Livingston-Oakland County MI Archives Biographies.....VanDercook, William H. October 27, 1836 - 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Karen Isaacson karen@mtpinos.com September 12, 2008, 6:44 pm

Author: Portrait and Biographical Album of Ingham and Livingston Counties, Michigan, 1891

The honorable lineage of our subject is a matter of just pride in the family as
his grandfather was the William H. VanDercook who came from Holland with his
father, William, in the Colonial days, when the father became notable as a
participant in the Revolutionary conflict. The parents of our subject were Isaac
and Abigail (Haze) VanDercook, and their son, our subject, was born in Green
Oak, Oakland County, Mich., October 27, 1836, and in time he became a farmer of
Cohactah Township, Livingston County.

The grandfather of our subject was a farmer in Monroe County, N.Y., and his
large family, John, Young, William, Isaac, Michael, Alfred, Lester, Susan,
Catherine, Huldah and Phoebe, all grew to years of maturity. The father of this
numerous househould came from New York to Michigan in the early pioneer times,
settling in Sumter, Wayne County, about the year 1825, where he has died since
the days of the Civil War, and his wife survived him for several years.

The father of our subject, who was born in Monroe County, N.Y., came to Michigan
with his parents and removed to Oakland County about 1832, but on the 10th of
April, 1838, he located in Livingston County, making his home upon two hundred
acres of land on sections 35 and 36, in Cohoctah Township. Here he has become a
well-known and important citizen, and besides the office of Justice of the
Peace, he has filled numerous local offices. His wife died March 24, 1886,
having been the mother of nine children, seen of whom he saw grow to years of
maturity, namely: Cornelia, Sarah, Esther, William, Lyman, Lorenzo and Alfred.

He of whom we write carried out the patriotic record of his family by enlisting
in Company K, Twenty-first Michigan Regiment, and his brother Lyman enlisted in
the same regiment as wagonmaster, while Lorenzo was a private in the same
company. The father of these sons took part in the war which was waged many
years ago between Ohio and Michigan, and he was identified with the Free and
Accepted Masons. The original of this sketch had his early training upon the
farm, and received the ordinary education which could be obtained in Michigan
during his boyhood. At the age of twenty-two he began life for himself lumbering
in the pine woods, and two years later he married and settled down to cultivate
a farm of sixty-seven acres on Section 1, Howell Township. Here he resided for
five years, and then removed to Oak Grove, where he entered the mercantile
business. In March, 1875, he bought one hundred acres on section 14, Cohoctah
Township, where he has since resided, and upon which he has built a handsome home.

When this young man left his home to engage in work for himself, his father gave
him only $1, and this is the capital, as far as money goes, upon which he has
based his success in life. Rather let us say his capital was his sturdy
strength, his resolution, his willingness to work and his undaunted
perseverance. He at one time owned two farms in the township of Howell, one of
sixty-seven acres and the other of one hundred and five acres, and these he sold
before buying the property where he now resides. He has served as Justice of the
Peace for twelve years. His military service began September 6, 1864, and he
received his honorable discharge at Camp Blair June 5, 1865, after which he
returned to his farm.

The matrimonial alliance into which our subuject entered June 2, 1861, brought
to his home a faithful helpmate in the person of Frances A. Martin, who was bron
in the township of Milford, Oakland County, November 11, 1843. Her parents,
William H. and Nancy (Cooper) Martin, were natives of England and New York,
whence they came to Michigan. The two children of our subject are Nellie, the
wife of Noah F. Richardson, and Clara, who is at home with her parents. The
Order of the Free and Accepted Masons is that with which Mr. VanDercook has
allied himself, and both he and his wife receive expressions of the highest
esteem in the social circles of the township.

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