Pioneer history of Ingham County, compiled and arranged by Mrs. Franc L. Adams, secretary of the Ingham County pioneer and historical society.

ALAIEDON TOWNSHIP AND ITS HISTORY

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even then begun to colonize Michigan in great numbers, and to
prevent them from lunching off his boots he used the stove as a
safety vault. One evening, as was customary in pioneer days, a
houseful of company came, and as was also customary the hostess
cooked for the visitors a supper. In the morning a broken-hearted
boy was viewing the remains of a pair of red-topped boots, baked
too hard to be of any value, except, possibly, as dessert for an
Arctic explorer.
Mr. and Mrs. Speer have five children living-Mrs. Olivia
Minkler, who lives with her parents at their home in Alaiedon;
Marcellus, a well known farmer, and Mrs. Mary Upton, both of
Vevay; John Speer, of Alaiedon, and Mrs. Ada Van Horn, of
Lansing.
Mr. Speer has for several years been in poor health, and is now
partially helpless. Mrs. Speer at the last meeting of county
pioneers was called to the platform and introduced to the audience as having been a resident of the county for 69 years, and is a
strong, vigorous woman for one of her years. As this couple look
back over the way they have travelled together, and note that
the dense forests and swamps, the impassable trails and all the
hardships and privations of early days have been succeeded by
fertile, well-tilled farms, comfortable farm buildings with modern
equipments, improved highways, and indeed all the improvements
that go to make the sum of modern country life, they can say as very
few people in any place can truthfully assert, that all this transformation from the old days down to the present occurred during the
years they have walked together as husband and wife.
LEWIS H. STANTON, A PIONEER OF INGHAM COUNTY.
Written by Mrs. Harriet Stanton Bristol, Mason, Mich., 1916.
Lewis H. Stanton was born in the city of Newark, N. J., in the
year 1835. He was the eldest son of Daniel H. and Harriet White
Stanton. When he was four years of age his parents, with their
two small children, took the long trip overland by emigrant
wagon to Michigan. This was then a much more perilous expedition than a trip to the wilds of Africa is today. They encoun