My Genealogy Hound

RODERICK L. VAN NESS, late of Howard Township, Cass County, but now deceased, was born in this township and county on the 4th of August, 1845. His parents were William and Anietta (Lee) Van Ness, the former a native of New York. Roderick was the eldest of six children and was reared in his native township, where he obtained the rudiments of his education in a neighboring “temple of learning,” which was none other than a log schoolhouse. Upon choosing an occupation, he selected that to which he had been reared, and throughout his entire life following farming pursuits.

Prominent in the Republican party, Mr. Van Ness was in 1879 elected Treasurer of Cass County on that ticket, and soon afterward removed to Cassopolis. In 1883, at the expiration of his term of office, he returned to his farm, where he remained until his death. In 1876 he married Miss Julia E. Gard, who was born in Volinia Township, Cass County, on the 18th of September, 1852. For further particulars in regard to her family history the reader is referred to the sketch of her father, I. N. Gard, which appears on another page of this volume. Her paternal grandfather, Jonathan Gard, was born in New Jersey in 1799, and came to Michigan in 1828, locating, in Cass County. His father, Joshua Gard, was born in Morris County, N. J., on the 24th of August, 1774. The mother of Mrs. Van Ness was in maidenhood Nancy Shaw, and was born in Ohio, whence in her childhood she removed to Michigan in company with her father, Richard Shaw, the latter being an early settler of Cass County.

The parents of Mrs. Van Ness were married in Cass County, and of the union there were born three daughters and one son, Julia E. being the eldest in the number. She was reared in Volinia Township, and after completing her education, engaged in teaching school for a period of five years. Of her marriage there were born two children: Newton G. and Arietta. She is a lady of culture, possessing an amiable disposition and genial manners. She has also traveled through various States of the country, and on her wedding tour went to the Philadelphia Centennial. Her business abilities are above the average, and she manages the estate left by her husband with good judgment and in such a manner as to prove remunerative. Her residence is comfortable, and all the home surroundings prove that the inmates are people of refined tastes. The farm consists of one hundred and twenty acres, from the rental of which Mrs. Van Ness derives a good income.

In his social connections, Mr. Van Ness was identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and was also a member of the Grange, with which he was closely connected from the date of its organization until the time of his death. He was one of the most influential members of the Encampment and was a charter member of Cassopolis Lodge, A. O. U. W. He was known and honored throughout the county, and no one in the entire county stood higher in the estimation of his fellow-citizens than did Roderick Van Ness. When he died, November 12, 1889, it was felt that the community as well as the immediate relatives had sustained an irreparable loss, and the family received many tokens of sympathy from neighbors and friends.