My Genealogy Hound

ABRAM YATES. For more than thirty years this gentleman has conducted agricultural pursuits upon his farm in Berrien County, and has a host of warm personal friends among the people of his community. His farm consists of three hundred and ten acres and is pleasantly located on sections 1, 2, 11 and 12 Watervliet Township. At the time of locating here, in 1859, he purchased only seventy acres, but as time passed by and as his exertions were rewarded with success, he was enabled to add to his landed possessions until they aggregate the amount above named. He has cleared and cultivated about seventy acres of the property, and has erected a number of first-class farm buildings, adapted to their various purposes and considerably enhancing the value of the place.

The son of Abram and Elizabeth (Devoe) Yates, the subject of this notice was born in the village of Schaghticoke, Rensselaer County, N. Y., October 3, 1825. He traces his ancestry to Holland, whence members of the family emigrated to the United States in an early day. Great-grandfather Peter Yates was a Colonel in the Revolutionary War and afterward settled where the grandfather, father of our subject and our subject himself were all born. Jacob Yates was born in Rensselaer County, N. Y., and married there, becoming the father of six children: Peter, Cornelius, Christopher, Abram, Maria and Sarah.

The father of our subject spent his entire life upon the farm where he was born. He died in 1837, at the early age of thirty-nine, leaving his widow and eight children: Maria; John; Jacob, deceased; William, who died in Montcalm County, Mich.; Abram; Henry, of Rochester, N. Y.; Augustus, who also resides in Rochester; and Charles. Our subject’s mother was a second time married, becoming the wife of Christopher Yates, and they became the parents of one daughter, Sarah, a resident of New Jersey.

After completing his schooling, at the age of fifteen our subject began to make his own way in the world, and for ten years worked in the employ of others. Later he resided for five years in Monroe County, N. Y. In April, 1854, he came to Michigan and located near Hartford, where he purchased eighty acres, and resided there a number of years, engaging in its improvement and cultivation. As above stated, he came to his present farm in 1859 and has since made his home here. He has accumulated a large amount of this world’s goods through his industrious efforts and excellent management, and is entitled to a foremost position among the agriculturists of the county. In former years he affiliated with the Whigs, and now gives his support to the Democratic party. Socially, he takes considerable interest in the Masonic fraternity, of which he is an active member.

The lady who became the wife of our subject on the 16th of February, 1854, bore the maiden name of Eliza M. Wooden, and was born in Chili, Monroe County, N. Y., on Christmas Day, 1834. Her father, James Wooden, was born in Geneva County, N. Y., in December, 1801; and her mother, Sophia (Beaman) Wooden, was born in Windsor County, Vt., being the daughter of Joshua Beaman, a native of Massachusetts, who died in Franklin County, N. Y. James Wooden engaged in agricultural pursuits in Monroe County, N. Y., where his death occurred on the 12th of November, 1890. He was twice married, his first union being with Eliza Gates. Of his second marriage ten children, eight living, were born: Eliza, Julia, Emily, Lodawick, Matilda, Laura, Charles and Loretta. The mother of these children died March 29, 1880.

The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Yates was William Wooden, who was born in Newburg, N.Y., April 1, 1780. His wife, Sarah Widner, at the age of sixteen came to Senaca, Ontario County, N. Y. They settled in Chili, N. Y., where Grandfather Wooden passed away. They were the parents of four sons and nine daughters. The paternal great-grandfather, James Wooden, was a native of England and the first representative of the family in the United States. One of Mrs. Yates’ brothers, Fernando C. Wooden, enlisted in the Union army, becoming a member of Company B, Thirty-fifth Iowa Infantry, and died at Cairo, Ill., while in active service. Lodawick, another brother, enlisted from Rochester, N. Y. He was a sharpshooter and lost his legs in the service. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Yates were born five children, of whom three are living: Edson A., Charles D. and Edith M. The others died in infancy.