John Eldred's biography, Sunfield, Eaton County, Michigan ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/mi/mifiles.htm ************************************************ SUBJECT: John A. Eldred SUBMITTER: Marsha McCarty EMAIL: marsmc@msgexp.net DATE: Feb 26, 1999 SURNAMES: Eldred, Mosher, Kent, Maxson, Peabody, Springett Past and Present of Eaton County Biography of John A. Eldred John A. Eldred, a contractor and builder of the village of Sunfield, and one of the pioneers of the town, which was founded in 1888, was born in Kalamazoo county, Michigan, September 29, 1840, and he represented his native state as one of the valiant soldiers of the Union in the war of the Rebellion. His father, John Eldred, was born in Ohio, and he died in Wayne county, Michigan, at the age of sixty-five years. He was twice married, the maiden name of his first wife having been Kellogg and her death having occurred in Wayne County. The only child of this union was Martha, and she is now the wife of Jackson Hosmer, of Wayne county, this state. They have eight sons and three daughters, and seven of the sons are physicians. After the death of his first wife, John Eldred married Miss Annis Johnson, who was born in Wayne county, Michigan, of Irish descent, and she died in that county at the age of about sixty one years, her husband surviving her by about five years. They became the parents of five children, of four children: Mary is the wife of Stewart Nowlan, of Wayne county; Betsey is the wife of Dr. Bathalamon, of Holly, Michigan; James who was a member of the Forty-fifth Cavalry Volunteer Infantry in the civil war, and who gave nearly four years to the service of his country, died in Wayne county, Michigan and is survived by his three children; Samuel married and his death occurred in August, 1899 in Duluth, Minnesota. He served two years in the Fifth Michigan Cavalry. John Eldred learned the trade of cloth dyeing, which he followed as a vocation for some time. In 183? he came to Michigan and located in Wayne county, later removing to Kalamazoo county where he was employed in a salaratus factory. In 1848 he returned to Wayne County, where he passed the remainder of his life. He was of Scotch descent and was known as a man of sterling attributes of character. John A. Eldred, the immediate subject of this sketch was eight years of age at the time when his parents returned from Kalamazoo to Wayne county, in which later he was reared to maturity, receiving a common school education. He remained with his parents until he had attained the age of twenty-two years, when he went forth to support the Union cause on the fields of battle. November 29, 1862, at Mount Clemens, he enlisted in Company D, Eighth Michigan Cavalry, being accredited to Wayne county, and he continued in active service until October 3, 1865, when he received his honorable discharge. He proceeded with his command to Covington, Kentucky, and the first engagement in which he took part was one which occurred on a branch of the Licking River, that state. He was at the siege of Knoxville, took part in Stoneman's raid, and was with his command in the Atlanta campaign, and at the time of his closing service he was at Nashville, Tennessee, under General Thomas. At Crab Orchard he was taken ill and was left one day's march behind his command, being sent to the hospital at Camp Nelson, where he remained eight weeks, while later he was again confined to the hospital, for four weeks, suffering from chronic diarrhea, which nearly caused his death at that time, leaving him a veritable walking skeleton. He rejoined his command at Knoxville, and remained with the same thereafter until lhe was mustered out, in the city of Jackson, Michigan. After the war Mr. Eldred returned to Wayne county, where he remained until 1867, when he came to Eaton county and took up his residence in Oneida township, where he engaged in work at the carpenter's trade, having served no apprenticeship, but having natural mechanical abililty which enabled him to become a skilled artisan in the line. He has been a contractor, and builder, has drawn plans and specifications for many of the buildings which he has erected , and has executed many contracts from plans drawn by others. He took up his residence in the village of Sunfield in the year in which it was platted, 1888, and here he now has a residence, which he personally erected, while he has built many other buildings in the village, including the first store, which was destroyed by fire a few years ago. Mr. Eldred has been identified with the Republican party from the time of attaining his legal majority, but he has never had any aspirations for office, though loyal to all the duties of citizenship. He commands the confidence and esteem of the community and has made his life count for good in all its relations. He is one of the comrades in S. W. Grinnell Post, No. 283, has held all the officials chairs in the same. He also served one term as adjutant of the Eaton county Battalion. In Oneida township, this county, March 17, 1867, Mr. Eldred was united in marriage to Miss Parmelia Eldred, who is his first cousin. She was born in Ohio, July 26, 1845, and is a daughter of Nathaniel Eldred, who came to Eaton county prior to the war of the Rebellion, becoming a prosperous farmer in Oneida township, where both he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives. They became the parents of nine children: Betsey, deceased; Wyatt is a resident of Barry county; Miranda resides in Columbus, Ohio; the third child died in infancy; Lydia resides in Grand Ledge; Adrian is deceased; George was a member of the Eighth Michigan Volunteer Infantry during the civil war and died a few years after its close; Samuel, deceased; and Mrs Eldred is the youngest of the children living. Of the four children of Mr. and Mrs. John A. Eldred three are living: Nathaniel, who was born November 28, 1869, died May 1, 1890 in Sunfield township, hving been killed on the railroad; Luella, who was born February 4, 1873, is the wife of Seymore Smith, of Sunfield township, and they have one child Goldie; Irena, who was born May 17, 1876, is the wife of John Springett, of Sunfield, and they have two children, Harold and Sylvia; Samuel B., who was born September 9, 1878 remains at the parental home. Corrections to the above information. Nathaniel Eldred, father of Parmelia came to Oneida township with his second wife Mercy (Peabody) Mitchell Eldred. His first wife, Phebe (Lent) Eldred died April 17, 1847 in Russia Twp. Lorain County, Ohio. She died leaving her husband and nine children. The names of those children were Betsey, Wyatt, Miranda, Sophronia, Addin, Lydia, George,Samuel and Parmelia. Their son Addin died in the civil war. He served in the 17th Michigan Infantry, Co. G. He died in Knoxville, Tennessee.