My Genealogy Hound

GEORGE C. HARTMAN, a practical general agriculturist and self-reliant man, winning his way in life with energetic and unflagging industry, has for more than thirty years resided upon his present homestead, pleasantly located in Pipestone Township, Berrien County, Mich. His father, a native of Maiden Lane, New York City, was John Hartman, born in 1789, and a son of Conrad Hartman, born in New Jersey, but of German descent. The paternal grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary War and participated in the battle of Monmouth when only fourteen years of age. The paternal great-grandfather was also a brave soldier of the Revolution.

The mother of our subject, Sarah (Sedgwick) Hartman, was a native of New Haven, Conn., and a daughter of Ebenezer Sedgwick. She was also a cousin of Gen. Sedgwick, who made a gallant record in the Civil War. The parents of our subject were married in Lyons, N. Y., and lived in that locality all their lives. The mother died in 1831, but the father survived until 1872. Four children blessed the union, of whom our subject is now the sole survivor. The parents were members of the Presbyterian Church, and for forty years the father’s seat in church was never vacant. He was a hard-working man and a skillful mechanic, and did blacksmithing work in the State Prison at Auburn.

The father married Miss Gertrude Porter for his second wife. Of the five children born unto this union three yet survive, and are living on the old farm in Wayne County, N. Y. The two sons and one daughter are James, Isaac and Julia. One son, Edward, was a soldier in the Second Michigan Infantry, and died in the service. Our subject was born in Lyons Township, Wayne County, N. Y., July 6, 1822. Reared upon a farm, he received a good common-school education in the district, and remained at home, working at the blacksmith trade, until his marriage in 1851 to Miss Kate Farmer, a daughter of Samuel and Huldah (Burton) Farmer. The father was born in New Jersey September 12, 1779, and the mother was born January 27, 1790. Mr. Farmer engaged in the pursuit of agriculture for some time in Montgomery County, N. Y., and then, in 1835, moved to Brooklyn, N. Y. This latter city became his permanent residence, and he received employment for many years in the Navy Yard, and died in the Empire State in 1838. His good wife survived until 1883, and passed away in Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Farmer were the parents of five children, two of whom are living: William S., and Mrs. Hartman, who was born November 14, 1821, in Montgomery County, N. Y. Educated in her birthplace, Mrs. Hartman there grew up to womanhood and married.

Immediately following his wedding, our subject made a brief visit to Michigan, then returning to the East spent eighteen months in Brooklyn. At the expiration of this length of time the young husband and wife settled permanently in Michigan, locating in Pipestone Township, where Mr. Hartman engaged in the dairy business in company with W. S. Farmer for three years. The succeeding three years he devoted to clearing land on shares, and finally, in 1860, settled on his present farm, then all wild land. He had no money, but owned a yoke of cattle, and with determined energy worked his way upward. He built a frame house and plastered it himself, having first made the tools and lumber. He chopped and logged and, aided by his yoke of oxen, accomplished an immense amount of profitable work. Of the one hundred and sixty acres, one hundred are now under high cultivation. Six children brightened the home, three yet surviving: Georgiana, wife of Charles L. Lamore, a resident of Pipestone Township, and mother of one child, Willie Elwood; Farmer, who married Ida Tuggart, has one child and makes his home in Pipestone Township; and Allan Leslie, at home. Our subject gave his children the best education attainable in the locality. Politically, he is a Republican, but is not active, and voted in 1844 and 1864, and but twice since. He was an admirer of Gen. Grant and has in his parlor a prized memento, a chair used in the office of Gen. U. S. Grant in New York City. Mr. Hartman has been a hard-working man and through his self-reliant efforts has attained a position of independence. Upright and industrious, he commands the respect of his associates and fellow-townsmen.