North Star Township Biography
LAFAYETTE SWEATLAND
Source: PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM OF GRATIOT COUNTY, MICHIGAN published by CHAPMAN BROTHERS, Chicago, 1884
Lafayette Sweatland, one of the poineer settlers of North Star Township, resident on section 12, was born in Franklin Co., Vt., July 25, 1829. He is a son of Philetus and Hannah (Barton) Sweatland, natives of Connecticut and Massachusetts, respectively. They moved to Cuyahoga Co., Ohio in 1831, and Mr. S. remembers Cleveland at the time as no larger than Ithaca, this county, is at present. The family remained there until 1843, when they removed to Huron County, same State.
In 1854 Mr. Sweatland came to this state and entered 320 acres of Government land on the north half of section 12, North Star Township, a portion of which he still owns and on which he is now living. He brought his family here, consisting of his father, mother, wife and child , in December of that year and entered at once upon the arduous task of clearing and improving his land.
Mr. Sweatland experience all the trials of the early poineer. His customary "log cabin" was erected in the woods and under the most adverse circumstances. He had only one neighbor within a raduis of seven miles and incessant individual toil were necessary to accomplish the aim so fondly cherished in his energetic mind. He worked diligently and earnestly, and today can look back upon the past and smile at the difficulty and adversity they offered.
Mr. Sweatland enlisted in the late civil war enrolling in Co. D, 26th Mich. Vol. Inf., August 9, 1862, and was discharged June 13, 1865. He was detailed to accompany the ambulance train and had charge of one consisting of 18 wagons.
He was married in Seneca Co., Ohio, April 28, 1853, to Lydia, daughter of Dr. Elias Sower, whose biography we present in this work, and six children have been born to them, namely: Lornea, Josephine (died December 2, 1872, aged 14), Theodore (died June 25, 1871, aged four years and ten months), Arthur E. and Benson D.
Mr. S. is recognized as one of the prominent men of the Township, straight-forward and honest in his dealings with his fellow man and one who has never sought political favor. He owns 240 acres of land in the County, and devotes his time to the cultivation and improvement of the same.
Mr. S. is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and likewise of the Knights of Honor and I.O.O.F.
Created on ... October 09, 2001