William Henry Higley
2nd great-grand uncle of Wenda Fore
Private Co. A 12th MI Infantry
Dates of Service: 1 Mar 1865 – 15 Feb 1866
William Henry Higley was born on 27 December 1837 in Genoa, Cayuga County, New York to Solomon George Higley II and Eleanor Batts Higley. His siblings were Polly Ann born in 1828, Solomon George III born in 1835, and Eleanor (my Great-grandmother) in 1840. The family moved to Adamsville, Cass County, Michigan in 1854.
The 1860 U.S. Federal Census shows William age 22 living in the village of Adamsville, Cass County, Michigan with his parents Solomon age 62, and Eleanor age 64. William is listed as day laborer. They are living next door to the Peter Simmons and William Simmons families.
(This fact is important because Peter Simmons married Eleanor Higley, William’s sister. This is how my ancestors became the Higleys and the Simmons!)
The U.S., Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865, show William Higley age 25 on 1 July 1863, and unmarried. He lived in Ontwa, Cass County, Michigan. On 2 March 1865 he enlisted at Kalamazoo in Co. A, 12th Michigan Infantry Regiment at age 27 for one year. He joined the 12th Michigan Infantry in Arkansas where his brother Solomon (and his soon to be brother-in-law Peter Simmons) were serving at DeVall’s Bluff doing picket duty. He mustered out on 15 February 1866 at Camden, Arkansas.
According to Michigan, County Marriage Records, 1822-1940, William H. Higley age 29 married Esther Smith age 22 in Calvin, Cass County, Michigan on 4 July 1867. They were married by Samuel Ketcham, Minister of the Gospel.
William and Esther have three children: A daughter Lillian was born in 1869 and died at two months on 5 October 1869, and is buried in Shaffer Cemetery; a son Arthur Jasper was born 31 December 1871; and a son Raymond (Rammie) was born in November 1875 and died on 2 September 1876 of brain fever and is also buried in Shaffer Cemetery.
The 1870 U.S. Federal Census lists William and Esther living in Calvin Township, Cass County, Michigan. William is 32, and Esther is 25. Their real estate is valued at $2,000 – he is a farmer. They live next door to William’s parents, Solomon and Eleanor Higley, who are age 70 and 72.
Then tragedy strikes the family. On 18 August 1876 William Higley dies of typhoid/flux at the age of 35. Then on 5 September 1876 little Raymond (Rammie) less than one year old dies of brain fever. They are both buried in Shaffer Cemetery. Return of deaths in the County of Cass for the year ending December 31st, A.D. 1876.
You might ask what has become of William’s wife after his untimely death at on 35 years old.
Esther does not appear in the 1880 U.S. Federal Census. She appears in the Michigan, County Marriage Records, 1822-1940: as Hester A. Higby age 38 at Edwardsburg, Cass, Michigan with a marriage date of 16 September 1881 to Ransom J. Osborn. On 30 January, 1891 Esther, a widow, applied for the Civil War pension of her former husband, William Higley. There was only Application No. 498173, with no additional information.
By the 1900 U.S. Federal Census Esther Osborn age 58, a widow, was living with her son Arthur, his wife Gertrude, and their children Russell age 3, and Leona 6/12. The census listed her as a rug (rag) carpet weaver. Also listed is Winifred D. Osborn, a half-sister age 16 at school. (Half-sister to Arthur).
Another time of sorrow for the family, as Winnie Osborn Thorp, now married, died 6 September 1903 of Consumption and is buried in Shaffer Cemetery. She was just short of her 20th birthday. Her father is listed as R. J. Osborn, and her mother as Esther Smith.
In the Thirteenth Census of the United States: 1910 – Population for Calvin Township, Cass County, Michigan, Esther is still living with her son Arthur S. Higley, his wife Gertrude and their one daughter and four sons. Esther is now a 69 year-old widow. Two years later, at age 70, she passed away of Uremia contributed by Nephritis and is buried in the plot with William Higley and their two small children. Her son Arthur J. Higley is the informant.
William and Esther’s only living child, Arthur J. Higley died in the Milleman Nursing Home in Elkhart, Indiana on 20 May 1962 at the age of 90. Cause of death was Uremia due to Chronic Pyelonephritis (or kidney disease). He is also buried in Shaffer Cemetery in Calvin Township, Cass County, Michigan.
GRAVESITE: Shaffer Cemetery in Calvin Township, Cass County, MI
Written by Wenda Fore, April 2020