Ionia County MI Archives Obituaries.....Lincoln, William B., Dr. 1882
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Andrew MacLaney amaclaney@hotmail.com April 28, 2010, 5:22 pm

Ionia Co. MIGenWeb
The Ionia [Weekly] Standard
Friday, June 16, 1882 
DEATH OF DR. LINCOLN.

Dr. William B. Lincoln died at his home in this city last Monday morning at 1
o'clock, in the 75th year of his age. He had been ill for some time, and his
death was not unexpected. Funeral took place from the house on Wednesday, at 10
o'clock a. m.

Dr. Lincoln was born in Peru, Bennington county, Vermont, December 29, 1807. He
was one of nine children and his father was a farmer. When a young man he taught
school in the winter and worked on his father's farm in the summer. He studied
medicine in the office of Dr. Abraham Lowell, of Chester, Vermont, and at the
age of 25 graduated from the clinical school of medicine in Chester, Vt. In the
spring of 1833 he set out on horseback on a prospecting tour through western New
York, and coming to Herkimer learned of the formation of the Dexter colony,
whose destination was Ionia county, Michigan: and visiting Mr. Dexter at his
home in Schuyler, the young man decided to go west with him. They left Utica
April 25, and arrived in Ionia, May 28 being one month and three days on the
road. Arriving here after a journey through an unbroken wilderness extending
from Jackson to the Grand river valley, the doctor decided to cast in his lot
with the new colony. Coming here thus as one of the pioneers, he has made Ionia
his home from that time to this. All old settlers will remember his pleasant
home, where he lived so many years, just at the forks of the road south of Grand
river. For several years he was the only physician in this region, and
frequently traveled into adjoining counties, a distance of 40 miles on
horseback. Often it was necessary to ford Grand river, and in the winter when
the stream could not be crossed with a horse, he at times went on foot from 30
to 40 miles to visit the sick. He engaged in farming at times; also in the drug
business. In 1834 he built the first frame home in Ionia county, which we
believe still stands on the original site. In 1837 he married Anthy P. Arnold,
daughter of one of the Dexter pioneers, Oliver Arnold. They were the first
couple married in Ionia county; he was the first clerk of Ionia township, which
then embraced the whole county; the first township meeting being held at the
German Indian trading station, 6 miles up the river from the then village of
Ionia. He was a whig until the republican party was formed, since that a
republican; has been an active member of the Baptist church here since its
organization, and was for many years trustee and deacon. The members of the
family of the deceased who survive him, are his wife and four children, three
daughters and one son, viz.: Mrs. V. S. Eastman, Mrs. H. B. Barnes, Mrs. Geo. W.
Nelles and William T. Lincoln. Dr. Lincoln has thus passed the best part of his
life in this vicinity, and from first to last he always had the confidence and
esteem of all who knew him--and that includes the entire community. He was
always a kind husband and father, a good citizen, exemplary in his daily life, a
man of piety and a man of his word. His name, like that of the late Dr. Cornell,
is a household word throughout Ionia county.

The Ionia Daily Sentinel
Monday, June 12, 1882 
DEATH OF DR. LINCOLN.

Dr. William B. Lincoln died at his home in this city this Monday morning at 1
o'clock, in the 75th year of his age. He had been ill for some time and his
death was not unexpected. Funeral from the house on Wednesday, at 10 o'clock a. m.

Dr. Lincoln was born in Peru, Bennington county, Vermont, December 29, 1807. He
was one of nine children and his father was a farmer. When a young man he taught
school in the winter and worked on his father's farm in the summer. He studied
medicine in the office of Dr. Abraham Lowell, of Chester, Vermont, and at the
age of 25 graduated from the clinical school of medicine in Chester, Vt. In the
spring of 1833 he set out on horseback on a prospecting tour through western New
York, and coming to Herkimer learned of the formation of the Dexter colony,
whose destination was Ionia county, Michigan: and visiting Mr. Dexter at his
home in Schuyler, the young man decided to go west with him. They left Utica
April 25, and arrived in Ionia, May 28 being one month and three days on the
road. Arriving here after a journey through an unbroken wilderness extending
from Jackson to the Grand river valley, the doctor decided to cast in his lot
with the new colony. Coming here thus as one of the pioneers, he has made Ionia
his home from that time to this. All old settlers will remember his pleasant
home, where he lived so many years, just at the forks of the road south of Grand
river. For several years he was the only physician in this region, and
frequently traveled into adjoining counties, a distance of 40 miles on
horseback. Often it was necessary to ford Grand river, and in the winter when
the stream could not be crossed with a horse, he at times went on foot from 30
to 40 miles to visit the sick. He engaged in farming at times; also in the drug
business. In 1834 he built the first frame home in Ionia county, which we
believe still stands on the original site. In 1837 he married Anthy P. Arnold,
daughter of one of the Dexter pioneers, Oliver Arnold. They were the first
couple married in Ionia county; he was the first clerk of Ionia township, which
then embraced the whole county; the first township meeting being held at the
German Indian trading station, 6 miles up the river from the then village of
Ionia. He was a whig until the republican party was formed, since that a
republican; has been an active member of the Baptist church here since its
organization, and was for many years trustee and deacon. The members of the
family of the deceased who survive him, are his wife and four children, three
daughters and one son, viz.: Mrs. V. S. Eastman, Mrs. H. B. Barnes, Mrs. Geo. W.
Nelles and William T. Lincoln. Dr. Lincoln has thus passed the best part of his
life in this vicinity, and from first to last he always had the confidence and
esteem of all who knew him--and that includes the entire community. He was
always a kind husband and father, a good citizen, exemplary in his daily life, a
man of piety and a man of his word. His name, like that of the late Dr. Cornell,
is a household word throughout Ionia county. His funeral will be at 10 o'clock
a. m. on Wednesday.



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