My Genealogy Hound

PLEASANT N. ZANE, a successful general agriculturist and leading citizen of Cass County, Mich., is a native of the State, and was born in Jefferson Township November 27, 1842. His parents, Maxwell and Jane Norton Zane, were well known in the county and highly respected as useful and upright citizens. The paternal grandfather, Isaac Zane, was by birth a Southerner, and was a native of Virginia, afterward becoming one of the pioneer settlers of Kentucky. From Kentucky he journeyed to Logan County, Ohio, and thence proceeded after a time to the wilds of Michigan, and in 1832 came to Cass County, where he died. His wife survived him, living to the advanced age of ninety-four. The children who gathered in the pioneer home were Isaac, Ebenezer, William, Squire, John, Maxwell, Catherine and Lavina.

Maxwell Zane was born in Logan County, Ohio, in 1806, having attained to manhood and married, he in 1829, with his wife, made their home in Michigan. Their property was transported in a wagon drawn by a yoke of cattle, but the wife rode the entire distance on a pony. They located on section 22, Jefferson Township, and were eye-witnesses of the wonderful changes of the succeeding years. The father of our subject served bravely in the Sioux War, and after a life of usefulness died in January, 1843.

Maxwell Zane was an energetic man and had well tilled the land he received from the Government, a greater part of the one hundred and sixty acres being cleared and highly improved. He was a religious man and active in the church, being a member of the “Hard-shell” Baptists. His two children are Nancy Monroe and Pleasant N. Two are deceased, Philander R. and Rachel. The mother of our subject, yet surviving, is a native of Logan County, Ohio, and was born December 5, 1807. She married Josiah Lumpkin, now deceased. Although advanced in years, she is well and hearty and keeps house, residing by herself. She is a daughter of Nathaniel Norton, who emigrated from North Carolina to Ohio about 1805. From the Buckeye State the Nortons removed to Michigan in 1828. Mr. Norton passed away at the age of seventy-three, but his wife survived him three years later. He left three sons and two daughters: Pleasant, Richard, Levi, Jane and Mahala. Reared upon a farm, our subject was early trained in the pursuit of agriculture. He attended the district school and received instruction in various other institutions in Hillsdale and Kalamazoo, but was not fond of study, preferring work.

When twenty-one years of age Mr. Zane made the overland trip to California, and drove through from Brooklyn, Iowa, to the Golden State, being four months and sixteen days on the journey. He returned home in about nine months, making the trip eastward by water. He has since farmed continuously upon his two hundred and sixteen acres, one hundred and twenty of which comprise a part of his father’s old homestead. Politically, our subject is a Democrat, and has efficiently served as Treasurer of the township. He cast his first vote for Seymour. Fraternally, Mr. Zane is a valued member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, with which society he has long affiliated. Our subject was united in marriage in December, 1866, with Miss Addie Tietsort, born in Cassopolis and the daughter of Henry and Julia (Fisher) Tietsort, early residents of Cass County. The pleasant home of Mr. and Mrs. Zane has been blessed by the birth of one son, Frank, a promising young man, a telegraph operator. Our subject and his estimable wife enjoy the regard of a large acquaintance, and are foremost in the good work and social enterprise of their home locality.