Ionia County MI Archives Obituaries.....Kelsey, Alexander Frink 1898 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/mi/mifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Sandy Heintzelman sheintz@iserv.net January 7, 2011, 9:43 pm Ionia Daily Sentinel, 4 Jan 1898 In the early morning hours of Dec. 31st, the citizens of Ionia were pained by the announcement that the Old Year would bear in his arms to the silent land, the spirit of Alexander Frink Kelsey. Long months of illness had told only too surely that his mortal career was drawing to a close, still, death came as it always comes, as a surprise and a shock. Deceased was born Dec. 12th 1827, in the town of Rush, Monroe County, N. Y. He was the eldest son of Hon. Levi W. and Laura A. Kelsey. He had barely attained his majority when he was chosen to serve his township in public positions, and it is only justice to him to say, that he never knew personal fear in the discharge of his duties. He was a man of marked characteristics: warm hearted, frank and impulsive; always ready to do battle for a friend, and outspoken in his denunciation of men or measures that met his disapproval. He was possessed of unusual energy and fine business ability. In 1849 he was married to Marianna Burke Pierce, second daughter of Hon. John Pierce, of Rush, N. Y. In 1854 he buried his young wife. Previous to her death he had engaged in railroad work, and he continued in this employment for many years, first as station agent, then as conductor, on the Canandaigua & Niagara Falls road, and later on the Catawissa road in Pennsylvania. He was afterwards a heavy contractor in the building of a railroad in Tennessee, of which, when completed, he was made superintendent. He became engaged in the cotton trade, and eventually grew cotton on a plantation in Arkansas. During the war he secured a permit from the government to trade in cotton with the Confederates, and while so employed, his boat was captured and burned by the Confederates, and he was marched two hundred and fifty miles to Vicksburg, where he was imprisoned for three months. He was released on parole, and then engaged in mercantile business in Memphis, Tenn., where he remained until 1868, when he settled on his farm in Berlin, three miles south of this city, which he had purchased several years previous. He has been a resident of this city for five years, but his interest in his farm never abated. He was deeply interested in the progress of agriculture. He served as president of the Ionia County Agricultural Society, and was one of the promoters and superintendents of the Western Michigan Fair. He was a stockholder and officer in the Ionia County Savings Bank from the time of its organization until his death. He belonged to the Masonic order, and had attained to the templar degree in the commandery. In 1866 he was married to Narcissa Bisell, of Harrisburg, Penn., second daughter of Levi and Susan Bisell, and niece of Robert MacKay of Baltimore, of the late Prof. Chas. MacKay, former president of Columbia College, South, Carolina, and of Judge Kent MacKay, of Georgia. Three children blessed this union, Katy Hoyt, Josephine Bissel, and Fred Hall. Josephine alone survives to comfort her widowed mother. An adopted daughter, Margaret Wilson, has from early childhood been a beloved member of their family circle. He left one brother, E. P. Kelsey, and one sister, Mrs. Wm. B. Taylor, to mourn his death. The funeral was attended from his late residence at half-past one on Monday. The Episcopal burial service was read by the Rev. Dr. Thomas. The floral offerings were very beautiful, conspicuous among which were a Maltese cross presented by the Knights Templar, and a wreath sent by the officers of the Ionia County Savings Bank. The banks in the city were closed during the services. The friends from out of town were Dr. Chauncey Barber, William Barber, Frank Hoyt and Miss Annette Hoyt, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Pennell, Hon. E. H. Davis and Miss Jennie Mathews. The pall-bearers were: Dr. Barber, Dick K. Taylor, John Taylor, Frank Hoyt, Edwin Pennell and T. Mortimer Loomis. The interment was in the Balcom cemetery. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mi/ionia/obits/k/kelsey10549nob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/mifiles/ File size: 4.5 Kb