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

245

the calls of the men he did not dare answer until he recognized
his Uncle John Ferguson's voice. No record of the intervening
years were kept, and we next find him at the age of sixteen employed in driving the stage coach and carrying the United States
mail from Lansing to Marshall, which was then the only railroad
station in that part of the State. Travel was slow, and it took
one entire day to go and another to come, with Charlotte as a
half-way station. Stops were also made at Eaton Rapids and
Olivet. When there were no passengers the lad often made the
trip on horseback. The trail lay through dense forest and over
corduroy roads across swamps, and deer, bear and wolves were a
common sight, and must have sometimes struck terror to the boy's
heart. HIe soon found, however, that they would not attack a
person unless molested. Indians were numerous and always
inclined to be friendly. Mr. Stanton often spoke with pride of
his friendship with Okenos, the old war chief of the SaginawChippewa tribe. He was a frequent visitor at the Stanton home
and he and other redmen that he sometimes brought with him
would enjoy the good meal served by Mr. Stanton's mother.
They would beam with good nature, lift the babies and say "nice
papoose" in their deep gutteral voices.
In 1856 Lewis Stanton married Miss Angeline Stillman, daughter of Daniel Stillman, who was the first white settler in Alaiedon
Township.
For nearly forty years they lived on a farm in Alaiedon and five
children came to bless their union. Arthur, the oldest son, a
young man full of promise, died at the age of twenty. Mrs.
Eunice Bogar died in 1908 at Chapin, Mich., and John M.
Stanton, a prosperous farmer of Alaiedon, died in 1914. The
mother passed to her reward in 1890. The surviving children in
1916 were Mrs. May Stanton Williams, of Washington, D. C.,
who was for many years a missionary in South Africa, and Mrs.
Elizabeth Gregg, of Charlotte.
In 1893 Mr. Stanton married Mrs. Mary Crane, who is still
living at Charlotte. She was a cousin of Millard Filmore, President of the United States. She is proud of the fact that she rode
on the first steam railroad car that ran from Buffalo to New York.
Mr. Stanton reached the age of 80 years, but he was still young
in spite of it. His powers of intellect, his keen sense of humor