Wilder B Mack (abt. 1798)

Born about 1798 in Massachusetts

Ancestors

Biography

Wilder was born about 1798. He is the son of Daniel Mack and Sally Ball. He married Judith Moulton. Among their children were

• Alonzo W Mack b. 1822, d. 4 Jan 1871 (aged 48–49) Chicago, IL, Burial Limestone Cemetery, West Kankakee, Kankakee County, Illinois. Doctor, Colonel, serving in the Illinois 76th regiment, and Legislator.^[1]
• Mary Jane Mack b. 27 August 1829,Westfield, Union, New Jersey, d. 12 January 1841 Antwerp Township, Van Buren County, Michigan.
• Louisa Ellen Mack b. 25 January 1840 Michigan, d. 14 February 1857,Kankakee, Kankakee, Illinois.

Wilder and his family are found in Westfield, Chautauqua County, New York when the Census of 1830 was taken. Besides him are found 1 male of 5 and under 10 years old, 1 female under 5, 2 females of 5 and under 10, 1 of 20 and under 30, and 1 of 30 and under 40.^[2]

Besides farming, Wilder was a pastor and school teacher, according to the author of the History of Kalamazoo County. He had settled his family in Michigan, at least by the winter of 1837-38 and he is listed as being a resident tax payer of Prairie Ronde Township in Kalamazoo County in 1838. He was taxed for 68 acres, 1 cow and 5 head of young cattle. That year he was elected as a school inspector, as well as 1839-1841. The first school house was built in 1838 on section 18. Before this, for one winter, Wilder, a Methodist minister, taught school in the home of James D. Smith. There was another Mack who also was of Chautauqua County, NY, bought land but didn’t settle there. John Mack bought land in Section 12 of adjoining Texas Township of Kalamazoo County, in 1835, sharing the deed with Salmon Prentice and Rufus Washburn, who also didn’t settle there.^[3] He must have also taught in his own home, as revealed in a cemetery.

Wilder was School Inspector for Antwerp Township in Van Buren County during 1850. The history of Porter Township records he was a Protestant Methodist preacher who held occasional services at the house of George s. Frecs. ^[4]

Tragedy Strikes

There is a memorial stone in the Kern Cemetery, Porter Township, Van Buren County, MI marking a mass burial site. It reads:
Sacred to the memory of
MORRIS, son of Lyman & Rosannah Lawrence
Aged 21 yrs, 3 mo. & 26 ds.
HEZEKIAH, son of j.k. & Emaline Bingham E 16 yrs
CLARISSA, daughter of Niles H. & Sarah Kinney
aged 12 yrs. 9 mo. & 9 days.
MARY JANE, daughter of W.B. & Judith Mack
Aged 11 yrs. 4 mo. & 16 days.
GEORGE B. son of James & Mary B Nelson
Aged 7 yrs. 2 mo. & 1 day.
Who were all consumed by fire together with the house of the Revd W. B. Mack then Preceptor while they were asleep on the night of the 12th of January A.D. 1841.
See how beneath the moon beams,
Yon little billow heaves, it breaks
And foams and flutters for a while
And murmuring then retires to rest.
So fades the lovely blooming flower,
Frail smiling solace of an hour,
So soon our trancient comforts fly
And pleasure only blooms to die.
Thus man, the sport of bliss and care,
Rises on times eventful sea
And having swelled a moment then
He melts into Eternity
^[5][6]

Ministry

On October 6, 1844 Wilder B. Mack was elected by the Michigan Annual Conference of Ministers and Delegates and was ordained as Elder, authorized to "Administer the Lord’s Supper, to Baptize, to Celebrate Matrimony and to Feed the Flock of God."^[7] "Records of the Michigan Conference of the Methodist Protestant Church held in the United Methodist Church's Michigan Conference Archives at Adrian College show that he joined the Conference in 1844 on transfer from the Methodist Episcopal Church. After serving his first two years on the LaPorte (Indiana) circuit, he was elected Conference President in 1846, 1847, and 1848. He was elected to that position again in 1851 and 1852. He later transferred to the Northern Illinois Conference.^[8]

The Mack family is found in Antwerp Township of Van Buren County, Michigan when the 1850 census was taken. He, Judith, daughter Louisa, along with Vermont born George Miller live in the home. Like so many others, Wilder is a farmer.^[9]

Sources

1. ↑ FindAGrave|
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1830", database with images, FamilySearch (ark:/61903/1:1:XHPN-JHL : Fri Jan 20 15:04:25 UTC 2023), Entry for Wilder B Mack, 1830.
3. ↑ Durant, Samuel W., History of Kalamazoo county, Michigan 1880, Philadelphia. Everts & Abbott; Pgs 448, 450, 589. John Mack of Chautauqua, NY Pg 538.
4. ↑ Ellis, Franklin. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/History_of_Berrien_and_Van_Buren_Countie/xw0MdUH2EwIC?hl=en&gbpv=0 History of Berrien and Van Buren Counties, Michigan: With Biographical Sketches of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. United States: D. W. Ensign & Company, 1880.Pgs. 381 & 530.
5. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #138753252
6. ↑ Image credit Elad, Find A Grave contributor and also recorded in "Cemetery Records of Van Buren County, Michigan Porter township, KERN CEMETERY, Compiled by: Van Buren Regional Genealogical Society, 200 North Phelps Decatur, Michigan 49045, 1992.
7. ↑ Image Credit Elad, Find A Grave contributor
8. ↑ Find A Grave Contributor: William McNitt (47120590)
9. ↑ "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MF8G-ZDB : 22 December 2020), W B Mack, Antwerp Township, Van Buren, Michigan, United States; citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).