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Family tree▼ Facts and Events
Children
Linus and Phoebe (Stansell) Clark adopted Richard Stansell who would have been either a brother or a cousin of Phoebe. He is recorded living with them in both the 1850 and the 1860 census.
The account [S1] of Delia Page as daughter of Linus and Phoebe (Stansell) Clark does not accord with the recorded census data for any of the above. Another source [S2] recounts a Delia Stansell who was the daughter of William and Margaret Stansell, marrying a Duane Witherell in 1873. It is not yet determined whether these were both the same Delia Stansell.
References
- ↑ Green Oak Township [1], in History of Livingston County Michigan
1880.
Linus Clark. Among the pioneers of Green Oak none deserve more prominent mention than the gentleman whose name heads this sketch. He was born in the, town of Lenox, Madison Co., N.Y., Feb. 26, 1813. His parents, Norman and Catherine (Moot) Clark, were farmers, and had a family of nine children, --six boys and three girls. The elder Clark was a self-made man, successful in business, and of more than ordinary energy and determination. Benevolence was a prominent trait in his character, and in the Presbyterian Church, of which he was an honored member, he held a conspicuous position, His wife was one of those prudent and thrifty housewives, the acme of her ambition being to provide for her household, and to rear her children in such a way that they would become useful and honorable members of society.
Linus lived with his father until he attained his majority, alternating his summer's work on the farm with the usual term at the district school in winter. In 1833 he came to Green Oak, and settled upon a tract of land of one hundred and forty acres, which his father had previously purchased. This land is a portion of his present farm, a view of which we present on another page.
In 1835, Mr. Clark was married to Miss Phoebe, daughter of Henry Stansell, one of the early settlers of Plymouth, Wayne Co., Mich. After their marriage they moved into a log house, and commenced the improvement of their farm. Mrs. Clark, like her husband, was prudent and industrious and success attended their efforts. Working together, they acquired a competency.
In their religious belief Mr. and Mrs. Clark were Free-Will Baptists. In 1844 he, with seventeen others, founded the Baptist Church of Green Oak; and of the original eighteen Mr. and Mrs. Deacon Loomis and himself are the only ones now living. Mr. Clark has always manifested a deep interest in educational matters, and has been a liberal supporter of educational interests. He was one of the founders of Hillsdale College, to which he has made generous donations. In his political affiliations he was formerly a Whig, and identified himself with the Republican party upon its formation. He was a strong anti-slavery man. One of the salient points in the character of Mr. Clark is his uncompromising hostility to everything he believes to be wrong. His opinions are formed with deliberation, and when reached are held with tenacity.
As a business man he is possessed of quick perception, an intuitive knowledge of men and things, and consequently has been successful in his operations. This, however, has not been confined to the accumulation of property; he has established an enviable reputation for integrity and those qualities which alone can render the position he holds among his fellow-men attainable.
Mr. Clark has had two children --by adoption, Richard A. Stansell, who lost his life in the defense of his country at the battle of Chickamauga, and Delia, now Mrs. David Page.
- Glover, Lowell H. A twentieth century history of Cass County, Michigan. (Tucson, Arizona: W.C. Cox, 1974)
p. 417.
"Duane Witherell was reared upon the old homestead and, like the others, acquired a common school education, while in the work of the farm he was carefully trained, so
that he was well qualified to take charge of a farm of his own when he started out upon an independent business career. He has always lived in this county, and the days of his youth were unmarked by any event of special importance until he was seventeen years of age, when he responded to the country's call for aid, enlisting in 1865 as a member of the Twenty-fourth Michigan Volunteer infantry. He continued with the army until the close of hostilities and then returned to his home in Pokagon township, continuing farm work there upon the old family homestead up to the time of his marriage. On June 24, 1873, he wedded Miss Dora Stansell, a daughter of William and Margaret Stansell. Mrs. Witherell was born in the state of New York August 10, 1852, and was brought to Cass county when about five years of age. At the time of their marriage the young couple located on a farm about a mile
and a half cast of Pokagon. remaining there until 1901. when they removed to their present home in Pokagon township."
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