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Below is a family biography included in Biographical Record of Oakland County, Michigan published by Biographical Publishing Company in 1903.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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Washington West is well known among the leading agriculturists of Novi township, Oakland County, where he owns and operates a farm of 180 acres situated in section 24. He was born in Fleming, Cayuga County, New York, in 1827, and is a son of Lyman and Ruth (White) West.

Lyman West came to Michigan about 1864 and located at Bellevue, Eaton County, where he died. He and his wife were the parents of 10 children, of whom our subject was the sixth.

Washington West received his education in the schools of New York State and in 1866 came to Michigan. He has followed farming the greater part of his life. He purchased his present farm, which is located in the heart of the richest agricultural district of Michigan, in 1866 and has since been actively engaged in its cultivation and improvement. He has at present one of the finest and best improved farms in his township; the farm buildings are very substantial and his dwelling is attractive and home like. He has skillfully surrounded his house with shrubbery and lawns so as to make an extremely pleasing appearance. His home is situated one mile and a quarter east of the village of Novi. Politically our subject is a Democrat.

Mr. West was married in 1860 to Mary C. Coonley, daughter of Samuel S. and Harriet (Clark) Coonley. They are the parents of three children; namely: Ella, who married W. Wallace DeLand, of Detroit, Michigan, died in 1888, leaving her husband and one child, Mary L.; Lee L., who was married to Ruby, daughter of George and Ann Smith, residents of Novi township, Oakland County, has three children, — Myra L., Howard E. and Margaret; and Jessie W., who married Fred W. Durfee, of Plymouth township, Wayne County, Michigan, and has two children, Genevieve and Donald W.

Samuel S. Coonley, Mrs. West’s father, has reared four children, namely: James P., Araminta B., Mary C. and John C. James P. Coonley is living in Chicago, Illinois, was married to Eleanor Helliker, of Farmington township, Oakland County, and they have reared one child, Harriet, who married William Packard, of Salem, Michigan. Araminta B. Coonley married J. L. Howe, of Levanna, Cayuga County, New York, and they have reared nine children, namely: Minnie Fredrica, who married Frank T. Spencer, of Novi, township, Oakland County, and has two children, — Angie and Julia; Eugene, Glenn G., Clara A., Lawrence B., Louis C., Harriet E. John and Helen. John C. Coonley was married to Lydia Avery and at his decease left his widow and the six children named herewith: Mary L. Avery, John Stuart, Sarah O., Howard and Prentiss. His widow is now the wife of Prof. H. A. Ward, of Rochester, New York. She is a lady of cultured literary taste and ability and has written several volumes of poetry, besides having been a correspondent for many leading journals and magazines. Samuel S. Coonley, Mrs. West’s father, was a man of prominence in his State, having held many township offices and having served for several years as a colonel of the New York State Militia. Harriet (Clark) Coonley, mother of Mrs. West, was born in Essex County, New Jersey, in 1806, and died in 1882, at the age of 76 years. She was a daughter of Rev. John Clark, a native of Virginia and a slaveholder. When Mr. Clark came north to live in New Jersey, he brought slaves with him for house servants and afterwards moved to New York; at the time of the emancipation of slaves in New York State, his slaves were given their freedom. He reared six children, all of whom are now deceased. The grandfather of our subject’s wife on her mother’s side was Richard Jaques, a surgeon in the Continental Army during the Revolution, whose wife was a first cousin to President Zachary Taylor.

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This family biography is one of numerous biographies included in the Biographical Record of Oakland County, Michigan published in 1903. 

View additional Oakland County, Michigan family biographies here: Oakland County, Michigan Biographies

View a map of 1911 Oakland County, Michigan here: Oakland County Michigan Map

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