Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2013, All Rights Reserved U.S. Data Repository Please read U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott 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. =========================================================================== SOURCE: Portrait and Biographical Record of Kalamazoo, Allegan and Van Buren Counties, Michigan Chapman Bros, Chicago - 1892 [Page 520-521] ORRIN GOODSPEED, one of the oldest and most respected resi- dents of Dorr Township, Allegan County, came to Michigan in 1845. He was born in the township of Mentor, Geauga County, Ohio, on the 6th of August, 1816, to Nathaniel and Catherine (MILLER) GOODSPEED. Mr. and Mrs. Miller were both natives of Syracuse, N.Y., and Mr. GOODSPEED followed farming and tanning as his life vocation. They are both now deceased. Our subject was reared on the farm in Ohio, and his advan- tages for an education were somewhat limited. He came to Michi- gan in 1845, and located in Dorr Township, where he is the old- est living inhabitant. He took up his land from the Government and his nearest neighbor was five or six miles away. One hun- dred and sixty acres constituted the first tract he took up, with an additional seventy-one acres, and a forty a little further north. He erected a log cabin, into which he moved with his wife and fam- ily, and for something to protect the house against the storms of winter, he drove two stakes in the ground, placing a pole on them, and setting boards upright against the pole. This served the pur- pose quite satisfactorily. On his coming to this State, he brought with him twelve head of cattle. Of course in the winter there was nothing for them to subsist on, and Mr. GOODSPEED would cut down trees and the cattle would feed off the tops of them. By the next spring he had eighteen acres of land cleared and ready for the plow. Grand Rapids was the market to which all the settlers in this vici- nity had to go, and Mr. Goodspeed has made many a trip with his ox-team to that place to sell his produce, and bring other pro- visions home with him. There were no roads and it took two days to make the trip. Mr. GOODSPEED and Miss Sarah CURTIS were united in marriage March 9, 1837, the ceremony taking place in Summit County, Ohio. Mrs. GOODSPEED was a native of Steuben County, N.Y., and became the mother of twelve children, whose record is as follows: George N., born February 14, 1838; Cyrus E., September 20, 1839; Daniel V., April 27, 1842; William F., April 20, 1844; Charles L., June 21, 1846; Orrin A., March 30, 1848; Sylvia A., May 20, 1850; Catherine Jane, May 1, 1852; John W. W., May 24, 1854; Sallie M., May 22, 1856; Phebe A., February 22, 1859. The mother of this family passed to the other world, September 28, 1864. Mr. GOODSPEED has always made farming his vocation, and is well known and highly respected throughout the township. He was present at the first township meeting held in Dorr Town- ship, it then embracing both Hopkins and Watson Townships. The first one in Dorr Township, after the division of the three town- ships, was held at his house, and there were only thirteen voters. He has always been a firm Democrat, and has been Supervisor of his township one term, Township Clerk and Highway Commissioner, which he held with great satisfaction to the people. ===========================================================================