George Sager moved with his parents from Savannah, New York to Oxbow Prairie, Michigan in 1831. He settled in Bronson.
George helped his father with chores around the family homestead and tended to the farm and animals. As a young lad of 12 his father would send him with wheat and other produce to Adrian or Toledo or Tecumseh. Sometimes his younger brother, Zedekiah, would accompany him or drive another team, driving heavy loads over rough roads. He would sell the wheat and take the money back without any accidents or loss.
George's father John had built the family a large home and one day it caught fire and burnt to the ground. The morning after the fire John sent his son to seek work. George joined a group of men husking corn and brought the money back to his family. He was then employed to drive the stagecoach line team which ran from Tecumseh to Sturgis on the Chicago road, and became known as the "boy stage driver." John Knox and Wales Adams owned the stage line, and George was retained in their employment until he was 19 years of age.
About this time he became acquainted with Emily Jane Blanchard, who came to the Adams house as maid-of-all-work. George admired the quiet, bashful young lady. They were married soon afterwards in 1839.
George gave his father his wages until he was 21. After coming of age George leased the farm owned by Mr. Jefferies. George had secured a breaking plow and team of 12 yoke of oxen and he made a business of breaking land for other people. George was also enrolled as a regulator helping law enforcement track and apprehend outlaws.
From quite a small boy, George had his eye on the farm which he finally acquired, obtaining 355 acres, and built a comfortable log home. In time he erected a substantial family residence of the best material he could procure.
George Sager not only cleared his own land and did his own farm work, but he had a blacksmith shop where he used to shoe oxen and horses, and do nearly all kinds of blacksmithing. He would work all day at farm work or splitting rails or fencing, and then work all night in his blacksmith shop, where his voice could be heard ringing out in song as he made the anvil resound with his hammer of steel.
George had a kindly disposition and old-fashioned way of dealing with people. He was known to have said "I will never sign another note with any man; I don't care who it is. I am getting too old to be worried about it, and I don't see why a man who is honest can't get along without asking such a favor. I never had a man sign a note with me, and I would never ask such a thing of any man."
George Sager's wife, Emily, died after a lingering illness in March 1886. On the 20th of January, 1888, he was united in wedlock to Lydia A. Smith.
As he aged, many of his friends tried to prevail on him to leave the farm before it was too late. The last piece of work which he did was to iron off a set of large double sleighs. It was in January and the ground frozen hard. He was three weeks doing the work and finished them on a Friday. On Saturday he was taken ill and did not recover.
On the 28th of January, 1898, the soul of George Sager passed to the great unknown. He once said: "I think they will miss me when I am gone." George Sager will be missed in the community where he lived for more than 60 years.
Parts of the above was excerpted from a May 4, 1900 article, part of a series of articles entitled "Pioneer Sketches" published in the local newspaper of Bronson or Coldwater.
George helped his father with chores around the family homestead and tended to the farm and animals. As a young lad of 12 his father would send him with wheat and other produce to Adrian or Toledo or Tecumseh. Sometimes his younger brother, Zedekiah, would accompany him or drive another team, driving heavy loads over rough roads. He would sell the wheat and take the money back without any accidents or loss.
George's father John had built the family a large home and one day it caught fire and burnt to the ground. The morning after the fire John sent his son to seek work. George joined a group of men husking corn and brought the money back to his family. He was then employed to drive the stagecoach line team which ran from Tecumseh to Sturgis on the Chicago road, and became known as the "boy stage driver." John Knox and Wales Adams owned the stage line, and George was retained in their employment until he was 19 years of age.
About this time he became acquainted with Emily Jane Blanchard, who came to the Adams house as maid-of-all-work. George admired the quiet, bashful young lady. They were married soon afterwards in 1839.
George gave his father his wages until he was 21. After coming of age George leased the farm owned by Mr. Jefferies. George had secured a breaking plow and team of 12 yoke of oxen and he made a business of breaking land for other people. George was also enrolled as a regulator helping law enforcement track and apprehend outlaws.
From quite a small boy, George had his eye on the farm which he finally acquired, obtaining 355 acres, and built a comfortable log home. In time he erected a substantial family residence of the best material he could procure.
George Sager not only cleared his own land and did his own farm work, but he had a blacksmith shop where he used to shoe oxen and horses, and do nearly all kinds of blacksmithing. He would work all day at farm work or splitting rails or fencing, and then work all night in his blacksmith shop, where his voice could be heard ringing out in song as he made the anvil resound with his hammer of steel.
George had a kindly disposition and old-fashioned way of dealing with people. He was known to have said "I will never sign another note with any man; I don't care who it is. I am getting too old to be worried about it, and I don't see why a man who is honest can't get along without asking such a favor. I never had a man sign a note with me, and I would never ask such a thing of any man."
George Sager's wife, Emily, died after a lingering illness in March 1886. On the 20th of January, 1888, he was united in wedlock to Lydia A. Smith.
As he aged, many of his friends tried to prevail on him to leave the farm before it was too late. The last piece of work which he did was to iron off a set of large double sleighs. It was in January and the ground frozen hard. He was three weeks doing the work and finished them on a Friday. On Saturday he was taken ill and did not recover.
On the 28th of January, 1898, the soul of George Sager passed to the great unknown. He once said: "I think they will miss me when I am gone." George Sager will be missed in the community where he lived for more than 60 years.
Parts of the above was excerpted from a May 4, 1900 article, part of a series of articles entitled "Pioneer Sketches" published in the local newspaper of Bronson or Coldwater.
George Sager moved with his parents from Savannah, New York to Oxbow Prairie, Michigan in 1831. He settled in Bronson.
George helped his father with chores around the family homestead and tended to the farm and animals. As a young lad of 12 his father would send him with wheat and other produce to Adrian or Toledo or Tecumseh. Sometimes his younger brother, Zedekiah, would accompany him or drive another team, driving heavy loads over rough roads. He would sell the wheat and take the money back without any accidents or loss.
George's father John had built the family a large home and one day it caught fire and burnt to the ground. The morning after the fire John sent his son to seek work. George joined a group of men husking corn and brought the money back to his family. He was then employed to drive the stagecoach line team which ran from Tecumseh to Sturgis on the Chicago road, and became known as the "boy stage driver." John Knox and Wales Adams owned the stage line, and George was retained in their employment until he was 19 years of age.
About this time he became acquainted with Emily Jane Blanchard, who came to the Adams house as maid-of-all-work. George admired the quiet, bashful young lady. They were married soon afterwards in 1839.
George gave his father his wages until he was 21. After coming of age George leased the farm owned by Mr. Jefferies. George had secured a breaking plow and team of 12 yoke of oxen and he made a business of breaking land for other people. George was also enrolled as a regulator helping law enforcement track and apprehend outlaws.
From quite a small boy, George had his eye on the farm which he finally acquired, obtaining 355 acres, and built a comfortable log home. In time he erected a substantial family residence of the best material he could procure.
George Sager not only cleared his own land and did his own farm work, but he had a blacksmith shop where he used to shoe oxen and horses, and do nearly all kinds of blacksmithing. He would work all day at farm work or splitting rails or fencing, and then work all night in his blacksmith shop, where his voice could be heard ringing out in song as he made the anvil resound with his hammer of steel.
George had a kindly disposition and old-fashioned way of dealing with people. He was known to have said "I will never sign another note with any man; I don't care who it is. I am getting too old to be worried about it, and I don't see why a man who is honest can't get along without asking such a favor. I never had a man sign a note with me, and I would never ask such a thing of any man."
George Sager's wife, Emily, died after a lingering illness in March 1886. On the 20th of January, 1888, he was united in wedlock to Lydia A. Smith.
As he aged, many of his friends tried to prevail on him to leave the farm before it was too late. The last piece of work which he did was to iron off a set of large double sleighs. It was in January and the ground frozen hard. He was three weeks doing the work and finished them on a Friday. On Saturday he was taken ill and did not recover.
On the 28th of January, 1898, the soul of George Sager passed to the great unknown. He once said: "I think they will miss me when I am gone." George Sager will be missed in the community where he lived for more than 60 years.
Parts of the above was excerpted from a May 4, 1900 article, part of a series of articles entitled "Pioneer Sketches" published in the local newspaper of Bronson or Coldwater.
George helped his father with chores around the family homestead and tended to the farm and animals. As a young lad of 12 his father would send him with wheat and other produce to Adrian or Toledo or Tecumseh. Sometimes his younger brother, Zedekiah, would accompany him or drive another team, driving heavy loads over rough roads. He would sell the wheat and take the money back without any accidents or loss.
George's father John had built the family a large home and one day it caught fire and burnt to the ground. The morning after the fire John sent his son to seek work. George joined a group of men husking corn and brought the money back to his family. He was then employed to drive the stagecoach line team which ran from Tecumseh to Sturgis on the Chicago road, and became known as the "boy stage driver." John Knox and Wales Adams owned the stage line, and George was retained in their employment until he was 19 years of age.
About this time he became acquainted with Emily Jane Blanchard, who came to the Adams house as maid-of-all-work. George admired the quiet, bashful young lady. They were married soon afterwards in 1839.
George gave his father his wages until he was 21. After coming of age George leased the farm owned by Mr. Jefferies. George had secured a breaking plow and team of 12 yoke of oxen and he made a business of breaking land for other people. George was also enrolled as a regulator helping law enforcement track and apprehend outlaws.
From quite a small boy, George had his eye on the farm which he finally acquired, obtaining 355 acres, and built a comfortable log home. In time he erected a substantial family residence of the best material he could procure.
George Sager not only cleared his own land and did his own farm work, but he had a blacksmith shop where he used to shoe oxen and horses, and do nearly all kinds of blacksmithing. He would work all day at farm work or splitting rails or fencing, and then work all night in his blacksmith shop, where his voice could be heard ringing out in song as he made the anvil resound with his hammer of steel.
George had a kindly disposition and old-fashioned way of dealing with people. He was known to have said "I will never sign another note with any man; I don't care who it is. I am getting too old to be worried about it, and I don't see why a man who is honest can't get along without asking such a favor. I never had a man sign a note with me, and I would never ask such a thing of any man."
George Sager's wife, Emily, died after a lingering illness in March 1886. On the 20th of January, 1888, he was united in wedlock to Lydia A. Smith.
As he aged, many of his friends tried to prevail on him to leave the farm before it was too late. The last piece of work which he did was to iron off a set of large double sleighs. It was in January and the ground frozen hard. He was three weeks doing the work and finished them on a Friday. On Saturday he was taken ill and did not recover.
On the 28th of January, 1898, the soul of George Sager passed to the great unknown. He once said: "I think they will miss me when I am gone." George Sager will be missed in the community where he lived for more than 60 years.
Parts of the above was excerpted from a May 4, 1900 article, part of a series of articles entitled "Pioneer Sketches" published in the local newspaper of Bronson or Coldwater.
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