Hon. Edwin G. Fox, has passed quietly most of his life in Tuscola County, where he is numbered among the leading citizens of that county. He is a lineal descendant of John Fox, (author of Fox’s Book of Martyrs) whose grandson, Thomas Fox, came to the United States in 1635. His religious belief was such that he could not endure the pressure of the English crown. Thomas Fox settled when he came to this country in Boston, Mass. From him the genealogical line is John, Thomas, Jabez, John, Jabez, Jonathan, Jonathan, Benjamin, Calvin, and Edwin., our subject. In this line there were two ministers, graduates of Harvard College, one a colonel in the Revolutionary War, and one a counselor for Massachusetts, while Benjamin Fox, the grandfather of our subject served in the War of 1812, from Connecticut.
Calvin Fox, the father of our subject, was born in Connecticut and at an early age removed to Genesee County, N.Y., where he grew to manhood. Thence he emigrated to Canada and was there united in marriage with Catherine Grier, a native of Ireland, and daughter of John Grier, a British soldier in the War of 1812. Calvin Fox followed his trade as a tanner until 1855 when he emigrated to Michigan, and after a short stop in Lapeer County, removed to Flint and from there came to Tuscola County, and purchased one hundred and sixty acres from the Government. In due time a portion of this farm, which was located near Mayville, became a part of that village. Calvin Fox was a very successful farmer and a highly respected citizen, and although he resided for a time in the Queen’s Dominion he was always a loyal American citizen and took an active interest in political affairs. In 1856, he walked eighteen miles to the polling place in order to cast his vote for Gen. John C. Fremont and was always a consistent Republican; he served as Supervisor of the township six years. His death occurred August 4, 1891, at the age of seventy-one years old. Three of their six children grew to maturity namely; Hiram who died in 1889, our subject and Franklin J.
Edwin G. Fox , the subject of this sketch was born March 14, 1848, in Oxford County, Canada, and as a boy assisted the family in clearing up the new farm after they came to Michigan. After leaving school he kept up a regular course of study for many years, although he commenced mercantile life as a clerk and bookkeeper at the age of eighteen. His employer, W. H. Fife, of Mayville, soon sent him to Cherokee, Iowa, to take charge of a branch store and he would have become a partner in the concern had not ill health obliged him to return home. In 1876, Mr. Fox embarked in business as a merchant in Mayville, with a capital of $600 and now has a large general store, also a clothing house; he deals quite extensively in real-estate, besides carrying on a farm and managing his business as an owner of much valuable property, it being the product of his own energy.
At the age of twenty-two our subject was elected Township Clerk on the Republican ticket, serving for seven years and he has also been Register of Deeds for Tuscola County for four years. It 1886 he was elected State Senator in a Democratic district and as such represented the seventeenth district comprising Tuscola and Huron Counties and re-elected in 1888. He was a conscientious worker, a very active member, a consistent Republican and a good legislator and ranked as one of the leaders of the Senate. During his first term he was Chairman of the Committee on State Prisons and Fisheries, and a member of the Committee on Canals and Harbors and Horticulture, and during the second term those on State Prisons, Industrial Home for Girls and Public Lands. As acting chairman of the Committee on City and Villages, a part of the session, he was influential in passing the act incorporating Mayville as a village. He is the author of the Election Law of 1889, the Indeterminate Sentence Bill, and numerous other laws.
Mr. Fox is an indefatigable worker and has trained himself so thoroughly that he always does will whatever he undertakes. In the field of oratory he as by determinations made himself an interesting debater and a good public speaker. He is systemic in all his work and a thorough gentleman in life and habits. At present he is the President of the School Board in Mayville Public schools. In 1874, he was married to Annie Caulton, daughter of Dr. W. C. Caulton and they have one son, Edwin C. Mr. Fox is a Royal Arch Mason and he and his wife are attendants at the Free Will Baptist Church.
Source: Chapman Brothers. Portrait and biographical record of Genesee, Lapeer and Tuscola counties, Michigan. Chicago: Chapman brothers, 1892.