Hinman early pioneer

The Hinman Family was one of the pioneers of Eagle Township. They farmed near the Looking Glass River on Hinman Road. The biography below comes from the 1880s:

The name of Joseph Hinman is closely associated with official service in Eagle Township and as a representative of farming interests he is also well known. He was born in McKane County, Pennsylvania, November 25, 1834, and is a son of Curtis and Almira S. (De Witt) Hinman, who were natives of the Empire state.

In 1838 our subject's parents came to Michigan, settling in Oakland County, but the following year removed to Eagle Township, and the father began farming on section 15 in what is known as the Grand River country. He there bought eighty acres of land, to which he added until at his death he owned a large estate. In the early days he frequently made trips to Pontiac to mill and then marketed his grain at Detroit. He passed away at the age of sixty years, while his wife died previously at the age of forty-seven years.

Joseph Hinman received limited educational privileges, pursuing his studies in a log schoolhouse on the Eagle frontier, where the methods of instruction were very primitive. He early began work on a farm. His father was a carpenter but Joseph Hinman preferred the labor of the fields and at the age of twenty one years he started out in life on his own account. Attracted by the discovery of gold at Pike's Peak he went west to Colorado, and afterward to Oregon, where he remained for two years. He then returned to Eagle Township purchasing eighty acres of his present farm. He has added to the place until he now owns two hundred and seventy acres, the greater part of which has been brought to a high state of cultivation. He has erected modern buildings and has one of the finest farms in Clinton County. He has assisted in clearing much land in this locality and in his own business operations has displayed the unfaltering energy and determination which always constitute a safe basis for success.

With the family he shared in all of the hardships and privations of pioneer life as well as its pleasures and can remember when Clinton County was largely an unsettled district and was but eleven years of age when he killed his first bear. On the 17th of May, 1862, Mr. Hinman was married to Miss Sarah Goss, a daughter of David Goss, of Westphalia Township, and they now have three children: Maud, John C.,and Ada He is one of the pioneer settlers of the county and his memory carries with it many pictures of the early days when the forests were uncut and land unclaimed.

In his political views Mr. Hinman is independent. He has served as supervisor for two terms, as township treasurer for three terms and in other minor offices, the duties of which he has discharged with capability and promptness. He is a man of sound judgment and his utilization of opportunity and carefully directed labors have made him one of the substantial agriculturists of his community.