Such exceptional characteristics maybe adjudged to Dr. Ferguson, whose portrait appears upon the opposite page. Although comparatively a newcomer in Lansing, Ingham County, he is already enjoying a popular practice as a physician and surgeon. He was born in Grant Township, Oceana County, this State, January 27, 1867. His father, Ninian Ferguson, was a native of Holt, in this county. His grandfather, who also bore the name of Ninian, was a native of Canada and followed the pursuit of a contractor and builder. He early settled in Holt, where he carried on his work, but enlisted under the flag of the Union and served during the Civil War for two years. He was killed by a railroad train at Leslie, Mich., on his way home. The Ferguson family is of Scottish descent and traces its lineage back to the nobility of Scotland,

     The mechanical ability of the father put him in the engineering and mechanical department of the army while he was in the United States service, in which he enlisted when he was about eighteen years old, remaining therein until the close of the war. He then bought a farm in Oceana Township, Oceana County, and after two years removed to Shelby, in the same county, where he managed a furniture store. Later he went to White Hall as a millwright and afterward engaged in the manufacture of shingles and lumber on contract for four years. After that he removed to Gobleville, Van Buren County, where he carried on his business as a contractor and builder until 1890. At that time he removed to South Chicago, where he still pursues the same business. His wife bore the maiden name of Isabelle Thrasher and was born in Essex, Ohio, being a daughter of William T. Thrasher, of Albion, who is a blacksmith and carriage-maker. Both parents were devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

     Our subject is the eldest in a family of three boys, and was reared to manhood in Oceana and Van Buren Counties, attending the city schools at White Hall, and being graduated when eighteen years of age. He learned the carpenter's trade when a boy and also learned decorating and architecture. He followed contracting and building at Goblesville until 1887 when he entered the University of Michigan, studying in the department of medicine and was graduated in 1890, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He carried on researches in seven special courses while there, paying particular attention to gynecology and electro-therapeutics.

     (810) The Doctor located in Mason, Mich., and after ten months' practice there removed, May 6, 1891, to Lansing, where he bought out Dr. F. O. Hudnutts and has worked up for himself a fine practice in surgery, of which he makes a specialty. He devotes one day in the week to his old patients in Mason who still cling to him, and from whom he at times has calls every day in the week. He is prominently identified with the Knights of Pythias and the Free and Accepted Masons, and is well known among the Alumni of the University of Michigan. As a vocalist he is well known throughout this part of the State, having a fine voice and singing as first tenor. With two brothers and a Mr. Walker he helped to form a male quartette which did excellent service for three months, during the campaign of 1888 for the Prohibition party, to which he is ardently attached.

     The Doctor has recently invented a gasoline beating stove and has applied for a patent. It is considered by capable judges to be far superior to any moveable stove ever invented for heating purposes, as it can be easily moved from one room to another. Dr. Ferguson is meeting with large sales, having sold one hundred and seventeen stoves in the short space of four hours.

     JOHN CLEAR. The gentleman whose name appears above and who is one of the firm of Wells & Clear, wholesale dealers in oils, coal and ice, is one of the early residents of the city of Lansing. He has been here since 1866. He was born in Sandusky, Ohio, July 1, 1854. He remained there but a short time, his family moving to South Bend, Ind., which was his home for a few years. He came to this city when twelve years old and soon afterward went into the grocery business with John Whitely. He was so engaged for some time and there acquired the elements of his business education.

     Our subject started a dray of which he was himself the proprietor, and drove the wagon for the United States Express Company. He still continues to have charge of the last-named business in connection with his other interests, and now has all the work for the Detroit, Lansing & Northern Railroad, which alone requires four teams. Mr. Clear went into partnership with Mr. Wells in the oil business in 1886. They have built a station here and also at Saginaw and now have a large jobbing trade. They receive their oil by car load lots. They also deal in coal, ice and wood and give employment to about nine men.

     Our subject has not been greatly interested in politics, but usually gives his vote and the weight of his influence to the Republican party. His wife, who is a most estimable lady, was in her maidenhood Miss Fanny Hoffman, of this city. She is the mother of four children, whose names are John, Tina, Florence and Beatrice. They are bright and amiable young people who promise to be a source of great comfort to their parents.

     JAMES M. SHEARER is a retired farmer living on section 14, Lansing Township, where he is the owner of a beautiful tract of land. He and his step-son, B. B. Baker, have one hundred and forty-six acres within one mile of the city limits of Lansing. Mr. Shearer is a son of James and Hannah (Caldwell) Shearer, natives of Franklin County, Mass., where the subject of this sketch was born April 20, 1815. He was reared on a farm and worked for his father until he was twenty-one years of age. His father was a farmer and a drover, dealing in cattle and other stock.

     Our subject assisted his father on the road when a boy. He remained in the old Bay State until twenty-nine years of age and was then appointed Steward of the Insane Asylum at Brattleboro, Vt., in which capacity he served for five years. It was while having charge of this institution that he formed the acquaintance of Mrs. Deborah Baker, who was the matron of the institution. They were married September 4, 1849. She was the daughter of Reuben and Abigail (Brooks) Bigelow, and is a native of Bennington, Vt., born April 12, 1803.

     (811) She first married Ezra Baker in 1831; he died in 1839, leaving her a widow with four children, whose names are Ezra, Benjamin, Henry B. and Charles. The eldest died while in military service. Benjamin B., who was born in 1835, resides with the family of Mr. Shearer and conducts the farm; he is married to Mary Wiley and is the father of three children--Mamie, Bertha and Helen. Henry B. was born in 1837 and now resides in Lansing.

     After the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Shearer they came to Ingham County and in 1851 removed to Mason and became proprietors of an hotel, remaining there f or three years. At the end of that time he moved to Lansing and has ever since lived in the township. He has always taken great interest in political and social matters and is a strong Democrat. He has been Supervisor of the township for ten years and has also held other town offices. He was Sheriff in Massachusetts when only twenty-one years of age. Mr. Shearer is a member of the Masonic order and he and his wife are both united with the Congregational Church. They are both advanced in life, but are still young in their sympathies and feelings.

     W. S. ABELS, the Deputy United States Marshal who makes his home at Lansing, was born in Seneca County, N.Y., December 18, 1843 and is a son of J. M. and Elizabeth (Avery) Abels. The father was formerly a boot and shoe man and later a lumber manufacturer. Our subject received his education in New York, completing his studies at Geneva, and subsequently engaged in selling dry goods in New York, Chicago and Toledo. In 1875 he took up detective work on special service in Toledo and afterward in Lansing. In 1877 he opened an office as a detective in an independent way and was also for a time in the employ of the city, as Police Detective.

     Mr. Abels was appointed Deputy United States Marshal about eight years ago and is at present employed as detective for the Michigan Central railroad, so that he is on the road a good deal of the time. He has had many hard struggles in working up the cases of desperate characters, and has had great success in bringing to light cases which others had failed to complete and has never been unsuccessful in his efforts. He has a good reputation both personally and in his line of work. He married Miss Asenath R. Wait, a Vermont lady whose father came to Delhi in this county in 1867.

     DAVID D. BIRD. A worthy representative of the agricultural fraternity, Mr. Bird has retired from active business life and is now enjoying a well earned respite from severe labor, having a pleasant residence in Williamsville, Unadilla Township, Livingston County. He is a son of Furman Bird, a native of Warren County, N.J., and a farmer. His grandfather was Edward Bird, who was of English descent and a man of some note in his day, being a member of the Legislature and Justice of the Peace. He was a farmer by occupation residing in Warren County, and with his wife, whose maiden name was Susanna Furman, lived to a good old age. His mother was Mary Ann (Davis) Bird, also a native of New Jersey. Her father, David Davis, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Mr. and Mrs. Bird, Sr., were married in their native State and there resided until they came to the Wolverine State in 1833, first settling at Ann Arbor on a farm. There was but a small settlement there at that time, a log house serving as a tavern. The farm comprised eighty acres of land and was about one mile from the village.

     The energies of our subject's father bent to the improvement of his place and before his decease he erected a good frame dwelling house and fine barns. Both parents passed away from the scene of their most active labor. Of ten children born to his parents our subject is the only one now living. His early training in a religious way was in the Presbyterian Church. Our subject's father was (812) a Deacon in that body before coming to Michigan. His decease took place in 1839, at the age of sixty-five years. His wife died in 1856 at the age of seventy-two years. Politically the father was a Jacksonian Democrat. Mrs. Bird was an unassuming Christian woman whose real worth was known only to her intimate friends, so quietly did she perform her many deeds of kindness. The poor and needy found in her a helper, and she was a warm friend of missions ever willing to deny herself for others, as the following incident will show. Her means were very limited, there fell to her at one time the small amount of $300. Instead of using it for her own comfort she gave $200 to the cause of missions and loaned the remainder to a feeble church to build a house of worship, reserving nothing for herself. Mrs. Bird was the only daughter of David Davis. She had two brothers, Samuel and Chambers, who were farmers by occupation and resided in Warren County N.J.

     The brothers and sisters of our subject were a follows; Betsey, Sloan, Samuel, Elijah, Mary, Edward, John, Joseph and Susanna, all except the latter marrying and settling in Southern Michigan. Joseph the youngest came to his death in the gold mines of California; he left a wife and one child. John lived and died on the old homestead where his wife and family still reside.

     The original of our sketch first saw the light of day March 4, 1813, in Warren County, N.J. On coming to Michigan he was twenty years of age and had received his education in the East, having had the advantages offered in a district school. He was reared on a farm and was early familiarized with agricultural duties. He remained at home with his father until coming to Livingston County giving him his services until he reached his majority and working for wages after that time.

     Mr. Bird came to this county and located on a farm of one hundred and seventy-two acres in Unadilla Township, on section 30. The land is what is known as oak openings and it was patented to him directly from the Government. There were at the time more Indians than white men, neighbors of the latter sort being very few. He was obliged to borrow money to pay for part of his land and bought two yoke of oxen on credit. Building a log house he began the work of clearing, which went on slowly as he had no help and had to depend upon himself entirely.

     Our subject's marriage took place March 6, 1839, at which time he was united in marriage to Miss Agnes Piper, a daughter of William and Agnes Piper, natives of Scotland and early settlers in Unadilla Township. Mrs. Bird was born September 12, 1816 in Scotland. She died December 1, 1880. This worthy couple have been the parents of six children, three of whom are now living. They are William F., Mary E. and Almira R. William was born August 24, 1840; his first wife was Elgiva Barton, a native of Maine; at her death she left four children, the eldest of whom, a noble boy nineteen years of age, was drowned while bathing in the lake at Williamsville. The maiden name of his second wife was Ella Lake. He lives near Ann Arbor and has five children, three of whom are by his former marriage. Mary E. was born March 26, 1845; she is now the wife of F. E. Ives and lives in this township; she is the mother of two children. Almira R., born January 15 1848, is the wife of A. B. Dunning and lives in Sturgis. Mr. Dunning is a prominent lawyer in that city. He and his wife are the parents of two children.

     H. M. BIGELOW, a miller of Williamstown Township, Ingham County, is a son of J. R. Bigelow and grandfather of Abel Bigelow, a native of Massachusetts. The grandfather married Maria Hunt by whom he had three sons and five daughters, and in 1825 he came to Michigan and settled on a farm in West Bloomfield, Oakland County, where he spent the remainder of  his days, dying about the year 1848. He put up the first brick-kiln in Oakland County and erected the first brick house in the township.

     J. R. Bigelow came to Michigan in 1825 at the age of eighteen and after several years in the employ of a fur dealer in Detroit, for whom he bought furs from the Indians, he helped to build the first railway from Detroit to Pontiac and constructed the first turntable at Royal Oaks. He then returned to New York, where he was married to Susan Montague who became the mother of the following children: Mary, J. A., Augusta, H. M., J. O. and Amanda. In 1874 Mr. Bigelow brought his family to Williamston, this county, and died in February, 1876, while his wife survived until December 4, 1882.

     Our subject was born in West Bloomfield Township, Oakland County, Mich., October 7, 1844. At the age of seventeen he enlisted in Company A, Fifth Michigan Cavalry, and served until July 3, 1865, taking part in the following battles, Gettysburg, Boonesboro, Hagerstown, Williamsport, Falling Water and South Mountain. At the close of the war he learned the carpenter's trade and worked at it until 1875, after which he bought a farm in Williamston Township, Ingham County.

     Susan A. Drake, daughter of Jotham Drake, a sailor and farmer, became Mrs. H. M. Bigelow, February 13, 1866, and to her has been born one son, Carl H., who is now in the milling business with his father. Mr. Bigelow sold his farm in 1887 and came to Williamston and engaged in milling, in addition to which he does quite an extensive sawmill business, in both of which he has been very successful. He is prominently identified with the Royal Arch Masons, the Odd Fellows and the Grand Army. His politics, are of the Republican stamp, and he was President of the village in 1890.

     JOHN M. CROSSMAN, a retired merchant and a gentleman of broad and comprehensive experience and observation, is a son of Eben Crossman, who was a native of New York. His first wife, Lois Hobart, was the mother of two daughters and one son. After her death he married Maria White, who bore to him Charles D., John M., and Sarah James. She was a daughter of William White, a native of New York, and an early settler in Livingston County, Mich., who died in 1850. His wife survived him until 1887. Mr. White was a soldier in the War of 1812.

     Eben Crossman located in Ingham Township, Ingham County, about the year 1840, and he is still cultivating that estate. He is a Democrat in his political views, but his son is ardently attached to the Republican party.

     He of whom we write had his birth in Ingham Township, this county, January 15, 1850. He labored upon the farm at home until he reached the age of fifteen, when he began working for wages, and teaching winters, and by scrupulous economy he managed to carry himself through a course in the State Normal School, and graduated in 1874. After his graduation he was appointed Postmaster at Williamston, and at the same time invested a limited capital in the mercantile business. In this way he was very successful, and at the end of ten years his business was valued at $40,000.

     The young merchant now formed a partnership with Mr. Samuel Toms, with whom he continued for three years, after which he sold his share of the business to Mr. Edgar Weber, and has since led a retired life. He still retains a moneyed interest in the mercantile business, although he has put most of his property into bonds and mortgages, and has besides this several village lots and a handsome residence on Putnam Street.

     The marriage of our subject in 1876 brought to his home a sympathetic and a helpful companion in the person of Addie Strang, a daughter of Walter C. Strang, a New Yorker, who was a pioneer of this county. In the year 1889 Mr. Crossman, in pursuit of knowledge, took a trip to Europe. He learned the French language and traveled all over the continent. He visited Greece, Egypt, Babylon and the Holy Land. He returned in the fall of the same year, bringing with him a large number of photographs of prominent cities and buildings. A few weeks after his return he started upon his second trip which lasted more than a year; was at Paris during the continuance of the World's Fair. He visited Jacob's Well and the Well of Joseph, in Cairo, Egypt. He saw the crater of Mt. Vesuvius, and on the 4th of July, 1889, (814) ascended Mt. Blanc. He visited the sites of the seven churches of Asia, to which St. John sent his messages in the Book of Revelations, and he followed the steps of our Saviour in the Garden of Gethsemane, and upon the sacred mount of crucifixion.

     During Mr. Crossman's first tour in Europe, he traveled some fifty thousand miles, and his second tour carried him over about twenty thousand miles. He brought over a large addition to his library, and among them many volumes of French literature. Besides his journeyings abroad, he has traveled in many parts of our own country and in 1885 visited the Exposition at New Orleans.

     FREDERICK STEINACKER. Among the enterprising German-American citizen's of Cohoctah Township, Livingston County, few, if any, are more appreciated as factors who have added to the value of life in this district than he whose name is at the head of this sketch. He was born July 28, 1848, in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, and is a son of Frederick and Barbara (Baker) Steinacker, natives of the Fatherland. The father of our subject employed as the means of making his livelihood the historic trade of a weaver. He was one of a family of four children, comprising three sons and one daughter, and was the only one who came to the United States. His voyage hither being made in the summer of 1857.

     The time occupied in crossing the ocean when our subject came hither, was seven weeks and three days and on landing he came direct to Genoa, Livingston County, this State, where he at once began farming. He is now the owner of eighty acres of land, which is under an excellent state of cultivation. Our subject's maternal parent was the daughter of Andrew Baker, who came to Michigan about 1852-53. He of whom we write was reared on a farm, and on coming to the United States began to earn his own way, working for the small sum of $2 per month. That he was faithful and trustworthy is shown by the fact that he remained with one employer, Lewis Myers, for fourteen years and eight months, during which time he received a remuneration of $245 a year for his services. In 1875 he purchased the eighty acres on section 20, Cohoctah Township. This he has cleared and improved, making of it his present highly cultivated estate.

     November 28, 1879, Mr. Steinacker was married to Elizabeth Dykes, who was born November 9, 1855, in Genoa Township. She was a daughter of Joseph and Jane (O'Neill) Dykes, the former a farmer who came from New York about 1842. Our subject has become the father of three children, whose names are Olive B., Carl F. and Howard J.

     Our subject and his wife are members of the Baptist Church, in which they hold a highly respected place. Mrs. Steinacker's father was by trade a shoemaker. On coming to the State of Michigan he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in Genoa Township. He was the father of nine children, six of whom grew to maturity. They are Alice, Walker, Sarah, who is Mrs. Cook; Arminta, who died at the age of twenty-three; Joel, George, whose decease took place when be was twenty-six years of age, and Oscar. Joseph Dykes was born in Genoa, Livingston County, N.Y., and died September 19, 1875, at the age of seventy-eight years. For twenty years before his decease he had been blind. His wife still survives him; she is seventy-eight years of age, and is a devoted member of the Baptist Church.

     STEPHEN SMITH   is a general farmer on Section 1, Meridian Township, Ingham County. He has a place of eighty-four acres which is under good cultivation. Mr. Smith was born in Lodi, Seneca County, N.Y., December 2, 1819. He is a son of James Smith, who was born in Norway Township, Orange County, N.Y. in 1798 and died in 1866. Mr. Smith spent seventeen years in Seneca County on a farm and during that time received a district-school (815) education. His father then came to Michigan and settled near Ann Arbor. He remained there two years on a farm, which he finally sold and bought where our subject now lives.

     Mr. Smith settled in Bath, in June, 1837, when there was only one man besides himself there. He plowed the first land in Bath. It was the time when the Indians and wild animals were almost the only occupants of the country and the Indians watched him in amazement, as with his oxen he plowed the ground with a No. 7 Wood's paten plow, which, drawn by three or five yoke of oxen was heavy enough to cut a three-inch roof off. They threshed their wheat in the most primitive way and sold all they could spare for seed, one man coming twenty-five miles through the woods to get what seed they could spare him.

      The farms together aggregated six hundred acres, and it was cultivated together until some time after the marriage of the boys. Stephen Smith has lived here ever since, He was married forty-five years ago to Miss Emily Cushman of DeWitt. The following children were the result of this union: they are Gilbert, Laura, Wealthy, Rozella, Lenora, Stephen M., Edgar and B. S. Our subject is a member of the Free Will Baptist Church and was so connected in Bath for about forty years. He is a charter member of the Okemos Masonic Lodge. He has been a Democrat all his life. He is Justice of the Peace and has been a Highway Commissioner, having held besides various township offices.