Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2012, All Rights Reserved U.S. Data Repository Please read U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Judith Anne Weeks Ancell for the US Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= U.S. Data Repository NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization. Non-commercial organizations desiring to use this material must obtain the consent of the transcriber prior to use. Individuals desiring to use this material in their own research may do so. ========================================================================= Formatted by U.S. Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== Portrait And Biographical Album Of Mecosta County, Mich. Containing Portraits And Biographical Sketches of Prominent And Representative Citizens of the County together with Portraits And Biographies of All The Presidents Of The United States And Governors of the State. Also Containing A Complete History of The County, From Its Earliest Settlement To the Present Time. Chicago, Chapman Bros. 1883 =========================================================================== TOAN, LEWIS =========================================================================== Page 257: Lewis Toan, Clerk of Mecosta County, and one of its representative citizens, resident at Big Rapids, was born in Ledyard Tp., Cayuga Co., N.Y. Nov. 25, 1835. His parents were natives of the Empires State, as were their ancestors. His father, Lewis Toan, was born Feb., 8, 1788, in Ledyard, on the same farm where his children were born, and where he lived and died. He married Betsy Welsh, April 5, 1810, and by this union became the father of four sons and six daughters. Of these, one son, Harrison Toan, and one daughter, Mrs. Sally J. Squires, survive him, the former resident of Elmira, N.Y., the latter living in Seneca Co., N.Y. The mother died Dec. 15, 1833. The father was married Feb. 26, 1835, to Mrs. Olive (St. John) Aiken. Of this marriage three children were born: Lewis,, of this sketch, Mrs. Mary A Chapin, and Mrs. Frances E. Langan, both residing in Des Moines, Iowa. Mrs. Toan was born Dec. 31, 1803, and was married at Cayuga co., N.Y., to Ebenezer Aiken. Her children by this marriage are yet living—a son in Dakota, one daughter at Des Moines, Iowa, and one daughter, Mrs. Lewis Carman, in Millbrook, Mich. Lewis Toan, Sr., died March 29, 1842. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, with the rank of Captain; was a farmer by occupation, and held the office of Justice of the Peace 14 years, the incumbency ending with his death. The fact is mentioned as evidence of the esteem in which he was held by his fellow townsmen. His death left all the family cares and responsibilities upon the mother and widow. The son, who feels that all he is or may be he owes to her faithful, wise and judicious management, places upon record on this page his sense of all she was in her strong, earnest life, rearing her fatherless children in all wisdom and gentleness and self-sacrifice, and how precious to him is her memory, crowned with what she achieved on earth, and glorified by her entrance into the land of the redeemed. She was married a third time in 1860, to Zimri Allen, and died at Des Moines, Ia., Jan. 24, 1882. Mr. Toan was seven years old when his father died. His mother left the farm and he was sent to school. IN 1848 he went to live with an uncle—Thomas Toan—in Wyoming Co., N.Y. A year later he rejoined his mother, and the family went to Olena, Huron co., Ohio, where, associated with her brother, she purchased a half interest in a steam saw-mill, where the son was engaged chiefly summers, and went to school winters. In the summer of 1855 he went to Milan, Erie Co., O., and worked in a shipyard Mill. In the spring of 1856 he went with a half-brother—E. M. Aiken—to Bowen’s Prairie, Ia., to assist in the management of a steam saw mill. Returning in the fall of that year to Ohio, he bought the interest in the mill held by his mother, retaining it until he disposed of it by sale in 1859. In the winter of 1860 he rented a farm in that vicinity and managed it during the year. His next business venture was in the winter of 1861, when he formed a partnership with Otis Smith, an old school-mate, and went to Jackson Tp., Seneca Co., Ohio, built a steam saw-mill, and while engaged in its construction the intelligence of the assault upon the national flag at Fort Sumter electrified the world. Physical disability precluded Mr. Toan from going to the front to aid in bearing the burden of defense, and to take the chances of war; but the services he performed are on record, and his efforts in raising recruits and supplies for soldiers in the field, and exertions to protect their interests at home, were as meritorious and conducive to the successful prosecution of the war as those of others who brought their efforts to bear upon the issue on the field of action. His association with Mr. Smith terminated at the end of two years, when he became sole proprietor by the purchase of his partner’s claim. The mill was burned a year later, and in order to be able to rebuild, Mr. Toan formed a partnership with Daniel Cox. In 1866 he sold his half of the concern to Robert Adams. During his residence at Jackson he held the position of Postmaster three years, and was Township Clerk one year. Mr. Toan came to Southern Michigan, in the fall of 1866, and settled near Quincy, Branch Co., where he had purchased 80 acres of land. Within the year following he sold the farm and purchased another in the vicinity of Allen’s Prairie, Hillsdale Page 258: Co., Mich. In the fall of 1869 he exchanged this property for a farm near Jonesville, of which he was the possessor but a short time, as he made another transfer, and secured a farm about two miles from Allen’s Prairie, of which he was owner until 1872. In that year he came with his brother- in-law, Lewis Carman, to Millbrook, Mecosta Co., and built a steam saw- mill, selling his interest therein two years later to Mr. Carman. He there engaged in mercantile affairs with Messrs. Main & Decker. The dissolution of the firm took place in the spring of 1877, and in the fall of that year Mr. Toan went to Arkansas to obtain a practical idea of the south, returning the following spring. Mr. Toan has been a Republican from the outset of his political life, and considers himself honored in the record that his first Presidential vote was cast for the illustrious and martyred Lincoln. In the fall of 1878, after his return from the South, his public career commenced, his party nominating him for the office of County Clerk. The opposition candidates were W. O. Lake, Democrat, and George Gotshall, Greenback. Mr. Toan received 1,102 votes, Mr. Lake 452 and Mr. Gotshall 681. The general opinion of Mr. Toan’s discharge of the duties of his position was clearly manifested in the circumstances attending his second nomination in the fall of 1880, when his name was put on the ticket by acclamation. He received 1,849 votes, his opponent, Gregg B. Dougall receiving 861 votes on the Democratic ticket. Mr. Toan was again elected in 1882, receiving 1,481 votes in opposition to C. A. Munn, Independent Republican nominee, and Richard Ladner, the popular Democratic candidate, who received 295 and 884 votes respectively. Probably the best index of a man’s status among his fellows is the record of his local vote. On his first election he received 81 votes of 100 cast in the Tp. of Millbrook; on his second nomination he received 104 of 124 votes in the township, and the third time, of an aggregate of 164, he received 125 votes,-- facts which attest that political opponents supported him, and which were made more significant because he had held many important town offices. He was Town Clerk in 1873-4, Supervisor in ’75-6, was Township Superintendent of Schools two years, and Village School Director three years. Mr. Toan married in Olena, Huron Co., Ohio, July 5, 1858, to Melissa M., eldest daughter of Nathan H. and Louisa (Barhite) Spencer, Rev. E. Jones officiating. Mrs. Toan’s father is a resident of Olena. He was born in New Jersey and is a blacksmith by vocation. He is an honored citizen in the community to which he belongs, is a Presbyterian in religious faith, and has occupied a number of prominent positions in religion and political relations. Her mother died in 1859, after a useful and noble life. Mrs. Toan was born in Cayuga Co., N. Y., Jan. 2, 1840. Of the children born of her marriage, eight are living: Ida L., Grace E., Frank M., Clyde L., Fred W., Ernest B., Olive F., and Bessie M. Grace E., second daughter of Mr. Toan, was married Sept. 17, 1882, to John A. Melton, and resides near her parents. Mr. T. is peculiarly fortunate in all his domestic relations, the character and influence of his wife rounding and perfecting the fabric of his life, molded and directed by the clear vision of his mother. In January 1859, Mr. Toan became a member of the M. E. Church, and has since been prominently and actively interested in all that pertains to its progress and interest. He has always been connected with the work of the Sunday-school, and been several times Superintendent. He is also a zealous advocate of temperance, and is the present W. C. T. of the Big Rapids Lodge of Good Templars. We place the portrait of Mr. Toan in this work, as a representative citizen of Mecosta County. ===========================================================================