(667)EDWARD BROWNING. A mental picture comes to the writer of a typical modern farmer. The owner of a fine tract of land, as he is seated on his mower, ready to drive off for the fields, there is a proud consciousness in the poise of his head and the carriage of his broad shoulders, that he is the absolute monarch of the rich domain under his eye. He is as quick in his movement and execution as in his faculty of forming opinions in regard to his work. He has a firm seat upon the mower, which is of the latest and most approved design, and drawn by horses that are sleek, muscular and well fed. He is a pleasing picture of rural prosperity.

     The farm of which Mr. Browning is proprietor and a view of which is shown on another page, is located on section 24, Oceola Township, Livingston County, and comprises four hundred and eighty acres of as fine land as there is in the county. Besides devoting himself to general farming, he pays much attention to the breeding and raising of fine sheep, and also has many of the finest breed of cattle and horses. Our subject was born in Kinderhook County, N.Y., August 23, 1821, and his father, Peter Y. Browning, was a native of Connecticut, although reared in New York State. His marriage took place in Dutchess County, N.Y., his bride being a Miss Sarah Cramer, a native of the same county and State in which her marriage took place. She is still living at the age of ninety years.

     Peter Y. Browning settled in New York after his marriage and after remaining a few years in that State, he came to Michigan and located in Monroe County. Thence he came to Livingston County in 1836, and settled in Oceola Township on section 24, where he took up a large tract of land from the Government in 1835. He cut the logs from the forests about the little clearing, and built a small log house, which his wife made as homelike and attractive as her resources would allow. He spent the remainder of his life in improving the place, cutting down forest trees, planting orchards of fruit trees, and otherwise improving the place until his death. He passed away at a good old age, and it must have been a satisfaction to him, to see the result of his labors in the well-tilled land, the fields of waving grain, the orchards reddening with their burden of fragrant fruit, and the fine stock grazing in the meadows. He and his wife were the parents of seven children and of these our subject is the eldest. He was sixteen years of age when his parents made their advent into this State, and had all a boy's eagerness in the readiness to experience the novelty of their now position. His early education had its foundation in his native place, and he finished in a log school house. The winters, however, were all the time that could be spared from the labors of the farm to acquire anything even so important as an education.

     Mr. Browning's wife was in his maiden days Miss Helen Beebe, a native of New York. By her he became the fattier of three children, all sons. Two of these, however, died in infancy, and the only surviving child is John A., who resides with his father and is in partnership with him in his agricultural business. Our subject located directly after his marriage, in a little log house which be built on section 26, and there he lived for many years. He and his son now own four hundred acres of well-improved land, and keep from two to three hundred sheep which are of the finest breed. He also has some especially fine horses, making a specialty of the raising of blooded cattle and horses. Mrs. Browning died a few years ago, having for many years been a faithful companion and helpmate to her husband in his efforts to obtain a firm footing in the agricultural business.

     (668) In his political preference, Mr. Browning is a Republican and has held several local offices in the gift of the township in which he resides. For eight years he held the office of Postmaster in Oceola Center, and discharged the duties of the position most satisfactorily.

     WILLIAM F. HYNE. This prominent and successful gentleman, who was born on the old Hyne homestead on section 8, of Brighton Township, Livingston County, June 22, 1847, is a son of Charles T. Hyne. This gentleman of wealth felt that it was necessary that his son should grow up to develop his own powers without much aid him, and he therefore started the young man out in life without much of any means or financial help. The son now thanks his father for this hard experience, as, through being thrown upon his own resources he has become a successful man and a manager of ability.

     William F. Hyne acquired his education in the schools which were kept in the log schoolhouses in Brighton Township, to which he went during the winter months until he reached the age of ten years, after which as he was the eldest of the family he devoted himself to work upon his father's farm. He assisted in clearing away the forest and putting improvements on the farm until he reached the age of twenty-three years, when he and his brother, Frederick, entered into partnership and began farming on their own account.

     The young men began at the foot of the ladder and worked their way up by unflagging persistence and true "grit" and many a night they worked till a late hour, supplementing the labors of the day. The partnership continued for eighteen years, at the end of which time they divided their interests amicably, although no previous settlement had been made during the eighteen years that the brothers had worked together.

     He of whom we write has been twice married, his first union in 1870 bringing to his home Miss Mary Durffee, a native of this county. Two children blessed their home and their life together continued for ten years when the wife was called to her heavenly reward. The children are named, Charles G. and Annie. The latter is still pursuing her education and Charles has just graduated from the Detroit Commercial College and is a young man of promise. Mr. Hyne was a second time married in 1881 taking to wife Louis Hicks, of New York, who has one child, Beatrice.

     The splendid farm of five hundred and twenty acres which is in Mr. Hyne's estate has upon it elegant buildings and a most delightful home. He pays special attention to the raising of fine stock and has fast horses of the Wilkes breed as well as Merino sheep, Short-horn cattle and other excellent varieties. He is also an equal partner with his two brothers in the ownership of the grist mill at Brighton. His political views have brought him into sympathy with the Democratic party with which he votes and for whose success he is earnestly solicitous.

     ISRAEL SPEARS. The foundations of society are laid in the agricultural districts, and among the farming material which builds up all social and financial structures. We are gratified to be able to present in this ALBUM life sketches of many of the representative farmers of Locke Township, Ingham County, and among them we name with pleasure the citizen whose name we here give. He is a native of Erie County, N.Y., and was born May 10, 1829. His parents, Ezra and Mehitable Spears, were natives of New Hampshire. When the boy was only three years old his father was taken from him by death, and he was early thrown upon his own resources. He and his mother were devotedly attached to each other and until her death which occurred in her eighty-third year, she made her home with him.

     Our subject attained his majority in his native State and having received the rudiments of an education he has ever endeavored to supplement those scant advantages by a thorough and (669) persistent course of reading. His first marriage took place in 1850 in New York, and his bride was Rachel Miller, who became the mother of one son, Ezra. She passed from earth in 1847.

     The present Mrs. Spears was previous to her marriage to our subject, in 1865, Mrs. Sarah Stoughton, widow of L. B. Stoughton, of Ingham County, a pioneer in this section. The two children of this marriage are Rachel M. and Rhoda E. Mrs. Spears is a native of Ontario, Canada, and was born April 14, 1830. She is the daughter of Paul and Sarah Clay, both of Eastern birth, and her father was a soldier of the War of 1812. She was reared in Canada until she reached her seventeenth year, and then came with her brother to Ingham County. By her first marriage she had six children, three of whom are now living, namely: Esther M., Mrs. Bristo; Sarah S., Mrs. Clark and Lillian L., Mrs. Barager. Mr. and Mrs. Spears are active members of society and useful in every department of life. Eighty-five acres constitute the whole farm which has been gained through the united efforts of this worthy couple. He is independent in politics and casts his ballot according to his best judgment and his honest convictions.

     SAMUEL N. HUFF. Among the many enterprising farmers that distinguish Meridian Township as one of the most progressive in the Ingham County sisterhood, there is no sturdier son of toil than he whose name is at the head of this sketch. His father, Thomas C. Huff, was born in Napanee, Canada, in 1826, and died there in his sixty-third year. He was a blacksmith by occupation but engaged also in farming. At the time of his death he was the owner of a fine tract of two hundred and sixty acres in Lenawee County, lying on Lake Ontario in township 4.

     Samuel Huff, the paternal grandsire of him of whom we write, was also a prosperous farmer and a native of New York, but who went to Canada at an early day. The maiden name of our subject's mother was Isabelle Sills. She was a native of Canada, where she still resides. The natal day of our subject was August 30, 1859, and he was born in Napanee, Canada. The first eighteen years of his life were spent in Canada, where he helped his father on the farm and in the blacksmith shop, but desiring to work in a country that offered greater advantages to a poor man, and being of a self-reliant nature, he came to Michigan and settled at Grass Lake as a blacksmith. He made it a plan to work in the best shops in Mason, Lansing, Saginaw and in other places that he might become acquainted with the different methods employed by the various mechanics. In this way he obtained a minute knowledge of the different branches of his trade and was enabled to do work that was beyond the ability of the average blacksmith.

     In due course of time our subject located in Okemos, where he remained for seven years, making the most of his opportunities. In 1879 he was in a position to purchase a fine farm of one hundred and ten and a half acres of land on sections 15 and 16, now occupied by him. He has been interested in mixed husbandry since that time and his efforts have been successful to a gratifying degree. In 1876 Mr. Huff was united in marriage to Miss Lavina Strayer. From this union one child was born, Mary Jane Huff. The little one was, however, soon left motherless. Our subject was again happily married, his bride being Mrs. Mary A. Button, their marriage being solemnized in 1879. Mrs. Huff was born October 23, 1849, near Lockport, Niagara County, N.Y. She is the daughter of Danforth and Margaret (Grum) Button, now of Alaiedon Township, where the former is a prominent farmer. Mrs. Huff's maternal grandparents came from Scotland and located in Mason, where they engaged in the mercantile trade until the time of their death. The union of our subject and the present Mrs. Huff has been blest by the advent of two children -- Maggie B., born August 23, 1883 and Bessie, born August 30, 1889.

     The gentleman of whom we write is in politics a strong Democrat. In 1890 he was elected (670) Highway Commissioner of the township. Mr. Huff merits the esteem of all who know him and he has demonstrated a thriftiness that many less prosperous farmers might well imitate.

    SIMON W. DICKERSON. The farmers and fruit-raisers of Marion Township, Livingston County, have among their number many whose intelligence, activity and enterprise are a credit alike to themselves and the county in which they make their home. These help to give to Livingston County a standing for intelligence, productiveness and business, ability which enriches every farmer within its bounds. Mr. Dickerson, who resides on section 11 Marion Township, was born in New York in 1836. His father, David Dickerson, a New York farmer was born in Vermont in 1806 and there received a common-school education. He was married in 1830 to Lucy, daughter of Waitstill Smith, who had five children of whom Lucy was fourth in order of birth, being born in 1812.

     The father of our subject came to Michigan and settled on one hundred and sixty acres in Marion Township, in 1886. He soon began to burn lime from marl, producing as much as thirty-two hundred bushels in one year at which time his son Simon, was the manager of this business. The parents had six children, of whom our subject is the third, and they gave to them the best educational advantages which they could secure and brought them up in the faith and practices of the Christian religion as both parents were earnest and active members in the Methodist Episcopal Church, where David Dickerson was Steward for many years. He was a worker for the Republican party but never held any offices. His first home in the West was a log house and he afterward built one of stone. This early settler died in 1884.

     At twenty-one years of age Simon W. Dickerson began to work the old farm on shares and three years later, in 1859, he felt that he was thoroughly enough established in life to take to himself a wife. His bride, Amanda Kingsley, was born in New York in 1834 and she is now the proud and happy mother of seven children, five of whom are still on earth. Alma and Freddie were early called away from this life; Lewis J. is married, having chosen as his bride Fannie Laire, and he has two children. The four children who are still beneath the parental roof are Edwin K., Lucy, Ida and Lillian.

     In 1860 our subject purchased ninety-five acres of land to which he has added until he now has one hundred and sixty-seven and one-half acres. His eldest son, Lewis, has purchased of his father some seventy acres on section 10, which were once a part of the home farm. In the Methodist Episcopal Church Mr. Dickerson acts as Steward and Trustee, and both he and his wife are active members therein. He is identified with the Farmers' Alliance but ordinarily votes the Republican ticket, although he is not a man who is closely bound by party ties. The principles of the Republican party are dearly prized by him, but he is growing to feel more and more that all issues must be subsidiary to that of throwing the saloon power from the throne which it has erected in that political arena.

     THOMAS AND JOHN McGlVENY. These brothers who are so well known throughout Oceola Township, Livingston County as being together engaged in a general farming on section 5, are both natives of Oceola Township, where Thomas was born April 27, 1843, and John June 10, 1844. Their father, John Mc Giveny, a native of Ireland. was born in 1785 and was a weaver by trade who came to New York in 1810. There he settled on an unimproved farm of one hundred and twenty acres, which after improving he sold, and made his home for some time in New Orleans. 

     The family finally came North and settling in Oceola Township, Livingston County, took up one hundred and sixty acres of Government land (671) on section 5, and there built a log house 16x30 feet in dimensions and began clearing away the trees and cultivating the soil. Margaret Conklin, had become the wife of John McGiveny, Sr., in Ireland and she is now living having reached a good old age, but the father passed away after attaining to eighty-five years. He was a Democrat in his political affiliations and was earnest in his advocacy of the principles of that party.

     Five daughters and five sons, were granted to this worthy couple, the two eldest being Thomas and John of whom we now write, while James was born in 1846; Bridget who is now deceased; Margaret was born in 1848 and died in 1890, and Mary who was born in 1850, married William Robb in 1871 and is the mother of nine children. Next came Kate who was born in 1852 and is now in Detroit and Martha who was born in 1854 and married William Kallahan and has four children. Edward was born in 1850 and died at the age of five years and the youngest child was Martin, who was born in 1851 and died in 1853. The parents of our subject are blessed in grand-children, having nine who are the children of their daughter, Mary, Mrs. Robb, their names being Anna, John H., William, Ella, Isabel, Mary, Thomas, Aggie and Rose, and four who are the children of their daughter Martha, Mrs. Kallahan, whose names are: Mary, Margaret, Veronica and Monica.

     The paternal grandparents of the men of whom we write were Irish by birth and their names were John and Mary (Sheridan) McGiveny, Mary being a cousin of Gen. Philip Sheridan; they were the parents of two sons. The maternal grandfather was John Conklin, also a native of Ireland. The father of our subjects cast his first vote in America for Andrew Jackson. Thomas, the eldest son has never married but John was united in marriage with Anna Kallahan and is by her the father of two daughters and two sons, namely: Mary J., who was born October 13, 1879, John, born September 22, 1884, Margaret, June 21, 1886, and Thomas, December 15, 1888.

     John McGiveny, the eldest of our two subjects, enlisted in the service of our nation March 22, 1865, entering Company B., Fifteenth Michigan Infantry and being in the service for six months. He spent most of the time at Washington and Louisville, Ky., and was confined six weeks in a hospital in the latter city and two weeks in a hospital at Detroit.

     The brothers have on their place some two hundred and fifty head of sheep and sell on an average every year from $500 to $700 worth of wool . They also have fifteen head of horses. Thomas has held the office of County Commissioner, Postmaster and School Moderator. They are both Democrats in their political views and take an intelligent interest in the public affairs of the country of their adoption.

     WILLIAM H. VAN DERCOOK. The honorable lineage of our subject is a matter of just pride in the family, as his grandfather was the William H. VanDercook who came from Holland with his father, William, in the Colonial days, when the father became notable as a participant in the Revolutionary conflict. The parents of our subject were Isaac and Abigail (Haze) VanDercook, and their son, our subject, was born in Green Oak, Oakland County, Mich., October 27, 1836, and in time he became a farmer of Cohoctah Township, Livingston County.

     The grandfather of our subject was a farmer in Monroe County, N.Y., and his large family, John, Young, William, Isaac, Michael, Alfred, Lester, Susan, Catherine, Huldah and Phoebe, all grew to years of maturity. The father of this numerous household came from New York to Michigan in the early pioneer times, settling in Sumter Wayne County, about the year 1825, where he has died since the days of the Civil War, and his wife survived him for several years.

     The father of our subject. who was born in Monroe County, N.Y., came to Michigan with his parents and removed to Oakland County about 1832, but on the 10th of April, 1838, he located in Livingston County, making his home upon two hundred acres of land on sections 35 (672) and 36, in Cohoctah Township. Here he has become a well-known and important citizen, and besides the office of Justice of the Peace, he has filled numerous local offices. His wife died March 24, 1886, having been the mother of nine children, seven of whom he saw grow to years of maturity, namely: Cornelia, Sarah, Esther, William, Lyman, Lorenzo and Alfred.

     He of whom we write carried out the patriotic record of his family by enlisting in Company K, Twenty-first Michigan Regiment, and his brother Lyman enlisted in the same regiment as wagon-master, while Lorenzo was a private in the same company. The father of these sons, took part in the war which was waged many years ago between Ohio and Michigan, and he was identified with the Free and Accepted Masons. The original of this sketch had his early training upon the farm, and received the ordinary education which could be obtained in Michigan during his boyhood. At the age of twenty-two he began life for himself by lumbering in the pine woods, and two years later he was married and settled down to cultivate a farm of sixty-seven acres on section 1, Howell Township. Here he resided for five years, and then removed to Oak Grove, where he entered the mercantile business. In March, 1875, he bought one hundred acres on section 14, Cohoctah Township, where he has since resided, and upon which he has built a handsome home.

     When this young man left his home to engage in work for himself, his father gave him only $1, and this is the capital, as far as money goes, upon which he has based his success in life. Rather let us say his capital was his sturdy strength, his resolution, his willingness to work and his undaunted perseverance. He at one time owned two farms in the township of Howell, one of sixty-seven acres and the other of one hundred and five acres, and these he sold before buying the property where he now resides. He also owns eighty acres in Deerfield Township. He has served as Justice of the Peace for twelve years. His military service began September 6, 1864, and he received his honorable discharge at Camp Blair June 5, 1865, after which he returned to his farm.

     The matrimonial alliance into which our subject entered June 2, 1861, brought to his home a faithful helpmate in the person of Frances A. Martin, who was born in the township of Milford, Oakland County, November 11, 1843. Her parents, William H. and Nancy (Cooper) Martin, were natives of England and New York, whence they came to Michigan. The two children of our subject are Nellie, the wife of Noah F. Richardson, and Clara, who is at home with her parents. The Order of the Free and Accepted Masons is that with which Mr. VanDercook has allied himself, and both he and his wife receive expressions of the highest esteem in the social circles of the township.

     HON. DANIEL L. CROSSMAN, the well-known and influential banker of the firm of Crossman & Williams, of Williamston, was born, November 4, 1836, in Cayuga County, N.Y., and in 1844 his father, Deacon Samuel Crossman removed to Dansville, Mich., then known as Ingham Center, and there established a village store. At the age of fourteen our subject attended a school at Spring Arbor, which was then known as the Michigan Central College. After two years of study at that institution he began teaching but before long entered into partnership with his father at Dansville, and continued therein for three years. He then bought out his father's interest and having platted the town and named it Dansville he continued in the mercantile business until 1871. He had early shown great facility in the management of business and at the age of sixteen he was trusted by his father to go to New York and buy the goods necessary for the business.

     After leaving Dansville, Mr. Crossman came to Williamston and in partnership with George G. Whipple engaged in buying and selling grain and carried on a general warehouse business until 1875, when he built a large flouring mill, which he operated until it burned in 1888. In 1874 he had opened a small exchange office in connection with (673) his grain business, and thus gradually built up the banking interest which now so largely absorbs his attention. He is also a somewhat extensive landed proprietor in Ingham County.

     The lady who in 1859 became the bride of Mr. Crossman, was Miss N. M. Woodhouse, a daughter of Joseph Woodhouse, a native of Pennsylvania and one of the early settlers of Livingston County, Mich. to which he came in 1839. Two children blessed this union, a son who passed from earth at the age of four years and lone W., who is now the wife of Dr. F. W. Shumway, of the same village.

     The father of our subject, Samuel Crossman, was born, August 3, 1796, in Hillsdale, Columbia County, N.Y. and belonged to one of the oldest New England families. In boyhood he showed a fondness for military tactics and also for mechanical occupations, and quite early he was both building committee and contractor in building the Baptist Church in Sennett, N.Y. His first marriage was with Philena Sheldon in 1819, and of their six children two died in early life and the others were John S., Philena (Mrs. Hill), Louisa (Mrs. Strong) and our subject. The mother of these children died in 1845 when the subject of this sketch was only eight years old.

     The second marriage was with Mary A. Sheldon who at Ann Arbor, Mich. still survives in feeble health. One of her children died in infancy and the other, Charles S. is in business in New York City. After giving essential and efficient aid in the settlement of Dansville, the father bought land overlooking the city of Ann Arbor, and built for himself a home, where he spent the remainder of his days, dying May 27, 1890 at the age of ninety four years. He was ever a warm-hearted, wise and trusted leader in all good works and was a member of the Baptist Church for nearly three-score years.

     The father of Samuel Crossman was Lemuel Crossman, a native of Connecticut whose marriage with a Miss Andress brought him five sons and two daughters. He was a farmer, and at an early day removed to Hillsdale, N.Y. and after a few years made his home in Onondaga County, N.Y., where he resided until death ended his days.

     The Hon. D. L. Crossman is a Republican in his political views and cast his first Presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln. He has been a member of the Masonic order since he reached his majority and is now a Knight Templar and has been High Priest of the Williamston Chapter for four years. He has been a Notary Public from the time he was twenty-one until the present date, and has filled the offices of Township Clerk of Ingham County and Supervisor in both Ingham and Williamston Townships. Both in this village and in Dansville he was for a number of terms a member of the village Council and in both places was continuously for years School Director. He served for five years under President Lincoln as Postmaster at Dansville and in 1865 became Assistant Clerk in the House of Representatives.

     In 1867 Mr. Crossman was elected a member of the House of Representatives of the State of Michigan, representing the second District of Ingham County and continued in this office for two terms, four years. Beginning in 1873 he was for eighteen years chief clerk of the House of Representatives, and at his three last elections he received the unanimous vote of every member of that body both Democrat and Republican. For six years he was a member of the Board of Control of the State Reform School and for the last two years of that term its Treasurer. In 1876 he was substituted for one of the presidential electors for Rutherford B. Hayes and was subsequently summoned to Washington to give testimony before the Electoral Commission. He has now retired from public office on account of his health. Mr. Crossman helped to organize the Michigan Miller's Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and for six years was its President and Adjuster, until he was no longer able to travel about upon its business.

     VERNON C. SMITH. Although business may not be as lively at a small "corner grocery store " in a Michigan town as upon New York's famous market street, known as Fulton Street, or Chicago's commission house place, South Water Street, one finds in such a place as great and interesting an amount of undiluted (674) human nature as in metropolitan thoroughfares. Nor are men who till the soil necessarily without ideas relating to public matters and doubtless Blaine or even the High Priest of English free trade--Gladstone himself--could profit by the ideas and opinions advanced by their followers while seated upon the top of a herring barrel and whittling a stick. Our subject enjoys many a good story and many a fresh bit of human nature, as displayed by the frequenters of his place of business, which is located at Fleming's Corner's, Howell Township, Livingston County. Mr. Smith also enjoys the distinction of being the Postmaster of this place.

     Our subject is a native of this county and district, having been born on section 28, December 6, 1838. He is a son of John W. and Jane W. (Campbell) Smith, natives of Ontario County, N.Y., and Vermont respectively. The father was a farmer and a mechanic and came to Michigan in 1834, while it was still a territory. After making a prospecting tour which proved very satisfactory to him, he returned to New York, but came back to Michigan in 1836 and located on section 28, of this township, taking up a tract of Government land comprising eighty acres, and later added another forty to his original purchase. Thereon he lived ten years, engaged in making his farm productive and attractive.

     Our subject's father, while an early settler, was honored by election to several of the important offices in the township. He was the first Justice of the Peace in the town and held that office twenty-one years. He was also the first Postmaster outside of the village of Howell, and continued in that capacity until 1864. He was one of the prominent men of the township and when his decease occurred, January 10, 1871, his loss was felt to be an irreparable one by friends and associates, as well as in his immediate family. As a pioneer he witnessed the growth of the country and saw it change from a wilderness to one of the most fertile agricultural regions in the Union. In an early day he shot a gray eagle of immense size. It measured nine feet from tip to tip of its outspread wings. The first court held in this township was presided over by John Smith. Politically he was a Democrat, his early training being in that direction. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity. He and his wife were the parents of four children, our subject being the eldest. He was followed by Mary, now Mrs. George H. Shipman. Then came Frank P., at the present time residing in Lansing, the youngest of the family being Ella B., the wife of J. A. Eicher. The mother still survives and makes her home with her youngest daughter. She is seventy-four years of age.

     The original of this sketch was reared a farmer, receiving his education at Fleming's Corners and the village of Howell. He lived at home until the breaking out of the war, at which time he enlisted in Company K, Ninth Michigan Infantry. He remained with the regiment one year and was wounded in the battle of Murfreesboro, two balls lodging in his right shoulder. These he still carries as souvenirs of that bitter experience through which he passed in company with other heroes of the nation. Incapacitated from active service he was discharged at Camp Chase, Ohio, in 1862, but recovering he re-enlisted in the fall in Company C, Fourth Michigan Calvary, which is distinguished by its capture of the President of the Confederacy and the General-in-Chief of Southern forces--Jefferson Davis. Our subject was Sergeant of his regiment and served faithfully until the close of the war, during the latter part of which he was on detached duty. He served in many battles until that of Lovejoy Station, when, his horse being shot under him it rolled with its whole weight upon him and so disabled was our subject that he was again incapacitated for duty. He was taken prisoner at Murfreesboro on the 13th of July, 1861. He was kept in durrance, however, only seven days, being exchanged at the end of that time. On another occasion while engaged in a skirmish he was taken prisoner twice in one day, was once recaptured and once escaped. He escaped many of the hardships of the soldiers as regards disease, having only measles, typhoid fever and chills and fever. He was in the hospital three times while sick and hurt.

     After Mr. Smith's return from the war he resumed farming, but later went to Lansing and was (677) there engaged in a shop as manufacturer of sash and blinds for seventeen years. On giving up this position he entered the business of agriculture again and was thus engaged for three years. He purchased eighty acres of land, giving his attention to general farming. Thinking to better his condition he sold the farm and came to the place where he is now located in 1890. He first rented his place and purchased it in 1890. He has been the proprietor of the store and Postmaster since July, 1890.

     Our subject has field the office of Constable of this township at three different times and April last was again elected. Mr. Smith was married in April, 1884, his bride being Miss Jennette Wells, of Howell; she is a daughter of Jehial and Elizabeth (Steward) Wells, natives of New York, who came to Michigan in 1849, soon after settling in Howell Township. Two bright children are the fruit of this union--Katie B. and Matie B. Politically he of whom we write follows in the footsteps of his father, being an ardent and uncompromising Democrat. He belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic and is one of the prominent men of the township.