Biographies Michigan Biographies Project |
The marriage of James Binding and wife took place in New York in 1836 and about 1838 they emigrated to Michigan, and when they came to White Oak there were only three houses between there and Dexter. Mr. and Mrs. Binding were the parents of ten children: Samuel, born in Sullivan county, N. Y., November 31, 1835, and died November 18, 1898. November 14, 1874, he was married to Lavina Disler, and they were the parents of one child, Floyd, who died at the age of one year. Samuel served nearly four years in the Confederate army, being in Texas at the time the war broke out, where he was pressed into the service; Jane, born at Schungon, Sullivan county, N. Y., March 18, 1837, died October 5, 1888. She was married to J. B. Wilson in 1853 and they have four children, J. D., Etta, Maude (dead), and John, who died at five years of age; William, born in White Oak, January 27, 1838, died July 17, 1852; Charles, born in White Oak, May 10, 1841, married Kate Sikenger, April 8, 1874, and they have three children, Maude, Willis, and Ross, and live in Oklahoma territory. Charles served in the Civil war; Orpha, born in White Oak, June 17, 11843, married Benjamin Wesfall, April 3, 1865, who is dead, and they had two children, Daisy and May. Daisy is deceased; Richard, born in Stockbridge township, December 7, 1846, married a Kentucky girl, and they have two children, Leo and Jesse, and live in Oklahoma; William, born in White Oak, April 2, 1848, lives in Stockbridge township; our subject; Clara E., born in White Oak, July 1, 1854, married Andrew Hall and they have one child. Mr. Hall died and Clara married Jacob Wesfall, November 22, 1904; Frederick W., born in White Oak, August 14, 1858, married Cora VanBuren and lives in White Oak. He and Edwin own 210 acres of land together; Edwin living on the farm owned by his parents.
Our subject started out for himself in 1877 and travelled nearly all over the United States. November, 1878, he settled on one hundred and twenty acres of land, where he now lives. He was united in marriage February 23, 1892, to Ella Pulling, born October 4, 1859; she is a member of the M. P. church. Mrs. Binding's father, George Pulling, was born September 5, 1832, in Saratoga county, N. Y., and died march 21, 1903. Her mother, Elizabeth (Wilson) Pulling, was born in Parma township, Monroe county, N. Y., December 19, 1835, and now lives with her son Cassius on the old farm in White Oak, which is the same farm that her father, Lucius Wilson, settled on in 1837; since that time this farm has always been owned by a member of the Pulling family. Mrs. Pulling came to Michigan when two years of age, with her parents, and can well remember how the wolves howled around the door, and how the Indians in large numbers visited the farm and bought tobacco from her father. She recalls how, at one time her father went to market, and was detained eleven days on account of the bad roads; during his absence an Indian chief visited them and stayed all night at the house; they were terribly frightened, but were not harmed.
Mr. and Mrs. Pulling were married October 15, 1854, and this union was blessed with eight children: Medora, August 10, 1855, died December 3, 1862; Burdell, born August 25, 1857, died March 14, 1860; our subject's wife; Fred E., August 20, 1861, married Emma Blackney, November 21, 1883, and she died May 4, 1904. Fred is a member of the M. P. church; Cassius M., born October 14, 1863, married Nina Wright, May 31, 1891, and they have one child living, James, one child having died in infancy; Miles, June 19, 1866, married Della Parks, May 14, 1893; Lee, February 18, 1869, died January, 10, 1870; L. B., October 30, 1873, died January 17, 1874.
George Pulling came to White Oak in 1853, and located where he died. He enlisted in 1864 in Co. K, 20th Michigan Infantry, and served until the close of the war. Mr. Pulling was a staunch Republican, and his wife was a member of the M. E. church. The mother of Mrs. Binding was one of six children, the others being: Lucius and Andy Wilson, not married; Emily, (dead) married Henry Atwood, a lawyer, and their children were Theron, at present a railroad commissioner; Martha; Lydia; Myron; Mable and Nettie. Martha (dead) married John Pulling and they had three children, William, Porter and Minnie. Charles was killed in a sawmill. William died at the age of thirty-seven years.
The fathers' brothers and sister were: John, who lived in White Oak; Harrison, lives in Bay City, he served in the Civil war; Fordice, went to Utah, and is supposed to have been killed by the Indians; Ann, married Isaac Davis, lives in White Oak and has two children, John and Celestia; Frances, married Asher Spaulding, and lives in Charlotte, and has two children, John and Myrta Elizabeth, married LaFayette Andrews (dead), lives in Williamston with only child who conducts the Andrews House; Caroline, married Warren Harvey (dead) and they had two children, George (dead) and Mary.
James Binding the father of our subject had two brothers and one sister -- John, William and Sally -- who remained in the home country. The experiences of this pioneer were common to those of the early settler. In early days he used to plow with an ox and cow. Experiences of this sort were continually coming to the early settler, who endured so much that we might today dwell in peace and enjoy the prosperity that surrounds us on every side.
Mrs. Binding's grandparents, Wilson, came to Michigan in 1837 and settled on two hundred and forty acres of wild land and improved all of it, adding to it a frame house and good barns. He once drove to California from his home in Michigan. From here he also went to Ann Arbor to do his trading. His wife died while he was in Colorado.
In political views, our subject is a Prohibitionist, and fraternally he is allied with the Grange, being its overseer. His landed possessions now consist of one hundred and thirty acres, well improved and in a high state of cultivation. By honesty, industry and perseverance he had accumulated this property and established a reputation which entitles him to the distinction of being one of the representative men in White Oak.
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Biographies Michigan Biographies Project |
 Sondra Higbee
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