Tuscola County MI Archives Biographies.....Disbrow, Remos 1822 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/copyright.htm http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/mi/mifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com December 24, 2007, 12:55 am Author: Chapman Bros. (1892) REMOS DISBROW. In mentioning the prominent farmers of Tuscola County, the attention is directed to Mr. Disbrow, who owns and occupies a fine estate on section 10, Vassar Township. He is a large landholder, owning about five hundred acres, a considerable portion of which has been cleared and brought to a high state of cultivation. A resident of this county for more than twenty years, he has become closely connected with its growth, and especially with the development of Vassar Township. Of late years he has dealt quite extensively in lumber, and in 1874 erected a saw mill which was burned in 1881, causing a loss of over $1,000. He rebuilt the mill in company with A. F. Cline in 1883, and it was again burnt in 1890. Before giving the important events in the life of Mr. Disbrow the reader will doubtless be interested in learning of his ancestry. He is descended from Thomas Disbrow, one of two brothers who emigrated to this country from England, and located in Fairfield County, Conn. The other brother, John, settled in Rye, N. Y. From Thomas was descended Jabez, who married Abigail Meeker, and Nathan, who chose for his wife Watie Scribner. After Jabez came his son, Asahel, who was born March 23, 1746, and died, in 1813 at Windham, N. Y. November 20,1775, he married Abigail Disbrow, his cousin, the daughter of Nathan Disbrow, and after they resided in Connecticut twenty-four years, they removed to Windham, Greene County, N. Y where they died. In the Revolutionary War Asahel Disbrow served as a Minute Man, ready at a moment's notice to go in defense of the coast when a ship-of-war hove in sight. He was a slaveholder in the Empire State, but his slaves all secured their freedom in some way except one desirable female body servant of his wife's, who was urged .to give the slave her freedom but refused because she wanted a slave to wait upon her as long as she lived. However she survived the slave. There were ten children in the family of Asahel and Abigail Disbrow, namely: Meeker, who was born in 1777; Thomas Scribner, in 1778; Watie, in 1779; Abigail, in 1780; Asahel in 1782; George, in 1784; Ezra, in 1785; Anna and Deborah (twins), in 1787; and Polly, in 1789. Meeker married, became the father of eleven children, removed to Erie County, Ohio, and died aged seventy-two. Thomas, who also married, had a family of eleven children, and died in Prattsville, N. Y., in 1850. Watie, who became the wife of Mr. Beers, was left a widow writh eight children and died at the residence of her son Asahel in Indiana, aged seventy-five. Abigail married Mr. Abbot, settled in Ohio near Sciota and died leaving eight children. Asahel, who married and became the father of twelve children, died in Alden, Ill., in 1854. George died in Fairfield, Conn., in 1796, and Ezra passed away in Prattsville, N. Y., August 25, 1855. Deborah married and settled in Durham, N. Y.; Anna, with her husband, located in Prattsville, N. Y.; and Polly, who became Mrs. Benjamin West, emigrated to Canada, where she died when comparatively young. The father of our subject was Asahel Disbrow, who was born in Connecticut, June 17, 1782, and there passed his youth. In Connecticut he married Miss Esther Bates, likewise a native of that State, and born April 13, 1787. To them were born twelve children, as follows: Pameha, born December 14, 1806; Elias, January, 9, 1808; Sarah, September 27, 1809; Ezra, May 12, 1811; William, February 1, 1813; Esther, Aprill5, 1814; Nathan, February 21,1816; Julia, December 25,1817; Orrin, December 2, 1819; Remos, August 4, 1822; Sidney, February 20, 1825; and Lucas, November 16,1827. From this record it will be seen that our subject was among the younger children. He was born in Prattsville, Greene County, N. Y., whither his parents had removed from Connecticut. He remained in that county with his parents until 1838, when he accompanied them to McHenry County, Ill., and there remained until 1870. Meantime his parents died in 1854. They were both Methodists in their religious persuasion and were highly esteemed among their neighbors in McHenry County. Their son Remos stayed at home until he was of age, when he purchased a farm in McHenry County and commenced to improve the one hundred and sixty acres of which it consisted. Prior to his removal to Michigan Mr. Disbrow was married in 1849 to Miss Esther, a daughter of Stephen G. and Sarah (Atwater) Virgil. Mr. Virgil was born September 6, 1784, in Otsego County, N. Y., while his wife was a native of Massachusetts. He died in 1830, and Mrs. Virgil survived him six years, passing away November 30, 1836. Unto our subject and his wife were born seven childrenPhila A., Byron M., Harriet A., Armista, Mary A., George B. and Jane Elizabeth. Only two of these are now living, Harriet and Jane Elizabeth. After a residence of many years in McHenry County, Ill., our subject sold his place in 1870, and came to Tusola County, where he has since resided. His first location was upon section 14, Vassar Township, but he now makes his home on section 10. Politically, Mr. Disbrow is a Republican and invariably casts his ballot for the candidates of that party. He has been Justice of the Peace and filled other positions of a local nature. Upon his estate may be noticed tine stock, to which he devotes considerable attention and he makes a specialty of Jersey cattle. He raises the various cereals. and has his farm divided into fields and pastures as suits his convenience. A good class of out buildings has been erected, and a neat residence, whose interior indicates the refined tastes of the inmates. Mr. Disbrow is a pleasant conversationalist, and having added to his fund of knowledge gained in the common schools of New York and at Rock River Seminary in Mt. Morris, Ill., by systematic reading and careful study of the public issues of the day, he is a well-informed man and an influential citizen. While at Rock River Seminary he addressed the young men's Lyceum in his maiden speech, which reflected credit upon the institution and himself. Since then he has delivered quite a number of addresses and lectures, is an able debater, and has done considerable pleading in the lower courts of Illinois and Michigan as well as in the higher courts. In public meetings he is often called upon for a speech and responds with evident pleasure. He attended the first Northwestern Anti-slavery Convention held in Chicago, and always labored zealously in the anti-slavery cause. Additional Comments: Extracted from: Portrait and Biographical Record of Genesee, Lapeer and Tuscola Counties, Michigan, Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, Together with Biographies of all the Governors of the State, and of the Presidents of the United States Chicago: Chapman Bros. 1892 File at: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/mi/tuscola/bios/disbrow950gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/mifiles/ File size: 7.4 Kb