My Genealogy Hound

HIRAM HARWOOD, one of the pioneer settlers of Cass County, Mich., was born in Vermont, in 1792. He grew to manhood in his native State, and was there united in marriage with Miss Sylvia Reed, of Bennington. For some time the husband and wife made their home in western New York, and unto them were born six children, who survived to adult age, and with their parents were numbered among the first settlers of Cass County. In 1831 the Harwoods came with teams via the Erie Canal and Detroit and across the southern part of Michigan to Three Rivers, St. Joseph County, where they remained for six years. During the first winter the family was quartered in a trader’s bark shanty, their table being an old chest, and their scanty meals frequently consisting of nothing but potatoes and salt. In 1837, our subject, with his wife, sons and daughters, removed to Cass County, Mr. Harwood entering land in Newburg Township, and locating upon section 24, where he erected a log cabin on the north bank of what is now known as Corey Lake. The eldest daughter married James Churchill, in Cass County; she and her husband died in Iowa. Nathan and Daniel, the two elder sons, served in the Civil War, enlisting in 1861 and 1864; Sarah died single; Silas was the next in order of birth; and Betsey died soon after her marriage with Perry Redway.

The second son, Daniel R., entered the service of the Government in 1861 and joined the ranks of the Eleventh Michigan Infantry. He remained in active military duty until 1864, when he returned home. He is now a resident of Lincoln, Neb. In that same year Nathan enlisted in the Fourteenth Michigan Light Artillery and served until the close of the war. Nathan Harwood was born in Vermont, in 1821, and was but a young lad when he emigrated to the West. He worked on his father’s farm until he had passed his majority. In 1846 he was married to Miss Diantha Brown, who became the mother of four children: Phineas, Irving, Silas and Linus H., all now residents of Oceana County, Mich. Nathan Harwood has three times entered the bonds of matrimony. After the death of his first wife he was married to Miss Reed, and he made Miss Sarah A. Decker his third wife. One son and six daughters were born of this union. Two of the daughters are deceased. Nathan Harwood owns and manages a fine farm of one hundred and eighteen acres. Politically, he is a Republican, and takes a deep interest in the local and national affairs of the Government, to which he gave faithful service in its hour of need. He and his family are members of the Methodist Protestant Church, and are active workers in the benevolent enterprises of that denomination. He has never been a member of any secret society, but, a public-spirited citizen, has filled official positions of trust, and commands the high regard of all his fellow-townsmen.

Silas Harwood, the youngest son of our subject, was born in 1828, and since 1837 has been a constant resident of Cass County, living all these years on the farm which he yet makes his home. He received a limited education in the nearest district schools, but most frequently pursued his studies by the fireplace at night, after working hard all day on the farm. He was married in 1856 to Miss Nancy L. Denio. Four children blessed the home. Fred, the eldest, is an operator at Howard City; Milo D. was the second child; Edward E. is a prosperous lawyer at Three Rivers; Ida M. is the wife of Mark Rockwell, M. D., Benton Harbor. Dr. Rockwell is a graduate of the University of Ann Arbor, and completed his studies in the medical department. Politically, Silas Harwood is a stalwart Republican, and has occupied with ability various offices, and has long been a prominent citizen of Newburg Township. He served as Justice of the Peace for many years and has also been Supervisor for a number of terms. He held the position of Town Trustee three years, and in the discharge of the various duties assigned to him gave universal satisfaction to his friends and constituents. Fraternally, he is connected with the Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, and is a valued member of the chapter at Three Rivers. When our subject first located in Cass County the family had but very few neighbors, and there were only eight voters at the first political meeting held in the township. Hiram Harwood held the office of Justice of the Peace the greater portion of his life. He was appointed to the position while the State was yet a Territory, and continued in the faithful discharge of the duties almost incessantly up to the day of his death. He was also for many years one of the most efficient Supervisors of the township, and to his efforts local progress and improvements were mainly due. A man of noble and generous nature, yet practical, energetic and enterprising, our subject was especially adapted to meet and overcome the trials and privations incidental to the settlement of a new country. From the day of his arrival he was a leader in Newburg Township. The patriotism which led him, a mere lad, to enlist in the War of 1812 distinguished him throughout his life, and when he passed to his rest in 1874, he was sincerely mourned by all the residents of the county in which he had lived thirty-seven useful years. The father of Hiram was Zachariah Harwood, who was probably a native of Vermont. He was a direct descendant of English ancestry, and his forefathers are supposed to have been among the Pilgrim Fathers of the “Mayflower.”