(727) GEORGE A. MARSH. The agricultural element forms the backbone of every community, for upon its character and work depends the real development of the resources of that section of the country; and if enterprise, industry and integrity are lacking the whole body corporate will be lacking in vitality, strength and success.

     Among the farmers of Handy Township, Livingston County, we find Mr. Marsh, living on sections 29 and 30, where he has a splendid farm of one hundred acres. This county contains his native home, as he was born in Unadilla Township, in the year 1849, and in that same township his parents Zenas and Mary (Glenn) Marsh were married and made their early wedded home, as they had come when quite young to this county. The settled upon a wooded farm and having cleared it off and improved it, lived there till 1860 when Zenas Marsh died upon the old homestead, and twelve years later his faithful wife expired in Fowlerville. The principles of the Democratic party had always been the political sentiments of Mr. Marsh, but he had not meddled in public affairs.

     The worthy pioneer couple of whom we have now spoken had a family of seven, children, of whom five are now living, namely: Emily T., (Mrs. Metcalf), Robert, our subject, Inez, (Mrs. Powers) and Edward. The subject of this sketch remained at home through boyhood and youth and received his schooling in Unadilla Township, and when he reached his majority he settled half a mile south of Fowlerville for two years, and then sold that property, and came and purchased the place upon which he now resides. He has cleared the timber from this tract and has placed upon it fine buildings and other good improvements. His home is marked by more evidences of taste and culture than many farm houses and its surroundings are most attractive.

     The office of Commissioner of Highways was given to him for two years, and for quite a long while he attended to the duties of Road Master and has also held other offices. The happy marital union of George A. Marsh and Susan Saunders dates from 1873, when at the residence of the bride's parents they were made one. This lady was born in Marion Township and is a daughter of Frederick and Mary (Love) Saunders, an English couple who came to America in 1836, and made their home for some time in Livingston County, before their marriage. Mr. Saunders attended school for a while after coming to Michigan, and subsequent to his marriage, which took place in Marion Township he made his home there. Mrs. Saunders' father was also a native of England, Henry G. Love by name, and he likewise came to America in 1836 and became one of the pioneers of Marion Township. His faithful companion departed this life while they were living in England, and he is now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Saunders were the happy parents of six children, four only of whom now survive, they are: Mrs. Marsh, William H., Tilla, (Mrs. Demerest, deceased), Mary J., (Mrs. Demerest), Lydia E., and Lyda (deceased.) The mother departed this life February 7, 1889.

     Among the prominent leaders in the People's party in Livingston County, Mr. Marsh's name may well appear. His intelligence and thorough understanding of public affairs and his enthusiasm for the principles which that party represents, make him exceedingly influential among the men who are following the ideas promulgated by that party. In agricultural circles he is also regarded as a prominent man as the fine condition of his farm gives him a prestige which he richly deserves.

     (728) His fine buildings and excellent improvements show to every observer the hand of a thorough-going and systematic farmer and his Durham cattle and fine horses are worthy of the pride which he feels in them.

     MRS. SAREPTA RICHMOND. The lady who is the owner of the farm that is a model of its kind and located on section 19, Howell Township, Livingston County, has administered her business affairs with so much ability as to rank high among her sex as a financier and manager. Her farm comprises sixty acres which is under a state of careful cultivation. She came to this township in 1847 when the place was a wilderness, and although she belongs to the sex that was formerly spoken of by the "lords of creation" as the weaker one, she did her part as a pioneer in developing the country, for weak indeed would be the woman in pioneer times who, in the stress and press of harvest labor could not go out in the fields with rake or hoe and accomplish a fair day's work.

     The lady of whom it is our pleasant privilege to here give a short biographical sketch in outline is a daughter of William and Betsey (Heroy) Brundage, natives of New York. Her father came to Michigan in 1847 and settled on section 21, of this township and county, having purchased a farm to which he bent his efforts to cultivate and improve. There he lived and died, having had a family of five children, four of whom are now living. They are Charles; William, who lives in California; our subject, (Mrs. Richmond), and Perry, of Gratiot County.

     Mrs. Richmond joined her fate with that of Tracy R. Richmond, November 26, 1856. He was born near Ann Arbor, Mich., in 1836, and was the son of Simeon and Polly Richmond, who came to Michigan and settled first at Pinckney where the elder Mr. Richmond worked at his trade which was that of a carpenter. Our subject's husband was reared a farmer find remained loyal to his calling through life. After their marriage he purchased forty acres of land in Howell Township on section 20, and lived there a year, enjoying the comforts of home in this new location. He then rented a farm for four years, after which he purchased forty acres of land in this vicinity and later purchased the tract whereon his widow at present resides. His first purchase comprised forty acres, which was the nucleus of the fine farm which he owned at the time of his decease. Upon this he built a very good residence in which his widow now resides. Mr. Richmond was a man of progressive tendencies, greatly interested in everything that looked toward a furtherance of domestic, municipal or national Government. Personally he was genial and very popular with his associates. His decease occurred May 5, 1880, at which time he was forty-three years and five months of age.

     Mrs. Richmond's consort was a Republican in his predilection. He was particularly interested in the governmental affairs of the locality. He left a family comprising a wife and two children. Jay, the elder son, married Celia McIntosh, and now lives on the home farm. He has two children -- Ray W. and Eva. The younger child, a daughter, Mary E., became Mrs. Frank R. Crandal. She is now deceased, having departed this life March 19, 1888. She left two children---Tracy F. and Mary B. Jay Richmond is his mother's able assistant in carrying on the work of the farm and it shows no diminution in care and attention, he evidently being a man who thoroughly understands his business. Their home is a beautiful rural residence in the midst of a wide rolling lawn surrounded with choice shade and fruit trees. Our subject is a worthy lady who stands high in the regard of her friends and neighbors.

     JOHN ARMSTRONG. Although our subject has passed three-quarters of a century, and during this time he has experienced the frost of the world's wintry wisdom, as well as the brightness and sunshine of encouragement (729) and joy, his heart is as young and untouched as though youth were immortal. He reminds one of a sturdy oak on the mountain aide, rough and rugged of branch and bark, yet giving an impression of strength and character such as no other tree conveys, and at the same time casting a grateful shade over the too heated pathways through the summer woods. The tree bears upon its rugged exterior the history of nature, the story of tempests, of drouth, flood and scorching sunshine. The man is an unwritten history of moments of passion, restraint, reservation, pleasure and pain. He will tell you some of his life, but the golden part, the part that we curious mortals care most to pry into, he locks in the depths of his own heart, as the oak beats in its inner rings its life history.

     Our subject is the owner and proprietor of the farm an section 26, Hartland Township, Livingston County. He is a native of the Empire State, having been born in Fabius Township, Onondaga County, September 28, 1816. We will not here attempt to give a biography of his parents as one will be found under the sketch of our subject's brother, Mr. L. L. Armstrong, in another part of this volume. He of whom we write is the youngest of six children born to his parents and of these three only are now living. Mr. Armstrong was very young when obliged to start out in life for himself, being but twelve years of age when he first began to work as he could by the month or day.

     The original of our sketch received twenty-four acres of land in Monroe County, N.Y., from his mother. He however paid for the land and took care of his mother and brother until their decease. His marriage took place in Monroe County, N.Y., March 26, 1848, his bride being Almira Talmage. The lady is a native of Saratoga County, N.Y., being there born in 1828. She was, however, reared in the town of Parma, Monroe County. After their marriage our subject sold their little tract of twenty-four acres for $1,100 , and he immediately invested the proceeds in a farm of fifty-two and a half acres in the town of Greece, Monroe County, of the same State, there he remained carrying on a general business in agriculture until 1854, when he came to Hartland, this county and State, and located on section 26. He, with his family still live in the same log house that was on the place when he came here. He is now, however, building a new frame dwelling which he contemplates with much pride and pleasure.

     Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong are the parents of nine children, seven of whom are now living. They are: Edna, Lorenzo L., Charles, Lydie, John E., Julia E., and William H. The oldest child and daughter is now the wife of Chester Campbell. They reside on a farm in Antrim Township, Shiawassee County. Lorenzo is a farmer residing in Hartland Township, this county. Charles is also a farmer living in Antrim Township, Shiawassee County. Lydie is the wife of H. Brown, and lives in this vicinity. John E. resides in Hartland Township. Julia E. still makes her home with her parents as does her brother William H.

     Our subject is the fortunate possessor of three hundred and twenty acres of some of the finest land in Livingston County. It is well improved and so fertile that it needs only to be turned over with the plow and put to seed to bring forth a bountiful harvest. Most of the improvements have been made thereon by himself although his eldest and youngest sons are now conducting the work of the farm on shares. Our subject's first vote was cast for James K. Polk. He is now an ardent Republican taking is great on interest in political news as in his younger days.

     HIRAM W. BAKER. The old idea of the "horny handed sons of the soil" is to a great extent exploded, agricultural methods at this time being carried on with comparatively little manual labor, the improved
implements, whose motive power is steam or electricity, accomplishing in one-tenth the time the work that was formerly performed by hand. It is quite possible for even the great majority in this country as well as in England to be "gentleman farmers." The subject of this sketch is one of the favored representatives of agriculture in this (730) district, owning a fine farm of sixty acres of section 8, Meridian Township, Ingham County. He devotes himself to general farming. He was born in Northumberland, Saratoga County, N.Y., November 22, 1837. His father, Alexander C. Baker, is by occupation a farmer, and a native of Monroe County, N.Y., and there born in 1810. His decease occurred while he was yet in the heyday of youth. 

     Hiram Baker's mother was in her maiden days Miss Betsey L. Williams. She was born in Wilton, Saratoga County, N.Y., November 16, 1811, and died October 23, 1888. Our subject remained under the parental roof until he was sixteen years of age, helping his father with the farm. His opportunities for even attending even a district school were very poor, and the knowledge usually acquired in the public schools he has laboriously secured by individual study and by experience. When sixteen years of age he started out in life to make his own living. In company with another boy he went to Toledo, Ohio and obtained work on a railroad at that place. After pursuing this heavy employment for nearly a year, he returned to New York and spent six years in farming in Yates County.

     Having acquired a home and assured of, at least, the necessities of life, Mr. Baker took unto himself a wife. His marriage with Miss Kate C. Chase occurred January 8, 1861. The lady was a daughter of Calvin Chase, a farmer in that vicinity, and was born August 20, 1837, in Carbondale, Pa. Carefully educated, she became a teacher and was successfully employed in this capacity for several years. She enjoyed the special advantage of a course in Union Seminary in Delaware County, N.Y. In 1861 the young couple came to Michigan and rented a farm near Battle Creek, where they remained for eleven years. Then they removed into Ingham County, where they were engaged in farming for a short time. 

     By practicing the strictest economy, our subject was at last enabled to purchase the comfortable home that they now occupy. Several substantial improvements had been made on the place since they came here, and the careful attention in the way of cultivation that Mr. Baker has given the place has added to its value. While in New York, Mrs. Baker was a member of the Baptist Church, but has not identified herself with any religious body since coming here. They are both members of Harmony Alliance, No. 1, of Pine Lake, the first lodge organized in Michigan. Mr. Baker was also the first candidate to be initiated in the Okemos Grange after its organization. Our subject has always been a Democrat. Mrs. Baker is a highly accomplished lady with decided tastes and talents in an artistic direction. Their home is made charming by the dainty works of her hand.

     
     MARSHAL COFFEY. One of the most delightful homes in Handy Township, is that owned by the enterprising young farmer whose name is at the head of this sketch. He is the proprietor of one hundred and sixty acres on section 18, Handy Township, Livingston County, upon which is built a comfortable and commodious home that is the meeting place for the choice spirits of the vicinity. Mrs. Coffey is an exceptionally attractive lady, with bright conversational powers, and having much talent in the musical direction. Her literary tastes and judgment are of the most refined character, and their home abounds in the latest productions of literature and scientific nature. They are thoroughly abreast of the times, and do not believe on looking on life as a dark or dreary state. 

     Mr. Coffey was born on Section 18, Handy Township, where he now lives. His natal day was December 18, 1865. His parents were Levi and Julia (White) Coffey, natives of the Empire State, who came to Michigan at a very early day, and here the father accumulated by his prudence, economy and industry, a handsome fortune. At one time he was the owner of a very handsome estate, comprising five hundred eighty-seven acres of land. Prior to settling in Handy Township, he was in Marion Township, later settling in Washtenaw, finally locating permanently upon the farm (731) above referred to, and where his decease took place February 24, 1891, his wife having preceded him by ten years.

     Four sons grew up around their parents, and as they reached years of maturity, made homes of their own. Our subject, Marshal Coffey, was married to Miss Effie C. Griswold, November 20, 1889. The lady is a daughter of Joseph and Laura (Williams) Griswold, of Handy Township, one of the representative farmers of this locality. A native of New York, Mr. Griswold came to Michigan in an early day, and now lives on Section 22, of this township. They have a family of five children, whose names are as follows: Bert, Jay, Effie, now Mrs. Marshal Coffey, Leah and Rutherford. The young people have all been given the advantages of a liberal education, and having bright, aspiring natures they easily take their places in the highest social ranks of the locality. Mr. Griswold is a stanch Republican, giving his vote and influence wholly to that party.

     Our subject, Marshal Coffey, is one of the prominent young farmers who by their progressive tendencies and energetic young blood go to make Livingston County one of the strongest in the sisterhood of this great lumbering and agricultural State. He holds to the Democratic faith.

          JESSE JACOBS. The gentleman whose name is at the head of this sketch is the owner of a fine farm comprising one hundred and ninety acres and located on Section 27, Howell Township, Livingston County. Mr. Jacobs is one of the extensive farmers in this township, dividing his attention between his own farm, where he raises horses, cattle and hogs for market, and doing the threshing for other farmers in the county, he being the possessor of some of the finest and most modern machines of this kind.

     Mr. Jacobs was born in Steuben County, Corning Township, N.Y., December 18, 1840. His parents were Benjamin and Nancy (Searls) Jacobs, natives of the Empire State. The former was the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of land which he cultivated before coming West, and in 1859 he sold this place and taking his way toward the setting sun settled in the township of Howell. He is now retired from the active pursuits of an agricultural calling. Our subject's mother died at Plainfield, Livingston County, February 6, 1887. Mr. Jacobs, Sr., is the father of nine children, six of whom are now living. They are Mary, Jesse, Levi, Benjamin, Philander and Charles.

     The original of this sketch received the greater part of his education in Corning, Steuben County, N.Y. He was reared a farmer boy and on coming West with his parents worked out on farms until he had accumulated enough to purchase one hundred and twenty acres in Unadilla Township, this county. Fifty acres of this tract was timber land. This he cleared, and lived upon the place for seven years, at the end of which time he sold and came to the farm where he at present resides. His original purchase here comprised one hundred and twenty acres, to which he later added seventy-two immediately adjoining. Twenty acres of his last purchase was timber land that he cleared. Mr. Jacobs has good, comfortable farm buildings, there being three houses upon the place and also three barns. In two of these houses there are tenants who assist him with the farm work. He has planted three orchards on his place which now yield bountifully. He also raises much small fruit and his farm being only two miles from the town of Howell he finds a ready market for this produce near at hand. He has as good a farm as there is in the township and it has been so made by his own industry and efforts.

     In 1865 the gentleman of whom we write was married to Miss Ada M. Barber, of Dexter, Washtenaw County, this State. Their union has been blest by the advent of eight children. They are Augusta, Mary, Sarah, Harriet, Jesse, Blanch, William H. and Jenny. Augusta married Harvey White; they are the parents of two children--Artansia and an infant who at the time of writing was not named. They reside in Ingham County, this State. Mary is now Mrs. Carl Boody, who is a resident of Colorado.

     Mr. Jacobs is a Republican in his party affiliation. (732) Naturally interested in local politics he is also well informed in regard to the National Government and can hold his own in argument with any of the Democrats in the vicinity. Our subject has been a very hard worker and the competency that he has gained has been secured only by the most indefatigable labor. He has in connection with his farming interests been threshing grain for the last twenty-one years, doing most of the threshing for farmers who do not possess their own implements. He has a steam thresher of ten-horse power.

     HON. GEORGE COLEMAN. The early history of this family in America reads like the lines of a fairy story, as William Coleman, the progenitor of the American branch of the family, came to this country from England in the latter part of the sixteenth century, and being an orphan boy, was bound out by the Captain of the vessel in which he came, to a man on Long Island, who was a wealthy farmer. As this youth grew up to manhood he learned to love the beautiful daughter of his master, and at last was wedded to her. They "lived in happiness ever after" and had four sons, one of whom, named John, settled in Connecticut, and from him came the family of our subject.

     The descendant of whom we write, who is now the County Treasurer of Livingston County, Mich., and a resident of Howell, was born in Orange County, N.Y., September 7, 1833. His parents, Eri and Susannah (Lee) Coleman, were natives of that county and the father was a wagon-maker by trade, who in his boyhood had been bound out for seven years to learn his trade. After serving five years he paid his master for the remainder of the time and started in business for himself in Orange County. Later in his life he purchased a farm on which were a gristmill and a plaster mill, which he carried on until October, 1843, when he sold his property and came to Michigan.

     Eri Coleman now settled in Marion Township, Livingston County, where he engaged in farming upon a five hundred-acre tract, a great portion of which he cleared of timber, and remained upon until 1857, when he went to Pinckney, this county. He engaged in the mercantile business and followed it until his death in 1864. His faithful wife survived him and remained with her children until 1873. The large farm was divided among the sons, our subject receiving two hundred acres, and two other sons, Jasper and Floyd, receiving their share. The father was the Postmaster of Pinckney for several years and was one of the wealthy men of the county. He was a Democrat in his political views. He had five sons and one daughter, namely: Mary E., Milton, Charles, George, Jasper and Floyd. Milton is in California and was for twenty years the Overseer in the Navy Yard at San Francisco, and Jasper is on a farm in Clinton County, this State.

     The father of Eri Coleman was William and he was married to Mary Reeve. Both of them were natives of Orange County and they had a family of nine children. The father of William was John, who was born in New London County, Conn., and he was one of the four sons who were descended from the first progenitor, who married the beautiful daughter of the wealthy farmer.

     John Coleman, the great-grandfather of our subject, removed from Orange County, N.Y., where his son William was born, to Pennsylvania, going thither about the year 1772, and remaining there until the occurrence of the Massacre of Wyoming, when he returned to Orange County, N.Y. His wife, Sarah, was a daughter of Josiah Coleman, the son of William, the originator of the family, and was, therefore, a first cousin of her husband.

     He of whom we write was reared upon the farm and remained upon the old homestead after his father left the farm, and went into merchandising. He has about four hundred acres of land in Marion Township, on which he lived from 1857, when he took possession of it, until 1889. He purchased one hundred and twenty acres adjoining the city limits in 1881, and there he now lives. Besides these properties in Marion Township, he has other lands in the State. He has represented this county twice in the State Legislature, once during the session of 1883 and again in 1885, and for five years (733) has been Supervisor of the township. From the time he was twenty-four years old he filled the office of Justice of the Peace for sixteen years in succession, and he was elected to his present position in 1887.

     The marriage of our subject to Miss Sarah Rubbins, of Marion Township, took place in 1855. The parents of Mrs. Coleman were Adam and Sarah (Hill) Rubbins, both of whom were born in England and came to America in 1836, settling in Marion Township, Livingston County, where they spent their lives upon a farm. Mr. and Mrs. Rubbins had eight children--Mary A. (who is Mrs. Thomas), Clements, Adam Jr., Sarah (who was Mrs. Coleman), Eliza (now Mrs. Coleman), Adeline (Mrs. Beach), Lucy (Mrs. Alford Taylor), John and Elizabeth (Mrs. Reason, now deceased). Mrs. Sarah Coleman had a family of three children: Nora, Frank and Wilmer. Nora is now Mrs. John Henderson; Frank is married to Alice Feunster and has three children. Bruce, George and Nora; and Wilmer is united in marriage with Hattie Jeffrey and has three children, Louise, Laura and Charles.

     Mrs. Sarah Coleman died in 1860 and Mr. Coleman married for his second wife her sister Eliza, who now has two children, Sarah and Susan. Our subject helped to organize the First State and Savings Bank of Howell, and is a stockholder therein. His political views have led him to affiliate with the Democratic party, in which he has great confidence and for whose future prosperity he works and votes.

      ALMERON DANIELS is a retired farmer, owning a good tract of eighty-eight and seventy-nine hundredths acres of land on section 22, Meridian Township, Ingham County. He was born in the town of Regia, Monroe County, N.Y., June 24, 1817. His, father was Elijah Daniels, who was born in Massachusetts in 1793. While in Massachusetts he employed himself as a baker and shoemaker, but after coming to this county he became a farmer. He was engaged in the War of 1812, serving from the beginning to the close. He died in Niagara County N.Y., September 18, 1839. Our subject's mother was, prior to her marriage, Miss Axa Wolcott, a native of Massachusetts, but whose rearing was chiefly in New York where her father was one of the very oldest settlers

     Our subject lived at home until his father died, in 1839 (the mother died in 1829) and he helped clear up the new farm and support the family, as he was the eldest. When seventeen years of age he worked out by the month, receiving for six months $7 and later $9 per month for his labor. He gave his earnings to his parents with the exception of fourteen shillings. After he had reached the age of nineteen years he went to school only one winter and at that time paid his own tuition and worked for his board. After the age of nineteen he worked at home until twenty-one, when he was engaged with other farmers until twenty-eight years of age. He had learned the carpenter's and joiner's trade and combined this profitably with his knowledge of farming.

     When Mr. Daniels was twenty-eight years old he was married, November 9, 1845, to Miss Aurelia Hull, a native of Rome, N.Y., and a daughter of Edmund Hull, a farmer. Our subject's grandfather, Samuel Daniels, was a farmer in Scotland and came to the United States in an early day. They located in Niagara County in the place that has since been called the Daniel's settlement. (Some of the family are known by the name of McDonald). After marriage our subject lived for a while on the old place and then sold his portion and moved to another part of the township. He again sold and on the 1st of March, 1853, landed in the village of Lansing, remaining there employed as a carpenter and joiner until the spring of 1869, when he moved to the township of Bath, Clinton County, staying there for seven years. He then again sold and in a short time moved on the farm he now owns. Mrs. Daniels was a devoted member of the Presbyterian Church, giving her aid and encouragement to that body until it was disbanded here. Our subject is a member of the Masonic lodge at Okemos. In politics he is a Greenbacker. He has (734) fought in life for every inch of ground he has made and is deserving of the comforts which his present position enables him to have.

     Almeron Daniels enlisted in the War of the Rebellion in February, 1864, joining Berdan's United States Sharpshooters. He was with the Second Regiment in the battle of the Wilderness and at Spottsylvania and served until the close of war, receiving an honorable discharge April 29, 1865. He and his wife are the parents of two children--Myron H., who was born January 1, 1851 and married Phebe Hornish, becoming by this union the father of three children--Charles A., Lottie and Ira. Myretta H., born December 9, 1853, was married to Lewis N. Kent, of Okemos; they are the parents of two children--Ethel and Burr.

       OSCAR PERRY, the old settler and leading citizen of Locke Township, Ingham County,  is a native of Sandusky County, Ohio, where he was born July 11, 1843. He is a son of Ira D. and Mrs. A. (Wright) Perry, the former a native of New York and the latter a Vermonter. He is from German stock on the father's side and his father's step-father was a soldier in the Revolutionary War.