Tuscola County MI Archives Biographies.....Hitchcock, James L. 1830 -
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Author: Chapman Bros. (1892)
JAMES L. HITCHCOCK. The business circles of Tuscola County acknowledge a worthy
representative in the subject of this biographical notice, who is a hardware
merchant in Cass City. Having come to this place about twenty years ago he has
become a familiar figure to his fellow-citizens, and by his honest dealings has
gained a large trade, and, what is better still, has won the esteem of all with
whom he has come in contact. It is to such as he that the county is indebted for
its present high standing among other counties of Michigan, for it has ever been
his aim to promote by his influence and means all enterprises calculated to
develop the resources of the community. Our readers will be pleased to peruse
the following account of his life and to notice on another page a view of his
stores.
James L. Hitchcock was born January 10, 1830, and educated in Oriskany Falls,
Oneida County, N. Y. He is a son of Hiram and Lucinda (Greenleaf) Hitchcock, of
the same county and State. Hiram, born November 24, 1797, was the son of Amos,
whose birth occurred August 29, 1771, in the town of Oxford, now a part of New
Haven, Conn. Samuel, born in 1741 in the same place, was a descendant of Malachi
Hitchcock, whose name appears on the enrollment list of New Haven, date 1643. He
probably was born about 1623 and was a son of Samuel Hitchcock, who with his
family and two brothers, David and Austin, emigrated from England in 1639,
becoming among the first pioneers of Connecticut and serving as its defenders in
the Revolutionary War.
When our subject became of age he learned the tinsmith's trade of his uncle A.
M. Hitchcock a practical workman and dealer in hardware. September 10, 1858, he
purchased from the Government one hundred and twenty acres in what is now known
as Koylton and Dayton Townships, Tuscola County. February 2, 1859, he purchased
his first bill of merchandise in the State, of Messrs. Buhl & Ducharm of
Detroit. Moving on his land, he built a log cabin which he covered temporarily
with sheet iron (afterward made into camp kettles and sold to the Indians). He
was the pioneer hardware man in Central and Northern Tuscola, his shop being
located in a dense forest,which abounded in bears, deer, wolves and other wild
animals. He built the first frame house for miles around and manufactured
tinware and other goods in his line, such as Indians and the few white settlers
required. His goods he sold largely through A. K. King and Norman Barrows,
United States mail carriers between Port Sanilac and Vassar. The manufacture of
those articles occupied his evenings and rainy days, while in pleasant weather
he was busily engaged in improving his place.
Mr. Hitchcock was married in Edinburg, Portage County, Ohio, to Miss Carrie M.
Turnbull, of North Jackson, Ohio, a daughter of Robert and Margaret Turnbull.
Mrs. Hitchcock attended Hiram College when James A. Garfield was its President,
and completed her education at the Female Seminary in Steubenville, Ohio. After
she was married she taught school two years in Tuscola County, walking two miles
to and from school both night and morning. On March 21, 1864, Mr. Hitchcock
moved to Wahjamega, erected a store and residence, and while he worked at his
trade his wife acted as clerk. After residing there nearly eight years, he
removed, September 6, 1872, to Cass City, where he has since been engaged in
building, farming and merchandising. He purchased a wooden store building and
residence, which he utilized until he erected his three-story brick block, where
he now conducts his large business. This when completed will have a frontage of
ninety-four feet on Main Street and one hundred feet on Leack Street.
Mr. Hitchcock also purchased eighty acres which is now in the corporate limits
of the village; through this land the Pontiac, Oxford & Northern Railroad runs
and its buildings are located on land given by Mr. Hitchcock as a bonus. Nearly
forty acres of his land has been platted for village purposes, and the town hall
adjacent to the Hitchcock Block was erected on land which he gave for that
purpose. He and his wife have four children: George L., born in Dayton November
6, 1864; Amos A., in Wahjamega, October 24, 1867; Carrie E., in the same place
July 6, 1870, and Iris, in Cass City, October 1, 1879. Since the advent of Mr.
Hitchcock in Cass City, he has identified himself closely with its advancement
and contributed materially to its welfare.
In his political views Mr. Hitchcock is a stanch Republican and has held the
office of Justice of the Peace, Road Commissioner, School Inspector of Dayton
Township, as well as Treasurer of Cass City and Councilman, which office he held
many years. Through many of the early days of his business here he was compelled
to haul his goods from Saginaw to this point, which made his work heavy indeed.
However, he has lived to enjoy the result of the arduous toil of former years
and now in the possession of a comfortable competency and surrounded by a large
circle of loving relatives and friends, he is passing his declining years,
undisturbed by dark poverty or irksome cares.
Additional Comments:
Extracted from:
Portrait and Biographical Record of Genesee, Lapeer and Tuscola Counties,
Michigan, Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative
Citizens, Together with Biographies of all the Governors of the State, and of
the Presidents of the United States
Chicago:
Chapman Bros.
1892
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