Re: Marrs/Mars (Hugh, Benjamin Franklin, Loren) Berrien Springs, Michigan
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In reply to:
Marrs/Mars (Hugh, Benjamin Franklin, Loren) Berrien Springs, Michigan
Dawn Mars 4/18/04
Pardon the long response but I'm hoping you get this. I tried emailing it but your email bounced.
Here, some info on the Mars family of Berrien County.
From: A twentieth century history of Berrien County, Michigan Orville W. Coolidge., Coolidge, Orville William, 1839-1918. page 784
B. FRANK MARS, one of the prominent early settlers and leading agriculturists
of Berrien township, making his home on
section I8, Berrien township, was born in
this township January I, I849, the fifth son
of Hugh and Elizabeth (Hartsell) Mars,
who were numbered among the very early
pioneers of Michigan, they having established their home in Pokagon Prairie, Cass
county, in 1829. In 1832 they located in
Berrien township, Berrien county, where on
the 23d of December of that year they secured a farm from the government, which
they improved but afterward sold and about
I85o removed to the farm which is now the
home of their son B. Frank Mars. There
this worthy old pioneer couple spent the remainder of their lives, the father reaching
the good old age of eighty-one years. He
was a prominent factor in the early history
of the county, in which he held a number of
public offices, among them being that of
justice of the peace, and he was also prominent in school affairs, the cause of education
ever finding him a stanch friend. The
mother passed away when she had reached
the age of fifty-six years.
B. Frank Mars was only six years of
age when his parents took up their abode
on the farm which is now his home, and here
he early became inured to the work of the
fields, assisting in its improvement and development, and here he is spending his
declining years. In 1874 he was united in
marriage to Emma Stowe, a native of Ohio
and a daughter of Wesley and Hannah
(Phelps) Stowe. Their union has been
blessed by the birth of six children, namely:
Ethel, the wife of John Hintz, of Conklin,
Michigan; Josephine, wife of George Wilkinson, of the same place; Edith, wife of
George Gillhespy, who also makes his home
in Conklin; Frances, the wife of Howard
Gillhespy, of Conklin; Loren, a resident of
Grand Rapids, Michigan; and Carl, at home.
As before stated Mr. Mars is a life-long
resident of Berrien county, having been
identified with its interests for fifty-eight
years, and during this time he has been
recognized as one of its most honored and
highly esteemed citizens. He affiliates with
the Republican party and takes an interest
in public affairs, but has never been an aspirant for political favors, although he has
served as constable, game warden and as a
school officer, also at one time having held
the office of deputy sheriff of Berrien county. His fraternal relations were with the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge
No. 323 at Berrien Springs, Michigan.
Portrait and Biographical Record, Biographical Publishing Co., Chicago, 1893, pages 757-758
HON. THOMAS MARS has occupied with executive ability many of the important county and State offices within the gift of his fellow-citizens and constituents, and, discharging the duties entrusted to his care with efficiency, is one of the most popular and highly esteemed residents of Berrien County, Mich. Our subject, an extensive and prosperous general agriculturist of Berrien Township, born May 4, 1829, in Giles County, Va., was but an infant when he removed with this parents to Berrien County, with whose growth and progress he has been intimately associated for more than three-score years. His father, Hugh Mars, a native Virginian, remained in his early home until he attained his majority. He was a hard working and enterprising man and combined the trade of a blacksmith with the occupation of a farmer. The Marses are of Scotch descent, but the paternal great-grandfather made his home in New Jersey, in which State the grandfather of the Hon. Thomas Mars, Archibald Mars, was born, and later, migrating from his native State to Virginia when young, remained in the Old Dominion until his death.
The mother of our subject, Elloner (Riggin) Mars, was the daughter of an old Virginian family and a native of the Old Dominion, where her father pursued the peaceful avocation of a tiller of the soil. Marrying in Virginia, the parents journeyed later to Michigan, locating in Berrien County, April 6, 1830, the very day upon which the first election of the county was held, twenty-six voters having cast their ballot. The father entered land on section 23, Berrien Township, and the deed was signed by President Andrew Jackson. The mother, a devoted Christian woman, was obliged at first to go to Summerville when she wished to attend church. At that period there were no settlers in the immediate neighborhood of the pioneer home. The Indians had huts on the land of the father, and were peaceable, quiet red men, and the first boys that our subject remembers playing with were Indian lads. The land was heavily timbered, and the country round about almost impassable at times. Mr. Mars well recollects the surveying and layout out of Cassopolis and the Berrien Spring Road. The mother, born in February, 1805, died February 27, 1837, preceding her husband to the better land by forty years. The father lived to be married four times, and removed from the old homestead in 1853 to the farm owned by his last companion, pleasantly located in Berrien Springs.
Hugh Mars, after a life of busy usefulness, passed away, mourned as a public loss, in 1877, at the good old age of eighty-one years. He was an enterprising and self-reliant man, of strong and earnest purpose, and, possessing most admirable traits of character, was honored and beloved. He was, politically, in early life a Whig and later an ardent Republican, and was a leader in the councils of the local party. He was for many years a popular Justice of the Peace, and was one of the first appointed in the county. By his first marriage he had six children, all surviving. A. W. resides in Berrien Springs; Thomas was the second-born; Samuel lives in Lake Township; William is a citizen of California; Eliza J. is the wife of P.H. Webster, of section 11, Berrien Township; Melinda is the wife of T. B. Snow, of section 16, Berrien Township. Of the three children born unto the third marriage, the surviving are B. F., residing on section 18; and Elizabeth, wife of Burdette McGill, of Oronoko Township.
Our subject, reared in the pioneer home, had barely attained his majority, when, beginning life for himself, he served an apprenticeship to the trade of a carpenter and joiner. For seven years he did business as a contractor and builder, and in 1857 went to Kansas, settling in Lawrence. In the following December he came home, and spent January, returning in February to Kansas, where he remained through the summer of 1858, and in the fall journeyed to Missouri. He purchased a half-interest in a sawmill near Savannah, and engaged in the business in that locality until the breaking out of the Civil War. At this time the mill was burned and our subject was warned to leave in fifteen days.
In the fall of 1860, Thomas Mars and Miss Margaret A. Wood were united in marriage. The estimable wife of our subject is widely known and highly esteemed. She was the dauther of Christopher Wood, of Binghamton, N.Y., in which part of the Empire State she was born, reared and thoroughly educated. Immediately after his marriage, Mr. Mars rented for one year an old watermill near Berrien Springs, and at the end of the twelve months bought a steam mill and thirty-five acres of land where he now resides. The land was then wild (November 10, 1862), but now, with an added acreage, is one of the most valuable homesteads in the township. The one hundred and twenty acres, eighty-five of which are highly cultivated and improved with excellent and commodious buildings, is a most desirable piece of farming property. Until a few years ago our subject operated the mill, as well as cultivated the fertile soil, but now devotes his time to agricultural pursuits. Of the four children who brightened the home, only one lived to adult age, Rosalia Imogene, wife of Dr. O.A. LaCrone, a successful medical practitioner of Berrien Centre. Mrs. LaCrone had three children: an infant daughter, who died unnamed; Thomas Mars and Frank W. The accomplished daughter passed away March 12, 1891, mourned by sorrowing friends and relatives.
Fraternally, Mr. Mars is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Berrien Centre, and has passed all the chairs. He is now a member of the Standing Committee on By-laws for the State. He is also a member of the Patrons of Husbandry of Berrien Centre, has held all the offices in the same and is the present Master. He has been Master of the State Grange for five years, and has taken in three districts since 1873, giving his thorough and enthusiastic support to the existence and prosperity of the Grange, and is, and has been, a member of the State Executive Committee of the Grange for sixteen years. Our subject is now a member of the State Board of Control of the State Public Schools at Coldwater, Mich.
Politically, Mr. Mars is a Republican, and has always been actively interested in local and national issues. He has several times been Chairman of the County Committee and is now Treasurer of the same. As delegate to various State, county and Congressional conventions, he has given his constituents universal satisfaction by the faithful handling of the public interests intrusted to his care. In 1880, elected to the State Senate, our subject served with fidelity his full term and was present at the extra sessions. As a member of important committees, he promoted the interests of the State, and was a prominent factor in securing the present law on highways. Mr. Mars had been identified with the leading agricultural societies and has been President of the Berrien County Agricultural Society many terms, and was President of the Berrien Springs Agricultural Society last year. For four years he served as Oil Inspector of the district, has also been County Agent of the State Board of Charities, and was likewise Inspector of the Poor of Berrien County for three years. Constantly engaged in public work for the greater part of his life, our subject has proven himself to be a man of intelligent ability, excellent judgment and sterling integrity of character, and, the candidate of his party for most responsible positions, has ever justified the confidence reposed in him by a host of friends.
Portrait and Biographical Record..., Biographical Publishing Co., Chicago, 1893
Subject: Samuel MARRS
MARRS, RIGGIN, FORD, WEBSTER, SNOW, McGILL, GALENA, GALIGAR, RAYBUCK, FLASHER, WESTFALL
Samuel MARRS. In recounting the forces that have combined to make Lake Township what it is, more than a passing reference must be made to the labors of Samuel MARRS, of whom it may be truthfully said that no one has done more to lay the foundations of the township's prosperity deep, and to build upon them surely and well. He is now one of the leading farmers and fruit-growers in his section, and the second oldest man now living in the county who was born here. His birth occurred April 24, 1831, and he was the third of six children born to Hugh and Ellen (RIGGIN)MARRS, natives of that grand old State, Virginia.
In the year 1828 Hugh MARRS went to Ohio and remained there until the following year, when he made his advent in this county. He came here with very little means, and took up eighty acres three miles below the present town of Berrien, remaining there a few years. From there he moved to another part of the county and took up one hundred and sixty acres, which he improved and resided upon for some time. After the death of his wife he sold out and married the widow FORD, on whose place he lived until his death. He was a prudent, industrious man and one whose career was without a flaw. Of the six children born to his first union all are now living, as follows: Andrew, of Berrien Springs; Hon. Thomas MARRS, of Berrien Centre; Samuel; William, of California; Eliza J., wife of P.H. WEBSTER, of Berrien Centre; and Malinda, wife of Trobridge SNOW, of Berrien Springs. Mr. MARRS was four times married, and his third union resulted in the birth of two children: Frank, of Berrien Springs; and Elizabeth, wife of Burdett McGILL, who resides close to Berrien Springs. Mr. MARRS was one of the early Justices of the Peace of Berrien Township, and a man who was popular with all classes.
Samuel MARRS was one of the first children born in Berrien County. His early education was received in the old log schoolhouse with slab benches, desks fastened to the wall, etc., and he was obliged to go some distance through the woods. The second school he attended was but little better in the way of furniture than the other one, but he applied himself and received a fairly good education. Mr. MARRS says the finest penman he ever saw was a Pottawatomie Indian, and he, with several of the other young folks of the neighborhood, attended writing-school taught by that Indian. On commencing life for himself, young MARRS engaged in the carpenter trade for six years, and assisted in building some of the first frame residences ever erected around Berrien Springs.
After this he went to the Ford Farm and took care of his father for two years. There, in 1855, he was married to Miss Mary J. GALENA, a native of this county, born in 1836, and a daughter of David and Betsey GALENA, natives of Ohio, but who came to this county about 1833. For a few years after his marriage he resided on the farm of his mother-in-law, after which he purchased the farm on which he now resides, but did not move on it for seven years after purchasing. His farm consisted of one hundred and twenty acres in woods, and for this he paid $900. There was no road leading to the place, and it was covered with heavy timber, but Mr. MARRS cleared a portion of it before the war. He now has one hundred and twenty acres under cultivation, and to his original purchase he has since added twenty acres. Fourteen children were born to this marriage, seven of whom survive: Martha, wife of James GALIGAR; Arthur; Andrew; Mary, wife of William RAYBUCK; Hugh; Sarah, wife of John FLASHER; AND Jessie. Mrs. MARRS died in November, 1873, and in December of the following year Mr. MARRS married Miss Maggie WESTFALL, of New York, and the daughter of Jacob and Mary Jane WESTFALL, who came to this county previous to the Civil War.
To this second union six children were born, four of whom are now living: Jennie, Thomas, Ada and May. In connection with farming Mr. MARRS is actively engaged in fruit-growing and has twenty-five acres of orchard on his place, six acres being devoted to small fruit. His home is one of the pleasantest in the township and every thing about it denotes peace, prosperity and thrift. He has held a number of local offices, Township Treasurer, Justice of the Peace, etc., and discharged the duties of the same in a creditable and satisfactory manner. Politically, he is a prominent Republican.
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I just copied and pasted that from my records. You might also wanna check out:
http://www.hti.umich.edu/m/micounty/http://www.hti.umich.edu/m/micounty/
and just type in some names with alternative spellings. I found the above info on BF Mars by typing in frank mars:
http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=micounty;cc=micounty;sid=cd8d314d7ef32d34f80efa02ae80d80b;q1=frank%20mars;rgn=full%20text;idno=BAD0855.0001.001;view=image;seq=00001002http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=micounty;cc=micounty;sid=cd8d314d7ef32d34f80efa02ae80d80b;q1=frank%20mars;rgn=full%20text;idno=BAD0855.0001.001;view=image;seq=00001002
(Little hint: to C&P from this site, try viewing the image document as text, which allows you to highlight the text and C&P it into a WP)
Also, I live in the area and have found the stone for Thomas Mars (BF's half brother). I swear I've seen a "Hugh Mars" around as well but I don't have a snap of it, or of BF Mars. But if you could tell me what cemeteries these people might be buried in, I'll keep my eye out on my next graveyard walk. Thomas Mars is buried in Berrien Springs's biggest cemetery, Rose Hill. There's also a Guy Mars (1871-1945) in my records but he is the son of Andrew, who was, like Thomas, from Hugh's first marriage. Just let me know if you want the Guy info and stone pics. Email me at [email protected]
Jen
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Re: Marrs/Mars (Hugh, Benjamin Franklin, Loren) Berrien Springs, Michigan
patricia twork 5/12/05