Statewide

Gen. Russell A. Alger

Biography of Gen. Russell A. Alger

Kent County, Statewide, Wayne County /

Russell A. Alger, Governor of Michigan for the term commencing Jan. 1, 1885, was born in Lafayette Township, Median Co., Ohio, Feb. 27, 1836. Having lived a temperate life, he is a comparative young man in appearance, and possesses those mental faculties that are the distinguishing characteristics of robust, mature and educated manhood. When 11 years of age both his parents died, leaving him with a younger brothers and sister to support and without any of the substantial means of existence. Lacking the opportunity of better employment, he worked on a farm, in Richfield, Ohio, for the greater part of […]

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Governor Josiah W. Begole

Biography of Governor Josiah W. Begole

Genesee County, Statewide /

Josiah W. Begole, the present (1883) Governor of Michigan was born in Livingston County, N. Y., Jan. 20, 1815. His ancestors were of French descent, and settled at an early period in the State of Maryland, His grandfather, Capt. Bolles, of that State, was an officer in the American army during the war of the Revolution. About the beginning of the present century both his grandparents, having become dissatisfied with the institution of slavery, although slave-holders themselves, emigrated to Livingston county, N. Y., then a new county, taking with than a number of their former slaves, who volunteered to accompany

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Governor David H. Jerome

Biography of Governor David H. Jerome

St. Clair County, Statewide, Wayne County /

David H. Jerome, governor of from Jan. 1, 1881, to Jan. 1, 1883, was born at Detroit, Mich., Nov. 17, 1829. His parents emigrated to Michigan from Trumansburg, Tompkins Co., N. Y., in 1828, locating at Detroit. His father died march 30, 1831, leaving nine children. He had been twice married, and four of his children living at the time of his death were grown up sons, the offspring of his first union. Of the five children by his second marriage, David H. was the youngest. Shortly after Mr. Jerome’s death, his widow moved back to New York and settled

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Biography of Governor Charles M. Croswell

Lenawee County, Statewide /

Charles M. Croswell, Governor of Michigan from Jan. 3, 1887 to Jan. 1, 1881, was born at Newburg, Orange County, N.Y., Oct. 31, 1825. He is the only son of John and Sallie (Hicks) Croswell. His father, who was of Scotch-Irish extraction, was a paper-maker, and carried on business in New York City. His ancestors on his mother’s side were of Knickerbocker descent. The Croswell family many be found connected with prominent events, in New York and Connecticut, in the early existence of the Republic. Harry Croswell, during the administration of President Jefferson, published a paper called the Balance, and

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Governor John Judson Bagley

Biography of Governor John Judson Bagley

St. Joseph County, Statewide /

John Judson Bagley, Governor of Michigan from 1873 to 1877, was born in Medina, Orleans Co., N. Y., July 24, 1832. His father, John Bagley, was a native of New Hampshire, his mother, Mary M. Bagley, of Connecticut. He attended the district schools of Lockport, N.Y., until he was eight years old, at which time his father moved to Constantine, Mich., and he attended the common schools of that village. His early experience was like that of many country boys whose parents removed from Eastern States to the newer portion of the West. His father being in very poor circumstances,

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Governor Henry P. Baldwin

Biography of Governor Henry P. Baldwin

Statewide, Wayne County /

Henry P. Baldwin, Governor of Michigan from Jan. 4, 1869 to Jan. 1, 1871, is a lineal descendant of Nathaniel Baldwin, a Puritan of Buckinghamshire, England, who settled at Milford, Conn, in 1639. His father was John Baldwin, a graduate of Dartmouth College. He died at North Providence, R. I., in 1826. His paternal grandfather was Rev. Moses Baldwin, a graduate of Princeton College, in 1757, and the first who received collegiate honors at that ancient and honored institution. He died in Parma, Mass., in 1813, where for more than 50 years he had been pastor of the Presbyterian Church.

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Governor Henry Howland Crapo

Biography of Governor Henry Howland Crapo

Genesee County, Statewide /

Henry Howland Crapo, Governor of Michigan from 1865-1869, was born May 24, 1804, at Dartmouth, Bristol Co., Mass., and died at Flint, Mich., July 22, 1869. He was the eldest son of Jesse and Phoebe (Howland) Crapo. His father was of French descent and was very poor, sustaining his family by cultivation of a farm in Dartmouth township, which yielded nothing beyond a mere livelihood. His early life was consequently one of toil and devoid of advantages for intellectual culture, but his desire for an education seemed to known no bounds. The incessant toil for a mere subsistence upon a

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Governor Austin Blair

Biography of Governor Austin Blair

Statewide /

Austin Blair, Governor of Michigan from Jan. 2, 1861 to Jan. 4, 1965, and known as the War Governor, is an illustration of the beneficent influence of republican institutions, having inherited neither fortune or fame. He was born in a log cabin at Caroline, Tompkins Co. N.Y., Feb. 8, 1818. His ancestors came from Scotland in the time of George I, and for many generations followed the pursuit of agriculture. His father, George Blair, settled in Tompkins County in 1809, and felled the trees and erected the first cabin in the county. The last 60 of the fourscore and four

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Governor Moses Wisner

Biography of Governor Moses Wisner

Lapeer County, Statewide /

Moses Wisner, Governor of Michigan from 1859 to 1861, was born in Springport, Cayuga Co. N. Y., June 3, 1815. His early education was only what could be obtained at a common school. Agricultural labor and frugality of his parents gave him a physical constitution of unusual strength and endurance, which was ever preserved by temperate habits. In 1837 he migrated to Michigan and purchased a farm in Lapeer County. It was new land and he at once set to work to clear it and plant crops. He labored diligently at his task for two years, when he gave up

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Kinsley S. Bingham

Biography of Governor Kinsley S. Bingham

Statewide /

Kinsley S. Bingham, Governor of Michigan from 1855 to 1859, and United States Senator, was born in Camillus, Onondaga County, N. Y., Dec. 16, 1808. His father was a farmer, an his own early life was consequently devoted to agricultural pursuits, but notwithstanding the disadvantages related to the acquisition of knowledge in the life of a farmer he managed to secure a good academic education in his native State and studied law in the office of Gen. James R. Lawrence, now of Syracuse, N.Y. In the spring of 1833, he married an estimable lady who had recently arrived from Scotland,

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