Preceded by 20th Governor Russell A. Alger |
Cyrus G. Luce 21st Governor of Michigan1887—1891 |
Succeeded by 22nd Governor Edwin B. Winans |
Contents |
Governor Cyrus Gray Luce was born on July 2, 1824 in Windsor, Ashtabula, Ohio. He was the second son of Walter Luce and Mary M. Gray. Cyrus was named after his maternal grandfather, Cyrus Gray. His father Walter Luce was a veteran of the War of 1812 and hailed from Toland, Connecticut. His ancestors were English yeomen and Puritan farmers. They were among the first settlers in Massachusetts.[1]
His childhood was spent in a pioneer home in the Ohio woodlands. Barefooted he and his siblings would walk through the woods to the log schoolhouse and do their chores, watching over cattle.[2]
When Cyrus was 12, he moved west with his family to Millgrove Township, Steuben County, Indiana, where he continued his schooling in a schoolhouse his father and their neighbors built of tamarack poles in 1836. Two years later he was accepted at the Academy at LaGrange, Indiana.[2]
For three years, he would drive a freight team to and from Toledo, Ohio to earn money for tuition. When at home he tioled on the farm, studying early and late so as to not fall behind in class. In 1841 he graduated from the Academy at 17 years old, but he never stopped learning.[3]
From 1841 to 1848 he worked in a wool mill, carding wool and dressing the unfinished cloth for sale.
He was 19 when his paternal grandfather Joshua Luce passed away on October 6, 1843 in Hartford, Connecticut. He was buried in South Yard Cemetery.[4]
Even as a lad, Cyrus was interested in politics and a proud supporter of the Whigs. He considered Henry Clay's defeat in 1844 a personal blow and voted for Taylor in 1848.[3] Impressed with Cyrus' ernestness and integrity, his political friends nominated him as the Whig Party candidate for Indiana House of Representatives that very year -- without consulting Cyrus himself. He accepted, but did not have the money or political knowledge to win. This would be the one and only time Cyrus Gray Luce would suffer political defeat.[5]
After losing that close election, he decided to leave the state altogether, purchasing 80 acres of land near Gilead, Michigan in Branch county, not far from the Indiana state line.[3]
On August 29, 1849, Cyrus Gray Luce, 25, of Orland, Indiana, was wed to the orphaned Julia Ann Dickinson, 20, of Gilead, Michigan, youngest daughter of the late Obediah Dickinson Sr. and Experience Smith. The wedding was witnessed by Charles Luce and Elmira Child of Orland in the small community of Gilead and was officiated by Minister of the Gospel, Jacob Patch.[6]
Cyrus and Julia had the following children:
In the 1850 US Census, he was listed with his wife Julia as a farmer. His land was worth $800.[7] That same year his eldest brother Walter Joshua Luce, 28, passed away.
In 1852 he was elected to represent Gilead Township on the Branch County Board of Supervisors.[5]
In 1854 he was an election candidate for the newly formed Republican party as a State Representative.[5] That year, his paternal grandmother, Jane Luce née Stimson, 81, passed away in Tolland, Conneticut. She was buried next to her husband in South Yard Cemetery.[8]
He served as Michigan State Representative in 1855 & 1856.[5]
His younger brother Charles was County Commissioner of Steuben County, Indiana from 1855 to 1858.[9]
On May 8th, 1858 his middle son Dwight D. Luce passed away. He was buried in Carleton Cemetery in Orland, Indiana.[10] That year Cyrus was elected Branch County Treasurer, an office he would hold for two consecutive terms until 1862.
By 1860 Cyrus (35) and his 30-year-old wife, Julia lived in the village of Coldwater, Michigan with their children Elmira J. (9), Henry G (7), and 11 month old baby Florinda. He had acquired $6300 worth of real estate, hired 23-year-old New Yorker, Hellen Lewis as live-in hired help. and had an additional $1100 in personal assets.[11]
In 1864 he was named to fill a seat in the Michigan Senate and was re-elected in 1866.
By 1870 Cyrus (45) had moved his primary residence back to the farm in Gilead. He owned a staggering $17,000 in real estate by this point and had an additional $14,900 in personal assets. This was ten times the amount his neighbors owned, barring farmer Sanders. Living with Cyrus was his wife, Julia (40), daughters Almira (19) and Flora (11), sons Emery (28) and Homer (7), and hired maid Harriet Middaugh (24) and farmhand John W Coon (21).[12]
Cyrus G. Luce owned 172 acres of land south of West Adam's Road in northeast corner of section 21, Gilead Township, Branch County, Michigan just north of the Michigan-Indiana border. On his land were two buildings along the east side of South Snow Prairie Road. His brother Albert owned two 40-acre plots of land just north of West Adams Road.[13] Across the border into Mill Grove Township, Steuben County, Indiana, he owned the remaining 31 acres between S. Snow Prairie and N 700 West (the northern section of which has since been removed after construction of the Indiana Toll Road I90), ending at W 800 North. He also owned 80 acres of land in section 15 between W 800 North and I90 and N 800 West & N 750 West.[14] In total, he owned 283 acres of land in two states.
That same year his eldest daughter Elmira J. Luce, 20, was wed to John Gibson Parker, 22, an orphan who had worked for Cyrus' brother Charles Luce on the Lincoln farm. He had become a self-made merchant in Orland, Indiana by this time. Their marriage was officiated by John Hoyt, Minister of the Gospel in Gilead and was witnessed by Walter and May Luce. The couple made their home in Orland where John would continue his business as a merchant for the rest of his life.[15]
Cyrus was Vice-President of Southern Michigan National Bank, organized in January of 1872 in Coldwater, Michigan.[16]Four months later, on April 2nd, his father, Walter Luce, passed away at home in Orland, Indiana. He was buried in Carlton Cemetery.[17]
In 1874, Cyrus became an active member of The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, a prominent community and agricultural-oriented fraternal organization. He also became a grandfather that year as his daughter Elmira gave birth to a son, Howard L. Parker in Orland, Indiana.
His younger brother George L. Luce was elected Treasurer of Steuben County, Indiana from 1875 to 1877.[9]
In 1876, his eldest son Emery G. Luce, 24, was wed to Alma S. Marsh, 21, youngest daughter of local farmer Daniel Marsh.[18]
In April of 1877, his eldest daughter gave birth to his first granddaughter, Grace I. Parker in Orland, Indiana.
February 12, 1879 his mother Mary, 76, passed away in Orland, Indiana. She was buried next to her husband in Carleton Cemetery.[19] In July of that year, Cyrus Luce was appointed State Oil Inspector by Governor Charles Croswell. On October 13th his eldest daughter had her second daughter, Julia Bernice Parker, named after the child's maternal grandmother.
By 1880 Cyrus, 55, continued to reside in Gilead Township with his wife Julia, 50, daughter Flora, 20, son Homer, 17, who helped on the farm, servant Cora Mcclure, 19, and farmhand Charles Harris, 21.[20]
In 1881 he was re-appointed State Oil Inspector by Governor David Jerome.
On August 13, 1882 his wife, Julia Ann Luce née Dickinson, 53, passed away of Bright's Disease at home in Gilead.[21][22]
On November 8, 1883, Cyrus G. Luce, 59, was wed to Mary E. Thompson née Brown, 40, in Bronson, Branch, Michigan by John R. Bonney, Minister of the Gospel. The marriage was witnessed by son-in-law John G. Parker of Indiana and W. H. Wieand of Michigan[23] No additional children resulted from this marriage either biological or step.
In May of 1884, eldest daughter Elmira had a third daughter, Florence Belle Parker, named in honor of the child's aunt, Florence A. Luce.
In 1886 his brother Charles, 60, died of a combination of cerebral disease and pulmonary gangrene. He was laid to rest in Woodlawn Cemetery at Toledo, Ohio.[24]
Cyrus Gray Luce served as the 21st Governor of Michigan from 1887 to 1890.
In 1887, he appointed General Frank D. Newberry as Inspector General of the Michigan State Militia. Frank would remain in that office until 1891. The general's wife, Fannie would later write a biographical sketch on Governor Luce.[1]
That same year, his youngest son, Homer D. Luce was wed to Grace I. Burnham, daughter of James Morris Burnham in Steuben County, Indiana.[25] The new couple would make their home in Orland.
In 1889, his eldest son Emery had a baby boy who he named Cyrus Leverich Luce in honor of his paternal grandfather Cyrus and maternal grandmother Mary Marsh, whose maiden name was Leverich. At the end of that same year, his brother George passed away in Lake Village, Indiana.
By 1891, Cyrus had moved to the city of Coldwater, MIchigan. There he was a regular attendee, although not a member, of the First Presbyterian Church presided over by Reverend Collin.[26] He still owned his 172 acres of land in section 21 of Gilead Township.[27]
In 1898, his daughter-in-law Alma Sarah Marsh Luce passed away of heart failure due to cancer.
In 1900 Cyrus G. Luce, 76, could be found in Coldwater, Michigan, where he lived at 73 Division Street with his second wife of 17 years, Mary, 57, unwed daughter Florence G., 40, and servant Ada T. Gamnan, 19.[28] Where his house once stood is now the parking lot of the Coldwater City Police Department.
That year, his eldest son Emery G. Luce, 47, was wed to second wife, F. Mabel Dean, 24, daughter of C.S. Dean and Nellie Stratton in Gilead, Michigan.[29]
At 8 o'clock on March 10, 1905, Cyrus G. Luce passed away of La Grippe (the Spanish Flu) at the age of 80 years, 8 months, and 16 days in his house in the city of Coldwater, Michigan.[30] He was interred in Oak Grove Cemetery.[31][32]
Survivors at the time of his death:
Luce County, Michigan is named in his honor.[33]
See Also:
Notes:
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Cyrus is 26 degrees from Herbert Adair, 23 degrees from Richard Adams, 18 degrees from Mel Blanc, 25 degrees from Dick Bruna, 21 degrees from Bunny DeBarge, 32 degrees from Peter Dinklage, 22 degrees from Sam Edwards, 20 degrees from Ginnifer Goodwin, 22 degrees from Marty Krofft, 16 degrees from Junius Matthews, 14 degrees from Rachel Mellon and 20 degrees from Harold Warstler on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
Categories: Ohio, Luce Name Study | Michigan, Luce Name Study | Windsor, Ashtabula County, Ohio | Millgrove Township, Steuben County, Indiana | LaGrange, Indiana | Toledo, Ohio | Gilead Township, Branch County, Michigan | 1850 US Census, Branch County, Michigan | Coldwater, Michigan | 1860 US Census, Branch County, Michigan | 1870 US Census, Branch County, Michigan | 1880 US Census, Branch County, Michigan | 1900 US Census, Branch County, Michigan | Steuben County, Indiana | Oak Grove Cemetery, Coldwater, Michigan | Michigan Governors | Namesakes US Counties | Michigan, Notables | Notables | Luce Name Study