Thursday, October 02, 2014

Captain Jerome H. Fee.

Jerome H. Fee.

Birth: 1835.
Death: 1913.

Wife: Mary Backus Fee, ( 18 43 - 1905 ).

Children: Jessie T. Fee, ( 1875 - 1969 ).

Burial: Oakwood Cemetery, Adrian, Lenawee county, Michigan.

Civil War Veteran.

Michigan First Infantry.
 
Fee, Jerome H. Enlisted in company K, First Infantry, as Corporal, April 18, 1861, at Adrian, for 3 months, age 26. Mustered May 1, 1861. Mustered out at Detroit, Mich., Aug. 7, 1861.
 
Jerome H. Fee Biography.
 
CAPTAIN JEROME H. FEE, Adrian, the subject of the following remarks, was born in Clermont County, Ohio, in the year 1835. He left his native town and went to Cincinnati, where he engage in the grocery business, as a clerk. He remained there but a short time, when he returned to his home and assisted his father, who was engaged in general merchandise. In 1858 he came to Michigan, with the purpose of attending school at Leoni College, in Jackson County ; but he remained there only a short time, and upon the opening of Adrian College he came to the city of Adrian, to complete his education at that institution.

When the war broke out and the call came for volunteers to defend the nation's life, with patriotic ardor he enlisted in the Adrian Cadets, for three months' service, with the 1st Michigan Infantry Regiment. When this time had expired he returned to Adrian, and finished his college course in 1862. The Captain, nothing daunted by his previous army experience, re enlisted, selecting this time, however, a different arm of the service, the artillery. He became a member of the 1st Independent Ohio Battery. He was with his company through all its operations in the campaigns in East and West Virginia, and finally ended his services in Kentucky.

While the Captain was defending the Union he received a commission from the government as captain; and being assigned to a command in one of the newly-organized regiments of Colored Troops, he left his comrades in the battery with the good wishes of all, accepting a more responsible and lucrative position, which called him farther west. The Captain uas not long in his new command when his health began to fail, and in July, 1865, on account of his ill health, was reluctantly compelled to resign his office in the army; and return home. His health continued to be poor for some time, but at the expiration of twelve months he had nearly or quite recovered.

The Captain's life experience had taught him, no doubt, that it was not well to be alone; he therefore surrendered gracefully to Miss Mary J. Backus, of Hillsdale County, Michigan, in 1866. After his marriage he removed to Indiana, where for some time he was associated with his; brother-in-law in teaching a select school.
 
In the month of March, 1867, Captain Fee returned with his family to the city of Adrian, and immediately after his arrival purchased an interest in the Times and Expositor. Mr. Fee succeeded Mr Rogan, and the firm became Messrs. Lowrie, Applegate & Fee. Several years since the two last-named gentlemen purchased the whole interest in the paper, since which time it has gradually increased in circulation and influence, and now claims to have the largest weekly issue of any paper in the State, outside of Detroit.

Its weekly circulation is about two thousand, and the daily edition has a circulation of between six and seven hundred subscribers. The Times office is fitted out with presses and type for domg all kinds of first class printing, and its publications are all well conducted. Perseverance and talent combined have given this establishment a high rank among the successful journalistic enterprises of the State.
 
Captain Fee was chosen, at the last re-organization, as a member of the Republican State Committee, and in the spring of 1873 he received the appointment of postmaster at Adrian, which office he has acceptably held, and now manages, in connection with the various duties of his business life. The Captain's family consists of four, himself, wife, and two children, named respectively Harry and May. In personal appearance Captain Fee is a well-proportioned man, a trifle above the medium height, with light-brown hair, full beard and moustache, and a face beaming with intelligence. Affable in his manners, courteous in bis bearing, and reliable in his dealings, he has deservedly won hosts of friends, who, with unanimity, trust he may long live to enjoy the rewards-the otium cum dignitate of a successful career.

Author. Otium Cum dignitate; ( Leisure with dignity ).

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