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Submitted by Cindy Bryant

DELL MABIE



The agricultural element of northern Kent county forms a class
of independent men who have hewed their own way to prosperity
and position and who have in many cases been witnesses of the
entire changes that have so developed this region during the
past half a century.  The list of these men includes Dell Mabie,
of Solon Township, who has been the architect of his own fortune
and who has fairly won the independence and standing that are
now his.  Mr. Mabie was born in Solon Township, Kent county,
Michigan June 24, 1865.  His father, Elias Mabie, was born in
the town of Naples, N.Y., May 15, 1834, and in his native state
followed farming and lumbering for some years.  It was in the
later capacity that he came to Michigan during the early '60s,
but when he had engaged as a lumberman for some years realized
the fertility and productiveness of the land here for
agricultural purposes and accordingly secured a tract of land
from the Government.  The remainder of his life was passed in
the pursuits of the soil, and his farm was developed absolutely
through his own efforts, from the time of the first rude log
cabin in the little clearing until he saw his broad acres
covered with crops and his substantial buildings the abode of
his family and the  shelter of his live-stock and implements. 
He died on the farm which his industry had reclaimed from the
wilderness. Mr. Mabie was unable to serve as a soldier in the
Civil war, but was a warm Union sympathizer and had three
bothers in the army.  Mr. Mabie married Rhoda Rounds, a daughter
of Russell Rounds, one of the early settlers of this region. 
Mrs. Mabie frequently related to her children incidents and
recollections of the early days, when there was only one house
at Cedar Springs and that was built of logs.  At nights the
wolves and panthers would howl around the lonely little cabin,
with its blanketed doors and windows, wild game of all kinds
being plentifully found in Solon Township.  Even the bare
necessities of life were hard to be secured.  Mr. and Mrs. Mabie
were the parents of two children: Charley, born Sept. 29, 1860,
and Dell.  The education of Dell Mabie was somewhat neglected in
his youth, although he attended school at White Creek, in Solon
township.  The greater part of the time that he should have been
at his studies he spent in work at the shingle factory and
following this he entered the woods, where he remained for
nearly a quarter of a century.  He was frugal and careful with
his earnings and eventually came to his present farm in Solon
township, where he has made many improvements.  In the way of
progressiveness he has adopted modern methods of farming, and
his operations yield him a handsome income under his careful and
painstaking management.  Mr. Mabie married Miss Nettie Tuttle,
daughter of Walter and Orpha Tuttle, farming people of this
community.  Mr. Tuttle was a volunteer in the Union army,  at
the outbreak of the Civil War, fought  through that struggle and
eventually returned unharmed to his home.  Mr. and Mrs. Mabie
are the parents of four children: Lowell is unmarried and one of
the energetic farmers of Solon township; Vern is his father's
assistant in the work of the home farm; Roy is also engaged in
assisting his father; and Don is still attending school.  Mr.
Mabie has not been an office seeker, but has served for some
years as school director and holds that position at present.  As
a voter he supports the candidates of the Republican party.



Taken from GRAND RAPIDS and Kent County, Michigan, by Ernest B.
Fisher, Chicago: Robert O.Law, Company 1918, p238-239.