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Title
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Cosart, John
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COSART , JOHN
Bo rn near Casti lle, New York ca 1795 .
who lived at Ve rnon , Mich and was bur
Died at the home of his daug hter
a t th e Greenwood Cemet ery in the first
section in lot 16 1.
He was ordained by Bishop George at Wi lkesb a rre, Pa,
11th of June 1827.
He was a Circuit Rider in that area until he left fo r
Michigan in 1835 .
Hetnarried at Perry, Livingston Co., New York Lo uisa Stowell on the 28 th
of April in 1826 .
(Ma terial on her can be found in t he Stowell Genea log y
done by that fami ly in 1922.)
York
She was born in Lebanon, Madison Co . , New
8 Oc t. 18]0 and died by drowning 13 Sept 1839 in Lake Erie .
the dau of Paul Stowe ll and Na ncy Ann Richards .
She wa s
Her father was a Methodist
minister who rod e as a Ci rcuit Rider in Onondaga , Madison and Chenango
Counties of New York.
parents
whieh
~
I t is presumed that Mrs Cosart ha d returned to visit her
could account for the drowning mentioned .
There were at least
three children by this marriage--Cecelia born between 1826 and 1830 and who
married a Wilson Hunt;
Louisa b 30 April 1833 in Cast ille above mentioned
and was two years o ld when the family cam e to Hartland, Mi . whe re she ma r
in April 1861 to Isaac Crawford of Milford4 and Nancy born abo ut 1836 and
was ma rried at Hartl and on 14 Dec 1857 t o John E We lch.
These l ast two s is-
t e r s were very close and can often be found in the local pape r (Mi lford Times)
as visiting.
Mr s Cr awford lived for many years in the brick hous e on Gene r al
Motors Road whe re the author of this Memoir has lived all her lif e .
Mr s
Crawford was taken to Heme t, Ca) for her hea lth by her son Harry and was buried
at the fam il y p l ot at Oak Gr ove Cemet e r y , Milfo r d.
By a s ec ond marriage Cos art t ook CA the rine Bird o f Ori on , Oa kland Co unty,
~lich
a s his wife .
To them th e re we re nine known children.
born in 18 41
i.
Flor enc e
iil
Catherin e
II
\.Jil be r J
II
II
Robe rt
"
"
iii.
iv.
v.
~.
II
(from Cen s us)
II
1843
18 44
1847
They a r e :
II
d 26 Jan 1854
d
bur \.Jes t Hi ghland Ceme t e r y
in obubb er of 1849 at ag e 2 In Ha rtl an d
11
Mariet t e b
184 9 ~1 ar Ga rdne r Lamphere o f ~1 il fo r d. It was
\vi th t hem tha t the s econd Mr s Cos a rt made he r home afte r Cosa rt' s
dea th.
~<
vi.
vii.
Fr ank Cosart b about 1852.
li v ing in Idaho
EmilY
Reu~en
viii.
ix.
When hi s moth e r died in 1898 he was
b about 1855. Married a t Mi lford on 2 1 April 1880 to
Johnson. Called Emma by her famil y .
Clara Bell b . about 1858. She mar Russell Case of Or egon Ci ty
Oregon. She was called Bella by her family.
Addie (She may be either Florence or Catherine already mentioned.
She mar S Allen of Brant, Saginaw County, ~l i. Known on l y at the
time of her Mo ther's death as being as Brant.
The names of the children come from Census records, a "Biographical Ske tch
of Ea rly Mi l f ord Se tt l ers ''f oun d in .aTh e Mi lf ord T.1mes A--an d ceme t e r y rec ord s
already menti oned.
The second marriage to Catherine Bird of Orion occurred 23 Feb 1840.
She
waa born about 18 15 in New Jers ey (Census) and died as a result of being run
down by a very yo ung girl who was riding a bicycle on Liberty Street.
As a
r es ult of the fall and the rlult ant broken hip Mrs Cosa rt died at Lamphere home
in Mi lford on 15 Ap ril of 1898 .
After a r e li gio us service here the body was
r emoved to lie beside her hu sband John a t the Ve rnon Cemetery.This Mrs Co sart
cU
was very active in the loca l Mthod ist Ep iscopal ChurchAwa s he r daughter.
Reve r end Cosart ha d a large
gove rnment in
ac reag~ ~
that he had taken up from the
1835 in Section 16 of Hartland Township.
He farmed for a time
but decid ed he was mo r e needeed in the a rea as a Circuit Rider.
From th a t
time until 1844 he rode in Livingston, Sh iawassee and Oak land Count ies.
His
name c an be fo und in all the early hi stor ie s which came out in the 1870 's and
80 ' s .
He found ed many classes and preached and is rem embe red as an "old
timer" but few were ab l e to give exac t dates and places where he ministered.
He \vas /o und in Livingston Co unty History of 1866 as being at Green Oak ,
Wes t Howell ( l st preacher in a log house in 1845), Bri ghton ( 1st r e li g i ous
se rvi ce there) , Howell in April 1836 where he preached one Sunday and came
back the following Sunday he he l p form a class, Fow lervilLe as a pioneer
preacher who vi s it ed every fbur weeks in 1838-39, Mari on Twp as an e arly
pioneer preacher in 1838, Hartland (first divine service, but no one kept
a record , and at Ty ron e Twp where he preache d after Washington J ackson had
_j
first sermon there.
He was a l s o a Circuit Rider in at lea s t two othe r
coun ties --Shiawassee and Oak l snd.
He was much inte r ested in the anti - slave r y m6ve ment.
He left the
~le thodist
Episcopal Church to be a part of the newly foun ded Wesleyan Church
of 1844 .
At som e point he moved his family to Milford wh ere he and his
wife stayed until he bec ame quite ill in 1866 .
house in Vernon& and Hhere he died in 1872 .
He was r emoved t o a da ugh t e r' s
His widown came back to t-lilford
to stay until he r dea th as has already been noted.
As one of the area's earliest Circuit Ri ders and preachers for just short
of fift y yea r s this man should be better remembe r ed as one of the sta lwarts
of Ne thodism .
He l ived in the Nilford a reas f or twenty years and t ook an
acti ve part in the Sunday Schools he ld at th e Picke tt School which was west
of the town (now pa rt of th e General Mo t o rs Road Provi ng Ground).
His dau-
ghter Lo uis a Cr awfo rd continued t hat Sunday School Cla ss until she went to
Cali f ornia .
From personal knowledge thi s au thor realizes how much of the
Chri s ti an movement came to the area by the Reverend Cosa rt and his daughter,
Mr s I saac Crawfo rd.
JOHN COSART
A Me thodist Minister
The Reverend John Cosart [Cozart] was born in New York State
about 1795. He probably died in Venice Township, Shiawassee
County, Michigan, in 1872. There is no death certificate for
him on file with the Shiawassee County Clerk. He is buried in
Gfleenwood .;Cemetery section 0, lot 141 at Vernon, Shiawassee
County, Michigan.
He married as his first wife at Perry, Livingston County, New
York, on 28 April 1826, Louisa Stowell. (Tree Talks and Stowell
Genealo~, Stmvell, 1922) 'She was born in Lebanon, Madison
County, ew York, on 8 October 1810 and died by drowning in Lake
Erie on 13 September 1839. She was the daughter of Paul and
Nancy Ann (Richards) Stowell. (Stowell) There were three known
ch i ldren by t his marriage.
Jgh~
gg::;a r
Jl,a,cr i.e d, as hi s
se cond wi£c
a t
Orion,
Oak l~nd
Co unty , Mic h iga n, o n 23 F e b r uar y- uv~o , Cath e :d .n e BLrd.
9ho wag
born about 1815 ( censu s ) i n New Jersey and died a t Mi l f or d{ Oak l and Count y, Mich igan, on 15 Apri l 1898. (Corunna J ourna l) She
ha s not been identi fi ed a t this time . There were nine known
children by this marriage.
Children, first 3 by first wife:
i
ii
iii
Cecelia was born between 1826 and 1830 (census). According
to the Stmvell Genealogy, she married Wilson Hunt.
Louisa was born 30 April 1833 in Castile, Wyoming County,
New York. (Stowell) She married in April of 1861,
Isaac Crawford. (Pioneer and Biographical Sketches of
Oakland County, Michigan)
Nancy was born about 1836 (census) and married a t Hartland,
Livingston County, Michigan, on 14 December 1857, John
E. Welch.
iv
Florence was born about 1841.
v
Catherine was born about 1843.
vi
vii
viii
(census)
(census)
See Addie
See Addie
Wilber J. was born about 1844 and died 26 January 1854 age
11 years 10 months according to his tombstone in the
West Highland Cemetery.
Robert was born about 1847 and died in October of 1849 at
the age of 2 years in Ha rtland Township. (1850 Mortality
Schedule)
Mari e t t e wa s born about 1849 ( cen sus ) and marri ed -- - -Lamphere . When her mother died i n 1898, she wa s a
r esident of Milfor d , Mich i gan .
r
J anice A. Beebe GRS
22 September 1975
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John Cosart, A Methodist Minister
ix
x
xi
Frank wa s born about 1852 (census).
in Idaho.
In 1898, he was living
Emily was born about 1855 (census) and married at Milford,
Oakland County, Michigan, on 21 April 1880, Reuben
Johnson. She also resided in Idaho a t the time of her
mother's death.
Clara Bell wa s born about 1858 (census).
Case and lived in Oregon in 1898.
She married
xii Addie married ----- Allen and lived in Brant, Saginaw
County, Michigan, at the time of the death of her
mother. She is probably the same as Florence # iv or
Catherine # v.
The first wife of John Cosart, Louisa Stowell, was the daughter ,
of a Methodist Minister, riding circuit in Onondaga, Madison and
Chenango Counties of New York. He died in 1820 at the age of 34.
(Stowell). His wife, Nancy, probably remarried and removed to
Wyoming County, New York.
John Cosart removed to Michigan about 1835. His daughter,
Nancy, was born here about 1836. Apparently, wife Louisa,
returned to New York probably for a visit and dro\vned in Lake
Erie. The Stowell G enealo~ states she drowned on 13 September
1839. This date is probab:Y correct as John remarries in Oakland
County, Michigan, on 23 February 1840. Catherine Bird, his second
wife, was living in Orion Township, Oakland County, at their
marria ge.
John Cosart, according to the Michigan Pioneer Collection,
volume 3, was a Methodist circuit rider in the Oakland District
in 1838 and 1839. In 1838 that district had 275 members and in
1839 there were 364 members.
The Histor of Shiawassee Count states that he was a
~awassee County.
His territory went
Met o ~st c~rcu~t r~ er ~n
from Fentonville, east to the Rochester settlement (Elsie-Ovid
area) to Ann Arbor which is over 100 miles to be traveled in the
four we eks of the circuit. In 1842, he is listed as the pastor
of the Methodist Church in Corunna.
I think you will find that besides his circuit he did a lot of
farming and probably a little land speculation. He owned 200 acres
in s ection 36 of Hartland Township in 1859, fronting on what is
now Commerce Road. The house itself set back from the roa d about
a quarter of a mile about in the middle of his property. In the
1870 f ederal census of Venice Township, Shiawassee County, he can
be found as a farmer owning $4000.00 worth of property.
After his death, his family sca tters and his wife, Ca therine,
die s wh i le living wi th a daughter in Milford.
J anice A. Beebe GRS
22 September 1975
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MR. & MRS. ROBERT
L . WATSON
3365 O AK G RO V E
HOW ELL, MICHIGA N
4 8 8 43
February 16,
l~76
Dear Mr. Harper:
I need some infromation on an early loc a l Methodist
minister for our monthly historical moments ( 2-3
min) g iven during the service. Our pastor Lew
Sutton has refered me to you as one who most
like ly c ould help with y our arc~ives back~round.
I am sending you a zerox copy which you may hav e
for your files if you like. But I th ~nk you will
agree that it is not really iftformation that v:ould
be of intere s t to the general congr egat ion.
Rev. Cos art first preached in Hov1e 11 li!a at the
home of James Sa ge , 1835. He was made an elder
by Bishop George at Wilkesharre, Pa, 6/17, 1827.
:fe was pastor of Methodist Ep ·· s copa1 Ch~n Bowell
and the 1st 6hurch 1843-44 . He preache in t h e
follov.ring townships in Livi ngst on Count : Con"'ay,
Marion, Tyrone and Hartland.
I would like to have this r eady by the l atter pa rt
of March , next month. So any personal or detail ed
information you can give me will be greatley
a ppre ci a ted.
Cosart, John