Ionia County MI Archives Obituaries.....Tower, Prudence Dexter 1905
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Andrew MacLaney amaclaney@hotmail.com April 28, 2010, 6:44 pm

Ionia Co. MIGenWeb
The Grand Rapids Evening Press
Monday, March 6, 1905 
LAST OF THE BAND
Mrs. D. F. Tower, Pioneer, Has Passed Away.
CAME IN INDIAN DAYS
With First of the Grand River Valley Settlers.

Journeyed Through the Wilderness to Ionia and Thence to Grand Rapids
Mrs. D. F. Tower, the last member of the original party which settled the Grand
River Valley almost seventy-two years ago, died last night at her home, 531
Jefferson avenue, after an illness of some three weeks duration. Mrs. Tower was
nearly 83 years of age.

The deceased, prior to her marriage to William Dallas in 1839, was Prudence
Dexter. She was born in Herkimer, N. Y., April 22, 1822, and was one of the
party that started from that place under the leadership of her father, in April,
1833. The party consisted of sixty-three persons, and the trip was made to
eastern Michigan by canal boat and sailing vessel on the lakes. From Pontiac to
Ionia, the party worked its way through an unbroken wilderness.
First Stopped at Ionia.

The Dexters settled what is now Ionia, and called it Washington Center. They
found an Indian settlement at the place, and were forced to purchase the
Indians' crops in order to secure possession peaceably. For some time, those of
the party who did not come on to Grand Rapids lived in wigwams left by the
Indians. A portion of the original party came on to Grand Rapids, where they
found just two white men, Louis Campau and a missionary named Slater.
One son, John Dallas of San Francisco, was born to Mrs. Tower by her first
marriage, and survives her. William Dallas died some three years after the
wedding, and the widow married Daniel F. Tower in 1847, and came with him to
Grand Rapids. Mrs. Tower's father had taken up land in Grand Rapids, and Fulton
Street park of today ocupies a portion of the original Dexter estate. The
homestead occupied by Mrs. Tower stood on about the site of the present
government building.

Daniel F. Tower died in 1880 and since then, Mrs. Tower made her home with her
children. They are Daniel W. Tower, president of the Grand Rapids Brass company,
Elizabeth and Belle M. Tower.

Mrs. Tower went peacefully to sleep last Monday evening, and from that time
until her death was unconscious.

The funeral will be held tomorrow afternoon at 3 o'clock from the house. The
Rev. J. Herman Randall will officiate. Friends of the family and members of the
Old Settlers' Association are particularly invited to be present.


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