Samuel Etheridge

Who was Samuel Etheridge?

Samuel Etheridge was a state senator for the seventh district of the state of Michigan in 1838.

Etheridge was born in Adams, Massachusetts, on April 15, 1788 to parents of English lineage. He received a common-school education and excelled in mathematics. He taught school for a time; and, subsequently, having a taste for mechanics, learned the trade of a millwright and machinist. He worked in West Schuyler, New York in 1815, and in Frankfort, New York in 1817. In 1833, when a resident of New York State, he became engaged in mercantile business; but, being unsuccessful, he moved to Coldwater, Michigan and settled there in March, 1837.

He had a very extensive business in Michigan employing from fifty to seventy-five laborers. He built large mills at Ypsilanti, Saline, Leonidas, Marshall, and Allegan. He was elected to various local offices in Michigan; and, in 1838, to the State Senate, to represent the Seventh Senatorial District, which comprised the counties of Branch, St. Joseph, Bellevue, Van Buren, and Cass. In early manhood he became a member of the Masonic Fraternity, and advanced until he became a Knight Templar.