William Sweezey One of the Early Pioneers of Norvell Township by H.H. Raby William Sweezey, "Uncle Bill" as we who knew him personally used to call him, was one of the early pioneers of Michigan, and was born on Long Island, NY, May 7, 1803. His parents, Jeremiah and Dorotha (Bayliss) Sweezey were of the same place. William grew up and sailed the salt waters as a ship captain until 1835. He had married in the meantime, and he and his wife lived on Long Island until the latter date, when they came to the wilderness of Michigan and took up a half section of land, 320 acres in what is now called Norvell Township. Norvell Township is made up of a part of the former old Brooklyn Township, and a part of Napoleon Township, and the Brooklyn part left is now named Columbia Township. The 320 acre plat bordering on the east shore of Sweezey Lake is conceded to be a sort of namesake to the person who owned that plat of land. In other words, the lake is named after William Sweezey. "Uncle Bill" lived there for 33 years. Improved his land. Was a successful farmer, and used to tell us that he farmed for 30 years and never lost a crop of corn when he took care of it! It is said that one of his boys once killed a bear in the road where the Wilkinson’s now live. That old farm and a part of the farm now owned by Walter Fuller and the part now owned by Harry Raby is the 320 acre plat taken up in about 1835. To the Sweezeys, eight children were born, three girls and five boys. One of the girls graduated as a doctor and practiced medicine for years. Two of the boys were doctors, one a lawyer, one a dentist, one not accounted for. Uncle Bill and his wife were members of the M.E. Church at Napoleon. Around 1870 or thereabouts, Uncle Bill sold the farm. He moved to Norvell Village where he built a house and lived and died in it. That house is now owned by James Gormley. In the latter years of his life, Uncle Bill loaned money to farmers and others and in those days was called a capitalist. He traveled quite extensively in the United States and was among the many influential and intelligent men who resided in Jackson County in those early days. William Sweezey was a strong, sturdy, well built, and robust 6 foot man, well capable of being a ship captain in early sea going times. This brief biography has been taken mostly from the history of Jackson County with a slight addition of personal recollections based on knowing the Sweezeys in person. The newspaper editors have dubbed me as "Norvell’s Ancient", probably because of being the oldest person in the township. H.H. Raby Herman Raby died in 1958 at the age of 100 years and two months. He was an artist and a writer. You'll find some geneological info about William Sweezey on Sweezey.net. Back to the previous page...