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 71
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108
Mrs. Burch was born February 19, 1848, in Pennsylvania. She has taught school in Michigan.
627
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.
There were no children by this second marriage. Mr. Burch has ever taken an active interest in school matters, and helped to organize this district. He is now Treasurer of this district, and has been Director for many years. He has given his children a good education, sending them all away to school. He has taken a lively interest in local politics, affiliating first with the Democracy and later with the Republicans, but he has ever steadfastly refused to accept office.
The subject of this biographical sketch owns three hundred and eighteen acres of farm land, besides two lots at Milford and a house and lot at Wixom. llis home farm is highly cultivated, one hundred and forty acres of it being under the plow. One farm of one hundred and thirty acres in Ilartland Township has ninety-five acres im- proved, and has on it a good frame house, and barn 34x46 feet. The residence built by him twenty- three years ago cost him 81,800 beside his labor and incidental expenses. Two good barns are on the home farm, one of them measuring 34x60 feet, and the other 22x60 feet. He has always been successful in his farming, and what he possesses he gained by hard work, as he started for himself empty-handed. His consistent, temperate habits have been a bulwark of strength to him.
ARSHALL M. FROST, one of the suc cessful and valued citizens of Orion, was born in Genesee County, N. Y., July 14. 1836. Ilis father, Samuel Frost, was a Vermonter and was born May 19, 1788. He re- moved first to Pennsylvania and afterward to New York, and finally came to Oakland County, in 1841, and located in Southfield Township, where he passed the first winter and then took a farm in Troy Township for four years. He next removed to Berlin Township, St. Clair County. Ile had been there but eighteen months when he was called from earth, May 20, 1847. He was an active member of the Baptist Church. When he emigrated to Michi- gan he came by water to Detroit and from there journeyed by team across the country. llis wife |
bore in girlhood the maiden name of Lydia Bixby. She was a Vermonter by birth and first saw the light February 6, 1792. Her death took place August 27, 1861. Early in life she united with the Baptist Church, and after coming to Michigan she joined the Methodists.
The subject of this sketch is the youngest of twelve children, ten sons and two daughters, eight of whom are living. He received his primary edu- cation in the pioneer log schoolhouses furnished with slab seats. He never attended school in sum- mer after he was ten years old. When he was thirteen he went to work on a farm by the month and labored in this way for eight years. The first summer he received the large sum of $4 per month. In the spring of 1850, he and his mother were left alone to run the farm in Berlin Township. St. Clair County. lle was then thirteen years old. One of his eldest brothers before leaving home tapped a sugar bush, and young Marshall gathered the sap and boiled it and made one hundred and fifty pounds of sugar himself, some of which he has yet in his possession. His mother about this time broke up housekeeping, and the boy started out for himself. After eight years of labor for others he came to Oakland Township, Oakland County, and took his brother's farm on shares for two years. lle then bought a small place on section 9, in Oakland Township, took to himself a wife and settled down to housekeeping and farming. He sold this farm and purchased one in Brandon Township. Two years later he sold out and went to Lansing, and engaged in the bakery and confec- tionery business for a few months. Then return- ing to Oakland Township he bought a farm on section 15, and two years later disposed of this, and going to Pontiac, clerked in the hotel for al- most five years.
In January, 1874, Mr. Frost purchased a gen- eral store in Oakwood, and conducted it for more than five years. He then removed in 1880 to Pon- tiac, and boarded for four years. He then came to Orion, and purchased a handsome residence which he now occupies. His marriage, January 12, 1860, united him with Emily Lomis, who is a native of Brandon Township, Oakland County, where she was born May 14, 1837, the first white child born
628
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.
in that township. Her parents were Thomas N. and Julia ( Miller) Lomis, of New York. They settled in Brandon Township in 1836, and were the first settlers in that township. Mr. Louis passed away February 20, 1879, having been bereft of his wife in 1854. Seven of their nine children are still living.
To Mr. and Mrs. Frost was born one child, Ada B. She came to them October 24, 1860, and was taken away by death March 16, 1862. Mr. Frost is a prominent Demoerat and often sits as a dele- gate in county, district and State conventions. For twenty-two years he has been identified with the Masonic order. He has a farm in Sanilac County. Ile began life on the bottom round of the ladder and has been more than ordinarily successful.
ULIU'S CARPENTER, of Orion Township, was born in Woreester, Mass., July 19, 1836. His father, Charles A., was born in Barre, Washington County, Vt., February 11, 1813, and his grandfather, Stephen, born in 1778, was a native of Providence, R. I. The grandfather lived in Vermont and Massachusetts, spent eight years in Canada, and finally eame to Michigan, where he died in 1854 at the age of seventy-seven years. Charles A. Carpenter came to Michigan with the intention of locating in La- peer County. but finally chose a farm in Orion Township, in 1836. The country was new, roads were few and traveling was almost an impossibility. The trip from Detroit was made by team by way of Pontiac and the family were obliged to walk most of the way, so muddy and bad were the roads. In the spring of 1845 he sold the farm he had owned for nearly ten years, and purchased a large tract of land farther west, in the same township. He ultimately added to this until he owned at one time over seven hundred acres of fine land.
The father of our subject was a carpenter and joiner and worked a good deal at his trade during the early part of his life in Michigan. He came here with but limited means and at one time worked for thirteen days at his trade to purchase a barrel
of flour. lle was an excellent manager, a hard- working man and one who had unusual intelli- gence and judgment. He retired from farming in 1862. Ile was a stanch Republican but never a politician, although he was at one time a candidate for the Legislature, but his party was in a hopeless minority and he failed of election. He was aetive in securing the Pontiac & Oxford Railroad which passed through his farm in front of his door. Ile was a liberal contributor to all charitable purposes, and died August 12, 1888.
Our subject's mother, Persis ( Eames ) Carpenter,of Worcester, Mass., was born February 2, 1813. She is the mother of five children, three of whom are living. She still survives and is active and bright, having full possession of her faculties and leading a life of usefulness. Julius Carpenter was three months old when his parents removed to Michigan. and being the eldest of the family, he early learned to assist his father on the farm. He received a district schoo! education and remained at home un- til he was twenty-seven. Ile then fitted himself out with a supply of stock, farm tools, etc., and began farming independently.
Rebecca Rolison became the wife of our subject March 14, 1861. She was born in Ontario County, N. Y .. February 21, 1836, and is the daughter of Jeremiah and Elizabeth (Hummer) Rolison, who emigrated to Michigan in 1838 and made their home in Avon Township, Oakland County. They subsequently removed to Brandon Township, where they ended their days. The gen- ealogy of the Rolisons runs back to the times of King William III. of Holland, Elizabeth IIummer, the mother of Mrs. Carpenter, was born August 22, 1801. Five of her uncles served in the Revo- lutionary War.
Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter have been blessed with four children, who are named, Minnie E., born May 3, 1862; Osear M., March 13, 1864; Charles Augustus, deceased, born November 13, 1870; and Charles Albert, November 23, 1873. To all of these children their parents gave excellent op- portunities of education. sending them away to school. Their mother is a lady of excellent char- aeter and delightful qualities as a friend and neigh- bor. She is an carnest and efficient member of the
629
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.
Methodist Episcopal Church, and her work in the church is highly prized by those who know her. Mr. Carpenter is a Republican, but takes no active part in politics. His excellent farm of two hun- dred and sixty-five acres is above the average in productiveness. He has an annual yield of five thousand bushels of rutabagas, and fifteen hundred bushels of potatoes. Ilis elegant home is finely located and at once attracts the attention and ad- miration of the traveler.
LBERT RICHARDSON is one of the larg- est land holders in Commerce Township, and one of the most prominent citizens of the county. He bas held county offices and is respected for his good sense and excellent judgment. His father, Martin Richardson, was a native of New York. His mother bore the maiden name of (Candace) Comstock. They were mar- ried in New York State and resided there until they came to Michigan in 1834. The next year the family settled on the farm where our subject now lives, which comprised two hundred and forty acres of Government land. Here Martin Richard- son built one of the first frame houses ever put np in this township and brought on a span of horses, which was a great curiosity in those days. He died in 1851 at the age of fifty-one years. His wife survived him until 1881, when she breathed her last at the age of seventy-six years.
Mr. and Mrs. Martin Richardson were the par- ents of eight children, six of whom are now liv- ing, but none except our subject reside in this township. At the time of his death the father had four hundred and forty acres of land, two-thirds of it nnder cultivation. Hle was a strong anti-slavery man, and cast the first ballot for that cause in that township. He was an active church member and was connected with the Baptist Church. He was an Assessor in this township.
Albert Richardson was born October 31, 1833, in Otsego County, N. Y., wbence he was brought when an infant to Michigan. When eighteen years old he began life for himself. lIc has always been
a farmer and resided in the same house. He had forty acres of improved land to begin on and 896 in money. He was married December 30, 1853, to Mary Ann, a daughter of William and Mary Bennett Smith, both natives of New York. Mr. Smith was both a mechanic and a farmer. He came to Michigan in 1834, and settling in Commerce Township, plied his trade and improved bis farm. He sold out during the Civil War and removed to the township of Ovid, Clinton County. His first wife died in 1847. His second wife was Mary E. Knight. He again married after her decease and was then united with Sallie Wilson. Mrs. Rich- ardson is a child of the first marriage, and was born February 8, 1834, in Erie County, N. Y. She was an infant when she came here.
Mr. and Mrs. Richardson have been blest with two children, Martin, born April 2, 1856, now married to Frances M. Dandison, and William, born October 23, 1860, now married to Ifarriet M. Porter. Our subject has added to his farm from time to time and is now the possessor of eight hundred acres, much of it under cultivation. HIe is himself actively engaged in farming and has raised much stock. His mother was a Quaker and gave her boys a good education. lle has been for some time a member of the School Board and is now its Moderator.
Mr. Richardson always takes a lively interest in polities and votes the Republican ticket. He has .often been a delegate to conventions and has served as Supervisor of Commerce Township for five terms and as Township Treasurer, and is now Drainage Commissioner. He was also United States Revenue Assessor for several years for the Western District of Oakland County. In 1873-74 he was Register of Deeds. He was candidate for County Treasurer and was defeated by seven votes. He was also candidate three times for Register of Deeds. He has been Treasurer of the Grange, and his wife was "Ceres" in the Grange.
The brothers and sisters of our subject are citi- zens who are highly respected in their communi- ties. Jonathan, who married Mary L. Haskins, lives in San Bernardino, Cal., and is engaged in min- ing and lumbering. Nathan is now Judge of Pro- bate Court in Morrison County, Minn., and also
€30
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.
Mayor of Little Falls, the county seat. He has been a member of the Minnesota Legislature and is prominent in polities. He has tive children. William, who married Rhoda C. Dye, lives at San Bernardino, Cal., and is engaged in the business of artesian wells. Emma J. is the wife of Andrew J. Van Riper, a farmer of Shiawassee County, this State. Chloe A., the wife of Milton Cahoon, lives in lonia County and is the mother of five children. Altogether this family is one which deservedly re- ceives the respect of the communities in which the members reside.
OHN B. HEUTSCHI. Among the men now enltivating a portion of the soil of Water_ ford Township with good results and whose financial prosperity has resulted from indus- trious application to the work in hand, together with prudent control of expenditures, the subject of this sketch deserves prominent mention. . His tine farm of one hundred and eighty-five acres is a standing monument to his zeal and industry, and with its substantial buildings attracts attention from the passing traveler. The owner enjoys an envia- ble reputation as an upright, honest man, and stands high in the esteem of his fellow-men.
Mr. IFeitsch was born in France in 1823. His parents, who were natives of Switzerland. reared a family of eight children. of whom our subjeet and a brother who lives in Pontiac were the only ones who came to America. During his boyhood. our subject received good educational advantages and became proticient in the text-books of French schools. At the age of fourteen years he was ap- prenticed to learn the trade of a carpenter and also became a millwright. working at these trades until 1852. In that year. having resolved to seek a home across the ocean, he took passage on a sailing-ves- sel, and after an uneventful voyage reached the New World.
l'pon his arrival in the U'nited States, Mr. Heitsch proceeded directly to Pontiac, Mich., and for eleven years found steady employment at his trade of a carpenter. By unremitting industry he was
enabled, in 1863, to purchase one hundred and twenty aeres of wild land on section 22, Waterford Township, where he still resides. He has now one of the finest homes in the township, and the finely- tilled fields and substantial buildings bespeak the thrifty character of the owner. The most of the improvements on the place have been made by Mr. Heitsch; they include orchards, groves, good fenees and a full line of farm buildings. The resi- dence is tastefully furnished and complete with all modern conveniences, while its bountiful hospital- ity is often extended to a large circle of friends.
In 1850 Mr. Heitsch was united in marriage with Miss Catherine Blint. They have four chil- dren, as follows: Sophia, the widow of Isadore Ilouser, who was killed by a railroad accident; Louisa who remains at home; Charles, who mar- ried Jennie Dawson and resides on a farmi given him by his father; Joseph, also at home. Mrs. Houser, with her three children, is an inmate of her father's home. Politically, Mr. Heitsch is a Dem- ocrat and is a regular attendant at the Catholic Church. Honorable in private life, peaceable and law-abiding as a citizen, and displaying energy in whatever he undertakes, he is looked upon with respect by all who know him.
R 1 ICHARD MOORE, of Milford Township, the son of Henry and Sarah ( Wilsey ) Moore, of Herkimer County, N. Y., came with his parents to Michigan in October, 1833 and settled in Milford Township. The father was born December 6, 1776, and died July 10, 1842. The mother was born April 19, 1800, and died Febru- ary II, 1879. They were married in 1818 and resided in Herkimer County, N. Y., whenee they came to Michgan. After the death of the father the sons carried on the farm for years. Of their nine children seven are now living.
Our subject was born June 21, 1827, in Herki- mer County, N. Y. He was fifteen years of age when his father died and he continued to work on the farm and made his home there until he was mar- ried, After the estate was settled Judge Stephen
633
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.
Reeves invited the widow and her three boys to his office. He then gave them a strong, able talk, picturing out the benefits to boys who staid at home and took care of their mother instead of scat- tering to each look out for himself. All the boys were so thoroughly impressed that they have never yet forgotten ít.
The marriage of our subject, April 18, 1849, united him with Miss Melissa Hosner, a daughter of Jacob and Asenath ( Wait) Hosner, natives of New York and Massachusetts respectively. Their marriage took place in New York, August 3, 1825, and they resided there until they came to Michi- gan in 1836. They settled in West Bloomfield Township, on a farm now owned by Almon Hosner. They remained there until 1867, and then removed to Pontiac, where the father died, June 9, 1871. Ilis widow survives him at the age of eighty-four years. They were the parents of ten children, five of whom are now living, and were members of the church. Mr. Hosner was a strong Republican and a man of strictly temperate habits.
Mrs. Moore was born April 20, 1830, in Monroe County, N. Y. She received a district school edu- cation in Michigan. Mr. Moore bought a farm of eighty acres, a part of what is now his property having upon it a log house. Into this he moved and began cultivating the land. They were very poor and for a long time he was ill and they passed through many hard trials. He now has one hundred of his one hundred aad twenty acres under cultiva- tion. This was, when he purchased it, covered with stumps and stones. He built his present brick residence in 1863. It cost him $3,500. Ile built also at that time a barn and added to and repaired another. He divided his labors equally between stock and grain. Of the former he keeps a high grade. Mr. and Mrs. Moore are the parents of five children: Asenath, born March 4, 1852, is the wife of Fred Schalhon, they live in Lyon Town- ship and have two children; Alva and Alvin (twins) born April 2, 1857, both died in infancy ; Augusta M., born May 1, 1860, is now the wife of Frank E. Burch of Commerce Township, and has one child, Nellie; Eda M., born December 31, 1872, died in infancy.
The family attend the Baptist Church at Wixom
and are active supporters of the same, having helped to build the church. Mr. Moore has been a member of the School Board and takes a lively interest in politics, having been a Republican since the organ- ization of that party. Ile is a man of temperate habits and of strict integrity, and has gained all that he lias by hard work. His credit is good and he can at any time obtain what money he needs at the bank.
C HARLES D. HOWARD, M. D., the leading physician at Oxford, was born in Morrow County, Ohio, April 13, 1852. Ile is a son of Leonard and Maria (Chilson ) Howard, natives of New York State. The father died in Morrow County, Ohio, on a farm which he had ocenpied for over fifty years. He had reached the limit of four score years and six when his death occurred November 13, 1889. His wife had preceded him to the better world February 7, 1872. To them were born eight children. of whom six are living. our subject being the youngest of the family.
The gentleman of whom we write was early trained in the practical work on the farm, and he improved to their utmost the educational advan- tages afforded him. He attended for some time the Ohio Wesleyan University and began teaching at the early age of fifteen years. After teaching three years he entered the medical department of the University at Ann Arbor, but subsequently changed to Detroit, and took his diploma in the class of '75 from the Detroit Medical College. Hle then removed to Marengo, Ohio, which is about two miles from where he was born, and there es- tablished himself in practice.
After three years spent in Marengo, the young Doctor went to Richmond, Mich., and practiced there for a similar term of years. Ile then went back to Ohio, but in 1886 came to Oxford, where he has built up an excellent practice, Ilis mar- nage, February 8, 1883, with Mary McKay, was an event of great importance in the life of the young man. ITis wife is a daughter of Henry Me- Kay, a native of Scotland, now residing in Oak.
334
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.
=
land Connty, Mich. The union of the Doctor and his wife has been blest by the birth of a daughter, Jennie M. The Doctor is a member of the Knights of the Maccabees and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In politics he affiliates with the Republican party.
A lithographie portrait of Dr. Howard appears on another page of this volume.
OHN P. SWAYZE, one of the young, intel - ligent and progressive farmers of Spring- field Township, was born in this county Sep- tember 13, 1858. He is the son of Anthony .J., the son of Israel, of Scotch descent; two brothers having come over to this country during Colonial times. The grandfather, who was a well- to do farmer, came to this county in 1851. Ile owned three hundred and twenty acres adjoining what was then the village of Springfield, and lived to a good old age.
The father, who was a miller and a merchant of experience, came here in 1854 and bought eighty acres, which he in time increased to two hundred and twenty-five. He was a hard-working and sue- cessful farmer, and died in 1871. He was a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, a Re- publican in polities and a man of unusual intelli- genee and remarkable memory. For many years he served as JJustice of the Peace. He married Hanna Wamsley, who is now living with our sub- ject. She was born in New Jersey April 1, 1816. She is the mother of ten children, eight of whom are still living to cheer her declining days. They are: Mary J., Mrs. Ilollister; Sarah, Mrs. Shu- man; Gertrude, Mrs. Waugh; James W .; Esther A., Mrs. Ellis; Edgar J .; Tamsen. Mrs. Tarter; Arabella, Mrs. Smith ; William II. and our subject. Their mother has trained them all in the faith of the Methodist Church.
After a training and education on the farm and in the district sehool, John began life for himself at the age of fifteen years. Ile and his brother took the home farm on shares and farmed it for
nine years. He then worked the farm of bis father-in-law two years. In Mareh, 1884, he went to California and engaged by the month on the Derry farm, about forty miles north of San Fran- cisco. He returned in January, 1887, and settled on the home farm.
An event of great importance took place in the life of our subject December 20, 1881, when he was wedded to Sophronia MeLees. She was born in this township February 6, 1859. Two children, Anna and Clare S., brighten this home. Both Mr. and Mrs Swayze are prominent and aetive nem- bers of the Methodist Church. Mr. Swayze is a Republican in his polities and has been made Drainage Commissioner of his township by his fellow-citizens. Ilis own farm of forty acres is most of it under cultivation, and he farms besides, the homestead place on shares. He is much inter- ested in : tock-raising. and is a bright, intelligent young man of progressive tendencies.
물음
E DWARD E. GIBSON, a farmer of Bloom- field Township, was born in Lincolnshire, England, December 18, 1842, He is the son of Thomas and Thomison ( Cross) Gibson, who spent their whole lives in England. Our subject was one of twelve children, and his early life was spent on the farm. He never received any school- ing after he was eight years old, and began doing for himself before he was twelve. When fifteen years of age he came to America with his brother, James C .. and located in County Simcoe, Canada, where he worked out by the month on the farm. After six years residence in Canada, Mr. Gibson came to Michigan. After working upon wages for a year he rented a farm and carried it on in that way for seven years, and then bought one hundred and fifteen acres, on which he now resides. He bas sinee added to his estate till he now owns two hun- dred and twenty aeres of fine farming land in the township of Bloomfield. He gives all bis attention to farming and stock-raising, and although he started in life a poor boy he has attained a hand- some competence, all through his own hard work
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.