Adelbert Birch, a prosperous farmer of Solon township, Kent county, Mich., is a native of Sterling, Cayuga county, N. Y., was born December 27, 1863, and is the seventh child in the family of David and Margaret (Green) Birch, parents of four sons and six daughters, of whom six are still living, viz: Betsey H., wife of G. R. Smith a farmer in Solon township; William, of Howard City; Alida, married to Alfred Powell, of Morley, Mich.; Adelia, wife of A. H. Moore, of White Cloud, Mich.; Adelbert, the subject, and Sarah, now Mrs. Harvey Towne, also of White Cloud.

David Birch, the father, was born in Oswego county, N. Y., November 29, 1820, and was reared a millwright. He married Miss Green April 1, 1849, and in October, 1865, came to Solon township and purchased eighty acres of slightly improved land in section No. 16, and the house he first erected here is still standing. Indians were still numerous in the neighborhood, but were not very vicious, and Mr. Birch was permitted to clear up his land without molestation. He was a hard working man, strong in his convictions, and a warm friends of public education. In politics he was a stanch republican, passed an upright life, and when he passed away, July 8, 1895, the township lost a useful citizen, and the family a tender and devoted husband and kind and loving father.

Mrs. Margaret Birch is a daughter of William and Eliza (Pendle) Green, natives of the state of New York, and parents of twelve children. In 1851, Mr. Green settled in Michigan—first in Hillsdale county, where he lived about six years, and then in Kent county, where he passed the remainder of his life. Politically he was a republican, in religion his wife was a Methodist, and both were among the most respected of Michigan’s pioneers. Of their twelve children six are still living, and all reside in Michigan—Mrs. Margaret Birch with her son Adelbert, on the old homestead; she is a devout member of the United Brethren church, is of a very kind disposition and is still in comparatively robust heath.

Adelbert Birch was an infant when brought to Michigan by his parents, and the major part of his life has consequently been passed in Solon township. He has received a good common school education, and has been reared to farming. For eleven years he was identified with lumbering operations when the pine timber was being cleared from this section of Kent county, running logs down the river in the spring season.  October 21, 1891, Mr. Birch married Miss Josephine Maude Perrin, and three children have come to bless this union, viz: Frank R., Margaret V. and Mary E. Mrs. Josephine M. Birch was born in London, England, April 20, 1874, a daughter of Richard Golden and Anna V. (Ray) Perrin, who were the parents of five sons and seven daughters, of whom nine re still living. She was but two years of age when her parents, with their children, sailed from Liverpool for Philadelphia; from the Quaker city they went to Windsor, Canada, and shortly afterwards crossed the river to Detroit, Mich., where they resided until 1887, when they settled in Solon township, Kent county.

In politics Mr. Birch is a republican and cast his first vote for Benjamin Harrison.

Fraternally, he is a member of lodge No. 213, F. & A. M., at Cedar Springs. He is a Christian gentleman, a strong advocate of temperance, and a warm friend of free education. Mrs. Birch is a member of the Established church of England, is a lady of refined manners and pleasing address, and no family in Solon township is held in higher regard than that of Adelbert Birch.