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James W. Humphrey Biography 1846 - 1905 |
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Senator, 1899-1900 and 1901-1902, from the Eighth District,
composed of the counties of Allegan and Van Buren. James W. Humphrey was born in Powell, Delaware
County, Ohio, August 19, 1846. He passed his childhood and youth on his father's farm, attending the district school and preparing for the University. He enlisted in the 26th Ohio Infantry, saw active service in Tennesee and Georgia, was severely wounded at Kenesaw Mountain, June 18, 1864, but recovered sufficiently to take part in the battle of Nashville, which destroyed Hood's army. At the close of the war he accompanied his regiment as part of "Sheridan's Army of Observation" in Texas. Returning home he began his studies in the Ohio Wesleyan University. He came to Michigan in 1869, and was married to Miss Beulah A. Sooy, of Dorr Oct. 12, of that year, after which time he engaged almost exclusively in educational work--six years in the village school of Dorr, ten in Wayland, one as Superintendent of Holland city schools, and one as teacher of pedagogy in Hope College. He had charge of the schools of Ottawa County one year, and was serving his sixth year as School Commissioner of Allegan County where he resigned to become a candidate for the State Senate. For eight years he conducted the summer normal classes at Hope College, and in 1894 this college conferred upon him the degree of M.A. He wrote two books for the teacher's desk--Review Diagrams passing through its fourth edition. He was much interested in Sunday school and church work. For six years he was president of the Allegan County Sunday School Association; was a member and an ordained minister of the Church of Christ (Disciples). In politics he was a Republican. Ex-Senator James W. Humphrey died in Wayland, Michigan on May 11, 1905. His illness dated from injuries received December 22, 1903, in a wreck on the Pere Marquette railroad at East Paris, Michigan (as noted in a newspaper article below). Lansing Michigan, Wynkoop, Hallenbeck Crawford Company, State Printers 1907 ------------------- Allegan county has a share in the suffering and grief which have resulted from the railway wrecks and the terrible fire of the week. In the trains which crashed together last Saturday evening on the Pere Marquette railway were three persons resident here now or recently. Andrew Sprague and daughter Gail, who live a couple of miles from town on the north Watson road, were going on a visit to Sunfield, Eaton county, and were on the east-bound train. They were both caught between collapsed seats, and the flesh of their legs badly lacerated, Mr. Sprague being also injured in his side and cut about his head. They were brought to Allegan Sunday afternoon and taken home, after being given medical care in Grand Rapids. They are progressing favorably toward recovery. Ex-Senator James W . Humphrey, formerly of Wayland and Allegan was severely hurt by the, bruising of his head, and for a time his symptoms indicated a highly dangerous condition, but advices within the past few days tell of a marked change for the better, and his full recovery is expected. James Wesley Humphrey is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Wayland, Michigan next to his wife, Beulah Ann (Sooy) Humphrey, and their daughter, Clara Edith (Humphrey) Raiche |
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Last Updated on 3/14/2020
By Lynn Matt
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