Harriet E. Beals Stevens
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Harriet Elizabeth (Jane2, John1) was the youngest child of Jane and Abner Beels. She was born in Parma, Ohio, August 2, 1843. She was the youngest in the home nest by several years, so that the others had flown while she was still a child.
Her girlhood was spent quietly and happily with her parents. She attended the home school and entered into the social life of their pleasant community. She attended Baldwin University, Berea, Ohio for a time. She spent one year with relatives near Avoca, N.Y., and adopted their spelling of the family name, "Beals" instead of "Beels." The burning of her father's house in 1864 made it necessary for them to leave the old homestead. They spent a year with her sister, Mrs. Julia A. Hodgman, in Parma,and in 1865 moved to Mason Township, near Adamsville, Cass County, Mich.
She taught school here for two years. She and her parents spent the summer of 1867 with her sister in Parma, and there she was married October 3, 1867, to George I. Stevens of Mason, Mich. Mr. Stevens took his bride to his farm near Adamsville, Mich., where they resided until 1885. Mrs. Steven's parents came in a few years to live with her. She cared for them during the closing years of their lives and both went from her home to the heavenly one.
In the fall of 1885, Mr. and Mrs. Stevens moved to Three Oaks, Mich., where for a time Mr. Stevens was engaged in the manufacture of creamery butter. He now has an elevator at Three Oaks and is engaged in buying and selling grain.
During her residence in Mason, Mrs. Stevens was a member of the Freewill Baptist church and was most active in all departments of Christian service. On going to Three Oaks she and her husband united with the Congregational church. They entered zealously into the work of the church and continued their work until compelled by the infirmities of their later years to give up some of their activities. Mrs. Stevens is an intelligent, earnest, consecrated Christian woman.
Children
Gertrude May, b. Feb. 12, 1870.
Alice Jane, b. Sept. 28, 1872, d. May 18, 1877.
Gertrude M. Stevens McGawn
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Gertrude May (Harriet3, Jane2, John1) was born in Mason Township, Cass County, Mich., February 12, 1870. She attended district school there. On Novenber 18, 1885, her parents moved to Three Oaks, Mich., where she attended high school. On October 3, 1889, she was united in marriage with Morris G. McGawn, who was born in Illinois, December 12, 1869. They have resided ever since in Three Oaks. Mr. McGawn is secretary of the Warren Feather Bone Company. Both Mr. and Mrs. McGawn are members of the Congregational church and are actively engaged in the work of the church. Mrs. McGawn is a member of the "Daughters of American Revolution" and is prominent in society work.
Children
Ethel Ellen, b. Nov. 24, 1890.
Alice Gertrude, b. Nov. 13, 1897.
Ethel E. McGawn Buchanan
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Ethel Ellen (Gertrude4, Harriet3, Jane2, John1) was born in Three Oaks, Mich., November 24, 1890. There she attended school until graduation from the high school in June, 1907. For one year she was a student in a ladies' seminary in St. Louis, Mo. She then spent two years in Oberlin college, Oberlin, Ohio. Ill health compelled her to give up study for a few months. In January, 1911, she entered the State Normal School at Cheney, Wash. Here she met Mr. Lenoir Buchanan, a professor in the normal school. This acquaintance terminated in a wedding on January 1, 1912 at Three Oaks, Mich. A few days later Prof. Buchanan returned with his bride to Cheney, Wash., where they resided until August, 1913, when Prof. Buchanan received an appointment as a teacher in the government school at Sitka, Alaska, and he and his wife at once went to Alaska to enter upon his work there.
Alice Gertrude McGawn
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Alice Gertrude, (Gertrude4, Harriet3, Jane2, John1) the younger daughter of Gertrude and Morris McGawn, began her earthly career November 13, 1897 in Three Oaks, Mich. She has nearly finished her studies in the high school at Three Oaks. She is a member of the Congregational church and is a winsome, lovable girl.