My Genealogy Hound

Alonzo Sibley, whose death on March 16, 1896, removed one of the most prominent and influential citizens of Oakland County, Michigan, resided on an attractive and productive farm in Commerce township. He was one of the local leaders of the Republican party, with which he had been identified since 1856.

Alonzo Sibley was descended from Puritan stock, paternally and maternally. His father was Elias Sibley, a native of New Hampshire, and his grandfather was Ebenezer Sibley, a soldier of the Revolutionary War. His mother was Ruth A. Chase, a native of Connecticut. After marriage Elias and Ruth A. (Chase) Sibley moved to Preston, Chenango County, New York, where they settled on a new farm. In 1826 they moved to Wayne County, New York, where they remained until 1834. In that year they came to Michigan, settling on a new farm in Bloomfield township, Oakland County, where Mr. Sibley died in 1856 and his widow two years later. They were active and devout members of the Presbyterian Church. Their family consisted of seven children.

Alonzo Sibley was born July 14, 1810, in Preston, Chenango County, New York, and attended the early district schools in that community. He began work for himself at the age of 16 years, and when 18 his father gave him his time. He worked at farming for others by the month until he came to Michigan. He landed at Detroit May 10, 1831, from the little steamer “Sheldon Thompson,” one of the two steamers then plying on the lakes, the trip consuming eight days. Michigan at that time was very sparsely settled and Indians and wild animals abounded. The young man went prospecting through the State and selected in Commerce township, Oakland County, what became the home farm, buying eighty acres from the government, the deed to which was signed by President Andrew Jackson. In the fall of 1831 he returned to his Eastern home and spent the winter, and in the spring returned to the West and built a log cabin and began clearing the land, putting in crops and fencing a few acres. He again returned home in the fall of 1832 and the following spring was married to Mary Heath, who was born in Monroe County, New York, in 1813. The young couple proceeded immediately to their new home. They became the parents of a child who died in infancy; Mrs. Sibley died in 1836. Our subject formed a second union in 1837 with Sarah Ann Heath, who died in 1873, having been the mother of seven children, as follows: Mary Jane, wife of James Pratt of Traverse City, Michigan; Harriet A., who married Rev. J. B. Drew, and died in 1886; Watson A., who married Maggie Hubbel and resides in Muskegon, Michigan; Judson L., treasurer of Oakland County, a record of whose life appears elsewhere in this volume; and three children who died in infancy. Mr. Sibley was married a third time, November 26, 1875, to Adeline Colby, a daughter of William and Lucy (Dennis) Colby. Her parents removed from Maine to New York in the early days and settled in Wayne County. Her father, was a “Minute Man” in the War of 1812, and died in 1836, at the age of 45 years. His widow was afterward married to Rev. Samuel Wyre, of the Free Will Baptist Church, and they settled at Sibley’s Corner in Oakland County, Michigan. Rev. Mr. Wyre died June 6, 1870. Mrs. Sibley was one of 10 children and was born June 10, 1817, in Wayne County, New York, where she received her education. She died March 19, 1896, three days after her husband and on the day of his burial.

Mr. Sibley owned 300 acres of land, 200 being under cultivation. He built his residence in 1846, and it was considered a very fine home, altogether the best in that section. For over 50 years he was a deacon in the Free Will Baptist Church which he helped to organize, and also was trustee. He was a member of the School Board and held three scholarships in Hillsdale College, where his son Judson L. was graduated in the scientific course. His son Watson was in the 22nd Reg. Michigan Vol. Inf., and served three years, taking part in many battles, and acting as hospital steward. He is now a wholesale and retail druggist at Muskegon, Michigan, where he has lived since 1869.

Alonzo Sibley was a Democrat in politics until 1856, when he became a Republican and from that time he was unswerving in his allegiance to that party. He was a delegate to many county, congressional and State conventions, and served as assessor, highway commissioner and justice of the peace, holding the latter office for a period of 12 years. He was a grand old man, irreproachable in character, and his death was mourned in all sincerity by his family and many friends.