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Compiled by John H. Wheeler Published in 1903 by B. F. Bowen Biography Page 163 - 164 |
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CYRIL H. TYLER
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A single county of a great commonwealth may be considered a very inconsiderable part of it. It is, nevertheless, true that this whole nation is made up of just such humble municipalities, and each one deserves its portion of honor and renown for what it contributes to the wealth and power of the state and the nation. Under those circumstances Wexford county has a claim to considerable attention, and the men who had the work of moulding its infancy and directing its organization in such lines as have led to its present importance and position deserve much honor and everlasting remembrance, particularly by those who call its territory their home, and have, therefore, a pardonable pride in its institutions. One of those who took an important part in making this portion of northern Michigan what it is today is the subject of this review. Cyril H. Tyler, lumberman and farmer, of Manton. For more than fifty years he has been a resident of Michigan and each one of those years has witnessed something done by him which added to the material wealth and prosperity of the state and the county in which he lived. Cyril H. Tyler is a native of New York, born in Yates county, February 11, 1841. His parents were Rufus and Amy (Farnham) Tyler, he born in Madison county, New York, in 1816, she in Genesee county, New York, in 1818. They were married in 1840 and twelve years thereafter, in 1852, the family moved to Kalamazoo county, Michigan, where they resided for twenty years. In 1872 they moved to Wexford county, and about a year later they settled in Grand Traverse county, where they lived until 1893, when they returned to Wexford county and settled in Manton. Rufus Tyler died in Manton, August 27, 1894. in the seventy-ninth year of his age. Amy Tyler is still living, at the age of eighty-five years. They were the parents of three children, two sons and one daughter. The subject of this sketch was the oldest child of the family. In Kalamazoo county the subject grew to manhood and secured the benefits of a fair common school education. He then took up the calling of a farmer and followed it until the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion called him to a different and more hazardous line of employment. August 14, 1861, he enlisted in Company I, Seventh Regiment Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and served three years. He participated in some of the most important battles of that deadly conflict, among them Fair Oaks, May 31 and June 1, 1862, Malvern Hill, July, 1862; Savage Station, Virginia, June 29, 1862; Fredericksburg, Virginia, August 4 to 8, 1862; Gettysburg, June 26 and July 1 to 3, 1863; Wilderness, May 5 to 7, 1864; Spottsylvania Court House, May 8 and 21, 1864; Cold Harbor, May 31 and June 12, 1861; Petersburg, Virginia, July 31, 1864, besides many engagements of less magnitude. He was discharged with some thirty of his comrades, on the field, just at the opening of the battle at Reams Station, Virginia, by reason of the expiration of their term of enlistment. His discharge came very opportunely to save him from capture and a long sojourn in a rebel prison. In about two hours from the time he was given his discharge the entire regiment to which he belonged was in the hands of the Confederates. It was months before some of them were exchanged and release came to many of them only through death. Returning after his discharge to Kalamazoo county, Mr. Tyler
again resumed his occupation of farming, meeting with gratifying success each
successive year. In August, 1871, he moved to Manton, Wexford county, and
engaged in buying and selling timber lands, spending much of his time in the
woods logging. This he followed for twenty years, prosperity attending all of
his efforts. In 1891 he returned to the farm and has followed agriculture since,
devoting all of his time, when not actively engaged on the farm, to lumbering.
He is the owner of two hundred acres of splendid land in Greenwood township on
the Manistee river. Only forty acres are as yet under cultivation. When cleared
and properly improved it will make as fine a farm as could be desired. August 14, 1861, just eight days before he became a soldier in the army of his country, Cyril H. Tyler was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Foote, in Kalamazoo county. She is a native of the state of New York, born April 9, 1839. The young wife was much rejoiced at the return of her young soldier husband. They immediately set up housekeeping and proceeded to enjoy the honeymoon that had been interrupted rudely by the call of the youthful husband to the front. They are the parents of three daughters, intelligent, educated and accomplished. They are Carrie E., Laura A. and Bessie E. Carrie is the wife of A. W. Peck, who is a salesman and they reside at Traverse City, Michigan. Cyril H. Tyler is something of a politician and is an active and zealous worker on behalf of his party, being a Prohibitionist, sincere, consistent and devoted to the cause. He has served as chairman of the county central committee a number of years and although defeat has stared them in the face each successive campaign, the adherents of the cause never surrender. He has unbounded faith in the success of the prohibition principle eventually. He is a member of Oliver P. Morton Post No. 54, Grand Army of the Republic, at Manton. Both he and his wife are devout members of the Methodist Episcopal church, regular attendants upon its service and have always been earnest workers in the cause of religion and charity. He is a man who is admired and respected by his neighbors for his sincerity. Many of those who are most diametrically opposed to his views on politics and religion admire the man, even though they dislike the opinions which he entertains. |