| Note |
- Henry A. HAWLEY, one of the earliest pioneers of Ingham County, was born at Winfield, Herkimer Co., N.Y., Nov. 19, 1815. His father, Stephen HAWLEY, was a native of Amsterdam, N.Y., but was of Scottish stock. His mother, Olive WARNER, was born in Connecticut, but removed when young to Herkimer Co., N.Y., where she married Stephen HAWLEY. He died in early manhood, leaving her with two sons, Henry and Calvin. She afterwards married Charles GRAY, and had three children, - Eliza, Manly, and Emeline. She was of Welsh descent, and transmitted to her son the sturdy virtues and inflexible courage of her ancestral race. This inheritance enabled him successfully to utilize the strength of his muscle and the energy of his brain in subduing the stubborn enemies that confront the pioneer at every step. On the 3rd of September, 1839, she died of hemmorage of the lungs, and the younger son died some years later of consumption.
In the summer of 1834, Henry A. HAWLEY, in company with his mother and her family, came to Lenawee County, Michigan Territory, where they remained until June, 1836, when they resolved to try their fortunes in a still newer locality. They finally secured government land, Mr. HAWLEY selecting the half-section which forms his present home. After enduring fatigue, exposures, and dangers which must have discouraged any but the bravest hearts, they set up their household goods in a rude shanty in the wilderness, which for a time made a home for all; but Mr. HAWLEY at once began vigorous work upon his own farm. Fourty-five years of thrift and industry have transformed it into broad, handsome fields, ornamented with hedges, and made productive by careful tillage, thorough fertilizing and underdraining, and other appliances of modern science. The little shanty soon gave place to a log house, and later that was replaced by a pleasant farm-house, with ample out-buildings.
June 2, 1841, Mr. HAWLEY was married to Miss Lucy Ann HICKS. To this union six children were born, - Olive L., March 11, 1841; Calvin A., Nov. 3, 1843; Eleonora, Aug. 21, 1845; Delora B., Oct. 22, 1847; Adelbert S., May 23, 1851; Anna E., March 25, 1853. Of these children three are now living. Eleonora died in infancy; Calvin of diphtheria and measles, May 27, 1862, being at the time of his death a member of the Sophomore class at the Michigan Agricultural College; Delora died Jan. 24, 1868, of consumption. Olive was married Dec. 24, 1863, to John L. DIAMOND, who died Aug. 10, 1870, leaving three children, - Lottie, Henry, and Willie. Anna was married Oct. 16, 1876, to Marcus K. PRESTON, and lives on a farm in Grass Lake. Adelbert remains at the old homestead, having charge of the farm.
Mr. HAWLEY has always been active in urging improvements, and has contributed generously, both in money and labor, to any enterprise that he deemed beneficial to the community. Where the public welfare seemed to demand it, he has consulted neither comfort nor convenience, but has worked with a strong and willing hand. Since attaining his majority, he has never failed to present himself at the polls on election day, always casting his vote with the same party, - old-line Whig or Republican. His religious faith has always been of the truly liberal type.
Lucy A. HICKS was born at Homer, Cortland Co., N.Y., Aug. 23, 1818. Her father, Deacon Zephaniah HICKS, came to Ingham County in the early days of its settlement, and died here at a good old age, having always been a much-esteemed and useful citizen. Mrs. HAWLEY was a woman of quiet, domestic tastes, but eminently endowed with those qualities that make a prosperous, happy home. While cheerfully working with her husband to gain for their family such comforts as a new country denies to any but the most diligent, she symphathized with his public spirit, and freely joined in his charities and hospitalities. She was a woman of strong religious convictions, being an active member of the Baptist church, and living in strict conformity to her belief. She died on the 18th of November, 1853, of typhoid fever.
In the autumn of 1854 - October 18th, Mr. HAWLEY was married to Mrs. ROLFE, formerly Charlotte I. CHAPIN. She was born at Camillus, Onondaga Co., N.Y., May 17, 1820. Her girlhood was mostly passed in Livingston Co., N.Y., whither her father removed when she was a child. In the winter of 1842-43 she came with her brother, A. M. CHAPIN, to Vevay, Ingham Co., Mich., and immediately began teaching in the Rolfe district. Oct. 30, 1844, she was married to Carlos ROLFE, of Vevay, who died Sept. 25, 1847, leaving one son, who died in childhood. Soon after the death of her husband she took up her broken work, proving a competent and efficient teacher. With the interruption of a single season, when she taught in Stockbridge, she presided over the Mason school for twelve consecutive terms, gaining life-long friends among the pupils and patrons. When she entered the family of Mr. HAWLEY, she carried with her the fruit of wide experience and culture, and became to his children a mother indeed, as well as an invaluable helper and teacher. Those who knew her during the later years of her life know that she discharged her duty to her adopted family with singular faithfulness and devotion. The following incident will illustrate her spirit: An acquaintance inquired of which two little girls she was leading by the hand was her own. "They are both mine" was the answer that silenced further question. There was no place where she was not a welcome visitor, and many among the sick, the afflicted, and the poor had occasion for life-long gratitude. Her strong character, great will-force, and sympathetic nature gave her a wide influence in the society which she had helped to mould, while her liberal religious ideas, reared as she was in the Universalist faith, leavened her whole life with charity, and tempered every duty to her cheerful acceptance. Mrs. HAWLEY died March 8, 1869, leaving one daughter, Claribel, who was born March 25, 1857, and was married July 28, 1878, to Orr SCHURTZ, a graduate of Michigan University, class of 1878.
The early settlers of the country will recall with satisfaction the generous welcome they always received at the HAWLEY home, whether they came to its doors as weary wayfarers or as trusted friends. The shadows of death and domestic calamity have often fallen upon it, but it will long be remembered as one of the pleasantest landmarks of pioneer life.
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1815 - 1881 (65 years)
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