HERMAN P. JARVIS

HERMAN P. JARVIS is a native of Eaton county and is numbered among the representative farmers of Bellevue township. He stands as a worthy scion of pioneer stock and is properly accorded recognition in this historical compilation. Mr. Jarvis was born in the village of Bellevue, April 29, 1849, and is a son of Herman Harvey Jarvis, who was born in the Hudson River district of the state of New York, February 7, 1812, and who died on the farm which is now the residence of the subject of this sketch, the date of his demise having been May 13, 1891. His wife, who was born in the state of New York, January 1, 1818, survives him and still resides on a portion of the old homestead farm. Their marriage was solemnized, in the Empire state, August 27, 1835, and shortly afterward they started for Michigan, which was then a territory, arriving in the village of Marshall, Calhoun county, on the 8th of October of that year. They remained in that place until the following June, when they came to Eaton county, taking up their abode in Bellevue, which was a little hamlet of a few houses in the midst of the virgin forest. Herman H. Jarvis had followed shipbuilding for some time prior to his removal to Michigan and had become a skilled carpenter. He accordingly followed the carpenter's trade in Bellevue, finding much requisition for his services in the pioneer community and continuing thus engaged until 1857, when he purchased fifty acres of land in Bellevue township, a short distance south of the homestead of his son, Herman P., of this sketch. Three years later he traded the property for the eighty acres of which the latter's farm is a part. A little clearing that had been made on the land and a log house had been built, this dwelling continuing to be the family home until 1870, when the present frame residence was erected, the lumber from which the same was constructed having been made from timber taken from the farm itself, while the subject of this review got out most of the lumber, doing nearly all the work alone, as his father's health was poor at the time. He also did nearly all the work of building the house, his father directing his labors and instructing him in the intricacies of the work, the country was new and wild game was plentiful. Herman P. Jarvis used to do much hunting and trapping, finding the latter very profitable in the early days and still doing not a little in that line. Of the seven children in the family the following data are given: May, who is the widow of Erastus Covey, resides in the city of Marshall and has two children; David died in infancy; Susan is the wife of John Beers, of Carmel township, and they have three children; Isaac, who was a member of Company I, Second Missouri Cavalry, in the civil war, was killed at Memphis, Missouri, in a conflict with guerillas; Catherine is the wife of Levi Showerman, residing on a farm adjoining the old homestead and including a portion of the same, and with her the venerable mother makes her home; the subject of this sketch was the next in order of birth' and Minnie is the wife of David Love, of Carmel township. Herman P. Jarvis received limited educational advantages, the pioneer schools being of primitive order, and there being a demand for his services in connection with the work of the home farm. He remained with his parents until the death of his father and upon him devolved the greater part of the work of clearing the farm, of which he has reclaimed about twenty acres since his marriage. He now owns seventy-seven acres of the old homestead, the land being of high productiveness and the farm well improved. He has been unremitting in his efforts and has full appreciation of the dignity and value of honest toil and endeavor, since the same have been his portion from his youth to the present. He has never lacked the confidence and esteem of the community in which practically his entire life has been passed, takes a loyal interest in local affairs of the public nature, but has never been a seeker of office, though he has rendered efficient service as an officer of his school district. In politics he is a stanch Republican, and fraternally he is identified with the Grange and the Knights of the Maccabees. In 1874 Mr. Jarvis was united in marriage to Miss Candace Honeywell, who was born in Barry county, this state, March 29, 1857, a daughter of David N. and Juliette (Water) Honeywell, the former of whom was born in the state of New York, January 16, 1831, becoming a pioneer of Michigan and dying in Kalamazoo, this state, just after the close of the civil war, as the result of disease contracted while serving as a soldier in a Michigan regiment; his wife passed her entire life in Michigan and died in 1895, at the age of fifty years. Mr. and Mrs. Jarvis have six children: Julia, who was born August 13, 1875, is the wife of Leon Spencer, of Lansing, and they have one child, Leola; Isaac, who was born February 6, 1878, remains at the parental home; John, who was born January 4, 1880, and who married Miss Mary Bradley, is engaged in farming in Bellevue township; Gertrude Eva, who was born July 21, 1882, is the wife of Guy Farnham and they reside in the village of Bellevue; Elizabeth, who was born January 16, 1885, and Newel H., who was born June 19, 1887, still remain members of the home circle.