Horace A. Cooley Portrait and Biographical Record, Pages 468, 469 HORACE A. COOLEY, a representative general agriculturist, successfulstock-raiser and Drainage Commissioner of Allendale Township, Ottawa County, isa native of Ohio, but has been a resident of the Wolverine State since 1845, andis intimately associated with its upward growth and progressive history. Born inKnox County, Ohio, August 2, 1829, he was the son of Horatio and Mehetabel(Crowell) Cooley, native New Englanders, but early settlers in the farther West.The father, born in Connecticut, and the mother in Vermont, migrated to Ohiowhile young, and were married in the Buckeye State. The father was by occupationa mechanic, and remained in Ohio until his death. His widow removed to Michiganin 1847, and survived him for some years. The parents were blessed by the birth of nine children, seven of whom livedto adult age. Horatio, the eldest-born is deceased; Tryphena is the widow of R.S. Randall; Arminta is deceased; Horace A. is our subject; Havillat is deceased;Henry C. is a resident of Ottawa County; and Harriet, who is deceased was thewife of George Starks. Mrs. Mehetabel Cooley again married, and by her secondhusband, Benjamin Bellows, became the mother of two children: Sarah, the wife ofSidney Starks; and Thomas E., residing in Sparta, Mich. Our subject was reared on the Ohio homestead, and attending the districtschools of the neighborhood was likewise trained in the agricultural dutiesdevolving upon the farmer boy. He was sixteen years of age when, upon October28, 1845, he arrived at his new home in Tallmadge Township, Ottawa County,Mich., and, remaining in that locality for thirty-two years, was duringtwenty-eight years of that period employed by various milling concerns asengineer. For fourteen consecutive years he remained with one firm, his faithfuldischarge of the work intrusted to his care winning for him the appreciation ofthose interested in the business. When he became a resident of TallmadgeTownship the population of the surrounding country was sparse, and most of thebusiness of that part of the State was transacted at Grand Rapids, then theheadquarters for merchandise and all the necessaries of life. The millinginterests were the mainstay of Tallmadge Township, and the establishment ofnumerous sawmills soon caused an influx of people, and gave our subject, withmany others, regular and remunerative employment. In 1861 were united in marriage Horace A. Cooley and Miss Lavilla A. Hall, anative of Michigan and the daughter of Orrin and Matilda (Reynolds) Hall,pioneer settlers of the Wolverine State. Some years subsequent to his marriage,our subject purchased a farm in Allendale Township, which he sold in 1877, andlater also disposed of property he owned in the village of Lamont. He afterwardbought his present farm, consisting of forty highly cultivated acres, improvedwith an attractive residence and substantial barns. The pleasant home of oursubject and his estimable wife has been blessed by the birth of seven children:George H.; Carr F., of Duluth; H. Grant, Frank C., Cora S., H. B. and T. W. F.Mr. Cooley is one of the most popular men of the county of Ottawa, and hasseveral times been elected Drainage Commissioner, and is now holding the office.For two years he was Justice of the Peace, and in that position gave universalsatisfaction to his fellow-townsmen, among whom he has a host of friends andwell-wishers.

Portrait & Biographical Record of Muskegon & OttawaCounties, Michigan 1893, Chicago: Biographical Publishing Company

Transcriber: Susan Gates Davis
Created: 28 April 2003
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