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Submitted by Cheryl VanWormer 

				ERASTUS T. AND ABBIE (NORTHROP) YEOMANS

	Erastus T. Yeomans, veteran druggist at Ionia and for many years one of the most 
prominent and progressive men of affairs in that city, is a native son of this county, having 
been born on a homestead farm in Easton township, June 11, 1842, son of Sanford A. and Abigail 
(Thompson) Yeomans, pioneers of that section, the former of whom for many years was one of the 
leading men in this county, a member of the state constitutional convention, for several years a 
member of the state Legislature and in all ways actively interested in the best development of 
this region.
	The Hon. Sanford A. Yeomans was one of the earliest settlers in Ionia county.  He was 
born in German Flats, Herkimer county, New York, son of Erastus and Phoebe (Arnold) Yeomans, the 
former a native of Connecticut and the latter of Rhode Island.  Erastus Yeomans was a fife major 
in Captain Morgan's company, Major Shoemaker's Battalion, during the War of 1812, and after his 
service in that war resumed his place on the farm of his parents, Daniel and Esther Yeomans in 
Connecticut, and became a skillful farmer.  He married Phoebe Arnold and in 1833 he and his 
family joined the colony, headed by Samuel Dexter, which settled in Ionia county in 1833, thus 
becoming among the very earliest residents of this section of Michigan.  Samuel Dexter had 
entered a large tract of land in the central part of this county and this land was apportioned 
among the colonists who accompanied him from the East, Erastus Yeomans' tract being located at a 
point a quarter of a mile west of the present site of the armory in the city of Ionia.
	Upon arriving here the Dexter colonists made a friendly compact with the Indians, who 
then had a village at that point, and bought the corn and the wigwams of the Indians, the 
settlers living in the Indian wigwams until they could erect log cabins in the wilderness.  They 
straightaway began to clear the land and improve their farms and it was not long until a 
flourishing village was under way, the beginning of the present thriving city of Ionia.  Erastus 
Yeomans, from the very start, was one of the leaders of the colony.  He was an unusually skillful
ascribe, writing a hand of such beautiful regularity that it might easily be mistaken for 
copper-plate script, and naturally became the first village clerk.  When the postoffice was 
established he was made postmaster, receiving his commission from President Jackson, and upon the
formal organization of the county was elected one of the two associate judges, a position of 
honor and responsibility which he held for two terms, eight years, and in which he was able to 
exert a profound influence for good in the formative period of this now well-established and 
prosperous community.  Erastus Yeomans held various other offices of public trust and to the end 
of his days was regarded as a leader in the community life hereabout.  He lived to the great age 
of ninety-two years, a faithful counsellor to the end.  His wife had died in her sixty-fifth year.
They were the parents of nine children, Sanford A., Amanda, Maria, Alanson, Hiram, Emily, Mary, 
Harriet and one who died in early youth.
	Sanford A. Yeoman, eldest son of the pioneer, Erastus Yeomans, was sixteen years old when
he came to this county with his parents and the other Dexter colonists and he spent the remainder
of his life here, in his turn becoming a substantial and useful member of the community.  One of 
the great tasks upon which he engaged was that of helping cut the road through the forest from 
Jackson to Ionia.  His father gave him a "forty" about a mile northwest of the homestead, which 
he proceeded to clear and upon his marriage established his home there.  Sanford A. Yeomans 
married Abigail Thompson, who was born in Bennington county, Vermont, daughter of Levi and Miriam
(Kimball) Thompson, both natives of that state, the former of Scottish descent and the latter of 
Irish descent, farming people, who spent their lives in Vermont, Levi Thompson dying at the age 
of eighty and his wife at the age of forty.  Abigail Thompson was one of the five children of her
parents who grew to maturity, the others having been Nelson, Sylvester, Francina and Olive.  To 
Sanford A. and Abigail (Thompson) Yeomans three children were born, Olive M., now deceased, who 
was the wife of William J. Just; Walter, of Ionia, a biographical sketch of whom is presented 
elsewhere in this volume, and Erastus T., the immediate subject of this biographical sketch.  The
mother of these children died when she was twenty-five years of age and Sanford A. Yeomans 
married, secondly, Marietta A. Stebbins, a native of New England, and to this second union there 
were born a number of children, three of whom, Willard, Frank and Edwin S., grew to maturity.
	After his marriage Sanford A. Yeomans continued diligently to improve his farm and as he 
prospered added to the same until he became the owner of four hundred and thirty acres in that 
section and was generally recognized as one of the most substantial farmers and men of affairs in
the county.  He early took an active part in civic affairs, as had his father before him, and was
early elected to the position of township clerk.  He later was township supervisor and for about 
fifteen years was superintendent of the poor.  He was one of the prime movers in the opening up 
of the road known as the Ionia, Houghton and Mackinaw highway.  In the larger political affairs 
of the county he also was active and served very efficiently for two terms as a member of the 
lower house of the Michigan General Assembly.  He also was elected a delegate from this district 
to the convention charged with the duty of revising the early Constitution of the state and in 
that capacity performed excellent service in behalf of the state.  The Hon. Sanford A. Yeomans 
died in 1895, in the eightieth year of his age.  His widow survived him for several years.
	Erastus T. Yeomans was reared on the pioneer farm of his father in Ionia township and 
received his early education in the little school house in the neighborhood of his home.  To the 
rudiments of an education he there received he has constantly and consistently added by close 
observation and intelligent reading throughout a long and useful life and is regarded as one of 
the best-informed men in the county, his knowledge of general affairs being comprehensive and 
exact.  Naturally Mr. Yeomans is a veritable mine of information on matters relating to the early
history of this county and this information invariably is found to be correct and precise.  When 
the Civil War broke out Erastus T. Yeomans enlisted in the new Third Regiment, Michigan Volunteer
Infantry, and went to the front with the rank of sergeant-major.  He presently was promoted to 
second lieutenant and was honorably discharged with that rank after a service of nine months, 
during which time he had participated in several important engagements, the broken condition of
his health at that time necessitating his resignation of his commission in the army.  Upon 
returning home at the conclusion of his military experience, Mr. Yeomans formed a partnership 
with G. H. McMullen in the drug business at Ionia, under the firm name of G. H. McMullen & 
company, which mutually agreeable partnership continued until the death of the senior member of 
the firm on January 29, 1901, since which time Mr. Yeomans has continued the business alone, his 
thus being the oldest drug store continuously in business in the city of Ionia, its proprietor 
being one of the oldest and best-known merchants in the county.
	On October 8, 1867, Erastus T. Yeomans was united in marriage to Abbie Northrop, who was 
born in Lavonia, Livingston county, New York, daughter of Anderson and Abigail (Blake) Northrop, 
natives of New York state, who spent all their lives there.  Abigail Blake was the daughter of 
Judge Blake, of the Livingston county court, for many years one of the most prominent men in that
section of the state.
	To Erastus T. and Abbie (Northrop) Yeomans two children have been born, Mary, who married
Dr. W. C. Marsh, of Albion, this state, and has two children, Frances and Josephine; and Phoebe, 
who married Fred W. Peck, of Troy, New York, now residing at Orange, New Jersey, and has one 
child, a son, Yeoman A.  Mrs. Yeomans is an earnest member of the Presbyterian church and she and 
her husband for years have been regarded as among the leaders in local good works, ever being 
interested in such movements as are designed to advance the common welfare hereabout.  Mr. 
Yeomans is a Republican and served as a member of the city board of education for about eight 
years.  He is a member of William Borden Post, Grand Army of the Republic, Department of 
Michigan, in the affairs of which he has for years taken a warm interest.  He is also a member of
the Sons of the American Revolution and his wife is a member of the Daughters of the American 
Revolution.  The Yeomans have a magnificent home at 322 West Washington street, on an eminence 
overlooking the city of Ionia and commanding a wonderfully fine view of the whole city and the 
country thereabout.  Much attention has been paid to the work of beautifying the grounds 
surrounding the Yeomans home and the place is one of the most attractive in this part of the 
state.



This biography is taken from "HISTORY OF IONIA COUNTY, MICHIGAN: 
HER PEOPLE, INDUSTRIES AND INSTITUTIONS" by Rev. E. E. Branch.  Vol. II.  Indianapolis, Indiana:
B. F. Bowen & Company, Inc., 1916.  Pages 285-288.