************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/mi/mifiles.htm ************************************************ Submitted by Cheryl VanWormer HON. WALTER YEOMANS. MRS. JANE (HERRICK) YEOMANS. The Hon. Walter Yeomans, former state senator from this district, a well-know and substantial retired farmer of this county and a former banker, who has been successfully engaged in the real-estate and loan business in Ionia since 1893, one of the best-known and most progressive business men in this part of the state, is a native son of Ionia county, having been born on a pioneer farm within a mile of where he now lives in Ionia, February 13, 1848, son of the Hon. Sanford A. and Abigail (Thompson) Yeomans, early settlers of this county, the former of whom came here with his parents, Erastus Yeomans and wife, when sixteen years old, from New York state, a member of the Dexter colony which settled in the center of the county in 1833, and thus became the nucleus around which presently gathered the settlement which gradually grew into the now flourishing city of Ionia. Erastus Yeomans was the first postmaster of the village and one f the first associate judges of the county, for many years taking a prominent part in the affairs incident to the development of this now well-established and thriving commonwealth. His son, Sanford A., became equally prominent in his day and was useful in many ways in giving proper formation to the growing community. He was an extensive landowner, served the district for two terms in the lower house of the state Legislature and was a member of the convention called to revise the Constitution of the state of Michigan. In a biographical sketch presented elsewhere in this volume, relating to Erastus T. Yeomans, veteran druggist at Ionia, elder brother of the subject of this sketch, there is set out a full history of this interesting family in this county, to which the attention of the reader is called. Judge Erastus Yeomans was a fifer in the company of Captain Morgan, in Major Shoemaker's Battalion, New York Militia, during the War of 1812, and nearly twenty years after locating in this county received from the government a patent assigning him a tract of land in Easton township, this county, as a reward for such service. That patent, which was signed by Millard Fillmore, President of the United States, date of November 10, 1851, is now in the possession of Judge Yeomans' grandson, Walter Yeomans, the subject of this sketch. Walter Yeomans was reared on the home farm in the outskirts of the growing village of Ionia, attending the district school and the Ionia high school. He married when he was twenty years of age and his father gave him a quarter of a section of unimproved land in Ronald township, this county, where he established his home and proceeded to clear and develop the farm. It was not long until Mr. Yeomans began to be recognized as one of the most progressive and enterprising farmers of his neighborhood and he prospered from the very beginning of his farming venture. He also from the very start gave his close attention to the civic affairs of the community and during his long residence in Ronald township held various township offices, having been supervisor, highway commissioner, member of the township board and justice of the peace. He was also deeply interested in the wider political affairs of the county and the state and was elected to represent this district in the upper house of the Michigan General Assembly, his service in the Senate proving so satisfactory to his constituents that he was re-elected and thus served two terms, rendering valuable service in behalf of the public. In 1893 Senator Yeomans retired from the farm, turning the same over to the direction of his eldest son, and moved to Ionia, where he ever since has been engaged in the loan and real-estate business. In addition to his extensive farming interests and political connection, Senator Yeomans also took an interest in various other forms of enterprise and for some time was a director and vice-president of the First National Bank of Ionia, of which his father was president at one time. On July 2, 1868, Walter Yeomans was united in marriage to Jane Herrick, who was born near the town of LaGrange, in Lorain county, Ohio, December 22, 1847, daughter of Harlow and Laura Ann (Briggs) Herrick, the former a native of New York state, born near Watertown, and the latter of Massachusetts, early settlers in Ohio, who came to Michigan in 1865, settling in Ionia county, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Harlow Herrick, who became one of this county's best known citizens, died on May 31, 1891, then being nearly ninety years of age. His widow lived to the great age of ninety-three years, her death occurring on February 10, 1898. They were the parents of ten children, Helen, Rollin, Harriet, Daniel, Oscar, Ann, Byron, Henry, Eliza and Jane. Harlow Herrick was the son of Amasa and Polly (Robinson) Herrick, natives of New York state who were the parents of ten children, Timothy, Electa, Elias, Fannie, Philo, Laura, Amanda, Harlow, Dwight and Axie. His wife, Laura Ann Briggs, was the daughter of Ezra and Polly (Jones) Briggs, natives of Massachusetts, the former of whom was a sea captain, as his father before him had been, parents of eleven children, Sallie, Malinda, Fannie, Polly, Abigail, Laura Ann, Ardelia, Andrus, Isaiah, Allen, and one who died in infancy. To Walter and Jane (Herrick) Yeomans have been born four children, Byron A., Eugene W., Leroy C. and Pearl A. Byron A. Yeomans was graduated from the Ionia high school and for several terms was engaged as a school teacher. since 1893 he has been manager of the home farm in Ronald township, though he lives in town, his home lying adjacent to his father's home at 910 West Main street in Ionia, the old Thomas Cornell mansion, erected in 1855, but since largely remodeled by Senator Yeomans. Byron A. Yeomans married, December 10, 1890, Fannie McCarty, to which union three children have been born, Alfreda V., Walter J. and Roy Gene. Eugene W. Yeomans, who is now located at Boise, Idaho, where he is extensively engaged in the live-stock and real-estate business, married Alice B. Branstetter on July 11, 19095, and has three children, Walter Eugene, Mary Charlotte and Clay H. LeRoy C. Yeomans married Cecile Lenoir, a young French woman, on February 21, 1899, and is now living at Newark, New Jersey, where he is engaged as a traveling theatrical manager. Pearl A. Yeomans married Lucius Babcock, of El Reno, Oklahoma, and has five children, Sanford Walter, Lucy Ann, Mary Jane, Lucius and Herrick. 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 48-50. (Also contained within these pages of this book is a picture of Hon. Walter Yeomans.