WILLIAM A.
DRYER. When one investigates the beginnings of history, considerable research is necessary in order to
make clear the first settlements and the early records. It is believed that the first settlement
in Ingham County was made by Mr. Rodgers upon
section 36, Stockbridge Township, in 1835, but the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this
sketch is the oldest settler now living within the bounds of the county. He is well known
all over the county, and especially in Lansing and vicinity, where he has
been prominent in the township as Supervisor and the other positions of trust. He is
a most delightful and entertaining talker, as he knows all the stories of the early pioneer life. At
the time of his first settlement here he had to procure work in the more settled portions of
the State, and he more than once walked a distance of thirty-five miles to get work. At one time he obtained
work at Dexter, laboring seven and one-half days in haying and harvesting to procure one hundred
pounds of flour, and then he walked home again the twenty-five miles distance and returned with
his ox-team to haul it back, making in all eleven and one-half days of work for one hundred
pounds of flour. He is a man of remarkable mind, keenly alive to all the issues of the day, and
with a rich fund of experience.
Mr. Dryer had his birth in Cazenovia, Madison County, N.Y., March 9, 1813, his father, Allen Dryer, and his grandfather, who bore the same
name, both being natives of the old Bay State. The name was formerly
Dwyer, and the original ancestor was a Hollander, but when he was in England
he was conscripted and to escape the draft he migrated to America, where
he located in Massachusetts and changed the name to Dryer. The grandfather came from Massachusetts and became
an early settler of Madison County, N.Y., where he carried on a farm. His father also bore the name of Allen.
The parents of our subject removed from Massachusetts
to New York after their marriage, and his father became Postmaster and Justice of the Peace in Cazenovia, and having reached the age of seventy years, died there in 1842.
He had a brother who lived to the remarkable age of one hundred years and nine days.
He was a Whig in his political attachments. His wife, Esther Bullock, was a daughter of Benjamin Bullock, a Massachusetts farmer, and she died at the age of sixty-six years, in the same year which saw her husband's demise. They were earnest and active members of the Presbyterian Church, and had the remarkable and blessed experience of seeing all of their thirteen children grow to years of maturity. There was not a death in the family until after the youngest son had reached the age of
twenty-three years, during which year the father and mother and four of
the sons were carried to the grave in three months by a fever.
The children of this family were of follows:
Barzilla, who died in 1842; Adelia is now
ninety-four years old, and has her home in Bath Township, Clinton County; Esther died at Battle Creek; Lucy passed away at
Fenner, N.Y.; Almira died in Clinton County,
Mich.; Rufus died in New York; David resides in Bath, Clinton County; Margaret is with our subject; Mary died in Lansing in 1888; William A., our subject; James died in 1842; Matilda's death occurred in Canada; and Benjamin died in 1842.
William Dryer was educated in the district schools of
Cazenovia, and at the age of sixteen was apprenticed to the carriage builders' trade, at which
he served for four years, and then worked at the business until he reached the age of
twenty-three. In 1836 he came to Michigan, reaching this point in June.
He traveled by boat to Buffalo, by the "Old Michigan" to Detroit, and then came prospecting on foot, and finally decided to locate in Michigan, although
he had intended to make Illinois his home, When he left Ypsilanti (346)
he was taken very sick, and as his partner had gone to Illinois, he was in quite a desolate condition; however, he entered eighty acres of land in White Oak Township,
on section 21, which was a dense forest. He went on foot back to Detroit, and in the fall brought his wife and one child, and building a log house, began to climb the ladder of life on the very bottom round. His residence was a log shanty with a roof made of split red oak shakes, and the floor of split basswood, evened by an
adz. He proceeded to clear the farm, and found his nearest market at Ann Arbor, and his most numerous neighbors Indians, with whom he learned to talk in their dialect.
In 1845 Mr. Dryer sold his property in White Oak Township, and bought land in Pinckney, Livingston County, where he kept a shop and worked at his, trade for three years. In 1848 he removed to Lansing, making his home here on
the 2d of November, and putting up a shop. He made the first wagon that was ever manufactured in Lansing, and also the first carriage. The axles of this vehicle were made out of iron-wood poles which were taken from an old log house. For two years he carried on the manufacture of wagons and carriages, and then entered the employ of Smith, Turner & Seymour, in building the plank road between Lansing & Howell. In their interests he had charge of the store at Leroy and also of a sawmill, where the planks
for the road were manufactured. This work occupied him for two years, and subsequently he entered the mercantile business, into which he was aided by "Zach" Chandler, who helped to establish his credit for the purchase of goods. He carried on this store for four years upon Center Street, North Lansing, and made a success of it, but
he then sold out this business and purchased a farm.
The property which Mr. Dryer now bought comprised one hundred and eighty-five acres, all in the woods, situated upon section 7, Lansing Township. He located upon this land and proceeded to improve it, and in 1856 hewed out and built a log house.
He was nominated by the Republican party as Representative in the Legislature, but was defeated by the
Hon. O. M. Barnes. He continued to reside upon his farm until November 1889, when
he retired from active life, and selling that property came to live in Lansing. He was the first citizen of Ingham County to introduce fine sheep here, Merinos being his bobby, and he had over four hundred head in his flock. He also introduced thorough-bred Short-horn cattle, and
was one of the originators of the Central Michigan Agricultural Association, of which he was the first President, an office be held for two years. He is still one of its firm friends, and was a Director continuously until his retirement from active duties. At its fairs he has taken many premiums, and was ever active in promoting its interests.
This venerable gentleman was, on the 24th of October, 1834, united in marriage with the wife of his youth, in Hamilton, Madison County, N.Y. This lady was Miss Betsey
H. Newell, a native of Morrisville, and she passed from earth in 1861. Her nine children are: Mary, Mrs. J. E. Warner, of Lansing: Dr. Newell
enlisted in 1864 in the Seventeenth Michigan Infantry, and served as Assistant Surgeon until the close of the war; Elbridge, a farmer in Lansing Township; Esther was Mrs.
G. W. Christopher, and died in 1887; Adelaide and James W. both died in infancy; Helen A. died in 1880 at the age of twenty-four; William F., a farmer in Bath Township; and Betsey K. is Mrs. E. M. Johnson, of Owosso. Newell Dryer enlisted as a private, and his father went to Gov. Crapo and obtained for him (ahead of forty-seven other applications) a commission as Assistant Surgeon. This able physician, who is now practicing in Bath, Clinton County, is a graduate of the Buffalo Medical College.
The second marriage of the gentleman of whom we are writing took place in
1861, and he was then united with Mrs. Sarah Britton, who was born in Steuben County, N.Y., and came to Michigan with her parents
in 1879, locating in Wayne County, where they lived upon a farm. Her first marriage took place in Ann Arbor, and she afterward lived in Pinckney, where Mr. Britton died, and subsequent to that event she located in
Lansing in 1852. When Mr. Dryer was residing in White Oak Township, he served as Supervisor and Township Clerk as well as School Inspector.
He helped to organize the township and the county, and served as County Commissioner, being also Chairman of the Board for two years. In Lansing Township he
was Supervisor for fourteen years, and during most of that time was Chairman of the County Board. He helped to build all the schoolhouses, and had a broad acquaintance throughout the county.
He is a member of the State Pioneer Association, as well as of the Ingham County Pioneer Association, and was its honored President for many years.
The Methodist Episcopal Church is the religious body with which our subject is in sympathy, and he has been an official member of it for many years, but he also sympathizes warmly with all religious movements, and has aided in the erection of every church in Lansing. In his early days he was a Free-soil Democrat, but when the Fugitive Slave Law came into force, it sent him with many others into the newly formed Republican party in 1854. His first Presidential vote was cast for Martin Van Buren, and his second for John C. Fremont. Since that time he has been a pillar in the Republican party, and until recently he has attended nearly every county and congressional convention, and was a member and Chairman in the Republican Committee of
Ingham Comity for years.
WILLIAM HENRY RAYNER,
is a farmer
and stock-raiser, who owns two hundred and eighty acres of land within the corporate limits of Mason. His farm is located on
section 9, of Vevay Township, Ingham County, but his residence is in the city proper. The distance between his residence and the farm which
he operates being so short that he can readily go from one place to the other. Mr. Rayner was born in
he town of Brutus, Cayuga County, N.Y., April 24, 1836, He is the son of John and Emily
(Meech) Raynor, the father a native of Orange County, N.Y., and the mother of the town of Brutus, where our subject was born.
Our subject's parents came to Michigan when their son was but three years of age, and they located in the village of Mason, at a time when there was but a limited chance for the lad to obtain many educational advantages, as they were in such financial position that
he had to work on the farm at the time when he should have been in school.
He had a great desire to become a surveyor and although he never had any opportunity of studying the science of surveying in school, yet he gave what time
he could to the study, while engaged in farming until he became quite an expert at the business, even going so far as to construct some of
his leveling instruments. He was recognized in the neighborhood in which he lived as being an ingenious young man, and his services were frequently in requisition as a surveyor. He still possesses an instrument for leveling that he himself made, that cannot be surpassed by any instrument made at the present time. He served faithfully upon his father's place until the age of twenty-one, giving his time to the very day, but immediately after began to do for himself.
William Henry Rayner began to work by the month or day, or any other way in which
he could earn money, and in a short time he had made a position for himself, and was recognized throughout the township as a progressive go-ahead young man. In two or three years
he was elected Constable, in which capacity he served for eight years and he has served as County Surveyor some twelve or sixteen years, although not consecutively. He has also frequently performed the duties of City Engineer.
Our subject began to feel himself in a position in which
he could have a home of his own, and on September 6, 1866, he made Miss Frances Robbins the presiding genius over his domestic affairs, as well as the custodian of his best affections, his companion and helpmate. She was born in Alaiedon Township, Ingham County,
March 15, 1846, and is a daughter of William H. and Lydia M. (Wells) Robbins. Our subject and his wife are the parents of three children, Robbins B.
Rayner, (348)
born December 4, 1873, Rie M., born May 13, 1875, and William P. born January 16, 1881. Our subject is a believer in the Bible, of which
he has always been an ardent student, believing it to be the Book of books, and from a literary standpoint, without parallel. In politics he is a Republican, giving his vote and influence to that party in its purity of principle. Mr. Rayner owns a good home in Mason, but takes great delight in his farm and farm life. His place in the country bears evidence of intelligent and skillful management. He has on his place a little log cabin to commemorate log cabin campaign times. Mr. Rayner has on his place a line park and grounds, which is the only park in the village.
D. M . NOTTINGHAM, M. D.
The
standing of a right-minded and skillful physician in an intelligent community is one
of great honor and repute, but it is one which must be attained through years of hard labor
and conscientious pursuit of the work which came to hand. No one, more than a physician, knows
how true it is that a man who would obtain a good standing in his profession must work hard and
devote himself unflinchingly to duty through all the years of his career. Negligence in such a one is
criminal and is justly considered unprofessional, while the devotion of his best knowledge and
highest powers to every case which comes, to his hands is only his duty.
Such devotion has brought Dr. Nottingham to the foremost rank among the Homeopathic physicians of Ingham County, and has
brought to him the largest practice of any physician of his school, and Lansing is proud to claim
him as one of her prominent citizens.
Dr. Nottingham, who is the ex-President of the Michigan State Medical Society, is the son of
James Nottingham, a Virginian, and the grandson of an Englishman who came from Nottinghamshire, England, to America, where
he located in Virginia for a short time before removing to Delaware County, Ind., where he died, when the father
of our subject was but a little boy. The grandfather was a man of means and connected with the English nobility, yet in
some way the mother was left in destitute circumstances at his death, and was obliged to struggle hard to rear her family, who lived according, to the pioneer ways of that day in Indiana.
When the father of our subject was ten years old
he was bound to a shoemaker, and after learning that trade he drifted into cabinet-making, and engaged in the manufacture of furniture under the firm name of
Nottingham & Kirby, which firm is still carrying on business at Muncie, Ind. James
Nottingham was one of the first settlers at Muncie, and
he helped to clear the ground where the Court House now stands. He was successful in business, and owned some farming land there, which he finally traded for a farm at Jonesboro, Grant County, Ind., where he followed farming until his death, in 1886, at the age of seventy-six years.
During the late war, when "copperhead" views were rampant in Indiana, James Nottingham was called upon to act as enrolling officer in Grant County. As there was then a very strong
sentiment against the draft among those who did not sympathize with the Union cause, there were efforts made at resistance and it made his office a very dangerous one. They threatened to
hang "Old Jim" Nottingham and burn his property.
This gentleman was a prominent man in many ways, being a
Trustee of the township, and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for
fifty-four years, and was at the time of his death one of the oldest members of that order. For
forty years he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and did good service, both as a
Class Leader and as Superintendent of the Sunday-school. He was a man of mark in the Agricultural
Society and as a sheep owner, as he raised fine sheep of all kinds. His good
wife, who bore the
name in maidenhood of Sarah J. Heal, was born near Mansfield, Ohio; her father came from
Maine and became an early settler of Ohio. She,
now resides on the old homestead. All but one of her fourteen children are now living.
Three brothers of our subject were in the Civil War namely: J. C., who served for four years in
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Eighth Indiana Infantry, and was then wounded and taken prisoner, but after being four days in the hands of the rebels was exchanged just before reaching Libby Prison; Owen P., who was in the Thirty-fourth Indiana Infantry for about three years, and John
M., who was one of the "Ninety-day boys" in the One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Indiana Infantry.
D. M. Nottingham was one of the younger members of his father's family and was born in Jonesboro, Grant County, Ind., January 5, 1855. He was reared on the farm and attended the district school, and when twelve years old was sent to Fairmount Academy, Ind., to prepare for college. When sixteen he entered the Indiana State Normal School, at Terre Haute, where he studied
for three years, spending his vacations in learning the harness trade with his brother. At the same
age he began teaching, and after two years in this profession in Grant County, Ind.,
he then, in 1876, engaged in the harness business in Fairmount, Ind.
It was in that city that Mr. Nottingham met and married, on the 28th of May, 1876, Miss Elizabeth C. Baldwin, a native of Fairmount, who was a graduate of the Wesleyan College, at Wheaton, Ill., and who
had been teaching for two years in Wabash County, Ind. She was the daughter of Jonathan Baldwin who founded that town and laid it out and named it after Fairmount Park, at Philadelphia, that beautiful tract of land where our Centennial Exposition was held. Jonathan Baldwin was born in Pennsylvania and was a Quaker, but "married out of meeting" and was expelled, as the church required its members to marry in the church.
Although young Nottingham continued after marriage for about a year in the harness business,
he could not quell his earnest desire, which he had cherished from early boyhood, to study anatomy and chemistry and thus fit himself for a
medical career. He therefore began the study of medicine under Dr. J. C. Nottingham, now of Bay City,
and in 1879 entered Hahnemann Medical College, at Chicago, taking his diploma in 1881.
He first located at Bronson, Mich., and there continued in the practice of medicine until 1884, when he removed
to Lansing. During the seven years of his sojourn in this city he has built up a splendid practice, and now owns a
fine residence at the corner of Washington Avenue and Lenawee Streets, which
he built in 1889.
The two children of Dr. and Mrs. Nottingham Bret J. and Emma L. While living in Bronson
the Doctor was President of the School Board and resigned that position upon his removal to Lansing. He has been Supervisor for one year and
for two years was Alderman of the Sixth Ward. He is prominently identified with the Free and
Accepted Masons, the Royal Arch Masons, the Knights of Pythias and the Royal Arcanum.
He is examining physician for different insurance
companies. He is the Ex-President of the State Medical Society and active in the Republican ranks.
The Congregational Church is the religious body with which Dr. and Mrs. Nottingham find
themselves in sympathy, and their position in the social circles of Lansing is exceptionally good.
JOSEPH W. BARKER. Everyone has a
good word to speak for the veteran groceryman of Lansing, Ingham County. He is not only up to standard in his weights and measures but also in good fellowship, being genial, intelligent and well informed.
He is the oldest grocery dealer here and his faith in the capital city and its desirability as a business location has been rewarded, for
he is now the possessor of a very comfortable fortune which he has amassed in his legitimate business.
He deals exclusively in the articles that are used in the household, table staples and luxuries.
Our subject came to Michigan in 1844 and located in Oneida Township, Eaton County. Four Years later, in June, 1848,
he came to Lansing and has since made this his home, entering to the appetites of epicures in all sorts
of tempting delicacies. He was born in Byron, Genesee County, N.Y., November 7,
1829. He is a son of (350)
Augustus
Barker who was a native of Oneida County, N.Y. Our subject's paternal grandfather was Joseph
Barker, born in Oneida County where he was engaged as farmer. He, however, located in Genesee
County in an early day, settling in Byron Township. The father of our subject served in the War
of 1812, in which he was a musician in the Continental Army. He was at Buffalo when it was
burned. Our subject's father came to Michigan and settled in Oneida Township, Eaton County, in
1845. He bought an improved farm there, but two years later while on a visit to New York for
his health he died in his native county. He was a strong anti-slavery man and also an ardent
temperance advocate. Throughout the greater portion of his life he was a member of the Free-Will
Baptist
Church.
Mr. Barker's mother was previous to her marriage a Miss Polly Eastman. She, like her husband, was a native of Genesee County, N.Y., and a daughter of Hiram Eastman, a farmer at that place. He died near London, Canada. Our subject's mother brought in to the world five children, of whom
he of whom we write was the youngest in order of birth. He was reared in New York State until
he was sixteen years of age and in the fall of 1845 they came West, bringing their household goods by team and wagon.
He had shipped to Grand Rapids and intended to locate there, but; stopped at the home of an aunt, who induced them to stay in Eaton. The journey hither occupied three weeks and when they reached its end the country was indeed wild enough. There were unbroken forests that seemed almost impenetrable, with their closely-growing
trunks of huge trees and thick tangled underbrush through which only the wild animals of the forests could force a passage. There were plenty of wolves and plenty of Indians and our subject became familiar with several of the noted chiefs. He attended school at the log schoolhouse in the district. The seats that they occupied were only slabs
with pegs in the ends for legs. The books and other school appliances were varied and
crude.
In 1848 the original of our sketch came to Lansing and began to work at the mason's trade under John N. Bush, He remained with him for three
years and then continued the same work with Mr. Alcott as a partner, then went back to Mr. Bush, after which
he was engaged in work alone and then the firm became that of Bush & Alcott. He worked on the old offices of the capitol and if there is
good foundation to the legislative halls that will preserve the old building from rocking in times of trouble it will no doubt be due to the careful and conscientious workmanship of our subject. In 1871, Mr. Barker left the mason's business and entered the furniture business in North Lansing, which was run under the firm name of Barker
Wilbur. In 1873 he sold out his interest and formed a partnership with Daniel Parker in the grocery business. They started their business in the opera house block and the firm continued together under the name of Barker & Parker until the former was stricken with writer's paralysis. Six months later he was so much better that the firm bought out the Bunn & John grocery adjoining the post-office. There they continued for one year, in the meantime erecting a fine double brick store of their own. This our subject is now the owner of, and they continued in the grocery business here until Mr. Parker died, February
16, 1881. He had purchased the stock one month previous to his decease. This grocery house is the one that has been longest established in the city.
Mr. Barker owns a fine residence on Capitol Avenue and Saginaw Street; he is also the owner of other property that is very valuable. His marriage took place in this city in 1854, he was united to Miss Elsie Maiden, a native of Utica, N.Y., who came to Wayne County, Mich., with her parents when three years of age, thence all came to the city of Lansing in 1847. This marriage has been blest by the advent of three children who are Arthur A., Ina L. and William
H. The eldest was born in Youngstown, Niagara County, N.Y.; Ina L. is now Mrs. Dr. Cameron, of Lansing William H. enlisted in the regular army April 30,1889, when twenty-five years old. He belongs to Company E.,
of the Fifth United States Artillery, and is stationed at the mouth of the Columbia River. The eldest
son also served five years in the regular army.
Our subject has been an Alderman from the (351)
Fourth Ward for two years and Supervisor one year. For two years
he was a member of the School Board and while thus in office did efficient work. Socially
he belongs to Capitol Lodge, No. 66 F. & A. M., and was Master of his lodge during the war. He belongs to the Royal Arcanum and in his church relations is
a member of the Free-Will Baptist denomination and has held various positions
in this body. He was on the building committee as Chairman and is and has for
years been a Deacon in the church. He has for many years been Superintendent of the Sunday-school and is a
strong Prohibitionist.
HENRY H. DARBY, M.
D.
Of the younger followers of Esculapius practicing in the city of Lansing, Ingham County, none are more progressive in their professional ideas and tendencies than our subject. The tendency of the time in professional circles is a dissatisfaction with one's acquirements and
a feverish anxiety to rend the veil of future discoveries and inventions, taking to one's self all the advantages that may be utilized. On the whole the writer believes this to be a wholesome condition of affairs. Dr. Darby is no exception to the rule, being ambitious to stand at the head of his profession.
He unites to his medical practice a knowledge of surgery. He is located at North Lansing and there has a very remunerative practice.
The Prairie State was the scene of the nativity of the subject of this sketch,
he having been born in the village of Paris, Hunter Township, Edgar County, the year previous to the firing of the first
gun at Sumter. His natal day occurred April 8, 1860. He is a son of Dr. Benjamin F. Darby, who was born in Hampshire County, W. Va., where our subject's grandfather was a farmer. The old gentleman removed at an early day to Nebraska and there died. Soon after attaining his majority our subject's father came to Illinois. He was a physician and surgeon and located in Hunter Township, Edgar County, where he is still one of
the most prominent and skilled practitioners of the locality. He is an ardent worker in the church,
belonging to the Methodist Episcopal persuasion. His wife was prior to their marriage, Miss Susan
Kerns, like himself a native of West Virginia. She passed away front this life in Hunter Township
and was there laid away with the greatest tenderness and respect, for she was much beloved by
friends and neighbors, being an estimable woman of striking qualities. She was the mother of eleven
children. Only four of these, however, are now living, and of these our subject is the youngest.
Dr. Darby was reared in his native place and from
1877 to 1879 he was an attendant at Prof. Hurty's Academy, formerly known as Edgar Collegiate
Institute at Paris and then went to Valparaiso, Ind., where he was a student for one year, after which he
began the study of medicine, reading under his father's direction until 1881. Early influences
and surroundings had their effect upon our subject, for he was in a manner prepared for his work
before he began it, and when he entered college was enabled to accomplish three years' work in two
years. In 1881 he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Keokuk, Iowa, and was
graduated in 1883 and thus was entitled to add the initials M. D. to his name. After graduating he
at once began the practice of his profession in partnership with his father in Hunter Township and
continued to be thus associated and engaged until 1886.
At the date above mentioned our subject came to Michigan and located in
Morrice, Shiawassee County. There
he built up a good practice and stood high in the estimation of the people of the community, remaining with them until 1890. Desiring a broader field, not only for practice, but for self progress, he at that time removed to North Lansing and has since been engaged in his profession at his present locality. He is a prominent young physician and already has a good patronage. In college he was an indefatigable student and every spare moment outside of his regular course was given to special studies. He has made the diseases of women and children a specialty and is particularly successful in that branch of treatment. In surgery he is conversant with the latest and
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most approved methods, having a perfect equipment in the way of instruments for any operation.
Our subject's marriage took place in this city December 15, 1886, at which time he was united to Miss Margaret Cameron, a daughter of Capt. A. Cameron, a veteran of the late war. She was born in Lansing, and was here educated. One child has been born of this union, a daughter, whose. name is S. Beatrice. The Doctor is a member of the Knights of the
Maccabees. Liberal in religious matters himself, his wife is a member of the Presbyterian Church.
JOSEPH W. COLLINS
is a general farmer owning and occupying a fine estate of two hundred and ninety acres of land located on section 35, Lansing Township, Ingham County. Mr. Collins was born in the township of Rose, Wayne County, N.Y., September 16, 1818. His father, Moses F. Collins,
was for many years a resident of the same county and a farmer by occupation. The maiden name of the mother of our subject was Mary Wade; she also was a native of Wayne County, N.Y. Mr. Collins made his home with his parents at Rose until he was eighteen years of age, helping with the farm work and during the winters attending the district school.
When in his eighteenth year our subject's family moved to
Michigan and settled in Washtenaw County at a distance of three miles from Ann Arbor. Mr. Collins entered the academy at Ann Arbor and took the preparatory course for the University, which he entered with the second class that was formed after
the organization of the University. After taking a limited course of study our subject began teaching. His work in this respect was marked with success. He continued teaching for several terms in different parts of the county.
Mr. Collins was early converted to Christianity and was a diligent student of the Scriptures. So devoted had he been to the study of the Word of God that
he was licensed to preach at the age of twenty-five, and became a Wesleyan Methodist
minister. He followed the calling of a preacher for eight years consecutively, but he has been engaged in the work more or less regularly for a period of twenty years.
The original of our sketch was very happily married when in his twenty-seventh year to Miss Lucy Ann Raymond, who at that time was twenty-three years of age. Their nuptials were solemnized in 1835. Of this union two children were
born--Florence who died when she was three years of age, and Evangeline, born in the year of 1850, married Albert Felton. She is the mother of four children--Ray who is seventeen years of age; Alfred, thirteen; Floyd, ten; and Winnie three years old (1891). Mr. Felton's family are residents of Alaiedon Township, Ingham County.
Mr. Collins moved to Lansing in 1850 and owned
a farm of sixty acres within what is now the city limits. The farm was situated where the school for
the blind now stands, our subject having donated the land now occupied by the school for that purpose. His first wife died October 19, 1855 and he
was again married to Laura Glines, February 7, 1857. They moved on a farm near Alaiedon where
they remained for five years. He then purchased the farm whereon he now resides. Ten children
have been the result of this marriage; four died in infancy. Florence Collins, born in 1861, is the
wife of A. Black of Delhi; they have one daughter, a child two years old. Arthur, who was born in
1863 is a school teacher and telegraph operator, now living at Plymouth where he is in charge of the
telegraph station at that place. He married Mary Foote and is the father of two children-Clifford
and Zoah--four and two years old respectively. Ernest J. born in 1868 married Miss Edna Darrah
and lives in Lansing Township; their union has been blest by the advent of one child still a
babe, Judson
D., who was born in 1871; Franklin N., in 1876 and Alice, who was born in 1878, are still at home.
In politics Mr. Collins is a Republican. During the war he was a strong Abolitionist. As
a minister of the Gospel he was blest with a great degree of success in bringing souls to their Master and was never happier than while engaged in ministerial work. An intelligent and well-informed man reading all that comes within reach that bears upon
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the questions of the day, he is interested in the progress and advancement of the
times. He is well and favorably known throughout Ingham County as being a man of unimpeachable integrity and honor.
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