Taken from The History of Tuscola County, Biographical Sketches and Illustrations, H. R. Page Co., Chicago, 1883. Transcribed by Bonnie Petee.

G. KILE was born in Pennsylvania in 1852, and came to Tuscola County with his parents in 1856, and settled upon the farm now owned and occupied by the subject of this sketch. His father, N. Kile, died in July 1858. Mr. Kile was married in October, 1880, to Miss Tilley Fritz, of Pennsylvania, and has one son. His farm contains 160 acre of land on sections 12 and 13.

G. KILE, SR., was born in Columbus County, Pa., in 1818, remaining there until he became of age. In 1838 he was married to Miss Nancy Schultz, of that county, and soon thereafter bought a piece of land in the locality and commenced farming for himself, which he continued until 1852 when he sold out and came to Michigan. He at first rented a farm near Ann Arbor, upon which he resided two years, when he came to the township of Juniata and, after traveling a long distance through the unbroken wilderness, took up the farm upon which he now resides, and subsequently added eighty acres, making him a farm of 160 acres.

DAVID R. LEWIS was born in Tompkins County, N.Y., in 1833, and lived there and in Cortland County until 1868, when he came to Tuscola County and located in the township of Juniata. Mr. Lewis commenced life on a farm, but has spent a great portion of his life in mercantile business. He owned and carried on a store in McLean, Tompkins County, for nine years, and for the past year has been engaged in mercantile business in Watrousville. When he first came to the township he located on a farm near Watrousville, where he resided twelve years, then his health failing he moved into the village and opened a store. He was married in 1862, to Miss Adelaide Stout, of Tompkins County, and has four children, one son and three daughters.

WILLIAM LIVINGSTON is a native of New Hampshire, and was born in 1821. At four years of age he removed with his parents to the town of Cambridge, Washington County, N. Y., where he resided until 1869, when he came to Tuscola County and settled in Juniata township. He then purchased his present farm and has always been a farmer, although he has sometimes engaged in lumbering. In 1845 he married Miss Miriam Welles, of Washington County, N. Y. They have had two sons, both of whom are living.

PATRICK MCGLONE,who is one of the earliest settlers of that part of Tuscola County now known as the township of Juniata, is a resident of the village of Watrousville. He was born May 6, 1810, in Seneca County, N. Y., and was brought up on a farm. His education was acquired in a log school-house, sitting on a bench made from a log. His father removed to Steuben County, taking his family with him. In 1831 the son, Patrick, went to Reed Township, Ohio, where he worked on a farm two and a half years. He then bought eighty acres of land, cleared up a farm, and in March, 1833, was married to Hannah Reed, whose father was the first settler in and after whom the township was named. His health failing after living on his farm seven years, he removed to Rose, Oakland County, Mich., where he bought 160 acres of land and made it one of the best farms in that county. He remained there some seven years. He then came to Tuscola County, arriving at Vassar, July 3, 1850. He bought 160 acres of land in what is now Juniata. The only persons then living in the township were two Germans, who were clearing land about three miles from Vassar. A Mr. Levi Rogers and his sons had been in the township but had left. They returned in October, 1850. In February, 1851, he moved with his family on his land, and commenced the work of clearing up a farm. After his house was built he was literally compelled to make a tavern of it as there was no place near it where travelers could stay. In that and another house he built he kept hotel for some fourteen years. Mr. and Mrs. McGlone have raised a family of four daughters and one son, also an adopted son. The daughters are all married. The son, Joseph R. McGlone, is in the lumber trade at Toledo, Ohio. The adopted son is married and lives on the homestead.

Mr. McGlone is full of anecdotes of the early times in this county, and is one of those gentlemen who can tell in an engaging manner reminiscences of pioneer times. During April, 1851, while in Vassar, he was told by parties whom he met there that he had been deceived as to the quality of the land in the section of country where he had settled, and that from his place to the bay it was a worthless swamp. This somewhat discouraged him. He returned home and quite work on the house he was building. He however determined to go and see for himself. Taking with him two companions, one of whom was David Gordon, now of Grand Rapids, they went through the woods to Sebewaing and found the land they passed over to be good for farming purposes. On his return work was resumed on his house. This year following Mr. McGlone was the moving spirit in getting a State road built from the corner of northeast quarter section 16, range 8, to Sebewaing. When he went to Sebewaing the first time, he met a German missionary, who assured him the land in this part of Tuscola and Huron Counties was good, knowing from a personal inspection that it was so.

Mr. McGlone says that he, as well as many other early settlers of Tuscola County, was under many favors to the late Curtis Emerson, of East Saginaw, who was a large land owner in the county. That eccentric gentleman was always ready to lend a helping hand to the pioneers, and his name today brings back to many of them the memory of kindnesses extended.

ELEAZAR MILLER, one of the earliest settlers of Juniata, was a native of Vermont. In the fall of 1851 he moved from Monroe County with his family, consisting of a wife, four boys and two girls, to Tuscola County, and settled on section 11, near the site of Watrousville, in the town of Juniata. They remained at Patrick McGlone's for four weeks, while building a shanty of lumber brought from Vassar. Mr. Miller died in the spring of 1861. The children living are: Mrs. Charles R. Selden; of Caro, Charles, of Kansas; Nelson, of Juniata; Dana, of Kansas; Mrs. Thomas Rutherford, of Juniata. One son, Lemuel, is dead.

RICHARD MORRIS, M. D., was born in Limerick, Ireland, in 1847, and came with his parents to America when less than a year old. They settled near London, Canada, where he lived until about 1870. He received his medical education at the Toronto School of Medicine and the University of Buffalo. He graduated from the latter institution in 1870, and soon thereafter came to Michigan, and located in Watrousville, where he has since practiced his profession. He was married in 1871 to Miss Josephine Jilson, a lady of Scotch descent, but whose birthplace was Elmira, N. Y. They have two sons.

T. NETTLETON is a native of Monroe County, N. Y., where he lived until the age of nine years, when he moved with his father's family to Geauga County, Ohio, remaining with them on the farm until twenty-one years of age. He then apprenticed himself for three years to learn the carpenter trade, and at the expiration of the time formed a co-partnership and engaged actively in building. In 1848 he was married to Miss Rhoda Payne, who died in December of the same year. He was again married in 1852 to Miss Lucilla Burnett, who died in 1854, and the same year was married to Miss Helen M. Fawcett, of Wyoming County, N.Y., his present wife. Up to the present his time has been divided between farming and building, with the exception of some years spent in Caro. He came to the township of Juniata in the fall of 1855, where he has since lived, with the exception of four years spent in Cleveland, Ohio. The five years he spent in Caro was engaged in the mercantile business, four years of which time he held the office of sheriff. He has five children, three sons and two daughters, and lost one son by drowning in the river at Cleveland in 1865.

ANDREW J. ROGERS, deceased, was born in the State of New York, in 1828, and came with his father's family to Michigan, when seven years of age. They settled first in Washtenaw County, where they remained fifteen years, and then came to the township of Juniata, and located on the farm adjoining the one now occupied by his family. He was married in 1848, to Miss Julia Lawrence, who was residing with her parents in Washtenaw County at the time, but who was a native of Vermont. He died December 23, 1882. the surviving members of the family are Mrs. Rogers, one son and two daughters; L. H., Edna L. and Lola J. The eldest daughter, Edna L., is the oldest person now living who was born in the township. When Mr. and Mrs. Rogers first came to the township, the surrounding country was one vast wilderness. Vassar contained but one board shanty and Watrousville was a place unheard of.

DAVID B. ROSE was born in Ulster County, N. Y., in 1829, and at the age of nine years came with his parents to Washtenaw County, Mich., where he remained until 1860, when he removed to Tuscola County, and located on the farm where he now resides. He enlisted in 1862 in the Seventh Michigan Cavalry, Colonel Mann commanding, and served three years, and was in many battles. At Gettysburg he was wounded in the face by a fragment of shell, and was taken prisoner in June, suffering the horrors of Anderson, Libby, Savannah and other prisons, and at last found himself with many other sick prisoners in Saint Louis, where he was soon thereafter discharged as unfit for duty. He was married in 1853, to Miss A. B. Wilson, of the State of New York, and has two children.

GEORGE SMITH was born in Schoharie County, N. Y., in 1824, and lived there until fifteen years of age, when hem moved with his father to Cattaraugus county. In 1844 he was married to Miss Melinda Giles, of that county, and two years thereafter located on a part of the homestead, where he resided three years when he removed to a farm he purchased in the same vicinity, upon which he resided six years. He then removed to Attica and from there to Chautauqua County, where he lived twelve years prior to his coming to Michigan in 1867. After looking around for a short time he settled upon his present farm where he has since resided. He lost his only son in 1876, and has two daughters living.

IRA TAPPAN was born in the State of New Jersey in 1818, and at eighteen years of age left home for the West, stopping in Toledo one year, and afterward a small village from which he went to Washtenaw County were he remained about nine years. He was there married to Miss Phoebe Hinson, of Ann Arbor, formerly of the State of New York. Mr. Tappan and wife came to Tuscola County in 1848, and for two years kept a hotel in the village of Tuscola, then came to the township of Juniata and took up 160 acres of government land, on section 6, to which he has since added eighty acres. They have by adoption three children.

JOHN THOMS was born in County Derry, Ireland, where he remained until twenty-five years of age, when he emigrated to the United States. For the first two years after his arrival, he worked in different places in the State of New York, at the cooper's trade, and then came West. He followed his trade in Washtenaw county, and was married in 1847, to Miss Lucy A. Fellows, a resident of the county. He continued there at his trade until the breaking out of the war in 1861, when he enlisted in the First Regiment of Engineers and Mechanics, and served eight months, and was then discharged, and then re-enlisted in the well known Twentieth Michigan Infantry, commanded by Colonel Williams, and followed the fortunes of this noted regiment to the close of the war. He was in eighteen battles, including Fredericksburgh, Horse Shoe Bend, Vicksburg, Jackson, Blue Springs, Knoxville, Fort Saunders, Cold Harbor, Petersburgh, The Crater, Weldon, Ream's Station, The Wilderness and many others. He was mustered out May 30, 1865, and returned to his family safe and sound. After a year's sojourn in Washtenaw County he came to the township of Juniata, and settled on the farm where he now resides.

A.B.WEAVER was born in Blandford, Hampden County, Mass., in 1812, and lived on his father's farm until twenty-three years of age, when he moved to the old town of Saybrook, Conn., now Chester, and engaged in mechanical pursuits for five years. He was there married to Miss Phoebe Watrous, and soon thereafter removed to Portage County, Ohio, where he engaged in farming five years, following which he went to Ashtabula County, and again took up his trade, which he followed for nine years. He then came to Michigan and took charge of a saw-mill on the Saginaw River two years, and then came to Watrousville, and was employed in the grist and saw-mill of the place. The surrounding country was at this time a dense wilderness, and to illustrate the privations of the early settlers, Mr. Weaver relates that many who are now among the most wealthy and influential citizens of the county, used to come long distances, on foot, to the mill carrying on their backs, a few quarts of corn to have ground, to keep their families from starving. Of sixteen grists in the mill at one time, but one contained more than twelve quarts. After working four years in the mills at Watrousville, he settled in 1856 on the farm where he now resides. His only children are two sons, R. S. and Charles, both being located on farms near the old homestead.

R. S. WEAVER, son of A. B. Weaver, was born in Connecticut in 1840, and moved to Ohio with his parents when a mere child. They remained there thirteen years, when they came to the township of Juniata where the balance of his life as been spent, with the exception of three and one-half years spent in Vassar, during which time he was employed as a clerk in a store. In 1862 he engaged in mercantile business in Watrousville which he continued seventeen years, when he purchased 120 acres of land on section 16 and has since devoted his time and attention exclusively to farming. He was married in 1862 to Miss Fidelia Wood, of Juniata, and has five children: four sons and one daughter.

A.W. WEBSTER, proprietor of the Buddington House, Watrousville, is a native of Tompkins County, N.Y., and a settler of the village of Watrousville in 1872, after which he was variously engaged up to 1881 when he took possession of his present stand, where he is prepared to give entertainment to the traveling public. Previous to his coming here he worked in the Cortland barrel factory twelve years, and spent two years in the oil regions of Pennsylvania. In 1870 he was married to Miss Kate Lewis, of Tomkins County, N.Y.

HON. DANIEL G. WILDER was born in Chesterfield, Hampshire County, Mass. His father moved with his family to the State of New York, living for a number of years in Genesee and Wyoming Counties, where he followed the occupation of a farmer. In 1848 the son came to Michigan, and for a number of years taught school, putting in two winter and one summer terms in Genesee County, also one winter term at Vassar. In 1849 he had bought 120 acres of land from the United States government in what was then the township of Rogers, now called Juniata, and his health failing he quit teaching school and went to farming about the year 1851. While in Genesee County he had studied law in the office of Levi Walker, and was admitted to the bar at Howell, in Livingston County. When he went on his land to clear up a farm, he was a single man and lived alone in a shanty, sometimes a month passing without seeing a human being. In the fall of 1856 he was elected county treasurer and on taking possession of his office he removed to Vassar. In 1859 he was re-elected, holding it until January 1, 1861. At the expiration of his last term he returned to his farm. Previous to this, however, he had served four years - 1852 to 1856- as judge of probate. In 1860 he was elected State senator from the Twenty-seventh District, which embraced Tuscola, Lapeer, Huron, and Sanilac counties. He also served one term as prosecuting attorney. Among other offices held by him were justice of the peace and clerk in Vassar, and supervisor, justice of the peace, treasurer and school inspector in Juniata. About 1873 or 1874 he retired from the practice of law. In 1872, however, he had engaged in mercantile business at Watrousville, being a member of the firm of Carter & Wilder. He bought his partner's interest in 1875, and continues the business. He also deals in drugs, medicines, etc. In 1853 he was married to Louise Pratt, of Genesee County. They had one child, a daughter. After the death of his first, he was again married to Margaret Riker, in 1875. They also had one child, a daughter.

LAFAYETTE WILDER was born in Wyoming County, N. Y., where he remained until about twenty-one years of age. He then came to the township of Juniata and worked on his father's farm, near Watrousville, for about six years, and about one year thereafter purchased a farm on sections 19 and 30, where he has since resided. He was married in 1860 to Miss Jane E. Haight, of Pembroke, N. Y., and has three sons and one daughter. He has been quite extensively engaged in lumbering.

BENJAMIN A. WOOD, postmaster at Watrousville, was born in Salem, Mass. In 1836 his father moved to Lenox, Ashtabula County, Ohio, where he engaged in the boot and shoe business, and the son learned the shoemaker's trade. Afterward he was in the same business for himself, and removed from there to Jefferson, where he went into the grocery trade. In 1856 he removed to Watrousville, Tuscola County. He worked at his trade for a time after coming, and then opened a grocery store. He continued in the last business five years and then resumed shoemaking, at which he still continues. In 1861 he was appointed postmaster at Watrousville and now (1883) occupies that position. He has several times resigned the office, but has always been induced to take it again, more as an accommodation to his neighbors than for any profit to be derived from holding the office. He has held a number of other public offices, having served as a supervisor for Juniata, township treasurer, justice of the peace, superintendent of the poor and notary public. He has also been president of the Tuscola County Agricultural Society. He was married to Sarah Burtis in 1835. They have had a family of three children, two of whom are living at this date (1883.

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April 1998

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