The son of a veteran of the Revolutionary War, Ira Warner came to Michigan in 1839 from his home state, New York. Ira was only nine when his father, Col. Seth Warner, died in 1812. There were three siblings. Until he was 18, he worked on his mother, Rebecca Tylers farm. December 27, 1829, he married Laura Foster, only 16 at the time. Laura was the oldest of 13 children in her family. At the same common school in which he received his education, Ira preached the Gospel that winter. However, for the next 10 years he concentrated on his farm.
In 1839 he purchased 60 heavily timbered acres in Milan Township, Monroe County, Michigan, bringing his family with him: Henry I, b. 1833, Judson, b. 1835 and Eliza, b. 1837. However calls for his preaching services were so numerous he found it difficult to sufficiently clear the land for agriculture.
He traded 120 acres in Brighton Township, Livingston County, for the land in Milan in 1849; Section 17, E ½ SE ¼ and SW ¼ SE ¼; approximately 20 acres of which were under water. He soon after purchased the W ½ SW ¼ of Section 16, the south half of which is known as School Lake. At the time it was known as Warner Lake, later Hicks Lake.
Children born in Michigan were Rebecca, 1840; George 1841; Obediah, 1844; Laura, 1844; and Ada, 1858. Several of the children married neighbors: Henry married Martha Beach Research indicates they had five children, three of which, including Martha, died of T.B. Eliza married George Conely, they has five children, two of which died at early ages. George married Mary Hayner. The 1880 Census finds them in Handy Township with six children.
Ira served as a preacher of the gospel in almost every school in the county and at all the funerals. Regular services at which he preached were often 25 miles distant. He had a horse but no saddle, using blankets and strings of basswood bark for stirrups. Farming must have been the major source of income. For his almost 40 years of preaching and serving he received a total of $300.00
Ira and Laura are buried in the Old Village Cemetery as is his mother, Rebecca. Two of Henrys children and his wife, Martha, are also buried there.
Compiled by Marieanna Bair from 1880 History of Livingston County; Pleasant Valley Cemetery Records complied by John & Janice Field; Census records, obituaries collected by Milton Charboneau and his Early Landowners and Settlers in Livingston County.