Ionia County Connections

To Michigan via New York

My husband’s family has roots in Ionia County Michigan via New York. The Stevens, Peck, Gordon, and Sharp families all moved to Ionia County Michigan from Jefferson County, New York between 1855 and 1870.  His direct ancestors stayed in Ionia County until about 1883 when they moved to Minnesota.

The Alexander Stevens family was the first to arrive. The family was on the 1855 census in Rutland, Jefferson County, New York and by 1860 they were settled in Keene, Ionia County, Michigan.  Alexander was born (probably in Vermont) in 1799 and died in 1871 in Ionia County, Michigan. He is buried next to his wife, Lydia nee Peck in the Saranac Cemetery, Ionia County.

Lydia Peck Stevens was born in Connecticut in 1802. She was the daughter of Joseph Peck and Elisabeth Pritchard. Lydia died in 1890.  Lydia’s sister, Deborah, married Benjamin Sharp. The Sharp family was also residing in Rutland, Jefferson County, New York in 1855. By 1870, the Sharps had followed the Stevens family to Michigan and settled in Easton, Ionia County.

Benjamin Sharp was born in 1786 in Connecticut and was the son of Benjamin Sharp and Ruth Foster. Benjamin died in 1872 and is buried in the Saranac Cemetery. He was a veteran of the War of 1812. Deborah Peck Sharp was born in Connecticut in 1791 and died in 1882. She is buried with her husband.

Benjamin and Deborah’s adult son George Sharp and his wife Harriet Elizabeth Gordon also made the move to Ionia County from New York by 1870. George was born about 1820 in New York and died in 1895 in Ionia County. He is buried in the Highland Park Cemetery in Ionia County.

Harriet Elizabeth Gordon Sharp was born in 1827 in New York. She was the daughter of Thomas Gordon and Sylvia King. Harriet died in 1888 in Ionia County and she is buried with her husband in Highland Park Cemetery. Harriet’s sister, Susan, married Henry Sharp – a brother to George Sharp.

Henry and Susan Sharp never made it to Michigan. Susan Gordon Sharp died at about age 30 in 1853 soon after the birth of her fourth daughter – also called Susan. The widowed Henry moved his 4 daughters in with various relatives in the Rutland area of Jefferson County, New York. Oldest daughter Martha Jane lived with her uncle George Sharp and aunt Harriet Elizabeth Gordon Sharp first, then became a servant in a neighboring home until her marriage to Charles H Brown. Second daughter Lydia Ann lived with her grandparents Thomas Gordon and Sylvia King Gordon, then lived with her maternal uncle Wilbur C Gordon and his family until her marriage to Edwin Rawson. Youngest daughter Susan was adopted into the George Sharp and Harriet Elizabeth Gordon Sharp family but she passed away sometime between 1865 and 1870 before the family moved to Michigan.  

Third daughter – my husband’s 2x great grandmother – Harriet Elizabeth remained with her father Henry until his enlistment in the Civil War in March 1864, after which she spent time with her uncle Joseph F Peck (brother to previously mentioned Lydia Ann and Deborah) and aunt Emily A Gordon (sister to previously mentioned Harriet Elizabeth and Susan). Henry died of sickness during his service in March of 1865. Harriet Elizabeth then moved west to Michigan to stay with the Alexander Stevens family in Ionia County.

In 1875, Harriet married Charles S Ehle in Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan. As stated on their marriage certificate, the couple was residing in Saranac, Ionia, Michigan at the time of their marriage. CS Ehle was also of New York heritage, but his parents, Charles P Ehle and Sarah Ann Fancher, had removed to Wisconsin before 1851. CS Ehle was born in Wisconsin and was most likely in Michigan for his work as a moulder.

CS Ehle and Harriet Elizabeth Sharp Ehle had their first 2 children in Michigan. My husband’s great grandfather, Charles F Ehle was born at Boston, Ionia, Michigan in 1879 and the family was enumerated in Saranac, Ionia, Michigan on the 1880 US Census. By 1883, the family had moved to the Minneapolis, Minnesota area where they remained until CS died in 1910 and Harriet Elizabeth died in 1916.

**submitted for publication in Ionia County Genealogical society newsletter on 8/11/2019

**an abbreviated version published in the Ionia County Genealogical Society Newsletter, Vol. 24, Number 4, Oct – Dec 2019