James M. Saul Biography, Grant Township, Clare County, Michigan

Submitted for use by USGENWEB Clare County, Michigan  October 2002  
wilkinschw@aol.com 


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Clare County  
Biography, James M. Saul 
 
JAMES M. SAUL, Biography / Clare County, Michigan 
 
Biographical History of Northern Michigan, B.F. Bowen & Company, 1905. 
 
JAMES M. SAUL 
 
This representative farmer and honored citizen of Grant township, Clare county, 
claims the old Buckeye state as the place of his nativity, since he was born in 
Williams county, Ohio, on the 18th of August, 1841, being a representative of one 
of the sterling old families of that commonwealth.  He is a son of GEORGE and 
ESTHER (FETTERS) SAUL, both of whom died in the county of his birth, the 
father having been a farmer by vocation and a man of unwavering integrity and 
honor.  This worthy couple became the parents of twelve children, of whom our 
subject was the second in order of birth, while of the number nine are living. 
 
JAMES M. SAUL was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm and duly availed 
himself of the educational advantages afforded by the common schools.  When 
the dark cloud of civil war spread its pall over the national horizon he tendered 
his aid in the suppression of the rebellion and proved a brave and loyal son of the 
republic.  In the autumn of 1862 he enlisted as a member of the First New York 
Sharpshooters, having been a resident of the Empire state at the time, and with 
the same he continued to serve until practically the close of the war, save for the 
period during which he was held in captivity by the Confederates.  He 
participated in a number of the most spirited and important engagements 
incidental to the progress of the great conflict, and at Petersburg, Virginia, in the 
autumn of 1864, was taken prisoner and held in captivity about six and one-half 
months, during which he experienced the privations and horrors incident to 
incarceration in Libby Prison and the prisons on Belle Isle and in Salisbury, North 
Carolina.  He was finally released and received his honorable discharge after 
victory had crowned the Union arms.  He retains a lively interest in his old 
comrades in arms and signifies the same by retaining membership in the Grand 
Army of the Republic. 
 
After the close of his military service Mr. SAUL returned to his native county, 
where he continued to devote his attention principally to agricultural pursuits until 
the autumn of 1874, when he came with his family to Clare county, Michigan, and 
became one of the pioneer farmers of Grant township, where he has ever since 
maintained his home and where success has crowned his efforts during the long 
intervening years.  He purchased forty acres of wild land in section 1, and has 
since added to the same until he now has a fine homestead of one hundred and 
twenty acres, improved with excellent buildings, including a modern residence, 
while about one hundred acres of the place are under cultivation, yielding 
excellent returns for the labors expended.  Mr. SAUL is a man of energy and 
good judgement and is ever found loyal to all the duties and obligations of 
citizenship, being a stauch Republican in his political proclivities but having no 
ambition for official preferment. 
 
On the 24th of December, 1867, in Hillsdale county, this state, was solemnized 
the marriage of Mr. SAUL to Miss MARY HOYER, who was born in Hancock 
county, Ohio, on the 2d of August, 1843, being the second of the nine children 
born to SAMUEL and REBECCA (STAHL) HOYER, both of whom died in 
Steuben county, Indiana.  Mr. and Mrs. SAUL have five children--SAMUEL A., 
FRANK E., GARFIELD A., JOSEPHINE ELLEN and MYRTLE V.  The elder 
daughter is the wife of ROY A. HOOVER, and MYRTLE is the wife of LEAMON 
H. HOOVER. 
 
 
Submitted for use by USGENWEB Clare County, Michigan  October 2002  
wilkinschw@aol.com