Legislator Details
Portrait captured from Find-a-Grave.com, 9/10/2026
Vital Records Information:
Birth
Death
Burial
Marital Information:
married Harriet Elizabeth Fairchild about 1850; children: 3, William Knoowlton, Robert Fairchild and Frank Stewart
Number of Children: 3
Background
Education:
graduated from Oberlin College, 1846; graduated from the Medical College of the University of Michigan and received the degree of M.D., 1851
Biographical Sketch:
He emigrated with his parents, William and Margaret (Tilford) Kedzie, in 1826 to the valley of the Raisin in Lenawee County, MI. After graduating from Oberlin, he took charge of Rochester Academy, MI, for 2 years; He practiced medicine in Kalamazoo and Vermontville for 11 years, served as a surgeon in the 12th Michigan Infantry for 1 year, and then began his long career as professor of chemistry at Michigan Agricultural College on February 25, 1863. He held the professor position for over 39 and a half years. In 1898 he was elected president of the association of official agricultural chemists.
Notable Facts:
Part of the with first class of Medical College of the University of Michigan in 1851. One of the original members of the Michigan State Board of Health, president for 4 years