Mathew and Deborah Van Vleck’s biography, Ronald Township, Ionia County, 
Michigan

Copyright © 2000 by Cheryl VanWormer. This copy contributed for use in 
the MIGenWeb Archives.  

 

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				MATHEW AND DEBORAH (NORTH) VAN VLECK.

	Mathew Van Vleck, the second in a family of eight children, 
was born in Ulster Co., N. Y., May 18, 1794.  His parents, John 
and Sarah Van Vleck, were natives of the same State.  Upon the 
death of his father the care of the family devolved upon the 
widowed mother.  Oct. 10m 1816, when Mathew had arrived at the 
age of twenty-two years, he married Miss Deborah North, who was 
born in Ulster Co., N. Y., Jan. 15, 1797, and soon afterwards the 
couple settled in that county.  A few years later they removed to 
Delaware, and in 1838 they came to Michigan and settled on three 
hundred and twenty acres of land in Ionia (now Roland) township, 
Ionia Co., which had been purchased in 1837.  The journey 
occupied fourteen days' time from Detroit, ox-teams being 
employed and roads having to be cut in places.  At that time 
there were but two families in the township.
	To Mr. and Mrs. Van Vleck were born five children, as 
follows:  John, Feb. 26, 1818; Catherine, Nov. 10, 1819; Sarah, 
April 22, 1822; Peter, Oct. 22, 1824; Albert, Oct. 1, 1826.  Mr. 
Van Vleck lived to see the wilderness in which he had settled 
changed to fine, fruitful farms, and his children settled all 
around and within sight of him.  The first death in the family 
was that of Mr. Van Vleck, which occurred April 24, 1880, and in 
July of the same year the death of the oldest son, John, 
occurred.  Mr. Van Vleck made farming a business until 1854, when 
he retired from active labor and turned the care of the farm over 
to his youngest son, Albert.  He remained upon the old homestead 
until his death, his only removal during his life in Michigan 
being "out of the old house into the new,"--from the log cabin to 
the more tasty frame dwelling.  His widow still resides on the 
old place.  Mr. Van Vleck voted for Andrew Jackson for President, 
and was subsequently a Whig and a Republican.  For a number of 
years he held the position of supervisor in his township, and was 
also the recipient of numerous smaller official favors.  Both 
himself and his wife were members of the Baptist Church, and in 
church affairs he always took much interest.  He was greatly 
respected for his manly character and his generous qualities of 
heart, especially by those in inferior circumstances who partook 
of his bounty.  His early educational advantages were those of 
the common schools of the time, and were somewhat limited.  His 
memory and all his mental faculties were retained until the last, 
which, considering his age (eighty-six years), was a matter of 
wonder to many.  His life had been an even one, and he passed 
away quietly as he had lived.  His father was both a farmer and a 
tanner.



This biography is taken from "HISTORY OF IONIA AND MONTCALM 
COUNTIES, MICHIGAN" by John S. Schenck. Philadelphia:  D. W. 
Ensign & Co., 1881. Facing page 344.  Ronald.