Branch County MI Archives Biographies.....Sears, Wesley 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Burt Fuller burtf@msn.com May 4, 2005, 5:23 pm

Author: 1888 Portrait & Bio Album

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE ARTICLE ON WESLEY SEARS

Wesley Sears, A. M., Superintendent of the Michigan State Public School, a 
position for which he is eminently qualified both by nature and acquirements, 
is of New England birth and parentage, and first opened his eyes on the rugged 
Atlantic coast in Knox, Waldo Co., Maine, Oct. 22, 1851.  His parents, David 
and Sarah Milbury (Walker) Sears, were natives of the same section of country, 
and had a family of ten children, namely:  Allen, Achsa, who died in infancy; 
George Washington; Vesta, who married W.E. Noble, now of Los Angeles, Cal.; 
Roscoe, deceased; Maria; Wesley, our subject; Frances, who died in infancy; 
John Franklin and Theo Hall.

David Sears was born in the same town as his son Wesley, in 1813.  The parental 
grandparents were John and Achsa (Whitcomb) Sears, who probably at an early day 
moved from Mass., to the Pine Tree State, and are believed to have been of 
English ancestry.  David, the father of our subject, was a farmer by 
occupation, and also was engaged in lumbering considerably.  He moved from 
Maine to Monticello, Wis., in 1855, and engaged in farming and stock-raising, 
until his children had grown beyond the district school, when he took up his 
residence with them in Hillsdale, Mish., for the purpose of giving them the 
advantages of instruction there.  This completed, he returned to his Wisconsin 
home, and there spent his last days, his death taking place Sept. 24, 1880.
The mother of our subject was born at Albion, Me., on the 17th of April, 1815, 
and was the daughter of Joshua and Maria Walker, who it is believed were of 
Scotch ancestry.  She is still living at the old homestead in Monticello, Wis.
Upon leaving college, Mr. Sears was given the Superintendency of the schools of 
Eaton Rapids, where he remained for two years, and was elected for a third, but 
resigned to take a position at Mr. Clemens on a higher salary. .....He was 
President of the Michigan School Superintendents' Association in 1887, and 
prominent in the Michigan State Teachers' Association.

The wife of our subject, to whom he was married Dec. 29, 1880, at Lansing, was 
formerly Miss Nellie O., daughter of Rev. Hiram and Sarah Maria (Longyear) Law, 
whose family consisted of five children, Nellie being the second in order of 
birth.  The father was a native of New York, and settled on a farm near Le Roy, 
N.Y., in 1816.  His death occurred in the pulpit, while he was preaching at 
Mosherville, this State, Sept. 9, 1866, and his remains were taken to Grass 
Lake for burial.

Mrs. Sarah Maria Law was born in 1824, and was the daughter of Benjamin and 
Nellie (Short) Longyear, who spent their last years in Grass Lake.  She died at 
Lansing in 1860.  Mr. and Mrs. Sears are the parents of two children, Arthur 
Wesley and Clarence Howard, the latter of whom died in infancy.


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