts of their parents.
The eldest son of the family, George O., is a husband and the father of one child. fle was a soldier in the Tenth Michigan Cavalry and served his country for more than two years. He now lives on the Pacific Coast. John A., married Elizabeth Sagnr and lives in Kansas. Jane A., Mrs. Hugh Porter, lives in Mecosta County and is the mother of five children. Lester and his wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Taylor, live in this town- ship; they have one ebild. Libbie the wife of Jewett Randall, is the mother of two children and makes her home in Farmington Township. One son Henry C., was a member of Company C, First Michigan Cavalry. Ile enlisted in 1861, and served until his capture by the enemy at Fairfield Gap, Md. He was taken to Belle Isle and thence to Andersonville Prison and died from exposure and privations the day after his term of service of three years had expired. His death took place August 23, 1864 and his remains are still in South- ern soil.
Mr. and Mrs. Woodruff are members of the Baptist Church at Walled Lake in which he is a
Deacon and where they find a broad field of Christian activity. He was a member of the local school board and has also acted as Road ()verseer. In polities he is an out and out Republican. He has always been a man of strictly temperate habits and they are both yet in the harness and doing efficient work in every department of life.
7.
ARRISON BALDWIN, of Oxford, was born in Cayuga County, N. Y., February 16, 1825. He is a son of James and Hannah (Cushing) Baldwin, natives of Connecticut and Vermont, respectively. James was but a year and a half old when his father, Josiah by name, removed to New York. This child grew up to be active and strong, and was a wagon-maker or wheelwright as the trade was then ealled. Ile moved to Ohio near Oberlin in 1834, and in 1836 came to Michigan, locating in Oakland County. Here he followed the same business until his death August 26, 1857. His wife followed him to the grave November 6, 1860. To them were born seven children: Alvira, widow of Horatio Fuller of Grand Rapids; Martha, widow of Porter J. Lau- renee, at Winnebago, Ill .; Alvin, who resides at Mt. Vernon, Mich .; Eunice, deceased; Harrison ; Julia, widow of Joseph Burwell, of Madison, Wis., and Sarah, wife of William Bland, at Flushing, Mich.
Harrison was eleven years old when his parents came to this county, so that he has witnessed the growth and development of Michigan, and has seen the change from forest to city. He commenced to learn the trade of a carpenter and joiner at seven- teen years of age. A brother had followed this trade and encouraged him to take it up, which he did and worked at it for fifteen years.
In 1849 young Baldwin came to Oxford, and porsned his trade. In 1861 he became the funeral director for this section of country, and combined with it the furniture trade, which he sold out in 1887, so that he is now exclusively engaged in un- dertaking. He has taken charge of over two thou- sand funerals since he went into this line of work.
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He keeps two hearses and a funeral car, and is far better equipped for the business than many under- takers in larger cities.
Our subjeet chose as his life companion, Martha Langworthy, a native of New York. Their mar- riage took place October 9, 1866. Three children have been granted to them, namely, Arthur D. and Judson C., who are both with their father in busi- ness, and Ina May. The mother of these children was called away by death February 16, 1887. Mr. Baldwin is a member of the Masonic order. Ile is an active and earnest member of the Baptist Church with which he has been connected for for- ty-nine years. Ile has also been Trustee in the local Church. Ile is Democratie in politics and has served faithfully when raised by his fellow-citi- zens to positions of trust. He was Alderman the first two years after the incorporation of the vil- lage and has been Treasurer three years and Clerk three years. Our subject is now President of the Board of Undertakers and General Manager of that body.
B ALDING L. JIELIKER, a resident of ste- tion 14, Farmington Township, was born in Jasper Township, Steuben County, N. Y., June 1, 1827. ITis father, Benjamin, was a native of Dutchess County, where he fol- lowed the blacksmith's trade until the age of forty years, after which he engaged in farming both in New York and Farmington Township, this county, to which he came in 1836, and where he resided until his death. His wife, Betsey E. Coonley, was a native of the same county with her husband and came with him to Michigan where she also passed away. Of their children, nine grew to manhood and womanhood, and all are now living but two.
Balding was a little lad of nine years when he came with his parents to the new home in the West and he remained with them until their death. In 1848 he married Rosamond Spencer, a native of Farmington Township and a daughter of Merlin and Beulah (Power) Spencer ; they were natives of Vermont and New York respectively, and are
deceased. Their six children all have grown to man's and woman's estate. They are named, Mer- lin, who resides near the home; Beulah, Mrs. Frank C'ulver, of Farmington Township; Alice, who died when twenty-one years old; Edgar, lives one mile north of the home place; Electa, who married Henry West, and died at the age of twenty-six years, and Charles resides at home
Mr. Heliker was twenty-eight years old when he located on the fine traet of land where he now re- sides. Ile now has four hundred and two acres in the county. upon all of which he has made great improvements. Ile also has three excellent dwell- ing houses, three good barns and other farm build- ings, and he and his sons are doing a general farm- ing business. For many years he ran a threshing machine in Oakland County, as did his father be- fore him and his sons have taken up that line of work. Ile and his brother and father have cleared many and many an aere of land in Farmington Township. Ile is a Republican in his political views but never eared to meddle with politics. This was well understood by his neighbors, who nevertheless at one time earnestly solicited him to take the office of Justice of the Peace, but he stead- fastly declined. Ile is a man who is highly hon- ored and respected by all who know him, and his family are among the best known and best liked in that part of the county. They have in their pos- session a family relic, a clock that was his grand- father's, and is known to have belonged to the fam- ily for over one hundred years.
ICHIAEL MANEY, deceased, a former resi- dent of Royal Oak Township, was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, about 1810, and came to America when a boy and spent several years in Pennsylvania and New York. In 1830 he was married to Mary Danahe, whose parents were natives of Ireland and died there when she was quite young. She was the only daughter in a family of three, and came to this country with her older brother, Richard.
Mr. and Mrs. Maney came to Oakland County
Henry Parke
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about the year 1832, and bought eighty acres of land from a Mr. Stewart who had cleared about five acres of it. Here they made their home and brought up their eight children, whose names are as follows: Joanne, Richard, and James, deceased; Margaret, Mary Ann; Michael and Thomas de- ceased, and Ellen.
Joanne was the wife of Herman Bartels, and re- sided in Macomb County, Mich. Both she and her little child, Herman, lie by the side of her parents in the cemetery at Detroit. Ellen is the widow of Thomas Handley, and lived on the old homestead. She is the mother of four children. Margaret was married in 1870 to Daniel Dunn, and is the mother of three children, two of whom died in infancy. She resides in Troy Township; Margaret and Mary Ann, own about two hundred and sixty-five acres of land in Royal Oak Township, and they make their home upon a portion of it on section 1, where they carry on general farming. They built the house where they now live and a new barn for cattle, of which they have twenty head. They are efficient and energetic farmers, and are highly re- spected in the community. They are devoted members of the Roman Catholic Church.
The subject of this sketch was a Democrat and cast his first vote for Andrew Jackson. Both he and his faithful wife were members of the Catho- lie Church. Ile denarted this life on Christmas Day, 187I, and his wife passed away June 14, 1884. They lie side by side in the Mount Elliott Cemetery, at Detroit.
C APT. HERVEY PARKE, whose portrait is presented on the opposite page, was born in Middle Haddam, Conn., April 14, 1790. His father, John Parke, was a soldier in the Revo- lutionary War, entering the army in 1776, at the age of sixteen years, and serving until the close of the war. Ile was Sergeant of the guard attending the execution of Maj. Andre and often related to his son the circumstances of that tragic event; also the memorable words he heard from the lips of the young officer when he first saw the gallows,
"I am satisfied to die, but not with the mode." Soon after the war was ended he marrried Bethiah Smith, also of Middle Haddam, and who, like him- self, waas descended from English ancestors. lle was commissioned Major by Gov. Trumbull, and was for many years owner and captain of a sail- ing-vessel, engaged in the coasting trade and mak- ing an occasional visit to the West Indies.
Having frequently accompanied his father on his voyages, young Ilervey learned to love the sea and desired to study navigation, which his father opposed, and insisted upon his learning surveying. Concluding his studies at the age of nineteen, he went to what was then considered the West, and walking the entire distance, as was the custom of the times, located in Camden, Oneida County. N. Y. A few years later he married Mercy Bron- son, recently from Connecticut, purchased a farm and engaged in school teaching during the winter seasons. We learn from his written reminiscences, read before the Oakland County Pioneer Society February 27, 1874, that in February, 1821, while returning from his school one evening he suddenly resolved that he would go to Michigan. He had learned from a New York City paper that there was prospective land surveying in that young Ter- ritory, and for him to decide was to act.
Although his starting out to an unknown land was opposed by his friends, and only his wife, a woman of great energy of character, approved. he immediately commenced preparation by securing letters of introduction to Gov. Cass from Gov. De Witt Clinton, Henry R. Schooleraft, and Judge Wright, Chief Engineer of the Erie Canal. On March 21, 1821, he started on foot in company with Samuel Treat Bryant and John Simonds ( the first persons to leave C'entral New York for the Far West). During this entire journey of five hundred miles Mr. Parke carried a knapsack of forty-five pounds weight, including his surveying instru- ments.
Arriving at Detroit after sixteen days of travel through mud and water in Canada, Mr. Parke im- mediately made the acquaintance of Gen. C'ass, and soon proceeded to the little settlement, where now stands the village of Birmingham. It was then inhabited by four families, viz: Elisha Ilunter, his
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son, John West Hunter, Elijah Willett and John Hamilton. Three-fourths of a mile north, on Swan's Plains, now erossed by the Detroit, Grand Ilaven & Milwaukee Railroad, lived Dr. Swan, and a little distance further on his son-in-law. Sid- Ley Dole, who was at the same time Postmaster, Justice of the Peace, Registrar of Deeds, and County Clerk of Oakland County, the jurisdic- tion of which extended as far north as Saginaw.
At Hunter's Mr. Parke met Horatio Ball, who had received a contract for subdividing ten town- chips of land between Flint and Cass Rivers, covering the ground which is now occupied by the city of Flint. Our subject arranged to ac- company him as assistant and carry the eom- pass half the timc. There was considerable delay in waiting for Joseph Wampler, who had pre- viously subdivided ranges 10 and 11, in Oak- land County, and who was now to run the town lines. In the interval the party suffered greatly from the want of provisions. On the com- pletion of the survey Capt. Parke accompanied Mr. Ball to Chillicothe, Ohio, where he made his returns, and on presenting his letters with an addi- tional one from Gov. Cass to the Surveyor-Gen- eral, Hon. Edward Tiffin, he received the assurance of work in the near future. The purpose of his visit to Michigan being accomplished, he returned home after an absence of eleven months.
All preliminaries arranged, the morning May 12, 1822, was fixed upon for the departure of Capt. Parke to his new home, with his family consisting of his wife and one child, now Mrs. W. M. Mc- Connell. So remarkable an occurrence was the removal of this first family to a land so distant and comparatively unknown as Michigan, that a tearful company of neighbors assembled. and the Rev. Henry Smith, pastor of the Presbyterian Church, offered prayer and gave them his blessing. The Erie Canal was completed to within eighty miles of Buffalo, and from this terminus they, with their few goods. were conveyed by wagons to Buffalo, where they found that the "Superior," the only steamer on the lakes, was absent on her first trip to Detroit. and the family waited a week for her return and next departure.
The steamer stopped at Sandusky. and there
Capt. Parke first met Judge Burt, one of the early Michigan surveyors and inventor of the solar com- pass. This was the commencement of a lifelong friendship. From Detroit the family proceeded to J. W. Hunter's, whose hospitable kindness, together with that of his excellent wife, always remained a delightful memory. By that gentleman our sub- ject was assisted in completing a partially built log house, containing one room, which the family oceupied for nearly two years. In the spring of 1823 his brother, Dr. Ezra S. Parke, having re- cently completed his medical studies, arrived with his wife and infant daughter, and the little settle- ment of IIunter's was then increased to five fam- ilies. The Doctor was an earnest, zealous Chris- tian, a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and soon after. his arrival commenced holding in his own honse religious meetings, consisting of prayer and Scripture reading, for which the few neighbors assembled on Sunday afternoon. The interest was increased by the singing of his wife, who was remarkable for her rich, pure voice as well as for all womanly and Christian graces. These are believed to have been the first Protes- tant religious services held north of Detroit, with the exception of a sermon by a Methodist minis- ter, to which Capt. Parke listened in 1821, in the bar-room of the small log tavern kept by Elijalı Willett.
The services of Dr. and Mrs. Parke in those early days should receive a more extended men- tion than this limited space will permit. As in other new countries, the upturning by the plough and exposure to the sunshine of the rich soil, to- gether with the building of mill-dams, originated malarial fevers of a distressing and malignant na- ture; and while the kind, conscientions physician spent his days and often nights in ministering to the sick, often traveling long distances, supplying the necessary medicines, for which and for his per- sonal services, compensation was the exception rather than the rule, his wife watched by the bedside of the afflicted ones, closed the eyes of the dying, and with an innate tenderness, inten- sified by the love of the Master, comforted the hearts of the bereaved and suffering ones. She literally went abont doing good, and her memory
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