Ionia County MI Archives Obituaries.....Roof, Adam L. January 1885 ************************************************ 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: Marilyn Ransom mlnransom@chartermi.net July 15, 2010, 3:38 pm The Ionia Standard, Wednesday, January 28, 1885 The Hon. Adam L. Roof, one of the early pioneers of this county, died at his home in Lyons, Last Monday Morning, of typhoid pneumonia at the age of 74. Mr. Roof had held the office of register of deeds, been elected to the legislature and judge of probate, and has always been held in high esteem by his neighbors and friends. The Ionia Standard, Friday, January 30, 1885 Hon. A. L. Roof, of Lyons, died Monday morning at two o’clock of typhoid pneumonia. He had not been sick long, and his illness was not considered dangerous until Sunday morning, from which time he became rapidly worse until death occurred. Mr. Roof was born in Canajoharie, N.Y., in 1810, and was nearly seventy-five years of age at the time of his death. He was admitted to the bar in January 1836, and in September of the same year came to Lyons, Mich., where he has since resided. On his arrival, he entered a law partnership with A. F. Bell, which continued until 1840. I t was during this period that the memorable contests occurred between Ionia and Lyons for the county seat and commercial supremacy. The two towns were known at the “upper” and “lower diggins.” In 1837 he was elected register of deeds on the “upper diggins” ticket. In 1840 he entered a partnership with John C. Blanchard, which continued until 1859. In 1844 he was elected representative to the state legislature on the Democratic ticket, and he also held the office of judge of probate for four years. Mr. Roof was a Jeffersonian Democrat, and a Lyons man, always in all local contests. He was a man of many and varied accomplishments, and no man in Ionia county possessed a wider acquaintance or was more favorably known than Mr. Roof. He retired from active law practice some twenty years ago, and has of late years lived quietly at Lyons. A Friendly Tribute: The following Letter was prepared for The Lyons Herald at the request of the editor of that paper. Through the courtesy of Mr. Blanchard we are permitted to publish it this week: Ionia, Mich., January 29, 1885 D. A. Reynolds, Esq., Publisher of Lyons Herald: Dear Sir – Yours of 27th inst. is before me. Anything I can do to “add one more flower to the honored grave of Hon. A. L. Roof” is most cheerfully accorded. His general history you will find in a work entitled “Representative men of Michigan” and to which I could perhaps add nothing, yet I desire to say a few words in regard to Adam L. Roof as I knew him. In April, A.D. 1837, I first saw Hon. A. L. Roof at Lyons. I was then in my 15th year, having reached Lyons in company with a surveying party. I was ragged and poor, afoot and alone, as you might say, and among strangers in the Grand River Valley. At the suggestion of Mr. Roof and his partner, Hon. A. F. Bell, I shared the hospitality of their office which was at that time a sort of general headquarters for young men, among whom I well remember Horace Catlin, F. Hall, Dr. John R. Jewett, John Montray, Andrew Hance, Daniel G. Moon, John McKelvey, Dock Everson, John Segar, all much older than myself. Mr. Roof by his uniform kindness and staidness mingled with good judgment and discretion was by common consent denominated “Father Adam” and to him we all looked for counsel and advice which was ever fully and cheerfully given. I soon became very much attached to Roof & Bell by their kindness and manifestation of interest in my behalf. I soon learned to not only respect but even to love them, and upon their solicitation on the 31st of December 1839, when 17 years of age, I entered their office as a student at law. In 1840 Mr. Bell withdrew from the partnership, removing to Ionia. I finished my course of three years with Mr. Roof and upon my admission to the bar he generously proposed a partnership for three years which I readily accepted. During these six years, three as a student and three as a partner, I am happy to say the most pleasant relations existed between us. It would be impossible for me here to enumerate or relate the thousand and one pleasing incidents and events which occurred in our lives. By day and by night together we traversed our fields of labor over the counties of Clinton and Ionia and occasionally into Shiawassee, Ingham, Eaton, Barry and Kent, Montcalm and Gratiot being then a wilderness, on our pettifogging excursions, as much of our practice in those days was in justice courts—circuit court being held in those counties but twice a year. In the counties of Clinton and Ionia Mr. Roof was the leading practitioner. Many a hard fought legal battle we had, and Mr. Roof by his good , sound judgment, clear legal mind, and close application, justly earned the appellation given him by Judge Whipple as the “Lion of the north.” During these six years, especially, and many which followed, I venture to say no man possessed better facilities for learning and knowing Adam L. Roof than myself, and with pride and pleasure I affirm I never knew him to perform a mean act or sanction it in others. Noble, genial and kind in his nature, frugal, temperate and industrious in all his habits, generous and liberal in all public and charitable enterprises, a kind husband and good father, had he faults (incident to all humanity), they were like angel visits, few and far between. The man that knew him best loved him most. To me he was as a father. To his habits of industry and economy his admonitions and advice during the years I was with him I owe much for my success in life. With gratitude and love shall I ever cherish the memory of Hon. Adam L. Roof. Respectfully yours, J. C. Blanchard File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mi/ionia/obits/r/roof7014nob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/mifiles/ File size: 6.2 Kb