North Star Township Biography
ADOLPHUS HOFFMAN
Source: BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY, MICHIGAN published by J. B. BEERS & CO., Chicago, 1906
ADOLPHUS HOFFMAN, one of the old and honored residents of North Star township, is engaged in farming his eighty-acre tract in Section 30. His birth occurred June 19, 1848, in Sandusky county, Ohio, and he is a son of Peter and Elizabeth (Kay) Hoffman.
Peter Hoffman was born in Germany, and came to the United States when he was fourteen years old, locating in Sandusky county, Ohio. Here he married Elizabeth Kay and they removed to Hillsdale county, Michigan, where they lived for several years, later locating in Gratiot county. In the spring of 1854 they settled in what is now North Star township, and Mr. Hoffman gave the township its name. Here they resided the rest of their lives, Mr. Hoffman dying in Ithaca while on a visit to his son, our subject, in 1901, aged eighty-six years. He and his wife were the parents of the following children: Eliza, the wife of John Trask; Charles, a brick manufacturer of North Star; Adolphus; Ann M., the wife of Thomas Street; Mary, the wife of George Houseman; and Foshen, a merchant of Pompeii.
Adolphus Hoffman was about one year old when he was brought to Hillsdale county by his parents, and he came with them to Gratiot county. He resided at home until twenty-five years of age, and then settled on a farm of his own in North Star township, on Section 28, where he lived for sixteen years. He then removed to the village of North Star and engaged in the manufacture of brick, at which he continued for six years, and then lived retired for three years in St. Louis, afterwards settling on a farm in Pine River township, between St. Louis and Alma, where he remained three years. He next settled on a farm in Emerson township for sixteen months, later removing to Ithaca, where he engaged in the sale of agricultural implements, in which line he continued for several months. In the spring of 1904 he located on the farm where he now lives, on Section 30, where he owns eighty acres of good land.
Mr. Hoffman was married, March 26, 1872, in North Star township, to Miss Aurilla Ward, born in Huntington, Lorain county, Ohio, March 24, 1847, daughter of Eli and Aurilla (Graves) Ward. Eli Ward was a native of Massachusetts, while his wife was of Vermont, and after marriage they located in Lorain county, Ohio, where they passed the remainder of their lives. They were the parents of twelve children, Mrs. Hoffman being the youngest. To Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman one child was born, namely: Guy A., who married Nellie McCarthy, and resides in St. Louis.
Adolphus Hoffman is one of the oldest settlers of North Star township. He is well known for his honesty and integrity, and is highly respected in the community.
Created on ... October 09, 2001