My Genealogy Hound

DAVID A. CUTHBERT has for many years profitably cultivated his fine homestead located upon section 10, Galien Township, Berrien County, Mich. Born in Yorkshire, England, in 1819, he came to this country with only very limited capital, but was rich in hope, energy and industrious thrift, which soon aided him in the accumulation of this world’s goods. Our subject was the son of David and Hannah Cuthbert, natives of England. The paternal grandparents, natives of Scotland, married against the wishes of their families. The grandfather was an officer in the English army, and was accompanied by his wife to the battlefield in France where he was killed. The widow returned to England, and there her only child, the father of our subject, was born. The grandmother, having received an excellent education, maintained herself and young son by teaching. The parents of David A. Cuthbert married early in life and reared a family of twelve children. The father never became wealthy, but gave his sons and daughters all the advantages his means afforded. He and his wife were sincere Christian people and worthy members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

While yet a babe, our subject was taken by his paternal grandmother and cared for tenderly until he was six years of age. She began his education and instructed him in his primary studies, and, although he attended school but a short time, he acquired valuable book knowledge. At the age of six years he returned to his parents, and soon after began the work of life, assisting in agricultural labor, his father being a small farmer. Mr. Cuthbert married in early manhood and was ready to emigrate to the New World when the illness of his wife detained them, and it was some years later when he finally crossed the ocean to America. His parents came to the United States in 1851 and settled in Monroe County, N. Y. Afterward they located in Michigan, where the father died at the advanced age of four-score years. In 1850, Mr. Cuthbert was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Arlington. Four years after, in 1854, he with his wife and two children safely landed in the United States. Our subject found his stock of money so low he was unable to proceed farther than New York, and remained two years in the Empire State, working out by the month on a farm.

At the expiration of the second year Mr. and Mrs. Cuthbert with their little ones journeyed to Cass County, Mich., and for seven years our subject tilled the ground of a rented farm. Toiling early and late to provide the necessities of life, the husband and father managed by incessant application and self-sacrifice to lay aside each year a few dollars for future investment. Removing finally to Berrien County, Mr. Cuthbert purchased forty acres of land, which, with the one hundred acres since added, contains some of the best and most fertile soil in the State. Our subject prospered in Berrien County, and at one time had accumulated considerable property, but sickness in the family made a large drain on his resources. Mr. Cuthbert has himself been a victim to rheumatism, which first attacked him in 1856, and has grown worse with advancing age, until for several years he has been unable to walk without the aid of crutches. His estimable wife bore him eleven children, of whom but one survives, David. The son resides in Colorado, where he has lived many years, and is in the employ of the railroad there. Threatened with consumption, he and his brother were obliged to settle in Colorado to prolong their lives. John met his untimely death in a wreck on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, August 12, 1893. He left a wife and six children to mourn his loss. Our subject buried his first wife and faithful companion of early days, and some time after was married to Mrs. Eliza Renbarger, a daughter of John and Martha Martin. In 1876, Mr. Cuthbert attended the Centennial in Philadelphia, and from there went to England, intending to pass the remainder of his life in the home of his youth. The serious illness of his son compelled him to return to Michigan to look after his interests. In local affairs our subject is politically non-partisan, but in national elections he votes with the Democratic party. The life of Mr. Cuthbert has been one of busy usefulness. Facing privations and difficulties with courage and resolution, he has overcome obstacles, and, a self-made man of sterling integrity of character, has worthily won the esteem of his co-laborers and fellow-townsmen.