William Wolcott    Archibald Storms    Samuel Grant Emery

William Wolcott, (husband of Sarah Storms)

William L. Wolcott, a highly respected citizen of Jonesville, has led an active, useful life, and for many years has been a minister in the United Brethren Church.  He also has been actively engaged in agricultural pursuits.  He was born in Leroy, Genesee Co., NY, Oct. 13, 1818.  His parents, William and Susan (Fordham) Wolcott, were natives respectively of Duchess Co., NY and of VT.  After marriage they settled in Leroy, removed from there to Chautauqua Co., NY and thence to Sandusky Co., OH.  There Mr. Wolcott was occupied as a farmer, remaining a resident until his death in 1847.  His wife survived him by many years, her death not occurring until 1879.  They were honest, industrious, frugal people, well meriting the respect in which they were held. They had eleven children, seven sons and four daughters.

Our subject was the fifth child born to his parents.  His early life was spent on the farm where he gained from his father a practical knowledge of farming which lead him to great success in later life.  He attended district schools and completed a course of study at Westfield Academy, NY, although he did not graduate from that institution.  He was 17 years old when his parents moved to Sandusky Co., OH, and there he taught school until he was 24 when he came to believe he had a still higher calling.  He had been studying for the ministry for three or four years and at the age of 24 began to preach from the pulpit of the United Brethren Church.  He continued in that profession, while at the same time also farming, as long as he resided in Ohio.  In 1847 he removed to Hillsdale Co., settling in Scipio Twp. where he purchased a farm which he cultivated while occasionally occupying the pulpit for many years.  In the fall of 1873 he came to Jonesville where he has since made his home.  Mr. Wolcott has been twice married.  His first wife, to whom he was wed in Fremont, OH, on Aug. 19, 1838, was Sara Storms.  She was the daughter of Isaac and Martha (Hilton) Storms, who were probably both natives of NY.  The father died in Sandusky Co., OH, and the mother in Hardin Co., IA.  they had a family of eight children, Mrs. Wolcott being the sixth.  She was born in Redfield, Oswego Co., NY, Nov 19, 1820.  her union with our subject was blessed by five children: Myron H., b. Sandusky Co., Sept. 30, 1839; David A., b. Sandusky Co., Aug. 1, 1842; Adelaide and Jane who died in infancy, and Nettie, b. in Hillsdale Co., Feb. 4, 1859.  Nettie is the wife of Charles W. Jordan who was born in Fayette Twp., Hillsdale Co., May 25, 1857, and is the son of John W. Jordan; they have three children: Earl W., Henry L. and Charles R.   Myron H. married Miss Phebe Jones who was born in Litchfield Twp., Hillsdale Co., Mar. 2, 1842, and is the daughter of William R. Jones; they have had four children: Leroy; Willie, who died aged two years; Merton and a child who died in infancy.  David A. married Miss Helen Cleveland, a native of New York state, born Mar. 1, 1844, and a daughter of Jerome Cleveland: they have two children: Alice A. and Verne C.  Mrs. Sarah Wolcott departed this life in Scipio Two., Dec. 9, 1864.

Mr. Wolcott married his second wife on April 9, 1865 in Scipio Twp.  She *(no first name is given) was the daughter of Dr. Noah and Rachel (Inman) Jennings, born respectively in CT and Philadelphia, PA.  The Doctor and his wife settled in Fremont, OH, after their marriage, where she died.  He afterward removed to Jonesville, this county, which remained his home until he died.  They had six daughters and one son.  Mrs. Wolcott was the third child in the family and was born in Scott Twp., Sandusky Co., Jan. 10, 1839.  She and Mr. Wolcott had two children, Willie L., who died at 10 months of age and Cora Maud, born Mr. 17, 1871.

While in Ministry, our subject's piety, earnestness and learning made him a power in the pulpit and enabled him to do much good in his beloved work.  He has always taken a deep interest in public affairs and has held several offices.  he was commissioned to be Captain in the old State Militia of Ohio, a position he held for several years.  Also in Ohio, he was elected to the position of Clerk of Madison twp.  In Hillsdale Co., he served as County Coroner for a long term of years, was Inspector of Schools in Scipio Twp. and was formerly a Justice of the Peace.  Early in life hews, politically, a Whig, later becoming an ardent supporter of the Republican party.  As a man and citizen he is above reproach.  He has long been identified with Hillsdale Co. and has made many friends and few enemies during his residence here of over forty years.

Source: "Portrait and Biographical Album of Hillsdale Co., MI, 1888." pg. 477

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Archibald Storms (Son of David Storms)

The homestead of this gentleman is noticeable among the finely cultivated farms of Scipio Township, being pleasantly located on section 11, the land under a good state of cultivation, and the buildings substantial and in modern style of architecture.  The hand of thrift and industry is apparent on all sides, and the premises form a pleasant picture in the landscape of this region. 

Our subject is the scion of an excellent family, both parents having been born in New York State, the father, David Storms, in Redfield, *Livingston County, June 3, 1813, and the mother, Anna (Platt) Storms, in Oneida County, July 28, 1812.  After marriage, they lived for a time in Redfield, then emigrated to the northern part of Ohio, whence, six months later, in 1841, they came to Michigan, and settled in the vicinity of Kinderhook, Branch County.  The father, however, not yet satisfied with his surroundings, made several other removals until pitching his tent in the township of Scipio, this county, where he lived from 1853 until his death, in April 1856.  The mother survived her husband a period of twenty-three years remaining a widow, and passing away at her home in Scipio, March 17, 1879.

The parental household included four children, of whom the record is as follows:  Cordelia became the wife of Martin Dennis, and died in Scipio Township in September, **1776.  Archibald, of our sketch, was the second child; Frederick L. is carrying on farming in Hanover Township, Jackson County;  Alzina P. is the wife of Dorr Darling, of Jonesville.  Archibald, our subject, was born in Kinderhook, Branch County, this State, July 6, 1842, and from his earliest recollections has been familiar with farm pursuits.  He acquired his education in common schools, and coming to Scipio Township with his parents, in 1853, has since that time been a resident of this locality.

Our subject continued under the home roof until within three days of the twenty-fifth year of his age, having been married, July 3, 1866, to Miss Mary Addie, daughter of Elijah and Mercy (Fitch) Whedon, who were, like his own people, natives of New York State.  They came to Michigan in 1849, settling in Trumbull, Calhoun County, where they lived several years, then moved to Scipio Township, of which they have since been residents.  Elijah Whedon was born March 24, 1823, and his wife, Mercy, Nov. 30, 1822.  They were the parents of three children only, one daughter and two sons.  The elder son, Edwin C., died when a promising youth of eighteen years; Allen M., the younger, is carrying on farming in Scipio Township.

Mrs. Mary Addie (Whedon) Storms was born in Fulton, Oswego Co., NY, Jan 8, 1849, and like her husband acquired her education in the common schools.  She came with her parents to Michigan,  and continued a member of the household circle until her marriage.  Of her union with our subject there have been born six children:  Their eldest son, Frank A., died when a little over two years old.  The others - Ernest G., Mercy A., Dee, Jay and Bessie L. - are at home with their parents.

Mr. Storm, politically, is a solid Republican, and as an ex-soldier, a member of Henry Baxter Post No. 219, of Jonesville.  Socially, he belongs to the Masonic fraternity.  Not long after the outbreak of the late Rebellion he enlisted, Aug 19, 1861, in the company called Berdan's Sharpshooters, with whom he remained four months, receiving his honorable discharge at the expiration of this time.  Soon afterward, Aug 19, 1865, he re-enlisted in the new 4th Michigan Infantry, in which he served until the close of the war.  He became familiar with all the phases of army life, enduring hardship, privation and poor fare, and contracted an incurable disease, on account of which he now receives a pension.  He fortunately escaped wounds and capture by the enemy, but was considerably injured upon one occasion while in Decatur, Ala, by falling from a train of cars.  After the close of the war he returned to Scipio Township, and resumed his farming operations, which he has carried on uninterruptedly since that time.

*Redfield Twp, is in Oswego County.    ** Date should be 1876

Source: "Portrait and Biographical Album of Hillsdale Co., MI, 1888." pg. 914

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Samuel Grant Emery (Husband of Eliza Ann Storms)

Samuel Grant Emery was born May 5, 1833, in Granger Township, Medina County, Ohio, the son of Samuel (1777-1854), and Rosana Mott (1795-1867) Emery.  He died August 17, 1906, in Scipio Township, Hillsdale County, and his mortal remains are interred in the Johnson Cemetery on Concord Road.

In 1849, when barely sixteen years of age, Samuel left the fertile land of his birth and walked 200 miles to seek his fortune in Scipio Township.  The rigors and frugalities of life on new frontiers were not new to the hardy stock these pioneers had found necessary to become, if they were to exist at all.  If they survived birth in a drafty cabin and rampant childhood epidemics there was reasonable expectancy of longevity.

Samuel's older brother, James Madison emery, was already a first land purchaser in Scipio, with forty acres improved and forty acres unimproved land lying along what is now Hastings Lake Road and Cranberry Lake Road.  Plows were pulled by oxen, a "milch" cow and a few swine helped to supply the table.

farming was Samuel's life.  As early as 1855, he had purchased land in Moscow Township.  Following this, he bought and sold various farms until he established his final farm in Section 17, Scipio Township.

Samuel Grant Emery was descended from John Emery (1598-1683), who sailed from his homeland in England in 1635, with his grant for a "house lot." in Newbury, Massachusetts.

The migration pattern of these descendant generations of John Emery had taken them to the White Mountains of New Hampshire, through bitter battles at Fort Erie in the War of 1812, a brief settlement on the windswept shores of New York's Sodus Bay, and the fertility of Ohio's Western Reserve.

On his maternal side, Samuel was the great grandson of Ezekiel Mott, who had returned home from an expedition in the Revolutionary War to find his wife dead and his five children motherless.  Lacking a better alternative to his three-year enlistment, Ezekiel gathered up his brood and took them into the army with him.

Samuel Grant, of the sixth generation of Emery's in America, was to begin a life in Scipio that would produce five more generations who would call Hillsdale County their home.  These five succeeding generation would enjoy the comforts of electric, central hearting, communication, transportation, education, and other luxuries never dreamed of by those who had gone before.  Samuel and those pioneers before them paved the way for what America is today.  They started with the arduous task of clearing the land of its virgin timber.  It does not behoove us to forget them.

Samuel married Eliza Ann Storms (1835-1919), on October 21, 1855.  Eliza Ann had traveled here by lumber wagon with her father, Richard Storms, and family from Redfield, *Chautauqua County, New York.  Samuel and Eliza's three children were all born in Scipio.  Even unto their grandchildren all were born in Scipio.

Carrie May Emery, born April 12, 1866, died of "croupe: on March 25, 1875.  Lelia Orinda emery (1859-1928) married Hanson Hoag, and they had three children: Emery Hoag (1887-1955), settled in Albion, Michigan.  Chauncey Hoag (1892-1972), removed to California.  Millie Hoag married Bert Dobson, and they had one son, Paul, who resides in Jonesville.  Paul married Myrtle M. Mills, and they have two children, Paula and Charles.  Paul is employed at Wilson Auto Parts in Hillsdale.  Millie Hoag Dobson died March 28, 1914.

Grant S. Emery, third child of Samuel and Eliza Ann Storms Emery, was born May 15, 1868, and died as the result of an auto accident in Hillsdale, March 28, 1956.  Grant S. Emery was a farmer in Scipio until [?], when he moved to Jonesville, where he operated a dairy and a coal business at various times.  He was retired prior to the years of World War II, but took up he cause in his seventh decade by guarding a Detroit plant engaged in defense operations.

Grant S. Emery was first married to Isabella Spencer, daughter of William P. and Sarah Ann Botsford Spencer  Isabella Spencer Emery died May 14, 1895.  To them were born two children, Frank and Elida.

Frank married Vera Compton, of Rockford, Illinois, they settled in Minnesota and raised a family of seven children.

Elida was first married to James Pulver.  After his death, she was married to Leon [?}, who is now deceased.  Elida now lives in Hillsdale.  James and Elida Emery Pulver had two sons, Jamison and Elmer.  Jamison married Ruth Bean of Albion and they lived in Jonesville, where Jamison is a rural mail carrier.  Elmer married Carrie Marsh of [?].  Elmer owns and operates an appliance sales and service in Hillsdale.  They have one son, John Pulver, who owns Trader John's Store at Bird Lake.  He is married to Maxine Farnham of Waldron.

Following the death of his first wife, Grant S. Emery remarried to Elizabeth A. (Bessie) Thompson (1878-1935), daughter of Francis P. and Emma Genette [?] Thompson.  Francis P. Thompson was son of James Knox and Mary Salina Phillips Thompson, early settlers in Scipio, who had come here from New York.  To Grant and Bessie Thompson Emery were born two children:  Florence Emery married Robert Saettel of Madison.  They had two daughters, Barbara, now Mrs. Jack Stenberg, of Parma; and Mary, now Mrs. Roy Allenport.  Florence Saettel currently lives in Litchfield.  Her husband is deceased.  Samuel Grand Emery married Aileen Triechman, daughter of Arthur & [?] Moore Triechman, of Hillsdale.  Their only child, Phyllis, is married to William Stone, son of Oramel J. and [?] of Hillsdale.  Paul and Phyllis Stone have one child, Barbara, who is married to Thomas Mackie, son of William & Agnes Payne Mackie, of Reading.  they have two sons, Paul and Jeffery.

Samuel and Aileen Emery and descendants reside in Hillsdale today.  Samuel operated the Emery [?] in Scipio Township until his retirement in 1963.  Paul Stone owns a barber shop and gun shop in Reading.  Phyllis Stone is a graduate of Michigan State University and currently teaches in the Pittsford School.  Doris Evelyn Emery married Robert Papworth of Howell, Michigan, and to them was born one son, Joseph, now of Seattle, Washington.  Doris Papworth retired from Union School, resides in Detroit.  Harold L. Emery married Mary [?] of Mississippi.

*Redfield Township is in Oswego County, New York

Source: "150 Years in the Hills and Dales" Vol.1,  Pg. 482