Biography of Charles W. Poe b . 1853, St. Joseph Co., MI son of Charles R. and Cassie (Newell) Poe of Crawford Co., OH
Judith Weeks Ancell
The following information is taken for a great website for Cass Co., Michigan. There is a great deal of Poe information on these pages.
From Cass Co., MI GenWeb
http://www.dunelady.com/Cass/biographies/cassixnp.htm
Cass County Michigan
Biographies
From The History of Cass County by Glover
- 1875
POE,SCHALL,THOMAS,NEWELL,GALPIN,STEPHENSON,KAHLER,MEEK
Charles W. Poe has been a resident of Newberg township for fifty-three years and therefore justly deserves to be classed with the old settlers. He has a farm of one hundred and forty-eight acres, which is carefully cultivated and improved, his entire life having been devoted to agricultural pursuits. This tract of land lies on section 21, Newberg township, and is now a valuable property, owing to the care and labor which he has bestowed upon it. Mr. Poe is one of Michigan's native sons, for his birth occurred in Fabius township, St. Joseph county, on the 5th of August, 1853. His father, Charles R. Poe, was a native of Crawford county, Ohio, and was the son of George Poe, who continued his residence in Crawford county until 1835 and then sought a home in Michigan, making his way to Cass county, which was then a wild and unimproved region. Most of the land was raw and uncultivated and only here and there had a little settlement been made amidst the dense forest to show that the work of civilization and improvement had been begun. George Poe located on land on section 22, Newberg township, entering the same from the government on the 16th of September, 1835. Not a furrow had been turned, not an improvement made, and the arduous task of developing the land developed upon Mr. Poe and his sons. He, however, possessed the spirit of the pioneer such as was displayed by his ancestor, Adam Poe, the famous Indian fighter.
Charles R. Poe, the father of our subject, was reared amid the wild scenes of frontier life, sharing with the family in the usual hardships and trials incident to settling in the far west. He took part in the work of cutting the timber, clearing the land, and throughout his entire life he followed the occupation of farming. He was twice married, the first union being with Miss Cassie Newell, who died leaving three children, one of whom yet survives, namely: George W. Poe, who makes his home near Jones. After losing his first wife Mr. Poe was joined in wedlock to Miss Julia Schall, a native of Pennsylvania, who came to Michigan with her parents, the family home being established in St. Joseph county. There were two sons and four daughters born of this marriage and with one exception all are yet living. All were born in this county with the exception of Charles W. and George W. Poe, who were young when their parents removed to Newberg township.
He was reared here to farm life and pursued his education in the district schools, wherein he mastered the branches of English learning usually taught in such institutions. During the summer months he worked in the fields and remained at home until twenty-two years of age, assisting in the task of clearing the farm and placing it under the plow. He gained practical knowledge of the best methods of tilling the fields, learned to know what was demanded in the soil for the various crops and the most favorable time of planting, so that he was well qualified to engage in farm work on his own account when he married and established a home of his own.
It was on the 25th of August, 1875, that Mr. Poe was united in marriage to Miss Carrie Thomas, a daughter of William and Delight (Galpin) Thomas. Her father was a native of New York and on removing to Michigan settled in Macomb county. In his family were six children, two sons and four daughters, of whom Mrs. Poe was the second child. She was thirteen years of age when brought to the west and has since lived in Cass county. At the time of their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Poe began their domestic life on a farm on section 22, Newberg township, and there in the midst of the forest he cleared a tract of land. Their first house was a log cabin eighteen by twenty-four feet, two stories in height. Mr. Poe continued the work of cultivating the place for fourteen years, when he removed to his present farm on section 21, Newberg township. Here he has one hundred and forty-eight acres of productive land, which he has brought under a high state of cultivation. He has been a hard-working man and has lived a busy and useful life, his labors resulting in bringing him a comfortable competence.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Poe have been born four daughters: Loviso, the wife of Delbert Stephenson, who is living in Newberg township; Minnie, the wife of William Kahler, also of Newbert township; Mabel, the wife of William Meek, of Emmet county, Michigan; and Leon, at home. The name of Poe has been closely associated with the history of the county through many long years, the grandfather of our subject taking a very active and helpful part in the early pioneer development, and Poe cemetery was named in his honor. The work of progress was carried on by the father and has been continued by our subject, who is an enterprising citizen, desirous of promoting the best interests of the county. In his political views he is a Democrat, but without aspiration for office, preferring to give his undivided attention to his business affairs. He is well known in Cass county, where he has son long resided, having lived continuously on sections 21 and 22 in this township for fifty-three years, and has an extensive circle of friends. Both he and his wife are estimable people and well deserve mention in this volume among the representative citizens of the county.
Typed by:Barbara O'Reagan
POUND,SMITH,HINCHMAN,WHITE,POE,TIMM,BARKS,BUTLER
Isaac S. Pound is one of the leading old settlers of Cass county and a veteran of the Civil war. Coming to southern Michigan at an early day he has assisted in making the county what it is, the labors of the early settlers winning for it a place among the leading counties of this great commonwealth. His mind bears the impress of the early historic annals of southern Michigan and he can relate many interesting incidents of the early days when the land was largely unimproved and the work of development had been scarcely begun. He was born in Ontario county, New York, September 22, 1837, and is of English lineage. His paternal great-grandparents came from England, settling in New Jersey. The great-grandfather, Thomas Pound, served as a soldier of the Revolutionary war, becoming aide-de-camp on the staff of General Washington and acting for a part of the time as staff quartermaster. He had three sons, Thomas, Isaac and John. The second was the grandfather of our subject and he, too, manifested his loyalty to his country by serving in the war of 1812 as a private. The family record is notable because of the industry, integrity and high principles of its representatives. There has never been a drunkard, a pauper nor a criminal among the Pounds and such a record is one of which any man might well be proud.
Thomas Pound, father of our subject, was a native of Orange county, New York, in which locality he was reared and educated. He married in that county to Miss Sallie Smith, also a native of that county and a daughter of Isaac Smith, who likewise served as a private in the war of 1812. He was supposed to have been of Irish lineage. Following their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Pound removed to Chemung county, New York, and afterward became residents of Ontario county, that state, where they resided until 1844. Hoping to enjoy better opportunities in the west they then started for Michigan and as this was before the era of railroad transportation, they traveled by wagon, making their way direct to Newberg township, Cass county, where Mr. Pound had secured one hundred and sixty acres of land. The tract was entirely wild and uncultivated, not an improvement having been made on the place. He first built a log house about sixteen by twenty-four feet and then began to clear the land, performing the arduous task of cutting away the timber, taking out the stumps and preparing the fields for the plow,. In due course of time, however, his land was placed under cultivation and brought forth rich harvests. He was a hard working man, energetic and enterprising, and was regarded as one of the leading and representative early citizens of his community. His political allegiance was given to the Whig party until the organization of the Republican party, when he joined its ranks and continued one of its supporters until his death. He served as highway commissioner and acted as a member of the grand jury that held a session in 1856. His religious faith was indicated by his membership and loyalty to the Protestant Methodist church. He died upon the old homestead November 26, 1963, and was for some years survived by his wife, who reached the advance age of eighty-three years. In their family were eight children, seven sons and a daughter, of which number five reached adult age, while four are still living.
Isaac S. Pound, the second child and the first born son of this marriage, was a lad of seven summers when brought by his parents to Cass county. His education was acquired in one of the old-time log schoolhouses of the township, with its slab seats and other primitive furnishings. The building was heated by a large fireplace, occupying almost one entire end of the room. His educational privileges, however, were very limited, for his services were needed upon the farm and he assisted in the development of the fields until about twenty-one years of age. He afterward took charge of the old homestead property, which he had farmed for three years, when he purchased the place upon which he now resides. For a year thereafter he kept “bachelor’s hall,” but in March 1862, won a companion and helpmate for life’s journey, being married at that time to Miss Elizabeth Hinchman, a daughter of J. K. and Panena (White) Hinchman. Mrs. Pound was born in Boone county, West Virginia, and was seven years of ages when she came to Cass county with her parents, who settled in Silver Creek township. She was the youngest in a family of seven children. At the time of this marriage Mr. Pound brought his bride to the farm upon which he now resides, having lived here for forty-five consecutive years with the exception of a brief period of four years spent in VanBuren county and his term of service in the war of the Rebellion. In August, 1864, he responded to the country’s urgent need for troops, enlisting as a member of the Fourteenth Michigan Battery of Light Artillery, and served until July, 1865, when, the war having closed, he was mustered out as a private and returned to his home. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Pound has been blessed with six children, who are yet living: Ella, now the wife of Fred W. Timm, a resident of Cassopolis; Fred J., a mail carrier living in Marcellus, Michigan; Eve E., the wife of Andrew J. Poe, whose home is in Newberg township; Carrie, the wife of Thomas G. Barks of Vandalia; Arthur W., who is living upon the old home farm; and Jane, the wife of W. Butler of Newberg township.
Throughout his entire life Mr. Pound has followed the occupation of farming, and is now the owner of one hundred and twenty acres of arable land, which he has brought under a high state of cultivation, and it is known as “The Maple Grove Farm.” there are good buildings upon the place and he has divided the land into fields of convenient size by well kept fences. He has secured many of the late improved farm implements and in all of his work is progressive and enterprising. He votes with the Republican party and is unfaltering in his advocacy of its principles. He has attended the county conventions for forty years or more, usually as a delegate, and his opinions have carried weight in the party councils. He held some minor offices, and at all times is loyal and progressive in his citizenship. He belongs to W. J. May post, No. 65, G.A.R., in which he has filled all the chairs save that of chaplain, and he has been a member of the Grange for more than thirty years. His residence in the county covers a period of sixty-one years, and he has been closely and helpfully identified with its development and progress. When the family located in Michigan there were only about twenty-five voters in Newberg township, and now there are about five hundred. There were a number of wild animals and considerable wild game, including bears, wolves, deer and turkeys and prairie chickens, so that it was not a difficult talk for the pioneer settle to secure game for his table. This was largely a timer region, the forests having as yet been uncut, but today there are seen waving fields of grain where once stood the native trees. The little pioneer cabins have long since given place to commodious and substantial farm residences, while here and there towns and villages have sprung up, containing excellent industrial and commercial interests. Mr. Pound rejoices in what has been accomplished, and at all times he is regarded as a citizen whose aid can be counted upon to further every movement or measure for the public good.
Typed by:Carol Foss
Judith Weeks Ancell
1810 Edgecliff Terrace
Boise, ID 83702-2911
"And which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his life's span? Matthew 6:27