From: A Twentieth Century History of Allegan County, Michigan

By Henry F. ThomasPublished 1907, Lewis Publishing Co.

EDWIN H. HOUSE, working industriously and unremittingly in the operation and improvement of his farm in Saugatuck township, is making steady progress in his business career and at the same time finds opportunity to keep in touch with the trend of modern thought, for an air of intellectual culture as well as business activity pervades his home. He was born May 6, 1875, on the farm where he still resides, his parents being H. L. and Jessie M. (Wright) House, who were natives of Oswego county, New York, and who were married in 1856.

They became residents of Saugatuck township, Allegan county, in August, 1868, and Mr. House was one of the first to engage in the cultivation of fruit north of the Kalamazoo river. He had faith in and soon demonstrated the possibilities of the county for fruit production, showing that his ideas were practical and that profitable results could be secured. He was an active charter member of the Agricultural and Pomological Society, which was organized early in the 70s, and he carried on his business interests along scientific lines, keeping pace with modern progress and readily determining the- practical from the purely theoretical. He was therefore a man of influence and stability in his community and was a worthy member of the Congregational church, in which he held the office of deacon. There was in him an earnestness of purpose and depth of character which not only made him a devoted and helpful member of the church but also won for him the respect of all with whom he came in contact.

He died July 7, 1897, at the age of seventy-two years, and is still survived by his widow, who resides on the old homestead. In her younger days she engaged in teaching for several years in the Ward schoolhouse, this being about 1871 and 1873. She was ever an able helpmeet to her husband, assisting and encouraging him.

When they took possession of the farm it was in its primitive condition, but Mr. House resolutely undertook the task of clearing and developing it, and it is today one of the model fruit farms of Saugatuck township. Here Mr. and Mrs. House reared their family of three sons and two daughters, Dr. Walter B. House, who is a practicing physician in Oberlin, Ohio; Rev. Herbert E. House, a minister of the Presbyterian church in New York; Jessie M., who is engaged in missionary work in Huntsville, Alabama; Alice L., deceased, and Edwin H. The last named has had control of the home farm since his father's death in 1897.

His education has been liberal and thorough. In addition to the usual literary branches, he pursued a full course in the Columbia School of Oratory, of Chicago (now the Columbia College of Expression), and his readings and impersonations are of superior merit. While a student there he formed the acquaintance of Miss Philinda H. Davis, who was also a student and afterward a teacher in that school, and who is a daughter of Jerome Davis. They were married in 1900 and have since resided upon the farm in Saugatuck township, known as the Riverside Fruit Farm. It is conveniently located near the village of Saugatuck and is bordered by the Kalamazoo river, which in its winding course, with banks crowned by orchards, fields, or natural forest growth, is a beautiful stream.

The buildings upon the place are neat, roomy and comfortable and the farm presents a most thrifty and well kept appearance. It comprises eighty acres, on which are two thousand fruit trees, the orchards containing apples, pears, peaches and cherries. Mr. House is making good use of his opportunities and the years are bringing to him well merited success.

Books and periodicals indicate the literary taste of Mr. and Mrs. House, who find congenial companionship in the master minds of all ages. In community affairs Mr. House is interested and is now serving on the school board and the board of review, while in the Congregational church of which he is a member, he is now serving as a trustee.