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Timothy D. Ackles (deceased), one of the highly respected pioneers of North Star township, Gratiot county, was born in Onondaga county, New York, 13 Aug 1835, son of Terttules and Charlotte (Doolittle) Ackles, natives of the same State. He was the youngest of twelve children, all except the following dying in early infancy: Othenial; Charles; Moses; John died at the age of two years; Sarah married Andrew Newell; Mary became Mrs. George Stephens, Elizabeth was the wife of Leonard Robinson; Hannah became Mrs. Joseph Wright; and Timothy D. The father died when Timothy D. was about two years old.

The mother, who accompanied her son from York State and made their home in the forest, with only three families as "neighbors" for miles around, survived her husband for nearly forty years, her death occurring January 31, 1875, at the age of seventy-nine.

Mr. Ackles remained at home with his mother attending the district schools in the winter and assisting in the support of the family during the summer. When he was nineteen years old he determed upon an independent venture. With foresight beyond his years, he perceived that the State of Michigan was the locality in which he was mostly likely to succeed, and which offered favorable opportunities for young men of perseverance and energy. Both of these qualities the youth possessed in great abundance. Resolved to win, he arrived in Clinton County in the spring of 1854, and in the fall of that year became a resident of Gratiot county, settling in what is now North Star township, afterward assisting in its organization. All the hardships and trials of the pioneer were experienced by him, but in the end he was successful, and at the time of his death was the owner of a fine tract of 375 acres of land in North Star.

Toward the latter period of the Civil war Mr. Ackles was engaged in Canada buying horses for the United States government and while thus employed in County Essex Ontario, met his future wife. On August 20, 1865, he married the lady - Miss Abigail Fox - born in the county named, September 7, 1845, the youngest of the three children born to Jacob and Elizabeth McLean) Fox. Her brothers, George and Peter, are both farmers of County Essex. Her family if of Scotch and Irish extraction, and both parents were members of the Church of England. They were married in County Essex, where Jacob Fox prospered as a farmer for many years, dying on Jul 19, 1869, at the age of seventy-nine. His wife, the mother of Mrs. Ackles, lived to the advanced age of ninety years, the date of her death being June 9, 1895. Jacob Fox had been married twice, his first wife, a Miss Wigle, of County Essex, dying in 1825, at the age of thirty-five, mother of the following: Julia Ann, deceased, Mrs. John Snyder, John I. and Jacob (deceased), residents of County Essex; Susan, Mrs. George McLean, of the county named; Sarah, Mrs. John Arner, living in the same county; Ann , deceased, Mrs. George Noble; and William, also a resident of County Essex. That the father attained to an unusual degree of prosperity may be safely inferred in that he reared all the children spared to him to maturity, and that to all of his sons and one daughter, Ann, he presented farms of one hundred acres each, still retaining at the time of his death a fine homestead of 360 acres.

Mr and Mrs. Ackles were the parents of four children: Terttules J., who died when eight years old; George Timothy, deceased at the age of three months and six days; Floyd J., who died when three years and eleven months old; and Charlotte, who married Charles Moon, a promising citizen of the township, now operating the family farm; they have one son William Timothy, born November 15, 1905 - the only grandchild of Mr. and Mrs. Timothy D. Ackles.

Mr. Ackles was an honest, earnest, industrious and unassuming man, representative, of the yeoman element which is an assurance of the continuous prosperity of the township and county. He was an active Republican, and creditably performed the duties of several township and school officers. He also held membership in the Masonic fraternity. He was, moreover, a man of Christian character, reared as was his mother in the Baptist faith, but later attending the Presbyterian Church and being a supporter of not only all the religious organizations of his community but of charitable and benevolent works in general.

Mrs. Ackles, widow of the deceased, is an active, well-preserved lady, lively in conversation and of pleasant manners, and, as stated, is residing with her daughter and son-in-law upon the attractive family homestead in North Star township. She is identified with the Baptist Church, and is most highly esteemed for her many estimable qualities and her Christian character.

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