DELOSS BISHOP

Deloss Bishop has been a resident of Eaton County since 1864 and is the owner of a valuable farm in Sunfield Township. He is a citizen who is held in distinctive esteem in the community and is one of those loyal sons of the republic who went forth to aid in preserving the Union at the time of the war of the Rebellion. Mr. Bishop was born in Rose Township, Wayne County, New York, June 5, 1836, and is a son of Reuben and Sarah Ann (Gardner) Bishop, both of whom were likewise natives of that county, where the former was born December 7, 1810, and the latter April 10, 1818. Both died in Ohio, the father having passed to his reward February 12, 1875, while his widow survived him by many years, her death occurring June 3, 1905, at the extremely venerable age of ninety-seven years. Of the ten children the subject of this sketch was the first born; Eveline Adelia, who was born May 24, 1838, died at the age of seven years; William H., who was born September 18, 1840, and who died July 31, 1904, was a representative farmer of Sunfield Township, where his widow still resides; Alonzo T., who was born June 12, 1843, is a resident of Peru, Ohio; Harriet M., who was born December 7, 1845, is the widow of John C. Dow and resides in Sunfield Township; Gardner A., who was born March 23, 1848, is a resident of Lyons, Kansas; Eveline M., who was born October 7, 1860, is deceased; Reuben C., who was born September 12, 1854, is a farmer of Roxand Township; Sarah D., who was born October 20, 1856, died October 4, 1861; Charles E., who was born October 23, 1862 died on the 19^th of the following June. The father of the subject of this review devoted his entire active career to agricultural pursuits. In 1836 he removed with his wife and little son, Deloss, who was but six weeks old, from New York to Ohio, locating in Huron County, where he secured a tract of wild land, from which he developed a good farm, there continuing to reside until his death; his wife was resident of Lorain County, that state, at the time of her demise. Deloss Bishop was reared on the pioneer farm, and his educational advantages were limited to a desultory attendance in the primitive district school, during the winter terms. In June, 1862, at the age of twenty-six years, bade adieu to his home and went forth to do battle for the Union, enlisting in Company D, One Hundred and First Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he served two years, lacking a few days. He was taken ill while on march and was sent to a hospital, his command continuing onward. As soon as he had sufficiently recuperated he was assigned to hospital duty in which connection he was in service at Louisville, Buffalo and Camp Dennison receiving his honorable discharge in the city of Chicago. While in the ranks he participated in a number of spirited engagements and had narrow escapes on several occasions. His illness so shattered his health that he was not thereafter eligible for active field service and from disabilities incurred he now receives a pension of twelve dollars a month. At the age of nineteen years Mr. Bishop left the parental home and started his independent career his marriage occurring about three years later. In 1864 he came with his family to Eaton County purchasing eighty acres of heavily timbered land in section 13 Sunfield Township. On this tract he erected a log house and other buildings the house being still in use. He cleared the land to effective cultivation. He still owns the property and continued to reside thereon until 1900 when he removed to his present homestead, in section 24, same township, the place comprising forty acres of finely improved land and having formerly been the property of his wife’s parents. Mr. Bishop purchased the interest of the other heirs to the property. He has owned other real estate in this township, has given a considerable amount to his children, and has otherwise aided them in securing farms. He has witnessed many changes in Eaton County within the two score years of his residence here, and has had particular recognition of the fact that within the past decade many of the sterling pioneers have been called from the scene of their strenuous and fruitful labors. In politics he is an uncompromising advocate of the principles of the Republican Party, and he served twenty-four years as path master, and twenty-two years as treasurer of his school district. He is affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic, the Grange and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in the lodge of the last mentioned of which he was treasurer for six years. He was a member of the Independent Order of Good Templars until the local organization lapsed. He and his wife are zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and their Christian faith is exemplified in their daily walk and conversation. In Huron County, Ohio, July 4, 1857, Mr. Bishop was united in marriage to Miss Catherine Miller, who was born in that state, October 13, 1838, and who died June 14, 1868. Of this union were born four children: Alfred who was born July 9, 1858, is a prosperous farmer of Sunfield township, is married and has four children: Sarah A., who was born February 27, 1860; the third child died in infancy; and John P., who was born may 12, 1868. October 3, 1868, Mr. Bishop consummated a second marriage, being then united to Miss Ruby Barnum, his present wife. She was born in Michigan, June 12, 1838, and is a daughter of Daniel and Betsey (Merritt) Barnum the former of whom was born in Vermont and the latter in the state of New York while both died in Eaton County, Michigan, where the father passed away at the age of forty-nine years, and the mother at the age of seventy-nine. Daniel Barnum removed from Lenawee County, this state, to Eaton County, in 1845, and purchased eighty acres of wild land, of which the present homestead of Mr. Bishop is a part, reclaiming the same to cultivation and here continuing to reside until his death. Concerning his eight children the following brief data are entered: Margaret, who now resides in the home of the subject of this sketch, is the widow of George Poole, who was a representative farmer of Sunfield Township; Julia died in infancy; Ruby M. is the wife of him whose name initiates this sketch; Charles resides in the city of Charlotte; Hattie is a resident of the state of Florida; Polly is the wife of Abraham Bair of Oklahoma: Marilla resides in Grayling, Michigan: and Harrison, who was a member of a Michigan regiment in the civil war, was killed while looking over the breastworks in the midst of a severe battle. Mr. and Mrs. Bishop became the parents of four children: Daniel D. is deceased: Bessie is the wife of Sherman Meyers, of Sherman city, Michigan; Reuben Dexter is deceased; and Joseph E. is a resident of Mecosta County, this state. Mr. Bishop has twenty-six living grandchildren.