BACK TO 1888 PORTRAIT INDEX
 

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE ARTICLE ON JOSEPH D.W. FISKE

Joseph D.W. Fiske is an old and respected resident of this county, at present residing in Coldwater, and is an intelligent and well-informed man.

The subject of this biographical sketch was born in Penfield, Monroe Co., N.Y., Sept. 24, 1829, and is the son of James Fiske, a native of New Hampshire, and the grandson of Deacon Ebenezer Fiske.  From a history of the Fiske family, compiled by Alfred A. Fiske, we extract the following: "The founders of the family in America were the children of John and Ann Fiske.  The father died in England, and the mother started for America in 1637 with her children, four in number, and died on the voyage.  The children settled in Wenham, Essex Co., Mass.  John had already been an ordained minister of the English Church, and became an influential member of the colony.  William filled various offices of trust, and died in the prime of his powers at forty-four years of age.  He was married in Pelham, England, to Bridget Musket, and had five children.  Their son William was the next in line, and married Sarah Killman.  He was elected Deacon of the Congregational Church.  They had fourteen children, ten of whom grew to maturity, and their son William was the next in line.  He was born in Wenham, Mass., and married Susanna Batchelder, and in 1773 they removed to Amherst, N.H., and were pioneers there, where he bought a tract of land on Walnut Hill, and died there in 1777, aged fifty-two years."  The next in line is Ebenezer, son of William and Susannia Fiske, and grandfather of our subject.  He was born in Wenham, Mass., in Feb. 1762, and married Abigail Woodbury, who was born in Beverly, Mass., March 7, 1776, and was the daughter of James Woodbury, of Vernon, N.H.   He was for many years Deacon in the Congregational Church, and spent his last years with his son Calvin, at North Wilmot, N.H.

The father of our subject was reared in his native State, but when a young man he removed to the Empire State, and settled in New Paltz, Ulster County.  About 1823 he removed to Penfield, Monroe County, where he resided until 1835.  He then determined to try his fortune in the Territory of Michigan, and accompanied by his wife and eight children, he came by canal and lake to Detroit, and thence came overland to Branch County, arriving on the 17th of June, 1835.  He settled in Coldwater.  He built a frame house on the place, and then set about making other improvements, remaining a resident of the township until his death, which occurred Aug. 12, 1870, at eighty-three years of age.  His wife, whose maiden name was Eleanor Ransom, was the daughter of Joseph and Phebe Ransom, and was born it is thought, at New Paltz, N.Y., and died at her home in Coldwater, March 18, 1856.  Their family consisted of ten children, nine of whom grew to maturity -- Betsey, Luther, Phebe, Susan, Eleanor, Lewis R., Joseph D.W., Harriet A. and Elmirea E.  James A. died in infancy. 

The ceremony which united the destinies of our subject and Delia B. Babbitt, took place on the 9th of June, 1859.  Mrs. Fiske bore to her husband two children:  Walter J., who married Adelle Bassett, and lives on a farm adjoining the homestead, and Carrie Louisa, who resides at home with her parents.  Mrs. Fiske was born at Hartwick, Otsego Co., N.Y., Feb. 17, 1831, and is the daughter of Ezra Babbitt, a native of Franklin County, Mass., while his father, Rev. Isaac Babbitt, was born in New England, and was a miniser in the Congregational Church, and preached in various places in Massachusetts.  He finally removed from the Bay State and settled at Hartwick, Otsego Co., N.Y., and subsequently to Seneca Falls, in Seneca County, and there died. His wife, whose maiden name was Prudence May, was also a native of New England, and died at Seneca Falls.  The father of Mrs. Fiske was reared at Hartwick, N.Y., and settling there after his marriage, remained until 1832, and then sold out and removed to Seneca County.  In 1836 he started for Ohio, and coming by canal and lake to Cleveland, he then took a team to Lorain County.  After a residence, however, of only two years, he joined a colony and started for Illinois with horse and ox teams, having to cross the Black Swamp in the wet season of the year.  Arriving in Henry County, Ind., he concluded to locate, and settled in the village of Raysville.  He worked at his trade of a cooper until 1851, and then removed to Livingston County, Ill., and settled on a tract of land near Pontiac.  He built a house, and continued to reside there until 1869, and he them came to Michigan, and spent his last years with Mr. Fiske, dying in June, 1880.  The mother of Mrs. Fiske, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Tyler, was a native of York State, and the daughter of Joseph and Orpha (Briggs) Tyler, natives respectively of Rhode Island and York State.  She departed life in July, 1834, while the family were living in Seneca Falls, N.Y.