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Compiled by John H. Wheeler Published in 1903 by B. F. Bowen Biography Page 179 - 180 |
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FRANK L. GOODYEAR
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The science of agriculture, for it is a science as well as an art, finds an able demonstrator as well as a successful practitioner in the person of Frank L. Goodyear, the subject of this review. A skilled engineer, both locomotive and stationary, he abandoned that remunerative calling to engage in the more peaceful, less hazardous and more agreeable pursuit of agriculture. Frank L. Goodyear, who owns and resides upon a part of section 24, Selma township, is a native of New York, born in Camden, Oneida county, December 17, 1847. In 1853 the family moved to Oswego county, New York, where, in January, 1864, the subject of this review enlisted in Company H, Ninth Regiment New York Heavy Artillery, and served until after the close of the war. He was mustered out of the service September 29, 1865, and returned to his home in Oswego. He served his country faithfully and received a wound in the left arm, while in the line of duty, at Monocacy, Maryland, which for a length of time caused him considerable trouble. In the spring of 1866 he decided to try his fortune in the west and accordingly he left Oswego county and took up his abode in Clinton, Iowa. There he secured employment on the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, became a skillful engineer and ran on that line in that capacity for a number of years. He was also for a time, while he lived in Clinton, engineer on a steamboat plying up and down the Mississippi river. He was not at all dissatisfied with his calling, but the dangers to which he was constantly exposed was a constant source of fear and anxiety to the family and eventually he was prevailed upon to give it up and enter a calling not so beset with danger. In the fall of 1884 he purchased a team and wagon, installed his wife and two children in the canopytopped vehicle, put in a few necessary articles and headed his horses for Wexford county, Michigan. In due season he arrived, purchased eighty acres of land in section 24, Selma township, and immediately proceeded to establish a home thereon, having since continued to reside there. About half of the tract of land he has cleared and it is well cultivated and quite productive. He has erected commodious and substantial buildings thereon and the place and its surroundings present a most enticing, home-like appearance. On the 17th day of January, 1876, in Oneida county, New York, Frank I. Goodyear was united in marriage to Miss Helena Davis, a native of New York, born in Oneida county, September 17, 1857. To this union three children were born, two of whom, Cora J. and Bessie C., are living. The other daughter, Leva, died early in life. Cora attended the normal college at Cadillac and for seven years was a successful teacher in this county. December 25, I902, she became the wife of Clarence Parker. Ever since his location in Selma township Mr. Goodyear has been quite active in public affairs. He served as supervisor of Selma township from 1890 to 1901, a period of eleven years. He has been highway commissioner and was deputy sheriff of Wexford county for a number of years. In his labors on the farm he has been most successful, and has never for a moment regretted that he changed either his location or his calling. He is a man of firm convictions, yet amiable and kind, and in his home is all that could be desired in a husband and father. |