Oththur S. White HISTORIC MICHIGAN LAND OF THE GREAT LAKES Its Life, Resources, Industries, People, Politics, Government, Wars, Institutions, Achievements, the Press, Schools and Churches, Legendary and Prehistoric Lore Edited by George N. Fuller, A.M. (Harvard), Ph.D. (Univ. of Mich.) Secretary of the Michigan Historical Commission and Secretary of the Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society Also A Third Volume Devoted to Kent County Edited by Arthur S. White VOLUME III Published by National Historical Association, Inc. and Dedicated to the Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society in Commemoration of Its Fiftieth Anniversary THIS IS THE PROPERTY OF Citizens Historical Association CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BLDG. INDIANAPOLIS, IND. Bentley Historical Library University of Michigan Table of Contents CHAPTER -EARLY SETTLEMENT OF KENT COUNTY “PRIMITIVE MAN OF MICHIGAN”-INDIANS IN THE VALLEY OF THE GRAND- THEIR CHARACTERISTICS AND OCCUPATIONS-NATIVE FLORA AND FAUNA FORERUNNERS OF THE WHITE INVASION-EFFECTS OF THE EARLY WHITE VISITORS ON THE MORALS AND MANNERS OF THE INDIANS FATHER BARAGA'S MISSION-RETARDING EFFECT ON SETTLEMENT BY ADVERSE REPORTS-ROAD AUTHORIZED BY CONGRESS FROM DETROIT TO MOUTH OF GRAND RIVER- TIMBER-BAPTIST MISSION OF McCoy-RIX ROBINSON, FUR TRADER, CAME IN 1821—HE BECAME PROMINENT FIGURE OF EARLY DAYS—LOUIS CAMPAU CAME WITH HIS FAMILY IN 1827 AND SETTLED ON PRESENT SITE OF GRAND RAPIDS-LUTHER LINCOLN CAME NEXT IN 1832—OTHERS FOLLOWED AND FAVORABLE REPORTS BROUGHT MANY MORE 17-24 CHAPTER II—ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT KENT COUNTY ESTABLISHED IN 1831 AND NAMED IN HONOR OF CHANCELLOR KENT, OF NEW YORK-KENT TOWNSHIP ORGANIZED IN 1834 AND TOWNSHIP OFFICERS ELECTED—MACHINERY OF JUSTICE SET UP-COUNTY ORGANIZED AND GRAND RAPIDS NAMED COUNTY SEAT IN 1836- ERECTION OF COURT HOUSE AUTHORIZED IN 1837—ORGANIZATION OF THE VARIOUS TOWNSHIPS- LEGISLATURE ESTABLISHED SEVERAL STATE ROADS IN COUNTY IN 1836—"FREE BRIDGE" OVER GRAND RIVER AT GRAND RAPIDS AUTHORIZED IN 1844—Foot BRIDGE HAD BEEN BUILT IN 1842-FIRST WAGON BRIDGE IN COUNTY ACROSS GRAND RIVER ERECTED AT ADA IN 1844—LAND APPROPRIATIONS TO FOSTER PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS MADE IN 1848-BOARD OF SUPERVISORS IN 1925 25-31 -- CHAPTER III–GRAND RAPIDS–VILLAGE AND CITY SITE OF GRAND RAPIDS AN INVITING SPOT TO TRAVELER OF 1830_TOPOGRAPHY -CAMPAU PRE-EMPTED SITE OF CITY IN 1831-JOEL GUILD PERSUADED TO COME TO GRAND RAPIDS-GRAND RAPIDS A COMMUNITY OF TWENTY MEN, MANY WITH FAMILIES, IN 1834—TRAILS AND PATHS/POSTOFFICE ESTAB- LISHED IN 1832 ON WEST SIDE OF RIVER, AND A "BRANCH” ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE IN 1834-NAMES OF INHABITANTS IN 1835—FIRST SCHOOL DISTRICT ESTABLISHED STREETS LAID OUT/INFLUENCE OF JOHN BALL AND OTHERS- FIRST NEWSPAPER—GRAND RIVER BANK—GRAND RAPIDS INCORPORATED AS VILLAGE IN 1838-VILLAGE BY-LAWS ADOPTEDDAM BUILT-SOCIETY TO PROMOTE IMMIGRATION FORMED-NEW BUILDINGS—DIFFICULTIES OF TRAVEL -A STEAMBOAT BUILT IN 1845- DAILY MAIL IN 1846—FIRE COMPANIES ORGANIZEDWATERWORKS IN 1848—CITY CHARTER RECEIVED IN 1850-CITY OFFICIALS ELECTED_MILITARY COMPANIES—MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS- LIST OF MAYORS-MUNICIPAL IMPROVEMENTS POPULATION STATISTICS- PARKS-CEMETERIES-COURT HOUSE-GOVERNMENT BUILDING CITY HALL — RAILROADS-TELEPHONES ARTICLE BY A. S. WHITE ON EARLY SETTLE- MENT-PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF MARION WITHEY. -32-74 - CHAPTER IV-MANUFACTURING AND COMMERCE BANKING AND FINANCE DIVERSITY OF MANUFACTURERS-FURNITURE INDUSTRY-LIST OF THINGS MADE IN GRAND RAPIDS-GROWTH OF FURNITURE INDUSTRY-First AND LATER MILLS-FOUNDRIES-IRON WORKS-CARRIAGE MAKING-AGRICUL- TURAL IMPLEMENTS-VARIOUS INDUSTRIES-PLANTS RECENTLY ESTABLISHED STATISTICS ON LEADING INDUSTRIES IN 1924-COMMERCE, ITS GROWTH AND EXPONENTS-BANKING AND FINANCE 75-109 viii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER V-EDUCATION SCHOOLS ONE OF PRIMARY CONSIDERATIONS OF PIONEERS-SCHOOL STARTED IN 1834 NEAR REED'S LAKE-IN GRAND RAPIDS IN 1835-A SECOND SCHOOL IN GRAND RAPIDS IN 1836-Two OTHERS SOON FOLLOWED-ALL SUPPORTED BY PRIVATE SUBSCRIPTION-SCHOOL DISTRICT ABLE TO EMPLOY A TEACHER IN 1837—BUILT SCHOOL HOUSE ON FULTON STREET IN 1839—IT BURNED IN 1849—A SECOND SCHOOL DISTRICT FORMED IN 1848 UNDER UNION SCHOOL SYSTEM-SCHOOL WAS GRADED AND HIGH SCHOOL ESTABLISHED IN 1859— GILBERT TRUST FUND ESTABLISHED IN 1860—EARLY TEACHERS-STATE LEGISLATURE MADE GRAND RAPIDS AND CONTIGUOUS TERRITORY A SCHOOL DISTRICT UNDER SUPERVISION OF BOARD OF EDUCATION IN 1871 AND CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL WAS PROVIDED FOR— DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH OF SYSTEM TO PRESENT—MODERN EDUCATIONAL METHODS-PRIVATE SCHOOLS-ST. MARK'S COLLEGE-CALVIN COLLEGE-LIBRARIES 110-120 CHAPTER VI–MILITARY CIVIL WAR-KENT COUNTY REPRESENTED IN MANY ORGANIZATIONS OF UNION ARMY-BRIEF REVIEWS OF EACH OF THESE-EXPENDITURES FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR AND KENT COUNTY'S PARTICI- PATION—WORLD WAR—WAR DECLARED- ENLISTMENTS—TRAINING OF NA- TIONAL GUARD UNITS-REGISTRATION FOR SELECTIVE DRAFT_NATIONAL ARMY RECRUITS TRAINED AT CAMP CUSTER-THIRTY-SECOND DIVISION TRAINED AT CAMP MCARTHUR, WACO, TEXAS-OVERSEAS SERVICE-HONOR ROLL-RED CROSS-Y. M. C. A.-WOMEN'S COMMITTEE COUNCIL OF NATIONAL DEFENSE-WAR SAVINGS STAMP AND LIBERTY LOAN CAMPAIGNS— WAR RELIEF SOCIETY 121-142 CHAPTER VII—THE PRESS THE "GRAND RAPIDS TIMES" FIRST PAPER/STARTED IN 1837 AND WAS CONDUCTED UNTIL 1855 AS WEEKLY_NAME CHANGED TO "ENQUIRER” IN 1841-DAILY EDITION WAS BEGUN IN 1855—THE "HERALD," A DAILY, WAS BEGUN IN SAME YEAR—THE Two CONSOLIDATED IN 1857-MERRILL H. CLARK OBTAINED CONTROL IN 1865, CHANGED NAME TO “DEMOCRAT” AND AS SUCH IT WAS PUBLISHED THIRTY-SEVEN YEARS-IN 1902 IT WAS MADE AN EVENING PAPER AND CALLED “EVENING POST-NAME CHANGED TO “DAILY NEWS" IN 1908 AND TO “GRAND RAPIDS NEWS" IN 1910—DISCONTINUED IN 1924—"GRAND RAPIDS EAGLE” BEGAN IN 1844 AND LIVED UNTIL 1894— “GRAND RAPIDS HERALD” AND THE "PRESS" Now OCCUPY THE FIELD OTHER PAPERS THAT HAVE COME AND GONE-FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND TRADE PAPERS 143-145 ) CHAPTER VIII—BENCH AND BAR JUDGES-COUNTY COURTS-CIRCUIT COURT COMMISSIONERS-SUPERIOR COURT - JUSTICE COURTS-PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS—MEMBERS OF THE BAR 146-156 CHAPTER IX-PHYSICIANS AND THE PUBLIC HEALTH FIRST PHYSICIANS-HARDSHIPSCOMMON PIONEER DISEASES-EPIDEMICS- GRAND RIVER MEDICAL ASSOCIATION FORMED IN 1852—-GRAND RAPIDS MEDI- CAL AND SURGICAL SOCIETY EXISTED UNTIL A BOUT 1855-GRAND RAPIDS SANITARY ASSOCIATION-ST. MARK'S HOME AND HOSPITAL OPENED IN 1873— IN 1890 NEW BUILDING COMPLETED AND NAMED IN HONOR OF R. E. BUTTER- WORTH-OTHER ADDITIONS SINCE THAT TIME-UNION BENEVOLENT As- SOCIATION—BLODGETT . MEMORIAL HOSPITAL-ST. MARY's HOSPITAL-DI- RECTOR OF PUBLIC WELFARE AND HIS DUTIES AS HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH-STATISTICS ON WORK OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH -157-167 Index of Personal Records C ---- Canfield, William S.. Cargill, Charles C........ Carman, Charles W..... Caulfield, John Chaffee Bros. Furniture Co......... Chalmers, W. Bruce Chamberlin, Edwin J.. Chamberlin, Louis H.. Chinnick, William C..... Christ, Edward H........ Clark, Edward J. Clark, Jess W....... Clark, Melvin J........ Clarke. George S.... Cleland, Rolland J... Clements, E. Albert. Clemetsen, Hans Cleveland, John A. Collisi, Harrison S.. Cornelius, Harold C...... Cornelius, Harold H. Cornell, George Cox, H. Fred.... Coye, Charles A..... Coye. William H.. Crabb, Arthur F. Crane, Charles V.. Crosby, James M. Cross, Eli Cukerski, Wencel L.. D d'Agneau, J. Henri... Dale Bros. Excelsior Pad Co........... Danker, Adrian J...... Dark, Moses J......... Davis, Franklin M. DeGood, James DeLamarter, Louis J...---... Den Herder, Christian.. De Nio, Reuben E. Denison, Arthur C. Denison, Dykema & Co... Dennis, Elmer E..... Detlor, George H. Dexter, Clarence S.. De Young, Nicholas J.. Dodds, Alexander Donaldson, Albert L.. Donker, William Duthler, Henry Dykhouse, Henry G........... E Eckberg, Nels T....... Egan, Andy J....... 459 525 173 639 286 184 358 A. Adams, Carl L....... Adams, Milton F...... Allen, Stanley N...... Amberg, Julius H....... American Radio Cabinet Co.... Anderson, William H.. Armstrong, George B. B Baldwin, Harry T.. Banks, William B.. Barnes, Arthur H.. Barnett, James F. Barnett, James M. Barnhart, Willard Bassford. John A....... Batt, William D.. Battjes, Frank H. Bean, Richard R.. Bedford, Ebenezer S.. Beeman, Corda E...... Beets, Rev. Henry. Belleisle, Paul N.. Bennett, Alonzo H.. Bertles, William M. Billings, Vernon H.. Blocksma, Dewey Blossom. Ira Boersma. Evert Bogerd, Joseph C....... Boggs, Howard L.. Boland, Joseph D... Boter, John Boughner, George T. Bowles, John W... Boyland, Charles E... Boyle, Russell J. Boylon, Fred M. Breen, William J.. Brewer. Joseph H. Briggs, Col. George G............ Brooks, A. E......... Brown, Alvah Brown, David H... Brown, David S.... Brown, Edward N.. Brower, John M.. Brown, Joseph Brown, Martin Brown, Wallace E.. Bull, Charles H.. Bullock, Charles G. Bulman, Elyah 0...... Butterfield, Roger C. Butterfield, Roger W.. 561 637 248 456 628 538 564 563 464 540 649 551 400 219 567 207 354 488 591 288 289 496 461 416 212 508 201 247 213 643 507 645 378 577 578 175 510 229 547 308 494 632 362 552 485 555 527 614 309 517 501 481 251 220 562 564 566 221 468 360 202 314 573 217 349 648 446 379 447 542 287 478 302 529 170 168 481 352 252 511 380 489 255 365 543 195 198 448 504 271 461 245 463 613 502 483 602 509 X TABLE OF CONTENTS Ellis, Adolphus A.... Ellis. Howard A... Emerson, Carroll M. F Farley, Clarence J.... Fell, Lee A.......... Fleckenstein Co. Fletcher, Salathiel R.... Folger, Frederick W. Foote, Elijah H. Fowle. Harold E.. Freeman, Harry M. Frey, Christian F.. Friedrich, Julius A. J.. Frost, Charles L... G Gamble, Gordon R. Garratt, Thomas F.. Gast Motor Sales Co.... Gast, P. B. & Sons Co... Gay, George W.. Gay, William H.. Gauthier, Clarence A. Geldhof. William Gelock, Martin A..... Ghysels, Abraham G.... Gill, William E... Gillett, William J.. Gingrich, Isaiah H. Ginsburg, Albert A... Gleye, Walter B....... Gogulski, Stanley Glocheski, Roman F. Goodman, Addison S... Gorham, Frederick A., Jr.. Graham, Robert D........ Grand Rapids Belting Co.. Gray, Walter E.......... Griffin, Capt. Russell F. Grimes & Madigan.. Grit, Abe Groskopf, R. William... 250 Hauser, Hubert G. 597 250 Hayes, H. Jay... 208 375 Hayes, Nathan B... 200 Heald, Charles M... 392 Heald, Henry T...---- 549 525 Henderson, Thomas J. 575 612 Hendrikse, James J... 230 266 Henry, Loren L.... 573 612 Herold, Alonzo 274 610 Herpolsheimer Co. -& Founders........ 171 304 Herrmann, Jacob 443 598 Heyboer, Stuart J. C.. 235 601 Hibberd, John D..... 476 450 Higbee, Clark E. 309 223 Hine, Frank W... 589 588 Hirth, Fred H.. 321 Hoekstra, John M.. 618 523 Hoffius, Cornelius 587 272 Holden, Charles 275 444 Hollister, Clay H... 426 303 Hollister, Harvey J.. 424 386 Hopson, William C.. 328 384 Hoult, John 232 608 Hudson, Lloyd V... 289 293 Hulswitt, Frank T.. 665 503 Husted, Miss Nora M. 594 258 Hutchins, Lee M.... 666 557 I 609' Irwin, Robert W..... 647 497 294 J 455 Jackson, Very Rev. C. E.. 629 381 Jaracz, Walter J... 585 479 Jardine, Robert K. 574 355 Jarvis, Frank C....- 504 478 Jarvis, W. B...... 486 240 Jeffers, Charles F... 322 226 Jennings, Charles W., Sr.. 233 465 Jewell, Harry D..... 619 305 Johns, Edward L... 239 374 Johnson, Frank M. 546 610 Jones, Frank E....... 278 350 Jontz, J. Russel. 295 Judd, Siegel W....... 322 Judy, Charles B..... 452 235 254 к 605 Kahler, Raymond C. 381 626 Kaminski, Rev. Joseph S... 490 186 Karel, John D........ 382 182 Keeney, Willard F.. 211 362 Kelly, Christopher M. 615 568 Kelly, John F......... 270 651 Kennedy, William J..... 324 554 Kilstrom, Oscar E. 641 224 Killinger, Abram 516 506 King, George W. 324 570 King, Frank T....... 533 259 Kingsbury. Willard J..... 326 191 Kleinhans, Jacob 376 576 Knappen, Loyal E. 203 595 Knappen, Stuart E.. 204 H Hadden, Leon P...--.... Hagerman, David B. Hake, Albert W...---- Hake, Paul J...... Hake, Theodore J... Hake, William Halladay, Frayer Halloran, John M. Hamilton, Charles B.... Hamilton, Claude T. Hamilton, Mrs. Phila L... Hannaford, Bradley H........ Hannah. Wilfred S...... Hansen, Henry Harris, Lewis C.... Hartman, Henry J... Hauser, Charles A.. TABLE OF CONTENTS xi Knowlson, Abram B. Knowlton, James F...... Korreck, John H.. Kotvis, John Kotvis, William Kramer, Fred W. Krapp, Edmond C.. Krieger. Walter 0...... Kuennen, Christian G. 299 457 514 242 336 581 3.23 329 539 Morman, Samuel A.. * Muir, Andrew A. Muir, Boyce K..... Mulick, William W.. Munshaw, Earl W... Murray, James L.... 655 333 268 389 334 661 310 186 499 648 344 210 331 330 469 439 654 N Naylor, Samuel J... Nevers, Clair C...-------- Newnham, Richard L...... Nieland, Dirk Noorthoek, Joseph Norcross, George S. Northrup, William McK. Norton, Frank E..... Nydam, Albert J. 552 335 178 438 373 571 623 452 334 5347 L Lacey, R. B....... Lamoreaux, George P.. LeBlanc, Albert A......... Leffingwell, Christopher W. Lemon, Samuel McBirney. Liesveld, Herman M....... Lindhout, Pierre Link, Rue S.......... Litscher, Christian J.. Livingston, William E.. Locke, Fred H........ Loomis, Harry E... Louwerse, Martin P. Luce Furniture Shops.. Lynch, John L........... Lynch, Joseph P. Lyzen, Daniel G...... MC McCaslin, William R.. McCourt, Vincent G...... McCrath, Louis T.. McKay, Frank D.. McKnight, Anna Caulfield.. McKnight, William F.. McMullen, George K.. McNabb, John & Sons. MacNeil, Stephen C......... McPherson. Charles 0 Oltman, F. H... Oole, Frank Oom, John G...... Oosse, Simon Osgood, S. J. & S. E. Otte, Adrian Otte, John Owen, Edwin Owen, Rollin H.. 338 366 337 604 187 177 178 660 356 516 625 599 368 463 593 474 264 211 297 296 603 474 635 516 228 339 433 432 470 259 312 313 451 467 508 501 339 633 197 387 388 544 451 631 333 580 646 Р Paalman, John H. Paine, S. Hugh...... Fantlind, Fred Z... Pantlind, J. Boyd.. Patterson, Henry Pedigo, Benjamin M. Peirce, John W...---.. Peirce, Peter R. L..... Peiter, William L........ Petersen, Theodore Fetersen, John L....... Peterson, Walter J. Pipe, Peter A......... Platte, John P........ Preston, Jacob T. R Raniville, Felix Rathbone, Alfred Day, I... Rathbone, Alfred Day, II. Rathbone, Alfred Day, III. Rathbun, Hugh A.. Rauh, John Rauser, John G... Raymond, Fred M. Regenmorter, Louis Remington, Charles N... Rice, I. Preston........ Richmond, Louis R. Riechel, Henry Rittenger, Carl J. Roberts, Col. Amos.. Roberts, William E.......... Robertson, Wellington C............ M Macauley, Charles B.... Macauley, John J....... Mange, David G....... Marshman, Charles S........... Martin, Albert H. Martin, Glen E... Marty, Frank T. Mastenbrook, Paul A.... Mathison, Frank H. Matthews, Fred C....... Matthews. Geo. M. Maynard, Fred A.. Merrick, Benjamin P.. Meyer, Fred H..... Middleton, Louis V..... Miller, Charles E....... Minor, Don E........ Miles, Walter E.. Mohrhardt, Peter D......... Montague, Herbert B.. Moran, John ... 572 467 332 315 638 514 459 471 543 484 437 499 477 440 663 664 664 449 372 367 284 348 260 226 559 349 291 314 536 604 xii TABLE OF CONTENTS Stolk, Bastian Stoll, Earl D.......... Stone, S. Webster......... Strong, Stanley Studley, Elbridge G.... Studley, Helen E.... Swain, Alan D..... T Tandler, Joseph Tanner, William W. Tatum, Edward W...... Taylor, Wm. W... Telder, Fred Temple, Fred C.... Thoits, Tom Thomas, George E... Thomasma, Rine Thompson. Robert A. Tidey, Charles H.. Timmer, Bert F.. Tross, Edwin D.... Turner, Henry H. Tyson, Alletz K. Tyzynski, Walter U Uhl, David E.. Uhl, Edwin F. Utley, Fred M. Agency.. V Vandercook, Faye Vander Waals, James.. VanderWal, Jacob M. Vanderwerf, Herman F. Vanderzee, John Vandeven, Frank Van Driele, Francis.. Van Duren, Jacob... Van Ham, Henry.... Van Houten, Mrs. Gertrude..... Van Keulen, James Van Stensel, Arent. Van Strien, Gerrit. Van Vliet, Jacob... Van Ysseldyke, Andrew. Verstay, James Verwys, Abraham Voet, Henry Vogelsang, William E.. .... Vollette, A. Frank..---- von Platen, Godfrey... Voss, Louis C... Voss, William A.... W Wagemaker Co. Wagner, Edward L. Warrell, George A.. Waters, Daniel H.. Waters, Dudley. E. Watkins, Charles G..... 407 390 537 367 410 411 412 Roche, Emmett F......... Rodenhouse, Albert Rogers, John R...... Rohloff, Henry B.. Roller, Louis A. Root, Albert Roth, John F.. Rowe, Mrs. Helen B...... Rupley, William R... Ruschmann, Robert Rysdale, George A.. Ryskamp, Albert Ryskamp, Jacob Ryskamp, Jacob Ryskamp, William 518 342 181 341 342 340 348 621 231 347 371 341 347 453 346 524 300 521 188 523 644 617 417 418 382 269 415 359 214 258 419 263 262 420 S Sackett, Ray C... Sackner, Wade Sarles, Heber, R....... Saunders, Louis B.. Sawall, Frank A.. Schaddelee, Richard Schantz, Henry A....... Schmidt, F. Feter. Schneider, Arthur A.. Schneider, Herbert C... Schols, James Schuitema, Milo Scoby, John M... Semeyn, Walter H.. Sewell, Leland O...... Seymour-Muir Printing Co. Shanteau, Merlin E......... Shields, Harry A........ Sikkema, Edward L... Simons, Edward A....... Simpson, Albert H.. Simpson, Asa E......... Skinner, Charles O.... Sligh, Charles R. Sluyter, Maurice Smith, A. Brooks.. Smith, Henry Smith, Laurence W.. Smith, William A.. Smitter, Egbert J. Smolenski, John. J. Snow, Warren H...... Snyder, George N... Spade, Ira N.... Spangler, David H... Spielmaker, Clarence A...... Springer, Roy F. Stalter, Francis N.... Starrtt, Fred D....... Steele, Henry J.. Stellema, Wiebe Stevens, Frank E... Stevens, Henry Stevens, Joe, Jr.. Stocking, Rodney D..... 560 592 414 454 194 656 406 460 403 316 518 357 407 535 500 388 413 256 391 394 317 404 528 192 307 218 320 513 667 397 487 206 215 473 404 399 405 195 398 559 ..403 254 521 520 605 464 653 417 549 423 458 667 351 318 428 370 414 512 318 302 422 421 319 627 482 281 427 428 216 436 522 ... 624 530 498 TABLE OF CONTENTS xiii Watkins, Roy M..... Watson, Otis N.......... Weatherly, Charles S...... Wernette, Joseph J...... Werry, Lewis A.. White, T. Stewart. Wicks, Kirk E........ Widdicomb, Ralph H... Wierengo, John L & Staff. Wiley, Carl W......... Williams, Francis L......... Williams, Theodore O... Willis, Charles N............ Wilmarth Show Case Co........... 430 408 488 371 583 600 435 395 584 520 237 429 659 396 556 495 519 435 364 437 657 Wilson, Samuel H....... Withey, Lewis H........... Witters, L. John.... Wood, Frank F... Wood, J. Jay..... Woodbridge, Robert S.. Worm, Harold Y Yeiter, Orlo J.. 569 Zarbock, Carl G. J......... Zevalkink, Barend & John.......... Ziesse, Julius A........ Zorns, Ulysses V........... 511 492 476 244 CHAPTER I EARLY SETTLEMENT OF KENT COUNTY A PERIOD of less than three centuries comprises our knowledge of that region of which our state forms a part and much of that written today is founded upon vague tradition. We do know that prior to the beginning of the eighteenth century the region was occupied by the Indians, but the ethnological problem of their origin, whether from the lost tribe of Israel or an off-shoot of the Asiatic Tartars or, perhaps, a production of the Creator peculiar to the American continent, is not one which is included in the scope of this volume. Much evidence is in existence to lead some to believe that, prior to the beginning of the Christian era, this part of our continent was inhabited by people of a higher degree of civilization than the Indians known to our early pioneers. Professor W. B. Hillsdale, of the University of Michigan, lectured in Grand Rapids in 1915 on the “Primitive Man of Michigan" and, speaking of these alleged evidences of a higher culture, said: “The first division of my subject is the myth of the Mound Builders. By myth is meant the notion that the people who built various earth-works that are distributed over the country were of a higher degree of culture and had attained a grade of advancement called civilization. That they were such a cultured people is the myth; not that the works themselves are unreal." The Professor disposes of the subject with the following reference to Professor Cyrus Thomas, an accepted authority in Amer- ican Archeology: “There are mounds which present some evidence of having been built by successive additions of different dates; others which bear the marks of repeated occupancy; and others which show two or more series of burials with greater or less intervals. There are indications in some sections of successive waves of population but throughout all we find evidences of the same culture, like customs, like beliefs and indications of the same racial traits. There is nothing to vary the conclusion that the Indians were the authors of all these works. There are no evidences of greater changes than would result from the outgoing of one tribe and the incoming of another. There are no indications of any great advance in culture from the beginning to the end." No one, competent to express an opinion, has successfully contro- verted these conclusions. Professor Hillsdale goes on to say that the conclusion is that the Indians constructed the thousands of monuments over whose authorship there was, at one time, so much controversy. Neither is there tenable evidence that a people, if any at all, more ad- vanced in culture than the red Indians, ever occupied Michigan terri- 18 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY tory previous to the advent of the white man. He further concludes that the Indian was a victim of accident and was a savage by accident. No accident of change started him towards a goal of higher culture and the cruelest fate of all was the accidental invasion of his domain by another race that did not understand in the slightest degree either his nature or his possibilities. The opportunity is forever gone, if ever attained, for the native American. So far as the affairs of the world are concerned he has made no more impression than the buffalo. It has always been the law of man, as well as of the rest of nature, that the weakling must yield to the stronger; and civilization has not changed the law. The Indian will not have been of any more im- portance in the enduring affairs of civilization than the mastodon and will have dropped from notice while the descendants of the wild turkey, upon which he feasted, will survive. Be that as it may, the Indians for the two or three centuries prior to the advent of the white pioneers had found this region of the Valley of the Grand an ideal rendezvous, especially in the summer time, and again quoting from Professor Hillsdale: "The forests abounded in game. Fish in the waters, wild fowl in the marshes and animals in the woods afforded profitable, but strenuous, occupation for the men and plenty of meat and skins for the family. The evidence is abundant for assuming that, in the days before the coming of the white man, the grain we call corn, together with pumpkins, squashes and beans were cultivated. The cultivation of the soil, so far as it was carried on, was a part of the women's drudgery. Many wild plants, such as roots of the wild sunflower, milkweeds, and lilies were eaten. Wild rice, so attractive to the wild fowls, was also an important and nutritious article of human diet. All the edible nuts, including acorns, were gathered and stored in large quantities by the women and children. Berries were eaten fresh. They were also dried, as was the squash and pumpkin, and preserved for winter consumption. Indians were the first makers of maple sugar and from them the pioneers learned sugar making. The idea prevails with reference to Indians that they were indolent, lazy loafers. It could not have been so. The Indian from necessity must have been active, alert and always on the lookout for means of subsistence and for shelter. It required hard labor to pursue, gather and carry home provisions for the family. The chase for game and fish was no less arduous and precarious than hazardous. He pitted his agility, cunning and endurance against all nature, animated and in- animate. Periods of plenty were followed by starvation. His imple- ments of the chase and for domestic use he clove from the rocks or laboriously fashioned from wood, bone and shell. Their means of transportation and conveyance required patience and industry in the extreme. The Indian women prepared the food, dressed the hides, made the clothing, put up the wigwam, provided for and kept the fire, made the vark storage boxes, plaited the carrying baskets, shaped and fired the pottery, cultivated the corn and was the beast of burden on moving day. When we consider his abode, his tools, his precarious means of subsistence, his struggles with nature which attacked him with cold, flood, famine and the innumerable exigencies of the forest, HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 19 plain, lake and stream, the wonder is, not so much how he existed, but that he lived at all." The Indian has practically disappeared from our midst, but not without leaving his supplanters with forceful reminders. Indian names are attached to streams, mountains, states, lakes, counties and towns in numbers so great that no day passes but that we mouth parts of his language, having raised his words and phrases, which originally had suggestive meaning, to dignity of proper names. Every corn crib is his monument for he made the first one. These earlier inhabitants having been discussed in the preceding volumes, we are only concerned, at this time, with the coming of the early pioneers to our immediate vicinity. As far as the Indian is con- cerned he has been but little hindrance to the settlement of our country. Kent county settlers underwent none of the hardships resulting from murderous raids and atrocities of the natives as did many of the set- tlers and pioneers of the early times in other parts of our country be- fore and after the Revolutionary war. The terrible whipping admin- istered the Indians by Mad Anthony Wayne in 1794, had destroyed forever the spirit in them of open defiance and obstruction to the com- ing of the strangers, at least in this section. And it was a compara- tively peaceful land, a land of surpassing beauty, that invited the early pioneers of Kent county to carve from the wilderness future homes for themselves and posterity. Preceding the coming of the permanent settlers many of the whites had visited the Indian villages located along the banks of the Grand river. Of these forerunners of civilization some were splendid men, many were not, and the bad effect on the morals and inclinations of the natives by reason of their contact with the latter class of men is a dis- credit to the white race. One of the most worthy missionaries laboring in behalf of the ignorant Indians in the northwest, the Rt. Rev. Frederic Baraga, after whom Baraga county, this state, was named, and who came to Kent county in 1833, building his log cabins on the present site of Grand Rapids, thus describes conditions in the village at that time: “Indians are, as a rule, very much addicted to drunkenness. However, they have not always the opportunity of indulging in this vice because they cannot everywhere find intoxicating liquor. But here at Grand river there are so many fur traders, who follow the Indians whithersoever they go and give them liquor in order to get their furs, that the Indians of this neighborhood, and even in this place, are almost continuously drunk. I have spoken about this matter with several of these traders, who sell their own souls and the souls of the poor Indians, but I receive nothing but insults and threats in answer. It is a terrible sight to see an Indian in a state of drunken- ness, especially the women. They are then real furies. Many women here have no nose. When I came here the first time I did not know how to account for this. I made inquiries and learned that the Indian women when drunk, attack one another like raging wolves and bite off one another's noses. Others, again, have lost one or more fingers in these bacchanalian fights. The men attack each other with their large knives * * 20 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY > which they always carry: Often do we hear of murders perpetrated in drunkenness. The coming of Father Baraga to open a mission had met with violent opposition on the part of the ruffian element of the fur traders, for the debauching had taken a hold of the Indians to the pecuniary advantage of the traders. One night' a drunken crowd attacked Father Baraga's cabin but, having had timely warning, he had strongly barred the doors and windows of his cabin. Fortunately they were too drunk to effect an entrance and were compelled to content themselves by besieging the cabin for hours. In 1834 Father Baraga built a combi- nation church, school house and dwelling, 50 by 30, twelve feet high, at a cost of eight hundred dollars. On the 20th of April that year the church was blessed and he thus tells of the event: “The serenity of the firmament accorded beautifully with the joyful celebration. When the usual hour for divine services had arrived we walked with solemn but happy feelings in procession to the church. An Indian carried the peaceful banner of the cross ahead of us and planted it in front of the church. Quite a number of pagan Indians and several Americans, of whom the greater part do not profess any religion, followed the proces- sion in order to view the dedication ceremonies—a thing never before witnessed here. The gifts in pictures and church articles, which my pious benefactors (the Leopoldine Society of Vienna, Austria) had sent me from Europe, did me good service at this solemnity. They are still of great use to me for adorning the altar and church and for performing divine service with due solemnity.” The church was dedi- cated to the “Blessed Virgin.". Two quite different recitals, but ef- fectually illustrating the conditions of the times when sorrow and joy, despair and hope journeyed hand in hand. Notwithstanding the fact that the pioneers had little to fear on ac- count of the Indians, earlier settlement of the county was held back by the ridiculous report made by the Surveyor General of Ohio, who had been instructed by the government to make a survey of this sec- tion and whose duty it was to report, after making such survey, on the conditions existing in this part of the country. The report having, in due course of time, gained, through the members of that body, great publicity and credence. The report says in part: “Taking the coun- try altogether so far as it has been explored, to all appearances it is so bad there would not be more than one acre out of one hundred that would in any case admit of cultivation.” And so the fame of the great Michigan Swamp was broadcast, turning aside the flow of im- migration passing our doors. It was not till after the War of 1812 that this unjust and erroneous description of southern Michigan was con- tradicted and the attention of the people of the eastern states called to the real condition and its desirability as a locality for settlement with a fair chance of prosperity and happiness. Soldiers discharged from our army at Detroit, at the close of that war, returned to their homes in Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, and eastern states, were loud in their praise and their stories told to others varied greatly from the report of the Ohio surveyor who probably had not been, in person, over the land he undertook to describe to the officials in Washington. And in HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 21 addition to the fact that the people of the country at large had had such an unfavorable impression of Michigan, immigration was also delayed for the reason that it was several years after the treaty of peace had been signed ending the Revolutionary war before England gave up possession of this part of our country. And, too, for many years after the war of Independence, and during a period of a great movement of settlers from the east to the newer countries of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, Michigan was comparatively inaccessable and only reached after a long and wearisome journey. Immigrants, in leaving their old habitats, naturally seek to reach the new by the least laborious routes. To encourage settlement of what was then known as the Northwest Territory the government had under- taken to build a road over the Allegheny mountains, from Baltimore, Maryland, to a point on the Mississippi river, bisecting the states of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. From that line of transportation Michigan received but little benefit, but the completion of the Erie canal, con- necting the waters of the Hudson river and Atlantic with those of the Great Lakes gave a tremendous impetus to immigration to the eastern part of the territory, but not until 1824 were steps taken to aid transportation through Michigan when, in that year, the president was authorized by congress, to appoint commissioners to survey and mark out a road from Detroit to Chicago, then but a small collection of log cabins. Three years later an appropriation was made by congress for the construction of the road which was designed to open up the vast prairies west of the lakes as well as the fertile country comprising the southern portion of Michigan, which by this time was attracting much attention. The country north was but little known and less esteemed except by those engaged in the fur trade, and it was many years later before the flood of immigration developed its wonderful resources in a forest growth which became the wonder of the world. Two roads leading from Detroit were authorized by congress in 1827, but they figure little in the settlement of Kent county. In 1832, a road from Detroit to the mouth of Grand river was au- thorized by congress which was of great advantage to the settlers in making the journey through the territory. The timber throughout the entire section as far north as the center line of Kent county was very heavy, and consisted mainly of whitewood, basewood, black walnut, cherry, ash, oak, hard maple, beech and elm, with some white pine of excellent quality near the more northern limits. Black walnut was quite plentiful but valueless in the then condition of the territory, vast quantities being burned in log heaps or made into fence rails, and which, at the present day, would command a very high price. Basswood was the most desirable for the use of the settlers. And, while the early settlers of the thirties were aware of the existence, further north, of vast forests of pine, they did not fully comprehend their extent up to as late as 1870, yet knew enough to render them skeptical as to the possibility of their exhaustion in their own or the lifetime of their children. The supply of timber in Maine alone was supposed to be sufficient, with the most wasteful extravagance, to supply all demands of a century, hence the early settlers of Kent county set little value on 22 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY the natural resources of the forests. Before the permanent settlers came, the woods resembled an im- mense park. There was scarcely any underbrush, few grubs and no small trees. The annual burning of the grass by the Indians had left the forests clear of all such obstructions and the eye dwelt with de- light upon the vista that extended before it under the leafy archway of the immense roof that expanded above in every direction. During the summer the grasses grew in great luxuriance and in the fall would dry up, wither and bend down, covering the earth with a thick mat- ting of combustible material. The fires would sweep The fires would sweep through this mass of inflammable grass with great rapidity, clearing everything in the way, but doing no damage to the forest trees, making the country free · from underbrush. The coming of the white man changed all this. The annual fires made by the Indians ceased and the roots of the grubs had a chance to start up and the seeds of the trees to germinate and grow, and, to- day, a fire in the forests is a thing greatly feared and dreaded. Through the forests of the early days the Indians and fur traders had wandered in Kent county; through the entanglements of the later or underbrush era the American pioneers pushed and cut their way. Often the forerunner of civilization has been the missionary and this is especially true of the Michigan territory. A Baptist mission was located on the west side of the river near what is not the corner of Bridge street and Front avenue, in the city of Grand Rapids. Here two block houses were built by Rev. Isaac McCoy in 1824 and 1825, and in 1828 another Baptist missionary had erected a log cabin and a log school house on the same side of the river and not far from those of McCoy's. In 1833 Father Baraga, the Catholic missionary and priest, came to Kent county and under his direction a church was erected on the same side of the river on the present site of the city. During the following winter the church building was moved across the river and located on what is now Ottawa avenue. At that time the country on the east side of the Grand river formed the territory of the Ottawa Indians and that on the west side the joint country of the Ottawas and the Otchipwes. The total number of Indians living in the locality being about nine hundred and fifty. In 1821 the first American settler came to Kent county to make a permanent home. He came to the fur trading post located near Ada which had been established several years previously by the American Fur Company. Here he found Madame LaFramboise in charge as agent for the company and, as she had made quite a fortune in her trading with the Indians, and because of her advanced age, she was willing to sell out to the best advantage, Rix Robinson, the new comer, made the purchase and succeeded her as agent. The madame retired to her home in Mackinaw where she lived until her death. Robinson was for a long time engaged in the fur trade; establish- ing several trading posts in this part of the country with the one near Ada as the center. He later became a farmer, supervisor, associate judge, senator from Kent county in the years 1846-47-48 and ²49, dele- gate to the Constitutional Convention in 1850 and commissioner of HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 23 internal improvements in 1846. He died in 1875 at Ada, having been a resident of this country for more than fifty-four years. All the chronicals of the county bear testimony to the fine character of Rix Robinson, to whom so much is due for its advancement. Pierre Con- stant, a Frenchman of the type of Marquette and LaSalle, is credited with being the first trader to settle in Ottawa county and said to have built a post there in 1810, and might be considered a pioneer of Kent county as he did live for a time on the western border of the county as now comprised. In 1827 Louis Campau, with his family, came to the county and settled on the present site of the city of Grand Rapids. He had brought with him a supply of goods which he sold and traded to the Indians for furs in competition with the American Fur Company. He built his cabins near the river where he and his family lived, surrounded by Indians, with only the missionaries as white companions until 1832, when the first immigrant came in. This was Luther Lincoln, who did the first plowing in the county, raising corn where Grandville now stands, and who afterwards became postmaster at Grand Rapids. Luther was an eccentric character, and moved many times from one part of the county to another. He is also credited with being the first white settler in Spencer township. The same year Richard God- frey came to the village, if a few huts could be so termed. Godfrey, in 1834, opened a trading post, which he successfully conducted for many years. For several years prior to coming to the Rapids, he had been Indian agent at Lowell, so must be considered one of Kent county's earliest pioneers. Daniel Marsac also settled at Lowell in 1829, where he erected a good log building and established himself as trader. Edward Robinson, a brother of Rix, came to Ada in 1830. Joel Guild brought his family to Grand Rapids in 1833, at the instance of Campau, and erected the first frame dwelling house on the site of the City National Bank, now the Grand Rapids National Bank. It may be said that the coming of this pioneer marked the date of the begin- ning of permanent settlement of the village. The same year, 1833, Jonathan F. Chubb and family settled at the foot of the Rapids, and in 1837 came to Grand Rapids and went into business on Canal street, now Monroe. During the year 1833 many came into the county, joining the few pioneers in the anticipations and hopes which are the causes of new countries being opened up. The same year came Myron Royce, Henry West, Hiram Jennison, Joseph B. Copeland, William R. Goodwin, Eliphat Turner, Barney Burton, , Edward and Daniel Guild, James Vanderpool, Jacob Windsor. In 1834 James Clark, Ezekial Davis Lewis, Ezra and Porter Read, David S. Leavitt, Robert M. Barr and several others came to Grand Rapids and other parts of the country. In 1835, the Reverend Andreas . Viszoczosky, who succeeded Father Baraga took charge of the Grand Rapids mission where he lived the following seventeen years and be- came known as one of the most energetic and esteemed citizens of the growing village. In the same year, Lucius Lyon settled in Grand Rapids, becoming one of Michigan's prominent men. In 1832, while living in Detroit, he had been elected a delegate to congress from the 24 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Territory of Michigan. After the admission of the state, Mr. Lyon was chosen one of Michigan's first two United States senators. He continued as senator until 1839 and then returned to Grand Rapids. In 1842, he was elected representative in congress. Between the years 1820 and 1830, favorable reports as to the splendid opportunities open to settlers having been spread over the east or Atlantic states offsetting the first reports which were so dis- couraging, and the government surveys having been extended north to the Grand river, many “land lookers" came. These men had already gone over the lands of the southern part of the territory where many settlements had been made. Along with the pioneers seeking a place for a new and permanent home, came the speculator. One of Kent county's and Grand Rapid's earliest settlers was Samuel Dexter, who immigrated here in 1833 from Herkimer county, New York. He remained but a short time and later established a permanent home in Ionia. Many of the pioneers of 1836, 1837 and 1838, came with little or no money in their pockets, but after a few years became prosperous and those who had engaged in agriculture had land, horses, cattle, sheep and hogs in abundance and were independent. The foregoing has been written with the end in view of giving to the reader an idea of the conditions existing in Kent county during the few years prior to the real beginning of the story of the settlement of that county and the city. The settlers had now, being in sufficient numbers, begun the study of those matters relating to the organization of the county and soon mastered the formalities required by the law and were not slow to take advantage of the opportunity. The results of their efforts are shown in the following chapter. -- CHAPTER II ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT At a Y an act of the Territorial Legislature, approved in 1831, it was B decreed that all the territory lying west of the line between ranges 8 and 9; east of the line between ranges 12 and 13 west of the meridian; south of the line between townships 8 and 9 and north of the line between townships 4 and 5 north of the base line, con- taining sixteen townships, be set aside into a county under the name of Kent, after Chancellor Kent of New York. A further act of the Legislative Council, approved in 1834, authorized the organization of that part of Kent county lying south of the Grand river into a township to be kown as Kent. meeting for the purpose, Rix Robinson was elected supervisor, Eliphat Turner town clerk, Ira Jones treasurer, Barney Burton and Joel Guild assessors. In 1836 an act was enacted by the legislature of Michigan and approved and to take effect the first Monday in April that year, providing that the County of Kent be organized and the inhabitants entitled to all the rights and privileges extended to the people of other counties, Grand Rapids being designated as the county seat. It was provided that any suits, prosecutions and other causes then pending before any record court, or before any of the justices of the county to which Kent county was attached for judicial pur- poses, should be carried through to final judgment and execution as though the act of organization had not been passed. The new township of Kent had been attached, prior to this, to Kalamazoo county for judicial purposes. It was further provided by this act that the then unorganized counties of Ottawa, Ionia and Clinton should be attached to Kent county for judicial purposes. In the same year the first election of county officers was had and the following elected: Dr. Stephen A. Wilson, clerk; Jefferson Mor- rison, probate judge; Luther Beebe, recorder; Jacob Barnes, regis- ter; Hiram Hinsdill, treasurer; James Scribner, coroner; and John Almy and Arnot Davis, county judges. Charles Osgoode was ap- pointed prosecuting attorney. Two years later Alfred D. Rath- bun was elected to the last named office and Aaron Russell sheriff. The act providing for the election of the county officers and com- missioners came into effect in 1838. In that year three commis- sioners were elected and the length of terms of each was deter- mined by lot, Robert Hilton drawing the three-year term, Rodney Robinson the two and Sylvester Granger the one-year term. 26 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY In 1837 the legislature authorized the building of a court house in Kent county and in the following year the county was author- ized to borrow $10,000 for the purpose of erecting county buildings, and in 1838 a court house of wooden construction was erected on Court House Square, now known as Fulton Street Park, at the head of Monroe. In 1834 the township of Kent, including all that part of Kent county south of Grand river, was organized. The name afterwards, in 1842, was changed to Grand Rapids and a part of the township, practically six miles square, being all of town 8 north of range 11 west, was detached and added to Plainfield township in 1847. In the following year town 8 north of range 10 west was taken from Grand Rapids township and also added to Plainfield township. Byron township was organized by legislative act in 1836 and, as organized, comprised towns 5 and 6 north of range 12 and 13 west. In 1849 one-half of this township was detached and became Wyom- ing township. Walker township was organized in 1837 under authority of the legislature directing that that portion of Kent county lying north of the Grand river should be set off as a separate township. This township is mostly covered now by the city of Grand Rapids, the growth of that city to the east being extensive. By an act of the legislature, approved in 1838, Plainfield town- ship was organized and comprised all of that part of town 8 north of ranges 10 and 11 west lying north of Grand river. In 1846 town 10 north of range 11 was added to Plainfield. The surface consists of elevated plains and hills back of the river bottoms. Ada township was organized in 1838 and comprised towns 5, 6 and 7, north of range 10 west, United States survey. The Grand flows through this township and on section 34 the Thornapple enters the Grand river, where is quite an extent of rich plain lands, and where is now the village of Ada. Vergennes township, made up of the towns 5, 6, 7 and 8, north of range 9 west, was organized in 1838. In 1846 town 8 was detached and made into a separate township, Grattan. This township is marked by oak openings and is much diversified in surface and soil, and is quite elevated above the Grand, into which, and eastward into Flat river, flows its drainage, clear brooks and streams. Paris township was organized the following year, 1839, and at the time comprised towns 5 and 6 north of range 11 west. In 1848 town 5 was detached and made into a new township, Gaines. This township is watered by Plaster creek and equally divided between timber and open lands and generally of good soil. Courtland township, one of the earliest settled of the northern portion of the county, as organized in 1839, comprised town 9 north of range 10 west. In 1843 town 9 north of range 11 west was added, but in 1846 this addition was taken from Courtland and added to Plainfield and towns 10 north of range 9 west and 10 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 27 north of range 10 west were substituted and added to Courtland. Caledonia township was organized in 1840 and comprised town 5 north of ranges 9 and 10 west. Grattan township, comprising towns. 8 north of range 9 west detached from Vergennes township in 1846, was organized by act of the legislature. In 1846, by an act of the legislature, Sparta township was organ- ized and included towns 9 and 10 north of range 12 west. In 1846 the county of Newaygo, as designated by the United States survey, was organized as a township of Kent county. All this territory was attached to Kent county for judicial purposes with the exception of town 11 north of range 14 west. Churchtown township, which included town 8 north of range 10 west, was organized in 1846. This territory had heretofore been a part of Plainfield township. The following year the name was changed to Cannon. Alpine township was organized in 1847, by an act of the legis- lature, and was made up of town 8 north of range 12 west. Wabacis township, a township of short existence, as organized in 1847, comprised town 9 north of range 9 west and town 9 north of range 10 west, detached from Courtland township. In 1848 the name was given up and the township became Courtland and town 10 north of range 10 west and town 10 north of range 9 west was attached to the township formerly organized as Wabacis and all to be known as Courtland township, which had been duly or- ganized in 1839. Cascade township was organized in 1848 by an act of the legis- lature directing that the part of town 6 north of range 10 west, lying south of Grand river should be detached from the township of Ada and be known as Cascade. The township of Lowell was also organized in 1848 by detach- ing town 6 north of range 9 west from the township of Vergennes. Gaines township was organized by an act of the legislature in 1848 and town 5 north of range 11 west was detached from Paris township and given the name of Gaines. In 1849 the township oi Wyoming was organized by detaching town 6 north of range 12 west from Byron township. The same year Bowne township, by an act of the legislature, was organized by taking from Caledonia township town 5 north of range 9 west; this detached territory to be known as Bowne township. Also in the same year the state legislature authorized the organ- ization of Algoma township and town 9 north of range 11 west and town 10 north of range 11 west were set off from Plainfield township and to be known as Algoma township. Oakfield was the fourth township to be organized in 1849. That year the legislature authorized that town 9 north of range 9 west and town 10 north of range 9 west be set off from Courtland town- ship, thus forming the new township of Oakfield. 28 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Up to 1851 the legislature was the only power granting author- ity to create a new township or alter or divide those already organ- ized. In that year the legislat-ire extended the powers of the boards of supervisors and conferred upon those bodies certain local, legis- lative and administrative powers. In 1854 the legislature granted the privilege to the county boards of supervisors to divide, alter or erect a township within the limits of their respective counties, a privilege long demanded, but up to this time it appears that the governing bodies of the state were slow to respond to the desires of the people. Under this authority Kent county officials acted at once and formed new townships. The first township to be organized under the new authority granted to supervisors was Nelson, which was organized in 1854. From Courtland township the territory known as town 10 north of range 10 west was taken and became Nelson township. The second to be organized by the board was Tyrone township. In 1855 town 10 north of range 12 west was detached from Sparta township and given the name Tyrone. In 1857 the territory known as town 10 north of range 11 west was detached from Algoma township and organized as Solon town- ship. In 1860 a portion of Oakfield township was detached, that is, town 10 north of range 9 west, and organized as a new township; the township narrowly escaping an un-American name, as it was at first proposed to call it Celsus, but the citizens petitioned that the name Spencer be substituted, which was done. In 1839 the legislature was petitioned to add eight townships, as organized in the government survey, to the then existing organ- ization of eighteen townships, or 648 square miles, making a total of twenty-four townships or a territory of 864 square miles, each township being six miles square. These townships, or towns, as designated in describing the territory comprised in the townships organized by the state and later by the supervisors, must not be confused with those so organized and named. The size of the county has remained the same since that date. From the coming of the first settlers until 1843 the settlement of Kent county was comparatively slow. In that year the govern- ment lands were put on the market and many immigrants, passing through Michigan seeking land farther west reported to be much better, were finally attracted by the low cost and satisfied with the quality and value of the fertile lands in this section, and soon many located. Splendid farms could be had at that time for from 40 to 60 cents per acre. The shyness with which immigrants looked upon Michigan as a suitable territory for settlement prior to the early forties is shown by comparing the population, as to numbers, with that of Indiana. In 1830 the population of Michigan, according to the United HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 29 States census report, was 31,639 and that of Indiana 343,031. During the next five years Michigan's population had increased to about 90,000 and the population of Indiana to nearly 600,000. It was not long, however, until Michigan and Kent county came into their own. One of the serious objections that would-be settlers could raise was the presence of the harmless Indians and the occupation by them of so much desirable land. This objection was removed by the abandonment of the Baptist and Catholic missions at the rapids and the re-location of the Indians. In 1836 the legislature passed an act establishing several state roads in the county and from points in this county to points in other counties of great benefit, poor as they were, to the settlers. In 1836 and 1837 the road from Grandville to Bronson, now Kalamazoo, was laid out. In the same year the first session of the circuit court of Kent county was held in the village of Grand Rapids in a building at the foot of Monroe street. In 1842 the office of county commissioner was abolished and in its stead a board of supervisors was established. The records of this body do not extend further back than 1845. At the session held that year the necessity for a bridge across the canal at Bridge street, in the village of Grand Rapids, was discussed, but no decis- ion was reached. The work of equalizing the assessment rolls was undertaken and completed. The mooted question of quarters for the county officials also came up. It seems that John Ball had been appointed a commissioner by the legislature to lay out and construct a road but, having failed to file his bond, the board ap- pointed George Coggeshall in his stead. The county paid the wolf bounty of $10.00 per head and scalps were plentiful as the records indicate. In 1844 the state legislature had authorized the building of a " "free bridge,” by the board of supervisors, across the river at Grand Rapids. In the following year the bridge was built and in November was opened for use. The legislature had appropriated six thousand acres of land for the building of the bridge. In 1842 a foot bridge was built by Lovell Moore and James Scribner. It seems to have been strong enough to withstand mod- erately high water and was kept in use until the above mentioned bridge had been completed. The first bridge across the Grand in this county was built at Ada in 1844. Its cost was $1,347 and the expense was defrayed by state appropriation. In 1844 Kent county, together with Ottawa county, was made a part of the third judicial district. In 1848 land appropriations, to foster internal improvements, were made. The township of Plainfield received 1,000 acres toward the building of a new bridge; Ada, 1,000 acres for the same pur- pose; Cascade 600, and 400 granted for bridging the Thornapple, in all 3,000 acres of the public lands granted to the county to en- courage the bridging of rivers and streams. In 1855 the improve- 30 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY ment of Grand river was considered. In 1857 the name of the village of Danville was changed to that of Lowell, and 5,000 acres of land appropriated for the improvement of Flat river at that point. In 1859 the act of the supervisors, in ordering the incor- poration of the village of Lowell, was confirmed by the legislature. In 1861 the act to quiet titles, necessitated by the destruction of the records in the fire of 1860, was passed. In 1865 Scranton's Abstract of Titles was acknowledged as evidence of title by an act of the legislature. This book of abstracts was considered reliable in every respect and by legislative enactment was placed among the standard records of the county to be received as evi- dence in all cases of disputed title to property. As the location of the county seat had been made in 1833 by commissioners ap- pointed by the governor and a stake driven at a point near the center of what is now known as Fulton Park designating such location, it will be of interest to give a short history of that plot of ground. Louis Campau, being the proprietor of the north half of the square, platted it, together with the land east, west and north of it in 1835, dividing all the property into blocks and lots except the square (north half) which he marked “Public Square.” This plat was recorded about that date. There is some evidence also tending to prove that this same square had been selected as the seat of justice for this county by commissioners appointed by the governor in 1833, while the title was still in the government, but that selection was not legal inasmuch as it required the ap- proval of the governor, which was not given, so far as the records show. Although in this plat made by Campau the ground is marked “Public Square,” which does not necessarily imply a “court house square” it can be shown, by evidence, that a court house square was the "public" use for which he intended it. In 1838 a court house was built upon this square near the center, and cer- tainly extending on the north half of it, which remained until 1843 or 1844, but it was burned and another one built in its place, that remained until 1852, when it was sold by the county to Cam- pau for $175. About this time the board of supervisors located the county seat upon the west side of the river and caused a jail to be built there, and rented a building in which to hold court; and from that time on for several years there was much discus- sion by the board as to the title of the county both to the ground chosen on the west side and the public square. It seems also that about 1847 on to 1852 Campau claimed that he had not intended this for a court house square, but only for a public square, city or village purposes, and notified the board of supervisors and also the common council of the city of his claim, and finally, about the time that the court house was moved off, he quit claimed to the city his title to the north half of said square for the sum of $500, and the city has claimed to own the same ever since, and has at times caused it to be fenced and directed the planting of trees upon it for ornament. It will be seen from HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 31 these facts that the only ground for controversy as to the north half of the square is between the city of Grand Rapids and the county. It is evident that Campau originally intended to give it to the county for court house purposes, and offered it to the county for that purpose. It also seems quite plain that the county accepted it by erecting thereon a court house and maintaining it there for about fourteen years. The city's claim arises from its possession since about 1852, founded upon its quitclaim deed from Louis Campau It is provided by the constitution and laws of the state that each county organized shall be a body politic and corporate, for the following purposes: to sue and be sued; to purchase and hold real estate; to borrow money; to make all necessary contracts, and to do other acts in relation to the property and concerns of the county, and it is the duty of each organized county, at its own cost, to provide at the county seat thereof a suitable court house and a suitable and sufficient jail and fireproof offices and maintain the same in good repair. The supervisors, the governing body of the county, shall meet annually for the transaction of business and the duties of the board are expressly stipulated by acts of the legislature. A majority shall constitute a quorum and all ques- tions decided by a majority of the supervisors present except in cases of claims against the county, when a majority of all members elect is required. The chairman is selected from the members of the board and the county clerk is, ex officio, clerk of the board. The board is composed of one supervisor from each township and each city is entitled to representation. The membership in 1925 is as follows: Ada township, Grant Frazier; Algoma township, Maurice E. Post; Alpine township, Charles R. Courtade; Bowne township, Arthur J. Porritt; Byron township, Wallace C. Weaver; Caledonia township, Charles Mul- der; Cannon township, Clayton C. Davies; Cascade township, Ida M. Dean; Courtland township, Frank W. Peterson; Gaines town- ship, Frank King; Grand Rapids township, William H. Stokes; Grattan township, Emory V. Storey; Lowell township, Lewis M. Yeiter; Nelson township, Frank J. Walsh; Oakfield township, De- laskie Snyder; Paris township, Henry Simerink; Plainfield town- ship, Glenn Hunsberger; Solon township, Charles L. Ferneau; Sparta township, Austin Laubach; Spencer township, Edward Newland; Tyrone township, Francis N. Church; Vergennes town- ship, M. B. McPherson; Walker township, William B. Lamoreaux; Wyoming township, Henry T. Emmons. City of Grand Rapids- First ward, James C. Quinlan, Edw. B. Kirkwood, Louis Feringa and J. J. Kennedy; Second ward, George Coggeshall, T. S. Ether- idge, A. H. Shank and Nicholas Kik; Third ward, Warren J. Cook, C. A. Mills, J. Jay Wood and S. Wesley Knecht. CHAPTER III GRAND RAPIDS VILLAGE AND CITY I , N the year 1830 a traveler down the valley of the Grand river, reaching the vicinity of the rapids, had before him a beautiful and, to the one seeking a new home, an inviting view and must have been greatly impressed with the wild and romantic scenery. Through the valley flows the Grand river which rises in Jackson county about one hundred and ten miles southeast of the present city of Grand Rapids, taking a course north of west. When within six or seven miles of the rapids it flows almost due northwest to a point about six miles north from the city where it bears to the west and then again to the south to the foot of the rapids where it takes a southwesterly direction for a distance of six miles near the site of the town of Grandville. It there resumes its northwesterly course to its mouth at Grand Haven on the shore of Lake Michigan in Ottawa county, a distance from Grand Rapids as the crow flies of about thirty miles and forty miles follow- ing the river's course. The valley at the rapids is about one and a half miles wide. On both sides are hills approximately one hundred feet in height. On the west side these hills are about a mile back from the river. On the east side the distance varies from a few rods to three quarters of a mile. From the river to the hills on the west the land is but a few feet above the river at normal stage. The command- ing eminence on the east side was a sand bluff with a steep western face, its base at an average distance from the river of about eight or nine hundred feet and extending from what is now Coldbrook street, on the north, to a point beyond Fulton street on the south, a distance of one and a half miles and with a maximum elevation of one hundred and sixty feet above the bed of the river. An ideal spot for the loca- tion of a town. So, at least, thought Louis Campau. This man had spent many years living and trading with the Indians of the southern part of Michigan and since 1827 had been operating a trading post at this point. Campau, being present when the government survey of the lands thrown open to settlement, on the south side of the river, was made, realized the advantages offered and in 1831 entered his claim covering the lands now bounded by Bridge street on the north, Division on the east, Fulton street on the south and the river on the west. Campau was illiterate, had a poor command of English and was anxious that Americans should become interested in his new project and for this reason strongly urged Joel Guild, who had left New York state with a colony of sixty-three persons intending to make a settlement in 11: IN U. S. POST OFFICE-GRAND RAPIDS FOUNTAIN STREET BAPTIST CHURCH HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 33 Ionia, to abandon the latter and throw his fortunes in with those of the proposed settlement at the rapids. Guild was convinced and be- came a resident of the locality, active in all that pertained to the ad- vancement and good of the place. The year of Guild's arrival, 183 , Campau platted a portion of his claim into town blocks, lots and streets and from these two events dates the beginning of the building up of the city of Grand Rapids. The land so platted is bounded by a line running midway between Pearl and Lyon on the north, Division on the east, Fulton on the south and the river on the west. To the obstinacy of Campau, while illiterate, a man of strong will and brook- ing no opposition, Monroe street owes. its irregular direction as he in- sisted that the street should follow the Indian trail and which accounts for the diagonal street pattern of the city lying between Division, Mon- roe and Market. The sale of lots began at once and so great was the demand that Campau soon found himself to be a rich man. The first lot was sold to Guild and on this lot, located at the junction of Monroe and Pearl, he built his dwelling, the first frame dwelling erected in the village. The growth of the village was very rapid for the following two or three years. Lumber for houses was obtainable in small quantities at the sawmill belonging to the Baptist mission on the west side. The demand for manual labor and mechanics of every kind now became very great. A good class of settlers were coming in. It is a very common impression, prevailing among the more recent generations, that the early settlers were people of little or no education, caring little and concern- ing themselves less about such matters, but the opposite is the truth. While there were many whom this description would fit, still the majority were men and women of more or less good education and much feeling and sentiment existed, from the earliest times, in favor of educational institutions. There were two missions already established, the first by the Baptists in 1826, and the one by the Catholics in 1833. Both maintained schools and church services mostly for the benefit of the Indians. The Baptist mission was located on the west side of the river and two block houses had been erected by McCoy and Slater, Baptist ministers, near the spot now occupied by the west end of the Bridge street bridge. The Catholic mission buildings were located further south near the west end of Pearl street bridge as now located. In the spring of 1834 the trading post at the rapids of the Grand river, which for years had been the meeting place of the traders with their customers, the Indians, had developed into a white settlement with a population of twenty men, many with families. Who they were will always be a matter of interest; one of them, Robert M. Barr, being the last survivor of those living in the village at that time, died a resi- dent of Grand Rapids in 1910, aged ninety-nine. Richard Godfrey, Louis and Toussaint Campau, the latter a brother of Louis, having set- tled at the rapids in 1827, Lucius Lyon, a man by the name of Tucker, who built a sawmill that year near the site on what is now located the Pantlind Hotel, Joel Guild and many others mentioned in the fol- lowing pages were active factors in starting the new town. The streets of the village of Grand Rapids at this time were only foot paths or Indian trails. A trail from the southeast came in past 34 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Reed's lake to the corner of Fulton and Union and from there zig- zaged down to the river near the foot of the rapids, another trail came in at Colbrook then followed the river bank to the lower part of the town. Another came in from the southeast, entering about where State street runs and thence took a winding course to and around the southern base of Prospect Hill to the fur trading station at the foot of Huron street. There was also a trail that came up along the bank of the river from Grandville, leading to the same point. On the west side were the trails from Grand Haven and Muskegon. Another from the north came in by the way of Mill Creek valley. Along these trails, within the limits and vicinity of the village, wound rough wagon roads unfenced and unworked. The route from the present head of Monroe street to the Bridge street bridge, after it was built, was by wagon track passing the National Hotel corner, skirting along the eastern slope of Prospect Hill a little west of Ionia, crossing through a muddy gully and a little creek, which , formerly ran around the north end of that hill, past bogs near Kent to Bridge street and then through a miry slough to the bridge. Another wagon road or probably at best a wagon track ran in a zigzag course near the foot of the hill from Coldbrook to where the bridge now heads. From Fulton, east to the public square, was one that climbed the hill in a northeasterly direction, through a ravine, which reached the summit a short distance east of the site of the Central high school building. For years the teamsters chose their routes over unfenced lands, through bushes and around the bad places, if possible, going from one part of the village to another by the route each considered best for himself. Few streets in the village days were "worked” enough to make them even passable in bad weather. Those in springy and marshy ground had ditches made at the sides with an occasional plank bridge over the brooks. Monroe was a bed of heavy clay mortar and almost impassable in the wet season. Canal street, now an exten- sion of Monroe, was a miry morass its entire length from Pearl to Coldbrook, and Division street was just as bad from Monroe to the south limits of the village. During the early years great anxiety was expe- rienced by the residents, at times, on account of the ice in the river. Many unpleasant nights were spent by the settlers. As related by one of the settlers: “At midday the ice in a vast body began to move and pile up in a solid mass twenty to thirty feet high forcing the water back on the little village so that many barely escaped with their The whole scene, accompanied as it was with a heavy rumbling sound and the rushing of the water, was grand and awe inspiring beyond description.” Two years before this time, that is in 1832, a postoffice had been established on the west side of the river at the mission house of Leonard Slater, the first postmaster. This year, 1834, on account of the dif- ficulty in crossing the river, a “branch" office was established on the east side at the home of Joel Guild, then acting as deputy postmaster, where mail was received and delivered to patrons on that side. lives. > HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 35 In those days postage on letters ranged from twelve and a half to twenty-five cents, depending upon distance of destination and weight. Guild's house was located on the present site of the Grand Rapids Na- tional Bank. It is noted that at that time more than a dozen different newspapers were received at the postoffice for distribution to sub- scribers. In 1835 we find the following men as residents of the village: Eliphalet H. Turner, the first clerk of the township; Antoine Campau, Daniel D. Whitman, Andrew Robbins, Daniel North, Joseph Potter, Ezekial W. Davis, Julius Cabel, Ephriam P. Walker, William Mc- Causland, Louis Moran, Robert Howlett, William, Aaron and Sylvester Sibley, William R. Goodwin, Gideon H. Gordon, James Gordan, Warner Dexter, Luther Lincoln, Ira Jones, Nathaniel N. Roberts, Myron Roys, Joseph B. Copeland, Henry West, Andrew D. W. Stout, James Archi- bold, Johnathan F. Chubb, Jared Wansey, James Watson, Lewis, Porter and Ezra Reed, Joel and James Sliter, Horace and Lyman Gray, Hiram Hinsdill, William R. Barnard, Abram S. Wadsworth, Edward and Joel Guild, Louis Campau, Richard Godfrey, James Scribner, Robert M. Barr, Martin Ryerson, Darius Windsor, Cyrus Jones, James Clark, Lucius Lyon, Jefferson Morrison, John Alvay, William Hindsill, Dwight Lyman, William H. Godfrey, Joseph Marion, James Lyman, N. O. Sargeant, Dr. Stephen A. Wilson, Dr. Charles Sheppard, David S. Leavitt, Demetrius Turner, Rev. Andreas Viszoczosky, Justus C. Rob- erts, Edward Feakins, Abraham Laraway, Amos Smith, Leonard G. Baxter, Alanson Crampton and Charles G. Mason. Porter Reed came in 1833 and was the first settler to locate a home on the banks of Reed's lake and for that reason the lake was so named. The Rev. Andreas Viszoczosky came to take charge of the Catholic mission, succeeding Father Baraga. Here he lived for the following seventeen years and became known as one of the most energetic and esteemed citizens of the growing village. In the same year Lucius Lyon settled in the vil- lage, becoming one of Michigan's prominent men and one of the first two United States senators to represent that state in congress. Julius C. Abel opened his law office in the village this year and afterwards was elected a judge. The first school district was established at this time with boundaries described as follows: Commencing at the south- west corner of fractional section 34, township 7, range 12; thence east to the southeast corner of section 31, township 7, range 11; thence north to the northeast corner of section 7, township 7, range 11; thence west to the Grand river, which included all of the village on the east side of the river. Prior to this time schools had been conducted at both missions and at this time the district or village school began to be supported by taxes levied for that purpose. This year was the beginning of the “boom” years occasioned by the digging of the canal to utilize the water power of the river, the first of its kind ever built in Michigan. A company called the Kent Company, composed of Lucius Lyon, N. O. Sargeant and their associates, also constructed a mill race from the head of the present canal on the east side to the site of the old Valley City Mills. The following year the company con- structed a sawmill where the “Big Mill” was subsequently erected 36 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY for the manufacture of flour. Toward the close of 1835 the village was able to boast of thirteen frame dwellings. On the site now oc- cupied by the Morton House, Myron Hinsdill built the National Hotel. There were numerous evidences that the place was becoming known to the outside world, notwithstanding the fact that the settlement showed but slight growth prior to this time. Campau began the subdivision of lands into small parcels, the laying out of streets and the grouping of buildings. The rest of the territory bounded on the north by Cold- brook, on the east by a line about four rods further east than Ransom street, on the south by the section line (now Wealthy street), and on the west by the river was platted; the streets were laid out sixty-six feet wide, practically the width of all the streets with the exception of Canal (now part of Monroe) street, which from Pearl to Bridge was laid out one hundred feet wide and north of Bridge ninety-two feet wide; and east Bridge street (now Michigan) to the top of the hill was one hundred feet wide and Monroe, from Fulton to Pearl, was eighty-two and a half feet in width. No steps toward permanent im- provement of these streets were made until 1847. In the following year we find the following settlers added to the list of village settlers: John Ball, Robert Hilton, Sylvester Granger, Philander Tracey, William A. Richmond, Aaron B. Turner, Isaac Turner, J. M. Nelson, George Coggeshall, George C. Nelson, W. P. Mills, George Young, Dillins Stocking, David Burnett, Asa Pratt, Stephen Hinsdill, Harry Eaton, Charles H. Taylor, William Morman, John Thompson, Samuel Howland, J. Mortimer Smith, Anthony Borden, Edward Carveth, Hezekiah Green, William Haldane, Truman H. Lyon, K. S. Pettibone, Abram Randall, John J. Watson, L. Beebe, Jacob Barnes, George Martin, Captain Stoddard, and Solomon With- ey, Sr. Of the names given above none is more conspicuous than that of John Ball, none more remembered today than his. He came from Hebron, New Hampshire, this year, and devoted his splendid talents and energy to the upbuilding of the town. The first shoemakers of the village were Maxime and John Ringuette who settled in Grand Rapids in 1836 and at first there was not custom enough to give them steady employment and in summer they were engaged on the river and in such other work as they could find. Subsequently they were engaged in the boot and shoe trade on Monroe street for many years. John W. Pierce opened a book store at the northeast corner of Kent (now Bond) and Bronson (now Crescent), where he remained until 1844, when he opened a general store at the corner of Canal and Erie. The names of Stocking and Turner will always be household names to residents of the city, the streets, Stocking and Turner being named for them. On the opposite corner from the National Hotel was kept a school in a barn built of boards set up endwise, the floor being rough boards loosely laid. The teacher was Miss Sophia Page. During this year, and the following, two schools were in operation in the National Hotel, one for boys taught by Daniel Smith, and the other for girls taught by Mary Hinsdill. The year preceding the first school district had been organized as noted heretofore. To the young HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 37 people of the present generation it might be of interest to compare the conditions for learning in these early days with those of the present. J. N. Davis, who speaks from experience, writes: “The school house was not furnished with furnaces, wood ready sawed and a man to build fires. The room was heated by a huge sheet iron box stove. Each patron of the school furnished so much wood per scholar, and wood was generally cut in sled lengths, the boys carried their axes and cut it into stove wood at noon-time and recess. The school was commenced at eight o'clock in the morning and closed at five in the afternoon. There were no Saturday holidays. Nothing was considered a sufficient excuse for dismissing school save the celebration of the Glorious Fourth. Davis further says: “The inside of the school house was not furnished with patent desks and seats, but with benches, some of which were made of plain boards, and others of unplaned slaps, flat side up, with pegs for legs. There were two desks for writing, extending the length of the sides of the room. When the hour for writing arrived, the scholars were directed to face the wall. This afforded an excellent chance for the teacher to look over the shoulder of the pupil , see how the quill pen was held, and when the marks were too horizontal and perpendicular. If either were the case, a reminder was put in, the position of the scholar affording too good an opportunity to be lightly thrown away. The result of this correction would be the making of sundry lines and curves unknown in geometry.” It was the custom in those days to hold evening spelling schools about twice in every week, where there was a larger attendance than at the regular day school. The exercises usually closed with the scholars standing up and “spelling down” and the contest was usually attended with considerable excite- ment. As there had been a fine dinner given in this year of 1836, celebrating the “Fourth” no doubt but the happy pupils were given the usual holiday. This dinner celebration was a tame affair compared to the one held two years before when the event was held in the village with its attendant parade, of which Alvin Wansey was captain and led by Robert Barr with his fiddle, marching up and down the Indian trail, now Monroe. In 1833 this day was quietly celebrated by Campau and Guild, “temperately with a slight moistening.” A dinner also was the mode of celebrating the day in 1835, with short speeches and much fun. The manner of celebration of the day in 1834 was the cause of much excitement and wonder to the Indians though they finally joined in with the white settlers and seemed to derive more enjoyment than the originators. After having been located on the west side of the river, with a branch on the east side, for four years, the postoffice proper was changed to the east side in 1836. This year the legislature passed an act establishing a state road from Grandville to the village of Allegan; from Bronson (now Kalamazoo), by the way of Middle vil- lage, in Barry county, to Grandville; from Paw Paw to Grand Rapids; from Middle village to Robinson's trading post and from Grandville to the mouth of the North Black river. In 1837 the village entered on a new era as in that year was established its first newspaper, The Grand Rapids Times. The owner and editor was George W. Patterson, a practical printer, and its contributors consisted of such talented citizens 38 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY as Charles W. Walker, Sylvester Granger and Alfred D. Rathbone. The paper and ink had to be brought a long distance and there were few mails. In spite of the fact that it was doubtful if the community was of sufficient size to warrant the undertaking, the plucky editor persevered amid all the discouragements, at least until he could find a purchaser which he did in the person of Mr. Walker. Comparatively few new settlers were added to the population in 1837 and many of those who had been considered permanent fixtures returned to their old homes in the east. The effect of the breakdown of the wild speculation of the preceding year began to be seen. Faces began to indicate thought and care. Business dragged and mechanics and laborers could find little to do and sought other locali- ties. Grand Rapids had been the theater of speculation. The inevitable crash had come bringing with it more sober judgment and a healthier growth. During the years immediately following the settlement at Grand Rapids, many comers and goers, land hunters and men seeking homesteads in the wilderness, would make the village a stopping place; and for a while the only place of public entertainment for such travelers was at the home of Joel Guild, and, while it was built merely as a private residence, it became known as “Guild's Tavern." In 1834 the “Eagle Hotel” was built at the corner of old Waterloo and Louis streets, now Market and Louis. It was a two- story wooden building enlarged from time to time until it was destroyed by fire in 1883. In the latter year the new brick Eagle Hotel was built on the site of the old and is still today a popular place. In 1836, Darius Winsor having been appointed postmaster, the postoffice was removed to his house on the east side of the river at the corner of Ottawa and Fountain where now stands the Aldrich building. It remained at this location but a short time, being moved to a building on Monroe nearly opposite Waterloo (now Market) street. Patrons of the office were greatly annoyed on account of the uncertainty of the name among non-residents and efforts were made to establish a per- manent name. The result was that this year the name of the office was changed to Kent and so remained for several years. Up to this time all regular mail coming into Grand Rapids was brought in by scouts or runners usually on foot, but at times on horseback. One mail a week was considered good service. The mail came by the way of Detroit and to Grand Rapids by an irregular and uncertain route. A little later the mail began to come in by the way of Kalamazoo. In 1837 the mail was brought from Battle Creek by stage, an old cumbersome lumber wagon, carrying passengers as well as mail. Twelve hours were allowed for the trip, each way, by the government, and the only excuse for delay being bad weather which frequently oc- casioned delays of one or two days. The Grand River Bank had been opened and was in operation. Efforts were made to start another by disgruntled patrons of the Grand River Bank but the attempt failed. The office of the Grand River Bank was in a small building on Bridge (now Michigan) street at the corner of Kent, now Bond avenue. This bank soon passed into the hands of receivers and the villagers lived and HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 39 thrived during the period between 1840 and 1850 with no banking facilities. The regular running of steamboats on the Grand river began in 1837 and for several years one boat was sufficient to handle all the business offered. The “Governor Mason” was built and launched at Grand Rapids that year and made regular trips between that vil- lage and Grand Haven, though not a financial success. Smaller boats called “pole-boats," being propelled by hand by the aid of poles, were used but the coming of the steamboat was too great a competition for them below the rapids. In 1840 the “Governor Mason” was wrecked at the entrance to Muskegon harbor. In 1837 another hotel was added to the list of business enterprises, Charles H. Carrol erecting the Kent Hotel. It was afterwards known as the Grand River Exchange and still later as the Bridge Street House. The building remained in use until 1913 when it was torn down. There was a splendid spring of water located a little east of Ottawa street, between what is now Mich- igan and Hastings streets. With pipes, made from the trunks of trees hollowed out, some of the enterprising villagers brought the water down old Bridge street to a watering trough in front of the Bridge Street House. This was the beginning of a water works system little dreamed of by the people of those days. In 1838 the Rev. James Ballard began the crusade against the use of intoxicating liquors, advocating the for- mation of temperance societies, but the farmers, mechanics and mer- chants seemed to have had little thought of the need of such a movement. Before that movement had started the free use of whiskey, rum, etc., without criticism, except where the user was a sot or drunkard, was the established custom. The new societies had but a few members at first, but these few were very much in earnest though compelled to limit their efforts to moral suasion. There existed, however, the belief in the advisability of regulating the sale of liquor by legal restraint. In this year the legislature passed an act authorizing the building of a state road from Battle Creek to Grandville and one from Kalamazoo to Grand Rapids. An act incorporating the village of Grand Rapids was approved by the governor April 5, 1838, which provided for the organization of all that tract of land in Kent county, beginning at a point on the east side of the river, where Fulton street, as laid down on the original plat of the village, recorded in the registrar's office of Kalamazoo county, in- tersects the river, and running east on the south bounds of the village to the southeast corner of a tract known as Hatch's addition, thence north along the east line of this addition and north to a point where Hastings street as laid down in the village plat of Kent, being also an addition to the village of Grand Rapids, if extended, would intersect the same; thence west along Hastings street to the west line of Canal street to the point where the same strikes Grand river and along the shore of said river to the place of beginning. These boundary lines were not changed until 1843. From the beginning of the existence of the village, as is very usual in the forming of new communities, there had been contentions as to the exact location and name. Different interests advocating different locations and a different name. The village of Kent made strenuous 40 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY ers. efforts to absorb the village laid out by Campau but never reached the stage of incorporation and finally, in 1842, the name of Kent as a vil- lage was dropped and that of Grand Rapids made to apply to the ter- ritory covered by both. One of the new settlers to arrive at and be- come a citizen of the village the year of its incorporation was Solomon L. Withey, a former resident of the state of New York. In 1848 Mr. Withey became probate judge and later, in 1860, state senator. In 1863 he was made a judge of the United States court of this district. This year the postoffice was removed to a building on Lyon street on the west side of Prospect Hill, reached by a poor wagon road winding its way from the west nearly to the postoffice. The approach from the east was by foot. This location was retained until 1841. The first village election was held at the court house Monday, May 1, 1838, when the highest number of votes cast was 141, for Louis Cam- pau for trustee. The first meeting of the board to organize was held at the office of Charles I. Walker, May 14th, the same year, when Henry C. Smith was chosen president. Village by-laws were adopted the same month. Among the provisions were prohibitions of horse-racing, of discharging fire arms, and of ball alleys or gaming houses within the village; also of liquor selling at retail except by licensed tavern keep- The first set of village officers was elected at this board meeting. In June ditches were authorized to drain the marsh in the region of Fountain, Greenwich (now Ionia), Division and Lyon streets. The village was governed by a board of trustees, seven in number, this board to choose a president and these to constitute "a body corporate and politic under the name of the president and trustees of the village of Grand Rapids” with powers and privileges usually given such corporations. In the year of its incorporation the village had hopes of being connected with the outside world by a railroad. The year preceding its incorporation the legislature commissioned Thomas C. Sheldon, Thomas Fitzgerald, Theodore Romeyn, E. P. Dea- con and Alexander H. Jaredon to receive subscriptions to the capital stock for the purpose of incorporating a company, to be known as the Port Sheldon and Grand Rapids Railroad Company, having for its object the building of a railroad from Pigeon lake, on Lake Michigan, to a point in the town of Kent. The road was never built. In 1839 William I. Blakley built the first school house in the dis- trict, a small frame structure on the east side of Fulton street nearly opposite the end of Jefferson. This building was burned in 1849. In 1837 an appropriation of $5,000 was made by the government for the improvement of Grand river, Grand Rapids being a port of entry at the time. The entire appropriation was expended in the construction of a wing dam, running from the head of Island number 1, in a semi- circular form, toward the center of the river. The east end of the dam, which began at the head of the island, was four or five rods north of where Pearl street bridge now stands, while the west end of the stone semi-circle dropped down the river and ended about its center and just at the upper edge of the bridge. The object of this curved dam, with its back up stream, was to deepen the east channel, by confining the water to narrower spaces. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 41 The work done, as in case of most appropriations, was ridiculously small compared to the amount of its cost. This dam long remained a notable feature of the river scenery, but after the city ceased to be a port of entry, the wing dam gradually became a convenient and cheap place to obtain stone for building purposes, especially for foundations along the river banks. The dam gradually disappeared and by 1881 no trace remained. In 1839 the state appropriated $25,000 for the con- struction of canals and the improvement of the river. In 1841 the legislature made an appropriation of $5,000 for continuing the work on the salt springs. In 1842 a further appropriation of $15,000 was made to foster the salt industry on the Grand river. In 1841 Lucius Lyon entered upon the work of sinking a salt well west of the canal. This well promised great results, but when the manufacture of salt was under- taken in 1843 it required but a short time to demonstrate the impracti- cability of the enterprise and the business never became a success at this point. In 1840 the National Hotel, built by Myron Hinsdill in the first years of the settlement, was partially destroyed by fire, rebuilt for Canton Smith in 1841, and seemed to be doomed to destruction for in 1846 it again burned, was again rebuilt for Smith & Morton. It occupied the site of the Morton Hotel of the present time. In 1873 the building was totally destroyed by fire. A few of the first German set- tlers were added to the community in 1840, being the first foreign ele- ment, except the French traders and Irish canal workers. Among these were Anthony Cordes and family. At this time Canal street, now Monroe, was a miry mass all the way from Pearl to Coldbrook and Division, in wet weather, was a slough of mud south to the village line. Monroe was, at times, a bed of heavy clay mortar. The effects of the temperance societies organized in 1838 began to be felt and in 1842 Truman H. Lyman closed his bar at the Exchange Hotel, afterwards known as the Bridge Street House. He was not the first tavern keeper in the village to stop selling liquor in his hotel as, five years previous to this, Myron Hinsdill had taken out his bar in the National Hotel. In this year there were living here all but four of the sixty-two per- sons who had come to Grand Rapids as permanent residents in 1833. The same year a society to promote immigration was formed, of which Lucius Lyon was chosen president. Quoting from the statement of a resident at that time, “The winter of 1842 and 1843 was an uncom- monly severe one. The snow began falling about November 15th and remained until April 17th. During this terrible winter the supply of food for man and beast was entirely inadequate. Teams were dis- patched south for pork, grain and straw, taking land plaster and shingles to pay for the articles required. But despite the utmost exertions large numbers of cattle perished for want of food and shelter. This year the renting of pews in churches was begun as a means of raising much needed funds, and it was found that the experiment was a success. This year the making of buggies was begun. The first one was made by W. N. Cook who did all the work by hand from the elliptical springs to the cushions. The Rathbone building was erected this year by 42 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Gouvernor B. Rathbone, a native of New York state, at the corner of Monroe and Ottawa. It was a stone building containing three or four stores and was sometimes known as the “Wedge.” The building was burned in 1857. In 1841 James H. Morse & Company began the pub- lication of the Grand Rapids Enquirer, a weekly, supposed to be non- partisan, but in editorial sentiment was evidently Democratic. This year the canal on the east side was completed and is described as being nearly a mile long, eighty feet wide at the water line and five feet deep. At its foot a basin was constructed, two hundred feet square, the south line of which was seventy feet north of Huron street and the east line within eight feet of Canal street. The work created a valuable mill property for nearly its whole length along the river bank, nevertheless it is evident, from its character and the formation of the basin, that the proprietors intended to make an improvement for the purpose of navigation around the rapids. About 1842 the boating interests received an impetus from the increased carrying of merchandise by the lakes, from Buffalo to Chicago, thence by Grand Haven to Grand Rapids, and in August of that year there was great rejoicing over the arrival of goods from New York City in fifteen days from the date of shipment, something at that time unprecedented. Not long after, two boats were required for the increasing business, giving a daily passage each way, and later even four found abundant employment between Grand Rapids and Grand Haven. The steamer Paragon was built at Grand Rapids this year and also the Enterprise. In 1842 was organized a temperance society called the “Washingtonian" with a liberal membership. This association was kept up for some years. The efforts of the association was confined almost entirely to obtaining the signatures to the pledge. Little was done towards establishing prohibition until 1853. In 1842 real estate all over the country, especially so in the village, had depreciated and lots in the village could not be sold for one-half the amount the owners had paid for them, but at the same time there began to be more inquiries for land and especially land with water power and prospective manufacturers seemed to be impressed with the possibilities in the village, and the future of the locality seemed to be as promising as that of any other in the state. The recovery from the hard times of 1834, 1835 and 1836 seemed to be slowly, but surely, materializing. The locality seemed to be a remarkably healthy place at this time. Mr. Lyon, in writing to a friend, says: “I have not heard of a single case of sickness for ten months past and we never have any other disease than fever and ague at any time.” He further says that religion flourishes here as well as everything else that is good. Though the village is but six years old it has six places of public worship and six religious societies organized. “We are also a working people and if we go on increasing our product as we have for the last three years the next census will show such an increase as will be hard to beat. Michigan is the garden of the great west and Grand river valley is the garden of Michigan.” In this the southern terminus of the canal on the east side was completed. As a private enterprise this work was begun in 1835 by year HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 43 Lucius Lyon and N. O. Sargeant and was dug from the head of the rapids down nearly to Bridge, now Michigan, street. Under the authority of the legislature in an act approved in 1843, the boundaries of the village of Grand Rapids were made to include the southwest corner of a tract of land, known as Hatch's addition, in- stead of the southeast corner as mentioned in the act of 1838. The first building built of brick and of much size in the village was erected in 1843 and was known as Irving Hall and located on the west side of Monroe near Pearl. The building was the old style with gable roof, three stories high, with two store rooms below and a hall above. This hall was used by Irving Lodge, No. 11, as a lodge room. The building stood until 1868 and on its site was built, in that year, the building now occupied by the Boston store. In 1843 a stage line was put in operation between Grand Rapids and Battle Creek making two trips a week. Lines were started operat- ing between Grand Rapids and Ionia and Lyons with one trip a week. Few persons at this date have a knowledge, or can form more than an imperfect idea of the difficulties attending travel experienced by the settlers in those days. Stage travel in the old way was not without its perils and disasters, resulting in broken bones. This year a small library was established by the Grand Rapids Lyceum Association, the nucleus of which was a chest of books discovered in the attic of some school house and brought here by a young lawyer. Additions were made from time to time, principally by private gift, until the catalogue showed between two and three hundred volumes, mostly small and miscellaneous in character. In 1844 occurred the first fire of serious consequence to the people of the village, the burning of the court house and jail. This attracted their attention to the need of better protection against fire. A small building was erected to replace the burned building. The same year amendments were made to the by-laws of the village and licenses were authorized—for retailing of liquor, $20; for ball alley or gaming house, $25; for billiard tables, $25; for hawkers or peddlers, $10. This sys- tem prevailed until 1850, the year the city was incorporated. In 1844 the first number of the Weekly Eagle was issued by E. and Aaron B. Turner. Originally the name of the paper was The Grand River Eagle, afterwards the word Rapids was substituted for River. The postoffice in 1844, was located on the south side of Monroe street near the old location of 1836, when it was moved from the west side to the east side. The same year, 1844, the name of the postoffice was officially changed from Kent to Grand Rapids, settling for all time the vexatious contro- versy. An act of the legislature, just approved, saved the life of an innocent man convicted of murder and sentenced to be hanged in February. Preparations had been made by Sheriff Solomon Withey but the passage of the act abolishing the death penalty came in time to prevent the execution. Life sentence was given and several years after- wards it developed that the man had not committed the crime. The population of the village was greatly augmented this year by the arrival of many new settlers. Business was good, an encouraging indication of the growth of business being the arrival of forty-eight 44 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY vessels at the mouth of the Grand river and the departure of forty-six. Quite an event, this year, was the arrival, down the river from Jackson, of two large flat boats heavily laden with immigrants and merchandise. To those interested in their city it is always of interest to compare conditions of today with those of different periods of the past during the growth of the city and we will look at conditions as they were in 1845, a little more than a dozen years after Campau had made the start. No better description can be had than the one made by Albert Baster, a resident at the time: “On the west side, from the river back to the bluffs, an average distance of one mile, and through the length of the city north and south, was a very nearly level plain, a very large part of which was thickly strewn with granite boulders and a profusion of cobble stones or 'hard heads.' There was some undulation of the surface but no very marked unevenness. Its elevation was but ten or twelve feet above the water of the river in the average, and the descent to the south was but slight in the distance of two miles. On the part north of Bridge street there were very few large trees at the front, but further toward the hills was, in places, a heavy growth of maples and elm and a swamp a little below the general level. South of Bridge street the land was slightly rolling and a ravine held a small stream bringing the drainage from the northern swampy grounds. This brook entered the river about midway between where are now the Bridge and Pearl street bridges. Towards the southwest corner of the city was a marsh of considerable extent and a shallow pond. Skirting near the bluffs was an irregular depression or ravine, the bed of a brook that entered the river below the town and into and through which, in periods of high water, there was sometimes an overflow of the river above the rapids. Near the northwest corner was a hill or ridge of coarse gravel some forty feet high. The bluffs in the distance to the west were a handsome range of hills, rising to a height of sixty feet or more. On the east side there was greater irregularity of surface, hill and dale and many points of picturesque beauty. Next the river was a narrow border of nearly level land varying in width from two or three rods to a quarter of a mile. North of what is now Michigan was a long, nar- row, black sanded swamp. Below Monroe was a gently sloping plat, mostly dry ground, but patched here and there with boggy places. Be- low Fulton was a gravel and clay ridge of irregular outline, near the river, extending southward. Near the center of the town an isolated hill of very hard clay, with a steep western front, rose from a point some ten or twelve rods north of Lyon east of old Kent street, now Bond, and extended south to Monroe. Its southern face was also a steep declivity. Its southwestern angle was less than two hundred feet from the river bank and its highest point was near, or slightly south of Pearl street west of Ottawa. Pearl, Lyon and Ottawa streets have been cut through the clay bank and the last vestige of it disappeared in the early nineties. This was Prospect Hill. Toward the east and southeast this hill sloped off gently. Between it and Division was a depression through which ran, northerly, a spring brook, and, near where the postoffice now stands, was a swamp and a pond of an acre or more in extent. The commanding eminence upon the east side was HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 45 a sand bluff with a steep western face, its base at an average of fifty rods from the river and extending from Coldbrook on the north to beyond Fulton street on the south, a distance of about a mile and a half. Its greatest elevation was, and still is, about one hundred and sixty feet above the river bed. Just north of Michigan street, half way up the hillside, was a cluster of cedars in the midst of which came out a very large spring of excellent water. Along the streams and ravines, and towards the river, was some heavy timber, chiefly oak, maple and elm. Along Division, to the south, to the town limits, was a swampy, muddy region, some portions bearing heavy timber, and a short distance west of that was a long, narrow, swampy tamarack vale, now traversed by the railroads coming from the south and southeast. Between this and the river, and along down to Plaster creek, was a region broken by hills, except the narrow belt of bottom land, and all this latter, or nearly all , was quite heavily timbered and remained for many years a favorite hunting ground for the nimrods of the town. “Most of the smaller streams, that once meandered these city grounds, are now gone from sight. Sewer drainage carries them in scores of underground conduits to the river. Above the north line of the city, on the west side, runs the Indian Mill creek, which enters the city near the railroad bridge. The brook which once ran across Bridge street, through a ravine into the river south of that street, is now deep in the ground and conducted beneath the canal through a culvert. "Nearly two miles east of the southern part of the city are Reed's and Fisk lakes. They are the source of the main stream of Coldbrook, which runs northwesterly, making the division between the hills and the rolling northeast portion of the city. This stream comes out into the north part of the city and discharges into the river. “Turning again to the southward there was once a pretty brooklet coming from that part of the town known as Bostwick's addition, cross- ing Division, and near where the union station now is, joining another brook that came in from the swamp a short distance south, thence flow- ing into the river where is now the Fulton street bridge. “Still farther south came a stream from numerous springs in Blake- ley's addition and beyond, which crossed Division at the north part of Grant's addition, ran down a ravine across Grandville road, and into the river at the gas works. Another noticeable riverlet had its rise along and south of Fountain street, which flowed northerly through a pond where the postoffice now stands, passed well out toward Crescent avenue, near Lyon, rounded the north end of Prospect Hill and fol- lowed closely its western base nearly to Lyon street, thence from Kent street, turning westerly half way to Canal street, where there was another pond, thence northeasterly, across a miry place in Canal street, and into the river near Erie street. This riverlet now discharges through Kent alley sewer." In 1845 the town was made up of fifteen stores, three flour mills, two sawmills, two furnace and machine shops, two pail factories, two tanneries, one woolen mill, one sash factory, salt works, plaster mill, two hatters, three shoe shops, three tailors, three inns, two printing offices, four churches, one incorporated academy and three doctors > 46 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY and it was in this year that the first “truck" made its appearance in the town—Mr. Kent being the owner and driver. Manufacturing was meager; there were no markets; manufactured products could not be shipped with profit and the farmers needed little, living in log cabins, and luxuries were not known; but as the valley developed and its products began to go out into the world prosperity came and soon the city took the place of the village. Prior to 1845 there is no record of a reliable census, but in that year the town contained a population of about 1,500. Franklin Everett, principal of the schools, thus describes the town: “The buildings, with very few exceptions, were of wood; the residences and a good part of the business places, a story and a half high, were simple structures for use and not display. The exceptional buildings were five stone stores and two brick ones on Monroe, two stone blocks or double stores on Canal; two stone stores at the foot of Monroe, where is now Campau Place. There were besides, seven small stone or brick houses." Of the four churches, the Congregationalist seemed to be the only one having about it an air of a church. It was of good architectural propor- tions, very pretty, though modest and stood at the head of Monroe with Fulton to its south. The other churches were the Methodist, Episcopal and Dutch Reformed. The Episcopal church stood at the corner of Division and Bronson streets, now Crescent. It was but a temporary building and was later on used, also temporarily, by the Baptists and by them moved to the corner of Division and Library streets. At that time the Catholics had no regular church building and their temporary chapel was located at the corner of Monroe and Ottawa. In 1849 they built a stone church on the adjoining lot. Before using the temporary Episcopal church building the Baptists held their services in the court house. Business centered at what is now Campau Place; Monroe street being generally built up from Ottawa to that point. There was a school house on Fulton street and two other temporary school buildings. The first bridge joining the east and west sides was built in 1845, and spanned the river at Bridge street. It was built by authority of the board of supervisors, which had been empowered to do so by an act of the legislature in 1844. It was a "free bridge” constructed of plank and timbers, the timber truss pattern used in those days; it was built by Eliphalet H. Turner and James Scribner. The eight stone piers, eighty-four feet apart, were 8x36 feet at the bottom and five feet thick at the top. All material used was taken from the immediate vicinity. It was completed and in use by November. The bridge has since been replaced at least four times by the construction of newer and more modern bridges. David Burnett, the master carpenter of this first one, was the constructor of the two following. The right-of-way was donated by Lucius Lyon. Mr. Lyon being very active in every- thing pertaining to the advancement of Grand Rapids, and while in Washington, sent to George A. Robinson a power of attorney, au- thorizing him to do what might seem best in the matter of building a bridge across Grand river, at the same time favoring the Bridge street location. It was also necessary to bridge the canal as it was as difficult to HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 47 cross, if not more so, than the river, and Mr. W. A. Richmond was very active in having one built and was finally successful, many con- tributing to the expense according to the proportion of water power used by each bore to the whole amount used. Mr. Lyon also gave permission to James Scribner, one of the contractors, to procure for the purpose of constructing the bridge any stone belonging to him on the river excepting such as had been laid in the wing wall at the head of the canal or into the wall built by Daniel Ball. When the legislature, in 1844, had empowered the supervisors to build the bridge, a warm contest was started in the village as to its location. Many wanted it located at the foot of Monroe street, while others wanted it at Bridge street. In 1845 a new steamboat was built, at the foot of Canal street by Captain Jasper Parish, named the "Empire.” The engine for this boat was the first of the kind constructed here. It was made from a pat- tern by Andrew Ferguson in the shop of Henry G. Stone & Company and was seventy-five horsepower. In 1846 marked a new era in postal facilities by the establishing, in August of that year, a daily mail between Battle Creek and Grand Rapids. In the same year the postoffice was removed to the corner of Pearl and Canal streets, where the Lovett building was later built. The office remained at this location until 1849, when it was removed a few doors north where it remained until 1853. It was then removed still further north a few doors, where it found quarters for the following four years. In 1847 the legislature made an appropriation of 25,000 acres of land to perfect the canal, to build a dam across the river at the head of the canal, and to construct locks at the foot of the basin, thus pro- viding for the passage of boats both ways. The dam was built in the season of 1849, was constructed of logs, brush, stone and gravel, about five feet high with a slope of thirty degrees. This work was projected mainly to increase the water power at this point. The work on the canal was begun in 1835, and completed to its southern terminus in 1842, as a private enterprise, but, the funds of the individual promoters running low, the state was appealed to for financial aid. In 1847 the Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids railroad was chartered and the charter of the Battle Creek and Grand Rapids rail- road was amended. The laying of the corner stone of St. Mark's Episcopal Church occurred on the 9th of June and the church was con- secrated on the 18th of November, that year. In 1848 the electors voted on the question of license or no license for the sale of ardent spirits, the vote resulting eighty in favor of license and eleven against. In September a bell ringer was engaged to ring the Congregational church bell, morning, noon and night at a salary of $50 a year. In October of this year the Agricultural So- ciety of the town of Walker held a fair, at the west end of the bridge, which was the beginning here of exhibitions of that kind. This year the population of the village gained in numbers by the settling here of several of the Holland colony which had arrived in the county the preceding year. Although they had, at that time, settled 48 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY in other parts of the country, this was their main trading point and as they came to the village frequently many found employment and became permanent inhabitants. The villagers had long felt the great need of sidewalks and many petitions were made to the trustees asking for the building of a large number. At this time the village trustees felt that their work as such had become arduous and of monetary value, therefore voted themselves fifty cents each monthly meeting and the same for each special meeting. Since the burning of the court house in 1844 the need of a protection against fire had been recognized and much discussed. C. H. Taylor had been very active in his endeavors for some time to interest the villagers in the matter sufficiently to es- tablish a regular fire department. In 1848 he petitioned the council for action, but that body failed to act, and Taylor drew up a subscrip- tion paper the next year, setting forth that the subscribers authorized Wilder D. Foster, who was then in Rochester, New York, on personal business, to purchase a fire engine, and other necessary equipment, at a cost not to exceed $850, and agreeing to advance the sums set op- posite their names provided the trustees would agree to vote for the purchase of the outfit and reimburse the signers with interest. On the arrival of the engine and hose the first fire company, “Alert Fire Com- pany, No. 1,” was organized. A second company was organized, “Pro- tection Fire Company," probably to create a spirit of rivalry. Judging from the roster of membership of the two companies all of the prominent citizens must have joined. The engine was lodged in the school house building on Prospect Hill, that site being selected, no doubt, to obtain a down-hill run to all fires, and there the machine rested for a long time undisturbed, or until the following January, when its services were required to extinguish a fire in the residence of Ransom C. Luce. As the engine was capable of throwing five barrels of water a minute this first fire proved an easy victim and was extinguished with slight loss to the building. A line of citizens, extending from the river to the scene of the fire kept the engine supplied with water. As the engine was worked entirely “by hand” this work of supplying it with the necessary water could not have been more exhausting than that of keeping the machine forcing the water through the line of hose. Had the village made the purchase of the engine two years sooner the citizens might have been spared the loss of the school house, the first one built, which had burned in February, 1849. Another "up-to-date” feature about this time was the establishing of photograph galleries or rather daguerreotype galleries, there being three such enterprises in the village. The Grand Rapids brass band was in full swing In 1848 the school district as organized in 1839, being too large, was divided; the southern part forming district number 1, and the northern portion district number 6, sometimes called Coldbrook district. At this time it was decided to build a new school building worthy of the village and to that end twenty-five hundred dollars was levied and assessed upon the property of the district; a stone building was erected during the following summer (1849) on the site of the present Central high school building. The stone used was taken from the bed of the HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 49 Grand river, and, for the time and amount expended, was a fine and commodious building. It was 44x64, three stories high, with three large study rooms, six recitation rooms and a room for the library and school apparatus. It also contained a dressing room for girls. This school building remained in use until 1867 when it was torn down to make way for a larger building to accommodate the grow- ing interests of the village. The massive front door now froms a part of a residence owned by the editor of this volume. The lock and two huge keys were given by him to the board of education and are now in the custody of the Grand Rapids public library and on exhibition at that place. From the beginning of the settlement of the village the inhabitants rejoiced in the abundant supply of splendid drinking water, but the growth of the village made it necessary, from a sanitary standpoint, to procure water for domestic use from other sources than the springs and wells located on the house lots. In 1848 the Grand Rapids Hy- draulic Company, formed by Canton Smith, Joseph J. Baxter and others, started the enterprise of supplying the villagers with good spring water. For that purpose they took the water from a large spring situated be- tween Ransom and Bostwick streets, a short distance north of Fountain. The pipes were the old fashioned pump logs of pine about a foot in diameter with three-inch bore. The boring of the logs was done by Lucius A. Thayer, who fitted an auger especially for that purpose and operated it by water power in one of the factories above Bridge street between the canal and the river. A square curb made of two-inch oak plank was sunk at the spring. The trench in which the logs were laid was a ditch, at no point more than three feet in depth. The piping was completed that fall from the spring down Fountain street to Ionia, thence to the National Hotel on Monroe street. The following year the pipes were extended to the foot of Monroe, when it was found that the company had as many customers as that spring would supply. This company was incorporated with a capital of $30,000. The charter provided that the supply should be obtained from the springs of water in and about the village, from Coldbrook, from the lake or lakes from which that stream had its source and from no other source. This charter was very comprehensive and its franchise was given substantially in perpetuity. The village continued to grow and the water supply from the springs and creeks became inadequate and later on they ob- tained a further supply from springs south of Wealthy street. They then had a sufficient supply for residents along their lines, and that por- tion of the business part of the town west of Division and south of Pearl. But this was but a temporary relief and as the town grew the company went still further south and obtained an additional sup- ply by gathering the outflow from several springs on what is called the Penny eighty. The incorporation of the village as a city was not accomplished without opposition as is the case with almost all public improvements. Many preferred the old system and some believed it to be a move by which the Whig party would benefit. At this time a bill was intro- duced in the legislature providing for the removal of the county seat year the 50 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY from Grand Rapids, which complicated the situation. The charter was, however, approved by the legislature in 1850. In that year it was enacted by the legislature: “That so much of the township of Grand Rapids and the township of Walker, in the coun- ty of Kent, as is contained in the following limits, to-wit: Sections 19 and 30 in town number 7, south of range 11 west, and sections 24 and 25, in town number 7, north of range 12 west, including so much of Grand river as runs through and adjoins said sections, with the islands in the same, shall be and the same is hereby declared to be a city, by the name and style of Grand Rapids; and all the freemen of said city, from time to time, being inhabitants thereof, shall be and continue to be a body corporate and politic, by the name of the mayor, recorder, aldermen and freemen of the city of Grand Rapids; and by that name they and their successors shall be known in law and shall be and are hereby made capable of suing and being sued, of pleading and being impleaded, of answering and being answered unto, and of defending and being defended in all courts of record and any other place whatso- ever; and may have a common seal ; and, by the same name, shall be and are hereby made capable of purchasing, holding, conveying and disposing of any real estate for the use of said corporation as hereinafter provided." The city was divided into five wards, the first comprising all the territory south of Lyon street and west of the continuous line of Division street (now avenue), and east of the river; the second, all that territory north of Lyon street and west of that part of Division north of its intersecting Bridge (now Michigan) street, and all north of Bridge street east of Grand river; the third, all south of Bridge street (now Michigan), and east of ) Division street and the continuous line thereof; the fourth included practically all of the west side of Bridge street and the fifth included the entire west side south of that street. The first election under the city charter was held in 1850 and Henry R. Williams was elected mayor. Mr. Williams was a prom- inent citizen and conspicuous in the steamboat development on the Grand river and a zealous worker for the good of his adopted city. He came from New York state in 1841. The aldermen elected were: First ward, Amos Roberts; Second ward, Charles W. Taylor ; Third ward, Lowell Moore; Fourth ward, Joseph Penny; Fifth ward, Isaac Turner; Aaron B. Turner, clerk; Erastus Hall, treasurer; Leonard Bement, recorder; Alford Y. Cary, marshal, and W. L. Coffinbury, surveyor, as provided for in the incorporating act. In addition to the above, five assessors, four justices of the peace, not less than three, nor more than five, constables, a solicitor, two school inspectors and two directors of the poor were provided for. The act provided that the mayor should be the chief executive officer and head of the police department. The mayor, recorder and aldermen, or any three of them, the mayor or recorder always being one, were given full power and authority to hold and keep a court of record to be known as “The Mayor's Court of the City of Grand Rapids,” which was invested with exclusive jurisdiction to hear all com- plaints and conduct all examinations and trials in criminal cases within HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 51 the city, and with exclusive jurisdiction of all cases in which the city might be a party. The common council was given full power to or- ganize, maintain and regulate the police of the city; to pass all by-laws and ordinances for that purpose, and for the purpose of assessing, levy- ing and collecting all highway and other taxes in said city with ex- ception provided. The original list of powers included those common to the custom in such cases. The growth of the village of Grand Rapids, from its first settlement to 1837, was rapid. From 1837 up to the time of its incorporation as a city the growth was slower, but still constant. Manufacturing estab- lishments increased only fast enough to meet the simple wants of the not very large nor wealthy population of Grand Rapids and the towns located in the valley. The population at this time was 2,686. Improvements in the means of transportation had always been a matter of great concern to the people and in 1851 it was finally de- cided to build a plank road to Kalamazoo. Great activity along these lines was the rule this year, and much interest taken in procuring rail connection with the outer world, as the Michigan Central had com- pleted its line from Detroit to Chicago, but, in spite of the fact that Grand Rapids had passed through its pioneer period and had laid the foundation of its future great industrial interests, no railroad reached the city until 1858. While busily engaged in promoting its material welfare the citizens of the county and city were alive to the necessity of maintaining some semblance of preparation for war. Kent county, although but thinly populated at the time did its full share in the Mexican war, a portion of one company having been raised in the village. In 1855 two military companies had been organized in the city and the part taken by city and county in the Civil war, between the years 1861-1865 is told in another chapter. At the end of the war Grand Rapids felt the impetus given business and its business men were not slow to take advantage of opportunities offered. Wm. T. Powers had secured the ownership of the river front on the west side from the G. R. & I. railroad bridge to about Seventh street in 1867 and built the west side water power canal. His company joined with the owners of the east side canal in building the necessary dam across the river. The first factory to be built on and use the new canal was that of Powers & Ball, for the manufacture of sash and doors. Improvements in streets were started, one of the most important improvements being that of Pearl street. This was accomplished by the filling up of the east channel of the river and making business property of that and adjacent lands. Prior to this improvement the main steamboat channel came up to the foot of Canal (now Monroe) street at Pearl. In 1873 was com- pleted the extension of the southerly line of Monroe to a point even with the west line of Canal. In this way Campau Square was formed. In the same year the street car line was built down Division to Hall street, thence on Jef- ferson to the old fair grounds. The legislature, this year, provided a board of public works under whose control the very important subject of water supply for domestic use and fire protection, and construction of necessary facilities for obtaining such supply, was placed. Two 52 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY a hundred and fifty thousand dollars were voted, two miles of iron pipe laid on Bridge (now Michigan), old Canal and Monroe, and connected with a small reservoir on the brow of the hill, near Newberry. In 1874 more iron pipe was laid and a reservoir built. In 1875 many feet of iron pipe was laid on the west side, and ground purchased for a settling basin on Coldbrook, just above the railroad crossing. From this period in the story of the growth of the city the events are recorded in chapters pertaining to special subjects. MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS While Grand Rapids had been advancing as an important industrial center and as a residential city it had always sought to improve its form of government. In preceding pages a brief outline of the first city charter has been made. From time to time the charter had been amended, but these amendments were confined, to a great extent, to the enlargement of the boundaries and defining the duties of officials. In 1917 a radical change in the form of government was made when a new charter, passed by the vote of electors on August 29, 1916, went into effect. This charter provided for a commission form of govern- ment, replacing the old aldermanic form. The charter provided, among other things, a city commission of seven members, one member of which shall be the mayor, a library commission of five members, city comptroller, city assessors, city treasurer, city attorney, department of public service, department of public safety, a department of public wel- ware, and a purchasing department (of which four last named depart- ments the city manager shall be the head), and a body of seven members to be known as the trustees of the sinking fund. The foregoing named commissioners, boards, departments and trustees, the board of educa- tion, the superior court, the justice courts and the police court, to- gether with their several members, officials, employes, and the persons elected to serve therein, and the persons elected to represent the city upon the board of supervisors of this county, and the several constables elected in the city, constitute the entire governing force of Grand Rapids. The legislative and administrative powers of the city are vested in the city commission, the commission being empowered to pass all laws re- lating to its municipal concerns, subject to the constitution and laws of the state and the charter. A city manager is provided for who shall have charge of the administration of municipal affairs under the di- rection of the city commission. It is his duty to see that all laws and ordinances are enforced; to appoint, with the right to remove, (a) the director of public service; (b) the director of public safety; (c) the director of public welfare, and (d) the purchasing agent. It is also his duty to appoint (and remove for cause) all subordinate officers and employes, in subordinate positions, such appointments to be made on merit and fitness only. Insofar as required by law, and for ceremonial purposes, the mayor is the recognized executive head of the city. The president of the city commission performs the duties of the mayor in his absence. The duties of the other members of the government are in accord with their respective titles. The following is a list of those who served as mayor of the city from the date of its incorporation: 1850—Henry R. Williams; 1851–Ralph W. Cole; 1852—William H. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 53 Withey; 1853—Thomas B. Church; 1854—Wilder D. Foster; 1855— Charles Sheppard; 1856—John M. Fox; 1857—Wm. T. Powers; 1858 -Gilbert M. McCray; 1859—Geo. K. Johnson; 1860—Martin L. Sweet; 1861–George H. White; 1863—C. C. Comstock; 1865—Wilder D. Foster; 1867—John W. Champlin; 1868—M. V. Aldrich; 1871– L. H. Randall; 1872—Julius Houseman; 1873—P. R. L. Pierce; 1874 - Julius Houseman; 1875—P. R. L. Pierce; 1877—G. W. Thayer; 1878—Henry S. Smith; 1879—Francis Letellier; 1880—Henry S. Smith; 1881—Geo. G. Steketee; 1882–E. B. Dikeman; 1883—Craw- ford Angell; 1884—Charles E. Belknap; 1885—John L. Curtiss; 1886 -E. B. Dikeman; 1888–Isaac M. Weston; 1889—John Killean; 1890 -E. F. Uhl; 1892—W. J. Stuart; 1894—E. B. Fisher; 1895—C. D. Stebbins; 1896—L. C. Stow; 1898–Geo. R. Perry; 1902–W. M. Palmer; 1904E. F. Sweet; 1906—G. E. Ellis; 1916—Geo. P. Tilma; 1917—P. C. Fuller ; 1918—Christian Gallmeyer; 1920—John McNabb; 1922—William Oltman; 1923-Julius Tisch; 1924Elvin Swarhout, the present incumbent. In recent years the city has spent large sums of money in the way of municipal improvements, some of these being: Miles of great flood walls along the river banks, miles of trunk sewers along the river, parallel with it, with pumping stations at the mouth of each to be used at time of flood, have been built, so that the city may be freed from the danger of future floods similar to those of 1904 and 1905. The total cost of this work, when completed, will be about $2,000,000. In 1910 the city solved the problem of pure water by the authorization of a filtration plant at a cost of $450,000. At the same time the water works pumping station was rebuilt and the municipal lighting plant was combined with it. Two new twelve million gallon pumps have been installed, so as to give all parts of the city an abundance of pure water at all times. The city has built several new bridges over the Grand river, three of them beautiful reinforced concrete structures. As a result of these improve- ments, together with the purchase of the most modern apparatus for fighting fires, the city is now in line for a basic fire insurance rating as low as the lowest of any city of five hundred thousand or less in the country. In 1923 a $5,000,000 bond issue was authorized, the pro- ceeds of which were to be used in the sewerage disposal plant and the necessary sewers in connection therewith. This work is now going on and will not be completed until 1928. POPULATION OF GRAND RAPIDS The population of the village in 1840 was 880; of the city in 1850, 2,686; 1860, 8,085; 1870, 16,507; 1880, 28,262; 1890, 60,278; 1900, 87,965; 1904, 95,783; 1910, 112,571; 1920, 137,634, and in 1925, esti- mated 150,000, with an additional 10,000 in the immediate suburbs. PARKS The city of Grand Rapids is noted as a city of homes. Splendid streets lined with magnificent shade trees afford easy access to all parts and it is but natural that such a city should have adequate parks for rest and recreation. The largest is John Ball Park located at the west end of Fulton street, between Sibley and Butterworth streets and ex- tending west to the city limits. The original park, which contained 54 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY forty acres, was bequeathed to the city by the late John Ball in 1869, and the widow's interest was acquired April 22, 1884. In 1891 seven- teen acres was added by purchase from Agnes Fitzpatrick. In 1895 the north forty acres of the park was purchased. In 1897 nine and a half acres were added. A strip of seven acres adjoining the north forty was deeded to the city in 1906 by Julia A. Richards and a short time afterwards twenty-two and forty-six hundredths acres were pur- chased. One or two more small pieces were purchased and at this time the park has an area of 140.88 acres. With the intention of pre- serving the natural beauty of the park, improvements have been made in the way of drives and pathways making the park one of the most beau- tiful in the country. Lincoln Park, lying between Bridge street, Jackson street, Garfield avenue and Marion avenue, was purchased in June, 1873, and contains a little over twelve acres tastefully laid out. Antoine Campau Park, lying between Division avenue, Ryerson street, Ionia avenue and Delaware street, was donated to the city by Martin A. Ryerson in 1899. Fulton Street Park, lying between East Park and Sheldon avenues, Fulton street and Library streets, was purchased from Louis and Sophie Campau in 1852. In the center of this downtown park has been placed a fine fountain and the park contains the busts of Longfellow, presented to the city by Mrs. Loraine Pratt Immen, and of the late Thomas D. Gilbert, presented to the city by the directors of the Na- tional City and the Grand Rapids Gas Light Company. Crescent Park is located on Bostwick avenue between Lyon street and Michigan street. The south half was purchased in 1887 and the north one-half was donated by T. H. Cumming and G. K. Johnson. In 1873 one and one-half acres of Highland Park, lying north of the Grand Trunk railway, between Grand avenue and Union avenue, was purchased and three and one-half acres were donated by Alpheus Bissell and wife, and Benjamin A. Harlan. In 1911 and 1912 the park was enlarged, by purchase, to Bissel street on the north and Col- lege avenue on the west and now contains over thirty acres. Monument Park originally contained five acres acquired by con- demnation proceedings in the circuit court from the estate of Lyman I. Daniels in 1843. A portion was sold leaving the present park site bounded by Fulton street, Monroe avenue and Division avenue. Be- sides the Soldiers' Monument the park is the site of a drinking fountain presented to the city by Frederick and Loraine Pratt Immen. Reservoir Park comprises the bluffs north of the city reservoir and contains about thirty-four acres of this sightly hill. It was acquired in 1911. Look- out Park nearly adjoins the reservoir property and is located at the northwest corner of Fairview avenue and Newberry street and was acquired by purchase in 1893. The area of the two parks, Reservoir and Lookout, is thirty-six and seven hundredths acres. Lincoln Place, lying at the corner of State and Washington streets, was donated to the city in 1849 by Canton Smith and contains one tenth of an acre. Foster Park, lying at the corner of State and Cherry streets, was donated to the city in the same year by Mr. Smith. De- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 55 an acre. Commer Park, on Grant street and containing three hundredths of an acre was declared a public park by ordinance in 1900. Hosken Park lies between Lake Drive, Cherry street and Diamond avenue and con- tains one-tenth of an acre. Ellsworth Avenue Park is located on Market avenue and Ellsworth avenue and contains eight hundredths of an acre. Coit Park, located on the north side of Hall street, was do- nated to the city by the D. W. Coit estate in 1910. The park contains a little over ten acres and lies between the P. M. railroad and Rathbun avenue. Baldwin Park is located on Lake Drive and Fulton street and was a gift to the city by Susan N. Baldwin in 1907. It contains nearly ten acres. Briggs Park is situated at the extreme northern limits of the city and contains eleven and thirty-three hundredths acres on Knapp street, east of Watrous avenue, and was purchased by the city in 1911. Creston Park, located on Coldbrook street, Lafayette avenue and LeGrand street, contains twelve and six-tenths acres, ten of which were purchased in 1876 and in 1911 the balance was acquired by purchase. Franklin Park is located on the south side of Franklin street be- tween Benjamin avenue and Fuller avenue and was acquired almost entirely by purchase, the greater part in 1911. Mrs. Eliza S. McCon- nell Butler donated six lots and the park now contains sixteen and eighty-eight hundredths acres. Pearl Park, a small strip of ground located at Walker avenue, Seventh street and Fremont avenue was made a park by ordinance in 1895 and contains four hundredths of Wilcox Park is situated between Milton street, Youell avenue and , the property of Edward Lowe, and was purchased from the East End Land Company and others in 1911. A small portion was obtained from the Reed's Lake Avenue Company by condemnation proceedings about the same time. In 1913 about three acres more land was pur- chased with a fund of $10,000 bequeathed by Frederick W. Wilcox for the purchase of park lands in that section of the city. The park now contains twelve and ninety hundredths acres. Rumsey Park is located on Godfrey avenue, between Chestnut and “B” streets and was acquired in 1911 and 1912, in part by purchase. Geo. A. Rumsey, J. L. Rumsey, Ellen M. Wyman and Martha R. Simonds later donated eighteen lots. In 1922 six additional lots were purchased and the park now contains eleven and sixty-three hundredths One of the most beautiful parks is Comstock Riverside Park located the banks of the Grand river and tending from the Soldiers' Home to the Hydraulic Company's pumping station. The park originally contained forty acres and was the gift of Mrs. Clara C. Russell and Mrs. M. Boltwood. In 1917 an addi- tion was made by the purchase of fifty acres joining the park on the east and in 1922 was enlarged to its present area, ninety-five and eighty- eight hundredths acres, by purchase of a parcel on the south side of the Hydraulic Company's plant. plant. In the extreme northwest section of the city is located Richmond Park, on Richmond road, containing sixty and twenty-six hundredths acres. Twenty acres was included in the property given the city by the Grand Rapids Park and Boulevard As- acres. on ex- 56 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY acres. sociation; twenty acres were purchased in 1922 and the balance the following year. A beautiful spot is Fourth Street Woods, at the corner of Fourth street and Valley avenue, purchased for park pur- poses in 1923, containing four and sixty-eight hundredths acres. Burton Woods is located on Jefferson Drive, adjacent to Garfield- Jefferson Park playgrounds and contains six and twenty-five hundredths This property was donated to the city by the Grand Rapids Park and Boulevard Association. Roosevelt Park property was purchased in 1923, contains eight and eighty-four hundredths acres and is located at the city limits between Grandville and Godfrey avenues. Bonnell Park forms a part of the Reed's Lake boulevard and is a part of the property given the city by the Grand Rapids Park and Boulevard Association and contains twenty- five and seventeen hundredths acres. Also, forming a part of the boulevard is Hodenpyl Park of thirty-nine and eighty-seven hundredths acres which was donated to the city by the same association. Island Park lies on Market avenue and is used for playground purposes, and contains three and sixty-two hundredths acres. Of comparatively recent date is the municipal playgrounds in all western cities. Grand Rapids is unusually well supplied. The largest of the Grand Rapids playgrounds is the Garfield- Fletcher playgrounds on Madison avenue. About twenty-three acres was donated to the city in 1906 by Charles W. and Jessie S. Garfield and Julia L. Fletcher and in 1918 Mr. Garfield gave the city an additional five and ninety-five hundredths acres adjoining on the west. The grounds now contain twenty-nine and fifty-four hundredths acres. Other playgrounds are: Mary Waters Field, located on Lafayette avenue and East Leonard street, donated to the city by Dudley E. Waters and Florence Hills Waters, in 1907, containing nine and ninety- four hundredths acres; Julius Houseman Field, located between Dia- mond avenue, Houseman avenue and Sophie street, was donated to the city by Hattie Houseman Amberg and contains six acres; Harrison playgrounds, on Muskegon avenue at Myrtle street was pur- chased by the city; Third street playgrounds, one and forty-seven hundredths acres, was purchased by the city in 1911-12 and are situated at the corner of Broadway and Third street; North avenue playground, seventy-nine hundredths acre, located on the east side of North avenue, between More street and the Grand Trunk railway, was presented to the city in 1911 by the D. W. Coit estate; the Cherry street playgrounds, one and six hundredths acres, lies at the northeast corner of Cherry street and Eastern avenue and was acquired by purchase; Madison avenue playgrounds, on Madison and Delaware, containing one and ninety-eight hundredths acres, was acquired by purchase; Hillside playground, at the corner of Ionia avenue and Trowbridge street, was donated by Thomas N. Peck and Rebecca L. Richmond, area one and seventy-three hundredths acres; and Fifth and Davis playground. The last was acquired by purchase in 1925, area forty-one hundredths acre, and is located at the corner of Fifth and Davis avenues. The present park system of the city comprises about seven hundred and eighty-six acres, and, exclusive of improvements, cost the city HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 57 $407,788 and the present estimated value is nearly $3,000,000, and the playgrounds, exclusive of improvements, cost the city about $60,000 and are estimated to have a value of $420,484. There is no city in the country that contains a more public spirited set of wealthy citizens than Grand Rapids. During the present year, 1925, William J. Breen, president of the Breen & Halladay Fuel Company, has presented to the city a fine tract of 100 acres, lying in Wyoming township, adjacent to the city, for park purposes. Grand Rapids owes much of its beauty to the work of the Grand Rapids Park and Boulevard Society which was organized in 1903, com- posed of volunteer membership, for the purpose of obtaining parks and boulevards with the object in view of beautifying the city and to make the city a better place in which to live. The World war interrupted the work of the society but in 1924 the society was re-organized and a much stronger and more powerful association resulted with a fine program ahead. Among the many im- provements to the city are: The Hodenpyl Woods, Bonnell Park and Burton Woods. The officers of the society are: George M. Ames, president; B. P. Kenyon, vice-president; E. D. Conger, treasurer, and Hugh E. Lynch, secretary. CEMETERIES The first cemetery of the village of Grand Rapids was a piece of ground about eight acres in extent in the north part, or that part of the village of Kent, between Coldbrook and Walbridge, near where the Reservoir Park is located. A few burials were made there prior to 1855, but the plat was never dedicated for burial purposes and finally the ground reverted to the owners, and most of the remains interred there were removed. At the corner of Madison and Cherry there was a plot of ground used occasionally for burial purposes, but this, too, was soon abandoned and the remains of those buried there removed to other cemeteries. In 1837 the village trustees purchased six acres of ground which is now a part of Fulton Street Cemetery. It was re- served and used expressly for burial purposes for the village, one-third of the plot being assigned for the use of Catholics. Within twenty years this plot was found to be too small for the needs of the village and additions were made in 1862 and the two following years. In 1868 the Fulton Street Cemetery Association of the city of Grand Rap- ids, was incorporated, under the laws of the state, by owners of lots and an assessment of $600 was made on these owners for improvements. In 1891 the area of the cemetery was about twelve acres, the grounds, with walks and drives well laid out and the whole well kept. It is noted for its natural beauty and a great deal has been expended in improve- ing the roads, the lawns, shrubbery and maintaining beautiful flower beds, erecting a fountain, etc. St. Andrew's Cemetery (Catholic), was established in 1852, being ten acres on Madison between Prince and Delaware, but by 1882 had become too small and what is known as Mt. Calvary Cemetery was pur- chased and consecrated. The cemetery is located on the south side of Leonard street near the western limits of the city. 58 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY The Polish Catholic cemetery is located on the northeast corner of Walker and North streets, a half mile west of the city. In 1857 a number of Hebrews formed the Benevolent and Burial Society which secured a plot of land in the southwest quarter of Oak Hill Cemetery. This was the first ground dedicated to such purposes in that neighborhood. Greenwood Cemetery is situated northwest of the city in Walker township. The ground was purchased by the city in 1859 and was dedicated for burial purposes the following year. It is beautifully laid out and well kept. The city also purchased a plot of ground in Paris township between Eastern avenue and Union at Hall street, dedicated it in 1860 to be known as Valley City Cemetery. Later on this was merged with Oak Hill under that name and in 1903 the dividing line between the two was made into a boulevard. Oak Hill was established in the same year as the Valley City. COURT HOUSE The citizens of Kent county were not exempt from the usual and natural contention in the matter of the permanent location of this im- portant public building and for many years following the destruction of the court house in 1844 the growing business of the courts and various county offices was conducted in the various halls and rooms of the town, during which time, in 1860, the county records were destroyed by fire. West side lot owners and residents insisted strongly that the west side be made the sight for the county building; those of the east side were equally as strong in their claims. In 1854, early in the fight, J. D. Converse, who was largely interested in real estate on the west side, donated to the county as a site for the building, an entire block, bounded by Shawmut, Front, Allen and Scribner, near the west end of the Pearl street bridge, now covered with factory and other buildings, but not until 1887 did the county authorities procure by purchase a permanent site and end the controversy. In 1888 work was begun on the present building, designed and planned by Sidney G. Osgood, a prominent and nationally known architect, residing in Grand Rapids, but owing to the inefficiency of the construction company, the corner stone was not laid until July 4, 1889. The site chosen is the half block—220x150—lying between Bond and Ottawa avenues on Crescent street. Completed and equipped the building cost $275,997.87. GOVERNMENT BUILDING From 1832, the year the first postoffice was established for the use of the citizens of Grand Rapids and vicinity, to the year of the com- pletion of the first government building, 1879, on the site bounded by Ionia, Lyon, Division and Pearl, the location of the office seemed to be subject to the whims and interests of the postmasters, consequently many changes of location resulted as noted in preceding pages. The first location was on the west side, a short distance south of Bridge street, but to many on the east side this was exceedingly inconvenient, HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 59 for the crossing of the Grand river in those days was not, at all times, an easy matter. So we find Postmaster Leonard Slater establishing a precedent by the opening of a branch office on the east side for the convenience of the inhabitants living in that part of the village and Joel Guild took charge as a deputy. He naturally saw fit to use his home, located where now stands the Grand Rapids National Bank build- ing at Campau Square. This frequent changing of location of the office was a source of great inconvenience to all the patrons, also a source of contention and ill feeling, and the business men began at an early date the agitation for a permanent location and building en- listing the aid of Michigan senators and representatives from the west- ern part of the state in their efforts. The first successful step resulting from their endeavors was the appointment in 1873, of a commission composed of nine members, chosen from leading citizens of Kent, Ionia, Kalamazoo and Muskegon counties, whose duty it was to select a suitable and acceptable site. In response to advertisements a number of proposals were submitted for their consideration. From the ten proposals submitted the committee selected three as their preference but failed to make a recommendation. All three were rejected by the authorities at Washington and in 1874 the treasury department issued an order for the condemnation of certain parcels of ground from which the government itself would choose the site for the contem- plated building. In addition to the present site, a parcel one hundred and twenty-four feet deep east of Ottawa between Pearl and Lyon, where now stands the Houseman building, and a third, the ground where the city hall now stands, were, in compliance with the law, con- demned. From these condemned properties the authorities selected the present site at a cost to the government of a trifle less than $70,000, the amount appropriated for the purpose. The grounds required cost- ly filling, being low and swampy. Building operations were begun in 1876 and in 1879 the building was completed and occupied by the internal revenue and United States court officers. A year later, while James Gallap was postmaster, the postoffice was removed from its old location in the Eagle building on the north side of Lyon, between Canal (now Monroe) and Kent (now Bond), where it had been since 1868, a period covering eleven years, the longest period for the office to remain at the same location in its history prior to its finding a permanent home in the government building. For the times it was a fine building, costing, inclusive of the site, over $200,000. In size it was 126 by 63 feet, three stories in height with basement, the entire first floor being occupied by the postoffice, the second by the principal officers of the government stationed in Grand Rapids and the third by the United States circuit and district courts of this district. By the beginning of the twentieth century the growth of the city, with its consequent in- creased demand on the postal service, compelled the department to enlarge the accommodations provided by this building which, when built, was supposed to be ample enough for a much longer time to meet all requirements and, through Senator William Alden Smith, an appropria- tion of $500,000 was made by congress for the erection of a new building 60 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY JAIL In its early day the county was not only compelled to house its own law violators, but those of other counties, as by an act of the legis- lature of 1838, prisoners apprehended in Ionia and Ottawa counties were to be placed for safe keeping in the Kent county jail . Kent's jail, at that time, and up to 1844, consisted of a portion of the court house, itself a crude affair in appearance, much like the school houses of that period. Fire destroying the court house in 1844, prisoners were detained in rented quarters and for years a cellar under a building, which stood on the east side of Canal (now Monroe) street opposite the present Portland Hotel, was used for the purpose. In 1851 a site was purchased, a short distance south of Bridge street and west of Front, and a few years later a two-story frame building was erected, the front portion being used as the sheriff's residence and the rear, of heavy oak planks protected on the inside with sheet iron, serving as a jail. In 1872 a new jail was completed and occupied. The site of the then new building was on Island No. 2, but the island has disappeared and the lot is bounded by the river on the west, Louis street on the north, Campau avenue on the east and Pike street on the south. In October, 1870, plans for the new building were accepted and Isaac Haynes, Arthur Wood, Foster Tucker, Ezra A. Hebrand and Robert Hunter, Jr., were appointed as a committee to supervise its construction. It was built by Davidson, Farr & Company and was completed and accepted in 1872, having cost, together with sewerage, grading, etc., a trifle less than $50,000. At the time of its completion it was considered a model jail and the handsomest county building, be- ing of brick construction with stone foundation, with cells supplied with all the modern appliances obtainable at that time. The sheriff's residence and office were a part of the building. For over fifty years this building has been serving its purpose of a jail and has become more or less inadequate and the question of the necessity for a larger and more modern building has been the subject of discussion for a long time. The question of location seems to be difficult to solve satisfactorily. The families of the sheriffs still occupy part of the old building as a residence. In 1925 the county authorities determined to give the prisoners under sentence, something to occupy their time and to do this, estab- lished a cement block plant in connection with the jail. In this plant the prisoners mentioned, work from seven o'clock in the morning to five in the afternoon, receiving from the county twenty-five cents per day, and of course the board and necessary clothing. Prisoners held for examination, or for any other reason than for serving out a sentence, are permitted to work at the same rate. CITY HALL In the early days the officers of the village were in the same predicament as were the postmasters as for many years there was no building provided for the especial use of the legislative body or vil- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 61 lage officers. Town meetings were usually held in the homes of the trustees or officers and the first town clerk used a room in his own dwelling house as an office where the executive meetings of the board of trustees were often held. In 1838 the village was incorporated and the clerk's office was from that time until 1846 in the book store of John W. Pierce, the clerk. In 1847 it was located in Irving Hall block, a building located where the Boston Store now stands. In 1849 it was in the Rathbone building at the corner of Monroe and Ottawa. The office of the village treasurer was, in these days, usually in the private office or business place of the treasurer, he keeping the village funds in his private safe or that of a neighbor. Meetings of the village board of trustees were very irregular, some- times weeks elapsing between meetings; and when meetings were held the most convenient place was selected, be it at the clerk's office or a tavern. And not until after the completion of the city hall in 1888, was it possible to house the officers in adequate and permanently lo- cated quarters. Even after the incorporation of the village as a city, in 1850, the common council met in many different places. In that year, and a portion of 1851, the meeting place was on the south side of Monroe a short distance above Waterloo (now Market) street. The meetings for the balance of 1851 were held at the office of the mayor. The following two years found the council meeting in various private offices. In 1853 quarters were rented in the Taylor building at the foot of Monroe street where now the Giant Store is. This was a building built by Mr. Taylor and with a poor foundation. The foun- dation gave way and the building collapsed before its completion. The building was purchased and completed by William A. Richmond and Mr. McReynolds and later sold to Abram Mays, who occupied it with the Giant Store. The meetings were held in this building until 1856 in which year the meetings were held in the Commercial block, a store building on what is now Campau Square, in front of the build- ing occupied now by Friedman-Springe Company. In 1858 meetings were held on Lyon street east of the Arcade. The effort to acquire a city hall was begun in 1854 and the city made its first real estate pur- chase which was where the old St. Dennis block stood near the corner of Monroe and Spring (now Commerce). This purchase evidently created a taste for dealing in real estate as their first purchase was fol- lowed by several sales and purchases resulting finally in its acquiring, in part, the present site in 1883, that is, lots 59, 68 and the south half of lot 73, Kent plat, at the corner of Ottawa and Lyon streets, making a site 100x125 feet. Later several additional purchases were made and in 1885 the present site was completed, giving a depth of 175 feet and a frontage of 220 feet on Lyon, extending from Ottawa to Ionia. Although ground had been purchased as early as 1854, the construc- tion of a city hall was not declared a necessary public improvement until 1873. It was then the intention to build at the corner of Ottawa and Pearl, but in 1874, after architects had been invited to submit plans and those of Charles H. Marsh having been adopted by the board of public works and submitted to the council, that body laid the proposi- tion on the table. The project was revived in 1879 by Henry S. Smith, 62 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY - the mayor, recommending the construction of a city hall the cost not to exceed $20,000, one-third the proposed cost of the first plans. On Mr. Letellier becoming mayor the same recommendation was made and, while new plans and estimates were submitted, no further steps were taken at the time. However, the project was not dead, and the ac- quiring of the property, which is a part of the present site and pur- chased in 1883, completing the present site, apparently removed all objections and in that year the council again declared the erection of a city hall to be a public necessity. The board of public works were in- structed to procure plans for a building costing between one hundred thousand and one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. On April 7, 1883, a loan of $150,000 was authorized by the electors, the proposi- tion having been submitted to the voters of the city in compliance with a resolution submitted by Alderman Brenner and amended on motion of Alderman Gilbert. For the second time architects were invited to submit plans and in October, 1884, the plans of E. E. Myers, of Detroit, were accepted. Bids being advertised for and later received and opened in 1885, it was found that the lowest bid exceeded the au- thorized expenditure by more than $35,000. It was the opinion, how- ever, of the council and a large number of the leading citizens that the building should be erected according to the plans and specifications adopted. The contract was made and approved April 11, 1885, the contract price being $185,641.68, the lowest bid received. The building was completed in 1888, was formally accepted and dedicated September 26th of that year and the occasion was one of great enthusiasm. A street parade, addresses by the mayor and Charles I. Walker, the first treasurer of Grand Rapids fifty years previous to this dedication, were features. The building has a frontage on Lyon street of 160 feet and is 96 feet deep. From the sidewalk level to the top of the tower it is 163 feet high. The main entrance is at the center of the Lyon street front with side entrances from both Ottawa and Ionia. RAILROADS As early as 1845, the inhabitants of the village entertained high hopes of soon seeing the iron horse enter its limits. Several charters were sought, but little of practical benefit was accomplished from 1845 to 1853. In that year work was started on the Oakland and Ottawa railroad. Two years later this was consolidated with another and be- came known as the Detroit and Milwaukee railroad. In 1858 the line was completed into the city and cars entered. For the next eleven years Grand Rapids was a "one railroad town," but in 1869 the situation was relieved by the entrance of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern which had been built from Kalamazoo. In 1870 the Grand Rapids and Indiana was completed between Fort Wayne, Indiana, and this city and, in 1873, between this city and Petoskey, Michigan. In 1886 the Grand Rapids and Indiana built and put in operation the line between this city and Muskegon. The Grand River Valley railroad, now the Michigan Central, was built into Grand Rapids, from Jackson, HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 63 in 1869-70. The Grand Rapids, Newaygo and Lake Shore completed a line from this city to White Cloud in 1875. Railroad connection was made with Holland in 1872, and these last two lines, with their con- nections, afterwards became known as the Chicago and West Mich- igan railway. In 1888 the Grand Rapids, Lansing and Detroit division of the Detroit, Lansing and Northern was put in operation between Lansing and Grand Rapids. In 1896 the Detroit, Grand Rapids and Western Railroad Company operated the line until it was merged with the Pere Marquette system in 1900, together with the Chicago and West Mich- igan, the Detroit, Grand Haven and Western, and the Lowell and Hast- ings railroads. Thus Grand Rapids has five steam railway systems to handle the great volume of business that centers here, facilities equal to or superior to those of most cities of equal population. STREET CARS In the April 18, 1837, edition of Grand Rapid's first paper, The Times, the editor gives free rein to his imagination as to the future of the town: “Who would have believed, to have visited this place two years since, when it was only inhabited by a few families, that this place would now contain its twelve hundred inhabitants? The rapidity of its settlement is beyond the most visionary anticipation; but its location, its advantages and its clime were sufficient to satisfy the observing mind that nothing but the frown of Providence could blast its prospects. A canal is nearly completed around the rapids at this place, sufficiently large to admit boats to pass up and down, with but little detention. Several steamboats are now preparing to commence regular trips from Lyons, at the mouth of Maple river, to this place * and from this to Grand Haven; thence to Chicago and Milwaukee. “Thus the village of Grand Rapids, with a navigable stream—a water power of twenty-five feet fall—and abundance of crude build- ing materials—stone of excellent quality—pine, oak and other timber in immense quantities—can but flourish—can but be the Rochester of Michigan !" But, with all his enthusiasm, he could not foresee the real future of his beloved village. He could not foresee the ease with which one citizen could hold conversation with another in widely separated parts, could hardly imagine the present facilities for getting from one part of the city to another and probably did not live to see any of the great advancements made here. But a quarter of a century later there were others who did see and could imagine better things than existed at that time. In 1864, William A. Richmond, John W. Pierce, Henry Grin- nell, William H. Withey and several others, secured the passage of an ordinance which gave them the right to construct a street railway from the Detroit and Milwaukee depot down Canal street and up Mon- roe and Fulton as far as Jefferson. For some reason these men gave up this charter and another was passed on its repeal the same year. The men securing the new charter, * * * * * 64 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY which granted the same privileges, were George Jerome, of Detroit; Daniel Owen, of New York, and Thomas S. Sprague, of Saginaw, Michigan. These men built and started the Monroe street line, by 1865, which seemed to meet all requirements until 1873, when the Division street line was built down Division to Hall, thence to Jefferson to reach the fair grounds. In 1875 the Grand Rapids and Reed's Lake Street Rail- way Company was granted the use of certain streets. The franchise pro- vided for horse-drawn cars from the corner of Fulton and LaGrave streets to Sherman and East and from that point to Reed's lake steam was the motive power and was known as the “Dummy” line. After electric power became known to be more feasible the change was made. In 1883 Cleveland and Grand Rapids capitalists bought the different franchises and in 1885 all the companies were consolidated by an or- dinance passed in August of that year. The reorganization adopted the name, “The Grand Rapids Street Railway Company” and began at once the betterment of the existing lines and the building of exten- sions. Prior to the consolidation, lines had been built on Scribner, Stocking and West Bridge streets, crossing both the Bridge street and Pearl street bridges. In 1885 the construction of a cable line running on Lyon, Michigan (then Bridge street) and Union, was authorized by the city, and the first of these to be completed was that on Lyon, from the foot of that street to Grand. Horse car lines were built, connecting with the cable line, running from the foot of Lyon to Market; thence down Market and Grandville avenue to the city limits. A line of horse cars was also built to the west limits, crossing Fulton street bridge, and one running north on Barclay from Lyon. These horse car lines were in operation by 1887 and the cable line on Lyon street was completed and in operation in the following year. In 1891 the city granted authority for the consolidation of the two companies and the discon- tinuance of paralleling lines. The reorganization took the name “Con- solidated Street Railway Company of Grand Rapids.” Early in the spring of 1891 the electrification of the system began and by 1892 horse and cable were dispensed with. In 1889 another “dummy” line had been built to the Soldiers' Home, north of the city. This was pur- chased later by the city system and electricity, as motive power, in- stalled in 1893. In 1900 the company was reorganized and the name changed to “Grand Rapids Railway Company.” It requires, at the present time, 110 cars to fill the schedule, using seventy miles of track on a single track basis, or over thirty-one miles of double track. In 1920 the company began the use of what are known as "one man” cars on a few of its lines. The officers of the company at this time are: B. C. Cobb, of New York City, president; Louis J. DeLamarter, vice-presi- dent and general manager; William E. Livingston, secretary and treasurer, and John C. Madigan, general superintendent. TELEPHONES The telephone made its appearance in Grand Rapids about 1877, when a pair of phones were put in by the Grand Rapids Plaster Com- pany, connecting their offices with the quarry. This led the way for ALTELE f SACRED HEART ACADEMY-EAST FULTON ROAD, KENT COUNTY <\" 210115 A VIEW OF GRAND RAPIDS' BUSINESS DISTRICT HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 65 the establishment of a company for the purpose of supplying the citizens with telephone and telegraph service generally. In 1879, a company, now the Michigan State Bell Telephone Company, put in a system and shortly had one thousand four hundred or more sub- scribers or phones in use in the city. In 1894 several men of the city agitated the question of a local company and applied for a franchise. Under the franchise granted by the city, the company was organized with a capital stock of $100,000 and launched in the following year. Service was given, May, 1896, with nearly one thousand instruments in use. In 1904 the city ex- change was made automatic in its operation. In 1879 the first di- rectory of the Bell showed sixty-five subscribers. In 1883 this com- pany made telephone connections with Muskegon, Ionia, Big Rapids, Grand Haven and other Michigan cities and towns. Night service was established in 1884. In 1888 the exchange was removed to the top floor of the then new Blodgett building on the corner of Ionia and Louis. In 1899 the company occupied its own building on the corner of Ionia and Mountain. In 1904 the company had more than three thousand subscribers with sixty-three toll connections. The Citizens Telephone Company began business in 1895 with eight hundred and thirty-two subscribers and in 1923 had 22,840; a remarkable growth. At the same time the Bell had 8,648. After a long period of nego- tiation the Citizens sold to the competing company and in 1923 the unification of the two was consummated. The purchase required an outlay of approximately $4,000,000. The largest improvement, visible to the public eye, was the erection of the new exchange building on the corner of North Division and Fountain. In October, 1924, the corner stone of the building was laid and at this writing the building is nearly ready for occupancy, and will be before this can go to press. The building is one of many improvements proposed to be made by the company to perfect the operation of its large business. The best fireproof construction that engineers have designed, has been taken ad- vantage of in the erection. The company has laid great stress on the necessity of protecting its equipment against fire, not merely that the equipment might not suffer damage, thereby entailing a pecuniary loss to the company, but recognized the vital importance of the functioning of the service in time of fire emergency or other calamity. The building is considered to be one of the city's finest and most beautiful buildings; sturdy and massive, it rises five stories above the sidewalk, and is so designed and constructed that at least four more stories may be added when needed. The building has a frontage on Division of 95. feet, and on Fountain is 170 feet deep. The cost of erection was $702,000 and to equip it $1,165,800 will be expended. The company, at this time, have over thirty-two thousand subscribers, with connections with all parts of the United States. EARLY SETTLEMENT OF GRAND RAPIDS By Mr. White The first of the white race to enter the Grand river valley did not devote their energies to the opening up of the vast natural resources 66 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY of the region for settlement nor to the creation of a society of intel- ligent, industrious and adventurous citizens, but to the education and spiritualization of the red man. With the advent of the French traders and their followers, whose interest in the Indian was mostly specula- tive, the efforts of the missionaries to civilize the Indians were nullified. One of the missionaries, Slater, led his followers to a new settle- ment in an adjoining county, but the whites soon followed them to their new home and evil practices that had prevailed in the valley were continued. The early pioneers, and those who came later, eagerly sought to make entries of the land, and in the locality now known as the city of Grand Rapids several plats were surveyed, mapped and recorded by eager adventurers. The most valuable sections of the present city, acquired by such speculators, were disposed of for sums that yielded but little profit to the owners. Later came a group of practical business men who made a careful study of the region, its natural advantages as a social and business center and the development of industries. It appeared to those men that a city located at the rapids of the Grand river would serve the interests of a great rural population eventually, where manufacturing in almost every line of production would be established, where educational interests and domestic life would thrive and where capital and enterprise would be rewarded. Of such men who invested largely in lands were Daniel W. Coit, George Kendall, James W. Converse, Lucius Lyon, E. B. Bostwick, James Scribner, John Almy, H. S. Williams, and the Turners should be men- tioned. Several of their number entered vigorously into the promotion of enterprises planned to develop the natural resources of the region, while others paid the taxes assessed upon their properties and quietly awaited the day when they might share in the advantages gained by their more progressive neighbors. The business of the traders was carried on under many annoyances and difficulties. Money was scarce and, in the main, dealings were by barter. With but primitive means of transportation available (pole boats and pack horses) the cost of merchandise delivered to the traders was abnormally high. Lacking in vision and the spirit of ad- venture that have won success for thousands of pioneers of the past, the traders awaited the meager returns of the day, apparently satisfied when they were able to keep abreast of the financial doldrums. Survey- ing parties in the employ of the general government were at work in various sections of the territory that now compose the state of Michigan, preparatory to the making of treaties by the government with the Indians for the acquirement of vast tracts of land to be opened for settlement. . Whites began to appear in considerable numbers in 1832 and the land office at Kalamazoo became the scene of great activity. Intelli- gent, forceful men with a purpose in life, entered the valley from New England, New York and other great centers of population, and at once proceeded to build and operate factories, develop farms, construct railroads, establish banking and commercial houses and educational and religious institutions. They did not acquire lands to hold untilled, HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 67 or for the timber thereon, until other men had by their energy and activity created a market for their holdings. Their purpose was to built a city of which the state and nation would be proud and accom- plish tasks worth while for civilization. John Ball, R. E. Butterworth, Lucius Lyon, John Almy, Martin L. Sweet, William A. and Julius Berkey, James W. Converse, Charles C. Comstock, William T. Powers, Daniel Ball, Robert Hilton, George W. Gay, William Hovey, James D. Robinson, Solomon L. Withey, William D. Tolford and Thomas D. Gilbert were leaders in the move- ment for development. John Ball was an explorer of lands, a farmer, a manufacturer, a practitioner of law and an educator. Through his influence capitalists of the eastern states were induced to invest largely in lands and industries. R. E. Butterworth was a foundryman, a manufacturer, a builder and philanthropist. Lucius Lyon founded and assisted materially in the development of the village of Kent, now an important section of the city. He was the first to sink salt wells and attempt the improvement of navigation of the river. John Almy was active and efficient in local development enterprises. Martin L. Sweet operated grist mills, factories, built a hotel and fine residences; he also engaged in banking, railroad construction and farming. William A. and Julius Berkey built up, almost without capital, in the course of time, one of the most important furniture manufacturing establish- ments in the United States. James W. Converse made large invest- ments in gypsum lands, built mills, factories, commercial buildings, many residences and aided materially in the construction of railroads leading to southwestern and northern Michigan. An early business adventure of Mr. Converse was the erection and operation of a ship- yard on Grand river, near Grand Haven. Charles C. Comstock built and operated lumber and lath mills, factories, stores, residences, and a railroad to connect the city with North Park. He also engaged in farming and dealing extensively in real estate. William T. Powers dug the canal, one mile long, on the west side, thereby creating cheap power for the operation of factories. He also erected industrial build- ings and a theatre. Daniel Ball owned and operated steamboats on the river and erected many buildings for business and residential pur- poses. Hobert Hilton owned and operated a factory and engaged ex- tensively in the construction of buildings designed for various purposes. George W. Gay was a successful manufacturer, banker and builder. William Hovey, representing the Converse interests, rendered important service in the work of materially developing the city. James D. Rob- inson, a lumberman, Solomon L. Withey, a banker and leader of the bench and bar, William D. Tolford, a manufacturer, and Thomas D. Gilbert, a banker and builder, were ever willing and quick to act in support of any and every enterprise that they considered worthy, in the general desire of the public to make the city of Grand Rapids what it is widely known to be "a good place to live.” Farming in the vicinity was carried on under many difficulties. There were no roads suitable for heavy traffic. Only the Indian trails could be used. Food was scarce and when a farmer needed meat he could obtain it by going into the woods and shooting the birds and 68 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY wild animals that infested the region. The hardships suffered by the pioneer farmers were many. Their strength, determination and for- titude were tested to the limit. The experiences of Edward Pettit, who acquired a tract of land on the north side of Grand river, in the township of Ada, serves to illustrate the trials of the pioneers. Pettit acquired 160 acres from the general government. His patent was signed by Andrew Jackson, president of the United States in 1833. After several years of hard toil, Pettit produced a crop of wheat—25 bushels. It was cut with a cradle, threshed with a flail, cleaned with a sieve and bagged to be ground in Grand Rapids. With the wheat loaded in a wagon, Pettit drove to the river, dismantled his wagon, fer- ried its parts, the wheat and the members of his family to the opposite shore in a row boat, and drove his horses into the stream and compelled them to swim to the south shore. After assembling and re-loading his wagon, he proceeded to Grand Rapids where the wheat was reduced to flour, when he returned, recrossing the river after dismantling and re-assembling his load, to his farm. Three days were consumed in the outgoing and return trips. The early settlers realized the importance of providing education and religious instruction for their children, and schools and churches were established from time to time. Able instructors, when the means available for the purpose would permit, were employed. Members of the Roman Catholic and the Dutch Reformed churches especially, have been liberal supporters of denominational schools and colleges. About fifty years ago, the Roman Catholic Diocese of western Michigan was created by the Papal authorities at Rome, and Grand Rapids was made its See. Under the wise direction of the several bishops, chosen by the pontiff to direct the affairs of the Diocese, hospitals, seminaries, convents, homes for orphans and the poor, and many schools and churches have been established. Vast sums of money have been ex- pended in the erection of buildings and the instruction given is of the highest order. A commodious college provided with a large faculty of instructors, a home for the aged, a hospital and numerous schools have been es- tablished by the members of the Dutch Reformed churches. Employ- ment is furnished to upwards of eleven hundred teachers by the board of education of Grand Rapids. The public school system includes a junior college, three high, four junior high, and about forty primary schools. With the passing of the deserving pioneers, on to the richly earned rewards for faithful and competent community services, other worthy and deserving men have taken their places. Among those who are entitled to special mention are Charles W. Garfield, Clay H. Hollister, Miner S. Keeler, Dudley E. Waters, Edwin Owen, Charles H. Leonard, Robert W. Irwin, Charles B. Kelsey, F. Stuart Foote, W. A. Jack, Ernest A. Stowe, George A. Davis, John W. Blodgett, F. N. Rowe, Edward Lowe, Charles R. Sligh, Robert D. Graham, Samuel D. Young, William H. Anderson, William Alden Smith, and L. A. Cornelius. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 69 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY DAYS IN MICHIGAN By Marion Louise Hinsdill Withey Early in the spring of 1833, my father, Myron Hinsdill, came from Hinesburg, Vermont, to Richland, then called Gull Prairie, and this journey was made through the Erie canal, by boat from Buffalo to De- troit, from there on by team, one of which father brought with him. Most of the towns on the way were mere stopping places. The vision of Ann Arbor, Michigan, still lingers in my memory. Mother used to tell the story of how, when we stopped there, the landlord came out to assist us; as he took down four little girls, one after the other, he turned to father and in some emphatic words in- quired what he had come to this country for. We were warmly welcomed to our new home by the family of Elder Knappen, whom my parents had known in Vermont, and who were a little in advance of us in coming to Michigan. We remained with them until some place could be provided for us. Father at once set about building a log barn for his horses. When it was up and roofed, mother proposed that we should move into it ourselves and relieve the Knappens. Accordingly a floor was laid, a stick chimney built and we took our possession with two pieces of furniture brought with us, a small light stand with leaves, and a sideboard and bureau together, which I now have, and is still a nice article. Where we got our bedsteads I don't remember, but father went down to the southern part of the state and obtained six wooden chairs, which I still cherish among my household goods. In this primitive way, my parents, who left a fine old homestead in the east, commenced life in Michigan. A young woman, who came with us to assist mother, very soon accepted an offer of marriage from some man in want of a housekeeper, probably, and mother, a frail, delicate woman, was left to struggle with the small children, housework and fever and ague. Every time it rained, how that house did leak, beds covered with tin pans and dishes to catch the water. As warm weather came on, we did most of our work out of doors. One incident, I remember, mother had prepared the bread ready to bake in a tin oven before the fire out of doors, and had gone to bed with the regular shake, leaving my oldest sister and myself to attend to it; child-like we were busy with play, forgot the fire and were only roused to a sense of duty by seeing two great hogs walk off with mother's bread. The contest here with fever and ague was fearful, and ague usually had the best of it. At one time of our greatest distress, a cousin of father's, Stephen Hinsdill, came to see us and remained some time, as- sisting in taking care of us, as we were all sick. Dr. Demming was our physician. The music of the wolves was a common entertainment at night. Sometime during this first summer we had a narrow escape, a violent whirlwind passed over that region and blew a large tree, which stood in front of the house, onto the house, crushing in the front part. Mother 70 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY . saw it coming and gathered us into the back part, near the window, from which we were taken out, unhurt but badly frightened. A Mr. and Mrs. Baker riding through the woods during the same storm, were killed by a falling tree. A baby sister, who died that November, sleeps by their side. , I have been told that these graves have an enclosure near the center of the present cemetery at Richland. That winter we lived in a house owned by Deacon Gray, nearer the center of the prairie. Of this winter I remember little save going to meeting on an ox sled. How this happened, I don't know, as my father had horses. The next spring my uncle, Mitchel Hinsdill, came with his family to Richland, the two brothers located farms adjoining, just south of the prairie. Father had five acres cleared and wheat in when uncle came. They both began to build on their farms not far apart. Uncle's house was done first, or as near done as houses were in those days. Here a brother, Chester B. Hinsdill, was born. Before cold weather our house was done and we moved in, although it was not plastered, and blankets served for inside doors for a time, and a carpenter's bench was a part of the furniture. My mother's mother, a woman over seventy, came and spent the winter with us. It was a comfort to mother, but poor grandmother was greatly tried at mother's hardships and most of all that the little girls must be brought up in such a wild place. Our evenings were enlivened by visits from our neighbors, who often came several miles for that purpose. Hickory nuts were our usual refreshments, of which the woods yielded an abundance. My father often read aloud for our entertainment. I have a vivid re- membrance of his reading “Cooper's Leather Stocking.” The evening he read us the scene of the shooting of the panther over Charlotte's head, Mr. Foster Gilkie was with us. He almost comes before me as I recall him with his emphatic "hum, hum.” Sometime that winter father went to some point south where very large sycamores grew. Mother and some of us children went along, presumably for a visit. We came home in the bright moonlight, riding inside the tree as it lay lengthwise on the sled. These trees were used for smoke-houses, corn cribs, etc. Several large specimens were standing not far from Kalamazoo a few years since: During the winter father also made a trip on horseback to the Grand river country, as then styled. Here, the spring before, his cousin, Hiram Hinsdill, of Bennington, Vermont, had gone with his family. He seemed to have been captivated by the prospect, the fine rapid river, the high hills seemed more like old New England. He fancied it would be more healthy, and was quite ready for a change. Accordingly he let his farm and soon afterwards sold it, and the last of May or the first of June, removed to Grand Rapids. This journey was made through the woods by blazed trees—there was no sign of a road. We were several days on the way. One evening as we were stopping for the night in a log house without floor or roof, the first stage with George Coggeshall's family passed us, bound for the same haven. Temporarily we stayed with Hiram Hinsdill's family. Father purchased of him the frame of the old National Hotel, and proceeded HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 71 a to finish it. While this was being done, a part of the summer we lived in a new barn near, and as soon as a few rooms were done we moved in. This summer of 1836, on pleasant Sundays, we used to cross the river to attend services at Mr. Slater's Mission Chapel, he preaching in the afternoon in English. Occasionally he came over to the east side and preached in a house built by a Mr. Lincoln. This summer Miss Page, afterwards Mrs. Judge Bacon, of Mon- roe, at the importunity of several families who had small children, opened a school in a new barn a little to the rear of the now Morton House, being built of boards set up endwise, and floors of boards just laid down without matching. No school committee was vexed with the matter of ventilation. Here I had my first struggles with Web- ster's spelling book. One of the events of that year to be remembered, was the Indian payment on the other side of the river. It came in October. They were some two or three weeks in gathering and wait- ing for the specie to come. The great amusement of the white people was to go and visit them. Father took us children to see them. Their campfires, wigwams, the men decked out with paint on their faces, feathers in their headgear, strings of tin cut in round pieces, or beads around their necks; the squaws, many of them with fine broadcloth blankets with leggings to match, handsomely embroidered, and their pretty moccasins, with the lovely autumnal landscape, made a picture well calculated to remain in the memory. This payment was kept up for twenty years, and from fifteen hundred to two thousand Indians came every year, and we came to know many of them and looked for them. The squaws were often beautiful needle women—their petti- coats were often embroidered a quarter of a yard deep, with narrow ribbon and beads, and most neatly done, and their bead and porcupine quill work was often a marvel of ingenuity. It is a great pity more really fine specimens of their work has not been preserved. Indians were a familiar sight but I do not remember any serious apprehension of trouble from them. A seat by the fire when they were (chich-es-sol) cold, or a generous slice when they were (buck-a-tab) hungry, generally insured a friendly feeling. That summer of 1836 seems to my recollection a long one. The arrival of so many strangers, the rapid changes, the hurry of people to get some place to live before the cold weather, the funny ways people did live, the feverish excitement of speculation crowding so many events into the space of a few months, seems now like so many years. To recall the state of things, I extract from a letter of my father's to a brother-in-law, dated April 23, 1836. "I have applied for fine lots of pine land up Grand river, but there is such a press of business at the land office, one cannot know under six or eight days whether he can get it or not, and if two men ask for the same land, the same day, they must agree which will have it, as it is set up at auction. There has been four or five hundred people at Bronson for a week past, all waiting to get land. If I get the pine land it will cost about $2.25 per acre, and a great bargain at that. If land buyers increase as we have reason to expect when navigation opens, there will not be a good lot in the territory at congress prices, and then I see no reason why land 72 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY will not be worth $10 per acre.” That this came to pass we now know. The resort of people to every device to supply food and the com- monest necessities of life, was only equalled by their ingenuity for en- tertainment. During the winter, debating societies, singing schools, masquerade parties, anything to divert themselves, was in order. Among the most conspicuous of these were the meetings of the Grand Rapids Lyceum. This society was organized in a room over the old yellow warehouse used as an office by Dr. Charles Shepard. Its moving spirits were C. H. Taylor, Noble H. Finney, William A. Richards, W. G. Henry, George Martin, Simeon Johnson, and others who came a little later. Its public meetings were held in the dining room of the old National (my father's house), the gathering place for everything. Here was brought out the latest intellectual force and forensic ability, that was conspicuous on the platform, the stump and at the bar, years after by many of that little coterie of young men. And the women of that time were no whit behind the men, for all womanly graces, intel- ligence, refined manners and accomplishments of head and heart, a long search might be made in vain, to find nobler specimens than were gathered at every social gathering. The Lyceum was maintained for many years, started a valuable library, and some of those books are still doing service in our present Public Library. It should have an article by itself by an abler pen than mine. In March of 1837 my brother, Henry M. Hinsdill, was born, the second white child born here, Napoleon Godfrey having preceded him by a few weeks to claim the first place. In August of that year an uncle, Truman Kellogg, moved his family here. They made the journey around the lakes and up the river. He had previously purchased a farm east of the town on Lake avenue. His house stood where the Paddock house now is. Having great taste for horticulture, he took great pains to get and set out choice orchards of peach, plum, and apple trees, fine varieties of grapes, and all small fruits. He also planted considerable ground to the Morus Multicolus shrub, and embarked in the manufacture of silk. For several years they raised the cocoons and wound the silk. The family still possess many specimens of the earliest of Grand Rapids manufacturers. And now at Belding is one of the finest factories in the country. This uncle, although one of the quietest of men, was an avowed abolitionist, took their papers and quietly advocated their opinions. In his correspondence he used as a letter- head, the figure of a negro kneeling, lifting his manacled hands to heaven in supplication—the engraving done by a negro. Some of the letters from a brother in the south imploring him not to use this paper in writing to him as it positively angered him, are curious reflections of public sentiment at that time. That the higher interests of religion and education were not neglected, is evident from many things I quote from a letter of father's, dated February 25, 1837. "We have two schools in our house, one instructed by my sister (Aunt Mary Walker), who came out here last fall, the other by Mr. Smith who was educated in your village. We have had from eight to ten boarders all winter, on the temperance plan in full, HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 73 and have most of the good custom. Strangers from almost all parts of the Union visit our place and are much pleased. Property has ad- vanced one-third or more since you were here, so much, I think people are crazy. Society has improved very much. A Presbyterian church was formed last October with twenty-two members and ten added since and we have as talented a society of young men as can be found in your state. Provision is very high. Flour, $15 a barrel; oats, $1; potatoes, $1.25; pork, $14 per hundred; butter, 371/2 cents and other things in proportion; board, $4.50 per week; cash plenty, most of it paid out for land. I have had more silver and gold in my house this winter than a pair of horses could draw.” This is a good picture of the times. The church spoken of was soon changed to the Congregational policy, that element largely predominating, and it is now the First Congrega- tional Church of Grand Rapids. I remember distinctly the scene of the organization. The little party as it stood up to assent to the articles of faith, and afterwards celebrated the Lord's Supper, with the bread on a common plate, a pitcher and tumblers for tankard and cups. So true were these early settlers to their convictions of faith and training, that the same roof sheltered the family, the church, the school, and the Sunday school. While true to their own ideas, they were liberal to others—any preacher who could lead a Christian service was welcomed. The night before New Year's of 1838, we were treated to a new diversion. A company of French and Indian half-breeds, masked and dressed in most grotesque and fantastic costumes, with horns and every hideous instrument of noise, rushed through the houses of the settlers, howling and dancing. Everything the houses afforded in the way of refreshments was brought forth; they threw it on the floor and stamped it down, to the ruin of house and furniture, and the alarm of the house- keepers. So disgusting was the performance and so general the dis- approbation, it was never repeated. What it meant and where it originated, no one seemed to know. In February of 1838, great alarm was felt at the damming up of the ice below the town. One evening just in the midst of a spirited debate at the Lyceum, came the cry of a rising of the water. Every- one started to the rescue. It was an anxious night followed by an ex- citing day. At mid-day the ice in a vast body began to move and the water rushed back on the little settlement, to the imminent danger of several families living on the bank of the river. The Almy and Page families were taken from the upper windows of their houses in boats; their houses were a little north of where Sweet's Hotel is. I remember Mrs. Almy's terror as she was brought to our house. The ice moving in, accompanied by a dull rumbling sound, and piling up to a great height, is described by eye witnesses as one of the most awe-inspiring of scenes. The spring of 1838 was marked by an event of family interest. The marriage of Aunt Mary Hinsdill to Mr. C. I. Walker. During the summer my father's mother paid us a visit. Father spent most of his summer looking and surveying land. In November he was taken down with bilious fever and died on the 17th. He fell at the age of thirty-nine, a victim to the exposures and hardships of a new country. 74 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY His remains were interred in the Fulton Street cemetery, just purchased but not platted. In recalling this bit of family history connected with the early settlement of our state, and bringing to mind many contemporary with my parents, I am reminded of what precious material our foundations were laid. If truth, integrity, intelligence, and heroism are traits of nobility, truly the pioneers of our fair peninsula were a right royal race: CHAPTER IV MANUFACTURING AND COMMERCE WHO HILE the city of Grand Rapids is best known to the outside world as a furniture manufacturing center, the visitor, and it might be said with truth many of the citizens, would be greatly impressed with the diversity of the manufactured output. Το many, the fact that Grand Rapids has become such an important manufacturing city has been a matter of wonderment. Especially referring to the manufacture of furniture one of the leading exec- utives of our large plants was, himself, led to ask the question: “Why was the business so successfully established in Grand Rap- ids? What peculiar condition or circumstance has given this town its prominent position ?" He goes on: “We had no natural ad- vantages originally. Lumber was abundant, but it was equally abundant anywhere in the northern country. Water power was as free as the lumber, yet water power was to be found also all over the northern states. Not only did we have no special natural advantages, but we were placed at an exceedingly inconvenient location for manufacturing furniture, with but one railroad and that terminating at the lake upon one side and Detroit upon the other, with no connections whatever to other portions of the United States, the river and lake our only practicable method of transportation to the then-growing west. When eventually we did have a connecting railroad with the Michigan Central and Lake Shore and Michigan Southern our whole product was freight- ed through towns where many well-established competitors were located. Upon the Michigan Central were Buchanan and New Buffalo, both manufacturing on a larger scale than ourselves. Upon the Lake Shore were to be found Laporte, Mishawaka and South Bend, each having one or more successful furniture factories. Chicago was the distributing point, and there were, as at present, other and stronger competitors, yet Grand Rapids passed them all. During these same days Boston was the eastern manufacturing point for all fine chamber furniture, and Cincinnati was equally prominent. Several large and eminently successful concerns were in operation in both cities which eventually passed out of exist- ence, the Boston people maintaining that this was due to the ruin- ous competition of Grand Rapids and one or two other western towns—competition that they could not meet; yet they had all the advantage of prior possession of the field, abundant capital, fine factories and a near location to the market. In the face of all this, Grand Rapids steadily developed, both in the character of its 76 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY > product and the magnitude of its works.” He then goes on to answer the question and in doing so pays a well-deserved com- pliment to the men who have helped make our city what it is: "It is one of my theories that it is not so much location or natural advantage that secures exceptional business success, but rather, the personality of the men who happen to originate and develop it, and to this very feature I ascribe the importance which Grand Rapids achieved in furniture manufacturing." What he has said pertaining to the manufacture of furniture applies, in most cases, to all other lines. Long ago the mere fact that Grand Rapids was a center of successful furniture plants was an inducement to the location of plants producing lines used by the furniture factories. Today the city has plants manufacturing adding machines and cash registers, artificial stone, asphalt shin- gles, automatic sprinklers, automobile bodies, automobile acces- sories, automobile tires, awnings and tents, band instruments, basket carts, baskets, bed springs, belt cement and dressing, belt hooks and lacers, belt power elevators, leather belting, blank books, blow pipes, blowers and fans, boats, boiler breechings and tubes, bottle wrappers, boxboard, cigar boxes, folding boxes, paper boxes, brass goods, brick, bronze and brass goods, brooms, brushes, burial caskets, burial vaults, butter, buttons, cabinet hardware, candy, caps, carpet sweepers, casters, cement blocks, many manufacturing chemists, church furniture, cigars, clamps, clocks, clothes closets, clothing cabinets, cigarmakers' tools, concrete tile and pipe, cor- nice, cottages (ready made), croquet sets, dairy supplies and equip- ment, dies and punches, doors, sash and blinds, dowels, dresses, dry kilns, dust arresters, extracts, excelsior, fertilizers, fibre cord, filterers, fire escapes, fireplaces and mantels, hardwood flooring, floor lamps, flour, fly paper, fur goods, furnaces, furniture hard- ware, gasoline generators, gelatine, gloves, glue, grill work, gypsum plaster, hand power elevators, hardware, hardwood doors, harness, hoisting machinery, hose reels, hosiery, hydraulic elevators, ice cream, ice tongs, ink, jewelry, labels, lamp shades, lime, soap, loose leaf ledgers, mantels and grates, marqueterie, mattresses, metal ceilings, mill machinery, mirrors, models, monuments, mould- ing, mustard, novelties, office appliances and fixtures, oleomargar- ine, overalls, packing boxes, pipe covering, post cards, propellers, pulley oilers, invisible gasometers, refrigerators, rubber stamps, sausage, saws, school furniture, shirts, shoes, showcases, skylights, soap, springs, statuary, steel lockers, syrup, tags, tanks, toilet articles, tools, trucks, trunks, trusses, twine (fibre), embalming fluid, varnish and paints, veneer, wagons, steel wardrobes, water coolers, weather strips, woodworking machinery, and eighty-one factories making furniture. These, with scores of foundries, pat- tern works, tanneries, iron and brass moulding, book-binders, en- gravers, printers, etc., make up the manufacturing interests of Grand Rapids. An interesting and instructive volume could be written concerning the growth of the city's wonderful establish- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 77 ments. Only a partial attempt can be made here, and as conditions as they existed in the early days can only be gleaned from the writings of others, extracts are taken from the very interesting article on the subject written by William Widdicomb and pub- lished by Mr. Fisher in his history. As Grand Rapids is generally called the “Furniture City” we will first consider that branch. Mr. Widdicomb says: “The fur- niture industry of Grand Rapids had its birth in the system pre- vailing eighty or more years ago in the smaller towns throughout the country The cabinetmaker produced by hand the simple pieces of furniture required, offering them for sale in his own work- shop, or, when the business was sufficiently advanced, a small sales-room adjoining. Usually the cabinetmaker was both work- man and merchant. All of the earlier efforts at furniture making in our city were of this character." According to Mr. Widdicomb the first cabinetmaker in the city was William Haldane, who came in 1836. His little cabinet shop was located where now stands the building of the Michigan Trust Company It has been claimed that a shop for the manufacture of chairs had been established two years prior to the coming of Mr. Haldane, but the evidence is to the contrary. He had always considered himself as the first furniture maker and died in that belief. Archibold Salmon, also a cabinetmaker, came about the same time and opened a shop, but only remained in the village eight or nine years, when he removed to a farm, where he died in 1887. Samuel F. Butler was also one of the first cabinetmakers, with his shop and residence on Kent (now Bond), afterwards removing to Canal (now Monroe), north of Bridge street (now Michigan). Butler died in 1856. A little later Abraham Snively started a small shop in the village, but of the four men mentioned Haldane was the only one to become a permanent fixture in the business. The plant that seems to have some claim as to being the first furniture manufactory was a chair factory started by David Wooster, Zeph- aniah Adams and John L. Smith for which power was furnished by the small creek running down the hill from towards Division. The shop was located near where the gas works is located. If not the first furniture shop this is entitled to be considered as the first furniture shop to be operated by power other than hand. Mr. Widdicomb well remembered this stream, the existence of which is unknown to most in this generation and he says: “There is little evidence now that a stream sufficiently large to furnish power existed at that spot, yet I can clearly recall the brook which entered Grand river just below the lower boat landing after meandering through the lowland. The dam had entirely dis- appeared but some of the timbers and other evidences of the water power were there in my earlier days." Today there is not a trace of such a stream nor even the valley through which it flowed. Later on came Loren W. Page, James 78 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY T. Finney, and Nehemiah White. White made the flag-seat chairs for this market and these were considered quite a luxury in those days even for parlor use. In 1848 William T. Powers was engaged in chair manufac- turing and in the following year Albert Baxter and Cyrus C. Bemis began. After the little plant manufacturing chairs, which were ped- dled around the country among the few settlers, the next use of power was, according to Mr. Widdicomb, “on the canal in a portion of the sash and blind shop which 'Deacon' Haldane's brother was then operating, and was simply the use of the machines the brother had in the sash and blind business. About 1853 the 'Deacon' set up a small steam engine on the bank of the river, where his cabinet shop had been located for several years, at the place now occupied by the central portion of the Pantland Hotel building.” William T. Powers, the first to manufacture furniture in Grand Rapids on a large scale, came to the town in 1847 from Lansingburgh, New York, where he had learned the trade of cabinetmaking. He landed in Grand Rapids with a wife and child, a pair of willing hands and about $300 in cash. He rented bench room in a small shop at the southeast corner of Ionia and Fountain. Later he secured better quarters on the east bank of the river above Bridge street and began working by machinery, using water power, making furniture of nearly all kinds produced at that time. He made chairs, also, and not only found a market at home but shipped to other parts of the country. About 1851 he formed a partnership with Ebenezer M. Ball under the firm name of Powers & Ball, with their place of business near the south entrance to the present Arcade. In 1852 they built a sawmill, to which they added a larger structure to be used as a factory, on Erie street, where they gave employment to about forty men. In 1855 Mr. Powers retired from this partnership and the business was continued by Ball, Noyes & Colby. In 1853 Eagles & Pullman began the manufac- ture of furniture at Canal (now Monroe) and Crescent avenue. Mr. Eagles died the next year and the Pullmans soon went to Chicago and afterwards became famous as the builders and oper- ators of the Pullman sleeping cars. Upon the site of buildings recently acquired by G. A. Hendricks, on Lyon street, the Win- chester brothers erected the first factory for the manufacture of furniture for the wholesale trade, in 1854. The panic of 1857 caused the firm to suspend operations and C. C. Comstock, a broth- er-in-law of the Winchesters, acquired the factory, a four-story frame building. Mr. Comstock carried on the business until 1863, and is the originator of the wholesale handling of furniture prod- ucts. During the time he ran the factory he had established a branch house in Peoria, Illinois, and opened a fair wholesale trade in Chi- cago and Milwaukee markets. Mr. Baxter, in his history, says: “Prior to 1862, the manufacturer peddled his wares by chartering HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 79 one or more cars, loading up his goods and starting out or sending an agent with them on the road. Stopping at stations where busi- ness was expected or where he was desirous of opening trade, the car would be side-tracked, local dealers shown the articles for sale, and their orders filled as soon as convenient. But as the country became more densely settled, and the variety of styles increased, there came a demand for a cheaper way of introducing the goods. They could not be packed in a trunk and carried about in search of patronage; yet the styles of the wares and their looks must be shown. This made it necessary for the salesman to be a fair artist, and illustrate his description by pencil sketches. In the spring of 1862, Elias Matter, who had learned his trade as cabinetmaker in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, and who came to Grand Rapids in 1855, conceived that if the pencil would show what the articles were, a picture from the camera would do it easier and better.” In 1863 Mr. Comstock disposed of a half interest in the business to James M. and Henry T. Nelson, the name of the new firm being Comstock, Nelson & Company, again being changed in 1865 to Nelson, Comstock & Company. In 1870 the Comstock interests were purchased by Elias Matter and the firm name became Nelson, Matter & Company. In 1883 the senior member of the firm, James M. Nelson, died. In 1887 the business was incorporated with a capital stock of $250,000, held by the old members of the firm and many of the employes. In 1868 the company erected a build- ing on Canal street (now Monroe) for offices and show-rooms. In 1873 the factory on Lyon street, west of Lock street, was added. In 1887 the warehouse, offices, salesroom and finishing rooms were destroyed by fire and immediately replaced by new buildings, the largest of the kind in the state at the time, outside of Detroit. Henry Wilson occupied the old Godfrey residence east of Fulton Street Park as a cabinet shop during the early days. Mr. Widdi- comb states that Wilson was the first to produce furniture of the finer quality, and adds that, prior to the manufacture of such furni- ture here, any expensive furniture was shipped from the east. In 1860 Alphonso Ham and Julius Berkey were using the half of the second floor of the sash and blind factory operated by William A. Berkey, on Lyon street, for furniture making, but this firm existed but a short time. The next year Berkey started again and continued alone until November, 1862. This was the founda- tion of the large plant of Berkey & Gay Company. Baxter's His- tory says: "In November, 1862, Elias Matter, inventorying his tool chest at six dollars, and Julius Berkey with five dollars in cash, and a few hundred dollars' worth of machinery and material, formed the partnership of Berkey & Matter, who turned their whole attention to the manufacture of furniture for the wholesale trade of Chicago and Milwaukee. In 1863 William A. Berkey entered the firm and the company became Berkey Brothers & Company, with a capital of $17,215.33. In 1866 George Gay pur- chased the half interest of William Berkey and the name was 80 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 9 * * shop * changed to Berkey Brothers & Gay, and in 1870 Mr. Matter re- tired.” William Berkey retired in 1873 and the Berkey & Gay Furniture Company was incorporated with a capital stock of $500,000. Unfortunately Mr. Widdicomb says but little in his article con- cerning the Widdicomb industry. We again resort to Baxter, who had a personal acquaintance, and he says: “Perhaps no fac- tory in the city is more closely woven with family history than that of the Widdicomb Furniture Company. The germ from which this institution grew was planted in 1858, in which George Widdi- comb, the father of four sturdy boys, started a modest little cabinet This was near the east end of Bridge street, the location now of a milling company. He soon had about a dozen men working in his plant. The war of the Rebellion break- ing out, William and George, Jr., enlisted, Harry and John follow- ing later. In 1864 the two oldest sons returned from the war and opened a small shop near the foot of the east side canal. At the close of the war the other two returned and joined their brothers. In 1868 the business had grown large enough to justify the removal to larger quarters. They moved to a small frame build- ing on the corner of Seward and Fourth and were employing twenty-five men. In 1869 T. F. Richards became a partner and the name was changed to Widdicomb Brothers & Richards and the capital raised to $12,000. In 1873 the company was incorporated with a capital stock of $90,000; William Widdicomb, president; Mr. Richards, vice-pres- ident; Harry Widdicomb, secretary and treasurer. George Widdi- comb had died in 1866. At the time of the incorporation the plant consisted of the original building 68 by 90, and one three-story frame, 50 by 150 feet, built in 1871, and 150 men were employed. In 1879 a five-story brick building was added and in 1886 another was built; the first being 104 feet square and the second 68 by 128. In 1891 the plant consisted of the following buildings: A three- and-a-half-story frame warehouse; a three-story frame warehouse; a four-story warehouse; main factory building of brick; a five- story brick building for cabinetmaking; engine and boiler house and large shed for storage. Thus far the story is of the old. In other pages the story is brought to date. In 1870 William A. Berkey, Nelson W. Northrop and Frank McWhorter purchased the business of Atkins & Soule, cabinet- makers, together with the plant of that defunct concern, and organ- ized the Phoenix Manufacturing Company. For several years they manufactured miscellaneous furniture in a small way at the corner of Ottawa and Fairbanks. Mr. Berkey retired from the firm of Berkey & Gay, devoting his entire time to the new concern. The company was reorganized in 1873 as the Phoenix Furniture Com- pany The new company prospered and by 1883 were employing over 500 men and occupying new factory buildings (now occu- pied by the Robert W. Irwin Company) on West Fulton and HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 81 Summer streets. The business and plant have since been absorbed by the extensive plants of Robert W. Irwin & Company, as de- tailed later on. In 1879 William A. Berkey withdrew from the Phoenix Com- pany and the trade but in 1882 he opened a factory on the corner of Campau and Louis streets, making a specialty of fine and me- dium grade center tables. In 1885 he organized the Wm. A. Ber- key Furniture Company, being associated in the new enterprise with William H. Jones, Lewis T. Peck and others. Mr. Berkey was the first president and Mr. Jones vice-president. The factory was located at 39-41 Waterloo (now Market) and later on the company made a specialty of fine parlor suites. In 1882 the copartnership of Adelbert E. Worden and Henry Fralick was formed for the manufacture of bedroom suites. The factory was on the west side near the end of the C. & W. M. bridge, occupying a five-story brick and frame building. Many other plants of great importance were organized and began business in the city from 1880 to the present year, which will be mentioned further on. Glancing over the following list of furniture factories started during that time and noting that those not now in existence or else absorbed by other concerns, as indicated by a star, one can fully realize the truth of what Mr. Widdicomb says: “The surprising number of manufacturing ef- forts with the moderate number that have survived is, perhaps, a true indication of the vicissitudes which attend the furniture man- ufacturing business. I might mention further that not more than three or four new institutions for the manufacture of fine grades of furniture have been established successfully in the United States within the past ten years. There is no business demanding such unremitting personal attention as our industry. The list : 1877—Wm. A. Wright,* Erie street; 1878—E. A. Roberts,* 28 Mill street; 1879—Folger & Ginley, 28 Mill street; Geo. W. and Hiram Gay,* Canal street, Roberts Brothers;* 1880 -Wolverine Furniture and Chair Company,* Kent Furniture Company,* New England Furniture Company (previously the Ward, Skinner & Brooks Company),* Sligh Furniture Company, Stockwell, Byrne & Company,* John Waddell & Company,* Stowe & Haight; 1881—Wm. A. Berkey & Koskul,* F. L. Furbish,* Oriel Cabinet Company;* 1882—The Folding Chair and Table Com- pany,* Ford Furniture Company,* The Luther & Sumner Com- pany,* Worden Furniture Company,* Winchester & Moulton ;* 1883–Stockwell & Darragh Furniture Company,* Nathan Strahn,* The Union Furniture Company,* Fogg & Higgins;* 1884—Stephen Cool & Company,* S. E. Allan,* Peninsular Furniture Company; 1885–West Michigan Furniture Company,* Wm. A. Berkey Fur- niture Company (succeeding Wm. A. Berkey & Koskul); 1886 Stow & Davis, Strahn & Long,* Union Furniture Company,* Grand Rapids School Furniture Company,* E. F. Winchester & Company*; 1887—American Dressing Case Company,* Empire * * *" * * 82 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY * * Furniture Company,* S. L. King,* Welch Folding Bed Company; 1888_Clark & Hodges Furniture Company*; 1889—Valley City Rattan Company,* Grand Rapids Cabinet Company,* Grand Rap- ids Parlor Furniture Company,* Grand Rapids Table Company*; 1890—Klingman & Limbert Chair Company,* Birge & Shattuck,* Grand Rapids Enamel Furniture Company,* Universal Tripod Company* (the original of the Royal Furniture Company), Mich- igan Chair Company; 1891–C. E. Amsden,* Richmond & Lyman Company,* Standard Table Company,* Valley City Table Com- pany*; 1892—Stickley Bros. Company, Central Furniture Com- pany,* Mueller & Slack Company,* Royal Furniture Company, * McGraw Manufacturing Company* ; 1893—C. A. Burge Upholster- ing Company,* Grand Rapids Church Furniture Company*; 1894 -C. P. Limbert & Company, Valley City Desk Company, Grand Rapids Wood Carving Company,* Ryan Rattan Chair Company,* Grand Rapids Carved Moulding Company*; 1895—J. A. Anderson ; & Company,* Grand Rapids Seating Company,* H. N. Hall Cab- inet Company,* Grand Rapids Standard Bed Company,* Hansen Brothers,* Retting & Sweet*; 1896—Hake Manufacturing Com- pany,* Arlington Cabinet Company,* Grand Rapids Bookcase Company,* Grand Rapids Fancy Furniture Company, Luce Fur- niture Company, Fred Macey Company,* Michigan Art Carving Company,* Grand Rapids Wood Carving Company*; 1897—Reu- ben H. Smith,* John Widdicomb Company; 1898–Novelty Wood Works,* Boyns-Morley Company,* Gunn Furniture Company, Werneke Furniture Company*; 1900—Chase Chair Company, Ray- mond Manche Company,* Chas. F. Powers Company,* Wagemaker Furniture Company; 1901—Furniture City Cabinet Company,* C. S. Paine Company,* Standard Cabinet Company,* Van Kuiken Brothers*; 1902–Century Furniture. Company, Grand Rapids Showcase Company, Grand Rapids Table Company,* Natchegall & Veit,* G. S. Smith*; 1903—Burnett & Vanoveran,* Ideal Fur- niture Company,* Imperial Furniture Company, Linn-Murray Fur- niture Company*; 1904Grand Rapids Cabinet Company,* Green- way Furniture Company,* Hetterschied Manufacturing Works,* Michigan Order Work Furniture Company*; 1905—Cabinetmakers Company,* C. A. Greenman Company,* Michigan Desk Company,* Retting Furniture Company,* Shelton & Snyder Company*; 1906 -Veit Manufacturing Company,* Grand Rapids Cabinet Furniture Company,* Kelley & Extrom,* Luxury Chair Company, John D. Raab Chair Company,* Raab-Winter Table Company,* Sweet & Biggs Furniture Company,* Grand Rapids Upholstery Company; 1908—Criswell-Keppler Company,* Dolphin Desk Company,* Michigan Seating Company,* Rex Manufacturing Company*; 1909 -Adjustable Table Company, O. G. Burch,* Fritz Manufacturing Company,* Johnson Furniture Company, Kelly, Extrom & Com- pany,* Charles P. Limbert Company; Marvel Manufacturing Com- pany,* Snyder & Fuller,* Sterling Desk Company,* Welch Manu- facturing Company, Wilmarth Showcase Company; 1910—Bunga- * * * * * * HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 83 * * low Furniture Company,* Colonial Furniture Company, Criswell Furniture Company,* Grand Ledge Chair Company,* Grand Rap- ids Art Furniture Company,* Grand Rapids Wood Carving Com- pany,* Heyman Company,* Keil-Anway Company,* W. A. Kelley, C. B. Robinson & Sons,* Snyder Furniture Company,* Steel Fur- niture Company, White-Steel Sanitary Furniture Company*; 1911 -Grand Rapids Bungalow Furniture Company,* Michigan Cab- inet Company,* Practical Sewing Cabinet*; 1912—The Ainway Company,* Davies-Putnam Company,* Gilpin Furniture Com- pany,* Kindel Bed Company, Metal Office Furniture Company, Valley City Chair Company* ; 1913—Binghamton Chair Company,* W. H. Chase,* Fisher Showcase Company,* Grand Rapids Shera- ton Furniture Company,* Kelley Chair Company, Peter Lindquist,* Lundeen & Bengston,* National Seating Company,* Practical Sew- ing Cabinet Company,* Charles Vander Laan*; 1914-Alt & Batsche,* American Manufacturing Company,* Grand Rapids Stu- dio Furniture Company, Lindquist Furniture Company,* Quality Furniture Company,* Rockford Chair and Furniture Company*; 1915—Boyce Brothers,* Grand Rapids Bookcase and Chair Com- pany, Lanzon Furniture Company,* Lundeen & Bengston Com- pany,* Nowaczyk Handcraft Furniture Company,* Wallace Fur- niture Company; 1916—Grand Rapids School Equipment Com- pany, Paalman Furniture Company, Brower Company, Asa U. Chase,* Grand Rapids Fibre Furniture Company, Kelley Furniture Company, L. H. D. Fibre Furniture Company, McLeod Furniture Company,* Special Furniture Company, Welch Furniture Com- pany, Windsor Upholstering Company. In a village located as was Grand Rapids in its early days in the midst of a splendid forest, almost the first manufacturing enter- prise to be started is that of lumbering. The object may not be, at first, to supply the outside world with the product, but naturally to supply the demands of the settlers for material with which to build their humble dwellings. On the Slater Indian Mission lands, on the west bank of the river, the government built, in 1832, the first sawmill. With its upright saw, common in those days, it was able to turn out not much more than four or five hundred feet each day when there was sufficient water to furnish the power. At this mill was obtained the lumber for the schoolhouse and meeting house of the mission, and for a small house and chapel of the Catholic mission. Joel Guild was able to get the boards for his house on the east side. Louis Campau and others availed themselves of this opportunity. People came from as far east as . Ionia to get lumber from this pioneer mill. The second mill was located on the east channel of the Grand where the Pantlind Hotel now stands. Luther Lincoln, the first white man to join Campau, started this mill, but, like most of his undertakings, was not completed. It was completed and put in operation by Abram S. Wadsworth in 1834. The power was furnished by an undershot wheel and did its 84 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Saw. work with an upright saw. The mill was destroyed in the freshet of 1838. Most of the lumber used in building in the village was furnished by mills located outside of the village limits, up and down the river. The first sawmill on the race (sometimes referred to as the east side canal) was built in 1837 by James M. Nelson and H. P. Bridge. When this “big mill” was begun it was the intention to put in sixty saws, but the dream was never realized, as one saw was the extent of its equipment in that line. The second sawmill was built on the canal just above Bridge street, and in 1842 Nelson built the third a short distance below. In 1851 Powers & Ball built a small mill east of the canal, near Erie street. Mills were built by Watrous, Comstock, Caswell, Rosenberg & Day, all run by water power, and by 1858 were doing a pretty good business, cutting about 2,000,000 feet annually. . In 1853 the Powers-Ball Company put up the first steam driven sawmill, using a circular saw. It was located on the west side north of Leonard street. In 1864 C. C. Comstock built a mill near the head of the east side canal, using water power and a circular Four years later he built another by the river bank opposite Erie street where the Leitelt Machine Shops now stand. About 1865 Elijah D. and Daniel H. Waters built a sawmill and box factory on the canal. When Wm. T. Powers completed his west side canal he built a sawmill at the foot. In 1864 B. R. Stevens & Sons erected a steam sawmill near the head of Canal street. Many others were later built, but most of these plants have disappeared, the available timber at this point being so far consumed that little remained to be done, but their places have been supplied by new undertakings and the manufacturing inter- ests continued to increase and grow. While man must have shelter, thereby creating a demand for lumber, he must eat. To supply the imperative demand for flour the first gristmill in the village was put up in 1834. This was but a poor affair, but it did crack some corn and was in use about two years. Three years later a gristmill was built on Coldbrook by Dwight & Lyman and in 1839 or 1840 Charles Taylor put in a second set of stones. Notwithstanding the fact the stream did not furnish sufficient power at all times to keep the mill in oper- ation it became a very popular custom mill. Later, however, it was abandoned. In 1836 the foundation for the “big mill” were put in and a building erected near the river bank about opposite Hastings street in 1837. This mill (a part of which was used as a sawmill) was operated by James A. Rumsey, as its miller, until 1845, when it was bought by John L. Clements and Martin L. Sweet, who operated it until 1854. Mr. Sweet built another large mill on the east side of Canal street opposite the “Big Mill.” Both these mills that Sweet built were burned a half century ago. The Kent Mills, a large stone building between Canal street and the race a short distance south of Bridge (now Michigan) street, were built in 1842 and 1843 and were owned and managed by John W. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 85 Squier. This mill was burned in 1872. In 1867 the Valley City Mills were built. The Globe Mills, on Mill street south of what was then Bridge street, were erected in 1868. The same year the Star Mills were built on the west bank of the river south of Bridge street. In 1881 this mill became the property of Carl G. A. Voigt, W. G. Herpolsheimer and Louisa F. Mangold. Joseph Rowland, Hibbard, Rose & Company, Henry Spink and Tjerk Veenstra, W. W. Hatch and Henry Mitchell erected mills in the city and in the meantime the old-time stone was replaced by the "roller” process, and the mills became, as a rule, up-to-date in every par- ticular. In 1841 Granger & Ball announced to the world that their plaster mill, on the left bank of the river, two miles south of the village, was ready for the manufacture of plaster. This industry became one of the leading enterprises of Grand Rapids. The existence of gypsum was known for many years prior to this date, but not until Granger & Ball took hold was any attempt made to develop the extensive quarries in this vicinity. In 1852 these mills passed into the hands of E. B. Morgan and N. L. Avery. The plant was a small one, but the great demand for its product brought it success, which led to the starting of other like enterprises. When Morgan sold his interest to Avery, Benjamin B. Church and Sarell Wood became members of the new firm of N. L. Avery & Company. In 1864 Silas F. Godfrey, Amos Rath- bone and George H. White bought the old gypsum property and made extensive additions to the mill. The Godfreys built another mill near the mouth of the creek. Later the old mill came into possession of the Alabastine Company. The first quarry to be opened on the right bank of the river was that by Richard E. Butterworth and in 1849 he built a small mill which he operated until 1856, when he sold it to Hovey & Company. Soon after Butterworth started, John Ball and Bernard Courtney built a mill near him, Adin J. Hinds building another. In 1861 the Grand Rapids Plaster Company was organized by Francis Fisher, James W. Converse and Francis K. Fisher of Boston, C. H. Stewart of New York, and William Hovey and the factory became known as the Eagle Mills. The first lime made in the village was by William McCausland and the first plastering was done in the house of Louis Campau, which stood at the corner of Monroe and what is now Waterloo. The manufacture of stucco or calcined plaster from gypsum was commenced at a very early date and has proved a very profitable and valuable industry. Up until 1854 most of the woodwork required in building and utensils was done by hand and in the early days of the village the carpenter and joiner carried in his chest the tools necessary for making mouldings, casings, sash, doors and blinds. A few of the more enterprising carpenters and cabinetmakers of the early days made up such articles and kept them on hand for sale and in 1844 James H. Scott, who had been 86 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY operating a pail factory a short distance north of Bridge street (now Michigan) on the canal, began the manufacture of sash and blinds. In 1854 a little factory was started on the south side of Monroe street, below Ionia, for making sash, doors and blinds. About this date C. C. Comstock, Noyes & Berkey, Elias Skinner, E. F. Ward, N. A. Harrington & Company, Pew Brothers, Charles D. Blakeslee and a few others had planing mills and sash and door factories in operation along the canal, but until Comstock and Ward, Skinner and Brooks introduced new machinery, most of the doors, sash and blinds were made by hand. This introduction of machinery revolutionized the trade and reduced the prices. Soon after laying out the village of Grand Rapids, Louis Campau found that he and his fellow citizens had a strong competitor in the town building line as Grandville was making, and continued to make for several years, efforts to become the metropolis of the county, and when, in 1837, Winfield Scott Levake built a small furnace and foundry at the corner of Mill and Bridge streets, the town did not rest until it, too, was likewise supplied. The town succeeded the same year in establishing a foundry. Levake's estab- lishment, operated by horse power, was abandoned after being in operation a few years. Much to the disgust of Grandville the foundry established in that town was removed in a few years to Grand Rapids by James McCray. In 1842 a foundry was built by Henry Stone on the bank of the canal near the “Big Mill" while McCray was moving his plant and building his shop and furnace near the foot of the canal. Mr. Stone made the first plow in the village. Two men, who were afterwards iron machinists and plow manufacturers for many years, came about this time, namely, Gaius S. Deane and Elihu Smith, both associating them- selves with the Stones in the foundry business under the name of Stone, Deane & Company. The partnership continued until 1853, but the business was carried on by Mr. Deane until his death in 1883. In this plant was made the first steam engine built in Grand Rapids. It was seventy-five horsepower and was built for use in the steamboat “Empire.". In 1855 Gilbert M. and S. B. McCray, together with H. Gaylord, built a foundry and machine shop on Waterloo (now Market) near the Eagle Hotel. Daniel Ball & Son also had a foundry and these two plants about this time did the first casting of iron pillars for store fronts. Elihu Smith had a machine shop in 1856 driven by steam power on the east side of Canal street and by it Samuel Tower built a foundry, thus giving Grand Rapids five foundries at that time. Out of the McCray plant the Grand Rapids Iron Works grew and fifty years after McCray had built his little foundry, on the same spot stood this plant, then one of the largest and oldest foundries and machine shops in the state. The Valley City Iron Works was started in 1862 by Adolph Leitelt. The story of the work of Mr. Leitelt is told in another part of this work. The West Side Iron Works was started in HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 87 1860 by Joseph Jackoboise on Mill street. In 1871 were estab- lished by Williams & Smith on the southeast corner of Pearl and Campau streets, a concern which after several changes in ownership, was organized in 1882 as a stock company known as the Michigan Iron Works Light and Power Company. In 1885 W. T. Powers & Sons became the owners. In 1872 the Phoenix Iron Works was started by Frederick Hartmann in a small way. In 1879 he added a foundry and Louis Dietz was taken in as a partner. In 1886 the firm was reorganized as F. Hartmann & Company, H. J. Hartmann and Edward Tanne- witz being the company. Boiler works, factories for the manu- facture of shingle machines, edge tools, steel wire nails were from time to time started. File making was begun in 1863 by William Cox and the brass and bronze manufacture, as a distinct business, was started in 1882 by Daniel W. Tower and Thomas Farmer, Jr. Until the advent of the automobile as an established fixture the making of wagons and carriages was carried on quite exten- sively in Grand Rapids. Sleighs and buggies were made by hand as early as 1840, the first buggy being made by W. N. Cook for Louis Campau. One or two sleighs had been made on “special order" in 1837. In 1842 Baxter & Green carried an advertisement in the Grand Rapids Enquirer in which they stated that they made "every variety of carriage, from a stage coach to a wheelbarrow." In 1850 G. C. and J. O. Fitch started a wagon shop which pros- pered for many years. Preceding the Fitches, several shops of this character had been established. As early as 1856 William Harrison laid the foundation for the works which afterwards became one of the foremost industries of Grand Rapids. In that year he built a building of stone on Front street which, while not large (40 x 80), was very substantial. The financial distress of 1857 upset some of Harrison's plans. Before his building was completed the man who was under contract to put in and furnish the plant with water power was so badly crippled financially that Harrison was compelled to obtain his power from another source. He made arrangement for the use of the basement of a sash and door factory on Mill street, but this proving not large enough he bought an old sawmill, on the same street, in which he managed to carry on his business until 1879. However, in 1867, water power had been secured for the new building on Front street and the building added to his plant, Mr. Harrison having recovered from the effects of the panic and producing seven hundred wagons that year, In 1865 H. P. Colby and James McKee started a carriage fac- tory. Two years later Arthur Wood bought an interest and the firm became Colby, Wood & Company. The following year Wood became the sole owner. In 1871 Charles E. Belknap began the manufacture of wagons and in 1884 the Belknap Wagon and Sleigh Company was organ- ized. Many other factories and shops making wagons, buggies, wheel- 88 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY barrows, etc., were established, but space forbids details. Plow- making had been carried on in a small way as early as 1841. The making of fanning mills was begun as a business in 1848 by Ren- wick & Graves, at the corner of old Canal and Bridge streets. In 1853 P. R. Jarvis began the manufacture of straw cutters, but for many years the manufacture of farming implements had been but little carried on. In 1858 Ebenezer M. Ball and A. Lamont Chubb began the manufacture of plows, cultivators, grain cradles, rakes and a variety of other farm implements. In the same year Renwick was making milk safes in addition to fanning mills. A large business was done in the manufacture of these articles by Ledyard & Aldrich from 1855 to 1872, in their factory, which stood where the St. Andrew's Cathedral now stands. Out of this enterprise in 1869 grew the Grand Rapids Manufacturing Com- pany, which was organized for the production of almost every implement of wood and iron used by the farmer. In 1843 the wool business for Grand Rapids had a bright out- look. In that year Stephen Hinsdill set up machinery for wool carding, cloth dressing and making of satinets, in one end of the building known as “the Big Mill," and by 1844 had several looms running. Hinsdill died four years later and the Grand Rapids Woolen Factory became the property of Truman H. Lyon, who continued and increased the business. Lyon disposed of the busi- ness to other parties in 1853 who soon afterwards abandoned it. Later several others tried the operation but with indifferent When a new town was to be started in the days when Michigan was but a wilderness those intending to build were compelled to avail themselves of material “at hand,” that being mostly timber and stone. But the pioneers proved themselves equal to the occasion and one of them, John Davis, began, in 1834, to make brick and for that purpose put up and burned one or two kilns near where is now Division and Oakes. This done, he aban- doned the enterprise. In 1836 Solomon Withey found what he thought to be suitable clay for brickmaking at the corner of lonia and Coldbrook. He built here a small kiln, but the bricks proved inferior in quality on account of the clay containing too much limestone. His son, however, later found another bank of clay from which he manufactured good brick. David L. Stiven intro- duced steam brick machines in 1867 and others quickly followed. S. L. Baldwin began the manufacture of brick and tile in 1888. Soap and candles were manufactured at an early date. The manu- facture of candies began in 1849 when A. B. Bidwell & Sons opened a small shop on the north side of Monroe between Ottawa and Ionia. Others who entered the business, before the war of 1861-65, were Joseph Hampton and E. K. Powers. In 1869 the Putnam Brothers were in the candy business at the foot of Monroe. Thum & Kuhn started in 1873. In 1878 Putnam & Brooks (as detailed later on) had established a large business of manufacturing and wholesaling of candies. In 1887 this firm removed to the large HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 89 building on the corner of Division and Cherry. Tanning was another business that was started in the first years of the exist- ence of the village. The two pioneer tanneries were those of Samuel F. Perkins, associated with William Woodward, and Charles W. Taylor. The former was operated until 1860. Church, Judd & Company, in 1857, started a tannery on South Division. Prior to 1870 DeGraff, Rademaker & Nyland, Schram & Fox and the J. Koster Company operated tanneries on South Division. In 1861 Cappon & Bertsch established here a branch of their Holland tannery. The Wallin Brothers, of Chicago, also placed a branch tannery in Grand Rapids. Closely allied with the making of leather is the making of boots and shoes. The pioneers of the village had to depend only nine or ten months on outside sources for their foot apparel for in 1836 John and Maxime Ringuette began the making of those articles. At first there was not enough demand for their goods to keep them busy at all times, but later their business grew, on account of the rapid increase in the number of settlers, and they enjoyed a good business for many years. The manufacture of felt boots and shoes was begun in 1881 by the Grand Rapids Felt Boot and Shoe Company, organized that year by E. J. Studley, Julius Berkey, M. R. Bissell and O. R. Wlimarth. Saddles and harness also were necessary articles to the pioneers and in 1837 Isaac Watson began the manufacture and continued until his death in 1849. During the next ten or twelve years Wm. O. Lyon, John P. Hanchett and B. P. Arbor made harness and saddles, and by 1855 there were fifteen different shops making these articles, probably many more than exist today. Leather belting manufacture was started in 1876 by Felix Raniville and Simeon R. Sikes. When the first flour mill was put in operation there came a demand for barrels and to meet this demand James A. Rumsey engaged in the cooperage business. About the same time, 1837, John Kirkland began making barrels. Staves were obtained down the river in the woods where parties were getting them out for the Chicago market. In 1891 there were twelve or thirteen cooperage plants but the larger factories later absorbed the business. Machinery succeeded hand work and among the large plants built was the Waters Barrel Works. This plant was started in 1870 by D. H. Waters, Frank B. Gilbert, Henry Grinnell and D. H. Powers for the manufacture of an improved barrel of Watson's design. Besides manufacturing this barrel they made all kinds of bent-rim goods, such as bailed salt and grease boxes, measures, tobacco drums, and the like. The plant became the largest of its kind in the country. The demand for staves became so great that in 1864 the Grand Rapids Stave Company was established, probably using most of their own product of staves in the manufacture of barrels for the plaster trade. This plant was started by J. W. Converse and in 1866 came under the control of Geo. W. Hewes, John Whittemore and Marshall S. Lord, who continued the business until 1874. 90 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY In that year Sylvester Luther was taken into the firm and the business reorganized under the name of the Union Stave and Chair Company. In 1878 the business again changed hands and the Grand Rapids Stave Company was organized. The manufac- ture of paper boxes was begun soon after the Civil war ended. Arthur W. Currier first made paper boxes by hand, cutting out the board with a knife. He afterwards put in machinery. In 1873 T. C. Putnam became interested with Currier. In 1883 Barlow Brothers were making paper boxes on Ottawa street and G. A. Scruby on Pearl street. In 1888 the principal paper box factory was that of W. W. Huelster. Many firms were engaged in making wood boxes for packing purposes and cigar boxes. In 1843 a small pail factory was started by James H. Scott. In 1863 Wm. A. Watrous was running a pail factory. The business did not prove profitable. In 1864 C. C. Comstock purchased the pail fac- tory started the year before by E. E. Bolles and who could not make it pay, put in new and more machinery and enlarged the plant and continued its operation for twenty years when he sold to a St. Louis company. The manufacture of wooden shoes was, at one time, quite an extensive industry in the city. The enter- prise was started by J. H. Ter Braak in 1873 on a small scale. Later the Grand Rapids Wooden Shoe Factory was organized with Ter Braak as superintendent. The Grand Rapids Blow Pipe and Dust Arrester Company was organized in 1888. Twenty years later Mr. Newcomb, the presi- dent of the company at this time, bought an interest in the business. The city being situated as it is on the banks of the beautiful Grand river, the building of boats would naturally be one of the oldest industries of the city. About the first thing that the early settler had to do was to build himself a boat. Then came the pole- boats of which Richard Godfrey built many prior to 1837. Several steamboats for the river traffic were built here and there were eight or nine "shipyards” lining the banks of the river. Hulls of some of the vessels built for use on the lakes were also constructed here as were many boats for use on the Illinois canal. The making of small boats as a business was started in 1866. Flavoring ex- tracts were manufactured as early as 1872 and the business has grown to considerable importance. The Alabastine Company was organized in 1879, by Melvin B. Church, for the manufacture of an article to take the place of calcimine for wall finishing. In 1876 a factory was put in operation in this city which has probably had as much to do as any one other enterprise in spread- ing the fame of Grand Rapids as a manufacturing point. In that year M. R. Bissell began the manufacture of a carpet sweeper which was a great improvement over those manufactured at the time. The first carpet sweepers were manufactured in Massa- chusetts in the forties and while engaged in the mercantile busi- ness in this city Mr. Bissell was handling a line of sweepers called HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 91 the “Welcome,” and upon one occasion, while demonstrating the article to a customer, discovered that an improvement was needed. Determining upon the remedy of the defect needing alteration he applied himself to the task, made a model of a sweeper as he con- ceived it should be made, obtained a patent and began its manu- facture. This new machine gave carpet sweepers the first prom- inent feature of popularity, and from a luxury they became a neces- sity. In 1883, the business having increased largely, a stock com- pany was formed. The plant was destroyed by fire in 1884 but was rebuilt, and the business continued and eventually became the largest plant of its kind in the world. In the early days of the village many of the pioneers made brooms of the brushy twigs of pine, hemlock or fir, and those who were not able to make them could purchase brooms made in Milwaukee and brought across the lake. In 1881 there was a factory in the city making corn brooms that was a branch of the Milwaukee plant which was started here by Michael Steele in that year. In 1884 William H. Gardiner became a partner in this enterprise and the plant became known as the Milwaukee Broom Factory. About 1865 George Gould began the manufacture of brooms and continued in the business about twenty years, when he sold to the Slooter brothers. In 1888 John Van Duren began making brooms in Grand Rapids and from this small beginning the present large plant of Van Duren & Company grew. The growth of this plant is told in other pages. The Grand Rapids Chair Company was organized in 1872 by Henry Fralick, C. C. Comstock, F. W. Worden and others. In the packing of furniture the use of the article of finely shredded wood shavings known to the trade as excelsior was be- coming almost universal thirty years ago. The wood is cut in lengths of eighteen or twenty inches, the bark removed and the shredding is done by machinery, requiring about a cord of wood to produce a ton of excelsior. Formerly excelsior was shipped in from the east, but the use of this material was so great in this city and surrounding territory that several were encouraged to undertake its manufacture locally. S. O. Dishman began its man- ufacture, in 1874, in a little factory on Third and in the following year John Wheeler became his partner. Two wheel machines were added to the plant in 1876. In 1883 the business was sold to Don- ker & Quist. In 1877 Franklin B. Day started his factory on Sixth street, near Broadway, operating one wheel of twenty knives. In 1880 Alfred M. Collins started with ten wheels on Grandville ave- At this time there were two plants running for the manufac- ture of excelsior, the Dale Brothers' Excelsior Company and the Excelsior Wrapping Company. In 1890 John Dale bought the plant of Mr. Butts, who had started in a small way some years before. The plant is now operated by the sons of Mr. Dale, as stated elsewhere in these pages. The Excelsior Wrapping Company is a branch of the plant at Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and was established here in 1906, the nue. 92 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY For many branch being much larger than the parent concern. years the making of mattresses in Grand Rapids has been a lively industry. The Grand Rapids Mattress Company, now out of busi- ness, was established in 1882 by Henry C. Russell and Lyman H. Austin. In 1885 Collins, Hughes & Company began manufactur- ing mattresses. The two largest plants in that line at this date are the Grand Rapids Bedding Company and the National Mat- tress Company. The Grand Rapids Bedding Company was started in 1890 by Messrs. Driggs and Kennedy in a small way. A more detailed account of the growth of this enterprise is given in other pages. Upholstering has for a great many years been closely associated with the manufacture of furniture. Among the first to specialize along this line were William Koch and John H. DeNuit, who began in the business a short time after the close of the Civil war. At this time there are more than fourteen firms or companies engaged in this work in Grand Rapids, Peter J. Wegner & Com- pany, Furniture City Upholstering Company, Grand Rapids Up- holstering Company being the largest. The manufacture of candy was begun in Grand Rapids in 1849 by Austin B. Bidwell, who built up a large trade, but later on left Grand Rapids and made Ionia his headquarters. Prior to the beginning of the Civil war Joseph H. Hampton, near the west end of Bridge street bridge, and E. K. Powers, at the foot of Monroe, were in the business. A few years after the close of the war the Putnam Brothers were established near what is now Campau Square. The growth of the Putnam business is detailed elsewhere. The next to enter the business was the firm of Eaton & Christensen on old Canal street nearly opposite Crescent. A. E. Brooks, at this time president of the A. E. Brooks & Company confectionery manufacturing plant, entered the firm of Putnam & Brooks (Henry C.) as an employe and soon purchased a fourth interest and became a partner. In 1889 Mr. Brooks sold his interest in the company and started his own company. The manufacture of confectionery in Grand Rapids has assumed large proportions and at this time there are several firms and companies engaged in the business. One of the largest plants now in operation in the city is that of the Wilmarth Showcase Company. This immense plant, started in 1889 by J. J. Wheeler, with a capital stock of $12,500, was organized for the purpose of manufacturing hand screws under the name of the Grand Rapids Hand Screw Company, and was located at first on Grandville avenue. One of the men associated with Wheeler was A. A. DeLisle. In 1890 O. B. Wilmarth became associated with the company, the growth of which is more fully set forth later on, as is the case in reference to the following named companies: In 1888 Clarke and John Hodges incorporated the Valley City Table Company, located at 53-55 Front street, near the Powers & HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 93 so Walker Casket Works. In 1892 the name was changed to Valley City Desk Company. In 1911 there was a reorganization and 0. S. C. Olsen, of Chicago, became president, Hans Clemetsen vice-president and general manager, and Addison S. Goodman sec- retary and treasurer, and since that time the business has been very prosperous. The great majority of the large and successful establishments which have given the city such an enviable name have been started in a small way and brought to large proportions by the forceful character of the men behind them. Of the many such, the National Brass Company is a splendid example. Starting in a little loft, with little capital, Lucien A. Dexter, who had traveled extensively for different hardware manufacturers and wholesalers, has built up a large business, manufacturing brass hardware, re- quiring extensive factory buildings and giving employment to many people. In 1892 John G. Carroll started the Grand Rapids Paint and Color Company with three employes. In 1894 the name was changed to Grand Rapids Paint & Wood Finishing Company, and in 1904 the present name was adopted. The extensive plant of the Robert W. Irwin Company, furniture manufacturers, is made up of the consolidation of several large plants as detailed elsewhere. The manufacture of veneers naturally is one of the large in- dustries of the city and there are several doing a large business. One of the largest is that of the Grand Rapids Veneer Works, located on Front avenue, which was the outgrowth of the determina- tion of several local furniture manufacturers to produce their own veneers. The Rice Veneer & Lumber Company, on Alabama street, are also extensive dealers. The Michigan Chair Company was started as a partnership by Thomas F. Garrett with Henry S. Jordan and Ed. Crawford, and was known first as the Grand Ledge Chair Company, and located at Grand Ledge. In 1892 the plant was removed to this city and reorganized as the Michigan Chair Company. The Century Furniture Company was organized as a partnership, in 1900, by David S. Brown and others, and in 1905 was incorporated as the Century Furniture Company. The Grand Rapids Brass Company was incorporated in 1888 and is today one of the city's most important industries, occupying large, handsome buildings on Front street. The Paal- man Furniture Company was started in 1916 by John H. Paalman and others, with four employes and at this time is doing a large and prosperous business. One of the oldest plants in the city is that of the Wagemaker Company, which was started about 1897 by Isaac Wagemaker, C. E. Mosher and Isaac Van Domelen, mak- ing office devices and supplies. The business was incorporated in 1912, with Mr. Wagemaker as president. Another important plant, although comparatively new, is that of the Grand Rapids Varnish Corporation, which was established in 1915. The number of plants 94 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY established prior to or during the Civil war and in existence today, in the city, is small and notably among them is the Leitelt Iron Works which was established in 1862 by Adolph Leitelt. This plant is identified with the growth of the city in more ways, probably, than any other. Some of the newer or more recently established plants are those of the Grand Rapids Belting Company, started in 1904 by A. F. Jack and Fred May; the Brower Furniture Company, in 1919; the Grand Rapids Fibre Cord Company, in 1916; and the Fleckenstein Invisable Gasometer Company. The establishment of Messrs. Jack and May has the reputation of turning out leather belting of very superior quality. The Brower plant was started in a very small way, by J. H. Brower, making hand-painted novel- ties and children's furniture. In 1919, Mr. Brower devoted his entire time to the manufacture of high-grade chairs and the plant is now one of the busiest in the city. The Grand Rapids Fibre Cord Company occupy a splendid new building on Myrtle street and the story of its inception and growth, as told elsewhere, is interesting The Fleckenstein Company is one of the city's new industries, an outgrowth of the demands made by the automobile. In 1917 the Hayes-Ionia people established their large plant in Grand Rapids for the manufacture of automobile bodies, employing about 3,000 men. From a small space in the top floor of the build- ing opposite Power's opera house, on Pearl street, to the large factory buildings of the Globe Knitting Works, is the story of the success of a man who came from Norway to America, determined to “get ahead” in the world. E. Albert Clements started his little knitting shop in 1897 and, at this time, is at the head of one of the largest plants of its kind in the country. One of the most important industries of the city was started in 1920. Few persons, other than those pioneers whose names are known from one end of the country to the other as leaders of that great department of the automobile industry, realize the tireless and heart-breaking experiments and the millions of dollars which have been expended to create the tire perfection of the present day. Great and little companies have come and gone. Only the fittest survive. Firms making mediocre tires, regardless of the millions behind them, crashed. Others, by virtue of the increased worth to the user, prospered. One of the most striking examples of growth resulting from proven quality is the history of the Corduroy Tire Company of Grand Rapids. In 1923 the company was compelled to greatly enlarge its plant and a new, up-to-date addition to the factory building was erected. This new addition enables the com- pany to turn out 1,500 tires per day. The first year of their oper- ations the company's business amounted to $1,000,000. There are over 1,600 stockholders, most of whom are Michigan citizens. L. A. Brown, for twelve years district manager of the western ter- ritory of the United States Tire Company, is a veteran tire engineer. In 1923 the company established general offices in De- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 95 ucts troit in order to be in closer touch with the automobile trade. The company employs several hundred employes in Grand Rapids as all the manufacturing is done at that point. Summary statistics of leading industries for the year 1924: No. Wage Value of Kind- No. Earners Wages Paid Products Artificial stone products........ 5 25 $ 23,000 $ 78,000 Beverages 6 20 32,000 148,000 Bread and other bakers' products 49 519 545,000 3,658,000 Coffins, burial cases, etc........ 5 73 85,000 553,000 Copper, tin, sheet iron work 7 71 121,000 461,889 Electrical machinery, etc...... 4 20 22,000 82,417 Flour mill and grain mill products 4 46 60,000 1,281,000 Foundry and machine shop products 34 998 1,442,000 4,444,000 Men's furnishing goods..... 3 136 70,000 510,000 Furniture 72 11,055 16,000,000 53,000,000 Hardware 11 1,020 1,500,000 4,725,000 Labels and tags 4 33 33,000 207,000 Lumber planing mill prod- 8 602 730,000 3,681,000 Marble, slate and stone work 5 18 33,000 142,000 Motor vehicle bodies and parts 13 1,421 2,430,800 8,707,000 Medicine and compounds....... 3 32 17,000 115,000 Photo engraving 5 31 48,000 170,000 Printing and publishing books and job 38 428 611,000 1,936,000 Shirts 4 30 30,000 211,500 Tobacco, cigars, cigarettes... 15 686 577,000 2,657,000 Wood, turned and carved...... 11 196 280,000 748,000 Printing and publishing newspapers and periodi- cals 16 400 565,000 3,654,000 All other industries .151 5,973 7,584,000 40,000,000 Total 473 23,833 $32,838,800 $131,169,806 It will be seen from the above that furniture leads in production with $53,000,000 to its credit; second is motor bodies and parts with $8,707,000; third, the manufacture of hardware with $4,725,- 000; fourth, foundry and machine shop production with $4,444,000; fifth, lumber production with $3,681,000; sixth, bread and bakery production, $3,658,000; seventh, printing and publishing newspa- pers and periodicals with $3,654,000; eighth, tobacco, cigars and cigarettes with $2,657,000; ninth, book and job printing and bind- ing, $1,936,000, and tenth, flour mill and grain mill production with $1,281,000. en ................ .... 96 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY No later statistics than the above have as yet been compiled but it is estimated that for 1925 the amount of wages paid will amount to approximately $54,000,000, according to the Association of Commerce, and that the number of wage earners in the industries engaged in manufacturing is 40,000. The large number of factories, with the variety of industry, has made Grand Rapids a manufactur- ing center of great importance and insures a permanent and steady growth for the city. COMMERCE There can be no harm done by accepting the story as a fact that the first merchant, or trader as he was called in the days preceding the first settlement of the village, was Joseph La Fram- boise. Richard Godfrey, an honored and respected citizen of the early days is good authority on which to make the statement. He had reason to believe, from information given him in 1834, that the Frenchman established a store or trading post at the foot of the rapids about 1806. This, if true, does not deprive Louis Cam- , , pau of the honor of being the first permanent settler of Grand Rapids. La Framboise, who was killed by an Indian, was an . agent of the American Fur Company in this part of the country and had many trading posts and commenced coming into the valley in 1796, trading with the Indians. These "stores” carried few articles of use to any one, consisting mainly of gaudy trinkets that would appeal to the ignorant native people and, it must be added, a goodly supply of whiskey or rum. Louis Campau came to the site of Grand Rapids in 1826 and opened his little store for trading with the Indians. He traded under a government license and for seven years had but little trade from white people as there were none. If he had any such trade at all during those seven years, it was from missionaries, land- lookers or hunters. The first permanent settlers came in 1833 and then for many years both red man and white traded over his counter. For many years the Campaus, Richard Godfrey and J. F. Chubb maintained trade with the settlers and the Indians. Mr. Chubb remained in the business and twenty years after open- ing his little stock of goods, which he had brought with him, opened another store for sale of farming implements and in 1854 became a manufacturer. Jefferson Morrison came in 1835 and opened a store in a building that faced Campau Square. He continued in business until his retirement in 1866. James and Dwight Lyman opened a store on Waterloo, now , Market, in 1835, in a building opposite the Eagle Hotel. Geo. C. Nelson bought the stock of goods the next year. The first drug store was opened by Wm. G. Henry in 1836. The first book store by John W. Pierce, the same year, at the corner of Bond and Crescent. In 1844 he removed to the west side of what is now Monroe avenue, at the corner of Erie, where he remained for thirty years in the mercantile business. In 1853 he built the . first brick store on old Canal street, for the front of which he wwwwwwwww RYERSON PUBLIC LIBRARY-GRAND RAPIDS A GRAND RAPIDS FURNITURE BUILDING HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 97 * * * bought Milwaukee cream colored brick, the first of its kind in the city. Quoting from the writings of Ernest B. Fisher: “A glance at the retail business of Grand Rapids in the spring of 1837 is interesting. At what is now called Campau Square, Antoine Cam- pau was selling tea, groceries, wines and liquors also pipes, tobaccos, cigars, oils, brushes, ‘mould and dip' candles, and other articles too numerous to mention.' Across the way from this store, where the Lovett building stands, was Orson Peck, wholesale and retail dealer in groceries. Next south of Antoine Campau's place was Jefferson Morrison, dealing in all sorts of goods marketable at that time. Down (what is now) Market street, opposite the Eagle Hotel, was James M. Nelson & Company, with dry goods, hardware and groceries, and on the next corner below, was the store of A. H. Smith & Company, stocked with clothing, dry goods, boots and hardware. Nearby, Toussant Campau had a similar store and Richard Godfrey another. Wm. G. Henry and N. H. Finney were at or near the place where the Morton house now is. Over in 'Kent,' as the north part of the hamlet was called, was the Kent book store at which was a mixed assortment -books, stationery, knives, pocket compasses, lucifer matches, snuff boxes, maps, razors, oysters, cigars, ready-made clothing, drugs and medicines, and boots and shoes. E. W. Emerson dealt in hardware, crockery and groceries on old Canal street opposite the ‘mammoth mill.' J. J. Hoag had a drug store near the corner of Bond (then Kent) and Crescent. There were several parties proffering bargains as real estate and insurance agents. Carral and Lyon were selling saws, chains, mill supplies, leather and lanterns.” This list he states as comprising about all the business in the retail line as it existed in 1837. During the first fifteen or sixteen years there was little attempt at classification even on the plan of the present day “department store” and the merchant who sold pork and pickles also sold silks and calicoes and the customary stock of the merchants of those days was a medley of all sorts. The drug stores were an exception to a great extent. Dr. Charles Shepard, probably the first to open a drug store, confined himself to a small stock of medicines and drugs, starting the store in 1835. Francis J. Higginson opened the next drug store and both stores were located on Monroe below Ottawa. Dr. Shepard later sold his store to Lemuel D. Putnam, who continued the business until 1887, when it was bought by F. J. Wurzburg. In 1845 Samuel R. Sanford had a drug store in Irving Hall. The West Drug store had its origin nearly seventy years ago, be- ing started by E. A. Trux, who was succeeded as proprietor by several others until in 1904, when it became one of the series of West's drug stores. During the twenty years from 1855 to 1875, many drug stores were started. Among others: C. H. Johnson, W. H. DeCamp, E. B. Escott, Charles N. Shepard, Lorenzo Buell, L. B. Brewer, S. R. Wooster, E. R. Wilson and John Harvey. Among the prom- 98 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY inent stores started after 1875 were those of William Thum and Sons, George G. Steketee, F. H. Escott, G. T. Haan, W. E. White, M. B. Kimm, J. D. Muir, W. H. Tibbs, Thomas M. and John E. Peck, Charles G. Perkins, Charles G. Hazeltine, and W. H. Leeuwen. In 1859 there were five drug stores in the city; in 1867, nine; in 1875, eighteen; in 1885, thirty-four; in 1890, five wholesale and fifty-seven retail; in 1900, three wholesale and seventy-five retail, and in 1925, three wholesale and ninety-eight retail stores. The next business to specialize was that of hardware. Wilder D. Foster had come to Grand Rapids in 1838 and soon after formed a partnership with E. G. Squire and opened a shop where they made tin and sheet iron ware, stovepipe, etc. This partnership con- tinued until 1841. In 1845 Foster formed a partnership with Thomas W. Perry as Foster & Perry. This firm was the pioneer of specialization in the hardware line. In 1848 they removed to near the junction of Canal and Mon- roe streets. This was, in part, where now stands the large hard- ware store of Foster, Stevens & Company. In 1855 Henry Martin bought Perry's interest. In 1856 the firm became Foster, Martin & Company. The firm of Foster, Stevens & Company was formed in 1873. The following hardware stores were started in the years men- tioned: Joseph Stanford, in 1845; Wm. H. McConnell, on the south side of Monroe, two doors above Market, in 1846; Goodrich & Gay, in 1858; Carpenter, Judd & Company, in 1873; Wm. S. Gunn and Sons also operated a store on Monroe street, with a wholesale house on Ionia. At later dates there were: John Whitworth & Company, West Bridge street; Maris, De Graaf & Company, on Monroe street; J. A. S. Verdier, Spring street; Wm. Miller, South Ionia; Frank Leitelt and F. A. Prindle, West Bridge street; Rickard Brothers, South Division; Barstow & Jennings, Michigan, and several others. According to a business and professional summary, published in 1850, there were at that time, mostly clustered on old Waterloo street with a few stores at and near the corner of Ottawa and Monroe, twenty dry goods, two hardware, two cloth- ing, four drug, two hat and cap, and two book stores; twelve grocery and provision stores, ten boot and shoe stores, eight public houses and eating places and two printing offices. In 1855 there were about sixty stores of various kinds besides thirty groceries. That year there were eight steamboats running in and out of the port of Grand Rapids. By this time the business was more of a classified nature. Many of the large stores of today had their beginning in the early days. Henry Spring formed a partnership with Amos Rathbone and David Burnett in 1854, the start of the Friedman-Spring Dry Goods Company. The book business of E. Higgins Company commenced in 1859 when Henry M. Hins- dill opened a book store on Monroe avenue. Among other early book sellers were: George P. Sexton, 1857; James D. Lyon, 1848; John W. Pierce, 1841; John Terhune, 1854; C. Morse, a little later. In 1874 George A. Hall opened a book store in the Arcade. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 99 a The business of the Herpolsheimer Company was commenced in Michigan City, Indiana, in 1865, when Wm. G. Herpolsheimer and C. G. A. Voigt formed a partnership for the sale of dry gooks. The firm established a branch store in Grand Rapids, in 1870, which later on became its main store. Later the partnership was dis- solved and the Herpolsheimers organized the Herpolsheimer Com- pany and occupied its new business house, on the corner of Market and Monroe, in 1904. The business of Paul Steketee & Sons was started in 1862. Doornink & Steketee were the partners, but the business was removed to Holland, Michigan, in 1872. The firm doing business in the city at this time was first organized in 1878. One of the oldest established stores in the city is that of Groskopf Brothers, on Monroe avenue. The story of the starting of this place of business is given on another page. It cannot be considered a reflection on the business men of the city by the insertion here of the experience of one of its busi- ness men of the early times. In 1849 Austin B. Biddle and his two sons, George and Austin, began the manufacture of candy in a small shop on the north side of Monroe, between Ottawa and Ionia. They eventually removed to a store room on the east side of old Canal street, between Lyon and Crescent, where they suc- ceeded in building up quite a large business, probably the largest, of its kind, in this part of the state. The Biddles left Grand Rapids in the seventies. The next heard of them, George Biddle was serv- ing a prison term in England on account of a five million dollar forgery on the Bank of England. In 1925, Grand Rapids has five department stores, fifty-eight clothing and men's furnishing goods stores, seventy-five dry goods, fancy goods and notions stores, two five and ten cent stores, thirty- six jewelry stores, six musical and musical instrument stores, thirty-six oils, paints and wallpaper stores, twenty-four opticians, eleven lumber yards, fifty-six coal and wood yards, one hundred and three candy and confectionery stores, one hundred and sixty- two meat dealers, thirty-two cigar stores, seventy-three bakeries, ninety-eight drug stores, twenty-five electric stores, sixteen florists, thirty-four furniture stores, sixty-one hardware, stove and cutlery stores, five wholesale hardware stores, ninety-nine dealers in au- tomobiles and accessories and fourteen banks. Grand Rapids has a very large distributing trade, being located two hundred miles from other cities of importance and is the natural distributing and retail center for a large area. The territory embracing central, western and northern Michigan has a population of more than 600,000 persons and recognizes Grand Rapids as its logical whole- sale distributing center. Five great railroads, three interurban lines, a number of automobile bus lines, and a great network of improved concrete roads connect Grand Rapids with the surround- ing territory and make it the natural and easy place in which to trade, as well as to facilitate prompt shipping. Fast freight service is obtainable from Chicago, Milwaukee and other large lake ports by direct connection with the lake boats of the interurban and 100 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY steam lines operating out of Grand Rapids. Closely connected with and of great importance to the commercial life of the city is the fact that Grand Rapids, with its ample hotel accommodations and meeting places, is steadily adding to its reputation as a convention center, and it is justly claimed to be the wholesale center, the shop- ping center, the industrial center of western Michigan and the furniture center of America. It is a fact that Grand Rapids never has had a bank failure and never has had an industrial panic. The war produced no millionaires; the aftermath produced no bread line, BANKING AND FINANCE In reviewing the manufacturing and commercial interests the financial institutions should not be overlooked. In the early days banks were not looked upon with much favor in the territory or for some time after Michigan became a state. Prior to 1837 there were sixteen banks doing a successful business throughout Michi- gan when the legislature enacted a law providing for the incorpora- tion of such institutions. The law provided that any number of men might associate together, subscribe for capital stock, and by filing articles of association with the county clerk, become incor- porated. A deposit must be made for the protection of patrons, specie being required by the original enabling act, but afterwards a statute was enacted permitting the deposit to be in the form of a bond secured by real estate. The result was that hundreds of banks were organized and nearly every little hamlet had its bank. Property of all kinds were quoted at greatly inflated prices, and unimproved lands, valued, for the purpose at three or four times its actual worth, became the security for the bonds permitted to be deposited upon organization of a bank. These banks were popu- larly known as “wild cat” banks and the old banks as “chartered” banks. Grand Rapids was the location of two of these “wild cat” banks, the first bank being the Grand River Bank and the second, the People's Bank. The first continued in business only a few years; the second never completed its organization. The law under which these "wild cat” banks were permitted to do business provided: It shall not be lawful for any such banking association to issue, or have outstanding or in circulation at any time, an amount of notes or bills loaned or put in circulation as money exceeding twice and a half the amount of its stock then paid in and actually possessed; nor shall its loans and discounts at any time exceed twice and a half the amount of its capital stock so paid in and possessed. The law also provided that a certain amount of specie must be kept in the vaults of the bank, but this provision was evaded. The same specie served for exhibition in many other banks when visited by bank commissioners. The bonds and mortgages which were deposited were upon city lots in the woods, or on real estate at fictitious values. These banks, over the state, put out a much larger circulation than the law allowed. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 101 The officers of the state strove honestly to do their duty and prevent such frauds but were powerless. There could be but one result and when this financial bubble burst the amount of notes of these banks, over the entire state, that were in circulation is said to have been about $300 for each man, woman and child in the state. The loss to the people of Michigan through these "wild cat” banks amounted to millions of dollars and there can be no great wonder that in those days banks were unpopular institutions. A A prominent banker of this city said recently: “Looking over the field now, it is hard to understand how men of ordinary wisdom and prudence were led into this wild scheme of universal banking. But they suffered intensely for it. Kent county, which was filling up with a stirring eastern population, received a check to her im- migration and to her commercial prosperity from which she did not soon recover. But the lesson was not lost on Michigan. Upon the ruins of that utterly prostrated credit she builded so wisely that now no state enjoys greater prosperity or has a more enviable reputation for financial soundness.” It was many years that Grand Rapids went through before any one had the courage to start another bank in the city. In 1851 a bank was put in operation by William J. Welles, in a building on the corner of Monroe and Ottawa. Of an entirely different character was this new venture and Mr. Welles continued in the business for about ten years, es- tablishing for himself an enviable reputation. Unfortunately he was caught in the storm which swept many financial concerns in 1861, owing to severe losses arising from the disturbed condition of affairs in connection with the breaking out of the Civil war and he was compelled to cease business. Mr. Welles soon paid all his creditors in full, thus sustaining his reputation for honesty he held among the citizens. The year following the opening of the bank by Mr. Welles, Daniel Ball & Company opened their banking business but, like Welles, were caught in the financial troubles of 1861 and compelled to go out of business. About 1860, W. B. Ledyard and M. V. Aldrich opened a discount and exchange office in the location first used by Mr. Wells. In the first year of this new firm Henry Fralick purchased the interest of Aldrich. In speaking of banks the affair of Revilo Wells is not considered as having to do with legitimate banking. Wells had opened an office about the year 1857, claiming to be a private banker, but his career as such was brief and not creditable to himself. In 1861 M. L. Sweet, who afterwards became president of the First National Bank, opened an office which Ball & Company had occupied a short time. In 1864 the First National Bank was or- ganized under the national banking laws by Martin L. Sweet, Lewis Porter, John Clancy, Nelson Burchard, Charles Kendall and other prominent men of the city, Mr. Welles becoming the president and Harvey J. Hollister the cashier. Its first capital was $50,000, , which was doubled in 1864 and increased to $150,000 the following year, and again in 1868, such was the growth of the business of this bank, the capital was increased to $200,000. In 1871 the capital 102 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY was increased to $400,000. Ten years later, the charter of the bank nearing its expiration, the stockholders determined to increase the number of directors and to reorganize the bank under the name of the Old National Bank of Grand Rapids, and to increase the capital stock to $800,000. During the existence of the bank under its original name Mr. Sweet remained the president with the ex- ception of a short period when Judge Withey served in that capacity. Mr. Hollister served the entire twenty years as cashier. On the reorganization Mr. Sweet was retained as president, Mr. Barnett remaining as vice-president and Mr. Hollister as cashier. Subsequently Mr. Barnett became president, Mr. Sweet retiring on account of age. Willard Barnhart succeeded Mr. Barnett as vice-president. In 1903 Mr. Hollister became also vice-president, provision having been made for two such officers. Clay H. Hol- lister became cashier. In 1868, E. P. and S. L. Fuller opened an office as private bank- ers on Monroe avenue, continuing the business until 1876, Graff & Dennis taking over the business that year. In 1879 the busi- ness of Graff & Dennis, together with the business of Randall & Darragh, were merged in the Farmers' & Mechanics' Bank. The firm of Randall & Darragh was formed in 1873 and operated as a private bank until merged as stated. In January, 1869, Holden & Bates opened, in connection with their insurance business, a savings department which afterwards became merged in the Grand Rapids Savings Bank In 1870 the citizens of the place were offered great inducements, in the way of large interest, to deposit their money with a new concern, that of D. L. Lataurette, who had opened a branch in this city, his main office being at Fentonville, this state. Financi- ally, this bank was a success, as far as the banker, himself, was concerned, but the depositors received only nominal dividends in the final settlement of its affairs. In 1865 the second bank to be organized as a national bank was established and did business under the name of City National Bank. Thomas D. Gilbert, as president, and J. Frederick Baars, as cashier, were the two principal officers at its beginning. Mr. Gilbert remained president during its entire existence, as did Mr. Baars as cashier. Although chartered in 1865, this bank had succeeded to the business of Ledyard & Fra- lick, so it may be said that the business had been in existence since 1860. In 1885, under its new charter, the name was changed to the National City Bank and the capital increased to $500,000, and the same president and cashier retained. In 1910 the National City Bank, which had been re-chartered in 1905, and the Grand Rapids National Bank were consolidated under the name of the Grand Rapids National City Bank, with a capital of $1,000,000 and a paid in surplus of $200,000, Dudley E. Waters becoming its president upon the death of James R. Wylie. The Grand Rapids National Bank commenced business in 1880, having bought out the banking business of M. V. Aldrich which that gentleman had started in 1871. C. H. Bennett was the first HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 103 1 president, T. C. Sherwood, cashier, and Freeman Godfrey, vice- president. The new bank began with a capital stock of $200,000, increased to $300,000 in 1882, and again, in 1885, to $500,000. Mr. Bennett died in 1881 and was succeeded by Edwin F. Uhl, who served as president until 1894 when he was succeeded by Enos Put- nam, who served until his death in 1898. Mr. Uhl, returning from abroad where he had been stationed as ambassador at Berlin, was then re-elected president of the bank and continued as such until his death in 1901, when Dudley E. Waters was chosen president to succeed Mr. Uhl. Mr. Waters held the position until the consoli- dation of the bank with the National City Bank and he is now the president of the consolidated bank. The Grand Rapids Savings Bank was organized in 1870 with a capital stock of $100,000. The interested men were: A. X. Cary, Wm. S. Gunn, H. M. Hinsdill, S. O. Kingsbury, E. S. Peirce, S. S. Bailey, Eben Smith, J. R. Stewart, S. M. Garfield, E. G. D. Holden and many others, those named being the trustees of the institution for the first year. Mr. Cary was chosen president, G. W. Allen, vice-president, and M. W. Bates, treasurer. In 1874, George R. Allen succeeded Mr. Bates as cashier and in 1879 D. B. Shedd be- came the cashier. The later was succeeded, in 1885, by F. A. Hall and he in turn succeeded by F. S. Coleman, in 1907. Those succeeding Mr. Cary as president, were: G. W. Allen, Isaac Phelps, James D. Robinson, J. M. Stanley, C. W. Garfield, and in 1915 the officers were: Wm. Alden Smith, president; C. W. Gar- field, chairman of the board, and Frank S. Coleman, vice-president and cashier. In 1917 the bank purchased the Michigan Exchange Bank and G. L. Daane, who had been the manager of that bank, became a vice- president in the Grand Rapids Savings Bank. In 1917 the bank oc- cupied its new building on the corner of Ionia and Monroe, one of the finest buildings in the city. The following year Mr. Cole- man resigned as cashier and Mr. Daane was made vice-president and cashier in his stead. In 1919 Mr. Coleman resigned as a vice- president. At this date, 1925, the officers are: Wm. Alden Smith, chairman of the board; Chas. W. Garfield, chairman of the executive committee; Gilbert L. Daane, president; A. M. Goodwin, E. D. Albertson, and E. C. Johnson, vice-presidents. In 1924 the South Grand Rapids State Bank was purchased and made a branch of this institution. The bank has five branches and the amount of business this institution does and its importance to the city of Grand Rapids is indicated by the amount of its assets at this time, over $22,000,000. In 1879 the Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank was organized with a capital stock of $100,000 and continued until 1882, when a reor- ganization was effected under the name of the Fourth National Bank, in which year the National Bank was chartered. In 1882 the capital was increased to $300,000 and the circulation to $100,000. A. J. Browne became president in 1884 and H. P. Baker, cashier, who resigned that position four years later when H. W. Nash suc- 104 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY ceeded him. At the same time D. A. Blodgett became vice-presi- dent, and upon the death of Mr. Browne was made president, and William H. Anderson, cashier. In 1898 Mr. Blodgett retired and Mr. Anderson succeeded to the position as president, with J. A. Seymour as cashier. The business of the bank has steadily grown. The Fifth National Bank was organized in 1886 with offices on West Bridge street. In 1902 the offices of the bank were re- moved to the east side on the corner of old Canal and Erie. In 1908 this bank was merged with the Commercial Savings Bank. The Michigan Trust Company was organized in 1889. Its capital stock has grown from $200,000 in 1918, to $1,000,000 in 1925, and its assets are over $3,000,000. The present officers are: Frederick W. Stevens, president; Henry Idema, F. A. Gorham, J. H. Schouten and N. L. Avery, vice-presidents; Arthur C. Sharpe, treasurer, and Guy C. Lillie, secretary. * In 1893 the Peninsular Trust Company was organized, but in 1900 was absorbed by the Michigan Trust Company. In 1903 the Commercial Savings Bank was organized and in 1908 was merged with the Fifth National under the name of the Commercial Savings Bank of Grand Rapids. In 1918 the officers Wm. H. Anderson, president, and C. L. Ross, cashier. The State Bank of Michigan was organized in 1892 and merged with the Kent Savings Bank into the Kent State Bank, in 1908. 'The South Grand Rapids State Bank was organized in 1906 and in 1924 was purchased by the Grand Rapids Savings Bank. The Grand Rapids Clearing House Association was organized in 1885, the very nature of its functions adding greatly to the financial strength of the banks interested and increasing the friendly feel- ing among the officers of those banks. It has done these things by providing safeguards which might be used in times of financial distress which could be handled in no other way, and by giving opportunities for frequent discussions on matters of interest to its members. The officers of the Association at this time are: George H. MacKenzie, president; G. L. Daane, vice-president; N. L. Avery, secretary, and A. D. Cummins, treasurer. The Industrial Bank is the outgrowth of a banking business begun in 1918, and promoted by Carroll F. Sweet, president; Adolph Brandt, vice-president; Henry J. Bennett, vice-president, and John E. Frey, secretary and treasurer, with offices at 68 Monroe. In 1924 Mr. Sweet resigned as president and upon the reorganiza- tion Mr. Frey was made president, Mr. Bennett remaining as vice- president, and Rudolph Bremer was made secretary and treasurer and the institution took the name by which it is now known. In September, 1923, the bank removed to its present commodious banking building at the corner of Ottawa and Fountain. The Kent County Savings Bank was organized in 1884 with a capital of $50,000 and was opened for business the following year. The board of directors at the time consisted of: A. J. Bowne, A. B. Watson, Joseph Heald, D. A. Blodgett, J. C. Bonnell, John A. Covode, James Blair, E. Crofton Fox, and Thomas J. O'Brien. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 105 Mr. Heald became president on the organization of the bank and J. A. S. Verdier, cashier. In 1891 Henry Idema was made presi- dent. In 1908 the bank was reorganized and changed the name to the Kent State Bank. Mr. Idema is still president. In 1919 A. W. Hompe succeeded Mr. Covode, deceased, as vice-president. In 1925 E. D. Conger became cashier. STATISTICS SHOWING THE COMMERCIAL GROWTH OF GRAND RAPIDS In 1900 the assessed valuation was $43,264,000 and in 1924 was five times as large, that is, $231,273,164. In 1900 the building permits amounted to $735,951, and in 1924 totaled $9,536,200, a total only exceeded in 1922, when the building permits amounted to $11,165,077 and in 1923, when they amounted to $10,204,795. The postoffice receipts in the year 1900 were $232,952 and in 1924 were $1,358,065, showing an increase practically proportionate with the increase in the assessed valuation of property of the city. Total Bank Deposits Total Total Bank Loans & Resources & Discounts Liabilities Total Bank Clearings Year 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 .... 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 $13,137,813 $10,179,258 $17,884,695 $ 62,712,673 14,565,647 10,804,420 21,293,752 69,768,292 18,465,125 13,594,610 24,901,426 83,004,538 20,712,079 14,822,866 26,815,878 97,704,458 20,954,414 15,548,834 28,216,035 101,037,199 21,415,024 15,868,050 29,443,880 108,755,281 23,430,566 17,285,829 32,067,839 117,310,240 25,147,615 18,508,940 31,744,612 121,943,337 25,024,049 17,473,739 31,602,612 105,268,273 25,665,803 16,124,205 33,622,287 123,782,904 27,906,387 18,537,703 35,422,959 137,738,064 30,033,697 19,048,535 37,165,488 139,176,460 31,386,456 20,166,717 40,108,504 166,987,574 33,953,288 22,396,205 41,748,744 170,674,607 34,281,682 22,052,290 44,498,530 168,038,735 34,672,217 21,660,961 43,030,694 175,419,458 38,468,270 23,198,316 47,191,209 227,507,740 44,881,262 27,368,318 54,361,362 248,060,728 46,881,874 29,737,386 65,258,546 265,910,976 45,645,644 27,231,588 66,251,736 290,330,182 53,349,403 33,695,993 70,871,318 352,898,673 53,562,482 36,577,770 72,597,839 294,855,236 56,378,512 34,394,859 74,599,151 316,745,254 63,671,929 36,276,643 82,486,724 344,740,022 67,517,570 36,471,156 86,383,867 363,187,176 106 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS Total Membership Borrowing Members Paid in Capital Stock and Surplus .......................................................... ........ .......... .......... ........ 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1915 1917 1920 1922 1923 2,310 2,281 2,754 3,064 3,380 3,622 4,041 4,192 4,506 5,042 5,873 6,587 7,433 8,804 10,132 12,585 664 695 868 1,031 1,112 1,244 1,342 1,381 1,475 1,809 2,157 2,379 2,655 3,301 3,849 .... 864,618 830,551 917,067 1,058,552 1,224,631 1,224,631 1,531,547 1,762,636 1,925,541 2,213,919 2,583,196 3,047,188 3,604,100 4,867,981 5,997,511 7,794,493 9,423,584 11,629,962 ......... ............ ......... ............ .............. ......... ........... ........ ......... ............ 1921......... BANKS' AND TRUST COMPANIES' CAPITAL STOCK AND SURPLUS 1900..........$3,514,000 1909.........$4,863,000 1917.....$ 7,355,000 1901.......... 3,560,000 1910.......... 5,049,500 1918.......... 7,265,000 1902.......... 3,585,000 1911.......... 5,158,500 1919........ 7,375,000 1903......... 3,657,000 1912.......... 5,392,000 1920......... 7,575,000 1904.......... 3,974,000 1913.......... 5,770,000 7,736,500 1905.......... 4,010,000 1914.......... 6,323,700 1922.......... 8,487,000 1906.......... 4,585,000 1915......... 6,547,000 1923.......... 10,191,158 1907.......... 4,765,000 1916......... 6,685,000 1924.......... 10,577,470 1908......... 4,679,500 In reviewing the forty years between 1883 and 1923, one of our prominent bankers, said: "The city's population in 1883 was about forty thousand, we have nearly four times that now. Our streets are busier now than they were then; we have brick pavements in the business district instead of cedar block or cobble stone; the old board walks are gone; we have electric cars, boulevard lights, automo- biles and motor trucks. The hack, the omnibus and the dray have disappeared; the farm wagon is not often seen; the horse is be- coming a curiosity. “The telephone, a two-year-old novelty forty years ago, is now in every office and nearly every home. “Modern ways are not the ways we knew and if we could see the Grand Rapids of 1923 with the eyes of 1883 we would feel ourselves strangers in a strange town. With a four-way view from Campau Square, then as now the 'hub,' we would see many breaks HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 107 in the sky line; we would see the Grand Rapids National Bank, the Herpolsheimer, the Steketee, the Morton House, the Grand Rapids Savings Bank, the Gilbert and Press buildings in one di- rection, and, instead of the old Rathbun House, would be the first skyscraper, which Widdicomb built. To the north, would be the Pantlind, the Goodspeed, the Commercial Savings Bank, the Wursburg, the Hermitage and the Rowe buildings. Up Pearl street are the Michigan Trust, the Klingman and the Houseman buildings and looking the other way, is the new Pearl street bridge. “But with all these modern constructions, what a wealth of landmarks remain to guide the old timer on his way! From the Tower block to the Porter building, to St. Mary's church, to the Berkey and Gay building and to the Brush factory there are many buildings to remind us of forty years ago, to remind us, too, that Grand Rapids is thrifty and that it does not tear down and throw away until the need of it appears. "In the factory districts, looking through the eyes of 1883, we might have our troubles. The river front, then as now, had its lining of factories, but instead of one or two or three factories each, in the Widdicomb, the Phoenix, and the Fuller Station districts, we now have them in bunches. The Godfrey avenue, the Macey, the Oakdale Park and the Clyde Park districts are new develop- ments. We have a dozen factories now where we had one forty years ago and they are bigger and better factories, better built, better lighted, better arranged. “Factory landmarks are still to be found but it is to the new constructions that we point with pride when strangers are among us. “The industrial fathers, the Berkeys, the Widdicombs, Con- verses, Nelsons, Gays and others, did the best they knew how with the light they then had. From them, those who came after learned to do better. “We would need a guide to explore the residence districts, landmarks are not wanting, but the glory has departed from Jef- ferson street. We must go half way to the far end of Reed's lake before seeing ‘country' which used to begin a little beyond Eastern avenue. South of Wealthy, instead of wide reaches of acreage, as we remember it, there are now more homes than there were in all Grand Rapids forty years ago. In 1883 we had four newspapers, The Eagle, The Democrat, The Times and The Leader. They are all gone and now we have the Press and the Herald. With all honor to the old editors, with improved equipment and better facilities what we lack now in quantity may be made up in quality. In 1883 we had five banks with a total capital of $1,250,000. The banks in 1891 had surplus and undivided profits equivalent to about twenty-five per cent of their capital. Today, 1923, they have $4,128,550 or six per cent more than one hundred per cent of their capital. “In the past no organized bank in Grand Rapids has failed. The banks are stronger today than ever before. 108 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY to us. “Since 1891 the city's population has increased about three-fold, while the wealth of the citizens has increased six to ten fold as shown by bank figures. In 1891 our savings and certificates rep- resented about $75 per capita; now they are about $240. This remarkable showing is not a matter of accident or chance. It is the direct result of the solid foundation laid by the business men, the manufacturers and the bankers of other days and to the les- sons of thrift, industry and right principles which they inculcated. Grand Rapids of today, with its landmarks, would not be strange To the familiar buildings would be added names over the doors that we would remember: Herpolshiemer, Steketee, Herki- mer, Peck, Houseman, Winegar, Hymen, Springe, Schneider, May, Rindge, Krekel, Weatherly, Voigt, Kutsche, Wurzburg, Preusser, Widdicomb, Benjamin and others we would recognize, but we would not pass through the open door to greet old friends. It would be sons and grandsons and strangers. Instead we will drop in on Sydney and Wilder Stevens, old timers like ourselves, and from there we will telephone for the Leonards, Julius A. J. Frederick, Dana B. Shedd, Christian Bertsch, Frederick W. Wurzburg, , Charles R. Sligh, Arthur S. White, George C. Whitworth, Alex- ander Dodds, Francis Letellier, Mrs. M. R. Bissell, Dick Blumrich, Charles E. Belknap, William R. Shelby, William H. Jones and we will call them in and we will have one grand talk together of old 1883 and I think, before we part, we will adopt resolutions that the generation of 1883 was altogether the finest and the best the sun ever shone on, with the single exception of the generation that has come after it. “Growth and development of a city like Grand Rapids, comes so gradually—almost stealthily—that those who have resided in it continuously for a considerable period of time, scarcely take note of them. Retrospectively, however, they seem almost phenominal. “Notwithstanding the enviable history of our city, in its growth and development—a history without a boom, without a slump—to one who has seen it as the writer has seen it, who has seen tumble- down frame shacks on Monroe avenue replaced by modern office buildings of huge proportions; who has seen the ordinary graveled thoroughfares, then prevalent in our downtown business sections, and mud streets in our best residential districts, give way to miles and miles of permanent pavements and who has seen the often almost impassable country roads, converging to this common center, transformed into paved highways, like hoary threads lead- ing from every village and hamlet, at an expense that then would have been considered prohibitive (even at a much lower cost than now), for property on Monroe avenue worth a thousand a foot, I say, to him looking backward, it is little less than phe- nominal. “Skyscrapers pierce the heavens where stood store buildings that now would disgrace a country village. Business has pushed its way far out along the main arteries leading into the country. Tall chimneys, like cannons, vomiting black smoke against the to pay, HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 109 sky, tell of thousands employed below. Banks are exchanging their millions instead of the then thousands. Great community centers of education have been built in the most modern fashion. Hotels that were, with one or two exceptions, a little more than boarding houses, have been succeeded by commodious hosteleries the envy of cities of larger pretentions. The small mercantile establish- ments have expanded into large department stores. Parks and playgrounds make dots of green upon the map within short walks of every home. Farm lands have been converted into residential sections—some into the finest in the city—and are covered with beautiful homes for which the city is famous. “Thirty-six years ago $1,000 per foot for Monroe avenue property was the record price, recently approximately $10,000 per front foot was paid for property almost directly across the street from the property above alluded to. In connection with a sale that was recently made at approximately $6,000 per front foot, an up-to-date realtor but a few years ago, refused, on the ground that the price was too high, to list the same at $2,400 per foot. “Eastern avenue and Cherry street was about the limit in distance in that direction to which residents, either buyers or rent- ers, would go; while Hall street and Division avenue were 'in the country.' Oakdale Park was a barren waste and Ottawa Hills- perhaps the most recent and most popular high grade development -a sand plot. Where golf was played, near Blodgett Hospital, where land was considered too cheap and too far out for platting, now ordinary lots are bringing $5,000. “A large portion of the west side, south of Bridge street, was an undrained, uninhabitable swamp but now is covered with splen- did workingmen's homes. "To the man who has not seen Grand Rapids for forty years there appears everywhere a metamorphosis, to residents of sixty years ago it has been a great surprise. “This final statement could not be better verified than by relat- ing a conversation between the writer and a prominent member of the Kent county bar, at a banquet about twenty-five years ago. The attorney, in a reminiscent mood, told of having hunted on Paris avenue near Wealthy, in a dense forest and of having shot ducks in a marsh near the union station. In answer to the question, 'Why didn't you invest in real estate and become a millionaire?' he said, 'Because, in common with a lot of other old residents, among them Thomas D. Gilbert, I never have seen the time, from my earliest settlement in Grand Rapids, that I did not think it had reached its limit in growth'.” CHAPTER V EDUCATION L This was IKE the majority of the pioneers who settled and built up the great western country, the settlers at Grand Rapids and vicinity took steps toward establishing places of learning for their children, in fact gathering together the boys and girls and placing them under teachers before school houses could be provided. Temporary rooms were secured in unfinished and crude dwellings. In such a place a school was started in Grand Rapids in 1835 in a building on old Waterloo street. Prior to this time the few white families located here might avail themselves of the privileges of the mission school on the west side which had been established for the education of the Indians. Particularly energetic along educational lines were the white settlers near Reed's lake, and it is at this point that the first building was erected for the exclusive use of teaching the children of the settlers. This school was started in the winter of 1834. In 1835 a young lady by the name of Day, who had been connected with the Baptist mis- sion across the river, opened a school in the second story of an un- completed dwelling where she taught for about three months. In 1836, the population of the village having greatly increased, another school was opened in a barn near where the Morton House stands. taught by Sophia Page who afterwards became the wife of Judge Daniel Bacon, of Monroe. Another was started by Mary Hinsdill for girls and run during the winter of 1836-37; another by a young man from New York state, Daniel Smith, who taught a school for boys. Both these classes occupied rooms in the Hinsdill Hotel, one on the upper floor and the other on the lower. As there was, at this time, no provision made for raising funds for the maintenance of public, or free schools, the patrons of these teachers raised the necessary funds by means of subscriptions. It is true that the Territorial legislature had provided that funds derived from the sale of certain public lands should be used in maintaining public schools, but the amount derived from such source was so small, on account of the low price of the land at that time, that little, or no benefit resulted therefrom. The average settler avoided anything that tended to raise the amount of taxes he might be compelled to pay and the schools were left for some time to the mercy of those willing to contribute for their support. However, in the latter part of 1837, the school district in which the village was located, had sufficient funds to justify the employment of a teacher and Celestia Hinsdill was employed to teach the first term of the district school in a dwelling house on “Prospect Hill." In 1839 a school house was built, on Fulton street, nearly opposite Jefferson, a small frame HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 111 structure, in which J. B. Galusha, Warren and O. R. Weatherly, Elijah Marsh and T. B. Cuming successively taught until the building was burned in 1849. For several years, or until 1848, the one district served the pur- poses of the village, but in that year it was determined to divide it and form two districts, which was done; the southern half forming District No. 1 and the northern portion the Coldbrook district. It was also decided, after much discussion, to build another school house and the old stone building was put up. This building is more fully described in another chapter. At the annual school meeting, held in 1848, the district was organized under the union school system, making it neces- sary to elect four additional trustees, and the following board was chosen: Moderator, Thomas Sinclair; director, H. K. Rose; assessor, : Michael Connolly; trustees, W. G. Henry, John Ball, Z. G. Winsor and T. H. Lyon. The first term of school, under this system, was begun in the new school house November, 1849, under the principalship of E. N. Johnson, with assistant teachers as follows: Miss Hollister, Elizabeth White, Elmira Hinsdill and Thirza Moore. Mr. Johnson was succeeded in 1850 by the Rev. James Ballard, who held the position for three years. He was followed by E. W. Chesebro, who served until 1857, when he was succeeded by E. Danforth. In 1859 it was de- cided to grade the schools and establish a high school, which was done under the direction of Mr. Danforth. In 1860 T. D. Gilbert left, in trust, the sum of two thousand dollars, the income from which he directed to be distributed among the boys and girls who had acquitted themselves most creditably during the year in the schools. However, the fund was afterwards diverted to another purpose, it being decided, with the concurrence of the donor, that the income be used in the pur- chasing of reference books and scientific apparatus for the schools. This is the fund since known as the Gilbert trust fund. In 1861 E. A. Strong succeeded Professor Danforth, and continued as superintendent until 1870. In that year he resigned to accept a position at the State Normal at Oswego, New York, but soon returned to this city and, as a principal connected with the high school, remained until 1885. Thus far the schools discussed have been those that were established on the east side of the river. The first school for white children on the west side of the river was taught by Miss Bond, one of the teachers in the Slater mission schools. In a log school house, not far from the bank of the river and a little south of Bridge street, Miss Bond taught some twenty-three or twenty-four children. Miss Green taught in the same building during the summers of 1839 and 1840. This log school house served the interests of District No. 2 for a number of years or until a small frame building was erected a little south of Bridge and east of what is now Scribner avenue. Later a large, one-story frame build- ing was erected on First street, on the site of St. Mary's Catholic Church and in this school M. S. Littlefield taught for several years. In 1853 this district adopted the union school organization and the Rev. James Ballard was chosen the first principal of the newly organized school. A new union school house was erected in 1854 by Ebenezar Anderson, at the corner of Turner and West Broadway to replace the a 112 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY small frame building on Bridge street. Two other school buildings had been erected, one on Turner street and one on Jefferson prior to the union of the school districts of the city in 1871. W. F. Kent succeeded the Rev. Ballard as principal of school district No. 2 and during the time he was principal the district took advantage of the act of the legis- lature, passed in 1859, and graded the schools and started a high school, in which algebra, geometry and other higher branches were taught. When the schools were consolidated Prof. Stewart Montgomery was at the head of the schools. District No. 6, or the Coldbrook district, as it was called, included all that part of the city which is north of the line midway between Newberry and Mason streets and east of Grand River, extending one and a half miles north of the city limits. Prof. Franklin Everett taught this district during the winter of 1852 and 1853, and a Miss French taught the following summer. A new building was erected in 1859 on the present site of the school house on Leonard street and the district continued to enjoy the advantages of the old union school organization for several years until, in 1867, it was resolved to grade the schools and elect a board of six trustees, according to the laws of 1859. Among the early teachers in this district were, A. J. Tucker and Maria Jipsom, who taught in 1861 and 1862, and C. W. Borst, who served as principal from 1862 to 1864. Other teachers, before the union of the districts, were Mr. and Mrs. G. H. Bell, Adelaide Tucker and A. Carrier. In 1871, by an act of the state legislature, the city of Grand Rapids and "all contiguous territory which shall be hereafter added thereto, shall constitute one school district and all public schools therein shall be under the direction and control of the board of education hereinafter provided for, and shall be free to all residents of said district over the age of five years." In accordance with this law, district No. 2, or the west side district, district No. 6, or the Coldbrook district, and district No. 1, were united and the first board of education of the city of Grand Rapids was organized from the trustees of these three districts. Anson J. Daniels became superintendent of the consolidated districts in 1871, served until 1885 and was succeeded by I. N. Mitchell. In 1883 the legislature passed an act providing for the establishment of truancy schools for pupils between the ages of seven and sixteen years, as there were so many complaints that large numbers of children were not in school who should be, and in 1884 an ungraded truant school was es- tablished in Grand Rapids in accordance with the law and opened with eight pupils in attendance, but increased soon to thirty. In 1885 the Grand Rapids schools were represented at the International Exposi- tion at New Orleans by work of each grade in each subject and a diploma of honor was awarded for the exhibit. The first evening schools were opened in the fall of 1872 and have been maintained since that time. These schools have been well attended, a large proportion of the pupils being Hollanders who wished to learn the English language. F. M. Kendall served as superintendent from 1887 to 1890 and his successors have been as follows: W. W. Chalmers, from 1891 to 2 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 113 1898; F. R. Hathaway, 1898 to 1900; W. H. Elson, 1901 to 1906; W. A. Greeson, 1906 to In 1871, by an act of the state legislature, the establishment of a central high school was made possible and the board was given power to erect the necessary buildings and employ teachers, etc., and the school was opened in the first district school building at the corner of Lyon street and Barclay avenue. In 1892 a building, afterwards used by the junior high school, was erected and the school moved to that place. In 1909 was begun the erection of the fine building on the north side of Fountain street near Prospect avenue, which cost over $400,000, and occupied in 1911. In response to the demand, in 1910, an addition was built to the Union school building on the west side at the corner of Turner and Fourth streets and now known as the Union high school. In 1914 a fine building was erected on the south side of Hall street between Salem and Jefferson avenues, designated as the South high school. In the same year the board of education recommended the estab- lishment of a junior college, and in September the college was opened with forty-nine pupils taking a one-year course. This one-year course was in the nature of an experiment and later on it was changed to a two-year course. It has been demonstrated beyond a doubt that the junior college has come to stay and that it is a valuable acquisition to our educational system. It is at the present time located in the Central high school building. It furnishes the opportunity for many to obtain a college education who would not get one if they had to take a full four-year course away from home. On June 14, 1918, the first graduating exercises of the junior college were held in the auditorium of the Central high school building. The formalities of the traditional college graduation were carried out and twenty-five men and women received the "associate” title. In the school year of 1922-23 there were 439 students enrolled and up to that time not a single student, who had gone from the Grand Rapids junior college to other colleges or uni- versities, had ever failed in a single subject, a most remarkable record. In his annual report of June 30, 1909, the president of the board recommended that the superintendent of the schools investigate the work being done in other cities along the lines of part-time or voca- tional schools. He felt that Grand Rapids needed school facilities to give the opportunity to those not able to attend the regular courses to receive instruction in a manner that would meet the occasion. several years before very much developed and it was not until about 1918 that money was put into the budget for the purpose of securing a man and woman versed in vocational training and education. It was then recommended that they be engaged to come to Grand Rapids at once and study conditions and make recommendations to the board of educa- tion needed in Grand Rapids. George B. Frazee and Elizabeth Bur- bank were secured to launch the work in this city. They made it their business to visit the factories, the employment clubs, social organiza- tions and the different literary societies of the city, and also the retail merchants, to put before them the subject of vocational education, and they found that the community was ripe for such a department to be It was 114 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY added to the public schools. They succeeded in having committees ap- pointed to represent these various organizations, and, at an organization meeting the board of education was urged to go ahead with a program of vocational education. Money was put into the budget for securing buildings, purchasing equipment and the engaging of teachers to put in force the program of vocational training. This vocational education was to be conducted under the national law known as the Smith-Hughes law, and the state law known as the James law. The James law com- pelled the board of education to establish a part-time continuation school for all boys and girls between the ages of fourteen and eighteen years of age who left the regular schools to engage in employment or to stay at home to help their parents. The board of education was enabled to purchase from the United States government considerable equipment for the machine shop and wood working departments of the vocational school through an act of the federal government allowing schools to purchase equipment on a basis of 15 per cent of the cost to the govern- ment. In this way the city secured about $40,000 worth of equipment at comparatively small expenditure. In the following summer the fol- lowing property was purchased on Bostwick avenue, between Fountain and Lyon streets: The first piece obtained was known as the Hall property, consisting of 50 feet frontage running through from Bostwick to an alley; the second was the property known as the Gentz property, consisting of 54 feet frontage running through from Bostwick to the alley; the third was known as the Davidson property, consisting of 50 feet frontage and running through from Bostwick to the alley. The buildings that were on the several pieces of acquired property were remodeled to be used as a cabinet shop, automobile garage, machine shop and class rooms. In a very short time the school had over six hundred part-time students and about fifty all day students, with six- teen teachers in addition to the two principals. Later on new and up- to-date buildings were erected giving to the city one of the best equipped schools of the kind in the country. The vocational school is used as a center for the training of the foreman employed by the different industries in the city. The school is also used as the headquarters for the teachers' training course con- ducted by the University of Michigan for the training of vocational teachers. Classes were formed in the following vocations : Machine shop, mechanical drawing, home training, rod making, sheet metal draft- ing, home nursing, blue print reading, electrical construction, chemistry for metal platers, trade sewing and office training. The school has filled a long felt need in the educational system of Grand Rapids. Attention is not now being confined to the favored youth who goes through the high school and then on to college. The young men and women who leave the schools and go to work at an early age find in this school the opportunity to prepare themselves for their life's work, whatever that life may be. In 1883, as stated before, the city had established what was known as a “truant school," complying with the requirements of an act of the legislature. In 1918 the board of education decided to drop the name of "truant school” and in doing so adopted the name of “The South HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 115 Ionia Industrial School for Boys.” It is organized, equipped and con- ducted for the purpose of giving the boys transferred to this school the opportunity to obtain a good, sound, fundamental education that will equip them for life's duties and to make it possible for them to be- come good, self-supporting, self-respecting citizens. The problem of caring for truant and incorrigible boys and girls is one of the most dif- ficult ones in education. Along the same line the girls have a school now known as the Ransome School for Girls. The city is now splendidly equipped, as a rule, with fine, modern school buildings. The new Walker school building was the first one- story type building to be erected by the board. The building measures approximately 132x147 feet, and is designed to meet the demand for a one-story, open window type of building in Grand Rapids. The build- ing and mechanical equipment are designed on the basis of trying out a complete building as an open air school. Having in mind the severity of our climate during the winter months it was deemed advisable to so plan the heating and ventilating of this building that in the event that the fresh air idea did not prove successful for an entire building in this locality the ventilating apparatus could be readily installed at the slight expense of providing the blower fan and tempering coils. Any class room in the building may be used as an open or closed window room, heated or ventilated. For years the development of the schools of the city had been restricted by the lack of funds to keep pace with the rapidly growing population of Grand Rapids. This condition was relieved, to a great extent, when, in 1921, the legislature amended section 16 of Act No. 141 of the Public Acts of 1917, which raised the maximum amount which could be levied in any one year for general school purposes, from six to nine mills on the dollar, and for purchasing school lots, erecting school buildings and equipping the same, and paying school bonds and interest thereon, from four to six mills on the dollar. Section 17 of the same act was amended by raising the maximum rate of interest at which school bonds could be issued, from 5 to 6 per cent. These amendments made it possible for the school board to meet the increase in the teachers salaries and to proceed with their building plans. In 1920-21 the new Dickerson school building was completed and additions made to the Diamond, Finney and Widdicomb school buildings. In 1922 the new Lafayette school building was ready for use and a short description of this building will suffice to illustrate the class of buildings erected by the board in different parts of the city. Among the special features of the building are the following: (1) a combined social center and gymnasium, located on the ground floor with a built-in stage and projection booth for motion pictures. This room has a width of 33 feet, is 62 feet in length and seats 400 people. In order to provide ample height for gymnasium purposes the floor is depressed three feet below the general grade floor level and so arranged in reference to the Cass avenue entrances that this portion of the build- ing can be used evenings without throwing open the remainder of the building. (2) A branch library with separate toilet and librarian's quarters. (3) A manual training shop for boys, equipped with tool 116 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY room, lumber rack, sliding blackboard, wash facilities and electric con- nection for power. (4) For girls, a domestic art room equipped with cooking facilities. (5) A visiting nurses' room with well appointed bath, lavatory and hot plate connections. (6) A partial-sight depart- ment especially arranged and equipped for the instruction of pupils having impaired vision. (7) An art room with commodious work room and store room adjoining, equipped with work sink, sliding black- board, built-in student's case for the storage of drawing boards and paint boxes and cork exhibition board. (8) A teachers' rest room with toilet and lavatory, utensil closet, sink and hot plate, all conveniently ar- ranged for the accommodation of the teaching staff. (9) A princi- pal's office. (10) The kindergarten department occupies a commodious space on the first floor, well appointed with a large combination ward- robe and work room, toilet facilities and storage closets. In 1918 the new Fountain school had been completed and in 1923 the Creston junior high school building, the new Stocking building, the first section of the Vocational school building, the South high gymnasium and ad- ditions to the Buchanan and Jefferson schools had been completed. Ad- ditions to the South high, Union high, Strong junior high were com- pleted soon after. Grand Rapids with its finely equipped buildings and efficient staff of instructors is enabled to give to the young every opportunity for learning in the regular courses and has, in addition, facilities for taking care of special conditions. One of the most laudable is that of the “sight preserving classes." This is a new and very neces- sary work introduced into the schools of Grand Rapids in 1918. This kind of school is designed, equipped and taught to carry out the provis- ions indicated in the title—sight conservation The eyesight of probably 50 per cent of the children is so defective that they cannot, with safety, attend the regular school, read the usual type and do the usual things that can be done by children having good eyesight. The problem is to conserve the eyesight and yet give the children an education. The first room of this kind was started in the new Fountain building. Since 1910, when the supervisor of special classes began the mental testing in this city, the problem of the partial-sighted child, whose vision could not be corrected sufficiently to enable him to keep step with his fellows, confronted her. Frequently the teachers considered the child mentally defective and, until such a child has an opportunity to be tried out, diagnosis of his mental condition is impossible. Such opportunity was given the twelve children enrolled in the conservation of vision class taught by Miss Stella Stillson during the year of 1918-19 at the Fountain school building. The case of one pupil is of interest and demonstrates the utility of the school. She was born blind. The cause of her blind- ness was cataract. The parents supposed that she would never see and she did not until she was seven years old. An operation was performed which gave her sufficient sight so that she could be put in a class. She immediately showed wonderful improvement in every way and, while her eyesight remained very defective, she can read the books that are clear type and can do many things. Life for her has wonderful oppor- tunities of enjoyment and she is happy, contented and ambitious to learn. The oral school for the deaf and hard of hearing is conducted on the HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 117 most approved and modern plan and has been remarkably successful. Among the special activities are: (1) Evening schools are conducted for adults sixteen years of age or over and give an opportunity to those persons to improve themselves in various ways. The evening school has become an accepted part of the educational system of the city. (2) Social centers are activities in the school buildings in the evening for fathers, mothers and the children where they may spend the evening in various sorts of social entertainments. (3) Summer schools are conducted for children who are behind in their studies or for those who wish to get ahead faster. (4) Parochial classes are after-school classes of pupils who come to the public schools especially for instruc- tion in manual training. (5) Orchestra classes after school. (6) Schools directed home gardens are gardens which the youngsters are encouraged to make in the summer in order that they may be industrious and be kept off the streets. Some of the specific things that have been done in the past few years tending toward better instruction and bet- ter organization of classes are: (a) testing; (b) introduction of the ; junior high school; (c) providing special teachers in music, art, physical education and manual training; (d) reduction of number of pupils per teacher; (e) better trained teachers. In the spring of 1925 two fine new school buildings were completed, Harrison Park school and Ken- sington school and the new Burton school started. In 1891 the board of trade adopted a resolution urging the board of education to make provision for the teaching of manual training but the board failed to make the appropriation at that time. In 1900 the city council approved an appropriation of $5,000 for manual training and it was introduced that school year in the fifth, sixth and seventh grades. Carpentry and joinery, cooking, knife work and sewing were . taught. Since then manual training has been a permanent part of the city school system both in the upper grades and high school. Manual training has come into the schools in response to the recognition of the fact that children “learn to do by doing" and each year there has been great improvement in methods and facilities and the state department of education has thought so highly of the course of study worked out in the city's manual training department that it has been adopted by the state. In 1871 a training school for teachers was established in Fountain street school in which persons who wished to enter the schools as teachers were drilled before being placed in charge of rooms. This training school was kept up until 1878, when the board of education adopted a cadet system by which each year several cadet teachers were employed at $200 a year, each of whom was assigned to some teacher whom she assisted and by whom she was instructed. In 1891 another training school was opened in the Jefferson street school where it was continued until 1894 and then transferred to the Wealthy street school, continuing until 1900, at which time the establishment of the State Normal rendered the city training school unnecessary. In 1886 the kindergarten was made a part of the public schools of the city and was maintained to a limited extent in the primary grades 118 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY for a period of two years. Again, in 1889, the kindergarten was es- tablished in connection with the school on Grandville avenue. By 1891 this system of education had become so important a factor in the schools of the city that teachers of all grades were desirous of understanding the fundimental idea of the system and it was proposed to make it a part of the public school system. The Grand Rapids Kindergarten Association was formed, the object being “to advance the cause of kindergartens and aid the growth of public sentiment in favor of kindergartens in the public schools.” A class of students for preliminary work in kindergarten normal training was organized under the supervision of Mrs. C. D. Bourke and thirteen young women en- rolled for the study of the Froebel system. In 1891 the association brought to the city Lucretia Willard Treat, of Chicago, under whose direction a large class was organized and conducted during the summer. Mrs. Treat at the same time conducted a class for teachers. After Mrs. Treat's death, in 1904, Miss Clara Wheeler assumed charge of the work. The American people are not noted as a “thrifty” people but if they are not, the blame cannot be attributed entirely to the schools. The teaching of thrift has been, for several years, one of the recognized activities in education and it was felt that the best way to teach it was in connection with the school savings bank. In 1920 there were about 10,000 student depositors with total deposits of $104,000. With its splendid public school system Grand Rapids is unusually well supplied with private schools. As early as 1842 attempts were made to establish schools for higher and better education than that afforded by the district schools. In that year Henry Seymour was conducting a private school near the corner of Fountain and Ottawa, but later removed to Prospect Hill and in 1844 occupied the court house building. In 1844 the school was incorporated as the Grand Rapids Academy. The academy was not a great success and in 1851, the pub- lic schools having been reorganized and made much better, the school, under the name of Grand Rapids Academy, ceased to exist. Prof. Franklin Everett and his wife, who had become connected with the institution in 1846, continued to conduct school on the same plan in their own residence for several years after the closing of the academy. In 1844 Miss Sarah P. Stevens opened a private school in the build- ing vacated by the Grand Rapids Academy when that institution re- moved to Prospect Hill. After one term she removed to Monroe street for another, and the last, term. In 1848 and the following year, Mrs. A. F. Jennison kept a select school for young ladies. Prior to 1846 a Miss Jones had kept a select school for girls as did Mrs. Streeter, in a building on Barclay street. Both boys and girls attended the latter school. A number of other private schools were put in operation about the same time but none experienced long lives. In 1851 William and Garrat Barry started a mercantile academy in “McConnell's Block" for the teaching of bookkeeping, mathematics, penmanship, and other commercial branches. In 1852 Joseph J. Watson opened a private school at the corner of Monroe and Ionia streets for the teaching of HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 119 architectural drawing and drafting. In the spring of 1857 Prof. M. T. Clark conducted writing classes in the Union school on the east and west sides. These endeavors were the opening wedges for the establishment of the customary “business college.” None succeeded until, in 1866, Prof. C. G. Swensberg opened the Grand Rapids Business College, atferwards known as the Grand Rapids Business Institute. For many years this enterprise was without a rival in the city but in time other similar in- stitutions were established. The McLaughlin Business University was established in 1899 by the McLaughlin brothers. Both became widely known and prosperous, being largely attended, and are now operated under the management of M. E. Davenport. In 1883 the Rev. Isaac P. Powell established a private school at his residence on north College avenue which was in successful opera- tion for many years. He died in March, 1903, and the school was continued at 132 Barclay street by Mrs. Wm. H. Eastman until 1917. In 1853 and 1854 Peter G. Koch kept a school for Catholic children, at the corner of Monroe and Ionia street, which was under the patron- age of the church. In 1871 and 1872, through the efforts of Father P. J. McManus, the first parochial school was established. A two- story brick building was erected on the corner of Sheldon avenue and Maple street for school purposes. In 1877 the school was organized under the present system and an addition was added to the building for the use of the Catholic Central high school. In 1915 this building was damaged by fire and a new structure has since been erected. The school is under the control of the Dominican Sisters. In 1850 St. Mark's College was incorporated and the female de- partment was opened and the male department was ready in the fall of the same year but the college did not prosper and was discontinued after three years. St. Mark's Academy existed from 1887 to 1899 and seemed, for a time, to have a bright future before it, but in the latter year was discontinued. The Theological School and Calvin College, an in- stitution of the Christian Reformed Church, originated in 1861 and in 1868 the first student was examined and admitted to the ministry, he being followed by others in the succeeding years. In 1876 the Holland Christian Reformed Seminary was established and in 1888 the theologi- cal course was extended to three years. From this grew the present Calvin College. From time to time, beginning in 1900, various collegi- ate courses were added to the curriculum, so that at present four years of college work are offered. In 1910 a campus of ten acres was pre- sented to the institution by the citizens of Grand Rapids and in 1917 a new building was finished and occupied. As an additional means of education the city is supplied plentifully with libraries. The present library system was started in the old stone school house spoken of in preceding pages. Charles H. Leonard was the first librarian. From the stone school house the library was moved to the old high school building. The library on the west side was in a private house owned by a Mr. Anderson. In 1872 the east side library, the west side library, the north end library and the Y. M. C. A. library were united, forming the beginning a 120 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY of the present Grand Rapids Library. At the time of the consolida- tion there were in the different libraries four thousand books. Up to the year 1903 the library was located in several different buildings, the Ledyard building, Gas company's building and in 1888, was placed in the city hall. In 1903 Mr. Martin A. Ryerson erected and gave to the city the present library building. In 1905 the Bissel family donated a building to be used as a social center and in this building the first branch of the library was established. In 1909 a branch was opened in the Sigsby school and from time to time branches have been opened in twenty different school buildings. In 1925 a handsome branch library building was erected on Bridge street. CHAPTER VI MILITARY CIVIL WAR the promptness characteristic of the citizens, the city and Kent county were among the first to respond to the call of the country for men and means with which to accept the chal- lenge of the spirit which brought on the attack on Fort Sumter, and within a very short time the city and every section of the county was well represented in Uncle Sam's fighting forces, and the women banding together to aid the volunteers in any way they might. The three months regiment, made up partly of Kent county men, was present at the first battle of Bull Run; as their term of enlistment had expired the regiment returned home, but almost to a man re- enlisted "for the war.' The deeds of the men who represented Grand Rapids and Kent county in this terrible war have been told in previous works, and it is not necessary, nor would it add to the glory of these men, to repeat the story in such limited space. The units in which our boys served so well are: The First Engineers and Mechanics left for Louisville in 1861 and such was its fine work that, by an Act of Con- gress, it was placed on the same footing as the Engineer's Corps of the Regular Army in 1862. The regiment was mustered out in 1865. The First Infantry was mustered into service August, 1861; mustered out in July, 1865; Third Infantry mustered in at Grand Rapids, June, 1861, and mustered out in 1865; Fourth Infantry, mustered in service in 1861, and mustered out in 1865; Fifth Infantry had the same service as the Fourth; the Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Infantry were also mustered in and out the same as the Fourth and Fifth; the Twelfth Infantry, entered the service in 1862 and con- tinued in active service until March 6, 1866. The Thirteenth Infantry went in the same year and participated in the battle of Pittsburg Landing, as did the Twelfth. The regiment was mustered out in 1865. The Fourteenth Infantry, mustered in in 1862, was mustered mustered out in 1865. The Fifteenth Infan- try left for Pittsburg Landing in March, 1862, and was mustered out in 1865. The Sixteenth Infantry was mustered into service in 1861 and mustered out in 1865. The Seventeenth went in in 1862 and was mustered out in 1865. The Twenty-first and Twenty-fifth regiments of infantry went in in 1862 and were mustered out in 1865. The Twenty-third went in in 1863 and was discharged in 1865. The Twenty-sixth Infantry was organized in 1862 and discharged in 1865. The First Cavalry was organized in 1861 and served 122 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY throughout the war. The Second Cavalry was mustered in in 1861 and was discharged in 1865. The Third Cavalry was mustered in at Grand Rapids, 1861, and served to the end of the war. The Fourth Cavalry was mustered in in 1862 and mustered out in 1865. The Fifth was mustered in in 1862 and out in 1865. The Sixth was mustered in in 1862 and was mustered out in 1865. The Seventh Cavalry served the same years as the Sixth. The Tenth Cavalry was mustered in in June, 1863, and mustered out at the close of the war. The Second Michigan Battery was organized at Grand Rapids in 1861 and formed a part of the Second Cavalry. At the close of the war the battery was mustered out. The Third Bat- tery was raised and organized at Grand Rapids in 1861 and mus- tered out in 1865. The Thirteenth Michigan Battery was also organized at Grand Rapids and mustered into service in January, 1864. Mustered out in 1865. Of the part of the Union forces known as "sharpshooters," men from Kent county formed no small quota. Other units in which men of the county and city served, although not in large numbers, were: The First Michigan Colored Regiment, known as the One Hundred and Second U. S. Colored Regiment; Ninth Michigan Cavalry; Eleventh Michigan Cavalry, and Seventh Infantry. The casualty list of Kent county men who lost their lives numbers nearly six hundred. The aggregate expenditure of Kent county, in addition to the large donations made by patriotic individuals, for the purpose of aiding in carrying on the war, was about $168,000, and from 1861 to 1867 more than $75,000 was spent for the relief of soldiers and the families of soldiers. The expenditures caused indirectly by the war added many thousands of dollars more to the expense to which the county had been put, and it would not be an over-estimate to say that five hundred thousand dollars was expended by the county on account of the war. Quoting from one authority: “The total direct losses ..... can never be estimated. Those sacrifices of life and money were not made in vain; the magnificence of the military record of Kent county would alone compensate for many losses; but the material compensation exceeds even this. It shows what a rare recuperative power was in existence, and teaches a never-to- be-forgotten lesson—that the Republic will conquer every foeman from without, every traitor within its confines. Though the sol- diers who fell can never be restored to this world, their memories will live on forever to inspire the future with a full sense of all that liberty is worth, and to teach the American people of other days to guard it as nobly and faithfully as they did.” That it did so teach the American people was grandly demonstrated in 1898 and 1918. SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR In 1898, when the United States declared war against Spain, which resulted in the liberation of the Cuban people and the acqui- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 123 sition by the United States of new territory, the units of the state military organization located in Grand Rapids, known as the Grand Rapids Battalion, and composed of Companies B, G, E and H, Thirty-second Regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry, were found to be on edge and ready as far as the personnel was concerned. The equipment of the National Guard, at that time, was very poor and inadequate. The state had shelter tents and field cooking equipment sufficient for but one regiment, while there were five regiments and two independent battalions to supply. Many of the rifles carried by the troops had been in the hands of the men for fifteen years, and damage to sights, fair wear and tear and neglect had rendered them unserviceable. The rifle then in use was the old breech-loading Springfield and the weapon had long before become obsolete and should have been replaced with a modern rifle using smokeless powder. Michigan's quota was 4,104 as called for by the president's proclamation, issued April 23, 1898. On the next day orders were issued for the mobilization of the entire National Guard of the state at Island Lake, at that time the regular encampment of the Guard. At that place the regiments were reor- ganized in compliance with the new regulations, the Second Inde- pendent Battalion being assigned to the Second Regiment, giving that regiment twelve companies, four from Grand Rapids, four from Detroit and one each from the cities of Kalamazoo, Muskegon, Battle Creek and Grand Haven. Following in numerical order the infantry regiments raised in the state for the Civil war, the regi- ments, as reorganized, were designated as the Thirty-first, Thirty- second, Thirty-third and Thirty-fourth Michigan Volunteer In- fantry. The Grand Rapids Battalion formed a part of the Thirty- second, under the command of Colonel William T. McGurrin, an able and efficient officer, and left for Tampa, Florida, where it remained in training for several weeks. In the meantime the regiment had been relieved of the old rifles and were waiting for new arms and equipment in preparation for service in Cuba, but the hopes of the men were blasted by the armistice and the regiment, in September, 1898, entrained for home, and in October and November were mustered out of service, not to see service again until called to the Mexican border, excepting to be called to the copper strike in the Upper Peninsula, in the Durand railroad strike and the prison riot at Jackson. On the 1st day of July, 1916, the regiment was mustered into the federal service and in a few days left for El Paso, Texas, and pitched tents at Camp Cotton, which was within 300 yards of the Mexican border. On the 18th of January, 1917, the regiment broke camp and re- turned to Michigan for mustering out, which was done on the 4th of February. The history of this regiment at this point merges with the history of the World war. WORLD WAR The state of Michigan, on the 4th day of April, 1917, started the greatest preparedness move in its history. Satisfied that the 124 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY United States was face to face with a war with Germany the legis- lature made provision for a loan of $5,000,000 to make sure and safe the contributions in men and munitions which the people of the state might be called upon to make for the national defense. On the 4th of the same month the United States senate passed the following resolution: "Whereas, the imperial German government has committed acts of war against the government and the people of the United States of America; therefore, be it, Resolved, by the senate and house of representatives of the United States of America, in con- gress assembled, that a state of war between the United States and the Imperial German government, which has thus been thrust upon the United States, is hereby formally declared, and that the president be and he is hereby authorized and directed to employ the entire naval and military forces of the United States and the resources of the government to carry on war against the imperial German government, and to bring the conflict to a successful ter- mination, all of the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the congress of the United States.” At three o'clock the next morning the resolution was passed by the house, and at a little after noon of the next day, April 6, the United States accepted Germany's challenge to war, and formally abandoned its place as the greatest neutral of the world in arms, the President having signed the resolution passed by congress. Word was flashed imme- diately to all army and naval stations and to vessels at sea. The president announced the state of war by proclamation, calling on all citizens to manifest their loyalty. The citizens of Michigan have reason to be proud of her re- sponse to this call of the president. No state out-distanced Michi- gan in quick action, which is in keeping with the state's best tra- ditions. Michigan's patriotic sons may well be proud of their home . state in those trying times, as their fathers were equally proud in another great crisis more than three-score years ago. In our own county and city the enthusiasm of the people was in evidence on all sides, and the Grand Rapids Battalion of the old Thirty-second Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and the Grand Rapids division of the naval reserves expected to be called into service before night- fall. Major Earl R. Stewart was in command of the battalion at the time. The naval reserves, while “green” and without training, were pronounced ready to a man to answer the call to the colors. Lieut. Dan D. Henry was in command of the Grand Rapids division of the reserves. Capt. James Sinke, of Company K; Capt. Lewis J. Donovan, of Company I; Capt. Jesse W. Clark, of Company L, and Capt. Emil B. Gansser, of Company M, were the four captains of the Battalion. Capt. Matthew Hansen commanded the machine gun company. Maj. H. A. Grube was in command of the hospital corps. The equipment of the Michigan brigade was one of the most serious problems confronting the officers. When the Thirty- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 125 second regiment was mustered out of the national service at the close of the Mexican border service, all worn out and unservice- able equipment was condemned and destroyed, with the result that no company in the regiment was equipped properly at this time. In the meantime, while awaiting orders and equipment, en- listment went on rapidly and on the 11th of April an immense patriotic demonstration was held at the armory, at which Grand Rapids pledged itself to the support of the country, and in opening the meeting the chairman voiced the spirit of the times when he said: “I know it is hard for you to see your boys go away to war, but I also know that there is not a mother here who would not be ashamed if she thought her boy was not prepared to do his duty." Many business men of the city proffered their services in any capacity to the government and the women busied themselves in perfecting their different organizations. On the 11th of April the headquarters of the supply company of the Thirty-second regiment was moved to Grand Rapids and Captain Walter N. Burgess placed in command. Major Stewart posted orders stating that recruits should be drilled twice a week. By the 15th of the month the Grand Rapids Naval Division had twenty-one more men than needed for their quota. By the end of the month the Grand Rapids Battalion had been recruited practically to its maximum quota. On the 28th, Congress passed the conscription bill, which pro- vided for the drafting of men into the service. On May 2nd the Grand Rapids Division of the Naval Reserve received orders to mobilize and calling for the enlistment of the division in the national naval volunteers. On May 10th the eighty-five or ninety men who had enlisted in the cavalry troop being raised in the city left for their training station. On the 18th the President issued his proclamation naming June 5th, 1917, as the day for the first draft registration, requiring “all male citizens between the ages of twenty-one and thirty, in- clusive, to register, unless now a member of a military organiza- tion in the Federal service.” On the following day the Grand Rapids Battalion, having been notified that the National Guard would be mobilized on the 15th of July, immediately began preparations for recruiting its ranks to full war footing In the training plans for the National Guard units the Michigan and Wisconsin troops were to go to the Mexican border as the 11th Division of the Southern Department. For some time there had been much speculation as to just the exact place the Guard was to fill in the Federal service. For a few weeks following the issuance of the proclamation of the president requiring registration, futile attempts were made all over the country to render the efforts of the government along these lines a failure. The authorities at Washington, however, took prompt and active steps to stop the treasonable work. The 126 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY attorney-general of the United States announced: “There are indi- cations that attempts will be made in one or two of the middle- western cities to make registration ineffective. The department is prepared to take care of such emergency. Its agents will be in- structed to see that registration officers perform their duties prop- erly and that they are not interfered with in the performance of their duties.” It was felt by some that Grand Rapids was the center of a well organized move to oppose the registration and conscription and to discourage men to register, coupled with a general peace propa- ganda in opposition to the government's war program. Effective steps were at once taken by the city's attorney, Mr. Taggart, but the general enthusiasm of the people was so great that the efforts of the “slackers” were not felt and Grand Rapids, could afford to ignore them. The citizens were given the opportunity to display their feel- ings on the 30th of the month. Never before had there been such a display of patriotism in Grand Rapids as on the occasion of the Decoration Day services in the year 1917. The parade of 18,000 marchers, which took ninety minutes in passing the reviewing stand, was a striking manifestation of the loyalty of the citizens of Grand Rapids, a striking rebuke to the anti-draft agitators. It was a fine exemplification of the true American spirit. One of the most striking features was the display of loyalty by the foreign born citizens. Despite the threatening weather the crowd was so large and enthusiastic that all the police' reserves were called out to handle it. An encouraging feature of the parade to the boys of the naval division and members of the Grand Rapids Battalion, who took part in the demonstration, was the long line of Spanish War veterans. As the Memorial Day parade excelled all other past demonstrations, so did the veterans of Uncle Sam's war of 1898 exceed all previous representations of those organizations which marched away to atone for the sinking of the Maine and to liberate the little island of Cuba. And Grand Rapids honored those vet- erans that day. It was thrilling to the crowds that lined the curb- stones to witness the men who, a generation ago, willingly offered themselves to their country's call. The naval division left for their training camp the following day. Members of the division mobilized at 6:30 a. m., after spend- ing the night at their homes. After the baggage of the division had been carted away to the special train the men were ordered to fall in and after a brief drill they again mingled with their friends and relatives. Promptly at 7:45 the division marched to the station led by the Furniture City band, greeted by a continuous volume of cheers. A considerable number of the naval division from Grand Rapids were just graduated from high school and frequent “rah rahs” drowned out the subdued sobbing of those left behind. The report on the registration which took place in Grand Rapids HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 127 on the 5th of June, 1917, showed that there were 12,142 who pre- sented themselves. Of this number 1,638 were aliens and forty-two alien enemies. Executive Chairman Peter B. Schravesande stated that Grand Rapids had the honor of being the first city of any size in the United States to complete its report before midnight, and without a single cent of expense to the government. Inspired with the patriotism of Americans responding to the call to arms, the citizens paid reverent tribute to the Stars and Stripes on the one hundred and fortieth anniversary of the birth of the flag. From residence and business block the flag was unfurled and in all sec- tions of the city the day was fittingly observed. As a climax more than 2,500 people gathered in the armory to attend the patriotic demonstration held by the combined patriotic organizations of Grand Rapids. One of the features of the evening was the presen- tation of a flag to the Thirty-second regiment, Michigan National Guard, and in presenting the flag Captain Charles E. Belknap related the glorious history of another flag that was presented to the regiment when it left for the south during the Civil war. “That flag,” said Captain Belknap, "was carried through many a hard fight, and many a brave man gave his life keeping it at the front, and although it was blown to pieces by a shell, even the tattered shreds were picked up and preserved. All we men of '61 ask is that you boys of '17 bring it back, even if it is torn.” By July 4th, 1917, 1,716 Grand Rapids young men had joined the service, exclusive of those already enlisted in the Guard, and were distributed as follows: Regular army, 529; Thirty-second Mich- igan, 452; naval militia, 210; ambulance unit, 98; navy, 91; calvary troop, 81; railway regiment, 75; officers' reserve camp, 60; hospital com- pany, 54; marine corps, 45; mosquito fleet, 16; aviation corps, 5; each one, laborer, factory hand, clerk, office man, high school and college student and school teacher alike, having cheerfully forsaken his chosen pursuit to help Uncle Sam answer the challenge of the German imperial government. The cavalry troop was the first to leave the city for the training camp, in fact the first from the whole state. The last steps necessary to make the national guard ready for active service in France was taken July 10th when President Wil- son issued his proclamation drafting the entire state troops into the army of the United States, effective August 5th, 1917. On the 15th of July the Grand Rapids troops of the Michigan National Guard mobilized and settled down for strenuous training. The day was given over to details of organization. Company com- manders were busily engaged with reports and orders. At noon the battalion fell in to act as escort for the departing second con- tingent of the Grand Rapids Naval Division, which left that day for its training and duty on board the U. S. S. Iowa. Immediately upon the departure of this naval division enlist- ments were accepted for the third division of the local unit, and within a day or two the division lacked only eighteen men to make 128 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY the quota of eighty full. At the expiration of three days the quota for the third division was complete. On August 8th, the third division of the Grand Rapids unit of the naval militia entrained for the naval yard at Philadelphia with one hundred and twenty-four men, fifty of whom were skilled mechanics. With the departure of this division Grand Rapids' offering to the National Naval Volunteers was brought up to 571. Grand Rapids had broken all records for naval recruiting. Tuesday, August 14th, 1917, the Grand Rapids Battalion en- trained for the state military reservation in Northern Michigan; there was but little cheering by the thousands thronging the streets to bid the boys good-by. It was a feeling of reverence and respect which was manifested rather in a bared head than in an exhibition of lung power. The lack of cheers was more eloquent than any other demonstration could have been. Grand Rapids had awak- ened to the seriousness of the war. Prior to this date more than four thousand other Grand Rapids boys had left for the training camps and ships, but they had gone singly, in pairs or a few score at a time. Today it was different. The Grand Rapids contribu- tion to the army, clad in khaki, marched through the downtown streets, nine hundred strong, passing through the greatest throngs of people which had ever assembled on the streets of the city; on their shoulders they carried instruments of death and destruction, and the full meaning of war was brought vividly home to the thousands who had turned out to say farewell. The battalion reached the mobilization camp the same after- noon and settled down immediately to the work of putting up their tents. The camp took on a serious aspect with squads drilling in all parts of the reservation. The work of instruction covered the first series of drills for recruits and the more extended maneuvers for the older men. The aim of the officers was to whip the men into the best possible shape before leaving the mobilization camp. On the 18th of August, Company L, of the Grand Rapids Battalion, with Company D, Thirty-first; Companies B and C, First Michigan Engineers, and Troop A, left for Waco, Texas, to prepare the southern camp for the remainder of the brigade. On Wednesday, September 5th, 1917, the first of Grand Rapids' draft quota arrived at the camp at Battle Creek. Thursday three more arrived, three Friday, three Saturday, and two or three Sun- day, completing the city's quota of five per cent. No more were due until the middle of September. On the 8th of September the Thirty-second received orders to proceed to Waco, Texas. More than eighteen hundred Michigan boys of the Thirty-second Infantry and Field Hospital No. 1 left Camp Grayling Sunday night, September 16th, 1917, bound for Camp MacArthur, Waco, Texas, to be given inten- sive training in preparation for the strife with the Huns across the seas. Another of Grand Rapids' contributions to America's share in the World war, the American Red Cross Ambulance Company, KENT COUNTY COURTHOUSE FULTON STREET PARK FOUNTAIN HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 129 No. 15, composed of 119 men and five officers, left the city for Camp Custer, October 2, 1917. This organization is probably the most cosmopolitan military organization Grand Rapids had ever pro- duced, and was made up to a large extent of college men, the men representing almost every walk of life. There were doctors, law- yers, bankers, brokers, merchants, salesmen, newspaper men, skilled mechanics. Members of the ambulance company are of the same standing as members of the regular army. Their progress in rank, however, is limited to first sergeant, all commissioned offices being held by medical men of experience. The company arrived at Camp Custer at noon and were assigned quarters. On October 5th the final quota of the Grand Rapids naval militia entrained at the Union station for the Great Lakes training station. With the entraining of these men, 477 of the finest type of youth of Grand Rapids and western Michigan had left for actual service in the defense of the flag as members of the Grand Rapids naval militia. About this time it was frankly admitted by the war department that the plan had been reached to reorganize the regular army and the national guard from top to bottom to follow closely the French organization, which had been built up after three years of active fighting. At the time it was a bitter pill for the guards to swallow, especially for the crack regiments of the different states whose members had always taken pride in them and striven to improve and perfect them. Under the plan it was necessary to merge one national guard regiment with another and by thus combining the two units the enlarged regiment would have a maximum of men who had some training and experience, an important matter, as it had been stated that the national guard would be the next body of troops to be sent to France. Notwithstanding the disappointment to the officers and men concerned, every one was anxious to see the troops built up into a fighting machine which would prove to be the most efficient. From Gansser's History is taken the data as to the reorgani- zation: At the outbreak of the war the Michigan National Guard con- sisted of three regiments: the 31st, 32nd and 33rd, constituting the Michigan infantry brigade, four troops of cavalry, the first field artillery, brigade headquarters detachment, two companies of engi- neers, two companies of signal corps troops, one field hospital and two ambulance companies. The total strength of the 32nd, at that time, was 1,950 enlisted men and fifty-four officers. On the 19th of September, 1917, the regiment had arrived at Camp MacArthur and it was known that, under orders July 18th, the 32nd Division was to be organized from the National Guard troops of Michigan and Wisconsin. Under the new system the infantry brigade was to consist of two instead of three regiments, which necessitated the breaking up of one Michigan regiment, and the 31st, being the junior regiment, was divided between the old 32nd and 33rd regi- 130 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY ments. The 33rd was designated as the 125th Infantry and the 32nd as the 126th Infantry. Each regiment, as reorganized, was composed of twelve infantry companies, of 250 men each, one machine gun company, with 172 men, one headquarters company, with 289 men, one supply company, with 140 men, and a sanitary detachment with fifty-two men. In reorganizing the regiment, original company organizations were preserved, but consolidation was necessary to bring the companies up to the required strength. The second battalion was broken up and distributed among the other two battalions. The regiment was divided into three bat- talions of four infantry companies each. With the reorganization effected the new 126th Infantry was officered as follows: Col. Joseph B. Westnedge, commanding; Lt. Col. Eli V. R. Farlardeau; adjutant, Capt. John P. DeRight; chaplain, Captain Patrick R. Dunnigan; 1st battalion, Major Jay C. McCullough; Co. A, Capt. R. L. Graves; Co. B., Capt. John Benner; Co. C, Capt. R. L. Wright; Co. D, Capt. G. R. Hogarth. Second Battalion: Major A. C. Wilson; Co. E, Capt. Arthur Volland; Co. F, Capt. R. F. Smith; Co. G, Capt. J. O. Cathcart; Co. H, Capt. F. W. Beaudry. Third Battalion: Major Earl R. Stewart; 1st Lieut., Walter L. Cornell, adjutant; Co. I, Capt. Charles L. McCormick; Co. K, Capt. James Sinke; Co. L, Capt. George L. Olson; Co. M, Capt. Emil B. Gansser. Machine Gun Co., Capt. William Haze; Head- quarters Co., Capt. Jesse W. Clark; Supply Co., Capt. Walter N. Burgess, and Sanitary detachment, Major Ernest G. Lee. On the 2nd of December sixty-five recruits for the naval con- tingent left Grand Rapids on its way to Camp Logan and on the following day seventy more left for the same destination. On De- cember 15th, after months of patient waiting, the Red Cross hos- pital unit Q left Grand Rapids for Ft. McPherson, Ga., where the unit was to receive a month's preliminary training before embark- ing for France. About the middle of January, 1918, after months of intensive training in trench digging, night marching, hand grenade throw- ing, rifle practice, wire entanglement fighting and building, the Michigan troops were entrained at Camp MacArthur for some- where in the east.' This "somewhere” proved to be Camp Merritt, N. J., from which point they entrained for Hoboken, where they went on board the transport "General Grant.” On March 4th, the 32nd reached France, being the sixth division to join the A. E. F. in France. On June 18th, 1918, the war department authorized formally the announcement that the 32nd Division, including Michigan and Wisconsin National Guard troops, was at that time fighting on German territory, in Alsace. Whoever is going to write the history of America's part in the World war is going to face extraordinary difficulties. The tangible results of our military effort, when reduced to earthly outlines, consists of narrow rectangular strips, small triangles and various 66 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 131 or symmetrical patches upon the map of France. To designate the exact place where the Americans came in and where the British or French left off, or vice versa, is an altogether baffling under- taking. It is impossible to unscramble the egg of glory. Take, for example, the glorious achievement of one American division, the 32nd, made up almost exclusively of men from Michigan and Wisconsin, which, between July 29th and August 5th, cut a bloody swath about one and a quarter miles wide northward from the Ourcq to the Vesle over a rolling, picturesque country, besides participating in the recapture from the Germans of the towns of Cierges, Roncheres, Coulonges, Fismes, as well as half a dozen woods bristling with enemy machine gun nests. The reader who is interested in the story of the work of the Kent county men in the World war, is referred to the History of the 126th Infantry in the War with Germany, by Captain Emil B. Gansser, in which, while devoted to the history of that regiment, is given a clear idea of the part taken by all. Suffice it to say that the regiment took active part in the following engagements: Alsace Defensive Sector; Chateau-Thierry Aisne-Marne Offensive; Soissons Sector or Oise-Aisne Offensive (Juvigny); Meuse- Argonne Offensive, and service during the occupation of Germany by the Army of Occupation. On the 19th of April, 1919, the regiment began the long trip home. Upon arrival in the United States the men of the regiment were sent to nineteen different demobilization camps and each man honorably discharged, and thus ended the service of the 126th Infantry in the greatest war of all time, with a record of achieve- ments second to none. In September, 1918, the temporary memorial which was erected in Fulton street park for the Furniture City youths who had nobly given their lives in the great struggle, was dedicated. On the two pylons has been inscribed the names of the boys and girls who made the supreme sacrifice. Grand Rapids will some day erect and dedicate a monument, in some form or other, worthy of the cause and a credit to the city. The names are: HONOR ROLL Cornelius Vander Johannes Overmars Phillip Wood Heide George G. Printup Frank S. Ellis Jacob Vander Leest Roland Sargent Edward D. Sullivan Gilbert Corson Alonzo B. Cummings Maurice Mosley John K. McConnell Donald E. Green Carl Hootkins Phillip Champion Herbert Kimball William McKinley John G. Smeelink Gaetano Imperi Huff Irving Wenger Max Barney Naseeb T. Hadlah William F. Austin Harold Wagner William T. Beattie Herbert J. Sheldon Kryn Breen William A. Schulte Horace A. Barnaby Herman S. Graves Wynerd Van Dyke Stuart R. Nicholson Albert C. Labutsky Peter Bakker 132 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Claude B. Bywater H. C. Tuttle Gordon M. Crothers Harm Korringa George Boneberg Peter F. Farrell Jos. Frank Sandusky Virgil B. Perry Clarence F. Merry Christopher Reinsma Earl L. Davidson William Bobekowsky Maurice V. Sohrauer Elmert A. Noblett Homer E. Labar Leo M. Finnegan Robert A. Zoellner Elizabeth M. Watson Peter Garbaukas Thomas A. Connolly John Volkers John Stellema Leon Bielecki Edward W. Leonard Charles F. Wood L. Dale Wilson Pearl E. Lawrence Frank A. Pilecki Walter Kimber Charles Burggraaff Elmer L. Barney Cornelius De Young Irving J. Freeman Ford L. Stearns J. H. Lake Joseph Kozloski Ira L. Westcott Peter Prins Adrian E. Roodvoets Paul E. Schmidt Burg Blonk Ray H. Parmelee Lyman J. Kennedy William J. Berghuis Wm. E. Welmerink Raymond L. George Weertman Ralph F. MacMillan Blemming Peter Pallsiwicki John Niemstra Wilmer Atkinson Harry R. Jones William Merrizon Abe Hoeksema E. H. Schoonmaker Reginald S. Franchot George F. Maitner Elmer Roos George H. Allen Thomas B. Ghering John Baranauskas Ernest Barclay John Westerhoff Leland L. Menter Richard Mazereeuw Leonard Vander Johannes Post Arthur De Vries Honning William E. Ward Daniel W. Cassard Wm. V. Van Wingen Robert P. WoodworthGerret Smith Florence Hankinson Anthony Skorupski Leon Van't Hof Frank B. Jannausch James W. Lamoreaux Edward Smallegange Leo A. Miller Rhoda O. Knapp Irving J. Ford Frank J. Gerschewski Fred W. Davis Anthony T. Loibl Albert D. McDermott Clyde M. Hastings Lynn E. Barnes Clyde A. Loomis George R. Butterfield Frank Beattie Harry A. Bennett Roy Dalrymple Randolph Rogers Martin Joseph Doyle J. S. Kantz John C. Vonk Willard H. Helsel James Kooistra Gustave Becker Adrian Slootmaker Stanley Kmieg Howell L. Reid Peter J. Miller Harry Kapteyn Leonard Horrevoets Harry G. Spoelstra Patrick M. Cole Leon Radecki John Matel Henry Helms Vera Marie Rockwell John Leo Ryan John Nellison Kenneth A. Nelson Earl E. Cornell Nicholas Jonker Frederick W. Evans Richard L. Covert George Goebel Charles E. Cunning- Sam J. Dagg Carl W. Dahleen ham Louis E. Teistler H. J. Vanden Berge Joseph Sikorskis Geo. Merrick HollisterCieslaw Zurawski Charles E. Brinkman John Kubilis Wesley W. Kerr Everett D. Crocker Peter D. Giacoma George A. Wells George Willemsen Albert Pekelder Tohn H. Mouw Alfred W. Brake Leonard Balcarzak Roy Gale Joseph M. Preszko Frank J. O'Connor Gordon D. Brewster George C. Sifton HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 133 Murray Fox Daniel DeHammer Ora L. Snyder Lawrence D. Groh Harmon R. Jones Lionel H. Gardner Werner Kramer Samuel Zive Harold J. Christie Charles H. Dunham E. O. Anderson Clare E. Mosher William Alden Bush Edward Mieras Carl A. Johnson Leander F. Yant A. Bobek Bobzynski John Ostrowski John A. Van Dongen John N. Compton J. Alexander Bayne Julius C. Manshum Joseph Krzykwa Horace G. Caster Leon Parks William M. Ferris Maurice L. Davis Albert Rauschen- Lloyd A. Woodmansee Clyde Gillispie berger Lucius Comstock Harry Judson Webster J. M. Orlikowski Boltwood Ralph Vanzanten Sariel B. Meisels Oliver W. Prescott Neal Fonger Gus Shoemaker Clifton G. Weisgerber William G. Mierow Edwin T. Stiles William G. Lanski Jerome Angell A. J. Romanoski Bernard Van't Hof J. M. Todd A. L. Lofquist Ivan R. Hamilton Joseph W. Malewitz Louis Van Kuiken Edward G. Doyle William Sears Martin A. Young John S. Smith Charles A. Gillis George Seven Joseph K. Clark Leo Prelwitz Carl E. Wilmes To recite in full all that was done and accomplished by the various civic organizations in aiding the government to carry out its plans for the prosecution of the war against Germany would require more than a volume of this size and we are compelled to but briefly outline their magnificent work. That immense organi- zation, the American Red Cross, with its bureaus and its depart- ments for directing relief in all quarters of the globe, for medical service and information concerning the dead and wounded, was officially recognized by the government in 1882, the year follow- ing the incorporation of the American Association of the Red Cross, afterwards changed to American Red Cross. During the years of its existence prior to the World war the conception of the scope of the work which should be done by such a national body was greatly enlarged. War is not the only scourge of mankind that overwhelms beyond the hope of private charity. It became evident to all thinking people that it was not only essential to be ready for national disaster but to make it somebody's business to be ready. But it was not until the Red Cross took command that there was any system, method or efficiency, or good results. In 1905 the . Red Cross was reorganized by act of congress into the official relief organization of the country. It became and is the official medium for communication between the army and navy and the people; it is the recognized force for meeting national calamity of any kind. Foreign countries recognize and respect its ensign in peace or war. The country now about to engage in a terrific struggle, demand- ing the sacrifice of many lives, with its attendant suffering and 134 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY misery, the president of the United States immediately sought the aid of the organization whose duty it was to meet the occasion. I April 7th the president sent the following letter to a branch of the American Red Cross in which he refers to "relief work which is undoubtedly ahead of us”: “In order that the relief work should be made thoroughly efficient it is most desirable that it be co- ordinated and concentrated under one organization. Having been made the official volunteer aid organization of the United States, the American Red Cross comes under the protection of the treaty of Geneva and has received due recognition from all foreign gov- ernments. This status, both at home and abroad, is thus defi- nitely determined and assured. Recent experience has made it more clear than ever that a multiplicity of relief agencies tends to bring about confusion, duplication, delay and waste. As the president of the American Red Cross, our branch of the great in- ternational organization, I most earnestly commend it to your assistance and support. Upon your aid, upon the amounts and promptness, and your gifts and co-operation must depend the ful- fillment of the duties that are imposed upon us.' On May 4th the mayor of the city issued the following procla- mation: “To the people of Grand Rapids: The president has asked that the Grand Rapids chapter of the American Red Cross extend its work by securing a minimum of ten thousand members in Grand Rapids and Kent county, and a fund of at least $50,000. The American Red Cross is the only organization specifically designated by law to do military relief work. The president of the United States is president of the Red Cross and the comptroller of currency, treasurer. The organization is chartered by congress, and a report of its activities is submitted to congress through the war department. Grand Rapids chapter proposes to offer to the service a complete organized hospital unit, with its full equipment and an ambulance company organized, equipped and trained, ready to do its work upon the field of battle. Beginning May 5th, the Grand Rapids chapter is to hold a membership campaign for the cbjects stated above. Membership in the Red Cross does not mean field service. Grand Rapids should furnish the proof of its interest in the welfare of the men who go to the front from our city, by furnishing them with far more than the minimum of 10,000 mem- bers asked for. I designate the week beginning May 5 as Red Cross week.” On the following day the Red Cross set out on its first real work of the aiding in the war against Germany, and never before had Grand Rapids capitulated so thoroughly in sympa- thetic approval of a charity campaign. On every side the banner of the Red Cross was unfolded to the free air, and booths and cam- paign stations throughout the city were swamped with applications for memberships. The objects of the campaign were more than attained and a membership of more than 30,000 members, three times the minimum sought, were added to the local chapter. Over ninety thousand HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 135 dollars were subscribed, nearly double the amount sought. When Charles H. Bender, chairman of the Grand Rapids chapter, and Robert W. Irwin, chairman of the campaign committee, returned from Washington, where they had attended a conference with some of the foremost Red Cross workers in the world, Mr. Bender took great pleasure in reporting to the local chapter as follows, in part: “I was mightily proud to see Grand Rapids, for its size and financial strength, stand absolutely at the head in membership and funds.” By the 8th the hospital supply committee of the Grand Rapids chapter had been organized, composed of Mrs. Katherine F. Atkinson, chairman, Mrs. Cora J. Cady, Mrs. James H. Camp- bell, first and second vice-chairmen, respectively; and the follow- ing members—Mrs. Charles S. Hazeltine, Mrs. John R. Rogers, Mrs. Dudley Waters, Mrs. Robert W. Irwin, Mrs. Morris Cassard, Mrs. J. Boyd Pantlind, Mrs. E. A. Clements, Mrs. Charles H. Bender, Mrs. M. R. Bissell, Mrs. Benjamin C. Robinson, Mrs. Wm. E. A. Bowen, Mrs. Wm. H. Anderson, Mrs. James M. Crosby, Morris Cassard and John Duffy. Additional quarters had to be secured to accommodate the large numbers of those willing to devote their time in making hospital supplies. By the middle of June the Grand Rapids Red Cross Ambulance Company, No. 15, under the command of Dr. Thomas D. Gordon, had been recruited to one hundred men and the enlistments closed and the company was ready for the call to go to the training camp, which they expected hourly. By the end of the month the local Red Cross shop had com- pleted and sent to the National Red Cross terminal, where it was immediately consigned to France, twelve boxes of surgical dress- ings consisting of 7,512 articles used for the dressing of wounds. This was in addition to the ten boxes of the same articles made up and delivered to the hospital unit being raised and equipped by the local chapter. On July 9th the Red Cross work shop sent nineteen boxes of hospital clothing to the terminal at New York to be forwarded to France. Plans for getting under way the work of looking after the needs of the dependents of soldiers and sailors were adopted July 30th. The chairman of the relief committee, Benjamin P. Merrick, outlined the plan of the organization. The committee opened a centrally located office for the conduct of the work and to which persons desiring its assistance may go. A thoroughly capable woman was employed to make the necessary investigations and act as a friendly visitor to such families as may receive help from the Red Cross. In order to facilitate the work of the committee in passing on relief questions, it was decided to create a small sub-committee to meet regularly for the purpose of carefully going over the reports of the investigator and recommending what should be done in each 136 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY case. If emergency cases should arise, requiring speedy action, they were to be handled in a special manner in order that the object in view, prompt and adequate assistance, might not be de- feated. The sub-committee appointed was composed of E. D. B. Lynde, H. L. Allen, Clark E. Higbee, Julius H. Amberg, and Mrs. Harry C. Leonard. When the time arrived for the thousands of drafted men to go to the training camps, hundreds passed through Grand Rapids and that no soldier should pass through hungry a canteen committee of the local Red Cross chapter was formed and every preparation made to feed the men as they reached the station. On the 21st of September the last of the recruits had passed and the Red Cross canteen committee, assisted by the Rotarians, Y. M. C. A. and other organizations, concluded three long days of strenuous activ- ity in entertaining west Michigan's draft men enroute to the Battle Creek cantonment, 1,230 men having received every attention pos- sible. Early in the fall classes were started for the benefit of women who desired to take the course outlined by the American Red Cross. A brief outline of the course is as follows: Home nursing, fifteen lessons; elementary hygiene in connection with the person, household and community; the hygiene of infancy and childhood, bed-making, baths, sick-room appliances and local ap- plications, general care of patients, observation of symptoms and numerous other subjects. The first aid, which consists of ten les- sons, covers the following: Application of bandages, first aid in shock, injuries, such as bruises, sprains, dislocations, etc.; and it was strongly urged that all young women who could possibly do so, take the full course as a patriotic duty. Some idea of the vast amount of work done by the local Red Cross is given in a report made early in October of the first year of the war: “Receipts for the eight months of the Grand Rapids Red Cross organization amount to $108,259.90, out of which disburse- ments to the amount of $104,019.01 had been made.” The Grand Rapids chapter was spending an average of $10,000 per month for raw material alone, and that did not include $8,000 spent in the purchase of yarn for sweaters, wristlets and mufflers. During this time finished hospital supplies to the amount of $42,000 had been sent to the terminal at New York; $6,478.90 was used to equip the ambulance and hospital units; and over $50,000 was sent to the National Red Cross headquarters. The record for the month of October shows that six boxes for the hospital corps in France were made and ready for shipment. The report for the month also shows that a total of 42,549 articles, valued at $8,125.89, had been sent by the chapter. This included nineteen boxes of clothing valued at $2,967.65, four boxes of knitted articles valued at $1,701.60, thirteen boxes of surgical dressings, 615 pounds of gauze valued at $2,823.49, and three boxes dressings valued at $633.15. A report made in December, 1917, reads: “Since the 26th of HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 137 February the women of this chapter have made 19,851 articles of patients' clothing, 46,269 articles of operating room and hospital linen, 23,691 knitted garments, and 264,183 surgical dressings, a total of 353,985 articles. In the December, 1917, drive for 40,000 members, the Red Cross local chapter again went over the top. On May 20th, 1918, the Red Cross began its campaign to raise another fund of $235,000, the campaign to last a week, but at the end of half that time the quota was passed and the workers, thus encouraged, kept on with the result that over $355,000 had been subscribed in the city at the end of the week. While this work of raising funds was going on, hundreds of Grand Rapids women were working night and day to finish their quota of supplies asked of them by the national headquarters, and they happily finished the work on time. The quota included 100,000 tampons, 20,000 pads and 40,000 drains, all of which are included in the front line packets given to the boys. This was a large quota and one which took a great deal of time to make and the chapter may be justly proud of the way in which the women rallied and finished the work on time. Beyond these figures there is a background of devoted and self-sacrificing work of hundreds of doctors, nurses, sanitarians and other representatives sent to the war zone. They have cheerfully borne hardship, illness and danger to bring to those in need the relief made possible by the combination of their skill with these great gifts. Its skilled workers cared for the wounded of every army; they carried the message that the people of the United States cannot rest without seeking to relieve such suffering. Organized, persis- tent work required a large amount of money as well as individual effort, and grandly did the women and men of Grand Rapids and Kent county respond. The Knights of Columbus Million Dollar war camp fund, to be raised during the week of July 23, 1917, started with a whirlwind campaign in every city in the country. The movement was heart- ily endorsed by all the Catholic churches in Grand Rapids. Each member of the order was assessed two dollars but subscriptions were offered, and gladly accepted, by non-members. Plans had already been made to erect a Knights of Columbus auditorium at each of the sixteen cantonments already designated by the secre- tary of war and it was the intention, if necessary, to increase this number to thirty-two to provide for the national guard units. The fund was also to be used in supplying priests in regiments or other units where there were no Catholic army chaplains, both here and in Europe, with the American troops. At the end of the week the $5,000 quota of the Grand Rapids Knights of Columbus had been passed. In May, 1918, the Knights of Columbus raised a war fund of over $62,000, the entire city putting aside creed to aid in the great 138 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY When you patriotic cause. This was a remarkable showing as the Knights had only anticipated raising $35,000. The Y. M. C. A. organization was not behind others in prepar- ing itself to do its share in needed work. On May 24th, a few weeks after the declaration of war with Germany, the local body started a campaign to raise $40,000 and the citizens responded, as they had done for the Red Cross, with $50,000, twenty-five per cent. more than asked. "It is interesting to watch the development of the Y. M. C. A. war work,” said W. B. Van Akin, who had charge of the work of that organization at Waco, where the Michigan troops were assembled; "you are in a Y. M. C. A. building now. get to the border, or wherever you train, you will have Y. M. C. A. huts or tents. Wherever you go with the flag there will be the Y. M. C. A. Those huts and tents will be there to make you health- ful and happy." Three members of the “Y” left Grand Rapids on the 21st of August to report to W. B. Van Akin, Y. M. C. A. director at Camp MacArthur, to take up work as social secretaries and to assist in preparations for the arrival of the Michigan troops. Grand Rapids' response in the nation-wide campaign for army and navy Y. M. C. A., started November 13, 1917, was as liberal as all her former contributions had been. The campaign started with the sum of $200,000 to be raised in the Grand Rapids district, composed of Ionia, Montcalm, Mecosta, Clare, Osceola, Lake, Newaygo, Mason, Oceana, Muskegon and Ottawa counties in addi- tion to Kent. The amount was exceeded by $5,000, Grand Rapids giving $133,367. During the first week of June, 1917, a conservation camp of women of the city was organized, its official title being “Woman's Committee of the Council of National Defense, Michigan division, Grand Rapids unit." The organization was composed of women who had been active in the liberty bond sales, Red Cross work, adoption of French babies, home gardening, canning demonstra- tions and in the movement for the conservation and preservation of food. The officers elected at the first meeting were: Chairman, Mrs. Clay H. Hollister; honorary chairman, Mrs. M. R. Bissell, Sr.; first vice-chairman, Mrs. Dorian M. Russell; second vice-chairman, Mrs. Fred N. Rowe; third vice-chairman, Mrs. Huntley Russell; recording secretary, Mrs. Elvin Swarthout; corresponding secre- tary, Mrs. J. C. Rickenbaugh; treasurer, Mrs. Clara E. Hollister. Early in June, 1917, Mayor Fuller appointed a war survey com- inittee, with M. S. Keeler, chairman, the duty of which was to make a survey of all of Grand Rapids' resources; to distribute all funds collected by public subscription in the city, and to have general charge of all relief work. The Woman's Committee of the Council of National Defense appointed the following committees and chairmen: Finance, Mrs. Caroline Brink; home relief, Miss Mary Hefferman; allied relief, HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 139 Mrs. Fred W. Tobey; food production and marketing, Miss Eva Daniels; food conservation and thrift, Mrs. Edgar W. Hunting ; educational propaganda, Mrs. Lucius Boltwood; protection of wo- men workers, Miss Grace Van Hoesen; conservation of the health and welfare of children, Mrs. Joseph W. Roche; course of instruc- tion, Mrs. Thomas Perry; conservation of moral and spiritual forces, Miss Harriet Carpenter; and the registration committee, which was composed of the officers of the unit. Grand Rapids demonstrated that it was vitally interested in having the American soldiers and sailors supplied with good read- ing when it contributed $2,000 to the $1,000,000 library fund raised by the nation in September, 1917. Owing to the excellency of our public schools and libraries the American army is a reading army and, while the Y. M. C. A. huts offer club, educational, recreational and religious opportunities, the soldier is bound to have moods in which he wants to get away from the crowd and have something to occupy his thoughts in comparative quiet and isolation. So the war library was started and proved a great boon to many a boy taken from the comforts of his home, the freedom of his life, his friends and family, and his accustomed work and amusements, and set down in an army camp where his surroundings were comparatively crude, his food and life different, where the discipline is irksome and where he was bound to be lonesome. Headquarters for the Kent county committee for the sale of Thrift and War Savings Stamps were established and preparations made in the city to lay a strong foundation for the year's campaign. While the sale of these stamps was not quite in the line of the work undertaken by the Red Cross, that organization at once took steps to aid the movement and an agency for the sale was placed in each auxiliary in the city. Notwithstanding the tremendous demands made peo- ple of the city during the first few months of the war for the sale of liberty bonds, war savings stamps, Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A., Red Cross and other organizations, mounting into the millions, the response to the call for contributions to confederated relief funds was splendid and in February, 1918, the citizens contributed a fund of nearly $200,000. On Monday, March 4, 1918, was launched the drive for the sale of war savings stamps, the drive to last six days, and the pur- pose being to sell $250,000 worth of stamps. Grand Rapids re- sponded heartily to the government's call. More than twelve tons of used clothing, two tons in excess of Grand Rapids' quota, including approximately 15,000 serviceable garments for the relief of French and Belgian war sufferers, were shipped in the first week of April, to Birmingham, N. Y., for re- shipment to the war devastated districts, in eighty huge packing cases. The response of the women of Kent county was splendid and they at once began to do their share in the grave conditions that upon the 140 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY confronted the nation, and to mobilize the resources of every wo- man in the county towards the possible end that they might be needed. Prior to the 8th of April, Mrs. James H. Campbell had been appointed vice-chairman for Kent county by Helen E. Keep, of Detroit, chairman of the National League for Woman's service. The purposes for which this society was formed were not antagon- istic to the Red Cross but to work in conjunction with that organi- zation. Its objects, as set forth, were: To co-ordinate and stand- ardize the work of women of America along lines of constructive patriotism; to promote the efficiency of women in meeting their every day responsibilities, to the state, to the home, and to the nation, and to humanity; to provide organized, trained groups in every community prepared to co-operate with the Red Cross. This league had been organized by a group of patriotic women who had studied, at close range, the magnificent work accomplished by the women of Europe during the preceding two and a half years. . Mrs. Campbell at once got in touch with all the women's organizations in the county, religious, philanthropic, civic, patriotic, musical, liter- ary, art and fraternal, asking them to send to her, data as to such organization. Mrs. Campbell appointed Mrs. Thomas D. Perry chairman of the league in Grand Rapids with permanent headquar- ters with the Red Cross. The first annual bulletin, issued April, 1917, by the Grand Rapids War Relief Society, shows substantial and helpful work had been accomplished during the year. Nearly four hundred individuals had worked at the headquarters at the Pantlind Hotel. Thirty- four firms and individuals had given assistance other than work or money, and hundreds of people had left donations of different kinds in the rooms without giving their names. In cash, $1,211 had been subscribed toward the establishment and maintenance of an ambulance in France. More than $4,500 had been donated for hospital supplies. Blankets, rubber goods, ether and hospital sup- plies of all kinds had been included in the Grand Rapids society's donations. The War Relief women of the county and city were highly complimented for their work in a letter from the national head- quarters of the organization, which said in part: “You sent the best and most perfectly made irrigation pads in the dressings you made”; and thanked the local organization for the large amount of work which they had sent in such excellent condition. Besides sending a large force of men to defend the country's flag, Grand Rapids responded nobly to the call of the government for war finances. It is estimated that of the first sale of Liberty bonds in May, 1917, the city absorbed $2,000,000 of the amount offered to the entire country. Many of the financial institutions of the city offered the bonds to buyers on the installment plan so that people with limited means might do their share to aid the government financially. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 141 Shortly after the drive, which was begun on the 28th of May, had started, two banks of the city subscribed for four hundred thousand dollars worth of the Liberty bonds offered by the govern- ment. Grand Rapids' share was fixed at $3,750,000. Plans for visiting every citizen individually and placing a Liberty bond in every home were made and a campaign committee consisting of J. W. Blodgett, Charles Hilliker, Warren H. Snow, L. Z. Caukin, Charles H. Bender and Claude H. Corrigan, to direct the work, was organized. Within a week over one million dollars had been subscribed by the citizens. Factories and business houses co-operated in every way with the one thousand salesmen, and when the drive was com- pleted it was found that Grand Rapids had again exceeded expecta- tions and had subscribed for $4,000,000. In accordance with the usual way of doing things by the busi- ness men of the city, Clay H. Hollister, chairman of the last Liberty loan campaign, on August 10th called together a few of the leading workers during that drive and discussed plans for the sale of the next Liberty loan, saying: "It is yet too early to make any definite plans, but by beginning early we can get a better start. There- fore, when Grand Rapids and western Michigan began its drive for the sale and distribution of $5,000,000 in Liberty bonds on the 17th of October, 1917, Grand Rapids, unlike the majority of cities of the country which started that date to perfect their organizations, had the advantage of having its organization nearly perfected, re- quiring only a few days of preliminary work before the actual drive began. With all committees appointed and every member pre- pared to push his end of the job, the initial efforts in the big cam- paign for the second Liberty loan were begun. A patriotic movement among the farmers of Kent county to increase the sale of the Liberty bonds was started at the Kent County Pamona Grange No. 18, and a committee appointed to pre- sent a resolution urging the members to buy to the full extent of their financial resources. The women of Kent county organized a committee to concentrate all their efforts in aid of the drive. On Wednesday, October 17, the total subscriptions had reached the sum of $3,500,000, one-half the sum allotted to Grand Rapids by the central committee. At the end of the drive, October 27th, it was found that Kent county and Grand Rapids had over-subscribed. Kent's Liberty loan quota was $8,532,800, and the amount subscribed $9,122,950. In one final burst of enthusiasm the people of the county "went over the top” and at night of that last day the down- town district of the city resembled that of election night. In the second week of March, 1918, the first steps were taken towards organizing the third Liberty loan in Kent county to be started on the 6th of the following month. On the appointed day the campaign was started in the city with the greatest of enthus- was 142 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY iasm to sell its quota, $4,873,400. When the final day arrived it was found that both city and county had exceeded their quotas; the county by over $1,000,000. During the first week of September, 1918, the Grand Rapids district began preparations for the fourth Liberty loan. The city's quota was $9,002,969, with an additional amount in the county, out- side the city, of $750,000, and promptly on the day set, the work began. The peace news arriving daily in the country created a premature optimism and many felt that it was not necessary to make greater sacrifice financially, thereby handicapping the work of the Liberty loan sale. On October 12th, 1918, Germany accepted President Wilson's peace terms, but there was a spirit alive in the people that the end was not yet, and on October 16th it was officially announced that Grand Rapids had gone over the top by raising $9,108,000 by the sale of the bonds of the fourth and last issue during the war. CHAPTER VII PRESS A S stated in the preceding pages, the first newspaper published in Grand Rapids, then a village of only nine or ten score inhabi- tants, made its appearance in 1837. The paper, a six column folio, was owned and edited by George W. Patterson, a native of the state of New York, and only twenty-three years of age when he embarked in that enterprise. The Times office was located on Monroe (that part then called Canal), a short distance south of Lyon, and the main purpose of the paper, other than to make a living for the editor, was to attract the attention of homeseekers to the advantages of buying and settling in the village. Although changing ownership many times and the name once, publishing of the paper continued until 1855 as a weekly, when the daily edition was begun. The change in name referred to was to that of "The Grand Rapids Enquirer," and was made in 1841. In 1855 another daily was launched, under the name of “The Grand Rapids Herald,” by Alphonso E. Gordon. The publication of the two continued until May, 1857, at which time Mr. Gordon pur- chased the Enquirer, consolidating the two. The financial sea for the combination was rough, Mr. Gordon losing his plant by virtue of a chattel mortgage, but, not discouraged, he secured another press and sufficient type and continued the Enquirer and Herald until, in April, 1860, when the new plant was lost by the same route. Others obtained possession and for some time the paper was gotten out with some irregularity by the new owners, sometimes as a weekly and sometimes as a semi-weekly. In 1865 Merrill H. Clark obtained control and the days of the "first paper were numbered," as Mr. Clark, for business reasons, changed the name to “The Grand Rapids Democrat.” For thirty- seven years the paper was published under that name, owned and edited by many different people, as a morning paper. In 1902 it was made an evening paper and the name again changed, this time being called the “Evening Post.” In 1904 John W. Hunter bought the controlling interest from William F. McKnight, and in 1908 changed the name to the “Daily News.” In 1910, with Andrew Fyfe as owner and George A. Murphy as business manager, the paper became the "Grand Rapids News." In 1912 A. P. Johnson purchased the News. The publica- tion of the News was discontinued in 1924. The Grand Rapids Eagle began publication in 1844, as a weekly, and at first supported the Whig party, but in 1853 changed its 144 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY policy and supported the Democratic party. On May 26th, 1856, the Daily Eagle was started and continued as a morning paper until September of the same year, when it was published as an evening paper, and so continued as long as published, ceasing to exist in 1894. The Grand Rapids Herald as it exists today, considered the leading Republican publication of western Michigan, was the out- growth of two other papers, the first of which was the Morning Telegram. This paper was started in 1884. A year later Lloyd Brezee began the publication of "Brezee's Herald,” later acquired control of the Telegram and consolidated the two as the "Herald- Telegram," adding a Sunday morning edition. In 1906 the Hon. Alden Smith came into control. The first number of the "Morning Press” was issued in Septem- ber of 1890. In 1891 the Press Publishing Company was organ- ized, the Evening Leader was purchased, the two consolidated and made an evening paper in 1893. This publication now occupies a splendid press building at the corner of Fulton and Sheldon avenue. The “Michigan Artisan” was established in 1880 by Arthur S. White and was published in the interest of the mechanical trades. Later this publication was sold and became known as “The Manu- facturer and Artisan,” published by the Periodical Publishing Company. Since 1911 Mr. White has continued to publish the “Daily Arti- san Record” during the months of July and January, each year. “The Michigan Tradesman,” published weekly by the Trades- man Company and edited by Ernest A. Stowe, was started in 1883. It is published in the interests of the business men of the state and has attained an enviable reputation. “The Workman," published in the interests of the Knights of Labor, was first issued in 1884, continued as such till 1898, when it was bought by W. B. Weston and the name changed to “The Chronicle." "The Grand Rapids Furniture Record,” established in 1900, and published monthly by the Periodical Publishing Company, is a leading furniture journal, maintaining a high-grade standard. The "Banner" was established in 1866 and is published Thurs- day of each week. "De Huisvriend” is a Holland paper published at 441 South Division. The “Echo Tygodniowe," a Polish weekly, is published at 704 Bridge street. Others published are: . “De Wachter,” a Holland paper; “The Fruit Belt," "The Furniture Manufacturer and Artisan,” “Good Furniture," "The Catholic Vigil," "The Christian Journal," "The Creston News," "North- western Weekly," "The Standard Bulletin," "The Observer," and the "Western Undertaker." A list of papers established in Grand Rapids, but now defunct or absorbed, follows: "Society News,” established in 1881; "The Truth,” 1882; "The Germania,” 1882-1916; “Yankee Dutch,” 1882- 90; "The Michigan Dairyman,” 1886-92; "Saturday Evening HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 145 Herald," 1883; "The Clipper,” 1883; “The Daily Sun,” 1883; “The Boycotter,” 1883; "The Labor Union,” 1884; “Our Mutual Friend,” 1883; "The German-American,” 1884; "The Wolverine Cyclone,” 1884-89; "Hearth and Hall,” 1884-96; "West Side News,” 1886-93; “The Boy in Blue," 1886-88; “The School Newspaper,” 1883-84; "The Globe," 1882-84; "Nieuwe Courant,” 1884; “The Radical," 1884; "The Critique," 1885; "The Message,” 1885-86; "The Michi- gan Manufacturer," 1885; “The Land Journal,” 1886; “Tozer's Sat- urday Mail,” 1886; "The Evening News," 1886; "The Real Estate World," 1886; “The Germ,” a Prohibition weekly, 1886; "The Sunday News,” 1886; "Sunday Tribune," 1886; “The Baptist Record," 1887-88; "The Rector's Assistant," devoted to the inter- ests of St. Paul's parish, 1887-88; “The Monthly Bulletin,” (Y. M. C. A.), 1886-87; "Svenska Veckobladet," a Swedish paper, 1887; three papers more were started in 1887, living but a short while- the “Agitator," "The Business Reporter," and "Der Sonntagsbote,' a German literary weekly; "The Christian Messenger," 1888; “The Christian Helper," 1888. In 1889 the following were started: "Skriftens-Tolk," "Hobbies,” absorbing the “Gage's Saturday Ga- zette" (established the preceding year), “The Star,” 1889. "The Tyler” was begun in 1890, lasting a short time; “De Banier Des Folks," 1888. For a city of the size of Grand Rapids the two daily papers, the "Herald” and the "Press," are superior publications, equalling in all ways those of publications in cities double in size. CHAPTER VIII BENCH AND BAR I , N 1833 the county courts in all the counties east of Lake Michigan, circuit court of the Territory of Michigan.” It consisted of one circuit judge for the entire circuit, and two associate judges for each county. The circuit judge was appointed for four years and the associate judges for three years. The court had both chancery and common law jurisdiction and had original jurisdiction of civil cases at law and crimes not within the jurisdiction of a justice of the peace and appellate jurisdiction of such as were. It might also determine questions of law arising on motions for new trial or in arrest of judgment. The circuit courts already existing were now called superior courts. By an act approved in 1836 the state was divided into three circuits, and judges of the supreme court were to perform the duties of circuit judges. These courts were given the same powers and jurisdiction as the territorial circuit courts under the act of 1833, except in chancery matters. By the revision of 1846, the court of chancery was abolished and chancery powers conferred upon the several circuit courts. The constitution of 1850 made the office of circuit judge elective and the term of office six years. By the act of 1851 the state was apportioned into eight circuits, the Eighth being composed of Barry, Kent, Ottawa, Ionia, Clinton and Montcalm. In 1858 Otta- wa was detached, the others remaining as the Eighth. In 1871, by act of the legislature, Barry and Kent counties were constituted a new circuit, the Seventeenth. By an act of the legislature of 1889 a second circuit judge was provided for the county, and at its ses- sion in 1913 the legislature provided a third judge. From 1836 to 1852 the following named judges visited and held court on the circuit bench of Kent county: Epaphroditus Ransom, Charles W. Whipple, Edward Mundy, and George Martin, the last named being the first resident lawyer to reach the dignity of circuit judge. Judge George Martin came to Grand Rapids among the first settlers when twenty-one years old. He graduated from Middle- bury college at the age of eighteen and took up the study of law at once, reading and clerking in the law office of his uncle, Harvey Bell, considered one of the ablest jurists of his day. Judge Martin also read law in the office of Daniel P. Thompson, well known as a lawyer and novelist. After reading law for three years he came to Grand Rapids in 1836, where he settled for the practice of his HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 147 profession and where he lived the balance of his life. He was elected county judge in 1849, and two years later was made circuit judge, in which capacity he was, under the prevailing system, a member of the supreme court of Michigan. When the present organization of the supreme court was established, Judge Martin was elected, in 1857, its first chief justice, in which position he continued to preside until his death in 1867. Judge Louis S. Lovell was elected to succeed Judge Martin, when the reorganization of the court was made, and served two terms, from 1858 to 1870. In 1871 the number of counties in this circuit was reduced to two, Barry and Kent, and numbered the Seventeenth. Judge Birney Hoyt was elected and served as judge of the new Seventeenth from 1870 to 1882, having been re-elected for the second term. Judge Robert M. Montgomery was elected to succeed Judge Hoyt and served until 1888. In 1888 Judge Montgomery was succeeded by Judge William E. Grove. In 1889 a second circuit judge was provided by the legis- lature for Kent county and Marsden C. Burch was appointed to the position, to serve until Deecmber 31, 1893. In February of 1891 it was decided by the supreme court that the appointment of Judge Burch was invalid after the general election held in 1890, in which Allen C. Adsit was a candidate and elected, therefore Judge Burch resigned and Judge Adsit assumed the duties, con- tinuing to preside until January 1, 1900. In the spring election of 1899 Alfred Wolcott and Willis B. Perkins were elected circuit judges. In 1905 Judges Wolcott and Perkins were re-elected but on March 8th, 1908, Judge Wolcott died and John S. McDonald was appointed to succeed him. In 1911 Judges Perkins and Mc- Donald were elected to succeed themselves, and in November, 1912, Judge William B. Brown was elected as the third circuit judge for Kent county, an act of the legislature, in 1911, having increased the number. At the spring elections of 1917 the three presiding judges were re-elected. Judge Willis B. Perkins was born at Linden, Genesee county, Michigan, in 1861. With the exception of probably five years, dur- ing which time he lived at Kalkaskia, Michigan, he has resided in Grand Rapids since 1875. Obtaining his elementary education in the public schools of the towns in which he resided, Judge Perkins was compelled to seek employment in different capacities in the city of Grand Rapids. Overcoming all difficulties he began the study of law in the offices of Kennedy & Thompson, in 1880. In 1881 he entered the law department of the state university, gradu- ating at the end of two years with his degree. In 1883 he removed to Kalkaskia and formed a partnership with A. A. Bleazby, and in 1884 was elected prosecuting attorney, filling that office one term. In 1889 he returned to Grand Rapids and formed a partnership with Edwin F. Sweet. Ten years later Judge Perkins was elected circuit judge, and he is now rounding out a quarter of a century in that position. 148 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY . Judge Wolcott, who preceded Judge Perkins on the bench, was born in Ohio in 1858 and came to Grand Rapids in 1882. At the age of fifteen he taught school in his native county of Summit, and at sixteen entered Western Reserve College and graduated in 1880; then read law in the law office of E. P. Bradstreet in Cincinnati for one year and soon after came to this city, entering the law offices of Stuart & Sweet, completed his studies and was admitted to the bar in 1883. In 1892 he was elected prosecuting attorney and again in 1894, after serving as prosecutor he formed a partnership with Charles E. Ward, which continued until the election of Judge Wolcott as circuit judge in 1899. He served in this position from January 1, 1900, until his untimely death in 1905. In 1922 Judge John S. McDonald was appointed to the supreme court bench and Major L. Dunham was appointed to fill the vacancy made by Judge McDonald's appointment to the higher court. The three judges now occupying the bench of the circuit court of this county are Judges Willis B. Perkins, William B. Brown and Major L. Dunham. Judge Brown was born at Casacade, Kent county, Michigan, in 1865. He attended the schools of the neighborhood in his youth and then attended the Northern Indiana Normal at Valparaiso, later graduating from Olivet college. He came to Grand Rapids in 1893 and went into the office of the prosecuting attorney. He was admitted to the bar in 1895. He served four years as circuit court commissioner and in 1900 became prosecuting attorney. He served the following six years in that capacity, having been elected three times. At the end of the six years he retired from office and engaged in the practice of his profession. After two years he was again elected as prosecuting attorney. In 1911 Judge Brown was appointed as the third circuit judge and at the election in the fall of 1912 was elected to that position. Since that time he has been re-elected twice. In 1818 an act of the Territorial legislature provided for the establishment of a court of probate in each county, to be presided over by a judge appointed by the governor. In 1838 the office of judge of the probate court was made elective and the term of office made four years. Appeals were allowed to the circuit and to the supreme court. The revision of the act affecting probate courts, made in 1846, provided for direct appeals to the circuit court only. The constitution of 1850 provided for a probate court in each organ- ized county, the judge of which was to be elected for a term of four years. The new constitution of 1909 gives probate courts original jurisdiction in all cases of juvenile delinquents and dependents. The first judge of the probate court in Kent county was Jefferson Morrison, of this city. In 1845 he was succeeded by James A. Davis, a resident of Paris township. Solomon Withey was elected to succeed Judge Davis in 1849. Judge Withey was a lawyer of learning and ability and eminently fitted for the position. He had fitted himself for the practice of the law by reading, as was the general custom those days, in the law offices of prominent and HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 149 successful lawyers. He came to Michigan in 1836, making Grand Rapids his home. He later became judge of the United States district court for the Western District of Michigan. He died in 1886 at San Diego, California. In 1852 Hon. Robert P. Sinclair succeeded Judge Withey as probate judge and served four years. He was a candidate for re-election on the Democratic ticket in 1856 and again in 1860, but was defeated. Hon. Wm. A. Robinson held the office from 1857 to 1865, Judge Benjamin A. Harlan suc- ceeding him in the latter year. Judge Harlan held the office until January 1, 1877, and was followed by Cyrus E. Perkins. Judge Perkins was admitted to the bar of Kent county in 1884, studying law while acting and serving as probate judge. He was succeeded, in 1877, by Lyman D. Follet, who resigned in 1887. Judge Perkins was appointed by the governor to serve the unexpired term, and in the following year was elected to the office. In 1892 he was re-elected and served until the end of the four years. Judge Perkins took an active part in the commercial and industrial interests of the city, being active in the New Era Association for a number of years, president of the Grand Rapids Veneer Works, director in the Imperial Furniture Company and Citizens Telephone Company, and for several years president of the board of education. Harry D. Jewell became judge of the probate court in 1896, succeeding Judge Perkins. He served as probate judge the follow- ing sixteen years and was succeeded by the present incumbent, Judge Clark E. Higbee, in 1912. Judge Higbee is a graduate of the law department of the University of Michigan (1906), and came to Grand Rapids and became a law clerk, and, in 1907, was ap- pointed assistant city attorney, and in 1912 became the judge of the probate court. Judge Harry D. Jewell, who was succeeded by Judge Higbee, was born at Weaton, Illinois, March 5, 1869, entered the Uni- versity of Michigan in 1889, was admitted to the bar while still a student, graduated in 1891, received his degree of Master of Laws in 1892, and then entered upon the practice of his profession in Grand Rapids. COUNTY COURTS Under territorial jurisdiction, beginning in 1815, county courts were established. For years this was the only intermediate court between the justices and supreme court and was abolished in 1833. In 1846 the legislature provided again for county courts in lieu of the district courts, which at the same time were done away with. The county courts were once more abolished in 1850 under the new constitution. In 1853 an act was passed by the legislature providing for the removal of all files and papers remaining in former county courts to the circuit courts for their respective juris- dictions; where they were authorized to be and remain in the same force and effect as therefore. The following judges occupied the 150 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY bench of this court in Kent county: 1846, DeWitt C. Lawrence; Joshua Boyer; 1849, George Martin, Joshua Boyer; 1850, Leonard Bement, Milton C. Watkins; when the court was abolished. CIRCUIT COURT COMMISSIONERS The legislature was authorized by the constitution adopted in 1850 to provide for the “election of one or more persons in each organized county, who may be vested with the judicial powers not exceeding those of a circuit judge at chambers." The following persons have held this office: 1852, Charles C. Rood; 1854, Thad- deus Foote; 1856, Ebenezer S. Eggleston; 1858, Eben Smith, Jr.; 1864, Eben Smith, Jr., and Henry E. Thompson; 1866, Eben Smith, Jr., and G. H. White; 1868, Smith and Omar H. Simonds; 1870, James B. Willson and Edward M. Adams; 1878, Daniel E. Corbitt and Edward M. Adams; 1880, James B. Willson and Lyman D. Fol- lett; 1882, Frank F. Kutts and Lyman D. Follett; 1884, E. D. Com- stock and Joseph Wurzburg; 1888, Dwight Goss and Alfred Wol- cott; 1890, Walter H. Hughes and John H. Rosema; 1892, E. D. Comstock and Charles W. McGill; 1894, Gerritt H. Albers and Charles W. McGill; 1896, G. H. Albers and Wm. B. Brown; 1898, J. W. Powers and Wm. B. Brown; 1900, J. W. Powers and H. L. Creswell; 1902, E. R. Stewart and H. L. Creswell; 1904, E. R. Stewart and J. A. Verkerke; 1910, E. L. Eardley. In 1909 an act of the legislature was passed reducing the num- ber of circuit court commissioners in Kent county to one, and since the time of the law going into effect Mr. Eardley has been the in- cumbent, having been appointed to the position on the death of John A. Verkerke in 1909, and elected at the next election. SUPERIOR COURT In 1875 the legislature passed an act establishing the superior court of Grand Rapids, a court of record, having a seal and pre- sided over by an elective judge, the running expenses to be pro- vided for by the city and with jurisdiction as follows: Original jurisdiction concurrent with the circuit court for the county of Kent, in transitory actions where the claim is over one hundred dollars and in which both parties are residents of the city of Grand Rapids, or when either party in a resident of the city and service of the original process shall be had therein (likewise where there are more than one party on either side, and one of them receives service as aforesaid); actions of ejectment, trespass and foreclosure concerning lands within the city; attachments against non- residents, where the property attached is within the corporate limits; and actions of equity where either of the parties, or the property involved, is within the city. Exclusive jurisdiction of all civil actions at law and in equity, brought by or against the board of education of the city, or by or against the city or any of its officers; exclusive appellate jurisdiction, where appeals may be made, of all cases originally commenced and prosecuted in the police court of Grand Rapids, where final judgment shall be entered HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 151 therein, in any cases arising out of the breach of any provision of the charter or ordinances of the city; and to issue writs of certiorari in such cases when lawful to be done; criminal jurisdiction for crimes committed under the laws of the state within the city limits, not exclusively cognizable by the police court or the justices of the peace of the city. Jurisdiction of the former recorder's court of the city was formally transferred to and vested in this court by the act of 1875. JUSTICE COURTS Justices of the peace, under the act of 1805, were given cogni- zance of all claims and penalties not exceeding twenty dollars, and the manner of proceeding was by warrant to bring the defendant at once before the justice. Appeal to the district court was per- mitted and when that court was abolished, justices were given , jurisdiction to try, by consent of parties, all cases of a civil nature wherein the demand did not exceed one hundred dollars. Appeal to the county courts was permitted upon their establish- ment in 1815. During territorial times, justices of the peace were appointed by the governor; the first constitution of the state pro- vided, however, for their election for a period of four years. Each township and city was entitled to four justices of the peace, with no salary, being paid by a system of fees. They had original juris- diction in all civil actions wherein the debt or damages did not exceed one hundred dollars, and concurrent jurisdiction in all civil actions upon contract, express or implied, wherein the debt or damages did not exceed three hundred dollars; but they did not have cognizance of real actions, actions for disturbance of right of way or other easement, for libel or slander, malicious prosecutions, against administrators and executors as such, nor where title to real estate came into question. Their jurisdiction in criminal actions was limited to cases of simple larceny, assault and battery, willful destroying and injuring of landmarks, simple trespass on lands and cutting of timber, willful damage to cattle, horses and personal property not exceeding the amount of twenty-five dollars, and all offenses punishable by fine not exceeding one hundred dol- lars, or imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding three months, or both such fine and imprisonment. For the exercise of jurisdic- tion they were vested with the ordinary powers resident in courts of record, except setting aside a verdict and arresting judgment thereon. All cases on which judgment had been given might be removed to the circuit court by either party. PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS In compiling a list of the prosecuting attorneys for Kent county it has been difficult to obtain personal information concerning all, but the following is fairly complete: Hiram Osgood, an early settler at "Grandville and the owner of the plat of that ambitious town, hoping to make it the county seat, was appointed prosecut- ing attorney for Kent county in 1837. He died at Grandville in 152 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 1843. In 1842 Simeon M. Johnson became prosecuting attorney for one year. Johnson was an insurance agent, newspaper editor, law- yer and politician as in those days no lawyer could earn enough by practice of his profession to live. In 1852 he removed to Washing- ton, D. C. In 1843 Thomas B. Church assumed the duties, continu- ing for three years, when he was succeeded by Alfred D. Rathbone in 1846. Church was born in Dighton, Bristol county, Massachu- setts, coming to Michigan in 1838. He had studied law at Har- vard and was admitted to the bar in 1841 and came to Grand Rapids to reside in 1843. He died in Grand Rapids in 1890. Alfred D. Rathbone was born in Aurora, N. Y., January, 1806; was edu- cated, studied law and admitted to the bar in his native state and came to Grand Rapids in 1836, opening a law office, and continued a resident of the city until his death in 1856. Any history of the city is bound to contain much concerning Mr. Rathbone. Edward E. Sargeant, the successor to Mr. Rathbone, was elected to the office in 1850. He was village attorney in 1848 and helped draft the charter under which Grand Rapids was made a city. He died in 1858. The sixth prosecuting attorney was John T. Holmes, who was, in 1852, elected to that office. Holmes was also a New Yorker, born in that state in 1815, coming to Detroit in 1837, and to Grand Rapids the next year. He served two terms as prosecuting attorney and in 1875 was elected judge of the new superior court. In 1882 he was elected police judge and held the office until his death in 1891. In 1856 E. S. Eggleston was elected and served two years. Mr. Eggleston came to Michigan in 1837 from New York state, settled at Litchfield, Hillsdale county, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1852, one year after coming to Grand Rapids, In 1861 he was appointed consul to Cadiz, Spain, where he remained four years. He represented the First district, in Grand Rapids, in the legislature, being elected in 1872. He continued the practice of the law until his death in 1892. In 1858 Stephen G. Champlin became prosecuting attorney, holding the office for four years. Born in Kingston, Ulster county, N. Y., July, 1827, attended the common schools and the academy at Rhinebeck, N. Y., commenced the prac- tice of medicine at the age of eighteen, acquiring an extensive tice in his native county. He then began the study of law, was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty-two and opened an office in Richmond, Ulster county, New York. He came to Grand Rapids in 1853 and formed a partnership with Lucius Patterson. He entered the Union service at the outbreak of the Civil war, became colonel of the Third Michigan Infantry in October, 1861, was severely wounded at the battle of Fair Oaks and in November, 1862, was made a brigadier general. He returned to Grand Rapids and died January 24, 1864. * In 1860 Thaddeus Foote succeeded Champlin, and served two years. Mr. Foote was born in Connecticut in 1821, graduated from Yale in 1844, later graduated from the Harvard Law School and prac- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 153 came to Grand Rapids in 1850. He enlisted in the service at the beginning of the Civil war, became colonel of the Tenth Michigan Cavalry and was pension agent in Grand Rapids at the close of the war. In 1862 Ebenezer G. D. Holden was elected to this office and served four years. He was born in Ohio in 1834, the family remov- ing to Kent county, Michigan, in 1845. He first learned the car-, penter's trade, became a student at Knox College, Illinois, studied law and was admitted to the Kent county bar in 1859. He was one of the organizers of the Grand Rapids Savings Bank. Thaddeus Foote was succeeded in 1866 by Byron D. Ball, who came to Grand Rapids in 1840, when six years old, with his parents, from Owosso, this state. He learned the machinist trade with Ball and McCray in Grand Rapids. In 1857 he began the study of law and in 1859 entered the law department at the University of Michi- gan, graduating in 1861. He came to Grand Rapids to practice his profession. Became state senator in 1871, attorney-general in 1872, resigning that office in 1874. He died in 1876. Andrew J. Reeves assumed the office in 1868. He, too, was born in the state of New York, obtaining his education at Caryville Col- legiate Institute. He taught until 1854. In 1860 he entered the law school at the University of Michigan and graduated in 1861. In 1864 he came to Grand Rapids and began the practice of law. In 1872 Edwin A. Burlingame became the prosecuting attorney. He received his education at the New York Central College and, until 1855, taught school in that part of the state. In 1863 he located in this county on a farm just south of the city, entered the law school at the University of Michigan, graduated in 1869, opened an office in Grand Rapids and in 1887 was elected judge of the superior court of Grand Rapids. He removed to Ishpeming, Michi- gan, in 1905, where he died in 1909. In 1876 Stephen H. Ballard became prosecuting attorney. He was a Vermonter, born in 1836. When he was three years old his father brought the family to Grand Rapids. He was educated at the University of Michigan. He studied law in Grand Rapids and was admitted to the bar in 1862. In that year he enlisted and served in the army throughout the war. He attained the rank of captain. He was, for a time, assistant U. S. attorney for the West- ern District of Michigan. Failing health compelled him to go to Colorado, where he died in 1890. Frank F. Kutts became holder of the office in 1878. Kutts was a Michigan man, having been born at Brooklyn, Jackson county. He attended the Michigan Union College at Leoni and the Uni- versity at Ann Arbor, graduating from the law department in 1870, after which he was admitted to the bar of Jackson county. He later settled at Rockford, this county, and in 1876 came to Grand Rapids, where he continued to reside until 1899, when he removed back to Rockford. In 1880 Fred A. Maynard was elected prosecuting attorney and 154 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY served one term. The sketch of Mr. Maynard will be found in another part of this work (see index). Isaac M. Turner succeeded Mr. Maynard in 1882. Mr. Turner was an Englishman by birth, came to Shelby county, Illinois, in 1868, when seventeen years old. Came to Grand Rapids in 1878, after taking a law course at the state university, and entered the law office of Judge Grove. He died in this city in 1895. Mr. Turner served two terms as prosecuting attorney and was succeeded by Samuel D. Clay in 1886. Mr. Clay was born in New Hampshire in 1836, studied law with his uncle for three years and was admitted to the bar at Augusta, Maine, in 1861. He came to Grand Rapids seven years later. He died in 1911. In 1888 Wm. J. Stuart became prosecutor. Born in Yankee Springs township, Barry county, this state, he spent his boyhood days on the farm until 1859, when he entered the schools at Hast- ings. He later went to Kalamazoo, graduated from the high school in 1863, taught school one term and then entered the state univer- sity. In 1866 he was superintendent of the schools at Hastings for one year and then returned to the university and graduated in 1868. After teaching again for a time, he entered the law depart- ment of the university and graduated in 1872. January 1, 1873, he came to Grand Rapids and became assistant to Mr. Burlingame, then the prosecuting attorney. He was city attorney for two terms from 1880. In 1905 he was elected judge of the superior court and filled that position until his death in 1911. In 1890 the incumbent was Wm. F. McKnight, whose sketch will be found elsewhere in this volume, as will that of Alfred Wol- cott, who succeeded Mr. McKnight in 1892. In 1894 Frank A. Rogers became prosecuting attorney. In 1900 Wm. B. Brown; in 1906, John S. McDonald; 1908, Wm. B. Brown; in 1912, Earl F. Phelps; 1914, Edward N. Barnard; 1916, Cornelius Hoffius, and the present incumbent, Earl W. Munshaw, in 1924 election. The Grand Rapids Bar Association was formed in 1902 with 106 members. The membership at the present time is about 175 and the officers are: Lawrence W. Smith, president; Harold W Bryant, vice-president; Willis B. Perkins, Jr., secretary, and Paul O. Strawhecker, treasurer. MEMBERS OF THE BAR From 1836 to 1842 the village could boast of at least six law- yers, Julius C. Abel, George Martin, A. D. Rathbone, C. P. Calkins, S. M. Johnson and Hiram Osgood. In 1842 Thomas B. Church began the practice of law and in 1843 Solomon L. Withey, John T. Holmes and Sylvester Granger were admitted to practice. In 1847 Lucius Patterson, having been admitted to the bar at Grand Rapids the preceding year, opened his office. He died in that city in 1871. Ebenezer S. Eggleston and James H. McKee were admitted in 1852. In 1854 Christopher W. Lefflngwell began the practice of law in the city. John W. Champlin came to Grand Rapids in 1854, HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 155 his brother, Stephen G., having opened his office in the city the preceding year, and after reading with his brother, was admitted to practice in 1855. He later on became city recorder and then mayor, and in 1883 was elected to the supreme court. After serv- ing in that position for eight years he resumed the practice of law and died in 1901. George H. White and George Gray were ad- mitted in 1856, the former becoming a circuit court commissioner in 1866, and the latter entering the service at the beginning of the Civil war, becoming colonel of the Sixth Michigan Cavalry. Wm. E. Grove was admitted in 1859, became circuit judge in 1888, retir- ing from the bench in 1900. He continued in private practice until 1915 when he retired. His death occurred in 1918. G. Chase God- win was admitted in 1864, was judge of the recorder's court from 1871 to 1875, and in 1879 became city attorney. In 1888 he was appointed U. S. attorney for this district, serving as such until 1890. Isaac H. Parish was admitted to the bar in 1848, practiced in other places until 1861, when he came to Grand Rapids. In 1865 he was made clerk of the U. S. circuit and district courts in this district, which position he held for ten years. In 1881 he was elected judge of the superior court, serving six years. Augustus D. Griswold came to the city in 1857, elected to the legislature in 1862 and 1864; served as U. S. district attorney four years, from 1865. He removed from the city in 1875. James Blair was admitted to practice in the county in 1865. Mr. Blair was a' member of the board of education, a member of the board of trustees for the Industrial School of Boys, and, in 1885, was appointed postmaster. Moses Taggart began the practice of law in Grand Rapids in 1869. In 1884 he became attorney-general of the state, city attorney in 1901 by appointment and by election in 1902, retaining the position for twelve years. Mark M. Powers was admitted in 1869; Willard Kingsley, 1870; Emil A. Dapper, 1871; Lyman D. Norris came from Ypsilanti and formed a part- nership with James Blair in 1871; David D. Hughes came to Grand Rapids as the attorney for the Grand Rapids & Indiana R. R., forming a partnership with T. J. O'Brien. Later on M. J. Smiley was added to the firm. Henry J. Felker was admitted to the bar at Charlotte in 1874, soon removed to this city, became city attorney in 1894, which position he held for the following five years; served on the school board for fifteen years. Edwin F. Uhl came to Grand Rapids in 1876, having been admitted to the bar of Michigan before the supreme court in 1864; in 1893 became assistant secretary of state of the United States; in 1890, mayor of the city; in 1890, assistant secretary of state; in 1896, ambassador plenipotentiary to Germany. He returned from Germany in 1897, resumed the prac- tice of law; retired in 1899 and died in 1901. Robert M. Mont- gomery removed to the city in 1877 from Pentwater, where he had been admitted to the bar in 1870. He was appointed assistant U. S. attorney and served until 1881. In that year he was elected circuit judge. In 1891 he was elected judge of the supreme court. In 1910 156 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY he resigned that place and was appointed presiding judge of the Court of Customs Appeals at Washington, D. C. McGeorge Bundy was admitted to the bar at Albany, N. Y., in 1878; came to Grand Rapids in 1881, forming a partnership with C. H. Gleason and later with Judge Montgomery; in 1892 he formed a partnership with P. H. Travis and later B. P. Merric was taken into the firm, which continued until Mr. Bundy's death in 1911. Wm. H. Haggerty graduated from the law department of the state university in 1886, and began at once the practice of law in Grand Rapids. In 1891 he was elected judge of the police court, which he held until 1896. In 1900 he was again elected, serving until his death. Allen C. Adsit came to Grand Rapids in 1877, having begun the practice of law in New York state in 1860. In 1886 he became assistant U. S. attorney for this district, which he held until 1890. In 1890 he was elected circuit judge and retired from the bench in 1900, and practiced until his death in 1912. George P. Wanty grad- uated from the law department of the state university in 1878 and at once came to this city and entered upon the practice of law. In 1900 he was appointed United States judge for the western dis- trict of Michigan, occupying that place until his death in 1906. Alfred H. Hunt was admitted to the bar in 1896 and came to Grand Rapids to practice two years later. He served for a time as referee in bankruptcy and practiced his profession until his death in 1911. Charles M. Wilson was born in Ionia, October 10, 1858; grad- uated from the law department of the state university in 1882 and the same year began the practice of law in Grand Rapids. After several years he became the partner of Judge Arthur C. Denison. which continued until Judge Denison went on the United States bench. Mr. Wilson became one of the leading attorneys of Grand Rapids, a prominent leader in the Democratic party, and held sev- eral offices during his thirty-five years' residence in the city. He died following an operation at Blodgett hospital on the 20th of June, 1917. William F. McKnight was one of the best known attorneys of the state, playing an important part in state legal and political affairs. He was a graduate of the normal college at Valparaiso, Indiana, and of the law department of the state university, being a member of the class of 1887. He served two years as the prosecut- ing attorney of Kent county. He died after being in ill health for some time, May 19, 1918. CHAPTER IX PHYSICIANS AND PUBLIC HEALTH W HILE Albert Baxter was writing his History of the City of Grand Rapids, Dr. Charles Shepard was a resident of the city, and for that reason the historian should have been able to verify the statements he made in his work as to which of the two doctors, Wilson and Shepard, came to Grand Rapids first to practice permanently. It is of record that, in January, 1835, Dr. Janson Winslow reduced a dislocated hip on the person of Joel Guild, a resident of the village of Grand Rapids. Dr. Winslow had been called from Gull Prairie, Kalamazoo county, where he was then residing, to perform this operation as there was at that time no resident physician in the first named village. Baxter states that Dr. Stephen A. Wilson came to Grand Rapids in August, 1835, and that Dr. Shepard arrived in October, the same year. The two physicians formed a partnership in 1837. The third to settle in the village was a young Frenchman, Dr. Gravelle, who came in 1836, remaining but a few months. In 1837 Dr. Jason Winslow, who performed the operation upon Guild, left Gull Prairie and settled in Grand Rapids and practiced his profession here until his death in 1843. Dr. F. J. Higginson came in 1839 but remained but two years. Baxter gives a list of a few of the other pioneer physicians of the village, with the date of arrival, as fol- lows: Alonzo Platt in 1842; Philander H. Bowman in 1846; Charles L. Henderson in 1847; Wenzel Blumrich in 1848; Alfred Garlock in 1849; C. J. Fearing in 1851; Oscar H. Chipman in 1852; Sterling W. Allen in the same year; and D. W. Bliss in 1854. In an article written in 1890 by Dr. Schuyler C. Graves, a prominent physician who practiced in this city from 1885 to 1916, some idea is given of the hardships of these pioneer doctors. He says: “The trials, discouragements, difficulties and dangers which those old medical heroes were compelled to undergo can scarcely be compre- hended in these days of advanced civilization. The inhabitants of the village being too few to furnish sufficient support, the surround- ing country for miles in every direction must be traversed by the over-worked and under-fed doctor. Nor were the dangers incident to long country trips insignificant; for, with angry rivers to ford and primeval forests to traverse, where, oftentimes, the only indica- tion of a pathway through the woods would be the blazing of trees, in addition to which the liability of losing one's way, and the possi- bility of a personal contact with wild beasts ever forced itself upon the mind, the doctor had anything but an easy life. The pecuniary 158 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY return, also, for such labor was meager and uncertain; many of the accounts in those days were paid in shingles and orders on Amos Roberts and Jefferson Morris.” (Merchants.) Pine forests closely surrounded the village, Gunnison's cedar swamp, a marsh extending nearly the length of the town, a frog pond near where the postoffice now stands, making the soil con- stantly moist, could not but have an important bearing upon the health of the community. These features of the topography of the site of the village have long since disappeared, together with "Prospect Hill” and the various small streams that traversed the site in the old days. From a sanitary standpoint Grand Rapids is well situated. Located on the Grand river, flanked by wooded bluffs, with several riverlets emptying into the Grand, the lay of the land immediately beyond the bluffs being rolling uplands and the character of the soil being, as a general thing, sandy, gravelly loam, the advantages afforded by nature in the matter of free drain- age being very pronounced. To these facilities for natural drain- age must be added those of an artificial character. In the matter of sewage the city has not been behind the times as shown in the article on sewage. The citizens are supplied with an ample supply of good drinking water, a subject also treated in another chapter. Naturally the prevalent diseases during the early days of the settle- ment were those associated with the tillage of virgin soil and those connected with the miasma and exhalations from swamps and marshes. Those diseases which owe their origin to the humidity of the atmosphere in connection with sudden changes of tempera- ture, so common in Michigan, were also prevalent in the earlier days and the various forms of malarial fever, from the quaking ague or intermittent, through the remittent, gastric or bilious to the deadly pernicious fever or congestive chill, were the prominent diseases of the early days. The pulmonary affections, including pneumonia, pleurisy, bronchial diseases and consumption, follow in smaller proportion. Rheumatism, typhoid fever and dysentery, with a scattering of other diseases, were also observed. The principal surgery at that time included broken limbs, gun- shot wounds and injuries incurred in the primitive sawmills. In 1849 the physicians of Grand Rapids had much to do in consequence of an outbreak of Asiatic cholera at Grandville; but, while the disease was extensive and the rate of mortality as high as thirty- five or forty per cent., it did not reach Grand Rapids that year. However, in 1854 it did reach the city. The visitation was light, there being only three or four deaths here from this cause. Grand Rapids has suffered at times from epidemics of minor diseases, but none of these have been marked by great mortality. The board of health has always been persistent in its efforts to bring about improved sanitary conditions in the way of securing better drink- ing water, better sewerage, stopping the sale or unwholesome or adulterated food products, etc., and it is due to these efforts that Grand Rapids today holds the record of being one of the most HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 159 healthful cities in the country. One of the leading physicians of the city is quoted as saying: “Medical progress in the city of : Grand Rapids during the past quarter of a century cannot be sep- arated from the medical progress of the world. The medical pro- fession in Grand Rapids maintains a position abreast of the times; her surgeons perform, successfully, the most difficult operations from day to day, her physicians treat in a scientific manner the most difficult and obscure diseases; those engaged in special work rank among the best in the medical societies. Some of the physi- cians of Grand Rapids are authors of standard medical works, and the writings of many are quoted in the leading medical literature; and among their members are neurologists and alienists who are frequently called to give testimony in the courts in some of the most difficult cases in medico-legal experience. Surgical appli- ances and inventions, the products of their ingenuity, in special lines of work, are recognized throughout the country, and no person need seek advice in distant cities in order to obtain the latest and best that medical science can afford.” Those in the medical profession have always been progressive and recognized the necessity of co-operation for the betterment of that profession. The physicians and surgeons of the early days were not behind in such matters and as early as 1852 the Grand River Medical Association was formed, which included the pro- fession as far as Ionia. At its annual meeting in 1852 it recom- mended the teaching of the principles of anatomy, physiology and hygiene in the public schools. Among other societies organized was the Grand Rapids Medical and Surgical Society, which con- tinued its existence until about 1885. Drs. C. L. Henderson, D. W. Bliss, O. H. Chipman, A. Platt and W. H. DeCamp were the prime movers in its organization. The Grand Rapids Sanitary Associa- tion was organized in 1880, its object being: To promote a general interest in sanitary science and to diffuse among the people a gen- eral knowledge of the means of preventing disease; to co-operate with the city authorities in securing the adoption of the most effec- tive methods of improving the sanitary condition of the city; to collect useful information pertaining to sanitary science. After a few meetings interest lagged and the association went out of existence. One of the greatest boons to the people at large in any com- munity is that of the public hospital for the care of the sick and maimed and in this matter Grand Rapids ranks high. One of the earliest to be established was that of St. Mark's Home and Hospital, which began with the opening of what was known as the "Church Home.” A small frame house was built by Mr. and Mrs. E. P. Fuller on Kent (now Bond) street and finished in 1873. Here were accommodations for six patients, and was filled the first year. In 1875, through the continued generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Fuller, the accommodations were increased by the erection of a larger 160 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY building, and the following year the institution was incorporated and the name became St. Mark's Home and Hospital. In 1890 the building on the corner of Michigan and Bostwick was completed and dedicated. The hospital association was greatly aided in securing the new quarters by the liberality of R. E. Butter- worth, who, in addition to the gift of the site, left a bequest of $15,000 for the erection of the building and property to the value of $15,000 as an endowment fund. Probably no better illustration of the steady growth which has characterized the development of the city of Grand Rapids can be found than the story of how a little eleven-room home for the aged and sick has grown through the course of a half century into the magnificent Butterworth Hospital. In 1872 the hospital had its inception. A group of workers in St. •Mark's Pro-Cathedral, feel- ing the need of a place to care for the helpless, opened St. Mark's Church Home. Within a short time larger quarters were neces- sary and the home was moved to a house on Island street donated by Mrs. Fuller. A medical staff was organized and a free dispen- sary opened. The home continued to care for the aged as well as the sick, but meanwhile Grand Rapids had grown, developing into a manufacturing center and needing more and more the service that only a hospital can give. Then came the donation from Rich- ard Edward Butterworth of a site for a new hospital at the south- west corner of Michigan street and Bostwick avenue. Mr. Butter- worth died the following year after making this donation and bequeathed to the hospital $15,000 and the property as above stated. In 1890 the new building was placed in use. At this time the name was changed to Butterworth Hospital, the care of the aged was discontinued and the institution became simply a hospital. The Kendall Home for Nurses was built the following year by Mrs. J. Edward Earle, Mrs. David Breed, of Chicago, and Mrs. John G. Shields, of Colorado Springs, daughters of Mr. and Mrs. George Kendall, and Geo. T. Kendall, a grandson. A number of new build- ings were also added at this time. In 1915 Mr. and Mrs. Edward Lowe gave Golden Rule Cottage, making the fourth building they had donated. Butterworth in time became a ninety-eight bed l:ospital, all equipped in the best possible manner. In 1920 Mr. and Mrs. Lowe offered to give $500,000 in cash and a site valued at $200,000; the offer was accepted and in 1923 the erection of the present magnificent hospital building was started. In 1925 the new hospital was completed, dedicated and put in use, beautifully located on the crest of the hill opposite the old. The cost of the new hospital, $1,267,734.98, exceeded the donation by hundreds of thousands of dollars, but all Grand Rapids sought the opportunity to share in the expense, and the balance was soon raised by popular subscription. It was no ordinary class of people who were leaders in the settle- ment of this city and an example is the growth of another hospital. When Grand Rapids was but ten years old a few of the public- DO THE D. A. BLODGETT HOME FOR CHILDREN E 5 CUPS TRUE FAUCTION TOXIC TRES 1211 ODILI WTLR DON AN OLD VIEW OF CAMPAU SQUARE-GRAND RAPIDS HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 161 spirited women of the village formed an organization for public relief. The story of the Union Benevolent Association dates from that meeting. It was the first movement of organized philanthropy in the community. In the beginning the association bore the name of “Female Union Charitable Association, but it was soon changed to Union Benevolent Association. During its earlier years the association clothed the needy poor, especially the children, who were outfitted for school; it nourished the sick, gave home nursing and found employment for the unemployed. About 1857 it estab- lished and maintained a home for orphan children which they con- tinued until the outbreak of the Civil war, when the activities of the association were turned to war relief. After the war the work of the association was resumed with the exception of that of caring for the orphans, as that had been taken over by the state. In 1882 the need of larger and better quarters was keenly felt. In 1870 Mrs. Mary G. Wood had presented the association a site at the corner of Lyon street and College avenue. In 1883 work was begun on the building, which for thirty years was to be the home of the organization. In 1895, other societies having taken up the work, the association discontinued the care of the aged and devoted its energies toward securing the necessary equipment to meet the demand for asceptic surgery and professional nursing. The hos- pital idea became, thereafter, the definite work of the association. In 1914 Mr. John W. Blodgett began the erection of a new hospital building for the association and on its completion, in April, 1916, donated it to the association as a memorial to his mother, Mrs. Jane Wood Blodgett. Another worthy institution is St. Mary's Hospital, conducted by the Sisters of Mercy. The Sisters of Mercy, founded in Dublin, Ireland, in 1831, has for some of its principal objects the foundation and maintenance of schools and academies and the care of the sick poor. The Sisters have established a system of hospitals in Michi- gan, of which St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Rapids is one. 'The hospital was organized in 1893 and opened in 1895 and the work of the Sisters was started in this community for the benefit of suffering humanity and has been in continuous operation ever since, and nearly 50,000 patients have received treatment. In 1923 the medical staff consisted of thirty-four members, statistics show- ing a marked increase of the number treated each year. The pres- ent structure represents the north wing of an absolutely fireproof building. St. Mary's labored many years under many handicaps and difficulties to care for patients in a building not at all adapted for hospital needs. This was remedied to some extent by the erec- tion of the present building, which was designed to accommodate sixty-five patients and at the present time one hundred patients are being cared for. To relieve the situation it was determined to solicit funds from the general public for the erection of additional quarters and in November the campaign was started to raise $350,- 000. Grand Rapids, with its customary generosity, subscribed 162 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY : nearly $400,000. The present building is five stories in height and the new wing will be seven, and the capacity of the two wings, united to make one efficient whole, will be one hundred and ninety beds. As Grand Rapids has grown in population it has been neces. sary from time to time, as is the case in all cities, to modify and extend its operations in the care of the general health and welfare and this city has not lagged. Under the new charter, now in force, the old board of health ceased to exist and, subject to the supervision and control of the city manager in all matters, the director of public welfare has general supervision, management and control of all hospitals and all health recreational, charitable, re- formatory and correctional institutions and agencies belonging to or conducted by the city. He has charge of the sanitary inspec- tion and supervision of the production, transportation, storage and sale of food and food stuffs; of the inspection and supervision of public amusements and of the securing and compiling of vital statistics and statistics bearing upon the question of health and poverty, and statistics upon such other local social problems as the city manager may direct. He has charge of the prevention, abatement and suppression of nuisances. Whenever any building, structure, furniture, wearing apparel, goods, wares, merchandise, or article or property of any kind, shall become tainted or infected with any contagious, pestilential or infectious matter, in the opinion of the director of the public welfare, or is likely to pass into such a state as to generate or propagate disease, the director of public welfare, with the approval of the city manager, may abate such nuisance when they deem the same necessary for the prevention of the public health. It is the duty of the director of public wel- fare, in time of epidemic or threatened epidemic, to enforce such quarantine and isolation regulations as the emergency may re- quire and as authorized by law, and he has the power to enforce all laws, charter provisions, ordinances and regulations relating to the welfare of the inhabitants of the city with respect to recrea- tion, the preservation and promotion of public health and the re- lief and prevention of disease and poverty. He shall have and exercise, within and for the city, all the powers and authority con- ferred upon local boards of health by the laws of the state of Michigan. He shall appoint a full time health officer of recognized ability in public health work, a registered physician in good stand, ing, who shall perform, under the direction of the director of pub- lic welfare, the duties imposed and exercise the powers conferred upon local health officers and such other duties as the director of public welfare may prescribe. When the new charter went into effect, Dr. Charles C. Slemons, who had for many years been con- nected with the old board of health, was retained by the director of public welfare as head of the department of health. Under this officer are: The division of records and statistics; division of communicable diseases which is divided, (a) tuberculosis, (b) venereal diseases; division of child hygiene, divided, (a) infant ) HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 163 welfare, (b) school hygiene, (c) dental clinic; division of foods; division of laboratories; division of sanitation; division of plumb- ing; the isolation hospital and the tuberculosis sanatorium. The sub-division, tuberculosis, is under the direction of Dr. Eugene N. Nesbitt. Until 1924 Dr. Nesbitt directed all the activi- ties of the A. T. S., but beginning with that year the city took over all of this work with the exception of the publicity department. The sub-division, venereal diseases, is under the charge of Dr. Allison H. Edwards. Sub-division (a) of the division of child hygiene works in conjunction with the clinic for infant feeding under the direction of Margarette Roche, who has nine nurses, three lay workers and two stenographers. Sub-division (b), under child hygiene, and designated school hygiene, has two medical in- spectors, one chief nurse and thirteen nurses. Sub-division (c) dental clinic, has two full time dentists and one half time dentist. The division of foods has three inspectors and the division of sani- tation has the same number. The following is the report of the work of the inspectors in the sanitary department for the year 1924: Total number of inspections..... 1,364 Total number of orders served........... 1,138 Total number of orders complied with.......... 1,127 Complaints investigated 259 Sewer and water connections ordered. 5 Garbage cans ordered.......... 27 Remove cows 1 Special calls 1,101 Foul vaults 979 Foul cesspools 1 Foul yards 53 Foul alleys 4 Foul barns 14 Foul manure boxes 20 Foul poultry coops and yards... 17 Report of housing inspection is as follows: Number of inspections......... 748 Number of re-inspections 2,409 Rooming house visits..... 530 Orders served ...... 386 Miscellaneous 838 Report for the same year of the clinic for infant feeding : Babies registered 4,009 Different babies at clinic. 595 Clinics held 187 New babies at clinic. 276 Old babies at clinic..... 319 ........ Total attendance Nurses' calls on babies......... Nurses' calls on clinic babies....... Nurses' calls on non-clinic babies. 3,206 .10,128 2,760 7,360 164 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 22 17 . Breast milk report for the same year follows: Babies supplied with breast milk........... Mothers supplying breast milk. Cows' milk report for the same period : Number of patients receiving milk........... Number of quarts supplied Pre-school report: Different children at clinic....... Total attendance Total clinic calls.......... Total non-clinic calls.......... 28 4,645 ............. .......... ............................. 236 732 1,444 1,116 .................. ......... ........... ................... 2,560 ........ ......... ............................. ............ Total calls Nutrition report: Different children at clinic......... Total attendance Different children called on.... Total number of calls............... Number brought up to weight........ Pre-natal report: Total number of calls............ Different patients at clinic.... Babies born at home........... Babies born at hospital........ 59 138 253 345 20 .......... ........ 1,305 57 44 22 ......... .......... ........... Total number born.............. 66 Division of medical relief: Number of new families receiving medical relief...... 291 Number of old families receiving medical relief..... 968 Number of new individuals receiving medical relief..... 345 Number of old individuals receiving medical relief. 1,482 Number of office consultations....... 1,609 Physicians' calls 3,329 Nurses' calls 1,913 House visits to city employes. 796 Office calls to city employes.......... 1,379 Hospital visits 938 X-ray examinations 84 Tonsilectomy operations 204 Examined for the fire department............. 25 Examined for the police department.............. 131 Examined for the public service department. 140 Children's clinics 23 Operations 20 Miscellaneous 4 Report of the isolation hospital: Cases treated: Scarlet fever, 306; diphtheria, 50; smallpox, 8; erysipelas, 1. Total, 383. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 165 ......... ........ .................. Tuberculosis sanatorium: Cases on hand April 1, 1924..... 97 Admitted 199 Discharged-quiescent 34 Discharged-improved 93 Discharged—not improved 20 Dead 38 Cases on hand March 31, 1925. 105 Cases treated 296 Hospital days ...........36,177 Medical examination of schools: Number of house visits 649 Permits issued 5,885 Permits refused .......... 717 Work permits issued 96 Vaccination at offices........ 594 Vaccination at schools....... 151 Vaccinations at homes and factories. 197 Antitoxin administered at health office, units. .....37,000 Toxin-antitoxin injections 292 Cultures taken 129 Release calle made—scarlet fever, diphtheria........ 449 Release calls made-smallpox 22 Smallpox vaccination visits, exposure calls. 26 Children excluded from school............. 33 Children referred to dentist........ 152 Children examined for board of education............. 87 An idea of the work performed by the nurses at the schools can be gained by the following as typical of all. At one school, with an enrollment of between fourteen and fifteen hundred, one nurse devotes her whole time and aside from the regular school work, such as arranging for and assisting the school physician in giving physical examinations, toxin-antitoxin and vaccinating, the nurse has carried on nutrition classes. One hundred and twenty- five under-weight children have been brought up to weight. One hundred and nineteen diseased tonsils and adenoids have been re- moved and sixteen children have had their vision corrected. The other twelve nurses are carrying five to six schools each with an average of 2,200 pupils per nurse. The report for the year of 1924 shows: Number of school visits by staff nurses... 60 Visits to schools 3,139 Number individual pupils inspected by nurses. 39,890 Physical examinations made by school physicians.. 4,296 Number defects found 9,471 Number of corrections made........ 3,378 During the year 1924 the nurses made 5,253 home calls. These home calls are made to urge correction of defects and to explain to the parents the advantages of sending a child to various classes, such as nutrition classes, oral deaf classes, open air classes, etc. 166 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY ....... ..... .......... The teeth of 4,225 school children were treated during the same period at the dentist clinic. Tables showing comparative numbers of deaths: 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 Total number deaths, all ages, all causes 514 446 446 517 497 460 492 475 Total number of deaths, under 1 year, all causes...... all causes....................... 102 92 133 118 88 106 82 Number deaths, under 1 year, Gastro Int. ....... 27 17 25 18 9 12 4 Number deaths 1 to 2 years, all causes 13 8 12 9 8 11 3 Number deaths 1 to 2 years, Gastro Int. 5 1 4 5 4 1 0 Public health officials, vital statisticians and others agree that the infant mortality rate is an index standard of the sanitary and health conditions of a city. The infant mortality rate in Grand Rapids for years has attracted the attention generally of public health officials and vital statisticians. The rate for 1924 has eclipsed all previous records and the rate of 52.5 is nearly what for years has been stated by vital statisticians to be an "irredu- cible minimum”; that is 50. With a general mortality rate of 10.32, an infant mortality of 52.5 and a tuberculosis mortality of 68.1 Grand Rapids can be justly proud of her record. The grati- fying results of the campaign against tuberculosis giving a tuber- culosis mortality of 68.1 is another outstanding record in this county and emphasizes the high character of the work that has been done bv the health department of the city. Comparative table showing mortality rates for a number of years: (Stillborns not included) 1919 1920 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 Total deaths, all ages............. 1559 1829 1539 1587 1714 1531 General death rate 11.5 13.2 10.8 11.0 11.7 10.3 Living births .2803 3121 3384 3169 3316 3317 Deaths under 1 year 233 311 236 194 208 174 Stillbirths 116 125 133 108 128 126 While the results of 1924 have in every way surpassed those of previous years the outstanding accomplishments during the year have been in the prevention and cure of malnutrition, goiter, physi- cal and mental defects and in the field of immunology Health department practices have entirely changed in the last decade from curative to preventive and educational procedures and the results obtained prove beyond question their value. The mortality rate of 10.3 is the lowest in the city's history and one of the very lowest in the United States. For the preservation of the public health outside of the city it is provided by the laws of the state that in every township of each county the township board shall constitute the board of health of which the supervisor is the president. It is the duty of the board of health, so constituted, to appoint and .................... ..... ......... ................ .......... ........... HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 167 a constantly have a health officer, who must be a well educated physi- cian, who shall act as the sanitary advisor and executive officer of the board. The duties and powers of this health officer are prac- tically the same, as far as conditions permit, as those of the health officer of the city. In each city and village, where no board of health is organized under its charter, the mayor and aldermen of each incorporated city and the president and council or trustees of each incorporated village, have all the powers and must perform the duties of a board of health for their respective localities, as provided by law. The laws of the state guarding the health and safety of its citizens, are very comprehensive and provide for the regulation of and prevention of nuisances, sources of filth and sources of sickness, regulation of the interment of the dead, the examination of any building for the purpose of removing, destroy- ing or preventing cause of sickness, the establishment of quarantine and of hospitals for dangerous diseases and the punishment of violators of the laws relating to the public health. : Personal Sketches Roger W. Butterfield was an honored member of the Michigan bar for more than half a century, was a man of fine intellectual and professional attainments, was a citizen of broad vision and creative public spirit, and his noble and generous personality made his a benign- ant influence in all the relations of life. Mr. Butterfield initiated his professional career in Grand Rapids, and this city continued to represent his home and the central stage of his professional activities during the remaining years of his long and useful life. He was one of the veteran and most honored and distinguished members of the Grand Rapids bar at the time of his death, July 17, 1920. Roger W. Butter- field was born at Elbridge, Onondaga county, New York, April 23, 1844, his father having been a clergyman of the Baptist church and having held various pastoral charges in the states of New York, New Jersey, Iowa and Michigan. The subject of this memoir was thus reared in a home that was replete with refined and cultural influences but that had none of the evidences of affluence. He was earnestly aided and encouraged in gaining a liberal education, and in 1866 he was gradu- ated in Princeton College, from which he received the degree of Bache- lor of Arts. In preparation for his chosen profession he thereafter completed a course in the law department of the University of Michi- gan, in which he was graduated in 1868, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws and with virtually concomitant admission to the Michigan bar. He forthwith chose Grand Rapids as his place of residence, and here he continued in the active practice of law many years—in fact, his professional service was not entirely abated until death brought a close to his life, when he was seventy-six years of age. Soon after his com- ing to Grand Rapids, Mr. Butterfield formed a professional partner- ship with John W. Champlin, who later served with distinction on the bench of the Michigan supreme court. Later John C. Fitz Gerald became a member of the firm. After the dissolution of this partnership Mr. Butterfield was engaged in individual practice for some time, was for an interval the senior member of the law firm of Butterfield & HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 169 Withey, and January 1, 1887, he became senior member of the firm of Butterfield & Keeney, which later was amplified in its personnel and assumed the title of Butterfield, Keeney & Amberg. With this impor- tant and representative law firm Mr. Butterfield continued his alliance, as its senior member, until the time of his death, more than thirty years later. In the year 1906 Roger C. Butterfield, son of the subject of this memoir, was admitted to the firm, and ten years later occurred the admission of Julius H. Amberg. Concerning the career of Mr. Butterfield has been written an estimate that is well worthy of reproduction in this connection and that is as follows: “The fifty-two years of Mr. Butterfield's life at the Grand Rapids bar were years of activity. In his earlier career he achieved appreciable success in trial work. He brought to the presentation of his cases patience in re- search, carefulness in preparation and fine native qualities of mind, the while his earnest and forceful manner of speech and his evident sincerity gave weight to his arguments and contributed to his prestige as an advocate. In later years he withdrew largely from trial work, but to the time of his death he continued to devote the major part of his time to professional business. Mr. Butterfield combined in marked degree the attributes of the scholar and the man of affairs, and his mature judgment and sagacious counsel gave him a place of large in- fluence in the business and financial life of the community. In times of financial stress his services were valuable not merely to the individual persons and the corporations constituting his immediate clientage, but also in averting disaster to important elements in the industrial life of his home city and state. * * In the long and unbroken profes- sional career of Roger W. Butterfield he was made the counselor of many, and it is but cold statement of fact to say not merely that his advice and direction were sagacious, practical and helpful, but that his life was marked throughout by the strictest adherence to that cardinal principle of the profession by which he was committed to all faith and integrity. Mr. Butterfield was a lover of books, and from his early manhood was an appreciative collector of them. With the passing years he assembled a well-chosen library of many volumes, and his tastes led him to pass much time among them. During his later years he passed a portion of his time in travel, and his keenness of observa- tion added to the stores of knowledge he had gained from his extensive reading and study. He was frequently called upon to deliver addresses before assemblies of his professional confreres and also before other bodies, and those who have listened to him on such occasions will bear in mind the profundity of his learning and the eloquent and inspiring words of which he was the master. A mind well stored and well trained made his public addresses and private conversation distinct sources of instruction, inspiration and entertainment. A memorial to Mr. Butterfield would be incomplete were there failure to take note of his old-fashioned courtesy and kindliness of manner, the frankness with which he expressed his opinions, and the tenacity with which he stood for what he believed to be right.” Mr. Butterfield stood exemplar of enlightened, helpful and constructive public spirit, and the texture of * 170 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY : . his mind, as combined with his business and executive ability, made him an influential and valued member of the board of regents of the Uni- versity of Michigan, a position that he retained sixteen years and that represented his only public office. Though he had no desire to enter the arena of practical politics and had no ambition for public office, he was a staunch advocate and supporter of the principles of the Re- publican party. On the 24th day of May, 1876, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Butterfield to Miss Leonora I. Drake, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and their ideal companionship of more than forty years was not long to be broken, aš Mrs. Butterfield survived her husband by only a few weeks, she having passed to the life eternal October 3, 1920. They are survived by four children: Mary is a resident of Grand Rapids (unmarried); Roger C., who continues an active member of the law firm of Butterfield, Keeney & Amberg, is individually mentioned in this publication; Isaac L. is a resident of California, and Archibald D. resides at Waverly, Tennessee. Roger C. Butterfield, of the representative Grand Rapids law firm of Butterfield, Keeney & Amberg, with offices in the Michigan Trust Building, is well upholding the professional and civic prestige of a family name that has been one of prominence in the annals of Grand Rapids history during a period of more than half a century, as may be seen by reference to the memoir that appears on other pages of this publication that is dedicated to his father, the late Roger W. Butterfield, who was long an honored and distinguished member of the Michigan bar and who was established in the practice of his profession in Grand Rapids more than fifty years. Roger C. Butterfield was born in Grand Rapids May 30, 1879, in the family home at 231 Paris His father was not only a leading member of the Grand Rapids bar but was also prominently identified with important finan- cial and industrial corporations in this city, he having been for many years a director of the Grand Rapids Savings Bank, and having been also president of the Grand Rapids Chair Company, director of the Imperial Furniture Company from the time of its organization until his death; president of the Widdicomb Furniture Company from the early nineties until its reorganization in 1915, and financially allied with other important industrial corporations. These brief statements con- cerning the business interests of the late Roger W. Butterfield are here entered as supplemental to the data appearing in his personal memoir. Roger C. Butterfield was graduated in the Central high school of Grand Rapids as a member of the class of 1897, and in 1901 he was graduated in the University of Michigan with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In the law department of that university he was graduated as a member of the class of 1903, and after thus receiving his degree of Bachelor of Laws he became associated with the law firm of which his father was the senior member and to membership in which he him- self was admitted in 1906. He is a director of the Grand Rapids Chair Company, and the Imperial Furniture company, and has served as a director of the Grand Rapids Association of Commerce. Mr. Butterfield was a director of the Schubert Club of Grand Rapids from 1905 to avenue. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 171 1924, was its secretary two years, and was its president six years. He takes deep interest in all that tends to advance the cultural, civic and material progress and prosperity of his native city. He is affiliated with the Psi Upsilon college fraternity, and has membership in the Peninsular, the University and the Kent Country clubs. The Herpolsheimer Company and its Founders. In all that rep- resents progressive retail merchandising according to the best metro- politan standards, the Herpolsheimer Company has been an exponent of leadership in the city of Grand Rapids during a period of more than half a century, and thus a record concerning the development of the splendid business enterprise of the company properly finds place in this publication, together with brief review of the personal records of the liberal and progressive citizens to whom the Valley City of Michigan is indebted for this representative mercantile establishment. September 12, 1870, William G. Herpolsheimer and C. G. A. Voight became associated in the opening of a small drygoods store on Monroe street, Grand Rapids, this modest establishment having been on the north side of that street and a few doors west of Ottawa street. Effec- tive service and fair and honorable policies gained to the new firm of Voight, Herpolsheimer & Company a business that was cumulatively successful, and very soon the obtaining of larger quarters became a matter of imperative necessity. Thus, on February 1, 1871, the stock of goods was moved across Monroe street and installed in what was then known as the Luce Block, at the southwest corner of Monroe and Ottawa streets. Here, with better facilities, the business con- tinued to expand in scope and importance, and February 1, 1876, re- moval was made to a still larger store, in the Godfrey Block, on the south side of Monroe street and just east of Ottawa street. Here the entire four floors were brought into requisition in providing space and sales accommodations for the general retail business, including drygoods, carpets, draperies, etc. Later the concern annexed additional space in other buildings fronting on Ottawa street, and in these quarters was developed a substantial wholesale business in the handling of dry goods. December 31, 1901, the Voight interests were withdrawn from the staunch and well-ordered business, which has since been continued, with ever-increasing success, under the title of the Herpolsheimer Com- pany. The main seven-story building of the Herpolsheimer Company, on Monroe and Ottawa streets, was completed by the company in May, 1904, and so rapid was the increase of business that the progressive corporation instituted the erection of its ten-story annex building, ad- joining the original building on the west, and this was completed in May, 1911. In 1915 all reserve stocks as well as the wholesale floor- covering and drapery business, were removed to the Herpolsheimer warehouse, a three-story building on Ottawa avenue and Louis street, this provision having made available for the retail business several thousand additional square feet of floor space in the main building. In September, 1922, in consonance with its established policy of pro- gressiveness and expansion, this admirable business organization, 172 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY through its adjunct corporation, the A. B. Herpolsheimer Realty Company, effected the purchase of the Blodgett Furniture Exhibition Building, adjoining the Herpolsheimer Building on the south, and all space in this annex building is to be occupied by the Herpolsheimer Company, through which medium the floor space of the retail estab- lishment will be virtually doubled. At the time of this writing, in the summer of 1925, the company has made ready and is using a consid- erable portion of the Blodgett building thus acquired. More recently the A. B. Herpolsheimer Realty Company has purchased the building adjoining the present store on the west, and thus is added forty feet more frontage on Monroe avenue. This great retail establishment stands as a monument to those who have developed the same and its large and important business, and both the establishment and the enter- prise contribute much to the metropolitan advantages and prestige of Grand Rapids. William G. Herpolsheimer, one of the two founders of the business, was born at Karlsruhe, Prussia, in 1842, and was a son of Christian and Anna Herpolsheimer, he having been a boy at the time when the family came to the United States and his early education having been received principally in the public schools of Indiana. In 1855 he initiated his association with mercantile business by taking a clerical position in a dry goods store at New Carlisle, Indiana. He was not yet twenty years of age at the inception of the Civil War, but his youthful loyalty found prompt expression in enlisting in the One Hundred and Thirty-Eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, which became a part of the Army of the Tennessee and with which he served until the close of the In later years he manifested his continued interest in his old comrades by maintaining affiliation with the Grand Army of the Re- public. After the close of the war Mr. Herpolsheimer engaged independently in the dry goods business at Michigan City, Indiana, and this review has already recorded his initial enterprise in the retail dry- goods business in Grand Rapids in 1870. Honored alike for his large and worthy achievement and for his sterling attributes of character, Mr. Herpolsheimer was one of the veteran business men and influential citizens of Grand Rapids at the time of his death, February 24, 1920, a year that marked the fiftieth anniversary of becoming associated with the dry goods business. He had, however, retired from active business in 1902, and his son Henry B. became his able successor in the executive control of the great business enterprise. The splendid Herpolsheimer store stands as a monument to this veteran merchant, who likewise found time during his busy and useful life to participate in many other commercial, industrial and financial enterprises. He was a director of the Grand Rapids National Bank from the time of its organization in 1880 until his death. He was a stalwart Republican and was a zealous communicant and liberal supporter of Immanuel Lutheran church in his home city. In his will Mr. Herpolsheimer made bequests to each of those who had been in his employ three years or more. Concerning him the following appreciative estimate has been made: “He was among the men who exerted a strong influence in the life of Grand war. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 173 Rapids during the era of its greatest development, and his interest in any cause to which he attached himself was potent in making for the success of that cause.” November 13, 1867, Mr. Herpolsheimer was united in marriage to Miss Amelia L. Bremer, daughter of the late Henry Bremer, of Grand Rapids. Mrs. Herpolsheimer died on April 27, 1925, at the age of 78 years. To this union were born four chil- dren: Henry B., William B., Anna and Ralph C. Henry B. Herpolsheimer was born in Michigan City, Indiana, November 8, 1868, and was about two years old at the time of the family removal to Grand Rapids, where his early educational advantages were those of the public schools. When fifteen years of age he became a clerk in his father's store, and through natural aptitude and the able preceptorship of his father he developed admirable business and executive acumen. His advancement was rapid, and he early began to take upon himself much of the responsibility of the business, he having been made general manager of the establishment in the early nineties and having been largely influential in developing the same into the leading store of its kind in Grand Rapids. Though Mr. Herpolsheimer ever counted the mercantile business as one of paramount interest, he did not confine his activities to this alone. He became a director of the Wolverine Brass Works, the Globe Knitting Works, the Kent State Bank and the Grand Rapids Savings Bank. He was a man of highest civic loyalty and liberality, and was a sincere worker for the good of his home city and state, the while he was never deflected from his high standard of honor and business integrity. Like his father, Mr. Herpolsheimer was a staunch advocate and supporter of the principles of the Republican party, and an earnest communicant of Immanuel Lutheran church, as is also his widow. Mr. Herpolsheimer survived his honored father by less than four months, and his death, on June 5, 1920, took from Grand Rapids one of its leading business men and most in- fluential and highly esteemed citizens. On August 23, 1888, was sol- emnized the marriage of Mr. Herpolsheimer to Miss Caroline K. Brandt, daughter of George J. Brandt, of Grand Rapids, who survives him, as do also their three children-Henry W. G., Arthur B. and Caroline B. Upon the death of her husband Mrs. Herpolsheimer became president of the Herpolsheimer Company, and her son, Arthur B. left his studies at the University of Michigan to take an active interest in the business. December 27, 1923, the Herpolsheimer Company was incorporated under the laws of Michigan, Arthur B., of the third generation of the family, being made president of the company, with which he is well upholding the honors of the family name, and his mother, Caroline K. Herpolsheimer, becoming the vice president of the company. He is also a director of the Grand Rapids National Bank. Stanley N. Allen, a venerable and honored citizen of Grand Rapids, where he was for many years prominently identified with mercantile enterprise, is a representative of a family whose name has been associated with the history of this city for more than seventy years. The Allen family has been one of marked prom- 174 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY : inence and influence in the civic and material development and progress of Grand Rapids, and record concerning the family must needs be, if consistency is to be assured, an integral part of this history of Kent county. Hon. George Washington Allen was born in Enfield, Hartford county, Connecticut, and his long, earnest and distinguished life came to its close in January, 1898, at his home in Grand Rapids. The Allen family gained Colonial prestige in settlement in New England, three brothers of the name having come from England to this country in the early Colonial era, one having settled in Vermont, one in Massachusetts and one in Connecticut. Ethan Allen, the Revolutionary patriot, was of the Vermont branch of the family, and Hon. George Washington Allen, father of the subject of this review, was a representative of the Connecticut branch, he having, after the death of his father, accompanied his widowed mother on her removal to Painesville, Ohio, where he was reared and educated. George W. Allen con- tinued his residence in the old Buckeye state until 1853, when he came with his family to Michigan and established a home in Grand Rapids. Here he was engaged in the mercantile business until 1864, when, under the administration of President Lincoln, he was appointed United States pension agent for western Michigan, an office that he retained three years. In 1870 he became one of the organizers of the Grand Rapids Savings Bank, and of this institu- tion he continued the vice-president until his retirement from active business. Mr. Allen was known as one of the most loyal, liberal and public-spirited citizens of Grand Rapids, was held in inviolable confidence and esteem and was called upon to serve in various offices of public trust, including those of city alderman, county superintendent of the poor, and representative of the county , in the state legislature—in the period of 1859-63. His first wife, whose maiden name was Jeanette Noble, was born at New Mil- ford, Connecticut, and she died in 1859, about six years after the family removal to Grand Rapids. Of the six children of this union, Stanley N. of this review, was the fourth in order of birth; Arthur K. is likewise a resident of Grand Rapids; George R., who had been for many years a prominent business man of Grand Rapids, died in 1924; Henry G. is a resident of New York City, and Jeanette is the wife of David Keeler, of Grand Rapids; Esther died in 1862, aged 20 years. In 1864 George W. Allen contracted a second marriage, when Mrs. Betsey Church became his wife, her first husband, Captain Benjamin B. Church, having been killed in battle at James Island, South Carolina, in 1862, while serving as a gallant soldier and officer in the Civil War, he having enlisted in 1861 as a member of the Eighth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and having been captain of his company in this regiment at the time of his death. The old home of the Allen family in Grand Rapids was at 37 Park street, and the property was finally sold, to become the site of the present public library building of the city, the at- tractive old homestead having long been one of the landmarks of HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 175 the city, even as it was a center of gracious and cultured social activity. George W. Allen died in 1898 and his second wife in 1910. Stanley N. Allen, who is now living retired in his beautiful home at 408 Morris avenue, southeast, was for many years engaged in the mercantile business in Grand Rapids, and he has at all stages been valued as a progressive and public-spirited citizen of the fair Michigan city that has represented his home since his boyhood, he having been about six years old at the time of the family removal to Grand Rapids from his native city of Painesville, Ohio, where he was born April 13, 1847. His youthful education was received principally in the pioneer schools of Grand Rapids, and here his initial business experience was gained in his uncle's mer- cantile establishment. After the death of his mother he went to live with a sister of his father at Madison, Lake County, Ohio, and remained there twenty years, returning to Grand Rapids in 1879, entering business with his brother, George, under the firm name of Allen Bros. In all of the relations of life he has well upheld the prestige of the honored family name. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party, and he and his wife are com- municants of St. Mark's church, Protestant Episcopal. Mr. Allen has been for more than half a century affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, he having been raised to the degree of Master Mason in the lodge of Free and Accepted Masons at Madison, Ohio, and being a Past Master of this lodge. He has served also as High Priest of his chapter of Royal Arch Masons in Grand Rapids, his maximum York Rite affiliation being with DeMolay Command- ery of Knights Templar, besides which he is a noble of the Mystic Shrine and Consistory, Scottish Rite. In 1870 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Allen to Miss Ada Rindge, a representative of another of the old and influential families of Grand Rapids, and after representing a devoted companionship of nearly thirty years the gracious marital bonds were severed by the death of Mrs. Allen in 1898, she being survived by two children, Helen, who is the wife of William G. McCune, of Petoskey, Michigan, and Stan- ley R., who is a resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1906 Stanley N. Allen was united in marriage to Elizabeth Rowley, of Grand Rapids, and she is the popular chatelaine of their pleasant home in this city. Helen has two sons, Allen and William S.; Stanley has three children, S. Rushmore, Jeanette N. and Mary Louise. Willard Barnhart was a young man when he became a resident of Michigan, and through his own ability he here rose to a position of prominence and influence as a citizen and as a business man of large and varied interests. He was one of the venerable and honored citizens of Grand Rapids at the time of his death, Novem- ber 7, 1919, and in fitting recognition of his noble character and large and worthy achievement is entered in this history a tribute to his memory. Mr. Barnhart was born on a farm in Chautauqua 176 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY County, New York, September 16, 1844, and was a son of Henry Waterbury Barnhart and Mary (Leet) Barnhart. He was a great- grandson of Peter Barnhart, who came from the Palitinate of Germany to America in 1771, who landed in Philadelphia and who became the founder of the American branch of the family. Mrs. Mary (Leet) Barnhart was a direct descendant of Governor Leet, the first colonial governor, under appointment by King George, of Connecticut. Henry W. Barnhart, a farmer, tanner and citizen of influence in the state of New York, came to Michigan on a pros- pecting tour in the year 1858, and in 1865 he removed with his family to this state, where he purchased and established his residence upon a large tract of land east of Schoolcraft, Kalamazoo county, he having previously been identified with operations in the oil fields of Pennsylvania. He long continued a leader in the in- dustrial and civic affairs of his home community in Kalamazoo county, and he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives in that county. Willard Barnhart gained his earlier education by attending the common schools of his native county, and supple- mented this by a course of study in Westfield Academy at West- field, New York. After the removal of the family to Michigan he became identified with business enterprise at Schoolcraft, and later he became a prominent and successful representative of the great lumber industry of Michigan. He was allied with various lumber concerns, operating at Pierson, Casnovia, Fife Lake, Cedar Springs and other points in western Michigan, and he became one of the prominent lumber producers of this section of the state. It was in connection with his lumbering interests that Mr. Barnhart es- tablished his home in Grand Rapids, which continued the central stage of his activities during the remainder of his long and earnest life. Here he was one of the organizers of the wholesale grocery firm of Cody, Olney & Company, in which his associates were D. D. Cody and C. E. Olney. The firm name later became Cody, Ball & Company, subsequently the name was changed to Ball, Barn- hart & Putman. This was consolidated with the Olney-Judson Company, and is now conducted under the title of Judson Grocery Company. In the early seventies Mr. Barnhart became a director of the First National Bank of Grand Rapids (now the Old National Bank), he having served as its vice-president many years and having then been elected its president, an office which he retained until his impaired health led him to retire therefrom, he having thereafter served as chairman of the board of directors of this important institution. He was president also of the Nelson-Matter Furniture Company and of the Antrim Iron Company. He was one of the organizers and first directors of the Michigan Trust Company, and was first vice-president of this corporation at the time of his death. Worthy of reproduction in this memoir is the following estimate that was published in a Grand Rapids news- paper at the time of Mr. Barnhart's death: “In the days of his business activities he had many interests in the city's commercial Adrian Otte HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 177 doosen and industrial enterprises and in real estate. All his life Mr. Barn- hart was a large employer of labor, and his activities did much for the development of western Michigan and for the upbuilding of Grand Rapids. In all his business relations he was a living ex- ample of the highest principles of integrity and honor. He not only believed in square dealing but also practiced it. He was successful, and his success was always that of a man who builds up. He was a liberal and loyal supporter of the city's philanthropies, and in his giving he avoided publicity." At Schoolcraft, December 24, 1868, Mr. Barnhart was united in marriage to Miss Eliza Vickery, whose death occurred in 1893, at the home in Grand Rapids. The three children of this union all continued to reside in Grand Rapids, namely: Roy S., Louise, now Mrs. James M. Crosby, and Helen, now Mrs. James C. Everett. On the first of January, 1902, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Barnhart to Miss Helen Putman, who survives him and who still remains in the fine homestead in Grand Rapids. Adrian Otte is the founder and president of the Otte Brothers- American Laundry, Inc., located at 634 South Division avenue, a won- derfully successful business which grew to its present proportions from the start in 1881, and was then known as the American Laundry. Mr. Otte was born in the Netherlands, December 23, 1858, and at the age of ten years came to Grand Rapids with his parents, Peter and Helena (Jason) Otte. The father had been a merchant in their native land but spent the remainder of his days in Grand Rapids, his death occurring in 1899 at the age of seventy-eight, his wife surviving him until 1905, when she passed away at the age of eighty-four years. The subject of this narrative attended the public schools in Grand Rapids, but started in at early age to make his own way. He followed various employ- ments until 1881, when he engaged in the field that became his line of successful business endeavor, the laundry business. From the lower rungs of the ladder in this service to the community he has pro- gressed until his plant is counted one of the finest in its line in the country. In 1888 he engaged with his brother, John, in a partnership venture, and in 1902, upon incorporation the present title, Otte Brothers- American Laundry, Inc., was adopted. The story of its expansion and progress is reflected in the magnitude of its present quarters, a main building 193x132, with buildings added for dry cleaning, rug cleaning and garage. The brother, John Otte, is now deceased, and the business is carried on by Adrian Otte, president, and his sons, John P. Otte, secretary-treasurer, and Edward F. Otte, vice-president. Besides a number of other business interests, Mr. Otte is also a member of the Association of Commerce, both local and the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America at Washington. He is a Scottish Rite Mason, Knight Templar, and holds membership in Saladin Temple of the Shrine. He is a director of the Young Men's Christian Association, trustee and treasurer of the South Congregational church, and trustee of the Women's Home. He is also a member of the Knickerbocker Society, the Peninsular Club, the Optimist and the Cascade Hills Coun- 1886 178 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY try Clubs. On April, 28, 1882, he was united in wedlock with Margaret Den Herder of Zeeland, Michigan, and this union has been blessed with a family of five children. The two sons have been heretofore mentioned as associated with their father in business. John married Mary Pen- nington, of Grand Rapids, and they have one son, John P. Otte, Jr. The other son, Edward F. Otte, married Florence Church, of Grand Rapids, and they have one daughter, Barbara. The eldest daughter married Archibald A. Muir, of Grand Rapids, and the fourth child, Myrtle, be- came the wife of E. W. Cleveland, of Grand Rapids, but they now make their home in Lansing, Mich. They are the parents of two sons, Robert and Donald. The youngest member of the family, Gladys, is living at the home of her parents, 1942 Sherman street, southeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan. John Otte was born August 31, 1855, at Ellewoutsdijk, Nether- lands, a son of Peter Otte. He was a lad of thirteen years when he arrived in Grand Rapids, where, while attending the public schools he learned to speak English, and with this preparation, sought and secured employment, working in various stores as salesman and bookkeeper for many years. What he lacked at first in knowledge of business methods he made up in energy and fidelity, and as time passed he became more and more valuable to the concerns by which he was employed. In 1886 after being with Nelson Brothers, dealers in wall paper and books, for several years, Mr. Otte joined his brother, Adrian Otte, who had founded the American Laundry some five years before. The business was started in the Herald building, where under the vigorous and well- directed management of the brothers it thrived and prospered and grew to large proportions, eventually securing much of the patronage of the city. Mr. Otte continued to be connected with this business until his death, when still in the prime of life. Mr. Otte had a number of other business interests and was a director in the People's Savings Bank. He was a member of the Knickerbocker Society, belonged to the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias, and was a Republican in political sentiment. Mr. Otte was married, September 18, 1878, to Mary A., daughter of John and Anna (Monroe) Harris, of Grand Rapids. They have one child, Grace Marie, who was born at Grand Rapids, January 8, 1896. Mr. Otte died August 12, 1911. Richard L. Newnham. The life of Richard L. Newnham, prominent Grand Rapids attorney, whose seventy-five years in col- orful experiences and associations of the great and near-great, pre- sents such milestones as newsboy and messenger in the streets of London, newspaper proofreader, at which time he worked in offices next door to that of the noted authors Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins; Michigan sawmill worker, student, speaker, lawyer and judge of the Superior Court of Grand Rapids. Judge Newn- ham was born in London, England, on September 20, 1850, within the sound of the famous Bow Bells and at the south end of Bow Lane. The Judge recounts that his first experience was at the age of four when he saw the soldiers march down Cannon street to take a ship at London docks for the Crimea, an incident that was indelibly fixed in even his youthful mind by the bright equipment HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 179 and scalloped uniforms of the troops. He recounts that at the age of eight he made his first public “speech” on the morning of November 5, 1858, on the anniversary of the discovery of the plot of Guy Fawkes and his confederates to blow up the houses of Parliament. That was upon an occasion when it was the custom of the London boys to rig an effigy of Fawkes and carry it around in a chair, when one of the lads would make a speech and the others would hurrah and pass the hat. The Judge further recounts that his receipts from that demonstration of thirteen cents made him feel as rich as Rockefeller. At the age of twelve Judge Newnham was a newsboy on the streets of London, working fifteen and one- half hours a day and a half day on Sundays for the princely re- muneration of $1.25 a week and board himself. Though he was a tired lad when those days were finished he claims to have secured valuable insight into life, from a boy's standpoint, that undoubtedly was of great benefit to him in later years. After nine months of such work as newsboy he secured a job working for the Reuter Telegraph Company, in which he remained for nearly a year. He used to deliver messages to all the daily papers, the Prince of Wales at Marlborough House, Lord Palmerston the Prime Minister, Mr. Gladstone, Charles Adams, the U. S. Ambassador, and to Colonel Dudley Mann, one of the Confederate Commissioners to Europe. Upon one occasion when he delivered a telegram at the home of Lord Palmerston he was informed that his Lordship had not yet arrived, and when the sheet was signed "B. Disraeli,” he knew from his familiarity with the picture of that notable in “London Punch," that it was the future Prime Minister himself that had appeared before him. He recounts the interest taken in him by Julius Reuter, founder of Reuter's Telegraph Company, along with other messenger boys that indicates that Mr. Reuter's praise of him as being one of the best he ever had employed differed from the designation made by the head clerk, who called him one of the biggest scamps of the bunch because of his pugnaciousness. While thus delivering messages there came his way an opportunity to take a job in the proofreading department of the Morning Post. As that offered higher pay he readily accepted it and worked in that department for two and a half years, or until he came to the United States with his parents. The Judge says that he believes he received more education as a proofreader than perhaps he absorbed altogether later at school and college. In those days there were no typewriters and everything was written out in longhand. Inasmuch as the office of the Morning Post, the first English language newspaper published in London, having been established in 1772, and at one time edited by the poet Coleridge, was next door to the office of Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins, Judge Newn- ham had many opportunities to observe these notable authors. Soon after the Judge was eight years old his family had moved from London to Greenock, Scotland, then four years later returned to London. In 1862 his father came to the United States and 180 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY entered the United States Navy during the early part of the Civil War. His mother and four of the younger children followed shortly after, while, the four older ones remained in England. Judge Newnham lived in Saugatuck, working in the sawmills in the summer and studying to become a teacher and later pursuing the study of law in the winters until 1880, when he moved to Allegan, where he remained until 1884. Since that year he has lived continuously in Grand Rapids. After working in Saugatuck sawmills for several years Judge Newnham obtained a certificate to teach school in 1871 and in the spring of 1874 entered the State Normal College at Ypsilanti, from which he was graduated in 1875. Following his graduation there he began the study of law in earnest, reading Blackstone and Walker's American Law and other subjects during his spare hours from teaching in country schools, and far into the night. In the Spring of 1876 he entered the law office of the late Phillip Padgham, then prosecuting at- torney of Allegan County. After his admission to the bar in October, 1876, he opened a law office of his own in Saugatuck and remained there until 1880, when he moved to Allegan and engaged in the practice of law there until 1884. He was appointed Assistant United States Attorney for the western district of Michigan, with headquarters in Grand Rapids. In 1899 Mr. Newnham was elected first judge of the Superior Court in Grand Rapids and served in that capacity for six years. There was one case on the side of his civil docket which, Judge Newnham relates, occupied court and jury for seven weeks and three days. This was the celebrated case of Mendelsohn against the Atlas Glass Works of Amsterdam, N. Y. The plaintiff sued for $30,000 damages and the jury finally returned a verdict of nearly $10,000 for the de- fendant. Judge Newnham has a vivid recollection of the forest fires of 1871, the year of the great Chicago fire. “For many days before October 9 that year the woods all over western Michigan were smouldering and sending up dense volumes of black smoke,” he says. “On the morning of October 9, every man in Saugatuck and vicinity was called out to fight fire. The woods were blazing in all directions except toward Lake Michigan. We fought the blaze south of Douglas until four o'clock in the afternoon, when a large number of us were sent to the north of Saugatuck where the Wallin Tannery was threatened. When we arrived the fire had almost reached the tannery bark piles, but we managed to save everything. That night it rained and never was rain more welcomed. “That same day not only did Chicago burn, but Holland, Manistee and Fennville were destroyed by the flames. Most every- body in Saugatuck had their household goods packed and ready to move over to Lake Michigan on the eventful day.” The Judge further recounts that on the following Saturday he walked seven miles to obtain a school teaching position. He had to go through woods most of the way and it was a rough journey, as HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 181 the fires were still burning. There were thousands of dead birds, chickens and hogs lying in all directions. Judge Newnham was married on September 20, 1878, to Miss Annie M. Higinbotham, a cousin of H. M. Higinbotham, president of the World's Fair at Chicago in 1893. They have a son, Stephen L. Newnham, who resides in Philadelphia, where he is chief bank examiner for the third federal district; and three daughters, two of whom are twins. The oldest daughter now resides in Virginia and the twins are located far apart, one residing in New York City and the other in San Bernardino, Calif. Judge Newnham resides at 831 Wealthy street, S. E., where he has lived for the past quarter century. In politics he is a Democrat, and has served as a member of the Democratic State Central Committee in 1892 the year of Grover Cleveland's second election as President. In fraternal circles Judge Newnham is a member of Grand Rapids Lodge Number 11, I. O. O. F., having joined the order at Saugatuck fifty-three years ago. He is also a member of Grace Episcopal church of this city. In his younger days he learned to play the violin and used to play for various dances. Even nowadays, for the pleasure of it, he plays at private parties in the homes of friends. This man of wide experience, whose life has graced this community for the past four decades, has many other interesting experiences which would be of value to recount if space permitted. John R. Rogers, M. D. One of the factors which has made the American Nation so great is the assimilation of the abilities and talent of its foster sons and daughters who were reared and educated in other lands and have succeeded in their adopted country side by side with its native sons and daughters. This record recounts the career of one of the leaders of the medical profession in Kent County who was born in Rome, Italy, on October 19, 1868, and received his early education in his native country. He came to the United States in 1885, and graduated from the University of Michigan with the degree of B. S. in 1890. He then returned to Rome, Italy, for a period of one year's work in the University of Rome, then he came back to the United States and completed a course in the Medical Department of the Univer- sity of Michigan in 1895. He followed that university education with an interneship in the Wills Eye Hospital and the Philadelphia Poly-Clinic. In 1897 he began the practice of medicine in Grand Rapids and has since been continuously engaged in an active and growing practice. He keeps step with the advances of his profession through membership in the Kent County, Michigan State and Amer- ican Medical Associations. The Doctor is a Fellow of College of Surgeons, a member of Nu Sigma Nu Medical Fraternity, Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity, University Club and Kent Country Club. In 1897 Dr. Rogers married Miss Grace Heyser of Jackson, Michigan, and they have three children. The oldest, Randolph, graduated from Grand Rapids High School, and entered the war 182 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY and made the supreme sacrifice in the service of his country in July, 1918, while serving with the Thirty-eighth Infantry, and in his twentieth year. The second child, Elizabeth, is a graduate of the Grand Rapids High School and has attended Wheaton College at Norton, Mass. The youngest member of the family, Winfield, graduated from Grand Rapids High School and in 1924 graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree of A. B. He is now a student of Cambridge, England, doing post-graduate work, The Doctor in the prime of his life has attained a successful, professional career with specialized training, reared a splendid family and he and his wife are Gold Star parents for the service of their country and the world. With a long period of service for mankind ahead of him the Doctor has not yet reached the height of his professional achievements. William Hake was one of the most venerable and honored of the pioneer citizens and representative business men of Grand Rapids at the time of his death, which here occurred January 18, 1921, after he had attained to the patriarchal age of ninety-three years. His life was one of earnest and honest endeavor. He won substantial prosperity through his own ability and efforts, and he was in every sense loyal and upright in all of the relations of life, so that his was inviolable esteem in the city that represented his home during a period of nearly three-quarters of a century. Mr. Hake was born in Duinsschede, Province of Westphalen, Germany, March 11, 1828, and was there reared to the sturdy discipline of his father's farm, his early educational advantages having been those of the schools of the locality and period. Mr. Hake was an ambitious youth of twenty years when, in July, 1847, he arrived in the port of Baltimore, Maryland, after a voyage of ninety days on one of the old-time sailing vessels then in commission. He forthwith continued his journey to Michigan, which had become a state only ten years previously, and in later years he often referred to the fact that upon his arrival in Detroit he was not only without money but also without any knowledge of the English language. His was an indomitable spirit, however, and as work was essential to him in providing for his immediate needs, he put forth efforts to find employment, with the result that finally John Harmon, the editor and publisher of the Detroit Free Press, sent him to Lansing as a representative of the Free Press at the first session of the Michigan Legislature to be held in the new capital of the state, that of 1847. At the close of the session Mr. Hake again was out of employment, but so well had he performed his assigned work at Lansing that Mr. Harmon presented him with an extra five dol- lars. From Lansing Mr. Hake made his way on foot to Grand Rapids, which was then a mere village in the midst of the sur- rounding forests. Here he immediately found employment in the harness shop of John Hanchett, a pioneer harnessmaker of the future second city of Michigan, and in the meanwhile he was rapidly acquiring knowledge of the English language. He soon HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 183 found employment in the pioneer wholesale and retail grocery establishment of John Clancy, and in 1853, with no available funds, but with a reputation that gained him confidence and credit, he became associated with Frank Vogt in the purchase of the business of Mr. Clancy. The new firm of Hake & Vogt gave close attention to business, made a reputation for fair and honorable dealings and effective service, and the enterprise proved substantially successful. In 1858 the firm erected a brick building at 15 Canal street (now Monroe avenue), and it is interesting to note that on the site of the firm's store at that location is now the entrance to the mag- nificent Hotel Pantlind, one of the finest in Michigan. In 1858 the partnership alliance was dissolved, and in the following year Mr. Hake sold the business. In 1859 he here engaged in the wholesale liquor trade, with headquarters at 39-41 East Bridge street, where he built up a large and prosperous business that continued to be under his control for a long term of years. In 1880 Mr. Hake became president of the Grand Rapids Wheelbarrow Manufacturing Company, and in 1885 he associated himself with William Coach in extensive and successful lumbering operations near Baraga, in the county of that name, their partnership having been dissolved in 1893 and Mr. Hake having thereafter lived virtually retired until his death, save for his giving a general supervision to his varied and important real estate and capitalistic interests. He was the first Western Michigan agent for the Hamburg Steamship Com- pany, and of this position he continued the incumbent until his death. Mr. Hake was a stalwart supporter of the principles of the Democratic party and as a citizen he was most liberal and public- spirited. In 1891 he was made city treasurer of Grand Rapids, an office that he retained one year, and in which he introduced various improvements in system that have continued to be used to the present time. Mr. Hake was a man of genial and companionable personality. His was a deep and abiding human sympathy and tolerance, and he was ever ready to aid those in need or distress, though his manifold benefactions were always so quietly extended as to be known only to himself and the recipients. His wife was a Lutheran and he a devout communicant of the Catholic church, and he was one of the charter members of the parish of St. Mary's church, to the erection of the church edifice of which he made generous contribution. Mr. Hake ever retained gracious memories of his old home in Germany, and twice made visits to his native land. Through his influence many sterling German citizens were gained by the United States, and especially to Grand Rapids, and it is now known that he gave substantial financial aid to many such citizens who eventually gained independence, prosperity and good repute. The integrity of Mr. Hake was never to be impaired by matters of business expediency or other personal interest. His word was his bond. At one period in his career in the grocery business he was overtaken by financial disaster and owed an ap- preciable amount of money to creditors. When success again 184 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY came to him he paid back every dollar of this indebtedness, and for this purpose sought out all of his former creditors, one of whom he found in Chicago and in needy condition. He paid this man in full, with six per cent interest, and he followed the same policy in settling with all other creditors. As a young man Mr. Hake was united in marriage to Miss Anna Marie Shetler, who was at that time a resident of Grand Rapids, she having been born in Altensteig, Province of Wurtemberg, Germany, and their gracious companion- ship having been broken only when the devoted wife and mother passed to the life eternal, her death having occurred when she was 72 years of age. They became the parents of fifteen children, twelve of whom attained maturity and were afforded the advan- tages of Notre Dame University at South Bend, Indiana, and their names in order are as follows: Charles W. Hake, Detroit; Emelia McGraw, Grand Rapids; Dr. William F. Hake, Grand Rapids (de- ceased); Mary Gore, Detroit; Henry P. Hake, Chicago, Ill. ; Louisa Hake, Grand Rapids (infant, deceased); Anna Hake, Grand Rapids (infant, deceased); Theodore J. Hake, Grand Rapids; Albert W. Hake, Grand Rapids; Helen Jackoboice, Grand Rapids; Joseph Hake, Grand Rapids (infant, deceased); Paul J. Hake, Grand Rapids; Edward A. Hake, Philadelphia, Pa.; Louis F. Hake, Grand Rapids, and Adolph J. Hake, Grand Rapids. William H. Anderson was born September 6, 1853, at Plymouth, Wayne county, Michigan. About two years later his father and mother, Goram Anderson and Maria (Earle) Anderson, moved to Sparta, Kent county, Michigan. Sparta was then virgin territory. His father was a leader among the pioneers, who courageously set out to clear the forest land, establish homes and cultivate the soil. It was amid the privations and hardships of this pioneer community that William H. Anderson spent his boyhood and youth. He assisted his father in clearing and cultivating the farm and attended the local schools. He spent two winters on the Muskegon river in the employ of Alexander Blake, at a time when the cutting of the pine forests of Michigan was at its height. To the stern discipline of these early years he attributes much of the self-reliance, resource- fulness and thrift that has characterized his later career. He early inanifested unusual business ability. Naturally growing assurance and confidence in himself led him to seek a field of larger oppor- tunity, and in 1883 he moved to the city of Grand Rapids, and opened a real estate and general investment business. About this time he became actively interested in the good roads movement, and engaged extensively in the construction and operation of toll roads. He became the manager for four different companies, which kuilt gravel roads leading into Grand Rapids. He became widely known as an authority on road building and maintenance. His un- usual executive ability was soon recognized, and in 1891 the board of directors of the Fourth National Bank induced him to accept membership on the board and assume the duties of managing direc- tor. In 1892 he was chosen cashier, and in 1897 became and still is Eng by E. Williams & Bro. NY S 6. Anderson HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 185 the active president. Mr. Anderson's keen appraisal of men, his ability to gather about him strong men, loyal to his leadership, and above all, the use of the same untiring energy and sound judgment, soon began to work a marvelous transformation in the bank's affairs. The general assets were much improved, and the institu- tion came to be referred to as “Anderson's Bank” and gained a reputation for soundness and stability second to none. Mr. Ander- son was also in control of two or three other banks in Grand Rapids for many years. These banks so improved in strength and standing under his management, that desiring to relieve himself somewhat of outside responsibilities he was able to negotiate a sale of them on such a favorable basis that every stockholder, after having had satisfactory dividends on his holdings for many years, was able to realize a handsome profit on his shares. But the Fourth National has always been his particular pride and his real banking home, and its high standing is a tribute to his wise and conservative man- agement. While his most conspicuous business connection is with banking and finance, his outside interests are extensive and varied. He has the unusual capacity of doing many things well at the same time. He also delights in calling himself a farmer, and for many years has owned and operated two large, splendidly equipped and highly productive farms in Sparta township, Kent county, Mich- igan. He is at present director in the Grand Rapids Gas Light Company, the Grand Rapids Railway Company, the Alabastine Company, and the Grand Rapids Show Case Company, and has extensive holdings in many other corporations. His qualities of leadership are recognized, and he is an outstanding personality in every group with which he becomes associated. He was for ten years president of the West Michigan State Fair Association. During this period he brought to the association much popular support, greatly improved the grounds and buildings, and left it in sound financial condition. For three years he served as president of the Grand Rapids Association of Commerce. He directed the construction of the Grand river boulevard system, and the beautiful roads through Hodenpyl Woods. He was a leading spirit in the organization of the Grand Rapids Clearing House Association, and assisted in the formulation of its articles of association. When in 1919 the state legislature authorized the extensive road building program under the state commissioner of highways, Mr. Anderson was chosen as chairman of the advisory board, and still continues in that position. His sound judgment and practical knowledge of road building have been of inestimable value to the commissioner and to the state. A unique instance of his public philanthropy was the deeding to St. Mark's church (as well as assisting in mak- ing improvements) of an eighty-acre woodlot surrounding Little Bostwick lake (now known as Camp Roger) as a permanent sum- mer camp for boys of the above mentioned church. Mr. Anderson married in early manhood, Ellen, daughter of George W. and Ann Rogers, Mr. Rogers having moved with his parents from Auburn, 186 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY New York, to Detroit, Michigan, in 1835, two years before Mich- igan was a state. Several years later Mrs. Rogers and her parents moved from Canada to Walker township. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers were married in Grand Rapids and lived in Kent county until their death; both living until past eighty. Two sons were born to Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, one dying in infancy, the other just before his twenty-first birthday. Theodore J. Hake, who has been retired from active business since 1918, and who maintains his home in Grand Rapids, was here born December 30, 1869. He was graduated in Notre Dame University, and in June 1887 he assumed the position of draft clerk in the National City Bank of Grand Rapids, in which he later became discount clerk. He remained with this institution eleven years, and during the ensuing four years was bookkeeper for the Hake Manufacturing Company. Thereafter he was here asso- ciated with the wholesale liquor business of Frank J. Wilmes, and finally he engaged in that line of business in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, where he organized the firm of Theodore J. Hake & Company. Later he returned to Grand Rapids and bought the Wilmes liquor business, which he successfully conducted seven years, at the expiration of which he retired from active business. He mar- ried Miss Catherine Rademacher, daughter of William Rademacher, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and a niece of the Right Rev. Joseph Rademacher, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and to this union were born two children, Leone K. and Bernadette. George Patton Lamoreaux is a native son of Kent County and a scion of one of the honored pioneer families of this section of Michigan. In Kent county he has won distinctive success and prestige as a progressive business man, and he is one of the prominent and influential citizens of the village of Comstock Park, where he owns and conducts a well-equipped general mer- cantile establishment and where he is vice-president of the Com- stock Park State Bank. Mr. Lamoreaux was born on the parental homestead farm one mile south of Comstock Park in Walker town- ship, and the date of his nativity was April 8, 1864. He is a son of Florance A. and Louise E. (Patton) Lamoreaux, both of whom were born in the state of New York. Andrew Lamoreaux, grand- father of the subject of this review, was of sterling French lineage and he continued his residence in the state of New York until he came with his family to Michigan and became one of the pioneer exponents of farm industry in Kent County about the year 1840. Mr. Lamoreaux acquired title to a tract of government land in what is now Walker township, here reclaimed a productive farm from what was virtually a forest wilderness, and here passed the remainder of his life. Florance A. Lamoreaux accompanied his . parents on their removal to Kent County, and during his entire active career he here continued a substantial representative of productive farm industry, besides having been one of the influen- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 187 tial citizens of his township. He and his wife continued to reside in Walker township until their death, and of their six children four are living, all being residents of Kent County-James F., William S., Eliza, now Mrs. Thomas A. Hice, and George P. George P. Lamoreaux was reared to the sturdy discipline of the home farm, and his early educational advantages were those of the district schools. He long continued his active alliance with farm enterprise, and for twenty years he was engaged successfully in dairy farming in his native township. In 1908 Mr. Lamoreaux established a general merchandise store at Comstock Park, a vil- lage that had been opened as an addition to the city of Grand Rapids and that has become one of the vital business centers and attractive residence places of Kent County. Here he has been vice-president of the Comstock Park State Bank from the time of its organization and incorporation, and he otherwise has much leadership in community affairs. Mr. Lamoreaux is a Democrat in politics, is affiliated with the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and his family hold membership in the Congregational church. In 1893 Mr. Lamoreaux was united in marriage to Miss Pearl Steed, who is de- ceased and who is survived by two children, Clarence and Esther, both of whom are associated with their father's mercantile business. Sidney J. and S. Eugene Osgood are the constituent members of a Grand Rapids firm that has gained high reputation in the domain of architectural art and science, and both father and son are numbered among the representative American architects, with many of the finest types of public, business and private buildings to stand as evidence of their technical skill and their exceptional facility in the expression of the highest forms of architectural artistry. Sidney J. Osgood was born in the state of Maine and his advanced training for his chosen profession was received in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, as supplemental to a liberal educa- tion along more specific academic lines. In 1876 he established his residence in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where his first project was rebuilding the Kent County jail after it had been destroyed by fire. He has continued in the active and successful practice of his profession during the long intervening period of half a century. Though he is now venerable in years he still finds satisfaction in giving active attention to the work of the profession that he has dignified and advanced by his large and successful achievement, as well as by his sterling attributes of character. Mr. Osgood is a life member and Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a distinction which few architects obtain. His son and valued professional coadjutor, S. Eugene Osgood, is able to advert to Grand Rapids as the place of his nativity, his birth having here occurred on the 11th of April, 1880, and his studies in the public schools of the city having been continued until his graduation in the high school. Thereafter he was em- ployed a year in his father's office, and he then entered Cornell 188 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY University, in which he continued his studies, graduating in June, 1902, his study and his practical experience having gained to him a broad and effective knowledge of the technique and also the art and construction details of architecture. Since 1904 he has been a partner in his father's business, which is conducted under the firm name of Osgood & Osgood. The family name has long stood ex- ponent of the best in architectural achievement, and it may be noted in this connection that the father, Sidney J. Osgood, was the architect of the beautiful and famous Congregational church at Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The firm of Osgood & Osgood has maintained its offices in various Grand Rapids buildings, including the Porter Block, the Widdicomb building, the new building of the Grand Rapids Herald, of which the last two named the firm were the architects, and finally the Monument Square building, on Monroe avenue, which was designed by the firm and erected under its direct supervision, the large and well-equipped offices in this building having been occupied by Osgood & Osgood since 1919. The firm has specialized in the designing of Masonic Temples of the highest grade, and its principals are at the time of this writing in the summer of 1925, serving as consulting architects of the great George Washington Masonic National Memorial Temple which is in course of erection in the city of Alexandria, Virginia. The members of the firm are also consulting architects for the magnificent new Masonic Temple in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are the designing and supervising architects of important Masonic Temple projects in the following cities: Canton, Ohio; South Bend, Indiana; Bay City, Michigan; Brockton, Massachusetts, and Providence, Rhode Island. Many fine buildings in Grand Rapids and other Michigan cities stand as monuments to the pro- fessional skill of Sidney J. Osgood and S. Eugene Osgood, among them the following: Kent County Court House, Keeler Building, Houseman & Jones Building, Kortlander Building, Grand Rapids Savings Bank Building, Commercial Bank Building, Corl & Knott Building and the Grand Rapids Masonic Temple. They have also built twenty-four churches, several, schools and residences, and the firm has gained a reputation that transcends mere local limita- tions and has become national in its scope. William Wisner Taylor, who is now living virtually retired, is one of the veteran, honored and venerable members of the Kent county bar, he having engaged in the practice of law in the city of Grand Rapids more than half a century ago and having long con- tinued as one of the able and representative active practitioners of law in this city, besides having given ten years of effective service as city attorney. In his profession and as a citizen Mr. Taylor thus has pioneer honors, and his sterling character, his ability and his worthy achievement have marked him for an enviable place in popular confidence and esteem. Mr. Taylor was born in Geneva, Ontario County, New York, April 25, 1843, and is a son of Walter T. and Charlotte (Dobbin) Taylor, who likewise were born in the HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 189 old Empire State, the latter having been a daughter of General Hugh Dobbin, who was a gallant soldier and commanding officer in the War of 1812. Walter T. Taylor, a man of classical educa- tion and high general scholarship, came to Michigan in 1851 and, under the auspices of the General Synod of the Dutch Reformed church, established and assumed supervision of the academy at Holland, Ottawa County, that has eventually developed into the present Hope College in that city. In 1855 Professor Walter T. Taylor returned to Geneva, New York, where his death occurred in 1857. Under the able and careful preceptorship of his father William W. Taylor continued his studies until he was sixteen years of age; then attended Hobart College, at Geneva, New York, until he was graduated in 1865, with second honors of his class. Thereafter he was for a time engaged in teaching school at Oyster Bay, Long Island, and in preparation for the work of his chosen profession, he attended the law department of Columbia Univer- sity, New York City, where he was admitted to the bar in the year 1867. In the period of 1867-69 Mr. Taylor was superintendent of a large Freedman school that was maintained at Charleston, South Carolina, under the auspices of the domestic-mission depart- ment of the Protestant Episcopal church. This service by Mr. Taylor having been rendered during the so-called Southern recon- struction period that followed the close of the Civil War. In 1869 Mr. Taylor established himself in the practice of law at Grand Rapids, Michigan, and he now has the distinction of being dean (oldest in practice) of the Bar Association of Kent, Ottawa and Ionia counties. In his professional activities during the course of many years Mr. Taylor ever upheld the highest ethics of the science of jurisprudence, and he long was one of the representative mem- bers of the bar of western Michigan, his practice having involved his appearance in many important cases tried in the various courts of this section of the state. He was city attorney in the period of 1874-79, and in 1889 he was again appointed to this office, of which he continued the incumbent until 1894, so that his total service as city attorney covered a period of ten years. He has been a stal- wart advocate of the principles of the Democratic party since his coming of age. He and his wife are communicants of the Protestant Episcopal church, and active members of the parish of St. Mark's church, which is the cathedral church of the Diocese of Western Michigan. In this parish Mr. Taylor served as super- intendent of the Sunday school out of which was eventually de- veloped the new parish of Grace church, and both he and his wife continued active in the various departments of church work until their advanced years compelled them to abate this service in a measure. Mrs. Taylor, an accomplished musician, also took a prominent part in the advancing of musical interests in the city, and has been a gracious and popular figure in the representative social and cultural circles of Michigan's fair “Valley City.” During the long period of forty-six years the Taylor family home in Grand 190 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY . Rapids was maintained at 113 Livingston avenue, and from this dwelling, with its gracious memories and associations, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor removed, in 1921, into the attractive and modern resi- dence at 1855 Lake drive. At Oyster Bay, Long Island, on July 27, 1871, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Taylor to Miss Olivia Rachel Burtis, a daughter of Oliver D. and Rachel (Smith) Burtis, Mr. Burtis, whose impaired health made a change of residence imperative, purchased a large tract of land in the Oyster Bay district of Long Island, including a fine old house that had been erected prior to 1700, this ancient homestead being now owned by Commodore Todd and the estate being known as Meadowbrook Hunt, Commodore Todd there having his home and having made the same one of the show places of Long Island. He has, so far as possible, restored the fine old house to its original colonial condition. Of the six children of Mr. and Mrs. Taylor four are . living: William Wisner II is now a lieutenant-colonel in the United States Army. He was an honor graduate of the School of the Staff at Fort Leavenworth. Colonel Taylor was in active and important service in connection with the nation's participation in the World war. In this connection it is interesting to record that the Taylor family has been represented in every war in which the nation has been involved. Walter Taylor, grandfather of the subject of this review, was a gallant young patriot soldier in the Revolution, and later served as a major in the war of 1812. Lodovick Dobbin, maternal great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, came to America from the north of Ireland and was a patriot soldier in the Revolution. His son, Hugh W., was a colonel in the war of 1812 and received the brevet rank of brigadier general. Walter Taylor, eldest brother of William W. of this review, was in service in the Mexican war and was mustered out as sergeant-major. Another brother, Edward Henry Taylor, was a - member of the Fourth Michigan Volunteer Infantry in the Civil William W. Taylor II, son and namesake of him to whom this sketch is dedicated, was in service in the Philippines, the Spanish-American war and the World war, and in the last he was chief of staff. As previously noted, he is now a lieutenant-colonel in the regular army of the United States. He married Miss Ethel Naill, of El Reno, Oklahoma, and they have two sons, William Naill and Oliver Burtis. Olivia R., eldest daughter of the subject of this sketch, is the wife of Frank J. Fess, of Detroit, and they have one son and one daughter. Louise R. Taylor, the next younger daughter, is one of the most prominent business women of Grand Rapids, where she is president and manager of the Taylor Typewriter Company. Charlotte Dobbin Taylor became the wife of Andrew J. Peterson and they maintain their home in Grand Rapids, they being the parents of one son and one daughter. Elizabeth Taylor became the wife of Major William F. Hoy, an officer in the United States Army. Her death occurred in 1923, the one surviving child being a son. Julia Taylor, wife of Irving E. Quimby, died in 1921 and is survived by one child, a daughter. . HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 191 Lewis C. Harris is president and manager of the Harris Sample Furniture Company, which, through his resourceful management and somewhat original and unique policies, has developed in the city of Grand Rapids a large and important business in the retail sale of sample stocks of furniture produced in the great factories of this leading center of the furniture industry. By years of study and intelligent merchandising this company has built an outlet for surplus samples, and they buy the manufacturer's complete exhibit by which means they relieve him of any further expense or bother and earn for their concern a big discount from his regular prices. The large and attractive headquarters establishment of the Harris Sample Furniture Company is at 107-109-111-113 Division avenue, south. Lewis C. Harris was born in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, November 11, 1874, and he was a boy at the time of the family removal to Barry County, Michigan, where his father, the late Seymour Harris, engaged in the lumber business, he having previously represented Michigan as a gallant young soldier of the Union in the Civil war, in which he was a member of the Eleventh Michigan Cavalry. Seymour Harris was one of the venerable and honored citizens of Barry County at the time of his death, in 1906, and his wife, whose maiden name was Alice Peck, died in 1884. The youthful education of Lewis C. Harris was gained in the public schools of Barry county and in the valuable school of practical experience and service. He was a mere lad when he found em- ployment in a furniture factory at Hastings, and at the age of twenty-three years he had won advancement to the office of superintendent of this factory, one of the oldest manufactories in Michigan. Mr. Harris has found his broad experience in the manufacturing field of great value to him in the directing of his fresent large and important business, he being thoroughly familiar with all phases of the furniture industry and business, with which he has been connected during his entire active career. In the entire United States it is doubtful if any other man is better known in the retail furniture trade, and in the Union there is no city of 100,000 population in which Mr. Harris has not sold furniture. From an article that appeared in the official publication of the National Exchange Club at the time when Mr. Harris was national president of that organization, in 1921-22, are taken the following extracts: “When one thinks of Grand Rapids, he thinks of fur- niture, when one thinks of furniture, he thinks of L. C. Harris. Since the time he was able to waddle from his mother's knee, grasping a chair for assistance, 'furniture' has been the thought uppermost in his mind. is mind. In his youth a designer, Mr. Har- ris today can turn his hand to the mechanical side of the business, by creating new designs or duplicating any that come before him. Now the head of one of the largest wholesale and retail sample furniture companies of Grand Rapids, which really means by comparison one of the largest in the entire country, Mr. Harris stands out a true type of America's * * 192 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY successful business men. He has climbed from the bottom of the ladder. One of the largest business organizations of the country is the National Retail Furniture Agency (organized for the pro- motion of better trade relations between the manufacturers and retailers), in which Mr. Harris holds a directorship. directorship. He is recog- nized as the 'daddy' of this organization, and furniture dealers and manufacturers all over the nation sit up and listen when 'daddy' has anything to say about the furniture business. Mr. Harris was the first man in Grand Rapids to take steps for the organization of the local Exchange Club, and was a representative of his club at all of the organization meetings when the national organization was formed. While a conservative by nature, his conservatism is well tempered by progressive thoughts of greater expansion and development, whether applied to his business or social relations." Mr. Harris is an active and influential member of the National Retail Furniture Dealers Association and the Grand Rapids Retail Furniture Dealers Association, besides which he is vice-president of the New Era Association, an insurance corporation operating in Michigan and other states. He was chosen to organize a Tri- State furniture dealers association, and incidental to this service was the establishing and development of the Retail Furniture Buyers' Guide, a publication for the use of retail dealers through- out the country. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, and has served as an official of the Grand Rapids Masonic Temple Asso- ciation, of the building committee of which he was a member at the time of the erection of the new Masonic Temple building. In 1894 Mr. Harris wedded Miss Emma Crowell, of Hastings, Barry County, she being a representative of one of the prominent pioneer families of that county. Mr. and Mrs. Harris have a family of ten children: George A., Alice, Allen, Lynn, Donald, Robert, Louise, Jack, Harriet and Lewis C., Jr. Alice, the oldest daughter, is well known for her exceptional talent as an artist, she having attended the Chicago Art Institute and, after winning a scholarship in Paris, having continued her studies in the French capital and other European cities. She is now the wife of Albert B. Hartz, of Detroit. Charles Robert Sligh was born in Grand Rapids, January 5, 1850. His father, a native of Scotland was born in 1821, and his mother, Eliza (Wilson) Sligh, was born in Ireland in 1822. They were married in 1843 in Rochester, New York, and in 1845 moved to Grand Rapids, where Mr. Sligh was engaged in business until the outbreak of the Civil war, when he enlisted. He was a captain in the Michigan Engineers and Mechanics Regiment. He died November 15, 1863, from wounds received while he was in com- mand of a battalion, when Charles was thirteen years of age. Charles was at that time attending the public schools of Grand Rapids and continued his studies until he was fifteen, when he be- came an apprentice to the tinsmith's trade under Wilder D. Foster. As journeyman tinsmith, he traveled through Michigan and Illi- Etharuto Slia HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 193 nois. This work lasted about a year when he returned to Mr. Foster's employ as a clerk where he remained until he was engaged as traveling salesman by the Berkey & Gay Furniture Company. He remained with this company from 1874 to 1880, and did much toward introducing Grand Rapids furniture in the southern states. In 1880 Mr Sligh organized the Sligh Furniture Company, which today is one of the foremost manufacturing establishments in the city. In 1886 he assisted in organizing the Grand Rapids Freight Bureau for the purpose of securing uniform freight rates and assist- ing in protecting against unjust discrimination. The work of this bureau, of which Mr. Sligh was secretary, was finally absorbed by the board of trade, which Mr. Sligh helped to organize. He was its first vice-president and has been a director for many years. Mr Sligh was one of the earliest advocates of the improvement of Grand river and to his persistence and patience is to be attributed, in great part, the gradual change in public sentiment which has taken place during the past twenty years. Mr. Sligh was one of the incorporators of the Citizens' Telephone Company, serving that corporation as a director for several years. He was for many years president of the Grand Rapids Furniture Manufacturers' Associa- tion and also president of the National Furniture Manufacturers' Association from 1888 to 1892. He has been deeply interested in promoting the St. Lawrence waterway system, having recently been a delegate to the conventions held in Detroit and Washington on this matter. During the war Mr. Sligh attended the Plattsburgh camp in 1915 and organized the Business Men's Battalion in 1916, and drilled with them under the direction of U. S. Army officers. His age prevented him from actual service. He was commissioned major in 1917, and served at Washington, D. C., in the aircraft de- partment in that capacity until 1918, when he resigned. Mr. Sligh was appointed by Governor Chase L. Osborn a member of the com- mission which drafted the workmen's compensation law, which was adopted without amendment and with only two votes cast against it. In the fall of 1922, November 7, Mr. Sligh was elected state senator from Grand Rapids. In this capacity he was an outstand- ing figure. Some of his more important pieces of legislation were the sterilization bill which provided for the sterilization of the mentally defective, a new inheritance tax bill which decreased the taxes on small estates, but increased the taxes from large estates, an amendment to the corporation tax bill which made the tax more equitable than formerly, taking the burden off of the smaller cor- porations and making the larger industries pay a more just portion of the corporation tax, and also a bill prohibiting the issuance of tax exempt securities by the state. Mr. Sligh has been a member of the board of directors of the Grand Rapids National Bank since 1904, and the Grand Rapids Trust Company since 1915; vice-presi- dent of the New Pantlind Hotel Company and of the Empress Theatre Company. He is president of two timber companies and one irrigation company in the west; was first president of the Fur- 194 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY niture Manufacturers' Insurance Company, and secretary and treasurer of the Clark Iron Company. He is a great be- liever in the development of youth and in this connection was president of the Grand Rapids Council, Boy Scouts of America. In 1924, inspired by the city's need for a municipal golf course, Mr. Sligh offered to the city for a period of ten years at a nominal rental of $1.00 a year, a tract of eighty acres about one mile north of the city. Mr. Sligh offered to put the land in condition for play if the city accepted his offer. The play and the fees were to be regulated by the city. The city wisely accepted Mr. Sligh's offer. Mr. Sligh ran for governor of the state of Michigan in the year 1924. In 1875 Mr. Sligh married a Miss Mary S. Conger, of Wisconsin. Mrs. Sligh died in 1903. The three children of this marriage are: Edith, Adeline and Loraine. In 1905 Mr. Sligh married Miss Edith E. Clark. They have two children: Charles R. Jr., and Gertrude. Mr. Sligh was elected a member of the board of education in 1885 and served one term of two years, but declined a re-election. Mr. Sligh was elected, in 1915, a member of the city commission which drafted the present (1925) city charter. Frank A. Sawall is secretary, treasurer and general manager of the F. A. Sawall Company, a Grand Rapids corporation that, under his careful and able direction, has gained place as one of the important and successful investment-banking concerns of this city, the offices of the company being in the Murray building. Mr. Sawall was born at Stephenson, Menominee County, Michigan, December 6, 1884, and is a son of Charles and Emilie (Schultz) Sawall, both of whom were born in Germany, their home having been established in Michigan in the year 1880. Of the fine family of thirteen children the subject of this review was the fourth in order of birth and one of his brothers, Fred A., is associated with him in the investment banking business, as salesman of the F. A. Sawall Company. Frank A. Sawall gained in the public schools his preliminary education, which was supplemented by his at- tending Ferris Institute, at Big Rapids, and the Michigan State Normal College, Ypsilanti, in which latter institution he graduated as a member of the class of 1909. Thereafter he made a record of eight years of successful service in the pedagogic pro- fession, in which he served as superintendent of public schools at various places in Michigan, including Armada, Pittsford and Blissfield. He next held, for two years, a position as sales manager for a publishing house, and since that he has given his attention to the investment-banking business. In 1915 he organized the F. A. Sawall Company, of which he has since continued the chief man- aging executive, and his vital, reliable and progressive policies have been fruitful in the development of a prosperous and repre- sentative business. In his professional capacity Mr. Sawall has financed some very important Michigan corporations, including the Petoskey Portland Cement Company, the Petoskey Transpor- tation Company, and the Wolverine Carton Company at Grand HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 195 Rapids. He is a Republican in his political alignment. He and his wife are members of the South Congregational church of Grand Rapids, and his basic Masonic affiliation is with Valley City Lodge, A. F. & A. M., he being also a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. In 1908 Mr. Sawall was united in marriage to Miss Maude Richards of Clarksville, Michigan, and they have two children, Elizabeth and Robert. Francis N. Stalter. The Stalter Edge Tool Company, of Grand Rapids, is the only firm in the city making a complete line of knives used in woodworking, and for this reason it occupies a strong place in the manufacturing life of the city. Francis N. Stalter, who operates the business with his father, was born in Grand Rapids, July 9, 1890, the son of George W. and Lillian (Myers) Stalter, the former of whom was born in Orange County, New York, October 10, 1861, and the latter of whom was born in Northern Indiana in 1866. George W. Stalter came to Grand Rapids at the age of eighteen years, where he went to work as an edge tool maker, a trade which he continued to follow until the time he and his son engaged in the manufacturing business. His wife died March 18, 1924. Francis N. Stalter received his education in the grade and high schools of his native city, and later went to Muskegon, Michigan, where he entered the employ of the Con- tinental Motor Works at engineering production. He returned to Grand Rapids, and on August 23, 1912, he and his father established the Stalter Edge Tool Company for the manufacture of planer and sticker knives. Though the firm started in a small way, the proprietors were justified in their idea, for the woodworking trade of Grand Rapids soon realized the advantage of such a concern located at their very doors. As a result, the company has enjoyed a steady growth until now it manufactures all kinds of knives used by the woodworking industry. The success of the firm has shown Mr. Stalter to be one of the able executives in manufactur- ing circles of the city. With the outbreak of the World War, he offered his services to the government, but was rejected for military service because of defective vision. He was finally accepted March 29, 1918, and was sent to Camp Gordon, Georgia, where he was assigned to training recruits for infantry service, reaching the rank of sergeant before his discharge. He was discharged from the army December 24, 1918, and returned immediately to Grand Rapids where he again took up the duties of his business. On May 15, 1918, he was united in marriage with Miss Ruth Myers, the daughter of Charles and Matilda (Barnes) Myers of Huntington, Indiana. Mr. Stalter is a member of the Post of the American Legion at Grand Rapids. Arthur Carter Denison has served since 1911 as United States Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit (Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee), and since assuming this office he has thereby been also, in consonance with new federal provisions, one of the judges of the United States court of Appeals for this Circuit, being now 196 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY presiding judge of that court. He is a native son of this state and of the city in which he maintains his home, and is a representative of one of the pioneer families of Kent County. Judge Denison was born in Grand Rapids on November 10, 1861, and is a son of Julius C. and Cornelia (Carter) Denison. Julius Coe Denison was born in the state of New York, where he was reared and educated and where he maintained his residence until 1855, when he came to the little village of Grand Rapids, Michigan, then in the midst of the primeval surrounding forests, and obtained 160 acres of land in Paris Township and now within the city of Grand Rapids, where his old homestead is now bounded by Burton, Hall, Jefferson and Union streets. Here Mr. Denison reclaimed and developed a good farm, and he continued his alliance with farm industry until the close of his active career, both he and his wife having been citizens of Grand Rapids at the time of their death. In the public schools of Grand Rapids, Judge Denison continued his studies until he had completed his high school course, in 1878, entering the law department of the University of Michigan in 1881. In this depart- ment he was graduated as a member of the class of 1883, and his admission to the bar of his native state was virtually coincident with his reception of the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In Grand Rapids he forthwith initiated his activities in his profession, his first experience as a practitioner having been gained in the office of Edward Taggart, by whom he was admitted to partnership three years later, under the firm name of Taggart & Denison. In 1900 the firm was amplified in personnel by the admission of Loyal E. Knappen, and the title then became Taggart, Knappen & Denison. In the final period of his active general practice Judge Denison was associated with Charles M. and Hugh E. Wilson, under the firm name of Taggart, Denison & Wilson. He appeared in connection with many cases of major importance, his practice was extended to the Supreme Court of Michigan and to the Fed- eral Courts, and his record in his profession marked him as especially eligible for judicial service. On February 2, 1910, he was appointed United States District Judge for the District of Western Michigan. October 3 of the following year he became United States Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit, of which im- portant office he has since continued the incumbent. The Judge is stalwart advocate and supporter of the principles of the Republican party. In 1903 he served as president of the Grand Rapids Bar Association and in 1906-07 he had the distinction of being president of the Michigan State Bar Association. In 1904-05 he was a member of the Grand Rapids Board of Education, of which he served as president in the latter year. The Judge is a member of the Peninsular Club and the Kent Country Club, and an attendant at the Park Congregational church in his home city. In 1886 Judge Denison was united in marriage to Miss Susie L. Goodrich, daughter of the late Hiram Goodrich, of Grand Rapids, and she passed to the life eternal in the year 1896. The three HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 197 children of this union are John, Donald and Arthur C., Jr. In 1898 was solemnized the marriage of Judge Denison to Miss Julia Barlow, daughter of Herman G. Barlow, of Grand Rapids, and the one child of this marriage is a daughter, Ruth. Jacob Tome Preston, attorney-at-law, was born in Port Deposit, Cecil County, Maryland, February 3, 1861, the son of Joseph Brown Preston and Malissa (Trump) Preston. After attending the public school at Darlington, Md., he attended Maplewood Institute near Philadelphia, Pa., Pennsylvania State College and the University of Michigan, graduating from the last in the law class of 1884. He located the same year in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and has been engaged ever since in the practice of law, for twenty- five years in the Wonderly building on Monroe avenue, and for the last twelve years in the Porter Block on Monroe avenue. The Prestons of Yorkshire, England, were Friends, or Quakers, as early as 1660 and William, the immigrant to Pennsylvania in 1718, was born in Rastrich, Parish of Yealand, West Riding of Yorkshire, April 4, 1667, son of Jonas and grandson of Jonas Preston, members of Brighouse Monthly Meeting of Friends. The family settled in Buckingham township, Bucks County, Pennsyl- vania, and in 1783 Joseph Preston, the grandson of the immigrant, sold the homestead farm inherited from his father, William, Jr., and purchased and moved to a fine farm near West Grove, Chester County, Pennsylvania. He married Rebecca Bills at Buckingham Meeting in 1770 and their son Jonas married Elizabeth Brown, great granddaughter of Thomas Browne, one of the first settlers in Plumstead township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Jonas and Elizabeth Preston lived on a farm near Conowingo, Cecil County, Maryland, where on December 14, 1814, Joseph Brown Preston was born. Before and during the Civil war Joseph B. Preston owned and operated the Rock Run Mills at Port Deposit, Mary- land, shipping much flour to Baltimore, Maryland, via the Sus- quehannah River and Chesapeake Bay. He died January 31, 1879. His wife died in 1919 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she had resided thirty years. On the maternal side she was descended from William Clayton, Judge of the First Provincial Court of Pennsylvania, who came to Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1677, after having been imprisoned in York Castle, England, for his Quaker opinions. She was also descended from John Hallowell from Hucknal, England, who settled near Philadelphia in 1683, from Robert Heaton, who settled at Langhorne, Bucks County, Penn- sylvania, in 1683, from Joseph Haines and Henry Reynolds, who settled at West Nottingham, Cecil County, Maryland, about 1710, and from Hans Michael Trump, who came from the Rhine River, near Worms, Germany, and settled north of Germantown, Penn- sylvania in Upper Dublin township in 1709. On March 3, 1898, J. T. Preston was married to Miss Minnie Hicks, daughter of Stephen F. and Rhoda Spencer (Truman) Hicks of Plainfield township, near Rockford, Kent County, 198 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Michigan. He was a native of Cayuga County, New York, but he and his wife lived for many years in Ypsilanti, Michigan, prior to coming to Kent County. Both are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Preston reside at 901 Innes street N. E., Grand Rapids. He is by birthright a Friend, and for nearly thirty years has been a member of the B. P. O. Elks and Modern Woodmen of America. Denison, Dykema & Co. This is one of the representative mercantile concerns of Grand Rapids, and the organization is known for the remarkable harmony and co-operative loyalty of those who constitute its executive personnel, each of the principals in the firm assuming specific functions and carrying forward suc- cessfully the work of his department without semblance of dic- tation or criticism on the part of the other members of the organ- ization. The firm conducts a large and prosperous hardware, plumbing and heating business, and the well equipped establish- ment, of metropolitan facilities and service, is located at 666 Wealthy street, S. E. The firm of Denison & Dykema was formed in the year of 1894, with Jacob Dykema and William S. Denison as its constituent principals. The new firm engaged in the hardware business in a store a short distance east of the present establishment of Denison, Dykema & Co., and at first the enter- prise was confined exclusively to the retail hardware trade, the tinshop and plumbing department having been added later. Fair and honorable methods and policies and reliable service caused the business to be successful from the start, and soon the concern gained rank among the important mercantile organizations of the city. In 1907 a reorganization was made and the present title of Denison, Dykema & Co. was adopted. At this time Raleigh Huizinga and John Bos were admitted to the firm, and from that time forward the business rapidly expanded in scope. In 1920 Mr. Denison retired from the firm, by reason of his impaired health, and while the original title was retained the personnel of the or- ganization was amplified by the admission to the firm of Charles L. Hawley and Miss Minnie L. Behl. In 1923 the building of the firm was remodeled and the best of modern equipment and facili- ties were supplied. After the death of Jacob Dykema, in April, 1924, the interest of the veteran and honored Grand Rapids business man was purchased by his grandson, Jacob D. Zuiderveld, who has since continued a valued member of the executive corps of the splendid organization. Jacob Dykema was born in The Netherlands, where he lived until he was a young man. He then came to America and to Grand Rapids. Because of his inability to speak the English language he was obliged to do manual labor and his first work was excavating for the Powers Theater Building. Later he went to Spring Lake and worked in the woods. During this time he learned to speak English. He returned to Grand Rapids and accepted a position in the Gun Department Store and from there HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 199 went to work for Joseph Berles, who conducted a hardware store on Canal street. There he met Mr. William S. Denison and, while the two men were of very different types, a very strong friendship was formed. They worked together for about ten years, then they purchased in 1894 the Palmer hardware stock on Wealthy and carried on the business under the name of Denison & Dykema. Mr. Dykema was a man of high principles and an optimist. He always had a cheerful word for everyone and inspired enthusiasm in all he met. Because of this quality, his unselfishness and his reliability, he won respect and confidence, thereby making a wide circle of friends. He took an active part in politics and in any project that promoted the welfare of his locality. He believed the foundation of success is service and he rendered service in every way throughout his lifetime. William S. Denison was born in Kent County, State of Michi- gan. He received his early education in the country schools, finishing with two years in the Grand Rapids and one year in Hillsdale College, after which he taught in a country school for one year, then accepted a position with a hardware firm in Niles, Michigan, later coming to Grand Rapids to work for Joseph Berles, who conducted a hardware store on Canal street. There he met Mr. Jacob Dykema. In 1894 the two men purchased a hardware stock on Wealthy street. Mr. Denison always had the development of his locality at heart. He helped to organize the Wealthy Heights Association and served as president for two years. He is a member of the Grand River Lodge No. 34 F. and A. M.; Grand Rapids Chapter No. 7, Dewitt Clinton Consistory and DeMolay Com- mandery No. 5, of which he served as commander in the years 1921-22. John Bos was born in The Netherlands in the Province of Friesland, and at a very young age came to America and thence to Grand Rapids in the year 1879. He received his early education in the public schools of this city, and at the age of thirteen he started to work for the Grand Rapids Barrel Company, making grease boxes for the large salary of $1.15 per week. Here he received a practical training from Mr. Clements by the “strap oil method.” When eigheen years old he started his apprenticeship in the plumbing business and gradually gained experience and knowledge of great value, being an apt scholar and full of ambi- tion. In 1905 he entered the employ of Denison, Dykema & Co. and in 1907 became a member of the firm, taking charge of the plumbing end of the business. Raleigh Huizinga was born in The Netherlands and at an early age came to America and thence to Grand Rapids, receiving his education in the public schools of this city. His first work was as an errand boy for the Peck Drug Store, and he later became a clerk in a grocery store. After receiving the necessary experience he purchased a stock of groceries and went into business inde- pendently. But soon after he closed out his business and again 200 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY : assumed a position in a grocery store. In 1903 he accepted a posi- tion with Denison, Dykema & Co., and in the year 1907 he became a member of the firm, taking charge of the financial end of the business. Miss Minnie Behl, one of the representative business women of Grand Rapids, is a daughter of Fred Behl. She was born in Grand Rapids and received her education in the public schools of that city, graduating from the Central High School. Miss Behl became bookkeeper in the local offices of the Fleischmann Yeast Company, and later she was transferred to the company's offices in St. Louis and Minneapolis. In 1907 Miss Behl assumed the position of bookkeeper and accountant in the office of Denison, Dykema & Co., and since 1920 she has been a partner in the business, as well as one of its efficient and valued executives. Charles Hawley, another of the members of this progressive firm, was born at Niles, Berrien County, Michigan, and is a son of William Hawley, who came to this state from that of New York and became an early settled at Niles, as was he later of Muskegon, this state. He eventually removed with his family to Kokomo, Indiana, where his son Charles received the greater part of his youthful education. At the age of nineteen years Charles Hawley found employment in a factory at Kokomo, and at the age of twenty-three he came to Grand Rapids and took a position as salesman in the establishment of the firm of which he is now a member. Jacob Zuiderveld, another of the younger members of this firm, initiated his services with the concern when he was still a school- boy, he having at that time functioned as a distributor of advertising pamphlets issued by the firm. At the age of twelve years he became an errand boy at the establishment, and thus he has literally grown up with the business. He became a helper in the tinshop, and later served an apprenticeship in the plumbing shop. As an active member of the firm he now has charge of its plumbing department. His service here has been interrupted but once, and that was when he entered the United States Navy, in the World war period. He was stationed at the Great Lakes Naval Station near Chicago, and his athletic ability caused him there to be placed in charge of the officers' swimming pool, as well as the basketball and baseball affairs of the great naval station. He was a member of the world's champion polo team in 1919. Nathan B. Hayes, father of H. Jay Hayes, head of the Hayes- Ionia Company, of Grand Rapids and Ionia, was born in the state of New York, as were also his parents, Hector and Lucinda Hayes, descendants of families that were established in America before the War of the Revolution. In 1836, when he was nine months old, Nathan B. Hayes' parents started on the tedious journey to the territory of Michigan; crossing Lake Erie in a sailing vessel, the “Dean Richmond," and making the trip from Detroit to Ionia county, through a veritable wilderness, in a covered wagon drawn N. Bhayle HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 201 by a team of oxen. In this wagon the Hayes family lived during the winter of 1836-37, while the father cleared a space and erected a log house. Hector Hayes, the second white man to settle in North Plains township, Ionia county, chose as a site for his home, a spot near the bank of Brown creek, three and one-half miles northwest of the village of Muir. The oak tree, under which the covered wagon stood, is still standing, now grown to magnificent size. The Hayes' cabin was frequently visited by Indians, who de- veloped a great liking for the family, due, no doubt, to that fact that Hector Hayes often permitted them to use his rifle on hunting expeditions, and Mrs. Hayes brewed tea for them from a slender supply she had brought with her from New York. The land on which Hector Hayes settled proved to be extremely productive and. he in time became very well-to-do. Reared in the backwoods and subjected to the primitive but invigorating influences of pioneer life, Nathan B. Hayes' mental growth kept pace with his gain in physical strength and stature. Though he was, for many years, engaged in lumbering operations in Ionia and Montcalm counties and conducted other business enterprises, he never lost interest in farming and in the breeding of live stock. He owned, at one time, two thousand five hundred acres of land; and the Hayes' home- stead, which is still owned by the family, is one of the finest prop- erties in the county. Nathan B. Hayes was elected to the state legislature in 1877, and served one term in that body. He was a member of the board of control of the Michigan state prisons eight years and he was at one time mentioned as a possible candidate for the office of governor. He was a man of strong intellectuality and marked business judgment, and distinguished himself by many original deeds. He installed the first telephone in Ionia county and erected' on his farm the first windmill north of the Grand Trunk Railroad. For many years he was president of the Ionia County Historical Society and also a leader in other community projects. He died on May 24, 1922, and his widow, Mrs. Mary A. (Olmstead) Hayes, died in the same year, in September. They are survived by four sons: George B., H. Jay, Jeremiah C. and Austin C., and an adopted daughter, Miss Nettie Hayes. Charles V. Crane, M. D., a representative physician and in- ternist, who is held in high regard in his professional character and universal esteem personally. His service is not only in the general practice of his profession but he has particularly specialized in internal medicine during his six-year period of practice in Grand kapids. Dr. Crane was born in Ionia County, Michigan, in 1881. After completing his preliminary common school education he graduated from the University of Michigan in 1904. He was engaged in the practice at Bay City when he enlisted in the Medical Corps Service and attained the rank of Major in his World war service from 1917 to 1920. He located in Grand Rapids in 1919, where he has not only maintained his professional duties, but has broadened himself by keeping in contact with the ad- 202 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY : vances of his profession through the Kent County, Michigan State and American Medical Associations. He serves upon the staff of Butterworth Hospital and Blodgett Memorial Hospital and is a lieutenant-colonel in the Medical Reserve. He is a member of the Phi Beta Pi Fraternity, Cascade Country Club and is active in the affairs of the Trinity Methodist Community church and York Blue Lodge Masonic Order and Chapter, Consistory and Shrine. Dr. Crane was married to Katharine Johnston at Portsmouth, Ohio, in 1906, and they have two children, Katharine C. Crane, age 12, and Charles W. Crane, age 17. Joseph H. Brewer has prestige as one of the representative citizens and men of affairs in his native city of Grand Rapids, as is evident when it is noted that he is here president of the Grand Rapids Trust Company. Mr. Brewer was born in Grand Rapids, April 19, 1875, and is a son of Lucian B. and Annie (Escott) Brewer, the former of whom died November 29, 1905. Lucian B. Brewer's home was in the state of New York until 1844, when he came, from Canandaigua, that state, to Michigan, and became an early settler in Grand Rapids, where he was for many years a represen- tative merchant and where he remained until his death, secure in the high regard of the community in which he had long maintained his home, both he and his wife having been communicants of the Protestant Episcopal church. Mrs. Brewer was a daughter of the late Deacon Henry Escott, who was born in England in 1796, and who became one of the earliest settlers in Walker township, Kent county, Michigan. Deacon Escott reclaimed and developed what is now one of the finest farm estates of that township, and the place is now known as the Covell Farm. The substantial house that Deacon Escott there erected in the pioneer days remains as one of the well-preserved landmarks on West Leonard road. He served as township clerk and was otherwise influential in com- munity affairs. Deacon Escott finally removed from his farm to Grand Rapids, and he owned and conducted one of the first drug stores in the city—at the corner of Canal and Bridge streets. In that period a druggist was called upon to function as chemist, doctor, manufacturer of pills and other medicines, as well as extracts, and his service was of genuine professional order—far different than that of the druggist of the present day, when a drug store is known more for miscellaneous merchandise and for semi- restaurant service. Deacon Escott long continued one of the honored and influential citizens and representative business men of Grand Rapids, where Escott street was named in his honor, and he was for twenty-five years a deacon in the Fountain Street Bap- tist church. He attained to the patriarchal age of ninety years, his death having here occurred in 1886. Joseph H. Brewer gained his early education by attending the public schools of Grand Rapids, and his initial experience in prac- tical business was in his service as a newsboy, a work that he as- sumed when he was a lad of seven years. He early developed HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 203 versatility and turned his attention to various occupations that would render financial returns and contribute to his advancement. He studied stenography, and at the age of sixteen years he was appointed court reporter, a position in which he continued his efficient service fifteen years, in connection with the circuit courts of this district. Upon his retirement from this office he turned his attention to public utilities, and in 1912 he effected the organiza- tion of the American Public Utilities Company, of which he is the president and which, under his able and progressive adminis- tration, has grown to be one of the strongest and most influential corporations of its kind in the United States. The operations of the company now extend into several states of the Union and are based on large capital and most effective executive control. Through his own ability and well-ordered activities, Mr. Brewer has become one of the substantial and influential business men of his native city. In addition to being president of the Grand Rapids Trust Company, he is also a director of the Grand Rapids Savings Bank. His loyalty to Grand Rapids has been expressed in appreciation and in liberal support of measures and enterprises that have conserved civic and material progress. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party. He is an active mem- ber of the Peninsular Club, and he and his wife are communicants of St. Mark's church, Protestant Episcopal. He has given several years of earnest service as a member of the vestry of this parish, besides being a member of the board of trustees of Butterworth Hospital. In 1894 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Brewer to Miss Augusta Hillyer, whose mother, Mrs. Frances Hillyer, M. D., was one of the representative women physicians of Grand Rapids at the time of her death, October 26, 1924. Mr. and Mrs. Brewer have one son, Joseph Hillyer Brewer. Joseph Hillyer Brewer is a graduate of Dartmouth College and also of Oxford University, England, and he has gained high reputation as a journalist and general writer. He was for some time connected with the great London paper, the Spectator, and he is now located in New York. Loyal Edwin Knappen, who retired in April, 1924, from the bench of the United States Circuit Court of the Sixth Circuit, is one of the legists and jurists who have lent distinction to the judiciary and bar of his native state of Michigan, in which he is a scion of a sterling pioneer family of Kalamazoo and Barry counties. Judge Knappen was born at Hastings, the county seat of Barry county, January 27, 1854, and is a son of the late Edwin and Sarah M. (Nevins) Knappen, both natives of Vermont and long residents of Barry county, where they established their home in the middle pioneer period of Michigan's history, the father having been engaged in the business of a stage line and general store at Hastings. The preliminary education of Judge Knappen was acquired in the public schools of Hastings, and in 1873 he was graduated in the University of Michigan, with the degree of 204 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Bachelor of Arts, the university having conferred upon him in 1876 the degree of Master of Arts, and having given him in 1913 the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. Judge Knappen studied law under effective preceptorship, and in 1875, in his native city of Hastings, he was admitted to the bar. There he continued in the successful practice of his profession until 1888, and he served as prosecuting attorney of Barry county during the period of 1879-83, and served as United States commissioner from 1880 until his removal to Grand Rapids in 1888. In Grand Rapids Judge Knappen became a member of the law firm of Taggart, Knappen & Denison, and later that of Wanty & Knappen. When his son, Stuart E., was admitted to partnership the title of the firm was changed to Knappen, Kleinhans & Knappen, and this was retained until 1906, when Judge. Knappen was appointed to the bench of the United States District Court of the Western District of Michigan, his service in this capacity having continued until 1910, when there came further recognition of his ability in his being chosen United States Circuit Judge of the Sixth Circuit, thus becoming ex-officio judge of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for that circuit. On the latter bench he continued his characteristically able administration until 1924, when he retired from the bench. He has made a record of distinction both as a lawyer and as a jurist, and in all the relations of his signally active and distinguished career. Judge Knappen served in 1898-1900 as a member of the Grand Rapids Board of Education, and from 1904 to 1911 he was a member of the Board of Regents of his alma mater, the University of Michigan. In 1905-06 he was president of the Grand Rapids Bar Association, and he is an honored member also of the Michigan State Bar Association and the American Bar Association. In his home community he has membership in the Peninsular Club and the Kent Country Club. On October 23, 1876, was solemnized the marriage of Judge Knappen to Miss Amelia Isabelle Kenyon, of Hastings, and they have three children: Stuart E., who is a representative member of the Grand Rapids bar and is the subject of a personal sketch on other pages of this work; Frederick M., who is secretary of the Grand Rapids Veneer works, and Florence, who is the wife of Arthur D. Perry, of Grand Rapids. Stuart E. Knappen is engaged in the practice of law in the city of Grand Rapids, as a member of the representative firm of Knappen, Uhl & Bryant, with offices in the Michigan Trust Build- ing. Mr. Knappen is a native son of Michigan and here has made a record of successful achievement in a profession that has been signally dignified and honored by the character and distinguished service of his father, Judge Loyal E. Knappen, of whom specific record is given on other pages of this publication. Stuart E. Knappen was born at Hastings, judicial center of Barry county, Michigan, August 30, 1877, and is a son of Judge Loyal E. and Amelia Isabelle (Kenyon) Knappen, who now maintain their home HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 205 in Grand Rapids, Judge Knappen having retired in 1924 from the bench of the Sixth Circuit of the United States Circuit Court, of which important judicial office he had been the incumbent since 1910. In a private school in his native city Stuart E. Knappen acquired his rudimentary education, and he was ten years of age at the time of the family removal from Hastings to Grand Rapids, in the public schools of which latter city he continued his studies until his graduation in the high school in 1894. In preparation for his chosen profession he completed the full course in the academic department of the University of Michigan, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1898 with the degree of B. A. His admission to the bar of his native state came in 1900, at which time he became associated with his father in the practice of law in Grand Rapids, Judge Knappen having at that time been a member of the law firm of Taggart, Knappen & Denison, and the firm later having become Wanty & Knappen. When the subject of this review was admitted to his father's firm the title of it was changed to Knappen, Kleinhans & Knappen, and when, in 1906, Judge Knappen began his service on the bench of the United States District Court of the Western District of Michigan, and thus retired from the law firm, the title of the latter became Kleinhans & Knappen. When Marshall M. Uhl was admitted to the firm the name was changed to Kleinhans, Knappen & Uhl, and upon the death of Mr. Kleinhans, in 1918, Stuart E. Knappen advanced to the head of the new law firm of Knappen, Uhl & Bryant, in which his valued coadjutors are Marshall M. Uhl and Harold W. Bryant. Under the successive changes in its personnel this representative law organization has controlled a large and important business, has been retained in many litigations of more than passing note and has represented at all stages a clientage of representative order. In his stewardship as a resource- ful trial lawyer and well fortified counselor, Mr. Knappen has admirably upheld the professional prestige of the family name, and he has rank among the able and highly esteemed members of the bar of his native state. He is known also as a citizen of distinctive progressiveness and he is associated with numerous business and civic enterprises in his home city. He is a director of the Grand Rapids Mutual Building & Loan Association and the Grand Rapids Railway Company, and he had served several years as a director of the People's Savings Bank, until its recent merging with the Kent County Bank. He is a director of the Grand Rapids Asso- ciation of Commerce and also of the Merchants Life Insurance Company, and has served as president of the local Rotary Club. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party, He has membership in the American, the Michigan State and the Grand Rapids Bar Associations, is identified with leading civic and social organizations in his home city and he and his wife hold member- ship in St. Mark's pro-cathedral. In 1902 Mr. Knappen married Miss Edna Pilcher, of St. Louis, Michigan, and her death occurred in 206 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 1913, she being survived by three children: Polly, Jane and Eliza- beth. In 1916 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Knappen to Miss Claire Vesey, of Memphis, Tennessee, and she is a popular figure in the social activities of Grand Rapids. Warren H. Snow. Among the reliable and representative concerns engaged in the investment-banking business in the city of Grand Rapids, a place of distinct priority is to be accorded to the vital and progressive corporation of Howe, Snow & Bertles, Incor- porated, which maintains well-appointed offices in the Grand Rapids Savings Bank building and which has developed a large and important business in the handling of high-grade securities. Of this vigorous and resourceful financial corporation Warren H. Snow is the secretary and treasurer. Mr. Snow was born at Fair- port, Monroe county, New York, July 26, 1886, and is a son of Joseph H. and Carrie W. (Warren) Snow, the former of whom is deceased and the latter of whom now resides in Rochester, New York. After his public school discipline had been completed, Warren H. Snow attended Syracuse University two years. In 1909 he came to Grand Rapids and took a position with the Kelsey-Brewer Company, a concern that organized the American Public Utilities Corporation, a large public utility holding company which is now a owned by the Insull interests. Mr. Snow remained three years with this important concern, as a director and the treasurer, and he then formed an alliance with Burton A. Howe, Claude H. Corrigan and William M. Bertles, and engaged in the investment-banking business under the firm name of Howe, Snow, Corrigan & Bertles. In 1916 the business was incorporated, and upon the withdrawal of Mr. Corrigan, in 1920, the present corporate title of Howe, Snow & Bertles, Incorporated, was adopted. The business of the concern has attained to wide scope and offices are maintained by the com- pany in Detroit, Chicago and New York City. In the handling of corporate securities of the highest grade this Grand Rapids concern has been identified with such important corporations as the United Light & Power Company, Continental Gas & Electric Corporation, Central Power & Light Company, National Electric Power Com- pany, National Public Service Corporation, the Western Public Service Company and the Welch-Wilmarth Corporation of Grand Rapids, and other great corporations that yield high returns and strong security. Mr. Snow is a director of many of the above- named corporations. The concern has membership in the Invest- ment Bankers Association of America. Mr. Snow is a Republican in politics, is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Psi Upsilon college fraternity. In his home community he has mem- bership in the Peninsular Club, the Kent Country Club, the University Club and the Masonic Country Club, and in the national metropolis he is a member of the Bankers Club. He is a Congre- gationalist, but attends and supports Grace Episcopal Church, of which his wife is an active communicant. In 1912 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Snow to Miss Helen Clay Mills, daughter of HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 207 Frederick D. Mills, of Grand Rapids, and a granddaughter of Warren B. Mills, who was one of the pioneer business men and influential citizens of this city. Mr. and Mrs. Snow have two children, Warren H. Jr., and Helen. E. Albert Clements. No better illustration of the advantages to be found in the United States can be offered than in the life of E. Albert Clements, president of Globe Knitting Works of Grand Rapids, who immigrated to this country from Norway as a young man and is now the head of one of the largest knitting companies in the state of Michigan. At the age of eighteen years he came to this country from Norway, the land of his birth, and went at once to Chicago. This was the year 1882. Though handicapped by inability to speak English fluently, he found employment with Crane Brothers of Chicago, and though he had availed himself of the advantages afforded by the public schools of his native country, he entered night school in the Illinois metropolis to equip himself more thoroughly for life in his adopted country. Brass pattern making he learned thoroughly while in the employ of Crane Brothers, which he soon left to work with the Wheeler & Wilson Sewing Machine Company. His next job was with the Princess Knitting Company, of Chicago, which later moved to Muskegon, Michigan, and now operates under the name of the Amazon Knit- ting Company. His entry into the employ of that concern marked the turning point in the career of Mr. Clements, for in this work he found employment which called into play his natural aptitude for such work. To his new job he applied himself with an energy and evident ability that guaranteed his future success. In 1890 he became associated with the Star Knitting Company, of Niles, Michigan, and by the time that concern removed to Grand Rapids two years later, he had made himself an invaluable unit in their organization and followed the company to the city where he was destined to become a leading figure in the knitting business. He was eager by now to open a business of his own, but five years elapsed before he felt that his capital was sufficient to permit the venture. In 1897 he started the Globe Knitting works with a capitalization of $6,000, the original plant being located on the top floor of the old Putnam building, opposite the Powers Theater. From its inception, the enterprise met with almost unprecedented success and within the year Mr. Clements found it necessary to enlarge his facilities. The concern was therefore incorporated with Mr. Clements as president and H. M. Liesveld as secretary and treasurer. Mr. Liesveld, one of the successful merchants of Grand Rapids, was just the sort of man to give the right kind of assistance and prestige to the newly incorporated company. With an organi- zation formed to handle a large business, the company entered upon a renewed period of growth which it still enjoys. From the original capitalization of $6,000, the corporation is now capitalized at one and one-half millions of dollars; from the first plant of the top floor of a small building, the company now operates in three 208 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 9 five-story buildings and one large seven-story building. The first building erected by the company was forty feet by ninety feet and four stories high with basement. The second structure, built within three years after the first, was one of similar dimensions. After a lapse of two years the third building, six stories high and fifty by one hundred feet, was erected. All the buildings making up the plant were increased to five stories within the next two years, and in 1914 a seven-story addition, 130 by 120 feet, brought the plant up to its present size. Mr. Clements has just cause to be proud of the enterprise which he has built up. Its products are sold throughout the country and known everywhere as knit goods of the highest quality. Superfluous it is to say that Mr. Clements has achieved a success that has won him recognition as one of Grand Rapids' ablest business men and executives, for the Globe Knitting Company stands as a monument to energy, ability and business acumen. In Chicago, Mr. Clements married Julia Jensen, a native of Norway, who came to the United States with her par- ents when she was a girl of nine years. Mr. and Mrs. Clements. have two sons, Earl A. and Roy W., the former of whom is super- intendent and the latter production manager of the father's plant. H. Jay Hayes is another of the many Michigan sons who have made enviable records in the development and management of mer- cantile and industrial enterprises. Though he now maintains his residence in the city of New York, he makes frequent visits to Grand Rapids, where one of the two big plants of the Ionia-Hayes Company, which he founded, is situated. Mr. Hayes enjoys the distinction of having made the first metal bodies and fenders now in universal use on automobiles; and the corporation which he heads is today manufacturing enormous quantities of these parts. H. Jay Hayes was born on the Hayes' family homestead, in the North Plains district of Ionia county, Michigan, on April 23, 1869, the son of Nathan B. and Mary A. (Olmstead) Hayes. He completed the course of study in the Ionia county schools and for a short time studied at the Michigan Agricultural College. Later he completed a course in the Cleary Business College at Ypsilanti. Mr. Hayes, however, attributes his success to the excellent training he received on the farm and in the lumber business under his father's super- vision. In these occupations he acquired a lasting appreciation of the value and dignity of honest toil, and he has always taken a deep interest in the affairs of the workingman. This understanding and interest has been of great value to him in his business career and has helped him to deal intelligently with the men who are employed in his huge industrial plants. Through his father's wide business interests H. Jay Hayes was able to gain valuable experience in the lumber camp, in the Hayes-Spaulding wholesale hardware estab- lishment at Ionia and the Hayes-Olmstead Bank at Muir. He helped to promote the sale of the Clipper Bicycle Company's prod- ucts; and while manager of that company's branch office at Cleve- land, Ohio, he became associated with Henry F. Eastman in the 8 He Hayes HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 209 building of a three-wheeled electric motor car equipped with a metal body. They obtained a patent on this vehicle and incor- porated the Eastman Automobile Company in 1898 to manufacture these vehicles. Later the concern was incorporated under the laws of West Virginia, and the manufacture of the Eastman steam auto- mobiles, with metal bodies, was begun at Cleveland. In 1900 Mr. Hayes drove one of these early motor cars from Detroit to Grand Rapids, attracting much attention, as it was the first automobile to be driven across the state. At the automobile show held in Chi- cago in the same year the car was a center of interest. Of the Hayes-Ionia Company, a prominent hardware journal in a recent issue said: “The automobile is fairly youthful, and few body- makers have a history which goes back beyond the present century, One to claim this distinction is the Hayes-Ionia Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan, manufacturers of automobile bodies and sheet- metal parts. The electric three-wheeled car shown in the accom- panying illustration has what is regarded as the first metal auto- mobile body ever built. It was constructed in 1898, by H. Jay Hayes, president of the Hayes-Ionia Company, then manager of the Eastman Auto Company at Cleveland, Ohio. The battery used in this machine was the first ever made by Willard for automobile use, and would go about twelve miles on each charge. We spent several weeks in Detroit, Michigan, during our organization period and visited the Edison Electric Company on Willis avenue, to have the battery recharged, and Henry Ford was employed there and would connect the wires onto the battery in the automobile and we would visit while the battery was being charged. He later told me he was working on his first automobile in the basement of the Edison Company during the time we were in Detroit.” Mr. Hayes also pioneered in the use of sheet metal for automobile fenders, his first efforts having been greeted with ridicule. Today the pro- duction of the Hayes-Ionia Company is restricted to closed bodies, which are built for the Durant, Flint, Maxwell and Overland com- panies. The Ionia plant covers eleven acres of ground, with three hundred and fifty thousand square feet of floor space, while the Grand Rapids factory extends over five hundred thousand square feet of floor space. Three thousand employes turn out each year approxi- . mately one hundred and twenty thousand bodies with a value of thirty millions of dollars. When the original Eastman Company began the manufacture of metal bodies its title was changed to the Eastman Metal Body Company, which later became the Wilson & Hayes Company. In 1903 the factory was brought to Detroit, be- cause of the fact that the Olds Motor Company had placed the first factory order for the metal mudguards. In 1904 Mr. Wilson sold his interest in the business, which then became the Hayes Manufacturing Company. Still later expansion forced the incor- poration of the Hayes-Ionia Company; and in 1917 production facilities were greatly augmented by the purchase of a new plant in Grand Rapids. In 1922, at the suggestion of W. C. Durant, one 210 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY of the leaders in the automobile industry, Mr. Hayes organized the Hayes-Hunt Corporation, which established a large plant, with a half-million square feet of floor space, at Elizabeth, New Jersey. Mr. Hayes is president of this corporation and is a member of the Michigan and the National Manufacturing associations, the West- chester-Biltmore Club of New York, the Detroit Club, the Detroit Athletic and Gold clubs, the Kent Country Club of Grand Rapids, and the Ionia Country Club. He married, on October 28, 1891, Florence N. Frain, of Ovid, Clinton county, Michigan. They have one daughter, Esther Frain Hayes. Herman M. Liesveld has been prominently identified with the business interests of Grand Rapids for the past forty years and since 1899 has been secretary and treasurer of the Globe Knitting Mills, his ability as a financier contributing largely to the develop- ment of that concern from one with a capitalization of approx- imately $6,000 to its present size with a capital stock of a million and a half dollars. His father, also named Herman, came to Grand Rapids from Holland in 1854, where he married Mary Westerhold, a native of Germany. The elder Liesveld established a monument manufacturing concern on the present location of the Steketee stores, but with the growth of the city, he moved his plant from Monroe street to Division street, locating in the rear of the Liv- ingston Hotel. He died in 1877, a prominent and respected citizen of the city, and his widow died in 1892. Herman M. Liesveld was born in Grand Rapids in 1863. Until the age of fourteen, he attended the public schools of his native city and then sought and found employment with the Nelson & Matter Company. During the three years with that concern he learned the trade of cabinet maker, but by that time he had decided against following that trade as a life work. Accordingly, he left the company to enter the employ of Ed Killeen, a grocer conducting a store at the corner of Bridge and Clancy' streets. Mr. Liesveld found the work to his liking and applied himself assiduously to the task of learning every phase of the business, equipping himself against the time when he should go into business for himself. At the age of twenty-two he bought a grocery store located at the corner of Cherry and Packard streets. The success of this venture began with its inception, and during the ensuing fifteen years Mr. Liesveld built up a grocery trade that marked him as one of the most successful men then engaged in his business in the city. His life has been characterized by his foresight in commercial matters, and when in 1899 he was offered the position of secretary and treasurer of the Globe Knitting Mills at the time of its incorporation he fully realized the possi- bilities lying ahead of such an enterprise and accepted the offer. That his faith in his own judgment and the men with whom he became associated has been amply rewarded lies in the record of the company, which is now one of the largest concerns of its kind in Michigan and sells its products throughout the United States. Mr. Liesveld's part in the development of the company has been FIRST METAL AUTOMOBILE BODY BUILT. USED ON THREE-WHEELED ELECTRIC CAR MANUFACTURED IN 1898 BY HAYES AND EASTMAN HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 211 no inferior one. As secretary and treasurer he has been an active and influential member of the firm, the large plant and the enor- mous volume of business standing as monuments which he has been one of the few to erect. Mr. Liesveld married Cornelia Van Dyke, the daughter of Peter Van Dyke, of Hudsonville. The Van Dyke family is prominent in the locality of Hudsonville, where they still live on the farm taken up by Peter Van Dyke in 1848. Willard F. Keeney is a member of Butterfield, Keeney & Amberg, attorneys-at-law. He was born at Arcola, Illinois, Jan- uary 25, 1862, a son of Daniel and Rhoda (White) Keeney, both of whom were born at Dumfries, Ontario. The father was of American parentage and came with his parents to Kent County at the age of six years; the mother was of American and English parentage and came to Kent County a few years later with her family, at the age of eight years. They were educated and married in Michigan, but for a few years lived in Illinois, where the father was engaged in business. They returned, however, to Kent County in 1864. Willard F. Keeney was educated in the public schools of Grand Rapids, graduating from the high school in 1879. He then went to the University of Michigan, where he became a student in the literary and law departments, though a graduate of neither department. In 1882 he returned to Grand Rapids and entered the office of Roger W. Butterfield, being admitted to the bar in the following year. On January 1, 1887, Mr. Butterfield and he formed the firm of Butterfield & Keeney and continued in partnership in that name and in the name of its successor firm, Butterfield, Keeney & Amberg, until Mr. Butterfield's death thirty-three and one-half years later. After Mr. Butterfield's death the firm name - continued without change. Roger C. Butterfield and Julius H. Amberg are the junior partners. On November 10, 1897, Mr. Keeney married Miss Margaret Morton, of Fall River, Massachu- setts, daughter of James Madison Morton and Emily (Canedy) Morton. Mrs. Keeney's father was for many years a Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. There are three children of the marriage, Willard F., Jr.; Morton and Roger Butterfield Keeney. Mrs. Keeney died on January 18, 1920. She was of domestic tastes and devoted to her family. She was a a graduate of Vassar College and during her residence at Grand Rapids was active in the Women's University Club and in various movements touching the finer life of the community, particularly those which were educational in character. Frank D. McKay was born in West Grand Rapids, Michigan, November 4, 1883. His father was of Scotch descent and his mother of German descent. He attended the Grand Rapids Public Schools and Union High School through the eleventh grade. In beginning his business career Mr. McKay worked in several furni- ture factories of Grand Rapids and in this period as an iron moulder in the American Seating Company. He attended MacLaughlan's Business College of Grand Rapids and his next venture was as a 212 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY salesman for the Grand Rapids Fire Insurance Agency and he has continued in the Fire Insurance business until the present time. For a time he was engaged in the foreign exchange, buying and selling foreign moneys, principally Russian and Austrian. He conducted the steamship agency on the West Side for about ten years. Then he entered the real estate business and has built approximately three or four hundred houses in the city of Grand Rapids. He has also platted several sub-divisions which involved quite large investments. He served in the circuit court of this county as assignment clerk for about fifteen years and during part of this time he was engaged as deputy county clerk under Ralph Mosher, and also under Robert Hill. He has been engaged in the automobile tire business for about nine years and at the present time is the sole owner of the Akron Tire Corporation. He was married eighteen years ago to Agnes Hermanson of Grand Rapids. They have two children, a boy and a girl, and reside at 411 Morris avenue S. E. Mr. McKay was also engaged in the lumber business, being half owner of the McKay Lumber Company, which was recently purchased by the Quality Lumber Company, of which he is now treasurer. He is the owner of the McKay Building Com- pany, which is engaged in the building of residences in Grand Rapids. He is a director of the Grand Rapids Automobile Club. He was secretary of the Republican county committee for many years and was elected treasurer of the State of Michigan in Novem- ber, 1924, taking office on January 1, 1925. He is also a director of the Kent County Savings Association. William Henry Coye is a recognized and influential authority in connection with the various phases of the great industry that has made his native city of Grand Rapids the greatest world's center of furniture manufacturing, and here he is now professionally established as an expert furniture consultant, with office at 543 Avalon Terrace. Mr. Coye was born in Grand Rapids, March 30, 1863, and is a son of Albert and Mary (Pugh) Coye, who were born in the state of New York and whose marriage was solemnized at Rochester, N. Y. They moved to Grand Rapids in 1855, when this city was a mere village, and eventually he built up and long conducted a pros- perous business as a manufacturer of tents and awnings, his son, Charles A., having been his successor in this business and the lat- ter having continued the enterprise until his death in February, 1924. William Henry Coye availed himself in his boyhood and youth of the advantages of the old Union public school in Grand Rapids, and his broader education has been that gained in the great school of practical experience and self-discipline. In the early days, marking the virtual incipiency of furniture manufacturing in Grand Rapids, he gained his initial experience in the furniture factory of the Berkey & Gay Company, this having been one of the first furniture factories in the city. His experience has run the full gamut of the various details of furniture production, and he con- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 213 tinued to be employed in Grand Rapids' furniture factories until 1886. In that year he became superintendent of a furniture factory in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and in 1887 he retained a similar position at Oshkosh, that state. Thereafter he was successively factory manager in furniture factories at Burlington, Iowa, Kankakee, Illinois, and Marshfield, Wisconsin, and from 1900 to 1917 he was treasurer and manager of the Coye Furniture Company at Stevens Point, Wisconsin, this company having been organized by him. Since 1917 Mr. Coye has served as counsel for the National Furni- ture Manufacturers' Association, and since 1919 he has held similar alliance with the Southern Furniture Manufacturers Association, the National Association of Chair Manufacturers, the National Ex- tension Table Association, besides which he is secretary of the Na- tional Refrigerator Manufacturers Association, and in 1918 entered service at Washington, D. C., as secretary of the Furniture War Service Committee, a position that he retained until the close of the World war. His is a unique and impregnable po- sition as a general furniture consultant, and his influence and reputation in this field are equalled by those of no other one man. Mr. Coye is a Republican in politics, is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and he and his wife hold membership in the Presbyterian church. In 1882 was sol- emnized the marriage of Mr. Coye to Miss Mary Gilbertson, of Grand Rapids, and of this union were born three children: Mary Ethel, died at the age of 36 years; Miss Nina B., superintendent of music in the public schools at Muskegon Heights, Muskegon county; and Clarence is secretary of the National Refrigerator Association. Mr. Coye was the fifth in order of birth in a family of nine children, and concerning the others the following brief data are available: James A. Coye resided in Grand Rapids and served a number of years as United States collector of customs; Charles A. succeeded his father in the tent and awning business at Grand Rapids and continued the same until his death in 1924; Clarence M. is engaged in the insurance business in Los Angeles, California; and Mesdames O. B. Wilmarth, George LaBore and J. G. Phillips continue residents of Grand Rapids. Eli Cross is one of the prominent representatives of floricul- tural enterprises in the city of Grand Rapids, where as a florist he conducts a substantial wholesale and retail business, with the best of facilities and service. His finely appointed retail store is at 150 Monroe avenue; his office and retail greenhouses are at 1226-8 Union avenue N. E., and the large wholesale greenhouses are established at the corner of Page street and Ashland avenue. Mr. Cross was born in Cambridgeshire, England, December 25, 1874, and is a son of Charles and Harriet (Wallace) Cross, the former of whom is deceased and the latter of whom still maintains her home in England, she having made several visits to her son, Eli, since he established his residence in the United States. The schools of his native land afforded Mr. Cross his youthful education, and 214 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY there also he received the best of technical and practical training in gardening and floriculture, a line of enterprise with which the Cross® family had there been identified for several generations. Mr. Cross was about seventeen years old when he severed the home ties and came to the United States, and he came forthwith to Grand Rapids, where he found employment in a florist's shop. After having been employed about five years by the florist firm of Crabb & Hunter, he realized his ambition and was able to engage in the same line of business in an independent way. His original facili- ties were of modest order, his first two greenhouses having been small ones and having been in the same location that now shows forth his large and well-equipped greenhouses, twenty-two in number. For a few years Mr. Cross confined his business to the raising of violets, and in this exclusive field his business increased until he had eleven greenhouses devoted entirely to the propaga- tion of violets, the fine quality of which gained him wide reputa- tion, so that he shipped his products into all sections of the United States. It is worthy of special note that at the St. Louis Exposi- tion Mr. Cross won a medal for his exhibit of violets, and was the only person in the United States thus to be awarded a medal for such exhibit. By careful and honorable methods and close appli- cation Mr. Cross has made his business expand in scope and importance each successive year, and his wholesale and retail business now ranks among the largest and best ordered enterprises of its kind in the state of Michigan. His wholesale business is extensive and widely disseminated. Mr. Cross is a life member of the American Florists Association and an influential member of the Michigan Florists Association, of which he has served as vice president. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, including both York and Scottish Rite bodies and the Mystic Shrine, and has membership also in the Knights of Pythias, Modern Woodmen of America and Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In 1901 Mr. Cross was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Brower, of Zeeland, Ottawa county, and of the three children of this union two are living—Jesamine and Anna Marie. The only son, Wallace, was but seventeen years of age when he entered overseas service with the American Expeditionary Force in the World war, and in this connection he made a record of gallant and faithful service. After receiving his honorable discharge he returned to Grand Rapids, and here his death occurred in 1923, his illness having been of the briefest duration, he having been taken ill in the night and having died the next day. He was one of the sterling and popular young men of Grand Rapids, and his death was mourned by a wide circle of friends. Henry H. Turner. Skilled in the technical and constructive details of his chosen profession, that of architect, Mr. Turner has gained place as one of the prominent and successful representa- tives of his profession in western Michigan, where many buildings of the finest modern type bear evidence of his ability. He resides + HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 215 in the city of Grand Rapids, where his offices are at 919-923 Michigan Trust Building, and he maintains also an office in the city of Muskegon. Mr. Turner was born at Auburn, New York, November 23, 1881, and is a son of Herman H. and Matilda (Waal- baum) Turner, the former of whom was born in England, of Swedish ancestry, his father having given many years of service as captain of ocean vessels, and as a skilled navigator, having upheld the prestige of his Viking ancestors. Mrs. Matilda Turner was born in Germany and was a child at the time her parents came to the United States. The parents of the subject of this review are now deceased. Henry H. Turner received most of his early education by attending the public schools of Brooklyn, New York, and for his chosen profession of architect he prepared him- self by a thorough course in the celebrated Athenaeum in Roches- ter. His natural talent along artistic lines was effectively supplemented by a technical course in the school of architecture at Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. There he continued his studies until 1909, when he came to Grand Rapids, Michigan, to become architect of the city's public schools. He continued his service as school architect in this city until 1919, and since that time has been engaged in the independent practice of his profes- sion. In his profession Mr. Turner specializes in the designing of school and municipal buildings. Among the many modern and high-grade buildings designed by him may be mentioned those of the Creston, the Burton and the Ottawa Hills high schools, and the library building at the Western State Normal School of Michigan, at Kalamazoo. He is the official architect for the city of Muskegon, where, as previously noted, he maintains a branch office. In his large and well-equipped offices in Grand Rapids, Mr. Turner maintains a corps of well-trained and highly efficient assistants, who give him most loyal and effective co-operation. He is a member of the Michigan State Architects Society, the Michigan Engineers Society and the American Institute of Architects, as is he also of the Grand Rapids Engineers Society. He and his wife have membership in the Park Congregational church, and he is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, including the Mystic Shrine. In 1907 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Turner to Miss Josephine Henderson, of Cleveland, Ohio, and of this union were born two children, George Henderson, who died shortly after birth, and Henry H., Jr., who is now a student at the Culver Military Academy at Culver, Indiana. Mr. Turner is a member of the National City Planning Commission, and in his home city he is chairman of the board of appeals, wider zoning and of the grade separation commission, which has supervision of matters per- taining to the elimination of railroad crossings at street levels. George N. Snyder. From office boy to president of the Grand Rapids Paper Box company is the summation of the career of George N. Snyder in the city's industrial life, yet to so epitomize his business life is to overlook the years of patient endeavor, the 216 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY dauntless courage, and the singleness of purpose which has driven the man to attain his goal, that of head of one of the large man- ufacturing concerns of Grand Rapids. His parents were early residents of Grand Rapids, his father, John A. Snyder, settling there in 1852 after coming from New York to carry on his trade of piano maker. His mother, Cleona Hardy, was a native of that state, where her son has reached so high in business. George N. Snyder, one of a family of seven children, was born August 20, 1874, in Grand Rapids. He attended the graded and high schools of the city of his birth and from 1895 to 1896 he studied at Albion College. That year in college concluded his educational career, and at the age of fifteen, he sought and found employment with the Grand Rapids Paper Box Company as office boy. Patient merit was its own reward and George Snyder was steadily advanced through the various departments of the concern until his ability, not to be denied by even the most biased, won him a place in the executive branch of the company. Even then his progress was unchecked, and today he holds the highest position in the company, that of president. That he has gained this high position, that his executive ability has aided so materially in the progress of the concern, ranks him among the leading manufacturers in Grand Rapids, where his entire life has been spent. He married Alice A. Bragg, a member of a family that came from London, England, and they have two children, Margaret E. and Phillip B. The Wagemaker Company. In the year 1897 Isaac Wagemaker, Clarence E. Mosher and Isaac Van Domelen formed a partnership and, on a very modest scale, engaged in the manufacturing of filing devices and other office supplies. The original headquarters of this progressive Grand Rapids industrial concern were in the Bissell building on Erie street, and at the start the corps of employes numbered twelve men. The products proved their value, and the increasing demand eventually made it essential to acquire larger quarters and greater facilities for production. The result was that removal was made the present plant, at 556 Market street, and by 1901 two additions had been made to the factory building, to keep pace with the trade requirements. In 1912, as a matter of commer- cial expediency, the business was incorporated under the title of Wagemaker Company, and thereafter Isaac Wagemaker continued to be president of the company until his death, December 13, 1923, Mr. Van Domelen having become vice-president, and Mr. Mosher the secretary and treasurer of the company at the time of its incor- poration. Isaac Wagemaker, who gained place among the success- ful manufacturers and representative business men of his native city, was born in Grand Rapids in the year 1870, and here he con- tinued to maintain his home until his death, which occurred when he was fifty-three years of age. . His wife succeeded him as presi- dent of the Wagemaker Company and she still retains this office. In the meantime John H. Bushnell has succeeded Mr. Mosher as secretary of the corporation. After completing his studies in the . Diane Allergenahan HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 217 Grand Rapids public schools Mr. Wagemaker learned the trade of cabinetmaker, and he was employed at his trade in the W. A. Berkey furniture factory and later in the Macey factory. He mar- ried Miss Elizabeth Van Domelen, who is now president of the Wagemaker Company, and he is survived also by five children, three sons and two daughters. Isaac Van Domelen, who was the original vice-president of the company and who is the brother of Mrs. Wagemaker, was born in the city of Holland, Ottawa county, Michigan, and is a son of Cornelius Van Domelen, who was born and reared in the Netherlands and who became an early settler at Holland, Michigan. Isaac Van Domelen, like Mr. Wagemaker, served a practical apprenticeship in connection with furniture man- ufacturing, and he had been employed in various factories in Grand Rapids prior to engaging in independent business with Mr. Wage- maker and Mr. Mosher as his associates. At the time of his death he was in active charge of the finishing department of the factory of the Wagemaker Company. Miss Jane Van Domelen, sister of Isaac, entered the employ of the company in 1905, in the capacity of office stenographer, and since 1922 she has been the vice-presi- dent and treasurer of the company, she begin a most resourceful and valued executive officer. Miss Van Domelen was born at Hol- land, this state, and after her graduation in the high school she completed a course in the McLaughlin Business College in Grand Rapids. John H. Bushnell, who is now secretary and manager of the company, was born in the state of New York and was reared and educated in the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1920 he became a salesman for the Wagemaker Company, and he also had three years of practical experience in the different departments of the factory, of which he has been the general manager since 1923. This is one of the progressive industrial concerns of Grand Rapids and its business has become one of important scope, so that it con- tributes in no small degree to the commercial prestige of the city. Alvah Brown, president and managing director of Hotel Browning, the leading family hotel in Grand Rapids, was born in Caledonia township, Kent county, November 14, 1865, the son of William H. and Lufanna (Leek) Brown, pioneer settlers of that township, both of whom are dead. William H. Brown was born in Warwick, Kent County, Rhode Island, in 1810, and accompanied his family to Genesee County, New York. At a very early date he came to Michigan, where he entered one hundred sixty acres of land in Barry County. He became dissatisfied with this location, however, and hired an Indian guide to take him down the Thorn- apple River on a prospecting tour, and it was on this trip that he saw the land which he pre-empted. He was the first man to buy timber land from the government in Caledonia township of Kent County, where he made his home. He purchased his land there on June 16, 1835. In 1853 he built a grist mill at Alaska and operated it for a number of years. In 1868 he erected a flour mill at Caledonia Center, now known as La Barge, and later built a 218 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY saw mill at the same place. Still later he built two saw mills at Alaska, which was originally known as Brownsville in honor of William Brown, who founded the village. He was one of the or- ganizers of the Baptist church in Alaska and in later years he built the church and presented it to the congregation. He died October 14, 1877, and his widow died in 1904 at the age of seventy years. Alvah Brown was one of three children born to his parents, the others being Fred O. C. Brown and Mrs. Carrie Campau. He received a common and high school education and then came to Grand Rapids, where he engaged in the undertaking business with Allen Durfee, in which he continued for five years. He became interested in the embalming business when it was still in its infancy and was the organizer of the Durfee Embalming Fluid Company, a company which is still in existence. His association with the concern was continued until 1918. He organized the corporation to build the Hotel Browning, which was started in 1916. He has been manager of the hotel since that time and now is the virtual owner of the hostelry. He has built up an excellent clientele and his hotel is regarded as one of the most desirable of its kind in Grand Rapids. Mr. Brown has been actively interested in all phases of the life in Grand Rapids, industrial, civic and political, and in the past he has been officially connected with a number of the largest concerns in the city. He is recognized as . one of the most able business executives in the city and is respected and admired by all with whom he has come in contact. While Mr. Brown was a member of the Police and Fire Board, the question of garbage disposal was raised. He contracted to dispose of the garbage and to this end established a hog farm on which he has had as many as 5,682 hogs at one time, conceded to be the largest number on any single hog farm in the world by those conversant with agricultural conditions at the time. He operated this farm for several years. He was chairman of the Kent County Road Com- mission for eleven years, and was most active in laying out the present system of roads centering in Grand Rapids. In 1891 he married Ella Phillips, the daughter of Chase and Mary (Hall) Phillips, and to them have been born two daughters, Leah F. and Virginia M. Silas Hall, the grandfather of Mrs. Brown, built the first frame house constructed in Grand Rapids. Mr. Brown is a Scottish Rite and York Rite Mason and is a member of the Shrine, the Highland Country Club and the Elks. He is affiliated with the Baptist church. A. Brooks Smith, M. D., has brought to the work of his pro- fession the full powers of a strong and resourceful personality and the technical ability and skill that have secured for him a large and constantly growing practice in Grand Rapids, where he has been in active practice since 1911. Rufus Carlton Smith, his father, was a native of New Hampshire. He came to Michigan and settled in the vicinity of St. Louis and Petoskey and in later years was a prominent merchant of the latter city. His wife was HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 219 Mary Isabel Pepper, whose family came to Michigan from the country around Rutland and Bennington, Vermont. Rufus Carlton Smith died in 1921 at the age of seventy-one years. A. Brooks Smith was born September 23, 1884, and for a few years attended the public schools of his native city. His father, wishing him to get the best possible preparation for college, then placed him under the instruction of Professor M. O. Graves, under whom he studied two years. Having by this time chosen to follow the medical profession, he entered the Medical college of the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated in 1909 after making an excellent record in his undergraduate work. His work as a student attracted such favorable attention that he was appointed by the board of regents to the position of assistant professor of gynecology and obstetrics in the Homeopathic Medical College. During his professorship, in which he earned the respect and admiration of his students, he continued his research, but by 1911 he had formed the desire to enter active practice. Accordingly, in that year, he came to Grand Rapids and opened offices. Like many of our most successful professional men, he entered upon the active practice of his chosen work heavily in debt for his education. He refused to be dis- couraged by this fact and his early struggles in Grand Rapids have been more than a justification of his wish to continue in that work. Though his college days are completed, he has never ceased to be the scholar, and among his professional confreres he is known as a man who keeps abreast of the latest movements in the science of medicine. The ability which he has displayed in the handling of the cases that have been placed under his care has brought him an ever-growing practice, so that he is now regarded as one of the successful surgeons of Grand Rapids. In 1912 he married Marie Louise Parker, of Detroit, daughter of Byron W. and Elise Campau Parker. Doctor Smith gave up his private practice with the out- break of the World war to offer his services to his country. He was commissioned lieutenant and assigned to Evacuation Hospital No. 2 and with that organization went to France, serving nineteen months in that country. He rose to the rank of major before his discharge, which occurred after twenty-four months in the Medical corps of the army. Doctor Smith has two children, a son, born in 1915, and Mary Campau, born in 1912. Doctor Smith is a member of the Michigan State Medical Society, the Kent County Medical Society, and the American College of Surgeons. George S. Clarke, as president of the Central Michigan Paper Company, of Grand Rapids, has attained a place of prominence in wholesale circles of the city. He rose from errand boy to the position of secretary with the company within the phenominally short time of five years, his rapid advancement being attributed not only to his evident ability as an executive but to the con- scientious application to duty and the will to succeed, which have been the guiding stars of his career. He comes of a pioneer family of Michigan, his parents, Edgar A. and Lucena (Caldwell) Clarke, 220 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY coming from New York state in 1860 to locate at Ionia, Michigan. In that city George S. Clarke was born in 1888 and there attended the public schools. At the age of fourteen he obtained a job with the Central Michigan Paper Company, which was first established in Kalamazoo, as errand boy, his weekly wage being one and a half dollars per week. He realized that his education was not sufficient to take him to the top in the business world and accord- ingly enrolled in night school. His industry and ability were soon rewarded and he was successively advanced through the positions of stock cutter and shipping clerk until in 1907, though but a young man of nineteen years, he was made secretary of the com- pany, a position which he retained until 1922. The Central Michigan Paper Company was established in 1885 in Kalamazoo by W. F. Holmes. From its inception the enterprise enjoyed a steady growth. In 1898 the firm moved its plant to Grand Rapids and in April, 1904, drew up the articles of incorporation as the Central Michigan Paper Company. C. L. Blanchard, of Milwaukee, became the first president of the new corporation with Mr. Holmes ás vice-president and A. C. Denison filling the office -of secretary. The retirement of Blanchard and Holmes in 1907 necessitated a new election of officers, and at that time, George L. Warren became president, S. W. Todd took over the duties of vice-president and treasurer, and George S. Clarke was promoted to the office of secretary. These officers continued in their various positions until 1922 when Mr. Clarke became president, B. J. Barnard, vice- president, and S. W. Todd, secretary and treasurer. Mr. Clarke is one of the progressive young executives of Grand Rapids, and the fact that his company is rapidly becoming one of the substan- tial and influential wholesale enterprises of the city is proof enough of his managerial ability. He is well known in business circles, where he is respected by all with whom he comes in con- tact. Mr. Clarke married Katherine B. Precious, the daughter of Joseph Precious, of Kent County. John Boter. Since the days of the Revolutionary war, the United States has stood as a land of opportunity and promise to those of Europe who have been unable to realize their ambitions in their crowded homelands. To John Boter, treasurer and man- ager of the corporation of Golden & Boter, of Grand Rapids, the name of the United States spelled such opportunity, and in 1890 he left his native Holland, where he was born eleven years before, to come to the United States with his mother, Martha Boter, two brothers and a sister. His opportunity for schooling has been meager, a few years in the schools of The Netherlands and six weeks in the public schools of Grand Rapids after his arrival here in 1890, constituted his educational advantages. The indomitable ambition which had driven the family to seek a new life in the western world encouraged John Boter to begin work at once, and while he was still a boy of eleven, he began peddling vegetables and oil. At this work he labored during the subsequent five years. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 221 At the age of sixteen he secured employment as a delivery boy with a dry goods concern, a position for which he furnished his own wagon and horse. His weekly wage in this work was $10 per week. For another period of five years he remained in the employ of this concern, and by that time his capital was sufficient to enable him to engage in the cartage business, hauling freight and similar heavy material. He prospered in this work, for his innate ability and energy he applied ceaselessly to the work. In 1904 he formed a partnership with Thomas F. Golden for heavy trucking, the firm adopting the style of Golden & Boter, under which it has since continued. From its inception, the partnership was a success, and with the growing business, which leaped forward in volume, incorporation became necessary. The necessary articles were accordingly drawn up in 1917, the firm continuing under the same name. At that time Thomas F. Golden became the president, Joseph F. Golden assumed the duties of secretary, and Mr. Boter took over the office of treasurer and manager. With the formation of the corporation the company entered upon a new era of pros- perity, the result being that today the firm is one of the largest and most successful in its line in Grand Rapids, and it is to the initiative and the purposeful ambition of these gentlemen that the success of the company may be attributed. Besides his connection with this concern Mr. Boter is also president of the Grand Rapids Steel and Supply Company, which had its inception in his wreck- ing business, which was first known as the Grand Rapids Salvage Company. Mr. Boter bought out the interests of the other mem- bers of the firm in 1918 and at that time reorganized it as the Grand Rapids Steel & Supply Company, its plant being established at No. 21-35 Market avenue S. W. This firm, too, is one of the going concerns of Grand Rapids, and like Golden & Boter, Inc., stands as a monument to the business genius and executive ability of its owners, who are honored and respected by all with whom they come in contact. Though Mr. Boter is one of Grand Rapids' most able business men, he is retiring by nature, never seeking the applause of the multitude for the honest effort he expends in building up projects which increase the commercial prestige of his city. His wife before marriage was Effie Eikenhont, the daughter of Henry Eikenhont, of Grand Rapids. They have two daughters, Margaret and Ann. Russell J. Boyle. To say that Russell J. Boyle is a self-made man is to put in a trite way the undeniable fact that his high position in Grand Rapids' financial life has been gained entirely through his own efforts, for even as a small boy he set his goal high, and possessed of limitless ambition and energy has gained what he set out to acquire. He comes of an old family of Detroit, his grandfather, John D. Boyle, of French descent, settling there and marrying a Miss Henderson. Russell J. Boyle was born in that city, the son of William T. and Nellie (McPherson) Boyle, and there attended the public schools. Even as a small boy he 222 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY realized that a college education might be indispensable to him, and at an early age he secured employment in a railroad freight office to earn money with which to go to college. He worked from 3 p. m. to 11 p. m. every day, his monthly wage being $15 per month. His ambition, his energy and his careful attention to duty soon brought him promotion and he was transferred to the uptown ticket office and then to the Michigan Central depot as an employe in the ticket office. Not wishing to be too great a burden on his family, he took want-ad orders for the Detroit Free Press while he was attending high school. The high school pub- lication, “The Student," was at this time heavily in debt, and when Russell Boyle approached the faculty with a proposition whereby he was to receive half the earnings of the paper after the debt was cleared, the faculty members eagerly assented and he was placed in charge of the publication. From this source he was able to secure a good salary during his school career, for he was soon able to get the paper entirely free from debt. During the vacation months he worked in the ticket offices of the D. & C. Steamship Company. He also earned considerable money selling advertising for the company. He graduated from the Detroit high school in 1908, and as he was about to go to college, sickness in the family swept away his savings accumulated through years of hard work since his boyhood. At the age of eighteen he secured a position with the Detroit Free Press as an advertising solicitor at a salary of $25 a week. Indicative of the strength of character and perseverance of Mr. Boyle, it may be said that in this work it was six months before he took his first order. This first order imbued him with renewed zeal and in the ensuing year he won the newspaper prize of $1,000 for the advertising solicitor getting the largest volume of business. His promotion was rapid, and in 1911, he went to Grand Rapids as advertising manager of the Grand Rapids News. In that position he continued for five years. With the outbreak of the World war he applied for admission to an officers' training camp, but the lack of a college education caused his rejection. Al- though he was married at the time, he refused to ask exemption from military duty when he was called in the draft, but he was again rejected. Fred R. Fenton, who was then directing the sale of Liberty bonds in that section of the state, sent for Mr. Boyle to act as his assistant. The work of Mr. Boyle throughout the state of Michigan in organizing and carrying on this important work won his recognition in the eyes of Mr. Fenton as a man of no mean financial and executive ability. The result was that after the close of the war, Mr. Boyle was taken into partnership with Mr. Fenton, forming the company of Fenton, Corrigan & Boyle, investment bankers, which was incorporated in 1919, the same year. The business is an outgrowth of the firms of Corrigan com- pany, which became Howe & Corrigan and later Howe, Snow, Corrigan & Company. With the death of Mr. Corrigan in 1920, the firm name was changed to that of Fenton, Davis & Boyle, HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 223 Davis taking charge of the Detroit office and Fenton the Chicago office. Mr. Boyle remained in Grand Rapids as the head of the home office. The constantly growing business of the company shows him to be a man of excellent judgment bordering closely on the phenomenal. In financial circles of Grand Rapids, he is re- garded as one of the strong characters and ablest executives. The company maintains a fine office on the ground floor of the Grand Rapids National Bank building. Mr. Boyle purchased the interests of his partners, F. R. Fenton and W. L. Davis, and on October 1, 1925, became the president of Fenton, Davis & Boyle. Mr. Boyle married Edythe Smith, the daughter of Arthur E. F. Smith, and she has been a constant source of inspiration and encouragement to her husband. Julius A. J. Friedrich, president of the Friedrich Music House, one of the old established and most important concerns of its kind in the city of Grand Rapids, has long been numbered among the progressive and public-spirited citizens of citizens of this community. Although he has virtually retired from active business, his course has been one of secure and consecutive progress, and through his well-directed endeavors he has done not a little to further the commercial prestige of his adopted city. While many changes have taken place in the commercial life of Grand Rapids during the past half century, some of the old reliable firms still have the advantage of being governed by members of the same family who were the original founders. The advantage of such conditions are easy to determine, and are generally recognized, for interest is always sustained and old standards maintained when no radical changes have been effected in the management. In the handling of pianos and other musical instruments, as well as a general line of musical merchandise, the Friedrich Music House takes prece- dence over all other concerns of its kind in Grand Rapids, both in prolonged period of operation and in the scope and importance of business controlled and its status has long been one of prominence in connection with the representative commercial activities of the country. This notable enterprise had its inception in this city more than half a century ago when, in 1873 Paul Friedrich, with his brother, Otto, established a music store in a building adjoin- ing that of the present Friedrich Music House at 206 Monroe ave- rue, which they conducted under the title of Friedrich Brothers. In 1875 Julius A. J. Friedrich assumed a clerical position in the store, and upon the retirement of his brother Paul in 1882, he was admitted to partnership in the business. After the death of his brother, Otto, in 1884, he became sole owner and successfully conducted the enterprise in an individual way until 1913 when he effected its incorporation under its present title and admitted to partnership his four sons, Julius, A. J., Jr.; Otto, P. T.; Hugo, C. W., and M. Herman. Mr. Friedrich remains the president of the corporation; Julius A. J., Jr., is vice-president; Hugo C. is treas- urer, and M. Herman is secretary, the son Otto being now 224 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY deceased. The three sons now have active management of the business, Mr. Friedrich, Sr., having practically retired, though he still continues to give general supervision, and to act as counselor in all matters of importance. He was born in Germany, in 1850, a son of Karl A. and Ottilia Friedrich, who were also both natives of the fatherland and who with their family immigrated to the United States in May, 1868. They first located in Minnesota, but about a year later removed to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Julius A. J. Friedrich, Sr., obtained liberal educational advantages in his native land, and after coming to the United States he engaged in teaching school for some years. He taught in the schools of Mar- quette county, Wisconsin, for a time, and later in the city of Oshkosh, that state, but in 1875 he retired from this position and came to Grand Rapids, where he became associated with his brothers in their music store as before stated, and since has been a resident of this city. His wife, whose maiden name was Eliza Ziehlsdorff, is also a native of Germany, where she was born in 1851, and was a child of five years when her parents immigrated to the United States. Coming to Grand Rapids when a young man of twenty-four, Mr. Friedrich has essentially grown up with the business interest of the city during the period of its most mar- velous development, and he has never lost an opportunity to do what he could for the advancement of the best interests of the city, which has figured as the stage of his splendid achievements, and in which his activities have been centered for half a century. His efforts are not confined to lines resulting in individual benefit, but are evident in those fields where general interests and public welfare are involved, and he has ever stood as an exponent of the best type of civic loyalty and progressiveness. Mrs. Phila L. Hamilton passed her entire life in Grand Rapids, was a representative of one of the honored pioneer families of this city, and upon this community she left the distinct impression of a gracious and cultured gentlewoman. Mrs. Hamilton long held much of leadership in church, cultural and social circles in her native city and in civic affairs she early became a loyal advocate of woman suffrage, in which connection it is interesting to record that shortly before her death she had the distinction of being the first Michigan woman to be chosen, as a member of the presidential electoral board, to carry the vote of the state to the national capi- tal, this honor having come to her January 12, 1925, she having previously been one of the women leaders in the councils of the Republican party in Michigan. Mrs. Phila L. (VanBuren) Ham- ilton, widow of Hiram T. Hamilton, for many years prior to her death, was born in Grand Rapids in the year 1850, and the place of her nativity was the family home that then stood on the site of the eld Stocking street public school. She was a daughter of Ocenus and Christiana (Peck) VanBuren, who became residents of Grand Rapids when this city was a mere hamlet in the midst of the sur- rounding forests. Ocenus VanBuren came to Michigan in 1844, ees Mrs. P. L. Hamilton HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 225 from Oneida county, New York, the journey having been made by packet on the Erie canal to Rochester, thence by railroad to Buffalo, and from that city by the steamboat "Great Western” to Detroit. From Detroit he traveled on the old Michigan Central Railroad, then equipped with primitive strap rails, to Marshall, an entire day having been required to traverse this distance, and from Marshall he proceeded by wagon to Battle Creek, where he took the stage that was to transport him over the pioneer roads, often almost im- passable, to his destination in Grand Rapids, the roads having been so muddy as to make the passage of the stage almost impossible the last few miles, which were thus traversed by Mr. Van Buren on foot. He found a village of but two or three houses, and in what was virtually a forest wilderness he purchased land that he later platted into city lots, the same having become the Van Buren & Turner addition to the city of Grand Rapids. Mr. VanBuren was long and prominently concerned with civic and business affairs in Grand Rapids, especially the dairy business, and he and his wife were honored pioneer citizens here at the time of their death, both having been earnest members of the Baptist church. Of the seven children only one is now living, Miss Frances Van Buren, who is principal of the Lafayette street public school in Grand Rapids. Mrs. Hamilton gained her early education in the pioneer schools of Grand Rapids, including a normal training school, and for thirty years she was a successful and loved teacher in the public schools of her native city, her pedagogic service having been in the old Union school and many of her former pupils have become busi- ness leaders in Grand Rapids and elsewhere. From an apprecia- tive tribute that appeared in a Grand Rapids paper at the time of her death are taken, with minor paraphrase, the following extracts: “Mrs. Hamilton's death came as a distinct shock and surprise to her large circle of friends, as she was ill only a few days and so late as last Tuesday entertained a group of old schoolmates. A life-long member of the Fountain Street Baptist Church, she was president of the Woman's Working Society six consecutive years, and at the time of her death was president of the missionary society of the church. She was a member of the Eastern Star, Daughters of the American Revolution, Ladies Literary Club, Woman's council of Kalamazoo College, the Grand Rapids Art Association, was corresponding secretary of the woman's board of Butterworth Hospital, and was for several years president of the Kent Garden Club. Mrs. Hamilton was a Republican elector for Michigan in the 1924 election and was chosen to carry the vote of Michigan to Washington. While in the capital city she had a personal inter- view with President Coolidge, and she returned home just three weeks prior to her death.” In 1871 was solemnized the marriage of Hiram T. Hamilton and Phila L. Van Buren, but the marital bonds were soon severed by the death of Mr. Han lton, August 31, 1873. He was born in the state of New York and was in the very prime of young manhood at the time of his death. The one child 226 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY of this union is Claude T., of whom individual mention is made elsewhere in this work, and who was but five months old at the time of his father's death. Mrs. Hamilton ever manifested not merely a loyal but a really loving interest in all that concerned her home city and its people, and here no woman was held in higher esteem and affection. She served as chairman of the historical re- search and preservation committee of the local chapter of the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, an this connection was instrumental in marking nine historical spots in the city of Grand Rapids. It is pleasing to record that her only son, an appreciative member of the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, is likewise deeply interested in historical matters, especially those touching the state of Michigan, and that his research has been such that he was able to contribute a most valuable historic article to the Grand Rapids Herald of Sunday, December 14, 1924, the same giving a description of a British war- ship hunting rebels up Grand river in the period of the Revolution and of how the Grand river valley contributed to “Braddock's Defeat.” I. Preston Rice established his residence in Grand Rapids in the autumn of 1899, when he came here from Detroit and organized the Grand Rapids Malleable Company. He resigned from this company and engaged in the veneer and lumber business, later or- ganizing the Rice Veneer & Lumber Company. In 1912 his com- pany built the brick warehouse on Campau avenue and the G. R. & I. Railway. This was the home of the business until 1920, when the same company built the veneer manufacturing plant now op- erated by the Mutual Veneer Company at Fuller Station. In 1923 this company purchased the premises at 549 to 553 Alabama avenue, N. W., where the business is now located and doing a rapidly expanding trade. Mr. Rice is president and manager of the company, with C. A. Canterbury and K. L. Rice as associate officers. The enterprise is one of broad scope, its products com- ing from many foreign lands and the United States. Mr. Rice's contribution to the commercial and industrial activities of Grand Rapids is of no minor order. Mr. Rice was born in the small village of Smithsburg, Maryland, where he gained his earlier educa- tion, which was augmented by several years of training at the Cumberland Valley State Normal School at Shippensburg, Penn- sylvania, and later in Pennsylvania College at Gettysburg. The Grand Rapids Belting Company has become one of the substantial industrial concerns of Michigan's second city, and the record of its inception and development is one of interesting order. In 1904 two employes of the Raniville Belting Company resigned their positions with that corporation and engaged in the same line of manufacture in an independent way and on a very modest scale, their “capital stock” having been represented mainly in practical experience and a determination to succeed. On the west side of the city, at 99-101 Sixth street, these two ambitious young HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 227 men began the manufacture of high-grade belting of oak-bark- tanned leather. The principals in this venture were Alexander T. Jack and Fred R. May, and at the beginning they constituted the entire executive and operative force. Within three months the business had assumed such proportions that they were compelled to employ one workman, and the sales for the first year ag- gregated $4,000. The story of the splendid success of the en- $ terprise is best shown in the fact that the company's average an- nual business now aggregates $126,000. This remarkable growth has been largely brought about by the constant adherence of the company to the original policy of turning out a product as good as the best, and the unvarying excellence of the output has been the concern's best medium of advertising. Of the leather used by the company 95 per cent is produced at Asheville, North Carolina, and the remaining 5 per cent in Pennsylvania—sources from which are obtained leather that is uniformly recognized as being of the highest grade. From the original quarters on Sixth street the factory was removed, where operations were continued at the present modern and well-equipped plant, at the corner of Fulton and Ionia streets. Messrs. Jack and May still continue the active executives of the business which they founded and in the upbuild- ing of which they have been the resourceful and progressive prin- cipals. Fred R. May was born in Grand Rapids in the year 1883, and is a son of the late Henry F. May, who removed to this city from Carlillac in 1882, he having previously represented Wexford county as a member of the Michigan legislature. He was born at Plymouth, Wayne County, Michigan, and was a representative of one of the sterling pioneer families of this state. His wife, whose maiden name was Fannie Hyatt, was born at Ann Arbor, Michigan. Henry F. May was long and prominently concerned with lumbering operation in Michigan. For a number of years he was associated with Daniel McCoy in the operation of a large saw mill at Cadillac, Wexford county, and after his removal to Grand Rapids, he continued to be associated with extensive lumber pro- duction in the northern part of the state, he having maintained for some time two large lumber camps near L'Anse, Baraga county, where he took out large quantities of valuable ship-building tim- ber. He was one of the substantial and well-known citizens of Grand Rapids at the time of his death in 1900, and his wife is now deceased. Fred R. May continued his studies in the Grand Rapids public schools until he had duly profited by the curriculum of the high school, and his boyish ambition and energy found expression in his successful work in selling newspapers on the streets his native city. His first “real job” was obtained when he was given charge of collections and made a solicitor of legal advertising for the Grand Rapids Chronicle, for which paper he later became a general advertising solicitor. After about three years of such newspaper service he took a position with the Raniville Belting Company, with which he advanced from the post of errand boy to 228 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY He re- that of factory superintendent, of which latter position he became the incumbent when he was but nineteen years of age. mained with this company until he and Mr. Jack engaged in business in an independent way, as already noted in this review. Mr. Jack was born at Burnside, Mich., and is a son of Robert T. Jack, who was for many years the master boat-builder for Perkins & Company, of Grand Rapids, he having previously been a ship- builder in his native Scotland and having been a young man when he came to the United States. It is interesting to record that a fellow-voyager of Robert T. Jack on the trip to the United States was the young woman who eventually became his wife. Though on the same boat, they did not become acquainted while on board the ship, and it was several years later that they became ac- quainted, in Michigan, and the fact developed that they had thus come to this country on the same vessel. John H. Paalman was but a boy when he initiated his associa- tion with the great furniture manufacturing industry of Grand Rapids. Here he became a skilled artisan at the cabinetmaker's trade, as well as a good general machinist, and he has made his technical knowledge the medium for his advancement to a place among the successful manufacturers in Grand Rapids, where he now president of the Paalman Furniture Company, manufac- turers of high-grade tea wagons and other useful furniture novel- ties for household application. The company has developed a substantial and prosperous business, and the products of its large and well-equipped factory now find demand in the most diverse sections of the United States and Canada, besides which a very appreciable export trade has been established. The company now employs a corps of nine traveling salesmen. Mr. Paalman was born in the fair old Netherlands of Europe in the year 1871, and is a son of Henry J. and Engberdiena (Ziel) Paalman, he having been a lad of about nine years when he accompanied his parents to America in 1880, and the family home having been established in Grand Rapids. In his native land Henry J. Paalman had been a skilled manufacturer of wooden shoes, and in the earlier period of his residence in Grand Rapids he found no little demand for such products, on the part of the many sturdy Holland Dutch citizens in western Michigan. The subject of this sketch attended the Grand Rapids public schools to a limited extent, and he was but twelve years old when he found employment in the old-time fur- niture factory of the McCord-Bradfield company. Two years later he entered upon a practical apprenticeship to the trade of cabinet- maker, in the factory of the Widdicomb Furniture Company, his compensation in the preliminary period having been $2 a week, and each day having been marked by his walking a distance of three miles morning and evening—from his home to the factory and then back at the close of his day's work. He became a skilled workman at his trade, and after having been at the Widdicomb factory three years he was employed two years at the Sligh fac- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 229 tory and an equal period at the William A. Berkey factory. He was ambitious to gain authoritative knowledge of all details of furniture manufacturing, and his energy, persistence and recep- tiveness enabled him fully to compass this aim. At the age of twenty-one years he was receiving $1 a day for his services, and when he began work at the Stickley factory his stipulated salary was to be $9 a week. He so proved his value that at the end of 9 the first week he was paid $12 and was assured that this was to be his regular stipend. At the age of twenty-four years Mr. Paal- man became foreman in the machine and cabinet department of a furniture factory in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he remained six years. The Stickley company then prevailed upon him to return to Grand Rapids and assume charge of its machine and cabinetmak- ing room. In the meanwhile he had given much attention to the designing of furniture, and along this line he did much effective service for the Stickley company. After six years of service as designer and as manager of the machine and cabinet department he was advanced to the position of superintendent, which he re- tained until 1916. In that year he secured the financial and executive co-operation of some of his personal friends and effected the organization of the present Paalman Furniture Company, which was incorporated with a capital stock of $100,000—since in- creased to $150,000. He is president of this company, which initiated its manufacturing enterprise with a force of four employes and which now has a factory corps of ninety skilled artisans. In 1905 Mr. Paalman married Miss Agnes Boshoven, daughter of Bernard Boshoven, of Grand Rapids, and the children of this union are four in number: Henry B., who is now representative of the Paalman Furniture Company as its traveling salesman in the New England States, gained practical experience in the company's factory, where he learned all details of manufacturing and where he won advancement through his own ability and efforts; Pearl Emma was graduated in Hope College, at Holland, Michigan, and is now a successful and popular teacher in the public schools of Grand Rapids; Hazel Marguerite is, in 1925, a student in the East Grand Rapids high school, and Russell John is attending the grade schools. William D. Batt, president of the Grand Rapids By-Products Company and also executive head of W. D. Batt, dealers in hides and furs, gives the greater part of his time and atten- tion to the active supervision of the affairs of the latter con- cern, he being virtually the sole owner of the business thereof. He is one of the vigorous and forward-looking business men of the type that has given precedence to Grand Rapids as an industrial and commercial center of great importance, and the city can claim no more loyal and public-spirited citizen than William D. Batt. He can claim the fine old Buckeye state as the place of his nativity, his birth having occurred at Oxford, Ohio, February 11, 1869, and he having been reared and educated in Ohio, where also were 230 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY staged his earlier business activities. After his marriage Mr. Batt removed to Richmond, Indiana, where he engaged in the hide business, and in 1905 he came to Grand Rapids and became buyer for the Kiefer tannery. After the lapse of about eight months he transferred to the James S. Smith Company, local representatives of the United States Leather Company, and after the Smith Com- pany sold its business to the Eagle Leather Company, of Ottawa County, Michigan, he remained six months with the latter cor- poration. He then purchased the business of this company, which he has since successfully continued under the title of W. D. Batt, with an extensive trade in hides and furs. He ships his produce mostly to Boston, for the eastern market, and has made numerous export shipments also. In addition to his conducting of this prosperous enterprise Mr. Batt is president of the Grand Rapids By-Products Company, the well-equipped manufacturing plant of which is established at 28-30 Louis street and given prin- cipally to the manufacturing of stock food. James J. Hendrikse is president of the incorporated Hendrikse Company, which controls a substantial business in the distributing of household appliances that represent the most advanced types of modern improvements in this line—the celebrated Nokol auto- matic oil burners for heating purposes, and the equally valuable Wayne water softeners. Broad advertising and effective operation have made these important appliances known throughout the entire United States, and their extensive utilization and exploitation make unnecessary any detailed description in this review. James J. Hendrikse, who has won a place among the progressive and successful business men of the younger generation in his native city, was born in Grand Rapids February 13, 1890, and is a son of John W. H. and Sarah Hendrikse, who still reside in this city, the father having been a youth when he here established his home and having here been employed in connection with the furniture indus- try during a long period of years, both he and his wife being of sterling Holland Dutch ancestry. James J. Hendrikse received his early education by attending the public schools of Grand Rapids and his is the distinction of having served eight years in the United States Navy, in which connection his training and expe- rience constituted the equivalent of a liberal education. In 1907 he was stationed at the navy training station at Norfolk, Virginia, and at the expiration of his original term of enlistment he promptly re-enlisted and was for some time in service at the naval training station in New Jersey. He served on various major war vessels, including the Washington, the Texas and the Minnesota, and visited every country along the eastern coast of South America. He was with his command in Turkey at the time of the memorable Armenian massacre of 1909, and he had the privilege of entering Italian ports, visiting the city of Jerusalem and the famous English fortress at Gibralter, and in 1910 the warship on which he was in service brought back from Argentina the remains of a deceased HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 231 - United States minister to that nation. In 1915 Mr. Hendrickse re- ceived his honorable discharge from the navy and returned to Grand Rapids, where he soon afterwards was retained as building engineer in connection with the construction of the fine modern building of the Grand Rapids Savings Bank. In 1918 he initiated the business now conducted under the title of the Hendrickse Company, the company having been incorporated in 1923. He thus became a pioneer in the local exploitation of the Nokol automatic oil burners and the Wayne water softeners, and his vigorous and progressive policies eventually brought popular appreciation and adoption of the improved devices, with the result that his company now con- trols a very prosperous business in the placing of these modern household mechanisms throughout western Michigan. Mr. Hen- drikse was one of the organizers also of the Ever-Hot Heater Sales Company, of which he is the secretary and manager, the office headquarters of both of these concerns being at 4 Fountain street, N. W. Mr. Hendrikse's basic Masonic affiliation is with Malta Lodge, No. 465, A. F. and A. M., and he is a Noble of the Saladin Temple of the Mystic Shrine, besides which he and his wife are members of the Order of the Eastern Star. He is an active member of the Exchange Club, and he attends and supports the Methodist Episcopal church, of which Mrs. Hendrikse is an active member, her maiden name having been Lillian M. Kettner, and she having been a resident of Grand Rapids at the time of their marriage in 1919. William R. Rupley, resident manager at Grand Rapids of Hulburd, Warren & Chandler, one of the most substantial and important concerns in the grain and stock brokerage business in this city, has proven his ability as a leader and is recognized as one of the most alert and conservative operators in this field of activity in the city of Grand Rapids. He has not only achieved success in business, but has gained distinction in the management of large affairs and well deserves a place in the front rank among the leading business men and financiers of the country. The head- quarters of this old and reliable corporation, of which Mr. Rupley is the executive head at Grand Rapids, is at Chicago, Illinois, where its status has long been one of prominence in connection with the representative commercial activities of the city. It has also owned membership in the New York stock exchange for more than forty years, and is represented also by membership in other principal stock exchanges and boards of trades. Branch offices are main- tained in a number of other Michigan and Ohio cities with private wire connections to all outside markets. Although comparatively a young man, Mr. Rupley's course has been one of secure and consecutive progress, and through his well-directed endeavors he has risen to a place of commanding influence in the business world. He was born at Martinsburg, Pennsylvania, May 6, 1877, and is à son of Theodore N. and Fannie (Ramsburg) Rupley. His educational advantages were those afforded by the grammar and 2322 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY high schools of his native state. As a youth he entered upon an apprenticeship to the printer's trade, but soon retired from this business and turned his attention to the stock-brokerage business in the city of St. Louis. He later became identified with a New York stock exchange firm and has since continued in this field of activity. In 1907 he became associated with Hulburd, Warren & Chandler, for whom he opened an office in Battle Creek, Michigan, where he remained until 1916, when he succeeded to the manager- ship of the Grand Rapids office, in which capacity he has since continued. Besides his business connection Mr. Rupley also finds time and opportunity to give effective co-operation in movements for the social and material betterment of the community, and has ever stood as an exponent of the best type of civic loyalty and progressiveness. He is an active member of the Grand Rapids Association of Commerce, and is also affiliated with York Lodge, A. F. and A. M., Columbia Chapter, R. A. M.; DeMolay Com- mandery, Knights Templars; Saladin Temple of the Mystic Shrine, and York Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star. He is likewise a member of Battle Creek Lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and of the Cascade Hills Country Club, and is prominent in both business and social circles. Mr. Rupley was married August 13, 1900, to Miss Ida Ferguson, of Trinidad, Colorado, and they have one son, William R. Rupley, Jr. John Hoult. The character and the ability of the late John Hoult, one of the prominent furniture manufacturers of Grand Rapids, found expression in worthy ideals and service, in honest and earnest endeavor as one of the world's productive workers, and in a success-potency that gained to him prosperity and prestige in connection with the industrial activities of his home city. Mr. Hoult, whose death occurred June 15, 1915, was born in Toronto, Canada, January 21, 1862, of English parentage. His apprentice- ship in the furniture manufacturing business was served in the factory of the Jakes & Hayes Company, and his early educational advantages were those of the public schools. He was a young man when he went to Rochester, New York, and there he gave effective service as manager of one of the largest furniture concerns in the city, that of the Mingus & Shale Furniture Company. In 1891 he came to Grand Rapids, Michigan, to assume the position of man- ager of the Gunn Furniture Company, and in this connection he was largely instrumental in acquiring for the company its patents on sectional bookcases. He remained with this company fourteen years, and then, in 1904, he became manager and in 1908 president of the Luce Furniture Company, with which successful manufac- turing corporation he thus continued his able executive service until the time of his death. He was an active and valued member of the Grand Rapids Furniture Manufacturers' Association, and at the time of his death was treasurer of the Furniture Manufacturers Mutual Insurance Company of Grand Rapids. Mr. Hoult was a man of great civic loyalty and progressiveness, and was one of the 0 John Hoult HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 233 leaders in the promotion of the New Pantlind Hotel, he having been a director of the company that erected this fine modern hotel in Grand Rapids and also a member of the finance committee of the company. His genial, buoyant and kindly nature gained to him friends in all circles of business and social order. He was independ- ent in politics, and was a member of the advisory board of the Fountain Street Baptist Church, of which he was a zealous mem- ber, as is also his widow. He was affiliated with the Masonic fra- ternity, including the Mystic Shrine, and was one of the most popular members of Grand Rapids Lodge, No. 48, B. P. O. E. He was a member of the Peninsular, the Quashtanong and the High- lands Country Clubs, and of the last named club he was the president four years. In the year 1882 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Hoult to Miss Florence Louise Shain, who was born and reared in the province of Ontario, Canada, and since the death of her husband she has continued her residence in Grand Rapids, where her attrac- tive home is at 246 Madison street. Of the nine children, six survive the honored father and all remain in Grand Rapids: Bertha Louise (Mrs. Martin J. Dregge), William Albert (associated with the Luce Furniture Company), Irene Ruth (Mrs. Harold Buck), John Hampton (with the Luce Furniture Company), and Thomas Ford and Florence Katherine. In conclusion of this brief memoir . are entered extracts from an article that appeared in the Michigan Tradesman at the time of the death of Mr. Hoult; "His nature was honest, rugged and kind—nothing artificial or pretentious. He was self-reliant, with every faculty trained in the school of practical life. His genial nature and generous and responsive heart made him fast friends among his workmen and fellow manufacturers. He became successful because he was intelligently industrious, pre- eminently practical, and had in him the greatest courage to put through any undertaking attempted; he became popular because he was just and kind and generous. He was loved by his workmen because he knew life by living it with them and because he had shared in it by his own toil. The large business developed by his energy, survives him and stands as a monument to him. His life served as an example and inspiration to countless others.” Charles Williams Jennings, Sr., is president of the Jennings Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of perfumes, extracts and other toilet requisites, and as this substantial Grand Rapids cor- poration, here founded in 1872, has extended its trade into all sections of the United States, it has exerted much influence in advancing the commercial prestige of Grand Rapids, the while it has done its part in furthering the civic and industrial prosperity of Michigan's beautiful “Valley City." Charles Williams Jennings was born at Lockport, New York, November 25, 1853, and was reared and educated in the old Empire state. In 1872 he came to Grand Rapids in company with his brothers, Richard B. and William Henry, both now deceased, and here they forthwith en- gaged, on a modest scale, in the manufacturing of flavoring extracts. * * 234 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Upon the admission of Walter Smith to partnership in the business the title of Jennings & Smith was adopted. Charles W. Jennings later bought the interest of Mr. Smith, and in 1905 the business was incorporated under the present title of the Jennings Manufac- turing Company. Mr. Jennings has since served as president of the company, and his only surviving son, Charles W., Jr., is vice president and manager. The present large and modern building of the company was erected in 1921. The Jennings policy from the beginning has been to produce products of the highest grade, and the reflex of this policy has been the upbuilding of an institu- tion and business that ranks among the foremost of the kind in the United States, throughout the length and breadth of which its trade in perfumes, etc., extends, the sale of the Jennings flavoring extracts being confined largely to the middle states. The Jennings perfumes and other toilet requisites stand as the maximum of excellence, and the enormous business has been built up on the basis of such superiority. The "Lady Alice,” “Dorothy Vernon' and “Ma Joie” lines of toilet-requisites manufactured and distrib- uted by the Jennings Company are of such excellence and attrac- tiveness that the three names have become veritable household words in refined homes in many sections of the United States. The development of this great industrial and commercial enterprise in Grand Rapids stands in evidence of what may be achieved through progressive policies and effective service. With a record of more than half a century in Grand Rapids, the Jennings Man- ufacturing Company has at all times been appreciative of and loyal to the city, and the city has been proud of the company and its splendid achievement. Mr. Jennings, now numbered among the veteran and honored business men of his home city, is a valued member of the Grand Rapids Association of Commerce, and has membership also in the United States Chamber of Commerce. His ancient-craft Masonic affiliation is with Grand River Lodge No. 34, and in the Scottish Rite of the time-honored fraternity his maximum affiliation is with Dewitt Clinton Consistory. He is a member of the Masonic Country Club and of the Grand Rapids Motor Club. He has been for more than a quarter of a century an active member of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, and has been influential in its affairs and its upbuilding. The political allegiance of Mr. Jennings is given to the Republican party, and as a citizen he has been for more than fifty years loyal and liberal in his support of measures and enterprises that have tended to advance the civic, industrial and commercial progress of Grand Rapids. In 1879 Mr. Jennings wedded Miss Sarah McConnell, a representative of an old and honored Grand Rapids family and a granddaughter of the late Judge Mundy, a leading pioneer lawyer and jurist of this city. Mrs. Jennings passed to eternal rest in the year 1889 and was survived by two children, Charles W., Jr., who is now vice-president of the Jennings Company, and Lenington M., who died at the age of twenty-one years. In 1892 was solemnized HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 235 the marriage of Mr. Jennings to Miss Irene Burt Hawley, of Buffalo, New York, her father, Lucian Hawley, having long been an influential citizen of the Empire state and having held an important position in the United States internal revenue depart- ment under the administration of President Grant. Mr. and Mrs. Jennings have three daughters: Misses Irene Hawley, Marian Williams and Helen Lucia. Stuart J. C. Heyboer has shown both versatility and progress- iveness in connection with the enterprises that have given him place among the representative business men of the younger generation in his native city of Grand Rapids. Here he is engaged in the wholesale drug sundries business, under the title of the Heyboer Company, and in the wholesale stationery business, under title of the Heyboer Stationery Company. The general headquarters of both establishments are at 3 Ionia avenue, north- west. Mr. Heyboer was born in Grand Rapids, April 21, 1894, and is a son of John C. and Emma (Stoel) Heyboer, the former of whom was a child of four years when his parents established their resi- dence in Grand Rapids, and the latter of whom was born and reared in this city, where her father, the late Cornelius Stoel, was an early settler. After completing his studies in the high school Stuart J. C. Heyboer became associated with business affairs in his native city. In 1916 he organized the Heyboer Company, of which he has since been president and manager and which has developed a prosperous wholesale and jobbing business in the sale of drug- gists' sundries throughout the territory normally tributary to Grand Rapids as a distributing center. In the same territory has been built up also a substantial business by the Heyboer Stationery Company, of which Mr. Heyboer likewise was the organizer and of which he is the executive head. He has membership in the Michigan State Pharmaceutical Association, the Travelers Pro- tective Association, and the Grand Rapids Association of Com- merce. Mr. Heyboer is affiliated with both York and Scottish Rite bodies of the Masonic fraternity, including the Knights Templar, the Mystic Shrine and the Order of the Eastern Star. He is a member of the Masonic Country Club, the Cascade Hills Country Club, and the American Legion, and both he and his wife are active members of the Park Congregational church. The World war service of Mr. Heyboer was with the medical corps of the Fortieth Michigan Volunteer Infantry. In the year 1918 was recorded the marriage of Mr. Heyboer to Miss Helen Thorndill, daughter of Edward G. Thorndill, a representative business man of Grand Rapids, and the one child of this union is a son, Philip J. Leon Price Hadden is one of the vital and progressive business men in the city of Grand Rapids, where he has had leadership in the upbuilding of the large and important brokerage and distrib- uting business conducted under the corporate title of L. P. Hadden & Company. He is president and general manager of this corpora- tion, which controls a substantial business in the distributing of 236 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY the products of the California Packing Corporation, the Southern Cotton Oil Trading Company, the Alaska Packers Association, the American Peanut Corporation, the Brookman Manufacturing Company and the A. E. Staley Manufacturing Company. The headquarters of the company are at 7 Ionia avenue, south. Mr. Hadden was born at Otsego, Allegan County, Michigan, November 28, 1886, and is a son of John J. and Elizabeth Victoria (Price) Hadden, the former of whom was born at Penn Yan, New York, and the latter at Augusta, Kalamazoo county, Michigan, she being now a resident of the city of Detroit. John J. Hadden came to Michigan in 1854, and in 1893 he established his residence in Grand Rapids, where he passed the remainder of his life and where, as a skilled artisan in the manufacturing of furniture, he was for a number of years in the employ of the Nelson-Matter Company. Leon P. Hadden was a lad of about seven years at the time of the family removal to Grand Rapids, and the discipline that he here received in the public schools was eventually supplemented by his taking a commercial course through the medium of university extension work. In 1905 Mr. Hadden found employment in the Amos Musselman wholesale grocery establishment, and in this connection he gained valuable experience, through association with the work in various departments, from that of shipping until he became a traveling salesman for the house. This experience led him to an appreciation of the advantages to be gained by establish- ing a brokerage and distributing agency for the handling of the products of large packing concerns, and thus he initiated his inde- pendent activities as manufacturers' agent, the result being his organization of the L. P. Hadden Company, which controls a substantial business throughout western Michigan, a territory normally tributary to Grand Rapids as the leading distributing center. At the time when peanut butter began to gain recognition as a valuable food product Mr. Hadden organized the Bel-Car-Mo Nut Butter Company, his careful research and investigation having led him to believe that Grand Rapids could be made a most eligible point for the manufacturing and distributing of peanut butter. It was in 1910 that he organized the above mentioned company for this purpose, and the success of the enterprise has fully justified his faith and confidence. The output of the Bel-Car-Mo Nut Butter Company is now distributed through Michigan and other states through the medium of the L. P. Hadden Company. It is a record of splendid initiative and executive ability that has been made by Mr. Hadden, and he has standing as one of the progressive business mén of the younger generation in Grand Rapids. He is a member of the Peninsular Club, is a Republican in politics, is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, including the Mystic Shrine. His wife has membership in Westminster Presbyterian church in their home city. February 15, 1915, Mr. Hadden was united in marriage with Miss Caroline Isabelle Hurt, of Grand Rapids, she being a daughter of Frank Joseph Hurt, who was born in Prague, HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 237 Austria, and whose wife was born in Pilsen, Austria. Mr. and Mrs. Hadden have one child, John Francis. Mr. Hadden finds both profit and definite enjoyment in his close application to business, and he is essentially one of the world's productive workers. Joseph Jabez Wernette is one of the prominent and highly skilled consulting engineers in his native state of Michigan, and his technical and executive ability, as combined with careful and honorable business policies, has gained to him a most important clientage. Mr. Wernette conducts his well-ordered business under the title of the J. J. Wernette Engineering Company, and his large and well-equipped offices are at 441-444 Houseman building in the city of Grand Rapids. Mr. Wernette was born in Ionia county, Michigan, of which Ionia is the judicial center, and the date of his nativity, April 7, 1868, indicates that his parents gained a definite measure of pioneer prestige in that county. He is a son of John and Elizabeth (Miller) Wernette, both of whom were born in Canada, the former having been a resident of Grand Rapids at the time of his death, January 18, 1923, and his widow being still a resident of this city. John Wernette established his residence on a farm in Ionia County in 1865, where he cut down trees to make room for a log house, and thence he came to Kent County in 1873, he having established the family home on a farm in Gaines town- ship and having been one of the prominent and successful ex- ponents of farm industry and blacksmithing during a period of nearly forty years, his retirement from the active management of his fine farm estate having occurred about sixteen years prior to his death. Of the family of eight children—three sons and five daughters—the subject of this sketch was the fourth in order of birth, and all of the children survive the honored father. The dis- trict school of Gaines township afforded Joseph J. Wernette his early education, he having been about four years old at the time of the family removal to Kent County. He gained in his boyhood and early youth a full share of experience in connection with the arduous work of the home farm and blacksmith shop, and it is as a member of the world's great army of productive workers that he has achieved his success in life. He later took an effective course in the Valley City Business College, which at that time had its headquarters in the Livingston Hotel building in Grand Rapids. Along mechanical lines his initial training was obtained in the Leitelt Iron Works, one of the old and substantial industrial con- cerns of Grand Rapids. He there found employment in the year 1886, and his early service was of general utility order, he having been at the time about eighteen years of age. His natural talent along mechanical lines was distinctly developed and fortified by his completion of a technical course in the International School of Engineering, in the city of Chicago, the institution having later been absorbed by the great Armour Institute in that city. In com- pleting his course Mr. Wernette attended the night classes, and found employment during the days, by which means he largely 238 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY defrayed his expenses while in Chicago. In 1890 he returned from Chicago to Grand Rapids and entered service as a machinist and steamfitter at the factory of the Richmond & Stowe Furniture Company, and with this concern he won advancement to the posi- tion of chief engineer. He next was employed as millwright with the M. L. Sweet Furniture Company, and thereafter was for some time chief engineer for the Grand Rapids Wheelbarrow Company. He then assumed a similar position with the Grand Rapids Re- frigerator Company, with which he remained in the capacity of chief engineer during a period of seven years. The next four years he was chief engineer with the Grand Rapids Brass Works, where he gave special attention to the designing and constructing of electric motors. In March, 1907, Mr. Wernette purchased the business of Frank A. Simons, consulting engineer, and he has since been actively and successfully engaged in business in an independ- ent way, as one of the leading consulting engineers in this section of Michigan. He has handled large jobs in the most diverse sec- tions of the United States, and his professional reputation thus far transcends mere local limitations. He retains in his office a corps of skilled architects, designers and draftsmen, and he himself gives scrupulous attention to preparing the plans for heating, lighting, ventilating, etc. He has done the engineering work in his line in inore than 800 buildings that have been erected under the direct supervision of his organization. Among these may be noted the following: The steel forging plant of the General Forging Com- pany of Merriton, Ontario, Canada; the power plants of the Piqua Manufacturing Company of Piqua, Ohio, and Marquette, Michigan, in which last mentioned work he planned the entire construction of the plant, laid out and constructed the company's twelve miles of railroad, and was even assigned to the selecting and purchasing of the land for the factory, he having continued as chief consulting engineer for the Piqua Manufacturing Company since 1908. Mr. Wernette constructed also the power plant of the Cleveland & Cliffs Iron Company at Munising, Alger County, Michigan, and , he has done the heat, light and power engineering work for vir- tually all of the leading industrial corporations in Grand Rapids. He is a member of the National Association of Steam Engineers and of the Grand Rapids Engineering Society. He is affiliated with the Elks and for thirty years he was an active member of the Knights of Columbus. He and his wife are communicants of St. Francis Catholic church in their home city. In 1893 Mr. Wernette married Miss Theresa Neuman, and her death occurred in 1907, her one surviving child, Marion E. Wernette, being now a valued assistant in the office of the J. J. Wernette Engineering Company and being of great help to her father in ordering the exacting de- lails of his large business. In 1913 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Wernette to Miss Florence Culbert, of Bay City, and she is the popular chatelaine of their beautiful home, at 2047 Jeffer- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 239 son drive, southeast. To the family have been added two daugh- ters, Margaret F. and Helen Jane Wernette, Edward L. Johns is the progressive, efficient and popular man- ager of the Grand Rapids branch of the music house of Grinnell Brothers, an incorporated concern that has unequivocal leadership in the extensive sale of musical instruments and musical merchan- dise in the state of Michigan, the headquarters of the company being in the city of Detroit and branches being maintained in many other cities, as well as in prominent villages, of the state. The genesis of this extensive and well-ordered business is of interesting order. In 1880 Ira L. Grinnell, who had just completed his course of study in the public schools of Detroit, turned his attention to the handling of sewing machines, as an itinerant salesman in ter- ritory tributary to the Michigan metropolis. He was successful in this enterprise and his experience not only quickened his ambition but also fortified him for the independent enterprise in which he later engaged, when he became associated with his brothers, Clay- ton A. and Herbert in the organizing of a co-partnership for the handling of high-grade musical instruments. The business at the start was confined largely to Detroit and was a modest enterprise. The Grinnell Brothers had no predilection for remaining in statu quo after their enterprise had become established on a solid foun- dation. They devised new methods and policies for the extending of the business, and progress and expansion have been the watch- words of this splendid concern during the long intervening years that have brought to it a standing as the largest and most impor- tant Michigan representative of this line of enterprise, the company having been incorporated in 1919, and being now recognized as one of the foremost in the music trade of the United States. The Grinnell Brothers, in their relation with their employes, have manifested the loyalty that ever begets loyalty, and have built up an organization distinctly based on loyalty and co-ordination of interests. The concern has gained and retained able and valued assistants, and attributes much of its success to the effective service and co-operation of the managers of the various branch establish- ments, not only through Michigan but also in a number of neigh- boring states The company showed its discernment and good judgment when it selected Edward L. Johns as manager of the important Grand Rapids branch, and in this executive position he has made a splendid record in advancing the business throughout his assigned territorial jurisdiction. The Grand Rapids branch house occupies seven floors of the building at 26-28 Division street, south, and it can thus be realized how large and comprehensive is the stock of musical instruments and merchandise here displayed, the corps of employes in the establishment now numbering more than fifty persons and all departments being under the direct super- vision of the efficient manager, Mr. Johns. Mr. Johns was born in , the city of London, Ontario, Canada, on September 15, 1860, and he is a son of Thomas R. and Margaret (Rosser) Johns. In the 240 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY public schools of his native city Mr. Johns acquired his early edu- cation, and in 1875 he was graduated in the high school at Sarnia, Ontario. His initial experience in merchandising was acquired in a large dry goods establishment at Sarnia, and this early discipline fortified him excellently for the greater responsibilities which he was later to assume. His connection with the business of Grinnell Brothers had its inception in 1904, when he was made office man- ager in the branch maintained at Port Huron, Michigan. Within a few years he was assigned to the management of the Petoskey branch and later took charge of the branch in the city of Saginaw, where he remained ten years. After the company, in 1919, pur- chased the business of Smith & Hurst, an established musical instrument business in Grand Rapids, and incorporated the same in the important Grinnell branch in this city, Mr. Johns' ability and effective service gained high recognition when he was selected as the manager of this branch, which has become second in importance to only the headquarters establishment in Detroit, with a trade territory that comprises most of western Michigan-as far north as Reed City and Ludington, south to the city of Holland, and east to Muir, in Ionia county. The Grinnell company handles many of the finest makes of pianos, including the celebrated Steinway, Weber and Sohmer instruments, as well as the excellent pianos manufactured by the company itself in the modern factory at Holly, Oakland county. Mr. Johns manifests his progressive spirit not only as a resourceful business man but also as a loyal and appre- ciative citizen of Michigan's vital “Valley City.” He is a Mason, a Knight Templar and a member of the Kiwanis Club, and both he and his wife are members of Westminster Presbyterian church. He was married in 1883 to Miss Helen Shilinglaw, of Sarnia, Ontario, who died in 1893, leaving three children: Elsie, wife of Guy L. Sintz,of Detroit; Edward E., who is engaged in the building and contracting business at Detroit, and Nellie, wife of Glen Beardsley, of Detroit. In 1903 Mr. Johns married Jennie L. Simpson, of Sarnia, Ontario. Robert D. Graham, president of the Grand Rapids Trust Com- pany, former member of both the house and senate bodies of the Michigan legislature, former member of the Michigan state board of agriculture, and well-known as a leader in horticultural industry, has been a resident of Kent county since his boyhood and has here been an honored and influential figure in financial and industrial affairs for many years. It is doubtful if any other one citizen of Michigan has here done more for the advancement of horticultural science and industry than has Mr. Graham, and recognition of this is to be shown by the placing of his name on a tablet to be inserted in the new horticultural building of the Michigan Agricultural College, near Lansing. As a citizen and as a man of affairs Mr. Graham has rendered good account of himself, and a brief review of his career consistently finds place in this publication. Robert D. Graham was born in Elgin county, province of Ontario, Canada, Robert D Brachane HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 241 November 11, 1855, and is a son of Elwood and Anna (Kipp) Gra- ham, likewise natives of that province and both representatives of sterling Scotch ancestry. The subject of this review was about one year old at the time of the family removal to Minnesota, where his father thus gained pioneer prestige, but after passing about eight years in the Gopher state Elwood Graham came with his family to Kent county, Michigan, in 1864. On the West Bridge street hill, Grand Rapids, Elwood Graham bought twenty acres of land, then almost inaccessible for vehicles, by reason of the steep grade of the hill. He brought the tract under especially high state of cultivation, was one of the pioneers in successful horticulture and fruit-growing in this section of Michigan, and was one of the first here to prove the value of glass farming. He developed a prosperous business as a market gardener and fruit grower, was one of the sterling citizens of Kent county during a long period of years, and here he and his wife continued to maintain their home until their death, secure in the high regard of all who knew them. Robert D. Graham was a lad of eight years at the time when the family home was estab- lished on the little pioneer farm in Walker township, Kent county, and there he passed the period of his boyhood and early youth, the while he profited by the advantages of the Grand Rapids public schools of the period. His quickened ambition found expression when he decided to prepare himself for the legal profession, and such is the texture of his mind that there can be no doubt that he would have made his mark as a practical exemplar of the science of jurisprudence. As it was, however, he gave three years to the study of law in the office of Edgar A. Maher, at that time a repre- sentative member of the Grand Rapids bar, and in 1879 he proved himself qualified for and was duly admitted to the bar and before the supreme court. At this juncture, however, he was called home to take charge of the farm, and he thus never engaged to any appre- ciable extent in the practice of law, though he has found his techni- cal knowledge of great value in his active business career. Mr. Graham had a great liking for agricultural and horticultural indus- try, and he proved very successful in his activities in this connec- tion, especially in the growing of fruit. He made a deep and intensive study of scientific horticulture during the passing years and became in time one of the prominent exponents of this line of industrial enterprise in Michigan, the while he gave for others the benefit of his research, experimentation and experience, so that he had much of leadership in the raising of the standards of Michigan agriculture and horticulture. He still owns and resides upon his fine rural estate, near the original family home, and has made this one of the model centers of horticultural enterprise in western Michigan, as well as one of the most beautiful demesnes of the metropolitan suburban district of Grand Rapids. The civic loyalty and public spirit of Mr. Graham naturally drafted him into the political life of his home county and state. In 1894 he was elected a member of the Kent county board of supervisors, as representa- 242 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY tive of Walker township, and thereafter he served two terms in the house of representatives of the Michigan legislature, his election to the state senate having occurred in 1898, and his service in both houses having been constructive. In 1899 Mr. Graham was elected president of the Fifth National Bank of Grand Rapids, and this position he retained until the consolidation of the institution with the Commercial Savings Bank, in 1908. Of the combined banking house he continued as president until 1914, when he resigned, to accept the office of president of the Grand Rapids Trust Company, one of the strong and well ordered financial institutions of Michi- gan. He resigned in August, 1925, and is now chairman of the board. He is a director of the Fourth National Bank and the Com- mercial Savings Bank, besides having other large capitalistic and industrial interests. He had much to do with the development and operations of the West Side Building & Loan Association, of which he became a director at the time of its organization, and his influ- ence was large also in the affairs of the Citizens Telephone Com- pany, of which he is a director. He was one of the organizers of the Citizens Telephone Company of which he served as vice-presi- dent and chairman of the board for many years until it was sold. During the period of 1902-19 Mr. Graham was one of the most in- fluential and valued members of the Michigan state board of agriculture, of which he was the chairman in 1904, and he has given even more influential services as a member of the state board of horticulture. His loyalty to Michigan and his deep interest in horticulture found liberal, generous and practical expression when, in 1917, he presented to the state of Michigan, for use in connection with the state agriculture college, fifty acres of land in Walker township, to be employed as an experiment station in connection with agricultural and horticultural work. The land has fully proved in its use the great value of the work here carried on. The landed estate of Mr. Graham comprises seventy acres, and he still gives active supervision to his agricultural and horticultural enter- prises, notwithstanding the many exactions of his business affairs. Mr. Graham is a Republican in politics, is affiliated with the Ma- sonic fraternity and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and has membership in the Peninsular Club of Grand Rapids. He and his wife are members of the First Congregational church of which he is treasurer and a member of the board. In the year 1880 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Graham to Miss Anna Gross, of Rockford, Kent county, and they have an adopted daughter, now Mrs. Josephine Hebard. John Kotvis has been a resident of Grand Rapids during a period of more than half a century, has been long and actively identified with local business interests, and is now living virtually retired, in the merited enjoyment of the rewards of former years of earnest endeavor. He is a venerable and honored pioneer citizen who is well entitled to a tribute of recognition in this publication. Mr. Kotvis was born in Zeeland, one of the prosperous and pic- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 243 turesque districts of the fine old Netherlands, and the year of his nativity was 1841. Thus he was about eight years old when, in 1849, he accompanied his parents on their immigration to the United States. The voyage was made on a sailing vessel of the type common to that period, and cholera, which was widely epidemic in that year, attacked many of those on shipboard, one of the children of the Kotvis family having died on the vessel and having been buried at sea, and another child of the family likewise having contracted the dread disease and having died after the family had arrived at Buffalo, New York. The parents, John and Mary (Leenhouts) Kotvis, continued the westward journey until they arrived at their destination, in Milwaukee county, Wisconsin, where the father purchased a tract of wild land and instituted the development of the fine old homestead farm that was to continue his place of residence until his death. In his native land he had not been engaged in manual labor, but in his sturdy resourcefulness he proved equal to the arduous work that devolved upon him in reclaiming and improving a pioneer farm in the land of his adop- tion. There he reared his children to lives of honor and usefulness, and there he and his noble wife remained until death wrote the final chapter in their worthy life history. John Kotvis, Sr., was one of the prosperous and highly esteemed citizens of Milwaukee county, Wisconsin, at the time of his death. The subject of this sketch was eight years old when he began his experience as a work- er on the pioneer farm in Wisconsin, and he profited duly by the advantages offered by the district schools of the locality and period. He continued to be associated with the work and management of the home farm until he had attained to his legal majority, but in the ineanwhile he had been able to serve a practical apprenticeship that made him a skilled workman at the carpenter's trade. In 1865 he came to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where his brother, William, had preceded him, and here he obtained employment in the retail flour and feed store of the late Frank Van Driele, who likewise was of the fine old Netherlands stock and who was one of the well- known and highly-esteemed pioneer business men of Grand Rapids. With this line of enterprise Mr. Kotvis continued his association during the entire period of his active career in Grand Rapids, and for fully sixty years he has been an exponent of the flour and feed business in this city, though the active management of the old established business is now vested in his son, John H. Mr. Kotvis is well known throughout this section of Michigan, has made a record of worthy and successful achievement, and he is held in unqualified esteem in the community that has so long represented his home. He has been a loyal and liberal citizen, his political allegiance is given to the Republican party, and the religious faith to which he holds is that of the Reformed church, of which he and his family are zealous communicants. Mr. Kotvis married Miss Carrie De Ruiter in 1870, who was born in Holland, and their de- voted companionship continued until her death in 1875. Of their 244 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY . three daughters, one, Mary, is now living. He was married a second time, in 1877, to Minnie Vrieling, who was born in Holland and died July 27, 1919. Of their four children, three are living : Minnie (now Mrs. Leonard Appledorn), John H. and Sarah C., at home. The son John H, who was born in 1880, continued his studies in the public schools until his graduation from the high school, and in the meanwhile he worked in his father's establish- ment and gained intimate knowledge of the business, with which he has continued to be closely associated since he completed his high school course. He has had the active management of the business since 1919, when he and his father acquired the interest of his uncle, William Kotvis, who had long been associated with the enterprise and who is made the subject of individual mention on other pages of this work, he being a younger brother of the subject of this sketch. Ulysses V. Zorns, who is now living retired in the city of Grand Rapids, after more than half a century of active association with business affairs, is a sterling citizen who has resided in this city since 1903 and who has his secure place in the confidence and respect of all who know him. Mr. Zorns was born at Pekin, Tazewell county, Illinois, January 11, 1850, and is a son of Cyrus J. and Amanda M. (Townder) Zorns, the former of whom was born in Germany, January 1, 1822, and the latter of whom was born in the state of New York, April 10, 1829, their marriage having been solemnized November 7, 1847, and their home town in Illinois having been Homer, Champaign county, where the death of the husband and father occurred in December, 1850, when the son, Ulysses, of this review, was a child of eleven months. The widowed mother was nearly seventy-three years of age at the time of her death, January 26, 1902. Ulysses V. Zorns gained his youthful education in the public schools of Homer, Illinois, where likewise, he acquired his initial experience in business. There he was a salesman in the store of the Hopkins Dry Goods Company during the decade of 1872-82, and in the latter year he there engaged in the retail grocery business, in which he continued until 1885. He served as township clerk at Homer until 1887, in which year he went to the city of Danville, that state, where he continued to be employed as a salesman in the dry goods establishment of Smith & Heinly until 1892, in which year he took a position of similar order in a dry goods establishment at Lafayette, Indiana, he having eventually obtained an interest in the business and having there continued his residence until 1896. In the period of 1897-1900 he became associated with the W. H. Black dry goods house, a leading mercantile concern in the city of Indianapolis, that state, and in the latter year he returned to his old home state and engaged in- dependently in the dry goods business at Danville. He disposed of his interests there and came to Grand Rapids in the year 1903. Here he was in the employ of the Wurzburg Dry Goods Company until 1908, when he resigned his position and engaged in business HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 245 in an independent way, as an importer of and dealer in veneers for use by the furniture manufacturers. He developed a substantial and profitable business and continued to give his attention to the same until his recent retirement. He still retains offices in the Houseman building. While he has had no desire for association with practical politics, Mr. Zorns has been a loyal supporter of the cause of the Republican party. He is a zealous member of the Fountain Street Baptist church, as was also his wife, and as is also their only surviving child, Florence Edna, who is the wife of F. Stuart Foote, president of the Grand Rapids Chair Company and the Stuart Furniture Company and Imperial Furniture Company. Mr. Zorns has passed the various official chairs in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has been a representative in the grand lodge of the order in the state of Illinois. He is affiliated also with the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World. On September 4, 1871, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Zorns to Miss Ellen Insley, daughter of John Insley, who was a represen- tative pioneer and farmer near Sidney, Champaign county, Illinois. The supreme loss and bereavement in the life of Mr. Zorns came when his gracious and devoted wife passed to eternal rest, her death having occurred September 14, 1919. The one surviving child is Mrs. F. Stuart Foote, as previously noted, and the younger daugh- ter, Daisy Jane, who was born June 18, 1878, died at the age of twenty-seven years. Mr. Zorns now resides in the home of his daughter, Mrs. Foote, whose veneration of the memory of her loving mother has been shown by her installing in the Fountain Street Baptist church a beautiful memorial window-panel. Mr. Zorns has rendered good account of himself in all the relations of life, and is a sterling citizen well worthy of the recognition ac- corded him in this publication. Alexander Dodds (deceased) was one of the citizens of Grand Rapids who contributed greatly to the commercial development of his city and among his achievements which stand out are not only industrial triumphs but also victories won in the name of religion and humanity. On both sides of his family he was of Scotch de- scent. His grandfather, also named Alexander Dodds, was born in 1770 near the village of Kelso, Scotland. He married Jane Wilson and in 1833 came to the United States in a sailing vessel, the hazardous journey occupying six weeks. He and his family settled in St. Lawrence county, New York, two and one-half miles from the village of Gouverneur, where he lived to see his children settled on fine farms in that locality. His wife died in 1857 and he in 1864. The year 1835 witnessed the advent of another Scotch family to St. Lawrence county, New York. They were the Witherstons, who had arrived in America after a journey occupying eleven weeks on the water. A daughter of this family, Jeanette, married John Dodds, a son of Alexander Dodds, and they took possession of the homestead farm. To them were born two sons, Alexander and William A., and a daughter, Jean Elizabeth. 246 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Alexander Dodds was born in December, 1845, and was educated in the schools of his home community. At the age of twenty-one he took up the machinist's trade and in December, 1867, he came to Lansing, Michigan, where he began manufacturing wood work- ing machinery in partnership with L. L. Houghton, also a native of New York state. He continued in that work until May, 1878, when he came to Grand Rapids to enter the employ of the Buss Machine Works, with which he was associated four years. In 1882, he purchased an interest in a machine shop at Front and Pearl streets, and by the end of that year was able to buy the entire plant. Though money was not plentiful that year and the great freshet nearly ruined him, he was not to be discouraged. He moved his shop to Canal street in 1884 and his business prospered. He again encountered reverses which would have disheartened a man of less strength of character, for on March 10, 1887, thirty feet of embankment gave way under his building to such an extent that it was partially wrecked. But his stubborn Scotch blood refused to recognize defeat in this guise for he immediately set to work to get his machinery out of the wrecked building. His enterprise and determination attracted the attention of the bankers of the city, who offered any financial assistance that might be needed. Though he did not expect the need of such assistance, nevertheless the display of confidence in him on the part of the bankers, gave him renewed courage with which to carry on his solitary fight. He rented a part of the George W. Gay building and resumed opera- tions, but the rapid growth of his business soon necessitated larger quarters. Accordingly, he leased ground on Front street and erected a one-story building twenty-eight by sixty feet. His bus- iness continued to grow so rapidly that in 1892 he acquired a portion of the Dean property and erected a building four stories high and twenty-six by ninety-four feet in size. His company prospered until 1893 when, it seemed to him, nearly all his debtors made assignments. He succeeded, however, in weathering the storm and in paying his own obligations promptly. Business in the city began to recover from the slump through which it had gone, and the Dodds company was in excellent condition to take advantage of the change in conditions. With the return of business to a more healthy condition, his enterprise began to grow rapidly. In 1907 he was enabled to double his output by the construction of another four-story building. Still the company continued to expand and within another two years Mr. Dodds realized the need of help in the management of the great concern. On December 1, 1909, it began operation as a corporation under the style of Alex- änder Dodds Company, the name under which it still goes. Not all of Mr. Dodds' tireless energy was spent in the development of his business, however, for he was always active in church and Sunday school work. Though his parents were Presbyterians, he embraced the Baptist creed, becoming affiliated with the Fountain Street Baptist church. He was one of those instrumental in the HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 247 formation of a second Baptist church in 1883, and still later, he and twenty-five others formed the Scribner Street Baptist church. At the time of his death, October 15, 1925, he was leader of the adult Sunday school class. Mr. Dodds' long and eventful career was exemplary of the best type of American citizen, and through his long struggle for success which carried him over apparently in- surmountable obstacles, he gained the respect and admiration of the people of Grand Rapids as well as his business associates. On November 10, 1888, he married Mrs. A. J. DeLamarter. He was a member of the Masonic order since 1869, having been a member of the Commandery and a Thirty-second Degree Mason. James M. Crosby is not only a native son of Grand Rapids and a scion of one of the most honored and influential pioneer families of Kent county, but also has the distinction of being the owner of the old-established insurance business that was founded in Grand kapids by his grandfather, James S. Crosby, in the year 1858, this being now the oldest and one of the most important general insur- ance agencies in Michigan and the business being carried forward under the original firm name of J. S. Crosby & Company. Mr. Crosby was born in Grand Rapids, July 6, 1867, and is a son of Hon. Moreau S. and Mary E. (Moseley) Crosby, the former of whom died September 12, 1893, and the latter of whom still resides in Grand Rapids, as one of the venerable and loved pioneer women of Kent county. Hon. Moreau S. Crosby was long numbered among the prominent and influential citizens of Grand Rapids, and in the period of 1881-84 he served as lieutenant-governor of Michigan, he having previously, 1873-74, represented the Twenty-eighth district in the state senate. He was born in Manchester, Ontario county, New York, December 2, 1839, and he was a youth when he accom- panied his parents on their removal to Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1857, his earlier education having been received in the schools of New York state, to which he returned from his higher educational discipline, as shown in his having been graduated in Rochester Uni- versity as a member of the class of 1863. In 1858 his father, James S. Crosby, engaged in the insurance and real estate business in Grand Rapids, and this business he continued after the death of his father in 1875, both having been closely identified with the pioneer development and progress of Grand Rapids, and the subject of this review being a representative of the third generation of the family in continuing the insurance business here established nearly seventy years ago. His son, James M., Jr., is in the office and ex- pects to continue, making four generations. Hon. Moreau S. Crosby was one of the loyal and public-spirited citizens of Grand Rapids, served four years as a member of the city board of educa- tion, besides he was for a number of years a member of the state board of charities. He was a zealous member of the Baptist church, as is also his widow, and he was one of the most influential men in build- ing up the Michigan Y. M. C. A., was its first president, and served five years as president of the Grand Rapids Y. M. C. A., having 248 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY been for two years president of the state organization. The public schools of Grand Rapids afforded James M. Crosby his early edu- cation. After completing his studies in the Central high school he attended historic old Phillips Academy at Andover, Massachusetts, and in 1891 he was graduated in the University of Michigan, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Thereafter he was associated with the Valley City Milling Company of Grand Rapids until 1893, when, upon the death of his father, he assumed control of the insurance business of J. S. Crosby & Company, which he has since continued successfully and in connection with which he has well upheld the honors of the family name, as has he also in his liberal and loyal attitude as a citizen. He has given effective service as a member of the board of education, and in this connec- tion was a member of the building committees under the direction of which were erected the Central and the West Side high schools. He is an active member of the Association of Commerce, the In- surance Agents Association, the Peninsular, University and Kent Country Clubs, and he is affiliated with the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, his eligibility for which is based pri- marily on the service of his ancestor, Captain Knowles Sears, as a patriot soldier and captain in the Revolution. Mr. Crosby, like his honored father, is a staunch supporter of the principles and cause of the Republican party. He and his wife are earnest communi- cants of St. Mark's church, Protestant Episcopal, and he has served as a member of the vestry of this parish. January 10, 1900, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Crosby to Miss Louise Barnhart, daughter of the late Willard Barnhart, to whom a memoir is dedicated on other pages of this work, so that further data con- cerning the family are not here demanded. Mr. and Mrs: Crosby have five children: James M., Jr., a former student in the Univer- sity of Michigan, is now associated with his father in the insurance business; Moreau S. is a graduate of the University of Michigan and is now engaged in life insurance work at Grand Rapids; Miss Elizabeth, who remains at the parental home, is a graduate of Vassar College; Willard is, in 1925, a student in the University of Michigan, and Mary Louise is attending the public schools of her home city. Four generations of the Crosby family have been rep- resented in the citizenship of Grand Rapids, and in each generation its members have stood prominent in the civic and social affairs of Michigan's beautiful “Valley City.” Charles W. Carman, who died September 19, 1919, is remem- bered as having been one of the foremost residents of Grand Rapids. Few men possessed a greater understanding of the needs of the community than he, and he was ready, at all times, to take a lead- ing part in any project, civic, educational, social welfare or indus- trial, which promised to make the city a better place in which to live. Charles W. Carman was born in Walworth, Wayne county, New York, in 1858, the son of John and Electa Ann (Camburn) Carman, natives of that state. In 1884 Mr. Carman came to Grand CW Casuand HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 249 Rapids as a science teacher in the high school which then occupied the site of the present Junior College. His parents, farmers and stock breeders, also came to Michigan, and settled in Fenton. After the father's death in that town Mrs. Carman moved to Ann Arbor, where she died several years later. In the year he came to Grand Rapids, Charles W. Carman completed the course of study he had begun at the University of Michigan. He continued as a high school teacher until 1897, when he went to Chicago to become a member of the faculty of Lewis Institute, of which his brother, George N. Carman, is now director. On June 27, 1899, he married Gertrude Gay, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George W Gay, of Grand Rapids. After he gave up his position with the Lewis Institute Mr. Carman entered engineering practice in Chicago. Later he entered the real estate business in Chicago and western Canada and continued in this field of activity until August, 1910. He then returned to Grand Rapids, a city which derived much benefit from his earnest efforts along educational lines. He became a valuable member of the board of the Grand Rapids public library and the Kent Scientific Museum board. He was elected vice-president of the board of directors of the Anti-Tuberculosis Society, and gave his time liberally to these organizations. He took a leading part in the discussions pertaining to the proposed soldiers' memorial for Grand Rapids and Kent county, and was a member of the com- mittee named to select a site for the memorial. Though this plan was temporarily abandoned it seems certain that the monument will be erected later, because of the impetus given this movement by Mr. Carman and associates. He was also a member of the Grand Rapids art commission; one of his dearest wishes having been to establish an art museum and a school of industrial art in Grand Rapids. He owned much real estate and personal property, and had large holdings in Alberta, Canada, where he founded the town of Carmangay, named after himself and wife. He was one of the founders of the Grand Rapids Electrical Company, and was largely responsible for the development of the electric light and power plant in that city. He was a regular attendant at the Fountain Street Baptist Church. Mr. Carman's death, on September 19, 1919, was a deep shock to the community, which still mourns his loss. He is survived by his son, Gay Carman, of Grand Rapids, two sisters, Miss Mary Carman and Mrs. Georgie Herbst, of Ann Arbor, and a brother, George N. Carman, of Chicago. Gay Car- man was born June 11, 1902, in Chicago. He received his early education in the schools of that city and at Carmangay, Alberta, Canada, the town which his father founded. In 1920 he entered the University of Michigan and in 1924 graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering. He is now em- ployed by the Consumers Power Company of Jackson in their Grand Rapids plant. On June 27, 1924, he married Elizabeth Dykema, of Grand Rapids, a daughter of Jacob and Mabel (Wat- rous) Dykema. Her father, a native of Holland, was brought to 250 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY the United States by his parents in 1888, when he was not yet grown. Mr. and Mrs. Gay Carman reside at 1552 Franklin street. Adolphus A. Ellis. Among those who have lent dignity and distinction to the Michigan system of jurisprudence and who have had much of leadership in civic affairs and the directing of popular sentiment and action, was the late Adolphus A. Ellis, who served with marked ability as attorney-general of Michigan, who gained rank among the leading members of the Michigan bar, and who was engaged in the practice of his profession in the city of Grand Rapids at the time of his death, April 25, 1921. Mr. Ellis passed his entire life in Michigan. He was born at Vermontville, this state, and was a son of Elmer E. and Jane (Halstead) Ellis, who came from the old Empire state to Michigan in the year 1846, and who became pioneer settlers at Vermontville, Eaton county, the remainder of their lives having been passed in this state. Adolphus A. Ellis supplemented the discipline of the common schools by a course in Olivet College, at Olivet, Michigan, he having been one of the early students in that institution. After leaving college Mr. Ellis gave four years to teaching in the public schools at Muir and Grand Ledge, and in the meanwhile he gave close attention to the study of law, mainly under private preceptorship, as was then the custom. After his admission to the bar he engaged in the practice of his profession at Ionia, judicial center of the county of that name, and there he served as prosecuting attorney of the county in the period of 1885-89. He was a stalwart and prominent ad- vocate and supporter of the principles of the Democratic party, and on the ticket of that party was elected attorney-general of Mich- igan in 1892. During his administration in this important office he effectively directed the disposition of many legal matters of complicated order and of maximum importance to the state, and after his retirement from office he resumed his private law prac- tice at Ionia, of which city he served four terms as mayor. In 1906 Mr. Ellis removed with his family to Grand Rapids, and thereafter he continued as one of the honored and influential mem- bers of the Kent County bar until the time of his death, in the spring of 1921. His widow, whose maiden name was Mattie Nichols, still resides in Grand Rapids, as a gracious and revered member of the family home circle of her son, Howard A., of whom individual mention is made on another page of this volume. Howard A. Ellis, who is engaged in the successful practice of law in Grand Rapids, with offices at 219-20 Houseman building, and who is serving as assistant United States district attorney for the Western district of Michigan, is in his character and achievement well upholding the professional and civic prestige of the honored family name, his father having been a distinguished member of the Michigan bar and having served as attorney-general of this state. Howard A. Ellis was born at Ionia, Michigan, March 15, 1881, and is a son of Hon. Adolphus A. and Mattie (Nichols) Ellis, the father being the subject of a memorial tribute on other pages HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 251 of this work and the widowed mother being still a resident of Grand Rapids, where she is a beloved member of the family circle of her son, Howard A. In the public schools of Ionia, Howard A. Ellis continued his studies until his graduation in the high school, and in 1903 he was graduated in Olivet College, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts, his father having been one of the early students in this Michigan institution. In 1907 Mr. Ellis was graduated in the law department of the University of Michigan, and his admission to the bar was virtually coincident with his re- ception of the degree of Bachelor of Laws. After his graduation he was associated with his father in the practice of law in Grand Rapids until the death of his father, April 25, 1921, and he has since continued in control of a substantial and representative law business, besides which he is giving characteristically effective service as assistant United States district attorney. He is a mem- ber of the American Bar Association, Michigan State Bar Associa- tion and the Kent County Bar Association, of which latter he was a trustee two terms. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party. He is serving in 1925 as a member of the Grand Rapids board of education. He has membership in the Peninsular, the Masonic, the Century and the Highland Country Clubs, is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, in- cluding the Mystic Shrine, and with the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America, as is he also with the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and the Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity, both of the University of Michigan. He attends and supports Park Congregational church, of which his wife is an active member. In 1908 Mr. Ellis was united in marriage with Miss Enid Holmes, of Chelsea, Michigan, and the two children of this union are Enid and Holmes. Mr. Ellis is a scion of one of the sterling pioneer families of Michigan, as may be seen by reference to the memoir to his father, elsewhere in this volume. Joseph David Boland has become one of the successful and in- fluential business men of his native city of Grand Rapids, where he is president of the Boland Lumber Company. On the maternal side he is a representative of one of the sterling pioneer families of this city, where his maternal grandfather, Henry P. Grady, a native of Ireland, settled in the early thirties, several years prior to the admission of Michigan as one of the sovereign states of the Union. Joseph David Boland was born in Grand Rapids, September 18, 1880, and is a son of the late Joseph David Boland and Mary (Grady) Boland, the former having been born in Ottawa, Canada, and the latter in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which city continued to be her home until her death in 1912. His father, Joseph David Boland, was a young man when he came to Grand Rapids and he was long numbered among the prominent contractors and builders of this city, besides having been a citizen of liberal and public-spirited attitude and one who commanded uniform esteem. He died in the year 1901. The subject of this sketch is indebted to the Cath- 252 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY . olic parochial schools of his native city for his early educational discipline. He acquired his youthful experience in connection with business affairs mainly through association with his father's operations as a contractor and builder. In 1910 he and his younger brother, William H., formed a partnership for the purpose of deal- ing in logs and lumber, and offices were opened in the Murray building. The partnership continued until 1919, when William H. retired and moved to San Diego, California, where he and his wife, whose maiden name was Margaret O'Neill, still maintain their home. After this removal on the part of his brother, Joseph David Boland assumed control of the well-established and prosperous business, and proceeded to effect its incorporation under the title of Boland Lumber Company. He has since been president of the company, Alice A. Ward is vice-president and Frank J. Engle secretary and treasurer. Mr. Boland has never wavered in his loyalty to his native city, and has found satisfaction and profit in here staging his business activities. He is a Democrat in his political alignment, is a communicant of the Catholic church, is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and has membership in the Peninsular Club and the Old Colony Club. Mr. Boland still permits his name to remain on the roster of eligible bachelors in his native city. Adrian J. Danker. In the city of Grand Rapids are to be found many successful business men of foreign birth who represent the Lest in American ideals of citizenship and who are in the fullest sense appreciative of the manifold advantages and attraction of the land of their adoption. The careers of many of these sterling citizens are replete in lesson and incentive, for their records tell stories of adversity, struggle and invincible ambition, and mark worthy advancement to the goal of independence and success. Such has been significantly the case in the life history of Adrian J. Danker, who is now the executive head of one of the prosperous and important industrial enterprises of Grand Rapids. Jacob and Susan Danker, with their children-one son and three daughters- lived contentedly in their old home in the Netherlands until the death of the husband and father. The widowed mother, faced with the responsibility of making the best possible provision for her children, finally made the momentous decision to establish the family home in the United States. In 1888 this noble and coura- geous woman, accompanied by her one son and her three daughters, arrived in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and while the children readily learned the language of their adopted land, the devoted mother did not find equal facility in acquiring the new language, but gradually all adapted themselves to the changed conditions and influences. Adrian J. Danker was a lad of fifteen years at the time when the family home was thus established in Grand Rapids, and as the “only man of the family” he forthwith found it imperative to find employment. In the Widdicomb furniture factory he became a machine tender, his duties being to carry material to the man HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 253 operating the machine and to make proper disposition of the finished products. Mr. Danker thus assisted a man engaged in the making of scrollwork, and his artistic talent made the work very alluring to the boy, who received at the beginning only forty cents a day for his services. By the time he was sixteen years of age Mr. Danker had become a skilled workman in the art of marquetry, or inlaying of wood. To achieve this end he worked assiduously at the factory, and many a day of hard work was followed by long night hours devoted to study, in order that he might ad- vance himself in his chosen line of occupation. He eventually so proved his technical skill and ability as to command good salary, and he continued to apply himself closely to his art-trade until he was thirty years of age. This close application brought such im- pairment to his eyes that he was then compelled to seek other occupation. He, accordingly, in 1905, rented a farm near George- town, Ottawa county, and there he continued his activities as an agriculturist during the ensuing ten years. In 1898 he en- listed in the United States Army, for service in the Spanish- American war, and his loyalty to his adopted country was shown in the efficient record that he made in this connection, he having continued in service during the period of the conflict with Spain. In 1915 Mr. Danker left the farm and returned to Grand Rapids, where he opened a little shop over a garage on Godfrey avenue and engaged independently in the work of his trade, as a producer of fine marquetry. In the beginning he did all of the work in an individual way, and as he was known as a skilled artisan and lived up fully to the reputation he had thus gained, his business was successful and constantly expanded, with the result that in 1917 he built his present factory building, 30 by 80 feet in dimensions and constructed of cement block. Here he has installed the most mnodern machinery and accessories for the producing of the high- est grade of marquetry, here he gives employment to an average of more than twenty skilled workmen, and in its specific class the establishment is now one of the largest in the United States. Here is produced furniture inlay work, and a large part of the output is inlay work on radio cabinets. The trade of the concern now extends into most diverse sections of the United States, and Mr. Danker has gained place as one of the prosperous business men and loyal and highly esteemed citizens of the city that has rep- resented his home since his boyhood. He married Miss Lena Ludtke, who was born and reared at Frankfort, Benzie county, and who is a daughter of William Ludtke. Mr. and Mrs. Danker have six children; Florence, Helen, Jacob, Andrew P., Adrian J., Jr., and Leone. Jacob is associated with his father's business and is a skilled workman as a wood cutter. Andrew J., a student in high school at the time of this writing, in 1925, has inherited much of his father's artistic talent and will be given good opportunity for its development. 254 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY David Benjamin Hagerman, M. D. Before he has completed the first decade of his professional career in Grand Rapids, this intelligent, progressive medical practitioner has not only shown a full recognition of the responsibilities and obligations devolving upon a member of his profession, but has already reached that stage in his career where he is receiving recognition as a specialist in surgery and obstetrics. Dr. Hagerman was born on a farm in Fulton county, Ohio, on January 18, 1888. After attending the public schools of his community he graduated from Wauseon, Ohio, high school in 1909 and graduated from the medical depart- ment of the University of Michigan in 1914. He served an interne- ship of one year and then devoted two years to special work when he was made medical instructor in the University of Michigan dur- ing the World war. After this thorough period of preparation in both the practical and theoretical phases of his profession, Doctor Hagerman came to Grand Rapids in 1918, where he has rapidly advanced in his practice. He keeps in touch with his profession through membership in the Kent County Medical Society, Michi- gan State and American Medical Associations. As heretofore noted he is now specializing in surgery and obstetrics. Dr. Hager- man is a member of Theta Kappa Psi Medical Farternity, and devotes the time free from his professional duties to the Masonic orders, in which he is a thirty-second degree Mason and Shriner, and to the Century Club, of which he was one of the organizers in 1915, and a charter member and president. Doctor Hagerman was married on August 20, 1914, to Miss Dorothy M. Tuttle, of Manchester, New Hampshire, and they have one son, David Ben- jamin, Junior, who was born October 29, 1918. Frank E. Stevens. There are many reasons that might be mentioned to explain the business success of prominent men in every community, but the long record for high quality service and commercial integrity in such a constructive line of business in upbuilding the community explains the success of the president of the Phoenix Sprinkler and Heating Company. Frank E. Stevens was born in Montcalm County, Michigan on April 9, 1861, and attended the public schools of Ionia county, Michigan, and the grade schools at Muir, Michigan. He began his business career with the West Branch Lumber Company, where he remained for several years until he took a position with Luce Furniture Com- pany at Grand Rapids. In 1902, with Julius A. Ziesse, he engaged in the heating contract business and organized the Phoenix Sprinkler and Heating Company, then a partnership, until its incorporation in 1918, when Mr. Stevens became president, Julius A. Ziesse, vice president, and Karl L. Ziesse, secretary and treas- urer. The subject of this narrative was married in 1892 to Miss Julia Gibson of Grand Rapids. They have reared a splendid family of children: Vesta is a graduate of Grand Rapids high school and the wife of A. D. De Graaf of Detroit, and they have one child, Jean; Irving G. is a graduate of Grand Rapids high HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 255 school and Boston Technical school and is now engineer for the Phoenix Sprinkler and Heating Company; Mildred, who is a graduate of Grand Rapids high school, is now a student at the University of Wisconsin, and Marian, who is a graduate of the Grand Rapids high school, is now at Tarrytown, New York. Mr. Stevens resided in Grand Rapids during practically all of his business career. He has been so very much engrossed in watching the city grow and in making his contribution to the development of the community through the excellence of the work attributed to his company that his time has been entirely devoted to his business and to the rearing and education of this family, of which he is so justly proud. Louis J. DeLamarter is vice-president and general manager of the Grand Rapids Railway Company, and in his executive capacity he has given splendid promotive service in bringing the street rail- way service of his home city up to the highest modern standard, besides, which he has been an exponent of leadership in effecting progress in such public-utility service in general, in evidence of which stands his bringing about the recent competition exhibit in Grand Rapids (in May, 1925), of the best type of modern electric street cars produced in the United States. In this connection there is significance in the following quotation from an article appear- ing in the Grand Rapids Herald of May 10, 1925: “It remained for Louis J. DeLamarter, vice president and general manager of the Grand Rapids Railway Company, to awaken the engineers of the car building companies by his suggestions for all coaches to enter the local contest. The engineers have caught the spirit of the automotive world, and three coaches on exhibition here con- tain more new features than have been placed on street cars before in the last twenty-five years. The eyes of car builders, motor manufacturers, traction experts, and all of the allied lines have teen turned toward Grand Rapids during the last week. Nearly fifty executives and specialists have journeyed here, many of them from long distances, to see the new cars. Scores of others will come here during the next few weeks. Mr. DeLamarter was born at Stanwood, Mecosta county, Michigan, July 29, 1872, a son of Isaac A. and Amelia (Sheehey) DeLamarter, the former of whom was born in Lansing, the capital city of Michigan, and the latter of whom was born in the province of Ontario, Canada. The subject of this review was about three years old when the family home was established in Grand Rapids, and here his mother still resides. Mr. DeLamarter is not only a scion of one of the honored pioneer families of Michigan, but also of one that was founded in America in the early colonial era. The original ancestor came from France in 1652 and early settlement was made by the family at Middlewater, New York. Peter DeLamarter, grandfather of Louis J., of this sketch, came to Michigan in 1837, the year in which this state was admitted to the Union, and he became one of the early settlers in Livingston county. The family name has been worthily linked 256 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY with American history for seven generations, and with that of Michigan for three generations. In the public schools of Grand Rapids, Louis J. DeLamarter continued his studies until his grad- uation in the old Union high school. His early business expe- rience was largely in connection with the business of leading theaters in Grand Rapids, and in 1903 there came further recogni- tion of his exploitive and executive ability, in his being made resort manager for the Grand Rapids Railway Company, in charge of Ramona and North parks, the two most popular local resorts accessible on the lines of the company. By his own ability and effective service Mr. DeLamarter has won advancement with this important public utility corporation, of which he has been vice president and general manager since 1920, he having previously served as chief clerk in the company's general offices and later having been made secretary and treasurer, of which dual office he continued the incumbent until he was elected vice president and general manager. Mr. DeLamarter is known and valued as one of the most loyal, liberal and progressive citizens of Grand Rapids, and he thinks, works and achieves for the benefit of his home city. He is an active member of the local Association of Commerce, of which he is a director, as is he also of the Peninsular Club. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party and he and his wife hold membership in the Baptist church. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, including the Mystic Shrine. Mr. De Lamarter was twice married. His first wife was Charlotte Clay, daughter of D. P. Clay, a pioneer railroad builder, and the one child born to them, Laura, is now Mrs. A. G. Ghysels of Grand Rapids. For his second wife he wedded Miss Marian C. Connelly, and they have three children: Jean, Marian and Louis J., Jr. Harry A. Shields, inventor and patentee of a most unique and valuable line of textile finishing machinery for knitted wear, has placed his inventions on the market through the medium of the Grand Rapids Textile Machinery Company, of which important industrial corporation he is the president and general manager. In 1909 he became associated with E. A. Clements and Leonard W. Feighner in the organization of the SC F Machinery Company, this name designating the product; “Shields' Cloth Folding" ma- chines, being the initial type of machine to be manufactured by this company, and in 1911 the business was incorporated under the ent title of the Grand Rapids Textile Machinery Company with a capital stock of $30,000; Mr. Clements became the first president of the company. The factory was maintained in the G. Ř. Peters plant, on Grandville avenue, until 1917, and as the increase in the business made larger quarters imperative, the company, through the medium of Lloyd Alexander, acquired property of the Wamsey Farm Realty Company and on the same erected a building 80 by 120 feet in dimensions. In 1922 was erected the second unit of the plant, a building 60 by 120 feet, and by this time the company was manufacturing about twenty types of machines used by makers of pres- StaShield C HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 257 underwear, sweaters, bathing suits and hosiery. The company is now developing new machinery to be used in the manufacture of artificial or fibre silk products, and the output of the now large and well equipped factory includes also the manufacturing of machines for the production of automobile cushions and textile trimmings. The products of the company now find sale in all sections of the United States, and a substantial export trade has been developed in Japan, France, Germany, Australia, England and South Amer- ica. In 1915 Mr. Shields purchased the interests of Mr. Clements, whom he succeeded as president of the company, of which prime executive office he has since continued the incumbent, besides being general manager. All of the capital stock of the company is now held by it executive officers, Leonard W. Feighner, of Nash- ville, Michigan, who is the vice-president, and Frederick S. Robinson, the secretary and treasurer. In December, 1923, the capital stock was increased to $125,000, and commercial expediency later lead to its being placed at $150,000——the basis of operations at the present time. In the early part of 1925 the company pur- chased the business of the Spotless Shrinker Company of Cleve- land, Ohio, which with the greater number of the former employes, was removed to Grand Rapids. This concern has become a valu- able subsidiary of the Grand Rapids Textile Machinery Company, and this progressive corporation now retains an average force of sixty employes. Prior to his becoming an inventor and manufac- turer Mr. Shields had been employed in the Globe Knitting Works, Grand Rapids, and in this connection he became impressed with the need for a machine for folding and finishing cloth. In the kitchen of his home he gave his spare moments to experiment in the inven- tion and development of such a machine, and the same, as perfected, became the basis of the large and important manufacturing concern of which he is now the executive head. He has received patents on forty-five of his valuable inventions of mechanical order. Shields was born at Nashville, Barry county, Michigan, January 3, 3 1882, and is a son of William E. and Lydia (Loomis) Shields, the former of whom was born in the state of New York and the latter at Vermontville, Eaton county, Michigan. William E. Shields was a young man when, in 1876, he came from Jamestown, New York, and established his residence at Nashville, Michigan. There he placed in operation a planing mill and a manufactory of interior finishings, besides which he patented and placed on the market one of the first windmills manufactured in the United States. He was a skilled mechanic and progressive business man and was one of the most honored and influential citizens of Nashville at the time of his death, February 17, 1922, his widow being still a resident of that place. The public schools of Nashville afforded Harry A. Shields his youthful education, and his mechanical talent was there developed through his association with his father's manufacturing business. In 1903 he came to Grand Rapids, and after working here for a time at the carpenters' trade he took a position in the Mr. 258 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Globe Knitting Works, with which he continued to be connected until he engaged in manufacturing in an independent way, as al- ready noted in this review. Mr. Shields married Miss Adah Hall, daughter of Frank Hall, of Ionia, and the one child of this union, Wendell, is, in 1925, a junior in the South High School of Grand Rapids. In the home of Mr. Shields is being reared, also, Imogene Bullock, a niece of Mrs. Shields. Abraham G. Ghysels who is president of the corporation of A. G. Ghysels & Company, one of the well directed and important concerns engaged in the investment banking and brokerage business in the city of Grand Rapids, has gained standing and reputation as one of the vital and successful business men of his native city. He was born in Grand Rapids on the 9th of August, 1898, and is a son of Abraham G. and Cornelia P. (Manni) Ghysels, both of whom were born in the fair old Netherlands of Europe and who were young folks at the time of their immigration to the United States. The father was for many years engaged in the retail grocery business in Grand Rapids and gained place as a substantial and highly esteemed citizen. Abraham G. Ghysels, Jr., of this review, supplemented the discipline of the Grand Rapids public schools by attending Calvin College, at Grand Rapids. Through association with the Corrigan Company of Grand Rapids, he gained thorough and comprehensive knowledge of the various details and policies of the investment-banking business, and in August, 1923, he formed an alliance with Myron Hopkins and engaged independently in this line of business, under the corporate title of Hopkins, Ghysels & Company, the incorporation of the concern having taken place March 20, 1924, and Mr. Hopkins having retired from the concern in the early part of 1925, since which the business has been success- fully continued under the title of A. G. Ghysels & Company. Mr. Ghysels is a progressive, reliable and ambitious young business man and as executive head of a representative investment corporation he is making a record of distinctive success and making a reputa- tion that is in itself a most valuable business asset. The other members of the directorate of A. G. Ghysels & Company are Wil- liam B. Banks, M. T. Vanden Bosch, E. L. Kinsey, L. J. DeLa- marter, and M. C. Westrate, and the business of this enterprising and reliable corporation, marked by the most effective service to clients, is constantly expanding in scope and importance.. Mr. Ghysels was married January 7, 1924, to Miss Laura DeLamarter, daughter of Louis J. and Charlotte (Clay) DeLamarter, the latter a representative of one of the honored and influential pioneer fami- lies of Grand Rapids. Alletz K. Tyson, president of Powers-Tyson Printing Company, Inc., stands in the front rank of the printing and publishing circles of Grand Rapids, with forty-two years of service, all but two of which have been rendered in Grand Rapids. He was born in Ipavia, Illinois, on January 19, 1866. He came to Michigan at the age of ten years. He attended and graduated from the high school . HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 259 at Leslie, Michigan. Mr. Tyson has been in the printing business, as heretofore indicated, since 1883 and in 1885 came to Grand Rap- ids as a journeyman printer. The business was founded in 1898, Powers-Tyson Printing Company being incorporated in 1914. Mr. Tyson makes his home at 1151 Lake Drive and there are two charm- ing daughters in his family, Lucile, a graduate of Grand Rapids high school and Ruth. He is a member of the Fountain Street Baptist Church. Fraternally Mr. Tyson belongs to York Lodge, F. & A. M. and the Knights of Pythias. He is an active member of the Grand Rapids Credit Men's Association and a prominent Ro- tarian, being a past president of the Grand Rapids Rotary Club. Henry Hansen, vice-president of Martin Stores Corporation, was born in Grand Rapids, February 4, 1892, a son of Neil C. Hansen, a native of Denmark, who came to Grand Rapids about 1882 and for over forty years was a patternmaker for W. A. Berkey Furniture company. His wife was Anna Katherine Hansen, whom it will thus be noted did not change her surname upon the occasion of her marriage. She came to Grand Rapids in 1883. Henry Hansen obtained his early education in the grade and high schools of Grand Rapids and later supplemented that work with study through correspondence schools. He began his business career with the Friedrich Music House, with which he remained two years, after which he took a course in McLaughlin's Business College. He then accepted a position in the Kent State Bank, where he served ten years as a receiving teller. In 1919 he re- signed his position with the bank and became associated with the Martin Stores Corporation, with whom he has since been identified and is now vice-president and manager of the consignment depart- ment at Grand Rapids. Mr. Hansen was married in 1915 to Miss Leona May Buchanan, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and they have two children, Evalyn Loraine, born August 29, 1917, and Gordon Loren, born August 2, 1925. Benjamin Morton Pedigo, secretary of Martin Stores Corpor- ation, was born in Barren county, Kentucky, November 4, 1888, a son of John and Margaret (Runyan) Pedigo, who moved from Kentucky to Indiana in 1902, where they now reside. Benjamin M. Pedigo obtained his preliminary education in the public schools of Kentucky and started upon his business career at the age of fourteen as a cash boy in a department store in Indianapolis, Indiana. After four years' experience there he went to Louisville, Kentucky, and engaged in the same line of work. Steadily advanc- ing in the department store and merchandising field, he came to Grand Rapids in 1911 to serve as a buyer for the important insti- tution of Paul Steketee & Son, and was with them eight years. In 1919 he thought that a broader field of opportunity presented itself by forming an association with the Martin Stores Corporation and has since been secretary and general manager of that institution. This has given him not only a merited rise in his line of life work, but an opportunity to assist in formulating the policies that have 260 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY enabled Martin Stores Corporation to meet with its success in this community and surrounding territory. In addition to a successful application to his business activities, Mr. Pedigo has found time to respond to fraternal, religious, commercial and civic activities of the community and in so doing is an active member of Malta Lodge, F. & A. M., the Central Church of Christ, the Association of Commerce, and Grand Rapids Advertising Club. He was mar- ried November 30, 1911, to Miss Henrietta Biddle, of Indianapolis, Indiana, and they have one daughter, Betty Jean, born January 28, 1921. Charles N. Remington. Perhaps to no one does the city of Grand Rapids owe more than it does to Charles N. Remington for the cause of civic betterment and improvement has been one of the moving forces of his life there. As chairman of the Municipal Affairs committee of the Grand Rapids Association of Commerce he has performed noteworthy work in furthering the welfare of his community, and in the matter of the city's parks, he has been a constant worker in protecting and enhancing the beauty spots of Grand Rapids. To his ability as a business man Grand Rapids owes a goodly share of her commercial and industrial prestige, and in real estate work he has been one of those instrumental in plat- ing some of the most beautiful subdivisions of which the Furni- ture City can boast. On his father's side of the house he is of English descent and Irish on his mother's side. He was born in Earlville, New York, April 29, 1865, the son of Charles N. and Betsy C. (Sherrill) Remington. When he was but an infant eighteen months old, his family came west, settling in Grand Rapids, where Wil- liam B. Remington, the uncle of our subject, was then engaged in the wholesale notion business. Charles N. Remington, Sr., entered the employ of his brother as a traveling salesman, a contemporary of the late Alonzo Seymour, who is generally conceded to be the first man who represented a Grand Rapids firm to the retail trade of Michigan. Young Charles Remington attended the public schools of Grand Rapids until he was fourteen years of age, when he entered the employ of the Berkey & Gay Furniture Company as a pad hopper, a job in which he manufactured the pads used by that company in packing its furniture for shipment. His weekly wage at this work was but two and a half dollars per week. At the end of a year he secured employment as an office boy in the merchandise brokerage office of his brother-in-law, H. F. Hastings. He found the work to his liking, taking such an interest in it that his efforts were rewarded by steady promotion until at the end of thirteen years he was taken into partnership. Following the death of the senior partner, he acquired the interest of Mrs. Hast- ings and continued in sole ownership of the thriving business. His entire connection with this work was approximately forty years in duration and in it he gained a reputation of being one of the able business men of the city. He sold the business to Arthur Hurst to assume the active management of the Grand Rapids Mutual HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 261 Building and Loan Association, of which he had been a director for twenty years. Until 1908 he served as director of that institu- tion, when he became vice-president, discharging the duties of that office in a manner that won him the presidency in 1923. As head of a concern whose resources total $7,500,000, he has exercised a policy which in its execution has stamped him as one of the ablest business men of Grand Rapids. The investments which he has authorized were made only after careful consideration of the merits of such investments, and the success which the company enjoys is proof of the acumen and foresight which he brings to his work. The Briggs North Park addition of eighty-two acres was platted by him. The Edgewater addition of thirty-one acres ad- joining Reed's Lake; the Marywood addition, comprising twenty- four lots located opposite the Sacred Heart Academy, east of the city, and the eighty-acre Flood farm, east of the Marywood addi- tion, are all numbered among the larger achievements of Mr. Rem- ington's business career. He built the original freight depot of the Holland Interurban road, now occupied by the Grand Rapids Steel and Supply Company. The building occupied by Crane and Company, the Tousant block leased by the William A. Berkey Furniture Company, and the adjoining Campau office building also stand as monuments of his initiative as an executive. He is a director of the Grand Rapids Trust Company, the Fourth National Bank and the Grand Rapids Gas Light Company. As president and general manager of the Ludington Gas Company, he has directed the affairs of that concern for the past twenty years, and as a member of the Grand Rapids Park and Boulevard Association, he was instrumental in the construction of the boulevard around Reed's Lake. He has been secretary of that same organization for more than ten years, a capacity in which he has rendered the people of Grand Rapids indispensable service. Every good move- ment for the cause of civic betterment found him a strong sup- porter, and his devotion to the preservation and development of the parks of Grand Rapids has been one of the strongest factors in making the city's park system one of the most comprehensive and beautiful in the state of Michigan. Mr. Remington married Miss Kate Dreher, of Grand Rapids, and they have one daughter, Katherine. Mr. Remington is one of the early members of York Lodge, F. & A. M., and is now charity fund treasurer of the lodge. He is a Thirty-second Degree Mason and a Shriner. For the reason that he has been a constant worker in the cause of civic improvement, for the reason that he has, in a business way, devoted his life to the development of the city where he makes his home, Charles N. Remington richly deserves the plaudits of his fellows, and though he has never sought popular applause for his unselfish service on behalf of the people, he stands as one who has done more than any other man, with the possible exception of one, for his city. 262 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Edwin F. Uhl was long a distinguished member of the Michigan bar and in his profession his reputation far transcended the limita- tions of his native state, besides which he gained high diplomatic honors in his service as United States minister to Germany and was otherwise prominent in governmental and general public affairs. He was one of the most honored and influential citizens of Grand Rapids at the time of his death, May 17, 1901, and this publication properly functions when it enters a tribute to his memory. Mr. Uhl was born at Avon Springs, New York, August 14, 1841, and his death occurred about three months prior to his sixtieth birthday anniversary. He was a child of three years at a the time of the family removal to Michigan, less than a decade after the admission of the state to the Union, and his father, David M. Uhl, became a pioneer farmer a short distance east of Ypsilanti, Washtenaw county, where he obtained land in the district known as “the plains,” both he and his wife having been sterling pioneer citizens of Michigan at the time of their deaths. Before he was seventeen years of age Edwin F. Uhl had completed a course in Ypsilanti Seminary, which was then one of the well ordered educa- tional institutions of the state, and in his class he gained the maxi- mum honors for oratory. In 1862 he was graduated in the law department of the University of Michigan, and was duly admitted to the Michigan bar by the supreme court of the state. For thirty years Mr. Uhl continued in the successful practice of law in Michi- gan, and he gained reputation as one of the most resourceful trial lawyers and well fortified counselors at the Michigan bar. In 1876 Mr. Uhl removed with his family to Grand Rapids, and this city continued to represent his home and the center of his interests during the remainder of his life. Here he became identified with numerous industrial and financial enterprises of importance, and he ever manifested deep interest in all that tended to advance the city and material welfare of the city. Mr. Uhl had much of leader- ship in the Michigan councils of the Democratic party, and in 1890- 91 he gave a characteristically loyal and effective administration as mayor of Grand Rapids, his executive policies having been marked by much progressiveness. In 1893 Mr. Uhl was tendered a high position in the United States war department, but he declined this post, on the grounds that he was entirely unfamiliar with military affairs. Later he was importuned to accept a military post abroad, but this governmental preferment he likewise refused, largely for the same reason that had prompted his previous declination. In 1893 he served as assistant secretary of state for Michigan, and in 1895 he made an extended European tour, under governmental appointment, to inspect the United States consular service in the various European countries. In 1896 Mr. Uhl was appointed United States minister plenipotentiary and envoy extraordinary to the German empire, and was stationed in the city of Berlin. He gave a masterly administration in this important diplomatic post, and after his return to the United States he resumed the practice HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 263 of his profession, in which at the time of his death he was a mem- ber of the representative Chicago law firm of Uhl, Jones & Landis, and of the influential Grand Rapids law firm of Uhl, Hyde & Earle. He gained wide reputation as a constitutional and corporation lawyer and won many great victories in connection with litigations of the most important order. Mr. Uhl and his wife were zealous communicants of the Protestant Episcopal church, and as such were for many years influential members of the Grand Rapids parish of St. Mark's church. Mrs. Uhl, whose maiden name was Alice Follett, was born in the state of Michigan, and she continued her residence in Grand Rapids until her death, at the age of seventy-three years. Mr. and Mrs. Uhl are survived by two sons and two daughters: David E. is individually mentioned elsewhere in this volume; Marshall M. is a representative member of the Grand Rapids bar, as a member of the well-known law firm of Knappen, Uhl & Bryant; Lucy F. is the wife of Daniel Wood, of San Jose, California; and Edwina is the wife of Earl D. Babst, of New York City. David Edwin Uhl is the owner of the business conducted under the title of the Grand Rapids Fancy Furniture Company, and has developed the same into one of the important industrial enterprises of the city that is the great center of furniture manufacturing in the United States. Mr. Uhl was born in Ypsilanti, Michigan, July 23, 1870, and is a son of Hon. Edwin F. and Alice (Follett) Uhl. The Uhl family has pioneer prestige in Michigan, and adequate record concerning the family history is given on other pages of this work, in the memoir dedicated to Hon. Edwin F. Uhl, who was a distinguished Michigan citizen and a prominent member of the bar of the state. David E. Uhl was six years of age at the time of the family removal to Grand Rapids, and in the public schools of this city he continued his studies until he had profited by the advantages of the Central high school. Thereafter he completed a course in a business college at Sewanee, Tennessee, and after his return to Grand Rapids he held, for three years, a position in the Grand Rapids National Bank. He then, in 1892, turned his attention to the manufacturing of furniture—an enterprise in which he at first encountered distinctly adverse conditions, owing largely to the general financial depression that soon swept over the entire • country. Of this period in his career a previous publication has given a record that is consistently reproduced here: “Those who were in business in 1893 remember that the year was not a good one for new enterprises. But Mr. Uhl needed experience, and the year of financial panic offered all that could be delivered along this line. Mr. Uhl took philosophically the bumps of a dull market and went on making tables and selling them to whomever would buy. Business was not so lively that it kept him chained to his desk, and some of his time was spent in the acquirement of prac- tical knowledge of the business he had undertaken, this knowledge having been gained by his direct association with operations in . 264 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY : his factory. Mr. Uhl found that the business of manufacturing and selling furniture was not so unsatisfactory as it might be, and at this juncture he found it expedient to turn from the manufac- turing of tables to the production of music cabinets, writing desks and bookcases of fine and medium grades. A warehouse of com- modious order was erected, and upon its walls was inscribed the name under which he has transacted his furniture manufacturing business—The Grand Rapids Fancy Furniture Company.” Since the foregoing was written the factory has been enlarged and other- wise improved, so that it ranks among the important furniture producing establishments of Michigan's vital "Furniture City.” From time to time the productive output has been expanded and made to include additional types of furniture and cabinet-work, including pional music cabinets, highboys and lowboys of most artistic and substantial order, spinet desks, radio cabinets, etc. Mr. Uhl is the sole owner and the general manager of the business, which has grown under his progressive policies to be one of broad scope and importance, with trade extending into all sections of the United States, as well as into the Canadian provinces. In his indi- vidual control of this substantial and prosperous manufacturing and commercial enterprise Mr. Uhl has made a splendid record of achievement, as well as a valuable contribution to the industrial precedence of his home city. He is one of the staunch and appre- ciative believers in Grand Rapids and its still greater future, and his loyal civic stewardship is shown in his readiness to give sup- port to measures and enterprises that tend to advance the general welfare of his city. He is an active member of the Grand Rapids Association of Commerce, the Peninsular Club, Kent Country Club and the local lodge of Elks; his political alignment is with the Democratic party, and he is a communicant of St. Mark's church, Protestant Episcopal. On the 11th of April, 1904, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Uhl to Miss Sarah Harmon, of Grand Rapids, and their one child is a daughter, Elizabeth Mary. Louis Thompson McCrath, now one of the more venerable of the native sons still residing in Grand Rapids, was born on Fulton street and at the age of two years his family moved on a farm. He is a scion of a family that was founded in Kent county about one year before Michigan Territory was admitted to statehood, and his memory compasses the greater part of the magnificent development. and progress of the county and of the city of Grand Rapids within the long intervening years. The family name was originally spelled McCraith. Mr. McCrath long held precedence as one of the substan- tial business men of Grand Rapids, where he was for many years prominently identified with the meat-packing business, and through his well directed efforts he accumulated a competency, so that peace and prosperity attend him and his wife in the gracious evening of their long and worthy lives. He has lived virtually re- tired for somewhat more than fifteen years, but his active associa- tion with business affairs covered a period of half a century. On Srm Cratt HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 265 a farm extending along the present Michigan street in Grand Rapids, in a district now given over to business buildings and fine residence properties, Louis T. McCrath was born on the 10th of June, 1846, and is a son of James and Ellen (Wood) McCrath, both of whom were born in Scotland. In 1836, the year before Michigan became a state, James McCrath came to Grand Rapids as a mem- ber of a party of masons who were to construct the foundation for the first grist mill to be erected on the site of the future city. This mill, long known as the Sweet mill, stood on the site of the present Berkey & Gay furniture factory. At that time the site of Grand Rapids was marked by a few buildings in the midst of the surrounding forests, and these pioneer masons made their way hither along the pioneer blazed trails through the dense forests, James McCrath, Sr., grandfather of Louis T. of this sketch, having likewise been a member of this company of pioneer artisans. James McCrath, Jr., finally purchased land in Kent county, and there reclaimed from a veritable wilderness his pioneer farm, this old homestead having continued to be his place of residence until his death in 1897, aged ninety years, and his wife likewise having attained to the advanced age of eighty-two years. Theirs were earnest and noble lives of unassuming worth and of honest industry. Of their six children only two are now living, Louis T., of this review, and Walter C., who recently sold the old homestead farm of the pioneer era and who had there continued his residence until his recent removal to Grand Rapids. Louis T. McCrath gained his early education by attending the pioneer schools at such times as his services were not in requisition in connection with the arduous work on the home farm, and at the age of fourteen years he took a position as clerk in the McConnell hardware store, on the site of the present Hotel Pantlind, his compensation having been five dollars a month for two years. He was thus engaged at the out- break of the Civil war, and his youth prevented his acceptance when he first attempted to enlist in defense of the Union, when he was but sixteen years old. However, he and his four brothers served valiantly as soldiers in Michigan regiments during the greater part of the war, and two of the brothers became commis- sioned officers. Louis T. McCrath was in service during the later years of the war, and as a member of the Twenty-first and Four- teenth Michigan Volunteer Infantries he was with General Sher- man's forces on the historic march from Atlanta to the sea and thence onward to the national capital, where, at the close of the war, he took part in the grand review of the victorious armies. After receiving his honorable discharge Mr. McCrath returned to Grand Rapids where he engaged in the livery business near the present Hotel Pantlind. After his 'marriage, in 1866, when he was twenty, he settled on a farm east of the city. He gave special at- tention to the raising of cattle and horses, and as an excellent judge of live stock values he was selected, in 1885, as the manager of the Grand Rapids branch packing house established by the great 266 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Chicago packing concern of Morris & Company, with which he continued as a valued executive in this capacity for virtually a quarter of a century, he having resigned his position in 1909 and having since lived retired from active business. Mr. McCrath profited largely also from his judicious real estate operations, and he is still the owner of valuable realty in his home city, he having erected the Kent Hotel, near the Union depot, and later having been associated with Henam N. Moore, in 1905, in the erection of the present and modern Crathmore Hotel on the same site, the name of the new hotel being a combination of the surnames of the builders. Since his retirement from business Mr. McCrath and his wife have traveled somewhat extensively and have passed numerous winter seasons in California. In Grand Rapids they now maintain their home with their only child, Fanna, who is the wife of D. Emmett Welsh, M D., and this home is replete in fine works of art and various curios that have been collected by Mr. and Mrs. McCrath and by Dr. and Mrs. Welsh from all parts of the world. The father of Mr. McCrath was made a Mason, in Scotland, one hundred years ago, and in Grand Rapids he was associated with twelve others in the organizing of Grand River Lodge, No. 34, A. F. & A. M., the founding of this pioneer lodge having taken place in the law office of Thomas Church. It is interesting to record that of this historic lodge Louis T. McCrath has been a member many years. He is a Republican in politics. May 29, 1866, was marked by the marriage of Mr. McCrath to Miss M. Jane Richards, and thus their ideal companionship has continued during a period of nearly sixty years. Of their only child mention has already been made. Mrs. McCrath was born in Ohio and came to Paris township when six years old, and is a representative of an- other of the honored pioneer families of Kent county. It was in Paris township that Mr. McCrath long maintained his high-grade stock farm. Mrs. McCrath's parents, John and Emma (Wright) Richards, came to Kent county about seventy-five years ago and settled in Paris township, now in the city. Her forebears served in the Revolution and the War of 1812, and were active in both. The Fleckenstein Visible Gasometer Company, which was or- ganized and incorporated in 1917, has made a definite and valuable contribution to the industrial activities and prestige of Grand Rapids, where its main factory is established, the mechanical equipment of the plant being of the best modern order, with much special machinery and with all requisite accessories for the manufacturing of products of the maximum efficiency. The Visible Gasometers manufactured by this corporation are widely recognized for their efficiency and accuracy of operation, the patents on the device, one of the most improved order, being owned and controlled by the company, and the products being in demand in every state of the Union, and in foreign countries, while the large Canadian trade has brought about the manufacturing of the product in the city of London, Ontario. The Fleckenstein Visible Gasometers have been adopted as standard equipment by some of the HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 267 leading oil companies of the United States and the devices are to be found in effective service in all sections of the United States, as well as in most of the Canadian provinces, in Cuba and elsewhere. Within a period of less than a decade the business of this progressive company has expanded from one of modest order into one of broad scope and importance, and the concern has proved a worthy addition to the great industrial activities of Grand Rapids. Upon its re-incorporation, in 1922, the company gained the following executive personnel : Alexius P. Fleckenstein, president and general manager; John F. Wagner, vice- president; Russell L. Edison, secretary and treasurer, and Jackson Fleckenstein, sales manager. Alexius P. Fleckenstein, president of the company, was born at Faribault, Minnesota, July 9, 1870, and there he attended the public schools until he was fourteen years of age, when he found employment in a local dry goods store, at the phenomenal salary of two dollars a week. At the age of sixteen years he entered the employ of Nonotuck Silk Company, in St. Paul, and at the age of eighteen years he was made the company's assistant salesman for the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul and for other towns in the vicinity. At the age of twenty years he initiated his service as a traveling salesman for this company, with Iowa and Nebraska as his assigned territory. He gave thirty years to successful service as a traveling salesman through the western states, and in 1904 he estab- lished his residence and the family home at Ionia, Michigan. Not mere paternal pride but also practical business discrimination and judg- ment led him to appreciate the intrinsic value of the visible gasometer invented and patented by his son Jackson, and finally he turned his attention to promoting the organization of a company for the manu- facture of the device upon a consistent commercial scale and basis. Within a period of nine weeks he so presented the matter to personal friends in whom he had confidence and who had confidence in him, that he succeeded in enlisting the requisite capitalistic support, to the amount of $40,000, and it was with capital stock of this amount that the com- pany was incorporated in 1917. He has since continued president and general manager of the company and his long and varied business expe- rience makes him a resourceful and progressive executive well fortified for the development and upbuilding of the substantial industry of which he is now the administrative head. Jackson Fleckenstein, the inventor of the Fleckenstein visible gasometer, has much of native mechanical and inventive talent, and this was developed effectively by his course of study in the celebrated Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He conceived and developed the idea that resulted in his inventing and patenting of the Fleckenstein visible gasometer, his patents having been obtained in 1916. In the following year, when the nation became in- volved in the World war, he enlisted in the aviation corps of the United States navy, and his service therein continued until the armistice brought the war to a close. After receiving his honorable discharge he re- turned to Michigan and became actively associated with his father in directing the affairs of the newly organized Fleckenstein Visible Gaso- meter Company of Michigan, of which he has since continued the vital and successful sales manager, besides maintaining a general super- 268 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY vision of the factory operations. Jackson Fleckenstein was born in Mil- waukee, Wisconsin, in 1897, and was seven years old at the time of the family removal to Ionia, Michigan, where he attended the public schools until he entered the Kentucky Military Institute, at Lyndon, Kentucky, in which he was graduated in 1915, he having later con- tinued his studies in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in the city of Boston. Russell L. Edison, secretary of the company, was born and reared in Grand Rapids, and in 1921 he was graduated in the engineering department of the University of Michigan. He is a representative of one of the old and honored families of Michigan, his father, the late Charles M. Edison, having long been identified in a prominent way with business enterprise in Grand Rapids, and having been a son of James R. Edison, who was one of the sterling pioneers of Kent county. Boyce Kitredge Muir is president of The Muir Company, Inc., Druggists, with general offices and a store at Grand Rapids, and oper- ating stores at Lorain, Columbus, and Elyria, Ohio, and Gary, Indiana. Mr. Muir is a native of Grand Rapids, born here on February 12, 1888, son of John D and Martha (Kitredge) Muir. His father is also a native of Grand Rapids, born on December 22, 1861 and his mother was born at Ann Arbor, Michigan, on January 6, 1865. He was a son of John Muir (mentioned elsewhere in this work, see sketch of Andrew Muir). John D. Muir received his education in the public schools of Grand Rapids, was graduated from the Grand Rapids high school and in 1884 was graduated from the University of Michigan with the degree of Ph.G., and in 1886 engaged in the retail drug busi- ness in Grand Rapids and continued that business until in 1912 when he embarked in the manufacture of drugs, which enterprise he still continues, at 37 Ionia avenue. Mr. and Mrs. Muir are members of Park Congregational Church. They were married in 1886 and are parents of five children. The eldest of their family, Boyce Kitredge Muir was born in Grand Rapids, as heretofore mentioned, and received his preliminary education in the public schools of his native city and completed the course of study in the Grand Rapids high school. He then passed the rigorous entrance requirements and received appoint- ment to the United States Naval Academy. He was graduated from that institution at Annapolis, Maryland, in 1908 and entered upon a service in the United States navy that lasted for eleven years, taking him through the period of the World war. After leaving the navy in 1919 he went to Chicago and there applied his engineering training in the Naval Academy and service to a position of management of the office of W. B. Richard & Company Industrial Engineers. In 1922 Mr. Muir decided to apply his wide business and industrial experience to the line of work of his family and childhood associations, by opening a retail drug store at Lorain, Ohio. The establishment of his first store in 1922, was followed in the succeeding year, 1923, by opening of similar stores at Elyria, Ohio, and Grand Rapids, Michigan, and in 1924 a further expansion was evidenced by opening of a fourth store, at Gary, Indiana. Mr. Muir is a member of the University Club of Chicago, and the Army and Navy Club of New York City. On Febru- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 269 ary 28, 1911 he was united in matrimony with Miss Dorothy Catlin in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was a native of Washington, D. C., and a daughter of General A. W. Catlin of the United States Marine Corps. General Catlin who has spent his life career in the service of the Marine Corps, was wounded at Belleau Woods and is still engaged in an active service in that branch of the national defense. At the time of the marriage of his daughter to Mr. Muir he was located at Boston, Massachusetts. Mrs. Muir takes an active interest in the D. A. R. in which organization she supplements her membership with loyal service. The Muirs have two children, Bruce Catlin, born on April 2, 1919, and Kenneth Hiram, born on November 10, 1920. The parents of Boyce Kitredge Muir have four other children, as heretofore men- tioned. The second, John Keith, was born October 4, 1890. He at- tended the schools of his native city and was graduated in 1910 from the Grand Rapids high school, later attending the University of Mich- igan and enlisted in the World war in 1918 at Little Rock, Arkansas. He is now engaged as a salesman for the Goodrich Rubber Company. His wife was Lauretta Hawley of Grand Rapids, and they have one daughter, Katherine. The daughter of this family, Martha Ruth, was born on June 17, 1895, and after graduating from the Grand Rapids high school completed a course of study at the Ypsilanti, Michigan, State Normal College. She is now secretary of the Muir Company. She also attended Northwestern University and Randolph Macon Girls School at Lynchburg, Virginia, and in her business career evidences the value of her wide educational training. The younger sons of the family are Kenneth D., born on September 20, 1897, who received his educa- tion in the Grand Rapids public and high schools, and after his gradua- tion from high school, followed the course of his brother Boyce, and qualified for the United States Naval Academy. He has likewise com- pleted that course of study and is now serving as a lieutenant in the United States navy, being stationed for the past two years in China. Bruce K. was born on May 4, 1899, received his education in the Grand Rapids public and high schools and also qualified for entrance and at- tended the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. He is now in charge of the Gary, Indiana, store of the Muir Company, Inc. He mar- ried Marian Christ of Grand Rapids. Charles H. Tidey. The name of Grand Rapids has been brought before the eyes of the world through the medium of various wood- working machines manufactured solely by the Grand Rapids Machinery Company, the proprietor of which is Charles H, Tidey, whose inventive genius is responsible for the creation of these machines. He was one of thirteen children born to his parents Marcus B. and Elizabeth (Jerolanem) Tidey, both of whom died in Newark, New Jersey, where the former was a manufacturer of wood working machinery, coming to that city from Canada in 1850. Charles Tidey was educated in his native city and learned the machinist's trade there. It was not until 1904 that he came to Grand Rapids, attracted by the number of furniture manufacturing concerns which formed a potential market for the wood working machinery he intended to manufacture. In that year he found- ed the Grand Rapids Machinery Company, the plant being located at 270 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY No. 6 Huron street. He continued operations there until 1909. The need of larger quarters caused by the expansion of his business became so acute that in 1909 he moved his plant to its present location. The success of the company is not only due to the high quality of the machines manufactured but also to the fact that Mr. Tidey has in- vented several machines which have been a great aid to the wood work- ing industry. These machines—the Tidey automatic swing saw guage and the Tidey circular saw setting machine—are used over the entire world and have been a force in establishing the industrial and com- mercial prestige of both the city of Grand Rapids and the manufacturer. He married Anna Merhood, a native of Pennsylvania, and to them were born five children as follows: Marcus B., who graduated from the medical college of the University of Michigan with the class of 1925; Ruth E.; Irene M.; Beatrice, and Charles H., who is serving his apprenticeship, fitting himself to carry on his father's business. John F. Kelly. The credit of establishing and developing an ice cream manufacturing concern which has become one of Grand Rapids' largest enterprises is due John F. Kelly, a prominent and able business man who has been engaged in business there since 1903. His father, Patrick Kelly, was a native of Ireland and came to the United States in 1849 settling in Grand Rapids in 1857 where he married Bridget Clune. During the Civil war, he served in the Union army as captain. John F. Kelly was born in Grand Rapids, in 1874. His edu- cation was received in the elementary and Central high schools of his native city. He secured a job with a general store at a weekly salary of three dollars per week. After a time spent in the employ of that merchandising house, he went to Washington, D. C., where he worked for a year and a half, returning to Grand Rapids after giving up the work. He immediately left for Jackson, Michigan, however, and at that time first engaged in the ice cream business. He thoroughly ab- sorbed the fundamentals of ice cream manufacture in that city, and the following year, 1903, he returned to Grand Rapids, establishing his present company in a small plant adjoining the Sears bakery on Kent street. An excellent business man thoroughly conversant with every detail of ice cream manufacture, Mr. Kelly applied himself to his new work with an energy which made the company a success from the beginning and within the year larger quarters were occupied at No. 65 Division street. Requiring a still larger plant by the end of three years, Mr. Kelly rented the new William Alden Smith building on Ionia street built especially to accommodate an ice cream plant. The ever growing volume of business rendered imperative the construction of the company's own plant and in 1919 the present fine brick plant, two stories high and 90 by 117 feet, was constructed at the corner of Ionia and Bartlett streets. Neighboring towns and cities as well as the Grand Rapids trade buy ice cream of the Kelly company. The plant is one of the best equipped in the state, only the most modern methods of ice cream manufacture being used. The raw cream is kept in a cold storage room on the second floor and conveyed from there through German silver tubes to the mixers and freezers below. Three HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 271 cold storage rooms are maintained with the temperature constantly at zero and the newly manufactured ice cream is placed in these rooms until it is ready to be delivered. In the early days of the business, the ice cream was delivered to the customers packed in tubs of ice, but today the product is conveyed in specially constructed trucks bearing refrigerating cabinets to the purchasers. The plant also includes two modern ice machines each capable of manufacturing forty tons of ice a day. The average daily output of the plant is 8,000 gallons of bulk ice cream and 2,000 gallons of brick ice cream. Mr. Kelly stands forth in Grand Rapids commercial circles as one of the able and representative business men, and he is as popular with those who know him as he is respected for the executive ability that has brought him to the fore among his fellows. His brother, Charles A. Kelly, is associated with him in the business, entering the employ of Mr. Kelly as a boy and be- coming a partner four years after his graduation from high school in Grand Rapids. Mr. Kelly represented the Eleventh ward in the com- mon council from 1910 to 1914, and in this capacity he gave his strongest support to those measures which had as their object the welfare of the people and the development of the city. Mr. Kelly feels, and justly so, that his business career has been more than successful in view of the fact that he started independent operations with the small capital of $225. In 1902, the year in which he began to learn the ice cream manufacturing business, Mr. Kelly married Jessie Yeakey, a represen- tative of one of the old pioneer families of Michigan, and through the years of Mr. Kelly's struggle for success, she has been a constant source of encouragement to her husband. Mr. Kelly is affiliated with the St. Francis Roman Catholic Church. Clarence S. Dexter has shown in the most significant way his possession of the attributes of success-achievement, and has by his own ability and well ordered activities gained place among the sub- stantial and influential figures in the great industrial activities centered in the city of Grand Rapids. Here he is secretary, treasurer and general manager of the Grand Rapids Chair Company, one of the largest manufacturing concerns of its kind in the United States, and he is also president of the Imperial Furniture Company, director of the Foote-Reynolds Company, Michigan Trust Company and the Old National Bank. Mr. Dexter figures as a resourceful motivator of industrial, commercial and civic progress in his home city and is distinctly one of the representative men of affairs in Grand Rapids. Mr. Dexter was born in the city of Chicago, on the 4th of June, 1882, and is a son of George W. and Laura A. (Sawyer) Dexter, his father having been long and prominently engaged in the wholesale grocery business in Chicago, as a member of the firm of Merriam, Col- lins & Dexter. Albert A. Dexter, grandfather of the subject of this review, was born and reared in the state of New York and became one of the prominent business men of Chicago, where he settled many years ago. The early education of Clarence S. Dexter was acquired mainly in the public schools of his native city, and there also he acquired his initial business experience. He has proved a driving power in connection with constructive business enterprise, and his 272 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY advancement has come as a natural result of well applied energies. His first association with the industrial activities of Grand Rapids came when he assumed the position of Pacific coast salesman for the Imperial Furniture Company, in 1907. In the following year he became also representative in a similar way for the Grand Rapids Chair Company. He produced results. In 1910 he was given assignment to the more important eastern territory, and in 1917 he was made secre- tary and treasurer of the Grand Rapids Chair Company, of which dual office he has since continued the incumbent, besides which he has been also the general manager of the company since October 20, 1920, he having assumed this office upon the death of the former incumbent, Elijah H. Foote. At this time he succeeded also to the position of presi- dent of the Imperial Furniture Company, another of the large and im- portant manufacturing concerns of Grand Rapids. Mr. Dexter assisted in the organization of the Foote-Reynolds Company, of which he became vice-president. In 1924 he was made the president of this corpora- tion, but later in that year a controlling interest was acquired by Charles J. Kindle, who assumed the active management, Mr. Dexter continuing his alliance with the company as a director. He is a loyal and public- spirited citizen who is ever certain to give effective co-operation in the advancing measures and enterprises for the benefit of his home city. Mr. Dexter was for three years president of the Grand Rapids Furniture Manufacturers Association. His political alignment is in the ranks of the Republican party. Mr. Dexter wedded Miss Emma H. Foote, daughter of Elijah H. and Frances A. (Howe) Foote, of Grand Rapids, and the two children of this union are daughters, Frances J., born June 12, 1911, and Dorothy M., born February 7, 1915. Thomas F. Garratt. The record of no Grand Rapids business men perhaps indicates more clearly what can be accomplished when energy, determination and ambition lead the way than that of Thomas F. Garratt, late president of the Michigan Chair Com- pany, and for nearly half a century an honored resident of this city. Although he has passed from the scene of earthly activi- ties he is remembered as one of the sterling pioneer business men of Grand Rapids, whose efforts not only contributed materially to the industrial and manufacturing interests of the city, but in the promotion of charitable movements and all measures tending to the public good, he was an active and unostentatious worker. To him Grand Rapids ever meant much, and his character and achieve- ments meant much to Grand Rapids in whose history his name shall ever merit a place of prominence and distinction. Mr. Gar- ratt was born in Detroit, Michigan, July 28, 1852, a son of Elijah and Elizabeth (Jackson) Garratt, who early in 1840 migrated from England to the United States and settled at Detroit, where the father engaged in the tailoring business. As a youth Thomas F. Garratt manifested unusual business talent. He early became self- reliant, and when only twelve years of age he secured a position in a tub and pail factory conducted in Detroit by D. W. Sutton. After Thoito Ional HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 273 remaining with that concern for several years he entered the De- troit Chair Company, with which he learned the art of making chairs. This alliance proved most valuable and was destined to have important influence in directing his subsequent activities. In 1874 he entered the employ of the Laporte (Indiana) Chair Com- pany where he remained four years, coming to Grand Rapids in 1878. For the ensuing five years he was engaged with the Grand Rapids Chair Company as a contractor, making principally all their high-grade chairs. In 1883, with H. S. Jordan and Edward Craw- ford he founded the Grand Ledge Chair Company. The enterprise was first conducted in a modest way, its factory consisting of an old sawmill, located at Grand Ledge, Michigan. The capital stock was about $250.00 together with the pluck and energy of the promoters, and the employes consisted of Garratt, Crawford and Jordan. They manufactured chairs of medium grade and their output for the first year was less than ten thousand dollars. In 1890 they commenced operating a factory at Grand Rapids and for two years conducted both factories. In 1892 they sold their Grand Ledge plant and continued the Grand Rapids factory. In 1894 the business was reincorporated under the title of the Michigan Chair Company, with a capital stock of $150,000. They manufactured everything in the chair line from a medium grade dining chair to a high-grade parlor chair, and their products are sold in all parts of the United States and foreign countries. The concern takes precedence over all other enterprises of its kind in Grand Rapids, both in prolonged period of operation and in the scope and impor- tance of business controlled, and its status has long been one of prominence in connection with the representative industrial activi- ties of the country. For nearly forty years Mr. Garratt's time and energy were devoted to the building up of this great enterprise, and its present prosperity may be attributed in no small degree to his able management and executive ability. At the time of his death, July 19, 1922, he was president of the corporation and had served in that capacity for a number of years. His career was one of se- cure and consecutive progress, and in all his dealings his course was marked by inflexible integrity and honor. He always gave effective co-operation in movements for the betterment of the com- munity, and ever stood as an exponent of the best type of civic loyalty and progressiveness. He was a life-long member of Zion Lodge, F. & A. M. of Detroit, and belonged to Saladin Shrine and DeMolay Commandery, Knights Templar. Mr. Garratt was mar- ried in 1881 to Miss Hattie Rich, who was a daughter of Francis A. and Margaret Rich, of Grand Rapids, and who died in 1916, leaving one son, Charles F. Garratt, who succeeded his father to the presidency of the Michigan Chair Company on the death of the latter. He was born at Grand Ledge, Michigan, May 22, 1888, and obtained his education chiefly in the public schools of his native state. He has been identified with the Michigan Chair Company since the beginning of his active business career, and has proven 274 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY . himself a man of sagacity and probity. He began in a minor posi- tion and worked his way through the various departments of the factory, mastering each detail of the industry, so that he was well qualified, after the death of his father, to assume management of the company. Aggressive and practical in business affairs he is well upholding the honors of the family name, and like his father, he has earned an excellent reputation as a business man and citizen, and has demonstrated his fitness for the responsible positions he holds. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, and an Elk, and is prominent in both business and social circles. Alonzo Herold, who is now living virtually retired, with a beautiful home at 263 Charles avenue, southeast, in the city of Grand Rapids, still retains his financial interest in the Herold- Bertsch Shoe Company, which, in the manufacturing of shoes, represents one of the important and substantial industrial enter- prises of this city. Mr. Herold was long and actively identified with business enterprise in Grand Rapids, and has won prosperity through his own ability and efforts, the while he has ever com- manded secure place in the confidence and good will of those with whom he has come in contact in the varied relations of life. Mr. Herold was born at Holland, Ottawa county, Michigan, Decem- ber 22, 1859, his parents having come to that place in the preceding years, from Ohio, and his father having there engaged in the work of his trade, that of shoemaker, as a pioneer representative of that line of industry in the sturdy little Michigan city that was founded by colonists from the European Netherlands. Mr. Herold attended the public schools of Holland until he was fourteen years of age, and showed great liking for his studies, with the result that he profited fully by the advantages thus afforded him. His father had in the meanwhile engaged in the mercantile business at Hol- land, and when both the family home and the store were destroyed by fire Alonzo Herold found that his school work must be inter- rupted. Thus, at the age of fourteen years, he came to Grand Rapids, in 1873, and here entered the employ of the Cappon- Bertsch Leather Company. A year later he took a position with L. J. Rindge & Company, shoe merchants, the concern later be- coming known as Rindge, Kalmbach & Company. For ten years Mr. Herold was a clerk in the retail department of this establish- ment, and in 1884 he resigned his position and engaged in the retail shoe business, as senior member of the firm of Herold & Bertsch, with Christian Bertsch as his coadjutor. The firm built up a pros- perous business, and after the lapse of eight years Mr. Herold sold his interest to J. H. Hagy. In September, 1893, he became one of the principals in the incorporation of the Herold-Bertsch Shoe Company, which developed a large and substantial business in the manufacturing of shoes and in handling the output at wholesale. With this representative concern Mr. Herold continued an active executive until March, 1925, when he retired, though still retain- ing his interest in the business. Mr. Herold has made a record HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 275 of admirable business achievement, and is to be commended for the substantial and worthy success he has gained through his own ability and application during many years of prominent associa- tion with the business activities of Michigan's fine "Valley City.” He is loyal and liberal as a citizen, is a Republican in politics, and he and his wife are communicants of St. Mark's church, Protes- tant Episcopal. In 1886 Mr. Herold wedded Miss Sarah Bole, of Grand Rapids, and they have two children: Clifford is Clifford is manager of the drug store conducted by the Muir Drug Company at Elyria, Ohio, and Miss Verna holds a position in the library of the Crescent street public school in Grand Rapids. Charles Holden, who now holds the office of United States col- lector of internal revenue for the Fourth district of Michigan, with headquarters in the federal building in his native city of Grand Rapids, is a scion of a family that has been one of prominence and distinction in Michigan history. Mr. Holden was born in a little . three-room house that stood at the southeast corner of Lyon street and Lafayette avenue, Grand Rapids, on the 7th of February, 1860, and is the eldest of the three children of Hon. Ebenezer G. D. and Melissa E. (Smith) Holden. His one brother, Henry Smith Holden, is now a resident of the city of Chicago, and his sister, Mary Ellen, is the wife of Judge Willis B. Perkins, of Grand Rapids, who is now presiding on the bench of the circuit court of this Michigan circuit. Hon. Ebenezer G. D. Holden, who was Michigan secretary of state in the period of 1875-79, was born at Kirkland, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, February 18, 1834, and the clos- ing years of his long, worthy and useful life were passed at Coquille, Oregon, where he established his residence in 1899 and where his death occurred August 20, 1912. He had there served as justice of the peace and had been much of a leader in the civic affairs of that community. A section of the public library in that little Oregon city has been memorialized in his honor, by reason of the many books that were taken from his splendid private library after his death and presented by the Holden family to this library. Mr. Holden was about ten years of age when he accompanied his parents on their removal from Ohio to Michigan, in 1845, and the family home was established on a pioneer farm in Byron township, Kent county. Here he was reared to manhood and here he became a citizen of major prominence and influence. He found ways and means to acquire a liberal education, attended Knox college, Illi- nois, and also to prepare himself for the legal profession. He was admitted to the Michigan bar in 1859, and forthwith engaged in the practice of law in Grand Rapids. He was prosecuting attorney of Kent county in the period of 1862-64, and he was for many years chairman of the Kent county Republican committee, besides hav- ing given prolonged service as a school official in his home city. He was a leader in the councils and campaign activities of the Republican party in this section of Michigan, and long held prece- dence as one of the leading members of the Kent county bar, be- 276 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY . sides which he here developed a substantial and representative general insurance business. His maximum official service to Mich- igan was in his able administration as secretary of state, 1875-79. He was one of the organizers of the Grand Rapids Savings Bank, and he continued as one of the honored and influential citizens of Grand Rapids until his removal to Oregon, as already noted in this context. Mrs. Holden, whose death occurred at Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1915, was a gracious gentlewoman whose memory is revered in the city that was long her home, and in the social and cultural circles of which she was a prominent figure. She was one of the foremost in the organization of the West Side Ladies Liter- ary Club of Grand Rapids, in 1875, and was a leader in the affairs of this organization, in connection with the history of which she has been affectionately designated the mother of the club. Charles Holden received his early education in the Grand Rapids public schools. He was a mere boy when he assumed the preroga- tive of becoming entirely dependent upon his own resources, and he thus developed self-reliance and a command of expedients. He left the parental home in 1875, when he was fifteen years of age, and his early activities included service as newsboy, Western Union messenger, grocery and delivery boy, and farm worker. When his father became Michigan secretary of state, in 1875, Charles Holden was given employment as messenger boy in that department of the state government, and two years later, at the age of seventeen years, he was promoted to a clerkship in the de- partment, with which he continued his association eight years, in- cluding the four years of his father's administration as secretary of state. After leaving the state capital Mr. Holden returned to Grand Rapids, where he studied law in the office of Judge John W. Stone and Wesley W. Hyde, while later he continued his studies under the preceptorship of the firm of Smiley & Earl. In 1879, while still in the capital city of Lansing, Mr. Holden enlisted in Company H, First Infantry Regiment of the Michigan National Guard, and after his return to Grand Rapids he there organized and equipped a division uniform rank of the Knights of Pythias, he having been the drill master of this fine organization at the time when it won first prize in the Michigan drill contest and second prize in the national contest. Mr. Holden was for a number of years one of the most active and popular members of the Grand River Boat Club, of Lansing, Michigan, which he served as secre- tary, and while in the capital city he was a member of the Lansing baseball club that gained honors as one of the best in the state. Mr. Holden made a record as an all-round athlete, and he still finds his maximum enjoyment and recreation in outdoor life. For some time Mr. Holden was manager of the book department of the old and important Eaton & Lyon book store, that had its headquarters where the Boston Store of Grand Rapids is now located. He was actively concerned in the organization of the old Board of Trade, which was the nucleus around which has been evolved the present HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 277 Grand Rapids Association of Commerce, of which latter he has been a director twenty-five years, this making him the dean of the board. Mr. Holden was chairman of the agricultural depart- ment of the old Grand Rapids Board of Trade at the time when that organization instituted its vigorous campaign to advance the cultivation of alfalfa in Kent county. From an original area of fifty acres here devoted to this great forage crop, the county has advanced to the point where 1,000 acres are given to alfalfa. Mr. Holden has not given much attention to the practice of law, as he has found other fields for successful achievement. In 1885 he was manager of the Lyon Furniture Collection Agency, and thereafter he was employed a number of years as traveling sales- man for a leading wholesale grocery house in the city of Chicago. In 1885 he became associated with his father in the insurance busi- ness, and at the age of twenty-five years he organized the E. G. D. Holden & Sons Insurance Agency, with the management of which he continued his executive connection until 1922. In 1895, when he was elected representative of the First district of Kent county in the state legislature, in which he served one term. The most im- portant measure that came up for consideration before the house of representatives within Mr. Holden's term was that looking to the abolishment of capital punishment in the state. . He was a vigorous opponent of this measure, and to his forceful and logical speech before the house was attributed the defeat of the bill, three thousand people having been present when he delivered this strong and eloquent address, and the state press having given him high commendation in the connection. After his service in the legisla- ture Mr. Holden was, for fourteen years, associated with Major Wm. G. Hardy in the general insurance business in Grand Rapids, and this partnership alliance was severed by the death of Major Hardy, in May, 1914. Mr. Holden can now lay consistent claim to being the dean of Michigan insurance men. In 1908 he was president of the Grand Rapids Credit Men's Association, the larg- est in western Michigan, and in 1925 he is regarded as the leader in the legislative matters of the National Credit Men's Association. He was for five years a member of the Grand Rapids board of edu- cation, and in 1903 he represented this board at the National Edu- cational Association convention, held in Boston, Massachusetts, where he was called upon to deliver an address on the subject of new departures in school administration. While a member of the board of education he aided in the establishing of the Grand Rapids Museum and the purchase of its present building. Mr. Holden has been an ardent worker in the ranks of the Republican party and has been a frequent delegate to party conventions. He has served as president of the Michigan Insurance Agents' Association and has delivered numerous addresses on insurance subjects. He served a short term as acting postmaster of Grand Rapids, and is perhaps the only former postmaster in the United States to have become a life honorary member of the National Association of 278 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Postoffice Clerks. He was one of the influential and enthusiastic workers in the campaign that resulted in the adoption by Grand Rapids of the commission system of municipal government. Though not formally a member of any religious body, Mr. Holden has been for forty-five years active in church, Sunday School and Y. M. C. A. work. He is now custodian of the Federal building in Grand Rapids and ex-president of the Federal Business Associa- tion in his native city. He has one of the largest and best selected private libraries in Grand Rapids, is known for the breadth of his intellectual ken, and in his travels he has visited every state in the Union. Among his personal friends he numbers some of the best known of American statesmen, poets, authors, politicians, clergy- men, educators and publicists. In the World war period Mr. Holden gave valuable service in the advancing of patriotic work, including the campaigns in support of the government war bonds, Red Cross and Y. M. C. A. service, etc. Since February, 1922, Mr. Holden has been United States collector of internal revenue for a district that comprises the western half of the lower and the entire upper peninsula of Michigan. He is affiliated with the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and on the maternal side he is a direct descendant of John Webster, a colonial governor of Connecticut. In 1900 Mr. Holden was united in marriage to Miss Marie Sprague, of Jamestown, New York, she being a graduate of the Jamestown Theological Seminary. Mr. Holden has five children: Marion Louise is the wife of Eldon Bemis, of East Lansing; Charles Fluhrer, who was named in honor of Rev. Charles Fluhrer, a leading clergyman in Grand Rapids for seven- teen years, remains in his native city; Mary Elizabeth is (1925) a student graduate of the University of Michigan; and the two younger children are Willis Sprague and Harriet Theodosia. Mr. Holden is a thorough American in lineage and loyalty, and to his native state and city his loyalty is that of deep appreciation and gracious memories. In his eligibility for the Sons of the American Revolution his claims are based on the service of five patriot ances- tors-one lieutenant-colonel and four minute men. Frank E. Jones has won through his own ability a place of prominence in connection with the great industrial and commer- cial interests of Grand Rapids, as is evident when it is stated that here he is the efficient and popular manager of the carloading de- partment of the Furniture Manufacturers Association of Grand Rapids and also of the Furniture Manufacturers Warehouse Com- pany-concerns that have as constituent members virtually all of the important furniture manufacturing corporations of the city. The carloading department was organized in 1910, through the efforts of William H. Gay, of the Berkey & Gay Furniture Com- pany; Robert W. Irwin, of the R. W. Irwin Company, and David H. Brown, of the Century Furniture Company, and others. The primary object of the organization was the facilitating and expe- diting of the safe shipment of the products of the great furniture HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 279 manufactories of the city. The functions of the association, now greatly expanded through the medium of the Furniture Manufac- turers Warehouse Company, a co-ordinated organization, have grown to be of great importance. From 1910 to 1916 the associa- tion had its headquarters in the old warehouse of the Michigan Central Railroad, at the corner of Cherry and Ionia streets, and removal was made to the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad ware- house, on Island street. In 1920 the association purchased the site on which it erected its present modern building, which is of brick construction, two stories and basement, and 400 by 82 feet in dimensions. In the rear of this main building, which is of fire- proof construction, was purchased by the association the two-story building that is 165 by 40 feet in lateral dimensions and that was remodeled for the uses to which it was to be applied. Later the association built the large loading dock, 400 by 25 feet, and there has been acquired also an additional frontage of five hundred feet on Seward avenue, northwest, for the purpose of adding in the near future new and needed buildings to the plant. During the first four years the association's operations averaged one carload daily, and the present average is ten carloads. The value of this carloading department is two-fold-service and economy. From an article published in the Furniture Record are taken the following quota- tions, with a few minor changes: “Less than carload traffic under modern commercial conditions calls for an alert transportation serv- ice. Small units of transportation, and many of them, are needed, whereas the railroads have been building larger cars and larger engines, with the object of operating longer trains made up of greater tonnage capacity. The natural result is that thousands of cars of 100,000-pounds carrying capacity move daily with less than 15,000 pounds of merchandise. At the same time the freight houses at transfer and terminal points are frequently filled with less than carload shipments, which they are unable to move, because of lack of cars and other elements that go to make up an efficient trans- portation service. In March, 1910, the Grand Rapids furniture manufacturers, in recognition of these conditions and of the value to the dealer and to the Grand Rapids market, of an efficient car- loading arrangement, established a carloading department through which, by pooling their shipments for the same destinations, they could give their customers the benefit of carload service at carload rates. Such pool cars to the more important points afford an ap- preciable saving in time and transportation on shipments destined to points in the same territory, to which they may be re-shipped by local freight from the point at which the pool car is distributed. When the carloading department was first organized it was thought that the service would be of value only to dealers on the Pacific coast and other far-distant western and southern points where goods had to travel long distances and where there was a wide spread between the carload and less than carload rates; but later it became apparent that the service could be extended to 280 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY > eastern points where time in transit and condition of goods on arrival were more important than the saving that might be made in freight costs. With this in view, a pool-car service to New York City was established, and from two or three cars a week this service has grown to three or four cars of furniture shipped daily from Grand Rapids to the national metropolis. Boston and Spring- field, Massachusetts, were the eastern points that next received attention, and the value of this service to Grand Rapids manu- facturers and to dealers in the New England territory can scarcely be measured in dollars and cents. On account of the numerous embargoes placed by eastern railroads there have been many in- stances where Grand Rapids furniture would have been shut out of this territory for months at a time except for the arrangements made by the carloading department of the Furniture Manufactur- ers Association of Grand Rapids to distribute goods through their Boston and Springfield cars. The department has thus justified its existence by rendering a service that could not have been given through any other medium. The department also assembles cars for individual dealers. The general service of this department relieves the factories of the responsibility of loading any cars ex- cept where they have enough of their own goods to constitute a arload for some individual dealer. The department has proved an active and efficient influence in the Grand Rapids market and in spreading Grand Rapids trade.” In a home a short distance north of Grand Rapids, Frank E. Jones, manager of the Furniture Manufacturers Association of this city, was born August 18, 1870, his father having there pur- chased land in the belief that it would eventually become a part of the city. Mr. Jones is a son of William H. and Albertine (White) Jones, the former of whom was born at Wasau, Wiscon- sin, the latter in Oakland county, Michigan, where her father, Elam White, was a cooper by trade and vocation. William H. Jones was a son of Rev. Almon Jones, who was a clergyman of the Baptist church and who came from New York state to the west in an early day. Almon Jones remained for a short period in Chicago, which was then a mere village, and after residing a few years in Wis- consin he came to Michigan and purchased a pioneer farm near Davidson, Alcoma county, the remainder of his life having been passed in this state. As a youth William H. Jones learned the trade and art of photography, and in his early days he traveled about with a photographic car drawn by horses. He was not yet twenty-one years old when he settled north of Grand Rapids, and in 1877 he removed with his family to Kansas, where he remained After his return to Michigan he opened a photo- graphic studio at Rockford, Kent county, and in 1882 he removed to Cedar Springs, this county, where he long conducted a pros- perous photographic business and where he continued to reside un- til 1916, when he again became a resident of Grand Rapids, where he died the following year, his wife having passed away in 1905. three years. me Places 2 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 281 Frank E. Jones earned his first money by carrying water for a construction gang engaged in railroad building, and his early edu- cation was mainly obtained in the public schools at Cedar Springs, where he was graduated in the high school. At the age of eighteen years he learned telegraphy and as an operator he was thereafter employed in many parts of the United States. In 1906 he became chief clerk of the local freight office of the Pere Marquette Rail- road in Grand Rapids, and thereafter he was for seven years em- ployed in the offices of the Wallin Leather Company, on Front street. Since 1914 he has been the vital and efficient manager of the Furniture Manufacturers Association of Grand Rapids, and he has been a resourceful executive in developing the valuable service of this organization. His wife, Lillian A., is a daughter of Lafayette Cox, long a representative farmer near Ravenna, Mus- kegon county, Michigan. Godfrey von Platen was a man who had the will and the capa- city to do big things in a big way and who also had the generous heart that prompted him to do little things in a big way—the little things that make for human helpfulness and that indicate the in- dwelling spirit of human sympathy and kindliness. Mr. von Platen became one of the most prominent and influential lumber operators of Michigan and the state of Washington, and as a substantial capitalist he identified himself with other interests of important order, especially in his home city of Grand Rapids, where at the time of his death in Chicago, while on a business trip, on Christmas day of the year 1924, he was president of the Widdicomb Furniture Company and a director of the Michigan Trust Company. Mr. von Platen was born in Germany, April 11, 1867, and thus was but fifty-seven years of age when death brought a close to his earnest and useful life. He was a child of two years when his parents came to the United States and established the family home, first in Chi- cago and later in Emmett county, Michigan, where his father built and operated a flour mill at Advance, near Petoskey. The subject of this memoir attended the pioneer schools of that section of Michigan, but his broader education was that gained under the direction of that wisest of all headmasters, experience. As a boy he assisted in the work of his father's flour mill and sawmill, and when he was but seventeen years of age he assumed charge of his father's lumbering operations, the business having in the mean- while encountered serious reverses. He introduced new methods and policies and brought distinct success to the business, and his virile resourcefulness and energy enabled him to see and grasp opportunities, with the result that he expanded his lumbering operations to broad scope and importance. After he had exhausted his timber holdings near the village of Advance he transferred his operations to Boyne City, Charlevoix county, where he continued to maintain his home until his removal to Grand Rapids and where he made his influence potent in the general advancement of the community, along civic and material lines. After he had depleted 282 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY his timber reserves in Charlevoix county Mr. von Platen acquired large timber tracts on the upper peninsula of Michigan, with Iron Mountain as the base of his operations, and about four years prior to his death he purchased in that locality also the Ayer tract, in- volving a transaction of $2,000,000,000. The large and important timber holdings on the upper peninsula are still held by his estate, and his only son has recently associated himself with the active management of the extensive lumbering interests of the estate, including those pertaining to the large holdings that the subject of this memoir acquired in the state of Washington. Mr. von Platen became one of the substantial stockholders of the Boyne City Chemical Company at the time of its organization, and assisted in obtaining for the city an iron furnace and a tannery. He was there a charter member of the First National Bank, and there was one of the organizers and stockholders of the Wolverine Hotel Company. He was one of those most prominently concerned in formulating the rules of the National Lumber Association, and he was not only one of the leaders in lumbering operations in northern Michigan but also in the general development and upbuilding of that section, his benefactions having included contributions to the establishing and maintaining of a goodly number of churches throughout that section of the state. His intense civic loyalty was but one of many manifestations of the intrinsic spirit of loyalty that animated him in all of the relations of life and that made him a natural leader as well as a man to whom came the staunchest of friendships. Buoyant, genial, generous, considerate, Mr. von Platen made his personality felt wherever he appeared, and there was bigness—aye, true greatness—in that personality. When death terminated the life of this fine man, loyal citizen, success- ful business executive and noble friend of humanity, there came from many sources tributes to the man who had made his life count for good in its every relation. From one of these tributes are taken the following extracts: "All his life, in spirit he was a boy, and he solved the problems of each day, and did not have any carrying over. He was always liberal, charitable and kind. His personal dealings with his men were unusual. At Christmas time, during his life-time, every man got an extra dollar for each year he had been with the firm. When the troubles following 1893 were large, and plants were shutting down-men not knowing what to do- he took some boxes of cigars and some candy and went out to his camps, ate with the men, and told them he did not know whether he could sell his product or get money to operate the mills, but that they could live in the camp, and if they wanted to take their chance with him on delayed pay, he would keep on running. Every man stayed, and the mills never shut down a day! He was known to go to Chicago and carry back with his own hands two suit cases full of candy—all a good, strong man could lug—for the mill children and the little ones of Boyne City.” And this next is from an estimate given by one who had known Mr. von Platen HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 283 long and well at Boyne City: “By his energy, ability, integrity and application he advanced steadily year by year, and his early business life was such that his name among his neighbors, friends and business associates became a synonym for integrity and fair dealing, which lasted through his later and broadened activities among his neighbors, associates, employes, customers, bankers, competitors and friends. This quality of character and his unas- suming personality begot for him a universal community affection and esteem which comes to few men aggressively engaged in com- petitive business. His employes, uniformly loyal, held for this same affection and esteem, and thus became that wholesome organ- ization which contributed much to his business success, as he him- self so often testified. The community, the needy, old neighbors, and the church were from time to time subjects of his well-known substantial charity.” The home relations of Mr. von Platen, both through his first and his second marriages, were of ideal order, and his noble attributes of character found their finest expression in his devotion to home and family. His charities and philanthropies were many and were invariable without ostentation. He was a man who would "do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame." “ A typical instance of this occurred at Christmas time only a few years before his death, when he presented a victrola and records to virtually every county home for the poor in the state of Michigan, though he insisted on having this generous contribution made through the agency of his attorneys, without disclosure of his con- nection with the transaction. In his earlier business career Mr. von Platen had his full share of adversity, and he always had sym- pathy for those who failed, and for all those in affliction or distress. He was practical in his helpfulness, and was specially earnest in aiding ambitious and worthy youth. In the World war period, though he was of German birth, Mr. von Platen was heart and soul with the allied powers in their conflict with the land of his nativity, and as a patriot he was foremost in his support of the nation's varied war preparations and later activities in the full period of American participation in the great conflict. He gave generously of his time and money in this connection. Mr. von Platen was twice married, and his was a tender devotion to the wife of his youth, even as the same spirit animated him in his com- panionship with the second wife, who survives him. He is sur- vived also by one son, Karl, and one daughter, Pauline M., who is the wife of Fred D. Avery. Mr. von Platen is survived also by one brother, Moritz, of Pasadena, California, and by one sister, Mrs. William H. Seibert, of Hollywood, that state. After establishing his home in Grand Rapids Mr. von Platen showed his civic loyalty and appreciation in terms of service, especially in the support of charitable, benevolent and philanthropic agencies. He was affili- ated with both the York and Scottish Rite bodies of the Masonic fraternity, and was a member of the Peninsular Club and the Kent Country Club. His life was in itself a concrete exemplification of 284 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY the Golden Rule, and his passing was mourned by the many whom he had grappled to his soul through the medium of the very fine- ness of that soul and spirit. His was the faith that makes faithful in all things. Fred M. Raymond. May 18, 1925, Fred M. Raymond, who had made a splendid record of service as a member of the bar of Kent county, took the oath of office as judge of the United States district court of the western district of Michigan, and those who knew the man and his achievement recognized this as a consistent preferment given to an able lawyer and loyal citizen of Grand Rapids. From an editorial that appeared in a Grand Rapids daily newspaper of May 12, 1925, are taken the following extracts: “President Coolidge has un- tangled the knotty problem precipitated upon him by the creation of another United States district judgeship in western Michigan. Passing over candidates for whom formidable indorsements were piled up, and disregarding all of the political recommendations that came to him from this area, he has named Attorney Fred M. Raymond of Grand Rapids. Judge Raymond has had no 'public character' heretofore. This is his first large public trust. Therefore he is less well known than most of those over whom he has won the high distinction. But his intimate associates at the bar uniformly testify to his splendid legal attainments, to his capacity for hard and intelligent work, and to the sturdiness of his character. He is clean, independent and able. He has a background of experience, intellect and courage. We can wish for him—and his constituency—no finer destiny than to justify his association with a bench that always has been eloquently creditable to justice and to the Federal judiciary.” Judge Raymond was born at Marne, Ottawa county, Michigan, March 22, 1876, and is a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (McLennan) Raymond, both of whom were born and reared in the province of Ontario, Canada. Andrew McLen- nan, maternal grandfather of Judge Raymond, was born in Scotland and upon coming to America he established his residence at Port Rowan, Ontario, on the northern shore of Lake Erie, he having been long and prominently identified with navigation of the Great Lakes, as the owner and operator of a number of vessels. Joseph Raymond served as a lieutenant in the Canadian army during the now historic Fenian invasion, in the sixties, and it was in the year 1869 that he came to Ottawa county, Michigan, and established his residence at Marne, where he was for many years engaged in the mercantile busi- ness and where he was an honored and influential citizen of his com- munity. He and his wife are both now deceased. The early education of Judge Raymond was obtained in the public schools of his native village, and thereafter he attended the Central high school in Grand Rapids. He was for three years a successful teacher in the district schools of Ottawa county, and, like many other ambitious young men, he used the pedagogic profession as a means to an end, his earnings having contributed to defraying his expenses while he was a student in the law department of the University of Michigan, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1899, his admission to the bar HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 285 of his native state having been virtually a concomitant of his reception of the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He forthwith engaged in the work of his profession in Grand Rapids, where he became associated with the law firm of Hatch & Wilson. From 1906 to 1910 he here maintained a professional partnership with Judge Reuben Hatch, and in the latter year James T. McAllister was admitted to partnership, the firm name thereafter having been Hatch, McAllister & Raymond until 1922, when Mr. Raymond formed a law partnership with Judge Harry D. Jewell, Dean S. Face and William H. Messinger having later be- come members of the firm. The proved accuracy and solidity of Judge Raymond's knowledge of the involved science of jurisprudence, as demonstrated in his notably successful stewardship in the work of his profession, marked him as eligible for the judicial honors that were given him when he was appointed to his present distinguished office on the bench of the United States district court. Judge Raymond is a valued and honored member of the Grand Rapids Bar Association, of which he was the president in 1922, and he has membership also in the Michigan State Bar Association and the American Bar Associa- tion. His political allegiance is given unreservedly to the Republican party, and he and his wife are zealous members of the Park Congre- gational Church in Grand Rapids, of which he has served as a trustee and in which Mrs. Raymond was superintendent of the primary de- partment of the Sunday school. Judge Raymond is affiliated with the various York and Scottish Rite bodies of the Masonic fraternity, his basic or ancient-craft membership being in York Lodge, No. 410, A. F. & A. M., his Scottish Rite affiliations being with DeWitt Clinton Consistory, in Grand Rapids, and he being here a noble of Saladin Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is a member of the Masonic Past Masters Association, and in addition to being a past master of Berlin Lodge, No. 248, F. & A. M., at Marne, Ottawa county, he is a past patron of Peninsular Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, the Grand Rapids organization being the largest chapter in the world the time he held the office of patron. The Judge was president of the board of education in his native village of Marne at the time the high school building was erected there. He is a member of the Kiwanis Club in his home city, and of the Spring Lake Country Club, in Ottawa county, he and his family having their attractive summer cottage at Highland Park, on Lake Michigan. In the year 1902 was solemnized the marriage of Judge Raymond to Miss Mabel Kenworthy, of Oskaloosa, Iowa, who previously had been graduated in the Treat Kindergarten School in Grand Rapids. Mrs. Raymond is a prominent figure in the civic and cultural circles not only of her home city but also of the state of Michigan. She was one of the early and enthusi- astic workers in the Parent-Teacher Club of Grand Rapids, and has been a leader in the parent-teacher work in Michigan, as is indicated by the fact that she is now president of the Michigan branch of the National Congress of Parents and Teachers. She is a member of the board of trustees of the Michigan State Federation of Women's Clubs, has served as president of the Grand Rapids Woman's Club, and has been active in the work of the local Ladies' Literary Club and in t 286 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY the affairs of Peninsular Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star. Judge and Mrs. Raymond have two children, Elizabeth and Russell, and it may be noted that in each of the past five generations of the Raymond family there has been a daughter bearing the name of Elizabeth. The American Radio Cabinet Company represents one of the unique and more recent of the many and varied industrial concerns that contribute to the acknowledged precedence of Grand Rapids as an important industrial and commercial center. This company had its inception in 1919, when Harold Worm and Robert S. Brown formed a partnership and engaged in the manufacture of a one-string violin, an interesting and effective musical instrument that had been de- veloped and invented by Mr. Worm. The manufacturing was initiated under the firm name of the Sangtoy Company, and the little factory was opened in the building that is now the manufacturing and com- mercial headquarters of the American Radio Cabinet Company. Al- fred J. Brown, father of Robert S., became a silent partner in the business a year after operations had been instituted. In 1921 the name was changed to the Grand Rapids Toy Manufacturing Company, the business having been incorporated under the latter title in December of that year. The principal product was the toy violin of one string, which met with favorable reception, but gradually the scope of the enterprises was extended. Soon after the close of the World war industries in Germany were sufficiently revived to make the German- made toys once more measurably popular in the United States, and this importation of toys from Germany cut into the demand for those of American manufacture. It was with recognition of these condi- tions and of the possibilities of developing a prosperous cabinet-manu- facturing enterprise in direct line with the wonderful advancement and growing popularity of the radio science and industry, that this Grand Rapids company made a wise economic and commercial change when it instituted the manufacturing of radio cabinets of high grade and attractive design. In 1924 the name of the corporation was changed to its present form, the American Radio Cabinet Company. In the company's factory thirty-five skilled artisans are now retained in the manufacturing of these cabinets, and the business has become one of substantial order, with trade extending throughout the United States and into the various Canadian provinces. Robert S. Brown is presi- dent of the company, T. Hershel Brown is its vice-president, and A. R. McCammon is secretary and treasurer. All of these executives are vital and resourceful young business men of marked progressiveness, and under their management the success of the business is certain to be cumulative. Robert S. Brown, president of the company, was born in Grand Rapids, September 10, 1899, and in the public schools he here continued his studies until his graduation in the Central high school. He then entered the University of Michigan, but within a very short time thereafter the nation became involved in the World war, with the result that he enlisted for service in the United States navy Ill health soon made him ineligible, and he was given an hon- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 287 orable discharge. Upon his return to Grand Rapids Mr. Brown took a position in the wholesale seed establishment of his father, Alfred J. Brown, who has long been one of the representative business men of this city. He learned the details of this line of business, and when he became impressed with the excessive prices paid by the concern for seed cabinets, he prevailed upon his father to install the requisite machinery and to manufacture the cabinets in an independent way, the new venture proving a success. It was largely through this as- sociation with practical mechanics that Mr. Brown was attracted to the musical toy invented by Mr. Worm, as already noted, and their alliance proved the basis of the successful industrial enterprise that is now carried forward by the American Radio Cabinet Company. Wallace E. Brown is president of the Grand Rapids Varnish Corporation, one of the important industrial concerns of Grand Rapids, and his long experience has made him an authority in the paint and varnish business, for which he may well be said to have had inherited predilection, in view of the fact that his father, Jesse S. Brown, was a master of the painter's trade, as was also his grandfather, Smith M. Brown, who maintained his home at Highland, Oakland county, Michigan. Other representatives of the Brown family likewise gained high reputation for skill in paint- ing and graining, especially in imitating most effectively the grain- ing of various woods used in interior building construction. Wal- lace E. Brown was born in Muskegon county, Michigan, and was a child at the time of the family removal to Fremont, Newaygo county, where he gained in the public schools his early educa- tional discipline and where his father, Jesse S. Brown, was long engaged in business as a skilled master painter. Under the care- ful direction of his father, Wallace E. Brown learned with utmost thoroughness the painter's trade, in which he was able to uphold fully the prestige of the family name. At different times he was fore- man in the finishing department of leading furniture factories through- out the country, and later he continued his association with the paint industry by effective service as a commercial traveling sales- man in turn for the Barrett-Lindermann Company, of Philadelphia, and the Lilly Varnish Company, of Indianapolis. In 1915 Mr. Brown effected in Grand Rapids the organization of the Grand Rapids Varnish Company, of which he is the president, and of which A. D. McBurney of Jackson is vice-president, Fred W. Green of Ionia treasurer, and Herman F. Harbeck of Grand Haven secretary. In the modern and well equipped manufacturing plant of the company, at 565 Godfrey avenue, southwest, is now retained a force of over one hundred operatives, each skilled in his assigned province of work, and the high-grade paints, varnishes, lacquers and enamels here manufactured are now sold in all sections of the United States. Mr. Brown has proved a progressive and resource- ful executive and it has been primarily due to his methods and policies that his company has gained rank as one of the important industrial concerns of Grand Rapids. 288 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Harold C. Cornelius, deceased, capitalist and manufacturer of Grand Rapids, was born in Adrian, Michigan, December 11, 1873, the son of John and Anna (Russell) Cornelius, who were reared on Long Island, New York. His father, who taught for several years in Adrian College, operated a shoe store until impaired health made it necessary for him to seek an outdoor occupation. He eventually became a farmer and fruit grower, and died in Grand Rapids. Mrs. Cornelius, mother of Harold C. Cornelius, died in California sev- eral years later. Harold C. Cornelius spent his youth on a farm near Spring Lake, where, in 1877, his father purchased a large tract of land. He attended the schools at Spring Lake and Grand Haven and finished his education in 1891 in the Union high school at Grand Rapids. He then entered the Grand Rapids & Indiana Rail- road shops to learn the steamfitting trade, and after spending two years in this employment he formed a partnership with Oscar Glidden and opened a small specialty shop. In 1898 he joined his brother, Louis A. Cornelius, in the Wolverine Brass Works, which was organized to manufacture a line of plumbers' supplies. The Wolverine Brass Works started with a small amount of capital in a little shop north of Pearl street on Front avenue, and though its beginning was an humble one it rapidly grew to large proportions under the skillful management and untiring industry of the Cor- nelius brothers. On January 1, 1923, when Harold C. Cornelius, secretary and treasurer of the company, withdrew from active participation in business affairs, the Wolverine Brass Works was one of the largest and most widely-known concerns of its kind in the country. Harold C. Cornelius was prominently identified with many other enterprises of a mercantile or industrial nature. He was one of the founders of the Consolidated Theatres Company, which was organized to assume control of the Strand, Orpheum and Idle Hour playhouses, and to which the Majestic Gardens was added later when the Idle Hour theatre dropped out of the combi- nation. Mr. Cornelius was one of the organizers of the Grand Rapids Trust Company, and served that institution as a director many years. Though his private business interests were many and varied he found time to take an active part in the social and civic life of the city. During the construction of the filtration plant of the Grand Rapids water system he was chairman of the board of public works, spending five years in that office. As a vice-president of the Association of Commerce he rendered a great service to the community, and in the industrial training classes of the Y. M. C. A. he also took a keen interest. He was a leader in welfare work in factories and helped inaugurate a program of recreational activities for factory employes. He was a vice-president of the National Association of Credit Men and a charter member of the Highlands Country Club. He was a member of the Consistory, Commandery and Shrine of the Masonic order, and at the time of his death, which occurred in a Detroit hospital, January 12, 1924, he was chair- man of the building committee and treasurer of the Fountain + Homeling HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 289 Street Baptist Church. Mr. Cornelius married, while a resident of Grand Haven, Edith M. Glidden of that city. To this union were born three children: Russell G., Harold H. and Philip C. Cornelius, who assumed management of their father's business interests when he retired to enjoy a well-earned rest. The eldest son gave up his position as purchasing agent of the Wolverine Brass Works to take charge of his father's investments in the motion picture indus- try in New York. Harold H. Cornelius, a graduate of Colgate University, took his father's place in the Michigan Radio Corpora- tion, the Consolidated Theatres and the National Co-operative Oil Company. Philip C. Cornelius, the youngest son, is also a graduate of Colgate, and has taken post-graduate work at the technical col- lege at Boston. He now manages the timber and oil lands owned by his father in the state of Arkansas. Russell G. Cornelius has two sons: Russell Montgomery and Philip Craig. Philip Cor- nelius is the father of one son, Philip C., Jr. Harold H. Cornelius, secretary and treasurer and general man- ager of the National Co-Operative Oil Company, at Grand Rapids, is one of the aggressive and public-spirited business men of the younger generation of this city who has made his way to prominence and honor- able prestige through his own well directed energy and efforts. He has not only achieved success in business, but has gained distinction in the management of large affairs, and well deserves a place in the front rank among the leading business men of the country. Mr. Cornelius was born in the city of Chicago, March 16, 1898, and was an infant at the time his parents, Harold C. and Edith M. (Glidden) Cornelius, moved to Grand Rapids. Here he received the advantages of the pub- lic schools, and after his graduation in the Central high school he en- tered Colgate University, at Hamilton, New York, and was graduated from that institution in 1920 with the degree of Bachelor of Science. He then returned to Grand Rapids, where he soon afterward became as- sistant to the manager of the National Co-Operative Oil Company and has since been actively identified with this concern. His ability soon became apparent, and in 1924 he was made secretary and treasurer and general manager, and still retains these positions. Besides his business connections, Mr. Cornelius is loyal and public spirited in his civic at- titude and is interested in all measures which have for their aims the advancement of the people and the betterment of existing conditions. He is a Mason, a member of the Commandery and Shrine and of the University, Century, Midday and Cascade Hill Country Clubs, and of the Fountain Street Baptist Church. He was married in 1922 to Miss Eleanor Ward, of Grand Rapids, a daughter of Orin A. Ward, and they maintain a pleasant home at 721 Fountain street, northeast. Lloyd V. Hudson, manager of the Acme Motor Truck Company in the city of Grand Rapids, is a native son of Michigan and a representative of one of the honored and prominent pioneer fam- ilies of Ottawa county, this state, where he was born September 23, 1873, at Hudsonville, a village that was named in honor of his paternal grandfather, the late Homer E. Hudson, who there estab- 290 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY lished his home in 1849, about ten years after the admission of Michigan to statehood. Homer E. Hudson was born in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, not far distant from Cleveland, in the year 1827, and was a scion of one of the sterling pioneer families of the Buckeye state. He was reared on a pioneer farm and as a youth he gained also a good working knowledge of the nursery business. In 1848, with ox team and a covered wagon, he drove overland from Ohio to Kent county, Michigan. He remained the first year in Grand Rapids, and was here employed in the pioneer nursery of Elisha Kellog. In 1849 he removed to the newly established and historic Holland Dutch colony that had been established in and about the present city of Holland, Ottawa county, and in that county he became the leading pioneer in the nursery industry and business, he having reclaimed land from the virgin forest and having set out on his pioneer farm the fruit trees that constituted the nucleus of his nursery. On a corner of his farm was established a pioneer school that was known as the Hudson school, and when, in later years, survey was made through the county for the line of the Chicago & West Michigan (now Pere Marquette) Railroad, he gave the land on which the railroad station was erected in the present village of Hudsonville, which, as previously noted, was named in his honor. There he platted twenty acres of his farm into village lots, and he was thus the founder of Hudsonville, in the development and progress of which he was the most influential figure. Mr. Hudson was a leader in community affairs many years, served as township trustee and highway commissioner, as well as justice of the peace, and for nearly twenty years, 1868-81, he was postmaster of Hudsonville. He was one of the most venerable and honored pioneer citizens of Ottawa county at the time of his death, in 1912, and his wife likewise attained to advanced age. His son, Horace A., father of the subject of this review, was born and reared on the old homestead at Hudsonville, and much of his active career was one of close association with the varied civic and busi- ness interests of his native county. There he continued to reside until 1887, when he removed with his family to Grand Rapids, where he remained until his death, at the age of sixty-eight years, his wife, whose maiden name was Nellie Purdy, having passed away at the age of seventy-three years. Of the children, two sons are now living. Lloyd V. Hudson gained his early education in the public schools of his native village and was thirteen years of age at the time of the family removal to Grand Rapids, where his studies were continued in the city schools, including the old Union high school. After leaving school he gained practical experience in the retail grocery business, and for two years he conducted a grocery store at the corner of Eastern avenue and Sherman street. He then became a traveling salesman for the Great American To- bacco Company, the headquarters of which are in New York City, and with this concern he continued his effective service about fif- He then allied himself with the Couple Gear Electric teen years. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 291 Truck Company of Grand Rapids, and in 1922 he became associated with the Acme Motor Truck Company, of which he is now manager of the business in what is designated as the Grand Rapids district, comprising twelve counties in this section of the state. As manager Mr. Hudson has brought to bear his characteristic initiative and executive powers, and has developed a substantial business for his concern in his assigned territory. In evidence of this is his recent sale of a fleet of immense moving vans to the Helmus Storage Company of Grand Rapids, and seven motor busses of the greyhound type for operation between Grand Rapids and Greenville. Mr. Hudson is a Republican, is affiliated with the Elks, and attends and supports the Baptist church. In 1905 he married Miss Bertha Austin, of Grand Rapids, and their one child, Mae Ella, is now the wife of Neil Borden, of this city. Mr. Hud- son is known as one of the progressive business men and loyal and public-spirited citizens of Grand Rapids, and here his circle of friends is coextensive with that of his acquaintances. Carl J. Rittenger is making an excellent record of constructive activity as one of the progressive young business men of his native state of Michigan, and has the distinction of being, in the city of Grand Rapids, the manager of the White & Friant Lumber Company, one of the oldest and most important concerns of this kind in the state. The Grand Rapids offices of this company are at 915-17 Mich- igan Trust building. Thomas Friant was one of the pioneer founders . of this extensive business. He resides most of the year in California though still a resident of Grand Rapids. The other original principal, T. Stewart White, died in the fall of 1915. The company controls large and valuable tracts of timber land and has other extensive in- terests on the western coast. The company gained pioneer precedence among eastern concerns making investment in sugar-pine timber lands in California, where it owns a tract of 25,000 acres that is conceded to be the finest area of standing timber in the country. Of such gen- eral and historic interest is the following record, published in 1900, in an edition entitled “Lumbermen of Michigan,” that it is worthy of reproduction: "Few names have been more familiar to the lumbermen of the northwest for seventy years than that of the White & Friant Lumber Company. In 1869 T. Stewart White and Thomas Friant formed a partnership under the name of White & Friant, and the con- cern has since been a power in the lumber world. In its origin the partnership was designed to take charge, as contractors, of the rafting of logs that were by this time being needed by the mills at Grand Haven, Spring Lake and Grand Rapids, and for twenty years the firm boomed, sorted and delivered, at the various mills on the river, all the logs that each winter's work in the woods had provided. In 1877 White, Friant & Company was formed, for general lumber business. In 1885 they incorporated under the name of The White & Friant Lumber Company. It has been, and still is, recognized as one of the most extensive, energetic and progressive among the many large operators in the West. Captain Thomas W. White, the father of T. 292 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Stewart White, came to Michigan in the early thirties, and few of the older settlers and pioneers of the state proved themselves more useful as citizens or were held in higher esteem. As a Whig, he was elected to the state legislature in 1844, and was influential in securing a grant of public land for the erection of the first bridge that spanned the Grand river, that at Bridge street, Grand Rapids. Thomas Friant, Sr., father of Thomas Friant, Jr., came to Michigan in 1837 (the year that marked the admission of the state to the Union), and he and others slowly threaded their way through swamps and over Indian trails till they reached the Grand river, at a point where now stands Portland, Ionia county. There they built a raft and then floated down the river to the Baptist mission. On what is now the site of the city of Grand Rapids, Mr. Friant decided to stop his wanderings and to settle in what appeared to him a most desirable location. He was deeply im- pressed with the extent and character of the vast pine forests through which he and his companions had floated. He immediately began clearing the timber that covered the present site of the city. In 1848 he built a saw mill on Rouge river, seven miles up from Grand Rapids, and he continued in the lumber business until his death, in 1887. Of course his son, Thomas Friant, Jr., reared in these surroundings, be- came interested in lumber, and in the passing years he became one of the most prominent and influential representatives of the lumber in- dustry in Michigan.” Carl J. Rittenger was born at Lowell, Kent county, Michigan, May 2, 1894, and there also was born his father, John H. Rittenger, Jr., whose father, John H., Sr., was numbered among the early pioneer settlers of this county. John H. Rittenger, Sr., came with his family from Ohio to Kent county and the govern- ment land that he here obtained, reclaimed and developed still remains in the possession of his descendants, the old homestead farm being now occupied by Ray W. Rittenger, a brother of him whose name in- troduces this sketch. Mary (Jury) Rittenger, wife of John H. Rit- tenger, Jr., was born in England. Carl J. Rittenger continued his studies in the Lowell public schools until he profited by the advantages of the high school, and thereafter he completed a course in the Mc- Lachlan Business University in the city of Grand Rapids. Thereafter he was for some time associated with the White & Friant Lumber Company, and in 1916 he entered civil service work in Washington, D. C. In the World war he was for twenty-seven months in overseas service, at the general headquarters of the American Expeditionary Forces, and in this service he won promotion to the grade of first lieutenant. After receiving his honorable discharge he soon returned to Grand Rapids, in the spring of 1920, but within a short time there- after he took a position in the cost-accounting department of the Ford tractor plant, of Dearborn, Michigan. He there remained only a brief. period, and in May, 1920, he was assigned charge of the Grand Rapids office of the White & Friant Lumber Company, where he has since continued his efficient service as manager. Mr. Rittenger is a Republican, is a member of the York Rite of the Masonic fraternity, his local affiliations are with Malta Lodge, A. F. & A. M.; Columbia Chapter, R. A. M.; Tyre Council, R. & S. M., and Lalakoum Grotto > HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 293 of Grand Rapids. June 8, 1920 Mr. Rittenger wedded Miss Amber O'Meara, daughter of Forrest J. O'Meara, of Grand Rapids, and the one child of this union is a winsome daughter, Margaret Jean. William Geldhof is a native son of Grand Rapids and a repre- sentative of a family whose name has been worthily associated with civic and business affairs in this city during the past forty years. With headquarters in this city he is now general manager of the business of the White Sewing Machine Company throughout all Mich- igan territory with the exception of the city of Detroit, and this executive preferment stands in evidence of his ability and of the high estimate placed upon him by the corporation that he thus represents. The business represented at the Grand Rapids general offices of the company now has a volume ten times as great as that shown when Mr. Geldhof assumed the management, and seventeen sub-offices in the state make regular reports to the general offices in Grand Rapids. Mr. Geldhof was born in Grand Rapids June 11, 1885, and is a son of Abraham and Eberdina (Williamson) Geldhof, who were born and reared in the Netherlands, whence they came to the United States and established their home in Grand Rapids about the year 1875, where their marriage was solemnized. Abraham Geldhof became one of the successful building contractors of this city, and was a prominent and influential citizen of Grand Rapids at the time of his death, January 17, 1907, his widow being still a resident of this city. The public schools of Grand Rapids afforded William Geldhof his early educa- tion and while he was still a boy he found employment as an assistant at a planing machine in the old Quimby manufacturing plant and at a salary of three dollars a week. He was thus employed during summer vacation period, and his ambition led him to secure employment in another factory, where he received five dollars a week. His industry and effective work soon gained him a raise to six dollars a week, and at the age of eighteen years, after having made good advancement in his prior line of occupation, he obtained a position as collector for the Grand Rapids office of the White Sewing Machine Company. Here he found opportunity for advancement, and his faithful and ef- ficient service finally led to his being made assistant manager of the office. His ambition to learn all details of the business led him to acquire practical experience in the sales department, in which like- wise he made an excellent record, and in 1911 he was sent to the city of Chicago, in the capacity of branch manager. There he remained until 1914, when he returned to Grand Rapids, where he held during the ensuing summer the position of salesman and buyer for the Blue Valley Creamery Company. He then resumed his alliance with the White Sewing Machine Company, in the capacity of salesman. In 1918 he was made manager of the company's Grand Rapids territory, which was much enlarged in the following year, and since 1919 he has been general manager of the company's Michigan business and territory outside of the city of Detroit, which alone has a separate jurisdiction. Mr. Geldhof is one of the progressive business men and loyal and popular citizens of his native city, where he takes lively in- 294 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY terest in all things touching civic and material prosperity and advance- ment, and he and his wife are popular in representative social circles of the community. He also is a member of Doric Lodge No. 342, F. & A. M. In 1918 Mr. Geldhof wedded Miss Welda Shinn, daugh- ter of William Shinn, of Grand Rapids, and their beautiful suburban home, at Ottawa Hills, is brightened and vitalized by the presence of their two children, Russell and Marjorie Ruth Geldhof. Albert A. Ginsburg is general manager of the Hayes-Ionia Factories, and thus has executive supervision of one of the large and important industrial concerns in the city of Grand Rapids. In the year 1917, primarily through the influence of Dudley Waters, one of the prominent and forward-looking business men of Grand Rapids, Hector J. Hayes, of the Hayes-Ionia Factories, of Ionia, who was looking for an eligible location for a new and extensive factory, decided to establish this new factory in Grand Rapids. The company purchased the former plant of the Nelson-Matter Company at the corner of Seventh and Muskegon streets, and gave to the same the most modern of equipment for the manufac- turing of automobile bodies, fenders, hoods and other sheet-metal parts. In initiating operations in Grand Rapids the concern gave employment to somewhat more than six hundred men, and the growth of the business in the intervening period has been so great that at the present time the corps of employes at the Grand Rapids establishment of the company comprises more than three thousand persons, including many highly skilled artisans. The bodies pro- duced by the Hayes-Ionia Factories are of composite type, of com- bined wood and metal construction, and the products are in de- mand by automobile manufacturers in all sections of the United States. In the Grand Rapids and Detroit plants of the company are retained fully four thousand employes, and the value of the average output each month is $2,500,000. Hector J. Hayes, founder of the great industrial enterprise of the Hayes-Ionia Factories, was born on a farm in the West Plains district of Ionia county, Michi- gan, four miles north of Muir. As a youth he became actively associated with the bicycle business, in Cleveland, Ohio, and later he became a pioneer in the producing of metal fenders and other accessories for automobiles, his research and experimentation hav- ing resulted in the production of a sheet-metal fender that proved far superior to the earlier bent-wood type. He opened a small a shop in Detroit, where he employed only six men, and a few years later he was employing 1,400 men, his factory at that time having been the largest of its kind in the United States. In 1910 was placed in commission the large factory that Mr. Hayes had erected in Ionia, judicial center of his native county, and since that time the enterprise has continuously expanded in scope and importance, with the indubitable priority as one of the greatest of its kind in the country. Albert A. Ginsburg, general manager of the manu- factories of the Hayes-Ionia corporation, was born at Calumet, Houghton county, Michigan, and after his graduation in the high HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 295 school of that place he entered Detroit University, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1902. In his vacation periods he was variously employed, and his ambition led him to keep a lookout for a line of service in which he could be assured of success and independence. In 1904 he found employment in the Detroit factory of the Hayes-Ionia Company, and by prac- tical experience he learned the technical details of the manufac- turing. He was finally placed in charge of the material depart- ment, and after giving evenings and other spare hours to com- pleting a course in factory management he was made factory accountant for the Hayes-Ionia company. In 1914 he was advanced to the position of assistant manager and assumed charge of the factory at Ionia, and in the World war period he was em- ployed by the government, in 1917-18, in supervising the manu- facturing of aeroplane parts for the war air service. At the close of the war he was given charge of the Grand Rapids factory of the Hayes-Ionia organization, and since 1921 he has been general manager of all of the plants of the company-in Grand Rapids, Detroit and Ionia. J. Russel Jontz. Grand Rapids is one of the relatively few cities in the United States to sponsor the Big Brother movement, and it is a credit to the organizers of the Grand Rapids branch that they had the foresight and the public spirit to make provision for the boys of the city whose environment is such as to not be conducive to the best type of American citizenship. The success with which that movement has met has more than justified the faith of the original incorporators in the plan advanced by Col. Ernest Collier, clerk of the juvenile court of New York City, at whose instigation the Grand Rapids Big Brother movement gathered momentum which ended in the establishment of Big Brothers, Incorporated. During the past seven years the major portion of the administra- tion of the movement in Grand Rapids has rested on the shoulders of the secretary, J. Russel Jontz, whose work in this connection has marked him as an able boy welfare worker. He is a native of Indianapolis, Indiana, where he received his public school educa- tion. After his graduation from DePauw University, Greencastle, . Indiana, he entered Y. M. C. A. work, being sent to South Bend, Indiana, as boys' secretary. His success in working with boys attracted the attention of the directors of Big Brothers, and in February, 1919, he was called to Grand Rapids to take charge of the work there, beginning his duties on the first of February. The Big Brothers organization is a tribute to the unselfish interest of a number of big business men of Grand Rapids who incorporated the organization in 1915. The original incorporators were as fol- lows: Dr. D. H. Dengman, Charles H. Mills, Joseph W. Putman, H. A. Cutler, Herbert A. Goetz, J. R. Fitzpatrick, Oscar J. Fox, Walter S. Palmer, and Harry Sanford. At that time J. B. Lindsley became the secretary and after the lapse of one year Leo McCarthy, of St. Louis, assumed the position, remaining until he was super- 296 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY ceded by Mr. Jontz. Under the management of Mr. Jontz, the Big Brothers organization has done excellent work in aiding delinquent boys, and it is due primarily to the training and ability of Mr. Jontz in boy welfare work that the movement has been as success- ful as it has. Mr. Jontz married Miss Maude MacNab, of Niles, Michi- gan, who has been a constant source of help and encouragement to her husband. William F. McKnight maintained his home in Kent county dur- ing the entire period of his earnest and worthy life, and here he secured vantage-place as an able and representative member of the Michigan bar and also as a business man of exceptional ability and initiative. In the practice of his profession he was legal repre- sentative of divers large and important corporate interests, and at the time of his death he was president of the White River Timber Company, vice-president of the Miami Lumber Company and secre- tary and treasurer of the Dickie Mining Company. He was a member of one of Kent county's oldest families and was born on the parental homestead farm in Cascade township, Kent county, Michigan, July 23, 1863, and his death occurred in his home city of Grand Rapids, May 19, 1918. He was a son of Thomas and Mary (Fitzpatrick) McKnight, both of whom were young when they came with their respective parents from their native Ireland to the United States, where they were reared and educated and where they passed the remainder of their lives, both families hav- ing gained pioneer precedence in Kent county, Michigan. Thomas McKnight, who became one of the substantial farmers and highly respected citizens of Kent county, was a Democrat in politics and he and his wife were zealous communicants of the Catholic church. Mr. McKnight was a son of James and Mary (Quinn) McKnight, who came from Ireland to the United States in 1833 and who es- tablished their residence in this county in 1845, James McKnight having here reclaimed and developed a productive farm in Cas- cade township, and he and his wife having been honored pioneer citizens of the county at the time of their death, their old homestead place having been that on which their grandson, William F., of this memoir, was born. In the public schools of his native county William F. McKnight continued his studies until he was sixteen years of age, and that he profited well by these advantages is shown in his having then passed the examination that proved him eligible for pedagogic service. Through his work as a teacher in the district schools he provided in large measure the funds that enabled him to complete a course in what is now Valparaiso Uni- versity, at Valparaiso, Indiana, and in his graduation in that in- stitution in 1884 he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. There- after he served for a time as superintendent of the public schools of Kankakee, Illinois, and in the meanwhile he gave close attention to the study of law. In 1885 he entered the law department of the University of Michigan, from which he received his degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1887, his admission to the bar of his native state having occurred at Grand Rapids early in the following year, - Part Nuwet HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 297 and this city having continued the central stage of his professional activities during the remainder of his life. In 1890 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Kent county, and his service in this office was characteristically efficient and loyal. Mr. McKnight was one of the foremost Democrats in the United States, and was, indeed, the most prominent member of that party in the state of Michigan. He had a wide acquaintance among public men, having been privileged to number among his personal friends many noted men, among whom were the late President Woodrow Wilson and the hardly less distinguished William Jennings Bryan. At the time of Mr. Bryan's first candidacy for the presidency Mr. McKnight, with Senators White, of California, and Blackburn, of Kentucky, was appointed on a committee to wait upon the Nebraska states- man and arrange the time and place for the announcement of his nomination. Mr. McKnight was á candidate for election to con- gress in 1896. He was a member of the American Bar Association, Association of Commerce, Peninsular Club, Highlands Country Club, Knights of Columbus and Ancient Order of Hibernians. For seven years he was a member of Company B, Grand Rapids, a bat- tery of the Michigan National Guard. Mr. McKnight was widely known throughout the United States and the state of Michigan, and his reputation among the members of the bar was that of a practitioner who always observed the highest ethics of his profes- sion. His personal excellence endeared him to a large circle of friends, while his universal kindness and courtesy commanded the respect and esteem of the community at large. The following ap- peared in the Grand Rapids Herald at the time of his death: "He was a man of strong talents and unusual capacity. Until ill health attacked him he was always prominent in commercial affairs, always ready for a man's part in the battle of life. He was suc- cessful in his chosen profession of law—successful in a diversity of commercial enterprises—successful as a maker of warm friends. His passing will be registered amid sincere regrets, not only in Grand Rapids, but throughout the state.” Mr. McKnight was married on August 20, 1907, to Miss Anna Caulfield, who succeeded him as president and vice-president of the various lumber and mining companies, and of whom special mention is made on other pages of this work. Anna Caulfield McKnight, daughter of the late John and Esther (Egan) Caulfield and widow of Honorable William F. McKnight, finds satisfaction in reverting to the city of Grand Rapids as the place of her nativity and by her personality and culture has won prestige both in the United States and abroad, as art critic and as a lecturer on art and travels. In her work she has gained high repute and has signally honored her home city and state. On other pages of this work appear brief memorial tributes to her father and also her husband, so that a repetition of the data is not demanded in the present review. Mrs. McKnight was born in Grand Rapids and here her earlier educational discipline was received in private 298 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY ( schools. Thereafter she was a student in turn in Sacred Heart Academy in the city of Detroit and in Radcliffe College, affiliated with historic Harvard University. Her splendid powers of ob- servation and absorption have enabled her to profit in the highest degree from the exceptional advantages that have been hers along the line of study and travel in America, Europe and the Orient. Thus it is to be noted that in the domain of art and literary study and criticism, it was her privilege to pass six years of study in the studios, galleries and libraries of London, Paris, Florence and Rome. In the Eternal City she studied under the direction of Commendatore Da Rossi, the distinguished archaeologist, and there also she had the privilege of being received in private au- dience by the late Pope Leo XIII, and in later years by Popes Benedict XV and Pius XI. Her travels and studies have been ex- tended also into Oriental countries, and her broad and vivid culture is of comprehensive and authoritative order, the while she has had a very wide acquaintanceship with men and women of distinction, both in the United States and abroad. On subjects of art and civics Mrs. McKnight has lectured in Paris and London, and many of the large cities of the United States. She was chosen a member of the department of fine arts at the Paris exposition of 1900, where she gave the closing address of the municipal art congress. Prior to her marriage Mrs. McKnight had lectured also before the late President and Mrs. McKinley, members of his cabinet and guests, and at the invitation of Ambassador Cambon had delivered an address at the French Embassy in the city of Washington, D. C. She has appeared also before the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences; the National Arts Club, New York; the Copley Society and Boston Art Club, of Boston; the Chicago Art Institute; Vassar College, and the leading women's clubs of the United States, in- cluding her address before the biennial assembly, in Denver, of the General Federation of Women's Clubs. Through appointment by Michigan governors Mrs. McKnight was a delegate to the Second Pan-American Scientific Congress, Washington, D. C., 1915; to the Panama-Philippine Islands Exposition Congress, San Fran- cisco, in 1915; to the National Civic Federation, Washington, 1911- 12; to the American Civic Association, 1912; to the Fifth National Conservation Congress, 1913; National Rivers and Harbors Con- gress, 1913; fourteenth and fifteenth annual Vocational Art and Industrial Federation Conventions, Chicago, 1914-15; fourth con- vention of the League of Compulsory Education, Detroit, 1914; and the Art Congress in Paris, France, in 1921. Mrs. McKnight is a member of the following named national organizations: Amer- ican Civic Association, American Federation of Arts, Drama League of America; Federation of the Alliance Francaise, and the Better Furnished Home Movement. In the World war period Mrs. McKnight was in service as speaker of the Michigan unit of the Women's Council of National Defense, Liberty Loans and Food Conservation. In cultural and civic affairs in her home city of Grand Rapids, Mrs. McKnight has likewise made her influence HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 299 significantly and benignantly felt. Here she was president of the Ladies' Literary Club three terms when Presidents Wilson, Roose- velt and Taft addressed the club; honorary president and organizer of Alliance Francaise and was president of it for seven terms. She is honorary president of the Drama League and the president of it for eight years; former chairman of Civic Art Committee of the Grand Rapids Association of Commerce; past director of Michigan State Federation of Women's Clubs, Women's National Associa- tion of Commerce and was on the executive committee of the Women's Department of the National Civic Federation. She is a director of the Women's City Club, Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra, St. Mary's Hospital, Family Service Association and is a corporate member of the Welfare Union. She is also a member of the following clubs: Lincoln Republican, Women's City, Ladies' Literary, St. Cecelia, Alliance Francaise, St. Andrew's Women's Clubs and the Art Association. Upon the death of Mr. McKnight she succeeded him as president of the White River Timber Company, vice-president of the Miami Lumber Company and secretary and treasurer of the Dickie Mining Company. In these connections she has shown characteristic loyalty and resource- fulness, and has proved that a woman may be an influential ex- ponent of cultural service and yet be a successful and progressive executive. Mrs. McKnight is a member of St. Andrew's Catholic Church in her native city and maintains her home at 71 North Lafayette avenue. Abram B. Knowlson, president of the A. B. Knowlson Com- pany, dealers in coal and building material in the city of Grand Rapids, with offices at 218 Shepherd building, was a lad of four- teen years when he came to Michigan, and, dependent from that time on his own resources, he has here worked his way forward to the goal of substantial success and has gained a place as one of the representative business men and highly esteemed citizens of Grand Rapids. Mr. Knowlson was born at Albion, New York, and as he was but ten years old at the time of his father's death, his early educational advantages were limited, and he soon began to provide for his own and his widowed mother's maintenance. He came to Michigan in 1865, and in Ingham county he was em- ployed at farm work and also in a grocery store. After remaining in the state about a year he and his mother returned to Niagara county, New York, where he continued his association with farm industry until he was twenty-five years of age. He then returned to Michigan and engaged in the grocery business in Grand Rapids, his modest retail establishment having been at the corner of Bar- clay and East Bridge streets. While thus engaged Mr. Knowlson found it commercially expedient to trade groceries to farmers in exchange for fire-wood, which latter product found ready demand on the part of Grand Rapids citizens in that period. It was thus by virtual accident that Mr. Knowlson initiated his activities in the handling of fuel, and it is interesting to record that at the pres- 300 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY ent time he is at the head of one of the oldest and largest fuel concerns in Grand Rapids, the A. B. Knowlson Company handling coal at both wholesale and retail, besides controlling a substantial business in the handling of varied lines of building materials. Mr. Knowlson has been in the fuel business in this city during the long period of forty-nine years, and in this connection his reputation has constituted a most valuable business asset. In 1912 he incor- porated his business under the title .of the A. B. Knowlson Com- pany, and he has since continued the president of this corporation, besides which he has been for thirty-three years president of the Consumers Ice Company, the largest ice manufacturing and ice distributing concern in southwestern Michigan. In the contract- ing business Mr. Knowlson has been since 1917 one of the princi- pals in the Williams & Knowlson Asphalt Company, which has developed a large contract business in the installing of street pavement, and he is also vice-president and treasurer of the H. A. Hoxie Company, engaged in the cement highway building busi- ness, besides which he is financially interested in other business enterprises in his home city. He was a charter member and a director of the Grand Rapids Board of Trade, the first business men's general organization to be formed in Grand Rapids,. in 1887, and he has ever been loyal and liberal in his support of measures and enterprises tending to advance the welfare of Grand Rapids. In connection with the construction of the Kent county court house Mr. Knowlson held the contract for the wood work. He is a member of the Michigan Contractors Association, is a Repub- a lican in politics, and in the Masonic fraternity he has received the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, besides being a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. In 1878 Mr. Knowlson was united in mar- riage with Miss Mary Collins, who was born in the historic old town of River Rouge, Michigan, where are now established great shops of the Ford Motor Company. Mr. and Mrs. Knowlson have no children Mrs. Knowlson is a zealous member of the First Methodist Episcopal church and has been an active worker in this organization since childhood. She is a daughter of Joel Col- lins, who is numbered among the highly respected citizens of Grand Rapids. William Warren Tanner, vice-president and sales manager of the A. B. Knowlson Company, and for more than half a century a leading factor in the business interests of Grand Rapids, is one of the enterprising and public-spirited men of this city who has made his way to prominence and honorable prestige through his own well directed energy and efforts. Coming to Grand Rapids and entering business life when a boy of fifteen, he essentially grew up with the city during the period of its most marvelous develop- ment, and he has never lost an opportunity to do what he could for the advancement of the best interests of the city which has figured as the stage of his splendid achievements, and in which his activities have been centered for fifty-three years. Mr. Tanner HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 301 was born in Niagara county, New York, July 1, 1857, and is a son of Warren D. and Catherine (Green) Tanner. His parents moved to Kent county, Michigan, in the winter of 1858, and settled on a farm in Gaines township, where the father was engaged in agri- cultural pursuits for many years, and was one of the enterprising and highly respected citizens of that community. William W. Tanner spent his boyhood days upon his mother's farm, where he was taught the habits of industry and economy, and the discipline proved a valuable one during the formative period of his life. His educational advantages were those afforded by the public schools of Kent county, and Swensberg's Commercial Col- lege at Grand Rapids, in which he made good use of his time and opportunity. As a youth he manifested unusual business talent, and in 1872, when only fifteen years of age, he came to Grand Rapids, where he secured a position with the Wheeler and Green Fanning Mill and Milk Safe Factory, which was located on the site where the Berkey and Gay furniture factory now stands, on what is now Monroe avenue. He remained with this concern until 1881, when he became identified with the Ford Furniture Com- pany, on Prescott street, with whom he continued for four years. In 1885 he engaged with the Peninsular Furniture Company, and was with this concern until 1889, when he accepted a position as superintendent of the Fremont Furniture Company at Fremont, Michigan. In 1895 he returned to Grand Rapids, and for the ensu- ing seventeen years he was engaged as traveling salesman for A. B. Knowlson, wholesale dealer in coal, lime and cement. On May 1, 1912, Mr. Knowlson organized a stock company under the title of A. B. Knowlson and Company, of which Mr. Tanner became vice-president, and has since served in this capacity, being one of the active factors in the management of its affairs. Besides his connection with this concern he also has valuable real estate holdings in Grand Rapids, and other financial interests, and has done not a little to further its prestige as one of the leading com- mercial and residence cities in Michigan. Aside from his business activities, Mr. Tanner also finds time and opportunity to give effective co-operation in movements for the social and material betterment of the community, and has ever stood as an exponent of the best type of civic loyalty and progressiveness. His efforts are not confined to lines resulting in individual benefit, but are evident in those fields where general interests and public welfare are involved, and during the many years of his residence here he has wielded definite and benignant influence, both as a citizen and as a man of splendid business ability. He is a Mason in good standing and is also a member of the Modern Woodmen of Amer- ica and of the Kent County Old Settlers Association. He is a Republican in his political affiliation, though he takes no active part in politics aside from casting the weight of his influence for men and measures working for the public good. Mr. Tanner was married August 30, 1882, to Miss Emmaline R. Webster, of Grand 302 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Rapids, Michigan, a daughter of Daniel and Jane (Wallace) Web- ster, and a woman of engaging personality and much beauty of character, and to this union were born two sons: Frank A., of Grand Rapids, and William C., of Peoria, Illinois. The family home for twenty-two years has been at 608 Dolby avenue, S. E., and is a hospitable one, where their friends are always welcome. Charles G. Bullock, secretary and treasurer of the Grand Rapids By P ducts Company, was born at Little Falls, New York, a son of Levi and Angeline (Cool) Bullock, and he was a lad of thirteen years at the time of the family removal to Grand Rapids, his father having become prominently identified with the lumber industry of Michigan. The subject of this review gained his rudimentary edu- cation in the public schools of his native city, and thereafter con- tinued his studies in the public schools of Grand Rapids, besides which he completed a course in the Swensberg Business College. At the age of eighteen years Mr. Bullock entered the employ of the E. P. & S. L. Fuller Lumber Company, and about a year later he took a position in the freight department of the Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee Railroad, which is now a part of the Grand Trunk system. He continued his service with this railroad seven years, and during the ensuing eight years was in charge of the freight department of the Columbia Transfer Company. He next became associated with the Krone & Roden Company, engaged in the hide, fur and tanning business, and in 1922 he became associa- ted with William D. Batt and Peter D. Mohrhardt in purchasing the plant and business of the Grand Rapids Glue Company, this representing one of the oldest of the pioneer industries of the city. The concern was reorganized under the title of the Grand Rapids By Products Company, and the officers of the corporation are as here designated: William D. Batt, president, he being the subject of a personal sketch elsewhere in this work; Peter D. Mohrhardt, vice-president; and Charles G. Bullock, secretary and treasurer. The principal product of the company's factory is high-grade poultry food, for which there is demand throughout the various sections of Michigan, and at the factory a corps of twenty-five employes is retained. The company was the first in Michigan to utilize the dry-rendering system, and its business is now the largest of its kind in the state. The company has recently purchased the Grand Rapids plant formerly used for the manufacture of picric acid, the buildings are being remodeled, new buildings erected, and this large and modern plant is to be the headquarters of the indus- try conducted by the Grand Rapids By Products Company, which has in this new location a land holding of seventeen and one-half acres. The new plant will be in full operation before the time this publication is issued. Andrew Van Ysseldyke is publisher of the Northwestern Weekly, at 310 Leonard N. W. He was born in Grand Rapids on September 10, 1894, a son of Jacob and Cora (Verheyke) Van Ysseldyke. The grandfather of the subject of this narrative, Jacob HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 303 Van Ysseldyke, and his wife came to Grand Rapids in an early day. They had a family of seven children, Leonard, Leonard, William, Jacob, Frank, Mary, Minnie and Maggie. Jacob's wife was the daughter of Andrew and Cornelia (Verheyke). She came to Grand Rapids in 1883 in company with her mother, who brought five daughters, four of whom are now living. Her husband had died in the Netherlands. Andrew's parents had been married in Grand Rapids and had a family of seven children, all of whom are now living. Andrew Van Ysseldyke received his education in the public schools of Grand Rapids, but early in life devoted a necessary portion of his time to learning the printers' trade. Therefore, while yet at the early age of nineteen years, he established the North- western Weekly, which has flourished under his efficient manage- ment until it has not only become a successful enterprise but is now the second oldest community paper in Grand Rapids. Mr. Van Ysseldyke is a young man of rare ability, which cannot be properly and sufficiently delineated within the short confines of this sketch, but for a full appreciation thereof records should have to be made to the many files of his publication. Also commercial printing is done in connection with publishing of the weekly, and he is owner of one of the largest job plants in the city. His busi- ness is established at 310-314 Leonard street, N. W., and its success speaks for his business ability. In religious affiliation he is a member of the Netherland Reformed English church. He was joined in matrimony on September 18, 1919, with Miss Joan Stark, of Grand Rapids, and they have one daughter, Verna Corrine, who was born on August 20, 1920. P. B. Gast & Sons Company. Of the inception and develop- . ment of this prosperous industrial enterprise of Grand Rapids, adequate record is given on other pages of this work, in the personal sketch of Peter B Gast, under the head of Gast Motor Sales Company, and whose son is now in active charge of the same. In 1896, Peter B. Gast and Frank A. Pulte here engaged in the manufacture of laundry and toilet soaps, under the title of Gast & Pulte, with headquarters at 42 South Jefferson street, which street was later named Lexington avenue, and the number changed to 310. The original partnership continued until 1910, when Mr. Gast purchased the interest of his partner and changed the title of the concern to P. B. Gast Soap Company. In 1919 he pur- chased the property at 335-41 Lexington avenue and remodeled it for his growing needs, and added a complete line of laundry and janitor supplies to his soap line. He also took into the business at this time two of his sons, Waldemar B. and Ray A., who immediately took charge of two important departments in the business. The firm name was then changed to P. B. Gast & Sons Company. In 1923 he organized the Gast Motor Sales Company for the purpose of selling and servicing Ford cars, with headquarters at Wealthy, Lake Drive and Norwood streets, and immediately took active charge of the new enterprise leaving his other business in the hands of his son, Waldemar B., who holds the position of treasurer and manager. Waldemar B. Gast was born in 304 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Grand Rapids, September 2, 1900, and after attending the Catholic parochial and high schools took a position with Golden & Boter Trans- fer Company as assistant bookkeeper, until he responded to the higher call of patriotism, when the nation became involved in the World war. He enlisted for service in the United States army and was sent to the military training camp at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, where he re- ceived the discipline that fitted him for service as an officer. The war closed before there came a demand for the service of his command over- seas, and after receiving his honorable discharge he returned to Grand Rapids, where, in 1919, he became active in the affairs of his father's business, holding the position of secretary and treasurer until the or- ganization of the Gast Motor Sales Company, when he became the actual manager of the business. In the five years he has been with the P. B. Gast & Sons Company he has done much to expand the busi- ness, which includes the manufacture of laundry, toilet, liquid and many other soaps, and the handling of varied lines of laundry, janitor and sanitary supplies. He is one of the representative and popular business men of the younger generation in his native city, is a Republican in politics, and is an active communicant of the Catholic church, in the faith of which he was reared. Elijah Hedding Foote, dean of the furniture manufacturers of Grand Rapids, soldier and patriot, was born at Olcott, New York, March 24, 1845, and died at his summer home at Lamont, Michigan, September 9, 1920. He was a son of Elijah and Olivia (Luce) Foote, natives of Canton, New York, and Hubbardton, Vermont. The father was a farmer who came to Detroit via the Great Lakes and continued by ox team to Kent county where he settled on a farm on East Leonard street just outside the city limits of Grand Rapids today. He cleared this farm and lived there until his death in 1863, his wife surviving him until 1883 when she died at Goshen, Indiana. They had three sons and two daughters, all of whom are deceased but one daughter, Mrs. Cyrus E. Perkins. The Foote family is one of English descent, Nathaniel Foote having founded the family in America. He, coming from Shalford, Colches- tershire, in about 1630, settled in Weathersfield, Connecticut, was a magistrate and one of the patentees named in its charter. He died in 1644, aged fifty-one years. His son Nathaniel, born in 1620, married a daughter of Samuel Smith. He died in 1655. The next of the family, Samuel Foote, was born in 1649 and died in 1689 at Hatfield, Massachusetts. The next was Daniel Foote, who was born in 1689 and died in 1740. His son, Lieutenant Samuel Foote, born in 1719, married Louise Loomis, dying in 1775. His son Elijah Foote, was born March 14, 1755, and served three years in the Eighth Connecticut Volunteers in the Revolutionary war. He died in 1828 in New York state. His son Russell Foote, was born in 1777 and married Electa Noble of Westfield, Massachusetts, in 1799. He died April 21, 1817, at Plattsburg, New York. His son Elijah, was the father of Elijah H. Foote of this review. Elijah Hedding Foote at the age of eight years, came to Grand Rapids with his parents, driving overland with an ox team. He received Gook HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 305 his education in the public schools but when the Civil war broke out he enlisted December 22, 1863, although he was but eighteen years of age. He was a member of Company A, Engineers and Mechanics and followed with Sherman in his march to the sea. He was mustered out at Nashville, Tennessee, September 27, 1865. He was in the Battle of Buzzard's Roost, Peach Tree Creek and others and was wounded. The furniture business was in its in- fancy in Grand Rapids at that time but Mr. Foote entered it and thus became one of the pioneers in the business which has made Grand Rapids famous the world over. At first he worked for the Nelson Comstock Company and later with Nelson-Matter Com- pany, which succeeded the former concern. With two others he determined to go into the manufacturing of furniture for himself and the firm of Moore, Foote & Richardson was formed and pros- pered until the panic of 1873. Following that time, Mr. Foote entered into the Grand Rapids Chair Company and in 1880 was made secretary, treasurer and general manager, which title he held until within two years of his death and was vice-president at the time of death. He made the Grand Rapids Chair Company the great and powerful institution it is. In 1918, Mr. Foote was elected vice- president of the Grand Rapids Chair Company and his name con- tinued to stand as vice-president in the institution to the time of his death. He was also president of the Imperial Furniture Company of which he was one of the founders and was also director of the Foote-Reynolds Company. He was at one time president of the Grand Rapids Furniture Manufacturers Association. He also was president of the Michigan Furniture Manufacturers Association. He also had many interests outside of the furniture business and they were both of a business and social nature. He was a director of the Kent State Bank; a life member of the Association of Com- merce; a life member of the Valley City Lodge, F. & A. M.; mem- ber of DeMolay Commandery, K. T.; of DeWitt Clinton Consistory and of the Saladin Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He belonged to the Peninsular Club and to the Kent Country Club. He was appointed commissioner to the Pan- American Exposition by Governor Bliss, and acted as treasurer of the Michigan commission. He served on the board of managers of the Michigan Soldiers' Home in 1903 by appointment of Gov- ernor Warner, and was elected president of the board serving in all eighteen years. He was a life member of the Methodist Episco- pal church, and gave liberally to all churches and hospitals. Mr. Foote was married June 16, 1869, to Frances Howe who died March 23, 1920, and two sons and two daughters of this marriage survive. These are: Will Howe Foote, the artist, of Old Lynne, Connecti- cut, and F. Stuart Foote, Mrs. Clarence S. Dexter, and Mrs. Louis Seal Reynolds, all of Grand Rapids. Captain Russell F. Griffen, who has given and still continues to give valuable constructive service as secretary of the Grand Rapids Citizens League, and who has the further distinction of having been elected in 1924 to the office of secretary of the National Association of 306 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Civic Secretaries, is a native son of whom Grand Rapids has had to hear nothing save good reports. His was distinguished service with the United States army forces in the great World war, and on the blood-stained fields of France and Belgium he lived up to the full tension of the greatest conflict that the world has ever known, the while he won advancement to the rank of captain. Captain Griffen was born in Grand Rapids January 4, 1895, and is a son of Almond and Alpha M.'(Freeman) Griffen, the former of whom was born at Batavia, New York, and the latter at Litchfield, Michigan, she being a daughter of Ralph Freeman. Almond Griffen was long and actively associated with newspaper work and gained high reputation in his chosen profession. He was for years connected with the Grand Rapids Herald, and was in the course of his professional career associated with other papers in this city, as well as with leading metropolitan papers in the east. Almond Griffen now resides in the city of Detroit, where he is editor of the Michigan Invester. After completing his schooling Russell F. Griffen became active in newspaper work. In 1916 Captain Griffen became a member of the Grand Rapids Battalion, Michigan National Guard. With this command he was in service on the Mexican border, and when the nation entered the World war he went to France and received intensive training at the war college at Langres. After receiving commission as second lieutenant he was as- signed to the Thirty-seventh Division of the American Expeditionary Force, this division having been composed almost entirely of units of the Ohio National Guard. With his command he immediately went into action at Chateau Thierry and later took part in the St. Mihiel campaign. Next the command was sent to the Meuse-Argonne sector, where for eleven days it took part in the gallant fight against the desperate German forces, the casualties having been tremendous. The part of the line held by Captain Griffen's company had the distinction of capturing Montfaucon, which was defended by the famous Prus- sian guard during the campaigns of the period of 1914-17 and which was the headquarters of the Crown Prince of Germany. On the 7th of October, 1918, Captain Griffen's command was relieved and sent back for rest and recuperation, but almost immediately thereafter it was again called to the front, to relieve the Sixth division of the French army in Belgium, which had been under constant shell fire for eighteen months and which was rapidly becoming demoralized under this ter- rific tension. The Thirty-seventh and Ninety-first were the only two American divisions to fight on Belgian soil. With his division Cap- tain Griffen there took part in the battle of Lys river, and later in the fighting that took place along the Escault river. along the Escault river. When the allied troops marched into the villages bordering these rivers the citizens learned for the first time that the American forces were aiding in the great war. On the 10th of November, 1918 he was severely wounded and was sent to the hospital near Boulogne, this hospital having been established primarily for the care of wounded officers of the English forces. Captain Griffen remained in the hospital two months, and thereafter was in a convalescent hospital at Nice, and he returned to the United States in January, 1919. After receiving his honorable HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 307 discharge Captain Griffen returned to Grand Rapids, and here, in 1919, he was made assistant secretary of the Grand Rapids Citizens League, which was organized in 1916, mainly through the promotive , influence of Charles W. Garfield, its primary object having been to effect the establishing of the commission manager system of municipal government in the city. The league has recognized leadership in all progressive civic and industrial movements in Grand Rapids, and its influence is large, as its working organization has been brought to a high standard of efficiency. In 1920 Captan Griffen was chosen secre- tary of this fine organization, of which office he has since continued the vital and valued incumbent. He is a Republican in politics, is actively affiliated with the American Legion, the Army and Navy Club and he has membership in the Masonic fraternity together with business and social organizations of representative order. In 1919 was solemn- ized his marriage to Miss Alice B. Leavenworth, daughter of Philip D. Leavenworth, of Grand Rapids, and they are popular figures in the social activities of their home city. Following the reorganization of the Michigan National Guard in 1921, Captain Griffen has been active with the local units, and at the present time is in command of the Howitzer Company, 126th Infantry. Maurice Sluyter has been one of the vital and successful figures in real estate operations in Grand Rapids, and his status in connection with important business activities is notably advanced by his being president of the Belmont Sand & Gravel Company, which was organized by him and which is one of the most important concerns of its kind in Michigan. Mr. Sluyter was born at Holland, Ottawa county, Michigan, April 2, 1886, and was two years of age at the time of the family re- moval to Grand Rapids, where he was reared to adult age and where he supplemented the discipline of the public schools by attending night school after he had become an employe in the press room of the Grand Rapids Herald. He remained with the Herald three years, and later, as a skilled and efficient pressman, he was employed sixteen years in the office of the Grand Rapids Press. His ambition and progressiveness were shown in the meantime by his conducting a general store at Kellogs- ville, seven miles south of Grand Rapids, during the last four years of his service in the press room of the Grand Rapids Press. He con- tinued in the ownership of this mercantile establishment during a period of three years after he had given up the work of his trade, and it was within this period that he gained his initial experience in the real estate business. After selling his mercantile business he was for a time as- sociated with one of the large real estate concerns of Grand Rapids, and finally he engaged in this line of enterprise in an independent way, with a well appointed office in the Building & Loan building. In his real estate operations Mr. Sluyter has specialized in the development and exploitation of suburban property, and his success has been in con- sonance with his energy, discrimination and progressive policies, with the result that he is one of the representative exponents of the real estate business in Kent county. His appreciation of the great industrial value of gravel and sand was quickened by his successful experience in the real estate business, and in 1920 he organized the Belmont Sand 308 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY & Gravel Company, after promoting substantial capitalistic and executive co-operation. He became president of the company at the time of its incorporation; E. W. Stewart is vice-president; Isaac B. Blandford is secretary and general manager, and Henry Van Aalderen is the treas- urer, the offices of the company being in the Building & Loan building. This company has a valuable tract of 156 acres of the best grade of sand and gravel land, has provided the best modern facilities for the handling of the products, and the output finds ready demand throughout the Michigan territory within a radius of 200 miles from Grand Rapids. Fifteen men are employed by the company and the general equipment is conceded to be the most complete and modern in the state. The business of the company has become one of most substantial order and shows a constantly cumulative tendency. Mr. Sluyter is loyal and progressive not only as a business man but also as an appreciative and public spirited citizen. He is a Republican in his political proclivities, and is af- filiated with the Masonic fraternity. Richard R. Bean. One of the largest manufacturing enterprises in Grand Rapids is the Putnam Candy Company whose products are sold throughout the United States and in Canada. That this company is nationally known is due in large measure to the ability and initiative of Richard R. Bean who has been general manager of the business for nearly thirty years. He was born in Yorkshire, England, receiving a public and private school education in his native country. In 1885, he immigrated to the United States and settled at Grand Rapids where he entered the employ of the Old National Bank, remaining with that institution four years. He then bought stock in the Judson Wholesale Grocery Company, and during the following eight years worked as of- fice manager of that concern. At the expiration of that time, he severed his connections with the Judson company. Feeling the need . of a rest from the cares of business, he went to California and at the end of a year returned to Grand Rapids. In 1895 he accepted a posi- tion with the Putnam Candy Company as general manager, a position which he still retains. The company was organized in 1865 as a retail firm by Benjamin W. and Joseph D. Putnam. Two years later the brothers began the manufacture of candy, being associated in this en- terprise with A. E. and H. C. Brooks. This arrangement continued until 1885, the business continually growing and becoming well known throughout the state. In that year, the Brooks interests were sold out, and the concern was incorporated with B. W. Putnam as president. The concern had grown to considerable proportions by 1902, and in that year, the Putnams relinquished their interests to the National Candy Company, of which the concern is still a subsidiary. At the time the Putnam Candy Company was sold to the National Candy Company, Mr. Bean was made a director of the latter corporation and was retained as the manager of the Putnam Candy Company. Under his efficient management, the company has continued to grgow rapidly until today the retail trade of Michigan buy from Putnams and jobbers of the United States, Canada, and even foreign countries are customers of the Grand Rapids concern. Mr. Bean, more than any other individual, is responsible for the growth of the company, and that it is one of the HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 309 ness. most substantial business enterprises in Grand Rapids is shown by the huge volume of business which it handles. Mr. Bean himself, while he is rather quiet and retiring, is a man of forceful personality, and his managerial ability has won his recognition as one of the ablest executives in Grand Rapids. Mr. Bean was president of the National Confectioners' Association of the United States for the years 1922 and 1923. He is also a director of the Clinton Corn Syrup Refining Com- pany of Clinton, Iowa. He is a public spirited citizen of his adopted city, and every movement for civic welfare is accorded his heartiest support. He married Alice L. McCoy, a woman of refinement, personal charm and strength of character. Ira Blossom, general agent for Northwestern Mutual Life Insur- ance Company, has attained success in a long business career, of which over a quarter of a century has been spent in the life insurance business with the company just named. But he came to that business and to that company with a broad foundation acquired in other lines of busi- Ira Blossom was born in Allegan county, Michigan, on August 1, 1868. After finishing his work in the public schools of that county he took a commercial course at Ferris Institute at Big Rapids, Michigan. He launched into business circles through employment for the Falcen Manufacturing Company of Big Rapids. He then engaged in the drug business at Morley, Michigan, for himself for a period of four years. and then he clerked in a drug store at Marquette, Michigan for two years. In 1889 he chose the insurance field and started in that work as an agent for the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company and in the past twenty-six years has advanced steadily with this company. He remained in Marquette until 1905, when he came to Grand Rapids. Here he worked for G. H. Newell, a well known insurance man, who followed that work in Grand Rapids until his death at an advanced age. In 1910, the efficient service of Mr. Blossom was recognized by a part- nership with Mr. Newell and the promotion of Mr. Blossom to a general agency. He and Mr. Newell continued as general agents in partnership until 1920, since which time Mr. Blossom has held that position alone. In addition to his insurance duties, Mr. Blossom is a director in the Industrial Mortgage Investment Company. A very ac- tive interest in educational matters has been displayed by Mr. Blossom by virtue of which he now holds the chairmanship of the educational committee in the Association of Commerce of Grand Rapids. In Ma- sonic circles he is a Knight Templar. He was married in 1892 to Miss Olie M. Gilmer of Big Rapids, Michigan. Mr. Blossom and his wife are members of the Westminster church, in the affairs of which his wife maintains an efficient activity. She is also a member of the . Ladies Literary Club, known as L. L. C. Their children are Clark, born in Morley, Michigan, in 1900, and now engaged in the printing business; Leonard H., born January 11, 1905, and a graduate of the Central high school and now in business with his father, and Chauncey E., born in Grand Rapids on December 25, 1912. Clark Earl Higbee, judge of the Kent county probate court for the past thirteen years, has distinguished his years of service on 310 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY the bench by the sagacity of his decisions and the integrity that has marked his unbroken professional career in the law. The his- tory of the family in America begins with the year 1648 when from Scotland came the Cranston family to settle in Rhode Island and the Higbee family to settle in Connecticut. Ella Cranston, the mother of Judge Higbee, was the daughter of Louis Cranston and married Dr. Louis Edward Higbee, who was born in Niagara county, New York, June 16, 1846, the son of Clark Higbee, grand- father of Judge Higbee. Dr. Higbee came to Michigan in 1854, settling near Williamston, Ingham county, where he reared a family of three children, Hal P., Clark E., and Ida Ruth. Clark Earl Higbee was born in Pottersville, Michigan, April 28, 1883, and there attended the public schools. He was graduated from the Nashville high school in 1901 and then matriculated at the University of Michigan to study law, graduating from that insti- tution with the class of 1906. His first experience in the legal pro- fession was as a law clerk with S. W. Barker, in whose office he worked for approximately a year. In 1907 he was appointed assistant city attorney of Grand Rapids, and his success in this position brought him to the favorable recognition of the members of his profession and the citizenry at large. Accordingly he was elected judge of the Kent county probate court in 1912 and that the people's choice was good is shown in the fact that they have since retained him in that office. His practical sense in counsel influenced his choice as a director of the Industrial bank in 1918, a position which he still fills. Judge Higbee married Grace A. Baker, of Calhoun county, on April 15, 1909. Mrs. Higbee was born July 23, 1886, and graduated from the University of Michi- gan with the class of 1909. Judge and Mrs. Higbee are the parents of four children, Ellen McNeil, Doris Grace, Jane Earl, and Lewis Cranston Higbee. R. B. (Bob) Lacey. The realization of an ambition for the management of which the proprietor fitted himself through hard and conscientious work in allied fields, is the automobile supply company of which Bob B. Lacey is the owner and manager. His. father removed from Angola, Indiana, where he had conducted a photograph studio, to Holland, Michigan, in 1906, where he now operates a studio. He married Jennie Derthrick and to this union were born three children, of whom Bob B. Lacy is the oldest. Bob Lacy was born in Angola, Indiana, and received a graded and high school education in that city. The money with which he financed his education at Olivet college, Michigan, he earned in one summer as a piano salesman, borrowing the money with which to buy his first piano. After his graduation from college, he went on the stage and was, as he puts it, a howling success with the audience doing the howling. For three years he continued in theatricals, three years he considers well spent. He then became a salesman with a Chicago firm and at the end of a year was made sales man- ager for that company, continuing in that position two years. His HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 311 next business venture was with an automobile body company of Chicago, a concern in which he had a part interest. He sold his interest in the company in 1915 and for a year thereafter was sales manager with the Staver Motor Company of that city. Since 1911 Mr. Lacey had been conducting his business career with a view to entering the automobile supply business, and every position which he accepted was taken with the idea that in it he would find ex- perience which would be invaluable to him when he finally went into business for himself. To acquire a knowledge of the funda- mentals of advertising, he worked one year with a large advertis- ing company He spent one year in South Dakota as branch manager of the Clear-O-Scope Company and then returned to Chi- cago where for two years he filled the office of general manager of that concern. By 1919 Mr. Lacey felt that his experience in the automobile supply business and allied lines was sufficient to enable him to make a success of his own company. Casting about for a suitable city in which to locate, he chose Grand Rapids, and though the field seemed crowded to the saturation point, he came to that city. His capital was small, but establishing credit, he soon was able to rent an office in the Murray building. Embarked as head of his own company, Mr. Lacey's past experience in busi- ness told heavily in his favor and from the outset the company enjoyed success. By May, 1920, the business had already grown to such proportions that incorporation was necessary, and when the articles had been ratified, the establishment was removed to larger quarters at No. 3 Fountain street. Under the new arrange- ment, the company grew so rapidly that to seek larger quarters it was forced to move to No. 45 Pearl street. In 1924, the final move was made to the present quarters at 41-43 Cherry street, S. W. As president of his own automobile supply company, Mr. Lacey has become an outstanding figure in the commercial life. The entire state of Michigan and Northern Indiana is the territory which his firm supplies through the medium of seven traveling salesmen. The development of the company is little short of phe- nomenal when it is considered that in Grand Rapids alone there are more concerns engaged in the same field of work than in De- troit, and that Mr. Lacey has risen within a few years to the head of a company which is one of the largest of its kind in such a crowded field, marks him as a man possessed of exceptional busi- ness and executive ability. For his achievement, he is respected and admired by his business associates, who know him for a man of great strength of character, integrity and fairness in his business dealings, and extraordinary managerial abilities. His company in the commercial life of the city occupies a substantial position that has won it recognition as one of the representative enterprises of the city, a name that has been won solely through the tireless energy and close application to duty on the part of Mr. Lacey. He married Vera Hauver, the daughter of Henry Hauver. 312 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY John W. Peirce, one of the pioneers of Grand Rapids, and a man who for nearly forty years played a leading role in the development of this city from its earliest days, passed from the field of earthly endeavors more than fifty years ago, but so marked was his impress upon the growing city that omission of his name from an historical work even of the present day would be a grevious error. Born at Geneseo, Livingston county, New York, on December 4, 1814, one of a family of three sons and three daughters, he was a son of Colonel and Mrs. John Peirce, natives of Virginia who had come to New York state about the time of the War of 1812. John Peirce had won a colonelcy in the New York militia during that conflict, and until about 1830 kept the American and the Fremont hotels at Geneseo, which he had erected. John W. Peirce received a common school education which was supplemented by a limited course of instruction at the Canandaigua Academy, New York. For a time he acted as clerk for Nat Gorham, a merchant of Canandai- gua, but the urge to go west was strong upon him, and in 1835 he went to Detroit, clerking for Jason Swift in that city until Hon. Charles H. Carroll purchased what was then called the "Kent plat” in Grand Rapids. In 1836, young Peirce came to the frontier embryo village of Grand Rapids, cast his lot among the people of that place, then so few in number, and here remained until his death. He opened a book store in one of the two buildings erected by the Kent Company for the United States when it was hoped that the government land office, later established at Ionia, would be awarded to this place. This store was located on the northeast corner of Kent and Bronson streets, a site commemorated by a bronze tablet given by Colonel and Mrs. George G. Briggs and Miss Frances E. Peirce in 1909. Mr. Peirce conducted his book store until 1844 at that location, and then embarked in the dry goods and miscel- laneous trade on the corner of Canal and Erie streets. His suc- cess in this venture was manifest from its inception, and in ten years he was able to erect a handsome three-story brick building on Canal street, which housed his business until destroyed by fire in 1871, entailing a loss of about $30,000. Not discouraged by this castastrophe, he immediately rebuilt his store, and was rapidly recouping his losses when an untimely death took him in his sixtieth year on October 26, 1874. He had amassed a fortune and in so doing had won for himself countless warm friends throughout Kent and adjoining counties by his persistent refusal to sue for debt and the leniency of his dealings with those less fortunate than was he. His interests were varied and many-sided. He was an earnest advocate of all measures which he thought would benefit the city, and in addition to his dry goods business he was for many years the confidential agent of Judge Carroll, of Groveland, New York, who had extensive interests here. He was a member of St. Mark's Episcopal Church and ever one of its ardent sup- porters. Some side lights on the character of this man, to whom the present generation owes so much, are taken from the Grand Rapids Daily Eagle of October 27, 1874. “Another distinguishing John J. Seine HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 313 mark, which many in our midst as they recall the pleasant memories of the past, in connection with the deceased, will dwell upon with no little satisfaction, was his great geniality of disposition, mani- fested toward all. His presence in any society or assembly was always welcome; his quick wit and flow of animal spirits were ‘well springs of delight,' from which any amount of humor and conviviality could be called forth. In his dress and manner of liv- ing he was plain and unostentatious, putting on no 'style' as the world understands that word, but viewing all questions pertaining to the conventionalities of life from a practical, and perhaps severe, democratic standpoint.” Mr. Peirce was married in 1842 to Sarah L., the only daughter of Colonel Amos Roberts, of whom special mention is made hereinafter, and at the time of his death Mr. Peirce was survived by a daughter Julia, who was the wife of Colonel George G. Briggs, Frances E., and a son, A. LeGrand. Mrs. L. Victor Seydel, now residing in Grand Rapids, was before her mar- riage Ethel Cornelia Peirce, daughter of A. LeGrand Peirce and granddaughter of John W. Peirce, and a great-granddaughter of Colonel Amos Roberts, and her children, Frances Louise and Victor Seydel, constitute the fifth generation consecutively living in Grand Rapids. Peter R. L. Peirce, a brother of John W. Peirce, also ranks among the prominent citizens of Grand Rapids' history. He was distinctly a man of broad affairs, and his life was one of influence and usefulness. He was not only a prominent business man of the city, but he was also politically active and a leading layman in St. Mark's Episcopal Church. He was born May 29, 1821, in Geneseo, New York, and came to Grand Rapids when it was but a frontier hamlet. In 1842 he was appointed deputy clerk of Kent county and ex-officio deputy clerk of the circuit court, under and by Hon. Charles H. Taylor. He held this position until he moved to Cin- . cinnati some time in 1843, an interval of seven years elapsing be- fore he returned to Grand Rapids to establish his permanent resi- dence. In 1850 he again made his influence felt in this city, in- terested himself in politics, and in 1854 was elected city clerk. Subsequently he was elected clerk of Kent county and ex-officio clerk of the circuit court, offices which he held for six or seven consecutive terms, and during this time he endeared himself to the court and to members of the legal profession as few could have done. The circuit judges at that time acknowledged Mr. Peirce to be the best clerk in the state. He was then elected mayor of Grand Rapids three consecutive terms, and in 1868 was elected state senator, and in this office his preceding experience was of great value in the revision of the school and poor house laws of the state. At the time of his death, November 12, 1878, he was postmaster of Grand Rapids. The following quotation is taken from a newspaper at the time of Mr. Peirce's death: “His gentle- manly bearing, integrity of purpose, cheerful words and ever liberal hands through many years of private and public life in the Valley 314 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY City have made him widely known and universally esteemed; hence the pulse of the people beat quick on the announcement of his dis- solution and the masses responded with throbbing hearts to his death knell. His funeral was more imposing and attended by a larger number of people, probably, than that of any other person ever buried in this city. A band of thirty-four instruments, two civic societies, two military companies, the fire department, the mail agents, city carriers and post office attaches, all in uniform, and sixty-three carriages were in the street procession and the walks on either side for many blocks were lined with people, men and women, as thickly as they could crowdedly walk." Colonel Amos Roberts, whose only daughter Sarah was the wife of John W. Peirce, was a native of Litchfield, Connecticut, where he was born in 1786. He was married in December, 1809, and resided for some time in Bridgewater, Oneida county, New York; after- wards in Mohawk, Herkimer county, that state. He came to Mich- igan in 1836, locating land in Ionia county, he having received land warrants from the government for his services in the War of 1812. In May, 1838, he removed with his family to Grand Rapids where he resided until his death, November 14, 1873. He established a mer- cantile house known as A. Roberts & Son, located at the foot of Monroe street. He continued successfully in this enterprise until the informaties of advancing age forced him to retire from active business life four years prior to his death. In a memorial tribute paid him by the Grand Rapids Weekly Times, it was said that of him it may with truth be said that he had no enemies and lived in "love and charity” with all mankind, and died true to himself and to all with whom he was thrown in contact. Colonel Roberts was a member of St. Mark's Episcopal Church, and was also an honored member of the Masonic fraternity. Colonel George G. Briggs, patriot, soldier, gentleman, scholar, art connoisseur and patron of the arts passed away at Grand Rapids, December 8, 1912, and in his death there passed one of the long time active business men of the city and one who has left his mark on pages of history of both state and nation. He was born at Livonia, Wayne county, Michigan, January 24, 1838, attended the public schools until he was fourteen years of age, worked in a store at Battle Creek three years, took a course at Olivet College, and for five years was a bookkeeper in a store at Galesburg. In 1858 he became a partner in this concern, the name being changed to Averill, Briggs & Company. In 1862 he disposed of his business interests and organized a company of cavalry which was mustered into the service as part of the old Seventh Michigan Cavalry. He went in as first lieutenant and was successfully promoted to the rank of colonel with command of the regiment, which took part in fifty-six engagements as a part of the Army of the Potomac. He was discharged from the army December, 1865, at Salt Lake City, and immediately established his home at Grand Rapids, where, in the following spring he married Julia R. Peirce, youngest daughter HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 315 a of John W. Peirce. He was at first a member of the dry goods firm of Peirce & Briggs, but in 1869 he became one of the organizers of the Michigan Barrel Company, of which he was secretary and treasurer for seventeen years. He represented Grand Rapids as a member of the state legislature in 1868, and held numerous im- portant positions in the city government. He had interests in many of the leading financial and commercial enterprises of the city. Particularly was he interested in art and the inculcation of its ap- preciation in the minds of the citizenry at large, and his home on Lafayette avenue, northeast, was especially designed for the proper display of his large collection of pictures. Fred A. Maynard is one of the prominent lawyers of Grand Rapids, and he is known not only in his own city but throughout the state as well for his success in trial work and his forcefulness as an advocate in the presentation of his cases. The Maynard family has been linked with the early history of New England and with the development of Michigan from the earliest days. The village of Sudbury, Massachusetts, was founded by John Maynard, an ancestor of the subject of this review, who came from Sudbury, England. John Wesley Maynard, the father of Fred A., came to Michigan with his parents from Dalton, Massachusetts, in May, 1824, the family traveling in the prairie schooner which was the principal means of travel at that time. They settled on 160 acres of land in Washtenaw county to become the first settlers of that county. The farm was located three miles east of what was later to become the village of Ann Arbor. John Maynard was reared on this farm and worked there for several years, after which he went to Ann Arbor where he engaged in the drygoods business. He died in the family home which he had occupied for sixty-three years on Division street, Ann Arbor, on February 18, 1899. His wife was Mary Jane Wilcoxson, the mother of Fred A. Maynard. She came to Michigan with her parents from Elbridge, New York, and her father became one of the most prominent lawyers in the county. He was returning home from a Fourth of July celebra- tion in Jackson, Michigan, one year when a bridge gave way , beneath his horse and he was thrown into the creek, sustaining injuries from which he soon died. Mary Jane (Wilcoxson) May- nard died February 11, 1893. Fred A. Maynard was one of four children born to his parents, the others being Edward L., who served in the Civil war; John William and Charles. Fred A. May- nard, born January 20, 1852, attended the common schools of his home community and then pursued a literary course at the Uni- versity of Michigan, from which he was graduated in 1874. He elected to follow the legal profession and immediately entered the law school at the same university, from which he was graduated in 1876. He then came to Grand Rapids, where he became asso- ciated with the law firm of Taggart, Simmonds & Fletcher as a law clerk. The following year he formed a partnership with Capt. Stephen H. Ballard, who was then the prosecuting attorney for 316 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Kent county, during whose term Mr. Maynard was assisting prose- cuting attorney. In 1880 he was the Republican candidate for election to the office of prosecuting attorney of Kent county. He won the election and served in that capacity two years. Mr. May- nard then formed a partnership with George P. Wanty, who after- ward became United States district judge, and at the end of two years the partnership was dissolved. For a time thereafter, Mr. Maynard practiced alone. In 1886 he was defeated in the race for judge of the superior court by the small plurality of 107 votes. Although he was elected at the polls in November, 1890, for seat in the House of Representatives, a law suit, the outgrowth of the election, was instituted to test the constitution- ality of a section of the election laws. In 1887 he formed a law partnership with the Honorable Henry E. Chase, and in 1889 his appointment to be governor of the territory of Alaska was prom- ised, but later revoked by the president because of Maynard's youth. Mr. Maynard was elected attorney-general of the state of Michigan in 1894. He served a second term in that office and refused to run for a third term although his re-election was vir- tually certain. In 1900 he was a candidate for the office of justice of the supreme court Judge Grant, the incumbent, defeated Mr. Maynard on the sixth ballot. In 1901 Mr. Maynard was appointed special assistant to the United States attorney-general, a position which he filled thirteen years. During this time he was occupied with the extensive land frauds existing in the west, and his first case in this connection was against Senator Clark of Montana. When he gave up his position with the United States government, he returned to Grand Rapids in 1914 and resumed his law practice with Henry E. Chase. Mr. Maynard married the daughter of James M. Nelson, the founder of one of the largest furniture fac- tories in the world. Mrs. Nelson was born September 13, 1849, and died December 8, 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Maynard were the parents of two children: Helen Nelson, born December 29, 1879, who mar- ried Gordon Ireland and has two children, Frederick, born May 20, 1911, and Elizabeth, born April 14, 1914; and James Nelson May- nard, born September 17, 1883, who lives in New York where he is vice-president of the Wood-Flong Corporation. Herbert C. Schneider has developed in the city of Grand Rapids a very substantial business as a dealer in all kinds of soft woods, with special attention given to the sale of such products, in carload lots, to furniture manufacturers and retail dealers. He maintains his office headquarters at 403-4 Murray building, and his residence at 539 Glen- wood avenue, southeast. Mr. Schneider was born in the fine old Quaker city of Richmond, Indiana, July 4, 1885, and is a son of John and Dorothy (Sudhoff) Schneider, the former of whom was born in the state of New York and the latter of whom was born in Germany. At Richmond, John Schneider was long engaged in business as a con- tractor and builder, he having also been a gallant soldier of the Union in the Civil war. . He continued to reside at Richmond until his death, HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 317 in 1904, and there his widow, now eighty-four years of age (1925), still maintains her home, she having been born in 1841 and having been a child of four years when the family came from Germany to the United States. After completing his studies in the high school of his native city Herbert C. Schneider there supplemented this discipline by attending Richmond College. As a youth he became associated with the lumber business, in which connection he was for several years in the employ of a prominent lumber concern in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1908 he came to Grand Rapids, where he has since built up a large and prosperous business as an independent dealer in soft woods, as stated earlier in this review. He is a devotee of golf, is a popular member of the Cascade Hills Country Club, is a member of and active worker in the local Young Men's Christian Association, and he and his wife hold membership in the Baptist church. June 1, 1904, was marked by the marriage of Mr. Schneider to Miss Edith Elmore, daughter of the late A. E. Elmore, who was one of the old-time and honored citizens of Richmond, Indiana, at the time of his death and whose widow is now a loved member of the family circle of Mr. and Mrs. Schneider, of this review, the fourth member of this circle being Arle, the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Schneider, whose birth occurred October 10, 1919. Albert H. Simpson is another of the native sons of Michigan who have made records of successful achievement in connection with important industrial enterprise in the city of Grand Rapids, where he is now president and treasurer of the Grand Rapids Wood Finishing Company. Of the genesis and development of this well ordered con- cern, which has been greatly expanded in the scope and importance of its business under the progressive executive policies of Mr. Simpson, a brief outline may consistently be given. In 1892 John G. Carroll initiated, on a small scale, the manufacturing of paints, with headquarters in a building at 52 Waterloo street, Grand Rapids, and he adopted the title of Grand Rapids Paint & Color Company, under which the business was later incorporated, before the close of that year. At this juncture G. L. Stresenreuter became an interested principal in the business, and it is pleasing to record that S. M. Van Namee, the first superintendent and technical expert of the factory, is still connected with the company, he having done much to advance the upbuilding of the now large and prosperous business. In 1893 Mr. Stresenreuter sold his interest and D. C. Scribner became associated with the business, his financial hold- ings in the connection having been notably increased in the following year. The company then began to give its attention primarily to the manufacturing of high grade wood stains and fillers, and in 1904 the title of the corporation was changed to Grand Rapids Wood Finishing Company, the word paint having been dropped in 1894 and the present title having been adopted. The enterprise was initiated with a corps of only three employes, but excellence of products and efficiency of service caused the business to advance rapidly, with the result that eventually it became necessary to provide larger quarters and more ex- tensive facilities. In 1904 the company purchased the property at 61-71 Ellsworth avenue and there erected the present commodious, sub- stantial and modern manufacturing plant, the equipment of which is of 318 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY the best standard known to this line of industrial enterprise. Here is now retained an average force of thirty employes, and the trade extends throughout the United States and Canada due principally to the pro- gressive policies of Mr. Simpson, the president of the company. There is nothing static but much of the dynamic in the personality of Mr. Simpson, and in business he is never satisfied unless things are moving forward with celerity and efficiency. He thus engaged additional sales- men to represent the company in all of this territory and the business of the company is being substantially promoted. Mr. Simpson came with the company in April, 1905, in the capacity of bookkeeper. Within a few months he was made secretary of the company, and in 1922 he acquired the interest of Mr. Scribner and became president and treasurer of the company, of which June E. Cowlishaw is the secretary, and of which the original, able and valued incumbent, Sidney Van Namee, con- tinues as an advisor. Otto C. Walker is now superintendent. He was without any doubt the most successful stain and filler salesman in the United States and with his sales knowledge he is properly fitted for the manufacturing end of the business knowing well the require- ments of the trade. Mr. Walker came with the firm in 1911 as a sales- man and in 1919 was promoted to superintendent. Mr. Simpson was born and reared in Jackson county, Michigan, where his father settled upon coming from the state of New York. Henry Van Ham is proprietor of the up-to-date vulcanizing company at 138 Ellsworth street. He is a native of Grand Rapids, born on October 28, 1892. His parents, Harm and Susie (Timmer) Van Ham, were both natives of the Netherlands, were married there and came to Grand Rapids in 1883. Here the father died in 1924 at the age of seventy-three years and the mother is still living at sixty-seven years of age. That worthy couple had seven children, six of whom are now living. The father was a general contractor. He and his wife were members of the Franklin Street Christian Reformed Church. Henry Van Ham, the subject of this narrative, was educated in the parochial schools of Grand Rapids. In launching upon his business career he first learned the carpenter trade and followed that for eight years. In 1914 he established his present business, but this he in- terrupted to enter the service of his country in the World war. away from April 29, 1918, until April 19, 1919, during which time he was at Camp Custer for three months and overseas for eight months. His brother Peter, who engaged in business with him in 1914, died at the age of twenty-nine years, on December 10, 1918 while Henry was overseas. After his return to civil life Mr. Van Ham resumed his business responsibilities. His religious affiliation is with the Franklin Street Christian Reformed Church. He was joined in matrimony on October 27, 1921 with Miss Ann Vandenberg of Grand Rapids, and they have one son, Hạrvey, born on October 5, 1923. Jacob Van Vliet, who is at the head of the tailoring establish- ment of Van Vliet Brothers & Viet, of Grand Rapids, was born in Rotterdam, Holland, July 25, 1862, the son of Rutherford and Helen , (Bisdom) Van Vliet, both natives of the Netherlands, where the former He was HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 319 was born October 24, 1835, dying in Grand Rapids, September 28, 1910, and the latter of whom was born August 17, 1836, dying in Grand Rapids, July 17, 1910. He was one of a family of nine children born to his parents, the others being : Helen, born January 27, 1861; Cor- nelia, July 7, 1864; Marie, born July 6, 1866; Magdalena, born July 29, 1868; Herbert, who was born April 3, 1873; John, born May 24, 1875; Dirk, born May 5, 1877, and Nellie, who was born March 27, 1881. Jacob Van Vliet was educated in the Netherlands, and when he had attained the age of twenty-four years he came to the United States, landing here March 16, 1886. He returned to Holland in December, 1888, on a visit, and his glowing accounts of the opportunities in the United States induced his parents to come to this country. He returned March 1, 1889, his parents following two months later. Since the com- pletion of his education, Jacob Van Vliet has followed the tailoring business until now he is the head of the firm of Van Vliet Brothers & Viet, tailors, one of the largest and most favorably recognized in- stitutions of its kind in the city of Grand Rapids. Mr. Van Vliet was married on August 22, 1889, to Miss Gertie Van Buren, the daughter of Jacob and Adriana (Ver Schoor) Van Buren, of Maasland, Nether- lands. To this union have been born nine children as follows: Ruth- erford, May 21, 1890; Jennie, February 3, 1892; Helen, August 24, 1895, the wife of S. C. McEwen; Minnie, September 21, 1897; Ethel, deceased; Ethel June 16, 1900; Richard, October 5, 1903; Jack, de- ceased, and Alice Marie, November 16, 1908. During the World war, Rutherford Van Vliet enlisted in the United States army. He was sent to officers training school at Petersburg, Virginia, where he won the commission of first lieutenant of engineers and was assigned to the 307th Engineers at Camp Funston, Kansas. After the signing of the armistice, he was transferred to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, where he was placed in charge until September 1, 1919. He is now the super- intendent of a gas plant at Mobile, Alabama. Jacob Van Vliet is a Mason, having attained the Consistory. Henry Voet. The largest automobile body, fender, and radia- tor repair shop in Grand Rapids is that owned and operated by Henry Voet who brings to his work experience derived through seventeen years of conscientious application to learning and perfecting his methods. He was born in Muskegon, Michigan, October 6, 1891, the son of Joseph and Josephine (Jaep) Voet, both of whom were natives of Germany, the former now living in Grand Rapids. When Henry Voet was a small boy, his family removed to Grand Rapids where he was educated, attending the public schools. Upon his graduation he went to work in the automobile business in the mechanical end. He worked with various concerns during the ensuing seven years in order that he might learn the various phases of automobile repair work in shops specializing in one or more of these particulars. By the end of that time, he be- lieved that he had acquired sufficient expert knowledge to allow him to go into business for himself. For the past ten years, therefore, he has operated his own company for the rebuilding and repairing of automo- bile bodies, fenders, radiators, lamps, tanks, and windshields. He makes a specialty of rebuilding wrecked cars, and the acetylene welding 320 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY done in his shops is of the best. His shop, located at Ellsworth avenue, Southwest, is the largest of its kind in western Michigan and stands as testimony to the energy and resourcefulness of the owner. Mr. Voet was married on February 4, 1914, to Miss Anna M. Schultz, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Schultz, of Shelby, Michigan. They have one daughter, Edna L., was was born February 20, 1920. In Masonry, Mr. Voet has attained to the degree of Knight Templar and is a member of Malta Lodge and the Shrine and holds membership in the Masonic. Country club. He is also a member of the Kent County Motor club. Henry Smith. No name perhaps claims a more honored place on the roll of those who have been influential in making Michigan floriculture what it is today than does that of Henry Smith, presi- dent of the Henry Smith Floral Company, of Grand Rapids. He has been identified with herbaceous and floral work in Kent county for more than half a century, and has been largely instrumental in developing the widespread appreciation of this enterprise in the community. His gardens, nurseries and greenhouses, which are located near the western limits of the city of Grand Rapids, are the scene of horticultural and floral beauty, and is one of the most picturesque and best known places of its kind in the state of Mich- igan. Besides the company's well equipped greenhouses on Bridge road, northwest, they also maintain an office and salesroom at 52 Monroe avenue, northwest, and are recognized as the leading flor- ists in Kent county. Mr. Smith was born in Kent county in 1857, : and is the only child of the late George and Sarah (Escott) Smith, pioneers of Kent county. His educational advantages were those afforded by the public schools of Grand Rapids, in which he con- tinued his studies until his father's death, in 1874, when he quit school to assist his widowed mother in the operation of the farm, on which is now located the Henry Smith Floral Company's green- houses and nurseries. The flower-growing enterprise was founded by Mr. Smith and his mother, and during the later years of his mother's life he virtually had charge of the business. After his mother's death in 1910, he became sole proprietor and under his able management the business continued to grow rapidly. In 1921 the Henry Smith Floral Company was incorporated to properly handle the steadily growing trade. Henry Smith was made presi- dent of the corporation and has since served in this capacity. The other officers of the corporation are Frances L. Robinson, vice- president; William T. Sanders, secretary, and Josiah W. Brown, treasurer. The concern takes precedence over all other enterprises of its kind in Kent county, both in prolonged period of operation and in the scope and importance of business controlled and its status has long been one of prominence in connection with the rep- resentative activities of the country. For many years Mr. Smith's time and energy have been devoted to the building up of this great enterprise, and its present prosperity may be attributed in no small degree to his able management and untiring efforts. His career has been one of secure and consecutive progress, and in all Bunny Sunith HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 321 his dealings his course has been marked by inflexible integrity and honor. Besides his connection with this corporation he is also interested in numerous other enterprises and his progressive spirit is evident in many ways. He is a stockholder in the American Box Board Company, the Browning Hotel Company, the Rowe Hotel Company and various other concerns. He also finds time and opportunity to give effective co-operation in movements for the social and material betterment of the community, and has ever stood as an exponent of the best type of civic loyalty and progres- siveness. His efforts are not confined to lines resulting in in- dividual benefit, but are evident in those fields where general in- terests and public welfare are involved, and during the many years of his residence here he has wielded definite and benignant in- fluence, both as a citizen and as a man of splendid business ability. He is a member of the Grand Rapids Association of Commerce and of the Second Street Methodist Episcopal Church and the Young Men's Christian Association, and is prominent in both business and social circles. Fred H. Hirth, as a contractor and as a manufacturer of and dealer in cut stone, marble and granite for building purposes, has the modern establishment at 244-54 Pike street, Northwest, and has in all departments the best of mechanical equipment and accessories, Mr. Hirth was born in Trenton, New Jersey, July 9, 1868, and is a son of Anton and Augusta Frederica (Beck) Hirth, who were born in Ger- many. The father is living in Grand Rapids, retired from active busi- ness. Anton Hirth came with his family to Grand Rapids in 1872, when his son Fred H., of this review, was four years of age, and in that year he was foreman in the execution of the cut-stone work on the Fountain Street Baptist Church. Thereafter he formed a partnership with Charles Schmidt. Mr. Hirth became one of the leading exponents of this line of business in this section of Michigan and after many years of successful operation he retired. Fred H. Hirth gained his early education in the schools of Grand Rapids, and was a lad of fifteen years when he became associated with his father's business, in 1883. Under the able direction of his father he gained knowledge and skill in all departments of the business, and for forty-two years he has con- tinued his activities in this line of enterprise in the location that is the site of his present modern and model plant. In furthering his equipment for his chosen sphere of activity Mr. Hirth advanced his knowledge of mathematics by a course in the Swensberg Commercial College; thereafter he studied under the preceptorship of a prominent architect, and he acquired specific knowledge of trigonometry, geometry, and algebra, all of which have definite bearing on the technical service he has been called upon to render in his business. His thorough knowledge of architectural work and its requirements, as coupled with his technical skill, ability and effective service has gained for him a well-established business. His word is his bond. He has traveled in America and Europe, has thus had opportunity to study the most ap- proved methods of cut-stone construction work, and has fortified him- self for the highest grade of building construction service along his 322 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY chosen line. He has done contract work under some of the leading American architects. In Grand Rapids he has thus been concerned in the erection of many important buildings. He is a member of the As- sociation of Commerce and the local Builders and Traders Exchange, and he has membership also in the International Cut Stone and Quarry- men's Association. His home is his club house and his wife and daughter are his companions there. Charles F. Jeffers has been engaged in the general insurance business in Grand Rapids during a period of twenty years, and has de- veloped a substantial and prosperous underwriting enterprise that is conducted under the title of Jeffers & Company, with offices in the building of the Home State Bank. Mr. Jeffers is a scion of one of the sterling pioneer families of Michigan, and his birth occurred in the city of Muskegon, this state, November 15, 1868. He is a son of 12eph and Mary (Lansiff) Jeffers. Zeph Jeffers came to Michigan in 1858 and established his residence in Muskegon county, where he passed the re- mainder of his life. As an expert saw operator and filer he was actively identified with the great lumber manufacturing operations that long constituted the principal industry of western Michigan, and he was one of the honored and well known pioneer citizens of Muskegon at the time of his death, in 1894, his widow having survived him by nearly a quarter of a century and having been of venerable age at the time of her death, in 1918. In the public schools of Muskegon Charles F. Jeffers continued his studies until he had completed a partial course in the high school, and after leaving school he identified himself with newspaper work—a medium for the acquirement of the equivalent of a liberal education. Mr. Jeffers made a record of successful service as a reporter for the Muskegon Morning News, and later he served ef- fectively on the reportorial staffs of the Grand Rapids Press, the Grand Rapids Post, and the Grand Rapids Herald. For a time he held a po- sition with the City Press Association of Chicago, and it was fully twenty years ago that he returned to Grand Rapids and established the general insurance agency that he has since continued to conduct with marked success. He has in recent years given more or less attention to real estate operations, in the handling of properties owned by him, and at the time of this writing, in the summer of 1925, he is platting an addition to Grand Rapids, the same to be known as the Paris Park ad- dition. Mr. Jeffers is a Republican in his political alignment, is affili- ated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Loyal Order of Moose, besides which he is eligible for membership in the Sons of Veterans, as his father was a gallant soldier of the Old Third Michigan Volunteer Infantry, in the Civil war. In 1907 Mr. Jeffers was united in marriage to Miss Bertha M. Robinson, who was born at Lowell, this state, a daughter of Oscar and Lucinda R. (Hunt) Robin- Mr. and Mrs. Jeffers have no children. Siegel Wright Judd is making his influence felt in successful and worthy achievement as one of the representative younger members of the Grand Rapids bar, and the record he is making is the more interesting to note by reason of the fact that he is a son. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 323 native son of Grand Rapids, his birth having occurred here June 19, 1895. He is a son of Edward C. and Lillian V. (Wright) Judd, who still reside in this city, where the father established his home in the year 1880. In the Central high school of Grand Rapids Siegel W. Judd was graduated in 1914, and in historic old Dart- mouth College he was graduated as a member of the class of 1918, with the degree of Bachelor of Science. In May, 1917, shortly after the nation became involved in the World war, Mr. Judd enlisted in the United States navy, in which he continued his ser- vice, largely as an ensign on the battleship Pennsylvania, until the close of the war, he having received his honorable discharge in June, 1919. In 1921 he was graduated in the law department of the University of Michigan, and his admission to the bar was vir- tually coincident with his reception of the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In the practice of his profession in Grand Rapids Mr. Judd has been associated with the representative law firm of Travis, Merrick, Warner and Johnson. He is a member of the Grand Rapids Bar Association and the University Club, and he attends and supports the Fountain Street Baptist church, of which his wife is an active member. June 29, 1922, Mr. Judd married Miss Dor- cthy Leonard, who was born and reared in Grand Rapids and who is a representative of a family that has long been prominent and influential in the civic and industrial history of this city, where her father, Harry Leonard, is vice-president of H. Leonard & Sons, and treasurer of the Grand Rapids Refrigerator Company. Edmond C. Krapp, secretary and treasurer of the Thomas- Krapp Motor Sales Company, the well equipped establishment of which is maintained at 1838-42 Division avenue, south, in the city of Grand Rapids, is contributing his full share to the large and successful business advancement of this representative concern, which here has the sales agency for the Ford and Lincoln automo- biles and the Fordson tractors. Of the business more detailed mention is made on another page of this volume, in the personal sketch of George E. Thomas, who is the vice-president of the company. Mr. Krapp was born in the city of Detroit, Michigan, November 23, 1890, and is a son of Gustave and Mary (Alfes) Krapp, who still reside in that city, where the father has been for many years engaged in the drygoods business. After complet- ing his studies in the Detroit high school Edmond C. Krapp com- pleted a course in the Detroit Business College, and he continued to be associated with his father's drygoods business until he turned his attention to real estate enterprise in his native city and county. He thus was engaged in Detroit until 1922, since which year he has been secretary and treasurer of the Thomas-Krapp Motor Sales Company, with standing as one of the reliable, alert and progres- sive business men of the younger generation in Grand Rapids. Mr. Krapp and his wife are earnest communicants of St. Francis Cath- olic church, he is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus, and he is a loyal member of the Grand Rapids Board of Commerce. In the 324 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY World war period Mr. Krapp was for one year in active service with the American Expeditionary Forces overseas, as a member of the Three Hundred and Thirtieth Field Artillery, Eighty-sixth Division. February 6, 1915, Mr. Krapp was united in marriage to Miss Emily Thomas, sister of George E. Thomas, in whose per- sonal sketch in this work is given adequate record concerning the family. Mrs. Krapp lived only a few months after her marriage, her death having occurred in December, 1915. The second mar- riage of Mr. Krapp was solemnized September 8, 1924, when Miss Agatha, daughter of Frank Marshall, of Detroit, became his wife, and she is the popular chatelaine of their pleasant home, at 2135 Francis avenue, southeast. George W. King, proprietor of the Rex Machine Company, is one of the able manufacturers of Grand Rapids. He was born in Bay City, Michigan, August 31, 1884, the son of Charley and Anna (McDonald) King, the former of whom was born in Bay county, Michigan, and the latter in Canada. Both of the parents of George King were of Scotch descent. His father is now dead, but his mother is still living in Grand Rapids. George W. King was edu- cated in the public schools of Bay City, after which he became an apprentice to the machinist's trade. While he was serving his ap- prenticeship in this work, he worked during the days and studied tool designing in the evenings. He followed his trade in various cities when he completed his apprenticeship. He then entered the employ of the New York Central railroad as a machinist. At the end of three years he was made master mechanic, holding that posi- tion for seven years. In 1916 he came to Grand Rapids and in May of that year purchased the Rex Machine Company, which he still operates. The company has been doing general machine work and special machine building, the latter work being one in which it excels, due to the early training of Mr. King in tool and machine design. During the World War the company was called upon to do war work for the government and the plant was given over entirely to the making of airplane parts for use in the famous Liberty planes developed by the United States government. Mr. King has built up an excellent trade in Grand Rapids, where the quality of the work turned out from his plant is regarded as among the best in the city. He maintains a thoroughly modern plant at 437 Leonard street, N. W. He was married in 1910 to Miss Nellie V. Chase, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Chase, of Luding- ton, Michigan, and to Mr. and Mrs. King have been born two chil- dren, Lorraine, born April 19, 1921, and Margaret, born March 18, 1922. Mr. King is a member of the Grand Rapids Masonic lodge and is very active in the work of that organization. William J. Kennedy. When the potato famine swept Ireland, Andrew D. Kennedy, who was born there, left his native country to come to the United States. In New York state he found em- ployment on the construction gangs building the Erie canal and in that work earned enough money to take him to his ultimate desti- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 325 nation, a farm near Hastings, Barry county, Michigan. On this farm was born William J. Kennedy, his son, destined to be the head of one of the largest manufacturing enterprises of Grand Rapids. In 1889 William Kennedy set out for Grand Rapids, tak- ing with him a fine team of horses. The animals he sold upon his arrival in Grand Rapids, and with this meager capital in hand he cast about for a likely investment. His education had carried him through two years at the University of Michigan, which he left after the death of his mother in 1884. His mental training, there- fore, was of the best and well calculated to take him to the heights which he later attained. He had the distinction of playing with the first football team that played outside of the state of Michigan, which was the third year that they had a team. He learned when he began to search for a business in which to invest his money that Hubbard, of the firm of Driggs and Hubbard, bed spring and mattress manufacturers, was willing to sell his interests in the company. To a competitor in the same business went young Ken- nedy to ask whether or not there was any prospect of making a success of the business. He received the reply that if he wished to starve to death he should enter that business. Such an answer aroused his fighting Irish blood, and he immediately returned to the little shop at Bridge (now Michigan) and Mount Vernon streets, where the necessary papers for the sale of Hubbard's inter- ests to Kennedy were drawn up. The new partners, A. T. Driggs and William J. Kennedy, immediately changed the name to that of the Hot Blast Feather Company. From the establishment of the partnership and the injection of new blood into a stagnating firm, the business of the company began to revive and soon larger quarters were needed to accommodate the plant. The old Brush building then became the home of the company, but when still further expansion necessitated another change the partners bought the building in the rear of the Voight Mills in 1900. The company continued a partnership until 1903, when Mr. Kennedy bought out his partner, A. T. Driggs, and in December of that year incorpor- ated the enterprise. The first officers of the corporation were: Lorenzo D. Field, president; William J. Kennedy secretary- treasurer and general manager. Of the twelve men who made up the original organization, Tony Fox, Charles Verstay, Henry Stel- wagon, and Theodore Fellmer, are still associated with the com- pany. In 1905 the offices and the spring department of the plant were moved to a building at the corner of Pearl and Front streets. The products of the company at that time were mattresses, bed springs, and pillows. The territory forming a market for the com- pany's output was the entire state of Michigan and as the state grew the volume of trade expanded accordingly. In 1913 the name of the firm was changed to that of the Grand Rapids Bed- ding Company, and new officers were installed, William J. Ken- nedy becoming president; Aubrey T. Kennedy, vice-president; George Hollister, secretary, and Tony Fox, treasurer. The con- 326 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY stant increase in the volume of business required still another en- largement of quarters, and in 1914 the five-story brick building still owned by the company and located at 52-64 Summer street was purchased and occupied at once. Mr. Kennedy retired from the active management of the company, of which had been the head for so many years, in 1919, and took the position of chairman of the board of directors, his son, Aubrey T., taking the presidency. Mr. Kennedy, the founder of the company, died December 17, 1922, bringing to a close one of the most interesting business careers carried to a rich fulfillment in Grand Rapids. His name as a business man was unimpeachable among his associates, and his achievement in building up the business that he did, stands as one of the prominent phases of the industrial development of Grand Rapids. Aubrey T. Kennedy, who is so ably filling the position left vacant by his father, was born in 1892 in Grand Rapids, where he attended the public and the Central high schools. When he had completed three years at the Michigan Agricultural college, he returned to Grand Rapids to enter his father's business. His busi- ness career was interrupted by the outbreak of the World war. Mr. Kennedy enlisted in the engineers corps but was transferred to the infantry as second lieutenant, soon afterward being promoted to the rank of first lieutenant. After his discharge from the army, he returned to Grand Rapids, where he resumed his duties with the company of which he soon became president. Like his father before him, he is regarded as one of the able young business execu- tives of Grand Rapids. The Grand Rapids Bedding Company now employs 115 men, and with the trade constantly growing, the officers of the company expect the size of the plant to be increased during the coming years. Mr. Kennedy married Amelia Martini, a native of Grand Rapids, a woman of great personal charm and beauty of character. Willard J. Kingsbury is the district manager of the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States for the district com- prising twelve counties in southwestern Michigan, and with admin- istrative headquarters in the city of Grand Rapids, where he main- tains well appointed offices in the Grand Rapids Savings Bank building. Mr. Kingsbury was born on the parental homestead farm in Lapeer township, Lapeer county, Michigan, November 27, 1876, and is a son of John C. and Almira (Decker) Kingsbury, who now maintain their home in Grand Rapids, the former having been born on the same ancestral farm in Lapeer county as was his son Willard J., and Mrs. Kingsbury having been born at Orion, Oak- land county. The Kingsbury family was founded in America in the early colonial era and is one of no minor distinction in the ancient annals of England, in which country its representatives have figured as lords, knights, military leaders, clergymen, educa- tors and statesmen. The lineage is traced back in England to the time of the Saxon kings, and the family name is said to have been given in the reign of King Charles I, by reason of the prominent HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 327 part taken by a member, or members, of the family in the burial of one of the Saxon kings. Of this family line in England William Shakespeare was a representative, and in America a distinguished scion was the great Daniel Webster. Kingsbury men have been soldiers in every war in which this nation has been involved, and one or more gained distinction as patriots in the Continental Line in the war of the Revolution. From England Henry Kingsbury accompanied Governor Winthrop to America, and his disembarka- tion at Charleston, Massachusetts, occurred in the year 1630. In his native county the early educational discipline of Willard J. Kingsbury included that of the high school at Lapeer, and his youthful ambition to become a lawyer was deflected by the de- mands placed upon him in connection with the work of the home farm. He remained on the farm until he had attained to the age of nineteen years, and in 1895 he assumed the position of clerk in one of the leading hotels at Pontiac, the Rose House, where he con- tinued his service six years. In 1902 he became proprietor of the Central House, a well ordered hotel at Greenville, and this he con- ducted six years. His twelve years of association with the hotel business enabled him to become acquainted with many leading men of Michigan and to gain distinct popularity with the traveling public. After leaving the hotel at Greenville Mr. Kingsbury was for ten years a traveling representative for Taylor Brothers, of Rochester, New York, the largest of the world's manufacturers of thermometers. In 1918 the department of the business that he thus represented was eliminated, owing to conditions that followed the nation's entrance into the World war, and it was at this junc- ture that Mr. Kingsbury initiated his service with the great Equit- able Life Assurance Society. After serving as an agent for this important corporation six months he was appointed its district manager for southwestern Michigan, with headquarters in Kala- mazoo, and further recognition of his efficiency and constructive service came in 1921, when he was transferred to Grand Rapids and given supervision of the district of southwestern Michigan, with jurisdiction over twelve counties, including Kalamazoo county. He has made a splendid record in expanding the business of the Equitable Life within his assigned and important territory, and he has membership in the National Underwriters Association, as well as in the Michigan and the Grand Rapids organizations of insurance underwriters. His political alignment is in the ranks of the Republican party, and both he and his wife are active mem- bers of the First Methodist Episcopal church of Grand Rapids, he being now president (1925) of the Methodist Union in this city and especially active in the Sunday School of his church. He served as Sunday School superintendent while a resident of Kalamazoo and also while residing in Albion. In 1900 Mr. Kingsbury wedded Miss Eva Blanche Elwell, of Pontiac, and they have four children: Josef Ronald, Willard J., Jr., Jean Alice, and Evelyn Blanche. Josef R. Kingsbury, who is eighteen years of age at the time of this 328 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY writing, has exceptional musical talent, has received excellent advantages in cultivating this talent, has played the violin since he was a lad of nine years, and is now a teacher of the violin in the musical department of the Grand Rapids public schools, besides which he has been called upon for violin interpretations in radio broadcasting William C. Hopson. To relatively few men is it granted to be a success in business even from their first ventures in their youth, but William C. Hopson, proprietor of the manufacturing company which bears his name, located in Grand Rapids, is one of those few men; his name to business men in his city is synonymous with success and sterling integrity. He was born in Toledo, Ohio, October 21, 1856, a son of William and Mary J. (Lee) Hopson, both of whom were born in Ireland of English parentage. John Lee, the maternal grandfather of our subject, went to Ireland in the employ of the English government as a locksmith and after his death his two daughters came to Canada and then to Detroit, where Mary J. Lee married William Hopson after the death of her sister. William Hopson, the father of our subject, came to the United States with his parents. When he became of age, he, like his father before him, took up the trade of blacksmith. He moved to Toledo in 1855 and after a short sojourn there, went back to Mich- igan working in various cities. He finally settled in Ypsilanti where he remained until the time of his death in 1868 at the age of forty-five years. His widow died at the age of fifty-eight years. He was highly skilled in his trade and was an expert in high grade carriage trimming and similar work. William C. Hopson went to work when he was ten years of age, and three years later he came to Grand Rapids with his mother in 1870. A short time after his arrival in Grand Rapids, he considered returning to his former home but was persuaded to remain by friends. Knowing that he must get work of some kind, he borrowed money from his mother and erected a small building, five feet by eight, on Monroe street where he began a candy business. This building was on the site of the old National Hotel, now the Morton House, and later he moved to the Powers Arcade, finally locating at the west end of the Bridge street bridge. From the first his venture was a success, his first day's sale amounting to one hundred dollars, the day, the Fourth of July, having been an excellent one in the candy trade. His suc- cess in this business continued unabated, and during this time he also acted as assistant circulator of the Daily Morning Times. At the age of seventeen, he gave up his schooling to enter the employ of the Schriver-Weatherly Company with which he continued eight years. In 1881 he decided to go into business for himself, beginning in a small way the manufacture of galvanized iron and tin products and metal cornices. This enterprise was first located at 16 Huron street, but in 1885 was moved to No. 9 Pearl street, and in 1890 to the corner of Louis and Campau streets. His business enjoyed a steady and healthy growth under his direction, develop- ing to such an extent that in 1895, after fifteen years of successful 2.C. Hopson HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 329 operation, he went into the wholesale end of the business, gradu- ally discontinuing the outside contract work he had continued so long. The expansion of his business forced him to erect a four- story building, sixty-six by one hundred feet, at 25-27-29 Campau street, which he did in 1898. After two years the building burned down, and though the blow was a severe one coming at such a time, he rebuilt immediately, and continued the operation of the building there until 1911. At that time he built his present plant at 216-18-20 Ellsworth avenue; a five-story structure, sixty-six by one hundred and forty feet in size. His plant manufactures metal ceilings, galvanized iron cornices and other similar products. The ceaseless effort which Mr. Hopson has put into the management and development of his business, the sterling integrity that he has exercised in all his business dealings, have worked for the pros- perity which he has won. His achievement in building up one of the strongest and largest enterprises of its kind in the state has won him recognition among his business associates as one of the able executives in the city. In 1920 he incorporated the business, and at that time his bigness of character was never more evident, for he made the concern a co-operative one in which the older employes share. It was the act of a far-sighted and a just man, and he holds the love and respect of all his employes. On Septem- ber 19, 1889, he married Frankie M. Hydorn, and to this union were born two children, William Earl and Lucille I., who is now Mrs. Francis T. Russell, of Grand Rapids. Mr. Hopson is a Mason, a member of the Association of Commerce, the Builders' Exchange and the Highland Golf Club. Golf Club. He is a trustee of the Fountain Street Baptist Church, is chairman of the property committee of that church, and was a member of the building committee when the new church was erected. He built his present home in the year 1918 at 520 Madison avenue. Walter O. Krieger is a scion of the third generation of the Krieger family in Grand Rapids, and is prominently associated with the industrial and commercial interests of his native city. He and his father are the principals of the Sterling Veneer Com- pany, which was organized by them in December, 1918, and which , has developed a fine business in the importation and manufacturing of mahogany and other high-grade cabinet woods into the best types of veneer, the province of the enterprise including also the manufacturing of mahogany and walnut lumber. The concern con- fines its operations exclusively to supplying the furniture and piano manufacturing trade, and both Otto and Walter O. Krieger, father and son, are known as authorities in valuing materials in their chosen field of industrial and commercial enterprise, in which they have become widely known to furniture manufacturers and dealers. The offices of the company are maintained in the Federal Square building. Walter O. Krieger was born in Grand Rapids July 3, 1898, and is a son of Otto and Anna (Breidenstein) Krieger, the former of whom was born in Germany and the latter in Grand Rapids, where her parents established their home in an early day. 330 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Otto Krieger was a mere boy when he accompanied his parents from Germany to the United States, where the home was estab- lished in Grand Rapids, he having been reared and educated here and his association with the furniture industry having here had its inception when he was a youth. He has continued as one of the staunch and progressive citizens and enterprising business men of Grand Rapids and is now the executive head of the Sterling Veneer Company. After completing his studies in the high school Walter O. Krieger was for several years employed in lumber offices in Grand Rapids, and finally he became associated with his father in establishing the now important and flourishing business conducted under the title of the Sterling Veneer Company. Mr. Krieger has had no desire for political activity, but gives loyal allegiance to the cause of the Republican party. He and his wife are communicants of St. Mark's church, Protestant Episcopal. April 24, 1917, was marked by the marriage of Mr. Krieger to Miss Lorraine Maas, who likewise was born and reared in Grand Rapids and who is a daughter of Joseph and Louise (Kautenberg) Maas, who are numbered among the highly respected citizens of Grand Rapids. Mr. and Mrs. Krieger have one child, Gerald Walter, who was born January 31, 1920. Mr. Krieger has recently completed a beautiful residence in the English style of architecture and situ- ated at 415 Cambridge boulevard. He and his wife have reason to be proud of this attractive home, which is consistently to be listed among the best of the modern residences of Grand Rapids. In the time-honored Masonic fraternity Mr. Krieger has completed the circle of the Scottish Rites, of which he has received the thirty- second degree, besides which he is also a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. Rue S. Link has been a resident of Grand Rapids since 1921, has proved himself a loyal and progressive citizen and has gained rank as one of the representative young business men of Michigan's Valley City, he being here successfully established in the invest- ment banking business, as one of the principals of the corporation of Link, Petter & Company, with headquarters at 6051/2 Michigan Trust building. Mr. Link was born at Paris, Edgar county, Illi- nois, September 26, 1895, and is a son of Edgar H. and Lillian (Coffey) Link, who still reside in that vital little Illinois city, where Edgar H. Link is engaged in the wholesale grocery busi- ness. After his graduation in the high school of his native city, Rue S. Link entered the University of Illinois. In the World war period Mr. Link was in active service at Chanute Field, Rantoul, Illinois, where he gained the rank of second lieutenant and where he was made head instructor in the aviation department. After the close of the war he went to Chicago, where he became a sales- man with Merrill, Cox & Company, commercial bankers, and was assigned to the branch office in the city of Omaha, Nebraska, whence he was later transferred to Atlanta, Georgia, as manager of the firm's branch office in that city. Upon his return to Chicago HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 331 he became assistant buyer for this firm, and there he was later associated with Halsey, Stuart & Company. In 1921 Mr. Link came to Grand Rapids and organized the investment banking cor- poration of Byron, Link & Clark. He later purchased the interests of his associates and then formed a merger with another local concern, the business having since been successfully continued under the title of Link, Petter & Company. Mr. Link is a member of the Investment Bankers Association of America, and he is a loyal member of the Grand Rapids Association of Commerce. His Masonic affiliation is with York Lodge; at Grand Rapids he has membership in the Masonic Country Club, the Peninsular Club, and Highlands Country Club, besides which he is a member of the Aero Club of America and of the Muskegon Country Club, Muskegon, Michigan. In Grand Rapids, Mr. Link maintains his residence in the home of Siegel W. Judd, of whom individual men- tion is made on another page of this book. The political align- ment of Mr. Link is in the ranks of the Republican party. Pierre Lindhout, registered architect and construction superin- tendent, has demonstrated and expressed in material results the exceptional ability that is his in the technical and artistic phases of his chosen profession, of which he is one of the leading expon- ents in the city of Grand Rapids, with offices in suite 539-543 Mich- igan Trust building. Mr. Lindhout was born in Belgium, June 23, 1887, and is a son of William L. and Josephine (Meyers), Lind- hout, who now maintain their home in Grand Rapids. William L. Lindhout is a skilled architect and draftsman and had success- fully followed his profession in Belgium prior to coming with his family to the United States. In Grand Rapids he is retained as draftsman for the Welch Manufacturing Company, one of the im- portant industrial concerns of the city. Pierre Lindhout received his education in the admirable institutions of his native land, his advantages having included those of the Royal Academy of Art, at Antwerp, where he specialized in shipbuilding architecture. Before completing this course in this historic institution he came to the United States, in March, 1903, to join his parents in Grand Rapids, where they had preceded him by about two years. Here he assumed a position in the offices of the representative archi- tectural firm of Osgood & Osgood, and in order to familiarize him- self with the English language, he here attended the public schools four months. He continued his association with Osgood & Osgood during a period of five years, and he then, in April, 1909, engaged independently in business as an architect and building superin- tendent. Mr. Lindhout has given himself earnestly and success- fully to his chosen profession, in which he gives special attention to difficult planning, including the remodeling and modernizing of buildings. He has done much important architectural work in Grand Rapids, and notable evidences of his skill are the Wealthy Street Baptist church, the fine building of the Cascade Hills Coun- try Club, the Bethany Reformed church and the Eighth Reformed 332 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY church, as well as the First Reformed church of Grand Haven, and the first five-story store building in Holland for DeUries and Dornbos. He is an active and appreciative member of the Michi- gan Society of Architects, has membership in the Peninsular Club, the Lions Club and the Cascade Hills Country Club. He is affiliated with the Elks and the Knights of Pythias, and is a Knight Templar Mason and Shriner, his basic Masonic affiliation being with York Lodge No. 410, A. F. & A. M., and he is, in 1925, worthy patron of York chapter No. 418 of the Order of the Eastern Star, in which his wife likewise held the office of Worthy Matron in 1923. Both are active members of the First Church of Christ, Scientist. March 13, 1911, Mr. Lindhout was united in marriage to Miss Trixie M. Pierce, daughter of Henry R. and Sarah Pierce, well known residents of Grand Rapids and representatives of families established in the United States for many generations. Mrs. Lind- hout was graduated in the Central high school of Grand Rapids and was a student of the Detroit School of Art. Mr. and Mrs. Lindhout have two children: Saraphine, born May 27, 1913, and William Pierce, born September 22, 1924. Geo. M. Matthews, druggist at 740 Broadway avenue, has been in that business longer than anyone else in his line in Grand Rap- ids. He was born September 7, 1850, in Ontario, Canada. He received his preliminary education in the schools of Paris, Ontario, Canada. His maternal grandfather, William Shackelton, was a pioneer of Grand Rapids and had taken up land from the govern- ment at a very early day and became owner of considerable prop- erty. Mr. Matthews came to Detroit in 1872 and was there em- ployed in a drug store. He later went to East Saginaw, Michigan, where he worked in a drug store. He then came to Grand Rapids and here engaged in the same line of work, but after a certain time he returned to Detroit and was in the drug business with William Woodbridge Abbott, for about three years, from 1875 to 1878. On the latter date he came to Grand Rapids and remained in business for about three years and then went to Chase, Lake county, Michigan, and there was in the drug business for about seven years. He returned to Grand Rapids and engaged in that business, and in the ensuing forty years has not only become the dean of this business in a course of time, but achieved a very creditable and lucrative success with his thorough knowledge of this business and his winning personality. Mr. Matthews was joined in wedlock in 1878 in Detroit, Michigan, with Miss Hannah Heffernan, of that city. They have two children, Lillian, who was born in 1880 in Grand Rapids and received her education at St. Mary's Catholic school, and married to James Roney, of Grand Rapids; and George A., born at Chase, Lake county, in 1884. George is a graduate of the pharmacy course of Ferris Institute of Big Rapids, Michigan, and is now a partner with his father in the drug business. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus. He was married in 1909 to Henrietta Drueke; of Grand Rapids, and . HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 333 they have four children, John, George W., James and Thomas. Glen E. Martin, proprietor of the Autolectric Service Company, was born in North Dakota on February 22, 1900. He came when a child to Berlin, Ottawa county, Michigan, with his parents, Her- bert and Angeline (Crane) Martin. His mother died in 1923 at the age of sixty-five. His father is still engaged in the business of farming, residing at Berlin. Glen was educated in the Berlin public schools and high school. He came to Grand Rapids in 1917 and found employment with the Monarch Storage Battery Company and later with the Michigan Tire and Accessory Com- pany. He enlisted in the United States service during the World war in 1918, first serving for about five months with the student army training corps, then later in active military service until his honorable discharge in December. In the spring of 1923 Glen em- barked in his own business, and in the short span of two years has met with a splendid success. On June 25, 1923, he was joined in wedlock with Miss Nellie Bell, of Grand Rapids, a graduate of the Central high school. Mr. Martin and wife have one daughter, Phyllis Ann, born March 17, 1924. Andrew A. Muir, proprietor of a plumbing and heating com- pany at 142 Fulton street, Grand Rapids, is a scion of a pioneer family of Kent county. He is the son of John and Jane (David- son) Muir, the former of whom came to the United States with his parents when he was twenty-one years of age. During the ensuing two years, John Muir worked as a millwright at Grand Rapids. Realizing the possibilities of the Grand river as a navi- gable stream for certain types of boats, he began building such vessels in 1853, meeting with noteworthy success in his venture. He later was connected with the Grand River Steam Boat Com- pany. His knowledge of the physical peculiarities of the channel of the Grand river influenced the directors of the United States Government Geologic Survey in that section of the country to go to him for information concerning the river. John Muir was a licensed pilot for years and held a certificate as master of steam vessels for the district of Michigan for many years. He died in 1916, his wife having died five years previously. Andrew A. Muir was born in Grand Rapids, February 11, 1866, and received his education in the public schools of his native city. He served his apprenticeship as a plumber and in 1894 went into the plumbing and heating business for himself. He has continued in that busi- ness until today he is recognized as one of the leading men in his field in the city. In October, 1896, he married Miss Jennie Rock- well, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. L. Rockwell. Mrs. Muir was born in New York and came to Grand Rapids with her parents when she was a young girl. Mr. and Mrs. Muir have four chil- dren as follows: Dorothy Esther, who married H. T. Fletcher, of Grand Rapids, and has one son, Harold, born in 1922; Alexandria Louise; Janet; and Andrew A., Jr., the last three named being stu- dents in the Grand Rapids high school. Andrew Muir is a member 334 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY of the Masonic Consistory and the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine at Grand Rapids, a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias, and is past president of the Michi- gan State Master Plumbers' Association. He is affiliated with the Park Congregational church of Grand Rapids. Earl W. Munshaw is the popular and successful prosecuting attorney of Kent county, an office to which he was elected in 1924 by a decisive plurality that attested the favor in which he is held by the people of the county. His father, David E. Munshaw, was a cousin of Robert Fulton, the inventor of the steamboat. David E. Munshaw came from Toronto, Canada, to Paris township, Kent county, Michigan, in 1870, and a year or two later he was fol- lowed by his three brothers, Simcoe, Lambert, and Columbus. He was a well known and prosperous man of that community. There he married Clara Vandenberg and to them on December 7, 1886, was born Earl W. Munshaw, the subject of this review. He re- ceived his elementary education in the district schools of his home community, near Bowen township. He attended high school in Grand Rapids, graduating in 1905. Electing to follow the legal pro- fession, he entered the law school of the University of Michigan, receiving his degree from that institution as a member of the class of 1910. He came to Grand Rapids to enter practice, and after a time spent in that city was appointed assistant prosecuting attor- ney under Wm. B. Brown, a position which he filled capably for three years. His work as assistant prosecutor was so signal as to attract the attention of the members of his profession in Grand Rapids. With the expiration of his three years in the prosecuting attorney's office, he formed a law partnership with Homer H Freeland. In this work he continued two years, his efforts being attended with great success. His training in the prosecutor's office coupled with his native ability has made him one of the ablest trial lawyers in the city and he has won the respect and admiration of his professional confreres. In 1924 he was elected to the office of prosecuting attorney of Kent county, a position which he still holds. His integrity and ability as an attorney have brought him an excellent practice that is steadily growing. On September 15, 1908, Mr. Munshaw married Merry E. Morgan, a woman of refine- inent and strength of character, and they became the parents of three children: Lynn, Dorothy W. and Jean C., the last of whom died in infancy. Albert J. Nydam, of the firm of Nydam & Oole, Grand Rapids sheet metal and heating engineers, at 950 Fulton street East, is a native of the Netherlands, born on April 10, 1897. His father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. John Renske Nydam, came to Grand Rapids in 1904. His mother passed beyond on November 11, 1909, at the age of forty-nine years, but his father is still living in Grand Rap- ids, now retired at the age of sixty-five years. This worthy couple had ten children, eight of whom are now living. Albert Nydam received his preliminary education in the parochial schools of HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 335 Grand Rapids. In 1917 he engaged in the sheet metal and hardware business with John Verheek. He continued with a successful career in this business until 1918 when the present company was organized. The members of this firm are Albert J. Nydam and Frank Oole. Mr. Nydam is a member of the Berton Heights Christian Reformed church. He was united in matrimony on July 17, 1917, with Marie Barlow, a native of Chicago. This couple have been blessed with two children, Wilma Irene, born April 7, 1921, and James, born on March 15, 1924. Clair C. Nevers is the Michigan manager of and a partner in the Lyon Furniture Mercantile Agency, a national organization that has rendered great service in connection with the furniture industry and business during a period of nearly half a century. “Efficiency, promptness, and financial responsibility” have been the significant and consistent watchwords of this agency, and have definitely represented its policies during the entire period that has marked its upbuilding as one of the great commercial reporting and collection agencies of the United States, its special field of service being in connection with the furniture, carpet and allied industries, and being restricted entirely to the same. On a farm six miles distant from Lowell, Kent county, Michigan, Clair C. Nevers was born February 22, 1883, and he is a son of James and Adelia (Lewitt) Nevers, the former of whom is living retired in Grand Rapids, at the venerable age of eighty-three years (1925), and the latter of whom died March 31, 1924. Benjamin Lewitt, maternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, came from England and became one of the pioneer settlers in Grand Rapids, where he became an influential citizen and business man, his inter- ests having included the shoe business and also association with banking. The early education of Clair C. Nevers was gained in the public schools of his native county, including those of Grand Rapids, and as a boy he gave evidence of his assertive energy and self-reliance by following various occupations within the compass of his powers. Thus it is to be noted that he had experience as a newsboy and also as a bellboy in various Grand Rapids hotels. Thereafter he gained clerical experience in the offices of the Grand Rapids Malleable Iron Works, and his experience in the mercantile agency business has now covered a period of nearly a quarter of a century. For seven years he was associated with the great agency of R. G. Dun & Company, and since January 1, 1909, he has maintained active alliance with the Lyon Furniture Mercantile Agency, a national organization in which he has been one of the principals since the concern absorbed, by purchase, the business of competing agencies, July 1, 1917. The national headquarters of the agency are now established in New York City, and the Michi- gan general offices are in the Grand Rapids Savings Bank building. This now important agency was founded in 1876, by Robert P. Lyon, whose son, Arthur S., is now its executive head. The con- cern maintains offices in all of the leading furniture centers of the 336 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY United States, and it has gained rank as one of the most reliable, substantial and influential of American commercial agencies. Mr. Nevers has membership in the Commercial Law League of Amer- ica, the Grand Rapids Association of Commerce and the local Credit Men's Association, his political alignment is with the Re- publican party, and he and his wife are communicants of Grace church, Protestant Episcopal. He is a Knight Templar and Shrine Mason, and in his home city has membership in the Y. M. C. A., the Peninsular Club, the Masonic Country Club, and the High- lands Golf Club. August 2, 1906, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Nevers to Miss Elizabeth Alice Davies, and they have two children: Ruth Alice and Margaret Ann. William Kotvis is now one of the venerable and honored pioneer citizens and business men of Grand Rapids, has been close- ly associated with the development and progress of the city, and has here maintained his home during a period of sixty years. In his long and active business career he was here associated with his older brother, John, who likewise still resides in Grand Rapids and who is represented in a personal sketch on other pages of this publication. To the biography of John Kotvis reference thus may be made for further details concerning the family history and the business career of the two brothers. In the fine Zeeland district of the Netherlands William Kotvis was born August 1, 1844, and he was about five years old at the time the family came to the United States and gained pioneer honors in Wisconsin. His father, John Kotvis, obtained land in Milwaukee county, that state, in 1849, and reclaimed the same from the wilds into a productive farm. He was one of the sterling, broad-minded and industrious citizens of the Badger state, was prospered in his industrial activities and business affairs, and both he and his wife, whose maiden name was Mary Leenhouts, remained on the old homestead farm until their death, the remains of both being laid to rest in the little family cemetery on the home farm. John Kotvis was influential in in- ducing many of his friends and kinsfolk to come from the Nether- lands and establish homes in the United States, and a number of them settled in the same section of Wisconsin as had he himself. The sturdy discipline of the pioneer farm came to William Kotvis in the period of his boyhood and youth, and his mental growth kept pace with his increase in physical stature, as he profited by the advantages of the little district school, three miles distant from his home—a distance that he traversed twice daily, no matter how inclement the weather might be. He applied himself actively to the arduous work of the home farm until he was twenty years of age, when he came to Grand Rapids, he having recently stated that the magnet that irresistibly drew him to this city, then but little more than a village, was the gracious young woman who here be- came his wife and who has remained his loved and devoted com- panion during the long intervening years. Upon his arrival in Grand Rapids Mr. Kotvis entered the employ of Frank Van Driele, who soon became his father-in-law, and who was long one of the 7 Win Kotvis HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 337 prominent and influential citizens and business men of this city, he having been a pioneer here in the conducting of a flour and feed store in a building that stood on the site of the present Morton Hotel. Mr. Kotvis took a position in this store, and within a short time was here joined by his brother John. The two young men worked indefatigably and loyally in the upbuilding of a prosperous business, and their fraternal and business alliance continued for the long period of more than half a century. The original building on the Morton Hotel site was destroyed by fire, and the Kotvis brothers then were associated with Mr. Van Driele in purchasing the property at what is now the southwest corner of Ionia street and Monroe avenue, where Mr. Van Driele erected the building that has just been wrecked to make way for the Grand Rapids Trust building. In this building the business was continued ten years, and then was purchased the building of the Second Reformed Church, at what is now 115 Bostwick street. This was the first Dutch Reformed church edifice erected in Grand Rapids, and it was remodeled for the use of Mr. Van Driele and his associates, William and John Kotvis, these two brothers having become the owners of the business after the death of their former employer and honored friend, Mr. Van Driele. They expanded the scope of the enterprise by engaging in the manufacture of high grade flour and feed, and the business is still continued, under the active man- agement of John H. Kotvis, a son of John Kotvis, who has virtually retired, as has also his brother William, who severed his executive association therewith in the year 1923 and who then, in company with his wife, made a visit to their old home district in the Nether- lands. It was in 1864 that William Kotvis was united in marriage to Miss Margarita Postma, step-daughter of Frank Van Driele, she likewise having been born in the Netherlands. Mr. and Mrs. Kotvis have a pleasant home in Grand Rapids, the same being known for its gracious hospitality, and they pass the summer months in their attractive cottage on Black lake, where Mr. Kotvis can indulge his propensity for fishing. Mr. and Mrs. Kotvis be- came the parents of two sons and two daughters. One son Frank died at the age of twenty-one years, and the other son, John, died at the age of nine years. The younger daughter, Margaret, is the wife of William DeYoung, of Grand Rapids, and the elder daughter, Sara, is the wife of William H. Lippencott, of this city. The last named has two sons, William K. and Phillip J. John G. Oom is another of the native sons of Grand Rapids who has here found ample opportunity for achieving success in business, and he is the sole owner of a well equipped retail hard- ware establishment, at 755-57 Eastern avenue, southeast. Mr. Oom was born in Grand Rapids August 4, 1884, and is a son of Aaron and Elizabeth (Gelock) Oom, the former of whom was born in the Netherlands and the latter of whom was born in Grand Rapids, her father, a native of Holland, having been an early settler on the west side of Grand Rapids, where he established his residence in the late '50s or early '60s, he having been a wagonmaker by trade 338 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY and vocation and having been one of the substantial citizens of Grand Rapids at the time of his death. Aaron Oom was a young man when he established his home in Grand Rapids, and here he continued to follow the trade of cabinetmaker until his death, in 1893. His widow is still a resident of this city, which has repre- sented her home from the time of her birth. She is an earnest member of the Christian Reformed church, as was also her hus- band. In the public schools of the west side of Grand Rapids John G. Oom acquired his early education, and at the age of fifteen years he became a cash boy in the Boston Store. He worked ten hours a day, and on Saturdays continued to apply himself during the evening hours also, his compensation having been $2.50 a week. After one year of this service he entered upon an appren- ticeship to the trade of machinist, in the shops of the Fox Type- writer Company, and later he was employed at his trade in the establishment of Wilmarth & Morman. After devoting four years to work along this line he completed a course in the McLaughlin Business College, and then obtained a position in the office of the Elliott Machine Company, with which he continued his association until 1908, when he formed a partnership with M. T. Cramer and engaged in the retail hardware business at his present location and under the firm name of Cramer & Oom. Seven years later he pur- chased his partner's interest, and he has since continued the busi- ness in an individual way and with marked success, his store being forty by sixty feet in dimensions—the expansion of the enterprise requiring a store about twice the size of that in which the original firm initiated business. Mr. Oom is a loyal and appreciative citi- zen of the fair city that has ever been his place of residence, is a Republican in political alignment, and he and his wife are active communicants of the Sherman Street Reformed Christian church. July 29, 1909, Mr. Oom wedded Miss Mattie Cramer, of Muskegon, and they have four children: Arthur, Robert, Lois, and John G., Jr. F. H. Oltman, paint contractor, doing an extensive business at 625 Wealthy street, is a native of the Netherlands. He was born on February 28, 1853, and came to Grand Rapids at the age of nineteen years. He had secured his preliminary education in the public and high schools of his native land. He started his business career in Grand Rapids with the Widdicomb Furniture Company. After twenty years' service with that institution he embarked in business for himself and has conducted a very successful venture in this line. For seventeen years his business was carried on at 1134 Wealthy street until in the fall of 1925 he moved to his present location. Mr. Oltman's religious affiliation is with the Reformed Church of America, which is located on Fulton street. He was made an Elder in this denomination at twenty-five years of age and has continuously held that responsible position and for a half century has been a Sunday School teacher. Many of the men who have achieved success in this community have been his schol- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 339 ars, among whom he numbers such men as Frank Hulswit, now president of the United Light & Power Company. Mr. Oltman was joined in matrimony on August 19, 1874, with Miss Mary Pot, who was born in May, 1852, in the Netherlands. This worthy couple are the parents of eight children: Jennie; Frederick C., Jr., now manager of the Herpolsheimer store of Grand Rapids; Har- riett, who died in 1924 at the age of forty years; Albert, who is now a foreman in his father's business establishment; Catherine; Nell; Dirk, who is connected with the Heystek Company; and Hildred A., a teacher in Grand Rapids. S. Hugh Paine, founder and proprietor of the S. Hugh Paine Advertising Service, advertising and selling counsel at 210 Federal Square building, was born in New York City on April 3, 1882. He was left an orphan at a very early age, and when six years old was brought to Pittsburg, Michigan, by his uncle, the Rev. S. A. Manwell, and wife. Rev. Manwell was a minister of the Wesleyan Methodist church. Mr. Paine took his preliminary educational work and was graduated from the Pittsburg (Michigan) high school and then received further education from Wheaton (Illi- nois) College, from which institution he was graduated in 1904 with a degree of A. B. He began his successful business career by handling stock for the J. W. Butler Paper Company, 212 Monroe street, Chicago. He was in that position for about nine months, when he was promoted to be assistant to the chief correspondent. In the fall of 1905 he came to Grand Rapids, and here he has con- tinuously made his home except for a period from 1909 to 1914, when he was at Battle Creek, Michigan. Mr. Paine was first em- ployed as estimator for a printing house in Grand Rapids, until he went to Battle Creek in 1909 as estimator for the Gage Printing Company, one of the best known concerns in the printing field in Michigan. In 1914, upon his return to Grand Rapids, he took charge of the service department for a large printing plant in this city and remained there until the fall of 1915, when he established his present business, under the name of S. Hugh Paine. In the course of the successful expansion of that business the title became S. Hugh Paine Advertising Service. Mr. Paine is state president of the Gideons; and an active member of the Turner Avenue Meth- odist church, and the Grand Rapids Motor Club. He was joined in marriage in 1906 to Wilfrieda Fischer, of Wheaton, Illinois. This worthy couple have a very splendid family of nine children: Stephen W., who is a graduate of Walker township, Kent county, District No. 11 school, and who entered Wheaton college in the fall of 1925; Alvin J.; S. Hugh, Jr.; Mary E.; Paul N.; Henry J.; F. Geraldine, David L., and Ruth W. Paine. Peter A. Pipe, of the firm of Pipe & Raap, plumbing and heating, 648 Division street, South, was born in Grand Rapids on August 8, 1891. His father and mother, Peter and Sabina (Frans) Pipe, were both natives of the Netherlands and came when rather young to Grand Rapids. They were married here and had seven 340 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY children, five of whom are now living. The father was in the grocery business, later in the liquor business, and he was then associated with a land company. He was retired for about twenty years preceding his death in 1910, at which time he had reached the age of seventy years. His wife had preceded him in death in 1896. The father had been an active Democrat in the old first ward, a member of St. Andrew's Catholic church and later of St. Joseph's church. He was very active in the Old Settlers' Associa- tion of Kent county and Peter can recount many interesting meet- ings of that old association. Peter Pipe received his preliminary education in the parochial schools of Grand Rapids, and in 1907 he began his business career in automobile work. He was later employed by R. E. Heth and then engaged with 0. Bitten. On December 13, 1917, he answered the call of his country and enlisted for service in the war. He was stationed in Texas, Arkansas and Minnesota. When he was discharged on March 25, 1919, as a corporal, he was serving at Ebert's Flying School Department, at Lone Oak, Arkansas. After his return to civil life he was em- ployed by Henry Struhs, of Grand Rapids, and in 1920 organized his present firm, with Mr. Raap, who had been his playmate at school and with whom he had served in the war. Mr. Pipe is a inember of the Catholic church and Knights of Columbus. He was married in 1920 to Irene Cook, of Grand Rapids, and they have one daughter, Ruth Stalker Pipe. Albert Root was a native son of Kent county, and was a repre- sentative of one of the sterling pioneer families of this county, where his father, Isaac Root, initiated farm enterprise more than seventy years ago and where he continued his active association with agriculture and live-stock industry during the course of many years. Albert Root was born on a farm near the little village of Mill Creek, this county, February 15, 1853, and his early educa- tional advantages included those of the public schools of Grand Rapids. In this city he was for twenty-one years a salesman for the Heystek & Canfield Company, dealers in wall paper and paints, and at all stages in his career he commanded unqualified popu- lar confidence and esteem in his native county, he having been one of the substantial citizens of Grand Rapids at the time of his death, which occurred August 8, 1920. He had no desire for political activity or office but was a staunch supporter of the cause of the Democratic party. In 1873 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Root to Miss Jennie Coleman, who likewise was born and reared in Kent county, and whose parents, Richard and Jane (Talbort) Coleman, were both natives of Ireland, their marriage having been solemnized in Grand Rapids, where they were honored citizens at the time of their death. Mrs. Coleman's father, Dennis Talbort, was one of the first settlers in Walker township, Kent county, Michigan. Edith, the one surviving child of Mr. and Mrs. Root, is the wife of William T. Webster, who is engaged in the real estate business in Chicago, Illinois, the two children of Mr. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 341 and Mrs. Webster being Donald and Helen. Mrs. Root is a tal- ented artist and has given much of her time to the production of oil paintings and to the painting of china, in both of which lines she is a successful teacher. Her pleasant home is at 1021 Sheldon avenue, southeast. Henry B. Rohloff is senior member of the firm of Rohloff's, which conducts two service stations in the city of Grand Rapids, a very successful business in the handling of automobile tires and accessories. Mr. Rohloff is able to claim the great western metrop- olis as the place of his nativity, his birth having occurred in the city of Chicago, April 15, 1898. He was a boy at the time of the family removal to Grand Rapids, where his parents still maintain their home and where his father, Albert G. Rohloff, has for a number of years been successfully engaged in the manufacturing of cigars. In the public schools of Grand Rapids the youthful discipline received by Henry B. Rohloff included that of the high school, and his earlier business experience included several years of service as a traveling salesman for his father's cigar fac- tory. In 1922 he engaged independently in the automobile tire and accessory business, which he conducted until the fall of 1925, when he opened the two service stations before mentioned. Mr. Rohloff was reared in the faith of and is an active communicant of the Catholic church, as are also his parents, he being still a mem- ber of the parental home circle. Mr. Rohloff is a talented musician, and a 'cellist; he is a valued member of the Grand Rapids Sym- phony Orchestra, an organization in which the city takes justified pride. Mr. Rohloff is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus, and he is popular in business, social and musical circles in his home city. Albert Ryskamp is one of the constituent members of the firm of Ryskamp Brothers, which has priority as being the largest con- cern engaged in the retail meat business in Grand Rapids, where it maintains three large and well equipped markets that give the best of metropolitan service and control a large and representative sup- porting patronage. Of the scope and importance of the business adequate record is given on other pages of this publication, in the personal sketch of Jacob Ryskamp, the executive head of the firm, besides which this volume gives also a sketch of the life of Henry H. Ryskamp, father of the progressive young men who constitute the firm of Ryskamp Brothers. Albert Ryskamp has the active managerial supervision of the firm's market at 742 Franklin street, southeast, the same being in a building that was erected by the brothers in 1922. Albert Ryskamp was born in Grand Rapids, June 19, 1898, and in the public schools of his native city he continued his studies until he had duly profited by the advantages of the high school. His association with the meat market business has been continuous since he initiated his activities in connection with the practical affairs of life, and he is known as one of the sterling young business men of his native city. He and his wife hold membership 342 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY in the Methodist Episcopal church. June 20, 1922, was marked by the marriage of Mr. Ryskamp to Miss Cora Jacobson, daughter of Anthony Jacobson, who resides at Manistee, this state, his wife being deceased. Dorothy, the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Ryskamp, was born June 20, 1924, and died within a short time thereafter. Albert Rodenhouse, proprietor of the Rodenhouse Electric Company, which does general electrical contracting and carries a complete line of electrical supplies, was born in Grand Rapids, January 15, 1887, the son of Nicholas and Ruth (DeHaan) Roden- house, the former of whom came to Grand Rapids from Holland in 1842, remaining until his death. Albert Rodenhouse took the prescribed courses in the graded and high schools of Grand Rapids, and after his graduation from the latter school, he entered the employ of the Enterprise Electrical Company, a concern with which he remained for twelve years. By that time he felt that his experience was sufficient to allow him to go into business for himself. Accordingly, in 1919, he established the Rodenhouse Electric Company. More than 1,700 homes in Grand Rapids and the immediate vicinity have been wired by the company, which also handles full lines of electrical appliances. Mr. Rodenhouse is regarded as one of the successful men in the electrical business in Grand Rapids. In July, 1916, he married Miss Beatrice Kuipers, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Kuipers, of Grand Rapids, and to the couple have been born three children as follows: Bertha Jean, Albert, Jr., and Robert Henry. Mr. Rodenhouse is a mem- ber of the Twelfth Street Christian Reformed Church. Louis A. Roller, M. D., who is now living retired from the active practice of his profession, with a beautiful home at 446 Paris ave- nue, southeast, Grand Rapids, was here engaged in successful practice as a specialist in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat during a period of nearly thirty years, and here he is now the dean in his special domain of pro- fessional activity. Dr. Roller early gained fellowship with unpro- pitious circumstance and even adversity, but his youthful courage and self-reliance never faltered and he pressed forward to the mark of his high ambition and thoroughly qualified himself for the work of his exacting profession, which has been honored alike by his character and his able service during a long period of years. Dr. Roller was born in New York City, February 23, 1855, and is a son of William and Louise Roller, concerning whom he knows little save that they were born in Germany. The Doctor was seven years old at the time of his mother's death, and soon afterward his father disappeared, the Doctor having no knowledge of what be- came of him thereafter. Under such conditions of virtually double orphanage, it can well be understood that the character of Dr. Roller was moulded in the school of adversity and self-reliance. He was but a child when he was thrown upon his own resources, but he proved equal to the responsibilities that devolved upon him, provided through personal effort the means to acquire a thorough HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 343 academic and professional education, and in the passing years gained large and worthy success in his chosen sphere of service. He was a lad of eleven years when he came to Michigan, in 1866, and here he was able to attend the public schools at Greenville and to make himself eligible for service as a teacher. He taught three winter terms in the district schools, and in the intervening summer seasons found employment at farm work, besides finding time to take up in a preliminary way the reading of medical textbooks. After passing one year as a student in the medical department of the University of Michigan, he entered in 1879, the celebrated Rush Medical College, Chicago, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1881. After thus receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine he established himself in practice at Edmore, Montcalm county, Michigan. His period of struggle was not yet over, for his available funds were in evidence only by their absence, and, like every young physician, he had to prove his ability and build up a practice by somewhat slow degrees. Ability, fidelity and loyal and able professional stewardship eventually brought to him a goodly measure of success, and after nine years of general practice he determined to fortify himself for work as a specialist in diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. To compass this end he became assistant to Dr. Lundy, a well known specialist and authority in these diseases, and under such effective preceptorship, in the city of Detroit, he admirably equipped himself, besides taking post- graduate work in leading institutions and clinics in New York City, and a special course in the Chicago Polyclinic. In the spring of 1891 Dr. Roller initiated practice in Grand Rapids as a specialist in the diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. He built up a large and representative practice in this special field of profes- sional service, and in the same gained recognized priority. He continued in active practice until 1920, since which year he has lived retired in this city, secure in financial independence that is a just reward for his earnest labors, and held in high popular esti- mation by reason of his sterling character and worthy achievement. The Doctor was for a number of years an active and valued mem- ber of the staff of Butterworth Hospital, and is now an honorary member, as is he also of the Kent County Medical Society. His professional affiliations have included also his membership in the Michigan State Medical Society and the American Medical Asso- ciation, besides which he was for ten years a member of the Grand Rapids board of health, of which he was president the last two years. He still retains membership in the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Oto-Laryngology, and has served as secretary and president of Grand Rapids Academy of Medicine. Dr. Roller is a life member of York Lodge, No. 410, Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, and has membership also in Columbian Chapter, Royal Arch Masons. He is a past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias and a member of the Grand Rapids lodge of Elks. He gives politi- cal allegiance to the Republican party, and he and his wife are 344 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY attendants of the Baptist church. April 10, 1884, was marked by the marriage of Dr. Roller to Miss Carrie Gibbs, daughter of the late Josiah H. Gibbs, who was a representative lumberman at Edmore, Montcalm county. Dr. and Mrs. Roller have one daugh- ter, Nellie Louise, who is the wife of Dr. Alden H. Williams, a representative physician and surgeon engaged in practice in Grand Rapids. Dr. and Mrs. Williams have their home adjacent to that of Dr. Roller, and the latter finds great satisfaction in exercising his privileges as a doting grandfather of the four children of Dr. and Mrs. Williams-Helen Louise, Louis, Alice and Richard. Samuel McBirney Lemon, whose death occurred May 27, 1912, left to the world the impress of a strong, resourceful and noble manhood, for he made his life count for good through every medium of expression that was his. There was much of bigness in the thought, the ideals, the service and the general personal steward- ship of this representative business man and honored citizen of Grand Rapids, and this history of Kent county exercises a con- sistent function when it enters a tribute to his worth and his mem- ory, brief as that tribute must needs be. Samuel McBirney Lemon, who was at the time of his death the president of the Lemon & Wheeler Company, one of the important wholesale grocery con- cerns of Grand Rapids, was born at Corneycrew, parish of Mulla- brack, County Armaugh, Ireland, and the date of his nativity was November 27, 1846, so that he was but sixty-five years of age at the time of his death. He was a son of Samuel and Rachael Lemon, and was a representative of the staunchest of Scotch-Irish an- cestry. In his youth Mr. Lemon was afforded good educational advantages, as gauged by the standards of the locality and period, and his alert and receptive mind enabled him thereafter to profit in the fullest degree from his continued and appreciative study and reading, as well as from the lessons gained in the practical con- tacts of a busy and useful life. At the age of eighteen years he entered upon an apprenticeship in the establishment of a leading grocer of Ireland, at Portadown, and five years later, with an intimate knowledge of the grocery business, he came to the United States, in November, 1870. In New York City he entered the employ of the grocery firm of Acker, Merrill & Condit, and so ef- fectively did he prove his value that his salary was raised three times within a period of seven months. He passed the ensuing five years in Rochester, New York, where he rose to the position of manager of the wholesale and retail grocery business of A. M. Semple. He gave thereafter five years of successful service as a salesman for a leading wholesale grocery concern in Buffalo, but his ambition was to enter business in an independent way. In 1880 Mr. Lemon came to Grand Rapids and purchased the John A. Covode interest in the wholesale grocery house of Shields, Bulkeley & Company, the firm name having been changed in 1883 to Shields, Bulkeley & Lemon, and later the title having become Lemon, Hoops & Peters. After the retirement of Mr. Hoops the firm of Lemon & Peters continued the business until Mr. Peters Dheerens, con. In HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 345 met with financial reverses in connection with other enterprises, whereupon Mr. Lemon effected the organization of the Lemon & Wheeler Company, of which he continued the president until his death. His able and vigorous policies brought about the develop- ment of the business to the status of one of the largest and most important of its kind in Michigan, its trade extending throughout the Michigan territory tributary to Grand Rapids and also being further expanded in northern Indiana. The company became the owner of its large and well equipped building in Grand Rapids and also of an excellent building in Kalamazoo, which city was made a supplemental headquarters of the extensive wholesale grocery trade of the concern. Mr. Lemon gave characteristically loyal service as a director of the Fourth National Bank, the Commercial Savings Bank, and the Michigan Exchange Bank. He became president of the Grand Rapids Show Case Company, a manufacturing concern that contributed much to the industrial and commercial precedence of Grand Rapids, and he acquired large and valuable real estate interests in his home city and county. He served many years as a director of the Grand Rapids Board of Trade, and had much of leadership in the promotion of enterprises and measures projected for the benefit of Grand Rapids and the state at large—notably in the matter of river improvement. He was a stalwart of stalwarts in the ranks of the Republican party, and under the administration of President McKinley he was appointed to the office of collector of internal revenue for his district, he having been reappointed by President Roosevelt and his service in this office covered a period of nearly fourteen years—a record unequalled by that of any other collector in the entire history of the United States internal revenue department. Mr. Lemon became a member of the Presbyterian church while still a youth in his native land, and his religious faith was ever expressed in worthy thoughts and worthy actions. He was constant and loyal in his support of the various departments of church work, and he and his wife became earnest and loved members of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Grand Rapids, Mrs. Lemon being still an active member. He was a zealous sup- porter of charitable and philanthropic objects, and his private benevolences were many and unassuming. He was kindly and tolerant in judgment, and it has been said of him that no man has more fully lived up to the letter and the spirit of the Golden Rule. He was steadfast and appreciative in his friendships, and his very loyalty could not but beget objective loyalty. He was honest and true,-one of his nature and character could not be otherwise, - and he deemed it a privilege to be helpful to humanity, especially ambitious and worthy youth. He was a lover of all that is beauti- ful and true and good, and in this connection it is but consistent to mention the great pride and satisfaction that he and his wife took in preserving the architectural integrity and general consistency of the fine old house which became their home. This beautiful and picturesque home, on Jefferson avenue, is said to have been the first brick house erected in Grand Rapids, and in enlarging and other- 346 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY wise improving the building Mr. and Mrs. Lemon insistently de- manded that it be kept true to the period in which it was originally erected and to the original architectural style. In this connection it can readily be understood that this delightful place, which is still her home, is endeared to Mrs. Lemon by many gracious memories and hallowed associations. Mr. Lemon became a nat- uralized American citizen in the Centennial year, 1876, and none has represented more loyally and completely the true American spirit. Mr. Lemon placed a frame upon his naturalization papers, and ever displayed the document with great pride and satisfaction. From a tribute paid at the time of the death of Mr. Lemon are taken the following significant and glowing statements: “His very positiveness located him and made him a pillar of strength in times of stress or uncertainty. The man in him was so large, the friend in him was so true, that he seemed almost essential to those who were nearest to him." At Rochester, New York, on the 17th of January, 1883, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Lemon to Miss Mary M. Peoples. Mr. and Mrs. Lemon had no children, but his enthusiasm for the land of his adoption was such that he took a deep satisfaction in bringing two of his nephews from Eng- land to this country and assisted them in the purchasing of a farm, in order that they might learn American agricultural methods and policies at first hand. One of these nephews, Leonard Hillis, now has a son whom he has named in honor of his uncle, this son be- ing Samuel Lemon Hillis. William Ryskamp is president of the corporation of Ryskamp Brothers, a concern that was founded more than forty years ago and that has continuously maintained priority in its chosen sphere of enterprise in the city of Grand Rapids, where the company con- trols a large and representative business in the handling of wall- paper and paints, with a well ordered department devoted to con- tract work in painting and decorating. The headquarters of the corporation are established at 531 Eastern avenue, southeast. William Ryskamp, like many others of the prominent business men of western Michigan, claims the fine old Netherlands of Europe as the place of his birth, which there occurred March 3, 1866. He is a son of the late Henry and Katherine Ryskamp, who came with their children to the United States in the year 1881 and who forthwith established the family home in Grand Rapids, where they passed the remainder of their lives, sterling citizens who ever maintained the unqualified esteem of the community in which they resided many years. The business now conducted under the cor- porate title of Ryskamp Brothers was founded in the year 1882, by the late Cornelius Ryskamp, an older brother of the present president of the concern, and in 1885 Jacob Ryskamp, another of the brothers, became a principal in the business, it having been at this juncture that the firm name of J. & C. Ryskamp was adopted. In 1887 William Ryskamp, immediate subject of this review, was admitted to partnership and the title was changed to Ryskamp Brothers. In 1891 the firm removed from its original location, HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 347 180 Logan street, to the present headquarters on Eastern avenue, southeast, and in the latter neighborhood their store was the first to be established in what is now a vital business section of the city. January 30, 1915, the business was incorporated, as a matter of expediency in meeting its increasing operations, and the officers of the corporation are as here noted: William Ryskamp, presi- dent; Jacob Ryskamp, vice-president; and Frederick Gunnerman, secretary and treasurer. William Ryskamp gained in his native land his earlier education, which was advanced by his subsequent attending of the public schools of Grand Rapids, in which city the family home was established when he was a lad of fifteen years and in which he has since found ample opportunity for successful business achievement. He and his family are earnest communi- cants of the Christian Reformed church. May 18, 1891, was marked by the marriage of Mr. Ryskamp to Miss Minnie Vander Molen, daughter of the late Henry Vander Molen, of Grand Rapids. Concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Ryskamp the following brief data are available: Katherine is the wife of Wil- liam Cornelisse, of Grand Rapids; Walter, who is in the employ of Ryskamp Brothers, was in service in the United States navy in the World war period, and was located at the Great Lakes Naval Station, near Chicago, he being still a member of the United States Naval Reserves; Lawrence and Eva are twins. During the World war Lawrence Ryskamp enlisted, at Valparaiso, Indiana, in the motor-transport service of the United States Army, and later he was stationed at Fort Sheridan, 111. Henrietta is the wife of Gar- rett Roelofs, of Hull, Iowa. The younger children of this fine family are Margaret, Mary, Caroline, James and Franklin (twins), and Howard. Jacob Ryskamp, vice-president of Ryskamp Brothers, was born in the Netherlands in the year 1863, and thus was about eighteen years old when the family came to Grand Rapids. Here he has made a record of substantial and worthy achievement as a reliable and progressive business man and loyal and public-spirited citizen, and he and his family hold the ancestral religious faith, that of the Christian Reformed church. In 1889 was solemnized his mar- riage to Miss Margaret Bolt, daughter of the late John Bolt, who was a representative of one of the sterling pioneer families of Grand Rapids. Mr. and Mrs. Ryskamp became the parents of seven children, of whom Katie, the first-born, died in February, 1911. Pearl is the wife of Rev. John Bouwsma, who is a clergy- man of the Christian Reformed church and who is pastor of a church in Grand Rapids. Henry is a member of the faculty of the Calvin College, Grand Rapids. John is identified with the Old National Bank in Grand Rapids. Clarence, Louzina and James remain at the parental home. Robert Ruschmann is proprietor of the important and success- ful market, which he conducts at 807-9 Division avenue, South, and a similar market at 608 Benjamin avenue. These markets have been 348 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY steadily increasing as recognized factors in the business of the com- munity. Robert Ruschmann is a native of Grand Rapids, born here on October 2, 1898. He is a son of Joseph Ruschmann, who was born in 1865 and who came to Grand Rapids at the age of twenty-six. He was with the Grand Rapids brewery for thirty years and is now living in retirement. Joseph Ruschmann had married Cresence Bieber, a native of Byron township, Kent county, whose parents were recognized as pioneers in this county. Robert Ruschmann was educated in the parochial and public schools of Grand Rapids and began his business career in the meat business on September 14, 1917, at 807-9 Division avenue, South. In 1923, Mr. Ruschmann opened a market at 608 Ben- jamin avenue. Though yet a young man he has launched upon a suc- cessful career with ample opportunities for expansion in scope and im- portance. His religious affiliation is with the Catholic church and his fraternal connection with the B. P. O. Elks. His mother died on September 16, 1911, leaving four children who are still living. Mr. Ruschmann is unmarried and devotes practically all of his energy to the development and expansion of his businesses. John F. Roth, owner of the Roth Body Company, manufacturers of bodies for automobile trucks, was born in Lowell, Michigan, April 5, 1891, the son of John C. and Marie Anna (Bieri) Roth, the former of whom was born in Switzerland. John C. Roth came to the United States when he was twenty-one years old, and after spending several years in the eastern part of the United States, he moved to Lowell, Michigan, where he engaged in the trade of wagon making, in which he was highly successful. He died in 1916 at Lowell, and his wife died in 1902. John F. Roth attended the public schools of his native city, and after his graduation from the high school, he matriculated at the Michigan State Auto School where he pursued a course of study for a time. With the completion of this special course of study, he went to work for his father making wagons, learning the fundamental principals of vehicle construction which insured his future success. When his father became too ill to continue in charge of the business, he took over the management of the concern, but sold it in 1921. He then came to Grand Rapids where he established the Roth Body Company to manufacture bodies for automobile trucks. The company manu- factures any type of body for any make of truck on the market, and this range has been a great factor in building up the large amount of business which it now enjoys. The firm is on a sound footing, and the achievement of Mr. Roth in building up a substantial enterprise in the space of a few years has won him recognition as one of the able exec- utives in Grand Rapids. On October 9, 1915, he married Miss Marie . Perry, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Guy Perry, of Lowell, Michigan. He is a member of the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce and of the Burton Heights Business Men's Association. Louis Regenmorter is one of the enterprising and successful owners of a roofing and sheet metal working establishment in Grand Rapids. He was born on a farm near Drenthe, Ottawa county, Mich- igan, January 2, 1888, the son of John and Leona Regenmorter, the former of whom was a native of Ottawa county His parents moved HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 349 to Grand Rapids when he was sixteen months old, and there he re- ceived his education, attending the graded and high schools, being graduated from the latter school. When he completed his education, he entered the employ of the W. C. Hopson Company, manufacturers of metal ceilings and sheet metal products. With this company he learned the sheet metal trade, becoming an expert roofer and sheet metal worker. In 1916, he decided to go into business for himself, opening a shop in January of that year. Since that time he has been a roofing contractor and manufacturer of sheet metal products of all kinds. He has built up a fine business and has gained the reputation of being one of the substantial and representative business men of the city. On April 1, 1921, he married Miss Nellie Van Dyke, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Van Dyke, of Grand Rapids, and to Mr. and Mrs. Regen- morter have been born two children, Louise Margaret, who died in in- fancy, and John Louis, who was born January 11, 1925. Mr. Regen- morter and his wife are members of the Christian Reformed church. Henry Riechel has been a resident of Grand Rapids nearly forty years and has gained precedence as one of the leading representatives of the retail drug business in this city. He is president of the corpora- tion that conducts three well equipped and distinctly metropolitan drug stores in Grand Rapids. Mr. Riechel was born in the city of Chicago, and his early education was obtained in the public schools of that great metropolis, where also he availed himself of the advantages of a lead- ing business college. For several years he was employed as a book- keeper and accountant, and upon coming to Grand Rapids he took a position in the Thum Brothers drug establishment, where he remained four years and gained the experience that made him eligible for service as a registered pharmacist. In 1891 he became associated with Hugo Thum in the drug store at 166 Bridge street, which had been operated by the Thum family for thirty years. In 1897 Mr. Riechel took over the business, in 1898 he opened the Ideal Pharmacy, on Stocking street, and in 1910 established the third store, at the corner of Scribner and Bridge streets, the following year having been marked by the incorpora- tion of the business under the title of Henry Riechel Drug Company. Mr. Riechel has since continued to be the president of this staunch and progressive corporation. He has always been interested in the wel- fare of Grand Rapids and during the years 1904 to 1907 inclusive, was a member of the city board of education. David H. Brown, secretary and treasurer of the Century Furni- ture Company, of Grand Rapids, is one of the successful executives en- gaged in that field of work. He was the son of one of the pioneer dentists of Grand Ledge, Michigan. His father, George A. Brown, who married Katherine Donovan, came from New York state in 1853 to settle in Grand Ledge where he followed his profession until the time of his death. David H. Brown first became connected with the furni- ture business when he was a lad of fifteen years. His first employment was in the factory of the Grand Ledge Chair Company which he fol- lowed to Grand Rapids upon its removal to that city. For seventeen years he remained in the employ of that one company, but it was a time filled with hard work and study on the part of Mr. Brown. No phase 350 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY of the furniture manufacturing work escaped him and he lost no oppor- tunity of increasing his knowledge of the work which he had selected. By the early part of 1905, he purchased, together with David S. Brown, the Century Furniture Company, a firm organized in the year 1900 and located on Canal street, now Monroe street. From this time on the com- pany enjoyed success. It was incorporated in April, 1905, as the Century Furniture Company, David S. Brown becoming president, and David H. Brown secretary and treasurer. In July of the same year E. R. Somes purchased an interest in the firm and was made vice-president. The original capitalization was $50,000 with $30,000 paid in. By 1910 the business had increased to such proportions that larger quarters were necessary and the company erected its own building at the corner of Logan street and Ionia avenue. But even these increased facilities be- came insufficient and two additions were erected and equipped with the most modern facilities for the making of fine furniture. The capi- talization of the corporation was also increased at various times and the authorized capital is now $300,000 in common stock and $250,000 in preferred stock. In 1917, Mr. Somes sold his interest in the com- pany, Craig McClure assuming the duties of vice-president at that time. The Century Furniture Company, within the relatively short period of its existence, has enjoyed a growth and prosperity that has placed its officers among the ranks of the successful and influential business men of Grand Rapids. David H. Brown is recognized as one of the ablest executives engaged in the manufacture of furniture in Grand Rapids. In addition to being the secretary and treasurer of the Century Furniture Company, he is vice-president of the Walter E. Miles Coal Company of Grand Rapids; also president of the Furniture Manufacturers Warehouse Company and secretary of the Furniture Manufacturers Association. Mr. Brown married Annie L. Bertsch, the daughter of John and Caroline (Harley) Bertsch, the former of whom was a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of whom is a member of one of the pioneer families of Ohio. R. William Groskopf. Few merchants of Grand Rapids occupy . a more reputable position in the community than R. William Groskopf, of the firm of Groskopf Brothers, trunk dealers. He is of German ancestry, his grandfather coming to Detroit from Germany about 1850 with his family. William Groskopf, the father of the subject of this review, brought his family to Grand Rapids in 1881 and the following year, he and his brother Henry established themselves in the trunk business at No. 95 Canal street. The store was later moved a few blocks from the first location, the second building occupied being torn down in 1912 to make way for the construction of the Pantlind hotel. Groskopf Brothers, as the business was known, flourished from the first, for the two brothers were progressive business men who con- ducted their business along conservative lines that assured them suc: cess. William Groskopf retired from the active management of the business in 1913 and in that year the direction of the company's affairs was taken over by R. William Groskopf and his sister, A. L. Groskopf. R. William Groskopf was born in Detroit in 1880. He attended the public and high schools of Grand Rapids, and after his graduation from HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 351 the latter institution entered the store of his father to learn the busi- ness. Every phase of the trunk and leather goods business he learned under the careful tutelage of his father, and when his parent retired from the active management, he was fully equipped to assume the joint management with his sister. Brother and sister, building carefully on the solid foundations laid by their parent, have continued to develop the business until today they are the proprietors of two fine stores, one lo- cated at 112 Monroe street, and the other at 119 Ottawa street. Mr. Groskopf is a wide awake business man and misses no opportunity of improving his business which is already one of the largest of its kind in Grand Rapids. He himself is regarded as one of the reputable merchants of the city and is respected and admired for his business acumen and executive ability. Jacob Van Duren is a scion of the sterling Holland Dutch ele- ment of citizenship that has been so worthily concerned with the de- velopment and progress of Michigan, but he is not a representative of the Michigan pioneer ancestry of this fine old stock. He himself was born in Holland, where he received his rudimentary education, and he was a lad of eleven years when, in 1884, he accompanied his parents, John and Johanna (Fonze) Van Duren on their voyage to the United States. In that year the family home was established in Grand Rapids, and here the subject of this review was reared to manhood. In the year 1888 the late John Van Duren engaged, on a small scale, in the manufacture of brooms, and to this enterprise he here gave his at- tention two years. Thereafter he followed other pursuits until 1893, when he resumed the manufacturing of brooms, in a small building on Elizabeth street. At that period all of the work was done by hand, and he retained a force of four or five employes, the little establishment turning out an average of about fifty dozen brooms weekly and the trade being almost entirely of local order. John Van Duren continued as the executive head of the business until his death, in 1900, and his son, Jacob, then assumed the management of the enterprise, which in the meanwhile had grown to be one of large scope and important order. Jacob Van Duren purchased the interests of the other heirs, and forth- with set to himself the task of enlarging the business and conducting the same according to modern and progressive methods. He erected a small factory building at 1342 Turner avenue, and with modern facilities the output capacity of the factory was greatly increased. After the expiration of eleven years the business had so increased that large quarters became essential. Thus, in 1910, Mr. Van Duren erected a larger and more substantial building, at the corner of Webster and Front streets. There he installed the best modern machinery and ac- cessories, so that each of his several employes was able to turn out a much greater amount of work. In 1919 the factory was removed to larger and more eligible quarters on Erie street, where the second and third floors of a building were utilized. In the meanwhile Mr. Van Duren was constantly on the outlook for a permanent and more com- modious plant, and in 1922 he purchased his present large and modern building, at the corner of Front and First streets. He expended $18,000 in the remodeling and equipping of this building, which affords 352 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY gave his an aggregate floor space of 22,000 square feet, and here the production has been increased until the output varies from fifty to seventy-five dozen brooms a day, while the corps of employes now averages sixteen persons. The industry has become one of most successful order and the trade extends throughout Michigan, as well as into northern Indiana and into parts of Illinois. In the manufacturing the best broom-corn of central Illinois is utilized, and the product is insistently kept up to the highest grade. Mr. Van Duren has thus become one of the sub- stantial and representative business men of the city that has been his home since his boyhood and to which his loyalty is of the highest order. Mr. Van Duren was born in Zeeland, of the Netherlands, in 1873, and was an infant at the time of the family removal to the city of Amster- dam, where his early education was received in the parochial schools of the Dutch Reformed church, his studies having been so continued until he came with his parents to the United States, as already noted. In Grand Rapids he was able to attend school only at brief intervals, and he was still a boy when he found employment at the factory of the Michigan Barrel Company, where he remained two years and attention principally to the making of boxes for grease. He was next employed by the McCord & Bradfield Furniture Company, and in this connection he served an apprenticeship in the wood-carving shop. He continued to follow this trade until 1900, when he assumed charge of the broom factory, upon the death of his father. Mr. Van Duren is a Republican in politics, is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, includ- ing the local commandery of Knights Templar, and he and his wife are communicants of the Reformed Church of America. Mr. Van Duren married Miss Millie Nix, daughter of Frederick Nix, of Hoard City, Michigan, she having been born in Germany and having come with her parents to the United States in the year 1855. Dale Brothers Excelsior Pad Company. The three brothers who are the constitutent principals of this important Grand Rapids industrial concern are native sons of Grand Rapids and are here representatives of the third generation of the Dale family in Kent county, with whose history the family name has been prominently and influentially linked since the year that marked the admission of Michigan Territory as one of the sovereign states of the Union. It is a matter of authentic historical record that the father of the Dale brothers of this company was the first white child born in Kent county, and this fact bears its own significance as touching the family association with the annals of development and progress in this now opulent and favored section of Michigan. In 1837, John Dale, Sr., rigged up a heavy sled, to which he yoked his oxen, and with this cumbersome and primitive vehicle of transportation he and his wife set forth from Detroit to make their way to the little settlement that had been made on the banks of Grand river in Kent county. The winter in which they thus set forth was one of extreme cold, and the careful and thoughtful pioneer, John Dale, placed a canopy over the sled, and inside this covering was placed a cook stove of the type common to that day, the same hav- ing supplied heat as well as medium for preparing food on the Folm Dah HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 353 long and tedious journey through the forests to the site of what is now the city of Grand Rapids, there having been no roads through this section of the new state at that period, and five weeks having been required to complete the journey to the new home. On the 16th of December, 1837, as the sled, with its occupants and its little assemblage of household effects, approached the pioneer settlement that was the nucleus of Grand Rapids, a child was born on the primitive vehicle of transit, and that child was John Dale, Jr., who thus became the first white child to be born within the limits of what is now Kent county. The par- ents lived up to the full tension of frontier life and were closely identified with the movements that made for civic and material development and advancement in the new community, they having continued as honored pioneer citizens of Kent county until their death. John Dale, Jr., was reared under the conditions and in- fluences of the pioneer days, attended school in a little school house that stood at what is now the corner of Fulton and Jefferson streets, and in later years he frequently referred to his clear memory of the building of the first dwelling house of any pretentiousness in the little village, this having been erected by Doctor Sheppard and having been on the site of the present fine club house of the Pen- insular Club. He recalled also that the great event of the decade of the fifties was the arrival, July 4, 1858, of the first train over the old Great Western Railroad, and the settlers from miles around assembled in Grand Rapids to witness this important event. As a boy Mr. Dale assisted in building the first wagon road that entered Grand Rapids, this having been the historic old plank road ex- tending from Kalamazoo to Grand Rapids and constituting the route over which passed the stages operated between the two embryonic cities. For several years Mr. Dale drove a stage over this road, and upon his retiring from this service he assumed the position of engineer on the little steamboat that plied the Grand river between Grand Rapids and Grand Haven, the latter place being the nearest port on Lake Michigan. Later he was employed by L. H. Withey in the capacity of lumber inspector, Mr. Withey having been one of the prominent lumber operators of the state at that time. Some time later he and William Solomon purchased timber near Ashland, Osceola county. This timber was cut at Harry Watrus' mill at Ashland. After his return to Grand Rapids, Mr. Dale formed a partnership with John Dregge, and the firm of Dale & Dregge here engaged in the lumber business, which was successfully continued for a term of several years. In 1890 Mr. Dale purchased the Butts excelsior factory and business, and this enterprise he continued until 1896, when his sons, Robert H., Frank A. and Oden F. assumed the active management and he retired from the vigorous association with business affairs that had long engrossed the greater part of his time and attention. John Dale, Jr., lived to see the little pioneer village of Grand Rapids develop into a metropolitan community of 150,000 population, and here he continued to reside, honored by the entire community, until his 354 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY death, September 21, 1919, at the venerable age of eighty-two years. Thus passed away the sterling pioneer citizen who had the dis- tinction of having been the first white child born in Kent county. The three sons continued the manufacturing of excelsior until changing conditions led them to transform operations into the manufacture of excelsior pads, for use in packing furniture, and at this juncture, in 1926, Robert H. and Frank A., with their younger brother, Oden F., formed their present partnership, under the title of the Dale Brothers Excelsior Pad Company. The well equipped manufacturing plant is at 1560 Taylor avenue, and the products are shipped throughout the various states of the Union, the enter- prise contributing to the industrial and commercial prestige of Grand Rapids. The sons are well upholding the honors of the family name and are numbered among the representative business men of their native city. Their father went forth from Kent county as a gallant soldier of the Union in the Civil war, and in later years he vitalized his interest in and association with his old comrades by his active affiliation with the Grand Army of the Re- public. He was a Democrat in politics. His venerable widow was long a devoted member of the Congregational church. Mrs. Dale, whose maiden name was Jessie Muir, was born in Scotland, and was a child at the time her parents established their home in Michigan. Mrs. Dale passed to the life eternal on September 25, 1925, and was buried in Grand Rapids. She was the mother of eight children of whom four sons and three daughters are living. Three sons have been mentioned above, and the other son, Wm. B., is with the Kent County State Bank. The daughters are Margaret, now the widow of E. A. Morse; Daisy Agnes, widow of Walter Behnke, and Grace, now Mrs. Wm. Carew, of Grand Rapids. Hans Clemetsen, who is vice-president and general superin- tendent of the Valley City Desk Company, a concern that lends à noteworthy quota to the industrial and commercial importance of Grand Rapids, was born in Norway, in the year 1862, and was reared and educated in his native land, where also, in the fine old capital city of Christiania, he learned the cabinetmaker's trade, under the careful methods characteristic of all such apprentice- ship in that section of the far Norseland. Believing that in the United States were afforded better advantages for the winning of success and advancement through personal effort, Mr. Clemetsen came to this country in 1883, shortly after attaining to his legal majority. The day before he left his native land he was united in marriage to his young sweetheart, and the voyage across the Atlantic was virtually their wedding tour. The maiden name of his bride was Augusta Berg. They landed in the port of New York City and thence they proceeded to Chicago, in which city they arrived with their cash capital reduced to $2.00, but with an abundance of self-reliance and ambition. As a skilled workman at his trade Mr. Clemetsen readily found employment in the great western metropolis, and there he won advancement through the efficiency of his work and through his fidelity to all trusts reposed HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 355 in him. In 1904 Mr. Clemetsen came to Grand Rapids to assume the position of superintendent of the Valley City Desk Company. He introduced many improvements in the general working system of the factory and this, together with his valuable suggestions rela- tive to the business policies of the company, brought about a dis- tinct expansion in the output and in the scope of the business. In 1906 he was elected vice-president of the company, in which he had become a substantial stockholder, and this office he has since retained, together with that of general superintendent. O. C. S. Olsen, of Chicago, is president of the company, and Addison S. Goodman, of Grand Rapids, is its secretary and treasurer. The loved and devoted wife of Mr. Clemetsen passed to the life eternal in the year 1896, and is survived by four sons and two daughters. Hjalmar, the eldest son, is now a resident of Chicago. In the World war period he was in the ordnance division of the war department, at Washington, D. C., where he was chief buyer of office supplies for the use of the United States army. Norman, the second son, likewise resides in Chicago, and, under the administra- tion of his father, Garfield is assistant superintendent of the Valley City Desk Company. Harold, a graduate of Michigan Agricul- tural College, is now retained as district engineer of roads, with headquarters at Alpena. In the World war he was in overseas service two years. He was made a first lieutenant of cavalry, but was assigned to duty with a machine-gun company of the Second Division of the American Expeditionary Forces. He was wounded while at the front and was confined to a hospital during a period of six months. The two daughters of the family are Inger Helena Humann, living in Chicago, and Dagne Alwelda, in Grand Rapids. Mr. Clemetsen is a Republican in political alignment. Addison S. Goodman has intimate association with the indus- trial and commercial interests of Grand Rapids, as he is secretary and treasurer of the Valley City Desk Company, one of the sub- stantial and well ordered manufacturing concerns that lend to the precedence of this city. The Valley City Table Company was organized and incorporated in 1888, with Alonzo Hodges, George H. Clark and John A. Hodges as the principals. The new concern initiated the manufacturing of office tables, and in 1892 the cor- porate title, in consonance with the amplification of the productive output, was changed to the present form, the Valley City Desk Company. On the 28th of August, 1911, O. C. S. Olsen, Hans Clemetsen and Addison S. Goodman purchased the entire capital stock of the corporation and under their control the business has since been continued along progressive and reliable lines, the while it has greatly expanded in scope and importance. Mr. Olsen, who is president of the company, is a resident of Chicago; Mr. Clemet- sen is the vice-president and general superintendent, and of him individual mention 'is made on another page of this publication; and Mr. Goodman, of this review, is the secretary and treasurer. The output of the manufacturing plant of the company has been Enga 356 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY brought up to a high standard, and demand for products has come from most diverse sections of the United States. Addison S. Good- man takes definite satisfaction in reverting to the fine old Wolver- ine state as the place of his nativity. He was born at Coldwater, judicial center of Branch county, Michigan, and he was a child at the time of the family removal to Grand Rapids, where the public schools afforded him his youthful education. His first employment was in the office of Foster, Stevens & Company, and after main taining this alliance several years he took a position in the offices of the Gunn Furniture Company, with which he continued his association a number of years, when, as already noted, he became one of the principals and active executives of the Valley City Desk Company, to the affairs of which he has since given his close and constructive attention. He is one of the loyal and progressive citizens and business men of the city that has represented his home since his childhood, and is a member of various civic and fraternal organizations. Rollin H. Owen, treasurer of Owen-Ames-Kimball Company, contractors and builders, is not only one of the successful business men of Grand Rapids from a financial standpoint but through his ability in that constructive line of work has been a real builder of the city as attested by many beautiful business buildings and industrial plants and thereby a substantial contributor to the splen- did material appearance of the community. He is a native of Newark, Ohio, born on July 8, 1870, and received his public school and high school education in Newark. In 1889 when just coming into young manhood, he came to Grand Rapids and started in at the bottom of his line of work with the Valley City Street and Cable Railway Company. They then had under construction the Lyon street line and he remained with that company until the com- pletion of that work, over a period of about five years. He then engaged in general contracting with J. G. Nordella, under the firm name of Nordella and Owen, for another period of five years, until he joined the firm of Hauser-Hayden and Owen, of which his brother, Edwin Owen, now president of the Owen-Ames-Kimball Company, was already a member. Out of this former company evolved the present company, of which the subject of this narrative is treasurer. The Owen-Ames-Kimball Company have had the contracts for many of the largest and most important buildings in Grand Rapids and western Michigan, and these buildings have not only reflected credit upon this company but have generally been under the direct supervision of Rollin H. Owen. Some of these buildings deserve special mention at this point in that we may give proper recognition to the ability displayed in this line of work and in the improvement of the community by. Mr. Owen: Herpol- sheimer building, Steketee building, Grand Rapids Savings Bank building, Grand Rapids National Bank building, Furniture Ex- change building, New Bell Telephone building, Pantlind Hotel, Rowe Hotel, Klingman Exhibition building, and Fine Arts build- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 357 ing. Mr. Owen has found time to devote part of his energies to other lines of commercial and civic development in this commun- ity. He is also a director in the Battjes Fuel & Building Material Company; vice-president of Grand Rapids Forging Company, and vice-president of the Rowe Hotel Company. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and Shriner, member of the B. P. O. E. and K. O. T. M., and a charter member of Highland Country Club and Penin- sular Club. On January 15, 1897, he married Nellie M. Kane, of Amherstburg, Ontario, who is one of the prominent women in Grand Rapids. She has twice held the City Golf championship in the club of which she is a very active member, and is also a member of the Woman's City Club and the Alliance Francaise. Milo Schuitema, president of Tisch-Hine Company, Inc., office outfitters and manufacturing stationers, 237-239 Pearl street, Grand Rapids, Michigan, is an active factor in his important line of commercial activity. He was born in the Netherlands on Febru- ary 23, 1884. At the age of five years he was brought to Grand Rapids, Michigan, by his parents, Albert and Emma (Boerema) Schuitema. His father, Albert Schuitema, is a lumber inspector and he now lives in Grand Rapids, at the age of sixty-three, with his wife, who is now sixty years of age. They are active members of Burton Heights Christian Reformed church. Milo, the eldest . and the subject of this record, Jennie and Anna, the three of the ten children of this worthy couple born in the parents' native country, and the remaining seven children who were born in the United States were Jacob, Fred, Nellie (who died at the age of twenty- eight years), Joseph, Edna (who died at the age of four), Alfred (who died at the age of five), and Emma (who died in 1924). Milo Schuitema, the subject of this record, attended school in Grand Rapids until fourteen years old. In 1898 he took a position with the Grand Rapids Lithographing Company. Here he secured an excellent foundation for the work which he was later to initiate and develop. Out of the Grand Rapids Lithographing Company grew the Edwards-Hine Company, organized in 1900, and that developed in 1908 into the Tisch-Hine Company, under the management of Julius Tisch. Mr. Schuitema started in at the bottom rung of the ladder in this business and worked himself up through various positions with the company un- til in 1919 he was made president of the company and is now the principal holder of the stock of this present corpor- ation. Mr. Schuitema has found some time which he could spare from his regular business duties for energy and ability to other works. He is a director in the Home State Bank for Savings; an officer and director in the Wheeler-Van Label Company; a director of the Citizens Company, and in response to the call for civic duty is a trustee for the Village of East Grand Rapids. Fraternally he is a member of Doris Lodge, No. 342, A. F. & A. M., a Knight Temp- lar and member of Saladin Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Grand Rapids. He recognizes the mission of the civic clubs by member- 358 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY ship in the Peninsular and Rotary Clubs. He conforms his recre- ation to the demands of his strenuous business life by holding mem- bership in both the Highland Country Club and Masonic Country Club. The religious affiliation and activity of himself and family are with the Fountain Street Baptist church. He was married on June 8, 1907, to Miss Pearl Williams, who is a native of Grand Ledge, Michigan. They have two children, Donald, born January 4, 1909, who is now a sophomore in Central high school Grand Rapids, and Frances, born April 7, 1912, a student in East Grand Rapids school. Mr. Schuitema has not only been successful finan- cially but has achieved a recognized place as an active leader in both the business and civic life of Grand Rapids and East Grand Rapids. George B. Armstrong, vice-president and general manager of the Viking Automatic Sprinkler Company, wtih headquarters at 109 Campau avenue, northwest, in the city of Grand Rapids, has reason to take pride in his connection with the great Viking cor- poration, the operations of which are based on large capital and splendid executive personnel, and the industrial and commercial province of which includes the manufacturing of many high-grade products of great utility, so that the name Viking has become a symbol of standard excellence in the domain of American indus- trialism. The factory of the Viking Automatic Sprinkler Com- pany is established at Hastings, Michigan, and the important con- cern is but one of many units in the great and far extended indus- trial operations of the Viking corporation. Mr. Armstrong was born in Cannon township, Kent county, Michigan, July 5, 1873, and is today one of the influential business men in his native county. He is a son of George W. and Anna E. (Wilson) Armstrong, and on the maternal side he is a grandson of the late Amos and Rachel (Brown) Wilson, who were numbered among the sterling pioneers of Kent county, Mr. Wilson having come to this county in 1842, about five years after the admission of Michigan to statehood, and having reclaimed and developed in Cannon township one of the fine farm estates of the county. One of the landmarks on the Can- nonsburg road is the substantial old Wilson homestead, which was erected many years ago, this property being now owned by George B. Armstrong, of this review, and being valued by him not only for its intrinsic financial worth but also by many gracious memories and associations, his mother having remained in the old homestead until her death, November 4, 1922, at the age of seventy-nine years, and her husband having passed away many years ago. The Arm- strong family likewise gained a goodly measure of pioneer prece- dence in Kent county, where its first representatives settled in 1853, and where George W. Armstrong was a prosperous farmer at the time of his death. After his graduation in the high school at Cannonsburg, George B. Armstrong completed a course in the Welton Commercial College in Grand Rapids, and his first busi- ness service was in the selling of plumbing supplies. For several HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 359 years he was Michigan state manager for the Globe Automatic Sprinkler Company, and through his extensive travels in negotiat- ing contracts for automatic sprinkling systems in large factories, commercial houses, hotels and other buildings making requisition for such valuable fire-prevention service, he has gained a very wide acquaintanceship with leading men of affairs in virtually all parts of Michigan. When the Viking Automatic Sprinkler Company was organized, in 1923, Mr. Armstrong became vice-president and district manager of the corporation, and in this dual office his vigorous and progressive policies have worked admirably in devel- oping the business of the company. This is the only Michigan corporation manufacturing a complete line of automatic sprinklers adapted to all kinds of buildings, the trade of the concern extending into all parts of the Union, and offices are maintained in all lead- ing cities. On all products is stamped the word “Approved," as signifying a virtual trademark indicative of the approval of the Viking sprinklers by all leading fire insurance underwriting organ- izations of the country. Mr. Armstrong is an active and valued member of the Grand Rapids Association of Commerce, his Ma- sonic affiliations include his membership in the Mystic Shrine, he is a member of the Peninsular, the Old Colony, the Highland Country and the Masonic Clubs, and he and his wife hold membership in Park Congregational church, his political alignment being with the Republican party. In the World war period Mr. Armstrong was active in the advancing of all patriotic movements in his home city and county. John J. Armstrong, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was of Irish lineage and was one of the well known pioneer citizens of Oneida county, New York, at the time of his death. In 1895 George B. Armstrong married Jeanie, daughter of John Muir, who was for many years a prominent business man of Grand Rapids. The death of Mrs. Armstrong occurred in 1903, and in 1905 Mr. Armstrong was united in marriage to Mrs. Eliza- beth Bourne Sanders Owsley, of Frankfort, Kentucky, who is the popular chatelaine of their attractive home. Mr. Armstrong has no children. Edwin D. Tross, president of Tross & Company, which is suc- cessfully established in the mortgage and investment-bond business at Grand Rapids, with offices in the Houseman building, and also in the Buhl building at Detroit, was born in the historic old city of Elizabeth, Union county, New Jersey, December 31, 1885, and is a son of Edwin T. and Anna (vonder Osten) Tross, the former of whom likewise was born at Elizabeth, September 7, 1855, and the latter of whom was born in New York City, May 23, 1850. Edwin T. Tross was for many years engaged in the wholesale grocery business at Elizabeth, New Jersey, and he finally retired and turned the business over to his son Edwin D., of this sketch, his death having there occurred within a short time after his retirement. He passed away July 14, 1906, and his widow died in 1918. After his graduation in the high school of his native city Edwin D. Tross completed a course in the Ohio Northern 360 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY University, at Ada, in which likewise he was graduated. He was for some time a student in the University of Pennsylvania. As a youth he became associated with his father's wholesale grocery business at Elizabeth, and after his father's retirement he successfully continued the business until 1907, when he sold the same. He then established himself in business in New York City, as an importer of spices from Germany and Austria. This enterprise he continued until 1914, and he has since given his close and successful attention to the mortgage and investment-bond business, except for an interval of two years, in the World war period, when he was in active service in the intelligence de- partment of the United States secret service, in 1918-19. He has made a close study of the financial business in which he is now engaged, he having been identified with the same in New York City during a period of two years, and having been similarly engaged thereafter in Des Moines, Iowa, during the two years prior to his coming to Grand Rapids, April 1, 1920. Mr. Tross is now one of the prominent exponents of the mortgage and investment-securities business in the progressive city that is the metropolis of western Michigan, and his clientage is one of representative order. Mr. Tross is a loyal and valued member of the Grand Rapids Association of Commerce and the local Exchange Club. His Masonic affiliations are still maintained in his native city of Eliza- beth, New Jersey, and in Grand Rapids he and his wife are members of the First Church of Christ, Scientist. September 9, 1922, Mr. Tross wedded Miss Winifred Reeves, who was born and reared in Grand Rapids, and they are popular factors in the social life of their home community. Mr. Tross is a skilled and enthusiastic yachtsman, and while residing at Elizabeth and New York City he became the owner of several fine yachts that were built for him and in which he took much pride. William James Breen is one of the substantial capitalists and representative men of affairs in the city of Grand Rapids, where he is president of the Breen & Halladay Fuel Company; vice-presi- dent of the Home State Bank for Savings; president of the H. M. O. Lumber Company, of which he was one of the organizers; president of the City Coal & Coke Company, in the organization of which he was prominently associated, and a director of the Burton Heights Fuel & Building Material Company. He was a leader in the or- ganization of the Grand Rapids Gravel Company, of which he is the president, and in Osceola county, he is the president of the Dighton Land Company. His progressive activities have also been extended into the state of Florida, being president of both the Breen Realty Company and the Michigan Land Company as well as a director of the Home Finance Association. In addition to these important capitalistic and business alliances, Mr. Breen is also a valued member of the directorate of the Grand Rapids As- sociation of Commerce, and is a director also of the Associa- tion of the Blind at Grand Rapids of which he is a supporter. Mr. Breen is one of the splendidly loyal and progressive citizens of Grand Rapids, and has here wielded large influence in the ad- vancing of enterprises and measures that have contributed to the William Breen HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 361 general well being of the community. He has secured a place in popular esteem, and is admired for the large success that he has gained through his own ability and well directed efforts. He is affiliated with both York and Scottish Rite bodies of the Masonic fraternity, as well as its Mystic Shrine and the order of the Eastern Star, besides which he is a life member of the Masonic Country Club of Grand Rapids. His political allegiance is given to the Re- publican party, and he attends and supports the first Methodist Episcopal Church, of which his wife is an active member. Mr. Breen was born on a farm in Durham county, Providence of On- tario, Canada, January 29, 1863, and is the son of Robert and Esther (Virtue) Breen, who were born in Ireland, of Irish and Scotch lineage, respectively, and who came to Canada almost im- mediately after their marriage, Robert Breen having become a prosperous farmer in Huron county, Ontario, and in that Province he passed the remainder of his earnest and worthy life. His wife, having passed her ninety-second anniversary, is spending the winters with her son William in Florida. William J. Breen was reared to the sturdy discipline of the home farm and his early educational advantages were limited to irregular attendance in a rural school some distance from the family home. When he was about fourteen years of age he found employment at farm work, and received eleven dollars a month for his services. In his native province he continued his association with farm enterprise until he was twenty-one years of age, when, in 1884, he came to Michigan and found employment on a farm near Reed City, Osceola county. Later he engaged independently in business as a jobber in tan bark, after which he was employed two years by the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railway. In 1887 Mr. Breen engaged in the fuel busi- ness in Grand Rapids, and later he expanded his business to in- clude lumber. He continued operations in an individual way until 1892, when he organized the Breen & Halladay Fuel Company, of which he has since continued to be the executive head, his ad- ministration as president of this company having now covered a period of twenty years. In 1925 Mr. Breen donated to the city of Grand Rapids one hundred acres for a park to be known as Breen Park. Even as he has been in the most significant sense the architect of his own fortunes—and his has been large and worthily won success—so has his mental ken been widened by the effective education of self-discipline and broad and varied expe- rience in connection with the practical affairs of life. Mr. Breen has ordered his course along the line of inviolable integrity, and has thus merited the popular confidence and good will that are uni- formly accorded to him. He has three sons: James V., William S. and Waldo J. The second marriage of Mr. Breen was with Miss Evalene Halladay, of Grand Rapids, and she presides graciously over their attractive home in this city and their winter home in Florida. Mr. and Mrs. Breen are the parents of two daughters, Martha Elizabeth, and Mary Grace, five and four years of age, respectively. 362 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Frayer Halladay was born on a farm near Leeds, Ontario, October 15, 1845, being the eldest of a family of nine children born to George and Mary (White) Halladay. His father came from Scotch and English antecedents and his mother was pure Scotch, while both were natives of Ontario, Canada. George Halladay was married three times, four children having been born to his second union. His third wife was a widow. He came to Michigan and joined his son Frayer, who had preceded him, and with whom he was associated during the remaining active years of his life. He was a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal church all his life, which ended at Ashton, Michigan. Frayer Halladay attended the district school near his father's farm and remained with his father at home until twenty-one years of age. He then came to Michigan and located a homestead in Sherman township, Osceola county. Finding this life too tame for him, he formed a copart- nership with his father and engaged in general trade at Ashton, in 1872, under the name of George Halladay & Son. The goods were shipped by rail to Paris, which was as far north as the Grand Rapids & Indiana was completed at that time. The remainder of the distance was made by wagon. Mr. Halladay made the trip himself and slept under the wagon at night. This copartnership continued fifteen years, when Frayer succeeded his father, continuing the business eleven years longer in his own name. He operated a sawmill fifteen years, during which time he was the medium through which thousands of acres of hardwood land were cleared and the timber converted into money. In the year 1892 Mr. Halladay formed a partnership with W. J. Breen to engage in the fuel business. Mr. Halladay owned several hundred acres of farm land in Osceola county and a large tract of hardwood timber in the Upper Peninsula. He also had large real estate holdings in this city. He founded the Halladay Lum- ber Company at Grand Rapids of which he was president many years. While he resided in Ashton he was supervisor and treas- urer of his township several years, a representative in the legis- lature and postmaster at Ashton many years. Mr. Halladay was married December 29, 1875, to Miss Elizabeth McIllmurray, a native of Canada, who was teaching school at Ashton at that time. She died April 10, 1885, leaving three children, Grace, Evalene and Roy. The first named is the widow of the late Clarence Harrison, Evalene was married about 1912 to Mr. Breen, and Roy died some years ago at the age of nineteen. Mr. Halladay was at one time quite prominent in the Odd Fellows fraternity, but had not been very active in his later years. He was at the time of his death, April 14, 1912, president of the Michigan Exchange Private Bank. He was of a retiring disposition, but made many friends, and his death was mourned by all who knew him. Rev. Henry Beets, LL. D., a distinguished clergyman of the Christian Reformed church, a leader among the fine and large con- tingent of Michigan citizens of Holland birth and ancestry, and widely Froger Halladay HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 363 known as an editor and author, is a man who has translated into ef- fective service the high ideals that have animated him and that repre- sent the best in the scheme of human thought, motive and action. Since 1920 Dr. Beets has served as secretary and director of the missions of the Christian Reformed church in the United States, and since 1902 he has been stated clerk of the Christian Reformed church. He has his executive headquarters in the city of Grand Rapids, where his home is at 737 Madison avenue, southwest. Dr. Beets was born at Koedyk, near Alkmaar, in the Netherlands, January 5, 1869, and is a son of Jasper and Margaret (Smit) Beets. He came to the United States in the year 1886 and after spending the years of early manhood in Kansas, came to Michigan to study at Grand Rapids, in Calvin College and Theological School there. He graduated as a member of the Seminary class of 1895, and October 20 of that year he was ordained a clergy- man of the Christian Reformed church. In 1911 he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from Muskingum College, Ohio, an institution maintained under the auspices of the United Presbyterian church. From 1895 to 1899 Dr. Beets was pastor of the Christian Reformed church at Sioux Center, Iowa, and he then came to Grand Rapids as pastor of the LaGrave Avenue church of his denomination, where his zealous and fruitful service was continued until 1915. From that year until 1920 he was pastor of the church at Burton Heights, a suburb of Grand Rapids, and since 1920, as previously noted, he has been secretary and director of missions of the Christian Reformed church. In the period of 1902-09 he was a member of the joint com- mittee of the United States-Canadian churches to revise the metrical version of the Book of Psalms. In 1902, 1911 and 1923 Dr. Beets was a delegate to the General Synod of the Reformed churches of the Netherlands. Since 1904 he has been editor-in-chief of the Banner, the official weekly publication of the Christian Reformed church in America, and he has made many and valuable contributions to leading periodicals of religious and secular order, including the Archives of Church History and the Michigan Historical Magazine. He is the author of the following named works: “Life of President McKinley," published, in the Dutch language, in 1901 ; “Life and Times of Abra- ham Lincoln," and “Triumphs of the Cross,” which were published, in the Dutch language, in 1909 and 1914, respectively; “Compendium of the Christian Religion-Explained,” with editions in 1915, 1919 and 1924; "History of the Christian Reformed Church, Its Work and Principles," was published in 1923 in part based on a larger work on his denomination which he, in 1918, had published in the Dutch language. A "Students' Compendium of the Heidelberg Catechism” was published in 1925. Since 1915 Dr. Beets has been editor of “De Heidenwereld," a missionary monthly issued under the auspices of the Reformed and Christian Reformed churches. The Doctor is in the United States known as an exponent of lofty patriotism, and has been loyal and enthusiastic in bringing to the Holland element of citizenship a broader appreciation of the manifold advantages and attractions of the United States, as well as to have them gain a more comprehensive knowledge of the history of this country and its institutions. He has 364 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY written numerous poems that voice his fervent Christian faith and also those that breathe of exalted civic loyalty and patriotism. He wrote the words for a beautiful poem that was set to music by J. M. Wilms, and that is entitled “Song of the Holland-Americans," with both Dutch and English metrical texts. The prescribed limitations of this publi- cation prevent the full reproduction of this beautiful and noble song- text, but one stanza is so notably significant that it is here given place: “One special boon, our fathers' God, We crave from Thy right hand : Make us a blessing more and more, To our beloved land; Infuse the best of all our past, The noblest of our traits, Into the life, into the deed, Of our United States !”' On the 11th of September, 1895, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Beets to Miss Clara Poel, of Grand Haven, Michigan, and they have three sons: Henry Nicholas Beets, M.A., is a graduate of the Uni- versity of Chicago. He is now radiologist and physicist with a leading hospital in the city of Chicago. Albert Jasper, the second son, is en- gaged in business pursuits in Grand Rapids. William Clarence, young- est of the sons, is, in 1925, a medical student in the University of Mich- igan. Theodore O. Williams, our county surveyor, was born in Alle- gan, Michigan, May 27, 1861, a son of William B. and Maryette (Os- born) Williams. William B. Williams was a prominent attorney of Allegan and Grand Rapids for many years having an office in both cities. In Grand Rapids the firm of Williams & Harlan and Williams & Wylie will be remembered by all of the old attorneys. He was a member of congress from 1873 to 1876 and had the honor of defeating for the office the Honorable C. C. Comstock who was at that time a very prominent citizen of Grand Rapids. After his congressional career he was one of the first railroad commissioners of the state and many of his rulings are still in force in the present railroad commission- er's office. In his home life William B. Williams was a strict church man and was vestryman of the Episcopal church from its organization until his death, while Mrs. Williams was the organist of the same church for over thirty years. X Theodore graduated from the Allegan high school in 1879 and attended the Michigan Agricultural College. After two years on the farm he spent three years in the then booming south- western Kansas. Returning to Allegan in 1886 he was appointed Allegan county surveyor. In 1891 he came to Grand Rapids to survey territory recently annexed to the city. While in the employ of the city he received the nomination and election as Kent county surveyor and took his office on January 1, 1893, where he took root and has remained continuously in the office with the exception of a short vacation in 1897, from 1893 to date the completion of this term will make thirty-four years of active service as Kent county surveyor. At present he is president of Williams & Works, an engineering corporation having offices at 232 Ottawa avenue. Their work includes general surveying and plat- the new HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 365 ting in and around the city of Grand Rapids, municipal engineering for the smaller cities and villages and drainage work for Kent county and several of the surrounding counties. Theodore O. Williams was married in 1892 to Ida Whitcomb of Plainwell, Michigan, and they have one son Willfred B. Williams who was born in 1895. He graduated from the city high school in 1914 and would have graduated from the Michigan Agricultural College in 1918 if the World war in which he enlisted had not broken his plans. At the end of the war he was dis- charged with the rank of lieutenant. He was married to Emily Castle of Mt. Clemens, Michigan, in 1919 and graduated from the Michigan Agricultural College in 1921. He is now following along the path sur- veyed by his father and is now treasurer and manager of the corpora- tion of Williams & Works as well as deputy county surveyor. At the present time Theodore O. Williams has varied business interests and is a member of the Masonic order, Knights of Pythias and Modern Woodmen. He owns a very comfortable home in the village of East Grand Rapids and with his good wife is trying to enjoy the fruits of his long service, but does not believe in rusting out, and every day finds him in his office at the court house. Christian Den Herder. The state of Michigan has gained much through the influence and loyalty of its very appreciable element of citizens claiming the fine old Netherlands as the place of their nativity or ancestral representation. Western Michigan became a fertile pioneer field for colonization on the part of Holland Dutch settlers, and the history of the early days gives high recognition to the sterling characters and fine productive activities of these pioneers, who founded and de- veloped numerous towns and communities, including the fine city of Zeeland, Ottawa county, and whose descendants have well upheld the honors of the various family names. Of this fine pioneer ancestry Christian Den Herder, now a prosperous exponent of the retail grocery trade in Grand Rapids, is a worthy representative. His grandparents in the paternal line were Christian and Cornelia Den Herder, both of whom were born in Holland and both of whom gained pioneer honors in Ottawa county, Michigan. Christian Den Herder was born and reared in the Netherlands and was a sturdy and ambitious man when, in 1847, he came with his family to the United States and numbered him- self among the pioneer Dutch colonists in Ottawa county, Michigan, where he reclaimed and developed one of the fine farms of Zeeland township and where both he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives, both having been earnest members of the Reformed church. On the old homestead farm in Zeeland township, Ottawa county, Christian Den Herder was born in the year 1854, a son of Marinus and Frederika Johanna (Spricke) Den Herder, both of whom were born in the Nether- land and both of whom were young folk at the time when the respective families established homes in Ottawa county, Michigan. . Marinus Den Herder was long numbered among the prosperous farmers and influ- ential citizens of Ottawa county, and there he and his wife continued to reside until their death, secure in the high regard of all who knew them and earnest exemplars of the faith of the Reformed church. Their eleven children, five sons and six daughters, attained to years of 36:6 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY maturity. Christian Den Herder was reared to the invigorating disci- pline of the pioneer farm, and in the meanwhile he profited by the advantages of the district schools of the locality and period. After severing his active association with farm industry he was for seven- teen years proprietor of a grocery store in the little village of Vries- land, Ottawa county, and in 1889 he established his residence in Grand Rapids. In 1905 Mr. Den Herder here opened a retail grocery store, on Division street, south, and he has since continued successfully in this line of enterprise, his well equipped establishment being now at 1759. Division street, south, and his substantial business having had as its basis fair and honorable dealings and effective service. The active management of the business is now vested in his younger son, Charles W., but he, himself, is not able to emancipate himself from the habits of years, and thus finds satisfaction in still making his daily appearance at the store and giving to the same a general supervision, this indulgence permitting him to meet many old friends and customers whom he deeply appreciates. Mr. Den Herder is a staunch Republican in his political proclivities, and while still a resident of Ottawa county he served in various township offices, as well as a school official, besides having been for a number of years the postmaster at Vriesland. He and his wife are zealous members of the Reformed church. Nearly forty-nine years ago was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Den Herder to Miss Alice Dalman, who likewise was born and reared in Ottawa county and who is a daughter of the late Ralph Dalman. Mr. and Mrs. Den Herder have four children: Marinus is successfully engaged in the practice of law, as a representative member of the Grand Rapids bar; Johanna and Frances are the two daughters, and Charles W., as previously noted, has active charge of his father's grocery business, in which he has a partnership interest. Frank Oole, of the firm of Nydam & Dole, sheet metal and heating engineers, is a native of the Netherlands, born on Febru- ary 22, 1884. When he was seven years old he came to Grand Rapids with his parents, John and Adriana (Zandyk) Oole, both natives of the Netherlands. The father, born on November 24, 1844, died in Grand Rapids on April 17, 1912, and the mother, born on January 24, 1844, died in Grand Rapids on November 18, 1924. Of the six children of that couple, three are now living. They were members of the Reformed church. Frank Oole received his preliminary education in the public and parochial schools of Grand Rapids. He started in upon his business career at a rather early age, first taking employment in the furniture factory and later becoming foreman for the R. A. Stanhouse Company, a sheet metal and hardware concern, and later working for the East Fulton Hard- ware, Heating and Plumbing Company. In 1923 he became a a member of the present firm, of which company he is treasurer. He is a member of the American Aid Society and Moose Lodge. His religious affiliation is with the Calvary Reformed church. On April 8, 1910, he was joined in wedlock with Nellie Bogerd, of Grand Rapids, Michigan. They had four children, Helen Pearl, HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 367 born on October 31, 1910, who died on January 24, 1913; Earl Francis, born on December 4, 1911; Pearl Helen, born on June 25, 1914, and Eugene Gerald, born on November 19, 1918. John G. Rauser. One of the important and flourishing busi- nesses of Grand Rapids is the Rauser Quality Sausage Company, located at 645 Bridge street. John G. Rauser, the proprietor of this enterprise, was born in Grand Rapids, January 13, 1895, the son of John and Sophie Rauser, the former of whom was a native of Germany. John Rauser, the father, came to the United States when a young man, settling in Grand Rapids where he went into the sausage manufacturing business in 1891, the factory being located on Bridge street west of the present factory. His trade grew so fast that he was soon forced to build a three-story plant, which is the present home of the Rauser Quality Sausage Com- pany. He died in 1908, and his widow is still living in Grand Rapids. John G. Rauser was educated in the Grand Rapids public schools. Following the death of his father in 1908, the company was released to William Burns, and in 1912, John G. Rauser and his brother, Otto, took over the management of the company, which they have since continued to operate. In addition to the trade which they enjoy in Grand Rapids, all small towns within a radius of 125 miles of the city form the market for the product of the company. In April, 1924, John G. Rauser bought the interests of his brother in the plant, leaving him the sole proprietor of the company. . The daily output of the factory is between 3,000 and 3,500 pounds of sausage, a record which has won for the firm the name of being one of the substantial manufacturing concerns in the city. In April, 1914, Mr. Rauser was united in marriage with Miss Ida Vander Woude, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Vander Woude, pioneer residents of Grand Rapids. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Rauser. They are Virginia and Claudia. Mr. Rauser is an active member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and he affiliates with the Congregational church. The Rauser's have a summer home on an island in Angel Lake, where Mr. Rauser spends much of his leisure time hunting and fishing. The rasing of pedigreed setters and hunting dogs is a particular hobby of his, ai hobby of his, and one in which he has been singularly successful. Stanley Strong, proprietor of the Strong Electrical Company, of Grand Rapids, was born in that city, August 8, 1896, the son of Frank and Frances (Steel) Strong, the former of whom died in 1909 and the latter of whom is still living in Grand Rapids. Stanley Strong attended the public schools of Grand Rapids, and after his graduation from the latter institution, he went into electrical work, continuing in that line until he felt that he had gained sufficient knowledge of the work to allow him to go into business for himself. In 1919, he established the Strong Electrical Company which has developed to a point where it is ranked as one of the flourishing electrical contracting and supply houses in the city. He took a special interest in radio work, and when 368 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY wireless receiving outfits were perfected to the point where they could be successfully used in the homes of the people, Strong found that his services were greatly in demand in work of this kind. In 1918, he married Miss Mildred Zylstra, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Zylstra, of Grand Rapids. Mr. and Mrs. Strong have one child, Geanne, who was born September 22, 1919. Mr. Strong has gained a place of prominence in the electrical business in Grand Rapids, a place. that has been gained solely through his own efforts coupled with his expert knowledge of the work which he has chosen for a life work. His leisure time away from business is spent in hunting and fishing, sports in which he is highly proficient. Joseph P. Lynch is the executive head of the Joseph P. Lynch Sales Company, and had made the same one of the most influential and successful concerns of its kind in the United States. Mr. Lynch conceived an original idea in connection with the promotion of merchandise sales, and he forthwith proceeded to translate his conception into concrete action. Of the significance of his achieve- ment there can be no skepticism, for in the issue of Success Maga- zine of July, 1923, appeared the following estimate: “Joseph P. Lynch is admitted to be one of the greatest merchandising sales- men in the country.” It is not within the province of this publi- cation to enter into details concerning the remarkable success that has attended the operations of the Joseph P. Lynch Sales Com- pany, the business of which has been extended throughout the most diverse sections of the United States, but the following quotations may consistently be entered, as showing in a general way the character and scope of the Lynch service: “The Joseph P. Lynch sales organization is the only sales company in America serving the larger retail establishments. Joseph P. Lynch plans always take into consideration the character of the establishment and the posi- tion it holds in the community, and while the Lynch system im- mediately stimulates stock turnovers, future business is con- structively built.” “That the Joseph P. Lynch method of mer- chandising produces business, at a profit, is fully proven by the reports coming from hundreds of representative and prominent merchants who are using this service, and many of whom now use the Joseph P. Lynch organization year after year. These mer- chants invariably report sales increases running all the way from 100 per cent. to 400 per cent. over corresponding former periods, and that their yearly sales have shown increases as a direct result of such special sales. The Joseph P. Lynch Company is an or- ganization of sales and merchandising experts who have made this their life work. Knowing what methods will produce sales, is only one-half of their work—the other half is knowing what methods will not pay, in order that pitfalls may be avoided.” Joseph P. Lynch is a thinker, a worker, an exploiter, a producer of results. His business policies are based on the highest of ethical codes. He has made the value of sales organization distinctly felt and widely appreciated. He has won great success for his or- ganization, and this has involved loyal and effective service to a 1. Joseph P. Lynch HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 369 large and representative clientage. Grand Rapids has been for- tunate in gaining precedence as the central stage of the service of this splendid sales organization, the general offices of which are here established on the third floor of the Fourth National Bank building. Joseph Patrick Lynch, one of the foremost of America's retail sales engineers, was born at Wellsville, New York, March 17, 1887, and is a son of Daniel V. and Joan (Linneham) Lynch, both of whom were born on the fair old Emerald Isle. The early education of Joseph P. Lynch was obtained in parochial schools of the old Empire state, and thereafter he attended high school. In 1903 he completed business and commercial law courses in Meek- er's College, at Elmira, New York, in which he was duly graduated. For a time he served as the efficient and popular coach of the foot- ball team of the Elliott Business College at Burlington, Iowa, and thereafter he gained valuable merchandising experience through his constructive service as a traveling salesman for the Coats Furniture Manufacturing Company, of Wellsville and Jamestown, New York. He finally matured the plans and system of merchandising through special turnover sales, and in developing his system along practi- cal and constructive lines he chose Grand Rapids as the central point of operations. From this headquarters he has since extended the service of his organization into many states of the Union and also into Canadian provinces. The very name and reputation of the Joseph P. Lynch Sales Company constitute its most valuable aşset, and the subject of this review is to be honored for the ad- mirable achievement that has been his in the upbuilding of this successful and valuable institution of service. He has gained the confidence, esteem and support of leading business men in all fields in which his concern has operated, and he is one of the most vital and progressive citizens of Grand Rapids, where his circle of friends is limited only by that of his acquaintances. He is a valued mem- ber of the Grand Rapids Association of Commerce and is a loyal supporter of its progressive civic and business policies. He has membership in the Peninsular Club and the Highland Golf Club, and in the city of Detroit he is a member of the Old Colony Club and the Town and Aviation Club. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party, and he and his wife are zealous communi- cants of St. Stephen's Catholic Church of Grand Rapids, he having been a member of the building committee that had charge of erecting the present fine church edifice of this parish. In 1925, at the time of this writing, Mr. Lynch is a member of the advisory board and also the building committee of St. Mary's Hospital, be- sides being a member of the advisory board of the House of the Good Shepherd, and a member of the Mary Catherine Guild of St. Mary's Hospital. In 1916 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Lynch to Miss Ellen J. Lynch, of Andover, New York, she being a daughter of Patrick C. and Bridget Lynch, who now reside at Andover, that state. Mr. and Mrs. Lynch have three children: Joseph Patrick, Jr.; Daniel L., and Ellen Joan. 370 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY James Van Keulen has become one of the successful manufac- turers of furniture products in the city of Grand Rapids, he having been a lad of about fourteen years when he came with his widowed mother from the Netherlands to the United States and established a home in Grand Rapids. Here his advancement has been won by his own ability, and here he has developed an industrial enterprise of sub- stantial and important order, the same being conducted under the name of the Colonial Furniture Company, being engaged in the manufactur- ing of frames for high grade furniture. Mr. Van Keulen was born in Middelberg of the Netherlands in the year 1864, and is a son of Adrian and Gertrude (Van Derwall) Van Keulen, the former of whom died when comparatively a young man. The subject of this review was a child at the time of his father's death, and in his native land his widowed mother gave to him the best possible educational advantages, as she herself had been well educated, her father having long given effective service as a teacher in the schools of the Netherlands. The same maternal devotion and good judgment that prompted Mrs. Van Keulen to give her son educational advantages, moved her also in her final decision to come to the United States, where she felt assured of better opportunities for her son. In 1878 she came to this country and established a home in Grand Rapids, where she passed the remainder of her gentle and gracious life, secure in the affectionate regard of all who had come within the sphere of her influence, and sustained by the filial devotion of her son. She was a zealous communicant of the Re- formed church. In his studies in his native land James Van Keulen had studied French and English, both of which he could speak well, as well as the Holland Dutch language, at the time when he came to the United States. His knowledge of English greatly aided him as a youthful worker in Grand Rapids, where the financial resources of his mother were so limited that he forthwith found it incumbent upon him to obtain employment. While employed in the finishing room of the factory of the Phoenix Furniture Company he further fortified him- self by attending night school, during two seasons. In the factory of the Nelson-Matter Furniture Company he learned the trade of cabinet maker, and as a skilled artisan at this trade. he was employed thirty- two years at the plant of the Luce Furniture Company. In 1910, in harmony with his ambition to enter business independently, he became associated with two other men in purchasing the plant and business of the Colonial Furniture Company, on Pearl street, a concern en- gaged in the manufacturing of piano benches. Three years later Mr. Van Keulen purchased the interests of his two associates, and he has since continued the business in an individual way. He added to the production of piano benches the manufacturing of other special types of furniture, and with the expansion of the business he found larger quarters, in a part of the plant of the Grand Rapids Bedding Company. Continued growth of the business later demanded still broader facilities, and Mr. Van Keulen then rented the Nelson-Matter building on Lyon street. There he continued operations until 1921, when he erected a cement block building, two stories in height and 64 by 140 feet in dimensions, besides providing a large boiler house and adequate dry HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 371 kilns. In 1925 a third story was added to the main building, and the mechanical equipment is of the best modern type throughout, the out- put of the factory being now confined to the manufacturing of frames for high grade furniture. Mr. Van Keulen has been an industrious, far-sighted and progressive business man and has won substantial suc- cess that marks him as one of the prominent figures in the industrial circles of Grand Rapids. He continues to give close personal super- vision to all departments of his manufacturing enterprise, and has as valued assistants his two sons, Alfred N. who has charge of the office, and James C., who is superintendent of production. Mrs. Van Keulen, whose maiden name was Nellie Roest, was born in Holland and was six years of age when her parents established their home in Grand Rapids. Frank F. Wood, who is regarded as one of the successful auto- mobile dealers of Grand Rapids, was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, April 8, 1887, the son of Frank W. and Clara (Morton) Wood, the former of whom was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1851, and the latter of whom was born the same year in Hatfield, Massachusetts. Frank F. Wood has one brother and three sisters as follows: Mrs. Alice LaLonde, of Duluth, Minnesota ; Mrs. Grace Depue, of Chicago, Illinois; Mrs. Clare Tanner, of Big Piney, Wyoming, and Everett C. Wood, of Detroit. Frank F. Wood received the education afforded by the public schools of his native city after which he became a salesman for a wholesale grocery firm of Chicago. After continuing with this concern for some time, he entered the employ of the Walter Baker & Company, Ltd., of Dorchester, Massachusetts. He left this com- pany in 1916 to become associated with the Ford Motor Company at Detroit, and in October of the following year, he took over the Ford agency at Grand Rapids, where he has since continued. Though he has been active in the business life of Grand Rapids for only eight years, he has gained an enviable reputation as a business man and automobile dealer, for he has built up the business of his agency to a point where it is recognized as one of the flourishing concerns of its kind in the city. On April 12, 1910, he married Miss Alma Messer, the daughter of Rev. Charles F. Messer, who is now pastor of the First Methodist Episcopal Church at Texarkana, Arkansas. George A. Rysdale organized and is the executive head of the Rysdale Candy Company, which under his progressive and well ordered policies has developed a large and prosperous wholesale business in the distribution of high grade candies throughout the trade territory tribu- tary to Grand Rapids. In this city the establishment of the company as at 39 Michigan street, Northwest. Mr. Rysdale was born in Grand Rapids on the 25th of December, 1874, and is a son of Charles A. and Clara (Davis) Rysdale, who were born in the province of Ontario, Canada, and who established their home in Grand Rapids within a com- paratively shore time after their marriage, both having been residents of this city at the time of their death. The Grand Rapids public schools, including the high school, afforded George A. Rysdale his early educa- tional advantages, and as a young man he became a traveling commer- 372 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY cial salesman in the handling of cigars. After having been thus en- gaged several years he associated himself, in 1908, with the wholesale candy business in his native city, and in 1911 he organized the Rysdale Candy Company, which confines its business exclusively to the whole- sale trade and which is now one of the important concerns of its kind in western Michigan. Mr. Rysdale is a loyal member of the Grand Rapids Board of Commerce, is secretary and treasurer of the Grand Rapids Candy Association, is a member of the local Credit Men's As- sociation, and has membership in the Grand Rapids Motor Club. In the Masonic fraternity he has received the thirty-second degree of the Scot- tish Rite, besides being a member of the Masonic Country Club of Grand Rapids. He is a life member of Grand Rapids Lodge No. 48, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In 1892 Mr. Rysdale was united in marriage to Miss Leila B. Redding, daughter of the late Martin Redding, of Grand Rapids. Mr. Redding came with his wife from Ohio to Grand Rapids, and in this city both passed the remainder of their lives. Mr. and Mrs. Rysdale have one daughter, Jacqueline, who is the wife of Edward C. Hansen, of Chicago, Illinois, and who has a daughter, Barbara. Lee Hansen. John Rauh, who is now living retired from active business, has been a resident of Grand Rapids during a period of more than half a century, and among the memories of his youth are those touching the middle-pioneer history of this section of Michigan. He has wit- nessed much of the development of Grand Rapids, now a city of met- ropolitan status, and he maintains deep interest in the history of the city and state that have so long represented his home. Mr. Rauh was born in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, January 26, 1857, and is a son of the late Henry and Anna Rauh, both natives of Germany, where the former was born in 1831 and the latter in 1832. The subject of this review was an infant when his parents came to the west and es- tablished their residence at Ashland, Wisconsin, whence they later re- moved to Milwaukee, that state, the year 1868 having recorded the family removal to Grand Rapids, where Henry Rauh became associated with the representative lumbering and timber firm of A. D. Long & Company, with which he served as a skilled lumber inspector during the long period of twenty-seven years, his death having occurred in 1914, when he was more than eighty years of age, and his wife having passed away in 1904. John Rauh gained his early education in the public schools of Milwaukee and was a lad of nine years at the time of the family removal to Grand Rapids, where he continued to attend school until he assumed the practical responsibilities of life. He was employed five years as a stationary engineer for the lumber firm of Long & Son, and thereafter he gave similar service with other lumber concerns. In 1884 he engaged in the retail liquor business in Grand Rapids, and after having conducted several establishments of this kind he erected the substantial two-story brick building at 118 Michigan street, Northwest, on the well appointed upper floor of which he has maintained his residence during the long intervening years. He used the first floor of the building in the conducting of his well ordered retail liquor business until the new prohibition clause of the national constitu- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 373 tion caused him to close his establishment and retire from active business. Mr. Rauh is well known in Grand Rapids, where he has a host of friends, and where he is a life member of Grand Rapids lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He continues to take lively and loyal in- terest in all that concerns the civic and material welfare and progress of his home city. He was married in 1899 to Josephine L. Traxler of Van Wert, Ohio. Joseph Noorthoek came from his native Netherlands to the United States as an ambitious young man of twenty-two years of age, and through his own ability and well directed efforts he has gained place among the substantial and representative live business men of Grand Rapids, where he established his residence in 1888 and where he is now president of the Riverside Lumber Company, with head- quarters at 1201-15 Monroe avenue. On the small island known as Saint Philipsland, in the Netherlands, a small island that was reclaimed from the sea and provided with its system of dikes in 1487, under the reign of King Philip, Joseph Noorthoek was born February 20, 1866, and in his native land he received his early education and sturdy train- ing of practical industry. One of his boyhood ambitions had been to come to the United States, and he cherished this ambition after he had attained to adult years. He finally gained from his parents their con- sent to his coming to this country, and gave them his promise that if he were not satisfied in the land of his adoption he would return to that of his birth. After he had been here a year he tried to induce his parents to join him, but as they could not reconcile themselves, in their advancing years, to leave their old and loved home, with its gracious associations, memories and friends, and he had to content himself with occasional visits to the old home land, where his parents remained until the close of their earnest and worthy lives. Upon his arrival in Grand Rapids, Mr. Noorthoek applied himself to any work that he could ob- tain and that would insure him living expenses. In the spring of 1889 he found employment with S. P. Swartz, who was here engaged in the lumber business. To gain requisite knowledge of the English language and to further his knowledge of American business methods, Mr. Noorthoek attended night school during this period. On the nights that he thus attended school he did not have time to eat his evening meal until late at night, after he had finished his school work. This con- dition came to the notice of his employer, who arranged to have him quit work an hour earlier on the school nights, as he felt that his youth- ful employe should be encouraged in his ambition to obtain further education. For the loss of these extra hours Mr. Swartz made no re- duction in the pay of his young employe. In 1893 Mr. Noorthoek en- tered the employ of the Fuller & Rice Lumber Company, and he has been continuously identified with the lumber business during the in- tervening period of more than thirty years. He remained sixteen years with the Fuller & Rice company, and in 1909 he organized the Verhey- Noorthoek Lumber Company, which established well equipped yards on the west side of the city. In 1921 Mr. Noorthoek sold to his partner, Mr. Verhey, his interest in this prosperous enterprise, and then organized the Riverside Lumber Company, a closed corporation in 374 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY which his sons are his associates. He purchased at that time the land on which the present large and well stocked lumber yards of the com- pany are established, and the business, conducted efficiently and on fair and honorable policies, is now one of substantial and important order. Mr. Noorthoek esteems himself fortunate in having his sons as his able coadjutors, and knows that in their later control of the same they will always uphold the honors of the family name. He is loyal, ap- preciative and liberal as a citizen of the land and city of his youthful adoption, has here gained substantial prosperity, is here the executive head of a prosperous wholesale and retail lumber business, and here he is found aligned in the ranks of the Republican party, his religious faith and affiliation being indicated in his membership in the Reformed church, in the teachings of which he was reared in his native land. In his native Holland one of the most devoted and valued friends of Mr. Noorthoek in his youth was Miss Elizabeth De Blaay, and after he had made a start for himself in Grand Rapids he prevailed upon Miss DeBlaay to join him, their marriage having been solemnized November 21, 1889, and their companionship having been one of ideal relations. Of their fine family of five sons and four daughters one son died in childhood, and Martin died in 1922. Adrian is secretary of the Riverside Lumber Company; Elizabeth is the wife of Cornelius Schriver; Lina is the wife of Rine Keegstra, of Grand Rapids; Sue is bookkeeper for the River- side Lumber Company; Joseph, Jr., is vice-president of the company; Nellie is the wife of Peter Reminga, of Grand Rapids, and Roger is actively associated with the business of the Riverside Lumber Company. Grimes & Madigan. Under this corporate title is conducted in Grand Rapids one of the prosperous and well ordered enterprises of the city, in the handling of the varied lines of petroleum products, the company having been organized in April, 1922, with Friend S. Grimes as president and Frank A. Madigan as vice-president. These two progressive principals have had thorough experience in the oil business and in the same have developed a substantial and representative enter- prise, in Grand Rapids. Mr. Grimes was born on a farm in Noble county, Ohio, and the public schools of the old Buckeye state afforded him his youthful education, which was supplemented by his attending a business college at Marietta, that state. He continued his association with the work and management of the home farm until he was twenty years of age, and thereafter he gave three years to successful service as a teacher in the rural schools of his native state. He then attended the business college at Marietta, and after this discipline he took a position in the offices of the National Refining Company, at Marietta, Ohio, his twelve years of association with this company having gained to him broad and valuable experience in the oil business. He not only did office work, but also drove an oil truck, and finally became a sales- man, in which last mentioned service he continued until 1915, when the company opened its first Michigan branch, in the city of Kalamazoo, , and Mr. Grimes was made its manager. There he remained three years, and it was within this period that he formed the acquaintance of his present business colleague, Mr. Madigan, whom he employed as a salesman. In 1918 Mr. Grimes was assigned management of the Sin- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 375 clair Oil Company's branch at Buffalo, New York, and six months later he was made manager of the branch at Detroit, Michigan, where he re. mained until 1920, when he came to Grand Rapids, as operating man- ager for the Co-operative Oil Company. Within that year he became manager of the Bay City branch of the Northern Oil Company, but 'he soon resigned this position and returned to Grand Rapids, where, in April, 1922, he became associated with Mr. Madigan in the organizing of the corporation of Grimes & Madigan, as indicated in the early part of this review. Operations were instituted on a modest scale with storage capacity of 22,000 gallons, but the vital energy and industry of the principals in the new enterprise, as coupled with efficiency of service, caused a rapid expansion of the business. The concern now has a large and modern plant at 1805 Monroe avenue, where are maintained eight storage tanks of 20,000 gallons capacity each, and one tank with a capacity of 100,000 gallons. From the headquarters the company sends forth its fleet of seven tank motor trucks in supplying the four- teen service stations in Grand Rapids, and the business is one of most substantial and prosperous order. The company prides itself on retain- ing a corps of employes who have been with the concern from the time of its organization. Mr. Grimes married Miss Flossie Fox, daughter of John Fox, of Coolville, Ohio, and they have two children. Carroll M. Emerson, who is treasurer and general manager of the Richard Storage Company, and also vice-president of the Shank Storage Company, is one of the enterprising business men of Grand Rapids, in which city his parents established their home when he was a child of four months, and in which he was reared to adult age, his public school discipline having included that of the high school and he having thereafter taken a course in a local business college. Mr. Emer- son is able to revert to the old Green Mountain state as the place of his nativity, his birth having occurred at Troy, Vermont, May 12, 1878, and he being a son of Moses D. and Etta (Hitchcock) Emerson, the former of whom was born in the year 1840 and the latter in 1855. Moses D. Emerson became a furniture manufacturer in Grand Rapids and here maintained his home until his death, in 1908, his widow being now a resident of the city of Detroit. Moses D. Emerson was a valiant young soldier of the Union in the Civil war, and in later years he mani- fested his abiding interest in his old comrades by retaining affiliation with the Grand Army of the Republic. In 1900 Carroll M. Emerson took a position in the People's Savings Bank of Grand Rapids, which connection he continued for six years as bookkeeper and teller. He next gave ten years of effective administration as manager of the plaster mill and mines of the Albastine Company, and in 1916 he assumed the position of manager at the Ludington plant of the Haskelite Manu- facturing Company, an office that he retained until the close of the World war. In 1923, after his return from Ludington to Grand Rapids, he became one of the organizers of the Richard Storage Company, of which he has since continued the treasurer and manager, besides being, as previously noted, the vice-president of the Shank Storage company. Each of these corporations has modern storage plants and controls a substantial business. Mr. Emerson is treasurer of the special police a 376 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY a squad of Grand Rapids, is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, and he and his wife hold membership in the Baptist church. He is an enthusiast of outdoor life, and thus finds special satisfaction in main- taining his summer cottage at Whitefish lake. The Emerson home in Grand Rapids is at 352 Hampton avenue, Southeast. In 1904 Mr. Emerson wedded Miss Bertha May McCormick, who had previously been a popular teacher in the Grand Rapids schools, and the one child of this union is a daughter, Mary Janet. Jacob Kleinhans held for virtually half a century acknowledged standing as one of the leading members of the Grand Rapids bar, and in character, service and high achievement he lent dignity and honor to his profession. His was the faith that makes faithful in all of the relations of life, and his noble and generous influence touched with gentle benignancy all who came within its sphere. Mr. Kleinhans was a most devoted churchman of the Protestant Episcopal church, and it is probable that no one layman of the church wielded larger or more helpful influence in advancing and supporting the work of the diocese of western Michigan, as will be shown later in this memoir. Mr. Kleinhans, a scion of a family early founded in America, was born at Belvidere, New Jersey, January 19, 1845, and he was one of the most loved and honored citizens of Grand Rapids, Michigan, at the time of his death, Octo- ber 7, 1918. In his native state Mr. Kleinhans received in his youth excellent educational advantages, including those that pre- pared him for the profession of his choice. He was duly admitted to the New Jersey bar, but he soon afterward, when he was twenty- one years of age, came to Michigan and initiated the practice of his profession at Rochester, Oakland county, in 1866. Within a com- paratively short period he found a broader field of professional en- deavor by removing to Grand Rapids, where he passed the re- mainder of his life and where he gained high professional honors, as well as substantial material prosperity. His every thought and action were dominated by inflexible integrity of purpose, and his was a noble personal stewardship in all of the relations of his long and useful career. The law firms of which he was a member with- in the period of his active professional career had the highest of standing at the Michigan bar, and among his clients were num- bered many of the leading men and larger corporations of Grand Rapids and western Michigan. In his first law practice in Grand Rapids, Mr. Kleinhans was associated with the late Judge Isaac Parish, and later he formed a professional alliance with the late Ebenezer Eggleston, the firm name later becoming Blair, Eggle- ston, Kingsley & Kleinhans. Upon the retirement from the firm of Eggleston the firm title became Blair, Kingsley & Kleinhans, and upon the death of the senior member, James Blair, the firm of Kingsley & Kleinhans continued in control of the representative law business until Mr. Kleinhans withdrew to form a partnership with Loyal E. Knappen, under the title of Knappen & Kleinhans. No change of this title was made after the admission of Stuart E. Knappen to the firm, but when the senior member, Judge Knap- The American Historical Society Eng by E G. Williams & Bro NY Jach acob Cleichend Kleuhan HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 377 pen, was appointed to the bench of the Federal court he withdrew from the firm, the name of which was then changed to Kleinhans & Knappen. Marshall M. Uhl later was admitted to the firm, and in 1916 the personnel was further extended by the admission of Harold Bryant. All of the associates of Mr. Kleinhans were lawyers of sterling character and marked professional ability, and he took great satisfaction in aiding younger lawyers to establish themselves in successful practice. Mr. Kleinhans ever considered his profession worthy of his undivided allegiance, and thus he ac- quired few business interests aside therefrom and refused all over- tures to become a candidate for public office. He was, however, for many years a valued member of the directorate of the Fourth National Bank, and as a citizen he took the deepest of interest in all that concerned the communal welfare. The earnest and zealous service of Mr. Kleinhans must ever figure as an integral and im- portant part of the parish history of Grace Church, Protestant Episcopal, as must also the equally loyal and benignant service of his widow, who is still an active and revered communicant of this parish. Both Mr. and Mrs. Kleinhans became teachers in the mission Sunday school that became the nucleus around which was evolved the independent parish of Grace church, and both were charter members of the new parish organization, which was formed in 1875. Kleinhans was made a member of the first vestry of the parish, and his confirmation as a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal church occurred December 28, 1879. In 1881 he was elected junior warden of the church, and in the following year he was made senior warden, an office that he retained until his death, thirty-six years later. Constant and faithful in his work as a churchman, Mr. Kleinhans gained distinctive recognition when, in 1897, he was appointed chancellor of the diocese of western Michigan as well as a member of the standing committee of the diocese. By consecutive annual action on the part of the diocese he was retained in these important offices during the remainder of his life, besides which he was at the time of his death a trustee of the Akeley School for Girls, the diocesan institution at Grand Haven. Concerning Mr. Kleinhans the following estimate has been given: “As he was one of the recognized leaders of the Michigan bar and one of the nation's distinguished lawyers, so likewise was he one of the recognized leaders of the church in his own diocese and throughout the land. He was He was frequently con- sulted by those in authority and was an expert in the canon law of his church. In his parish he was an acknowledged leader and its unfailing supporter. All respected and admired him, and those who knew him loved him. He was a man of few words, but his life spoke volumes.” The heart and mind of Mr. Kleinhans were attuned to human sympathy and tolerance, and his was instant and constant helpfulness to those "in any way afflicted, or dis- tressed, in mind, body or estate." There is much of significance in the following words spoken by one who gave long and faithful service as rector of Grace church: “From the time I became rector 378 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY of Grace church I planned and consulted with him about every- thing that related to the church and parish. I also brought to him matters of a personal nature, and I grew to love him as I do my father. In every department of his life he was faithful.” Mr. Kleinhans centered his interests in his home, his church, his city and his profession, and it may well be understood that the rela- tions of the home were of ideal order. Thus he had no desire for the honors or emoluments of public office or for multitudinous affiliations with social and fraternal organizations. He was a well fortified advocate of the principles of the Republican party and did much to advance the party cause, though never in an ostentatious way. On the 25th of February, 1879, was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Kleinhans to Miss Emma E. Miller, the ceremony hav- ing taken place in the old homestead of the Miller family, 246 Jefferson avenue, southeast, where Mrs. Kleinhaus still resides, the place being hallowed to her by many gracious memories, as it was her girlhood home and has continued to be her home during the long years that have passed since her marriage. Mrs. Klein- hans is a daughter of the late Henry and Margaret (Cook) Miller, her father having come to Grand Rapids from Rochester, Michigan, in 1867, and having become a successful merchant and also in- terested in the Grand Rapids Street Railway Company, in which connection he was one of the first and most influential promoters of the enterprise that led to the construction of the street car line from the city to the Kent county fair ground. Mr. Miller died in 1879, and his widow survived him by a number of years. Their attractive old homestead, now owned and occupied by Mrs. Klein- hans, was one of the early brick houses erected in Grand Rapids, and Mrs. Kleinhans has taken pride in maintaining the original architectural integrity of the building, upon which modern im- provements have been made from time to time. Mrs. Kleinhans and her sister, Mrs. George R. Allen, were charter members of Grace church, and, with Mr. Earp, were the mission workers who started the Sunday school that was established under the auspices of St. Mark's Church and that eventually led to the organization of the new parish of Grace church. Mrs. Kleinhans has been active and faithful as a church worker during the long intervening years, and has been a gracious figure in the representative social and cultural circles of her home city. She is affiliated with the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, her eligibility for which is based on the service of her patriot ancestor, Major William Christopher Fox, of New York state, who was an officer in the Continental line in the great struggle for national inde- pendence. The honored subject of this memoir is survived by no children. Arthur H. Barnes, manager of the Grand Rapids branch of the Great Western Oil Company, has had notably broad and varied expe- rience along the important line of enterprise of which he is now a rep- resentative. In fact, virtually his entire business career has been one of association with the concern of which he is now a representative, HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 379 he having succeeded his father as manager of the Grand Rapids branch shortly after the death of his father. Mr. Barnes was born in Grand Rapids, February 25, 1892, and is a son of Frank H. and Mary Ellen (McNamara) Barnes, whose marriage was solemnized in this city, where Mrs. Barnes has maintained her home since her childhood. Frank H. Barnes was born, reared and educated in Cleve- land, Ohio, his father, a native of England, having settled in that city in an early day. In his native city Frank H. Barnes was long in the nple of the Scofield, Sherman & Teagle Company, engaged in the oil business, and finally he was made manager of the Grand Rapids branch of the company's business. He retained this position after the business was sold in turn to the Republic Oil Company and the Standard Oil Company. In 1906 the Standard Oil Company sent him to Japan, and after serving three months as assistant manager of the company's business in Japan and Korea he returned to Grand Rapids, the many advantages and attractions of which had greatly appealed to him from the time he first established his home here. Here he was made man- ager of the local branch of the Great Western Oil Company, which had been organized in 1901, and of this executive position he continued the efficient incumbent until his death, in 1915, when his son Arthur H., of this sketch, was chosen his successor. In the Grand Rapids public schools Arthur H. Barnes continued his studies until he had profited by the curriculum of the high school, and he then took a position in the office of his father, he having thus run the full gamut of practical experience in the oil business, so that he was well fitted for the exec- utive responsibilities that came to him when he was made manager of the local branch upon the death of his honored father. He has re- tained this office ten years and in the same has fully justified his selec- tion for the position. In 1919 all of the western Michigan branches of the Great Western Oil Company were sold to the Sinclair Refining Com- pany, but the Great Western continued to maintain its offices in Grand Rapids, and in 1921 the company established headquarters here at 524 Oakdale street, where are maintained its modern storage and service departments, as well as the offices. Mr. Barnes is one of the progres- sive young business men of his native city, is a Republican in politics and is identified with various business, fraternal and social organizations of representative order. His wife, whose maiden name was Margaret Youell, was born and reared in Grand Rapids, Michigan. John M. Brower, secretary-treasurer and general manager of the Brower Furniture Company of Grand Rapids, brings to his business a knowledge gained through years of experience and early training by his father who was the second furniture designer to locate in Grand Rapids. He was born in Chicago, April 9, 1889, the son of John E. and Katherine (Stiles) Brower, the latter of whom, a native of Syca- more, Illinois, was the daughter of Aaron K. Stiles, the builder of the first electric street car in the United States. John E. Brower, when he came to Grand Rapids from Chicago in 1889, was the second furniture designer to locate in that city, the other being David Kendall. He be- came associated with the Grand Rapids Chair Company and at the same time designed furniture for the Grand Ledge and the Michigan Chair 380 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY companies. Soon afterward he became a partner in the firm of Kling- man, Limbert & Brower, the first of whom was the manufacturer, the second the salesman, and Brower the designer. When the Sligh Manu- facturing Company suspended the making of bicycles in favor of the manufacture of furniture, John E. Brower joined that firm, continuing in that work until the time of his death in 1916. His widow is still living. One of a family of four children, John M. Brower came to Grand Rapids with his parents when he was five months old. He at- tended the public schools, and then pursued a course in furniture de- signing at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York. Returning to Grand Rapids, he worked for a ttime with his father to gain sufficient ground- ing in the practical side of his work. An attack of the western fever necessitated a year's residence on his uncle's ranch in Montana. Upon his return to Grand Rapids, he started a small plant in a loft on Dela- ware street, where with the aid of one employe, he manufactured chil- dren's furniture and hand-painted novelties. When the World war opened, the Stickley company began the manufacture of airplane parts, Mr. Brower's services being asked in the capacity of superintendent. In December, 1919, he organized the present Brower Furniture Com- pany of which he is now secretary and treasurer and general manager. The output of the firm consists of high grade occasional chairs and un- finished chairs to match the suites of other manufacturers. As man- ager of this concern, his long training and experience in furniture manu- facturing appeared to the best advantage, and this expert knowledge combined with his excellent managerial ability has already placed the concern in a definite place in the industrial life of Grand Rapids. He was married January 4, 1915, to Gladys C. Gibson, the daughter of Charles and Nellie Gibson, and to them has been born one son. Mr. Brower is actively interested in all civic affairs, and as president of the Grand Rapids Council of the Boy Scouts, and as president of the Grand Rapids branch of the Michigan Children's Aid Society, he takes a deep interest in the youth of Grand Rapids. He is a Mason and is past president of the Kiwanis Club, being lieutenant-governor of the statę organization. Franklin Markham Davis, deceased, who was born a year be- fore Michigan's admission into the Union, was one of the pioneer settlers of Kent county. His name was familiar to most of the residents of the county in the early days, and to them he was known as Mark. He was born at Plymouth, Michigan, January 8, 1835. At the At the age of nine years, he removed to Paris township where he took advantage of the educa- tional facilities of the district schools of the township. His education completed, he engaged in farming, taking up eighty acres of govern- ment land in Cascade township, which he continued to work until his retirement from active life. On December 24, 1364, he married Miss Julia Ann McCormick, and to Mr. and Mrs. Davis were born six chil- dren as follows: Mary C., the wife of Henry Fralick of Grand Rapids; Henry P. Davis; Miss Edith J. Davis; Mrs. Arthur J. Thomas; Wini- fred, deceased, and Markham, Jr. Mr. Davis watched the development of Grand Rapids from a small village, when canoes traveling the river used to tie up at the bank near the present site of the Pantlind hotel, to HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 381 its present size. He was respected and loved by all who knew him. He died May 12, 1924, at the age of eighty-nine years, as the result of an accident in his own home. His daughter, Miss Edith J. Davis, is secretary of the Valley City Ice & Coal Company, one of the success- ful and enterprising concerns of its kind in Grand Rapids. Stanley Gogulski, owner of the Republic Coal Company, of Grand Rapids, was born in Poland, September 29, 1888, the son of John and Mary (Lesinski) Gogulski, both of whom were natives of Poland, the former dying in Grand Rapids in 1910. He received his education in Germany, and in October, 1910, he came direct to Grand Rapids from Germany with his parents. One year later he, with his brothers and mother, opened a bakery shop on the west side of Grand Rapids, which they still own and operate. With the outbreak of the World war, he served in the United States army, being stationed first at Camp Custer and then at West Point. He received his hon- orable discharge from the army in 1919. He returned at once to Grand Rapids where he established the Republic Coal Company of which he is the operator. He has built up a large business and his achievement has stamped him as one of the able business men of the city. He carries a complete line of fuel and his yard, thoroughly equipped, is located at 526-36 Sixth street, Northwest. Prior to com- ing to the United States, Mr. Gogulski served for three years in the German cavalry. On August 30, 1921, he married Miss Florence Cukerski, the daughter of W. L. Cukerski, of Grand Rapids, and to this union has been born one daughter, Mary Helen, born July 13, 1924. Mr. Gogulski is a member of the Knights of Columbus and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. On July 17, Mr. Gog- ulski's mother was called beyond, leaving a host of friends and admirers to mourn her passing. Raymond C. Kahler, manager and operating executive of the Radcliffe Storage Company, of Grand Rapids, is the third generation of his family now living in Grand Rapids. He was born in that city May 17, 1899, the son of Charles H. Kahler. Captain Eli A. Kahler, the grandfather of our subject, served in the Union army during the Civil war in which he won his captain's commission. He has the dis- tinction of being the oldest member of the Masonic lodge in the state of Michigan. He is now living at 225 Spencer street, Grand Rapids. Charles H. Kahler, the father of Raymond C. Kahler, was born in Lockport, New York, and was brought to Greenfield, Michigan, by his parents and in his thirteenth year they removed to Grand Rapids. He engaged in the real estate business and in carpenter contracting. He was active in politics and served two terms as deputy sheriff. He now spends his winters at Lake Worth, Florida, near Palm Beach, where he has a winter home. He is the owner of several cottages at Reed lake, Kent county, Michigan. Raymond C. Kahler was educated in the public schools of Grand Rapids and of Palm Beach, Florida, at- tending high school in the latter city. Following his graduation from the high school, he went to Quincy, Illinois, where he matriculated in a commercial college and pursued a special commercial course. After 382 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY completing his course there, he entered the employ of the Bell Tele- phone Company, working in the traffic department of the corporation for eight years. At the expiration of that time, he resigned to ac- cept the position of manager and operating executive with the Radcliffe Storage Company, of Grand Rapids, an office which he is capably filling at the present time. The Radcliffe Storage Company was founded in 1885 by Evert M. Radcliffe. The company does a tremendous volume of business, long distance moving being done in addition to the usual moving and packing in the city. Mr. Kahler, through his administra- tion of the office of manager of the company is recognized as one of the able commercial executives in Grand Rapids business circles. He married Miss Margaret O'Leary, December 1, 1923, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dennis O'Leary, the former of whom is dead and the latter living in Grand Rapids. Mr. Kahler is a member of the Knights of Columbus and the grand Rapids Canoe Club. In following his hobby of motoring, he has toured many of the states of the Union. Robert A. Thompson, proprietor of the Thompson Electric Company, of Grand Rapids, was born in that city March 26, 1892, the son of Robert E. and Sada (Gray) Thompson, the former of whom was a native of Ohio and came to Grand Rapids with his parents at an early age. Robert E. Thompson entered the employ of a railroad at Grand Rapids, and in 1921 he was retired on pen- sion by the Pennsylvania railroad, receiving at that time a medal for unbroken service during the years which he worked for the company. He is now living in California, where, on November 1, the mother of the subject of this memoir was called beyond. Robert A. Thompson was educated in the graded and high schools of Grand Rapids. Following his graduation from the high school he became an apprentice in the electric trade with the Edison company. When he had thoroughly mastered the trade, he be- came associated with the Dunn Electric Company, with which he remained seven years, part of that time serving as treasurer of the concern. For several years thereafter he worked as a traveling salesman for an electrical specialties company. He at last decided that his experience would warrant his going into business for himself, and he accordingly established the Thompson Electric Company at 133 Congress street. The big trade he has built up ranks the concern as one of the leaders in its field in the city. On September 14, 1914, he married Miss Margaret Steenman, of Grand Rapids, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Steenman. To this union has been born one son, Robert C., born March 18, 1922. John D. Karel. The rise of John D. Karel to the position of secretary and treasurer of the Michigan Chair Company, of Grand Rapids, is exemplary of the just reward due him for his loyalty and industry coupled with native ability that attracted the favor- able attention of the officers of the concern. He cames of sturdy Dutch stock, his grandfather after whom he is named coming to Kent county from the Netherlands in 1859 to settle on a farm four miles south of Grand Rapids in 1870. This same farm became the HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 383 home of Martin and Gertrude (Block) Karel, the parents of John D. Karel. The district schools of that section were located one mile from the Karel farm, but young John Karel, after finishing district school, trudged five miles every day to and from high school for four years. When he had absorbed all that the district schools could teach him, he entered the public schools of Grand Rapids, where he graduated from the high school in 1898. For a year thereafter, he taught in the old Cook school, after which he entered the McLaughlin Business College, where he pursued a course of study calculated to further his success in a business way. After a period a little longer than a year spent as a teacher of book- keeping, he accepted a minor position with the State Bank of Michigan in February, 1900. His characteristic energy and in- dustry told in this work, so that within a short time he had worked his way up in the organization to the position of savings teller, remaining in that position of trust and responsibility until April 23, 1905. At that time, he accepted an offer to go to the Michigan Chair Company as a bookkeeper. He lost no opportunity in this work to learn all sides of the furniture manufacturing business, his time being spent to such purpose that in 1913 he was offered the office managership of the Winegar Furniture Company, retailers. He was recalled to the Michigan Chair Company, January 1, 1916, to take the office of secretary and treasurer of the firm, in which he has since continued. His business associates know him for an able executive of sterling integrity, and the people of Grand Rapids know him for a city commissioner who is fearless in championing those measures which make for the welfare of the people and safe- guard the city. He served as a member of the city council in 1910, 1914, and 1916, and in May, 1924, was elected city commissioner. He was married in September, 1904, to Pearl Jackson, whose fam- ily came from Ireland, where her grandfather was a linen manu- facturer. Mr. and Mrs. Karel have one child, Cordelia Gertrude. The Michigan Chair Company was organized in 1883 under the name of the Grand Ledge Chair Company, with a capital stock of $3,000. The firm was organized at Grand Ledge by Thomas F. Garratt, Henry S. Jordan, and Edward Crawford. The business was moved to Grand Rapids in 1892, still retaining the firm name of Grand Ledge Chair Company, but a re-organization which took place soon after the removal to Grand Rapids changed the name to that of the Michigan Chair Company, with Mr. Crawford as president, Jordan as vice-president, and Thomas Garratt as secre- tary-treasurer. A later shift promoted Jordan to president, and placed Charles S. Cox in the vice-president's office. Thomas Gar- ratt was installed as president in December, 1912, Mr. Cox remain- ing as vice-president, and M. A. Guest taking over the duties of secretary and treasurer. John D. Karel joined the company in 1916 as secretary and treasurer, and in 1921 following the retire- ment of Charles S. Cox, the vice-presidency was filled by Charles H. Garratt, who succeeded his father as president following the 384 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY latter's death in 1922. At that time, Mrs. Anna Garratt, widow of Thomas Garratt, entered the company as vice-president, John D. Karel remaining as secretary-treasurer. Mr. Karel, in rising to the present position in the company, holds a place of prominence among the executives of manufacturing enterprises of Grand Rapids, where he is respected not only by his associates in business but by the citizenry at large. William Hovey Gay has the ability and the sterling personal characteristics that enabled him worthily to uphold the prestige of a family name that has been one of major prominence in the civic and industrial history of his native city of Grand Rapids, his father having been one of the foremost in making Grand Rapids rise to prominence as one of the world's leading centers of furniture man- ufacturing. William Hovey Gay was born in Grand Rapids, May 30, 1863, and here his death occurred May 19, 1920. He was a son of the late George Washington Gay and Helen (Hovey) Gay, the latter a daughter of William Hovey, who was one of the pioneer business men and influential citizens of Grand Rapids. George W. Gay was one of the founders and principals of the early furniture manufacturing industry that was first conducted under the firm name of Berkey Brothers & Gay, the business having later been incorporated under the title of the Berkey & Gay Furni- ture Company and having been developed into one of the largest and most important of the great furniture manufacturing enter- prises that have given world-wide fame to the “Valley City” of Michigan. William H. Gay profited by the advantages of the Grand Rapids public schools, and at the age of sixteen years he initiated his active service in the factory of the Berkey & Gay Furniture Company. He was soon advanced to the position of manager of the company's retail department, and he thus remained in executive charge until the department was discontinued, in 1900. He then assumed the position of general manager of the company's factory and business, and his retirement from this responsible executive office occurred only a few years prior to his death. In 1898 he became a director of this corporation, in 1900 he was made vice- president, and in 1909, upon the death of Julius Berkey, he suc- ceeded the latter as president of the company. He had succeeded his father as executive head of the Oriel Cabinet Company, at the time of his father's death, and he continued president of both cor- porations until their consolidation, in 1911, under the general title of the Berkey & Gay Furniture Company. Of his business activi- ties the following estimate has been given: “He surrounded him- self with progressive associates, and introduced innovations in both the manufacturing and selling methods of the company—such as the inauguration of an elaborately illustrated portfolio that sold to the trade for fifty dollars a copy and that aroused much com- ment and speculation in manufacturing and commercial circles, the wisdom of his course in this connection having eventually been proved conclusively. It was his genius for administration, pulang 팻 ​HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 385 evinced in innumerable ways, that made the Berkey & Gay Fur- niture Company one of the largest concerns of its kind in the United States and that helped to establish for Grand Rapids its world-wide reputation as a center of the furniture industry. At the time of the death of Mr. Gay the manufacturing plant of the Berkey & Gay Furniture Company utilized 75,000 square feet of floor space, gave employment to 1,100 hands, and did an annual business of several million dollars. Mr. Gay was also president of the People's Savings Bank; vice-president of the Grand Rapids Plaster Company and the Grand Rapids Brush Company; vice- chairman of the C. S. Paine Company; and a director in the Worden Grocery Company, the Michigan Trust Company, the Commercial Savings Bank and the Fourth National Bank. He was also con- cerned in the ownership of large tracts of timber lands on the Pacific coast, and had many other important financial investments in Grand Rapids and elsewhere." Mr. Gay, like his father before him, had the power to do big things in a big way, and the names of both father and son must ever come conspicuously forward in connection with the civic and industrial history of Grand Rapids. Aside from the large respon- sibilities that devolved upon him in connection with his large and varied business and financial interests, Mr. Gay found much time and opportunity for loyal service along religious, social, wel- fare and patriotic lines. He was a deacon and trustee of the Fountain Street Baptist Church and was chairman of the building committee that supervised the erection of the present fine church edifice. For thirty years he gave loyal and constructive service in connection with the affairs and work of the Y. M. C. A., and he was credited with being the chief influence in making possible the erection, at a cost of $300,000, of the modern Y. M. C. A. building in his home city, he having been chairman of the building committee. He served as president of the local Y. M. C. A. and as executive chairman of the Michigan state committee of the association. In 1910 he had the distinction of being made a mem- ber of the international committee, the general governing body of the Y. M. C. A. In the World war period Mr. Gay was a mem- ber of the national war work council of the Y. M. C. A., and was a director of the local organization at Grand Rapids. Mr. Gay's interest in the welfare of boys was intense and constructive, and he gave much time to work among the younger boys of the Y. M. C. A., besides which he served as a trustee of the Michigan Indus- trial School for Boys, at Lansing. He was a man whose course was guided and guarded by high ideals, and his was faithful and earnest personal stewardship in all of the relations of life, close to his heart having always been the welfare of the employes of the great industrial corporation of which he was the executive head. On the 12th of June, 1888, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Gay to Miss Netta Cole, daughter of the late Edwin L. Cole, who was long a representative Grand Rapids merchant. Mrs 386 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Gay still maintains her home in Grand Rapids, and is sustained and comforted alike by the gracious memories touching the life and character of her honored husband and their devoted association, as well as by the affection of a host of friends. Mr. and Mrs. Gay had no children, but in their home they reared five children-boys and girls to whom they gave good educational advantages and who have repaid the debt in their enduring filial love and devotion. George W. Gay was born in Washington county, New York, March 17, 1837. He lived on his parents' farm in that county until 1857, when, at the age of twenty-one, he came west and chose Grand Rapids, Michigan, as a place to make his home. With a small capital which he had accumulated he went into the hardware business with P. Goodrich, under the firm name of Goodrich & Gay. The fact that Grand Rapids possessed unusual advantages as a furniture manufacturing center soon made an impression on Mr. Gay's mind, but he made no move toward what was to be his life's work until 1866, when he entered upon his first venture in the manufacturing of fine furniture. At that time he purchased half of W. A. Berkey's interest in Berkey Brothers' furniture fac- tory and store on Monroe street, the new firm name being Berkey Bros. & Gay. This firm later became incorporated as the Berkey & Gay Furniture Company. It was one of the earliest corporations to be formed in the city, and at a time when there was considerable popular outcry against incorporated institutions. Mr. Gay was elected treasurer of the company, a position which he has con- stantly held for twenty-six years. In addition he had been general manager of the company for many years and saw its output and its assets doubled many times over since the organization of the company. Mr. Gay had also been president of the Oriel Cabinet Company since its organization in 1880. Also in 1882, Mr. Gay was elected a director of the Fourth National Bank in company with Delos A. Blodgett and I. M. Weston. June 6th of that year he was appointed a member of the first board of police and fire com- missioners of Grand Rapids. Mr. Gay was also vice-president of the Grand Rapids Fire Insurance Company, of which he was a director since its organization. Mr. Gay was for many years interested in the organization of the Grand Rapids Gypsum Com- pany, of which he was president. In 1861, at the age of twenty- four, Mr. Gay married Miss Hovey, daughter of the late William Hovey, of the Eagle plaster mill. They lived on the west side of the river until about the year 1844, when he purchased from William H. McConnell, the old Louis Campau homestead, reaching from Fulton to Washington streets east of Prospect. There he moved the old Campau house away and built the fine residence which was afterward his home. After a long illness, Mrs. Gay died in April, 1899. Mr. Gay was a member of the Baptist church and was elected deacon of the Second Baptist Church on the west side and held that position for many years. The distance of the church from his home on East Fulton street, however, caused him HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 387 to attend the Fountain street church during the latter years of his life. Mr. Gay died September 13, 1899. He was survived by his son, William H. Gay, who died in May, 1920, a brother, S. S. Gay, and his daughter Gertrude, who shortly before her father's illness married C. W. Carman, of Grand Rapids. Charles B. Macauley is the senior executive of Macauley Brothers Company, one of the most successful heating companies in Grand Rapids for many years. Until its incorporation in 1925 under the name of “Grand Rapids Macauley Brothers, Inc.", this firm, in recent years, consisted of Charles B. Macauley, George W. Macauley, Harold M. Macauley and Glen P. Macauley. This business was the successor of one of the oldest firms in this line of work in the city, established in 1888 by Charles B. Macauley, who was later joined by his brother, John J. Macauley, who is spoken of more at length else- where in this work. After some fourteen years of their association, Charles B. Macauley purchased the interest of his brother and con- tinued the business alone. Charles B. Macauley was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, on August 29, 1856. He attended the public schools in that city. His father, James Macauley, was a pioneer carriage maker, who came to Terre Haute in the early days and started a shop. About 1873 he moved with his family to Chicago. Charles B. Macauley prepared himself for the steamfitting trade and in 1888 came to Grand Rapids. Since then he has played a prominent part in mechanical and business circles of this city. His fraternal connections are with the Masonic order. In 1884 he was married to Miss Anna Powell, of Waukegan, Illinois, and they are the par- ents of four children and have numerous grandchildren. George W. Macauley, the eldest son of the family, was born in 1885 and edu- cated in the public schools of Grand Rapids. In 1900 he became associated with his father in business. He married Miss Emma Hobart and they have two children, Robie and Charles. The sec- ond son, Glen P., likewise associated with his father, was born in 1893 and educated in the public schools and high school of Grand Rapids. In July, 1917, he responded to the call of his country and enlisted in the navy. He served throughout the World war and was discharged in 1919. His wife was Myrtle Tracey. The youngest son, Harold, was born in 1897 and was educated in the public schools in Grand Rapids and worked for a short time as a telegraph operator. In 1916 he became a member of his fath- er's firm, now the corporation. In June, 1917, he enlisted in the service of his country and served through the World war until September, 1919, with the Atlantic fleet. He married Miss Marion Boyle and they have one son, Harold, Jr. Mabel, the second child and only daughter of the Macauley family, was born in 1887 and is the wife of Morris Hoag, of Grand Rapids. Their children are Robert, Helen, William and Mary. In addition to the long and successful business career of the Macauley Brothers Company, this family established and were the sole owners of the Grand Rapids 388 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Welding Supply Company, organized in 1920. The Macauley fam- ily has not only achieved a material success and contributed sub- stantially to the business development of their community, but by the close co-operation and association of father and sons have set a splendid example of the possibilities of a congenial family circle. John J. Macauley, heating contractor, 421 Scribner, N. W., is now rounding out a successful business career. He was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, on January 19, 1864, and went to Chicago with his parents when a child. There he attended the public schools and at the age of twenty years enlisted in the regular army, in Company K of the Third infantry, and served one year, when he was discharged on ac- count of disability. He then began his trade career with the John Davis Heating Company of Chicago, the largest concern of its kind in that city. With this excellent foundation in his chosen trade, Mr. Macauley came to Grand Rapids and engaged in business with his brother, Charles B. Macauley. A more detailed narrative of the growth of that suc- cessful business is set forth in the account of the Macauley Brothers heating contractors and Charles B. Macauley. However, after four- teen years of association with his brother, John J. Macauley sold out his interest to his brother and the partnership was dissolved. Since then he has engaged in this line of business upon his own account with a great degree of success. Fraternally he is a member of York Lodge, F. & A. M. In 1900 he married Miss Amma Bell Keith of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Seymour-Muir Printing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, is a long established firm dating back in its history into the early days of the community. There are instances of which we have one in this narrative, where the records and achievements of a family are so in- tricately interwoven into the business which they have established and built up that the best way to record the story of the family is to tell the story of the business. James D. Muir, president of this company, was born in Grand Rapids on January 27, 1864. His father, John Muir, a very active pioneer of Grand Rapids, is mentioned elsewhere in this work. James D. Muir acquired his education in the public and high schools of Grand Rapids. He began while yet in his boyhood to learn the printer's trade. In 1887 Mr. Muir and Charles B. Sey- mour, another important pioneer in the printing industry in Grand Rapids, but now retired and living in California, became associated in the printing business, and in 1890 took charge of the Eaton-Lynn & Allen Printing Company. In 1900 the name of that business was changed to the present name of Seymour-Muir Printing Company. Later when Mr. Seymour left the company to engage in the lumber business William H. Muir became associated with his brother as secre- tary-treasurer of the company, which position he still holds. In May, 1925, this company located in its new building at the corner of Ottawa and Trobridge street, erected by the Ethridge Printing Company and the Seymour-Muir Company. James D. Muir is a member of the Highland Country Club. Mr. Muir was married to Miss Gertrude Wheeler of Grand Rapids and to this union was born one child HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 389 James D., Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Muir are active members of the Park Congregational Church. William H. Muir, the brother of James D. Muir, heretofore mentioned was likewise born in Grand Rapids, on August 16, 1859. Since 1901 he has been associated as secretary and treasurer of the Seymour Printing Company. William H. received his early education in the schools of Grand Rapids and then for years was engaged in the printing business. He is a member of the Masonic order. On May 24, 1887, he was joined in wedlock with Miss Clara Alice Bellamy of Grand Rapids. Their children are Hazel Caroline, a graduate of Grand Rapids high school and also a graduate of the Con- servatory of Music from Oberlin College (Ohio), where she received the degree of Bachelor of Music. She is the wife of James B. Wat- kins of Grand Rapids. William Wallace Muir, a graduate of Grand Rapids high school, graduated from the University of Michigan in 1921 with a degree of A.B. He is now manager of the Grand Rapids Label Company, owned by the Seymour-Muir Printing Company, manu- facturers of gummed advertising stickers, labels and embossed seals. This young man is likewise a member of the Masonic order. During the World war he was a student in the University of Michigan. He is a member of the Phi Sigma Kappa college fraternity and Cascade Hills Country Club. While he was a student in the University of Michigan he majored in business administration and by education and expe- rience is well qualified to fill the position which he now holds in the print- ing company in building up this label business. William W. Mulick, wholesale and retail florist at 1051 Gid- dings avenue, S. E., in Grand Rapids, conducts a flourishing business in this line and though financially independent retains his interest in flowers in both the practical and personal way. Mr. Mulick was born in Boston, Massachusetts on November 8, 1868. He is the son of William Henry and Mary Jane (Hultz) Mulick, who came from Boston, Massachusetts to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1872. His father was founder of what is known all over the world as Carter's ink. He sold out this business which had brought him a fairly good fortune, to the Carter people in 1876. He then left for the western country, first to the Black Hills where he made a rather unfortunate investment in alkali lands, and from there wandered over the western part of the United States, and down into old Mexico. After four years of this exploration of western territory he returned in 1880 to Grand Rapids and there was engaged as a millwright until his death, on Thanksgiving day, November, 1916, at the age of seventy-four years. His wife died in 1887 at the age of thirty-nine years. Of their five children, two are now living. He had re-married, his second wife being Maggie Hughes. William W. Mulick had enjoyed an interesting boyhood and young manhood while his parents were in the western countries and during that four-year period from 1876 until 1880 spent considerable portion of the time in the saddle riding over the west and south, into California and Mexico. During this period he had an experience of three months upon Buffalo Bill's (Cody) ranch. Upon his return to Grand Rapids in 1880 he completed his education and then entered upon a business career for Rowson Brothers, contractors. He remained in that work 390 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY for seventeen years and also engaged in the greenhouse business. He spent twenty-seven years in that business and has achieved financial independence. He also established a greenhouse at Greenville, Mich- igan in 1904, in which he still retains an interest. The importance of his business on Giddings avenue in Grand Rapids is shown by the fact that it occupies 34,000 feet of glass. Mr. Mulick is very much inter- ested in fraternal affairs, holding membership in the Valley City Lodge No. 86, F. & A. M.; Grand Rapids Chapter No. 7, R. A. M.; Penin- sular Chapter No. 65, Eastern Star; Palestine Shrine O. W. S. of J.; I. O. O. F. No. 11; Grand Rapids lodge of Knights of Pythias No. 2, and for twenty-six years has been an active member of the M. W. A., holding office almost continuously and has been chairman of the board for sixteen years. His religious affiliation is with the Congregational church. He was married on December 25, 1888, to Adaline Rice, of Lyons, Michigan, and they have one daughter Florence, born on August 8, 1906, who is a graduate of the South high school of Grand Rapids and of Ellis Fisher School in Bookkeeping. Earl David Stoll is one of the progressive business men of the younger generation in his native city of Grand Rapids, where he is junior member of the firm of D. Stoll & Son, the well equipped retail establishment of which is devoted to the handling of dry goods, ready-to-wear apparel for women and children, and shoes and other footwear for men, women and children, the establish- ment, at 617-19 Bridge street, northwest, being the largest and most important of its kind on the west side of the city and con- trolling a large and representative supporting patronage that marks it as one of the most popular mercantile houses in this district of Grand Rapids. Mr. Stoll was born in this city June 19, 1890, and is a son of David and Mary. (Dietz) Stoll, the former of whom was born at Ann Arbor, this state, June 23, 1858, and the latter of whom, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, was a child at the time of her parents' removal to Grand Rapids, where she was reared and edu- cated, where her marriage was solemnized and where she passed the remainder of her life, her death having occurred here in the year 1919. David Stoll, a scion of one of the sterling pioneer fam- ilies of Washtenaw county, Michigan, was there reared to adult age and there received his youthful education in the schools of Ann Arbor. He came to Grand Rapids about the time he had attained to his legal majority, and here he found employment at his trade, that of cabinetmaker. In 1883 he opened a small dry goods and clothing store at 603 Bridge street, northwest, and his wife proved a valued coadjutor in the early stage of operations, as she had supervision of the store during the period that he continued in the work of his trade—until such time as his independent business should have been established on a profitable basis. He finally retired from the work of his trade to give his undivided attention to his store, and he has been one of the reliable, enterprising and substantial business men of the city for more than forty years, with inviolable place in popular confidence and good will. He still HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 391 continues to make regular appearance at the store, but the active management of the business is now vested in his son, Earl D., upon whose admission to partnership the present firm name of D. Stoll & Son was adopted. In March, 1904, the business was removed from its original location to the present large and well equipped headquarters, where all departments are known for comprehensive stock and full facilities for meeting the demands of the apprecia- tive patrons of this old and popular mercantile institution of the West side. David Stoll is an earnest communicant of the Lutheran church, as was also his wife. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and his civic loyalty has found expression through his alliance with the West Side Building & Loan Com- pany, of which he is the vice-president and which has done splen- did service in advancing the civic and material progress of the west division of the city. After completing his studies in the high school, Earl D. Stoll took a course in a local business college. From his boyhood he has been associated with his father's busi- ness, and thus he is fortified in all details of the same and well equipped for its management. As a citizen and business man he is fully upholding the high honors of the family name, and is unre- served in his appreciative loyalty to his native city. In the Masonic fraternity, in which he takes the deepest of interest, Mr. Stoll re- ceived the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite when he was but twenty-one years of age, and he is a Noble of the local temple of the Mystic Shrine, as well as a member of the Masonic Country Club, through the medium of which he is able freely to indulge his propensity for scientific golf playing. He is an active member of the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce and is affiliated with the local lodge of Elks. He and his wife are communicants of the Lutheran church. Their residence is a beautiful modern home of the Dutch colonial type and is listed as one of the finest in Grand Rapids, with attractive location at 228 Bristol street, northwest. June 19, 1913, Mr. Stoll was united in marriage to Miss Beatrice Werner, daughter of William D. Werner, who was for twenty years engaged in the jewelry business in Grand Rapids. Mr. and Mrs. Stoll have three children, and their names and respective dates of birth are as follows: Norman David, May 15, 1915; Donald Earl, February 6, 1917; and Lloyd William, April 11, 1920. Edward L. Sikkema, manager of Madison Square Branch of the Grand Rapids Savings Bank, was born in Grand Rapids, No- vember 4, 1898. His parents, John and Lena (Oosterhouse) Sik- kema, were both natives of the Netherlands. The father came to the United States when seventeen years of age, and the mother was brought to this country when five years of age. The father was engaged in the retail meat business in Grand Rapids until 1900, when he moved to Paris township of Kent county. In 1917 he returned to Grand Rapids, where he lives retired. Edward L. , attended the public schools in Paris township, supplementing that preliminary education with correspondence and night school 392 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY courses. He began his service and his training in the financial world at the bottom rung of the ladder as a messenger boy in the Madison Square Branch of the Grand Rapids Savings Bank in 1914. In July, 1917, he laid aside his work to respond to the call of his country and enlisted in the United States Navy and served throughout the World war on the U. S. S. Mississippi until De- cember, 1918. After the war he returned to the bank, where he had been gaining his financial training, and has gradually worked up the various rungs of the financial ladder from messenger boy to the managership of the bank. His success shows not only cour- age but the ability of American youth to make good in important tasks. He is an active member of the American Legion. He was married to Miss Tilla Vandenberg, of Grand Rapids, on Septem- ber 15, 1921, and they have one daughter, Lois Jean, born May 19, 1923. Charles M. Heald. In the domain of material achievement Charles M. Heald is a man who has thought and wrought both worthily and mightily. Of the character and scope of his achieve- ments adequate revelation will be given in this brief review, though the record must needs be one in which there is elimination of details. After many years of association with railroad service, in executive positions of maximum importance, Mr. Heald, though he has passed the psalmist's span of three score years and ten, refuses to leave the ranks of the world's constructive workers, and in the city of Grand Rapids he is now president of the Home Building Association, a corporation which supplied a demand for homes and which have since been sold to working men by contract or partial payment plan. Charles M. Heald, former president of the Pere Marquette Railroad, was born in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, July 1, 1849. The death of his father, in 1868, necessi- tated Mr. Heald's withdrawal from Yale University in his junior year, and he manfully took up the practical duties of life, the while he made due provision also for the care of his widowed mother with the most insistent of filial devotion. His father, who had been a wholesale tobacco merchant of wealth and influence and with large holdings in the southern states, met with heavy financial reverses when the Civil war was precipitated on the nation and brought disruption of all business industry in the south, and thus the subject of this review found his course changed from the line of affluence and family prestige to that of individual effort in making his way in the world. He was for a time employed as clerk in wholesale millinery and hardware establishments in his native city, and eventually he took a clerical position in the trans- portation department of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, with which corporation he won advancement through his own ability and effi- ciency. In 1878 he was called to New York City and given charge of the passenger department of the Long Island Railroad. Three years later, after a change in the ownership of this system, Mr. Heald returned to Baltimore and resumed his association with damblealde а HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 393 the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. Three months later he was again tendered a position with the Long Island Railroad, and when, six years thereafter, the president of this road was elected president of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, Mr. Heald was given charge of the freight department of the latter system. After three years there came to him a still more important advancement in railway service, in his election to the office of president of the New York, Susquehanna & Western Railroad, which is now a part of the Erie Railroad system. In 1890 Mr. Heald came to Michigan to accept the position of general manager of the Chicago & West Michigan Railroad and the Detroit, Lansing & Northern Railroad, of both of which he was made president within a short time thereafter. In 1899 Mr. Heald was one of the prime factors in formulating the plans that resulted in the consolidation of these Lines to form the present Pere Marquette System. He was made the first president of the Pere Marquette Railroad Company, and of this office he continued the incumbent until the sale of the prop- erties, in 1903, when he, with other officials, retired from the man- agement of the properties. Shortly afterward Mr. Heald was called to New York to complete the purchase of a fleet of six steamboats and large terminal facilities in the city of Buffalo. He was elected president and general manager of the corporation, which increased its fleet to twelve modern vessels, in commission between Buffalo, New York, and Duluth, Minnesota. The company continued its successful operations until 1915, when a clause in the Panama Canal Act of Congress designated as illegal all steamship lines in which railroads were interested, with the result that this and other railroad-owned steamship lines were sold to the Great Lakes Transit Company. It was at this juncture in the career of Mr. Heald, in 1915, that he was elected a member of the first municipal board of commissioners of the city of Buffalo, which had just adopted the commission system of government. This preferment was a noteworthy recognition of the civic loyalty and public spirit of Mr. Heald, and he gave four years of characteristically effective service as city commissioner. In 1920, Mr. Heald re- turned to Grand Rapids and was chosen president of the Home Building Association of that city, and he thus returned to Mich- igan's vital “Valley City" and assumed active charge of the pro- gram which contemplated the erection of 1,000 dwellings. Though Mr. Heald is now (1925) seventy-six years of age, he is still act- ively engaged in the directing of business affairs of broad scope and importance, and his cannot be other than a gracious retrospect of an individual career that has been one of worthy service—and service is the ultimate justification for every human life. He has been true and loyal in all of the relations of life, and has ever had inviolable place in popular confidence and esteem. The political allegiance of Mr. Heald is favorable to the Democratic party, and he and his wife are communicants of Grace church, Protestant Episcopal, in their home city. Mr. Heald has been affiliated with 394 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY the Masonic fraternity since 1874, and has been an appreciative student of its history and benignant teachings. In this time-hon- ored fraternity he has passed the various chairs in both York and Scottish Rite organizations, and in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite he has received the Thirty-third, an ultimate degree, this honor having come to him in 1898. He is dean of past command- ers of Knights Templar in Grand Rapids, and is a past Sovereign Prince of the Council of Jerusalem. Mr. Heald was formerly president of the Peninsular Club of Grand Rapids, and while a resident of Buffalo, New York, served as president of the Univer- sity Club, and also of the Park Club, besides which he is an active member of the Kent Country Club, he having been one of its organ- izers. In 1868 he left Yale University, but in 1890 was awarded the degree of Master of Arts and restored to full standing in his class. Every five years he attends the reunions of his class, in which are many men who have attained to prominence in varied walks of life. At Yale he was affiliated with the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. In 1871 was solemnized his marriage to Miss Elizabeth Clark, who was born and reared in the state of Maryland, and whose death occurred in 1920. The second marriage of Mr. Heald was with Mrs. Florence (Fitts) Smiley, widow of Mitchell Smiley, and she is the gracious and popular chatelaine of their pleasant home in Grand Rapids. Edward A. Simons owns and conducts in his native city of Grand Rapids a large and well ordered general garage, at 640-46 Wealthy street, southeast, and here he has developed also a pros- perous business in the sale of popular Auburn automobiles. Mr. Simons was born in Grand Rapids, August 27, 1890, and is a son of Albert W. and Emma Elizabeth (Allen) Simons, the former of whom was born in Ontario, Canada, in 1857, and the latter at Kent City, Kent county, Michigan, in 1861. Albert W. Simons was a lad of about eight years when his parents came from Canada, in 1865, and settled in Grand Rapids, where they passed the rest of their lives and where Albert W. was reared to manhood under the conditions of the middle pioneer period in the history of this city, he having been for many years successfully engaged in the wholesale meat business in Grand Rapids, where his death occurred in 1907 and where his widow still maintains her home. After having profited by the advantages of the Grand Rapids high school Edward A. Simons advanced his education by attending Michigan Agricultural College. He has been continuously iden- tified with the automobile business since that time. After work- ing several years as an automobile mechanic he was for nine years service manager at the automobile establishment of B. W. Owen, Inc., and upon resigning this position he established his present independent garage and Auburn sales business, to the pronounced success of which both his technical skill and his personal popu- larity have contributed in large measure. In the World war period Mr. Simons was in service thirteen months in the United States HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 395 navy, in the capacity of chief petty officer, and he was, during this service, assigned to duty at the Great Lakes Naval Station, near Chicago. He is affiliated with the American Legion, and has mem- bership in the Grand Rapids Association of Commerce, and Grand Rapids Motor Club. June 8, 1918, Mr. Simons was united in mar- riage to Miss Gertrude Wandron, daughter of the late Joseph L. Wandron, whose widow still resides in Grand Rapids. Mr. and Mrs. Simons have one child, James. Roy M. Watkins is a prominent member of the Kent county bar who has achieved success in his profession upon his own merits and at the same time carried forth the honored traditions of the Watkins family, established by his father and grandfather who have preceded him in membership in the Michigan state legisla- ture and in other civic responsibilities. Roy M. Watkins was born in Rockford, Michigan, October 17, 1874. He received his common school training in Rockford and was graduated from the high school of that community in 1892. He continued his education with a course at the University of Michigan and was graduated from the law school of that institution in 1899. He then located in Grand Rapids and in 1901 was appointed to the position of state examiner of taxable inheritances, in the auditor-general's depart- ment, and thus became the first examiner of all the probate courts in Michigan, which position he filled for four years. In 1905 he resumed the practice of his profession, in partnership with his father, Major E. C. Watkins, a leader at the Grand Rapids bar. Major Watkins was a son of Milton C. Watkins, who located in Kent county in 1844. Milton C. was a farmer by occupation but in taking an active interest in the civic affairs of his community had represented his district in the Michigan state legislature, both in the house of representatives, in the senate, and constitutional convention of 1867. He died May 16, 1886, at the age of eighty years. Major E. C. Watkins, the father of Roy M., served in the First New York Cavalry in the Civil war. When he was dis- charged from the military service he returned to Grand Rapids, but láter went to Rockford and purchased the water power site and there operated two sawmills and one flour mill. He followed the example of his father in civic service and was elected to the legis- lature in 1873 and again in 1875, being speaker pro tem during the latter session. He was appointed United States Inspector of Indian Affairs, which office he held for four years, serving under Secretaries of the Interior Zachariah Chandler and Carl Schurz. On July 1, 1881, Governor David H. Jerome appointed him as warden of the Michigan Reformatory at Ionia, and in that position he rendered creditable service for a period of ten years except during an interim of two years during the administration of Gov- ernor Josiah W. Begole, a Democratic governor. In 1891 Major Watkins returned to Rockford, Michigan, and continued until 1896 in the milling business, when he disposed of his milling in- terest and resumed the practice of law. He continued to carry 396 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY on an active practice until his death on April 14, 1911. His wife was Julia Brown, of Deerfield, Massachusetts. She was born January 30, 1837, and died June 27, 1899. Roy M. Watkins not only followed the work of his father in the legal profession but likewise followed the example of his father and grandfather in public service. In 1907 he supplemented the public service which has already been mentioned by accepting an appointment as probate register of Kent county, which office he held until Janu- ary 1, 1912. He then again returned to the practice of his pro- fession. In the fall of 1914 he became the third representative of the Watkins family to serve as a member of the Michigan legislature upon his election to a seat in the house of representatives and served for one term. In 1918 he was again honored by his con- stituency, this time being promoted to the state senate from Grand Rapids, and served in 1919 and 1920. He continued the practice of law in Grand Rapids. In July, 1921, he was appointed assistant United States district attorney, which duties he filled with credit until his resignation on February 1st, 1924, to again resume the practice of his profession. He was appointed on the committee to dedicate the Michigan monument at Shiloh Battlefield on May 30, 1919, while serving as a member of the state senate. August 24, 1909, Mr. Watkins married Miss Lucretia R. Shipp, of Grand Rapids. Mrs. Watkins has served on the board of directors of the Women's Lincoln Club and is an active member of the Randall division of the Fountain Street Baptist church. The Watkins' have one son, Donald S., who was born on June 5, 1913. During the World war Mr. Watkins served as a member of the city draft board and was secretary of the Third division as well as serving as a private in the Sixteenth Battalion Infantry, Michigan state troops. In fraternal circles he is a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of Saladin Temple Shrine of Grand Rapids. He is also affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, I. O. O. F., M. W. A., and K. O. T. M., and also holds membership in the L. O. O. M. and Eastern Star. Mr. Watkins is a member of the Lions Club and in professional circles is active in the Grand Rapids and Mich- igan State Bar Associations. Kirk E. Wicks. Impelled by the indomitable spirit which has characterized the pioneers of American history, two brothers of the Wicks family, prominent and respected members of the Society of Friends in western New York left their native state, where they had been educated in the schools and colleges, and came to Mich- igan in the early fifties. They settled near Kalamazoo and engaged in the general merchandising business, but in a short time the younger of the two purchased a farm in Allegan county where he settled with his family to become pioneer residents of that section. It was on this farm in 1869 that Kirk E. Wicks was born, the boy who was destined to become one of the most prominent attorneys- at-law in Grand Rapids and master in chancery, Western District of Michigan, United States district court. The boy lived the nor- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 397 mal, healthy life of the farmer boy of his day, attending the public schools of his district and later the high school. By the time he had reached the age of seventeen years he had absorbed all that the schools of his section could teach him and he then became a teacher. During this time he formed the desire to study law, and as soon as practicable he entered the law school of the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated with the class of 1892, being admitted to practice at the bar in the same year. In 1893 he came to Grand Rapids to enter the law firm of Blair, Kingsley and Kleinhans as a clerk. Soon after, Blair dropped out of the partnership, and in 1900 when Kleinhans left the firm to form a partnership with Loyal E. Knappen, the firm of Kingsley and Wicks was established, an arrangement which continued with success until the death of Mr. Kingsley in 1913. Mr. Wicks was appointed referee in bankruptcy in 1901 by United States District Judge Wanty and continued to hold that position until his resig- nation in 1917. The law firm of Wicks, Fuller and Starr was formed in 1916, but the following year, when Mr. Wicks became trust officer of the Michigan Trust Company, he severed his con- nection with the firm only to re-enter the partnership in 1919 after his resignation from the Michigan Trust Company. In 1922 Mr. Wicks was appointed master in chancery, Western District of Michigan, United States District Court, a position which he still retains. Mr. Wicks, through the many years in which he has practiced law in Grand Rapids, has won an enviable reputation as a counsellor. The thoroughness with which he handles matters submitted to his care, and his forcefulness as an advocate have gained for him the name of being one of the most successful of the Grand Rapids attorneys, and he has won the respect and ad- miration of those with whom he has come in contact, both in a professional and social way. Mr. Wicks first married Lillian Born, the daughter of E. B. Born, of Allegan, Michigan, and to them was born one son, Kirk E., Jr., who is now a resident of Chicago. Mrs. Wicks died in January, 1918, and in 1921 he mar- ried Margaret Weisgerber, a member of a prominent family of Ionia. Mr. Wicks is a member of both the American and State bar associations, and is also active in civic affairs. He is president of the Grand Rapids Bar association, president of the Family Serv- ice Association, a member of the Kent Country Club, the Masonic Country Club, and the University Club. In fraternal circles he is a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the Shrine, and is actively interested in the affairs of the Westminster Presbyterian church with which he is affiliated. Egbert J. Smitter has been a resident of Grand Rapids since he was three years of age, and for nearly a quarter of a century he has here been established in the dry goods business, at 1875-77 Division avenue, south. Mr. Smitter was born in the Netherlands, May 5, 1867, and is a son of John and Anna (Burg) Smitter, who remained in their native land until 1870, when they came to the 398 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY United States and established their home in Grand Rapids, where they passed the remainder of their lives. Egbert J. Smitter has vivid memories of the conditions that marked Grand Rapids in the period of his boyhood, and it is interesting to recall that he attended school in district No. 4, at the corner of Cass and Wealthy a venues. As a young man he entered the employ of Leonard Benjamins, who long conducted a clothing store at Monroe and Ionia streets, and with this concern he continued for eighteen years, in which time he gained broad and practical knowledge of the details of the business. Thus he was well reinforced in expe- rience when, in 1903, he engaged independently in the dry goods business, at the corner of Division avenue and Burton street, he later having purchased the building in which his business was conducted, and the same having continued the headquarters of the enterprise to the present time. After the close of the World war he admitted his two sons, both of whom had been in the nation's military service in the war period, to partnership in the business, which has since been conducted under the firm name of Smitter & Sons. April 15, 1890, Mr. Smitter was united in mar- riage to Miss Mary Drukker, daughter of Henry and Winifred (Terpsma) Drukker, who were born and reared in the Nether- lands and who thence came to the United States and established their residence in Grand Rapids in the year 1873. Mr. and Mrs. Smitter have three children: Anna, who was born January 20, 1891, holds a position in her father's store; John E., who was born January 6, 1896, and who is now a member of the firm of Smitter & Sons, enlisted in the United States army when the nation entered the World war, gained the rank of second lieutenant, and in his period of service he was stationed at Camp Lee, Virginia, and Camp Custer, near Battle Creek, Michigan. Henry E., who was born May 17, 1894, and is the third of the principals of the firm of Smitter & Sons, became a mem- ber of the Three Hundred and Thirty-eighth United States Infantry regiment, which was assigned to the Eighty-fifth Division, and he was with his command in overseas service during a period of eleven months. Fred D. Starritt is the progressive general manager of the Grand Rapids branch of the National Mattress Company, which substantial and important corporation operates à chain of seven- teen mattress factories, four of which are in Michigan and the others in Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The high-grade products and progressive policies of this corporation have gained to it a very extensive business of most substantial order, as well as the highest of commercial reputations. C. F. Edwards, of Huntington, West Virginia, is president of the com- pany; L. B. Starritt, of Toledo, Ohio, is the vice-president; F. B. - Adkins, of Huntington, West Virginia, is the secretary; and Fred D. Starritt, general manager of the Grand Rapids branch, is treas- urer of the company. The well equipped factory in Grand Rapids snakes provision for the trade throughout western Michigan, and the business of the Grand Rapids branch, established in 1923, has HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 399 shown a splendid growth under the effective management of Fred D. Starritt, who is proud of the local plant and business of his company and who is an appreciative and loyal citizen of Grand Rapids, the second city of importance in Michigan, with rank in population second only to Detroit and with even equal precedence as an industrial and commercial center. Mr. Starritt has the dis- tinction of being a native of the fair old capital city of the Old Dominion, his birth having occurred in the city of Richmond, Vir- ginia, November 5, 1891. In 1911 he was graduated in the Augusta Military Academy at Augusta, his intention having been to make construction engineering his vocation and his educational training having been along this line. After completing his studies he was . for a time in the employ of a leading corporation engaged in bridge construction, and thereafter he was associated with the Otis Ele- vator Company, with his headquarters at Richmond, Virginia. In 1917 he became one of the stockholders and executive principals of the National Mattress Company, and with this corporation he has been manager of its Grand Rapids branch from the time of its inception, in 1923. Clarence A. Spielmaker is the efficient manager of one of the largest general automobile garages in the city of Grand Rapids, that of Spielmaker & Sons, at 1331 Division avenue, south. He is one of the constituent members of the firm, which owns its modern and well-equipped garage building. Andrew J. Spielmaker is the head of the firm, and the other members are his sons, Clarence A., Arthur E., and Frank L. Clarence A. Spielmaker was born at Big Rapids, judicial center of Mecosta county, Michigan, July 6, 1884, and is the eldest of the sons of Andrew J. Spielmaker, who was born and reared in Canada and who was twenty-one years of age when he came to Michigan. Andrew J. Spielmaker, a skilled work- man at the trade of blacksmith, first established his residence at Big Rapids, where he was engaged in the work of his trade during a period of ten years. He then came with his family to Grand Rapids, where he was for many years active in the work of his trade and where, in 1919, he became associated with his three sons in establishing the now large and prosperous garage business of the firm of Spielman & Sons. The large cement building of the firm is modern in all mechanical facilities and general accommoda- tions, and gives a service that is fully appreciated by its many patrons. The public schools of Big Rapids and Grand Rapids were the mediums through which Clarence A. Spielmaker acquired his early education. He is an efficient executive, and he has been the manager of the Spielmaker garage from the time of its stablishing to the present. He and other members of the family are com- municants of the Catholic church. Mr. Spielmaker takes lively interest in outdoor sports and as a citizen he is loyal and pro- gressive. November 6, 1907, he married Miss Anna Knopf, of Big Rapids, her widowed mother being now a resident of South Haven, 400 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY this state. Mr. and Mrs. Spielmaker have one child, Roy, who was born January 29, 1909. Melvin J. Clark was a man whose character was the positive expression of a strong, loyal and noble nature, and his ability made him long a prominent and influential figure in connection with important business affairs in the city of Grand Rapids, besides which he became a dominating force in connection with the lumbering and mining industries. His business potency was dy- namic and he achieved large success. But above his material suc- cess was the loyal stewardship that marked him as a man whose course was ever directed along the line of integrity and honor in all of the relations of life. Mr. Clark claimed Ontario, Canada, as the place of his nativity, and was of sterling English ancestry tracing back to the Norman conquest of England. His first Amer- ican ancestor settled in the province of Ontario, Canada, and it was thence that the pioneer representatives of the family came to Michigan in the territorial days. Mr. Clark was born in Ontario, Canada, October 7, 1836, and his death, of pneumonia, occurred at Globe, Arizona, November 23, 1909. An appreciative estimate of the career of Mr. Clark was published in the Michigan Tradesman of April 1, 1925, and from the same quotations, with minor changes, are here made: “His father was a prosperous farmer, and young Clark was brought up on the farm, receiving a common school education so far as books were concerned, but learning lessons of far greater value from woods and fields and running brooks. At the age of twenty-six years Mr. Clark left the farm to engage in business on his own account, and at this stage in his career he was a strong, well-balanced and self-reliant man. His first essay in business was at Solon Center, Kent county, Michigan, where he conducted a small store and handled shaved shingles. The store was of the most primitive character, being little more than a shanty, one side of which served as a residence, while the other side, divided by a thin partition, contained the few goods with which the start was made. The business pros- pered from the beginning, as everyone predicted it would when recognition was taken of the work of the young merchant, the shrewdness with which he handled his customers, and the broad lines he laid down as the foundation of his subsequent success. In 1864 Mr. Clark removed to Cedar Springs, and formed a co- partnership with his brother, the late Isaac M. Clark, to engage in general trade under the title of Clark Brothers. Two years later the brother sold his interest and returned to agricultural pursuits, and Melvin J. Clark continued the business at Cedar Springs until 1874, the while he operated in the meantime a saw- mill and shingle mill. When he first began manufacturing shingles he sold his product to middlemen, but in 1865 he conceived the idea of selling his brands direct to the lumber dealers, and this policy proved successful. The same spirit that prompted him to change his field of operations from Solon Center to Cedar Springs CE UIT ch mg.blask HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 401 likewise caused him to seek a location more in keeping with his capital and his ambitions, and it was thus that Grand Rapids gained him as a citizen and as a business man whose ability and well directed activities enabled him to accumulate a large fortune." In the year 1874 Mr. Clark established his residence in Grand Rapids, where he again became associated with his brother, Isaac M., the firm of I. M. Clark & Company here engaging in the wholesale grocery business. Subsequently the business was incor- porated under the title of the I. M. Clark Grocery Company, and still later the corporate title of Clark-Jewell-Wells Company was adopted, Melvin J. Clark having retained a controlling interest in the substantial enterprise and having been president of the cor- poration. He gained place as one of the shrewdest, most pro- gressive and most steadfast and honorable business men of Grand Rapids, where his financial interests became of broad scope. He was a director of the Grand Rapids National Bank and was presi- dent of the Clark & Rowson Lumber Company, the Clark Lumber Company, the Clark & Jackson Lumber Company, and the Clark & Scudder Lumber Company. He was interested in the control & of 40,000 acres of mineral and timber land in the vicinity of Duluth, Minnesota. His mineral possessions comprised some of the finest fields of Bessemer ore in the country. At a point about fifteen miles distant from Duluth, Mr. Clark purchased, in the early eighties, a tract of government pine land for which he paid $1,500. Ten years later he sold the timber for $20,000 and the land for $60,000. This incident is mentioned as indicating the remarkable prevision and business sagacity that characterized every stage in the career of Mr. Clark. A similar investment made by him in the upper country was based on the value of the pine timber, but the tract proved to have the finest grade of Bessemer ore, the exploiting of which, by a subsidiary of the United States Steel Company, gave to Mr. Clark large financial returns. Mr. Clark owned and devel- oped some of the finest farm property in Kent county, and he admitted that his three hobbies were business, horses and farms. He was the owner of a fine ranch near Petaluma, California, and there passed, with his family, numerous winter seasons. From the Michigan Tradesman, tribute from which quotations have already been made, are drawn also the following extracts: “Mr. Clark attributed his success largely to his familiarity with the lumber and pine-land business. He saved his earnings as a young man, and in after years, when the returns came thick and fast, he did not increase his expenses in the same ratio. His personal expenses were by no means large, as he had no ambition to shine in society and had no affiliation with secret orders. He never did anything for effect, never was a heavy borrower, and never found it necessary to bolster up his credit by pretense or subterfuge. His sturdy honesty was a matter of general avowal, and those who knew him well realized that his bond was as good as gold and his word as good as his bond. He was a born diplomat, meeting 402 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY exceptional success in adjusting losses and trying lawsuits. Simple in his habits, quiet in his tastes, vigorous in his treatment of matters of business, masterly in his comprehension of deals in- volving vast sums of money and requiring years of development to complete, Mr. Clark had every reason to be satisfied with the success he achieved and the good name he left behind when he was called to face his Maker.” The beautiful mansion that Mr. Clark purchased and enlarged in Grand Rapids and which is still the home of his widow, is located on Lake drive and is one of the show places of the Grand Rapids metropolitan district. Ideal relations and most gracious associations marked the home life of Mr. and Mrs. Clark, save that no children were vouchsafed to them. This lack they made good by the adoption of three children, and they were amply repaid in the filial love and devotion given them by these children. In the year 1861 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Clark to Miss Emily Jewell, who was born in Tioga county, Pennsylvania, October 19, 1843, of English lineage, and who was twelve years of age at the time when her parents came to Michigan and established their home on a farm near Cedar Springs, Kent county, in 1855, the father having taken up government land and the fine old homestead farm being now owned by his son Frank. Two brothers of Mrs. Clark lost their lives while serving as gallant soldiers of the Union in the Civil war, Leander having been a member of the Sixth Michigan Cavalry, and LeRoy a member of the Michigan Mechanics and Engineers. Ebenezer Jewell, grandfather of Mrs. Clark, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and an earlier ancestor, Joseph Jewell, was a patriot soldier in the war of the Revolution. Mrs. Clark is thus eligible for, and is affiliated with, the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution and also the Daughters of the War of 1812, besides which she has been a member of the Ladies' Literary Club of Grand Rapids since 1876, she having joined this club shortly after its organization. She has been the gracious and popular chatelaine of one of the beautiful and hospitable homes of Grand Rapids, and has long been a member of the Grace Epis- copal Church, her husband likewise having been a liberal supporter of this church and his political allegiance having been given to the Republican party. Marguerite, first of the adopted children of Mr. and Mrs. Clark, is the wife of Edmund W. Wurzburg, secretary and treasurer of the Wurzburg Dry Goods Company, Grand Rapids, their three children being Jane Emily, Marguerite, and Edmund W., Jr., and their adopted son being Stephen Clark Wurzburg. Edward J. Clark, adopted son of the honored subject of this memoir, married Miss Florence Teal and they have two children, Edward J., Jr., and Virginia. Mr. Clark is represented in a personal sketch on another page of this work. Melvin J. Clark, Jr., the other adopted son, remains with his foster mother in the beautiful home in Grand Rapids. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 403 Wiebe Stellema was born in Grand Rapids, October 10, 1886, and after completing his high school studies he learned the trade of carriage trimmer, at which he was employed somewhat more than two years. He then opened a shop of his own, and he de- veloped a prosperous carriage trimming business that, in conso- nance with the march of progress in vehicular transportation, was gradually transformed to similar service in connection with auto- mobiles. During the past fifteen years Mr. Stellema has carried on a substantial and profitable enterprise in the making of cur- tains and tops for automobiles and in the handling of general trimming work for such motor vehicles. His well equipped estab- lishment is at 965 Lake Drive, and he resides at 504 Michigan street, northeast. In the Masonic fraternity Mr. Stellema has re- ceived the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite and is also a Noble of the Mystic Shrine, his wife being a member of the adjunct Masonic organization, the Order of the Eastern Star. The year 1923 was marked by the marriage of Mr. Stellema to Miss Ruth Kelley, daughter of Josiah Kelley, of Sand Lake, Michigan, and the one child of this union is a fine son, Robert John, who was born March 15, 1924. The parents of Mr. Stellema were born and reared in the Netherlands, where their marriage was solemnized and whence they came to the United States and established their home in Grand Rapids in the year 1882. The father, Jacob Stel- lema, was here employed in furniture factories during the remain- der of his life, his death having occurred in 1902, and his widow being still a resident of this city. Arthur A. Schneider, proprietor of a bicycle establishment at 216 Bond avenue, N. W., Grand Rapids, was born in Detroit, Mich- igan, May 23, 1892, a son of Fritz Schneider. He was educated in the public schools of Detroit and Grand Rapids. He has spent many years working for various bicycle companies, learning the manufacture and expert repairing of bicycles under the masters of the trade. In March, 1920, he established the bicycle shop of which he is now proprietor. He has developed his business to a point where it is the largest of its kind in the city of Grand Rapids. He not only sells new bicycles, but also reconditions bicycles for re-sale. His specialty is the Schneider Special Built Racing bicycle, which is manufactured on a plan designed by him- self. He also carries all kinds of accessories for bicycles. He ranks high in this field, having been a member of the six-day bicy- cle racing squad for a number of years. He is the Michigan state representative of the American Bicycle League and is also an officer of the Western Michigan Bicycle Club. He has built up a large trade in Grand Rapids and the vicinity, and his achievement in making his shop the largest in point of trade in the city, has stamped him as an able business man and executive. On Febru- ary 7, 1925, he married Miss Josephine Wood, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Wood, of Grand Rapids, the former of whom is deceased. The raising of pedigreed rabbits has become the hobby 404 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY cern. of Mr. Schneider, and entries of his have captured prizes in Kent County and Michigan State fairs. Mr. Schneider is a member of the Loyal Order of Moose. David H. Spangler is proprietor of a manufacturing enterprise which has done much to place the name of Grand Rapids before the people of the state and nation. He is the owner of the Spangler Cigar Company, which, though but a few years old, already enjoys a large trade. He was born in York, Pennsylvania, April 17, 1882, the son of John and Sarah (Daron) Spangler, both of whom are dead. He was educated in the public schools of his native city and at an early age entered the employ of a cigar manufacturing con- For many years he remained in the employ of the York branch of the General Cigar Company of New York City. The energy with which he applied himself to the duties of his position influenced the officers of the company to send him to Grand Rapids to handle the cigar trade of the firm. After a year spent in the city he resigned his position with the company and went into the cigar manufacturing business for himself. He has now developed a large trade not only throughout Michigan but also through the entire country. His leading brands of cigars are Miss Grand Rapids, Black Chief, and El Spancico. By his achievement he has won himself a place among the foremost business executives of the city. In June, 1910, he married Miss Jennie Shiffer, the daugh- ter of Mr. and Mrs. William Shiffer, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Spangler have one daughter, Whyoma, who is now living in Detroit. Mr. Spangler is an active member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. His leisure time away from the cares of his business is spent in hunting and fishing, sports of which he is an ardent follower. Asa E. Simpson. In the Simpson Granite Works, 1352 Leonard street, N. W., Grand Rapids, the city boasts one of the most com- pletely equipped marble works in this section of the state. The company is owned and operated by Asa E. Simpson, who was born in Ontario, Canada, in September, 1872, the son of James W. and Sarah J. (Starkweather) Simpson. The parents of Asa E. Simp- son were both born in New York state, the former in 1833 and the latter in 1843. They immigrated to Canada, but shortly after the birth of their son they returned to the United States, settling on a farm in Sanilac county, Michigan. James W. Simpson died on his farm in 1899 and his wife died there in 1893. Asa E. Simpson received his education in the district schools of Sanilac county. When he had attained the age of sixteen years he decided to follow the granite and marble cutting trade. He sought and found em- ployment with such a company, remaining with that concern until he felt that he had mastered every phase of the trade. In 1895 he came to Grand Rapids, where he was employed with a granite company, after which he was connected with the Black Monument Company at Hastings, Michigan, with which company he remained for a short time. He then opened a monument business for him- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 405 self at Hartford, Michigan, and operated this for ten years. In 1913 he returned to Grand Rapids and started the Simpson Granite Works at 1352-58 Leonard street, N. W. During the twelve years in which he has been in business in Grand Rapids, Mr. Simpson has built up a large trade. His plant is one of the best equipped marble works in the city, and he carries a good assortment of monuments at the plant. Mr. Simpson is regarded as one of the substantial business men of Grand Rapids, where he is respected for his integ- rity. On January 31, 1897, he married Miss Hettie Green, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Green, of Cornwell, England, the former of whom is now living at the old family home in Eng- land. Mrs. Green is dead. To Mr. and Mrs. Simpson have been born the following children: May, who is the wife of Henry Mulder, of Grand Rapids, and has one son and two daughters; Elton, who works for his father; Cecil, who is married and living in Grand Rapids and who served during the World war as first lieutenant, being stationed at Douglas, Arizona; Roy, who is mar- ried and works for his father; Lloyd, who is also married and works for his father; Elsie, the wife of Leonard Post, of Grand Rapids; Hilda; Marian; Ella; Frank, and Doris and Dorothy, twins. Mr. Simpson is a member of the Masonic lodge and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Roy F. Springer. There is no exaggeration in designating Mr. Springer as one of the leading exponents of the automobile busi- ness in western Michigan, and he has the further distinction of being the youngest man in Grand Rapids to be the head of an automobile sales and distributing business, he being the founder and executive principal of the Standard Automobile Company, the large and well equipped headquarters of which are established at 650 Bridge avenue, northwest, where is utilized a floor space of 15,000 square feet. The modern garage and salesrooms are of the best metropolitan type in all appointments, equipment and service, and here has been made a record for selling and delivering a greater number of motor cars than any other agency in western Michigan. On the payroll of the Standard Automobile Company is repre- sented a personnel of fifty-five employes, including the most a efficient and highest paid corps of salesmen. When he was but a boy Mr. Springer determined to identify himself with the automo- bile business, and in the same his success has far exceeded his anticipations. The original Grand Rapids garage which he erected on a lot sixty by eighty feet in dimensions was the nucleus from which has been evolved the present large and fine establishment of the Standard Automobile Company. He established this as a one-man garage in the year 1915, after he had made a record as an automobile salesman of the first class. In initiating his new enter- prise he doffed his white collar and donned overalls, in order to be properly appareled for the diverse duties that devolved upon him as the owner, manager and sole workman of his new enter- prise. He had the good judgment to realize that splendid oppor- 406 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY tunity was offered for the development of a successful Ford sales and service business in a location on the west side of the city, and, notwithstanding obstacles and other difficulties that he encoun- tered in the earlier period, he has pressed forward until he devel- oped one of the greatest automobile sales businesses in western Michigan. He reads human nature, and thus has been able to select the most efficient assistants in the upbuilding of his splen- did organization, which is notable for its loyalty and earnest co- operation of all members of its personnel in all departments. This is a big human agency and is giving the best of human service. Fair and honorable dealings and effective service have brought results, and Mr. Springer has reason to take pride in his organiza- tion and its work. He is one of the progressive and valued mem- bers of the local Board of Commerce, and is a member of the Cas- cade Country Club. He and his wife are communicants of the Lutheran church, and in their home community they have a circle of friends that is limited only by that of their acquaintances. Mr. Springer was born in Detroit, Michigan, December 27, 1892, and is a son of Frederick and Emma (Blair) Springer, the former of whom is deceased and the latter of whom still resides in Detroit. Roy F. Springer gained his earlier education in the public schools of his native city and was about three years of age at the time of the family removal to Saginaw. In 1911 he came to Grand Rapids, gained success as an automobile mechanic, and in 1915 he founded the business of which he is now the resourceful and popular execu- tive head, as already recorded in this review. On the 8th of De- cember, 1915, Mr. Springer was united in marriage to Miss Bo- thilba Eckberg, daughter of George Eckberg, of Grand Rapids, and the one child of this union is a winsome daughter, Beatrice Eleanor, who was born October 25, 1923. The family home in Grand Rapids is at 1117 Lake Drive, southeast. Henry A. Schantz. The Schantz Implement Company has been an integral part of the commercial life of Grand Rapids for nearly forty years and is favorably known among the farmers of the whole of Kent county. Henry A. Schantz, who is now the proprietor of the company which was established by his father, was born in Grand Rapids, August 27, 1892, the son of Alfred and Emma (Pfeffer) Schantz, the former of whom was born in Kent county in 1866 and the latter in 1870. Alfred Schantz was born on a farm where he stayed and worked until he was twenty years old. In 1886 he came to Grand Rapids and started in the farm implement business, his concern being known as the Schantz Implement Com- pany. He developed a good trade among the farmers of the county and continued to operate his business until the time of his death in 1918. His widow is still living in Grand Rapids. Henry A. Schantz was, educated in the graded and high schools of Grand Rapids, graduating from the latter institution with the class of 1912. His education completed, he went into business with his father. At the time of his father's death he took over the manage- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 407 ment of the business and has continued in that work until the present time. He has managed the firm so successfully that the trade has been increased. Retail hardware, farm implements, wind mills, seeds, and similar goods are handled by the company, which is known among the farmers as one of the most substantial sort and whose goods are of the best. Mr. Schantz is recognized as a man of excellent business judgment by his associates in business. On May 29, 1917, he married Miss Helen Bremer, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Bremer, pioneer farmers of Kent county. To Mr. and Mrs. Schantz have been born two children, Donald, born March 21, 1918, and Walter, born March 3, 1922. Mr. Schantz is the owner of a cottage at Spring Lake, where he spends much time fishing when he is away from the cares of his business. Bastian Stolk, manufacturer of cabinetmaker's hand screws, hand clamps and horse clamps, was born in the Netherlands, June 12, 1891, the son of Mr. and Mrs. William Stolk, both of whom were natives of that country. The parents of Bastian Stolk came to the United States in 1910, one year after their son came to this country. William Stolk is still living in Grand Rapids, but his wife died at Grand Rapids, Michigan, in November, 1919. Bastian Stolk was educated in the Netherlands and in 1909 came to the United States. He settled at Goshen, Indiana, where he became an apprentice at the machinists' and carpenters' trades. He worked at this for two years and then engaged in business for himself as a manufacturer of hand screws and clamps for the furniture trade of Grand Rapids. After a ten-year residence in Goshen, he decided that a move to Grand Rapids, where he was marketing the major portion of his products, would be advisable, and accordingly, he took up his residence there in 1919. He continued in the same manufacturing work in which he engaged in Goshen, Indiana, and in 1922 he took in his brother-in-law, Peter De Clark, into part- nership with him, an arrangement which is still effective. At that time the firm adopted the name of the Superior Hand Screw and Clamp Company. Hand screws, hand clamps, and horse clamps are manufactured by the company, which has developed an exten- sive trade among the furniture manufacturers of Grand Rapids. In addition to this sort of manufacturing the company also makes truck bodies as a side line. In June, 1918, he married Miss Dena De Lange, the daughter of Marinus De Lange, who came to the United States in 1915 following the death of his wife in the Neth- erlands. Marinus De Lange now makes his home with Mr. Stolk. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Stolk as follows: William M., Marinus W., Dirk, and Marie. Mr. Stolk and his family are affiliated with the Netherlands Reformed church of Grand Rapids. John M. Scoby. With the death in August, 1922, of John M. Scoby, Grand Rapids lost one of her ablest business men, who was born and reared in the city where he played so prominent a part in the commercial life. He was born in Grand Rapids, December 5, 408 HISTORY OF KIONT COUNTY a 1858, the son of Mitchell Scoby, a native of Ohio who came to Grand Rapids when he was a young man and engaged in railroad work there until the time of his death. John M. Scoby received his education in the public schols of Grand Rapids. His first em- ployment was found in the mills of his native city. He gave up that work after several years and purchased a livery stable located on Bridge street. This business he operated until 1900. In addi- tion to the usual livery stable business, he sold wagons and bug- gies. He then entered the coal and wood business, which he oper- ated until the time of his death in August, 1922. On September 4, 1882, he married Miss Bird Williams, the daughter of Theodore and Mary (Irwin) Williams, both of whom are dead. To Mr. and Mrs. Scoby was born one son, Albert Burton, who was born in June, 1883, and is now an employe in the United States Air Mail Service. He is married and has three children: Elizabeth, born October 15, 1908; John Burton, born April 17, 1911; Paul, born July 13, 1913. Another son of John M. Scoby died in 1900 at the age of fifteen years. John M. Scoby was active in Republican politics in the city and county. He served on the Grand Rapids board of education for several years and for two terms was super- visor. Mrs. Scoby was born in New York state and went to Lans- ing, Michigan, with her family when she was a small girl, and after a time she removed with her family to Grand Rapids. With the death of her husband in 1922 she took over the management of the coal and wood business, which she still continues to operate. Her achievement in making the company one of the best of its kind in the city has stamped her as an able business woman, and she is loved and respected by all with whom she has come in contact. Lewis H. Withey, who died in Grand Rapids in July, 1925, was one of the foremost citizens of that city. He rendered a great a service during the panic of 1893, when he took the lead in the task of establishing and protecting the industrial and financial inter- ests of the city. He was born in Grand Rapids on January 21, 1847, the son of Judge Solomon L. and Marion L. (Hinsdill) Withey. Solomon L. Withey was born in St. Albans, Vermont, April 21, 1820, and spent most of his boyhood at St. Albans Bay. His father, who came west in 1835, was a brigadier-general of the Michigan militia. During the trip west the Withey family stopped at Cuya- hoga Falls, Ohio, where young Solomon attended school one win- ter. Arriving at Detroit, he obtained a position in a store and remained in that city. He attended at Ann Arbor one year, after which, at the age of sixteen years, he was thrown upon his own resources. His ambition for a thorough education induced him to return to Cuyahoga Falls, where he entered an academy. One year later his father, who settled in Grand Rapids, became in need of his services. He joined his parents in that city in August, 1838, and in a short while began the study of law in the office of Rathbone & Martin. He possessed an ambition that cir- cumstances could not thwart or dim. During his preparation Luvia Thitres HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 409 for the bar he did not omit the study of general literature and other subjects, so that when he was admitted to the practice of law in 1843 he possessed a ripe and cultured mind. Before he completed his studies the firm of Rathbone & Martin was dissolved and Hon. George Martin continued in practice alone. In 1843 Solomon L. Withey formed a partnership with Mr. Martin and the Hon. John Ball in the firm of Ball, Martin & Withey. His honesty and uprightness, his cultured intellect, his cool judgment and his earnest loyalty to the interests of his clients rapidly won the confidence and respect of the community and earned him a reputation of which any man might well be proud. He was elected Judge of the Probate Court, state senator, a member of the con- stitutional convention of 1867, serving that body as chairman of the judiciary committee, and in the same year was appointed by the governor to a seat in the constitution commission. In 1863 President Lincoln appointed him judge of the United States Dis- trict Court for the western district of Michigan, a position he filled with distinction and honor. In 1869 President Grant ten- dered him the appointment as United States Circuit Judge, but because of the sacrifices which this higher honor would involve he declined it. Judge Withey's death on April 25, 1886, took from the city one of its best-liked and most progressive citizens. He was married, in 1845, to Marion L. Hinsdill, a daughter of Myron Hinsdill, a pioneer fur trader and hotel keeper who was a brother of Jacob Hinsdill. Judge and Mrs. Withey were the parents of two children, Lewis H. and Charles D. Withey. Charles S. Withey was born in Grand Rapids in 1867 and was educated in the public schools of that city and at the University of Michigan. He was a traveling salesman for many years and was married in 1898 to Margaret Conant. To this union were born two sons, of whom the younger, Lewis H., is now living. Charles S. Withey conducts a brokerage business in Grand Rapids. Lewis H. Withey attended the village schools and Williston Seminary, at East Hampton, Massachusetts. He began his business career when he was twenty years old as a partner of Robert D. Woodcock, engaging in the lumber business under the firm name of L. H. Withey & Co. The offices and yards of the lumber company were located at Fountain street and Ionia avenue, where the Steketee building now stands. The company later established itself on Mill creek, where it had six hundred acres of standing timber. Still later the concern purchased and operated the Ferris mill, on what was formerly upper Canal street. When the exhaustion of the timber supply ended the company's lumbering operations Mr. Withey traveled in Europe, the Orient and South America. He was one of the organizers of the Michigan Trust Company and was president of that institution until December 11, 1923, when he became chairman of the board of directors. As a member of the fire and police force of Grand Rapids he was successful in eliminating politics from those departments. His services extended a 410 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY over a period of seventeen years from the time of his appointment by Mayor Steketee in 1882 together with George Briggs, William H. Powers, I. C. Smith and George W. Gay. Mr. Withey was closely connected with many of the large financial transactions which have made Grand Rapids' history. In 1883 he organized the Grand Rapids Railway Company into which the four inde- pendent street railway companies doing business in Grand Rapids were merged. He was made vice-president of this company and was a director of the Commonwealth Railway, Light and Power Company from the time of its organization. He helped to pur- chase and reorganize the Grand Rapids Gas and Light Company. He owned large tracts of timber land and much other real estate. He was a member of the board of directors of the Old National Bank, being elected to succeed his father, a former president of the bank. He was also a director of the Pantlind Building Com- pany, the Alabastine and the companies mentioned above. He was a member of the Kent and Peninsular country clubs and took a prominent part in the social life of the city. In November, 1872, he married Margaret B. McQuewan. To this union was born one daughter, Mrs. Benjamin C. Robinson. Mr. Withey's death oc- curred in July, 1925, at his home, 64 College avenue, southeast. Elbridge G. Studley has been for half a century a resident of Grand Rapids, where he is now living retired after many years of active and influential association with commercial, industrial and financial enterprises of important order. His career as a man of affairs was marked alike by exceptional business ability and by a sterling integrity that gained and retained to him inviolable popu- lar confidence and good will. Mr. Studley was born at Claverack, New York, December 6, 1848, and is a son of the late Elbridge G. and Catherine (Cole) Studley, the former of whom was born in Massachusetts and the latter in the state of New York, both fam- ilies having been founded in America in the early colonial period, and six of the ancestors of the subject of this review having been patriot soldiers in the war of the Revolution, while one forebear had previously served in the French and Indian war. Mr. Studley of this sketch is thus eligible for and holds membership in the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. After profiting by the advantages of the common schools of the old Empire state, Elbridge G. Studley, Jr., there attended the Hudson River Insti- tute, and in his native state he gained also his early business ex- perience. In 1875, almost immediately after his marriage, Mr. Studley came to Grand Rapids, accompanied by his bride, he hav- ing been assigned the responsibility of opening a store for the E. B. Preston Company, of Chicago, dealers in rubber products. and mill supplies. One year later he purchased the store and busi- ness, and he continued the enterprise in an individual way until he admitted W. Y. Barclay to partnership, whereupon the firm name of Studley & Barclay was adopted. Under this title the business was continued many years, and the firm had quarters in the build- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 411 ing where is now established the Friedman-Spring mercantile establishment, 163 Monroe street, northwest, the other part of the building having at that time been occupied by the Henry Spring dry goods store. In his business and civic activities Mr. Studley was prominently identified with the development and progress of Grand Rapids, and had many and important interests aside from the business which he here first established and which grew to one of large scope. He was one of the organizers of the Grand Rapids Felt Boot Company, and was also an official in the Carem Arche- rena Company, manufacturers of game boards. He was for a num- ber of years a director of the Old National Bank, the Valley City Milling Company and the Worden Lumber Company, besides which he was senior member of the firm of Studley & Jarvis, dealers in sporting goods, this enterprise, at 204 Monroe avenue, being now conducted under the title of the Jarvis Company. He was influential in the affairs of the old Grand Rapids Board of Trade, and was made a life director of the same. The political alignment of Mr. Studley has always been with the Republican party, but he has never had desire for public office, though as a citizen he has ever been liberal, loyal and progressive. He has been a zealous worker in and supporter of the First Methodist Episcopal church, and for a number of years was a member of its board of trustees, his wife likewise having been a devoted member of this church. He was also an active worker in the Y. M. C. A. In later years Mr. and Mrs. Studley became most earnest and influential mem- bers of First Church of Christ, Scientist, Grand Rapids, and in the same Mrs. Studley served a number of years as first reader, she having been one of the early members of that church, and her active interest in Christian Science being initiated in 1884. Mrs. Studley studied deeply and broadly the principles and system of Christian Science, completed a course in the Massachusetts Metaphysical College, conducted under the auspices of The Mother Church in Boston, and she was a teacher of Christian Science in her home city of Grand Rapids for many years prior to her death, March 31, 1922, her memory being revered by all who came within the compass of her gracious, gentle and unselfish influence. In the city of Chicago, in 1875, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Studley to Miss Ida M. Beatty, and the entire period of their ideal married companionship, marked by mutual devotion and interests, was passed in Grand Rapids, where the gracious bonds were sev- ered only when the loved wife and mother passed to the life eternal, she being survived by two daughters: Edith, who married Robert E. White, of Grand Rapids, and Miss Helen Elizabeth, of whom individual mention is made in the sketch immediately following this review. Helen Elizabeth Studley. In the foregoing review is given adequate record concerning the honored Grand Rapids family of which Miss Studley is a talented and popular representative, and in her native city she has precedence as one of the successful and 412 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY influential exponents of the great and benignant system of Chris- tian Science, of which she is a practitioner, with offices at 802 Grand Rapids Savings Bank building. The public schools of Grand Rapids, including the high school, afforded Miss Studley her earlier education, and in 1904 she was graduated in Vassar College, from which celebrated institution she received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In her girlhood she attended the First Methodist Episcopal church of Grand Rapids, but, with her parents, she transferred her affiliation to First Church of Christ, Scientist, in the work and service of which her mother was specially prominent, as is noted in the preceding article. Like her mother, Miss Studley has been instant and devoted in the field of Christian Science, of which she is a leading and most successful and popular practitioner in her native city, where also she is a popular figure in representative social and cultural circles. She is active in the work of various clubs and civic organizations in Grand Rapids, including the Wo- man's University Club, the Altrusa Club, and Woman's City Club. In addition to her effective service as a Christian Science practi- tioner she was for three years second reader in First Church of Christ, Scientist. Miss Studley went through the normal class of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College in Boston, Massachusetts, and thereby became a teacher of Christian Science in December, 1925. Alan D. Swain, senior member of the firm of Swain and Strahan, 833 Michigan Trust building, district managers of the New England Mutual Life Insurance Company of Boston, Massachusetts, is one of Grand Rapids' most successful insurance men, having written personal business in 1924 to the amount of one million dollars of insurance. They represent the company to which was granted the first charter to do a public life insurance business, which charter was granted in 1835. Mr. Swain was born in Hesperia, Michigan, October 17, 1869, and received his preliminary education in the public schools of Hudson, Michigan. At the age of eighteen he went to Cleveland, Ohio, where he worked at the carpenter trade for one year. He then became a bookkeeper and salesman for the wholesale millinery house of Ammon, Stevens and Company, of that city. Progressing along the ladder of business success as he acquired experience, Mr. Swain then went to Chicago as manager of two bakery lunch rooms and was in that city for years, which period included the World's Fair and its accompanying prosperous business. Before the conclusion of the year 1894 he launched upon his successful career as an insurance man, acting as agent for various companies. Later he engaged in the insurance business in Toledo, Ohio, one year, and then went to Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he remained until the fall of 1898. He then came to Grand Rapids as district manager for the New England Mutual Life In- surance Company, which position he held alone until 1922. At that time he took as his partner William H. Strahan. Mr. Swain has long been active in fraternal and religious circles. He is a thirty- second degree Mason, a Knight Templar, and a Saladin Temple Shriner. He is also affiliated with the B. P. O. E., and the Masonic and Peninsular Clubs, and is junior warden of Grace Episcopal HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 413 church. Mr. Swain is married and has one son and a daughter. The son, Alan D. Swain, Jr., served in the navy during the World war and was honorably discharged upon the completion of that service. The daughter, Janet Louise Swain, who was born May 17, 1916, is in school at Spring Lake, Michigan. Merlin E. Shanteau, president, general manager and treasurer of the Investigating & Adjustment Company, Inc., is making this cor- poration function to the great advantage of its clients and has gained to it a representative support as a valuable adjunct to the general business activities of Grand Rapids. Mr. Shanteau founded this business in February, 1922, and while he adopted methods and policies that gave assurance of success, the business in the careful and honorable investigating and adjusting of claims for clients has grown far in excess of his original anticipations. In 1923 Mr. Shanteau found it necessary to enlist assistance in the general handling of the constantly expanding business, and admitted his brother, Rollin S., to partnership. In 1924 the business was incor- porated, with a capital stock of $15,000, and in the meanwhile Mr. Shanteau had become associated also in the organizing of the United Detective Agency, Inc., which was incorporated with a capital stock of $5,000 and which likewise has become most success- ful in its operations. Mr. Shanteau had prepared himself for the legal profession and had also gained broad and varied experience in practical business affairs, so that he was well fortified for the spe- cific line of business in which he eventually engaged in an inde- pendent way, and in which he has been substantially successful, the effective service of the two corporations with which he is identi- fied constituting their best medium of advertising. He has adopted many original methods in the conducting of the affairs of his com- pany, and has eliminated the use of the form letters usually em- ployed by similar concerns. His plan is one involving personal contacts in the adjusting of claims, and the results give almost invariable satisfaction to all parties concerned. Mr. Shanteau was born on his father's farm at Point Place, near Toledo, Ohio, and is a son of Samuel and Anna M. (Pecotte) Shanteau, both of French ancestry. Samuel Shanteau gained first-class certificates as a marine and stationary engineer, and as such he was for thirty years employed on the Great Lakes, besides which he owned and operated one of the well improved farms near Toledo, in Lucas county, Ohio. Mrs. Anna M. Shanteau has been active and influ- ential in Republican politics in Lucas county within recent years, and is now serving (1925) as deputy treasurer of that county, in the court house at Toledo. Merlin E. Shanteau gained his early education in the rural schools of his native county, later attending a business college in Toledo, and he gave also close attention to the study of law, with the intention of engaging in practice. He was deflected from this course and has had no reason to regret his entrance into the business world. He found employment in im- portant clothing stores in Toledo, and finally he there became mana- 414 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY ger of a large credit store, a position that he retained four years. He next became manager for a still more extensive mercantile estab- lishment in Toledo, and about four years later he resigned this posi- tion to accept that of manager of the People's Clothing Store in Grand Rapids, his removal to this city having occurred in 1921. Eighteen months later he engaged in business in an independent way, as noted in the early part of this sketch. He is one of the vital and progressive young business men of Grand Rapids. His wife, whose maiden name was Lillian Brunt, was born and reared in Michigan, her childhood home having been just across the state line between Michigan and Ohio, and not far distant from the city of Toledo. Heber R. Sarles has gained a reputation for most effective serv- ice in his chosen field of enterprise and has maintained his executive headquarters in Grand Rapids since May 22, 1922, when he here established the Sarles Merchant Police & Inspection Service, Inc., the title under which he has developed a substantial and repre- sentative business, with a large and important clientage that is constantly increasing in scope. In his original patrol system, special policing and commercial protection, Mr. Sarles has evolved methods and policies of utmost efficiency, and in his service along these lines is retained a comprehensive corps of operatives and patrol- men who are thoroughly trained for their assigned functions. Mr. Sarles has his well equipped offices at 407 Michigan Trust build- ing. He is also president and treasurer of the United Detective Agency, Inc., a thriving enterprise of two and a half years' growth. He was born in the city of Louisville, Kentucky, October 26, 1879, and is a son of John B. and Matilda (Rosen) Sarles, he having been six years of age at the time of his father's death and his mother being now a resident of Grand Rapids. Mr. Sarles attended the public schools of Louisville and later continued his studies in the schools of St. Louis, Missouri. As a young man he initiated his activities in secret service work, and after having been associated along this line for several private agencies he was for four years connected with the Michigan State Food and Drug Department. In the World war period his professional and patriotic service was given to the American Protection League, and in 1922, as already noted in this review, he established his present independent busi- ness in Grand Rapids. Mr. Sarles is an active member of the Grand Rapids Association of Commerce and is also affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. His son, Carroll H. Sarles, who was born in St. Louis, Missouri, October 27, 1903, is a graduate from the St. Louis high school and now resides with his father in Grand Rapids. Arent Van Stensel, of the firm of Van Stensel and Timmer. 902 Grand Rapids Savings Bank building, is a realtor who has turned a knowledge of his native city into a record of business that has reached beyond a local to a state-wide and national scope, in this chosen field. He is a native of Grand Rapids, born November 28, 1885, a son of John and Cornelia (Herrwier) Van Stensel. He has HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 415 carried forth the traditions of this worthy parent who was himself a native of Grand Rapids, born September 20, 1858, at a spot which in itself is rich in historical significance in the community. His birthplace was at the location where the Union depot now stands in Grand Rapids and he likewise was the son of a pioneer of Grand Rapids, Arent Van Stensel, grandfather of our subject, who was a native of the Netherlands, and who came to Ottawa county, Michi- gan, with the Van Raalte settlement, locating in Holland, Michigan. He later removed to Grand Rapids, where he and his wife both spent the remainder of their lives. The father of the subject of this sketch, John Van Stensel, was educated in the Grand Rapids public schools and for many years worked with the Oliver Machine Com- pany, but now lives a retired life. His wife passed on in November at the age of sixty-one years. of sixty-one years. Arent Van Stensel, the subject of our sketch, received his preliminary education in the public schools of Grand Rapids and continued his preparation in the McLaughlin Business College, being another of the many pupils who have gone forth and in their careers reflected credit upon that institution. He also studied with the Y. M. C. A. night school. In 1911 he started in the real estate business with Kinsey and Buys, with whom he re- mained for two years, and in 1913 launched forth in this business for himself, the present firm being organized at that time. He has not only made a success of his own business but has given gener- ously of his time for the general development of the improved con- ditions and better recognition of the real estate business in the com- munity and state. He was president for two years and is now one of the directors of the Grand Rapids Real Estate Board, and is now a member of the Michigan Real Estate Board and of the National Real Estate Board. He was married on June 18, 1913, to Miss Gert- rude Van Dyke and they have three daughters: Ruth, born March 21, 1914; Eugenia, born May 29, 1917, and Esther, born Novem- ber 29, 1919. Bert F. Timmer, of the firm of Van Stensel & Timmer, real estate, 902 Grand Rapids Savings Bank building, is a native of Grand Rapids, born here on June 30, 1887. His father and mother, Frank and Angie (Clarveing) Timmer, were both natives of the Netherlands and had received their education and were married before they came to the United States in 1872. They had first located in Cleveland, Ohio, where they remained until 1875, when they came to Grand Rapids. The father was a carpenter by trade and later became a contractor and builder. He is now retired at the ripe age of eighty-three, having been born January 24, 1843. His wife passed away March 24, 1896, at the age of forty-six years. This worthy couple had ten children, of whom four are living. They were members of the Dennis Avenue Christian Reformed church. Bert F. Timmer obtained his early education in the public schools of Grand Rapids, and at the age of fourteen he became self- reliant, starting to work for the Fred M. Macey Printing Company. He then worked in a machine shop for two years and later learned 416 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY the carpenter trade. He progressed in his efficiency at this trade until he became a general contractor in 1908. He continued in that work until 1913, when he became associated with Arent Van Sten- sel, under the firm name of Van Stensel and Timmer. The firm is one of the leading real estate concerns in the city of Grand Rapids and has achieved success in business. Mr. Timmer is a member of the Bethany Reformed church. In 1911 he was married to Miss Gertrude De Vries, of Grand Rapids, and they make their home at 250 Diamond avenue, southeast, in Grand Rapids. Charles Alfred Coye was a sterling citizen whose character and ability gained him rank among the representative business men of Grand Rapids, where for forty-two years he was president of Chas. A. Coye, Inc., the second largest manufacturers of awnings and tents in Michigan. Mr. Coye was born March 2, 1860, in Rochester, New York, coming to Grand Rapids two years later with his parents, Albert and Mary (Pew) Coye. The Coye and Pew families were of English descent. Albert Coye was born in New York state and gained his first experience in the awning business in Rochester. In 1855 he established the first awning and tent factory in Grand Rapids. He returned to Rochester for a few years and when the family moved back to Grand Rapids in 1862, he re-established his awning business on West Bridge street. In 1881 his son, Charles Alfred Coye, went in with his father under the firm name of Albert Coye & Son. In 1882 Charles A. Coye purchased the business and changed the name to Chas. A. Coye. The business that he thus founded kept pace with the growth and development of the city and under his forceful and efficient administration the concern became the largest estab- lishment of its kind in western Michigan and the second largest in the state. In 1909 the business was incorporated under the name of Chas. A. Coye, Inc., the plant moving to 11 Pearl street. In 1913 Mr. Coye purchased the building at 168-170 Louis street where the entire four floors and basement are now in service housing the various departments of this well-ordered manufactur- ing and retail business, which has pioneer prestige in the city and state. After the death of Mr. Coye on February 27, 1924, his widow became president of the corporation, and as such she is ably directing the large and prosperous business in accordance with the methods and policies that her husband had formulated. Mr. Coye was married in 1888 to Miss Ida Merrifield, daughter of the late Preston Merrifield, who was for many years prominently associated with the Grand Rapids fire department, for which he installed the first electric alarm system. Besides his widow Mr. Coye is also survived by four daughters: Carrie M.; Irene, the wife of Eugene C. Spraker; Mary E., the wife of Floyd S. Harrett, and Kathryn L., all of this city. Mr. Coye was a popular figure in the business and social circles of his home city. His political allegiance was given to the Republican party and he attended Park Congregational Church. He was affiliated with the local Chas. A. Coya HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 417 York and Scottish Rite urganizations of the Masonic fraternity, his basic membership having been made in Doric Lodge, F. and A. M., and having extended to include the Mystic Shrine. He was a member of the Royal Arcanum, the Modern Woodmen of Amer- ica, and also of the local Lions Club. Jacob M. VanderWal, clerk of the Superior court, is a native of the Netherlands, born on December 24, 1879. He came to Grand Rapids in June, 1881, with his parents, Merndert and Grietje (Ellens) VanderWal. His mother died in 1898 at the age of thirty- eight and the father is now living at the age of sixty-nine. Jacob was the oldest of the twelve children in this family. He received his education in the free schools and public schools of Grand Rapids, but at the age of thirteen left school and clerked in a groc- ery store. He engaged in that employment until he reached the age of twenty-two years, when he advanced to the position of city salesman for E. R. Wiersma Manufacturing Company. After two years of that employment he conducted a retail meat wagon for five years and was also city salesman for Schwarzchild & Sulzberger, now Wilson & Company, wholesale meats. In 1915 he entered up- on his career of political activity. His father had for many years been an active Republican political worker. Jacob VanderWalls first political service was rendered as deputy sheriff under Sheriff Berry. He was then appointed bailiff of the Superior court and in 1917 was appointed clerk of the Superior court, the position which he has efficiently held since that time. His religious affiliation is actively connected with the Christian Reformed church, of which institution he has been an officeholder for many years. He has also been very active in his assistance along the line of educational mat- ters. He was a member of the Board of Grand Rapids high school for four years and served as a member of the Board of Baxter Street Christian School for ten years, and for the past three years he has been teaching Americanization in the evening class of the public school. April 10, 1902, he was united in marriage with Miss Wil- helmina Hoorn, who was also a native of the Netherlands. She came to Grand Rapids in 1881 and received her education in the Grand Rapids public school. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Vander- Wal are: Maynard, who was born June 17, 1903, and received his education in the free schools of the city and Calvin college, and is now employed with the Kent State Savings Bank; John, born on November 30, 1906, who received his education in the free schools and was graduated from the Grand Rapids Christian high school, and is now a sophomore at Calvin College; James H., born June 18, 1909, who is at this time a student in the Grand Rapids Christian high school, and Gerald W., born January 15, 1911. George E. Thomas is one of the representative figures in the automobile business in the city of Grand Rapids, where he is vice- president of the Thomas-Krapp Motor Sales Company, which here has a large and modern establishment, the building having been erected for the purpose to which it is applied and giving to the 418 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY company the best of facilities in both garage appointments and in sales and display rooms. The concern handles the celebrated and virtually omnipresent Ford products—the Ford and Lincoln automobiles and the Fordson tractors. The establishment of this progressive company is at 1838-42 Division avenue, south, and ranks among the best of its kind in western Michigan. Mr. Thomas was born in the city of Detroit, Michigan, June 14, 1889, and is a son of Dr. Anthony Thomas and Josephine (Robertson) Thomas, the former of whom was for many years a prominent occulist and optician in Detroit, where his death occurred and where his widow still resides. After completing his studies in high school in his native city, George E. Thomas there took a course in a business college. In Detroit he thereafter held for several years the position of head executive in the accounting department of the Standard Accident Insurance Company, and in 1913 he joined the Ford Motor Company, with which he was employed for varying intervals in different departments. After having been for a time in the service department he was advanced to the position of distributor for the Detroit retail branch of the Ford Motor Company, his successful service in this connection having continued until 1923, when he came to Grand Rapids and established a new Ford organization, under the title of the Thomas-Krapp Motor Sales Company. He is vice-president of this company, as already noted, and Edmund Krapp is its secretary and treasurer. Mr. Thomas is an active.mem- ber of the Passenger Car Dealers' Association of Grand Rapids, and also of the Grand Rapids Motor Club and the local Associa- tion of Commerce. November 24, 1909, he was united in marriage to Miss Edna Forton, whose father, Charles Forton, is deceased and whose widowed mother resides in Detroit. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have two children: Stacey Charles, born November 30, 1911, and Walter A., born February 22, 1913. ,61 Rine Thomasma, deceased, was one of the influential and sub- stantial citizens of Grand Rapids where he lived for nearly thirty years. He was born in the Netherlands, January 20, 1863, the son of Thomas Thomasma. He came to the United States with his parents when he was seven years of age and after residing in East Saugatuck and Lamont for seventeen years, he removed to Grand Rapids with his family. His mother and father are both dead. He received his education in the public schools in Vermont. In Grand Rapids he engaged in the retail meat business, in which he engaged for the rest of his life. His long business career in Grand Rapids is exemplary of the best ideals carried into commercial dealings, and the results of this were shown in the expansion of his business which was little short of phenomenal. His first meat market was started on the west side on Alpine avenue, and he later moved to the corner of Broadway avenue and Leonard street. After operat- ing that market for several years he built another on the corner of White avenue and Leonard street. This last place of business was destroyed by fire after a few years, and he returned to his original Rhine HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 419 location on Broadway avenue and Leonard street. He worked up a new business in this location, and then he decided to broaden his business by building a second market at the corner of Turner ave- nue and Leonard street. He left the old market in charge of com- petent employes, assuming the direct management of the new one himself. He continued to operate the second market until the time of his death on June 10, 1916. He was deacon of the Broadway Christian Reformed church for many years, and at the time of his death he was president of the Sunday school of that church. May 27, 1890, he married Miss Catherine Proos, the daughter of David and Alinda (Broadway) Proos, deceased, both of whom were pio- neer residents of Grand Rapids. To Mr. and Mrs. Thomasma were born fifteen children, who are: Thomas, David, Walter and Harry, who are now conducting a butcher shop which their mother built for them at the corner of Davis avenue and Leonard street; Elena, married ; Blanche, married; Nell, at home; Gerurda, married; Kath- erine, a graduate of Ypsilanti Normal School, who is now teaching at Grand Rapids; Ann, at home; Ray, a student at the Michigan Agricultural College; Grace, a student at Ypsilanti Normal School; and Marvin, John, and Eleanor, all of whom are at home with their mother. The meat market operated by her four sons is doing a prosperous business and the young men have already gained a repu- tation of being excellent business men. During the World war, Walter and Harry R. Thomasma served with the United States army in France. Walter Tyzynski is part owner of the Red Arrow Auto Paint Company, one of the largest concerns of its kind in Grand Rapids. He was born in that city, January 4, 1898, the son of Adam Tyzyn- ski, who was born in Poland and came to the United States in 1896, settling at Grand Rapids. Adam Tyzynski is now in the employ of the Royal Furniture Company of Grand Rapids. Walter Tyzyn- ski received his education in the Grand Rapids public schools, after which he took up the trade of mechanic and metal finisher, follow- ing that line of work for several years. In 1916 he enlisted in the First Field Hospital unit and was stationed on the Mexican border. With the outbreak of the war with Germany, the company was made the 125th Field Hospital and attached to the Thirty-second Division, composed of Michigan and Wisconsin national guard men principally. He sailed for France with his unit February 26, 1917, and participated in five major operations of the World war. After the signing of the armistice, he spent six months with the Army of Occupation. During that time he availed himself of the opportunities offered by the government occupational schools. He was discharged from the army in May, 1919, and returned at once to Grand Rapids. In 1921 he and Stanley Denowicz estab- lished the Red Arrow Auto Painting Company. They erected their own building at 450 Eleventh street and equipped it for the work in which they engaged. During the four years in which the com- pany has been in business, it has developed to a point where it 420 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY ranks as one of the leading concerns of its kind in the city. In addi- tion to the automobile painting, the firm doés sign painting and decorating. On May 1, 1922, he married Miss Helen Nowicki, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Nowicki, of Grand Rapids, the former of whom is dead. Mr. and Mrs. Tyzynski have one son, born October 1, 1924. Mr. Tyzynski is a member of the Grand Rapids post of the American Legion. Fred M. Utley Agency, conducted by Fred M. Utley and his son, F. Hugh Utley, are insurance brokers for the Aetna Insurance Company, in all branches of insurance, with offices upon the third floor of the Federal Square building. Fred M. Utley, senior mem- ber of this firm, was born in Hesperia, Newaygo county, Michigan, December 4, 1869, a son of Charles P. and Nancy (Axtel) Utley. He received his education in the public schools of Newaygo county, Michigan, and came to Grand Rapids in 1886. He took a position in the postoffice as letter carrier in 1888 and for thirty-two years faithfully continued service in the postal department. In 1920 he resigned to enter the insurance field and there has applied the experience and ability that may not have been so evident and may have remained latent in his public service, so as to meet with a success far beyond his expectations. Mr. Utley believes in enjoy- ing the fruits of labor while time and health permit and has recently returned from an 8,000 mile trip into South America and narrates many interesting visits to various places. He is a member of the Fountain Street Baptist church. He is a lover of outdoor life, an active booster for the Izaak Walton League club and a member of the board of directors of that organization. He was united in matri- mony on September 17, 1895, with Miss Lynne Sager, of Grand Rapids. She is an active member of the Fountain Street Baptist church. The Utleys are parents of one son and one daughter. F. Hugh, born in Grand Rapids on November 12, 1897, received his education in the Grand Rapids schools and was graduated from the Central high school in 1917. At the very beginning of Ameri- can participation in the World war, April 6, 1917, he enlisted and began training at the Great Lakes Naval Training station. He served in the great war for two years, spending eight months of that period in overseas service in France. He was discharged in February, 1919. Upon his return to civil life he engaged in the lumber business for one year, and later became associated with his father in the insurance business. He retains an active interest in military affairs and service men's organizations as a member of the Officers Reserve Corps, American Legion and the Army and Navy Club. He is also a thirty-second degree Mason and member of the Masonic Country Club. He was married September 20th, 1924, to Miss Nathalie Harrington, of Grand Rapids. She is a member of the Episcopal church and Mr. Utley affiliates with the Fountain Street Baptist church. The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred M. Utley is Margaret L., born on August 9, 1900, and she is a HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 421 graduate of Central high school in Grand Rapids and also of Sim- mons College, of Boston, Massachusetts. Abraham Verwys has been a resident of Grand Rapids since he was a lad of fourteen years. Here he has found ample opportunity for successful achievement during the passing years, and is now the owner of a well equipped hardware establishment at 459 Leon- ard street, northeast. He is a good business man, a good citizen and a true friend to his wide circle of friends, especially the boys of his neighborhood, as quotations later to be entered in this narrative will clearly indicate. Mr. Verwys was born in the fine old Nether- lands of Europe, November 26, 1877, and his parents, John and Margaret (Walpot) Verwys, were born there, respectively, on the 16th of August, 1847, and the 19th of July, 1849, they being now venerable and honored citizens of Grand Rapids, where they have maintained their home since 1892, the year that marked their com- ing from their native land to the United States. Both are earnest members of the Christian Reformed church. The preliminary edu- cation that Abraham Verwys received in the schools of his native land was supplemented by a course taken in the McLaughlin Busi- ness College of Grand Rapids, where he was raised to manhood and where he has made his life count in worthy thoughts and deeds. Here he served a thorough apprenticeship to the trade of tool- maker, and here he continued his work as a skilled artisan at this trade until 1921, when he established his present retail hardware store, at the corner of College avenue and Leonard street, northeast. Here he has built up a prosperous business and has become one of the representative citizens and business men of this section of the city. His skill as a mechanic led to his being chosen as a mechanical inspector in the United States aircraft production department in the period of the nation's participation in the World war, he hav- ing fortunately been assigned to such service in his home city. Loyal and public-spirited as a citizen, Mr. Verwys has had no desire for political activity or public office, but he is found aligned in the ranks of the Republican party. He and his family hold mem- hership in the Christian Reformed church. On the 21st of April, 1904, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Verwys to Miss Laura Verwys, daughter of John Verwys, of Grand Rapids, the two fam- ilies having no kinship, though bearing the same patronymic. Mr. and Mrs. Verwys have two children: Cornelia L., who was born February 19, 1907, and Margaret, who was born January 6, 1913. Both civic loyalty and a fine human spirit have marked the life of Mr. Verwys and significant evidence of this was given in his splendid aid to the boys who needed baseball grounds in his neigh- horhood. Concerning this an interesting record appeared in a recent edition of the Grand Rapids Press, and from the article are taken, with minor changes, the following extracts: “Abraham Verwys is a baseball fan, and that's one of the reasons he has made a success of the hardware business. It's also one of the reasons why the folk of the community in the vicinity of College avenue 422 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY * * and Leonard street can point with pride to their section and say, “There's not a bad boy in the neighborhood.' About four years ago Mr. Verwys established his hardware business at the northwest corner of College avenue and Leonard street, northeast. Across College avenue is a vacant lot, which then was also the property of the hardware dealer. And it wasn't long after Mr. Verwys opened up his hardware store that he was approached by the boys of the neighborhood, who asked permission to use the lot as a base- ball diamond. The hardware man was willing enough, but he wanted to be friends not only with the boys but with the older folk as well, so he held off his decision until he could visit the folk who lived adjacent to the prospective diamond. The neighbors informed him they thought the diamond a good thing and that the games would not be a bit of annoyance to them. So the hardware man gave the boys permission to use the lot. Then the boys wanted to buy a baseball club, but Mr. Verwys would not sell them one. Instead he picked out the best one in his stock and gave it to them. But boys can't play baseball with only a bat; there must be a ball also. And here is what he told them. “Boys, I have some base- balls in stock, and they're pretty good baseballs, but you fellows want a better one than I have for sale, so I'll get you one.' True to his word, Mr. Verwys went to a downtown sporting goods store and bought a baseball of the best grade, for which he wouldn't take a cent of the boys' money. On their own initiative the boys cleaned up the lot, and with a quantity of cinders obtained from the hardware. man and others, they leveled all depressions, until today the lot presents one of the finest neighborhood base- ball grounds in the city. As a result of the generosity and the loyal assistance of Mr. Verwys he is a friend of every boy in the neighborhood, and every boy in the neighborhood is a friend of Mr. Verwys.” It may be stated further that Mr. Verwys removed a tree from the lot, moved a building used as an ice-distributing station to a corner of the lot, and thus gave the boys a chance to make their diamond a good one. He contributed to the erection of a backstop on the ball grounds, and he has had unbounded satisfaction and pleasure in being thus able to help the boys and to keep the neighborhood up to a fine standard. Mr. Verwys has one other great pride besides his interest in civic progress, and that is in his library, which is one of the finest in the state. Here he has old English and Holland volumes dating as far back as 1607. One of his works in the old English language is a volume by Wm. Penn, believed to be the only one in existence. It is small wonder that he takes great pride in such a library. James Verstay, president of the National Sheet Metal Works, 406-408 Scribner avenue, Grand Rapids, is one of the successful executives of an important institution in the manufacturing and industrial circles of this city. He is a native son of Grand Rapids of whom the community can be proud. He was born in this city upon December 11, 1882. His parents, Charles and Cordelia HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 423 (Van Lauten) Verstay, were both natives of the Netherlands. The father, Charles Verstay, came to the United States when about twelve years of age and together with two of his brothers, Cor- nelius and Orrie, served in the Civil war. Charles, the youngest of the group, enlisted when only sixteen years of age. The father of the subject of this sketch, as a harness maker followed that trade for many years until his retirement. He continued to reside in Grand Rapids until his death in 1913, and his widow is now living here at the advanced age of seventy-eight years. The par- ents of the subject of this sketch were married in Grand Rapids and had seven children, five of whom are now living. After the close of the Civil war, Charles Verstay carried mail between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo and was a witness and if still with us could bear testimony to very many interesting incidents of the forma- tive periods of this community's history. James Verstay received his education in the public and high schools of Grand Rapids. He entered upon his business career by learning the sheet metal trade, working for the Grand Rapids Blow Pipe Company for seven years. In 1920 he embraced an opportunity to widen the scope of his activities and assisted in the organization of the National Sheet Metal Company, at once being made vice-president of that institu- tion. Charles Alden, president, and C. J. Heyboe, secretary and treasurer, served in the other executive capacities. In 1923 Mr. Verstay became president of this institution with J. Engelin as vice-president and H. K. Clark as secretary and treasurer. Mr. Verstay's training in the work for fifteen years with W. C. Hopson, of Grand Rapids, under whom he learned the sheet metal trade, contributed a foundation toward his success in this work. Mr. Verstay is an active member of the Grand Rapids Association of Commerce and takes an interest in the affairs of the Hope Lutheran church. In addition to his devoted attention to his mother, who still lives at the age of seventy-eight years upon the old home- stead, 766 College avenue, northeast, where the son James was born, he has his own family circle. His wife, whom he married in 1902, was Mary Brown, of Grand Rapids, and their children are: Gladys, aged twenty years, a graduate of Grand Rapids high school; Lucile, aged fifteen years, a student of Crescent high school; and James, aged two years. John Vanderzee, proprietor of one of the sheet metal and fur- nace companies in Grand Rapids, was born in the Netherlands, March 26, 1871, the son of Marten and Antje (Cuperus) Vander- zee, both natives of the Netherlands, where the former was born in 1844 and the latter in 1841. Martin Vanderzee was a farmer in the Netherlands, where he died in 1917, and his widow followed him in March, 1925. John Vanderzee was educated in the Nether- lands and came to the United States in 1893. In that year he took up the sheet metal trade and tinsmithing in Grand Rapids. Three years later, feeling that his experience justified his making the step, he opened a tin shop on West Leonard street. His venture met 424 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY with such success that he was forced to enlarge the business to include contracting for sheet metal jobs and furnace work. His success along these lines continued unabated, and the expansion of his trade was such that he found it necessary to seek larger quarters, which he did, moving his business to its present location, 1002 Alpine avenue, northwest. His plant there is thoroughly equipped to handle all kinds of work in which he is engaged. The volume of his trade has undergone a steady and healthy growth since the inception of the company, and the firm is rated as one of the substantial businesses of the city in commercial circles. Mr. Vanderzee is well known throughout Grand Rapids, where he is regarded as an expert in his field. He was married on March 19, 1893, to Miss Neva DeBoer, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leonard DeBoer, the former of whom is dead and the latter living in Grand Rapids. Mr. and Mrs. Vanderzee are the parents of four children as follows: Janette, who married Harry Meyring, of Grand Rapids, : and has two sons; Martin and Leonard, who are working for their father; and Andrew, who is attending school. Mr. and Mrs. Vanderzee were married in the Netherlands five days before they came to the United States. Since that time Mr. Vanderzee has made five trips to Holland to visit his parents. As an elder of the Alpine Reformed church, Mr. Vanderzee has been actively inter- ested in church work. Harvey J. Hollister. No publication purporting to give consid- eration and recognition to those who have been leaders in finan- cial, industrial and general civic affairs in Michigan, and more especially in the city of Grand Rapids, can maintain its functional consistency if there is failure to accord a tribute of special honor to the late Harvey J. Hollister, whose gracious personality and large and worthy achievement made him one of the most honored and popular, as well as most influential citizens of Grand Rapids, where his death occurred September 24, 1909. Havey J. Hollister was not only a native son of Michigan but was born here about seven years prior to the admission of the state to the Union, his parents having been numbered among the sterling territorial pio- neers of Macomb county. At Romeo, that county, a place that was then a typical New England village planted on the western frontier, Harvey J. Hollister was born August 29, 1830. He was a son of Colonel John Bentley Hollister, a pioneer surveyor in Michigan Territory. Colonel Hollister was a descendant of Lieut. John Hollister, who came from England and settled in Wethers- field, Hartford county, Connecticut, in 1642. Upon coming with his family to Michigan Territory, Colonel Hollister settled at Romeo, Macomb county, and there he died when his son, Harvey J., was little more than a boy, the other two children to survive the honored father having been the son, John H., and the daughter, Jeanette. The widowed mother likewise was a resident of Michi- gan at the time of her death, and here her children were reared and educated. Harvey J. Hollister was fortunate in being reared Nanay Jo Nellisten HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 425 in a home of culture and refinement, and in his childhood and early youth he received excellent educational instruction under the imme- diate preceptorship of his mother, besides which he attended, at Romeo, one of the eight branches or schools maintained at that period by the newly founded University of Michigan. At the age of seventeen he taught one term of school, and in the meantime his widowed mother had established the family home in Grand Rapids. After his brief pedagogic experience Mr. Hollister was for a time employed as clerk in a drug store at Pontiac, and in 1849 he came to Grand Rapids, where his elder brother, the late Dr. John H. Hollister, had procured for him a clerical position in the dry goods store of William H. McConnell. A few months later he took a position in the drug store of the late W. G. Henry, with whom he remained three years. He then became accountant and clerk in the dry goods establishment of John Kendall, and thus he was actively concerned with pioneer business enterprises in the little frontier village that was destined to become the second in importance of all Michigan cities. In 1853 Mr. Hollister became confidential clerk in the now historic Exchange Bank of Daniel Ball, who has been designated as the “Pioneer Great Man of Grand Rapids.” This bank, one of great influence in its period of service, was established on the site likewise occupied by its three lineal successors—the banking house of M. L. Sweet & Company, the First National Bank, and the Old National Bank. In each of these institutions Harvey J. Hollister was the guiding spirit, and at the time of his death he was vice-president of the Old National Bank. Mr. Hollister represented in his personality and remarkable ability a very bulwark of financial stability during the long years of his active and influential association with banking enterprise in Grand Rapids, and his conservatism, constructive resourceful- ness and great administrative ability were potent in the upholding of the financial interests of Grand Rapids during numerous periods of panic and industrial depression. Of him it has been written that he became a strikingly important factor in all of the essential interests of the city," and that “his life and best abilities were most closely identified with the general welfare not only of Grand Rapids but also of the entire state of Michigan.” Mr. Hollister served as a member of the board of control of the Michigan State Public School (for indigent children), at Coldwater; as president of the Michigan Social Science Association; as a trustee of Olivet College; and as president of the Grand Rapids Y. M. C. A. Well fortified in his convictions concerning political and economic poli- cies, he was a stalwart advocate of the principles of the Repub- lican party, though never an aspirant for public office of political order. He and his wife were numbered among the most zealous and influential members of the First Congregational Church of Grand Rapids, which is now the Park Congregational Church. Mr. Hollister gave both personal influence and capitalistic support to many corporate and business enterprises of importance. He 426 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY was a stockholder and director of the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad, now a part of the Pennsylvania Lines, and was identified in a similar way with the Michigan Trust Company, the Antrim Iron Company, the Grand Rapids Brass Company, the Cummer Lumber Company and other large industrial concerns that made for development and progress in Michigan. Mr. Hollister was a young man at the time of his marriage to Miss Martha Clay, who was born at Putney, Vermont, and whose death occurred in 1900. From an appreciative tribute that was written by E. A. Stowe and that was published in the Michigan Tradesman of May 20, 1925, are taken the following quotations: “While all his life he was deeply engrossed by public and private business, Mr. Hollister was a careful, systematic student of current affairs, and found time to develop a strong and delightful social side, which, not generally understood, was highly prized by those who were his intimates. Broad-brained and fair-minded in all that pertains to the purely spiritual side of life, he was—first, last and all the time-positive in his faith as to the future of Grand Rapids, and absolutely loyal to the best interests of her people and institutions.” Of his children, Mrs. McGeorge Bundy, of Norfolk, Virginia, George C., of New York, and Clay H., survive. Clay H. Hollister, president of the Old National Bank of Grand Rapids and associated with other corporations of major importance in his native city and state, is one of the substantial capitalists and loyal and liberal citizens of Michigan's vital “Valley City," and here is upholding fully the high honors of a family name that has been one of prominence and that has represented large influence in Michigan. To the late and distinguished Harvey J. Hollister, father of the subject of this review, a memoir is dedicated on other pages of this publication, and in the article appear adequate data concerning the family history. Clay H. Hollister was born in Grand Rapids, October 7, 1863, and is a son of the late Harvey J. and Martha (Clay) Hollister. In the public schools of his native city he continued his studies until his graduation in the high school, and he then entered historic old Amherst College, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1886 and with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Thereafter he was for eighteen months associated with the Cummer Lumber Company, at Cadillac, Mich- igan, and in 1888 he initiated his alliance with the great banking institution of which he is now the executive head. In 1891 he became cashier of the bank, and of this position he continued the incumbent until 1903, when he was advanced to the office of cashier. He has been president of the Old National Bank since 1915, and he has been a resourceful and valued factor in the upbuild- ing of this bank, one of the most important and influential financial institutions of western Michigan. Mr. Hollister is president of the Newaygo Portland Cement Company, the important industrial plant of which is established at the judicial center of Newaygo county, and he is a director of each of the following named cor- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 427 porations: The Antrim Iron Company, the Commonwealth Power Corporation, the Grand Rapids Show Case Company, the Mer- chants Life Insurance Company, the Grand Rapids Veneer Works, the Grand Rapids Brass Company, and the Grand Rapids Railway Company. Like his honored father, Mr. Hollister has given loyal support to measures and enterprises that have conserved the civic and material progress and prosperity of Grand Rapids, and it is needless to say that he is one of the distinctly prominent and influential men of affairs in his native city. The political allegi- ance of Mr. Hollister is given to the Republican party, and while he has had no desire for participation in practical politics or for the holding of public office, his civic loyalty was effectively exem- plified in his seven years of service as a member of the board of education in his home city. He was, in 1925, treasurer of the Kent Country Club, was the first president and is still a director of the University Club of Grand Rapids, and he has membership in the Peninsular Club and the Grand Rapids Boat and Canoe Club, besides being a member of the University Club in the city of Chicago. Mr. Hollister is a trustee of the Blodgett Memorial Foundation, through which perpetual honor is paid to the late Delos A. Blodgett, who was long one of the most substantial capitalists and men of affairs in the state of Michigan and who was one of the most honored and influential citizens of Grand Rapids for many years prior to his death. In the year 1888 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Hollister to Miss Justina Merrick, of Holyoke, Massachusetts, and of the four children of this union three are living: Lieut. George M. Hollister, the third child, sac- rificed his life in the great World war, he having met his death while at the front in the Argonne sector in France, October 12, 1918, and having been at the time a second lieutenant of the Sixty- first Regiment of Infantry, Fifth Division of the American Expe- ditionary Forces. The surviving children are: Paul M., of Bos- ton; Martha H. (wife of Charles Wadsworth III, of New York), and Clay H., Jr. Louis C. Voss has been prominently identified with the ice busi- ness and the sand and gravel industry of Grand Rapids for more than a decade. He was born in Grand Rapids, October 8, 1885, a son of Willibald and Elizabeth (Rademacher) Voss, the former of whom was born in Germany and came to the United States when he was twenty years of age. Willibald Voss settled in Grand Rapids and in 1877 opened a harness and saddle shop at 123 Canal street, where he conducted a thriving business for many years. Later he engaged in the natural ice business under the firm style of the Voss Ice Company. He also became interested in several sand and gravel pits in the vicinity of Grand Rapids. He supplied the gravel for the construction of the Bridge street bridge, upon the completion of which he was tendered the honor of being the first man to pass over the new bridge. He died January 16, 1915, his wife, who was born in Michigan, preceding him in death, 428 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY a October 7, 1913. Louis C. Voss received his education in St. Mary's parochial school at Grand Rapids, and after the completion of his tuition days he entered the Moon Lake Ice Company in 1913. For a time previous to this, however, he was associated with his father in the Valley City Gravel and Stone Company. In 1916, after three years of conscientious effort in the interests of the Moon Lake Ice Company, he was made secretary and treasurer of that concern, a position which he still retains. He is also secretary and treasurer of the Wyoming Sand and Gravel Company, and his work with these two concerns has marked him in business circles as one of the influential business men of the city. On September 24, 1912, he married Miss Elnora J. Meldrum, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William G. Meldrum, the former of whom was a cap- tain on the Great Lakes for many years and died July 24, 1922, and the latter of whom is still living at Pontiac, Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Voss are the parents of three children as follows: Mary Catherine, Margaret Anne, and Donna, all of whom are attending St. Mary's parochial school. Mr. Voss and his family are affiliated with St. Mary's Catholic church. William A. Voss, president and manager of the Moon Lake Ice Company, Grand Rapids, was born in that city January 26, 1881, son of Willibald and Elizabeth (Rademacher) Voss. (For biography of parents see sketch of Louis A. Voss.) He received his elementary education in St. Mary's parochial school, after which he attended business college. His education completed, he began his business career as a certified audit accountant, a pro- fession which he followed for five years with notable success. In 1911 he became associated with his father in the Moon Lake Ice Company, which was incorporated in 1906. Following the death of his father in 1916, William Voss became president and manager, a position which he now fills. Though the company maintains large ice houses at Moon Lake for the storage of natural ice, it also owns a large ice plant in Grand Rapids, located at 412 Douglas street, northwest, for the manufacture of ice. Under the manage- ment of William A. Voss, the concern has come to be one of the largest in its field in Grand Rapids. On November 29, 1906, he married Margaret Anne Chamberlin, the daughter of William and Helen (Colwell) Chamberlin, the former of whom is a retired resident of Pasadena, California. Mr. and Mrs. Voss have two children, Billy James and Mary Jane. Mr. Voss is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and affiliated with the St. Mary's Catholic church. Mrs. Gertrude Van Houten has so effectively developed her distinctive talent as an artist as to make it a medium through which she has established and built up a prosperous business as a high- class commercial artist and illustrator. In her independent busi- ness venture she has gained place as one of the leading exponents of this line of enterprise in the city of Grand Rapids, where she maintains her office in the Federal Square building and her home at HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 429 1322 Sigsbee street, southeast. She has made a record of splendid achievement and is popular in both business and social circles in her home city. Mrs. Gertrude (Brown) Van Houten was born at Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and in that state were likewise born her parents, Andrew Jackson Brown and Martha (Brock) Brown. In the public schools of her native place Mrs. Van Houten continued her studies until she had profited by the curriculum of the high school, and at the age of sixteen years she entered upon a practical apprenticeship to learn commercial and illustrative art work. She gained exceptional proficiency, owing to her inherent talent, her appreciation of composition values in art production for com- mercial and illustrative purposes, and her close application to her profession. After having been engaged in such art work in Kansas City, Missouri, a few years, she came to Grand Rapids, in 1915, and here, prior to her marriage, she was for five years associated with the Grand Rapids Press, as illustrator. In 1920 she engaged independently in the work of her chosen profession, and she has continued her successful work as a commercial artist and illustra- tor, the while she has a large and appreciative clientage of repre- sentative order. Lewis A. Werry, who is now president of The James Bayne Company, one of the important commercial printing concerns in the city of Grand Rapids, was born on a farm forty miles to the east of the city of Toronto, Canada, November 12, 1870, and is a son of Thomas and Eliza Werry, both of whom were born in Eng- land, and both of whom were children at the time of the removal of the respective families to Canada. Lewis A. Werry was reared on the home farm and profited by the advantages of the excellent public schools of his native province. His ambition as a boy and youth was to fit himself for business life rather than that of the farm, and thus he spared no effort in advancing his education. He worked on the farm during his school vacations and while still identified with the basic industry of agriculture he was informed that a newspaper editor and publisher in a nearby town was in need of a boy to assist in the establishment. Mr. Werry presented him- self, made application for the position, and was duly accepted. In this printing office he served an apprenticeship of four years, and it has consistently been said that the discipline of a printing and newspaper office is the equivalent of a liberal education. Mr. Werry became a skilled compositor and learned also other details of the printing business. At the age of twenty years he found employ- ment in a large catalogue printing establishment in the city of Toronto, where he greatly amplified his experience and where he remained from 1890 to 1892. Thereafter, as a journeyman at his trade, he was employed in printing establishments in Buffalo, De- troit, and Cincinnati, and in 1895 he came to Grand Rapids and took a position with the James Bayne Company, which was then a small concern here engaged in commercial photography and engraving and at that time just establishing a printing department as an addi- a 430 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY tion to its business. Of this new department Mr. Werry eventually became the superintendent, after having served as compositor and foreman, and his ability and vigorous and effective management not only brought substantial success to the business but also proved a medium for his advancement. In 1900 he became a stockholder of the company, in 1905 he was chosen a member of its board of directors, in 1913 he became vice-president of the company, the year 1915 having been marked by his assumption of the dual office of secretary and treasurer, the while he retained also the office of vice-president, and upon the death of James Bayne, in 1924, Mr. Werry succeeded the latter as president of the company, the posi- tion of which he is now the resourceful and progressive incum- bent. He has had a large part in the upbuilding of the large and prosperous business of this corporation and in giving to it much of leadership among similar concerns in western Michigan. Samuel H. Wilson is one of the progressive and representative exponents of the real estate business in the city of Grand Rapids, where he is the executive head of the firm of S. H. Wilson & Com- pany, with offices in the building of the Grand Rapids National Bank. Mr. Wilson was born in Paris township, Kent county, Michigan, April 4, 1870, and is a son of William J. and Sarah (Hanna) Wilson, who came to this county from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the year 1867, and who thus gained an appreciable measure of pioneer prestige in this section of Michigan, Grand Rapids having at that time been little more than a village. Samuel H. Wilson was afforded the advantages of the Grand Rapids public schools, including the high school, and at the age of twenty years he took a position in the law office of J. T. Preston, of this city, his purpose being to fortify himself in all legal matters pertaining to the real estate business, to which he was determined to give his attention eventually. It is needless to say that the knowledge and discipline he thus gained have proved to him of great value in con- rection with his subsequent large and important real estate oper- ations, as he is equipped for the drawing of the various contracts into which he enters, as well as for the effective adjustment and direction of all other legal phases of his business. In short, his is virtually an authoritative status in familiarity with all departments and phases of real estate law. For fully thirty years Mr. Wilson has been actively identified with the real estate business in Grand Rapids, and he has been a leader in initiative and progressive move- ments in this important sphere of enterprise, through which he has contributed much to the civic and material advancement of the fair "Valley City' of Michigan. He has platted and developed several additions to the city, and his activities have touched all phases of the general real estate business. In his earlier operations Mr. Wilson was associated with the late John W. Closterhouse, and after the death of the latter he formed a partnership with Leon Closterhouse, a son of his former coadjutor. The firm of Closter- house & Wilson platted and developed the Burlingame addition to HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 431 Grand Rapids, as well as the first addition or subdivision of the Burlingame tract. The firm likewise platted Hamilton Park and its addition, and had control of the exploitation of the Grandville addition. The Hamilton Park project involved the development of a fine tract of one hundred and sixty acres. The firm of S. H. Wilson & Company has controlled a large business in the handling of farm properties as well as city realty, and has platted and suc- cessfully placed on the market many acres adjoining Grand Rapids, including the Wyoming Park addition, of three hundred and fifty acres, this being undoubtedly the largest individual plat-addition in the entire state of Michigan at the time when its development was initiated, in 1910. Wyoming Park was laid out as a plat to be given exclusively to the building of high-grade houses and the developing of ideal homes under carefully restricted building con- ditions. In Wyoming Park there have been built at this date three hundred and twenty-five beautiful homes, and the natural timber on the tract has been supplemented by the planting of 1,800 maple trees. Here are more than fourteen miles of cement sidewalks, several of the streets have the best type of modern pavement, and from one family the population has grown to approximately 325 families, the while there is represented here the investment of fully $1,500,000. Wyoming Park has excellent electrical and water service, a modern retail mercantile establishment, and two modern church edifices, those of the United Brethren and the Reformed churches. This splendid development enterprise was projected and successfully carried forward by S. H. Wilson & Com- pany, which also platted and successfully exploited the first, second, third and fourth additions and the Garden and Boulevard addition. The success of S. H. Wilson & Company and the importance of the firm's constructive service in the local field of real estate operations of major scope, are a matter of appreciative recognition in Kent county Mr. Wilson has had as his resourceful associate Miss Isabel Chalmers, who is the "silent” member of the firm and who has gained precedence as one of the representative business women of her home city and native county. Miss Chalmers was born and reared in Kent county and is a representative of a family that was here founded in an early day. Miss Chalmers became a successful teacher in the schools of her native county, and for several years prior to turning her attention to the real esate business she had been a popular teacher in the Central high school of Grand Rapids. In the year 1898 was solemnized the marriage of Samuel H. Wilson to Miss Edith H. Cobb, and the one child of this union is a son, William Wallace, who was graduated in the Grand Rapids high school and whose higher academic education was obtained in Col- gate University, in the state of New York. After receiving from Colgate University his degree of Bachelor of Arts, William W. Wilson entered the law school of Harvard University, in which, in due course, he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He is now engaged in the practice of law in New York City. In 432 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY his business activities and civic attitude Samuel H. Wilson has shown the attributes of a thorough and conscientious business man and those of a loyal and progressive citizen. He has high standing as an exponent of the real estate business, and the service he has given in advancing the development of Grand Rapids stands as a credit to him and as a matter of appreciative satisfaction to the citizens of Michigan's second city. J. Boyd Pantlind, one of the most popular hotel men in the United States and former proprietor of the Morton and Pantlind Hotels, of Grand Rapids, was born January 30, 1851, at Norwalk, Ohio. During the Civil war his uncle, A. V. Pantlind, one of the famous hotel keepers of that day, took charge of the Michigan Central Railroad eating houses at Marshall, Niles and Jackson, Michigan. These eating houses, under the efficient management of the senior Pantlind, became very popular, and J. Boyd, who was then hardly more than a boy (fourteen years old), came to Michigan to assist his uncle. At this time dining cars on railroads were unheard of, and the traveling public ate in hotels and restau- rants. Several years later A. V. Pantlind came to Grand Rapids, where he and Farnham L. Lyon became the landlords of the Morton House. This hostelry occupied the site of the old National Hotel, which was burned in 1872. When the Morton House opened its doors, October 12, 1874, J. Boyd Pantlind acted as bell boy, porter and clerk. In this manner he received an excellent training in the art of hospitality and learned all details of the hotel business. In about 1891 J. Boyd Pantlind became sole proprietor of this hotel, through the death of his uncle and through the purchase of Mr. Lyon's interest in the enterprise. The Morton House acquired an excellent reputation throughout the state because of the excel- lence of its food and service. It also became known as a lively social center, and many prominent persons were guests and hosts to the friends there. Later Mr. Pantlind assumed the management of the old Sweet Hotel, which he remodeled and renamed the Pant- lind. This hostelry also won an excellent patronage, and in 1915, after he had agreed to manage the same, the new million-dollar Pantlind Hotel was erected. He was also made president of the Pantlind Hotel Company, and held that position at the time of his death. He also, for several years, operated the Ottawa Beach Hotel, and greatly increased the patronage of that famous insti- tution. Mr. Pantlind was a man of wide interests and exceptional abilities. He was a director in the Grand Rapids National Bank, the Grand Rapids Railway and the Grand Rapids Gas and Light Company; also of the Michigan Trust Company and the People's Savings Bank. In recognition of his efforts in establishing the Grand Rapids Furniture Market, which annually draws thousands of buyers from all parts of the country, Mr. Pantlind was made a life member of the Furniture Manufacturers' Association. He was also a director of the West Michigan State Fair and president of the Michigan Hotel Keepers' Association. He was a charter mem- о Bay (Fauctail HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 433 ber of the Grand Rapids Board of Trade and the Peninsular and Kent Country Clubs. He was a member of the Masons, the DeWitt Clinton Consistory, Saladin Temple and the DeMolay Commandery, Knights Templar. Though he was a consistent Republican, at no time did he take an active part in any political campaign. He held but one public office, that of cemetery com- missioner, and resigned before the end of his term. He married, on April 14, 1880, Jessie Louise Aldrich, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Moses V. Aldrich. Mr. Pantlind died at his home, on College avenue, S. E., December 25, 1922, leaving his widow, a daughter, Mrs. Katherine Lockwood, and a son, Fred Z. Pantlind, who suc- ceeded him as manager of the Pantlind Hotel. Two sisters, Mrs. Edmund Dickey, of Lancaster, Ohio, and Mrs. Fred Aldrich, of Grand Rapids, also survive. J. Boyd Pantlind is mourned not only by his family but by his thousands of warm friends in all parts of the United States and Canada. Few men have possessed a more kindly and engaging personality than he. At the annual meeting of the Pantlind Hotel Company the following resolutions were unanimously adopted: “The span of human life, measured by years, has brought us again to the parting with one of our best loved fellowmen who has passed to the protecting presence of Him whose kingdom is everlasting, and whose dominion endureth forever. His span of life, however, in the memory of his thousands of friends, will live on in this community where he will ever be remembered as one who loved his fellowmen' and in this virtue his name 'led all the rest.' The memory of his deeds of cheerful- ness, kindness, helpfulness and encouragement will enshrine his name in the hearts of all and will be a blessed heritage to his children and his children's children. He has left to his descendants the greatest gift that any man can leave, an untarnished reputation and the memory of a life well lived. We, the undersigned asso- ciated directors with J. Boyd Pantlind in his business, extend to his bereaved widow and family our very sincere sympathy and condolences in this day of their affliction, and beg to express to them our appreciation of his many virtues and our very great sorrow in his death. Wm. H. Anderson, Robert Irwin, Claude Hamilton, Dudley E. Waters, Albert Stickley, Charles R. Sligh, Clay H. Hollister.” Fred Z. Pantlind, the popular manager of the splendid Pantlind Hotel that adds greatly to the metropolitan facilities and prestige of Grand Rapids, is proving an able successor to his father as an exponent of high-class hotel enterprise, the name of Pantlind having been conspicuous in this important line of business in the city of Grand Rapids for more than half a century. Fred Z. Pantlind was born in Grand Rapids, July 26, 1886, and is a son of J. Boyd and Jessie L. (Aldrich) Pantlind, the former of whom died in 1922 and the latter of whom still resides in Grand Rapids, where the estate of her husband is one of large importance and where she herself has gained reputation as a woman of exceptional 434 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY business ability, besides which she has long been a popular figure in the representative social activities of Michigan's fair “Valley City.” In the year 1835 Hiram Hinsdill erected in the village of Grand Rapids an unpretentious frame hotel that stood on the site of the present Morton Hotel. This primitive hotel, constructed and opened about two years prior to the admission of Michigan Territory to statehood, was first known as the Hinsdill House. In the late thirties the building was sold to Canton Smith, who thereafter conducted the house as the National Hotel until 1850, the year in which Grand Rapids was incorporated as a city. From that time the hotel was conducted by various landlords until 1855, when Mr. Smith resumed control. The original building was destroyed by fire in 1855, and was replaced by a much larger structure, likewise a frame building. Mr. Smith continued in control of the hotel until 1865, and after the second building like- wise was destroyed by fire, in 1872, a four-story brick building was erected on the site and given the name of Morton House. Of this hotel, long one of the foremost in western Michigan, Israel C. Smith, George B. Morton and A. V. Pantlind became the proprietors, and it was in 1872 that the late J. Boyd Pantlind became identified with the conducting of the Morton House. Mr. Pantlind became an authority in all that makes for successful hotel service and enter- prise, and he gained wide reputation as one of the leading hotel men of Michigan, the while he brought the Morton House up to a high standard in all departments of its service. The name of Pantlind has stood exponent of the best in hotel service for more than half a century, and the popularity of the representatives of this family has been unqualified, both among the citizens of Grand Rapids and the traveling public. J. Boyd Pantlind long continued one of the representative business men and loyal and progressive citizens of Grand Rapids, and he did much to advance the civic and commercial precedence of his home city. Fred Z. Pantlind attended the public schools of Grand Rapids until he was fifteen years of age, was thereafter a student in Detroit University, and in 1906 he was graduated in historic old Phillips-Andover Academy. He had grown to adult age under the influences of the hotel. atmosphere, and after completing his studies he became associated with his father in the hotel business, of which he has become one of the leading exponents in the state of Michigan. In 1916 was organized the corporation that erected the present magnifi- cent Hotel Pantlind, and of this fine Grand Rapids hotel, on a parity with the best in the country, Fred Z. Pantlind has since continued the efficient and popular manager. He is one of the vital and progressive citizens and business men of his native city, and has much of leadership in advancing measures and enterprises that contribute to the progress and prosperity of the city and the community. In the World war period he served as a member of the reserve corps of the United States Navy, and as an officer in the same he did much to promote enlistments, besides which HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 435 he was influential in advancing all other patriotic movements in his home city and county. In 1906 Mr. Pantlind married Hilda Hummer and as a result of the union there are four children: Katherine, Hilda, J. Boyd II, and Frederica. Francis L. Williams, attorney at 629 Michigan Trust building, is one of the rising members of the bar of Grand Rapids. He was born in Macon, Georgia, on August 23, 1890. He secured his early education in schools at Atlanta, Georgia; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Rochester, New York, and was graduated from the high school of the latter city. He then chose a course of professional study, entering the University of Michigan, and was graduated from the law department of that institution in 1912. Except for a period of two and a half years when he answered the call of his country in the World war, he has been continuously engaged in the practice of his profession in Grand Rapids. He volunteered for military service in the World war in May, 1918, and went overseas in August of that year. He served in France and in Northern Russia. He started on his return for the United States on August 11, 1919, and was soon thereafter given an honorable discharge. Previous to his service in the World war he received his training at Camp Custer. Mr. Williams has seen military service previous to his enlistment in the World war. In June, 1916, he served with the Michigan Thirty-second regiment on the Mexican border and was discharged on March 1, 1917. He engaged in the practice of law in Grand Rapids upon his return from the Mexican border service until his enlistment in the World war. Mr. Williams is a member of the Catholic church and of the fraternal order of the Knights of Columbus. He also maintains professional co-operation as a mem- ber of the Grand Rapids and Michigan State Bar associations. He takes part in the civic affairs of the community as a member of the Grand Rapids Association of Commerce. He was married on May 23, 1924, to Miss Fern Moorman, of Muskegon, Michigan. In addi- tion to his professional duties Mr. Williams carries on business responsibilities as a director in the Boland Lumber Company and also the Polin Fuel Company, of Detroit, Michigan. Harold Worm, president of Harold Worm Company, general advertising agency, commercial artists, 439-443 Michigan Trust building, was born in Grand Rapids on June 8, 1899. He is a son of Anthony and Harriett (Schultze) Worm, his mother being a native of Chicago, born in 1867, and his father, a native of Grand Rapids, born here in 1867. His father still remains a resident of his native city, a buyer for the Boston Store, and is active in fra- ternal and religious circles, through membership in the Masonic order and the Baptist church. Harold's paternal grandfather, a native of Germany, who came to Grand Rapids at about nineteen years of age, married a Miss Schindler and was active in the com- , munity for many years, with a long business service for the Michi- gan Brush Company. Harold received his preliminary education in the public schools of Grand Rapids, being graduated from the 436 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Central High School in 1918. He then entered Junior College, and served in the S. A. T. C. during the World war. He left in January, 1919, to take up special preparation for his professional career in advertising and commercial art and entered the Art Student League of New York City, where he pursued his studies for three terms. He returned to Grand Rapids in 1921 to take up his work. In November, 1923, he engaged in business for himself as Harold Worm, Inc. The officers of this business institution are Harold Worm, president and treasurer, and G. W. Mathison, vice-president and secretary. Mr. Worm is a York Rite Mason and a member of the Kiwanis and Mid-day Clubs. His religious affiliation is with the Fountain Street Baptist church. He was united in marriage July 19, 1921, with Miss Jean Fox, of Grand Rapids, daughter of Bertram Fox, general manager of the Grand Rapids Body Com- pany. They have one son, David Harold, born July 9, 1924. Edward L. Wagner, clerk of the Kent circuit court at the pres- ent time and nominee of the Republican party for re-election to that office, is a native of Grand Rapids, where he was born May 5, 1871. His father, John B. Wagner, was born in Germany in 1829, and his mother, Catherine Dikman, was born in Paris, France. John Wagner came to the United States with his parents in 1839. He did not settle in Michigan, however, until 1858, when he went to Sand Lake. There he operated a sawmill until 1862, selling the mill in that year to come to Grand Rapids, where he entered the employ of the Leitelt Iron Works as master mechanic. He was employed by that concern thirty-two years, or until his death in 1894. His widow died in 1908. John Wagner and his wife were the parents of twelve children as follows: Julius, Gustave, Amelia, Albert, Charles, Arthur, Matilda, Caroline, Ida, Edward L., Minnie, and Walter. Edward L. Wagner attended the public schools of the city of his birth and studied for the position of clerk. With the con- clusion of his educational career, he secured employment as a clerk in a grocery store, continuing in that work until the opening of the war with Spain. Answering the president's call for volunteers, he enlisted in Company E, Thirty-second Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and served with that organization until the cessation of hostilities. He returned to Grand Rapids after his discharge from the army, and there engaged in the grocery business, which he continued until 1915, when he accepted a position as deputy clerk of the Kent circuit court, filling that position until the clerk was appointed postmaster, and in July, 1923, he was appointed to fill the office of clerk of the court until the end of the unexpired term. His work was so noteworthy that at the primary election, Sep- tember 9, 1924, he was chosen the Republican nominee for election to the office of clerk of the Kent circuit court, to which he was elected by a large majority. Such has been his record and so large is his following that he feels virtually certain of being returned to the office when the matter goes before the people in November, 1926. In 1908 he married Fern Smith, the daughter of Inman and HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 437 Edith Smith, of Rockford, Michigan, and to Mr. and Mrs. Wagner have been born two children, Velma, born September 21, 1909, and Leo, born October 6, 1915. Peter D. Mohrhardt, wholesale and retail meat dealer, 251 Mich- igan street, stands prominent among the self-made men of Grand Rapids. His success in this line illustrates the importance of the task of securing, preparing and furnishing the products of the daily bill-of-fare of the community. Mr. Mohrhardt was born on a farm in Newton township, Calhoun county, Michigan, on July 28, 1870. He attended the public schools of that rural community until seven years of age, when his parents moved to Fredonia township in the same county. There he completed his education, and engaged in farming until he reached the age of twenty-one years. Later he came to Grand Rapids and began what has developed into a very successful business career. Starting at the bottom of his trade, with not only ambition but a well-grounded agricultural founda- tion, Mr. Mohrhardt has built up a business which has now attained a volume of over $500,000 annually. He was first employed by John Walz, at Leonard and Turner streets, in the meat business, from October, 1891, to July, 1892, when he returned to Calhoun county and worked on the old homestead for a short period. He then entered into the wholesale butcher business in Fredonia township, Calhoun county. In the spring of 1893 he enlarged his activities by the purchase of a meat market at Burlington, Calhoun county, Michigan. In October, 1893, he further widened the scope of his buying and selling of live stock and wholesale butchering. In October, 1894, Mr. Mohrhardt came to Grand Rapids and with his brother, William, engaged in the meat business. They remained together until 1899. Since the dissolution of the partnership with his brother, Peter D. Mohrhardt has been the sole proprietor of his business enterprises. He has progressed in his business to the extent that he now operates two stores, furnishing employ- ment to thirty-six people. He is also a director in the Grand Rapids By-Products Company and president of the Grand Rapids Packing Company. He maintains fraternal connections with the Masonic order, B. P. O. Elks, and Moose lodges, and is also a member of the Masonic Country Club. On February 15th, 1899, he was married to Miss Louise A. Wiese, a native of Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Mohrhardt are the parents of three children, Mildred and Ruth, twins, who are both graduates of Grand Rapids Central high school and who are now married. Mildred is the wife of Earl Miller and mother of one son, Daniel Davis, while Ruth is the wife of Vern Hawkins, and mother of a daughter, Virginia. The young- est member of the family, Frances, is a senior in the Grand Rapids Central high school. The family are active members of the Trinity English Evangelical Lutheran church. Charles N. Willis, proprietor of Willis Transfer Line and direc- tor in the Fourth National Bank of Grand Rapids, with offices at 130 Ionia avenue, southwest, is an example of the success that can 438 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY be attained by a young American boy who makes his own way in the world, with a steady application to one line of work and a determination to rise in his chosen field. Charles N. Willis was born in Oswego county, New York, on April 15, 1861. His father was Roun Kilbourne, who was killed in the Civil war when he had both legs shot off. After the marriage of his mother to Mr. Cor- nelius Willis, a well-to-do farmer, the subject of our sketch took the name of Willis. He had a brother, Frank Kilbourne, just one year older, who was born on April 16, 1860, and who died in 1924. After the death of his father, Charles was bound out, as was a custom in that period, but when his mother re-married he went to live with his step-father and mother, and in 1871, at the age of ten years, came with them to Corona, Michigan. He had so far attained a very limited education in the country schools in New York, which to a small degree was continued at Corona, Michigan, during which time he worked on a farm for about three years. He then felt a necessity of making his own way in the world and went to Lowell, Michigan, where he entered upon a line of work which he was destined to follow and in which he has made a substantial progress. His first activity in this work was as a bus driver. He also during this period learned the painters' trade, but that line he never followed. After a short career of two weeks as a bus driver he was assigned to checking baggage for Ball and Waters R. R. Transfer Company. He remained with them for ten years and when that company was sold to the Columbia Transfer Com- pany he was superintendent and so remained with that company for eleven years. He then served with the Grand Rapids, Holland- Chicago Interurban Company for one year. But throughout this long period in which he had been gaining an experience in prac- tically all branches of the work, he had entertained an ambition to embark in business for himself. So in 1910 he started in the trans- fer business with $187.00 and today has built up a prosperous busi- ness. Besides his business and property interest in Grand Rapids he owns a fine cottage at Wood Cliff Park on Reed's Lake. In 1914 he purchased the baggage department of the Columbia Trans- fer Company and merged this into his own business. Mr. Willis is a member of the M. W. A., B. P. O. E., and the Association of Commerce. He is an ardent lover of sports and maintains mem- bership in the West Michigan Game and Fish Protective Asso- ciation and Grand Rapids Motor Club. He has been twice mar- ried, his first wife, who was Eva Gilvis, died in 1895, leaving two children, Wilda and Warren, both of whom are deceased. In 1900 Mr. Willis married Elizabeth Gordon, and to this union was born one daughter, Mary Jane. Mr. and Mrs. Willis make their home at the Cody hotel. Dirk Nieland is another of the numerous sons of the fair old Netherlands who have gained success in connection with business activities in the city of Grand Rapids, and here he has maintained his home since he was a youth of nineteen years. Mr. Nieland, in HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 439 the year 1912, here became associated with the old established William H. Van Leeuwen Company, a pioneer and important rep- resentative of the real estate, loan and insurance business in the city and county, and in this connection he gained varied and valu- able experience in the selling of real estate, as well as in other de- partments of the business. William H. Van Leeuwen established this business shortly after the close of his loyal service as a soldier of the Union in the Civil war, and he continued the executive head of the enterprise until he had attained to the venerable age of eighty years. He retired May 1, 1925, and the business was purchased by his trusted and valued assistant, Dirk Nieland, of this review, who has since continued at the head and who in his methods and policies is well upholding the prestige that has attended the business during the course of more than half a century, the while be places high valuation on the reputation his concern has held during the many years of its control by his honored predecessor. Mr. Nieland was born in the Netherlands, January 16, 1886, and was there reared and educated, having been nineteen years of age when he accom- panied his parents to the United States, where the family home was forthwith established in Grand Rapids. He is a son of Peter and Liefke (Tornga) Nieland, born respectively in 1842 and 1848. The father died in 1922, but the mother still survives and maintains her home in this city, where she has many warm friends. With her, in the attractive home at 926 Sigsbee street, southeast, re- mains her son Dirk, of this sketch, who is the only child, and who was married to Miss Anna DeBoer on September 2, 1925. After coming to Grand Rapids, Dirk Nieland was here employed several years in furniture factories and thereafter he was associated with his father in gardening until 1912, when he turned his attention to the real estate business, his association with which has already been made a matter of record in this review. Mr. Nieland has no little literary ability, has studied and read with discrimination, and he has taken much satisfaction in writing sketches of Dutch life in America, with deep appreciation of the sterling worth and many original characteristics of the Holland Dutch settlers who have played a large part in the development and progress of Michigan, as the history of the state fully reveals. Several of Mr. Nieland's sketches have been published in book form, and many of his arti- cles have been published in the newspaper press. William Eugene Livingston, secretary and treasurer of the Grand Rapids Railway Company, is one of the native sons of Kent county who has gained success and prestige in connection with interests of much communal importance. He was born in Plain- field township, Kent county, Michigan, May 1, 1880, and is a son of Fred and Marian Isabella (Phillips) Livingston, now residing in Grand Rapids, where the father is associated with the Barclay, Ayers & Bertsch CompanyFred Livingston also was born in , Plainfield township, Kent county, and is a son of the late William and Margaret (Miller) Livingston. William Livingston was born 440 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY was in Kingston, Province of Ontario, Canada, a son of Silas and Eliza- beth (Truesdell) Livingston. Silas Livingston was born at Liv- ingston Manor, one of the old-time popular places of Sullivan county, New York, in the year 1779. He came with his family to Kent county, Michigan, in 1837, the year that the state was ad- mitted to the Union. The Livingston family name has been identi- fied with the history of Kent county during the entire period of Michigan's existence as a state. The name also has been promi- nently mentioned in American history since the early colonial era, Philip Livingston, an uncle of Silas Livingston, having been one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. In the year 1839 William Livingston, grandfather of William Eugene Livings- ton, purchased land in Plainfield township, and this he reclaimed from the forest wilds into a productive farm. At the time of his death he was the oldest white man who had resided permanently in that township from the pioneer days, and he was one of the sixteen men who met in a log house, in April, 1838, and organized Plainfield township. He was long numbered among the honored and influential citizens of that township and a venerable pioneer of Kent county at the time of his death. William Eugene Livingston is the elder of the two sons of the family and his brother, Don I., is now a resident of Chicago. Mr. Livingston was one year old when his parents removed to Grand Rapids. In later years, after receiving his education in the public schools, he attended the MacLachlan Business College. When a boy, he gained practical experience through his service as a newsboy. He later became identified with newspaper work and for twelve years was employed in the advertising department. In 1903 Mr. Livingston began his service with the Grand Rapids Railway Company, as an audit clerk, and later was promoted, becoming stockkeeper, assistant to the superintendent, purchasing agent, and finally secretary and treas- urer, which office he now holds. He is an alert and progressive citizen and has always been active in the welfare and advancement of Grand Rapids. He is a Republican, a Mason and member of the Mystic Shrine. He was president of the local Lions Club in 1924. He is a member of the Fountain Street Baptist church. Mr. Liv- ingston and Miss Blanch M. Mosher, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, were married in May, 1902. They have a wide circle of friends. Felix Raniville was a man whose personality won to him stead- fast friends; he was a citizen whose loyalty was expressed not only through his upbuilding of an important industrial enterprise but also in other and valuable contributions to the material progress of his home city. His course was guided and governed by the highest of principles and he was ever the courteous, genial gen- tleman and vital and resourceful business man. Mr. Raniville was a resident of Grand Rapids from 1874 until the time of his death, which occurred December 2, 1902, and the large and pros- perous industrial enterprise that was founded and developed by him is still carried forward under the direct control of his two Poling Permice HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 441 Jose sons, who are well upholding the prestige of the honored family name, both as citizens and as representative business men. At the time of his death the subject of this memoir was active in conducting his business, the manufacture of high-grade leather belting for the transmission of power, and the business, repre- senting one of the leading enterprises of its kind in the middle west, is still continued under the name F. Raniville Company. A scion of sterling French ancestry, Felix Raniville was born at St. Mary's, province of Quebec, Canada, October 18, 1836, and thus he was sixty-six years of age at the time of his death. He was a son of Dennis and, Josephte (Patenaude) Raniville, and was reared on the home farm of the family. His alert mind combined with his youthful ambition to make him profit greatly from the specific educational advantages that were accorded to him and also from the self-discipline that he gained through well directed private study and reading, he having become specially well forti- fied in the reading and speaking of the French language. He early became accurate also in his use of the English language, and before he had attained to the age of nineteen years he initiated a successful service as a teacher in rural schools of his native province. He soon, however, at the age of about twenty years, left Canada and made his way to the industrial city of Lowell, Massachusetts, where he established his residence in 1856 and where he entered the employ of Josiah Gates, a manufacturer of leather belting and hose, all fire department hose in that period having been made of leather. Mr. Raniville developed distinctive méchanical skill, and this, coupled with his fidelity, diligence and executive resourcefulness, gained him advancement to the position of foreman of the Gates factory, then one of the leading American establishments manufacturing leather belting and hose. He gained authoritative knowledge of all technical and working details of this line of industry and continued to be associated with the Gates manufacturing business until his loyalty to the land of his adoption led him to volunteer for service as a soldier of the Union in the Civil war. In the spring of 1863 Mr. Raniville enlisted as a private in the Fifteenth Battery of Massachusetts Light Artillery, and with this gallant command he continued in active service until the close of the war, he having in the mean- while taken part in many engagements, including a number of major battles. Upon receiving his honorable discharge, he gained, by virtue of his military service, status as a full-fledged citizen of the United States. In this connection it may be noted that Mr. Raniville was a great admirer of Abraham Lincoln, and that this undoubtedly had influence in making him a stalwart advocate of the principles and policies of the Republican party, to the ad- vancement of which he was always ready to lend his aid, both in a financial way and in active campaign service. He ever re- tained deep interest in his old comrades of the Civil war, and manifested this in his active affiliation with the Grand Army of 442 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY the Republic. In the autumn of 1865 Mr. Raniville returned to Lowell, Massachusetts, where he was advanced to the responsible office of superintendent of the Gates Leather Belting and Hose Company, in the factory of which he had served his apprentice- ship. In the autumn of 1867 he became superintendent of one of the largest of the eastern factories engaged in the production of leather belting, that of the Bickford, Curtis & Deming Company, at Buffalo, New York. In that city he formed the acquaintance- ship of Simeon R. Sikes, and their close friendship led to the form- ing of the partnership of the two for the manufacture of leather belting for Michigan sawmills. The members of the firm of Rani- ville & Sikes decided that business expediency would be conserved by establishing a base of manufacturing in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and in September, 1874, Mr. Raniville here opened a small factory or shop in the basement of the A. B. Judd building, which occupied the site of the present Stowe & Moore building, on Pearl street. Here his partner, Mr. Sikes, later joined him, and their careful methods and honorable policies combined with their production of reliable goods to make their enterprise rapidly expand in scope and importance, as there was insistent demand for leather belting for use in the Michigan sawmills, and Grand Rapids was a normal center for the supplying of this product. In August, 1877, the manufacturing plant of the firm was removed to larger quarters, in the Pressburgh & McConnell building that then stood on Canal street. In 1880 removal was made to the Philo C. Fuller building, which had just been completed, on Pearl street. In 1882 Mr. Sikes retired from the firm to engage in the same line of manufacturing in Minneapolis, and the business at Grand Rapids was continued by Mr. Raniville in an independent way: In the fall of 1883 he purchased the property now occupied by the F. Raniville Company, on Pearl street, and in 1884 he here erected a building that had a frontage of fifty feet on Pearl street and was three stories in height. In the summer of 1885, to meet the requirements of the constantly growing business, he erected another building, just to the east of the first one. In 1886 he admitted Samuel Lyon to partnership, and the firm of Raniville & Lyon continued until December 1, 1888, when the partnership was dissolved. In the summer of 1890 Mr. Raniville built the red-brick building that adjoins the other properties he had acquired and which is near the Grand river, this giving him an aggregate frontage of 155 feet on Pearl street. Some of this building he leased to tenants, and in the same year the prosperous enterprises of the Macey Company, the Grand Rapids Hardware Company, and Dickinson Brothers had their virtual inception. In the autumn of 1901 Mr. Raniville purchased the land and building formerly owned by the Grand Rapids Street Railway Company at the corner of Lyon and Campau streets. He rebuilt the structure on this site and converted the same into a building that afforded 80,000 square feet of floor space, this building having in the intervening years been utilized by HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 443 various new industrial concerns initiating operations in Grand Rapids. August 28, 1923, the Raniville estate sold this building to G. A. Hendricks, who converted it into a furniture exposition building. Mr. Raniville achieved substantial financial success, and his deep interest in his home city was shown in his investing money in many local enterprises and his liberal contributions to worthy causes. He always took earnest interest in the welfare of his employes, and they repaid him in their loyalty and ready co-oper- ation. He was loved by those who knew him well and was esteemed and respected by the entire community. The business that was founded by the honored subject of this memoir has become one of extensive order, with trade extending into all sections of the United States, and with branches in Boston, New York, Chi- cago and San Francisco. May 7, 1866, Mr. Raniville was united in marriage to Miss Loova A. Child, of Lowell, Massachusetts, she being a daughter of the late Samuel and Ulysse (Eastman) Child, the former of whom was born in Barford, Canada, and the latter in Coventry, Vermont. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Rani- ville has continued to maintain her home in Grand Rapids, a city that is endeared to her by many gracious associations and memo- ries. Two sons, Eugene and Francis Felix, likewise survive the father, and they are successfully carrying forward the important business industry that was founded and developed by him. Jacob Herrmann has to his credit forty-five years of successful activity as a contractor and builder in the city of Grand Rapids, and today he may consistently be designated as the veteran dean of this important line of business enterprise in Kent county. He learned, in his native Germany, the trade of brickmason, became a skilled artisan and continued to work at his trade in Germany until he came to the United States and established his residence in Grand Rapids, in April, 1881. 1881. Here he is now the highly esteemed senior member of the firm of Jacob Herrmann & Son, building contractors of important and substantial operations, with office at 10 Perkins building. Mr. Herrmann was born in Holler, Germany, July 25, 1856, and is a representative of a family established many generations in that district of the German empire. There he gained his early education and there he served his thorough trade appren- ticeship. He was an ambitious young man of twenty-five years when he came to the United States, in 1881, and he forthwith selected Grand Rapids as the stage of his activities. He soon dem- onstrated his ability as a builder, and gained recognition as an industrious, reliable and progressive business man—a genuine worker who enjoyed work and made his work expressive of his civic loyalty. For many years Mr. Herrmann has controlled a large and representative business as a building contractor, and many of the substantial and important buildings of Grand Rapids have been erected by him in the passing years, including the John Widdicomb furniture factory, St. Alphonsus Catholic school, the chapel of the St. John's Orphans Home, the First Church of Christ, 444 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Scientist, the Ypsilanti Reed Furniture Company's factory, the factory of the Gibson Refrigerator Company, at Greenville, and many other public and business buildings in his home city and other places in western Michigan. During the past twenty-two years he has had as his partner and able and valued coadjutor in the business his son, Leo V. Herrmann, whose association with his father's building operations began when he was but fourteen years of age, and who by practical experience has made himself skilled and resourceful in all technical and executive details of the busi- ness. Jacob Herrmann has figured as one of the vital, unassuming, industrious and reliable business men of Grand Rapids, and his civic loyalty has been marked by his deep appreciation of the mani- fold advantages and attractions of the land of his adoption. He and his family are communicants of St. Mary's Catholic church and he is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus. In 1885 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Herrmann to Miss Anna Mary Mueller, who was born and reared in Grand Rapids, and they have a fine family of eight children: Paul, Leo V., Margaret, Lonie, Lewis C., Bertha J., Carl J., and Raymond J. Leo V., who is associated with his father in business, as already noted, married Miss Bertha Heyer, daughter of August Heyer, who was one of the pioneer German settlers in Clinton county, Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Leo V. Herr- mann have three sons and three daughters. Lonie Herrmann, sec- ond daughter of the subject of this repiew, is secretary in the office of Jacob Herrmann & Son. Lewis C., who took a course in mechan- ical engineering at the University of Michigan, is now associated with his father in business. The Gast Motor Sales Company is one of the strongest and most important organizations of its kind in the city of Grand Rap- ids and has recognized leadership among the representative auto- motive sales agencies of the state of Michigan, the while its new headquarters, located at Wealthy, Lake Drive, Norwood avenue, represent the ultimate in design and equipment, with every modern facility for the effective handling of the large and prosperous busi- ness that has been developed by this staunch and progressive organization. From a newspaper article that was published Febru- ary 11, 1925, incidental to the opening of the fine new home of the Gast Motor Sales Company, are taken, with minor modification, the following pertinent extracts: “The new building of the Gast Motor Sales Company covers 27,500 square feet of space and is in a location where it enjoys the last friendly patronage of east-bound tourists out of Grand Rapids, while its efficient service and polite policy greet the newcomer and give him a friendly permanent impression of the courtesy of the Furniture City. * * The Gast Motor Sales Company was organized an authorized Ford agency, October 1, 1923, when officers were elected as follows: P. B. Gast, president; John P. Platte, vice-president; C. P. Kampf- schulte, secretary; and A. G. Rasch, treasurer. A capital was formed, a site purchased, and plans for the present building were * > HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 445 immediately drawn up. From the first day they opened business . the Gast company has spared neither expense nor time in trying to give the Ford and Lincoln owners and buyers of Grand Rapids the service and fair treatment to which they are entitled. The popular appreciation of this service has placed the company among the largest authorized Ford dealers in western Michigan. The company's building is typical of the latest word in present day architecture, and houses the newest of Grand Rapids' authorized dealers in Ford cars and Ford products in general, and from its sturdiness and beauty the building could scarcely be anything but a model retail branch of one of our country's greatest industries.” In none of the metropolitan centers of the country can be found more attractive and admirably equipped display and sales rooms than those of the Gast Motor Sales Company, and the service de- partment is complete in every detail of equipment and service, with a corps of expert mechanics at all times ready to give attention to the requirements of patrons. This large and splendidly ordered garage and sales agency is open day and night, and its service is thus one of absolute continuity. The Gast organization is one of the most effective harmony and co-ordination of service, and the officers of the company are resourceful and progressive business men who are loyal to Grand Rapids and ever ready to lend co- operation in the furtherance of measures and enterprises tending to advance the civic and material interests of the city. Peter B. Gast, president of the Gast Motor Sales Company, was born in the fine little village of Westphalia, Clinton county, Michigan, a sturdy village that was founded by sterling German pioneers in the early period of Michigan history. Mr. Gast was born in February, 1874, a son of Bernard Gast, and a grandson of Alois Gast, who was one of the honored pioneers of Clinton county. Mrs. Theresa (Platte) Gast, mother of the president of the Gast Motor Sales Company, had the distinction of being the first female white child born in the pioneer village of Lyons, Ionia county, Michigan, both the Gast and Platte families having come to the United States from West- phalia, Germany, and the early settlers of Westphalia, Michigan, having perpetuated in its name that of their old home province in Germany. The writer of this review is able to recall as one of his boyhood experiences a visit to the village of Westphalia, Michi- gan, in company with his father, who was a pioneer physician and business man of St. Johns, judicial center of Clinton county, and on the occasion of his visit the writer was much impressed with the fine Catholic church buildings that had been erected by the devoted pioneer citizens of the town. It was in the parochial school of this pioneer parish that Peter B. Gast received his early education, though he was still a boy at the time of the family removal to Grand Rapids, where he continued to attend school until he was given employment in the little factory of his maternal uncle, John P. Platte, who was at that time struggling to establish a pros- perous enterprise in the manufacture of umbrellas. Mr. Gast 446 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY has always been a worker, and has never lacked in ambition and progressive resourcefulness. His desire to engage in business in an independent way found definite expression when he was twenty years of age, for he then organized the Gast Soap Company and engaged in the manufacture of high grade toilet soaps. From a most modest inception this enterprise has developed into one of the substantial industries of Grand Rapids, and Mr. Gast continued as the executive head of the business until his sons became old enough and sufficiently fortified in experience to take control of the business, which, with a consistent reorganization, has since been conducted under the title of P. B. Gast's Sons Company. In 1923 Mr. Gast was the prime mover in effecting the organization of the Gast Motor Sales Company, of which he has since continued the president, his able executive administration having been shown in the splendid development of the business. He is a liberal and public-spirited citizen, is a Republican in politics, and he and his family are zealous communicants of the Catholic church. Mr. Gast married Miss Emily Alt, daughter of Nicolas Alt, of Grand Rapids, and they have a fine family of four sons and two daughters, namely: Waldemar, Raymond, Paul, Frederick, Evelyn and Helen. Edward N. Brown owns and operates Brown's Stocking Avenue Theatre, which is the largest and most modern moving picture theatre in Grand Rapids outside the downtown business district, and the high-grade productions here presented have gained to the theatre a substantial and appreciative patronage that is drawn from far outside the immediate district in which it is located. Mr. Brown was born at Goshen, Indiana, and his youthful education was obtained in the public schools of that attractive little city. There he found employment as shipping clerk at the establishment of the Goshen Carpet Sweeper Company, and when this corporation re- moved its manufacturing headquarters to Grand Rapids in 1890 Mr. Brown was one of the six employes who came with the concern to this city, he having continued his connection with the business for several years after the Bissell Carpet Sweeper Company ab- sorbed, by purchase, the business of the Goshen company. For a number of years Mr. Brown was engaged in the retail shoe busi- ljess on Bridge street, and finally he became associated with George Budde in equipping and opening the Alcazar Theatre, on that street. Eight months later Mr. Brown sold his interest in the enterprise to his partner and then proceeded to erect the Fulton theatre, at the corner of Fulton and Straight streets. This place of entertainment was successfully conducted by him four years, and since selling the same he has concentrated his activities in the conducting of his fine theatre on Stocking avenue, near Fourth street, this having been erected by him in 1916 and being one of the specially attractive and popular moving picture houses of the city. Mr. Brown naturally takes lively interest in all that concerns the welfare and progress of his home city, and is a successful and popu- lar business man whose circle of friends is coincident with that of HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 447 The company his acquaintances. Mr. Brown wedded Miss Emma Hartman, of Goshen, his native city, and they have two children, Walter W. and Lillian, the son being his father's valued assistant in the con- ducting of the theatre business. Joseph Brown is the president of the corporation conducting business under the title of Brown-Graff Company, and the con- cern is one of the most important of its kind in Grand Rapids, with facilities and service of the most modern order. Mr. Brown has made a record of success in the salvage business, and much of the business of his company is in the buying and dismantling of fac- tories. In the extensive operations of the company an average of one thousand tons of material a month is handled; electric balers have capacity for the handling of bales weighing from fifteen pounds to 2,500 pounds, and the corps of employes average from twenty-five to fifty persons, according to the season. was formed in 1921, obtained land on Lexington avenue, and there erected the present large building that serves as the headquarters of the prosperous business. Mr. Brown was born in Russia and was three years of age when he came with his parents to the United States, the family home having been established in the city of Chicago, where he was reared to adult age and received his youth- ful education. In 1900 Mr. Brown came to Grand Rapids, and within that same year was here solemnized his marriage to Miss Dora Goldman, who was born and reared in this city. Ambitious and industrious, Mr. Brown has never failed to find opportunity for profitable business activity. Shortly after his arrival in Grand Rapids he engaged in the salvage business, with an equipment con- sisting of a horse and small wagon. He worked assiduously, was fair and liberal in his dealings, and soon his business assumed an expanding tendency. In 1914 he became associated with John Boter and, after wrecking the old Pantlind Hotel, organized the Grand Rapids Salvage Company, a concern now known as the Grand Rapids Steel & Supply Company, and with this concern he continued his active alliance until 1920, when he sold his interest in the business, the following year having been marked by his forming a partnership with E. H. and S. L. Graff, under the firm name of Brown-Graff Company, which has been retained since the incorporation of the business. Mr. Brown is also chairman of the board of directors of the Kent Laundry Company, located at 516- 700 Letellier street, southwest, of which his son, Manuel Brown, is president. Mr. Brown is a loyal and appreciative American citizen, takes deep interest and pride in his home city, and is always ready to aid projects brought forward for its general good, and is an active and valued member of the local Association of Commerce. He is affiliated with the Elks and the Masonic fraternity, including the Mystic Shrine, and he is a life member of the Masonic Country club of his home city. He and his wife have three fine sons, Manuel, Louis and Gilbert. The eldest son, Manuel, was afforded the advantages of the Webb Academy, at Grand Rapids, and Louis 448 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY attended Ferris Institute, at Big Rapids. Both are now associated with their father's business, and Gilbert, the youngest son, is still attending school. Elmer Eugene Dennis is one of the progressive and enterprising citizens and business men of Grand Rapids, is known as an author- ity in all details of the lumber industry and business and is presi- dent of the E. E. Dennis Lumber Company, with offices in the Michigan Trust Building. Mr. Dennis was born in Oakfield town- ship, Kent county, Michigan, December 28, 1861, and is a son of Leonard L. and Susan (Corey) Dennis, both natives of the state of New York and both representatives of families that were founded in Michigan in the pioneer days, the paternal grandparents of the subject of this review having made the journey from Macomb county to Kent county with wagon and ox team, in the early fifties and having settled in Oakfield township, this county. The Dennis family came in the early fifties and gained pioneer precedence in Kent county, their arrival here having occurred prior to the con- struction of any railroad in this section of Michigan, and theirs having been a full share of the hardships, trials and arduous labors that attended the development of a pioneer farm. On the old Dennis homestead farm is still standing a barn of hewed logs that was built by Leonard L. Dennis, father of him whose name initiates this sketch, he having used a hewing or broad axe to prepare the pine logs for use in this building, which is now one of the venerable landmarks in Oakfield township. Both parents passed the remain- der of their lives in Kent county, the father dying December 11, 1896, and the mother September 8, 1895. Both are buried in Oak- hill cemetery, Grand Rapids. The early education of Elmer E. Dennis was acquired in the Lincoln Lake district school in Oak- field township, and was limited in scope, as he early began to assist in the work of the home farm, in which connection his services were needed so that after twelve years of age he attended only the winter terms of school. He continued his active associ- ation with farm work until he was twenty years old, and he then found employment in the great lumber woods farther north in the state. In this connection he gained valuable experience, in- cluding accurate knowledge of timber values, and after saving from his earnings of six years the sum of $500 he utilized the same as the basis of his independent operations in the lumber business, of which he is now one of the veteran representatives in Grand Rapids, where he has been continuously engaged in this line of enterprise since the summer of 1889, being alone for one year, after which his brother Alvin was associated with him in the business for seventeen years under the firm name of Dennis Brothers, and after the severing of this alliance, in 1908, a cor- poration was formed in 1910, Mr. Dennis admitting his son, Roy E., to partnership, under the title of Dennis Lumber Company, Incor- porated. From the beginning Mr. Dennis applied himself dili- gently and with circumspection in acquiring full knowledge of کہ یکی Ennis HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 449 the varied details of the lumber industry, its conditions and re- quirements, and thus he has broad and accurate information per- taining to this important line of industrial and commercial enter- prise. The corporation owns and operates several sawmills in the better lumbering districts still remaining in Michigan, and they have gained substantial success in their well ordered activities, so that, after forty-three years of close application, he is able to relegate to a large degree the active management of the business to his son, Roy E., who has been his efficient and valued coad- jutor. Mr. Dennis, also his son Roy, are affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, including the Mystic Shrine, and he has membership in the Peninsular Club of Grand Rapids and the Detroit Athletic Club. In 1887 Mr. Dennis wedded Miss Cora Finch, whose death occurred April 17, 1889, and who is survived: by one son, Roy E., who as noted, is associated with his father in business, he having married Miss Katherine Hartman, daughter of John Hartman, of Grand Rapids. In 1898 was solemnized the second marriage of E. E. Dennis to Miss Kathryn Jenison, of Jenisonville, Michigan. Mrs. Dennis is a popular figure in the social and cultural circles of Grand Rapids, where she is president of the Grand Rapids Art Association, an active member of the St. Cecelia Club, a zealous supporter of hospital work and a member and earnest worker in the Westminster Presbyterian Church. Hugh A. Rathbun, proprietor of the Rathbun Electrical Com- pany, located at 112 Colfax street, northeast, Grand Rapids, is one of the able electricians and business men of the city. He was born in that city July 9, 1892, the son of Madison and C. (Toohey) Rathbun, the former of whom was a native of Ohio and the latter of Canada. Madison Rathbun came to Michigan with his parents when he was a small boy. When he was a young man he purchased a teaming business in Grand Rapids which he operated for many years. He and his wife are now deceased. Hugh A. Rathbun attended the Catholic parochial schools of Grand Rapids after which he attended high school. Following his graduation from the latter school, he took up the elec- trician's trade, and after several years spent in this way, he bought a partnership in the Creston Electrical Company with which he remained four years. In 1918, he became independently engaged in the same field, establishing the Rathbun Electrical Company at that time. Short- ly after organizing the firm, he took his brother, Edward J. Rathbun, into partnership, an arrangement which is still effective. In addition to carrying a line of electrical fixtures and supplies that is very complete, the company engages in electrical contracting. In this work they have gained a reputation for the excellence of their jobs, and many of the homes and buildings in Grand Rapids have been wired for electricity by the firm. The success of the concern is due in large measure to the ability and energy of the founder. On April 24, 1917, Mr. Rath- bun married Miss Alice Farrell, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Farrell, farmers of the Montcalm county, both of whom are now dead. 450 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Mr. Rathbun is a member of the Knights of Columbus and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Christian F. Frey. In 1913 Mathias Ruoff, who, as a skilled workman at the blacksmith's trade which he had learned in his native Germany, had been employed thirty years in the Leitelt Iron Works in Grand Rapids, and Christian F. Frey, manager of the works, with which he had become associated in 1888, in the capacity of office boy, and with which he had won advancement to the office of manager, be- came convinced of the industrial demand for a local plant that would effectively serve manufacturing machinists and tool and die makers in the metropolitan district of Grand Rapids. They had the courage of their convictions, and manifested this by organizing the Grand Rapids Forging & Iron Company, of which Mr. Ruoff became the president, Mr. Frey the secretary and treasurer, and Rollin H. Owen the vice-president. The new corporation proceeded to erect a suitable building, 40x100 feet in lateral dimensions, and this was placed in com- mission in 1913. At the start the principal equipment of the factory was one 1,500-pound steam hammer; in 1917 was added an 800-pound steam hammer, and in 1923 the battery was increased by adding the great 2,500-pound hammer. The company has the best of modern facili- ties for the production of all kinds of work in its line, and also carries in stock a large reserve of tool steel, mill steel, cold-rolled steel, and other supplies. In the World war period this company did a large amount of important production work for factories engaged in manu- facturing varied lines of war supplies, and it was probably the first Grand Rapids concern thus to come forward in such war service. To meet the extraordinary demands this placed on the factory, the com- pany, as its secretary and treasurer has expressed it, “pounded its facilities on the back for all it was worth.” This policy, by which was avoided the enlarging of the plant, was one of distinct wisdom, for at the close of its special war service the company did not, like so many other industrial concerns, have investment in buildings and equipments that could no longer be used after the great stress of war production. However, the normal increase in the regular business of the concern did make demand for augmented facilities, and thus the mechanical equip- ment has been expanded from time to time, as required, and in 1923 the factory was enlarged by the erection of a supplemental building, thirty feet square. Mr. Ruoff, president of the company, was born and reared in Germany, and, as previously noted, he there served a thorough apprenticeship to the trade of blacksmith. He was twenty years of age when he came to the United States, in 1880, and virtually , his entire business career in the land of his adoption has been staged in Grand Rapids. Mr. Frey, secretary and treasurer of the company, was born in Grand Rapids, in 1871, and after having profited by the advantages of parochial schools he took a course in a local business col- lege. At the age of seventeen years, in 1888, he entered the employ of the Leitelt Iron Works, his connection with which continued until he became concerned in establishing the company of which he is now secretary and treasurer. His parents, Adam and Magdalena Frey came from Germany and became pioneer settlers in Grand Rapids, where HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 451 they established their home in 1860 and where they passed the remainder of their earnest and useful lives. Charles S. Marshman was born in Chicago, June 29, 1885. He is the only son of John and Mattie E. Marshman, the father being a native of Indiana and the mother having been born in New York state. John Marshman located at Whitehall, Michigan in the year 1874 and engaged in the lumber business until his death in 1889 at the age of thirty-four years. Three years after his death the moth married again, this time to Rev. H. D. Inman. He died in 1909 and Mrs. Inman now resides with her son in Grand Rapids, being seventy-six years of age. She came to Whitehall, Michigan, in 1862 with her parents, George and Elizabeth (Law) Bartholomew. He was a veteran of the Civil war under General Grant and went all through the Mis- sissippi river campaign as an aide. They both lived at Whitehall until their death a number of years ago. Charles S. Marshman, subject of this article attended the public schools at Whitehall, graduating from Whitehall high school, June 23, 1900. He then worked in the Eagle tannery for a couple of years and later put in two years in a machine shop. In 1904 he came to Grand Rapids and filled different positions until 1909 when he entered the railroad Y. M. C. A. work, staying in that until January, 1912, then entering upon his present line of activity, the general insurance business, specializing in fire and casualty lines. Mr. Marshman is a member of York Lodge No. 410, F. & A. M. and Grand Rapids Lodge No. 2, Knights of Pythias. He also belongs to the Masonic Country Club. June 27, 1912, he married Miss Frances Mildred Thompson, a native of Grand Rapids and daughter of Elmer R. and Elizabeth (Graves) Thompson. To them was born a daughter, Marian Elizabeth, on March 20, 1918. The Marshmans are members of the First Methodist Episcopal Church and Mrs. Marshman is very active in the various ladies' societies of the church and an ardent worker in the Sunday school. William L. Peiter, one of the successful leaders in the automo- bile industry in Grand Rapids, is president and manager of the Peiter Auto Company, Inc., at 233 Washington street, Grand Rapids. He was born in Toledo, Ohio, on January 23, 1880. He received his pre- liminary education in the schools of his native city, and was graduated from the Toledo high school and the Manual Training school. He en- tered upon his business career in 1899 as a traveling salesman, first with a coffee and spice house of Toledo and later entered an electric supply company. In 1906 he embarked in the automobile business, and his own business progress has kept pace with the rapid development of that important industry. He has lived in Grand Rapids since his lo- cation here in 1913, in which year he organized the Overland Automo- bile Company, in Grand Rapids. This business had reached sufficient proportions by 1917 to require the erection of a building 120x200 feet in dimensions upon a 200x300 foot plat of ground owned by the Wash- ington Building Company of which Mr. Peiter is president and ma- jority stockholder. In 1921 the business had progressed to a stage that warranted its incorporation as the Peiter Auto Company. Mr. Peiter is very active in civic and fraternal circles. He is a thirty-second 452 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY degree Mason and a Shriner, a member of the Rotary and Peninsular Clubs, and Association of Commerce. He balances his business activi- ties with an active participation in the recreational facilities of the Ma- sonic and Spring Lake Country Clubs, and at Spring Lake maintains a summer home where he spends a suitable portion of his time. He and his wife are members of Grace Episcopal Church. M. Peiter was joined in wedlock on August 4, 1906, with Isabel Hunker, of Toledo, Ohio. Frank E. Norton, manager of the Shank Fireproof Storage Company, of Grand Rapids, was born in that city in June, 1898, the son of Charles E. and Julia (Martin) Norton, the former of whom is a prominent business man of Grand Rapids where he is engaged in the investment banking business and is vice-president of the Richards Fireproof Storage Company, and the latter of whom comes from a family whose names are listed among the pioneers of Grand Rapids. Frank E. Norton received the education afforded by the St. Andrews parochial school and then attended the Catholic Central high school of Grand Rapids, graduating from that school with the class of 1916. The ensuing seven years he spent on his father's farm in Ottawa county where he took great interest in the raising of pure bred Holstein cattle. In 1923, he returned to Grand Rapids to join his father in business. In June of the following year, he was made secretary and treasurer and general manager of the Shank Fireproof Storage Company, a posi- tion which he still retains. He is also secretary of the Richards Fire- proof Storage Company. The tutelage of his father combined with his own innate ability have won him recognition as one of the able young business men of the city. In May, 1921, Mr. Norton was united in marriage with Miss Hazel Fleming, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Fleming, of Grand Rapids, and to this union have been born. two children, Barbara, born March 21, 1923, and Charles, born Novem- ber 11, 1924. Mr. Norton is a member of the Knights of Columbus and is affiliated with the church of St. Stephen's. Charles B. Judy, of the A. G. Van Allsburg Casket Company, of Grand Rapids, was born in Fredonia, Mercer county, Pennsylvania, April 18, 1879, the son of Mathias J. and Amanda (Slater) Judy, , the former of whom was born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, in 1847 and the latter in 1857. The grandparents of Charles B. Judy were among the first settlers of that county in the Quaker state, and his father was a prominent farmer in the same county throughout his life. Charles B. Judy received his education in the public schools of Mercer county after which he secured employment with the Spearman Iron Company, of Sharpsville, Pennsylvania. Later he was employed at the Mabel Iron Company plant in the same city. After continuing in this work for a time, he went to work for the Pennsylvania railroad on the division west of Pittsburgh. It was following his period of em- ployment on the railroad, that he first became engaged in the casket making business in which he was destined to become so successful. His first position of this sort was with the Freedom Casket Company, of Freedom, Pennsylvania, and after thoroughly learning the rudiments HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 453 of the business there, he went to Allegan, Michigan, where he entered the employ of the Owen Arnold Casket Company. He next became associated with the Grand Rapids, the Furniture City, the Wolverine, and the A. G. Van Allsburg Casket Companies in the order named. When he had been employed in the last named concern for a year, he, in partnership with Louis N. Spring bought out A. G. Van Allsburg in 1921. The partners have continued to operate the firm since that time under the same name, and under their management, the company is rapidly increasing its business. It enjoys an extensive trade through- out the lower peninsula of Michigan and in the northern sections of Illinois and Indiana. Mr. Judy has come to be recognized as a keen business man and a substantial citizen of Grand Rapids where his business associates regard him as a distinct asset to the commercial life of the city. On October 1, 1901, Mr. Judy married Miss Bessie J. Davis, the daughter of Andrew P. Davis, of Crawford county, Penn- sylvania, and to this union have been born five children as follows: Lavesta, aged twenty-two years; Ella, aged nineteen; Benjamin, seven- teen years old; Robert, aged fifteen, and Charles, Jr., thirteen years old. Mr. Judy is a member of the Grand Rapids local of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and he is also a member of the Pro- tective Home Circle of Sharon, Pennsylvania. Jacob Ryskamp is one of the enterprising and successful ex- ponents of the meat market business in his native city of Grand Rapids, where he is one of the constituent members of the firm of Ryskamp Brothers, which conducts three large and well equipped meat markets. The other members of the progressive firm are Henry H., Sr., Henry, Jr., William H., Albert and Frank, and all are well upholding the honors of a family name that has been identified with the annals of Grand Rapids and Kent county since the middle pioneer period in the history of this section of Michigan. Ryskamp Brothers stand forth as the most extensive exponents of the retail meat trade in Grand Rapids, and the broad scope of their operations is indicated in their having done in 1923 a business aggregating fully $500,000, and in their having increased this record by $90,000 for the year 1924. Jacob Ryskamp was born in Grand Rapids, August 6, 1892, and is a son of Henry H. Rys- kamp. The public school discipline of Mr. Ryskamp included that of the high school, and his entire business career has been one of close association with the meat market business. For several years he was in the employ of the Katz Market Company, and in 1918 he purchased the establishment and business conducted under the title of the U. & I. Beef & Produce Market, this market being now one of the three conducted by Ryskamp Brothers. In the same year, 1918, Mr. Ryskamp purchased a second market, at 55 Division avenue, south, and this is now the main establishment of his firm, which here retains a corps of twenty-two employes. At the time of acquiring this latter market Mr. Ryskamp and his four brothers, previously mentioned in this review, formed a corpor- ation for the conducting of the business, but nine months later 454 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY the organization was changed to a partnership. The main market of the firm is, as stated, at 55 Division avenue, south; the second is at 115 Division avenue, south; and the third is in a very attractive and modern building that was erected by the firm in 1922, at 744 Franklin street, southeast. Mrs. Ryskamp is an active communi- cant of Grace church, Protestant Episcopal. Mr. Ryskamp is affili- ated with the Masonic fraternity, including the Mystic Shrine, and his wife has membership in the Order of the Eastern Star. He is a mem- ber also of the Loyal Order of Moose. The family home in Grand Rapids is an attractive residence at 849 Kalamazoo avenue, and the family has also a sụmmer cottage at a nearby lake, Mr. Rys- kamp finding his chief recreation in hunting and fishing. Novem- ber 25, 1919, Mr. Ryskamp was united in marriage to Miss Beatrice Boone, daughter of Mrs. Ruth Boone, of Grand Rapids, and of the three children of this union the names and respective birth-dates are here recorded: Robert, June, 1922; Willis, November, 1923; and Roger, October, 1924. Louis B. Saunders is one of the prominent and influential rep- resentatives of the insurance and real estate business in Grand Rapids, and in the latter department of his operations he has made noteworthy contribution to the progressive upbuilding of his native city and its suburban districts. Mr. Saunders was born in Grand Rapids, September 24, 1877, and is a son of the late Dr. William G. and Sarah (Benedict) Saunders, the former of whom died in No- vember, 1903, and the latter of whom passed away in May, 1898. Dr. Saunders was long numbered among the representative physi- cians and surgeons in Grand Rapids and Kent county. In the public schools of Grand Rapids, Louis B. Saunders continued his studies until his graduation in the high school as a member of the class of 1898. In the following year he engaged in the insurance business in this city, and in 1915 he here erected the modern struc- ture known as the Saunders Insurance building, in which he main- tains his office headquarters and which is situated at 228 Ottawa avenue, northwest, his home being at 333 Fulton street, east. Within a comparatively short time after establishing himself in the insurance business Mr. Saunders initiated also characteristically vigorous and well directed operations in the real estate business, in which he has become a leader in the metropolitan district of Grand Rapids. His real estate operations have been of extensive and important order, and he has developed many suburban districts, his operations having included the erection of many high-grade houses in and about Grand Rapids. He has a professional dis- taste for vacant lots, and his hobby has been to acquire same, erect houses on the properties and then place the same on the market. Mr. Saunders is found aligned loyally in the ranks of the Republi- can party, and while he has had no desire for public office, his civic interest caused him to give most effective service as alderman from the Tenth ward of the city in the period of 1906-12. In the Masonic fraternity he has received the thirty-second degree of the HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 455 Scottish Rite and is a Noble of the Mystic Shrine; he is affiliated also with the B. P. O. Elks, Knights of Pythias, and the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and he is a member of the Grand Rapids Real Estate Board and of the Masonic Country Club. July 1, 1901, was marked by the marriage of Mr. Saunders to Miss Lucy Gale, daughter of John and Alberta (Britton) Gale, of Grand Rapids, and of this union there are two children: Louis B., Jr., who was born December 3, 1904, is now associated with his father's business, and he is also a talented musician; Marian Gale, who was born February 26, 1910, is at the time of this writing, in the autumn of 1925, a student in the Central high school of Grand Rapids. Walter B. Gleye was fortunate in gaining careful discipline in the various details of the hardware business through close associa- tion with his honored father, whose partner he eventually became in the substantial business of this kind that his father had estab- lished in Grand Rapids, and upon the death of the latter he was well equipped for assuming control of the large and prosperous business which is conducted at 62 Ottawa street, northwest. Mr. Gleye was born in Bay City, Michigan, April 6, 1890, and is a son of Paul H. and Minnie (Widman) Gleye, the former of whom was born in Germany and the latter at Bay City, Michigan, where their marriage was solemnized. Paul H. Gleye was born in the year 1859, and was eleven years of age when he was left an orphan, and he came to the United States in 1870. For three years he was employed in a sawmill at Bay City, and he then became errand boy in a hardware store in that city, where he worked inde- fatigably, gaining thorough knowledge of all details of the business and won advance by various stages until he became the virtual manager of the business. Realizing that in this connection no opportunity was offered for his further advancement, he came with his family to Grand Rapids, in the year 1912, and opened a hard- ware store of his own, at 216 Pearl street. He forthwith incor- porated the business under the title of Gleye Hardware Company, and made his son, Walter B., his coadjutor in the enterprise. At the expiration of three years the business was removed to the present larger and better equipped quarters, and here Paul H. Gleye continued executive head of the business until his death, in 1921, when he was but little more than sixty years of age, his widow being still a resident of Grand Rapids. In the public schools of Bay City, Walter B. Gleye continued his studies until his gradu- ation in the high school, and he then, in 1910, entered Michigan Agricultural College, at Lansing, where he completed a course in the engineering department, not to prepare himself for work as an engineer but to fortify himself the better for active association with his father's business. As a boy and youth he had worked before and after school hours and in vacation period as an assis- tant in the Bay City hardware store of which his father was the manager, and after leaving college he forthwith became his father's 456 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY partner in the business in Grand Rapids. He is one of the vital and progressive young business men of this city, where his circle of friends is limited only by that of his acquaintances. Mr. Gleye married Miss Mabel Gibson, of Muskegon, and they have three children: Gibson, Paul and Eleanor. John Caulfield was one of the sterling and honored pioneer citizens of Grand Rapids at the time of his death, which here occurred on the 19th of January, 1919, after he had here maintained his home more than sixty years. Mr. Caulfield was born at Hill- town, near Rosstrevor, a picturesque and popular seaside resort in County Down, Ireland, and the date of his nativity was Decem- ber 25, 1838. His early education was obtained in the national schools of his native district, and at the age of fifteen years, after having successfully passed the required examination before the government school inspectors, he was promoted to a well-ordered private school on the estate of Lord Roden, where he continued his studies some time. As a youth Mr. Caulfield became imbued with an ambition to enter mercantile pursuits, and for a time he was connected with a large grocery establishment in Newry. In 1857 he embarked on the sailing vessel “John C. Calhoun" and thus found transportation to the port of New York City, whence he came forthwith to Grand Rapids and found a position in the wholesale and retail grocery establishment of George W. Water- man, one of the prominent pioneer merchants of the little village that was destined to become the second city of Michigan. With this concern Mr. Caulfield continued his connection until 1864, when he entered into partnership with John Clancy and engaged independently in the wholesale and retail grocery trade. A year later Mr. Clancy, who had extensive lumbering interests, retired from the firm, and thereafter Mr. Caulfield individually continued the business with marked success, his ability and discrimination having enabled him to meet and weather various financial storms. In 1869 he purchased the old Collins Hall building, at the corner of Canal and Erie streets, and changed the title of the same to Empire Hall. In this building, which contained one of the leading public auditoriums of the city at that time, he installed his grocery business, which he there continued until the store and stock were destroyed by fire, in 1871. He soon resumed his business opera- tions, however, and he continued successfully in the wholesale grocery business until 1886, when he sold the same and turned his attention to directing his other and varied capitalistic interests, largely represented in real estate holdings and exploitation. His son, John J., eventually became associated with him in the exten- sive real estate business, and the subject of this memoir became one of the heaviest real estate owners in Grand Rapids and vicinity, he having platted and developed many of the important subdivis- ions of the city and having become one of the influential figures in financial affairs in his home city and county. His political allegiance was given to the Democratic party and he and his wife HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 457 were lifelong communicants of the Catholic church. On the 14th of February, 1864, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Caulfield to Miss Esther Egan, of Cascade, Kent county, and they became the parents of seven children, two sons and five daughters, in- cluding Mrs. Anna Caulfield McKnight, of whom specific mention is made elsewhere in this publication. The other children are Mrs. Joseph Kirwin, Mrs. Bertrand F. Lichtenberger, Miss Marie Caulfield, Miss Agnes Caulfield, George and John J. Caulfield. James F. Knowlton, real estate, 44 Division, north, is another native of Grand Rapids who has achieved a noteworthy success in his chosen field. He was born in Grand Rapids on August 26, 1884, a son of Julius B. and Rose Anna (MacDonald) Knowlton. His father is a native of Steubenville, Ohio, born in 1855, and his mother was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1857. She died in 1920. Julius B. Knowlton was a son of James S. Knowlton, a native of New York and who early in his life came to Ohio and later to Grand Rapids. He spent the remainder of his life in this community and died in 1890 at seventy-six years of age. His wife, Mary Miller, grandmother of the subject of our sketch, was born in Ohio and was the daughter of a Methodist circuit rider. Rose Anna MacDonald, mother of the subject of this sketch, is a daughter of Alexander MacDonald, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, who in about 1853 came to Canada. Her father had worked on the Erie canal and later came to Michigan and did contracting work on the Michigan Central railroad in the early days of the state and while living at Plainwell, Michigan, in about 1871 was killed in a train wreck. He had resided in Grand Rapids for a number of years and his wife, Nancy McDonnell, a native of County Dary, Ireland, died in Grand Rapids in 1883, a faithful member of the Catholic church. The father of the subject of our sketch, Julius B. Knowlton, came to Grand Rapids with his parents and for many years was engaged in the insurance business. He now lives in Kalamazoo and at the age of seventy years is strong and hearty and actively engaged in insurance work. James F. Knowlton, the subject of this narrative, in pursuing his early education first attended St. Andrew School and later attended South Bend, Indi- ana, high school. Ready to launch upon a business career he then returned to his native city to accept a position with the Michigan Trust Company, in which he displayed such aptitude that he re- mained there nine years, and with the experience and training at hand thus gained in the financial circles he branched out for him- self in the real estate field and therein has met with merited success. He has found time to respond to civic duties through an active affiliation with his chosen party, the Democratic party. He and his wife are devoted members of St. Andrew's Catholic church. On June 13th, 1919, he was joined in marriage with Miss Mary Blanche Bauer, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, who was educated in the Indiana schools and a young lady highly educated in music. For eight years she sang in the Congregational church of Fort Wayne. 458 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Mrs. Knowlton now takes a very active part in the religious work of St. Andrew's Catholic church of Grand Rapids, and has been the proud mother of three splendid children: Mary Ann, born Decem- ber 25, 1921; Jane, who died in infancy, and Katherine Therese, born November 18, 1924. Frank Vandeven, president of the Grand Rapids Paper Com- pany, 19 Ottawa street, has risen to a position of business leadership in his native city. He was born in Grand Rapids on January 16, 1860, son of Frank and Gertrude (Garrison) Vandeven, both natives of the Netherlands. They came to Grand Rapids in 1857, where the father died in 1861 at the age of thirty-seven years, survived by his wife, who lived to a ripe age of eighty-three years before her death at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Of their seven children, two died in infancy and three daughters and two sons, Byron and Frank, the subject of this sketch, are now living. The father was a highly educated man, speaking seven different languages. He came to the United States at the time a colony of settlers was brought over by Holland ministers to begin life in America. Mr. Vandeven was so anxious to familiarize himself with American ways and so readily absorbed knowledge from his attendance at American churches that although he was only in this country approximately three years before his death, he had become a teacher in the Sunday school in the Congregational church, which position he capably filled until his untimely death. The son, Frank Vandeven, who is the subject of this narrative, has achieved the success indicated by his present business leadership in Grand Rapids through the great school of experience. At the tender age of seven years the re-marriage of his mother to Paul Dangler, a shoemaker by trade, interrupted young Frank's educational course. The family removed to Wisconsin, where by the time he was nine years old, he was being initiated into the shoemaker's trade by his step-father. Determined to excel in whatever he undertook, Frank thoroughly equipped himself in that trade, which he followed until he was twenty-two years of age, having in the meantime secured his own shop. At the age of twenty-two, he followed the course of empire, westward, to the untamed territory of Washington, upon the Pacific coast. There he took up government land, but in six months returned to his native city of Grand Rapids, to follow commercial pursuits. For seven years he served as a clerk in grocery stores, and later for two years was employed with the Judson Grocery Company, of Grand Rapids. He took to the road and for two years was a traveling salesman for northwest terri- tory with headquarters at Minneapolis, representing the Diamond Crystal Salt Company, of St. Clair, Michigan. Mr. Vandeven then returned to Grand Rapids and organized the Grand Rapids Paper Company, of which he has since been manager, then later becoming secretary and manager, and upon the death of George Hernzelman in 1924, Mr. Vandeven became president of the company, and is now its executive head. Mr. Vandeven is a member of the First HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 459 Church of Christ, Scientist, the Association of Commerce, Credit Men's Association, and York Lodge No. 410, F. & A. M. He was united in marriage to Miss Jennie May Reeves, of Eagle, Wis- consin, and to their union were born three children: Gertrude May, now the wife of Lee Thomas, of Eagle, Wisconsin; Irene Rhoda, wife of A. H. Konkle, of Grand Rapids, and Robert War- ren, who died at the age of four and a half years, second child of the three. Mr. Vandeven's wife died in 1895 and in 1899 he was married to Miss Amelia Ernestine Heinzelman, and of this union there have been two children born, Frances Louise, wife of Oliver Wallace, of Grand Rapids, and Dorothy. Carl L. Adams, proprietor of Michigan Gear Parts Company, 7 Fountain Street, Northwest, was born in Colon, Michigan, on June 2, 1882. He received his preliminary education in the schools of his native town and was graduated from the Colon high school in 1900. He came to Grand Rapids in 1903 and here started his business career with the Adams Cement Block Company. He then organized the Architect and Building Company, and was in business for about six years. He then widened the scope of his business and general expe- rience during an absence of four years spent in Texas and Oklahoma. But he returned to Grand Rapids and engaged in various kinds of business until February, 1923, when he organized the Michigan Gear and Parts Company, of which he is the sole proprietor. Mr. Adams is a member of the Masonic order, a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the Masonic Country Club. He also holds membership in the Association of Commerce. He was married in 1911 to Miss Mary Roy of Tulsa, Oklahoma. To this union have been born three chil- dren, Ayvonne, now aged eleven years; Gayle, now aged nine years, and June, now seven years of age. . Louis V. Middleton was born in Grand Rapids, February 28, 1882. His antecedents were English on his father's side and York State Dutch on his mother's side. His father, the late Victor H. Middleton, was prescription clerk for Peck Brothers, for twelve years. Upon the death of his father and the second marriage of his mother, the family removed to Mississippi, locating on a farm in the back woods. Louis had attended school in Grand Rapids as far as the end of the fifth grade. His subsequent education was self acquired. When eighteen years of age he taught district school for a year. In the mean- time he acquired a knowledge of pharmacy by home study. Returning to Grand Rapids one year later he found employment for a year in the pharmacy of Dr. Louis Barth. He subsequently worked five years in the West drug stores, having charge of the surgical instrument depart- ment. He also worked for Benjamin Schroeder, Gil. Haan and Walter K. Schmidt. Fifteen years ago he engaged in business on his own account at 921 Ottawa avenue, remaining there nine years, when he re- moved his stock to the corner of Ottawa avenue and Mason street. From the beginning he specialized on biologies of various kinds. He soon worked up a large trade with physicians, so that his store is now regarded as headquarters for these goods. Mr. Middleton has been 460 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY supervisor of the second ward two terms. He has been a member of the board of directors of the Kent County Detention Home. He was instrumental in starting the Ottawa Community Improvement Associa- tion six years ago, and served the organization as secretary several years. He has edited the publication known as the Ottawa Enterprise for ten years. He was the first secretary of the Grand Rapids Retail Drug- gists' Association. He is attributed to have been the first one to sug- gest the use of the word victory in describing the fifth Liberty Loan. He wrote the treasury department the day after armistice was signed, suggesting the name above stated and also that the numerical designa- tion of the loan be written V. Both suggestions were subsequently adopted by the government. When the school houses were designated as the places where questionnaires could be filled up by those subject to the draft, the Coldbrook school house was closed by smallpox. Mr. Middleton threw open his store to the officers designated to handle the papers, being probably the only drug store in the United States which was thus honored. Mr. Middleton was chosen as secretary of the Michigan State Pharmaceutical Association in 1919 and has been re- elected as secretary of that organization in each succeeding year and is now satisfactorily serving in that capacity. Mr. Middleton was married fourteen years ago to Miss Julia Van Rossum, of Grand Rapids. They have the following children, Victor J., who was born on December 26, 1909 and is now a senior in the Central high school and drummer in the band; Peter L., born August 31, 1914; Zilla M., born December 13, 1921 and Nella L., born October 5, 1923. The family reside in their home at 30 Mason street. Mr. Middleton is a director in the Professional Underwriters Corporation. Besides the organizations above named Mr. Middleton belongs to the B. P. O. E., N. A. R. D. and A. Ph. A. He takes an active interest in all of his professional and fraternal affiliations, which makes him one of the busiest men in the city. Whatever he does he believes in doing well. His wife, Mrs. Middleton, is one of the three owners of the Arctic Spring Water Company. She has served as president of the Coldbrook Mothers' Club. F. Peter Schmidt, secretary-treasurer of the Pulte Plumbing and Heating Company of Grand Rapids, was born in that city August 25, 1889, the son of Peter and Anna (Hubel) Schmidt, pioneer residents of the city where their son was born. Peter Schmidt was born in Germany and came to the United States when he was a youth of fourteen years. He settled in Grand Rapids where he followed his trade of stone worker. Many of the buildings of that city bear on their cornerstones the en- graving of Peter Schmidt. He died in 1912, but his widow is still living in Grand Rapids. F. Peter Schmidt was educated at St. Mary's school, Grand Rapids, and after the completion of his education, he became an apprentice in the machinist trade, which he followed for five years. For a period of seven years thereafter, he had charge of the shipping department of a leading Grand Rapids concern. In 1911, at the end of that time; he became associated with the Pulte Plumb- ing and Heating Company. At the time of the incorporation of that company in 1920, he became secretary and treasurer of the firm, a HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 461 position which he now holds. Among those engaged in the plumbing business in Grand Rapids, he is known as a man well versed in the various phases of his work, and as such he has gained an enviable reputation among them. In the year 1912, he married Miss Georgia Turcott, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Turcott of Walker town- ship, Kent county. The grandmother of Mrs. Schmidt is still living in the same log house west of Walker to which she moved in the early eighties. Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt are the parents of six children as fol- lows: Frederick E., born April 4, 1913; Joseph F., born November 2, 1915; Eugene, born December 16, 1918; Geraldine, who was born February 13, 1921; Dorothy, born April 2, 1922, and Robert, born November 12, 1924. Mr. Schmidt is a member of the Knights of Columbus, and in 1912 he was secretary and treasurer of the Wilson- Marshall Club. Nicholas J. DeYoung has been very resourceful and successful in his supervision of the business of the Toren Printing Company, which is one of the leading concerns in the general commercial printing business in the city of Grand Rapids, with a well equipped establishment at 29-31 Ottawa avenue, northwest. He is one of the principal stockholders as well as the general superintendent of this company. Mr. DeYoung was born in the picturesque province of Zeeland, the Netherlands, August 5, 1892, and is a son of Cornelius DeYoung, who came with his family to the United States and established residence in Grand Rapids in 1904, he being still a resident of this city, where the death of his wife occurred May 6, 1918. The subject of this re- view is the eldest in a family of five children, and he received his early education in the schools of his native land, he having been twelve years of age when the family home was established in Grand Rapids. In . addition to continuing his studies in the Grand Rapids public schools during a period of one year, Mr. DeYoung was for several terms a student in night schools, after he had, at the age of thirteen years, en- , tered upon his apprenticeship in the establishment of the Toren Print- ing Company. Eventually also he completed a course in Hope College, at Holland, Michigan, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1913. He became skilled as a workman at the printer's trade, and after his graduation in Hope College he became, in 1914, foreman in the printing establishment in which he had served his apprenticeship. Later he was made superintendent of the plant, and in April, 1919, Mr. DeYoung effected the organization of a stock company to assume con- trol of and carry on the business, which is still continued under the original title of Toren Printing Company and of which he is the exec- utive head. In the World war period Mr. DeYoung served as a mem- ber of the Michigan state troops of reserve order. He is married and has three children: Eleanor, Gertrude Elizabeth, and Mabel Leona. H. Fred Cox is one of the progressive and successful exponents of manufacturing enterprise in the city of Grand Rapids, where he is president of the H. F. Cox Company, manufacturers and erectors of sheet metal products. The company owns and utilizes a modern build- ing of two stories, at 601-3 Ottawa avenue, northwest, and of the com- 462 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY pany the wife of Mr. Cox is secretary and treasurer, her interposition being not merely nominal but of efficient executive order. Mr. Cox was born in Cambridge, England, September 23, 1876, and was three years of age when his parents came to the United States and established their home in Ionia county, Michigan, where they still maintain their home. The father, Job Cox, was long and actively associated with farm industry in that county but is now living virtually retired in the city of Ionia. H. Fred Cox gained his early education in the public schools of Ionia and was twenty-one years of age when he came to Grand Rapids and entered upon an apprenticeship in the establish- ment of the W. C. Hopson company, large manufacturers of sheet metal products. He remained with this concern eight years, and became a skilled artisan in all lines of sheet metal work. Upon severing his con- nection with the Hopson company Mr. Cox formed a partnership and became junior member of the firm of Behler & Cox, which engaged in the hardware business at the corner of Robinson road and Lake drive, where the firm also made provisions for sheet metal and roofing work. Eventually Mr. Cox purchased the interest of his partner, and in 1913 the business was incorporated, under the title of the H. F. Cox Com- pany, that year having been marked also by the erection of the com- pany's present building, the mechanical and general equipment of which is of the best modern type. The company manufacture and install all kinds of sheet metal work, including that for heating and ventilating systems, cornices, skylights, fire doors, roofing, cast-bronze conductor, guards, etc., besides manufacturing steel office and factory equipment. Mr. Cox is a loyal member of the Grand Rapids Association of Com- merce and the local Builders and Traders Exchange, besides having membership in the Michigan Sheet Metal and Roofing Contractors Association and the Grand Rapids Credit Association. His political alignment is with the Republican party and he and his wife are members of the Central Church of Christ. In 1910 Mr. Cox wedded Miss Louise Fletcher, who was born and reared in Grand Rapids and who is a daughter of Joseph and Phoebe (Odell) Fletcher, her father having been for forty years foreman in the local factory of the Rindge- Kalmbach-Logie Shoe Company. Mr. and Mrs. Cox have no children. Daniel G. Lyzen was, before his death, one of the ablest mor- ticians of Grand Rapids. He combined scientific training with diplomacy and his work was characterized by a scrupulous regard for the sensibili- ties of the members of the family of a deceased person and for the privileges of the other mourners and funeral attendants. He handled the details of a funeral so that they moved with precision and system yet in a manner not detracting from the solemnity of the occasion. He was born of Dutch parents in Holland, Michigan, August 27, 1872. , His parents, Martin and Johanna (Zalesman) Lyzen, immigrated to the United States from the Netherlands in 1870, settling first at Hol- land, Michigan, and later at Grand Rapids. There Daniel Lyzen at- tended school at the Division street grammar school, applying himself to his books with that earnestness and endeavor which characterized his work in later years. He turned his attention to the undertaking busi- ness, learning embalming and funeral direction under the careful tute- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 463 . lage of Joseph Sprattler. When he had learned the business in its various phases, he continued with Sprattler for a time as assistant to enhance and perfect his knowledge of undertaking. In 1907, he en- gaged in the business for himself, first locating at 116 Jefferson street. He later removed to the present site of the business at 53 Jefferson avenue. There he prospered until the time of his death, April 26, 1924, and the expressions of sorrow sent his wife at that time proved an accurate measure of the regard in which he was held by the people of the community where he lived and worked. His wife, Ma- belle A. (Klein) Lyzen, was the daughter of Theodore and Caroline (Fosget) Klein, the former of whom was born in Germany and came to the United States with his parents in 1849 when he was a year old, his father dying at sea during the voyage. The Klein family settled in New York, Theodore coming to the state of Michigan when he reached manhood. In Michigan, he met and married Caroline Fosget whose family came from France to become honored residents of Detroit. Mrs. Lyzen, since the death of her husband, has continued to operate the business. Her success in this field but swells the total of the number of women who have attempted to do a man's work and achieved their object. Like her husband she is a highly qualified undertaker and embalmer and has excellent equipment for that highly specialized service. Albert L. Donaldson, president and general manager of the Donaldson Motor Sales Company, Grand Rapids, has made a record of successful exploitive service in connection with the automotive trade in his native state of Michigan, his birth having occurred in the city of Detroit, on the 17th day of March, 1886, and he being a son of John and Margarita Donaldson. His educational advantages were those af- forded by the public schools, in which he continued his studies until his graduation in the Central high school of Detroit. Thereafter he took a two years' course in electrical and mechanical engineering, and he then obtained employment with the Detroit Edison Company. His ambition and good judgment soon lead him to associate himself with the automobile industry, which offered greater opportunities for in- dividual advancement, and accordingly, in 1907, he found employment in the great Detroit factory of the Packard Motor Car Company. He gained one year of practical experience in the various construction de- partments of the extensive manufacturing plant, was in service in the sales department for a similar period, and then passed a year in the factory's specification department having to do with the production of automobile bodies. The following two years found Mr. Donaldson associated with the general sales department of the plant, and he next passed three years as a salesman in the Packard retail department in Detroit. In all of these connections he applied himself to study and practical work, and thus rounded out an experience that makes him familiar with all phases of the motor car industry and business. In 1919 he came to Grand Rapids and organized the Donaldson Motor Sales Company, which has here developed a large and prosperous busi- ness in the exploiting and handling of the Packard automobiles. The company has finely equipped headquarters at 250 Michigan avenue, 464 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY northeast. Mr. Donaldson is president and general manager, Benja- min P. Merrick is vice-president, and Frank S. Chesley is secretary and treasurer. William C. Chinnick is as popular in Grand Rapids as he is versatile and successful as a progressive business man, and that he provides both entertainment and virtual "public-utility service in this community is manifest when it is noted that he here conducts a well ordered restaurant that is known as the Stag Cafeteria, well ordered billiard parlors and bowling alleys, and a barber shop of the best modern facilities and service. The Chinnick cafeteria, billiard rooms and bowling alleys are at 119-121 Pearl street. He has billiard rooms also at 91-93 Monroe street, and his popular family cafeteria is at 41 Ionia street, northwest. Mr. Chinnick was born at Chatham, province of Ontario, Canada, September 17, 1864, and is a son of the late William and Elizabeth (O'Connor) Chinnick, the family home having been established in Grand Rapids in 1881 and the father having here been engaged in the restaurant business a number of years and having thereafter removed to the state of Georgia, where he continued in the same line of business until his death, in 1913. William C. Chin- nick received his early education in the schools of his native province and was a lad of seventeen years at the time of the family removal to Grand Rapids. He eventually established himself in the restaurant and retail liquor business in this city, and the latter department of the enterprise he conducted, at all times with careful observance of the law and in a distinctly orderly manner, until the national prohibition law brought about its elimination. He still continues his restaurant and billiard parlors in the quarters that he has occupied during the past twenty-eight years, and he takes pride in having the only stag cafeteria in the city of Grand Rapids. He also still conducts his tonsorial par- lor, which is located in the same building and is one of the best in the city. In his various enterprises he has large and appreciative support- ing patronage, and he has secure place in popular confidence and es- teem in the city that has been his home for many years and to which his loyalty is unwavering. He is a member of the Association of Com- merce, and is also affiliated with the Elks' Club, the Peninsular Club, the Cascade Country Club, the Grand Rapids Boat and Canoe Club, and the Grand Rapids Whist Club. His family are communicants of the Catholic cathedral church of St. Andrew. Mr. Chinnick married Miss Jeanette Gibson, of St. Clair, this state, and they have three daughters: Helen, Marian and Dorothy. Helen was graduated in the Michigan State College as a member of the class of 1923, and is now engaged in social service work in Lansing, Michigan; Marian is a student in Mich- igan State College, and Dorothy is attending the Central high school. Faye Vandercook is a representative of the third generation of the Vandercook family to be identified with the marble and granite business in Michigan, as applied to the production of high grade cemetery memorials, and he now owns and conducts in Grand Rapids a sub- stantial business that was here founded by his father in the year 1892. . This well ordered business enterprise is carried on under the title of HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 465 the Grand Rapids Monument Company. Mr. Vandercook was born at Allegan, Michigan, in the year 1881, and is a scion of a family that was founded in this state more than seventy-five years ago. His grandfather, the late Michael Vandercook, was a pioneer in the monu- ment and grave-stone business at Ann Arbor, and later was engaged in the same line of business at Kalamazoo, where he continued operations until his removal to Allegan, the latter city having been his place of residence at the time of his death. Henry B. Vandercook, father of the subject of this sketch, was born at Ann Arbor, in 1862, and he learned his trade under the effective direction of his father, with whom he was long associated in business and whom he succeeded in the con- trol of the business at Allegan, where he maintained his home many years. In 1892 Henry B. Vandercook came with his family to Grand Rapids and engaged in the monument business in partnership with Jeremiah E. Poland and Joseph Wenzel. He eventually purchased the interests of his partners, and in 1916 he admitted his son Faye to part- nership in the business, this alliance having continued until 1922, since which year Faye Vandercook has continued the enterprise in an in- dividual way, the Grand Rapids Monument Company being one of the leading concerns of this kind in western Michigan and controlling a substantial and prosperous business. The company has a plant of most modern equipment and facilities and the high grade of the output constitutes the best advertising for the concern. The rudimentary edu- cation of Faye Vandercook was acquired in the public schools of Alle- gan, and he later attended the public schools of Grand Rapids, to which city the family removed when he was a lad of eleven years. Here also he attended McLaughlin Business College, and through his close as- sociation with his father's business he fortified himself in all details of the monument trade and business, of which he is now a prominent and successful exponent in this city. His son Wayne L., a graduate of the Grand Rapids south high school, is, in 1925, taking a course in designing at the Bliss Designing School of Rockford, Illinois, where he is equipping himself for future association with his father in the monument business, in which he will be a representative of the fourth generation of the family. Walter E. Gray takes definite satisfaction in being associated with one of the substantial and well directed business enterprises lend- ing to the commercial prestige of his native city of Grand Rapids, where he is secretary and manager of the Gray-Beach Cigar Company, which conducts a large and prosperous wholesale cigar business. with headquarters at 109 Michigan avenue, northwest, and with a trade extending through the territory normally tributary to Grand Rapids as a distributing center. Mr. Gray was born in this city September 8, , 1880, and is a son of Freeland H. and Eva A. (Billings) Gray, repre- sentatives of honored and influential pioneer families of Allegan county, Michigan, where the original members of the Gray family settled in 1856, upon coming from Orleans county, New York, and where the Billings family was founded in the early pioneer period of Michigan history. Mrs. Eva A. (Billings) Gray was a daughter of Walter Bil- lings, who was one of the venerable pioneer citizens of Allegan county, 466 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY at the time of his death, in 1903, when seventy-nine years of age. He and two of his brothers were gallant soldiers of the Union in the Civil war, and the Billings family has been one of prominence in Allegan county since the early pioneer era. Through intermarriages it became closely allied with the Barrager and Clark families, likewise of pioneer prestige in that county, and the annual family reunions held now call together four or five hundred of the kinfolk. The original repre- sentatives of the Billings family in America came from Scotland and settled in Pennsylvania, in 1762, and four brothers of the name, includ- ing the father of the late Walter Billings of Allegan county, were patriot soldiers in the war of the Revolution. Freeland H. Gray and two of his brothers served with Michigan troops during the entire period of the Civil war, in which he was a member of the Thirteenth Michigan Volunteer Infantry. Freeland H. Gray continued his resi- dence in Allegan county until 1868, when he established his residence in Grand Rapids, he having here passed the remainder of his life and having been about sixty-three years of age at the time of his death. He was long associated with business affairs in this city, was a Republican in politics and was affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic. His wife, whose death occurred September 8, 1910, served as state president of the Michigan Woman's Relief Corps and as a member of the national board of the Daughters of Veterans, the Eva Gray Tent of the Woman's Relief Corps in Grand Rapids having been named in her honor. Of the six children one, Gailie, is deceased, and the other five reside in Grand Rapids, the subject of this sketch being the one surviving son and his sisters being Mrs. A. B. Cooper, Mrs. Helen Vogelsang, Mrs. Fred English, and Mrs. George Erwood. After com- pleting his studies in the Central high school of Grand Rapids, Walter E. Gray here took a course in the McLachlan Business College. He had the distinction of being the youngest man from Grand Rapids to serve as a soldier in the Spanish-American war, in which he was a member of the Sons of Veteran Company of the Thirty-third Michigan Volun- teer Infantry. He accompanied his command to the stage of conflict and in his service well upheld the military honors of the family name. July 4, 1898, he personally witnessed the sinking of the Spanish fleet in Cuban waters, and this he gained from an excellent vantage point on the shore, only a short distance away. He is actively affiliated with the Spanish-American War Veterans and also with the Sons of Veter- ans, besides being eligible for membership in the society of the Sons of the American Revolution. As a commercial salesman Mr. Gray has traveled extensively through the western states, besides having vis- ited Alaska, and since 1901 he has been closely associated with the cigar business in Grand Rapids. In 1924 he here became one of the prin- cipals in the organizing of the Gray-Beach Cigar Company, of which he is the secretary and general manager, Gerrit J. Johnson being president and Walter D. Beach treasurer of the company. This is the only Grand Rapids concern engaged exclusively in the wholesale cigar business, and throughout a trade territory in Michigan and neighboring states they have developed a large business in which connection it is to be noted that this city stands second only to Detroit in the volume of cigars HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 467 manufactured in Michigan. Mr. Gray has been long engaged in the cigar business and is well known throughout the trade territory in which his company operates. He is an active member of the local As- sociation of Commerce, is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, in which his basic membership is in Valley City Lodge No. 86, A. F. & A. M., and besides being a noble of Saladin Temple of the Mystic Shrine he is a popular member also of Grand Rapids lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. January 27, 1908, was the date of the mar- riage of Mr. Gray to Miss Margaret A. Plaat, who likewise was born and reared in Grand Rapids, where her father, Gerrit W. Plaat has been for many years associated with the Hazeltine & Perkins Drug Company. Mr. and Mrs. Gray, who are popular figures in the repre- sentative social activities of their native city, have two children, Gordon J. and Dorothy M. Theodore Petersen, proprietor of Petersen Drug Stores, at 137 East Fulton street and at the corner of State and Madison streets was born in Muskegon, Michigan, on January 25, 1889. He passed through the consecutive grades to his graduation from the high school at Muske- gon with the class of 1907. He then continued a course of technical training and was graduated from the Practical Institute of Pharmacy at Marlette, Michigan, in 1912. He entered upon his work in this profession with the Schrouder Drug Store Company with whom he continued for seven years. In 1915 he embarked in business for him- self by opening a drug store at 137 East Fulton street. There he met with sufficient success that in January, 1924, he opened a second store at the corner of State and Madison streets. On October 5, 1925, these drug stores were incorporated under the name of Petersen's Drug Stores, Inc., his brother, Walter A. Petersen, being now associated with him in this company as vice-president and Mrs. Theo. Petersen, his wife, secretary and treasurer, and Theodore Petersen president.. Mr. Petersen is a member of the York Lodge 410, F. & A. M., Masonic Country Club, Grand Rapids Lions Club and the Association of Com- merce. He enlarges his professional experience by contact with others in his line of work, through an active membership in the Michigan State Pharmaceutical Association and the American Retail Druggists' Associa- tion. His religious affiliation is with the Trinity Lutheran Church. He is also a member of Columbian Chapter R. A. M. In 1914 Mr. Peter- sen was united in marriage to Miss Ella Schultze, a native of Grand Rapids, and daughter of Theodore and Augusta Schultze. Her mother, Mrs. Augusta Schultze is well known in Grand Rapids, as she con- ducted a millinery store in this city for practically fifty years and re- cently retired at the age of seventy-four years. Mr. Schultze died in 1900. Mr. and Mrs. Petersen have two daughters, Louise, born June 13, 1915, and Dorothy, born April 12, 1921. Fred C. Matthews, of the firm of Pringle-Matthews Company, Delco-Light, Frigidaire Distributors (Main office, Dayton, Ohio), 18 Fulton street, west, Grand Rapids, Michigan, is the head of the above named firm which opened up business in December, 1920, to distribute the modern methods of individual and home lighting plants and more 468 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY recently developed refrigeration. Some time after this business was opened up in 1920 Mr. Pringle and Mr. Matthews dissolved their as- sociation and Claud L. Winter became a partner of Mr. Matthews in 1923. Fred C. Matthews was born at Thompson, Geauga county, Ohio, about forty miles from the city of Cleveland, Ohio, on October 20, 1877. When fourteen years of age he moved to Jackson, Michigan with his parents. His early education was received in Thompson and Galion, Ohio, schools. He was graduated from the Jackson high school and then continued his education in the literary department of the University of Michigan where he spent three years, but was obliged to give up his college activities on account of failing eyesight. He then entered in business with his father, George A. Matthews, under the firm name of Jackson Automobile Company, in 1907, and there continued in business with a growing success, expanding experience and increasing mechanical knowledge until December, 1920, when he came to Grand Rapids. Here with R. A. Pringle he opened up the distributing agency of the Delco-Light Products for western Michigan. This work has given him a wide opportunity, which he has in no wise neglected. Mr. Matthews is a Free Mason and holds his membership in Jackson, and is a member of Saladin Temple Shrine of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and of the Lions Club of Grand Rapids. He and his wife are active mem- bers of Trinity M. E. Church. On October 25, 1900, he married Miss Harriet Greenwood of Jackson, Michigan. They have one son George E., born November 1, 1907, and now a senior of Central high school of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Mr. Matthews and family reside at 1219 Thomas street. Fred M. Boylon initiated and developed in Grand Rapids unique business enterprise, that of buying and carefully remodeling old houses and making them attractive places of residence. In this venture he had a most loyal and efficient coadjutor in the person of his wife, who assumed the management of all office details, and the two continue to be thus closely associated in the now large and important real estate and construction business that they have developed through their energy, discrimination and progressive policies. Mr. Boylon was born on the parental home farm near Ada, Kent county, Michigan, March 17, 1877, and is a son of Thomas and Susan (Murray) Boylon, the former of whom was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1827, and the latter of whom was born in Troy, New York, she having been a child at the time when her parents came to Michigan and became pioneer set- tlers in Ionia county, she having later been the first school teacher in that county. Thomas Boylon was about seven years old when he ac- companied his parents to the United States, in 1834, and the family home was maintained at Seneca Falls, New York, until 1844, when re- moval was made to the new state of Michigan, which had been admitted to the Union about seven years previously. The father of Thomas Boylon purchased government land in Kent county, and reclaimed the same into a productive farm, this old homestead being still in possession of the Boylon family and being that on which the subject of this sketch was born. Fred M. Boylon assisted in the work of the home farm and attended the district school of the neighborhood until he was fourteen HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 469 years of age, when he found employment in driving a team in a lumber camp in the northern part of the state. He thus worked during winter seasons, and in the intervening summers he worked on the home farm. In the autumns he made the rounds with a threshing machine outfit, and when the winter season came again he would resume work in the lumber camps. He thus continued until he had attained to his legal majority, and it was about this time that the nation became involved in the war with Spain, in 1898. Mr. Boylon promptly enlisted in the Nineteenth Infantry Regiment of the United States regular army, and with this command he served in Cuba, Porto Rico and the Philippine Islands. He was thus in service two years and three months, and after receiving his honorable discharge he came to Grand Rapids and entered the employ of what is now the Pere Marquette Railroad Company. He was thus engaged twelve years, and in 1912, in a railroad accident, he was severely a injured. Upon recovering sufficiently to justify his resumption of active life he turned his attention to the buying of old houses and, after placing them in good condition he would sell the properties. In the early period he had to encounter many difficulties and problems, but, with the aid of his wife, who attended to the office work, including the drawing of remodeling plans, and who also gave valuable counsel, he pressed forward to the goal of success. In the first year he and his wife-partner remodeled two houses and sold them to good advantage. Thus encouraged, they gradually amplified their operations, and the broad scope of their business at the present time is indicated in the fact that in 1924 they erected and sold fifty-five new houses, and did a business amounting to more than $500,000. The Boylons buy solid blocks of land and on the same erect modern houses for which they find a ready demand. At the time of this writing, in the summer of 1925, they have twenty-two houses under construction, and give employment to one hundred and twenty men. It is a splendid achievement and a splendid courage and determination that have marked the business activities of Mr. and Mrs. Boylon, and notwithstanding the large busi- ness they now control they still adhere to their original plan and maintain their office headquarters in their home. That home today is a most attractive place, on Fulton street, east, and the home is known for its good cheer and generous hospitality. Mr. and Mrs. Boylon have a host of friends in both business and social circles in Grand Rapids. Mrs. Boylon, whose maiden name was Fannie McDermott, was born and reared in Grand Rapids and is a daughter of Charles McDermott. Of the six children of Mr. and Mrs. Boylon four are living: Thomas C., Frederick M., Jr., Helen, and Gladys. Christian J. Litscher. With the Russian capital, Moscow, in flames at its back, the army of Napoleon turned toward France. A Russian winter closed down on the plodding army, and into the teeth of blinding snowstorms, the starving soldiers, the flower of the French army, began the long journey to their homeland, which only 108,000 of the half million men that entered upon the cam- paign ever returned. In the decimated ranks of the French army was one Christian Litscher, his wet clothing frozen to his body and his frost bitten fingers clinging desperately to an ice-coated 470 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY rifle. In the midst of a snowstorm that raged over the Russian steppes on November 6, 1812, Christian Litscher dropped from the ranks for a little rest, a rest that became eternal. Christian Litscher died as he had fought, a noble member of the famous Swiss Guards. But the indomitable spirit of this soldier of Na- poleon lives on in a citizen of Grand Rapids, for the fourth of that riame, Christian J. Litscher, is prominently identified with the electrical supply business of that city. His father came from Switzerland to America and settled in Chicago with his wife, Anna (Rosalie) Litscher, who was born in Switzerland. Christian Litscher had little opportunity for schooling, though he attended the public schools of Chicago until he had completed the eighth grade. In 1895 when he was but a boy he secured a job with an electrical supply house in Chicago as office boy at a weekly wage of four dollars. His industry and close attention to his duty attracted the favorable attention of his superiors of his superiors through the positions of order clerk, billing clerk, and chief clerk. After a time spent in the last named position he became a traveling salesman for the same house, his territory being the entire state of Michigan. Dur- ing his nine years spent in this work, he foresaw the possibili- ties in a similar enterprise established in Grand Rapids, and in 1909 he severed his connections with the Chicago firm and opened an electrical supply business in Grand Rapids in a small way. From its inception the business was incorporated in order that the antici- pated expansion in business could be handled expeditiously. At the outset Mr. Litscher was not only the president of the company but also the entire sales force, a striking contrast to the present plant, which now employes eight salesmen traveling throughout western Michigan. The original capitalization of the plant was $7,000, and the floor space occupied by the company was approxi- mately 7,000 square feet. The steady growth of the business has been met by corresponding increases in the capitalization of the company and the floor space utilized until at the present time the capital stock stands at $200,000 and the floor space is 25,000 square feet in extent. The C. J. Litscher Electric Company is located at 41-43 Market avenue, where a line of electrical supplies complete in every detail is carried by the concern. Mr. Litscher, by his achievement in building up such a large and flourishing company, is recognized in business circles of the city, and his ability as an executive and manager is conceded to be of the highest quality by his associates in business. He is a wide awake and progressive business man, and he loses no opportunity to advance the interests of his company through legitimate competition. He married Sarah Ann MacNeil, the daughter of John MacNeil, one of the pioneers of Northern Michigan, and to this union have been born the fol- lowing children: Christian, the fifth of that name, Stephen, Daniel, and Benjamin. Henry Patterson is president and his son, Cleon H. Patterson, is secretary-treasurer of Patterson Printing Company, Inc., 337 Mon- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 471 roe avenue, Grand Rapids. Henry Patterson was born in Paterson, New Jersey, January 14, 1865. His parents, Komer and Nellie Patterson, came to Grand Rapids when Henry was six months old. The father, Komer, came from his native country, the Netherlands, about 1857, to Paterson, New Jersey. The mother and father spent the remainder of their days in Grand Rapids, where she died in 1868 and he died in 1888. Henry Patterson secured his elementary education in the public schools of Grand Rapids and entered the high school. At the age of fifteen years he was receiving his train- ing in the printing trade in that avenue of entry of so many suc- cessful printers, as a printers' devil with W. C. Dennis, of Grand Rapids. He remained with this work until he reached the age of seventeen, when he took up clerking in a grocery store and fol- lowed that work for four years, then he returned to the printing trade. He progressed steadily as a printer until 1913, when he branched out for himself and established the Patterson Printing Company. This business had advanced sufficiently to be incor- porated in 1918 with Henry Patterson as president and Cleon H. Patterson as secretary-treasurer. Henry Patterson holds his relig- ious affiliation with the United Brethren church; his fraternal memberships are in Valley City Lodge No. 86, F. & A. M., and Columbia Chapter, 132, R. A. M. and K. 0. T. M. He is also a member of the Association of Commerce. He was united in mar- riage in April, 1886, with Sarah Bosma, who was born in Lamont, Michigan, on February 13, 1866. She was the mother of one son, Cleon H., who was born in Grand Rapids, on January 10, 1889. He received his education in the public schools of Grand Rapids, graduating from the eighth grade. Cleon has been a piano player since he was nine years old and played for nine years in a band in Grand Rapids. He worked in various occupations, including three years' service in the printing trade, when in 1918 he became asso- ciated with his father, and is holding the position of secretary- treasurer of the Patterson Printing Company. He is also a mem- ber of Valley City Lodge No. 8, F. & A. M., Columbia Chapter No. 132, R. A. M. and K. 0. T. M. Cleon was married on Novem- ber 11, 1915, to Mayme Zylstra, who was born in Grand Rapids on August 29, 1889. They have one son, Raymond Gerald, who was born on September 10, 1920. Mrs. Sarah (Bosma) Patterson died on February 17, 1917, and, April 28, 1919, Henry Patterson was united in wedlock with Mrs. Harriett Mackie, of Grand Rapids, who had two children as a result of her marriage to Mr. Mackie, Carlton and Lucile Mackie. Charles E. Miller, manager of the Miller Furnace Company, 20 Ionia avenue, southwest, Grand Rapids, is a native of this city, born here April 21, 1859. He is the son of William and Jane (Alex- ander) Miller, both of whom were born at Ayreshire, Scotland, the former October 6, 1833, and the latter December 12, 1832. They were married at Glasgow, Scotland, June 6, 1856. William Miller was a son of Charles Miller, also a native of Scotland, born Novem- 472 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY ber 4, 1807. His wife was Jane Stenhouse, who was likewise a native of Scotland, born February 7, 1807. After the death of his wife in Scotland, January 12, 1851, Charles Miller came to Grand Rapids. William Miller and Jane (Alexander) Miller came to Grand Rapids in 1858. He found employment with W. D. Foster, then the only hardware merchant in Grand Rapids. Mr. Miller had received a public school education in Scotland and had learned the trades of plumbing, heating, copper metal work and steam fitting and was an expert in all of these lines. So upon his arrival in Grand Rapids he at once secured the position as superintendent in the sheet metal department of Mr. Foster's business institution. After working a short time as a gas fitter, beginning in 1859, and at about the time the Civil war broke out in 1861, he went to Brooklyn, where he resided and held a position in New York City. He had two brothers who served in the Civil war. At the close of the war he went to Scotland as superintendent of a sheet metal stamp- ing works. He had only been in Scotland two and a half years when the works where he was employed as superintendent were destroyed by fire. He then came back to Grand Rapids and again became associated with his old employer, W. D. Foster. In 1873 he founded the business now known as the Miller Furnace Com- pany, which was first operated under the name of William Miller. Charles E. Miller in due course of time became a partner with his father and the firm then assumed the title of William Miller & Son. In 1892 another son, David Alexander Miller, associated him- self with his father and became a member of the firm. In 1902 William Miller sold his interest in the business to his sons and retired. The firm then became known as the Miller Furnace Com- pany, which name it has since retained. William Miller was always an active member of the Park Congregational church. He died in March, 1909, having outlived his wife thirteen years, she having died February 14, 1896. He was a member of the Masonic order, and active in the Burns and Calidonian clubs. Mr. Miller was accounted a genius in his line of work and was also very fond of out-of-doors sports, a trait which has been undoubtedly transmitted to his children and grandchildren. William Miller and wife had six children: Jennie, born in Scotland, July 8, 1857; Charles E., the subject of this record; Rebecca, born in Brooklyn, February 21, 1861; David Alexander, born in Brooklyn, August 26, 1863; Barbara, born in Scotland, May 21, 1868, and William J., born in Grand Rapids, April 15, 1871. Rebecca was the wife of Mr. King- man. Mr. and Mrs. Kingman were missionaries to Africa when she died at Freetown, Liberia, July 11, 1890. Charles E. Miller, the subject of this record, was reared in Grand Rapids, Brooklyn, New York, and Scotland, where he spent about two years of his boyhood from his seventh to ninth years. There he attended public schools and, being full of mischief with severe teachers, it is re- counted that he received punishment quite often by having his hands ruled or being struck over the knuckles, if he failed to hold HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 473 the pen just right when studying penmanship. He worked when a boy in a factory in Scotland where his father was superintendent, and this began his instruction in the work which has lead to his successful career. With this training he has continued the busi- ness established by his father and built up what is now the oldest furnace company in the state of Michigan. After returning to Grand Rapids from Scotland with his parents, Charles E. Miller attended and graduated from the Grand Rapids high school in 1878. In his boyhood days in Grand Rapids he sold newspapers and helped in his father's shop, continuing in this work until he became a partner in the business. Mr. Miller is a thirty-second degree Mason and a Shriner. He is fond of all out-door sports, including skating, at which he is an expert even to the present day, golf, a game which he loves and at which he is an adept, and he has achieved a recognized record as a baseball player and also as an oarsman. He and his family are active members of the Park Congregational church and are prominent in social circles. Mr. Miller was married in 1887 to Miss Ida May Solomon, a daughter of William H. Solomon, a lumberman, now deceased. Mr. Miller and wife have one daughter, Madge Marie, a graduate of the Grand Rapids high school. She is also a graduate from a musical college and is now a concert artist (contralto voice). She has taken private instructions under the eminent musicians Max Specker and Isadore Luckstone, of New York City, and at present resides in Detroit. She has appeared in over five hundred cities in the United States and toured Canada from Quebec to Winnipeg. Like her father she is fond of out-door sports and has won the golf state championship of Michigan. David A. Miller, a brother and partner of Charles E. Miller, received his education in the public and high schools of Grand Rapids. Like his brother, he worked in his father's store when a boy, and assisted in the business until he became a partner in the firm. He is also a member of the Masonic order and the Park Congregational church. He married Elizabeth Keeler, of Grand Rapids, June 4, 1889, and they have one son, Earl Kingman Miller, born in Grand Rapids and a graduate of the high school. He is now a salesman for the Miller Furnace Company. He married Mildred Mohrhardt, daughter of Peter D. Mohrhardt, whose career is given in detail elsewhere in this work. They have one son, Dannie, born July 27, 1924. Ira N. Spade, president of Spade Tire Company, 7 Fulton street, west, was born in Summit county, Ohio, on November 7, 1886. He attended the public schools in that county until he reached the age of thirteen years, when he found it necessary to leave the schoolroom and seek employment. The very names of the factories in which he secured his early business training speak for his fundamental experience in his chosen line of work when the names of the Goodrich Rubber Company, Goodyear Rubber Company, and Diamond Rubber Company, of Akron. Ohio, are recorded. Considered in connection with the fact that his experi- 474 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY ence with these companies was gained when they were yet small institutions and the tire industry itself was yet in its infancy, the value of such training is more strongly emphasized. Upon June 1, 1909, Mr. Spade located in Grand Rapids, where he was first em- ployed by J. D. Noble, Grand Rapids Vulcanizing Company, in which work he remained for four years. Then Mr. Spade, with Amel Tisch and Oliver Goldsmith, organized the Auto Tire and Vulcanizing Company at 10 and 12 Island street, now Western street. For three years Mr. Spade held the position of vice-presi- dent with that company: In 1916 Mr. Spade more ambitiously reached out in his line of work by establishing the Spade Vulcan- izing Company at 7 Fulton street, west, and in April, 1924, organ- ized the Spade Company, Inc., with Vincent G. McCourt as secre- tary and treasurer. With the foundation heretofore outlined, the experience he had gained and the ability shown in this line, Mr. Spade has become recognized as an expert on tires and his advice and service is sought wherever special information is desired upon this subject. In addition to his business duties Mr. Spade finds time to devote active support to the B. P. O. Elks and to his home life, he having married Miss Grace McCourt, October 14, 1908, at Akron, Ohio. He brought his bride to Grand Rapids with him in the following year and established his home in this city. They have one son, Robert William, born November 14, 1922. Vincent G. McCourt, secretary and treasurer of the Spade Tire Company, 7 Fulton street, west, Grand Rapids, was born in Akron, Ohio, on January 2, 1895. He gained his early education in the parochial and public schools of Akron and later attended the Assumption college at Sandwich, Ontario, Canada. He entered upon his business career in the capacity of foreman and time- keeper for the Doolittle & Garland Construction Company, with headquarters at Kent, Ohio. He came to Grand Rapids and asso- ciated with the American Seating Company of Grand Rapids as assistant purchasing agent. He answered the call of his country during the World war upon his enlistment in naval service on April 9, 1917, and served until October 19, 1919. He was overseas for eighteen months, and served with a special mission at Amster- dam, the Netherlands, charged with returning Dutch ships to their owners in that country. Upon his return to civic life he became associated with Ira N. Spade, and remained with that growing business, which, on April 10, 1924, was incorporated, with Mr. McCourt as secretary and treasurer. In religion he is a member of the Catholic church, maintains fraternal activity in the Knights of Columbus and B. P. O. Elks, and membership in the Navy Club and American Legion. He was married at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago on February 17, 1922, to Miss Helen Madigan, of Grand Rapids, and they maintain a pleasant home in this city. John McNabb & Sons, general contractors, is one of the largest and most successful firms of Grand Rapids. The prestige of the name of McNabb has been built upon forty-two years of contract- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 475 ing service and the many beautiful homes and buildings which they have constructed. This record attests to the fidelity and skill of the McNabbs as builders far more forcibly than mere words could portray. This firm also presents the value of the opportunity embraced by the sons in taking up the work of their father while they still enjoyed years of valuable association with him. The senior member of this firm, John McNabb, was born in Ontario, Canada, on December 11, 1853. His preliminary education was confined to a portion of a public school course, as he left school at the age of thirteen years. By the time he was seventeen years old he had learned the carpenter trade, which he followed in his native country until 1879, when he came to Detroit, Michigan. After one year of work there he came in 1880 to Grand Rapids, where he has since followed his trade and indelibly left his impress upon this community. As early as 1886 he widened his activities to the general contracting business. In 1910 his son, William J. McNabb, became a member of the firm and in 1920 this father ex- perienced the unusual good fortune of having a second son, Carl A. McNabb, become a member of the firm. In 1923 the business was incorporated under the name of John McNabb & Sons, with John McNabb as president, William J. McNabb as vice-president, and Carl A. McNabb as secretary and treasurer. In addition to the care of his business John McNabb finds time and energy to devote actively to the Elks Order. In 1882 Mr. McNabb married Miss Mary Ann Ryan, of Muskegon, Michigan. Their four children are carrying forth the name and traditions of the McNabb family. The eldest, William J., is a graduate of the Grand Rapids high school and attended the University of Michigan for two years. His wife was Mary Monihan, of New Haven, Connecticut. They likewise have four children, Mary, Ellen, Isabel and William J., Jr. During the World war, William J. served the government in construction work and the McNabb contracting firm was very glad to make this contribution of the time and skill of one of its members to the service of the adopted country of the father and the native country of the son. The only daughter of the family, Isabel, graduated from the Grand Rapids high school and then from a girls' school at Georgetown, Washington, D. C. The next son, Duncan J., , graduated from both the Grand Rapids high school and the Uni- versity of Michigan, and is now a member of the Kean-Higbee Company. He married Miss Rena Broadhead, of Detroit, Michi- gan, and they also have four children, John, Willis, Janet, and Stuart. Duncan McNabb responded to the call of his country and saw active service in the World war. He entered the aviation corp in 1917, was commissioned a second lieutenant, and was dis- charged in 1918. The next son and youngest member of the family, Carl Andrew, is the junior member of the firm of John McNabb & Sons. He was graduated from the Grand Rapids high school and then completed his course at the University of Michigan. He like- wise responded to the call of duty and entered the World war in May, 1917, was commissioned first lieutenant, and in July, 1918, 476 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY went overseas. He returned to the United States in September, 1919, and was discharged in that month. He served in Russia from September, 1918, until his return to the United States. He married Marjorie Scully, of Detroit, and of this union there have been born three children, Marjorie, Janet, and John Cameron. Not only have the McNabb family a splendid war record but the father, John McNabb, in times of peace while building up his successful business, has found time to render efficient service to the com- munity, having been repeatedly honored by the citizens of Grand Rapids. Through this career of political activity, his affiliation has always been with the Republican party. Mr. McNabb served for a period of ten years as alderman from the second ward. For two years he filled the office of fire and police commissioner until his resignation. He also served for five years as city commissioner, two years of which he served as mayor. He is still rendering public service as a member of the board of appeals for zoning ordinance, where he can call into play very effectively his experi- ence as an officer of the city and his technical and business knowl- edge gained in over forty years as a contractor and real builder of the community. But the activities of the McNabb family are not confined entirely to the service of the father and sons, but the mother is likewise active in her affiliation with the literary and Woman's City clubs and with her church work. John D. Hibbard is a man of proven professional ability as an engineer, who has also applied that skill to a successful business career. Mr. Hibbard was born in Chicago, October 14, 1895. His parents, John D. and Josie (Davis) Hibbard, both natives of Chi- cago, still reside there. Our subject graduated from the University high school of Chicago in 1914 and took up the study of engineer- ing in the University of Michigan. In 1918 he responded to his country's call in the World war and enlisted in the navy, where he served until March, 1919. He engaged for six months in the heat- ing and ventilating business. For three years he was with the Bissell Carpet Sweeper Company and then spent one year with the Add Index Corporation. In November, 1923, Mr. Hibbard was one of the organizers of MacMillan & Hibbard, (Inc.), a new but very rapidly growing firm engaged in the life and general insurance business in Grand Rapids. The officers of this corpora- tion are John D. Hibbard, president; Hugh MacMillan, secretary and treasurer; and Joseph F. P. Newhall, vice-president. In addi- tion to his membership in the Sigma Phi college fraternity, Mr. Hibbard is an active member of the Mid-day Club, University Club and Highland Country Club. He was married in 1918 to Miss Margaret Cook, of Chicago, and they have one daughter, Jane Louise, born July 25, 1920. Julius A. Ziesse, vice-president of the Phoenix Sprinkler and Heating Company, is a typical business man, being alert and active and long associated with the commercial development and progress of Grand Rapids. He was born in Detroit, November 12, 1860, HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 477 and secured his education in the public high schools in Detroit. He served an apprenticeship in his trade in Detroit and came to Grand Rapids in 1883. He was with the Schriver Weatherley Com- pany until 1888 and then became superintendent for Sproul & Mc- Gurrin until 1900, and in 1902 he associated himself with Frank A. Stevens and engaged in the contract automatic sprinkler and heat- ing business under the name of Phoenix Sprinkler Heating Com- pany. When this company was incorporated his son, Karl L. Ziesse, became secretary and treasurer and now holds that position. Mr. Ziesse is active in the fraternal and civic life of the community as a member of the B. P. O. Elks, Highland Golf and Country Club, Cascade Country Club, Peninsular Club, Old Colony Club and Idle Hours Angler Club. The type of organizations to which he lends his energy shows that Mr. Ziesse wisely adopts recreations physically compatible with the type of his business duties. He was married in 1886 to Miss Emma Tibald, who is a native of Grand Rapids. She is a member of the Woman's Club, Mary Free Bed Club, and Women's Catholic Club. John Moran is not only one of the more successful and well-to- do representatives of Grand Rapids business circles but as mana- ger of the Hermitage Hotel for the past fifteen years has played an important role as a "ye host" to many of Grand Rapids' citizens and visitors. The Irish-American is a type prone to an extreme success when once well started in some interesting line of endeavor. John Moran is a native of Grand Rapids, born here on March 16, 1864, son of John and Ellen (Lavin) Moran. His parents were natives of Ireland who came to Canada and later to New York State and later in life to Grand Rapids, where both resided until their deaths. The father was a stone paver and member of St. Andrews Catholic church. This worthy couple had seven children of whom John and two daughters are now living. John was edu- cated in the public schools of Grand Rapids and began his business career in the office of E. P. and S. L. Fuller, real estate, one of the leading firms of Grand Rapids. He remained with this concern for thirty-eight years, during which time he actively participated in the rapid growth of his native city as it developed addition after addition and thousands of new homes were built or acquired by its citizens. When this firm sold the Hermitage Hotel in 1912, Mr. Moran became associated with the Hermitage Realty Company as manager of the Hermitage Hotel, which position he still holds. Mr. Moran is a member of the Catholic church, Knights of Colum- bus, and Modern Woodmen of America. In 1891 he married Miss Verena Keller, of Grand Rapids, daughter of Mathew Keller, now deceased. This couple are the proud parents of seven children, Edwin B. Moran, educated in the parochial school and now repre- senting the New York Credit Association office in Chicago, the Middle-State branch, and also in charge of the office in St. Louis. His wife was Lenora Slonah, of Minneapolis, and they have three children, Peggie, Ruth and Harry. Lucy M., educated in the 478 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY parochial schools and a graduate from Michigan Agricultural col- lege and then a teacher in the Hill Training School of Saginaw, Michigan, for several years. She is now the wife of John S. Kas- berger, living in Raleigh, North Carolina, and they have one child, Jack. Gertrude, who attended parochial schools and graduated from Western Normal College, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, is the wife of Ray Mulligan. She is now a teacher of physical culture in Grand Rapids schools. Florence, educated in the parochial schools and a graduate of Grand Rapids high school, is the wife of John Boger. They have one child, Patricia, who resides at Miami, Florida. Verena, who attended parochial schools and was graduated from the University of Michigan in June, 1925, is now employed on the Miami Herald, at Miami, Florida, as staff writer. Arthur, who attended parochial schools, is now employed by the MacKenzie- Bostock-Monroe Clothing Store, of Grand Rapids. Mary is a student in the public schools of Grand Rapids. Such a splen- did group of children and grandchildren would be of more credit to any parents than any amount of success in a material way. Charles H. Bull, M. D., is one of the pioneers and practically the oldest of the present practitioners in the medical profession in Grand Rapids in length of continuous service in this community. Dr. Bull was born in Downsview, Ontario, Canada, September 28, 1866, and received his education in Weston, Ontario, high school and the medical department of the University of Toronto, Canada, from which institution he graduated in 1892. In the fall of the same year he came to Grand Rapids, where he has continuously been engaged in active practice. Dr. Bull is a member of all branches of the Masonic order and Shrine, Knights of Pythias, and affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal church. He was married July 30, 1922, to Miss Ruth McAlavy, of Grand Rapids. To a very ardent and close application to his professional duties and service to patients Dr. Bull owes a splendid success, both materially and professionally. The Doctor has so closely confined himself to pro- fessional services that he has not as voluminous a roster of par- ticipation in other activities as some of his brethren who relieve the strenuous tension of their work with these other services. But due to the fact Dr. Bull could hold up under the strain without "a change of activity," thousands of people thankfully look back upon the extra time he thereby gave to his profession without breaking under the overtime strain. Frederick A. Gorham, Jr., has become in his native city of Grand Rapids a prominent representative of his chosen profession, that of public accountant, and since 1922 he has been local partner and manager of the Michigan offices of Lawrence Scudder & Company, auditors and public accountants, with general headquarters in the city of Chicago and Grand Rapids. Mr. Gorham was born in Grand Rapids on the 12th of March, 1877, and is a son of Frederick A. and Ella (Conger) Gorham, the former of whom was born in Cuya- hoga county, Ohio, in 1845, and the latter of whom was born in HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 479 the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Frederick A. Gorham, Sr., has been a resident of Grand Rapids since the year 1875, and for a term of years he here served as an auditor for the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad. September 1, 1895, he became assistant secre- tary of the Michigan Trust Company, with which important finan- cial institution he has since continued to be connected in an execu- tive capacity, he being now its vice-president. Frederick A. Gor- ham, Jr., attended the Powell private school in Grand Rapids, and in the period of 1893-95 he was a student in a leading collegiate pre- paratory school at Concord, Massachusetts. In historic old Yale University he was graduated as a member of the class of 1899 and with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then returned to Grand Rapids, where he was employed one year by a lumber company, with which, as he has stated with a reminiscent glance at his hands, he did a little office work and had an adequate experience in piling lumber. During a period of nine years Mr. Gorham served as cashier for representative stockbrokers in the city of Chicago, and thereafter he was for three years secretary and treasurer of the Payette Milling Company, at Payette, Idaho. He then returned to Grand Rapids and assumed the position of manager of the income tax department of the Michigan Trust Company. From 1918 until 1922 he was here established independently in business as a public accountant, and since the latter year he has been a principal and the manager of the Michigan offices of Lawrence Scudder & Com- pany, as previously noted in this context. Mr. Gorham has mem- bership in the Kent Country Club, the Muskegon Country Club, the University Club of Grand Rapids, and the Century Club of Mus- kegon. He maintains a summer cottage at Omena, Leelanau county, his Grand Rapids home is at 420 Paris avenue, southeast, and his business offices are in Suite 411-14 Houseman building. He finds ample opportunity for seasonable indulgence in his pre- dilection for the game of golf. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party, and he and his wife are communicants of the Cathedral parish of St. Mark's church, Protestant Episcopal. The marriage of Mr. Gorham and Miss Phoebe Gheen Ricker was sol- emnized January 23, 1907, and the two children of this union are: Virginia, born September 17, 1912, and Frederick A., III., born December 23, 1913. Mrs. Gorham is a daughter of the late John H. Ricker, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and her mother likewise is deceased. Roman F. Glocheski. The same fine ambition and self-reliance that enabled Mr. Glocheski to rely entirely upon his own resources in preparing himself for his chosen profession have served him well also in the upbuilding of his substantial general law practice in the city of Grand Rapids and gained him place as one of the repre- sentative members of the Kent county bar. Mr. Glocheski was born at Manistee, Michigan, March 6, 1882, and is a son of Frank and Mary (Danielewski) Glocheski, both of whom were born and reared in German Poland. Frank Glocheski came from his native 480 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY land to the United States and was an early settler in Manistee, Michigan, where he established his residence in 1870. He was an earnest, industrious and worthy citizen and in the land of his adop- tion he made the best possible provision for his children, though his financial limitations made him unable to give to them collegi- ate education. The sons had determination and ambition, how- ever, and made for themselves a place in the world through their own ability and efforts. The son, James, now deceased, was a soldier in the Spanish-American war, and the sons Edward and John were in the military service of the nation in the World war period. Roman F. Glocheski gained his youthful education in the parochial and public schools of his native city, and depended upon his own exertions in acquiring his higher academic and pro- fessional education. In 1900 he found employment in the Stiles lumber yards in Grand Rapids, where he remained two years. During the ensuing two years he was a popular salesman in the establishment of the Star Clothing Company, and passed the next year as a member of the advertising staff of the Grand Rapids News, and he then became private secretary to George E. Ellis, mayor of Grand Rapids. In the meanwhile he applied himself vigorously to study and reading, with unwavering ambition to pre- pare himself for the legal profession. He saved as much as possible of his earnings, and finally he was sufficiently fortified in a financial way to justify him in entering the law department of the University of Michigan, where he continued his studies until 1914, his finan- cial resources being too limited to permit him to complete the full course, but his determination, ambition and intellectual resources were entirely adequate to bridge the technical gulf, as shown in the fact that in 1915 Mr. Glocheski passed the examination that gained him admission to the Michigan bar, he being now eligible for practice in the various courts of the state, including the supreme and the federal courts. Soon after his admission to practice Mr. Glocheski was given appointment as assistant prosecuting attorney of Kent county, under Edward N. Barnard, and his effective ser- vice of two years in this position gained him valuable experience besides enabling him to prove his powers and resourcefulness as a trial lawyer. Since his retirement from this position he has been established in successful general practice in Grand Rapids, where he now controls a substantial law business, his well appointed offices being in the Houseman building. Mr. Glocheski is a loyal advocate of the principles of the Republican party. He and his wife are zealous communicants of the Catholic church and he is affiliated with the Catholic Order of Foresters, the Polish National Alliance, the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks and the Modern Wood- men of America, and he has been active and influential in the local work of the Y. M. C. A. In 1905 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Glocheski to Miss Verna Hall, who was born and reared in Grand Rapids and who is a representative of one of the honored pioneer families of Kent county. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 481 J. Henri d'Agneau. Perhaps no family on the North American continent today can trace its family history as far back in the New World annals as can the d’Agneau family. Less than sixty years after the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, the first representative of the family came to the new country, braving the dangerous sea journey in the tiny wooden sailing vessels of those days to come to Canada, where he settled in 1545. The country at that time was an unbroken wilderness. A shipbuilder by trade, this first d’Agneau turned to his vocation in the western continent and thus became the first to build a wooden ship in the country along the banks of the St. Lawrence river. A descendant of this hardy pioneer in the shipbuilding trade built the last wooden ship to be launched from this same country bordering the St. Lawrence river. J. Henri d'Agneau is the Grand Rapids representative of that fam- ily. He was born in Paris in 1889, the son of Joseph and Delima (La Montague) d’Agneau, whose home was in Quebec City, Can- ada, and his birth occurred while his parents were in Paris on a business trip. He attended the public and high schools of the city of Quebec and then entered McGill university of Montreal, Canada, studying there and in other Canadian colleges, receiving a thor- ough mental training that guaranteed his future success. Upon the completion of his education he spent several years in travel in Europe and South America. After many years in Detroit, Indian- apolis and Chicago, during which he gained practical experience in the business which was to follow later, he came to Grand Rapids in 1920 and opened an office as public accountant and consulting industrial engineer. From its inception his business was a success, and he was soon forced to seek larger quarters because of his rapidly growing business. He then located in his present offices in the Federal Square building. He employs a large staff of expert accountants and engineers, and though the principal part of his business is in the state of Michigan, work from all sections of the country is placed in his hands. Mr. d'Agneau is recognized among his business associates as a man of great power of mind and for his business ability, and the company which he has built up in five vears ranks him as one of the prominent executives of the city. Howard L. Boggs is secretary of the Grand Rapids Credit Men's Association, and both in character and technical and executive efficiency is admirably fitted for this office, in which he is giving a vigorous and valuable administration. The Grand Rapids Credit Men's Association is a branch of the National Association of Credit Men, which has a membership of more than 31,000, representatives of banking institutions, manufacturers, and wholesale and jobbing concerns. The Grand Rapids branch has 280 members, and of its affairs. Mr. Boggs assumed the management, in the capacity of secretary, in August, 1924. He was selected on account of his special eligibility for the position. He had previously served as comptroller of the Associated Manufacturers Company of Water- loo, Iowa, manufacturers of farm implements. He was in New 482 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY York City at the time when the nation entered the World war and forthwith became a member of the Seventh Regiment, New York National Guard. When his command was mustered into the United States Army he held the grade of private, and the regiment was assigned to the Twenty-seventh Division, with which he had one year of active service overseas. He was in action at the front and the most important engagements in which he took part were as here designated: East Poperinghe Line; Dicke Busch sector, in Belgium; the Hindenberg Line sector, Bony; LaSalle river, in the vicinity of St. Souplet; Jonc de Mer Ridge; and St. Maurice River. Mr. Boggs was one of only thirty out of his company of two hun- dred and fifty members to come out of the service without having been wounded, gassed or otherwise injured. He continued in serv- ice until the armistice brought the war to a close, and after his return to his native land he received his honorable discharge with the rank of corporal. His interest in his former comrades is signal- ized by his affiliation with the American Legion. After his return to Waterloo, Iowa, Mr. Boggs entered the employ of the Associated Manufacturers Company as assistant credit manager and was later made comptroller. While with this firm he was elected chairman of the credit managers division of the National Association of Farm Equipment Manufacturers and vice-chairman of the National Bank- ruptcy committee of the National Association of Credit Men. Mr. Boggs was born at Albion, Iowa, and is a representative, in the third generation, of one of the honored pioneer families of that state, his grandfather, William F. Boggs, a native of Pennsylvania and a cabinetmaker by trade, having removed to Iowa soon after completing his service as a gallant soldier of the Union in the Civil war. His maternal grandfather, Captain T. S. Devine, served in the Mexican and Civil wars. These sterling war veterans made the overland trip with their families by means of teams and covered wagons and reclaimed in the Hawkeye state productive farms from the government land they there obtained. Mr. Boggs is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. Edward A. Boggs, father of the subject of this sketch, is a representative citizen and business man of Waterloo, Iowa, in the public schools of which city Howard L. Boggs acquired his early education, he having there been gradu- ated in the high school and having later continued his studies in Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. Hon. Eastman, who served as lieutenant-governor of Iowa and who was the author of the Iowa motto inscribed on the Washington monument, at Wash- ington, D. C., was a grand-uncle of Howard L. Boggs. Mr. Boggs married Miss Marietta Burne, of New York City, and they have two children: Richard, aged eight years, and Jacqueline, aged two years (in 1925). A. Frank Vollette is successfully established in business in Grand Rapids as a wholesale dealer in lumber and veneers used specially in the manufacturing of furniture, and his operations now involve shipments of such products not only to the various parts HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 483 of Michigan but also into Illinois and Indiana. He maintains his office and business headquarters at 211 Erie street, northwest, and his residence at 2252 Madison avenue, southeast. Mr. Vollette was born at Stratford, Province of Ontario, Canada, April 27, 1887, and his lineage traces back to sterling French origin, as the surname implies. He is a son of John and Susie Vollette, who still maintain their home in the province of Ontario, where they were born and reared. The schools of Stratford afforded A. Frank Vollette his early education, and in his native province he learned in his youth the plumber's trade. For ten years he was a plumbing and heating contractor in Canada, and he then came to Grand Rapids, where he has since maintained his home. Here he was employed in turn in several furniture factories, and through this medium he gained authoritative knowledge of types and values of woods used in such manufacturing, with the result that he was well fortified when he established his present independent business, that of wholesale dealing in lumber and veneers, in which his success has been un- equivocal. In the World war period Mr. Vollette was employed by the government as an expert inspector of lumber to be used in airplane construction, and after the close of the war he was re- tained in service as a lumber-disposing officer, his work in this capacity having continued until March, 1920. In the time-honored Masonic fraternity Mr. Vollette has received the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite and is a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. He is locally a member of the Masonic Country Club and the Lions Club. His first wife and likewise his present wife gained active affiliation with the Order of the Eastern Star and also the White Shrine. Mr. Vollette is in a basic way aligned with the Republican party, but has had no desire for political activ- ity. He and his wife are members of the First Methodist Episco- pal church of Grand Rapids, as was also his first wife. March 14, , 1910, Mr. Vollette was united in marriage to Miss Olga Thwaites, daughter of John Thwaites, of Grand Rapids, and she passed to the life eternal in the year 1919, the two surviving children being sons, John and Edward. June 1, 1921, was marked by the mar- riage of Mr. Vollette to Miss Helen Lupton, of Grand Rapids, and she is the popular chatelaine of their attractive and hospitable home. Henry G. Dykhouse has been an influential figure in the lumber trade centered in the city of Grand Rapids, has been associated also with other important lines of industrial enterprise, and through his own ability and well-ordered activities he has achieved that worthy success that now enables him to abate in large degree the close business application that was long his portion. He himself has summed up the situation in the following consistent statement: "I have now so arranged my business that concentrated energy no longer calls upon me. Out of his splendid comprehension of the real values in human thought and action Mr. Dykhouse has evolved a sentiment of distinct significance, and the same is eminently و 484 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY worthy of perpetuation here, its text being as follows: “Success and content in life are born of work, planned by brain and polished by education.” Mr. Dykhouse was born at Oldehove, province of Groningen, Netherlands, June 27, 1863, and is the only child of the late Gerrit S. and Gezina H. Dykhouse. His early education was gained in the schools of his native land and it was shortly before the eighth anniversary of his birth that he arrived, in com- pany with his parents, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on the 18th of May, 1871. As a boy he here gained experience of practical order by the selling of newspapers on the streets of the city, in which he was successful. He did not neglect the application that was to broaden his education, as is evidenced by the fact that in 1881 he completed his course in the high school that is now known as the Central high school. After his graduation he became bill clerk in the office of Charles J. Hupp, local freight agent for the Grand River Valley Railroad, now the Pere Marquette. In the autumn of 1881 Mr. Dykhouse obtained a position in the office of the Barnhart & Judson Lumber Company, with which he con- tinued in the capacity of bookkeeper during a period of two years. In 1883 he initiated his independent career by engaging in the com- mission lumber business. He worked hard, thought much, devised and followed progressive and honorable policies, and his success was of cumulative order. In 1899 Mr. Dykhouse associated himself with David and Benjamin Wolf in organizing the Acme Lumber Company, and this alliance continued until 1906, when he pur- chased the interests of the Wolf brothers and assumed full control of the large and prosperous business. In 1913 he retired from the more extensive operations in the lumber business, but the organiza- tion of the Acme Lumber Company is still continued and the busi- ness is conducted in a more circumscribed way. Mr. Dykhouse is still identified with many other industrial enterprises of im- portance—mainly in a financial rather than executive way. Appre- ciative of the opportunities that have been his for the winning of independence and prosperity in the land of his adoption, Mr. Dyk- house is loyal and public-spirited in his civic attitude and gives generously of his time and means to all measures tending to the public good. Mr. Dykhouse was married January 1, 1885, to Miss Rose Kelsey, of Grand Rapids, and they have three children: George J.; Pearl, who is the wife of Edgar C. Nichols, of Kalama- zoo, Michigan; and Harold K. Mr. Dykhouse's slogan is: "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the fight in the dog that wins.' Walter E. Miles, president of Walter E. Miles Coal Company, 1230 Taylor avenue, and a nationally known American musical com- poser, is a native of Grand Rapids, born here on May 10, 1885. His father, Walter B. Miles and mother Carrie (Osborne) Miles, were both natives of Cleveland, Ohio, the father being born there in 1849 and the mother in 1856. They had been married in Cleveland but came to Grand Rapids in the seventies. The family were all noted HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 485 a musicians. The father, Walter B. Miles was for a number of years superintendent of Chase Brothers Piano Factory and was always inter- ested in music. The religious affiliation of himself and wife was with the Baptist church. The father died in 1913 at sixty-four years, but the mother is still living at the age of sixty-nine. Besides Walter E., their second child, there were two other children in the family, Edith the eldest and Robert the youngest. Walter E. secured his education in the public schools of Grand Rapids and was graduated from its Central high school. Coming from such a family of musicians, his training began at an early age and was later augmented by advanced study. In his early twenties he wrote “Sparklets,” and owing to its distinctively characteristic style, it was eagerly accepted by the public and has become firmly rooted as a standard in every corner of the globe. Mr. Miles' reputation as a composer has been advanced by “The Fountain," a companion piece to "Sparklets” and among his other com- positions are, “Valse Danseuse," "Sweet Forget-Me-Nots," "Tulips," “Cupid's Frolic,” “Dainty Daffodils,” “Butterfly Dance," "Dancing Leaves,” and “June Breezes.” Mr. Miles has devoted some time to the practical and business side of music, having been engaged for a number of years in the piano business and at one time was a traveling salesman for a Chicago house. In 1922 he assisted in the organization of the Walter E. Miles Coal Company, of which company he was then made and is now president. David H. Brown of the Century Furniture Com- pany is vice-president; George F. Norcross, attorney, is secretary, and L. S. Baker is treasurer of that company. Mr. Miles is a thirty-second degree Mason and Shriner and also is a member of B. P. O. E., Kiwanis Club and Christian Science church. He was united in matrimony on March 15, 1914, with Miss Lila E. Gill at Milwaukee and they have two children, Billie, born December 2, 1916, and June, born July 4, 1919. Mr. Miles has always been a keen lover of nature, spending considerable time in the woods of northern Michigan, and in this environment it is only natural that many of his musical compositions re- flect nature in her brightest and happiest moods. Alonzo H. Bennett, general agent for western Michigan for the Provident Mutual Life Insurance Company, 308 Murray building, is one of the outstanding figures in the life insurance field of Grand Rapids and vicinity. He was born in Monroe county, New York, on August 6, 1852. He followed the preliminary education obtained in the public schools of his native state with collegiate work at Brock- port (New York) State Normal College, from which institution he was graduated in 1879. He taught for two years in the schools of New York state, and then in 1881 transferred his activities in teaching to Michigan. He came to Bangor, Michigan, and remained there as superintendent of schools from 1881 to 1888, but was obliged to retire from school work on account of ill health. He later made a choice of a new line of work and contracted with the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company. In twenty years of service with this company he widened the experience gained from teaching and expanded his business efficiency. After representing that company in Grand Rapids from 1888 until 1908, he took the general agency for the Provident Mutual Life 486 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Insurance Company and has since then held that position. He has con- tinued to meet with an unusual success in the life insurance business. Mr. Bennett is a member of the Association of Commerce and of the Life Underwriters Association. He is also a thirty-second degree Mason, a Knight Templar and a member of the Shrine. Mr. Bennett was married February 22, 1883, to Miss Mella Remington, who is an active member of the Woman's Club of Grand Rapids, and they be- came the parents of three daughters, Vera, Bess, and Ethel. Vera and Bess are associated with their father in the insurance business and Ethel is obstetrical supervisor at Blodgett Hospital of Grand Rapids. The family are members of the Fountain Street Baptist Church. W. B. Jarvis is president and general manager of W. B. Jarvis Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, manufacturers of the Jarvis Water Indicator and other automotive devices. For over twenty years the company conducted a wholesale and retail sporting goods business which on account of the rapid development of their manufacturing business, established in 1920, was sold recently to the Herpolsheimer Company of this city. Mr. Jarvis was born at Brantford, Ontario, in the year 1869, where he received his primary education in a country school, later graduating from the city Collegiate Institute and the Forest City Business College at London, Ontario. In 1887 he came to Grand Rapids and entered the employ of Thomas & Crippen who conducted a hat and fur store on Monroe street. The following year he became assistant bookkeeper for E. G. Studley, dealing in sporting goods, rubber and mill supplies, being promoted to head bookkeeper in 1890, and in 1892 was made manager of their bicycle and sporting goods de- partment. In 1895 this department was separated from the others and the partnership of Studley & Jarvis conducted a bicycle and sporting goods business for three years, when Mr. Jarvis acquired Mr. Studley's interest and two years later admitted to partnership W. S. Daniels, under the name of Jarvis & Daniels. In 1902 Mr. Jarvis acquired Mr. Daniels' interest and organized the business under the name of W. B. Jarvis Company. There are few businesses in this city which have been under the same management as long as the Jarvis company and as a retail and wholesale merchant he is one of the deans. Mr. Jarvis early in life associated himself with various activities in sports and recreation, and as a bicycle rider acquired somewhat of a local reputation while later as a trap shooter he competed successfully in local and national events. As a live pigeon shooter he acquired an international reputation, being the runner-up in two different world's championship events. Mr. Jarvis has a son, L. A. Jarvis, associated with him in the business, and two daughters, all of whom are married and have growing families. Mr. Jarvis recently completed a beautiful new home on Plymouth avenue at Wealthy, which is one of the show places of the city and is now building a palatial winter residence at Palm Beach, Florida, where he and Mrs. Jarvis have for several years spent the winter months and where they have substantial interests. Mr. Jarvis is a member of the Peninsular Club, Highland Country Club, the Association of Commerce and the B. P. O. Elks. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 487 John J. Smolenski has been engaged in the practice of law in the city of Grand Rapids during the entire period of his professional career, which had its initiation in the year 1911. The The scope and im- portance of his law business indicate the popular estimate placed upon him as a man and as a lawyer, and he has built up a substantial practice. His is deep loyalty to the Polish element of citizenship, and he figures as guide, counselor and friend to a great number of Michigan citizens and families who are of the same ancestral stock as is he himself. Mr. Smolenski was born in Grand Rapids, May 18, 1888, and is a son of Stanley and Rose (Cukerski) Smolenski, both natives of Poland. Stanley Smolenski has been a resident of Grand Rapids fully forty-five years, and is now about sixty years of age, his wife having passed away September 10, 1894, at the age of thirty years. After his gradu- ation in the old Union high school of Grand Rapids, Mr. Smolenski was for some time a student in the law department of the University of Michigan, and he defrayed his incidental expenses by working in various fraternity and sorority houses maintained by the students of the uni- versity. His very meager financial resources made it imperative that he should at the earliest possible moment begin to receive returns from the profession for which he was fitting himself, and thus he applied him- self earnestly and made such advancement in his assimilation of the science of jurisprudence that he gained admission to the bar in 1911, upon examination. He returned to Grand Rapids and was fortunate in being almost immediately appointed assistant prosecuting attorney of Kent county, the preferment having come from Judge William B. Brown, who was then the prosecuting attorney and reappointment hav- ing been made under Earl F. Phelps, who was the successor of Judge Brown in the office of prosecutor. After five years of effective service as assistant prosecuting attorney, Mr. Smolenski, with well earned reputation as a resourceful trial lawyer, engaged in the private practice of his profession, in which his success has been substantial and cumula- tive. He loyally acts as legal representative for many Polish citizens, and his clients of this nationality are to be found in virtually all parts of Michigan. He is a leader among the Polish people of western Mich- igan, and is ever ready to protect and advance their interests. This is a stewardship in which he takes great satisfaction and he finds ample reward in the esteem, confidence and affectionate regard of those whom he is thus able to serve. He is actively identified with the various Polish social and fraternal organizations of his native city and state. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party, and he and his wife are zealous communicants of the Catholic church, in which they have membership in the Church of the Sacred Heart, and he is a mem- ber of the board of trustees of St. John's Orphan Asylum, one of the noble institutions maintained in Grand Rapids under the auspices of the Catholic church. He is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and in the city of Chicago he has membership in the Illinois Athletic Club, a, representative organization in the great western metropolis. On the first of May, 1916, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Smolenski to Miss Rose Miskiewicz, who likewise was born and reared in Grand Rapids, where her father, Stanley Miskiewicz, a 488 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY native of Poland, still maintains his home. Mr. and Mrs. Smolenski have one son, J. Robert, who was born December 17, 1918. John A. Cleveland, manager of the Consumers Power Company, in Grand Rapids, is not only a well versed electrical engineer, but has proved also to be a strong and resourceful executive. Mr. Cleveland was born in the city of Rochester, New York, and is a son of the late C. Augustus and Mary E. Cleveland, the family being old residents in the Empire state. John A. Cleveland graduated from Williams Col- lege, Massachusetts, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts and then com- pleted the engineering course at Cornell University from which he graduated with the degree of Electrical Engineer. After spending two years with the Rochester Railway & Light Company, he went to Sagi- naw, Michigan, as industrial electrical engineer for the Saginaw Power Company. Three years later, he was appointed manager of the Bay City Power Company and the Bay City Gas Company. After two years' residence in Bay City, he returned to Saginaw as vice-president and general manager of the Saginaw-Bay City Railway Company, the Sagi- naw and Bay City power companies and the Saginaw and Bay City gas companies. The gas and electric companies in Saginaw and Bay City were later consolidated with a number of other similar companies in the state, forming the Consumers Power Company. Mr. Cleveland continued in charge of the public utility properties in Saginaw until February, 1924, when he came to Grand Rapids as manager of the Grand Rapids district of the Consumers Power Company, which in- cludes various counties of western Michigan. Mr. Cleveland has been identified with the Consumers Power Company for several years and has been closely connected with its development. This company is playing a large part in advancing the civic and industrial progress of Michigan. It has a number of large and modern steam generating plants and has constructed and has in operation many hydro-electric plants on different rivers in the state. Mr. Cleveland belongs to several Masonic orders, including the Elf Khurafeh Temple and St. Bernard Commandery, Knights Templar of Saginaw. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honorary college fraternity, to which he was admitted while a student at Williams College. In Grand Rapids, he belongs to the Peninsular Club, the University Club and the Highlands Country Club. L. John Witters has been engaged in the retail grocery business in his native city of Grand Rapids more than thirty years and during this entire period he has been continuously associated with Hubert Daane, under the firm name of Daane & Witters. The substantial and prosperous business controlled by this progressive firm stands in in- dubitable evidence of the fair and honorable policies that have made pos- sible the development of the prosperous and representative enterprise. Mr. Witters is also associated with his two sons in the conducting of a prosperous automobile sales business. Mr. Witters was born in Grand Rapids in the year 1868, and is a son of Martin L. and Lavina (Haan) Witters, both of whom were born in the Netherlands, their marriage having been solemnized in Grand Rapids. Martin L. Witters was a young man when he left his native land and came to the United States. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 489 He became one of the early settlers of Grand Rapids, and was a member of the first volunteer fire department of this city. He was still a young man at the time of his death, in 1871, and his widow survived him by a number of years, both having been earnest members of the Reformed church. The early education of L. John Witters was acquired in the public schools of Grand Rapids, and as a youth he served an apprentice- ship to the trade of upholsterer, at the factory of the Phoenix Furniture Company, where he continued to be employed during a period of seven years. He then, in 1891, formed a partnership with Hubert Daane, and the new firm of Daane & Witters opened a small grocery store at its present location, on Monroe avenue. Energy, industry and careful meeting of the requirements of customers caused the enterprise to ex- pand rapidly, and within a short time an additional room to the north of the original quarters was secured, further enlargement of quarters having later been necessitated, and the large and well equipped establish- ment being now arranged in one store room, the former partitions having been removed. The firm controls a large and representative business and its members are known as reliable and progressive business men and loyal and public spirited citizens of Grand Rapids, where theirs is se- cure place in popular confidence and esteem. In the automobile sales business Mr. Witters has as his co-partners his sons, M. Leonard and Howard, who are making their mark as enterprising and popular young business men of their native city. The sons conduct this business under the title of Witters Motor Company and the enterprise had its inception in November, 1920, when headquarters were opened at 321 Bond avenue. In the following year removal was made to 147 Weston avenue, and in 1922 was erected the concern's present modern building, at the corner of Oakes and Sheldon streets. The firm controls a sub- stantial and well ordered business in the handling of the Franklin and Oldsmobile cars. Mr. Witters is an active member of the Association of Commerce, and he and his wife, whose maiden name was Lena DeBoer, hold membership in the Reformed church. They have four children, M. Leonard, Joseph E., Howard E., and Martha L. James DeGood may be said to have a splendid industry heritage through ancestral influence, as he is a native of Holland, that sturdy little country where constructive industry has ever been represented in its best form. He was born in 1888, a son of Henry and Jennie DeGood, and was an infant of six months at the time of the family arrival in Grand Rapids, which has continued to represent his home and been the stage of his practical activities during the intervening years. Through his own energy, ability and honest policies he has here built up a large and prosperous transfer business, besides which he controls an extensive business as a contractor for excavation work, with an equipment of the best modern machinery and accessories used for such work. In the public schools of Grand Rapids, Mr. DeGood con- tinued his studies until he had completed the work of the eighth grade, and even as a boy his inherent predilection led him to obtain employment at such work as would make him a wage earner. As a youth he was in the employ of the Columbia Transfer Company, and later he became one of the first employes in connection with the newly established trans- 490 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY fer business of Helmus Brothers. His initial venture of independent order was made when he began operations with a one-horse wagon, his “office” having been in a cobbler's shop at the corner of Fulton and Com- merce streets. The business proved successful so far as its limitations made possible, and after two years Mr. DeGood rented a larger barn on Bond avenue, where he maintained headquarters four years, and then sold his well established business to the firm of Golden & Boter. During the ensuing four years he was variously employed, the while he was ever on the lookout for an opportunity to establish himself in business in an independent way and in a line where energy and good management would bring consecutive advancement. Finally he en- gaged again in the transfer business, at 145 Lewis street, and soon, with the aid of a loyal and valued friend, he had in commission five or six horses and two wagons. The enterprise grew rapidly, and after the lapse of one year Mr. DeGood found it essential to obtain larger quarters and better facilities. It was at this time that he purchased the large three-story brick building formerly occupied by the Furniture City Brewery Company, at the corner of Ionia and Goodrich streets, and here he has since continued his successful operations in the transfer and general hauling business, with the best of modern equipment, including a fleet of motor trucks, and his contracting business in excavation work is likewise one of substantial and important order. Mr. DeGood has prided himself in keeping splendid horses, ever well groomed, and not- withstanding the present use of motor trucks, he still works thirteen fine teams in his transfer business. Mr. DeGood is the owner of a fine farm of eighty acres, about one mile from Grand Rapids, in Plain- field township, and it is his intention there to establish the family home, for which purpose he is remodeling and otherwise improving the house on the place. His first wife, whose maiden name was Susan Van Houten, died in 1915, and is survived by three children. The second marriage of Mr. DeGood was with Mrs. Alice Bomers, who presides over the domestic and social affairs of the attractive home. Rev. Joseph S. Kaminski has been a representative of the priest- hood of the Catholic church since 1903 and his stewardship has been marked by all of consecrated zeal and devotion, as well as by the ad- vancing of the spiritual and temporal welfare of the parishes in which he has served. He is now the honored and revered pastor of the Grand Rapids Polish parish of the Church of the Sacred Heart, where his labors were initiated in 1914, and he is one of the influential churchmen of his native state, even as he is known and honored for his loyal and constructive activities as a public spirited citizen. Father Kaminski was born in Allegan county, Michigan, January 11, 1878, and is a son of John and Mary (Adamczyk) Kaminski, who were born in Poland and who were young folks when they came to the United States, their marriage having been solemnized in Michigan and they having thereafter continued their residence in Allegan county until 1879, when, about one year after the birth of their son Joseph S., of this review, they established their residence in Grand Rapids, where the venerable and widowed mother still maintains her home. John Kaminski was n the service of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad more HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 491 than thirty years, and during the greater part of this period was a foreman, with headquarters in Grand Rapids, his death having here occurred October 17, 1918. He was a man of sterling integrity and strong mentality, and was a most devout communicant of the Catholic church, as is also his widow. Of the children the eldest is Francis, who resides in Grand Rapids and is a representative of the New York Life Insurance Company; Rev. Joseph S., of this review, is the next younger son; John and Henry are engaged in the grocery business in Grand Rapids; Mary is the wife of Stanislaus Merdzinski, of this city, and Natalie remains with her widowed mother. The early educa- tional discipline of Father Joseph S. Kaminski was obtained in the Grand Rapids parochial school of St. Albert's church, and thereafter he continued his studies in St. Francis Seminary, in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There he completed his philosophical and theological courses and was graduated as a member of the class of 1903, his ordina- tion to the priesthood having occurred April 11 of that year. After he had thus received holy orders Father Kaminski was made assistant priest of St. Stanislaus church in Bay City, Michigan, where he remained four and one-half years. During a period of eighteen months there- after he was pastor of St. Anthony's church at Fisherville, Bay county, and his next pastorate was that of St. Mary's church in the city of Alpena, where he remained four years. On the 1st of February, 1914, Father Kaminski assumed the pastorate of the important Sacred Heart parish in Grand Rapids, where in the intervening years he has achieved a most gratifying work in advancing the spiritual and temporal pros- perity of the parish. This parish was founded in 1903, and was originally an adjunct of the parish of St. Adelbert's church, the first church edifice, a most modest one, having been dedicated November 24, 1904, with one hundred and fifty Polish families in the parish and with Father L. P. Krakowski as the first pastor. In the parish registry are now represented six hundred families, and in the parish school are fully eight hundred and fifty children. The school is in charge of the Sisters of Notre Dame, Milwaukee, and their parish home was erected in 1907, the year 1909 having been marked by the building of the parish house. Within the pastoral administration of Father Kamin- ski the members of the parish have shown their zeal and loyalty by mak- ing possible the erection of the new and beautiful church edifice, the same having been constructed under the careful direction of Father Kaminski and its dedication having occurred January 1, 1924. From an article appearing in a Grand Rapids newspaper at the time of the dedication are taken the following extracts: “Sacred Heart Church, located at the corner of Park street and Garfield avenue, attracts much attention because of its beautiful appointments and artistic interior. The building is 76 by 156 feet, has a seating capacity of 1,000 in the main auditorium, and 800 in the basement chapel. The design of the new church is in the classic style, with a clerestory supported by Corinthian columns. The main ceiling is coffered with ornamental stucco work. In every detail the building is most modern and finely equipped for the needs of the big parish. The artistic and striking exterior of the building is of reddish buff facing brick, with cut stone 492 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY and terracotta trim and decoration. The roof is of vitrified red tile." In the World war period, with characteristic loyalty, patriotism and devotion, Father Kaminski served as chaplain in the Ninth Division of the United States army, and in the reserve corps of the army he is still retained as chaplain, as he is also in a local post of the American Legion. From a previously published tribute are taken the follow- ing quotations: “Father Kaminski has been something more than spiritual advisor to his people. He has served them as counselor, guide and friend, and in their business affairs has directed them well and led them along lines of honesty and industry. His labors have had their reward in a constantly growing parish and in the love and con- fidence of the people who make up the Sacred Heart congregation.” Barend and John Zevalkink are respectively the president and the secretary and treasurer of the Columbian Storage & Transfer Company, which they have developed into one of the largest and most important concerns of its kind in their native city of Grand Rapids, and in conjunction with which they conduct also a retail furniture business of broad scope and importance. The record of these enterprising brothers constitutes an interesting story of initiative and constructive ability admirably applied under present- day conditions and influences, and their achievement as reliable and resourceful business men offers both lesson and incentive. Their furniture business is conducted under the title of Columbian's Warehouse Furniture Store, and the large and well equipped estab- lishment is situated at the corner of Ionia avenue and Logan street. The headquarters and office building of the company are at 435-39 lonia avenue. Barend and John Zevalkink were born and reared in Grand Rapids and are sons of Everett John and Mary (Klander- man) Zevalkink, who were born and reared in Holland and who were young folk when they established their home in Grand Rapids, more than forty years ago. Everett J. Zevalkink here found em- ployment at railroad work, and while thus engaged he was injured by a fall from a car. Upon recovering from his injuries he pur- chased a dray' and a team of horses and, forty or more years ago, engaged in transporting freight for factories in the Godfrey avenue district. From an article published in the Grand Rapids Press of January 1, 1924, are taken the following interesting extracts, with minor paraphrase: “When Barend, and later John, Zevalkink, both of whom have inherited the strong physique and the stick-to- it-iveness characteristic of their Holland parents, were old enough to assist their father, new factories had sprung up in the Godfrey avenue district, and work enough was found for all. passed on, this family of draymen gained a name for integrity and dependability, and when there was any merchandise requiring particular attention to be moved between factory and warehouse or factory and depot, the Zevalkinks were sure to be found moving it. During furniture markets they worked night and day. Frugality was bred in them, and besides the ability to work hard they had the ability to think straight. Both Barend and John left As years * * HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 493 school at the end of the eighth grade (and at the age of thirteen years), but they made up in intelligence for what they lacked in knowledge gained in the classroom, and this intelligence was equal to the task when they assumed leadership in the warehousing field in Grand Rapids and Michigan. Here was something to be done that was never done before. There were no books giving directions, nor any experiences. Intelligence and the quality to command, then, were essential to mastery of the situation, and the Messrs. Zevalkink proved equal to the occasion.” The great business now controlled by the Zevalkink brothers represents a virtual evolution from the draying business founded by their father, who at the time of his death owned and used eight horses and several drays. In their warehouse and transfer business the two brothers now control the largest business of its kind in the state of Michigan, they hav- ing eleven warehouses that give a total floor space of 300,000 square feet. Thought, study and action have entered into their service as business men, integrity has characterized their course at all stages and periods, and their status today offers the best evidence of their ability, their energy, their initiative talents and their constructive versatility in the upbuilding of a great enterprise that had its incep- ion when they purchased, less than ten years ago, the bankrupt business of the Columbian Transfer Company, the title of which they have since retained in their constantly expanding business. Significant is their business motto or slogan, which is: "Not service at cost, but service at any cost.” The Zevalkink brothers stand as fine types of the world's constructive workers, and they have always been workers; they appreciate the dignity and worth of honest toil and endeavor, and through honest toil and endeavor they have gained large success and also fine repute as substantial and repre- sentative business men of their native city and state. In a circum- scribed sketch such as that here offered, it is impossible to enter into details concerning the two well ordered and important business enterprises developed by these brothers, but results tell the story with greater emphasis than can mere words. The retail furniture business that has been built up by the Zevalkink brothers (in one of their largest warehouses) has shown the returns to be gained from visions translated into action. The enterprise, initiated early in 1924, represents the only warehouse furniture store in western Michigan, and the policies of high-grade service and reasonable prices have caused the business to expand with wonderful speed and solidity, with the result that the Zevalkinks now conduct one of the largest enterprises of this kind in Grand Rapids, a world center of the furniture industry. More than this need not be said. Only new furniture is sold by the brothers in their large retail establishment, and the business for the year 1925 is certain to reach an aggregate of $300,000. The brothers are members of the Ameri- can Warehouse Association, the Grand Rapids Association of Com- merce and the Grand Rapids Transfer & Storage Association, of 494 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY which John Zevalkink served two years as president. Both broth- ers are married and John has one son, James. Ebenezer S. Bedford has had the practical trade experience that makes him an authority in his chosen line of enterprise, he having worked at the bench as a skilled shoemaker prior to establishing himself in the retail shoe business, of which he is now one of the prominent and successful representatives in the city of Grand Rapids, his advancement and success as a reliable and progressive business man being due entirely to his own ability and well directed efforts. Mr. Bedford was born near Chatham, province of Ontario, Canada, October 11, 1863, and is a son of William and Keziah (McKinsey) Bedford, the former of whom was born in 1831, of Welsh ancestry, and the latter of whom was of Scotch lineage. Representatives of the Bedford family were early settlers in the vicinity of Chatham, Ontario, and several generations of the family have lived on the old homestead farm that was the birthplace of the subject of this sketch, the family having been closely and worthily associated with the development and progress of that section of Ontario. The paternal great-grandfather of Ebenezer S. Bedford was Captain Robert Bedford, who was long and promi- nently identified with early navigation interests on the Great Lakes and who as commander of vessels gained his title of captain, his son Ebenezer having been the grandfather of him whose name initiates this review. In the early days, before bridges and railway tunnels made connections between Ontario, Canada, and Michigan, the Bedfords operated a ferry line across Lake St. Clair. The early experiences of Ebenezer S. Bedford were those incidental to the work of the home farm and in the meanwhile he attended the public schools at Chatham, besides which he was later graduated in the McLaughlin Business College, at Chatham, Ontario. On the bench he served a thorough apprenticeship to the shoemaker's trade, and as a skilled artisan he was later employed in various shoe fac- tories. He became a designer of shoe lasts and patterns, and thus it can readily be understood that, as previously noted, he is an authority in shoe values. Mr. Bedford has been a resident of Grand Rapids since 1900 and here, in 1910, he entered into a partnership with J. W. Baldwin, and the two rented a small space in the base- ment of the building in which Mr. Bedford now conducts his sub- stantial and prosperous retail shoe business. The two interested principals began operations with a capital of only $1,000, of which $400 had been borrowed, and a wholesale shoe house gave them credit to the amount of fifty dollars, on the stipulation that pay- ments should be made weekly. The prospective success of the new enterprise was viewed with no little skepticism by many business men who knew of the venture, but the two energetic and determined principals of the firm proved that they had the success-function well in hand. In their little basement room the two made their own benches and shelves, and here they began their activities in the retail shoe trade, besides maintaining a repair HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 495 department. At the expiration of eighteen months Mr. Bedford purchased his partner's interest, he having received financial back- ing from the owners of a representative shoe factory. Under these conditions he worked more assiduously than before, if such were possible, and on the basis of fair and courteous service and the handling of reliable goods only, always telling the truth and there- by gaining the confidence and respect of patrons, Mr. Bedford has developed a business that ranks among the important enterprises of this kind in Grand Rapids. At his large and well equipped estab- lishment, located at the corner of Monroe and Ionia avenues, he maintains also a well equipped shoe repair department, with expert workmen in charge, and a popular member of his corps of sales- men is his son, Earl S. Incidentally it may be noted that Mr. Bedford invented a notably efficient foot-measuring appliance, the same being of much value in determining the selection of shoes that shall prove properly fitted, and this device he permits others to use without profit to himself, this generous trade policy having been adopted by him “for the good of the service” and for the comfort of the buying public. Mr. Bedford has not only a pleasant home in Grand Rapids but also an attractive summer home near Croton Dam, one of the many fine resort districts of western Michigan. He is affiliated with both York and Scottish Rite bodies of the Masonic fraternity, as well as with the Mystic Shrine. John L. Wierengo & Staff. This progressive corporation, with headquarters in Grand Rapids, stands representative of the most modern and advanced policies in the domain of general advertis- ing, and its service has gained to it both reputation and large suc- The concern has a representative and extensive business in Michigan, with many important clients through the country. The organization is one that is efficient and resourceful in every de- partment of service, and its executive staff comprises those who are authorities in their assigned provinces of work. This is one of the leading advertising agencies of Michigan, and the greater part of the business is concerned with the production of advertis- ing for manufacturers, the while the corporation likewise functions in an advisory capacity in its service to patrons. The enterprise was founded by John L. Wierengo, and upon the incorporation of the business, under the title that initiates this review, Mr. Wierengo became the president, Gerald H. England the vice-president, and Chester F. Idema the secretary and treasurer. Mr. Wierengo was born at Muskegon, Michigan, and is a son of Andrew and Jennie (DeHaas) Wierengo. In 1909 he was graduated in the engineering department of the University of Michigan. Mr. Idema was born in Grand Rapids, and he likewise is of the sturdy Holland Dutch ancestry that has touched most worthily and effectively the civic and industrial development and progress of western Michigan. He was graduated in the University of Michigan as a member of the class of 1909, and in the World war period he was in service in the United States army, in which he gained the rank of second lieuten- 496 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY ant. The executive principals of John I.. Wierengo & Staff are young men of sterling character and marked business acumen, the development of their successful advertising agency standing in evi- dence of their progressiveness and of their well ordered service to a representative and appreciative clientage that is constantly in- creasing George Cornell, vice-president of the Kent Motor Sales Com- pany, one of the leading concerns in the automobile trade in the city of Grand Rapids, with well equipped office and sales rooms at 220 Ionia street, northwest, has both the technical skill and the executive ability that make him a resourceful exponent of the auto- mobile business. Mr. Cornell was born in Lagrange county, Indi- ana, and was a boy at the time of the family removal to Hunting- ton, that state, where he was afforded the advantages of the public schools and where also he gained his initial experience in the prac- tical affairs of life. His predilection for the operation of automotive vehicles manifested itself when he was still a lad, and while still attending school he found opportunity to apply himself ambitiously until he learned to operate a steam roller. Thus his first essay in guiding a motor vehicle was not marked by any speed of traverse- operation, but there was movement, and he has ever continued the apostle of movement—he has made things move, and thus he has achieved success in his various lines of activity. After his technical skill had been so developed that he could guide the pon- derous and slow-paced steam road roller, Mr. Cornell learned to operate an automobile, he having been the third boy in Huntington to gain this distinction at a time when youthful drivers of motor cars were not so much in evidence as at the present time. His ambition was directed along practical lines, and he lost no oppor- tunity for learning as thoroughly as possible all details of the auto- motive trade and business. Thus he worked in various repair shops while still a lad, and later he was employed in various leading automobile factories, including those of the Reo, Buick and Haynes- Apperson companies, besides which, in the shops of the Erie Rail- road at Huntington he learned the machinist's trade. He thus fortified himself admirably along technical lines touching the me- chanics of the motor industry, and on Labor Day of the year 1913 he arrived in Grand Rapids. Here he associated himself with Charles E. Vaughan and they began their activities in the sale of the Mitchell automobiles, their new venture proving successful. It is pleasing to note that during the intervening years Messrs. Vaughan and Cornell have continued their alliance in business enterprise, Mr. Vaughan being now the secretary and treasurer of the Kent Motor Sales Company. In 1915 Mr. Cornell was with the agency for the Chalmers cars, and in the following year the Maxwell car gained similar exploitation by the firm. In 1917 Mr. Cornell associated himself with the West Michigan Oakland Com- pany, in the capacity of salesman and service manager, and Mr. Vaughan was with the Cadillac company. In 1919 the two went HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 497 with the Hudson and Essex automobiles, and in 1922 the Paige cars were taken into line by the progressive members of the firm. Messrs. Cornell and Vaughan eventually assumed control of the Kent Motor Sales Company, October 8, 1923, and under this title they have since continued their successful operations as prominent representatives of the automotive trade in Grand Rapids and its tributary territory. The company now gives major attention to the handling of the Paige and Jewett cars and the well directed business is one of the most substantial order. Mr. Cornell is one of the vital and progressive business men of the younger gener- ation in Grand Rapids, is a Republican in politics, and is identified with various fraternal and social organizations. Mr. Cornell was married August 5, 1922, to Miss Nellian Sturgis, of Grand Rapids, and they maintain a pleasant home at 608 Fairview avenue. Isaiah H. Gingrich has developed from a most modest incep- tion a large and prosperous industrial enterprise that is of much importance as touching and supplementing the general and diver- sified phases of the manufacturing industry that give Grand Rapids acknowledged pre-eminence along this line. The large and well equipped establishment of Mr. Gingrich is eligibly situated at 15-17 Market street, southwest, and has provisions for high-grade repair and construction work along all mechanical lines, special attention being given to the motor truck department of the enterprise, besides which Mr. Gingrich has the western Michigan agency for the celebrated Federal motor trucks. He has won success through his own ability and well di- rected activities and has gained place as one of the substantial business men of Grand Rapids, which city has represented his home since he was nineteen years of age. Mr. Gingrich was born in Floradale, Waterloo, county, Province of Ontario, Canada, May 7, 1870, a son of John B. and Mary (Hembling) Gingrich, and is a representative of a family that was founded in America more than two hundred and fifty years ago, the original ancestor having come from Ger- many and settled in Pennsylvania, whence representatives of the family later removed to the province of Ontario, Canada. In a somewhat limited way Mr. Gingrich was afforded the advantages of the public schools of his native province, and he early gained fellowship with honest toil and endeavor. It is a matter of justified satisfaction to him that he has been one of the world's productive workers, and his is high appreciation of the dignity and value of honest labor. At the age of nineteen years he came to Grand Rapids and found employment with the Buss Machine Company. · Later he was employed by the Leitelt Iron Works, and in these connections he effectively developed his natural mechanical ability. He continued to be employed as a skilled mechanic until 1909, when he rented a small place at 7 Fulton street and established a shop for the handling of mechanical repair work of all kinds. The excellent and reliable service that he gave caused the little enter- prise to expand continuously, and after the passing of two years he found it essential to obtain larger quarters. During the ensuing 498 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY four years his shop was maintained in the Gentz building, near the present postoffice building, and the continued growth of his business then led him to erect at 216 Fulton street, southwest, a building 50 by 100 feet in dimensions, to which he later made an addition of the same dimensions on Market street, so that his estab- lishment is now a large one, with mechanical equipment and acces- sories of the best modern order. With the wonderful development of the motor-truck usage Mr. Gingrich has found it expedient to utilize his establishment almost entirely in the repairing and re- equipping of such trucks, besides being agent for the Federal trucks, as previously noted. His sons, Arthur, Earl, Walter, Wil- bur and Clarence, have all virtually grown up in the business, and they are now his efficient and valued assistants therein-young men who are an honor to their father and to their native city. Mrs. Gingrich, whose maiden name was Louise Raab, was born and leared in Allegan county, this state, where her father, Adam Raab, settled in an early day. Charles G. Watkins, as senior member of the Grand Rapids Insurance Agency, is associated with one of the largest insurance selling agencies in western Michigan. A son of Frank B. and Ella (Goodell) Watkins, he was born in Allegan county, Michigan, in December, 1875. Frank B. Watkins was a native of New York State and came to Michigan in 1860. With the opening of the Civil war he entered the Union army as a drummer boy although he was but fifteen years of age at the time. He returned to Michi- gan with the cessation of hostilities, settling in Kent county, which he soon left to go to Allegan county. There he was married, his wife's family being one of the pioneer families of that county. He opened a general retail store at Wayland, which he conducted for many years. Charles G. Watkins received his early education in the schools of his home community and in 1890 came to Grand Rapids and entered the junior high school, from which he graduated in 1895. He first entered the employ of the Lemon-Wheeler Groc- ery Company but soon accepted a better job as office boy with the Standard Oil Company. In this work he found congenial employ- ment and applied himself to the work with such energy that he was rapidly promoted. He became assistant manager under S. B. Drake. Eight years in all he worked with the Standard Oil Com- pany, and in 1906 he first became interested in the insurance busi- ness in which he was destined to make a success of his career. At that time he became associated with his uncle, Charles W. Watkins, who had been conducting the business for many years, the offices then being located in the Michigan Trust building. Under the careful tutelage of his uncle, Mr. Watkins learned the business thoroughly and during the years which he worked with his uncle, he laid the foundation for his future success in the work. In 1912 a consolidation was effected among the agencies of C. W: Watkins, Heath & Byrne, and the Grand Rapids Fire Insurance Agency, under the firm style of the Grand Rapids Insurance Agency. The HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 499 offices of the new partnership were then located in the Houseman building. The present partners in the business are Charles G. Watkins, F. K. Heath, and George C. Blickle. As senior partner of the firm, Mr. Watkins has been largely instrumental in building up the large business which the agency now enjoys, and that he is largely responsible for developing the agency into the largest of its kind in western Michigan has gained for him the name of being one of the ablest executives in Grand Rapids. He is thoroughly conversant with every detail of the business in which he is en- gaged, and his native ability together with his apparently limitless capacity for work have made him one of the outstanding figures in the insurance field in this section of the state. In 1901 Mr. Wat- kins married Cecil Hastings, the daughter of Henry F. Hastings, of Grand Rapids. Albert A. LeBlanc is the proprietor of the Economy Dye House, the largest and best cleaning and dyeing establishment in the city of Grand Rapids and one of the leading concerns of this kind in the state of Michigan. The office of the Economy Dye House is at 116 Fulton street, east, and large and well equipped cleaning and dyeing works are maintained at 147-49 Logan street, southeast, and 445-49 Jefferson street, southeast. Mr. LeBlanc was a youth when he came from his native France to the United States, and through his own ability and well directed efforts he has gained a substantial success and a place as one of the popular and progressive business men of Grand Rapids. Mr. LeBlanc was born in Paris, France, in October, 1867, and was still a child at the time of his parents' death. He received his early education in a Paris school conducted by one of the brotherhoods of the Catholic church, and in this school he was prepared also for the practical responsi- bilities of life, as he there learned the trade of cleaner and dyer of clothes. Mr. LeBlanc was sixteen years of age when he realized his long cherished ambition to come to the United States, and he passed the first four years in traveling about the country, in which connection he visited most of the larger cities of the Union. His financial resources were at low ebb when he made his appearance in Grand Rapids, in 1898, and engaged in the work of his trade by opening a very modest cleaning and dyeing establishment. From this, by close application and effective service, he has developed a large and prosperous business, the while he has gained secure place in popular esteem in his chosen city, his loyalty to which is unbounded. He is a member of, and regularly attends the meetings of the National Dyers & Cleaners Association and the Michigan Dyers & Cleaners Association, of which latter he has served as president, as well as a director. He is a loyal and popular member of the Grand Rapids Association of Commerce and the local Lions Club, is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and he and his wife are communicants of Grace church, Pro- testant Episcopal. In 1910 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Le- Blanc to Miss Bessie Pauline Root, of Toronto, Canada, and they have four children: Vera, Donna, Bettie, and Albert A., Jr. Herbert B. Montague, president of the Montague Manufactur- ing Company, 148-154 Louis street, Grand Rapids, Michigan, is the 500 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY subject of this narrative. In 1922 he established this business for manufacturing lawn mowers, hose reels and garden rakes. This con- cern has built up an extensive business that is reaching into all parts of the world. They now have established a branch office in New York City where most of the foreign business is conducted. Mr. Montague was born in Traverse City, Michigan, on July 2, 1883. He received his preliminary common school education in the public high school at Traverse City and this he supplemented with a business course. He was then associated for ten years with his father, J. A. Montague, in the hardware business, under the name of J. Montague & Son. Fol- lowing this practical experience which was destined to be of great value in the development of the manufacturing business which has already been detailed in this narrative, he then came to Grand Rapids in 1918 and engaged in the stock and bond business, until in 1922 he combined his practical and financial experience and established his present busi- ness. Mr. Montague is a member of Traverse City Lodge No. 222, F. & A. M. and in 1912 served as master of that lodge. He is a mem- ber of all bodies of Masonry. His uncle, Herbert Montague, for whom the subject of this narrative was named, is a thirty-third degree Mason and superintendent of the Masonic home at Alma, Michigan, and in 1912 was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge. Herbert B. Montague, whose career we are here narrating, is a member of the Congregational church in Traverse City, Michigan, but in Grand Rapids attends the Christian Science church. He is a member of the Old Colony Club, and a lover of outdoor life. He maintains a splendid summer home at Lamont, Michigan, about ten miles from Grand Rapids. In 1907 he was united in matrimony with Miss Eunice Kelley of Traverse City, Michigan, and they have one daughter, Katherine, born on March 3, 1908. She is now a senior in the Central high school of Grand Rapids. Leland O. Sewell is general agent for the Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company of California, at 439 Michigan Trust building. Mr. Sewell is a native of Hamilton, Steuben county, Indiana, where he was born on January 4, 1889. His parents were Joseph and Adalaide (Slaybaugh) Sewell . His mother's parents were among the early and well known pioneers of Steuben county, Indiana. When Leland was about nine years of age his parents came to Michigan, first locating in Kalamazoo. There Leland received his preliminary education, and continued his school work until he was graduated from the Kalamazoo high school in 1909 and followed with collegiate work, culminating in his graduation from Kalamazoo College in 1912. The following year he came to Grand Rapids and started upon his successful career in the life insurance business. His first connection in this field was with the Equitable Life Assurance Society of New York City. He remained with that well-known company until 1919, having made good in his work from the very start. In 1919, at the early age of thirty years, he was made general agent for the Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Com- pany of California. Mr. Sewell is well fitted for this position and augments a thorough knowledge and painstaking application with a a winning personality. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, a member of York Lodge No. 410, F. & A. M. and of the Masonic Country Club. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 501 On August 31, 1916, he was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Liesveld of Grand Rapids, a daughter of Herman Liesveld of the Glove Knitting Works of Grand Rapids. Mr. and Mrs. Sewell have one son, Leland O., Jr., born January 21, 1919. Walter J. Peterson, president of Walter J. Peterson Company, Inc., William Alden Smith building, Grand Rapids, Michigan, is a suc- cessful representative of the newer advertising business which has with- in the past generation become the voice of the business world. Walter J. Peterson is a native of Sweden, where he was born December 29, 1886, and there in the schools of his native country he received his early education. When eighteen years of age he came to the United States and first located in Chicago. There by his early employment with A. W. Shaw and Long Critchfield Corporation Advertising Agency he received an excellent fundamental training in the advertising busi- ness. He remained with them for five years and in 1913 chose Grand Rapids as his field of activity and organized the Sherman Advertising Company from which grew the present Walter J. Peterson Company, Inc. The name was changed to the present form in 1919 with Walter J. Peterson, president; Mrs. S. T. Peterson, vice-president, and Thord R. Bruce, secretary. Mr. Peterson finds time aside from his business to take an active interest in the Peninsular Club and belongs to the Fountain Street Baptist Church. He was married in November, 1908, to Miss Signe Tyden, and they have five children, William, born No- vember 16, 1909, now a student in the Central high school; Dorothy, born March 25, 1913; June, born June 15, 1914, and Bob and Betty, twins, born November 14, 1919. Joseph C. Bogerd, proprietor of the Clifton Hotel in the city of Grand Rapids, was born at Dayton, La Salle county, Illinois, October 5, 1875, and is a son of Adrian and Mattie (Wagemaker) Bogerd, the former of whom was born in Oudekerk, Holland, and the latter of whom was a resident of Grand Rapids at the time of her marriage, the Wage- maker family, of Holland Dutch origin, having early been founded in western Michigan. Adrian Bogerd came to the United States in 1868 and first settled near Dayton, Illinois, whence he later came to Grand Rapids, where was solemnized his marriage to Miss Mattie Wagemaker. He soon afterward returned to Dayton, Illinois, and about eighteen months after the birth of his son, Joseph C., of this sketch, he removed with his family to Danforth, Iroquois county, Illinois, in order to be near the church of his wife's choice, that of the Dutch Reformed de- nomination. Adrian Bogerd continued as one of the substantial farm- ers of Illinois for many years, but in 1882 he came again to Grand Rapids, where he still maintains his home, on Niles Court, his wife having passed to the life eternal in 1893. The public schools of Dan- forth, Illinois, and the city of Grand Rapids afforded Joseph C. Bogerd his youthful education, but as a lad of twelve years he found employ- ment in the Comstock pail factory, where he received $2.40 a week for his services. At the same wage he later was employed six months at the factory of the Worden Furniture Company, and at the age of four- teen years he took a position in the Bissell carpet sweeper factory, at a 502 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY week to his mother, with the result compensation of $3.50 a week, of which amount he gave $3.35 each that he had a reserve of the that he had a stupendous weekly fund of fifteen cents to "spend in riotious living." He remained at the Bissell factory about one year, and about this time he witnessed a large parade of union men, and the impression made upon him in this connection was such that he determined to become a member of a union. In consonance with this ambition he served an apprenticeship to the trade of cigar maker, in the factory of John Vanderweiden, his association with cigar making having continued, however, only one year. In 1902 Mr. Bogerd formed a partnership with William Kareman and engaged in the retail liquor business on Lyon street, the business proving so successful that the firm soon pur- chased the large house which they had thus rented. The business was there continued ten years, when the firm was offered a good price for the property and found it expedient to sell the same. They then pur- chased the Eagle building, on the opposite side of the same street, and in the following year Mr. Kareman died, his interest in the business having then been purchased by Mr. Bogerd, who later remodeled the building and who has here successfully conducted since that time a well ordered hotel whose charges for accommodations are moderate. Mr. Bogerd married Miss Blanche Joppe, daughter of Cornelius Joppe, of Grand Rapids, and the one child of this union is a daughter, Donna June. John and Leazo Bogerd, brothers of the subject of this review, served in the Spanish-American war, as members of Company B of the Grand Rapids Battalion of Infantry, the former of whom also served in the World war overseas, and was commissioned second lieutenant. Henry Duthler, who is now one of the reliable, energetic and successful representatives of the real estate business in the city of Grand Rapids, was born in the fine old Netherlands of Europe, a son of Wil- liam and Catherine Duthler, and was reared and educated in his native land. He was twenty-three years of age when he came to Michigan and established his residence in Grand Rapids, where he learned the trade of tool maker, in which he became a skilled artisan. He was em- ployed eighteen months in the adding machine department of the Grand Rapids Brass Company, and during a subsequent period of equal dura- tion he was employed as a tool maker at the plant of the Machine Tool Company of Detroit. Thereafter he was employed by the Mason Motor Company, at Flint, and after his return to Grand Rapids he was for two years employed at the Leitelt Iron Works. His ambition and industry had been directed along progressive lines and he applied him- self to learning methods and policies of business in a way that should eventually enable him to engage in business in an independent way. It was within the World war period that Mr. Duthler became associated with the Grand Rapids real estate firm of Harry M. Lehnen & Com- pany, and in this connection he fortified himself well in knowledge con- cerning the various details and policies of this important line of enter- prise. Finally he engaged in the buying and selling of real estate in an independent way, and his close application, his discernment and his fair and honorable methods have enabled him to build up a prosperous HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 503 business, his office headquarters being at 1523 Grandville avenue, south- west. Mr. Duthler is a veritable apostle of the square deal in all of the relations of life, and this has given him secure place in popular con- fidence and good will—the best of business assets. He has also entered the contracting field, thereby building his own houses for sale. Martin A. Gelock, founder and executive head of the Gelock Transfer Lines, and for more than half a century an honored resident of Grand Rapids, is one of the enterprising and public spirited men of this city who has made his way to prominence and honorable prestige through his own well directed energy and efforts Becoming self-re- liant when a boy of fourteen, he has risen to a place of commanding in- fluence, and his character and achievements have honored himself and the city in which his progressive activities have been centered. He has had a varied business experience, knows the value of consecutive in- dustry, has had the discipline of “hard knocks,” but in the maturing and broadening of his character he has no reason to regret the early struggles and experiences which marked his progress toward the goal of success. Mr. Gelock was born in Grand Rapids, January 10, 1865, and is a son of the late Cornelius Gelock, who was born and reared in the Nether- lands and who was seventeen years of age when he came to the United States and established his residence in Michigan. Loyal and patriotic and appreciative of the land of his adoption, Cornelius Gelock enlisted when twenty-one years of age for service in the Civil war, and was a valiant soldier in defense of the Union during that great conflict. After his honorable discharge he returned to Grand Rapids, and both he and his worthy wife were residents of this city at the time of their death. The early and limited educational advantages of Martin A. Gelock were those afforded by the public schools of Grand Rapids. At the age of fourteen years he found employment in the local shoe shop of Barney McLaugherty, and later he worked in a brush factory in this city, and was also employed for a time in the Nelson & Matter furniture factory. He was early taught the habits of industry and economy, and placing a true valuation on honest toil and endeavor of whose dignity he has ever continued deeply appreciative, he worked at any honorable em- ployment he could find. His maximum of pleasure and satisfaction however, was working around the horses kept by his father and his fondness for horses undoubtedly had much to do with his choice of vocation. For thirty years he was engaged in doing draying work for the firm of Brown & Foster and its successor, Brown & Hill. Later he engaged in the draying and transfer business in an independent way, and from a modest inception he has developed the substantial and prosperous business of which he is head and which is one of the lead- ing industries of its kind in the city of Grand Rapids. He owns a large number of fine draft teams and a fleet of modern trucks with office headquarters and general equipment at 136-8 Ionia avenue, south- west, where he is able to give prompt and efficient service to the public in all work along this line. He makes a specialty in the supplying of teams and men required in construction and all other work along this line as well as doing a general transfer business. Besides his business connections Mr. Gelock is loyal and public spirited in his civic at- 504 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY titude, and gives generously of his time and money to charitable move- ments and all measures tending to the public good. As a business man a his course has been one of secure and consecutive progress, and through his well directed endeavors he has done not a little to further the in- dustrial and commercial prestige of his native city. Mr. Gelock was married in 1885, to Miss Minnie Stein, a member of an old established and highly respected family of the Netherlands, and to this union were born seven children: Cornelius, Herman, Anthony H., Martin A., Jr., Henrietta, Adrian A., and Margaret, the first two of whom are deceased. George H. Detlor, one of the representative insurance and real estate dealers of Grand Rapids, was born in Ontario, Canada, March 17, 1868, the son of Barnet V. and Isabella (Benn) Detlor, both of whom were natives of Canada, and came to Michigan in 1888, set- tling on a farm in Kent county, where they afterward resided until death. George H. Detlor was one of eleven children born to his parents. He received a common and high school education, after which he worked on the home farm until 1888. In that year he engaged in the lumber business in partnership with Luther Wilson. He later engaged in the insurance business, his first two years being spent with the Mystic Circle and the next four with the Modern Woodmen of America. After severing relations with the latter order he became general field manager in Ohio for the Home Guards of America, remaining in that position for fourteen years. In 1906 he returned to Grand Rapids, where his first six years in the insurance business had been spent, and embarked in the insur- ance business for himself. In 1912 he added real estate to his already large business and in both fields of activity he has achieved notable success. For eleven years he was located in the Michigan Trust building and then moved to his present suite of offices on Division avenue. In addition to his insurance and real estate busi- ness, he is secretary and treasurer of the Grand Rapids Dairy Supply Company, secretary and treasurer of the Michigan Home Builders' Association and ex-president of the Grand Rapids Real Estate Board. He is an Elk, an Odd Fellow, a Knight of Pythias and a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and the Amer- ican Insurance Union, and is prominent in both business and social circles. Mr. Detlor was married in 1898. to Margaret B. Hine, of Akron, Ohio, and they became the parents of one son, George I. Detlor, who was born July 6, 1902, and who is a graduate of the University of Michigan, and is now identified with A. E. Kusterer & Company, investment bankers and brokers, of Grand Rapids. This wife died April 8, 1915, and in November, 1919, Mr. Detlor married Jane Weaver, of Grand Rapids. Frank C. Jarvis, D. D. S. Although numbered among the later practitioners of Grand Rapids, Dr. Frank C. Jarvis has proven his ability as a dentist and is well upholding the honors of his pro- fession. He has been a resident of Grand Rapids for nearly four- teen years, and no citizen of this city has made a more lasting impression for both professional ability of a high order and for HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 505 the individuality of a genial personal character. He holds prestige in his profession by reason of ability and thorough training, and the substantial and representative scope of his practice indicates the high popular estimate placed upon him as a skilled dental prac- titioner. Dr. Dr. Jarvis was born at Paw Paw, Van Buren county, Michigan, September 9, 1872, a son of Roman Jarvis and Arimantha (Hicks) Jarvis, who moved from the state of New York to Michi- gan in 1862. Here the father became a prosperous shoe merchant at Benton Harbor, and continued in that field of activity for many years, dying there in 1899, his wife' having preceded him to the grave, dying in 1894. Dr. Frank C. Jarvis obtained his early education in the grammar and high schools of Benton Harbor, in which he made good use of his time and opportunity, graduating from the latter in 1891. Having determined upon the practice of dentistry as a life work, he later matriculated at the dental depart- ment of the Northwestern University, at Chicago, where he took a thorough course and was graduated in 1900 with the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery. Soon afterward he established himself in the practice of his profession at Benton Harbor, where he con- tinued in general practice for three years. For the ensuing five years he was in practice at Kalispell, Montana, but later returned to Michigan and in 1912 he came to Grand Rapids, where he has since continued as a successful and representative exponent of modern dental science and practice. · He maintains adequate offices in the Gilbert building with the most modern equipment in both operative and laboratory departments and here his clientele is distinctively of representative order. Dr. Jarvis is an active mem- ber of the American Dental Association and of the Michigan State Dental Association, and keeps in close touch with all that research is bringing to light in the field of scientific knowledge. His work has been characterized by devotion to duty and his professional services have ever been discharged with a keen sense of conscien- tious obligation. Besides the practice of his profession, Dr. Jarvis also finds time and opportunity to give effective cooperation in movements for the social, political and material betterment of the community, and has ever stood as an exponent of the best type of civic loyalty and progressiveness. He has been prominent in the councils and campaign activities of the Democratic party in his native state for many years, and has wielded definite and benignant influence, both as a citizen and as a man of political jurisprudence. Under the administration of President Cleveland he served as assis- tant postmaster of Benton Harbor and in 1920 he was the Demo- cratic candidate for representative of the Fifth Michigan district in the United States Congress. He was also his party's candidate for secretary of state of Michigan in 1924. Though defeated at the polls, he ran 20,000 votes ahead of the Democratic presidential vote in the state, and the only reason for his not being elected to such public office is the Democratic minority in Michigan. Dr. Jarvis was married in 1900 to Miss Minnie E. Knight, of Mar- 506 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY shall, Michigan, a woman of engaging personality, and to this union there have been born two daughters, Marian and Helen, the former a graduate of the University of Michigan, where she specialized in dental hygiene and is now a valued assistant of Dr. Henry L. Miller, of Grand Rapids. The family home for many years has been on West Leonard road, in one of the most delightful suburban districts of Grand Rapids. Here the doctor takes great pride in beautifying his grounds with flowers and shrubs besides keeping the lawns up to the finest standard. The home overlooks the fine grounds and golf links of the Highland Country Club, of which the doctor is an appreciative and popular member. Bradley Hayes Hannaford has had broad and varied experience in the hotel and restaurant business and is now one of the veteran representatives of the restaurant business in the city of Grand Rapids, where he owns and gives his personal supervision to the popular Hannaford Restaurant, at 9-11-13 Commerce avenue, north- west. Mr. Hannaford was born in New Hampshire, December 31, 1846, and is a scion of New England colonial ancestry. He was reared and educated in the old Granite state and was a youth of seventeen years when he first came to the west in 1864. He resided in Illinois until 1869, when he made his initial appearance in Grand Rapids. In earlier years he was long and closely identified with railroad service, and after coming to Grand Rapids he was employed first on the railroad line that is now a part of the New York Central system. He was associated with the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad (now a part of the Pennsylvania lines) at the time when its line was under construction by the Continental Improvement Company, the line having at that time been extended only as far as Paris, Mecosta county, Michigan. He was employed also on the Chicago & West Michigan Railroad, now a part of the Pere Marquette system, Whitehall, Muskegon county, having then been the terminus. For two years Mr. Hannaford was employed at the Coulter House, long a leading hotel at Grand Haven, and thereafter he was employed in the old Rathborn House in Grand Rapids. He next conducted an eating house for the Illinois Central Railroad, in Mississippi, and he conducted similar places in Chi- cago. In the latter city he was manager of the Kenwood Club, a representative institution, during the period from 1896 to 1910, and he was thus engaged at the time of the erection of the beauti- ful new club house at Forty-seventh street and Lake Park avenue. In 1913 Mr. Hannaford returned to Grand Rapids, and here he con- ducted the restaurant of the Cody Hotel until 1921, when he opened his present attractive and well ordered restaurant, the service of which, as combined with the popularity of the owner, has gained to it a large and appreciative supporting patronage. Mr. Hanna- ford has recently platted his farm property on the outskirts of Grand Rapids, and this is to be developed as the Hannaford addi- tion to Grand Rapids, the property being eligibly situated along what is a virtual continuation of South Division street. Mr. Hanna- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 507 ford is affiliated with the Hotel Men's Mutual Benefit Association. in 1876 Mr. Hannaford wedded Miss Louise Long, of Grand Rapids, and her death occurred in Chicago, in 1900. Walter J., eldest of the children, now has the active management of his father's restau- rant. He married Letitia Kern and they have one son. Miss Adelaide Louise Hannaford, younger of the two children born to Mr. and Mrs. Bradley H. Hannaford, is known for her exceptional business ability and is now publicity agent for the great and ex- clusive Blackstone Hotel in the city of Chicago. Harry T. Baldwin, who represents the Second ward of Grand Rapids on the municipal board of commissioners and who con- ducts a prosperous forging and welding business, besides manu- facturing an improved type of ice tongs, invented by himself, and plumbers' calking tools, has his business headquarters in his well equipped plant at 1028 Fairmont street, southeast. This popular city commissioner is able to claim Kent county as the place of his nativity, his birth having occurred at Cannonsburg. December 7, 1857, a date which shows that he is a representative of one of the pioneer families of the county. He is a son of James A. and Susan S. Baldwin. James Baldwin was born at Michigan City, Indiana, his father, a native of Vermont and a scion of a New England colonial family, having become one of the pioneer settlers in north- ern Indiana. Mrs. Susan S. Baldwin was born in England, and was a child of eight years when her parents came to the United States and numbered themselves among the pioneers of Michigan, where her father, Jeremiah Hastings, became a substantial farmer. James Baldwin learned in his youth the trade of blacksmith, and upon coming from Indiana to Kent county, Michigan, in the early fifties, he engaged in the work of his trade at Cannonsburg. Then he continued to reside at Rockford until his death, in 1873. The death of his wife occurred in the town of Solon. Harry T. Baldwin attended the pioneer schools of Cannonsburg in Kent county, and early began to assist in his father's shop, where he became a skilled artisan at the blacksmith trade, as did also two of his brothers. He continued in the work of his trade at Luther until 1891, when he removed to Grand Rapids and established a shop at 971-973 Cherry street, southeast, that has since been developed into a pros- perous manufacturing establishment. He now does a general forging and welding business and other work of fine craftsmanship, and he has also developed a substantial business in the manufac- turing and sale of the Baldwin ice tongs, invented and patented by him. He has continuously resided in the east- end of Grand Rapids and has been influential in community affairs in that section of the city, as shown in his having served fourteen years as alder- man from the Second ward, formerly the Third ward, besides which he has been commissioner from that ward two years under the present commission form of municipal government, his first terni in this office having expired in 1925 and he having in that year been re-elected for a second term of two years. He takes deep 508 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY interest in all that concerns the welfare of his home city and native county, and here he has a secure place in popular confidence and esteem. Mr. Baldwin is a Republican in politics, and he has been especially active in the fraternal orders with which he is identified. At Luther, Lake county, he was raised to the degree of Master Mason in Luther Lodge No. 370, F. & A. M., and his present affiliation is with Grand River Lodge, No. 34, Grand Rapids, of which he is past master and life member. He is past high priest of Grand Rapids Chapter, No. 7, R. A. M., and belongs to Tyre Council, No. 10, DeMolay Commandery No. 5, K. T., Saladin Temple A. A. O. N. M. S., is past patron of Peninsula Chapter, No. 65, of the Order of the Eastern Star, is Past Watchman of the Shepherds of the White Shrine of Jerusalem, No. 1. He was a leader in the organizing of the American Fraternal Stars, and has been from the beginning its supreme president. In December, Mr. Baldwin became a life member of the Grand Rapids Chapter, No. 7, having been a member for twenty-five years. In 1879 Mr. Baldwin married Miss Addie F. Brown and her death occurred in 1906. In 1908 he wedded Miss Burde Gardiner, and she presides over the social and domestic affairs of their attractive home. John L. Petersen is senior member of the firm of Petersen & Segard Plumbing & Heating Company, of Grand Rapids. Mr. Petersen was born in Grand Rapids, September 6, 1890, and is the son of Peter and Anna (Johnson) Petersen, the former of whom was born in Germany, in 1845, and the latter of whom was born in Sweden, in 1855, their marriage having been solemnized in Grand Rapids in the year of 1888. Peter Petersen came to Grand Rapids at the time the Civil war was in progress and lived there until the time of his death, December 21, 1919, at the age of seventy-five years. The Grand Rapids public schools gave to John L. Petersen his youthful education and thereafter he served a five year appren- ticeship in the plumbing and heating trade with the Richards Plumbing & Heating Company, of Grand Rapids, for which firm he worked ten years. In January, 1919, he engaged in business for himself and later admitted George Segard to partnership in the business, he having been honorably discharged at that time from the United States navy, in which he had served during the war. Mr. Petersen has had no desire for political activity. He and his wife are communicants of the Trinity English Lutheran church, and he is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, as well as being a member of the Plumbing & Heating Contractors Association, of which he served as president in the year 1923. In the year 1913 he was united in marriage to Miss Ellen A. Salmi, daughter of John J. Salmi. They have three children, Arthur John, born Janu- ary 23, 1914; Carl Henry, June 14, 1916; and Howard Ernst, October 15, 1921. Arthur F. Crabb, who was born in Grand Rapids, May 3, 1887, and who as a florist conducting a substantial and representative busi- ness in his native city is a virtual successor of his father, has his well HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 509 equipped and handsomely appointed retail establishment at 13 Jefferson avenue, southeast, where he utilizes the first floor and basement of the building that has been enlarged and remodeled by him to meet the de- mands of his constantly expanding business. Mr. Crabb is a son of George F. and Jessie B. (Martin) Crabb, the latter having passed away on Thanksgiving Day in 1923. The father still maintains his home in Grand Rapids, where he was actively engaged in the florist business during a period of virtually forty years, he having in earlier years main- tained a partnership alliance with George S. Hunter and controlled a substantial wholesale and retail business. He now gives his attention almost exclusively to landscape gardening, of which he is a leading exponent in this section of Michigan. As a florist George F. Crabb had three large greenhouses, one of which covered the entire block at the corner of Madison and Delaware streets, where are now established public play grounds maintained by the city for the use of the children and youth of that district of Grand Rapids. After his graduation in the high school Arthur F. Crabb continued to be associated with his father's business until 1915, when he established his present and ex- clusively retail florist business, and his headquarters having been from the start maintained at 13 Jefferson avenue, southeast, though, as previously intimated, he has been compelled to enlarge and otherwise remodel his building in order to make adequate provisions for his now large and well ordered business. He is a member of the Society of American Florists, and the Florist Telegraph Delivery Association, and in 1925 he is serving as treasurer of the Michigan State Florists Associa- tion, besides which he is an active member of the Grand Rapids Associa- tion of Commerce. Mr. Crabb is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, including the Mystic Shrine, and also with the Knights of Pythias. He has membership in the local Rotary Club, the Peninsular Club, and the Grand Rapids Boat and Canoe Club. In 1911 Mr. Crabb married Miss Margaret Ryan, of Grand Rapids, and they have three children: Rob- ert, Phyllis, and Betty. Andy James Egan is successfully engaged in the heating and ventilating business, with headquarters at 312 Bond avenue, northwest, and has the distinction of being at the time of this writing, in 1925, president of the Grand Rapids Builders and Traders Exchange, a progressive organization that functions effectively in connection with civic and material advancement in the city. Mr. Egan was born on a farm near Peru, Indiana, September 22, 1867, and is a son of John and Julia (Holland) Egan, who established their home in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1872, the father having here engaged in work at the car- penter trade. The youthful education of Andy J. Egan was limited, as he began to work when he was but eleven years old. He learned his trade in the Hoffman plumbing and heating establishment, later was associated with the Adolph Leitelt Iron Works, and with the city water works system he thereafter worked his way forward to the position of assistant chief engineer of the pumping station. In his trade he was later employed in the city of Muskegon, by the Howden Company, by which he was eventually assigned management of the branch in his home city of Grand Rapids, this branch being conducted under the title 510 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY of the Grand Rapids Plumbing & Heating Company. After two years, Mr. Egan resumed his connection with the Leitelt Iron Works, in charge of the plant, and after having been in the employ of others thirty-five years he engaged in business in an independent way. His success has been substantial, and he is now one of the leading exponents of the heating and ventilating business in Grand Rapids, with a reputation as an expert in this important field of enterprise. He has installed heat- ing and ventilating systems in many of the important buildings of this section of Michigan, including the Grand Rapids National Bank, the South Side high school, the Lexington and Henry public schools, the Wurzburg department store, the Rowe hotel, the new Telephone build- ing, the Berkey & Gay furniture factory, the building of the Peninsular Club, the Shank storage warehouse, the buildings of the Ypsilanti Fur- niture Company (the world's largest manufacturers of reed furniture), ) the Portland cement plant at Newaygo, the Gratiot county court house (at Ithaca), the high school building at Alma, and the hotel building at Reed City, this structure including a bank and a hotel. Mr. Egan owns the building in which he has his business headquarters. In addi- tion to being president and a director of the Builders and Traders Ex- change, he is a valued member of the Association of Commerce, is a director of the Bennett Brass Works, at Greenville, and is a director of the Palmer Construction Company, for which at the time of this writing, he is installing the heating and ventilating system in the fine mausoleum building recently erected by the company in Grand Rapids. Mr. Egan has his basic Masonic affiliation with Doric Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and is a Noble of the Mystic Shrine, besides being a member of the local lodge of Elks. He is a member of the Grand Rapids En- gineering Society and of the Masonic Steam Engineers. In 1914 Mr. Egan married Mrs. Orpha Feldner, of Grand Rapids, no children hav- ing been born of this union. They maintain a pleasant home at 1258 Dunham street, southeast, Grand Rapids. John A. Bassford. With offices in the Federal Square building in the city of Grand Rapids, Mr. Bassford is giving vigorous and suc- cessful administration as western Michigan manager for the Aetna Life Insurance Company, for which he has developed a large and represen- tative business in his assigned jurisdiction. Mr. Bassford was born at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, January 14, 1882, and is a son of John and Ida (Wolcott) Bassford, the latter of whom is deceased. John Bassford, who was born in Canada, of English ancestry, became an early settler at Sturgeon Bay, where he was for many years en- gaged in the mercantile business, he being now a resident of Minne- apolis, Minnesota. His wife was born in Vermont and was a resident of Sturgeon Bay at the time of her death. The public schools of the Badger state afforded John A. Bassford his youthful education, and virtually his entire active career has been marked by association with the insurance business, with which he has been identified nearly a quarter of a century. Mr. Bassford came to Grand Rapids in 1907, and after having here been for some time a representative of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, he transferred his productive allegiance to the old and influential Aetna Life Insurance Company, HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 511 with which he has since made a record of splendid service. The com- pany's business in Michigan is divided into three administrative dis- tricts, with general offices at Detroit, Grand Rapids and Flint. The district of western Michigan, of which Mr. Bassford has charge, is comprised of thirty-three counties, in which he has supervision of the work of fifty agents. Mr. Bassford has gained authoritative knowl- edge of all phases of life insurance and as an executive has proved in results his excellent administrative and initiative ability. He is a mem- ber of the National Association of Life Underwriters and also of the Michigan Association of Life Underwriters. His political His political alignment is with the Republican party, he is affiliated with the Scottish Rite body of the Masonic fraternity, as well as the Mystic Shrine, has member- ship in the Peninsular Club of Grand Rapids and the Masonic Country Club, and he and his wife are communicants of Grace church, Protestant Episcopal. On the 29th of October, 1903, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Bassford to Miss Gertrude Sibree, of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, and they have three children: Sibree W., Helen M., and John A., Jr. Carl G. J. Zarbock, who is president of the Peat Fuel Company, and a prominent real estate dealer of Grand Rapids, was born in Ger- many, July 25, 1867, the son of William and Anna (Berg) Zarbock, both of whom were natives of Germany and came to Saginaw, Mich- igan, in 1890 where they made their home until the time of their death. Carl G. J. Zarbock was educated in the public schools of Germany ar then served in the German army for seven years. In 1890, he came to the United States with his parents, settling with them at Saginaw, Michigan, where he remained for two years. In 1892, he came to Grand Rapids where he followed his chosen trade of stationary engineer for some twenty years in leading factories and buildings of his adopted city. In 1913, he established a plumbing and heating concern which he operated successfully until 1917, when he gave up the work to engage in the manufacturing of peat. He developed a fine business and though he is not now actively engaged in working at the plant, he is still president of the Peat Fuel Company, which owes its existence and present thriving condition, in large measure, to his ability and initiative. He has given much time of late years to dealing in real estate, and his business interests are mostly along these lines at the present time. Mr. Zarbock is known to his many business associates as a man of sterling integrity and honesty in his business dealings, factors which have greatly aided him in his successful career. On October 22, 1892, he married Miss Augusta Liedeke, of Saginaw, Michigan, and to this marriage have been born five children as follows: Carl G. J., Jr., who is married and has a son and a daughter; George R., Otto B., Lena, and Anna. George R. and Otto B. Zarbock are the proprietors of the Zarbock Brothers garage located at 445 Michigan street, northeast, which is doing an excellent business under their direction. They are Ford automobile dealers and also do general garage work. Mr. Zarbock is a member of the Lutheran church. Moses J. Dark has, through his own ability and well directed efforts, gained place among the successful business men of the city 512 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY of Grand Rapids, where he is engaged in the wholesale fruit and produce business, with headquarters at 106-8 Fulton street, west. He was born in London, England, in the year 1868, and was a lad of seven years when he accompanied his parents to America, in 1875, the family residence having first been established at Windsor, Ontario, Canada, for a short time, thereafter moving to Detroit, Michigan. He had attended the public school. He was about twenty-two years of age at the time he came to Grand Rapids. As a youth Moses J. Dark worked three years on a farm in Ottawa county, near Coopersville, and during the ensuing three years he was a member of an “iron gang” in service on the Grand Trunk Railroad. Thereafter he was for three years on the city street car line at the time A. Berveer was general manager. Later for eight years he was in the employ of the Telfee Spice Company, on Pearl street, and he next became associated with the Henry J. Vinkemulder Company, engaged in the fruit business, at that time on Division street, south. After four years with this concern he was admitted to partnership in the business, with which he continued his connection for twenty-two years. Then he made preparations to engage in business in an independent way. In 1919 he established himself in the wholesale fruit and produce business at his present location, and his fair and honorable policies, as coupled with reliable service at all times, have enabled him to build up a business of large volume and most substantial and prosperous order, his sons, Maurice and Lawrence, being now actively associ- ated with him in the enterprise and both being popular and pro- gressive young business men of their native city, in the parochial schools of which they received their early education, and which they represented in the nation's military service in the World war period. The other two children of the family are Rev. Thomas R. and Mary Josephine. Mrs. Dark, whose maiden name was Cather- ine Callahan, was born in Dennison, Ottawa county, Michigan, and was a resident of Grand Rapids at the time of her marriage. Gerrit Van Strien, an undertaker of Grand Rapids, was born in Nieuwe Tonge, Netherlands, August 28, 1858, the son of Cornelius and Cordelia (De Geus) Van Strien, both natives of the Nether- lands, where the former was born in 1836 and the latter in 1837. The family immigrated to the United States and settled at Grand Rapids, where Cornelius Van Strien entered the employ of the Comstock Saw Mill Company. After a time spent with the concern, he engaged in the lumber business for himself, work in which he continued until the time of his death, which was caused by a street railway accident in 1901. Gerrit Van Strien began his education in the public schools of the Netherlands, and after his trip to America continued his schooling in the Grand Rapids public schools. He then attended night school for three years at the Central school, gaining the equivalent of a high school education. He elected to follow the medical profession and toward this end he studied for three and a half years under the tutelage of a Doctor HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 513 Benton. He realized, however, that he would not care to follow that profession, and accordingly gave it up to engage in the furni- ture business with the Berkey and Gay Furniture Company, of Grand Rapids, beginning with that concern in 1875. He con- tinued in the employ of that firm until 1901, when he went into the undertaking business for himself, locating on the site of the present Regent theatre. In 1909 he became interested in the min- istry and studied for that work. He has conducted services at Plainfield, his first charge, Lamont, Allegan, Ada, Berkeley, East Paris, Moline, and Muskegon. His interest in the work is purely altruistic, for he charges no fees for his preaching. His work along these lines has distinguished him as an ardent worker for the cause of modern religion. In 1919 Mr. Van Strien moved to his present fine location at 101 Michigan street, Grand Rapids. He is recog- nized as one of the leaders in his field. On August 28, 1878, he married Miss Kriena Klaassen, the daughter of Adrian Klaassen, of Grand Rapids. To Mr. and Mrs. Van Strien have been born five children, as follows: Cornelia, deceased; Anna, the wife of Claude W. Dodge; Cornelius, deceased; Cornelia ; and Gerdina, the wife of Claude Wellman. Mr. Van Strien has been a member of the Consistory since 1883. He is an elder of the Fourth Reformed church, Grand Rapids, and has been deacon for seventeen years. He is also a member of the Michigan State Embalmers' Associa- tion. Laurence W. Smith has practiced law in Grand Rapids since 1915 and among his professional confreres he has gained the name of being one of the forceful advocates and trial lawyers now prac- ticing in that city. He is the son of Vernon Horace Smith, who was born December 29, 1838, in Ontario, Canada, to which place his parents, James and Phoebe Smith, came from their native state of New York. Vernon H. Smith settled at Ionia, Michigan, in 1858, where he practiced law, and in 1881 was called by the people to sit on the bench of the circuit court, a position which he filled until 1893. Rachael Worthington, whom he married, was born in Calhoun county, Michigan, of a pioneer family of the state. Laur- ence W. Smith, who was one of a family of four children, was born at Ionia, June 25, 1881, and there attended the grade and high schools. His graduation from the high school completed his preparation for a college education and he entered the University of Michigan to pursue a course in the literature department, being graduated in 1903. Thereafter he applied himself with his charac- teristic energy and ability to the study of law, so that he was able to pass the bar examinations the following year to be admitted to practice in all Michigan courts. He returned to his home to enter practice with his father, Judge Smith, under whose careful tutelage he rounded out his knowledge of the law. The death of his father in 1915 terminated the partnership. Not wishing to continue in Ionia, he came to Grand Rapids in that year and later formed a partnership with Mr. Jewell as Jewell & Smith, an ar- 514 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY rangement which existed until 1922. Mr. Smith has been in practice alone since that time, building up a clientele that pro- nounces him what he is, one of the ablest and best liked attor- neys in Grand Rapids. He married Genevieve Decker, of Battle Creek, the daughter of Garrett Decker, who came to that city from Hudson county, New York. To Mr. and Mrs. Smith has been born one son. John Henry Korreck, vice-president and general manager of the Pulte-Korreck Machine Company, of Grand Rapids, was born in Detroit, January 28, 1884, the son of John J. and Elizabeth (Eickoph) Korreck, both of whom were natives of Germany, com- ing to the United States to settle in Detroit. They removed to Grand Rapids when their son was but three months of age. They are still living in that city. John Henry Korreck received his ele- mentary education in the parochial school of St. Mary's parish and after his graduation from that institution he took up the study of mechanical drawing in a Grand Rapids commercial school. When he had completed this course of study he served his appren- ticeship as a machinist at the Perkins Company, where he worked for several years. In 1914, he went into business with F. E. Pulte, now deceased, and his son, Will Pulte, manufacturing cigar ma- chines, bread selling machines, grease cabinets, drum pumps, and all kinds of dies, tools and jigs. The plant, which is located at 231 Ionia avenue, northwest, is thoroughly modern in every respect. During the World war the company did a considerable amount of work for the government. The success of the enterprise is due principally to the expert management of Mr. Korreck, and he has come to be recognized as one of the leading figures in manufactur- ing circles in the city. On October 20, 1909, he married Miss Jose- phine Mary Funke, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Funke, both of whom are now dead. To this union have been born ten children as follows: Dorothy, Arthur, Lillian, Carl, who died in infancy, John, Raymond, Frederick, Robert, Mary Josephine, and Richard. Mr. Korreck and his family are affiliated with St. Mary's Catholic church. Fred Henry Meyer. One of the factors which has established the commercial and industrial life of Grand Rapids on the firmest of foundations is the Leitelt Iron Works, which is not only one of the strongest firms of its kind in the city but one of the oldest as well, its very solidity contributing a stability to the manufacturing of the city where it is located. But this solidity is not an outgrowth of chance fortune but rather the result of years of steady development guided by officers possessed of keen business judgment and executive ability. One such officer is Fred Henry Meyer, secretary and general manager, who is directly responsible for the present flourishing condition of the com- pany. He was born in Livingston county, Michigan, in 1876 and when he was eleven years old his parents, Louis and Harriet (Thompson) Meyer, moved to Manton, Wexford county, Michigan, where their son attended the public schools until his graduation from high school at the HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 515 age of fifteen years. At that age, Fred Meyer began to shift for him- self. For nine years he taught in the primary schools of northern Michigan and then engaged in the hardware and machinery business until the year 1913 when he became connected with the Leitelt Iron Works in the capacity of salesman, at the end of three years becoming the superintendent of the elevator department and secretary and general manager at the end of another three years. His rapid rise in the com- pany which he now manages is but another story of just reward for conscientious effort applied in the interests of the concern for which he worked and recognition of a native ability which proved him fit for the responsibilities of such an office as he now holds. The Leitelt Iron Works is an outgrowth of a partnership between two brothers of that name, Adolph and Edward, which was established in 1862. The brothers conducted a blacksmith shop for the repairing of sawmill machinery and boilers, for at that time, the lumbering business in Michigan was at its height and sawmills were many. The excellent quality of the work performed by the brothers brought them such a rapidly growing trade that it was not long before they began the manufacture of engines and sawmill machinery in conjunction with their repairing business. Still later they were encouraged to add the manufacture of freight elevators and special wood working machinery to their business. The year 1886 witnessed the dissolution of the partnership, the operation of the company remaining in the hands of Adolph Leitelt who became president of the firm at the time of its incorporation that same year; re- maining as president until his death in 1897. Edward Ansorge became secretary and treasurer at that time. Adolph Leitelt, it might be said, , was a native of Bavaria, Germany, and came to the United States at an early age. He settled at Ferrysburg, near Grand Haven, Michigan, and remained there until the time he went into business with his brother in Grand Rapids. Following the death of Adolph Leitelt, his son, Adolph, Jr., succeeded him as president of the iron works, but death removed him from that office after a period of eight productive years as head of the concern built up by his father. Mr. Ansorge, who during this time had been secretary and treasurer then stepped into the office of president, to be succeeded in 1911 by Julius La Bonte. Mr. La Bonte was the husband of Pauline, the youngest daughter of Adolph Leitelt, Sr. A reorganization of the business in 1919 took over the interests of the Leitelt family, and David McKay became president and Fred Henry Meyer secretary and general manager. The real point of the reorganization of the firm in 1919 was that the interests of the Leitelt family were sold to a group of faithful, efficient, and hard work- ing employes. Besides the two officers already named, F. J. Zylman became vice-president and G. W. Sackett treasurer. F. V. Cedarland, A. J. O'Brien, R. A. Wing, and G. Rosema all became stockholders. The Leitelt Iron Works today figures prominently in the industrial life of Grand Rapids, and that it does play such an important part in the city's manufacturing life is due in large measure to the managerial ability and business acumen of Fred Henry Meyer. Mr. Meyer, in 1903, married Ada Baum, whose family resided for many years at Springport, Jackson county, Michigan. 5.16 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Charles McPherson stands in the front rank of the legal profes- sion in Kent county. He is a member of one of the leading law firms of Grand Rapids, Norris, McPherson, Harrington & Waer. Mr. Mc- Pherson was born on a farm in Calhoun county, Michigan, and attended the schools of his local community. He received his high school educa- tion at Marshall, Michigan. He continued his education at Albion College, from which institution he graduated with the degree of Ph. B. in 1895. Having made a choice of the legal profession for his life work he entered the office of Mark Norris and pursued his studies until his admission to the bar in 1898. In 1900, Mr. McPherson went to De- troit, Michigan, where he was connected with the legal department of the Pere Marquette Railroad, with F. W. Stevens, until 1910. He then practiced his profession for one year at Manistee, Michigan, but in 1911 returned to Grand Rapids and became the partner of Mark Norris, his former preceptor. Since then he has continuously been a member of the firm which is headed by Mr. Norris. Mr. McPherson is a member of the Delta Tau Delta college fraternity and is active in the Peninsular and Kent Saddle Clubs. Martin P. Louwerse, of the S. A. Morman & Company, coal and builders' supplies, is another native son of Grand Rapids, born in this city July 16, 1871, and has grown and prospered with the expansion of his native city. He is the son of Lawrence Louwerse, a native of Holland who came to Grand Rapids when four years old with his parents Martin and Mary Louwerse. Martin Louwerse, grandfather of the subject of this narrative, was a shoemaker by trade. He and his wife died in Grand Rapids. The father of our subject was a harness maker by trade and spent his last days in Grand Rapids where he died in June, 1922. The mother of the subject of this record was Tona (Pleune) Louwerse, born in Holland, and brought to Grand Rapids by her mother, Christine Pleune. Mr. Louwerse's mother is still living at the age of seventy-one years. Martin P. Louwerse was educated in the public schools and business college of Grand Rapids and when six- teen years old began work for S. A. Morman, and continued in that work until 1917 when he became a member of the firm. On May 19, 1898, he was married to Miss Nellie Murphy of Grand Rapids and they have one daughter, Louise, who is a graduate of the Sacred Heart Academy and Simmons College of Boston, Massachusetts. She is now the wife of W. P. Eisenbrown of Reading, Pennsylvania, where they now reside. Mr. Louwerse is a member of the B. P. O. E., and an active member of the Schubert Club and Exchange Club. Abram Killinger. Stringed musical instruments are the oldest of which the modern world has record and the violin since the earliest medieval days has been the ruling favorite among stringed instruments of music. The entire United States comes to Grand Rapids to buy violins manufactured by Abram Killinger, who is conceded to be a master of his art, for it is an art rather than a trade. He is of German extraction, his grandfather, John Killinger, coming from Germany to settle in the United States in the early part of the nineteenth century. Abram A. Killinger, the father of the subject of this review, was born HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 517 in 1847 near Akron, Ohio, whither his family had gone froin Pennsyl- vania. When a young man, Abram A. Killinger came to Michigan and there carved out of the wilderness a farm which he developed into one of the valuable pieces of farm property before he returned to Ohio where he is now living with a daughter in Akron. Abram Killinger, the Grand Rapids representative of the family was born on his father's farm in Cass county, Michigan, in 1885. He was reared in the custo- mary life of Michigan farmer boys and attended the Five Points school in his home community. From earliest boyhood, he showed a decided bent for mechanical devices and his ingenious contrivances were the wonder of the community. He learned the art of violin making and in 1911 came to Grand Rapids where he established a shop for that pur- pose. Today the United States from coast to coast is familiar with the quality of Killinger violins. Musicians recognize in them instru- ments of exceptional tone quality and extraordinary workmanship. He is indubitably a master of his art and wherever violins are mentioned, the name of Killinger is immediately brought. That he has placed his instruments before the people as he has is due not only to his ability and knowledge of violin making but also to his keen business judgment and executive ability. His plant, well equipped for the purpose to which it is put, is located at 127/2 Monroe street. Mr. Killinger mar- ried Martha Ernest, a scion of an old pioneer family of Indiana. Evert Boersma is president of the Oakdale Coal & Wood Com- pany, 1500 Kalamazoo, southeast. He was born in the Netherlands on December 31, 1867, and came with his parents to Grand Rapids on June 1, 1880. He has lived in the First, Third, Tenth and Eleventh wards and now resides in the Third ward at 854 Alexander street, southeast, where he expects to spend the remainder of his days. His father, Hans Boersma and mother Jennie (Van Der Naald) Boersma, came to Grand Rapids on June 1, 1880, and the father worked for the Grand Trunk Railroad Company. He died on August 21, 1883, aged forty-eight years, while the mother still resides in this city, at 712 Jef- ferson avenue at the advanced age of eighty-four years. Evert Boers- ma, the subject of this narrative, had a very limited education and went to work for himself at the early age of nine years. His first expe- rience with the business world was with the Widdicomb Furniture Company of Grand Rapids at a time when he secured a remuneration of $1.80 per week for sixty hours work, and if he went less time than that he secured less pay. But in that period he learned the cabinet making trade and a few years later engaged in carpenter 'work and then advanced to contracting. For a few years he was engaged in the grocery business and then embarked in the coal and wood business. He established the Oakdale Coal & Wood Company about ten years ago and this business flourished sufficiently that it was incorporated in No- vember, 1924, and now extensively handles coal, fuel and building ma- terials. Mr. Boersma is a member of the Christian Reformed church on Hancock street. He was married in 1890 to Clara Plaggemeyer of Grand Rapids, she being a native of the Netherlands and came here at a very early age. Their children are Harry, born in 1896 and who received his education in the parochial schools of Grand Rapids and at 518 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY the Grand Rapids Business College and is now. engaged with Van's Plumbing and Hardware Company of Grand Rapids. He is married to Grace Warners and they have one daughter Clara; Rena, who was educated in the parochial schools of this city, who was born in 1898 and who resides at home; Jennie, born in 1902 and who also was educated in the parochial schools and at Calvin College and Western State Normal of Kalamazoo, is now a teacher in the Grand Rapids schools; Frederick, who was born in 1904 and was educated in the parochial schools and Calvin high school. He was engaged with Herpolsheimers for one year and in 1923 became connected as bookkeeper with the Oak- dale Coal & Wood Company. Harry, the oldest son, entered military service in the World war in 1918 and served for about eight months. His main training was at Valparaiso, Indiana. James Schols, proprietor of a florist shop at 1330 Leonard street, Grand Rapids, was born in that city September 26, 1884, the son of James Schols, Sr., who was born in the Netherlands and came to the United States in 1879. James Schols, Sr., first settled on a cotton plantation in the south, but in 1882, he came to Grand Rapids where he engaged in the floral business, building a large greenhouse in which to grow his own flowers. He conducted this business until 1912 when he retired to his farm located a mile west of Grand Rapids. James Schols, . Jr., was educated in the public schools of Grand Rapids after which he went to work for his father. He continued in that line of work, learn- ing the business with a thoroughness that guaranteed his future success in the field. With the retirement of his father in 1912, he took over the management of the business. The firm is one of the pioneer floral establishments of Grand Rapids. The company maintains its own greenhouses and a new office and show room, thoroughly modern in every respect. On December 19, 1912, he married Miss Cecelia Vander Hagen, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Vander Hagen, the former of whom is dead and the latter of whom is still living in Grand Rapids, To Mr. and Mrs. Schols have been born two children, James III, born in 1915, and Elaine, born in 1919. Mr. Schols is a thirty-second degree Mason, and is a member of the Elks, Knights of Pythias, and the Fra- ternal Order of Eagles. Emmett F. Roche has built a prosperous wholesale and retail business in the handling of automobile accessories and radio supplies, and in addition to the direct sales made at his three stores in Grand Rapids he has developed a substantial mail order business that extends into various states of the Union. He maintains his general office head- quarters in his store No. 3, at 212 Michigan avenue. Mr. Roche was born in Grand Rapids, May 25, 1893, and is a son of John B. and Ida (Wohlgemuth) Roche, who still maintain their residence in this city, where the father is president of the Roche Electric Machine Company, manufacturers of the Roche electric-hygienic machines and other elec- trical devices and supplies. The public schools of Grand Rapids con- tinued to enlist a due proportion of the time and application of Emmett F. Roche until he had profited by the curriculum of the high school, and his entire business career has been one of close association with the line HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 519 of enterprise of which he is now a prominent exponent. He opened his first store for the handling of automobile accessories in the year 1915, and when the nation entered the World war he sold his business to give his attention to service directly contributary to the war activities, he having become assistant manager of the American Steel & Tool Company, the large Hastings plant of which was given over exclusively to manufacturing supplies required by the government. In August, 1919, Mr. Roche re-engaged in business in an independent way, and with the rapid increase of the scope of the enterprise he eventually found it expedient to open two stores in addition to that in which he initiated his operations as a wholesale and retail dealer in automobile accessories. The business has been expanded also to include effective service in con- nection with the popular radio industry. Mr. Roche continues to main- tain lively interest in athletic affairs and wholesome outdoor sports, in which connection it may be noted that for several years he played on the baseball and football teams of Grand Rapids. He is a communicant of the Catholic church, and he is affiliated with the Knights of Colum- bus and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. On June 19, 1915, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Roche to Miss Fay Stuart, daughter of William Stuart, who was an honored pioneer citizen of Grand Rapids at the time of his death, as was also his wife. Mr. and Mrs. Roche have two children, Stuart John, who was born March 17, 1916, and Kathleen, who was born July 17, 1923. Carl W. Wiley is one of the vital and progressive business men of Grand Rapids, where he is one of the principals of the Reed & Wiley Company, growers of hothouse products, and where also he has done a prosperous business in the handling of real estate, besides which he conducts a well ordered service garage. The large and well equipped main plant of the Reed & Wiley Company is at 2180 Madison avenue, southeast, and a supplementary greenhouse is maintained by the com- pany on Eastern avenue. The business of the concern is of substantial order and special attention is given to the raising of lettuce and tomatoes, the trade of the company being widely extended and thus contributing to the fame of Grand Rapids as a distributing center. The greenhouse and propagating grounds of the Reed & Wiley Company are of the best modern order and the excellent service has proved the best advertising medium for the concern. In a little log house near Pine Lake, Kent county, Michigan, Carl W. Wiley was born December 21, 1879, a son of Nathan and Mary (Lacey) Wiley, the former of whom was born in the state of New York and the latter at Rockford, Kent county, Mich- igan. Nathan Wiley was a small boy when his parents came to Mich- igan and established residence in Detroit, whence removal was made to Grand Rapids a few years later, his parents having thus gained a goodly measure of pioneer precedence in Kent county, where Nathan was reared to manhood and where he was long and successfully identi- fied with the lumber industry, including his connection with the retail lumber business in Grand Rapids. He was affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and was long a member of the Park Congregational Church, of which his widow likewise is an earnest member. Nathan Wiley was Reared in Grand seventy-nine years of age at the time of his death. 520 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Rapids and given the advantages of the public schools of this city, Carl W. Wiley has here found ample opportunity for successful busi- ness achievement. For many years he was engaged in shipping potatoes in carload lots, and he became one of the leaders in this line of enter- prise in thus handling the fine potatoes raised in western Michigan. In the meanwhile he had become associated with Charles L. Reed in the ownership and operation of a greenhouse, and eventually this business grew to such proportions that he found it expedient to retire from the potato trade and give his undivided attention to the greenhouse enter- prise, which is now one of the foremost in the Grand Rapids metropoli- tan district. Mr. Wiley gives his political allegiance to the Republican party, and he is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, in the former of which he has received the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, besides being a noble of the Mystic Shrine. He and his wife reside at the Cody hotel in Grand Rapids, and pass their summers in their attractive cottage at Silver lake. In 1924 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Wiley to Miss Martha Hughes, daughter of Philip Hughes, of Grand Rapids, where Mrs. Wiley was born and reared. Charles S. Weatherly, son of Warren W. and Mary (Austin) Weatherly, was born April 8, 1851, and came to Grand Rapids, Mich- igan in 1857 with his parents. At the age of nineteen years he entered the employ of Wilder D. Foster as a sheet metal worker, for three years, then with the firm of Shriver, Weatherly & Company, and later with Weatherly & Pulte until 1905. Then he entered into business for himself having purchased the furnace heating department from Weatherly & Pulte, besides which he has been a leading represen- tative of the furnace business in Grand Rapids for many years, with a service record that has constituted one of its most valuable business assets. Mr. Weatherly has insistent appreciation of the manifold ad- vantages and attractions of his home city, and has ever shown loyal interest in matters touching its well-being. He and his wife are zealous members of the Weatherly Street Baptist church of which he has been a trustee for the past thirty-eight years. In 1875, November 18, Mr. Weatherly was united in marriage to Miss Anna Elisabeth Jones whose parents were pioneer citizens of Kent county. Mr. and Mrs. Weatherly celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary November 18, 1925. Joe Stevens, Jr., is the junior principal in the H. & J. Stevens Company, which conducts one of the leading general advertising agencies in his native city of Grand Rapids, with well appointed offices at 405-6 Murray building. Mr. Stevens was born in this city March 5, 1895, and , is a son of Joseph and Matilda (Folkertsma) Stevens, who still maintain their home here, the father being now retired from active business life. In the public schools of Grand Rapids the youthful educational discipline of Joe Stevens, Jr., included that of the high school. After leaving school he was for a time in the employ of a general advertising con- cern in Grand Rapids, and in 1917 he became associated in the same line of business with his brother Henry, who had had fifteen years of practi- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 521 cal experience in the business. Under the title of the H. & J. Stevens Company the brothers initiated operations in a modest way, and the correct policies and efficient service given by the concern have gained to it a substantial and appreciative clientage and also rank among the largest and most important of similar concerns in the fair Valley City of Michigan. Of the other principal in the business, Henry Stevens, individual mention is made on another page of this publication. Joe Stevens, Jr., is a member of the Grand Rapids Board of Commerce, the Grand Rapids Advertising Club, the Cascade Hills Country Club and the Christian Reformed church. In 1917 he was united in mar- riage to Miss Ann E. Ghysels, daughter of the late Abraham Ghysels, of Grand Rapids, and the names and respective birth dates of the chil- dren of this union are here recorded: Joan, February 1, 1918; Miriam, May 11, 1920, and Esther, January 8, 1925. The pleasant home of the family is at 1220 Bates street, southeast. Henry Stevens, who secured standing as one of the progressive and successful business men of the younger generation in Grand Rapids, where he was associated with his brother, Joe Stevens, Jr., in the gen- eral advertising business, under the title of the H. & J. Stevens Com- pany, with offices in the Murray building. The junior principal is Joe Stevens, Jr., of whom individual mention is made elsewhere in this publication. Henry Stevens was born in Grand Rapids May 26, 1891, and in this city still reside his parents, Joseph and Matilda (Folkertsma) Stevens. The public schools of his native city afforded Henry Stevens his early education, and his entire active career was one of close and progressive association with the advertising business. In this connection he was for ten years connected with the Dean-Hicks Company of Grand Rapids, and five years with the Robert Smith Company in the city of Lansing. In 1917 he and his brother established a general advertising business in Grand Rapids, and the broad scope and marked importance of the enterprise stand in evidence of the high grade service rendered to a clientele of representative order. Mr. Stevens was an active mem- ber of the local Kiwanis Club, the Grand Rapids Advertising Club, and the Cascade Hills Country Club. He was also a member of the Christian Reformed church of which his widow is likewise a member. January 3, 1914, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Stevens to Miss Helen A. Healy, daughter of John L. Healy, of Chicago, and the two children of this union are daughters, Betty Eileen, born October 21, 1914, and Thelma June, born December 23, 1916. Mr. Stevens died September 8, 1925. Edward W. Tatum succeeded to the ownership of an old-estab- lished bookbinding business in Grand Rapids, where he has successfully continued the enterprise, in the manufacturing of blank books, with the best of facilities also for all types of paper ruling, his well equipped establishment being at 29-31 Ottawa avenue, northwest. The business is conducted under the title of the Edward W. Tatum Book Binding Company. Mr. Tatum was born at Dyersburg, Dyer county, Tennessee, February 28, 1867, and is a son of the late Dr. Pinkney B. and Emma (Wood) Tatum, the former of whom was born at Summerville, that Isomerville 522 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY the to 1909 Elbl state, in 1833, and the latter of whom was born at Roellen, Dyer county, Tennessee, in 1837. Dr. Tatum was long established in the practice of dentistry in the city of Memphis, Tennessee, where both he and his wife died, and he was a gallant soldier of the Confederacy in the Civil war, he having taken part in many engagements and having been several times wounded. The youthful education of Edward W. Tatum was acquired in the city of Memphis, and there also he gained his initial business experience, in the capacity of cash boy in a dry goods store. His apprenticeship to the trade of bookbinder was served in Memphis, where for eight years he was employed in the bookbinding establish- ment of S. C. Toof & Company. For thirty years he was associated with a leading bookbinding concern in the city of Chicago, and he then left the great western metropolis and located on the farm that he pur- chased in Ottawa county, Michigan. He remained on this farm four years, and then, in 1912, came to Grand Rapids and associated him- self with T. P. Powell, a pioneer bookbinder and blank book manu- facturer of the city. In 1915 Mr. Tatum purchased the plant and busi- ness, and he has since conducted the enterprise with marked success, his trade having been extended into many places in western Michigan outside of Grand Rapids, and his local patronage being of distinctly representative order. He has membership in the various local or- ganizations having to do with printing and bookbinding, and his political alignment is with the Democratic party. In 1889 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Tatum to Miss Mary Ramsey daughter of the late Daniel Ramsey, of Huntsville, Alabama. Mr. Ramsey was long in railroad service, and was a well known railroad man of Memphis and Charleston. His wife likewise is deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Tatum have three children, Lucille, Edward D., and Elizabeth. Edward D., the only son, is now associated with his father's business. George A. Warrell is proprietor of the prosperous business con- ducted under the title of the Warrell Sign Company, and his well equipped establishment, known for the excellence of all products, is at 37 Market street, northwest, in his native city of Grand Rapids. Mr. Warrell was born in this city May 26, 1877, and is a son of Herman Warrell, who was born in France and whose wife was born in the state of New York, her death having occurred when her son George A., of this sketch, was but seven years old. Herman Warrell gave thirty- five years of service as a United States mail carrier in Grand Rapids, was then transferred to California, and in that state he is now living retired. George A. Warrell profited by the advantages of the Grand Rapids public schools, including the high school, and as a youth he entered upon an apprenticeship to the trade of sign painter. He has long been recognized as a skilled workman at this trade, and has shown exceptional artistic and technical ability in all of his productions. Since 1900 he has been engaged independently in the sign business, and such is his reputation that he has been called upon to supply business signs in many of the cities and villages of western Michigan, while in Grand Rapids his list of patrons has been large and representative from the time that he initiated his independent business under the title of the Warrell Sign Company. Henry A., the elder of the two sons of Mr. , HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 523 Warrell, is now associated with his father's business. He is married and has two children, Jack and Mary Ellen. Howard is the second child of the subject of this review and he likewise continues to reside in Grand Rapids. Blanche, the elder daughter, is the wife of Frederick Wat- son, of Grand Rapids, and they have one child, Robert. Margery, youngest of the children, is the wife of John Van Hattem, of Grand Rapids, and they have a daughter, Lottie. Fred Telder. One of the thriving businesses of the Grand Rapids east side is that in which Fred Telder is part owner. He was born in Grand Rapids, February 4, 1895, the son of Garrett H. and Katherine (Timmerman) Telder, of Grand Rapids. He realized that real success would only come when he went into business for himself, and accordingly, he, in partnership with N. H. Keegstra, established the East End Electrical Company. Electrical contracting in building work has formed one of the large portions of the work of the company and many large jobs have been performed by the concern. A full line of electrical supplies are carried in stock, and the firm is able to handle any sort of an electrical contract that it may make. Mr. Telder has won the name of being not only an excellent electrician but also of being an astute business man of sterling integrity. February 3, 1917, he was united in marriage with Miss Winifred Davidsee, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Davidsee, both of whom are dead. William Davidsee was a prominent building contractor of Ada, Mich- igan. Mr. and Mrs. Telder have two children, Ethel June, born De- cember 20, 1918, and Fredie Ann Telder. Mr. Telder is a member of the F. & A. M. Gordon R. Gamble is one of the progressive business men of the vital younger generation in the city of Grand Rapids, where he is president of the Stone-Hoult Furniture Company, exclusive wholesale dealers in upholstered furniture. He was one of the Michigan sons who was in active service overseas in the World war, and in this con- nection he made a record that shall ever reflect honor upon his name. Mr. Gamble was born at Howard City, Montcalm county, Michigan, March 18, 1893, and is a son of Edward J. and Elizabeth (Raymond) Gamble, who have maintained their home in Grand Rapids since the year 1904, the father being here the vice-president of the Luce Furniture Company. Gordon R. Gamble obtained his earlier education in the pub- lic schools of Howard City and after the removal of the family to Grand Rapids he here continued his studies until his graduation in the Central high school. At the age of eighteen years he established his residence in Duluth, Minnesota, and there he was associated with the retail furniture business during a period of ten years, save for the in- terval of his World war service. December 13, 1917, within a few months after the United States entered the war, Mr. Gamble enlisted for service in the navy, and was assigned to duty in a naval battery. His preliminary training was received at Great Lakes Naval Station. He saw seven months of service overseas, four of which he was almost continuously under shell fire, while engaged in operating great fourteen- inch guns that were mounted on railway cars. He was in active service 524 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY until the armistice brought the great conflict to a close, and after his return to his native land he received his honorable discharge, on the 11th of January, 1919. He then resumed his business activities in Duluth, but in 1922 he returned to Grand Rapids, where he is now president of the Stone-Hoult Furniture Company, a concern that is contributing its share to the industrial and commercial precedence of the great “Furniture City” of Michigan. He remains at the parental home, and like his father and mother, he has membership in the Park Congregational Church. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the American Legion, has membership in the Grand Rapids Motor Club, the Century Club and the Highland Country Club, and is an active member of the Furniture Manufacturers Association, the Grand Rapids Board of Commerce, and the Furniture, Fin and Hunting Club. Mr. Gamble is an enthusiast in acquatic sports, especially yachting and other sailing, and he owns, and keeps in seasonable commission at Ottawa Beach, the schooner "Badger II.” Joseph Tandler, a skilled cabinetmaker by trade has authorita- tive knowledge of the values of the various woods used in the manu- facturing of high grade furniture, and thus he is well fortified for the line of enterprise of which he is now an exponent in his native city of Grand Rapids, where he has been a dealer in fine veneers since 1909, and for the past ten years the local representative of the Southern Veneer Company, of Louisville, Kentucky. Mr. Tandler was born in Grand Rapids April 25, 1874, and is a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Huffman) Tandler, the former of whom was born in Austria, in 1838, and the latter of whom was born in Bavaria, Germany, in 1845. Joseph Tandler, Sr., was a young man when he established his residence in Grand Rapids, and he was long known as one of the most expert machinists in this city. He was employed by Butterworth & Lowe, Leitelt Machine Works and at the Michigan Iron Works, owned and operated by the late Wm. Powers, for a period of twenty-two years. He continued to reside in Grand Rapids until his death, in 1910, and here his venerable widow still maintains her home. After he had com- pleted his studies in the Grand Rapids public schools Joseph Tandler of this review was here engaged several years as a workman in a piano fac- tory, and later he was employed a number of years at his trade, that of cabinetmaker. Finally he engaged independently in business as a dealer in veneers, and he is now one of the prominent and successful representa- tives of this line of enterprise in Grand Rapids, where many of the large furniture manufacturing concerns are on his list of regular clients. He is a loyal and appreciative citizen of his native city, is a Republican in politics, and represented the Eighth ward as a member of the city board of aldermen two terms. He is affiliated with the Masonic fra- ternity and the Elks, is a member of the Masonic Country Club, and is an ardent devotee of fishing. In 1896 Mr. Tandler was united in mar- riage to Miss Mamie Nelson, daughter of John Nelson, of Grand Rapids, and the children of this union are four in number: Beatrice is the wife of Dennie Hondorp, of Grand Rapids, and they have one child, Richard; Richard Nelson is married and resides in Grand Rapids, and Josephine and John remain at the parental home. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 525 Clarence J. Farley is the executive head of one of the oldest established and important corporations that has done much to advance and maintain the commercial prestige of Grand Rapids, the exclusively wholesale dry goods house with which he is connected having been here established half a century ago, in 1875, by the firm of Voight & Herpolsheimer. This title obtained until 1902, when a reorganization was effected and the business was incorporated under the title of the Grand Rapids Dry Goods Company which continued until September 4, 1925, when the Grand Rapids Dry Goods Company was sold to its successor, C. J. Farley & Company, which is located at the same place, 20-28 Commerce avenue, southwest. In his careful and progressive policies Mr. Farley has done much to expand the company's business throughout the territory tributary to Grand Rapids as a distributing center, and he is distinctly one of the representative business men of the younger generation in his native city. Mr. Farley was born in Grand Rapids, September 19, 1892, and is a son of John F. and Catherine (DeKeyser) Farley, the former of whom was born in Corey, Pennsyl- vania, and the latter in East St. Louis, Illinois, their marriage having been solemnized in Grand Rapids, where they still maintain their home and where Mr. Farley is engaged in the retail grocery business at 1406 Madison street, southeast. The public school discipline of Clar- ence J. Farley included that of the Central high school in Grand Rapids, and after leaving school he was in the service of the Michigan Trust Company of Grand Rapids until he entered the commercial field by identifying himself with the Grand Rapids Dry Goods Company, in 1919, as previously noted. He is a Republican in politics, is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, has membership in the Peninsular Club and the Highland Golf Club, and he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church. In the World war period Mr. Farley was in the nation's military service, in which he gained the rank of second lieutenant and assistant quartermaster, at Camp Cody, Deming, New Mexico, where he was stationed at the time he received his honorable discharge. He is a member of the American Legion and is prominent in both busi- ness and social circles. In August, 1922, Mr. Farley was united in marriage to Miss Clarice Kalterman, of Kansas City, Missouri, and the one child of this union is their winsome daughter, Betty Jean. The family home is at 1546 Fourth street, northwest, and is a hospitable one, where their friends are always welcome. Milton Pray Adams, the vital and efficient sanitary engineer of the city of Grand Rapids, is a young man who is ever to be found up and doing when there is work to be done. He was a worker while, as a student in the University of Michigan, he was preparing himself for his chosen profession; along technical lines he was a constructive worker during the period of his service in the World war interval; and that in his present official capacity he has a broad field for work of enduring value and of great importance is manifest when it is stated that as sanitary engineer of his native city he is now (1925) in charge of the $5,000,000 development program, which involves and provides for the relief and enlargement of the present sewer system, in all parts of the city, and is “especially designed to serve the proposed 526 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY sewage-treatment plan with the greatest economy of operation." This entire project was made possible by the voting of the $5,000,000 bond issue in November, 1923, and it is expected that this fund will com- plete the major portion of the sewage-relief program and the municipal sewage-disposal plant. Milton P. Adams was born in Grand Rapids, June 2, 1894, a son of William Milton and Kate (Pray) Adams, the former of whom died in 1914 and the latter of whom still resides in this city. In an article that appeared in the Grand Rapids Herald of April 12, 1925, was an appreciative estimate of the character and service of the engineer, and from this article are consistently made the fol- lowing quotations, with minor changes, as they give a succinct outline of the career of Mr. Adams: “He was graduated in the Central high school of Grand Rapids in 1912, and attended Olivet College the fol- lowing year. Between his college and university work Mr. Adams obtained valuable construction experience through being retained as timekeeper and foreman by C. Hoertz & Son, local building contractors, in connection with the erection of the Franklin Street school and the fine Masonic Temple. It was during this period that Mr. Adams be- came particularly interested in engineering and construction work, and he resumed his studies at the University of Michigan in the fall of 1915, specializing in sanitary and municipal engineering problems. His record at the university was marked by rapid progress and high stand- ings. He was elected to both Tau Beta Pi, honorary engineering fra- ternity, and Sigma Xi honorary scientific society. In his last year at the university he spent much time in special preparation for service overseas with the engineering division of the sanitary corps of the United States army. He was graduated, in absentia, with the class of 1918, having left the university early, with the majority of his class, to engage in military service. Mr. Adams was commissioned a second lieutenant in the engineering division of the sanitary corps, and was in service at various camps, including Camp Fremont, California, where he was assigned to what was known as the 'sappers' branch and received instruction in underground tunneling for the planting of bombs. Mr. Adams was stationed at Camp Fremont at the time when the signing of the armistice brought the great conflict to a close, and after receiving his honorable discharge, January 1, 1919, he returned to Grand Rapids, where he has since been in the service of the municipality. He had charge of the construction and later the operation of the experimental sewage-testing station, and when the work of the division of sewage disposal was broadened to include a solution of the basement flooding problem, Mr. Adams was made the municipal sanitary engineer, the responsible office of which he has since continued the incumbent and in which he has rendered a characteristically loyal and efficient service.' Mr. Adams is in charge of a gigantic and important system of municipal improvements in his native city, and is making for himself a high reputation as a scientific and practical sanitary engineer. He is a valued and popular member of the Grand Rapids Engineering Society, is a Republican in politics, is affiliated with Doric Lodge, No. 342, A. F. & A. M., and is a member of the Masonic Country Club, American Legion and Army and Navy Club. He and his wife hold membership HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 527 in the Park Congregational Church. In 1920 was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Adams to Miss Marian Sharpe, daughter of Arthur C. Sharpe, treasurer of the Michigan Trust Company of Grand Rapids, and the fine little son of this union is William Milton, who is more familiarly known as "Bill.” Vernon H. Billings. In preparing a review of the lives of men whose careers have been of signal usefulness and honor to the county, no name is more worthy of mention in the history of Kent county than that of the late Vernon H. Billings, for more than half a century an honored resident of this county. His labors not only constituted a potent factor in the agricultural interests of Kent county, but he also rendered efficient service as a township and county official and although he has passed from the scene of earthly activities, he is remembered as a man of high ideals and his work remains as a force for good in the community. He was born January 25, 1860, on the old family home- stead, four and one-half miles north of the village of Sparta, in this county, and was a son of Calvin and Mary (King) Billings, who were pioneers of this county and were numbered among the highly respected citizens of their community. Calvin Billings was a native of Pennsyl- vania, but went to Ohio in early manhood where he was married and in the early fifties removed with his young bride to Kent county, Mich- igan. He purchased one hundred and sixty acres of unimproved land which he reclaimed from the forest to a productive farm, and this old homestead was the scene of his activities and the home of himself and his worthy wife for many years. As a youth Vernon H. Billings did his full share in the work of the farm, and in addition to attending the district schools of his community, he profited also by the advantages of what was then termed a high school, in the village of Lisbon. He continued his active association with farm work until he attained the age of twenty-two years. He then engaged in carpenter work for a time, but this employment was not to his liking and he soon returned to the farm. In 1883 he married Cora Jane Johnson, daughter of Minor and Caroline M. (Reynolds) Johnson, of this county, and for the ensuing five years he operated his father's farm, which he rented "on shares," as was the common expression in those days. He then pur- chased forty acres and engaged in farming on this tract for two years, when he purchased a fine landed estate near the village of Sparta, where he engaged in farming and stock raising for a number of years. He was also active in community affairs of a local order and in 1900 was treasurer of his township, and from 1910 until 1917 he represented that township as a member of the county board of supervisors. In 1918 he was appointed to the office of county superintendent of the poor and served in that capacity until his death, May 1, 1925. His adminis- tration was marked by the efficiency that conserves economy but in- volves no sacrifice of the interests of the poor of the county, to whom he ever showed unvarying kindness and sympathy, and in his death the institution lost an able and efficient manager and the inmates lost a true and faithful friend. Mr. Billings took great satisfaction in having witnessed the greater part of the development of his native county and its metropolis, the city of Grand Rapids, and he often reverted to the 528 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY fact that his father, in coming to this country from Ohio, made the overland journey with a wagon and ox team, ox_team, besides bringing a team of horses. Mr. Billings' devoted wife and helpmate died in June, 1915, and he afterward made his home with his son and only child, Lloyd C. Billings, who is chief chemist and superintendent of the city filtration plant of Grand Rapids, and who is one of the city's able and practical young business men, and is well upholding the honors of the family name. He married Miss Anna Bertelson, a daughter of Lewis and Mathilda (Hammer) Bertelson, of Grand Rapids, and they have three children: Clayton H., Lois M., and Richard C. Billings. Charles Otis Skinner, son of Elias and Gratia Elmena (Brooks) Skinner, was born in Grand Rapids on the 11th day of December, 1862, in what was known as the Winchester home on Barclay avenue, between Lyon and Crescent streets. Elias and Gratia Elmena Skinner were born and reared in Massachusetts. Both were descendants of the early pioneers of that state, and emigrated to Grand Rapids in the early fifties, where he became associated with the early manufacturers of doors, sashes and blinds, and in 1862 wrote for his brother-in-law, Henry C. Brooks, to come to Grand Rapids where business was good, money plentiful, except small change. They organized with E. E. Ward, another door, sash and blind factory, located on the old canal, later branching out extensively in the manufacture of lumber in Maple Valley, Montcalm county. As their lumber disappeared, they dis- continued the manufacture of doors, sashes and blinds and organized a company with others, Wm. S. Emery, Hero Amsden, Orin Ward, George B. Lewis and Charles E. Meeck, to manufacture decorated bed- room furniture, known as the New England Furniture Company. Charles Otis Skinner followed closely the footsteps of his father. Soon after finishing school and a business course, he entered the employ of the New England Furniture Company, spending a year in each depart- ment, and five years as one of their traveling salesmen. In 1888 he re- signed from the New England Furniture Company and organized a co-partnership with Henry Steenman to manufacture furniture in Howard City, Montcalm county, under the name of Skinner & Steen- This company was one of the first to turn their production to a single article—sideboards. During the first five During the first five years this company grew from a small beginning to one of the largest manufacturers of sideboards. In 1893 they moved their office and salesroom to Grand Rapids. Here Mr. Skinner remained. This co-partnership was dis- solved in 1904. Then Mr. Skinner became interested in furniture ex- hibition buildings, and together with friends, Wm. C. Grobhiser of Sturgis, Louis Kantz, Sr., of Muskegon, and Henry Schuerman of Carrollton, Kentucky, all prominent manufacturers of furniture, or- ganized a company known as the Manufacturers Building Company, and erected a building at 110 Ionia avenue, known as the Manufacturers building. Mr. Skinner became its secretary, had charge of the rent- ing of space to other furniture manufacturers and allowing them to purchase a certain amount of stock in the building company. This venture proved so successful and popular it became a factor in keeping the furniture market in Grand Rapids. With this in view Mr. Skinner man. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 529 and Mr. Grobhiser bought another site at the corners of Division, Lyon and Ionia avenue, and Mr. Skinner resigned from the Manufacturers Building Company and promoted another exhibition building on this site known as the Furniture Temple. Both these buildings are in use and popular in the market today. Mr. Charles Otis Skinner was mar- ried June 20, 1882, to Frances J. Heath at her home in Saugatuck, Al- legan county. She was the daughter of George Patterson Heath and Amelia Ross Bigsby, who emigrated with their parents from New York state in the early fifties to the village of Allegan. Her grandfather was Judge James Heath of Allegan, after whom the township of Heath was named. George Patterson Heath was one of the early pioneers in the flour milling business in western Michigan, having erected and operated four mills in Allegan county; the first at Mill Grove, the second at Ham- ilton, and the third and fourth at Saugatuck. He also built a passenger and freight barge known as the “Geo. P. Heath,” which for many years made regular nightly trips between Saugatuck and Chicago. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Otis Skinner have one daughter, Estelle Heath Skinner, who was born in Grand Rapids at the northeast corner of Crescent and Lafayette avenues, who married Edward H. Barnard, ex-prosecuting attorney of Kent county. By this marriage there is another only daughter, Frances Gorton Skinner Barnard, born in Grand Rapids, August 8, 1919, at maternity house, Butterworth Hospital, Crescent and Bostwick avenues. Elvah O. Bulman. In the year 1905 Elvah O. Bulman, with two employes, initiated a modest manufacturing enterprise that has been developed into one of the substantial and important industries of Grand Rapids. The original manufacturing plant was in the barn at the rear of Mr. Bulman's residence, on Eastern avenue, and today the industry has headquarters in its large and modern plant at 1719-25 Elizabeth street. This well ordered industrial enterprise is conducted under the corporate title of the E. O. Bulman Manufacturing Company, Mr. Bulman being president of the company, and the factory specializing in the production of light store fixtures of the best grade. The trade of the company has been extended into most diverse sections of the United States, and an appreciable export business has been developed in China, Russia, South America and Africa. George W. Bulman was born and reared in the state of New York, and there he continued his residence until he came to Michigan and settled on a farm near Burr Oak, St. Joseph county, when he later removed with his family to Grand Rapids. It was on the farm near Burr Oak that his son Elvah O., of this review, was born, in the year 1873, and the latter was sixteen years of age at the time of the family removal to Grand Rapids, where his public school discipline was not extended beyond the eighth grade. At the age of eighteen years Elvah O. Bulman found employment in a furniture factory, his assignment being to the work of nailing bed slats and his original emolument for this service having been $2.50 a week. He was eventually transferred to the machine department, where he learned to operate the various machines. Finally he found employ- ment in the grocery store of James Stratton on Gold street, where he 530 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY remained six years. During the ensuing six years he was employed in the circulation department of the Grand Rapids Herald. Mr. Bul- man during these years maintained a little work shop in which he in- dulged in his inclination to mechanical work and experimentation. He there invented a number of valuable mechanisms on which he received patents—some twelve in number—and finally, in 1905, as already noted, he established the little factory in the barn at the rear of his residence. There he engaged in manufacturing twine and holders for paper bags. Excellence of products and progressive policies caused the enterprise to expand in a substantial way, and finally larger manufacturing quart- ers were obtained in a building at the corner of Front and Fulton streets, where the number of employes was increased to six men. Later removal was made to the Chubb foundry building, and by this time the concern had two traveling salesmen engaged in the exploitation and sale of its products. In 1910 Mr. Bulman erected a factory building on Broadway, opposite the Imperial plant, this building having been 50 by 100 feet in dimensions. There operations were continued until 1920, when the building was sold and removal was made to the present modern factory building that had been erected for the purpose, at 1719- 25 Elizabeth street. In 1910 Mr. Bulman effected the incorporation of the business under the title of the E. O. Bulman Manufacturing Com- pany and with a capital stock of $20,000, the capital having been in- creased to $50,000 in 1924, to meet the demands of the constantly ex- panding business. The company still continues the manufacturing of twine and paper bag holders, but the important phase of the enterprise is now the manufacturing of complete lines of light fixtures for stores. Mr. Bulman, president of the company, has made a record of large and important achievement and has gained secure vantage ground as one of the reliable, progressive and influential business men and loyal and public spirited citizens of Grand Rapids. Dudley E. Waters is concerned with large and important finan- cial, industrial and corporate interests in his native city of Grand Rapids, has general supervision of the estate of the Waters family, and his appreciative loyalty to his native city and state has been shown in his effective stewardship as a man of affairs and as a liberal and public-spirited citizen. Of his many activities as an executive and stockholder in various corporations of maximum importance, more specific mention will be made at a later point in this review, but at this juncture it may be stated that Mr. Waters is president of the Grand Rapids National Bank, one of the most substantial and influential financial institutions of Mich- igan. Dudley E. Waters was born in Grand Rapids on the 27th of November, 1863, and is a son of the late Daniel H. and Mary (Leffingwell) Waters, his father having established his residence in Michigan seventy years ago and having been a prominent figure in the earlier civic and industrial development of the state, espe- cially through his extensive and well-ordered operations in the handling of pine lands, in the period when the great lumbering industry of Michigan was at its zenith. Daniel H. Waters, one HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 531 of the honored and influential citizens of Grand Rapids at the time of his death, which occurred March 17, 1894, was born in the state of New York, village of Colden, in the year 1834 (Decem- ber 29), and was a scion of a family that was founded in America in the early colonial period of our national history. The founder of the American branch of the family was Lawrence Waters, who came from his native England and made settlement in Lancaster, Massachusetts, prior to the time when began the colonial protest- ation that eventually culminated in the war of the Revolution. Representatives of the Waters family were prominently concerned in the great conflict that brought national independence, and it is a matter of record that one member of this early New England family assisted Paul Revere in crossing the river and setting forth on his historic ride to warn colonists of the approach of British troops. It is interesting to record that in a well-preserved condition the ancient house that was the homestead of the Waters family at Lancaster, Massachusetts, is still standing, as one of the land- marks of that section of the old Bay state. From Erie county, New York, Daniel H. Waters came to Michigan in the year 1856, and he first made settlement in a little village that was then known as Kelloggsville, in Kent county. There he engaged in the con- tracting business, and within a comparatively short time he trans- ferred his residence and base of operations to Grand Rapids, where he continued in the same line of industry and where eventually he founded the Michigan Barrel Company, which became one of the important industrial concerns of the city and state. He made also large and judicious investments in pine lands, and in the sale of the same, as well as through the medium of large lumber- ing operations there carried forward, he did much to advance his accumulation of a substantial fortune. Mr. Waters loyally concerned himself with measures and enterprises that made for the civic and material progress of his home city, and he was one of the organizers and incorporators of the Grand Rapids National Bank and the Michigan Trust Company, on the boards of directors of which he continued his services until his death. He retired from active association with manufacturing and other industries when he was forty-six years of age, and he had attained to the age of fifty-nine years when death brought a close to his worthy and useful life, his entire course having been guided on a high plane of personal and communal integrity. He was one of the heaviest . stockholders in the Grand Rapids National Bank at the time of his death, and the largest stock holdings in the institution are those represented by the shares held by his estate and individually by his only son, Dudley E., who is the president of the bank. Daniel H. Waters was a man of broad mental ken, and of well- fortified convictions regarding matters of economic and govern- mental policy. He was a staunch supporter of the cause of the Democratic party, but never manifested aught of ambition for public office of any kind. It was after he came to Michigan that 532 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Daniel H. Waters was here united in marriage to Miss Mary Leffingwell, who was born in the state of Pennsylvania (at Somer- set), and who survived him by nearly a quarter of a century, and continued to maintain her home in Grand Rapids until her death, September 27, 1917, at the venerable age of seventy-seven years. She was a daughter of the late General Christopher W. Leffing- well, to whom a brief memorial tribute is dedicated on another page of this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Waters are survived by three children, of whom the only son is Dudley E., immediate subject of this review; Anna is the wife of Morris Cassard, of Grand Rapids; and Mabel is the wife of Hubert C. Schwartz, of Chicago. Dudley E. Waters is indebted to the public schools of Grand Rapids for his youthful education, and his early business respon- sibilities and experiences well fortified him for the assumption of control of the large family estate at the time of his father's death, in 1894. In thus taking supervision of the family estate in behalf of his widowed mother, his two sisters and himself, Mr. Waters adopted the estate administrative title of D. H. Waters, Son & Company, and he was elected successor of his father as a member of the board of directors of the Grand Rapids National Bank, in which he and the Waters estate are now among the largest stock- holders, and of which he has been the president since 1901. He was one of the organizers and is a director of the People's Savings Bank, another of the important financial institutions of his native city. Mr. Waters has found many avenues for expressing his appreciation of and loyalty to Grand Rapids, and not the least of such expressions was that which he gave in his efficient service as a member of the municipal board of public works, a position that he retained seven years, during four of which he was presi- dent of the board. Mr. Waters has identified himself fully and influentially with the communal affairs of his native city, and in a more specifically social way it may be noted that he has . membership in the Peninsular Club, the Kent Country Club, the Highland Country Club, and the Cascade Hills Country Club, of Grand Rapids, the while he is a member also of the Yondotega Club, the Detroit Club, the Bankers Club and the Detroit Ath- etic Club, all representative organizations in the Michigan metrop- olis. Mr. Waters takes much satisfaction and justifiable pride in his fine dairy farm of 600 acres, near Grand Rapids. This is one of the fine rural properties of Kent county, with the most modern of improvements, and is given over largely to the breeding of pure-blood Holstein cattle. On his farm Mr. Waters has raised Holsteins that have been national and state prize-winners, and he has been influential in the affairs of the National and the Michigan Holstein Breeders Associations. In the year 1892 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Waters to Miss Florence Hills, of Rome, Georgia, and they have one child, Dudley Hills Waters. Mrs. Waters is a gracious and popular figure in the representative social circles of her home city. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 533 Frank Twining King was born in Genesee county, Michigan, in 1856. His parents were Francis Treat King and Laura (Brown) King. Frank attended the public schools of Lowell and the Lowell high school, and supplemented this education with two years work at Olivet College. He is a past president of the Lowell high school alumni. He was seven years old when his father moved to Lowell, and at fifteen years was a bookkeeper for James W. Norton in his lumbering operations in the pine woods near Cadillac. At sixteen years he was employed by the Lowell National Bank and in appreciation of his services, was given the complimentary office of teller by the board of directors. Later he associated himself with his father in the lumber and sawmill business in Lowell, with which business he continued until 1879, when he was made an equal partner with his father and Reuben Quick under the firm name of King, Quick & King, which lumber, sawmill and shingle mill operations continued until about 1888 when the timber supply reached the stage of exhaustion. In 1889, he pur- chased the Lowell flouring mills and water power. He associated with him his father, Francis Treat King and Charles McCarty and they organized the corporation under the name of the King Milling Company. At this time the mills were overhauled and rebuilt. This gave the new corporation a mill of about two hundred barrels capacity per day with the latest machinery and equipment, unexcelled by any in the state. About 1900 the King Milling Company took over the property of the Wisner Brothers, known as the Forest mills, in Lowell, and since that time the corporation has operated the two mills in Lowell. Mr. King has been honored by the milling industry in Michigan, having served for two terms as president of the Michigan Millers Association, and for three years as representative of Michigan on the directorate of the Miller's National Federation, which has its headquarters in Chicago. Also for a number of years he has been, and still is, a director of the Michigan Millers? Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Lansing. Dur- ing the war, Mr. King was appointed, under the Honorable Herbert Hoover of the National Food Administration, as a member of the advisory board of the flour milling industry, representing the western half of Michigan, in which position he rendered valuable service dur- ing that crisis. He was a director of the Lowell State Bank for many years, serving with his father, who became president of the bank, and after his father's death succeeded him as president, which office he held for some years, resigning on account of extensive outside business in- terests. A few years previous to this, Sidney C. Bradfield, Russel J. Enos, Francis T. King, Frank T. King, and Charles McCarty or- ganized a lumber company under the firm name of Rusk County Lum- ber Company, and purchased a large tract of timbered land in Rusk county, Wisconsin. They established sawmills and were thus engaged for some years, until the timber was exhausted. While Mr. King has in no respect acted as a politician, he has long and faithfully served his town and community whenever his services in public affairs were in demand. He was a member of the board of education for some twelve years, in Lowell, and also served as a member of the village council for 534 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY some years. He was a charter member of the Lowell Board of Trade, and served as their second president. He is a member of the Lowell Lodge No. 90, Free and Accepted Masons, for some thirty-five years a member of Hooker Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, and of Ionia Com- mandery, and a member of Saladin Temple of Grand Rapids. He also holds membership in the Highland and Masonic Country Clubs of Grand Rapids. His religious affiliation was with the Lowell Congre- gational church and he was treasurer and trustee of that institution for a great many years. He moved his residence to Grand Rapids in 1915, Mr. and Mrs. King and daughter Florence, all taking letters and af- filiating with the Park Congregational Church of that city. Mr. King has served as trustee, president of the board, and deacon of this church. In 1881 he married Flora Lee of Lowell; of two children, Edmond and Florence L., the last named survives. The family now resides at 344 Madison avenue, southeast, Grand Rapids. Harry E. Loomis, manager of the Grand Rapids branch of the Buick Motor Company, with headquarters at 60 Sheldon street, southeast, is a native of Flint, the Michigan city in which the Buick automobiles are manufactured, and he has long been as- sociated with the exploitation and sale of the motor cars that have contributed much to making Flint an important center of the auto- mobile industry. Prior to entering this field of industroal and commercial enterprise, Colonel Loomis had gained varied experi- ence in other lines of business, and at every stage in his career he has proved effectively his initiative and executive ability. Colonel Harry E. Loomis was born at Flint, Michigan, September 2, 1878, and is a son of Arthur V. and Lillie (Hakes) Loomis, both of whom are deceased. The Loomis family was founded in Michigan in 1830, about seven years prior to the admission of the state of the Union. Colonel Loomis was a child at the time of the family re- moval to Oscoda, Iosco county, and there his public school disci- pline included that of the high school, he having thereafter been for one year a student in Michigan State Agricultural College. During the ensuing three years he was collector and general clerical assistant in a bank at Oscoda, and he next gave a year to service as bookkeeper and collector for Dr. Dryden Lamb, of Owosso, who was his uncle on the maternal side. He was thus engaged at the initiation of the Spanish-American war, and at Owosso he promptly enlisted in the organization that became Com- pany G of the Thirty-third Michigan Volunteer Infantry. While in service with his regiment he suffered an attack of typhoid fever, which was prevalent in the army camp, and the result was that he continued in impaired health until 1900. In that year he took a position in a hårdware store at Owosso, and two years later he again contracted typhoid fever, this making him virtually incapaci- tated during a period of more than a year. He next was associated one year with the firm of E. J. Cox & Company, of Lapeer, and during the ensuing seven years he was a traveling salesman for a wholesale hardware house in Toledo, Ohio. January 1, 1913, Colo- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 535 nel Loomis joined the Buick Motor Company's organization, in the capacity of territorial traveling representative, and with head- quarters at Indianapolis, Indiana. He thus served until he was assigned to service as a special traveling representative of the com- pany, with headquarters in Chicago. In 1919 he was made assis- tant manager of the company's branch at Battle Creek, Michigan, in the following year he was there made manager, and he still retains this position, the affairs of which he handles from his head- quarters in Grand Rapids. In 1924 he was made manager of the newly established Buick branch at Grand Rapids, and here he has given a progressive and forceful administration that has greatly advanced the business of the company through western Michigan, his territorial jurisdiction including thirty-four counties in this section of the state. When the nation became involved in the World war, in 1917, the Buick Motor Company gave to Colonel Loomis an indefinite leave of absence, in order that he might give his entire attention to war work. As a member of the general staff in the city of Washington, D. C., he gained commission as cap- tain, and at the close of the war he was given the grade of major in the United States Army Reserve Corps. He has been continu- ously identified with the Michigan National Guard since 1899, and since 1921 he has held in this connection the position of state ord- nance officer, with the rank of lieutenant colonel. The Colonel is at the time of this writing commander of the Michigan State Com- mandery of the Military Order of Foreign Wars, in the American Legion he is past commander of the post at Battle Creek, and he has membership in the Army and Navy Club at Grand Rapids and Battle Creek. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, and at Grand Rapids he has membership in the Peninsular Club and the Cascade Heights Country Club. August 3, 1905, Colonel Loomis was united in marriage to Miss Alice Pester, of Lapeer, Michigan, and they have three sons: A. Hubbell, Harold G., and Robert H. The eldest son was graduated from high school at Grand Rapids in 1925, and Harold G. is a member of the high school class of 1926. Walter Henry Semeyn is one of the enterprising representatives of the automobile business in his native city of Grand Rapids, where he has the agency for the Oakland and Pontiac automobiles, his well equipped garage and sales rooms being established at 147 Weston street, southeast. Mr. Semeyn was born in Grand Rapids, May 13, 1895, and is a representative of a family that has been established here more than seventy years. He is a son of Leonard H. and Louise M. (Schwehm) Semeyn, the former of whom was born here October 28, 1863, and the latter of whom was born at Menominee, Wisconsin. Henry Semeyn, grandfather of the subject of this review, was born in the fine old Netherlands of Europe, in 1839, and was about twelve years of age when his parents came to the United States and numbered themselves among the pioneer settlers in Grand Rapids. Henry Semeyn continued his residence in this city until the time of his death, in 1915, and he was at the 536 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY time one of the venerable and honored pioneer citizens of Kent county. Leonard H. Semeyn is one of the veteran figures in the plumbing and heating business in Grand Rapids, where he initiated his business along this line in the year 1882, there having been at the time but one other dealer in plumbing supplies in the city. He has long controlled a large and prosperous business and is known and honored as one of the substantial citizens of his native city. His marriage was solemnized in 1887 and of the same were born five children: Franklin died when about ten years of age; Fannie is the wife of Ernest B. Benjamin, of Detroit; Walter H., of this review, was the next in order of birth; Louise is the wife of Stephen Vander Plass, of Grand Rapids; and the youngest of the number is Leonard J. In the public schools of Grand Rapids the youthful education of Walter H. Semeyn included that of the high school, and his entire business career has been one of association with the automobile industry. He conducted a general garage three years in Grand Rapids, and thereafter had the Hupmobile and Chevrolet agency at Ionia, Michigan, until his return to Grand Rapids, in August, 1924, where he has since resided. Mr. Semeyn is a member of the Peninsular Club, and is affiliated with the Benevolent and Frotective Order of Elks. In 1916 was solemnized his marriage to Miss Leolyn Bettes, daughter of the late Harrison C. Bettes, who was at the time of his death one of the representative farmers near Sparta, Kent county, where his widow still remains on the old homestead farm. Mr. and Mrs. Semeyn have two children: Walter Harrison and Don Bettes. William E. Roberts, proprietor of one of the largest firms in Grand Rapids dealing in wholesale lots of butter, eggs, and cheese, was born in that city, January 31, 1889, the son of John and Minnie (Wierings) Roberts, the former of whom was born in the Nether- lands. John Roberts came to the United States with his father and settled at Grand Rapids and for many years conducted the Bazaar Store, on Grandville avenue. For a time he conducted the novelty department of the Boston Store which then stood on the present site of the Pantlind Hotel. After retiring from business he spent several years on a farm near Dutton, Kent county, later re- moving to Grandville in the same county, where he died in 1923. His widow is still living at Grandville. William E. Roberts re- ceived a public school education in Grand Rapids, and after his graduation from the high school there, he attended Michigan Agricultural College for three years. With this equipment he returned to the farm near Dutton, Michigan, and farmed the land for several years. In 1916 he removed to Grand Rapids and entered the wholesale produce business, handling butter, eggs, and cheese. During the ensuing years he applied himself to the problems of his business with such energy that today it stands as the largest wholesale firm in this field in the city of Grand Rapids. On October 18, 1916, he married Miss Marcelline Kinney, the daughter of Mrs. Elizabeth Kinney, of Grand Rapids, HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 537 and to this union have been born two children: Charles Kinney, January 18, 1918, and John William, March 4, 1923. Mr. Roberts is an active member of the Knights of Columbus. He and his family reside on Jefferson Drive, their home being of Dutch colon- ial design, the rugged simplicity of which is further enhanced by the beautiful gardens. Mr. Roberts devotes much of his time away from his office in studying flowers and his gardens are the result of his hobby. S. Webster Stone is secretary-treasurer and general manager of the Grand Rapids industrial corporation known as the Furniture Studios, Inc., and the concern represents one of the most notable additions that have been made in recent years to the great indus- tries that mark this city as one of the world's great and most im- portant centers of furniture manufacturing. The Furniture Studios produce hand-made furniture of the maximum artistic type and of the highest grade of skilled workmanship, and thus the enterprise is one of unique order in a city that issues from its enormous fac- tories the greatest variety of modern furniture of all types. Mr. Stone has thus been a leader in the development of an industry and commercial enterprise that has many unusual features and that through its products represents the finest artistry in period furni- ture and in special designs of most attractive order. Mr. Stone was born in the city of Detroit, Michigan, on the 24th of October, 1881, and is a son of James H. Stone, who has long been a talented and influential newspaper editor in that city. After attending the public schools of his native city, S. Webster Stone completed in the Uni- versity of Michigan a course in civil engineering, and upon leaving the university, in 1900, he took a position with the Solvay Process Company, in Detroit. In 1903 he came to Grand Rapids and, en- gaged in the advertising business, and in this connection he pub- lished classified telephone books for Grand Rapids and other Michi- gan cities. Under the title of the S. Webster Stone Advertising Company he built up a very extensive business that ranked with the leading enterprises of the kind in Michigan, and after the admission of John L. Greene to partnership the title of Stone & Greene was adopted. In 1913 George R. Myercord, of Chicago, discovered and developed a process of decorating furniture method designated as oil-relief decalcomania. This process made possible the reproduction of paintings by lithography and the transferring of the beautiful designs to any smooth surface—this being a wonderful improvement on the decalcomania process that had been in vogue many years ago. The firm of Stone & Greene assumed the sales agency for the new process in the United States and Canada, and with clear vision of the wonderful possibilities in utilizing this process in the production of decorated furniture, the two progressive young men determined to engage in the manufac- ture of furniture of this type. They gained the requisite financial co-operation and organized and incorporated the Furniture Studios, in 1917. George R. Myercord and A. O. Johnson, prominent Chi- 538 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY cago financiers, became associated with the new enterprise. Mr. Greene was made and continues president of the corporation, and S. Webster Stone he has been from the beginning the secretary, treasurer and general manager. Recently Arthur A. Teal, former superintendent of Stickley Brothers, furniture manufacturers in Grand Rapids, became identified with the Furniture Studios, and he has charge, in the latter connection, of designing and production. Mr. Stone being the financial executive of the corporation. The original headquarters of the Furniture Studios were in the old Robinson manufacturing plant, 120 Logan street, southwest, and early operations were carried on with a corps of twelve employes. The concern engaged in the manufacture of hand-made decorated furniture for living rooms, and the popular appreciation of the fine products caused the business so to expand that in 1919 it became necessary to obtain larger quarters for the manufacturing. Re- moval was made in that year to quarters at 9-15 Library street, and in 1923 the company purchased the former plant of the McCleod Furniture Company, the same having been remodeled and equipped with the requisite facilities and the Furniture Studios having estab- lished headquarters in this modern plant in 1924. This progressive corporation employs the highest-paid mechanics in the city- skilled craftsmen from Japan, Germany, Italy and England, as well as the United States, being represented in the personnel of the ninety employes. The Furniture Studios are recognized as repre- senting the ultimate in the production of the highest grade of hand-made furniture and as an authority on furniture decoration and finishing. In the factory are reproduced the finest specimens of the old masters in this line of mechanic art, and here the manu- facturing itself is done in the same careful way as was that of the period in which the various designs were originated. Designers and decorators of the highest skill are employed, and there is con- stant and ever increasing demand for the beautiful and substantial products of this important Grand Rapids manufactory. Mr. Greene is the vital and resourceful sales manager for the concern, and has been prominently identified with the development of the large and prosperous business. W. Bruce Chalmers is another of the native sons of Kent county who are here making records of successful achievement in connection with business affairs of broad scope and important order. He is vice-president of the W. B. Chalmers Company, pav- ing contractors, with headquarters at 232 Ottawa street, northwest, in the city of Grand Rapids. Mr. Chalmers was born at Algoma, this county, May 30, 1869, and is a son of John and Eunice (Dooge) Chalmers, both now deceased. John Chalmers came to Kent county in the late 50's, and here became a pioneer farmer. The passing years brought to him a goodly measure of prosperity and he was long numbered among the substantial exponents of farm industry in Algoma township. Both he and his wife were residents of the county at the time of their death, W. Bruce Chalmers early gained HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 539 a full degree of experience in connection with the work of the home farm, and his educational advantages were limited to a somewhat brief and irregular attendance in the district schools of the home neighborhood. He was but twelve years of age when he began work in the great lumber woods of this section of Michigan, and he has been in the fullest sense one of the world's productive workers. For nearly twenty years Mr. Chalmers has been actively identified with contract construction work, with residence and business headquarters in Grand Rapids. In 1916 he effected the organization of the present W. B. Chalmers Company, of which he is the vice-president and general manager, Edward Clark, presi- dent of the company, being individually mentioned on another page of this publication. Mr. Chalmers gives his personal supervision to all contract work into which the company enters and his com- pany has made a record of large and successful proportion in the laying of high-grade asphalt street paying in Grand Rapids, besides having had contracts in other cities and towns of western Michigan. He is a loyal member of the local Association of Commerce, is a inember of the National Asphalt Association, and is affiliated with the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks. In the year 1907 was recorded the marriage of Mr. Chalmers to Miss Bertha E. Hoag, who was born and reared in the northern part of Kent county, where the Hoag family made settlement in the pioneer period. Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers have no children. They are well known in their native county and take great interest in all that concerns its welfare and progress. Mr. Chalmers is loyal and liberal in his civic attitude, is a staunch Republican, but he has had no desire for political activity or for the honors or emoluments of public office. Christian G. Kuennen, president of the Wilcox-Kuennen Com- pany, engaged in the automobile trade in Grand Rapids, as terri- torial agents for and distributors of the Chevrolet automobiles, has been for many years engaged successfully in the plumbing and heating business in this city, and it is to the latter enterprise that he gives the major part of his time and attention. Mr. Kuennen was born in Grand Rapids, on the 28th of April, 1869, and is a representative of a family that was founded here in the pioneer days, more than seventy years ago. His parents, the late John and Louise (Buck) Kuennen, were born and reared in Germany, where their marriage was solemnized and whence they came to the United States and established their home in Grand Rapids in the year 1853. Here the father followed his trade, that of tanner, during a period of many years, and he was one of the highly esteemed pioneer citizens of Grand Rapids at the time of his death, about the year 1877, his widow having survived him by a number of years, and both having been earnest communicants of the Catholic church. Grand Rapids was incorporated as a city in 1850, but was still little more than a village when John Kuennen and his wife here estab- lished their home. Most of the surrounding country was still cov- 540 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY ered with the native timber, and it is to be recalled that in the early days John Kuennen shot three deer near the land that now consti- tutes the beautiful John Ball Park of Grand Rapids. Christian G. Kuennen attended in his boyhood the parochial school of St. Mary's church, and as he was but nine years of age at the time of his father's death he was early thrown largely upon his own re- sources. He has been distinctly one of the productive workers, and energy and ambition marked his course as a boy and youth. His first work was as a collector for the firm of Shriver, Wealthy & Company, and thereafter he learned the plumber's trade, at which he became a skilled artisan and which he followed twelve years as a journeyman. He next gave service as a traveling representative for Fairbanks-Morse & Company, a Chicago concern engaged in the wholesale scale and engine business, and in 1897 he purchased an interest in a plumbing and heating shop on Bridge street, where he thus became a member of the firm of Barnett, Richards & Kuen- Four years later he retired from this partnership and engaged independently in the same line of business, which he has continued in the original quarters, 115 Crescent street, northwest, to the present time. Honorable methods and policies and effective ser- vice have gained for him a substantial business that marks him as one of the leading exponents of this important line of enterprise in his native city. In 1922 Mr. Kuennen became associated with Sanford Wilcox in the organization of the Wilcox-Kuennen Com- pany, which has since developed a prosperous business in the hand- ling of the Chevrolet automobiles, but, as before stated, Mr. Kuennen continues to give the greater part of his attention to the management of his plumbing and heating business. He is one of the progressive business men of his native city and is held in popu- lar confidence and esteem. Edward H. Christ takes definite pride in claiming Grand Rapids as the place of his nativity and has had the satisfaction of seeing it develop from a mere village into a splendid metropolitan com- munity and a great industrial center. Here he has precedence as one of the leading surveyors and civil engineers of Kent county, and with his long and successful professional career he has been concerned with many important engineering enterprises. Mr. Christ, a scion of one of the sterling and honored pioneer families of Grand Rapids, was born here December 4, 1863. He is a son of the late Gottlieb and Fredericka (Greiner) Christ, both natives of Germany, and both venerable and honorable citizens of Grand Rapids at the time of their death. Mrs. Christ was born in 1823 and was a young woman when her parents established their home in Grand Rapids, about the year 1849, when the city was little more than a frontier village in the midst of the surrounding forests. Mrs. Christ was thus a resident of Grand Rapids more than sixty years, and here her death occurred January 3, 1911, her husband having passed away in 1865, and upon her was devolved the burden of rearing and providing for her four children, of whom Edward H., HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 541 of this review, was the youngest in order of birth. Of the other three children it is to be recorded that Albert C. is retired from active business; that Fred died in Grand Rapids, in 1885; and that the death of Gustave occurred here in 1900. Gottlieb became one of the well known and popular pioneer hotel men of Grand Rapids. One of the first hotels erected here was the Kent Hotel, which was built in 1837, at the corner of Bridge and Kent streets, and which later became known as the Bridge Street House, in 1849. Of this pioneer hotel Mr. Christ became the proprietor, and he thus con- tinued until the old wooden building was destroyed by fire, Febru- ary 1, 1855. He thereafter purchased the land and erected on the original site a substantial brick building, this new hotel having been opened by him with an elaborate ball, June 12, 1857, and most of the leading citizens of the town having been present. After his death his widow continued to conduct the hotel with success during the years in which she was rearing her four sons, and she was one of the venerable and loved pioneer women of Grand Rapids at the time of her death. Edward H. Christ was but two years old at the time of his father's death. His early education was obtained in the public schools of his native city. His broader education has been that gained in the school of practical experience and self- discipline, and he was but a boy when he became an assistant to his older brother, Gustave A., who was then assistant chief engi- neer in construction work of the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad. He thus learned engineering work at first hand, and his study and practical experience have made him skilled in technical and work- ing phases of all lines of civil engineering, virtually his entire active career having been marked with close association with this impor- tant line of constructive enterprise. Since 1891 Mr. Christ has been independently engaged in surveying and other lines of engineering work, and he has made many important surveys, besides which he has given efficient service in surveys of various steam and electric railway lines. In Michigan he has made surveys and location on many railroads, and in this work has been able to eliminate many bridges and thus reduce operative and maintenance expense. He has maintained his office in the Norris building since the year 1891. Mr. Christ was for five years a member of the Grand Rapids board of public works, and his professional ability and experience enabled him to give specially valuable service in this connection. He is a member of the American Society for Municipal Improvements, and had the distinction of serving as its president in 1914. He is a Democrat in politics, he and his wife attend and contribute to Trin- ity Community church, and his basic Masonic affiliation is with Grand River Lodge, No. 34, A. F. & A. M. He is a member also of Grand Rapids Chapter, No. 7, R. A. M., and of DeMolay Comman- dery, No. 5, Knights Templar, and also of the B. P. O. Elks, No. 48, Grand Rapids. In 1889 Mr. Christ wedded Miss Bertha A. Ander- son, of Lake Odessa, Michigan, and they have one daughter, Marian Frieda, who was graduated in Simmons College as a member of the 542 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY class of 1923, and who is now the wife of Bruce K. Muir, their home being in the industrial city of Columbus, Ohio. Martin Brown, United States marshal for the western district of Michigan, is respected and admired as an efficient and industri- ous officer of the federal government. His father, William Brown, came from Alsace-Lorraine, then a part of France, to Buffalo, N. Y., in the early days and there found employment in the shipyards as a blacksmith. He then went to Cleveland for a few years, after which he was employed as a blacksmith by Nichols Pickard on Manitou Island. His next move was to Frankfort, Michigan, where for a time he conducted a blacksmith shop. After working for Thomas Kelderhouse at Port Eunida, Michigan, he removed to Leland, Michigan,, in 1867, where he married Anna Dufek, a native of Bohemia, the following year. He bought a farm near Leland and became one of the prominent residents of his community. He was exemplary of the sturdy pioneer stock that has been prominent in the development of Michigan. He died August 1, 1894, and his widow died January 31, 1923, living at Leland until her death. Martin Brown was born at Leland in 1871 where he attended the public schools, working on his father's farm during the summer months, and in winter working with his father in his blacksmith shop. Later, he became a sailor on the Great Lakes. The serious illness of his father called him home and he remained at Leland un- til his appointment as marshal at Grand Rapids. He still retains his residence at Leland. In 1896 when he was twenty-five years old, he was elected clerk and two years later appointed under- sheriff of the county, a position which he held for two terms. He ran for the office of sheriff in 1901 and was elected to that post. A popular and efficient peace officer, he was re-elected to that office for a second term and again for a third. He became an under- sheriff again after the expiration of his third term. His many friends put up his name as a candidate for election as county super- visor and the people at the polls voted to install him in that office. While he was still serving in that capacity, he was elected probate judge of the county by his enthusiastic adherents. He soon found, however, that the duties of both positions were too much for one man to handle and accordingly he resigned as county supervisor and held the office of probate judge eleven years. Such was the reputation that he made in the office of sheriff, that when a vacancy in the office of United States marshal of the western district of Michigan appeared, his name was sugggested for appointment to that office by friends. On March 1, 1923, he received his appoint- mént to that office and since that time has ably discharged the duties which it entails. He is regarded as an efficient officer, and that he is popular and capable as well is shown in his frequent election to office by the people of his own county. Receiving his appointment, he came to Grand Rapids and has since made his home here. Mr. Brown is conscientious in the discharge of his ciuties and is as able and industrious as he is willing. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 543 Reuben E. De Nio is one of the well-known contracting car- penters of Grand Rapids and it is due in a large measure to his ability and initiative that the business holds its present place in the building industry of the city. He was born in Salem, Washtenaw county, Michigan, December 27, 1879, a son of George G. and Alice (Sim- mons) De Nio, the former of whom was born in Steuben county, Indi- ana. August 12, 1850, and the latter of whom was born in Salem, Mich- igan, in March, 1851, dying in April, 1924. George G. DeNio, the father of our subject, is the son of Joseph and Sophronia (Ingersoll) De Nio. His mother died when he was still in infancy and he was reared by his grandparents until he was ten years old, and since that time he has provided for himself. He received a common school education, and in 1865, he came to Michigan, locating at Superior, where at the age of eighteen he began to learn the carpenter trade. At the end of six years he removed to Salem, Michigan, where he followed his chosen vocation of carpenter for fifteen years. In 1889, he came to Grand Rapids and engaged in the carpenter contracting work, a field in which he has since continued. He is still actively interested in his trade and has missed only seven days in the past five years. He and his wife were active in church work and were members of the Baptist church, being baptized on the same day. Mr. and Mrs. De Nio were the parents of three children as follows: Reuben E., the subject of this review; Newell, who died at the age of nine years, and Effie N., the widow of George R. Landon, of Detroit, Michigan. Reuben De Nio was educated in the Grand Rapids schools after which he went into business with his father. The present success of the firm is largely due to his own efforts, for he has applied himself to the duties of his work with an indefatigable energy that has marked him as one of the able men in his field in Grand Rapids. Contracts for the carpenter work on residences and other structures are taken up by the company. General repairing has occupied the attention of the concern principally for the past few years. With the outbreak of the World war, Mr. De Nio was employed by the United States Government to inspect lumber for airplane and ship construction. He was stationed in the woods of northern New York during this time. When the Spanish- American war opened, Mr. De Nio enlisted in Company E, Michigan National Guard, on April 23, 1898, but when the regiment was mustered into Federal service he was rejected by the examining physician. On February 6, 1922, he married Mrs. Barbara E. Meyerhoffer, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Cocher, of Meridian, Illinois. Mrs. De Nio is a graduate nurse from the State Hospital at Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. De Nio have a beautiful home at 140 Quigley boulevard, south- west, where Mr. De Nio indulges his hobby of raising flowers. The grounds surrounding his home are among the most beautiful in plan of any in that section of the city. Don E. Minor, attorney, 400 First National Bank building, is a native of Fayette county, Pennsylvania, where he was born on May 1, 1868. His common school training was received at Connellsville, Pennsylvania. He then went to Birmingham, Alabama, where he had 544 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY risen to the responsible position of superintendent of construction for the Pratt Coal and Coke Company at the age of eighteen years. He was employed, when nineteen years of age, with the Tennessee Coal and Iron Railroad Company, at Thomas, Alabama, in the same line of work. He then went to Brookside, Alabama, where he was connected with the Sloss Iron and Steel Company. Following this early suc- cessful business career he entered the University of Valparaiso, Indiana, where he was graduated in 1890 with the degree of B.S. During his college course he specialized in civil engineering and upon the com- pletion of that course of training returned to the south and took charge of the construction of the coking plant at Horse Creek, Alabama, for the Lady Ensley Coal and Iron Railroad Company. Following that period of service he was made superintendent of the Bessemer Fire Brick Company at Bessemer, Alabama. In 1894 he enrolled in the . law school of the University of Michigan and completed his course and was graduated there in 1896, coming at once to Grand Rapids where he has since built up a very successful practice. His activity in fra- ternal circles is attested by his record as past chancellor of the old Pythian Lodge No. 2, at Grand Rapids, which is the second oldest lodge of that order in the state of Michigan, and active membership in York Lodge No. 410, F. & A. M., and the Elks. Mr. Minor has supplemented his professional career by his development of a large orchard in Kent county. He has become widely known as an orchardist in his fifteen years of activity as a grower and shipper of fancy apples, peaches, , , cherries, pears, and plums. His products took the first prize at the World's Apple Show at St. Louis, Missouri. Mr. Minor was married on December 21, 1891, to Mabel Haste, daughter of Colonel Geo. S. Haste of Valparaiso, Indiana. Her father was colonel of the Third regiment of Indiana State Militia during the decade of the nineties. He had served throughout the Civil war and is now one of the few remaining veterans of that notable conflict, having attained the age of eighty-three years. His wife, Emma Haste, died in January, 1925, at the age of seventy-nine years. Mr. and Mrs. Don E. Minor have two daughters, Emma Jane, a graduate of the University of Michigan with a degree of A.B. and the wife of Earl Cress, an investment broker and owner of a chain of successful clothing stores, they having one son, Donald Minor; and Ruth, a graduate of Grand Rapids high school with two years of attendance at the University of Michigan and one year at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, where she specialized in dramatic and public arts and public speaking. She married Elmer W. Cress, a twin brother to the husband of her sister Emma. Both Emma and Ruth and their husbands, Earl and Elmer, were classmates in the Grand Rapids high school and later classmates in the University of Michigan. Elmer W. Cress is a security broker. They have one daughter, Lou Jean. David G. Mange, cashier of the Lowell State Bank at Lowell, Michigan, and for thirty-five years an active factor in the business and civic affairs of that village, is one of the aggressive and public spirited men of Kent county who has made his way to prominence and honorable HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 545 prestige through his own well directed energy and efforts. Beginning his business career in a minor position with the Lowell State Bank when eighteen years of age, Mr. Mange has risen to a place of com- manding influence, and during the many years of his residence here he has wielded definite and benignant prestige both as a citizen and as a man of splendid business ability. He was born at Stryker, Williams county, Ohio, December 19, 1875, a son of John G. and Rosa (Krause) Mange, both of whom were natives of Switzerland, where the former was born in 1849 and the latter in 1844. They were children at the time of the immigration of their respective families to the United States and their parents settled in the immediate vicinity of St. Louis, Missouri. Here they were reared, educated and married and were active and use- ful citizens of the community for many years. Mr. Mange Mr. Mange gained a liberal education in Missouri and at Upper Alton, Illinois, and for many years he labored zealously as an evangelist, in which capacity his activities extended into the most diverse parts of the Union. He and his devoted wife, however, both passed the closing days of their long and useful lives at Lowell, where he died in 1906 and she in 1916. They were the parents of four children of whom two are living : David G. of this review, and Edith M., who is the wife of Frank F. Coons of Lowell. The educational advantages of David G. Mange were those afforded by the public schools of Michigan, in which he made good use of his time and opportunity. He became a resident of Lowell in 1890 and here he attended the high school for the ensuing three years. He early became self reliant and from early boyhood has been dependent upon his own resources. As a youth he manifested unusual business talent and in 1893, when only eighteen years of age he secured a minor position in the Lowell State Bank, and has since been identified with this great financial institution. His ability soon became apparent and his proficiency was acknowledged from time to time by promoters until he was elected cashier which responsible position he still retains. He is also a member of the board of directors of the bank, and in connec- tion with his official duties he has built up an excellent business as an insurance underwriter. He is likewise a notary public and as such does a large amount of work in conveyancing and the handling of ab- stracts of title. The Lowell State Bank is one of Kent county's most substantial financial institutions and its status has long been one of prominence in connection with the representative banking houses of the country. It is incorporated with a capital stock of $30,000 with individual profits of more than $25,000 and with deposits at the present time of fully $850,000. Mr. Mange has largely devoted his time and energy to the building up of this great financial institution for thirty- two years, and its present prosperity and high standing in financial circles may be attributed in no small degree to his quiet faithfulness and untiring efforts. In 1921 he became associated with Miss Myrtie A. Taylor in the insurance business under the title of the Mange-Taylor Insurance Agency and they conduct a general line of insurance. He is also extensively interested in farming and stock raising near Lowell where he owns and operates two farms comprising 373 acres, on which 546 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY he has a fine herd of registered Jersey cattle. Besides his business con- nections Mr. Mange also finds time and opportunity to give effective co-operation in movements for the social and material betterment of the community and has ever stood as an exponent of the best type of civic loyalty and progressiveness. As a member of the village council at Lowell for eight years and trustee of the school board for nine years, he has rendered efficient service to these bodies. He has also been an active and valued promoter of the work of the Lowell Board of Trade and in the promotion of charitable movements and all measures tending to the public good he has ever had a ready hand and an open purse. Mr. Mange was married in 1900 to Miss Lavancha E. Cogswell, of Lowell, Michigan, a woman of engaging personality and to this union there have been born three children: Richard D., Lester R., and Dorothy E. Mange. Frank M. Johnson, founder and proprietor of the Lowell Ledger at Lowell, Michigan, has been a resident of this village for more than three decades, and during the many years of his residence here he has done not a little to further its prestige as one of the most progressive and enterprising cities in Kent county. He has not only achieved suc- cess in business, but is a writer and author of notable ability and as a citizen his career has been marked by inflexible integrity and honor. Mr. Johnson has been connected with newspaper work throughout his entire business career and has been located at Lowell, proprietor of his present publication since June, 1893. He came here a young man with much journalistic experience and almost immediately established a position for himself in his new community, where during the past thirty-two years he has been an important factor in assisting to build up Lowell and its institutions. Mr. Johnson was born at Almont, Lapeer county, Michigan, December 8, 1860, a son of James S. Johnson and Mary (Parmlee) Johnson, who were natives of Vermont and who settled at Almont, Michigan, in 1846, where the father engaged in farm- ing and lumbering for many years and was one of the active and pro- gressive men of that community during his day. Frank M. Johnson obtained his early education in the public schools of his native town where he made good use of his time and opportunity. He later spent one year in the high school at Flint, then returned to Almont, where he completed his education in the high school and was graduated with the class of 1880. As a youth he manifested unusual literary talent, and soon after leaving school he became identified with newspaper work and his entire business career has been devoted to journalistic labor. He first secured employment with the Almont Herald, with which he was identified for three years. In 1884 he went to Mayville, Michigan, where he established the Monitor, and for six years was editor of that paper. For the ensuing five months he worked as a printer in the of- fice of the Tribune, at Bismarck, North Dakota, and subsequently was for one and a half years connected with the Michigan Artisan, at Grand Rapids. He also traveled to some extent in Michigan, looking for a suitable location and working in various newspaper offices. In June, 1893, he came to Lowell where he established the Ledger and has since HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 547 successfully conducted this enterprise. Under his able management the Ledger has become one of the leading newspapers in Kent county and its status has long been one of prominence in connection with the representative journalistic activities of the country. In presenting to the people of Lowell and the surrounding country a clean, well-edited, and well-printed sheet with reliable news matter and timely editorials, Mr. Johnson has always kept his columns open to the support of move- ments for the benefit of the city and its people. The paper is inde- pendent in its political policy, standing fearlessly for its conception of what is right and attacking courageously those things it adjudges wrong irrespective of party lines. Mr. Johnson is personally independent in his views on public questions and prefers to figure out matters himself rather than to allow political leaders to do his thinking for him. Besides his journalistic work he has also found time and opportunity to give ef- fective co-operation in movements for the social and material better- ment of the community and has ever stood as an exponent of the best type of civic loyalty and progressiveness. His efforts are not confined to lines resulting in individual benefit, but are evident in those fields where general interests and public welfare are involved and during the many years of his residence here he has wielded definite and benignant influence both as a citizen and as a man of splendid business ability. He is a member of Lowell Lodge No. 90, F. & A. M. and both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. John- son was married February 2, 1882, to Miss Myrtie C. Dickerson, of Almont, Michigan, and they became the parents of four children: Ola M., James A., Rob Roy, and Ruth E. Mrs. Johnson's parents, Anthony C. and Lavina (Wood) Dickerson, who are both deceased, were pioneer residents of Almont, Michigan, and were numbered among the highly respected citizens of that community. Mrs. Johnson received her education in the grammar and high schools of Almont, and was a mem- ber of the same graduating class as her husband. Frank H. Battjes. The record of no Grand Rapids business man, perhaps, indicates more clearly what can be accomplished when energy, determination, and ambition lead the way than that of Frank H. Battjes, for nearly half a century a resident of this city. His career is typical of men who have been the architects of their own fortunes and is most interesting and significant, for never was a man's success due more to his own native ability and less to outward circumstances. Nothing came to him by chance. He worked his way up from the bottom rung of the business ladder by sheer pluck and assiduity, and the story of his life cannot fail to interest and inspire the young man who has regard for honorable manhood and an appreciation for wise and intelligent use of opportunity. By nurture and achievement, Mr. , Battjes is essentially a son of Grand Rapids, though his life began many hundreds of miles away, having been born in Holland in 1866. He was but fourteen years of age when he accompanied his parents, Henry and Bertha (Goossen) Battjes, to Grand Rapids, and thenceforward his life and activities have been blended with this city. His early edu- cation was obtained in the schools of his native land, and after coining 548 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY to this country he was at quite a disadvantage for a time because he could not talk and read the English language. He became impressed with the idea that the American boys were making sport of him be- cause he could not understand them, and to overcome this handicap he secured a Dutch-English dictionary and applied himself diligently to study until he acquired a fair knowledge of the language of his adopted country. He also broadened his education by attending night school and in due time became well versed in the English language. Having no false pride and placing a true valuation on honest toil and endeavor, of whose dignity he has ever continued deeply appreciative, he turned his attention to any honorable employment he could find to do. He earned his first salary, the remarkable sum of one dollar a week, by working as helper in a tailor shop, and after three months of service in this capacity he found employment in the Benjamin Clothing Store, where he remained one year, receiving a compensation of six dollars a week. He next took a position in a tailoring establishment, where he learned the cutter's trade. After he had worked two years at this trade the confinement made serious inroads on his health, and he was com- pelled to find other employment. He then became associated with his brother, Nicholas Battjes, in the coal and building material business on Fulton street, west, and the enterprise was successful from its in- ception. Eighteen months later the business had grown to such propor- tions that it was necessary to secure large and more centrally located quarters, and removal was made to south Division avenue. Here they occupied the property owned by the Hauser, Owen & Ames Company, which afforded adequate room for more extensive operation. Mr. Owen requested the two Battjes brothers to assume charge of the operation of the extensive gravel and sand pits on this property, and, as a means of protecting the interest of all concerned, the Battjes Fuel & Building Material Company was organized, Edwin Owen becoming president of the company; George M. Ames, vice-president; Frank H. Battjes, treasurer, and Nicholas Battjes, manager. Nicholas Battjes later sold his interest in the business, and Henry F. Battjes, son of Frank H. Battjes, assumed the office of secretary and general manager. Daniel W. Kimball is also a vice-president of the company, and Gilbert A. Hanke is sales manager. The concern is one of the largest enter- prises of its kind in the city of Grand Rapids, and its status has long been one of prominence in connection with the representative industrial activities of the country. For many years Frank H. Battjes devoted his time and energy to the building up of this enterprise, and its present prosperity may be attributed in no small degree to his quiet faithfulness and untiring efforts. Although he has virtually retired from active business he still continues to give general supervision and to act as counselor in matters of importance. Besides his business connections Mr. Battjes is also loyal and public spirited in his civic attitude and has never lost an opportunity to do what he could for the advancement of the best interests of his adopted city. He married Miss Dena Postema, daughter of Herman Postema, of Grand Rapids, and to this union were born six children: Henry F., Anna, Bertha, Herman, Louis, و HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 549 and Clarence. The son, Herman, served seventeen months in the United States navy in the World war. Herman F. Vanderwerf. From the pioneer period in its history Michigan has had much to gain and nothing to lose from its large and fine element of Holland Dutch citizens, and the city of Grand Rapids today can claim among its successful business men many who can revert to the fair old Netherlands as the place of their nativity or ancestral lineage. Among this number stands Herman F. Vanderwerf, who was born January 23, 1890, and whose native place in the Netherlands was Joure, his father having been engaged there in the wholesale grocery business for a long period. The father, Frederick Vanderwerf, passed his entire life in his native land, there his death occurred in 1920, and there his widow still maintains her home, as do also all of their children except Herman F., of this review. Herman F. Vanderwerf received the advantages of the schools of his native country, and as a youth he was for several years associated with his father's wholesale grocery business. In 1912, at the age of twenty-two years, he came to the United States, and on the 10th of September of that year he arrived in Grand Rapids. For several years he was employed here in furniture factories, and in the meanwhile he supplemented his education and advanced his knowledge of the English language by attending the school main- tained by the Y. M. C. A. He finally entered upon an apprenticeship to the printer's trade, and for some time he was editor and publisher of a little paper or bulletin published in the Dutch language. He then took a position in the printing establishment of Howard Haas & Company, and November 11, 1918, he effected the purchase of the plant and business and organized the Vanderwerf Print- ing Company. In January, 1921, modern machines and other improve- ments were added to the equipment, and the company now has the best of facilities for handling its large business in the execution of high grade commercial and general printing of all kinds. Mr. Vanderwerf is a loyal and active member of the Grand Rapids Association of Com- merce and he and his wife hold membership in the Reformed church. He first came to Michigan for the purpose of visiting kinsfolk and other friends, his intention having been to return to his native land, but so favorable was the impression made upon him by Grand Rapids that he decided to establish his permanent home here—a decision that he has never regretted. June 30, 1920, Mr. Vanderwerf was united in marriage to Miss Mary DeGroot, daughter of the late Peter DeGroot, whose widow still resides in Grand Rapids. Mr. and Mrs. Vanderwerf have one child, Marguerite, who was born July 29, 1921. Henry T. Heald is a former member of the Michigan legisla- ture, has gained standing as one of the able and successful members of the bar of his native state, is established in the practice of his profes- sion in the city of Grand Rapids, and his civic loyalty is shown in his association with the Rindge Building and Grand Rapids Garages, Inc., of which he is president, and by being vice-president and a director of the Grand Rapids Paper Box Company. In his professional activities he is giving service as counsel for Howe, Snow & Bertles, Inc., one of the 550 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY leading investment banking concerns of Grand Rapids. Mr. Heald was born at Montague, Muskegon county, Michigan, March 25, 1876, and is a son of Joseph and Harriet (Woodham) Heald, both of whom were residents of Grand Rapids at the time of their death, Mrs. Heald hav- ing been born in England and having been a child when her parents came to America and settled in Canada, whence they shortly afterward came to Michigan, where she was reared and educated and where she passed the remainder of her life. Joseph Heald was born in the state of Maine, and was a pioneer in the great lumbering operations of Mich- igan. In 1882 he established the family home in Grand Rapids, and in 1884 he was one of the organizers and incorporators of the Kent County Savings Bank, of which he was the first president. He likewise was an early director of the Old National Bank of this city, and he was ever one of the honored and influential citizens of Grand Rapids. Henry T. Heald was a lad of six years at the time of the family removal to Grand Rapids, and here he continued his studies in the public schools until his graduation in the Central high school. In 1898 he was graduated in the University of Michigan, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy. He thereafter con- tinued his study of law in the office and under the able preceptorship of the representative Grand Rapids law firm of Butterfield & Keeney until his admission to the bar, in 1900. He soon afterwards became junior member of the law firm of Stuart & Heald, and this alliance con- tinued until 1905, when his coadjutor, Judge William J. Stuart, was elected to the bench of the superior court of Kent county. Thereafter Mr. Heald was for four years associated in practice with Rolland J. Cleland, under the title of Cleland & Heald, and he then engaged in practice in an individual or independent way. Mr. Heald gave close attention to his substantial law business in Grand Rapids until 1917, when, upon the nation's entrance into the World war, he was called into service in the city of Washington, D. C., as attorney in the government office of the custodian of alien property. Of this responsi- ble position he continued the incumbent five years, and he then, in 1922, returned to Grand Rapids where he has since been office counsel for Howe, Snow & Bertles, Inc. Mr. Heald has been active and influential in the Michigan councils of the Republican party, in 1905-06 he was representative of Kent county in the state legislature, and he was dele- gate to the state constitutional convention of 1907-08. He is president of the Petoskey Gas Company, of Petoskey, Michigan, and is president of the Midco Oil Corporation, of Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is an active member of the Kent County Bar Association, the local Association of Commerce, the University and Peninsular Clubs, the Grand Rapids Motor Club, the Kent Country Club, and the Grand Rapids Lodge of Elks. He and his wife are communicants of St. Mark's church, Pro- testant Episcopal. In 1906 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Heald to Miss Anne Rindge, daughter of the late Lester J. Rindge, who was a prominent business man and influential citizen of Grand Rapids. Mr. and Mrs. Heald have two children: Alice Rindge and Eleanor Lester. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 551 Jess W. Clark, who is now serving his third consecutive term as treasurer of Kent county, is the son of a Civil war veteran and was himself a captain in the army during the World war, serving in France in all of the major engagements in which his organization participated. His father, Charles D. Clark, served during the Civil war in a New York regiment under General Custer. In 1866, he came to Grand Rapids where he engaged in the trade of carriage maker, his shop being located opposite the old Eagle hotel. In 1868, he removed to Marshall where he continued to follow his trade of carriage maker. Again in 1880, he changed his place of residence, then moving to Cedar Springs still following the same trade, continuing in that work until 1890 when he retired from active life. He returned to Grand Rapids in that year and after the death of his wife in 1902, he went to Cali- fornia, where he remained until the time of his death in 1907. He mar- ried Josephine Vail and to them were born three children. Jess W. Clark was born in Marshall, Michigan, April 9, 1868. He attended the public schools in Cedar Springs and was graduated from the high school there. In his early manhood he spent several years working in a grocery store and later with the Grand Rapids Railway Company. In 1905 he moved to a farm near the city which he farmed until 1916 He had always been an enthusiastic member of the National Guard, and in 1916 when the Mexican trouble was imminent, he went to the border with the Grand Rapids battalion of the Thirty-second Michigan In- fantry. He returned to Michigan with his organization in February, 1917. His soldierly qualities and his evident ability in military science and tactics won him successive promotions until by July, 1917, he was holding the rank of captain of Company L of his regiment. With the outbreak of the World war, his regiment became the 126th Infantry of the Thirty-second Division, and Captain Clark was put in command of the headquarters company of his regiment. He sailed for France February 19, 1918, and landed March 4. He participated in nearly all the operations of his organization, and the day before the signing of the armistice he was invalided to the hospital where he remained until March 23, 1919. He was then transferred to Fort Sheridan, Illinois, from which he was discharged October 25, 1919. Upon his return to Grand Rapids, he became the unanimous choice of the Republican party as its nominee for election to the office of treasurer of Kent county. He was elected over slight opposition and took office January 1, 1921. His conduct of his office won him re-election in 1922 for the years 1923-24. Before the end of his second term a law had been passed allowing county treasurers to serve a third term, and in November, 1924, Captain Clark was again the choice of the people of Kent county for treasurer, a position which he now fills. That he has been thrice elected to a position of trust and responsibility by the people of his county, at- tests their confidence in his integrity and ability, and he is regarded by all who know him as a man of forceful personality and keen business judgment. Captain Clark married Mabel Vanderhoff, of Gratiot coun- ty, Michigan, on December 24, 1901, and to them have been born four children, Marian Josephine, Bernice Annetta, William Irving, and May 552 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY June. Mrs. Clark is the daughter of Isaac and Rachael (Graham) Vanderhoff. Paul N. Belleisle is a member of the firm that conducts in Grand Rapids a prosperous business under the title of the Valley City Auto Paint Shop, and the well equipped headquarters of this firm is at 1034 Wealthy street, southeast. The unvarying excellence of all work here turned out has gained to the concern a substantial and appreciative sup- porting patronage. Mr. Belleisle was born at Chatham, Ontario, Can- ada, August 1, 1891, and is a son of Leon and Emily (Letorneau) Belle- isle, both natives of Canada and both of French lineage. Leon Belle- isle was long a successful farmer in Ontario, and upon his retirement from the farm he removed to Detroit, Michigan, where he passed the remainder of his life and where his widow still maintains her home. Paul N. Belleisle is indebted to the public schools of his native place for his early education, and as a youth he learned the painter's trade, in which he is a skilled and discriminating artisan. At his trade he has been employed in leading automobile factories in Michigan, and for six years he was in the painting department of the Buick Motor Company, at Flint. In 1920 he came to Grand Rapids and engaged independently in business, under the title of the Grand Rapids Auto Paint Company. He later sold this business and formed a partnership with Silas Meinardi, who has continued his valued coadjutor in the development of the sub- stantial business of the Valley City Auto Paint Shop. The expansion of the business has been such that the firm now maintains one of the largest and best equipped paint shops in western Michigan, in which they specialize in the painting of touring and commercial motor cars, besides doing high grade lettering and pictorial work in their line. In order to keep up with present development of automobile painting they have installed complete equipment for lacquer work as well. They now have a slogan, “Name your finish, we have it." Mr. Belleisle is the owner of an attractive residence property, at 2118 Edgewood avenue, and he finds great pleasure in beautifying his grounds and keeping the home place up to a high standard. His wife, whose maiden name was Emeliene Spencer, was born at Ridgetown, Ontario, Canada, and is a daughter of the late Charles Spencer. The third member of the family circle of Mr. and Mrs. Belleisle is the widowed mother of the subject of this sketch. Silas Meinardi, who is the other member of the firm, has had twenty-eight years of experience in all lines of painting, hav- ing started in the old carriage days. He has had charge of several paint shops for over a period of eighteen years thereby gaining an experience of great value. Mr. Meinardi was born and raised in Grand Rapids but spent ten years in Chicago where he received some of this valuable experience in the best shops of that city. Mr. Meinardi and his family now make their home at 43 Burton street, west. Samuel J. Naylor owns and conducts, in a building that he owns and that is specially equipped for the purpose, a substantial up- holstering business of general order, and the enterprise is one of the largest and most important of its kind in Grand Rapids, where the headquarters are maintained at the corner of Grandville and a HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 553 Naylor streets. Mr. Naylor was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, August 21, 1864, and is a son of Samuel Naylor, who was there en- gaged in the hardware business at the time when he entered sery- ice as a valiant soldier of the Union in the Civil war, in which con- flict he sacrificed his life, he having been killed while participating in the historic Battle of the Wilderness. After his death his widow, whose maiden name was Ruth E. Niles, removed with her family of three sons and two daughters to a farm near Georgetown, Ot- tawa county, and in that locality the elder of the sons, Cash E. Naylor, died as the result of injuries received in a sawmill, he hav- ing been about twenty-one years of age at that time. Clarence Eugene Naylor, second one, nineteen years of age, was murdered in Georgetown in 1875. As a boy in Ann Arbor, Samuel J. Naylor, who was but an infant at the time of his father's death, worked as a bootblack, sold newspapers and applied himself to other work within the compass of his powers, in order to aid in the support of the family. In the meanwhile he attended school when opportu- nity offered. The mother contracted a second marriage, but in 1876 she was again widowed, and it became necessary for her one remaining son, then twelve years of age, to assume a large part of the responsibilty of supporting his mother and sisters. He soon came to Grand Rapids, where he first entered the employ of the Grand Rapids Alabastine Company, and later he worked thirty days for the Bishop Furniture Company, in order to obtain a bicycle which he considered a necessary equipment. In this connection he made himself so useful that the company gave him a permanent position. He continued his association with the Bishop Furniture Company twenty years, during which time he became its vice- president. While he was thus engaged Mr. Naylor had established a small upholstering business, and the same gradually expanded into one of importance. He had placed the management of this business largely in charge of his two sons, and when one of these sons entered the World war service Mr. Naylor, himself, severed his connection with the Bishop Furniture Company, in order to assume active supervision of the upholstering business, which is now one of broad scope, in the handling of high-grade upholstering work on both new and used furniture. In the well-equipped estab- lishment employment is now given to fourteen men and women, and in the year 1924, the repair department of the concern handled fully 5,000 jobs, besides which was done also a large business in the upholstering of new furniture. Mr. Naylor has built twenty or more houses, his factory and store buildings on Grandville avenue, in the southwest part of the city. Mr. Naylor is a Republican in pol- itics, and is affiliated also with the Elks, Maccabees, and the Mod- ern Woodmen of America. He married Miss Nellie Vanderstolp and they have two sons, Leonard J. and Cash E., both of whom are associated with their father in business. Cash E. served in the World war period as a member of the medical corps of the United 554 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY States Army, and during the most of his period of service he was stationed at Waco, Texas. Claude T. Hamilton, who has been prominently associated with financial and other business activities in Grand Rapids, and who is now allied with the firm of Howe, Snow & Bertles, with offices on the fourth floor of the Grand Rapids Savings Bank building, is, on the maternal side, a scion of one of the honored pioneer families of Kent county, as may be seen by reference to memoir dedicated to his mother, the late Mrs. Phila L. Hamilton, elsewhere in this volume. Mr. Hamilton was born in Rockford, Kent county, Mich- igan, March 21, 1873, a son of Hiram T. and Phila L. (Van Buren) Hamilton. He was but five months old at the time of his father's death, and by his gracious mother he was reared with the deepest inaternal solicitude and given the best of advantages along educa- tional lines. After his graduation in the Central high school of Grand Rapids, Mr. Hamilton passed the examination that marked him as eligible for admission to the law department of Harvard University, but he decided to turn his attention to business affairs rather than to take up the study of law, with the result that he did not enter the university. In 1894 he assumed the position of teller in the offices of the Michigan Trust Company of Grand Rapids, in which representative financial institution he eventually gained ad- vancement to the office of vice-president, of which he continued the incumbent more than a quarter of a century. Mr. Hamilton remained as an executive officer of the Michigan Trust Company until 1923, when his impaired health led to his resignation and retirement. He has since continued his connection with financial affairs in his home city through the medium of his alliance with the firm of Howe, Snow & Bertles, which is here engaged in the banking business. Mr. Hamilton is vice-president of the Mer- chants Insurance Company of Des Moines, Iowa, and is a director of the Grand Rapids Railway Company, the Grand Rapids National Bank, the Boyne City Lumber Company, and of the James D. Lacey Company, Chicago, this last named concern being engaged , in the timber business. Mr. Hamilton has shown great interest in those measures and enterprises that have tended to advance the progress and general welfare of his home city and native county and state. He has served as a member of the Grand Rapids board of park commissioners, and for thirty years he was a member of the High School Scholarship Association of Grand Rapids, in which connection he was one of the first and most influential workers in obtaining collegiate scholarships for deserving high school stu- dents. He has been for many years a member of the board of trustees of the Fountain Street Baptist Church, and is now vice- chairman of the board. He has also been elected trustee of Kala- inazoo College. Mr. Hamilton has been influential in the councils and campaign activities of the Republican party in this section of Michigan, has been for several years a member of its state cen- tral committee, in which he was formerly chairman of the executive HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 555 committee, besides which he was chairman of the Kent county Republican committee during the period of 1918-24. He has had much of leadership in the affairs of the local organization of the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, of which he is a former president, and he has made exhaustive research along vari- ous lines of Michigan history, in which connection it is to be noted that he contributed to the Grand Rapids Herald of December 14, 1924, a most interesting and valuable article touching the part the Grand river valley of Michigan played in the war of the Revolution. Mr. Hamilton owns and occupies one of the most beautiful homes of Grand Rapids, this residential estate, at the juncture of Lake- side drive and Robinson road, having twenty-one acres of ground, traversed by a creek and enhanced in beauty by fine trees and shrubbery, velvety lawns and parterres of flowers. Mr. Hamilton has one of the most comprehensive and select private libraries in western Michigan, and also one of the best collections of stone and other prehistoric artifacts to be founds in any private assemblage of such interesting relics. In 1918 was solemnized his marriage to Miss Lillian Hills, who was born and reared in Greenville, Texas, and they are popular in the representative social and cultural cir- cles of the community, while their beautiful home is known for its gracious hospitality. William M. Bertles is vice-president of the vital investment- banking corporation of Howe, Snow & Bertles, Inc., and has rea- son to take pride in being a principal in this concern and one of the executives closely and effectively identified with the development of the large and important business that this Grand Rapids cor- poration controls in the handling of high-grade securities. Further reference to the scope of the business is made on other pages, in the personal sketch of Warren H. Snow, one of the founders. Mr. Bertles was born at Green Bay, Wisconsin, October 31, 1887, and is a son of John F. and Eliza Deland (Switzer) Bertles. The pub- lic schools of his native state afforded Mr. Bertles his preliminary education, and in 1909 he was graduated in the engineering depart- ment of the great University of Wisconsin, where he was a mem- ber of the Psi Upsilon fraternity and of the honorary engineering society known as Tau Beta Pi. The early business career of Mr. Bertles was in connection with the lumber trade, in which he was for some time associated with his brother, John F. Bertles, in the city of Chicago, and later alone under the firm name of Bertles Lumber Company. In 1912 he came to Grand Rapids and became one of the organizers of the firm of Hilliker, Bertles & Company, which here engaged in the bond business. About a year later he became one of the organizers and constituent members of the in- vestment-banking firm of Howe, Snow & Bertles, Inc., and since the incorporation of the business, in 1916, he has been vice- president. At the time of this writing, in the summer of 1925, Mr. Bertles is preparing to remove, in the autumn, to New York City, where he will be active in the national metropolis office of his cor- 556 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY poration. In Grand Rapids he has membership in the Peninsular, University and Kent Country clubs, and he and his wife are mem- bers of the Park Congregational church. In 1916 Mr. Bertles wed- ded Miss Katherine Hummer, and they have four children. Ralph H. Widdicomb, the vice-president and secretary of the John Widdicomb Company, one of the important furniture manu- facturing corporations of Grand Rapids, is a scion of the third generation of the Widdicomb family in this city and of one whose name has stood for large achievement and influence in connection with the great furniture industry that has brought world-fame to Grand Rapids. In his business ability, his civic loyalty and all other relations of life, Ralph H. Widdicomb is well upholding the prestige of an honored family name, and he is essentially one of the representative men of affairs in his native city, his birth having oc- curred here January 26, 1873. He is a son of Harry E. and Maria (Hewitt) Widdicomb, and is a grandson of George Widdicomb, who was born and reared in Exeter, England, where the family name is still one of no minor prominence, through its contemporary representatives. George Widdicomb became a skilled workman at the trade of cabinet-maker, as he had served a thorough apprentice- ship under the careful methods that marked this mechanic art in the period of his youth, in England. He learned to manufacture by hand the finest types of cabinet work, and his marked mechani- cal talent gave him facility in designing and inventing, especially along the line of furniture production. In 1845, in company with his wife and their four sons, George Widdicomb came to the United States and in 1856 he established his residence in Grand Rapids, which was then little more than a village, with lumbering opera- tions and the mining of the gypsum that early gained a goodly measure of industrial fame to the future city, under the name of "Grand Rapids plaster.” George Widdicomb opened a modest cabinet shop at the east end of Bridge street, and his business had assumed substantial proportions at the time when the Civil war was precipitated on the nation. All four of the sons, who had con- stituted the working force of the original Widdicomb factory, en- listed for service as soldiers of the Union, and this, coupled with the business depression that existed during the period of the war, brought financial and industrial disaster to the Widdicomb manufacturing enterprise, the honored founder of the business hav- ing died within a short time after the close of the war. William, John and Harry Widdicomb became associated after the war in establishing a small furniture manufacturing business, and these skilled mechanics labored earnestly to develop their business, though they met with many obstacles and discouragements in the earlier period. The enterprise gradually expanded in scope and importance, and in 1869, upon the admission of Theodore F. Rich- ards to partnership, the firm name became Widdicomb Brothers & Richards. The high grade of products that has at all times been recognized in connection with the name of Widdicomb, HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 557 1 proved fruitful in the upbuilding of a prosperous business, and in 1873, as a matter of commercial expediency, the Widdicomb Furniture Company was incorporated. This company had much to do with bringing Grand Rapids to the forefront in the manufac- turing of furniture, and its operations were of extensive order at the time when it met serious financial reverses incidental to the panic of 1893. It was about this time that John Widdicomb with- drew from the company, and in 1897 he founded the John Widdi- comb Company, which has grown to be one of the large and im- portant furniture concerns of the city, and with which Ralph H. Widdicomb, of this review, has been closely associated during the greater part of his active business career, he being now vice-presi- dent and secretary of the company. Harry Widdicomb, father of Ralph H., was born at the old family home in Exeter, England, and came with his parents to Grand Rapids in 1856, the family having immigrated to the United States in 1845, and the original home in this country having been in the state of New York. Harry Widdi- comb eventually returned to the old Empire state, as indicated by the fact that in 1870 his marriage to Miss E. Maria Hewitt was there solemnized, Mrs. Widdicomb having been born and reared in New York state and having come as a bride to Grand Rapids in 1870. Of the three children, the subject of this review is the only survivor, the first-born, Elsie, having died when about seven years of age, and the youngest of the three having been Watts, who died at the age of about twenty-one years. After completing his studies in the Grand Rapids public schools, Ralph H. Widdicomb, in 1892, found employment in the factory of the Widdicomb Furniture Company, where he was able to develop his natural talent in the designing of artistic furniture. He became a designer of remark- able originality and versatility, and his talent along this line has been of great value in developing the extensive business of the company of which he is now the secretary and vice-president, and with which, in the capacity of chief designer, he became identified at the time of its organization, in 1897. He has held this dual of- fice since the death of his uncle, John Widdicomb, who was the founder of the business, as previously noted in this context. Mr. Widdicomb is an enthusiast and expert in hunting and fishing, his predilection for outdoor sports having been fostered by his father, who likewise was an enthusiastic sportsman. Mr. Widdicomb is an active member of the Kent Country Club and the Highlands Golf Club, besides having membership in the Peninsular Club, an old and representative social and business organization in his home city. August 24, 1921, Mr. Widdicomb was united in marriage to Mrs. Nelfa (Minogue) O'Brien, of Grand Rapids, she being a daughter of John Minogue of this city, and her two children by her former marriage being Bernadine and Kathleen, who have been given the Widdicomb surname. William E. Gill, secretary and treasurer of the Wolverine Spice Company, 224 Scribner avenue, Grand Rapids, was born about six 558 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY miles from East Aurora, at Holland, Erie county, New York, on January 24, 1856. His maternal grandfather, Calvin Rogers, owned a home upon the location where Elbert Hubbard's Roycroft Shop now stands. Mr. Gill remembers numerous meetings with Elbert Hubbard. He came to Grand Rapids in 1865 with his parents, Alfred J. and Harriet (Rogers) Gill. His father was a farmer and lived on West Bridge street, one mile west of Grand Rapids. He died in March, 1897, at the age of sixty-eight years. of sixty-eight years. His political affiliation had been with the Democratic party. He was survived by the subject of this narrative and Mark W. Gill, who is an indus- trial engineer for the Grand Rapids Veneer Company, and who in that capacity travels all over the United States. William E. Gill received his education in the public and high schools of Grand Rapids and Swensberg Business College. He then followed the vocation of school teacher for seven years and later became a book- keeper for Henry S. Smith & Company, manufacturers of agricul- tural implements. After Mr. Smith's death Mr. Gill had charge of settling up the business affairs of that institution. Mr. Gill then became secretary and treasurer of the Plumb & Lewis Manufac- turing Company, of which concern he was one of the organizers. They manufactured bench clothes wringers and carpet sweepers, being the first concern to manufacture bench clothes wringers. In 1886 this business was sold to the Bissell Carpet Sweeper Com- pany, of which concern Mr. Gill is at this time a director. He was manager of the Plumb & Lewis department of the business for several years, and after it was merged with the Bissell Company, he was given charge of the order and shipping departments until he retired in July, 1923. The Wolverine Spice Company had been originally established in 1871 by E. Plumb & Sons Company. Their initial venture had been succeeded in 1883 by the business under the present name of the Wolverine Spice Company, of which Mr. Gill has been secretary and treasurer since this organization. He is a member of all bodies of Masonry except the thirty-third de- gree and holds his membership in Saladin Temple Shrine. He was married January 2, 1882, to Miss Florence N. Calhoun, of Peoria, Illinois. Their children are Gaylord Calhoun, born December 6, 1894, and who was graduated from the Union high school of Grand Rapids, attended the University of Michigan, and after taking a business course, became affiliated with the Wolverine Spice Com- pany, and for the past five years has been its vice-president. He married Nella E. Wagemaker, of Grand Rapids, and they have two children, Gaylord Calhoun, Jr., and William E., III. The young- est child of William E. Gill, Corrington Calhoun, was born January 17, 1898, and after graduation from the Central high school of Grand Rapids, and Detroit University, spent three years in the United States Navy, during the World war, making seven trips to France. After the war he was graduated from the University of Wisconsin. He is now in the city of Washington, D. C., as man- ager of the Washington Press Service, a responsible and lucrative HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 559 position. He married Julie Turnbull, who was then teacher of French in Madison, Wisconsin, high school, and is now a teacher of French in Washington, D. C. The wife of William E. Gill died on September 9, 1914, and in 1924 he was married to Mrs. Ulrica Louise Thomas, of Grand Rapids. Louis R. Richmond, proprietor of the Richmond Stamp Works, of Grand Rapids, is a descendant of the first Dutch immigrant to settle permanently in that city. He was born in Grand Rapids, September 23, 1875, the son of Eugene and Mary (Lyon) Rich- mond, both of whom were natives of Michigan. Eugene Richmond was born in Grand Haven in 1850, and came to Grand Rapids when he was still a small child, with his parents. He was active in poli- tics in Grand Rapids and was the first Republican alderman elected from the Fifth Ward of that city. He and his wife were passengers on the first train to enter the city on what was then the Grand Haven and Milwaukee. Eugene Richmond died in 1922 in Grand Rapids where his widow is still living. Louis R. Richmond re- ceived his education in the grade schools of Grand Rapids, and in 1889, he became engaged in the manufacturing of stamps of all kinds. He manufactures rubber stamps and steel stamps, his business being one of the largest of its kind in this section of the state. The enterprise has been developed solely through his own efforts, and his achievements have won him recognition as one of the successful business men of the city. In 1900, Mr. Richmond was united in marriage to Miss Marie Mankle, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Mankle, deceased, pioneer residents of Grand Rapids. To this union have been born two children, Richard, born in 1903, and now living in California, and Virginia, born in 1908, and now a student in the Grand Rapids high school. Mr. Richmond is a member of the Exchange Club and is affiliated with the Central Church of Christ. He is greatly interested in Filipino boys who come to Grand Rapids for their education, and each year finds sev- eral of them living at his home while they are attending school. He has been an active worker in the Y. M. C. A. Henry J. Steele, who is prominently identified with the coal business of Grand Rapids as the general manager of the Oakdale Coal and Fuel Company, was born in that city, November 23, 1879, the son of G. J. and Anna (Kruizenga) Steele, both of whom were natives of the Netherlands. G. J. Steele came to the United States with his mother when he was fourteen years of age, settling at Chicago. His wife came to America when she was a girl of twelve years. He and his wife came to Kent county, Michigan, and en- gaged in farming, following that occupation for thirty years. In 1910, G. J. Steele retired, removing at that time to Grand Rapids, where he still lives. His wife died in 1921. His wife died in 1921. Henry J. Steele at- tended the rural schools of Kent county. His education completed, he took up farming on the family homestead farm with his father, continuing in that work during the ensuing twelve years. With the expiration of that time, he bought a farm in Ottawa county, 560 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY and until 1913, he worked the land successfully. In that year he came to Grand Rapids, establishing Steele Brothers Coal Company at that time in partnership with his brother, Jacob G. Steele. In 1922, he sold out his interests to his brother and organized the Oak- dale Coal and Fuel Company, Inc., becoming general manager of the corporation, a position which he still retains. He is ranked as one of the ablest executives in Grand Rapids engaged in the coal and fuel business, and his commercial dealings are characterized by the utmost fairness and integrity. He married Miss Ada Nort- house on February 18, 1902. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Northouse, farmers in Ottawa county, both of whom are dead. Mr. and Mrs. Steele have two children: Harold G., born in 1904, who is assistant manager of the Grand Rapids Savings Bank branch, located at the corner of Grandville avenue and B street; and Inez, who was born in June, 1914. Mr. Steele is affiliated with the Christian Reformed church. He still owns his farm in Kent county to which he makes daily trips to superintend the feeding and care of his livestock. He has developed the land into one of the finest pieces of farm land in the county, and it is thoroughly modern in every respect for the best breeding of cattle. Ray C. Sackett, who is proprietor of the Grand Rapids district distributing agency of the Studebaker Corporation of America, and is one of the representative exponents of the automobile sales busi- ness in western Michigan, finds a due measure of satisfaction in adverting to this state as the place of his nativity. Mr. Sackett was born in the city of Albion, Calhoun county, Michigan, Novem- ber 11, 1888, and is a son of James R. and Dora (Henderson) Sack- ett, he having been three years of age at the time of the family re- moval to Saginaw, in which city his parents passed the remainder of their lives, the active career of his father having been mainly one of association with the hardware and banking business. After com- pleting his studies in the high school at Saginaw, Ray C. Sackett en- tered the University of Michigan, and in this institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1911, and with the degree of bachelor of engineering. During the ensuing three years he was em- ployed in district offices of the Michigan Bell Telephone Company, and within this period he was located in Grand Rapids during an interval of nine months. Since 1914 he has maintained alliance with the great Studebaker Corporation of America. During the first six years of this association he was in the main sales and ad- vertising office of the corporation, and during the last three years, 1917-20, he held the office of advertising manager. In 1917 the Studebaker main office was transferred from Detroit, Michigan, to South Bend, Indiana, where Mr. Sackett continued his effective service as advertising manager until 1920, when he resigned and went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he acquired an interest in the Studebaker distributing agency for that section of the Buckeye state. In December, 1922, he sold his interest in the business at Cincinnati and established his residence in Grand Rapids, where HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 561 he has since continued the vital and successful proprietor of the Studebaker distributing agency for this section of Michigan. Mr. Sackett has received the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite of the Masonic fraternity, besides being a noble of the Mystic Shrine, and in his home city he is a member of the Kiwanis and Peninsular clubs, besides being affiliated with the local lodge of Elks. He and his wife are communicants of Grace church, Protes- tant Episcopal. On the 10th of October, 1916, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Sackett to Miss Helen K. Abbott, daughter of George E. Abbott, who is a prominent banker in the city of Chey- enne, Wyoming. Mr. and Mrs. Sackett have two children, Patricia Ann, who was born February 11, 1921, and James Russell, born September 26, 1925. William Sayre Canfield is president of the Grand Rapids real estate firm of Canfield-Kooistra Company, which has been identified with the development of several subdivisions of Grand Rapids. The office of the firm is at 702-703 Ashton building. Mr. Canfield was born at Quaker Mills, Lenawee county, Michigan, March 12, 1861, and is a representative of a family that was founded in that county about two years prior to the admission of the territory of Michigan to statehood. Sayre Canfield, grandfather of the subject of this review, settled in Lenawee county in the year 1835 and became one of the prominent and influential pioneer citizens of that section of the state. He built the old waterpower grist mills that there gave title to the little village of Quaker Mills, and he was interested also in the ownership and operation of other pioneer flower mills in that section of the state. He was a veteran of the War of 1812, and his five sons served as valiant soldiers for the Union in the Civil war, and two were members of a regiment of Michigan engineers that made a record of effective service in many of the important campaigns and battles marking the course of the war. Silas Canfield, uncle of the subject of this sketch, was captain of Com- pany I, First Michigan Engineers, and he maintained his home in Mich- igan during his entire life. Ezra Snow Canfield, father of the subject of this sketch, was united in matrimony with Miss Ruth Ann Cogges- hall, who was likewise born and reared in Michigan, where her father, William Coggeshall, became a territorial pioneer in Lenawee county, he having settled there in 1836, the year prior to the admission of the state to the Union. He whose name initiates this review is a scion of colonial American families, and has had an ancestry in every war in which the nation was involved up to the Spanish-American war. One or more representatives of the Canfield family took part in the War of 1812, and the Mexican war, and the family name gained special distinction in connection with the Civil war. William Sayre Canfield was about six years old at the time of the family removal from Lenawee county to Grand Rapids, and thus his memory compasses the develop- ment of the “Valley City" from the status of a mere village, in 1867, into a metropolitan center of great industrial precedence and into a resi- dential city of unrivaled attractions. Here his public school advantages included those of the old Union high school. As a youth he served 562 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY a an apprenticeship to the trade of millwright, but he gave it his attention only a short time. For many years he was associated with the grocery business of Grand Rapids, his experience in this line having run the gamut from service as delivery boy for a retail grocery, through pro- ductive work as a traveling salesman for a local wholesale grocery house, with which he served also as house buyer, to the ownership and man- agement of a retail grocery establishment, and finally his assuming a position as a principal in the wholesale grocery house of the Judson Grocery Company, with which he continued his connection twenty-four years. He retired from this line of enterprise in 1920 and has since been an active member of the real estate board of the city that has repre- sented his home since his boyhood, and to the civic and material ad- vancement of which he has contributed his quota. Mr. Canfield is a Republican in politics. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, and since his early youth he has been a most earnest and zealous member of and worker in the Presbyterian church. In 1885, Mr. Canfield was united in marriage to Miss Laura A. Sterling, of Kalamazoo, and she died on the 10th of April, 1922, the one child of this union having been a son, Bert, who died in November, 1913, he having married Miss Margaret Ford, of Kalamazoo, who survives him, as does also their one child, Margaret Jane, who is now the only living descendant that William Sayre Canfield can claim. George T. Boughner. The strides made in fire-fighting in our great American cities within the past decade or two have produced a different type of fireman, one skilled in the mechanics of the apparatus with which he works and well versed in the various types of buildings now built in our cities. With the change in fire fighting methods, only those men who were able to adjust themselves to the new ways advanced in the force, and one of those men whose versatility and willingness to accept innovations as they appeared is George T. Boughner, fire marshal of Grand Rapids since 1916. He was born in the province of Ontario, Canada, in 1866, attending the public schools of his home community until he had reached his fifteenth year. In 1888 he came to Grand Rapids where he secured employment with the Spiral Spring Buggy Company. To increase his finances, he also became a part-time member of the Grand Rapids fire department earning fifty-five cents per day. He proved to be a man possessing the moral and physical courage de- manded of the members of a department engaged in such hazardous work, and the following year witnessed his promotion to the position of driver of the hook and ladder as a full time member of the depart- ment. Promotion was again his lot the following year. This time he went to the station at the corner of Bond and Crescent streets as ladder- man. His work in the department won almost instant recognition, for he had lost no opportunity to improve himself and his knowledge of the department of which he was a member. With the expiration of an- other two-year period, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant of the station to which he had been first assigned as ladderman. He was again advanced in 1895, this time taking the rank of captain. The ensuing twenty years were busy ones for him, and his work as captain now HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 563 proved him more than any previous time a fire department officer of the highest calibre. During this time, he was located at headquarters where the character of his work came under the immediate observation of his superiors. One year of this time, however, he spent at No. 1 station in charge of the new aerial ladder which had just then been purchased, the year being 1914. In July, 1915, a vacancy was created in the department, and Mr. Boughner advanced to the rank of battalion chief, being transferred to headquarters. Here he was able to display not only his knowledge of fire fighting but also his ability in depart- mental administration, and when the choice of a fire marshal was brought up the following year, 1916, George Boughner appeared as the logical candidate for that responsible office. He was accordingly appointed, and the wisdom of his selection has been apparent since first he took up the duties of his new post. His record as a fire fighter is exemplary of all that is best in the service, and he has won the respect, the admiration, and the heartfelt thanks of the citizenry of Grand Rapids. Fire Marshal Boughner first married Myrtle Findlay, the daughter of William Findlay, pioneer resident of Kent county, and she died March 23, 1902. In 1904, he married Abba Porter, the daughter of Chauncey Porter, a pioneer lumberman now operating a grist mill at Rockford, Michigan. To Mr. and Mrs. Boughner were born four daughters: Mabel, who is the wife of Herman Schoonbeck, of Grand Rapids; Hazel, who married Henry Storey and is now deceased; Beatrice, who is unmarried and lives with her parents, and Gwendolyn, who is deceased. Louis Henry Chamberlin, M. D., who specializes in the surgical branch of his profession and who has attained to distinctive success and prestige therein, has been established in practice in the city of Grand Rapids continuously since 1898, save for the period of his service in the medical corps of the United States army at the time of the World war. Dr. Chamberlin was born at Port Dover, Ontario, Canada, Feb- ruary 24, 1874, and is a son of Calvin J. and Anna Maria (Hoffman) Chamberlin, the former of whom was born in Canada and the latter in Buffalo, New York. Both the Chamberlin and Hoffman families were founded in America in the early colonial era of our national history, the original representatives of the Chamberlin family having come from England and those of the Hoffman family from Germany. After having been engaged several years in mercantile enterprise at Port Dover, Ontario, Calvin J. Chamberlin came with his family to the United States, in the early eighties, and the home was established at Streator, Illinois. In 1887, Mr. Chamberlin came with his family to Grand Rapids, where he engaged in the lumber business and where he passed the remainder of his life, his widow being still a resident of this city. The earlier education of Doctor Chamberlin was acquired in the schools of Port Dover, Ontario, and Streator, Illinois, and he was thirteen years old at the time of the family removal to Grand Rapids, where he eventually completed his high school course. He then took up the study of pharmacy, and for three years he was in charge of the prescription department in the drug store of Peck Brothers. There- a 564 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY after he was employed in other drug establishments in Grand Rapids, and in 1894 he here began the study of medicine, under the preceptor- ship of Dr. E. J. Edwards. In 1898, he was graduated in the Detroit College of Medicine, and after thus receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine he was actively engaged in the general practice of his pro- fession in Grand Rapids until 1914, since which year he has given exclusive attention to surgery. In the World war period he was for two years in service in the medical corps of the United States army, and he served as chief surgeon of the base hospital at Camp Mills, New York, he having been discharged from the service with the rank of major. The Doctor has fortified himself further by various post- graduate courses, and in 1914 he availed himself of the advantages of leading hospitals, medical schools and clinics in Europe. Doctor Cham- berlin has membership in the Kent County Medical Society, the Mich- igan State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. In the Masonic fraternity he has received the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite and is affiliated also with the Elks. In 1901 was solemnized the marriage of Doctor Chamberlin to Miss Lula Sears, of Rockford, Kent county, she being a representative of one of the honored pioneer families of this county. Doctor and Mrs. Chamberlin have two chil- dren: Ruth, who is the wife of Elmer Wellin, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Albert, who remains at the parental home. Edwin J. Chamberlin, D. D. S., whose well-equipped office is established in the Ashton building in Grand Rapids, is one of the repre- sentative dental practitioners of this city, and concerning the family history adequate record is given on another page, in the personal sketch of his brother, Louis H. Chamberlin, M. D. Dr. Edwin J. Chamberlin was born at Port Dover, Ontario, in 1877, and was a boy at the time the family home was established in Grand Rapids. After his public school course he was a student in the dental department of the Univer- sity of Michigan in 1897-98, and he completed his technical course in the dental department of Central University, Louisville, Kentucky. He has been established in the successful practice of his profession in Grand Rapids since 1900. He is a member of the National Dental Association, and the Michigan State Dental Society. He is affiliated with the Delta Sigma Delta dental college fraternity, and in the Masonic fraternity he has received the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, besides being a noble of the Mystic Shrine. In 1902, Doctor Chamber- lin wedded Miss Margaret Walker, of Louisville, Kentucky, and they have three children: Margaret, Thomas, and Bettie Lou. The elder daughter is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin. John W. Bowles, who passed beyond on July 16, 1925, at his home at 1015 Sheldon avenue, southeast, had maintained his residence in the city of Grand Rapids more than half a century, and he was in active service as a locomotive engineer on the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad during a consecutive period of thirty-eight years, the railroad that thus represented his field of loyal and efficient service being now a part of the great Pennsylvania railroad system. Mr. Bowles repre- sented his native state of Michigan as a valiant soldier of the Union in HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 565 the Civil war, his enlistment having taken place August 8, 1862, when he became a member of the Fourth Michigan Cavalry. He participated in many engagements marking the course of the great conflict, and at the battle of Gettysburg he was struck by a bullet but was not severely wounded. He had never abated his interest in his old comrades, and was one of the last surviving charter members of Watson Post, Grand Army of the Republic, in his home city of Grand Rapids. As a young man his hobby was hunting, and he had become known as a crack shot with both rifle and shot gun prior to entering military service, his ability in this respect having led to his being selected as a sharpshooter in his regiment in the Civil war. Mr. Bowles was born on a farm near Kalamazoo, Michigan, May 1, 1842, and was a son of George L. and Mary L. (Wheaton) Bowles, the former of whom was born in Frank- lin county, Vermont, in 1801, of colonial New England ancestry, and the latter of whom was born in the fine eld Mohawk valley of the state of New York, in 1814. George L. Bowles was a pioneer exponent of farm industry in both Kalamazoo and Cass counties, and upon retiring from his farm he established his residence in the city of Kalamazoo, where he died in the year 1882, and where his widow passed away in 1884. John W. Bowles was reared to the sturdy discipline of the pioneer farm, and his youthful education was obtained in the rural schools of his native county. He was twenty years of age when he enlisted as a private in Company M, Fourth Michigan Cavalry, on the 8th of August, 1862, and thereafter he continued in active service as a loyal and gallant soldier of the Union until the close of the great war that perpetuated the integrity of the nation, he having received his honorable discharge in the summer of 1865. After the close of the war Mr. Bowles con- tinued his residence in Kalamazoo county until 1871, when he came to Grand Rapids and obtained employment as locomotive engineer on the newly completed Grand Rapids & Indiana railroad, he having brought his family to this city in 1873. He made a perfect record of service as an engineer on this railroad, and after more than thirty years he was retired, as one of the veteran and honored employes of this corporation. He served as engineer on both freight and passenger trains, and in the latter department his activities were continued from 1885 until his final retirement, December 9, 1909. He became well known to the traveling public and to the citizens of Grand Rapids, and in his venerable age he was able to claim a host of loyal and valued friends. He had been a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers since 1881. He received a pension for his service in the Civil war, and also from the railroad company. December 24, 1865, was marked by the marriage of Mr. Bowles to Miss Electa Skelcher, of Kalamazoo, and she died in 1875, leaving no children. January 14, 1880, Mr. Bowles wedded Miss Rose Higgins, who likewise was born in Kalamazoo county, a daughter of Martin Higgins, who was a pioneer farmer of that county. Mr. and Mrs. Bowles had five children: Jennie, the wife of Andrew Simenton; Leona, the wife of Charles S. McDonald; Margaret, the wife of John Greton; Beulah, the wife of John Arnold, 566 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY and Harry W., who is the only son and who resides in Grand Rapids at the family home, he being in the automobile business. Charles E. Boyland is the executive head of Boyland & Com- pany, which conducts one of the leading insurance agencies in the city of Grand Rapids, with special attention given to fidelity and casualty lines of insurance indemnity. Mr. Boyland in his well ordered oper- ations in the local insurance field is the virtual successor to the busi- ness of one of the oldest and most influential insurance agencies in Grand Rapids, and interest in his career is enhanced by the fact that he is a native son of Kent county and a scion of a family that was here founded more than half a century ago. Mr. Boyland was born in Wyoming township, this county, May 13, 1877, and is a son of Francis and Mary (Barry) Boyland, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Pennsylvania, the father having come to Michigan more than fifty years ago and having long been one of the representative business men of Kent county. Charles E. Boyland's educational advantages were those afforded by the public schools of Grandville and what is now the Central high school of Grand Rapids. His ambition was to enter college and prepare himself for the legal profession, but the death of his father necessitated a change in his plans, as it became necessary for him to return to the home farm, with the work of which he had continued to be associated during his school vacations. He assisted in bringing about an adjustment of the affairs of the home farm and of the estate of his father, and at the age of twenty-three years he became a traveling salesman for one of the leading industrial and commercial corporations of Grand Rapids, that of the Bissell Carper Sweeper Com- pany, with which he was thus connected two years and which he suc- cessfully represented in a sales territory comprising Ohio, Indiana, Ken- tucky, and West Virginia. During the ensuing two years he was en- gaged in the lumber business at Rising Fawn, Georgia, and in 1905 he returned to Grand Rapids and initiated his alliance with the insur- ance business, in which he has gained distinctive success and prestige. Here he became associated with J. S. Crosby and Company in the gen- eral insurance business, and in 1917 he consolidated with the Holden and Hardy agency, who were the owners of the pioneer insurance busi- ness that had been founded by the late Honorable E. G. D. Holden, in the year 1859, and formed the firm of Holden, Hardy & Boyland. In 1922, Mr. Boyland acquired the Holden interests in the old established business, which he has since conducted under the title of Boyland & Company and which under his vigorous and progressive management has grown to proportions that make the Boyland agency one of the largest and most important of the insurance underwriting concerns in western Michigan. Mr. Boyland is a loyal and appreciative citizen of his native county and state and of his home city of Grand Rapids. He is liberal and progressive in his civic attitude, and is valued as one of the substantial business men of the fair “Valley City” of Michigan. Mr. Boyland was married June 2, 1908, to Miss Mayme T. Pulte, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, a daughter of Frank E. and Mary S. (Kort- lander) Pulte, and they have two children, Joseph F. and Ruth E. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 567 Rolland J. Cleland has to his credit virtually a quarter of a cen- tury of successful stewardship as one of the representative members of the Grand Rapids bar, he being here engaged in the general practice of law in an individual way, and his substantial and representative law business having involved his association in a professional way with many of the leading industrial corporations and business firms of Mich- igan's vital “Valley City.” Mr. Cleland maintains his office in the Mich- igan Trust building and his home is at 101 Benjamin avenue. Mr. Cleland was born at Coopersville, Ottawa county, Michigan, June 25, 1869, and the family home is still maintained at that place. He is a son of Daniel and Mary (Morrison) Cleland, the former having been born in the state of New York and the latter, who is now deceased, in the province of Ontario, Canada. Daniel Cleland has been a resident of Ottawa county since 1866, and there he was, for several years, en- gaged in farm enterprise. After 1872, he conducted for a number of years a general merchandise store at Coopersville. Now, (1925) eighty- two years of age, he is one of the venerable and honored retired and pioneer citizens of Ottawa county. He is a Republican in politics and holds membership in the Methodist Episcopal church. The public schools of his native place afforded Rolland J. Cleland his preliminary education, which was supplemented by a full course in Michigan Agri- cultural College (now Michigan State College), near Lansing, in which fine old institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1889 and with the degree of Bachelor of Science. After leaving college Mr. Cleland came to Grand Rapids and began the study of law in the office of Earl & Hyde. One year later he entered the law department of the University of Michigan, and in the same he was graduated as a member of the class of 1891, his admission to the bar having been coinci- dent with his reception of the degree of Bachelor of Laws. His profes- sional novitiate was served in the Grand Rapids law office of Judges Stuart and Knappen, the latter of whom (Judge Royal E. Knappen) is represented in a personal sketch elsewhere in this volume. Mr. Cle- land maintained this alliance one year, and thereafter he was for five years engaged in practice in the city of Detroit. He then returned to Grand Rapids, which has since continued the central stage of his able and successful professional activities. He has been prominent and in- fluential in the Michigan councils and campaign activities of the Re- publican party, and in the time-honored Masonic fraternity he is past master of Valley City Lodge No. 86, A. F. & A. M., and past high priest of Grand Rapids Chapter No. 7, R. A. M. His maximum York Rite affiliation is with DeMolay Commandery No. 5, Knights Templar, he is a past potentate of Saladin Temple of the Mystic Shrine and also a thirty-second degree Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, affiliated with Dewitt Clinton Consistory, Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is a trustee of the Grand Rapids Masonic Temple Association and is a member of the Masonic Country Club, and also of the Peninsular Club and the Highland Golf Club. As a student in the University of Michigan, Mr. Cleland there became affiliated with the Sigma Chi fraternity, besides having been made a life member of the University of Michigan Union. 568 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY In 1903 Mr. Cleland wedded Miss Minnie Schiermeyer, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and they have three children: Jeannette, who was graduated in the Grand Rapids high school, thereafter attending Sullins College, Bris- tol, Virginia, one year, and in 1925 she is an active and popular student in the Simmons College, Boston, Massachusetts. Mary, the younger , daughter, is a member of the class of 1927 in the Grand Rapids Central high school and there is also a son, Devere Cleland, who is married and resides in Lansing, Michigan. John Martin Halloran is president and manager of the Halloran National Detective Agency, the central offices of which are at 506-7 Grand Rapids Savings Bank building in the fair “Valley City" of Mich- igan. This well ordered agency, with its efficient personnel and able management under the progressive policies of its president, gives a service of inestimable value in its wide field of operations, and it has wielded great influence in the suppression of crime in Michigan, as well as in bringing many notorious malefactors to justice. Mr. Hal- loran, who has gained high reputation in his chosen field of service, was born in Leighton township, Allegan county, Michigan, May 18, 1875, and is a son of Cornelius and Katherine (MacGrerey) Halloran, both of whom were born in Ireland, as members of sterling old families of the fair Emerald Isle. Cornelius Halloran came to the United States in 1860, and within a comparatively short time thereafter he came to Michigan and engaged in farm enterprise in Allegan county, his alliance with this line of basic industry having there continued until his death, and his widow being still a resident on the old homestead farm. John M. Halloran received limited educational advantages, but soon gained close fellowship with honest toil, he having been but eleven years old when he began to contribute his share to the work of the home farm. At the age of fifteen years he engaged in the strenuous work incidental to lumbering operations in the northern part of the state, and at the age of seventeen years he went west, where he roamed from state to state and was variously employed, largely in Minnesota, North and South Dakota and Montana. In the early nineties he was employed two years by the Grand Rapids Street Railway Company, but he soon transferred his service to the police department of the city, in which he manifested such signal ability that he was soon assigned to the detective corps of the service. In this connection he made one of the most excellent and notable records in the annals of municipal detective service in Michigan. In response to the exigent demand for such service, and largely at the instance of representative business men of Grand Rapids, Mr. Halloran here established in 1915 the Halloran National Detective Agency, and under his forceful direction the same has become recognized as the largest and most successful private detective agency in Michigan, this reputation being based on service results. The Halloran agency now maintains branches in many other important cities in the United States, as well as in Canada, Cuba, England, and France. The agency func- tions with certitude and efficiency in all departments, and ranks as one of the best of the leading institutions of the kind in America. Mr. Halloran himself has made a wonderful record as a detective and his HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 569 personal reputation has been one of the best business assets of the agency of which he is the executive head. Worthy of preservation in this connection are the resolutions that were passed by the city council of Grand Rapids while Mr. Halloran was still in service in the municipal detective department: “Whereas, John Halloran, detective, who is in the employ of the city of Grand Rapids and has been for many years, at the risk of his life on many occasions, finally brought about the capture of the murderers of three citizens and business men of this city; and, whereas, said detective devoted his energy and time and risked his life without additional compensation or hope of further reward than a duty to be performed, Resolved, That the citizens of Grand Rapids, through the common council, do hereby extend to John Halloran their deepest appreciation and many thanks for the splendid and courageous work which he has so nobly performed.” These resolutions were adopted by a rising vote of the city council and were signed by Mayor George E. Ellis. Mr. Halloran is a valued member of the Grand Rapids Association of Commerce and of the Grand Rapids Lodge of the Bene- volent and Protective Order of Elks. His detective agency gave spec- ially valuable service to the government and to the state of Michigan during the World war period. In 1906, Mr. Halloran married Miss Grace O'Hara, daughter of James and Mary O'Hara, of Grand Rapids, and she passed to the life eternal July 1, 1908, the two surviving chil- dren being Lionel and Grace. On the 28th of November, 1910, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Halloran to Miss Josephine Miller, daughter of Alexander and Mary Miller, of Grand Rapids, and the one child of this union is a son, Kenneth. Orlo J. Yeiter, funeral director and dealer in furniture, Lowell, Michigan, is a native son of Kent county and is a worthy representative of one of the old established and honored families of Lowell township. He was born on the old homestead farm of his parents, in Lowell town- ship, May 9, 1890, a son of Samuel S. Yeiter and Caroline (Reuter) Yeiter, who were both natives of Michigan and were numbered among the highly esteemed citizens of their community. Samuel S. Yeiter was a farmer by occupation and for many years prior to his death was the owner of a fine landed estate in Lowell township where he carried on general farming and stock raising. He was one of the progressive and public spirited men of that community who contributed much to the advancement and prestige of Kent county, and though many years have passed since he was called from the scene of earthly activities, he is remembered as a man of high ideals, and his work remains as a force for good in the community. In business life he was alert, sagacious and reliable; as a citizen he was honorable, prompt and true to every engagement and his death, which occurred January 24, 1916, removed from Kent county, one of its most valued citizens. To him and his wife were born five children: Clair D., Orlo J., Claud S., Lena L., and where she is surrounded by a host of friends and is greatly admired for her sterling qualities and beauty of character. Orlo J. Yeiter obtained his education in the public schools of Lowell township and the high Harold G. The mother still survives and maintains her home in Lowell, 570 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY school at Freeport. His boyhood days, and until he attained the age of nineteen, were spent upon his father's farm, where he was taught the habits of industry and economy, and the discipline proved a valued one during the formative period of his life. As a youth he manifested unusual business talent, and in 1909, when nineteen years of age, he went to Portland, Oregon, where he became identified with the retail grocery trade and also the hotel business, but in 1914 he returned to Lowell, where he formed a partnership with Joseph B. Yeiter, a cousin of his father, in the operation of his present business under the title of Yeiter & Company. This alliance continued until April, 1921, when Mr. Yeiter purchased his partner's interest and has since conducted the business alone. He is also local agent for and distributor of the Hud- son and Essex automobiles, in which field of activity he has also been successful. Besides his business connection, Mr. Yeiter is loyal and public spirited in his civic attitude and gives close consideration to the social, educational and municipal problems of his city, in which he has done not a little to further its prestige as one of the leading commercial centers and place of residence in the county. He has served six years as a member of the village council and the year 1925 finds him giving an effective and popular administration as president of the village board of trustees. He has also been president of the Lowell Board of Educa- tion since 1921, and no citizen has a finer sense of civic stewardship or a greater measure of public spirit. He is a York and Scottish Rite Mason and a member of the Shrine and is also affiliated with the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows, and both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Yeiter was married in June, 1909, to Miss Rosella Curtiss also a native of Lowell township and a daughter of Earl and Mary Curtiss, and to this union three children have been born. They are: Evelyn L., Gerald S., and Robert D. Wilfred S. Hannah, who has developed a very prosperous and well ordered business as a gardener and poultry grower, has his head- quarters at 2109 Eastern avenue, Grand Rapids. He was born in this city February 14, 1879, and is a son of Alfred and Jennie Orrell (Steel) Hannah, the former of whom was born in Cambridgeshire, England, in 1850, and the latter of whom was born in Richmond Center, New York. Alfred Hannah was reared and educated in his native land, and as a lad of seven years he began to work in the fields of his home county, so that he gained early knowledge of land cultivation and thus equipped himself in a preliminary way for the successful work he was to do as a market gardener in Grand Rapids. He was about twenty age when he came to the United States, in 1870, and he passed the first year in the state of New York. He then settled at Schoolcraft, Michigan, and he learned the blacksmith and carriage making trade, but his predilection was for productive gardening enterprise. In 1876 he came to Grand Rapids, and here he was for forty-five years engaged in the market gardening business, of which important line of enterprise he became a prominent and successful exponent. With well equipped greenhouses for the propagation of vegetables, he was a leader in the production of the fine Grand Rapids lettuce, now known far and wide years of HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 571 through the United States. He specialized in the raising of the finest type of cantaloupe, and became locally known as the melon king. He applied himself diligently and faithfully during the long years of his business career in this community and was well and favorably known to the patrons of the Grand Rapids general market, where he displayed his products for many years. When he retired he was the owner of one of the largest greenhouses in the city. Mr. Hannah received but limited educational advantages in his youth, but he read much, profited greatly by observation and experience, and became a man of broad mental ken, as well as of sterling character. He served many years as a member of the school board of Paris township, and prior to their marriage his wife had been a successful teacher for several years in the Seymour school in that township, her death having occurred in 1911, and Mr. Hannah having passed away April 15, 1921, when about seventy years of age. In 1913 he contracted a second marriage, when Sarah Etta Allen became his wife, and she still maintains her home in Grand Rapids. After completing his high school studies Wilfred S. Hannah became actively associated with his father's business, and thus he learned thoroughly all details of successful vegetable growing, a line of enter- prise in which he is proving an able successor of his father, his green- houses and gardens being in virtually the same location as those long conducted by his father, in Paris township. To his business he has added the raising of high grade poultry, in which connection he utilizes scientific methods and has the most improved of modern facilities. Like his father, Mr. Hannah has given long and effective service as a member of the school board in Paris township. Mr. Hannah married Miss Mary Malone, of Grattan township, Kent county, and they have four children: J. A. is associate professor in the poultry department at Michigan Agricultural College, and the year 1925 finds the other sons students in high school-Arthur C., and Wilfred Harold. The one daughter, third in order of birth of the four children, holds a position as bookkeeper in the Grand Rapids Savings Bank. It was about forty- five years ago that Alfred Hannah purchased his home property in Paris township, and trees that he planted on the land grew to large size, with the result that recently some of them have been manufactured into lumber that has been used in the construction of houses on the old home- stead farm of the Hannah family, this tract having been platted into city lots and George A. Hannah, the other son, being the contractor and builder who is in charge of the development of the property in ac- cordance with plans that had been formed by the honored father some time prior to his death. George S. Norcross, attorney and member of the firm of Corwin & Norcross, 315 Houseman building, is a native of Grand Haven, Mich- igan, born June 23, 1889. His father, Silas Norcross, was a native of Wisconsin who came to Grand Haven, Michigan, in the sixties. There he died in 1917, aged sixty-seven years. His wife, Ida Dunbar, was born in Buffalo, New York. The father of Silas Norcross, Jale Norcross, and his wifey came from New York to Wisconsin. He at- tained the age of ninety-seven years before his death, his wife passing geo.w. Jael 512 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY on at the age of seventy years. The maternal grandfather of George S. Norcross, subject of this narrative, was killed in the Civil war, and his widow died in Grand Haven at the age of sixty years. George S. Norcross received his preliminary education in the public schools of Grand Haven, and continued his studies until he was graduated from the Grand Haven high school in 1907. In that year he came to Grand Rapids and took employment with the Grand Rapids & Indiana rail- road for one year. He then entered the probate court and was the first juvenile probation officer. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1914, and formed his present partnership with Ben M. Corwin in 1916. Mr. Norcross is a thirty-second degree Mason, a Shriner, and a member of the Masonic Country Club. His religious affiliation is with the East Congregational church. He was united in matrimony in 1913 with Miss Anna Cook of Grand Haven, Michigan, and they have two children, Margaret, born on January 1, 1915, and Betty Ann, born on April 29, 1919. In addition to his successful professional activities Mr. Norcross has attained other desirable business connec- tions. He is secretary and treasurer of the Walter E. Miles Coal Com- pany, a director and secretary of the William Kimp Furniture Company, a director in the Industrial Mortgage & Investment Company, of Grand Rapids, and a director in the Reliable Smelting & Roofing Company, of Grand Rapids. Frank H. Mathison, president and general manager of the Michigan Lithographing Company, corner Fulton and Carrollton streets, is a leader in his line of business in Grand Rapids and vicin- ity, having built up an extensive business in his chosen field. Mr. Mathison is a native of Chicago, and received his education in the public schools of that city. He then learned the trade of litho- graphing and started in business in his native city. He first organ- ized the firm of Mathison & Wagner, but after one year came to Grand Rapids. Here he established the Grand Rapids Lithograph- ing Company, which he successfully conducted until 1902. He then sold out his initial venture and organized the Michigan Litho- graphing Company, but within a space of one and one-half years they purchased the Grand Rapids Lithographing Company and since that time have operated both companies retaining both trade names. Mr. Mathison is now president, treasurer and general manager. In addition to his successful business career he has de- voted considerable time to fraternal, religious and civic activities. He has taken the work in all bodies of the Masonic order except the thirty-third degree, is also a member of the B. P. O. E., and High- land and Masonic Country clubs. His religious affiliation is with the Fountain Street Baptist Church. Mr. Mathison was joined in holy wedlock in 1901 with Miss Rhoda Mills, of Lowell, Michigan. To this union was born one son, Gerald, who pursued his prelim- inary education and was graduated from the Howe Military School, of Howe, Indiana, and then continued his educational courses at the University of Michigan. Upon the completion of his schooling he spent one year with the Michigan Lithographing Company, then HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 573 went to Los Angeles, where he widened the scope of his experience and is now back in the company. He is twenty-three years of age. Mrs. Mathison died on March 16, 1916, at the age of thirty-six years. A. E. Brooks, president of the large candy manufacturing con- cern of A. E. Brooks and Company, has developed his business into one of the flourishing concerns of Grand Rapids, through years of conscientious effort. A son of Otis and Beulah (Eddy) Brooks, he was born in Wendall, Massachusetts, August 16, 1842, and when he was a small boy, he moved with his family to Orange, Massa- chusetts, where his father was a prominent merchant. He was educated in the public schools of Orange. During his young man- hood, he worked in New York three winters, returning to the farm in the summer months to assist in the farm work. When he was twenty-three years of age, he began teaching school, pursuing this profession five years during the winter season and worked on the farm in the summer. In the summer of 1867, he made a visit to his brother, Henry C. Brooks, in Grand Rapids, where the latter was interested in the candy making business. In Grand Rapids, A. E. Brooks attended business college to increase his equipment for a commercial career. His father and mother both died in 1872, and in the following year he sold the home farm and brought his family to Grand Rapids where he purchased a fourth interest in the candy manufacturing concern of Putnam Brothers Company, in which his brother was a partner. Putnam & Brooks was the firm name adopted in 1876 which existed until 1889, when A. E. Brooks sold his interest in the business to start a candy manufac- turing concern which bore his name. A manufacturing and jobbing business which had for its territory all of western and northern Michigan has been carried on by the company since that time, en- joying a steady growth in output. By the year 1909, incorpora- tion of the business was necessary to handle in a more efficient way the constantly expanding volume of trade which came to the com- pany. Mr. Brooks became president of the newly incorporated A. E. Brooks and Company, while his two sons, Jay W. and Marcus D., were installed as vice-president and secretary-treasurer, re- spectively. The plant was then located at 116-122 Ionia avenue, southwest. Mr. Brooks has continued to be the active head of the concern since that time, and the large amount of business and the sanitary manufacturing plant equipped in the most modern way, attest the fact that he is one of the ablest and most influential business men of Grand Rapids. He married Julia E. Ward at Orange, Massachusetts, and they became the parents of four chil- dren: Sarah H., Marcus D., Jay W., and Beulah E. Loren L. Henry, vice-president and superintendent of Rose- berry-Henry Electric Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan, was instrumental, with Mr. Roseberry, in founding and developing one of the leading concerns of its kind in southwestern Michigan, which has attained an annual volume of a quarter of a million dollar busi- 574 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY ness. Mr. Henry was born at Saranac, Michigan, on September 4, 1863. His parents, Samuel Stephen Newton and Mary (Loucks) Henry came to Lowell while he was quite young. The father was a carpenter and builder. He died in 1913 at the age of sixty-eight years, his wife surviving him until 1921, she passing away at the age of seventy-two years. Their last years were spent in Grand Rap- ids. They were both members of the Methodist church. Loren L. Henry received his education in the Lowell schools and was gradu- ated from the Lowell high school in 1882. In 1883 he came to Grand Rapids. He has made his own way since he was fifteen years of age. Upon coming to Grand Rapids he built a house for Mr. Camp- bell, superintendent of the City Railroad Company. For a period of five years he worked for a furniture company, and in 1887 he became engaged with the first electric construction house in Grand Rapids, remaining with this firm until 1892, when the company was sold to the Grand Rapids Electric Company. Mr. Henry then remained with that company until 1912, serving as superintendent for those companies. In 1912, with Mr. Roseberry, he bought out the M. B. Wheeler Company of Grand Rapids, and the name was changed to Roseberry-Henry Electric Company, with Mr. Henry as superintendent and vice-president. They have built up the business to the point of efficiency and success as heretofore indi- cated in this narrative. Mr. Henry is affiliated with all bodies of Masonry except the thirty-third degree and is a member of Saladin Temple Shrine and of the Masonic Country Club. In his business field he is a member of the Builders and Traders Exchange. Mr. Henry was joined in wedlock in 1886 with Miss Hattie E. Pelton, of Grand Rapids. They are parents of a family of seven children: Harold Patrick, Daniel Dwight, Benjamin Gray, Jewell Hovey, Loren David, Ada and Mary Emily. Robert K. Jardine, president of the Robert K. Jardine Lumber Company, the well-equipped yards and offices of which are estab- lished at the corner of Franklin street and Sheridan avenue. This is one of the well ordered retail lumber concerns in the city of Grand Rapids, and in connection with its general operations the company gives special attention to the supplying of high-grade interior finishings. Mr. Jardine was born in Manchester, England, January 23, 1884, and at the age of three years, shortly after the death of his parents, he was brought to the United States by kins- folk, who first established residence in Detroit and later at Lapeer, Michigan, in which latter city the subject of this sketch gained his youthful education in the public schools, including the high school. His first earnings were acquired by piling lumber in a Lapeer lumber yard, where he received two dollars a week for this service, and during the intervening years he has continuously been asso- ciated with the lumber business, in the varied details of which he has gained thorough experience through hard work and determined effort. He has at no stage in his career waited for “things to come his way,” but has worked for advancement and has finally reached HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 575 the goal of his ambition—to become the head of a substantial and prosperous lumber business. In 1914, Mr. Jardine came to Grand Rapids and engaged in the retail lumber business on Grandville avenue and under the title of the Grandville Lumber Company. Three years later he sold this business, and thereafter he was for three years secretary of the Grand Rapids Lumber Company. He severed his association therewith and organized the Robert K. Jardine Lumber Company, of which he has since continued the president and general manager, the company having been incor- porated in 1918, and the personnel of its official corps having re- mained unchanged from that time. The others officers of the company are as here designated: T. William Hefferan, vice-presi- dent; Dewey Blocksma, secretary, he being individually repre- sented in a personal sketch on another page of this work, and Gil- bert L. Daane, treasurer. Mr. Jardine is known and valued as one of the progressive citizens and business men of Grand Rapids, is, in 1925, vice-president of the Grand Rapids Association of Com- merce, and for five years has served as secretary of the Michigan state hospital commission. In 1917 he was a member of the Grand Rapids board of public works, and at the time of this writing he is a director of the Michigan Lumbermen's Association and of the Grand Rapids Welfare Union. He is an active and loyal mem- ber of the local Rotary Club, is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, is a Republican in politics, and he and his wife have membership in the Park Congregational church. In 1906 Mr. Jardine wedded Miss Ethel B. Qua, who was born and reared in the state of New York, and they have four children; Margaret, Jean, Robert K., Jr., and James. Thomas J. Henderson is Michigan state manager of the Illinois Life Insurance Company, with headquarters in the city of Grand Rapids, where he has well appointed offices in the Federal Square building. He was born at Nankin, Wayne county, Michigan, Feb- ruary 7, 1869, and the site of the old homestead in which he was born is now occupied by the large bolt factory of the Ford Motor Company. He is a son of John and Anne (Fitzgerald) Henderson, the former of whom was born in Scotland and the latter in Ire- land, their marriage having been solemnized in Detroit, Michigan. John Henderson was reared and educated in his native land, and as a member of the famed Ninety-second Highlanders, he participated in the Crimean war. Notwithstanding that he was six feet and two inches in height, he was the shortest member of this gallant military organization, and of the 1,000 members of the regiment, all but twenty-five lost their lives in the war mentioned. The little band of survivors were given high honors in both Scotland and England, and were tendered an elaborate supper at the direct in- stance of Queen Victoria. Immediately after the close of his vali- ant service in this historic conflict, John Henderson came to the United States and made Michigan his destination. He located in Wayne county, and there he married Miss Anne Fitzgerald, who 576 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY was a girl when she came with her parents from Ireland, the family home having been established in Detroit. Thomas J. Henderson was nine years of age at the time of the family removal to Sanilac county, where he was afforded the advantages of the public schools. In 1892 he was graduated in the celebrated Ferris Institute, at Big Rapids, and thereafter he was for eight years a successful and popular teacher in the public schools. He then became an agent for the New York Mutual Life Insurance Company, and his has been a record of large and constantly cumulative success in the insurance business, in which he has been Michigan state manager for the Illinois Life Insurance Company, of Chicago, since 1902, the general office of the company for this state being maintained in Grand Rapids. In his long service as manager of the company's affairs in Michigan, Mr. Henderson has visited every important city and town in the state, and while building up a large and im- portant business for his company, with jurisdiction over about two hundred agents, his journeying about the state has impressed him most strongly with appreciation of the manifold resources, advan- tages and attractions of his native commonwealth, his loyalty to which is of most insistent order. Mr. Henderson is an influential member of the Grand Rapids Underwriters Association, of which he has served as president, and he has been also a member of the executive board of the National Life Underwriters Association. He and his wife are members of the Fountain Street Baptist Church. His basic Masonic affiliation is with Traverse City Lodge, No. 222, A. F. & A. M., at the judicial center of Grand Traverse county, and in Grand Rapids he has affiliation with Dewitt Clinton Consistory of the Scottish Rite and Saladin Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is a member also of the local lodge of Elks and also of the Lions Club. In 1893 occurred the marriage of Mr. Henderson to Miss Alta L. Tripp, of Traverse City, and they have two children: Max C. and Maurice M. Henry J. Hartman is president of the H. J. Hartman Foundry Company, which is a well-equipped foundry with a machine shop in connection, and is located at 16 Front street, southwest, in the city of Grand Rapids. He is not only one of the prominent and successful business men of his native city, but is also a representa- tive of the line of industrial enterprise with which his father was associated during a period of virtually half a century. Henry J. Hartman was born June 21, 1859, in the family residence, located on the southwest corner of Broadway and Shawmut avenue. This house was occupied by the family twelve years. His parents, Fred- erick and Katherine (Weber) Hartman, were well-known and high- ly esteemed pioneer citizens of Grand Rapids at the time of their death. Frederick Hartman was active in civic and industrial interests. He was in the foundry business most of his life, his foundry being situated near the present H. J. Hartman Foundry Company. He acquired his early education in the Union school on Turner street, at which time it was a stone structure. While attend- HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 577 ing grade school Mr. Hartman remembers the launching of boats, which were built on his present foundry property. After complet- ing his schooling in the Union school, he entered the C. G. Swens- berg Commercial school. When this course had been completed, he started his business career with his father, commencing at the bottom of the ladder so as to learn the business thoroughly. He worked for Frederick Hartman four years, at the end of which he had completed his apprenticeship as a molder. At this time he set out to gain more foundry experience, and worked in several foun- dries in the middle west. Mr. Hartman returned to Grand Rapids three years later and rented his father's establishment, starting in for himself. A year later he married Josephine Lamparter, August 11, 1884. Two years after renting his father's foundry, he built on the present H. J. Hartman Foundry site. His father ran a ma- chine shop in conjunction with his son's foundry, and from that time it grew until it reached the present size. This well-ordered concern represents one of the pioneer industries in Grand Rapids and the business is of substantial and prosperous order. It has al- ways been conducted under the efficient and progressive manage- ment of Henry J. Hartman. He is a life member of the local Elks Lodge, and a loyal Republican. Mr. and Mrs. Hartman have three daughters, Elsie, Lottie and Etta, the only son dying in infancy. Throughout Mr. Hartman's life he has enjoyed the outdoors and so has spent his leisure moments hunting and fishing. He is still active in this line of sport. Besides this, he exercises several times weekly. He enjoys boxing and other active exercises, and is thor- oughly convincd that the present good health he is enjoying is largely due to taking active work in a gymnasium. James Foote Barnett, a man of intellectual ken and good pro- fessional attainments, a lawyer and financier, was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, June 17, 1869, and is a son of James and Lucy (Foote) Barnett, who are mentioned elsewhere in this volume. The preliminary education of James F. Barnett was acquired in the Grand Rapids public schools, and in 1887 he was graduated from historic old Phillips Academy at Andover, Massachusetts. He then completed a course in Yale University, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1891, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. His Alma Mater subsequently conferred upon him the supple- mental degree of Master of Arts, the preceding year having brought him the master's degree from Columbia University in recognition of his work in international law under John Bassett Moore in the School of Political Science. He was graduated from the New York Law school in 1893 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, and in due course was admitted to the Michigan bar. He began the practice of his profession in his native city, Grand Rapids, and now has one of the most comprehensive private libraries on international law to be found in the United States. In this library he delights to spend much time in private study. He has made several valued contributions to the standard and periodical literature of his pro- 578 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY fession, especially in the field of international law. Here his edu- cational advantages served to make him an authority on interna- tional as well as constitutional law. His able monograph, “Inter- national Agreements Without the Advice and Consent of the Senate," published originally in the Yale Law Journal and after- ward enlarged and revised into a forty-page pamphlet, was a timely contribution to the discussion of the treaty-making power, brought into public notice by President Roosevelt's intervention in Santa Domingo in 1905 without previous congressional assent. In the Michigan State Constitutional convention in 1907-8, his prepara- tion in the field of political science stood him in good stead. There it was his good fortunte to offer a solution for the problem which most divided that body—popular initiative in constitutional amend- ments—and to see his proposal embodied in the new constitution. Mr. Barnett is a Republican in his political allegiance, and in 1910 served as president of the Lincoln Republican Club of Grand Rap- ids. He was offered a position in the consular service, but de- clined. As a member of the committee on international law of the American Bar Association, Mr. Barnett for several years prepared the annual reports of the committee. Mr. Barnett is now retired, in a large degree, from the active practice of his profession, and devotes his time chiefly to his private interests, though he is a direc- tor of the Old National Bank, as well as a member of the executive committee of the Old National Company. He is also a director of the Antrim Iron Company, and has other business interests. He is a member of the Peninsular Club, the University Club and the Kent Country Club. He is affiliated with the Psi Upsilon fraternity of Yale University, and he and his family are attendants at the Park Congregational church of Grand Rapids. His beautiful semi- rural home, “Chalet au Lac," about four miles from Grand Rapids, as the home suggests, is a bit of Switzerland, with vistas over a small chain of lakes. The natural planting of great beauty is sup- plemented by a judicious selection of pines and spruces, the appro- priate background for a Swiss landscape. On October 6, 1913, Mr. Barnett was married to Katherine Waddell, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Waddell, of Grand Rapids. Mr. and Mrs. Barnett have two children: Mary Ann and Nancy Frances. Since their honey- moon trip Mr. and Mrs. Barnett have taken many other lengthy excursions, which include a trip around the world and a tour of Russia and Siberia just before the World war. James Malancthon Barnett was a man who had both the in- trinsic and acquired characteristics that make for strong and useful activity in the world of practical achievement, and his strength likewise was one of sterling integrity and of clear comprehension of the objective responsibilities that are imposed by individual ability and individual success. He played a large and worthy part in the industrial development and upbuilding of Grand Rapids and took an active interest in many projects pertaining to the welfare of the community. He gained especial prominence in the banking HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 579 business and lumber industry, having extensive investments in the western part of the state of Michigan. The death of this honored pioneer citizen of Grand Rapids occurred in September, 1908, when he was seventy-six years of age. Mr. Barnett was born at Brockport, New York, in 1832, and after attending the Brockport Collegiate Institute he completed a course in the Bryant & Stratton Business College at Buffalo, New York. In 1857, when he was twenty-five years old, he came to Grand Rapids, the city which was his home during the remainder of his life. Here he associated himself with Martin L. Sweet in the flour and milling business, continuing as a partner of Mr. Sweet until 1869. In 1864 he assisted Harvey J. Hollister in the founding of the First National Bank of Grand Rapids. Mr. Barnett was vice-president of this institution until its original charter expired and it was reorganized as the Old National Bank, of which he was vice-president until 1895, and from that year until his death, president. His influence thus had much to do with determining the growth of this leading bank of western Michigan. His association with Mr. Hollister in the management of this bank covered a period of fully forty-four years; their courage and sa- gacity having carried the bank through two severe panics. The two men were also associated in lumbering operations. Mr. Bar- nett became a principal member of the firm of John Murray & Company, which conducted extensive operations in Roscommon and Crawford counties, and operated a sawmill at Muskegon. He was one of the founders of the Hollister Lumber Company, which continued in the lumber industry in and near Cadillac until the timber supply became exhausted. In 1894 the company transferred its activities to Florida, North Carolina and Virginia. In 1902, when a readjustment of the business in the southern states was effected, Mr. Barnett became president of the newly organized Fosburgh Lumber Company, a concern with headquarters at Nor- folk, Virginia. Mr. Barnett gave his moral and financial support to many other enterprises that had much to do with the growth of Grand Rapids. He was a director of the Grand Rapids Gas Light Company, the Michigan Barrel Company and the Antrim Iron Company, of which he was vice-president many years. One who had known Mr. Barnett nearly a half century and had been familiar with the various events of his career, has given the fol- lowing estimate of his character and abilities: “In my opinion the state of Michigan has never numbered among its people a man of finer qualities than Mr. Barnett. His business career was a re- markable one, and he stood out as one of the most honored leaders of the great financial institutions of his state. Endowed by nature with a genial disposition that endeared him to everyone with whom he came in contact, he rounded out a life that might be the envy of any man. During all the years I knew him and was in close personal relations with him, I am free to say that I never knew his sunny disposition to be ruffled for even a single moment, nor did I ever know him to say an unkind word to anyone or of 580 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY anyone. He was one of those men whom it was always a pleasure to know, and those who were associated with him in social and fraternal relationships fully appreciated his good qualities.” The following is from an article written by E. A. Stowe and published in the Michigan Tradesman of April 29, 1925: "Mr. Barnett was a conservator as well as a creator of wealth. In panic times the lines he controlled were not disturbed. Capital, most timid of all things, did not lose confidence in him. He was recognized in this financial world as one whose word was good, who was as interested in the welfare of the institution he presided over as in life itself. On this foundation of a lifetime's building he stood unshaken through the tempest. He was consistent in his belief. He wasted neither time nor money—not his own or that of other men. He wished both to be made productive. At any time within twenty years he could have shifted the burden of his responsibilities to other shoulders, escaped the cares they brought him, and lived an easier life. To the benefit of the bank he managed, to the benefit of the community it served, he did not do this; but accepted as a proper life the one of continued work, of continued endeavor.” Mr. Bar- nett was in politics a Democrat, and occupied a high place in the councils of that party. Though not a member, he regularly at- tended the Park Congregational church. In 1886 he married Lucy C. Foote, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Obed H. Foote, of Grand Rapids. To this union were born four children: James F., Kath- erine Barnett Williamson, Lucy E. and Laura E. Barnett. Frank T. Marty has shown himself possessed of the intrinsic characteristics and the constructive ability that make for success, and his success record has been one of progressive order, with the result that he is now executive head of one of the important whole- sale houses of Grand Rapids, as well as a stockholder in other rep- resentative industrial and commercial corporations. He gives the major part of his time and attention, however, to his administrative duties as president of the Grand Rapids Wholesale Grocery Com- pany Mr. Marty was born in the county of Allegan, Michigan, August 22, 1874, and is a son of Frank Marty, one of the substan- tial farmers of that county. He was reared to the sturdy discipline of the home farm, attended the district schools until he had com- pleted the work of the seventh grade, and his broader education has been that gained under the wisest of all head-masters, experi- He continued his active association with farm work until he was twenty-three years of age, and for two years thereafter he was employed in the shipping department of the factory of the L. Perriga Chemical Company, of Allegan. His ability to take ad- vantage of opportunity was shown when, in 1900, he became asso- ciated with William J. Koloff in purchasing the Allegan grocery store and business that had been established a few years previously by H. A. Delano and which had become a successful concern. Mr. Delano sold the business to turn his attention to banking enter- prise, and the purchasers had permitted the business to run down ence. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 581 to a low point. Thus when Messrs. Marty and Koloff assumed control the sales of the establishment for the first day were repre- sented in the stupendous sum of $2.57. A vital and resourceful executive, Mr. Marty, was now at the head of the enterprise, how- ever, and what he accomplished in this connection is best indicated in the statement that when he finally sold his interest in the busi- ness, in 1919, its annual sales had attained to an aggregate of $100,000. In 1918 Mr. Marty became associated with other substan- tial business men in the organization and incorporation of the Grand Rapids Wholesale Grocery Company, of which he became the general manager, he having retained his interest in the excep- tionally prosperous retail grocery business at Allegan until 1920, when he sold the same advantageously' and that year having been marked also by his being made president of the Grand Rapids Wholesale Grocery Company, the affairs of which he has since guided with characteristic discrimination and progressivness, his administration having brought great advancement in the scope and importance of the enterprise, and the trade of the company being extended throughout the fine territory normally tributary to Grand Rapids as a distributing center. Mr. Marty is a large stock- holder in the Wolverine Carbon Company and the Loxrite Cor- poration, of which latter he is a director. He has passed the various official chairs in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and was the leader in bringing about the erection of the fine Odd Fellows Temple at Allegan. His progressiveness as a business man is equally shown in his civic attitude. Mr. Marty is a broad-minded, tolerant and genial man who places true values upon men and affairs and who is ever ready to aid the worthy striver for success. He fnds his chief recreation in his annual hunting and fishing expeditions, through which he gains revitalized ambi- tions to be applied to the affairs of business. On December 27, 1899, Mr. Marty wedded Miss Anna E. Wise, daughter of William Wise, of Allegan, and the three children of this union are: Law- rence E., Norman L. and Genevieve E. Norman L. is a graduate of the University of Michigan and is connected with Grand Rapids branch of Buick Motor Company, in which he holds the position of traveling auditor. The other son, Lawrence E., is associated with his father, and the daughter, Genevieve, holds the position of manager of Mason's Restaurants at Detroit. Fred W. Kramer is a native son of Grand Rapids, and here has a heritage of pioneer ancestry on both the paternal and maternal sides. He is president of the F. W. Kramer Motor Company, which controls one of the leading Grand Rapids enterprises in the handling of motor cars, with special attention given to the sale of the celebrated Pierce- Arrow automobiles. Mr. Kramer was born in Grand Rapids on the 23d of Septemper, 1876, and is a son of William and Sophie (Loett- gert) Kramer, the former of whom died in the year 1904 and the latter of whom died December, 1924. William Kramer was born in Cassel, kingdom of Wittenburg, Germany, and was reared and educated in his 582 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY native land. He was a young man when he came to the United States and established his home in Grand Rapids, in the early sixties. Here he found employment as a clerk in the old-time mercantile establish- ment of Houseman & Jones, and in 1867 he engaged independently in the retail dry goods business, his store, one of modest order at the start, having been located at old number 244 Canal street, which thoroughfare is now known as Monroe avenue, and near the corner of Bridge street, which is now Michigan avenue. With the passing years he built up a large and prosperous business, and he long held pre- cedence as one of the substantial and influential exponents of mercantile enterprise in the city that became his home in the pioneer period of its history. Fair and honest dealings and effective service to customers marked the career of Mr. Kramer, and such was the popular apprecia- tion of his sterling character and the reliability of his business that he gained a supporting patronage of broad scope, with a large trade de- rived from neighboring villages and the rural districts as well as from the city itself. He continued in business until his death, in 1904, and was one of the veteran merchants of Grand Rapids when his long and worthy life came to a close. He was true and loyal in all of the re- lations of life, and commanded inviolable place in popular confidence and esteem. His wife was a sister of the late Frederick Loettgert, who was one of the early merchants in Grand Rapids, where his original venture was the opening of a small toy store on old Bridge street and opposite the present fine Hotel Pantlind. Mr. Loettgert became one of the substantial capitalists of the city and was prominently identified with banking enterprise for many years prior to his death. The birthplace of Fred W. Kramer was the old homestead that stood on the site of the present Elks' Temple, and after having profited by the advantages of the public schools of his native city and of special study under the direction of a private instructor, he entered Michigan Agricultural College, in which he specialized in chemistry and mechanics and in which he was graduated in 1897, with the degree of Bachelor of Sci- At this stage in his career he manifested no desire to take ad- vantage of the financial independence of his father, but forthwith ap- plied himself to work. He became an assistant in the photographic department of the Walter K. Schmidt Drug Company and was thus engaged at the inception of the Spanish-American war, in 1898. He forthwith enlisted in Company H, Thirty-second Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and was with this regiment in camp at Island Lake, Michigan, several weeks, he having there served as orderly sergeant to Major Knowles. He was finally rejected for active service with his command, by reason of his height being too great for his weight, as gauged by the standard of military requirements. Under these conditions he re- turned to Grand Rapids and resumed his position with the drug com- pany, but three months later he entered service as a traveling salesman for the Mulcher & Robertson Company, dealers in photographers' sup- plies, with headquarters in Rochester, New York. When the business of this company was absorbed by the camera trust he, with sixteen other of the salesmen, found himself out of employment. He soon ence. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 583 afterward engaged in the manufacture of sensitized paper for the photo- graphic trade, at Buffalo, New York, and when he found it impossible to compete successfully with the large corporate interests represented by the camera and photographic trust he made an advantageous sale of his business to the Eastman company. During the ensuing year he was a traveling salesman for the American Bicycle Company, of Buffalo, with western New York and the state of Pennsylvania as his assigned territory. He made a characteristic record of successful achievement in this connection, and upon the death of his father, in 1904, he re- turned to Grand Rapids, where he closed out the large business of his father and where he gave several years to adjusting and settling the affairs of the family estate. In 1910, Mr. Kramer manifested his ap- preciation of the great future in store for the automobile by turning his attention to the motor car trade, in connection with which he found his natural mechanical talent and the technical education that he had received to be of great value. As a dealer in automobiles he opened headquarters on Ionia street, in 1912 he obtained larger quarters, at 14 Island street, and the continued expansion of his business led to his removal, in 1916, to quarters in the Shank Fireproof Storage build- ing. In that year he incorporated the business under the title of the F. W. Kramer Motor Company, and he has since continued the exec- utive head of the large and prosperous business, which now has com- modious and well equipped headquarters at 245-253 Jefferson street, southeast. He is one of the vital and progressive business men of his native city and takes deep interest in everything that concerns its welfare. J. Jay Wood. The growth of a city is directly dependent upon the industrial expansion of that city, and one of the primary considera- tions influencing a manufacturing company to locate in a city is the advantageous factory site that can be secured through the realtors of the city. J. Jay Wood, as one of the leading real estate men in the city of Grand Rapids, dealing chiefly in industrial properties, may justly lay claim to being one of the men who has been a material aid to the commercial development of the city in which he has made his home for more than a quarter of a century. He was born in Franklin, Erie county, Pennsylvania, July 16, 1870, the son of James M. and Elvira (Sprague) Wood, both natives of Pennsylvania, the former being born in Erie county in 1841 and the latter in Meadville in 1849. With the outbreak of the Civil war, James M. Wood enlisted in the 111th Penn- sylvania Infantry and after his discharge from that regiment, he journeyed to Fort Snelling, Minnesota, where he enlisted in the cavalry. He engaged in several campaigns against the Indians. In that service, he was promoted to the rank of quarter-master, but soon thereafter he was invalided home. He engaged in farming in Pennsylvania, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota. In 1888, he settled at Grand Rapids where he continued to live until his death in 1916. His wife is still living in Grand Rapids. They are the parents of four children as fol- lows: Rocke R. Wood, born April 15, 1872, an employe of the United States postal service; J. Jay Wood, the subject of this review ; Ethel, 584 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY the wife of Archer V. Forsythe of East Grand Rapids, who has one daughter, Ellen Leora; and Mark, born March 3, 1876, who is a ranch owner and rural mail carrier in Porterville, California, and has one son, Guy. J. Jay Wood received a public school education and then at- tended the normal school at Ypsilanti. He then taught school for a period of ten years in rural, village, and city schools of Kent county. In 1900, he went into the real estate business in Grand Rapids. He bought and subdivided plats and financed the building of houses. His business grew to such proportions, however, that he was forced to con- fine himself largely to the promotion of industrial properties. His work in this respect has been of untold value to the city of his adoption, and he has earned the name of being one of the most successful men in his field in the city. He is now completing his eighth year as a member of the Kent county board of supervisors. On July 25, 1895, he was united in marriage with Miss Sadie E. Wells, the daughter of George M. Wells, of Eastmanville, Ottawa county, Michigan, a cousin of Gideon Wells, secretary of the navy in the cabinet of President Lincoln. Mr. and Mrs. Wood have two sons: Jay Wells, born October 17, 1899, who married Miss Colleen Husted Hart, of Michigan, and who has one son, Robert A., born January 16, 1924; and Warren Wells, born May 15, 1909, a student in the Grand Rapids high school. Mr. Wood main- tains a fine suite of offices in the Fourth National Bank building. Otis N. Watson. The name of Watson has been linked with the history of Grand Rapids since 1837, the year in which Michigan was admitted into the Union, and the development of the city since that time has seen a Watson taking a leading part in the work. Otis N. Watson, one of the pioneer hardware dealers of Grand Rapids, was born in that city, February 9, 1855, the middle child of John and Eliza- beth (Roberts) Watson, the former of whom was born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1826, and the latter of whom was born in Plattsburg, New York, in 1831. John Watson came to Grand Rapids with his father, mother and sister when he was a boy of eleven years, in 1837. The family came up the river from Grand Haven in the old “Governor Mason," which at that time was the first and only boat plying on the Grand river. The colony of white people at Grand Rapids then con- sisted of only about seventy-five families, and 700 Indians made their home at the same place. The Watsons established themselves in a log house which had been abandoned by Baptist missionaries. This house was located in the middle of what is now Bridge street at the west end of the bridge. When he was a young man, John Watson, operated a ferry across the river at Grand Rapids. He later put the first ox team at work of which the city of Grand Rapids could boast. It was with this team that he hauled the timbers for the wooden bridge that was built over the river at Bridge street, the first bridge to be constructed there. From this time forward he was known to all the people of Grand Rapids as “Honest John” Watson. Soon after he engaged in the livery stable business, and with the characteristic foresight of the pioneer he realized the future of the city in which he was living and began to in- vest his money in real estate. His first land purchase was that of a HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 585 large lot at the corner of what is now Sixth street and Fourth avenue, a lot for which he paid $25. Year by year he added to his holdings, and on the corner of West Bridge and Stocking streets he built the “Watson House,” which remained a landmark of Grand Rapids for many years. During the later years of his life, his business activities were confined solely to handling his real estate holdings. In 1850, he married Miss Elizabeth Roberts, whose family came by ox team from Plattsburgh, New York, to Chicago, but came to Grand Rapids two years later, in 1840. At the time of his death on February 19, 1916, he lacked one month of being ninety years old. His widow died on November 8, 1920. Lewis C. Watson, brother of Otis N. Watson, was born February 8, 1851, in Grand Rapids. Having learned the tinner's trade as a young man he became associated with Otis N. in the hardware business in Petoskey in 1875. After several years of success in this enterprise his health failed and he was forced to seck other employment. Though he traveled extensively in the southern and western states in search of health he died in 1883, leaving two children: John L., who is now living in Glendale, Michigan, and Charlotte, wife of John M. Edison, of Grand Rapids, whose mother was Mr. Watson's first wife, Mrs. Mary' (Cane) Watson, a native of Plainfield township, Kent county. Mrs. Edison has three sons, Lewis, Haines and Richard. Otis N. Watson received his education in the public schools of Grand Rapids, and in 1869, at the age of fourteen years, he secured employ- ment with the Grand Rapids & Indiana railroad as fireman on the only passenger train which was operating on that road out of Grand Rapids. He continued in railroad work for several years, and in 1875, he started in the hardware and tin business at Petoskey, Michigan, after a time spent in learning the business at Grand Rapids. He continued to operate the store at Petoskey until 1883, when he returned to Grand Rapids and built a hardware store on the site of the house in which he was born Since that time, he developed a large business in hardware and sporting goods, gaining the name of being not only the pioneer hardware dealer of the west side but also an able business man who has contributed much to the development of the city with which his family has so long been identified. He has always been active in local affairs, serving as alderman of the Eighth ward and as a member of the board of public works for a term of three years. In 1877, Mr. Watson married Miss Cora Wight, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Wight, of New Hamp- ton, Iowa. To Mr. and Mrs. Watson have been born the following children: Grace, who married Dr. Charles H. Jennings, of Grand Rapids, and has two children, Olive and Watson: Elizabeth, deceased, who married Arthur H. Vanden Berg, editor of the Grand Rapids Herald, by whom she had three children, Arthur, Barbara, and Beth; Olive, who married Guy R. Hankey, of Petoskey, Michigan, and has two children, Eleanor and Lewis, and Cora, the wife of Sydney French, of Middleville, Michigan, and the mother of two sons, Thomas and Sydney, Jr. Walter John Jaracz, M. D. It was shortly after the close of his loyal service as a member of the medical corps of the United States 586 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY a army in the World war, in which he was overseas with the famous Rainbow division of the American Expeditionary Forces, that Dr. W. J. Jaracz had occasion to visit a friend in Grand Rapids. He was at the time seeking a location for the practice of his profession, and he was so impressed with the advantages and attractions of this city that he here established his residence and here initiated the general practice of his profession. He has met with well merited success and has gained standing as one of the representative physicians and surgeons of the younger generation in Kent county. He has developed a large practice among the Polish families of Grand Rapids, and by them is held in high regard as a friend and counselor as well as a physician. Doctor Jaracz was born in the steel manufacturing city of East Chicago, Indiana, May 10, 1894, and is a son of John and Mary (Madro) Jaracz., who were born in Poland, and whose marriage was solemnized in the city of Chicago, they having come to the United States in 1885 and after their marriage having been numbered among the first settlers at East Chicago, the development of which as a great steel manufactur- ing center had been instituted shortly before that time. There John Jaracz found employment in the steel mills, later entering into the business of general merchandise and shoes until his death, in 1912, and there his widow still maintains her home, Doctor Jaracz, of this re- view, being the third in order of birth of their four children. In the public schools of his native city Doctor Jaracz continued his studies until his graduation from the high school, and in preparation for his chosen profession he entered the medical department of the University of Illi- nois, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1916, short- ly after having attained to his legal majority. He was one of the young- est members of his class, was popular with the general student body of the school, and was secretary of the club there maintained by the Polish students of the university. After receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine he fortified himself further by the valuable clinical experience that he gained in his two years of service as an interne in the City Hospital of St. Louis, Missouri, he having been for a portion of this period the senior house physician in this great hospital. When the na- tion entered the World War Doctor Jaracz promptly volunteered for service in the medical corps of the United States army, and after having been stationed for a time at Camp McClelland, Alabama, he passed a year in overseas service with the splendid Rainbow Division, technically the Forty-second Division, which made a record of most gallant service at the front and participated in many of the great campaigns that have now become historic. The Doctor lived up to the full tension of the conflict, and was with his command in the famous engagements of Chateau Thierry, the Argonne, the St. Mihiel drive, and others, besides which, after the signing of the armistice, he was with the allied army of occupation in Germany. He returned to the United States in April, 1919, and after receiving his honorable discharge he began prospecting for a desirable place in which to engage in the practice of his profession, his choice finally falling on Grand Rapids a choice that he has no reason to regret, for he has built up a substantial practice and here a HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 587 has won a host of friends. He is a member of the official staff of St. Mary's Hospital and that of the Infant Feeding Clinic, besides which he has membership in the Kent County Medical Society and the Mich- igan State Medical Society. He and his wife are earnest communicants of the Catholic parish of the Church of the Sacred Heart, and he is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Order of For- esters. In June, 1922, was solemnized the marriage of Doctor Jaracz to Miss Blanche Siersinski, of Manistee, Michigan, where she had previously served ten years as clerk in the office of the judge of the probate court of Manistee county. Doctor and Mrs. Jaracz have a fine little son, Walter John, Jr. They own and occupy a beautiful home at 36 Valley avenue, southwest, overlooking the John Ball city park, and the Doctor maintains his office at 625 Bridge street, northwest. Cornelius Hoffius, whose law offices are established in suite 507-11 of the Michigan Trust building in Grand Rapids, has made a record of successful achievement in his chosen profession and has the distinction of having served eight consecutive years as prosecuting at- torney of Kent county—a record that in duration has been unequalled by any other incumbent of this office in the entire history of the county, and a record that significantly indicates the ability and loyal stewardship of Mr. Hoffius, as well as the popular appreciation of the same. Mr. Hoffius is of Dutch stock, born August 5, 1881. He was a lad of six years when his parents came to the United States and established their home in Grand Rapids. His father, Martin Hoffius, and his mother, whose maiden name was Marie DeDrew, are both deceased. After com- pleting his studies and graduating from the Grand Rapids high school, Mr. Hoffius gave eighteen months of service as a reporter for the Grand Rapids Press, and for six months he was similarly associated with the Grand Rapids Herald. Through such journalistic work Mr. Hoffius provided in appreciable degree the funds that enabled him to complete a course in the law department of the University of Michigan. While a student at the university he supplemented his income by serving as correspondent for various Michigan newspapers, including the Grand Rapids Herald. From the university he received his degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1904, and June 1 of that year he was admitted to the Mich- igan bar and to practice before the supreme court of the state. Return- ing to Grand Rapids, Mr. Hoffius forthwith commenced the practice of his profession. He was soon called into official service as assistant prosecuting attorney of Kent county, a position which he held in 1905-06. In 1910-11 he was a member of the charter commission which drafted a new city charter for Grand Rapids. In 1916 he was elected prosecut- ing attorney of Kent county, which office he retained eight consecutive years, an unprecedented record, and voluntarily retired from office. He gave a most careful and vigorous administration as public prosecutor of the county and successfully prosecuted some of the most important criminal cases known in the history of the county. Since his retirement from office he has devoted himself closely to his private practice, and the scope and importance of the same marks him distinctly as one of the representative members of the Kent county bar. Mr. Hoffius is a 588 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY AVE Ave member of the Michigan State Bar Association and the Kent County Bar Association. His political alignment is in the ranks of the Re- publican party. He and his wife have membership in the Fountain street, where is being erected for its use, a building 60 by 100 feet in including the Mystic Shrine and is also a member of the Elks and Mod- ern Woodmen of America. In his civic and social connections he is a member of the Grand Rapids Association of Commerce, the Knicker- bocker Society, the Peninsular and University Clubs, and the Alumni Association of the University of Michigan. On August 27, 1908, Mr. Hoffius wedded Miss Rose Kass, daughter of D. J. Kass, whose family was long and prominently associated with the Michigan lumber industry. Mr. and Mrs. Hoffius have one son, Richard Stuart, aged eleven years. Charles L. Frost has been actively identified with business in- terests in Grand Rapids during a period of more than forty years and is now the senior member of the firm of C. L. Frost & Son, manu- facturers of high grade hardware specialties for use by builders and furniture manufacturers. At the time of this writing, in the summer of 1925, the headquarters of the firm are at 30 Ionia street, southwest, and the concern has under construction a modern factory plant on Summer street, where is being erected for its use a building 60 by 100 feet in dimensions and two stories in height. In this modern factory, with the best of mechanical equipment and facilities, it will be possible to increase the output to such degree as to meet the demands of the large and constantly expanding business. Mr. Frost is a scion of a family that was founded in Michigan in the territorial period, about five years prior to the admission of the state to the Union. His father, Alonzo P. Frost, came from his native state of New York in 1832 and became one of the pioneer settlers near the present city of Pontiac, Oakland county, where he obtained government land and reclaimed a productive farm from the forest wilds, besides which he conducted one of the early general stores in that county, in the village of Troy. He was one of the substantial and influential citizens of Oakland county and there continued to reside until 1880 when he moved to Cheboygan, Mich- igan, and remained there until his death, at an advanced age, his wife, whose maiden name was Nellie Voorhies, having been one of the venerable and loved pioneer women of Oakland county. On the old homestead farm in Oakland county, Charles L. Frost was born May 25, 1859, and his boyhood and youth gave him a due quota of experience in the work of the farm, the while he continued his studies in the public schools until he had completed a course in the high school of the lo- cality and period. Through his own study he learned bookkeeping, and as a youth he became bookkeeper in a lumber office and iron works at Cadillac, where he remained three years. In 1882 he came to Grand Rapids and secured a position as bookkeeper in the office of the old Michigan Iron Works, and later he gave similar service in turn for Powers & Son, the Grand Rapids Brush Company, and the wholesale grocery house of Lemon, Hoops & Peters, with which last mentioned concern he continued his association until 1892. In that year he as- sociated himself with Julius Berkey, who had a number of inventions HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 589 that he wished to place on the market, and who established a brokerage business in furniture hardware, with offices in the Hermitage building. Mr. Frost continued this alliance a short time, and in 1899 he initiated the manufacturing of certain types of furniture hardware, the business at the start having been of very modest order. Under his vigorous and progressive policies, as combined with the excellence of products, the enterprise had so expanded that in 1907 commercial expediency led to its incorporation. In 1915 the company sold its substantial and prosper- ous business to the National Brass Company of Grand Rapids, and in the same year Mr. Frost and his son Horace E. formed the firm of C. L. Frost & Son and engaged in the manufacturing of hardware specialties for the furniture and building trade. The enterprise has been very successful, and the trade extends throughout the United States and into the Canadian provinces, besides which has been de- veloped a very substantial export trade. The concern is thus contribut- ing definitely to the industrial and commercial precedence of Grand Rapids, where Mr. Frost has long been known as a loyal, reliable and progressive business man and public spirited citizen well worthy of the unqualified esteem in which he is held in this community. Frank Willis Hine has been for more than forty years a repre- sentative member of the Kent county bar, with Grand Rapids as the central stage of his professional activities, and in addition to giving his attention to his substantial and important law business in this city he is serving as chief deputy in the local offices of the United States de- partment of internal revenue, in the Federal building. Further interest attaches to his career and his high standing in the community by reason of the fact that he is a native son of Kent county and a representative of one of the old and honored pioneer families of this favored section of the Wolverine state. His lineage on both paternal and maternal sides traces back to early colonial ancestry in New England, that cradle of much of our national history. Thomas Hine, the founder of the family in America, came to this country in 1646, and he was numbered among the first settlers of Milford, Connecticut, where he and his wife, Eliza- beth, reared their ten children and where the family home was main- tained for a number of generations. Captain Ambrose Hine was a patriot soldier and officer in the war of the Revolution. Silas Hine, great-grandfather of the subject of this review, was born and reared in Connecticut, where was solemnized his marriage to Betsey Tyrell, their children having been twelve in number-eleven sons and one daughter. About the year 1820 Silas Hine removed with his family to the state of New York, where he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives. Dr. Demas Hine, grandfather of Frank W. Hine of Grand Rapids, was born in Connecticut in the year 1804, and was a youth of sixteen years at the time of the family removal to the state of New York. There, under private preceptorship, representing the custom of the period, he studied medicine and well fortified himself for the pro- fession of his choice. He continued to practice medicine in the old Empire state until his removal to Michigan, where he became a pioneer settler in Kent county about ten years after the admission of the state 590 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY to the Union. In 1844, Doctor Hine traded property that he owned in New York state for a tract of 305 acres of land in Cannon and Plainfield townships, Kent county, Michigan, the greater part of this land having been covered with virgin forest. He soon erected on the land an unpretentious frame house, besides initiating other improve- ments, but it was not until 1847 that the family home was established in this pioneer district of Michigan. The intention of Doctor Hine had been to reclaim his land and give his attention to farm industry, but in that early period physicians were few in this section of the state and so urgent were the demands made upon him for professional service, that his ministrations along this line required for a long term of years the major part of his time and attention. Doctor Hines became physi- cian, guide, counselor and friend in many of the pioneer homes of this county, and he was one of the honored pioneer citizens of Michigan at the time of his death, in 1872. He married Sally Stilson Noble, and both attained to advanced age. They had three children: Milton B., Martin N., and Charles R. Martin N. Hine was born at Delhi, Dela- ware county, New York, and was about eighteen years of age at the time of the family removal to Michigan, in 1847. He had previously learned the carpenter's trade, and he became a pioneer carpenter and builder in Kent county. Later he owned and conducted a general store at Lowell, and gained place as one of the most influential citizens of that village, where he became president of the Lowell National Bank and where also he gave a number of years of service as postmaster. Martin N. Hine married Miss Lucy Jane Tilton, who was born in Conway, Massachusetts, a representative of a family that was founded in Massa- chusetts in the early colonial era. William Tilton came from England and lived in Lynn, Massachusetts, as early as 1640, and there he became the owner of a large tract of land, extending from the village commons to the shore of the Atlantic ocean. John Tilton, a brother of William, likewise lived at Lynn, and his wife was brought before the stern church authorities and accused of heresy, because it was maintained that she had asserted her disbelief in the doctrine of infant damnation. John Tilton eventually removed with his family to New York state. Of this family was Samuel Tilton, who served as a minute-man in the war of the Revolution and who thereafter was known in his home community as Lieutenant Tilton. The maternal grandfather of Frank W. Hine of this sketch likewise bore the name of Samuel Tilton, and he became the founder of the family in Kent county, Michigan, he having come with his family from Massachusetts in the year 1845 and having established the home in Grand Rapids, which was then little more than a frontier village. At Conway, Massachusetts, he married Electa Stearns, and of their four children the daughter Lucy Jane became the wife of Martin N. Hine, she having previously been a successful and popular teacher in the Grand Rapids schools. Martin N. and Lucy J. (Tilton) Hine became the parents of three children, of whom one son and one daughter are now living, Frank W., of this review, having been the second in order of birth. The parents continued to maintain their home at Lowell until their death, and in that community their names are held HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 591 in affectionate memory. Frank Willis Hine acquired his early education in the public schools of Lowell, and had the distinction of being a mem- ber of the first class to be graduated in the high school of Lowell, that of 1877. In 1881 he was graduated in the law department of the Uni- versity of Michigan, and his admission to the bar of his native state was virtually coincident with his reception of the degree of Bachelor of Laws, the while his native county became the stage of his initial profes- sional work, he having been born at Lowell, Kent county, May 3, 1862. Mr. Hine has been an honored and representative member of the Grand Rapids bar for more than forty years, and his law business was long one of substantial and important order, involving his appearance in con- nection with a number of celebrated cases tried in the courts of this section of the state. Since his appointment to the position of chief deputy in the Grand Rapids office of the department of internal revenue, September 1, 1914, Mr. Hine has subordinated his law practice to his official government service. He has been a stalwart in the local camp of the Democratic party, has stood exponent of loyal and progressive citizenship, and in his native county and state his circle of friends is limited only by that of his acquaintances. December 27, 1897, was marked by the marriage of Mr. Hine to Miss Maude B. Baker, daughter of William N. and Emily Baker, of Grand Rapids, and she passed to the life eternal September 28, 1915. The one child survives the loved and devoted wife and mother. This daughter, Miss Emily Lucy Hine, was graduated from the Grand Rapids high school in 1919 and from the University of Michigan in 1924 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts and with the honor of Phi Beta Kappa, she having been a successful and popular teacher of classical and modern languages in the high school at Hastings, judicial center of Barry county, and at this date a teacher of modern languages in the Creston high school of this city. Harrison S. Collisi, M. D., who maintains offices in the Ashton building, Grand Rapids, is one of the prominent young surgeons of the city. He was born in Topeka, Kansas, October 27, 1888, the son of Louis J. and Agnes J. (Smith) Collisi, the former of whom was a native of Germany and the latter of whom was born in Three Rivers, Michigan. Louis J. Collisi came to the United States with his parents when he was seven years of age, the family settling at Three Rivers, Michigan, after a short time in Detroit where they took up their home in 1855. In 1886, Louis Collisi moved to Topeka, Kansas, where he conducted a retail grocery store for many years. He returned to Three Rivers in 1896 and engaged in farming near that city until the time of his death, which occurred in 1904 in his fifty-sixth year. His widow is still living in Three Rivers at the age of sixty-nine years. Harrison S. Collisi was one of four children born to his parents. He received his elementary education in the graded and high schools of Topeka, Kansas, and Three Rivers, Michigan. He was graduated from the high school in 1908. He elected to follow the medical profession, and accordingly matriculated in the medical college of the University of Michigan from which he was graduated in 1912 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. While he attended high school and for a time thereafter, Doctor Collisi 592 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY worked as a drug clerk in Three Rivers, Michigan. After serving his interneship, he opened an office in Grand Rapids, specialing in surgery and obstetrics. He is recognized as one of the brilliant young surgeons of Grand Rapids and the success with which he has handled the cases that have been placed under his care has won him the respect and ad- miration of his professional confreres. He was married October 26, 1912, to Anna Simpson, the daughter of John G. Simpson, of Grand Rapids, and to them have been born two children, Betty Jane, aged twelve years, and Barbara Ann, who is six years old. Doctor Collisi is a member of the county, state and American Medical Societies, and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, a Knight Templar, and is also a member of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is a member of the executive staff, chief obstetrician, and a senior attending surgeon of the Butterworth Hospital. Wade E. Sackner proved that he had the good judgment and self-reliance to take advantage of opportunity when the same was presented, and the result has been that he is now the executive head of one of the substantial and prosperous industrial enterprises in the city of Grand Rapids, where he is the president of the Grand Rapids Fibre Cord Company. In 1916 Mr. Sackner, who was then associated with the Bayne Company of this city, was approached by one who had gained practical experience in the spinning of paper into fibre cord and who was endeavoring to establish a busi- ness of that order. He had made a beginning along this line of manufacturing and offered to sell his interests to Mr. Sackner. As the latter had for some time been consulting ways and means for engaging in business in an independent way, he carefully investi- gated the merits of the proposition and also the outlook for suc- cessful production and exploitation of fibre cord. He came to the conclusion that with proper management an enterprise of this kind in Grand Rapids could be made a distinct success, and as he him- self had no knowledge of the technical and manufacturing phases of the business, there would be more of consistency in his assuming half-interest and that the practical man retain the other half. Agreement was made to initiate operations according to this plan, and only four machines were available at this juncture. Under the progressive policies instituted by Mr. Sackner the new business grew rapidly, and the scope of the enterprise was expanded, at his suggestion, and made to include the production of automobile up- holstery, as well as developing and increasing the demand for their products in various lines of industries. There being a vast field for the development and use of their products, many new and improved machines were added to the business, and the vigorous, self-reliant and progressive methods that Mr. Sackner brought to bear caused his partner to become somewhat disturbed and fearful of results, as he imagined that too many risks were being taken in the expanding of the business. The result was that Mr. Sackner, with characteristic vision and judgment, acquired, in 1918, his HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 593 Syrone . seup Livingston mus co partner's interest, promoted additional capital and effected the organization of a corporation to carry forward the business on a larger scale and with better facilities. Thus the Grand Rapids Fibre Cord Company came into existence, with Mr. Sackner as its president and Charles H. Leonard as vice-president. Within the next two years larger quarters were required to accommodate the greatly increased business, and in 1920 the company erected a new building of one story and adequate floor space, besides installing therein much new machinery of the most modern type. In 1924 two more stories were added to the building, and the entire struc- ture, of modern order, is now utilized by the company, this well ordered manufacturing plant being at 609 Myrtle street, northwest. The business has been placed on a solid basis and the vigorous and resourceful management of Mr. Sackner insures a continuous growth of the enterprise. Mr. Sackner was born at Fenton, Gene- see county, Michigan, January 7, 1877, and is a son of William I. and E. Adele (Leonard) Sackner, the former of whom was born in a log cabin near Linden on Silver Lake, Genesee county, and the latter of whom was born at Highland, Oakland county, this state, a daughter of William Hincher Leonard, and a representative of one of the sterling pioneer families of Michigan, the former home of the Leonard family having been at Parma, New York. John and Betsey Ann Sackner, grandparents of the subject of this review, were numbered among the early settlers in Genesee county, John Sackner having come from New York to Michigan prior to its admission to statehood and having been a territorial pioneer in Genesee county, where he reclaimed from the virgin forest a pro- ductive farm, near the present attractive village of Fenton. Wade E. Sackner gained his youthful education by attending the public schools of Fenton, including the high school, and his initial busi- ness experience was that gained by his service as errand boy at the mercantile establishment conducted by H. Leonard & Sons, Grand Rapids. Thereafter he learned the engraving business in the establishment of the Bayne Company of Grand Rapids, and with this company he continued his alliance until he engaged in business in an independent way, as already noted in this review. He mar- ried Miss Viola DeKruif, whose maternal grandfather, Martin Van de Luyster, came from Holland to America and became one of the members of the fine Holland-Dutch colony that was established in Ottawa county, Michigan, in the early pioneer period, he having been one of the founders of the town of Zeeland, that county, and a great rock, near that place, having been properly inscribed and constituting a memorial monument to this sterling pioneer, who arrived on the west shore of Lake Michigan in a sailing vessel and who became one of the most substantial and influential citizens of Ottawa county. William R. McCaslin. Although numbered among the later attorneys of Grand Rapids, William R. McCaslin of the law firm of Mason, Cox & McCaslin, has proven his ability as an advocate and 594 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY is well upholding the honors of his profession. He was born in Edesville, Kent county, Maryland, May 10, 1896, and is a son of Charles and Mary (Peregay) McCaslin. His early education was obtained in the public schools of his native state and Belair Acad- emy, graduating from the latter institution with the class of 1909. He later matriculated at the University of Maryland and was graduated from that institution in 1915 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Soon afterward he accepted a position with the Maryland Casualty Company, with headquarters at Detroit, and it was while serving as a representative and insurance attorney for this corpora- tion that he became thoroughly versed in casualty problems. Having determined upon the practice of law as a life work, Mr. McCaslin later entered the Detroit College of Law where he com- pleted a law course in 1924. In May of that year he became a member of the law firm of Mason, Cox & McCaslin, and has since been one of the active factors of this organization. The firm, composed of Stephen T. Mason, A. Amer Cox and William R. McCaslin, has its main office in the city of Detroit, though a branch office is maintained in Grand Rapids, of which Mr. McCaslin is the resident partner in this city. The firm is one of the largest and most successful law insurance organizations in the state of Mich- igan and represents a majority of the largest casualty corporations in the United States. In the legal, as in other professions, the volume of intricate problems to be solved and the variety of activi- ties presented to the practitioner. have become so many that specialization has become an important order of this generation. Mr. McCaslin has not only prepared and proven himself an able advocate in the general practice of law, but he has thoroughly prepared himself in insurance law, especially relative to the duties, liabilities and problems of casualty corporations. He is recognized as an authority along these lines, and although but twenty-nine years old, few attorneys of Grand Rapids have made a more last- ing impression for both professional ability of a high order and for individuality of a genial personal character. He is a member of the Grand Rapids and Michigan State Bar Association, is a thirty- second degree Mason and a member of the Sigma Nu Chi Legal fraternity, and is prominent in both social and professional circles. He was married June 29, 1921, to Miss Cordelia Best, of Saginaw, Michigan, a woman of engaging personality and their home at 711 Lafayette avenue, southeast, is a hospitable one, where their friends are always welcome. Miss Nora M. Husted, president of the Sempray JoveNay Com- pany, manufacturers of toilet articles, at 650 Turner, northwest, is one of the representative and successful business women of Grand Rapids. She was born in Lowell, Kent county, Michigan, on June 24, 1871. Her father and mother, N. P. and Nora (Bresna- han) Husted, are long residents of Lowell. He was a native of New York state and the mother was born at Grass Lake, Michigan. When a young man N. P. Husted came to Lowell and was principal HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 595 of the high school there for a time. He had made his own way in the world and was graduated from the Michigan State Normal College, of Ypsilanti. He later engaged in the nursery business with a high degree of success until his failure in 1875 for approxi- mately a quarter of a million dollars. He continued in business until his death in 1915 at the age of eighty, but was never able fully to recuperate from the effects of his financial crash. His wife died in the same year, 1915, at the age of sixty-nine years. This couple had five children, of whom four are now living. Nora M. Husted received her education in the public schools of Lowell, Michigan, and when sixteen years old started on a business career with her mother, engaging in the manufacturing of toilet articles in a very small way. Out of this venture has grown her extensive business, of which she is now the sole owner. In 1910 Miss Hust- ed's mother was instrumental in organizing the company, under the name of Marietta Stanley Company, which enterprise was incorporated, with her sister, Elizabeth J. Husted, associated with her in the enterprise. At that time the officers were Nora Carr, president; Nora M. Husted, vice-president, and Elizabeth J. Husted, secretary and treasurer. The name was later changed to its present form. The officers of this enterprise are now Nora M. Husted, president; W. C. Hopson, vice-president; Helen M. Rooney, secretary, and Lillian Worner, treasurer. Otto Husted, a brother of Nora M. Husted, is also a director in the company, which is now doing a business sufficient in extent to afford em- ployment to twenty-six people. In 1910 this company erected its present three-story building, 70 by 70 feet. Miss Husted is a member of the Zonta Club, Women's City Club, and is active in her affiliation with the Catholic church, her present church connec- tions being with St. Mary's. Miss Husted also has reason to be proud of the fact that she and her sister, Elizabeth Husted, have reared two nephews, Walter Husted and Earl Husted, and are at this time affording them both an education in the Grand Rapids high school and in the studies of music. Charles A. Hauser, who is now living virtually retired, after many years of successful and important business activities in the city of Grand Rapids, where he long held precedence as a leading contractor and builder, is able to claim Michigan as the place of his nativity and is a representative of one of the sterling pioneer families of Clinton county, this state. In the sturdy and prosperous little German village of Westphalia, Clinton county, Michigan, Charles A. Hauser was born February 2, 1855, a son of Hubert and Marie (Bohr) Hauser, both natives of Germany. Hubert Hauser was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, where he was reared and educated, and he was an ambitious youth when he came to the United States and established his residence in Michigan. He be- came a pioneer contractor and builder in Grand Rapids, to which place he came in 1855, when the future city was little more than a frontier village and to which he made his way by means of one 596 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY of the old-time stage coaches. He was a skilled brick mason, and as such, developed a substantial contracting business in the little village that was destined to become one of the metropolitan com- munities of Michigan and one of the great industrial centers of the United States. Under the direction of this honored pioneer were erected many of the leading business and residence buildings of Grand Rapids and at the time of his death, at the age of eighty- three years, he was the venerable dean of building contractors in this city. Within a short time after his arrival in Grand Rapids Mr. Hauser purchased a small tract of swamp land on the west side of the Grand river, reclaimed the land, and there erected the building that long continued to represent the family home. In this old homestead were born his fine family of fourteen children, of whom only, six are now living: Charles A. and Julius, both of Grand Rapids; Mrs. Emelia Jager, a resident of California, and Mesdames J. H. Johnson, Charles T. Johnson and H. J. Haggie, all of Grand Rapids. The devoted mother was born in Germany and came with her parents to Michigan in 1846, the family home having been established in Grand Rapids in 1855. Mrs. Hauser was sixty-nine years of age at the time of her death, the religious faith of the family having long been that of the Catholic church. In Germany the Hauser genealogy is traced to the fifteenth cen- tury, and the name has been one of prominence in German annals, as is indicated by the fact that the family has long possessed its heraldic coat of arms. Charles A. Hauser attended the old West Side Union school of Grand Rapids, was for a short time a student in the private school of Professor Everett, but the major part of his early education was obtained in the Catholic parochial schools, in which connection he reverts with great satisfaction to his youth- ful association with the honored pioneer Catholic priest of Grand Rapids, Father Berhorst, with whom he made numerous missionary trips among the Indians then residing in western Michigan. In January, 1868, Mr. Hauser accompanied Father Berhorst on a trip through the wilds to Newaygo and Pentwater, where the sacrament of baptism was administered to twenty-five Indians. Mr. Hauser early became self-sustaining, and also aided in the support of the other members of the large family. At the age of thirteen years he found employment in the Widdicomb furniture factory, where he learned the trade of wood-turner. By working with his father he learned also the trade of brick mason, and thus for a number of years he worked as a mason during the summer seasons and found employment in the furniture factory during the intervening periods. In 1890 Mr. Hauser engaged independently in business as a contractor and builder, his associate in the enterprise having been William Hayden and the firm name having been Hauser & Hayden. The partnership was later made to include Edwin Owen, and thereafter the business was continued under the title of the Hauser-Hayden-Owen Company until Mr. Hayden retired and the title was changed to Hauser-Owen-Ames Company. Mr. Hauser HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 597 continued his active association with the large and important busi- ness of his company until 1917, when he retired, but the enterprise has not been permitted to lapse, as the same is now conducted under the title of Owen-Ames-Kimball Company. Mr. Hauser was president of this representative contracting corporation for a period of twenty-five years, and was concerned in the erection of many of the largest and most important buildings in Grand Rapids, as well as many in other cities and towns of Michigan. He thus has the satisfaction of knowing that he has made valuable contribution to both the material and civic progress of his home city, and he has ever been known as a liberal and public-spirited citizen. Mr. Hauser has much musical talent and appreciation, and has taken deep interest in the advancing of musical interests in Grand Rapids. In his youth he was here a member of the Knight Templar band, and he is the only surviving original member of the Germania band, in the organization of which he took part, in 1873. He has been for many years an associate member of the local Schubert Club, and in 1878 he varied his experience by a year of travel as a member of the band of the John Robinson circus. As a lover of nature and of outdoor life, Mr. Hauser is an active member of the Luther Burbank society, and he has a most complete collection of the published works of Luther Burbank, the distinguished wizard of plant life, one of the volumes of Mr. Burbank having been dedi- cated to Mr. Hauser, who has traveled extensively through Amer- ican and European countries and incidentally made a close study of their plant life. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party and his religious faith is that of the Catholic church. He gave six years of service as a member of the city council of Grand Rapids, and was for five years a member of the board of police and fire commissioners. He has been for several years president of the Grand Rapids Schwaben society, has membership also in the Arbeiter society and the Grand Rapids Curling club, and he is affiliated with the local lodge of Elks. In 1882 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Hauser to Miss Rosa Smith, who was born and reared in Grand Rapids, and who is a daughter of John and Augusta (Schikel) Smith, the Schikel family having been founded in Grand Rapids in 1830, about seven years prior to the admission of the territory as a state. Mr. and Mrs. Hauser have two adopted chil- dren, one of whom is now Mrs. William Drueke, of Grand Rapids, and the other of whom is Crescenz L. Smith, of this city. Hubert Geary Hauser has gained success and prestige as one of the progressive contractors and builders in his native city of Grand Rapids, where he has his residence and business headquarters at 1424 Wilcox Park drive. He was born in this city June 12, 1884, and is a son of Julius E. and Viola (Geary) Hauser, the former of whom likewise was born in Grand Rapids, where he still resides, and the latter of whom was born in Canada, she being now de- ceased. The paternal grandfather of Hubert G. Hauser was a pioneer contractor and builder in Grand Rapids, where he estab- 598 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY lished his residence in the year 1855. After his graduation in the Central high school of his native city Hubert G. Hauser completed a technical course in the University of Michigan, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1912, and with the degree of Bachelor of Civil Engineering. Through his own efforts he de- frayed the expenses of his university course, and the same spirit of self-reliance has characterized his independent career. After leaving the university Mr. Hauser was for a short period in the employ of the Fuller Construction Company of Detroit, and he then returned to Grand Rapids and took a position with the Hauser-Owen-Ames Company, a representative contracting con- cern of which the senior principal was his uncle. With this com- pany he continued his service, as foreman of construction, until 1916, and since that year he has been engaged independently in business as a contractor and builder. He has handled many large and important contracts and has been contractor in the erection of a number of large and modern buildings in his native city. At the time of this writing, in the summer of 1925, Mr. Hauser is engaged in the erection of St. Stephen's church and parish school and also the parish school of St. Thomas church, he and his wife being active communicants of this latter Catholic parish. He is a member of the Builders and Traders Exchange, and served two years as a director of the same. In 1925 he was president of the local Building Contractors Association, and he has membership also in the Michigan Association of Building Employers. He is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus. In 1915 was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Hauser to Miss Angela Kinney, daughter of the late Malachi Kinney, who was for a number of years a member of the Grand Rapids board of aldermen. Mr. and Mrs. Hauser have three children: James J., Dorothy Ann and Hubert G., Jr. Harold E. Fowle, secretary and manager of Ponce de Leon Company, 507 Division street, has followed in the footsteps of his father by continuing and expanding this business in distilled and soft spring waters. He was born on January 19, 1894, a son of William H. and Georgia (Stiven) Fowle. William H. Fowle was born at Traverse City, Michigan, on April 2, 1861, and came to Grand Rapids as a young man where he married Georgia Stiven, a native of the west side in Grand Rapids, born on September 17, 1861. She was a daughter of David L. and Rose (Haynes) Stiven, her father being a native of Scotland and her mother a native of England. David L. Stiven came early in his life to Grand Rapids, here married and passed the remainder of his days. His wife, Rose (Haynes) Stiven, is still living at the advanced age of eighty-four years. A great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch and the grandfather of Mrs. Georgia Fowle was a pioneer of Grand Rapids who helped to build many of the early mills. He spent his declining days in Grand Rapids. William H. Fowle, , father of the subject of this narrative, started the first water com- pany in Grand Rapids, then known as the Crystal Spring Water HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 599 Company, on June 13, 1892. The original Ponce de Leon Company was established sixty days after the inception of the Crystal Springs Company by a Mr. McCraft. In June, 1915, William H. , Fowle and his son took over the Crystal Springs Company, out of which grew the Ponce de Leon Company, Inc., of which Mrs. Georgia E. Fowle is now president, and Harold E. Fowle is secre- tary and general manager. The children of William H. (Stiven) Fowle were: William Stuart, who graduated from high school and the Michigan Agricultural College; George, who graduated from South high school in Grand Rapids, and Harold E., subject of this sketch, who is a graduate of the Central high school in Grand Rapids and he was also a student at McLaughlin's Business Col- lege. On June 30, 1917, he enlisted in the World war and was in training at Fort McPherson from December, 1917. On May 11, 1918, he embarked for England and thence to Paris, France. He returned to the United States, April 30, 1919, and on May 12, 1919, was given an honorable discharge from military service. On August 19, 1922, he married Miss Estelle Scalise, of Warren, Pennsylvania. Harold is a member of the Episcopal church. The daughters of William H. and Georgia Fowle and sisters of Harold, are: Bathea, a graduate of the Central high school, who is the wife of George W. Barth, a contractor of Grand Rapids, and Helen, also a graduate of Central high school and wife of A. Crew Waite, a contractor of Long Beach, California. Helen was also a graduate of the Olds Kinderkarten School and taught there for several years. The Ponce de Leon Company, with its extensive business stands as a business monument to the energy, ability and co-operation of the Fowle family. John L. Lynch, president of the Lynch Selling System, Inc., of Grand Rapids, has gained wide reputation as one of the most re- sourceful, reliable and successful of American sales engineers, and the operations of his well ordered sales organization, in no way identified with other local concerns of somewhat similar title and functioning, have contributed in no small degree to the fame of Grand Rapids, in which city the offices of the Lynch Selling System are established at 209-11 Murray building. John L. Lynch, a son of Daniel and Hannah Lynch, was born at Lindley, Steuben county, New York, July 20, 1876. From an appreciative tribute that ap- peared in the periodical known as the Michigan Tradesman, are taken the following extracts pertaining to the earlier stages in the career of Mr. Lynch: “He appears to have reached the conclusion quite early in life that all he amounted to would be due to his own endeavor, and acted accordingly. After three years of schooling at the hands of the gentle sisters of his church, he proceeded to learn the A, B, C's of merchandising under Levi Frank, of Buffalo, New York. After a number of years' service with Mr. Frank, Mr. Lynch decided that the field was large enough for another entry, so he decided to branch out for himself in merchandising, and selling decrepit and ‘sick' stocks. He was a success from the 600 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY start, with the result that he came under the shrewd eye of W. T. Farley, of W. T. Farley & Company, New York city, who con- ducted a chain of thirty stores. Mr. Lynch took complete charge of this chain of stores for a period of four years, with credit and profit to the Farley Company and—what is still more valuable- with satisfaction to himself. A man of the temperament of Mr. Lynch could not long be kept down by the confines of even a chain of thirty stores. He craved a wider field-scope and a broader field, with the result that he severed his connection with the Farley Company and again embarked in business for himself, in the merchandising field. * * * Today, John L. Lynch is known from coast to coast and throughout Canada as the Napoleon of the merchandise line catering to sick business of all kinds throughout North America. Ripe in years of experience at an age when he is in the prime of life, with a strong and winning personality and a keen insight into markets and conditions, he holds the full con- fidence of those who know him and have had business dealings with him. Mr. Lynch's wide acquaintance and his reputation as a specialist in his line—the handling of sales for department stores, clothing stores, furniture stores and men's and women's ready-to- wear stores—have built up for his admirable organization a clientele second to none in the country. * * *. John L. Lynch today stands as a type of all that is best in modern merchandising. In the Lynch Selling System, Mr. Lynch has built up an organiza- tion of perfect co-ordination and initiative, and to the same recourse is had by leading merchants who find it expedient to enlist the co-operation of skilled sales engineers. Mr. Lynch has maintained his home and business headquarters in Grand Rapids since 1913, and here he holds membership in the Association of Commerce, and the Peninsular, Cascade and Advertising clubs, besides which he is one of the most enthusiastic and popular members of the Cascade Golf Club. He and his wife are communicants of St. Andrew's Catholic church. Robert S. Woodbridge was born in Arlington, Massachusetts, on July 20, 1864. When but a child he was taken with his parents to Bloomfield, New Jersey, and there he secured his preliminary education in the public and high school. He returned when eighteen years of age, to Boston, Massachusetts, and there was engaged in the lumber business. In 1888 he made his first trip to Grand Rapids and then was upon the road as a salesman until 1906, at which time he took up his residence in Grand Rapids. Here he engaged in the lumber and veneer business and has achieved a very successful career in his commercial enterprise. Mr. Woodbridge takes a great interest in all sports and is not only well- known in sporting circles, especially fishing and hunting, his por- trait appearing in sporting regalia as he appears in the woods, is familiar in the local press. He is a member of the Peninsular Club. He served during the World war in the transport service in con- nection with the Y. M. C. A. work. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 601 Harry M. Freeman, local manager of the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, is a very experienced and successful distributor of the commodities manufactured by his company, the largest of its kind in the world. He was born in Washington, D. C., on August 29, 1870, when his father, John Henry Freeman was in government service there. In 1873 John Henry Freeman went to New York city where he engaged in the insurance business. He died in 1922 at the age of eighty-four years. His wife, Alice A. (Jones) Freeman, a native of Albany, New York, died in New York city at the age of seventy-nine, in 1919. Harry M. Freeman received his educa- tion in the schools of New York city and was graduated from the high school there. In 1884 he took employment with the T. K. Horton Company, remaining with them for about six months and then went to Evans Ball & Company of New York city, who were engaged in shipping and commission business and in the operation of several lines of sailing vessels in the coasting trade. In 1888 Mr. Freeman took cognizance of the fact that steam transportation was replacing sailing vessels and decided to change his vocation which choice fell upon the glass business and he then began his successful business career in that line with the London and Man- chester Plate Glass Company. But in 1890 this company retired from business, not being able to compete with American compe- tition. He then became connected with Heroy & Marrenner, glass jobbers of New York city. In 1892 they consolidated their plate glass department with the similar department of Semon Blache & Company and Holbrook Brothers, out of which consolidation was formed a new company known as the Manhattan Plate Glass Company of New York city. After about a three-year career, this enterprise was purchased by the present Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, who after thus taking over the stock and good will of the Manhattan Plate Glass Company, embarked in the jobbing business, this being their initial venture in the jobbing of glass. Mr. Freeman has remained continuously with this company, in New York City and then at Detroit, where he came in 1897. In 1905 he was sent to Grand Rapids as manager for the company to estab- lish its jobbing enterprise in western Michigan. This position he has since then held with credit to himself and the company. Mr. Freeman is a member of the Grand Rapids Association of Commerce, the Builders and Traders Exchange, director and secretary of the Highlands Country Club, a member of the National Safety Council, the Grand Rapids Motor Club, and Izaak Walton League of America of which he was a member of the first direc- torate of the local chapter. He was united in marriage in 1894 to Miss Ida Louise Boden, of Brooklyn, New York. They have one daughter and one son: Helen Gertrude (now Mrs. Howard C. Brink), born in 1896 and educated in Detroit public, private and high schools, graduating from the high school; and a son, Harold, born in 1902, who received his education in the public and high 602 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY schools of Grand Rapids. Mr. Freeman and his family attend the Fountain Street Baptist Church. Nels T. Eckberg is one of the progressive business men of Grand Rapids, where he owns and conducts two well equipped and attractively appointed drug stores—one at 200 Union avenue, northeast, and the other at 1501 Plainfield avenue. Mr. Eckberg was born in Sweden, December 5, 1882, and is a son of Martin and Hannah Eckberg, the former of whom is deceased and the latter of whom still maintains her residence in Grand Rapids, where the family home was established more than thirty years ago. The subject of this sketch is the eldest in a family of five children, of whom one son died in infancy; Oscar is manager of the Eckberg Automobile Company, Grand Rapids; Bertha B. is the wife of Roy F. Springer, president and manager of the Standard Auto- mobile Company, having the Grand Rapids agency for the Ford and Lincoln cars, and Fordson tractors, and Miss Helen C. is cashier for the Standard Automobile Company. Nels T. Eckberg was about nine years of age at the time the family came from Sweden and established a home in Grand Rapids. Here he attended the public schools and the Grand Rapids Business Col- lege, and after taking a course in pharmacy he found employment in the drug store of Peck Brothers, one of the old and important concerns of the kind in the city. While gaining practical experience in this connection he also applied himself diligently to study, with the result that he was finally enabled to pass the re- quired examination before the state board and gain rank as a registered pharmacist. Later he was employed for a time in the Warres drug store. In 1906 Mr. Eckberg engaged independently in the drug business, and for eleven years he conducted a store at the corner of Bridge and Pine streets. He then sold this store, and for a time thereafter he gave his attention to the automobile business, he being still financially interested in the Standard Auto- mobile Company, of which mention has been made earlier in this review. In 1918 Mr. Eckberg opened his present drug store at 200 Union avenue, northeast, and in this attractive residential district of the city he has developed a substantial and prosperous business, with a representative and appreciative supporting patron- age, a postoffice sub-station being maintained in the store. In September, 1924, Mr. Eckberg further showed his progressive spirit and his good judgment by opening his drug store at 1501 Plainfield avenue, and here, likewise, courteous and efficient serv- ice is bringing substantial success to the enterprise. Mr. Eckberg has won advancement through his own ability and efforts, has worked with utmost diligence in making his way to the goal of independence and prosperity, and he has so ordered his course as to merit and receive the uniform confidence and esteem of those with whom he has come in contact in the various relations of life. His interests have centered in his home and his business, and thus he has had no desire to identify himself with clubs or fraternal HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 603 organizations. He is loyal and liberal in his civic attitude, is a Republican in politics, and he is a member of the National Associ- ation of Retail Druggists, besides being a popular and influential member of the Grand Rapids Association of Retail Druggists, of which he has served as president, his professional affiliations being further extended to the Michigan Pharmaceutical Association. He and his family are communicants of Bethlehem Lutheran church. in the year 1911 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Eckberg to iss Anna Victoria Nelson, of Grand Rapids, and their one child is a daughter, Anna Elizabeth. George K. McMullen, founder of the McMullen Machinery Company, 64-66 Ionia avenue, opposite the union depot for seven- teen years, has built up a remarkable business that is a distinct contribution to the industrial life of Grand Rapids. The McMullen Machinery Company are distributors in western, central and north- ern Michigan of complete lines of wood working machinery, metal working machinery, electric motors, transmission equipment, com- plete wood and metal working machinery accessory equipments, general stop equipment, and contractors' equipment, and represents exclusively in their territory a number of the largest, oldest and rnost prominent manufacturers of such equipment in the country. George K. McMullen was born in Woodlake, Montcalm county, Michigan. He came to Grand Rapids in 1880 with his parents, William and Rachael McMullen. The father was a lumberman, and among other distinctive business achievements during his career in Grand Rapids constructed the McMullen building. He died in 1891 at the age of forty-nine years, and his wife survived him until 1917, and she passed on at the age of seronty-two years. George was educated in the public and high schools of Grand Rapids and then supplemented that educational career with a course at the University of Michigan, from which institution he was graduated in the electrical engineering department in 1896. He was employed with the Citizens Telephone Company during the latter part of the installation of its system. He was then for a short time employed in the manufacturing of office and filing equip- ment. On April 13, 1898, he became connected with the Fox Machine Company, then of this city, and later was advanced to the sales managership, remaining with that company until Novem- ber, 1908. That employment gave him occasion to work in practically all parts of the country among machine distributors. This experience led him to reach the conclusion there should be a machinery depot, so-called in western Michigan, as in other parts of the country. For this he chose Grand Rapids as the natural distributing point for this territory and in December, 1908, organ- ized and established the McMullen Machinery Companyy and opened it at the location, as above stated, opposite the union depot. Mr. McMullen is a member of the Rotary Club and Kent Country Club. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and Shriner. In his professional affiliations he holds membership in the American 604 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Society of Mechanical Engineers. He married Miss Mary Louise Waters, of Grand Rapids, a daughter of Oliver S. Waters, the founder of the Michigan Barrel Company, and who was manager of that enterprise until his death in 1898. Mr. and Mrs. McMullen have one daughter, Jean Louise, who is attending the public schools of Grand Rapids. Wellington C. Robertson has been a resident of Grand Rapids nearly forty years and of Michigan since he was a boy of seven years, his parents, Archibald and Charity (Brailey) Robertson, the former of whom was of Scotch descent and the latter of whom was English, having come from Ontario, Canada, to Michigan in 1864, and having established their home in Shiawassee county, the remainder of their lives having been passed in this state, in which they gained a goodly measure of pioneer precedence. Archibald Robertson was born in Canada and his wife in England. The early education of Wellington C. Robertson was obtained princi- pally in the public schools of Shiawassee county, and he was but a boy when he entered upon an apprenticeship to the printer's trade and thus initiated a discipline that has consistently been termed the equivalent of a liberal education. He became a skilled compositor, and as such he was employed several years in the Michigan state printing office, at Lansing. He then, in 1887, came to Grand Rapids, where for three years he was employed as a compositor in the office of the Grand Rapids Democrat and two years in that of the Grand Rapids Leader, the successor of which is the present Grand Rapids Daily Herald. After severing his association with the “art preservative,” Mr. Robertson was for several years an executive of the local justice court, and in 1900 he was appointed the first clerk of the newly established municipal court of Grand Rapids. Since 1904 he has been independently engaged in business under the title of the W. C. Robertson Com- pany, and his well organized service includes the making of col- lections, the supplying of credit advices to clients, and the making of commercial adjustments. Since 1919 Mr. Robertson has main- tained real estate and fire insurance departments in connection with his business, and such is his place in popular confidence and esteem in this community, and such the efficiency of his business service, that he has gained and retained a substantial and representative clientage. He is a member of the Grand Rapids Real Estate Board, the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, and for many years has affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America. In 1886 Mr. Robertson wedded Miss Caroline M. Mix, daughter of the late Charles Mix, of Shiawassee county, and the one child of this union is Miss Winifred C. Simon Oosse, of the Automatic Blue Printing concern, long the only concern of its kind in Grand Rapids, and one of two firms of its particular line in the community, stands out as having thereby contributed another industry to the long roster of business activi- ties in this community. Mr. Oosse was born at Grand Haven. HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 605 Michigan, on July 18, 1890, but was brought by his parents to Grand Rapids when a babe of six weeks old, though he has been reared, educated and arrived at the present stage of his business success in this city. His father, John, and mother Marie (Hage) Oosse, were both natives of the Netherlands, but came to Grand Haven, Michigan, in 1880. The father was a shoe dealer and now lives in Grand Rapids, retired at the age of sixty-six years. The mother died on July 15, 1905, and was buried on July 18, the twenty-fifth birthday anniversary of her son, Simon, the subject of this narrative. His worthy parents had ten children, nine of whom are now living. Simon received his education in the public schools of Grand Rapids and then entered upon his business career as a surveyor, which work he followed for several years. In 1915 he established the enterprise heretofore mentioned, in automatic blue printing, and now has an extensive business built up in that work, located at 537-538-539 Houseman building. During the World war Mr. Oosse made blue prints for the army and aircraft service and thus rendered a considerable service. Mr. Oosse is a member of the Bethany Reformed church and the Lions Club. He was married on September 2, 1915, to Miss Marian Snyder, of Grand Rapids, Michigan. They have two children, Juanita Lois, born on September 26, 1918, and Beverly Jane, born on January 22, 1921. Albert W. Hake is successfully established in the wholesale and retail coal business in Grand Rapids, under the title of the Albert W. Hake Coal Company, and he is one of the alert and progressive business men of his native city. Of the family history, adequate record is given on other pages of this work, in the memoir dedi- cated to his honored father, the late William Hake. The subject of this review was afforded the advantages of the great Notre Dame University at South Bend, Indiana, and thereafter he was for some time a clerk in the office of the city treasurer of Grand Rapids, his father having been at that period the city treasurer. He next made a successful record as a traveling salesman for his brothers, Charles and Henry, who were operating a wood-carving factory and producing high-grade furniture ornamentation. He thus con- tinued to represent this concern, through the United States and in various Canadian provinces, until 1902, when he found employment with the Himes Coal Company of Grand Rapids. He continued his alliance with this company twenty-one years, learned all details of the business, and finally, in 1923, he engaged in the coal busi- ness in an independent way and under the present title of the Albert W. Hake Coal Company. Mr. Hake takes lively interest in all matters touching the welfare and progress of his home city. He is a popular representative of one of the old and honored families of Grand Rapids and he and his wife are here active in various social circles, the maiden name of Mrs. Hake having been Jose- phine Burtis, and their marriage having been solemnized in 1902. Rodney D. Stocking, who has long been the owner of a well 606 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY ordered music and jewelry business in the fine little city of Lowell, is now to be given precedence as having here been continuously engaged in one line of business enterprise for a longer period than any business man of Lowell. There are many interesting phases to be noted in his personal career and ancestral history, especially on the maternal side, and the subject matter of this brief sketch will reveal much of this information. Mr. Stocking was born at Elk Rapids, Antrim county, Michigan, October 23, 1863, and is a son of Fidius and Clarinda (Robinson) Stocking, both representa- tives of families that early made settlement in the Lowell district of Kent county. Fidius Stocking was a son of Gerard Stocking, who was born in Ontario, Canada, of English ancestry, and who became a skilled workman at the trade of cabinet maker. Gerard Stocking lived in Michigan in the pioneer days, and within the course of his active life he resided at various places in this and other states. In the pioneer days he became a successful builder of mills to be operated by water-wheels, belts for the machinery having been made of ropes. This sterling and versatile pioneer was a resident of Chicago at the time of his death. Fidius Stock- ing had exceptional skill as an old-time violinist, and in the pioneer days in Michigan his services as a fiddler at dances and on other occasions were widely in demand. He was familiarly and affec- tionately known as “Fid” Stocking, this title having been an abbre- viation of his personal name, though many persons took it to be significant of his skill as a “fiddler.” Mr. Stocking was called to many different places through western Michigan in connection with his musical interpretations, and it is a matter of record that he even made horseback trips to Lansing to appear as a fiddler at popular assemblies in the capital city in the early days. He made a journey from Detroit to Grand Rapids with wagon and ox team, and at times had to cut a way through the forest. Mr. Stocking developed a farm near Elk Rapids, and later he erected a house at Lowell and here established the family home. This sterling pioneer and popular musician had no dearth of adventure in the earlier period of his residence in Michigan, and in this connection it may be recorded that on one occasion he made a trip on snow- shoes from the straits of Mackinac to Grand Rapids. He sailed an open boat from Elk Rapids to distant points, and after establishing his home at Lowell he became successfully engaged in the fire insurance business, in which he was succeeded was succeeded by his son, Rodney D., immediate subject of this review. Fidius Stocking had several brothers and sisters, and his brothers became Indian fighters on the western frontier. His brother, Winfield, gained fame as one of the cattle kings of the west, and on one occasion sold 35,000 cattle in one lot—the largest sale recorded in the cattle industry up to that time. Fidius Stocking was a resident of Lowell at the time of his death, which occurred when he was about seventy-four years of age, and here his wife died at the age of about seventy-six years. Mrs. Clarinda (Robinson) Stocking was HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 607 cases. a child of five years when she accompanied her parents on a voyage by boat from Detroit, via Lake Huron, the straits of Mackinac and Lake Michigan, to Grand Haven, and thence they came on into Kent county as now constituted and made Lowell their destination. On the vessel that made this voyage of the early pioneer days were seventy-two persons named Robinson, and thus the passenger list was in large degree made up of Robinsons. In making the trip up the Grand river from Grand Haven, Indians aided the pioneers in poling the boat. Hiram Robinson, a brother of Clarinda, later located near Spoonville, and finally he removed to Lowell, where his death occurred. Rodney Robinson, paternal grandfather of Rodney D. Stocking, of this sketch, became postmaster in the little village of Fallsburg, and he gained sufficient knowledge of law to become locally prominent as a law practitioner in minor He and his brother, Luke, were the big men of the Flat river district, and gained wide repute for their physical prowess. Worthy of preservation in this connection is the following narrative relative to the appearance of the Robinson family in Michigan about two years prior to the admission of the territory to statehood, this story having originally appeared in a publication issued many years ago: “In the spring of 1835, a family by the name of Robin- son, numbering in all, forty-four persons, set out from New York and upon arriving in Detroit embarked on a small vessel for Grand Haven, via Mackinac. On June 7 of that year they reached the mouth of the Grand river, and, putting their household goods, etc., on rafts, they made their way up the river and settled in Kent and Ottawa counties, principally in the vicinity of Blendon, in the latter county. These were only part of the Robinsons. Rix Rob- inson had been trading with the Indians at Thornapple, now called Ada, for several years prior to this, and had one son by the Indian squaw whom he had taken for a wife soon after he came there. In 1836 another brother, Lewis Robinson, came with his family and settled on the west bank of Flat river, in the south part of what is now the village of Lowell. He was soon followed by his brother, Rodney, who came from the Blendon settlement and who, after remaining one year with Lewis, removed up the river into the pres- ent township of Vergennes, where he and another brother, Lucas, made good farms. Rodney Robinson is said to have stated that the Indians were usually good neighbors.” The Rodney Robinson mentioned in the foregoing narrative was the maternal grandfather of Rodney D. Stocking, who was named in his honor. Rodney D. Stocking gained his early education in the public schools of Lowell, and he inherited much of his father's natural musical talent, which he was able to cultivate effectively, with the result that he has long been a prominent figure in musical circles in Kent county. About the year 1883 he and another young man, Bert Quick, formed a partnership and opened a music store in their home town of Lowell, each having had about $150.00 to invest in the enter- prise, and Mr. Stocking having acquired his share of this capital 608 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY largely by giving music lessons. Mr. Stocking later acquired his partner's interest, and he has since continued the business in an individual way, he being now the one who can claim priority over all others in having continuously been engaged in business in Lowell during a period of more than forty years. He has been for nearly half a century the organist of the Congregational church at Lowell, of which his wife was an active member. It is altogether probable that Mr. Stocking has played at a greater number of funerals than has any other one musician in Kent county, if not in the state, and he has been a leader in advancing musical interests in his home community. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party and he is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity. Mr. Stocking was married December 8, 1886, to Miss Lillie O’Heron, and the supreme loss and bereavement of his life came when his devoted wife passed to eternal rest, her death having occurred November 19, 1924. Mrs. Stocking was a young woman when she and her widowed mother, Mrs. Jane O'Heron, came from the province of Ontario, Canada, and established a millinery busi- ness in Lowell. Mrs. Stocking was still conducting this business at the time of her final illness, and as administrator, her husband has since kept the business going. Mrs. Stocking, a woman of most gracious personality, was a popular figure in the social, church and cultural circles of her home village, and here served as worthy matron of the chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star. In con- clusion is entered brief record concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Stocking: Charles D. is a successful business man in Detroit, where he is vice-president of the Oil Burning Engineering Com- pany. He early enlisted in the United States aviation service during the World war and became an expert in this field of activity, being an instructor in both Texas and Florida, and served in this capacity until the close of the war. He was associated with Eddie Stinson, and gained an international reputation as one of the most skilled and daring aviators in the United States service during the war. Bruce L. attended the Northwestern University, Chicago, and also the University of Cincinnati, Ohio, and after thus fitting himself for his chosen profession he engaged in the practice of dentistry. Dr. Stocking now owns and conducts a well equipped dental office in the city of Chicago. Hazel A., the only daughter, was afforded the advantages of the Michigan Normal College, Ypsilanti, and prior to her marriage had been a successful and popular teacher in the Michigan public schools. She is now the wife of Walter J. Kropf, who is associated with her father's music business in Lowell. Mr. Kropf has received the thirty-second degree of Scottish Rite Masonry. Clarence A. Gauthier, assistant manager of Peiter Auto Com- pany at 233 Washington street, is another representative young business man of the community who is rapidly forging ahead to a position of importance in business circles. He was born in Toledo, Ohio, on May 12, 1889, and after finishing his education in the HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 609 public schools and graduating from the high school in Toledo, spent two years in St. John's College of Toledo. He then began his business career in the automobile business in an atmosphere where he could secure a sound foundation, when he entered the employment of the Willys-Overland Company of Toledo. He so advanced with his work with that company that he traveled for seven years as a district sales representative. Leaving the work upon the road he came in 1919 to Grand Rapids and associated himself with Mr. Peiter, first handling the Overland line with which he has so thoroughly familiarized himself. Applying his general experience in the automobile sales work he has since handled the Durant, Star and Flint cars and in these ventures has met with a similar success. In religious affiliation Mr. Gauthier is a member of the Catholic church, and fraternally affiliated with the Knights of Columbus. He was married on June 14, 1915, to Miss Mame Scalise, of Warren, Pennsylvania. Their children are: Robert, Beatrice, Barbara, Margaret and Richard. William J. Gillett has been a member of the Grand Rapids bar since 1900 and has achieved both success and prestige in the work of his profession. He is one of the well fortified attorneys and counselors at the bar of his native state and is a scion of the third generation of the Gillett family in Michigan, to which state his paternal grandparents came in 1845, their home having been estab- lished in Kent county, where they remained until 1859, when they became pioneer settlers in Ottawa county, the remainder of their lives having been passed in Michigan. William J. Gillett was born on his father's farm near Herrington, Ottawa county, Michigan, June 21, 1876, and is a son of William Hull and Emma (Hatch) Gillett, the former of whom was born in England, and the latter in the state of New York. William Gillett, Sr., was an infant at the time of his parents' coming to the United States, and was but six months old when the family arrived in Grand Rapids. His early education was received in the pioneer schools of Kent county, and he was a lad of about fourteen years at the time of the family removal to Ottawa county, where he was reared to adult age, under the conditions marking the pioneer period in the history of that section of the state. As a youth of about eighteen years he there purchased a farm near Herrington and he long continued as one of the substantial farmers and influential citizens of his community in Ottawa county. The discipline of the home farm and of the district school of the neighborhood compassed the boy- hood and youth of William J. Gillett, and his public school studies were supplemented by his attending school at Berlin, Michigan, besides which he was for a time a student in the schools of Grand Rapids. In preparation for the profession that his ambition prompted him to adopt, he entered the law department of the University of Michigan. In this department he was graduated as a member of the class of 1899, and his reception of the degree of Bachelor of Laws was followed by his admission to the bar of his 610 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY native state. Through his own efforts he largely defrayed the expenses of his university course, he having accomplished this by his successful service as a teacher in the public schools. As a representative of the pedagogic profession he first taught in a district school and received for his services twenty-five dollars a month. He proved his value and was finally able to command a salary of forty-five dollars a month. In 1900 Mr. Gillett came to Grand Rapids, and during the ensuing ten years he was here re- tained as general counsel for the Commercial Credit Company. He then became associated with R. J. Cleland in the general practice of law, with offices in the Houseman building, and since 1915 he has been successfully established in independent practice, with offices in the Michigan Trust building. He has built up a sub- stantial law business of general order, and this fact offers the best voucher for his professional ability and for the estimate placed upon him in his home city and county. Mr. Gillett married Miss Marie Rypens, who was born in Belgium, a daughter of Francis Rypens, and who was twelve years old when her parents came to the United States and established their residence in Michigan Mr. and Mrs. Gillett have three fine sons: William, Francis and Clarence. Abe Grit, of the plumbing and heating firm of Witte & Grit, 821 Eleventh street, northwest, of Grand Rapids, is one of the suc- cessful men in this work in the city. He was born in Grand Rapids, July 22, 1893, the son of Henry J. and Henrietta (Schuur) Grit, both of whom were born in Holland. Henry J. Grit came to the United States when he was a boy, and since attaining manhood, he has operated a grocery store on the corner of Jeannette avenue and Eleventh street, northwest, for the past thirty years. Abe Grit was educated in the grade and high schools of Grand Rapids, and with the completion of his schooling, he became a plumber's apprentice. He rapidly advanced in his chosen work until in 1918, he went into business for himself. He continued thus for three years, and in 1919, he took Henry J. Witte into partnership with him, the firm adopting at that time the present name of Witte & Grit. The concern not only carries a full line of plumbing fixtures and supplies but also takes up contracts on all kinds of plumbing and heating jobs. The company has gained the reputation of being one of the substantial concerns of its kind in the city and Mr. Grit is favorably known as an excellent business man. He was mar- ried on March 6, 1917, to Miss Emma Combs, the daughter of Rev. William Combs, the retired pastor of the Baptist church at Means, Kentucky. To Mr. and Mrs. Grit has been born one son, Raymond, on November 8, 1921. Mr. Grit is an active member of the Plumb- ing and Heating Association. Frederick W. Folger. Wherever interior decorating is dis- cussed in western Michigan, the name of Frederick W. Folger, of Grand Rapids, sooner or later is mentioned in connection with this branch of the arts. He comes of a long line of English artists on HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 611 his mother's side of the house, and his brother, Gilbert Folger, was a prominent artist of Grand Rapids. Frederick W. Folger was born in Blendon township, Ottawa county, Michigan, May 25, 1865, the son of E. and Lucy (Hall) Folger, the former of whom was born in New York in 1827, and the latter in London, England, in 1824. E. Folger was one of the prominent pioneers of Ottawa county where he farmed the land for fifty years. He retired from active life at the end of that time and made his home in South Blendon where he died in 1887, his widow dying in 1906. They were actively identified with the work of the Ottawa County Pio- neer Association. E. Folger was a leading figure in the politics of the county, at one time serving as supervisor and at another as treasurer of Blendon township. Frederick W. Folger was educated in the public schools of South Blendon, Michigan, and with the completion of his education, he returned to the home farm where he worked with his father for many years. He was not satisfied to continue in farm work, however, and came to Grand Rapids where he found employment as a cabinet maker and later as a shipping clerk with a large furniture manufacturing concern. He gave up that work to become a traveling salesman for a wall paper and paint company, continuing in that work two years. During all these years of work in fields foreign to his tastes, he had applied himself to his art, and in 1904, he went into business for himself so that he might be able to turn that art to something more than a hobby. His work as an interior decorator found almost instant favor among builders in the vicinity of Grand Rapids. His reputa- tion spread so far that today many of the largest churches, theaters and large buildings of western Michigan bear his oil paintings on their walls, his pictorial and scenic painting being among the best of any decorator in Michigan. In connection with his chosen work, he also handles a fine line of wall paper, paints and picture frames. His management of this phase of his business has shown him to be not only an artist but also a business man of the first rank, and for both qualities he is admired and respected throughout Grand Rapids and vicinity. Mr. Folger married Miss Ada Scott, the daughter of John and Catherine (Seeber) Scott, deceased, Georgetown, Michigan. John Scott was born in London, England, March 28, 1824, and his wife was born in Canada in the same year. After he came to the United States, he engaged in the lumber business at Grand Rapids. After his retirement from active business life in Muskegon and Grand Haven, Michigan, he lived on his farm in Ottawa county until his death, May 24, 1888, his widow dying in Grand Rapids in 1919. He was a charter member of the Grand River Masonic lodge. Mr. and Mrs. Folger have one son, Albert F., who was born October 21, 1888. He is now living in Grand Rapids where he is a partner in the Allen-Folger Garage. During the World war he served eighteen months in France with the Thirty-seventh Engineers. Frederick Folger has been a mem- ber of the Grand Rapids Masonic lodge for the past thirty-four a 612 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY years, and his wife is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star. Both he and his wife are members of the Pioneer Association, and Mrs. Folger is affiliated with the Christian Science church. Salathiel R. Fletcher, one of the prominent real estate dealers of Grand Rapids where he maintains offices in the Michigan Trust building, was born in Thetford township, Genesee county, Mich- igan, August 24, 1867, the son of John and Elizabeth (Arbis) Fletcher, both of whom were born in St. Thomas, Canada, in 1848. John Fletcher was married in Canada and came to the United States in 1868, settling on a farm thirteen miles northeast of Flint, Michigan. All his life he engaged either in farming or railroad work. In politics he supported the Republican party principles and later joined the movement whose members were known as Greenbackers. His death occurred in 1916, his widow living until 1919, when she also passed away. Salathiel R. Fletcher was one of four children born to his parents. He attended the grade and high schools of Flint, Michigan, and completed his high school educa- tion in Detroit. He had intended to take up the study of law after his graduation from high school, but at the urging of his brother- in-law, he assumed the management of a store owned by his relative in the northern part of the state, located ten miles north- west of West Branch. He remained there for ten years, part of the time acting as assistant postmaster in the small town where he was located. In 1894 he returned to Detroit where he made his home for another ten years, after which he engaged in the wholesale groceries specialties business which he gave up to enter the electrical and gas fixtures field. During seven years of his resi- dence in Detroit he was traveling over a territory composed of seven states. He gave up the electrical and gas fixtures business to come to Grand Rapids. At the time, he had no clearly defined ideas as to what business he would follow but soon chose the real estate business and the success which he has attained in his venture has proved the accuracy of his selection. The strength of his personality won him many influential friends who acquainted him with the status of real estate values in Grand Rapids at that time, and with this invaluable aid, he has made his business a success almost from its inception. He is known by all with whom he has had business dealings as a man of unimpeachable integrity and an excellent business man and substantial citizen of the city. Sub- division work and the promotion of home ownership in the desir- able sections of the city have constituted his principal works in real estate. On December 24, 1891, he married Anna Thompson, and to Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher were born five children, as follows: Phoebe, who is the wife of Russell Cole; Francis; Luna who is deceased; Harold and Winifred. Mr. Fletcher is a member of the Highland Golf Club of which he was one of the organizers and one of the first board of directors. Lee A. Fell. One of the new manufacturing and painting con- cerns of Grand Rapids is the Trio Body Shop, which, although it HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 613 has been in existence only since June, 1924, has already built up a business which marks it as one of the thriving companies of its kind in the city. The proprietor of this establishment is Lee A. Fell who was born in New York city, November 14, 1883, the son of Samuel C. Fell, who was also a native of that state. Lee Fell be- gan his education in the public schools of New York city, and when his family moved to Petoskey, Michigan, he completed his elemen- tary education in the graded schools of that city. His parents died in Petoskey, and he came to Grand Rapids where he attended high school, being graduated from that institution. His education completed, he went into the automobile body making business. After several years at this work, he was made foreman of a plant and for twelve years thereafter he was shop foreman for a number of large concerns manufacturing automobile bodies. He is thor- oughly conversant with every detail of automobile body construc- tion and has specialized in the sheet metal phase of the work. In June, 1924, he established the Trio Body Shop, for painting, trimming and doing sheet metal work on automobile bodies. He has gathered around him a staff of skilled workmen, insuring the qual- ity of the work which the plant puts out as the best that can be had in that line. Mr. Fell, as manager of his company, is known as a man of the strictest integrity and a manager of excellent executive ability. His shop is located at 700 Bond avenue, northwest, and is equipped in the most modern way to handle the cars that are brought to him. He has built up a trade during his short time in business for himself that has stamped him as one of the aggressive men and citizens of Grand Rapids. In 1907 he married Miss Mona Courtier, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H. C. Courtier, of Calumet, Michigan, and to this union has been born one son, Merl. Mr. Fell has made football his hobby and in ths sport he has played on several well-known teams. William Donker is one of the progressive and prominent expo- nents of the fuel business in Grand Rapids, where he is president of the Donker Coal Company, which here controls a large and prosperous wholesale and retail coal business, with large and well equipped yards at 557-607 Leonard street, northwest, where are maintained also the offices of the concern. Mr. Donker was born in Holland, in 1869, and is a son of Martin Donker. He was four years of age when, in 1873, his parents came to the United States and established their residence in Grand Rapids. Here he attended the public schools until he was ten years old, and thereafter he was employed a few months in the upholstering department of the Nelson-Matter furniture establishment. He next worked about one year in the pail factory of C. C. Comstock. Thereafter he gave his attention to the making of grease boxes, as did many other Grand Rapids boys of that period, who likewise were thus employed in the old Grand Rapids barrel factory. He then returned to the Comstock factory, where he served a four years' apprenticeship to the trade of machinist. As a skilled workman at his trade he was 614 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY employed five years in the shops of Alexander Dodds and he next became interested in the Drake Steam Turbine Company, with which he did much experimental work, his mechanical talent caus- ing him to take special interest in such research and experimenta- tion. He was concerned in the organization of this company and retained his interest in same until 1909, when he sold his interest, owning to his impaired health. In the following year he became associated with John C. Mol in the purchase of established coal yards, and Henry Seaborg likewise became an interested principal in the new firm of Donker, Mol & Seaborg. One year later Mr. Donker acquired the interest of Mr. Seaborg, and thereafter the firm of Donker & Mol continued the business until 1922, when, by purchase of his partner's interest, Mr. Donker gained sole control. In the following year he organized and incorporated the Donker Coal Company, of which he has since been the president, his son, George W., being its vice-president, and his son, Martin B., being secretary and treasurer. The wife of Mr. Donker bore the maiden rame of Jennie Wegbunder, and she was born and reared in Grand Rapids. Mr. Donker is one of the enterprising and loyal business men of the city that has represented his home since his childhood, and he takes deep interest in all that concerns the civic and mate- rial prosperity of Grand Rapids. Dewey Blocksma is vice-president and general manager of the Breen & Halladay Fuel Company, a concern that has controlled for fully a quarter of a century a substantial and representative busi- ness in Grand Rapids, in the handling of coal, coke and firewood, in both a wholesale and retail way, the company having been re- organized in 1906, when it was incorporated under the present title and when Mr. Blocksma assumed his present dual office, that of vice-president and general manager. The large and well equipped yards and also the office of the company are established on Frank- lin street, southwest, with direct trackage connection with the Grand Rapids & Indiana railroad, now a part of the great Pennsyl- vania railroad system. W. J. Breen, president of the company, is now virtually retired from active business, and the other active executive is Glenn C. Mason, who is secretary and treasurer, and whose father, Salisbury Mason, was one of the early expo- nents of farm industry in Kent county. Dewey Blocksma was born in Grand Rapids, August 1, 1884, and is a son of Ralph and Eliza- beth (Quartell) Blocksma, the former of whom died here in 1906, and the latter of whom died in 1921. Ralph Blocksma was born and reared in Holland and was a youth when he established his home in Grand Rapids, in 1875, he having been for many years associated with the Grand Rapids Dry Goods Company, with which he continued his alliance until his death, with standing as one of the loyal and public-spirited citizens of the community. Dewey Blocksma is indebted to the Grand Rapids public schools for his youthful education, and here also he has gained his prac- tical business experience, in connection with which he has won HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 615 advancement to his present executive office. The Breen & Halla- day Coal Company has membership in the American Wholesale Coal Dealers' Association, the Michigan, Ohio and Indiana Coal Dealers' Association, and the Grand Rapids Coal Dealers' Ex- change, of which Mr. Blocksma is president at the time of this writing, in the summer of 1925. Mr. Blocksma is a popular and valued member of the Grand Rapids Association of Commerce, the local Credit Association and the Exchange Club, Knickerbocker Club and Lotus Club. He is influential in the affairs and service of the local Y. M. C. A., of which he is a trustee, and he and his wife hold membership in the Christian Reformed church. The maiden name of Mrs. Blocksma was Abbie N. DeBoer, and she was born and reared in Grand Rapids. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Blocksma are three in number, namely: Marion Jean, Ralph and Douglas Dewey. Christopher M. Kelly, M. D. After more than thirty-five years of faithful and able stewardship in the work of his profession in Grand Rapids, Dr. Kelly is now living virtually retired in this city, where he has his attractive home at 228 Morris avenue, southeast. He long controlled a large and representative general practice though he specialized in surgery during the latter ten years. He held the chair of surgery for five years at the Grand Rapids Medi- cal College, during which time the first surgical clinic was installed in this city, which he was largely instrumental in bringing about. He has gained place as one of the prominent physicians and sur- geons of Kent county and even in his retirement he is not able to refrain from responding at times to the insistent calls made upon him by many families to whom he has long been physician, guide, counselor and friend. Dr. Kelly was born at Collinsville, Connec- ticut, July 19, 1863, and is a son of Christopher and Eliza (Morris) Kelly, who were born and reared in Ireland, where their marriage was solemnized and whence they came to the United States in 1848, this voyage, one a sailing vessel, having been their virtual bridal tour. Both were representatives of fine old Scotch, English and Irish families, Mrs. Kelly having been of direct kinship with the Blackburns of Dublin, and in this line her grandfather having been Lord Mayor Blackburn of Dublin. Her father, Captain Wil- liam Morris, was for many years an officer in the English army and was later pensioned for his efficient service. Upon coming to the United States, Christopher Kelly and his young wife estab- lished their residence in Connecticut, and when the Civil war began Mr. Kelly volunteered for service in defense of the Union, he having been rejected for such direct military service by reason of his defective eyesight. He was able to do his part, however, by taking a position in the great Colt arms manufactory at Hartford, Connecticut, where he assisted in the production of firearms and other supplies for the Union forces in the field, he having in this connection become a close friend of Colonel Samuel Colt, the founder of the celebrated Colt manufactory of firearms, and on 616 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY the death of Colonel Colt, Mr. Kelly was chosen as one among all the factory employes to act as pall-bearer. Mr. Kelly was for sixty years a well-known and highly respected citizen of Ansonia, Con- necticut, where he and his wife passed the closing years of their earnest and worthy lives, their son Dr. Christopher Morris Kelly, of this review, having been the seventh in order of birth in a family of five sons and five daughters. The early education of Dr. Kelly was acquired in the public schools of Ansonia, Connecticut, and in the high school at Derby, that state. Thereafter he took a literary course in St. John's College, at Fordham, and in preparation for his chosen profession he finally entered Niagara University, Buffalo, New York, in the medical department of which he was graduated in 1887. This department later became merged with the Buffalo University of which alumni Dr. Kelly is a member. Before and after receiving his degree of doctor of medicine Dr. Kelly passed four years in hospital work in Buffalo, and in this service, prior to his graduation, he largely defrayed the expenses of his professional education. He was an ambulance surgeon with the hospital there conducted by the Sisters of Charity, and his hospital work did much to fortify him for the independent practice of his profession. He was also for a time a resident physician in the Providence In- sane Retreat of Buffalo, New York. He registered for practice in the state of New York, but soon afterward, in 1890, set forth with a party of friends to visit Mackinac Island, Michigan. Enroute they stopped in Grand Rapids, and as a severe epidemic of lagrippe was here raging at the time and there was imperative need for additional physicians to meet the insistent demands, Dr. Kelly was called upon for professional service, with the result that he loyally and gladly abandoned his trip to Mackinac in order to aid in com- bating the epidemic in Grand Rapids. That he was favorably im- pressed with the city needs no further voucher than the fact that he has here maintained his home during the long intervening period. He here built up a large and important general practice, to which he continued to give his attention nearly thirty years, his retire- ment from the active work of his profession having occurred in the year 1919. He gained place as one of the leading surgeons in western Michigan, and at Butterworth hospital he made the first appendicitis operation in the city of Grand Rapids, besides which, in the domain of obstetrics, he performed also the first Caesarian operation in this city. He specialized in surgery and performed many major operations of most delicate order, as well as all manner cf minor operations. He developed a great improvement in the process of skin grafting, especially in the utilizing of the skin of the patient for such transferance, and he was distinctly “far ahead of his time” in many of the innovations and improved methods he adopted in his surgical work. His professional stewardship was ever one of high ethical ideals and of earnest service. He did much to aid the upbuilding of Grand Rapids hospitals, and was retained as consulting physician at Butterworth hospital and the Emerson HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 617 home. He was the first physician of the House of the Good Shep- herd, he assisted in the establishing and opening of St. Mary's hospital, in which he served as surgeon a number of years, and he found special satisfaction in aiding the training of young physicians and also nurses. He performed the first operation of this institu- tion and the first maternity case there was one of his patients. He also took charge of St. John's Orphan asylum during an epidemic of diphtheria before the days of anti-toxin treatment, and was obliged to close his office to private practice until this epidemic was suc- cessfully wiped out. In 1892 he served as city physician of Grand Rapids. Dr. Kelly is an active member of the Kent County Medi- cal Society, the Michigan State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. In 1903 he made a trip abroad, where he , spent a year in study and in availing himself of the advantages of the leading hospitals and clinics of Europe. Dr. Kelly and his wife are communicants of St. Andrew's Catholic church and are promi- nent in social circles of the city. In 1910 he was united in marriage with Miss Theresa Kelly, of Montreal, Canada, she having previ- ously been graduated in the training school for nurses maintained in connection with St. Joseph's hospital at Yonkers, New York. Dr. and Mrs. Kelly have one son, Christopher Morris Blackburn Kelly. Tom Thoits. To say that Tom Thoits was secretary and treas- urer of the Welch Manufacturing Company of Grand Rapids, and now president of Welch Wilmarth Corporation, is to overlook the years of close application to his work, the conscientious effort, and the characteristic energy which won for him his present position, an office gained as the just reward of pure merit alone. He was born in New Hampshire, the son of Alvin J. Thoits who came to Grand Rapids in 1904. Tom Thoits received a public school edu- cation in his native state and then attended St. John's Military Academy, Delavan, Wisconsin. With this splendid preparation for college, he entered the University of Chicago from which he was graduated with the class of 1907. For a time thereafter, he worked in a furniture factory at Janesville, Wisconsin. The Welch Folding Bed Company, then located in Sparta, Michigan, was then looking for an able advertising manager, and upon his application, Mr. Thoits was accepted to fill that position. His work with the company was so successful that with the expiration of two years he was made sales manager of the company. His administration of this resulted in such a steadily growing trade for the company, that his faithfulness and evident ability were rewarded by his ap- pointment to the position of secretary of the company in 1913, at the same time assuming the duties of general manager. The out- break of the World war caused an interruption in his business career, for in 1918 he went to the officers' training camp at Fort Sheridan, Illinois, where at the end of three months he was com- missioned captain. He was sent to Camp Custer where he was ranked sixth among 4,000 officers. After a time as instructor at 618 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY the third camp at Camp Custer, he went to France in June, 1918, with the 338th Infantry, 85th Division. Upon his arrival in France, Captain Thoits was assigned to general headquarters and served on the general staff until his return to the United States. Following his honorable discharge from the army, he returned to Grand Rapids and resumed his duties with the Welch Manufactur- ing Company, of which he was soon made secretary and treasurer. The company was organized in 1880 by Lyman W. Welch and J. S. Earle and originally operated as the Welch Folding Bed Com- pany with its plant at Sparta, Michigan. With the folding bed on the wane in popularity, the name of the firm was changed to that of the Welch Manufacturing Company, and in 1907 the plant was moved to Grand Rapids. The Hine Pickle Plant was purchased in 1919 and converted into the factory for the Welch Manufacturing Company, the plant being located on Madison street on the Pere Marquette railroad right-of-way. Since that time, a large addition has been erected, and the Grand Rapids plant and the one at Sparta which is still operated by the company, employ a total of 400 men. In August, 1925, the Welch Manufacturing Company and the Wil- marth Show Case Company consolidated into the Welch Wilmarth Corporation and Mr. Thoits was elected president of the new company. Mr. Thoits is recognized among his business associ- ates as one of the ablest executives in Grand Rapids, and the fact that the concern with which he is connected ranks as one of the thriving enterprises in the city speaks for his ability as a business mąn, for his part in bringing about the development of the concern has been no small one. John M. Hoekstra has been, since 1912, one of the principals of the Hoekstra Ice Cream Company, which has developed in Grand Rapids a large and prosperous business in the manufacturing of ice cream of the highest grade, and through the executive ability and unfailing energy of the son, William M. Hoekstra, the business has grown to its présent size and standing. The enterprise is of both wholesale and retail order, and service is given through ter- ritory within a radius of five miles from Grand Rapids as a dis- tributing center. The name of Hoekstra has ever stood exponent of fair and honorable dealings and of the best of service, this having been significantly true in the family's long association with the dairy business in Grand Rapids and Kent county. In the Hoekstra Ice Cream Company the other principals are William M. Hoekstra and George E. Whitford. John M. Hoekstra was born in Holland, and was a lad of about seven years when he accompanied his parents to the United States, the family home having been estab- lished in Grand Rapids about fifty-five years ago. Here Mr. Hoekstra was reared and educated, and here he has proved himself one of the world's industrious and constructive workers. He was for many years engaged in the dairy business, and this involved work, virtually both day and night, in serving milk and other dairy products daily to the large and appreciative patronage in Grand HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 619 Rapids. Since 1912 Mr. Hoekstra has been the executive head of the Hoekstra Ice Cream Company, the business having been estab- lished in that year, and a branch factory being now maintained in the city of Holland. The present modern factory building of the company in Grand Rapids was erected in 1916, and is a substantial brick structure, situated at the corner of Eugene and Jefferson streets. The three members of the firm are represented in mem- bership in the Grand Rapids Association of Commerce and the Michigan Ice Cream Manufacturers' Association. John M. Hoek- stra married Miss Wilhelmina Brummeler, who likewise was born in Holland and who came with her parents from the Netherlands to Michigan when she was young. Agnes, elder of the two children of Mr. and Mrs. Hoekstra, is the wife of George E. Whitford, who is one of the constituent members of the Hoekstra Ice Cream Com- pany, and their children are: Russell, Wilhelmina, Eleanor and Virginia. William Martin Hoekstra, younger of the two children and now general manager of the Hoekstra Ice Cream Company, was born in Grand Rapids, September 13, 1890, and is one of the loyal and progressive young business men of his native city. His public school education was supplemented by his course in the McLaughlin Business College, and he has from his youth been continuously associated with his father in business. He is affili- ated with Valley City lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and with the local lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Both he and his father are Republicans in political alignment. Harry Dimick Jewell, former judge of the probate court of this county, has been a member of the Grand Rapids bar more than thirty years, and here his law business is now one of broad scope and representative order. Though Judge Jewell was born at Wheaton, Dupage county, Illinois, March 5, 1869, he was reared in Kent county, Michigan, where his paternal grandfather, Ebe- nezer Jewell, settled in 1856 and became one of the pioneer expo- nents of farm industry in Solon township, he having there remained on the old homestead until his death. The Jewell family was represented by members who came from England on the historic ship Mayflower and made colonial settlement in Massachusetts, representatives of the family having later been numbered among the early settlers in Connecticut. Judge Jewell is a son of Oliver P. and Hannah (Dimick) Jewell, who were natives of the state of New York and who passed the closing years of their lives in Grand Rapids, where the former died in 1898 and the latter in 1898. Oliver P. Jewell was reared and educated in the old Empire state, where in his youth he learned the printer's trade and became actively identified with the newspaper business. He was one of the organizers of the first typographical union in the state of New York, the same having been known as the “Big Six," and in this connection he was a member of the committee that prevailed upon Horace Greeley to accept the presidency of the organization. Mr. 620 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Jewell accompanied his father to Michigan in 1856, but prior to this he had been editor and publisher of the Penn Yan Gazette, at Penn Yan, New York. In Michigan he continued his association with the newspaper business, in which he was for some time associated with the Grand Rapids Eagle, but much of his activity in this state was in conection with farm enterprise in Kent county. At the time of the birth of his son, Harry D., of this review, he was en- gaged in newspaper work in Chicago, but resided at Wheaton, Illinois, where the family resided during the temporary absence from Michigan. Judge Jewell acquired his early education prin- cipally by attending the public schools of Cedar Springs, Kent county, and while assisting three years thereafter in the work of the home farm, he also found opportunity to read law, under the preceptorship of D. C. Lyle, of Cedar Springs. In 1889 he entered the University of Michigan, in which he carried forward his studies in both the academic, or literary, and the law departments, his previous study of law having so fortified him that he was able to graduate in the law department in 1891, when he received the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In the law department he completed a post-graduate course that gained to him in the following year the degree of Master of Laws, and he was admitted to the Michigan bar in 1890, while still a student in the university, he having partially defrayed his university expenses by preliminary service in the work of his chosen profession. He served as instructor in the law department of the university and was for two years assistant librarian of the university law library. His close application and exceptional practical experience in these connections enabled him to gain specially broad and accurate knowledge of the science of jurisprudence prior to his engaging in active practice. In 1892 Judge Jewell formed a partnership with Judge Reuben Hatch and engaged in the general practice of law in Grand Rapids. In the following year he was appointed registrar of the probate court of Kent county, and after four years of service in this capacity he was elected judge of the probate court, he having thereafter been three times re-elected and having resigned somewhat prior to the expi- ration of his fourth term, after an able administration of fifteen years. Judge Jewell was but twenty-seven years of age when elected to this important office, and the high estimate placed upon his administration by the bar and the voters of the county was shown in his being long retained in office. Judge Jewell later be- came one of the most influential in the establishing, in 1907, and the developing of the present admirable juvenile court of Kent county, with which he was actively associated five years and in which he still retains the deepest interest. Since 1912 Judge Jewell has been engaged in the private and general practice of his profes- sion, in which he gives special attention to and is a recognized local authority in probate work, as may well be understood. He has been actively loyal and helpful in connection with civic and general community interests, and was a member of the committee that e HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 621 framed the present city charter of Grand Rapids. He and Judge Wolcott were representatives of Kent county on the committee that did effective preliminary service in establishing the juvenile court system of Michigan; he was a member of the committee assigned to the work of unifying the probate court rules of practice in the state; and in 1902-03 he was president of the Michigan Association of probate judges. While a student in the University of Michigan, Judge Jewell became one of the founders, as well as editor, of the university daily paper, and he was one of und- ers also of the Michigan Law Journal. He was prominently con- cerned in the organization of the Young Men's Republican Club of Grand Rapids, of which he was the president in 1894-95, and he was four years president of the Lincoln Club, another strong Repub- lican organization in Grand Rapids, his service in this executive office having been in the period of 1918-22. Through these and other mediums he has done much to advance the cause of the Republican party. Judge Jewell has prevision of the great possi- bilities in the development of Michigan as one of the greatest summer resort states of the Union, and he has taken lively and helpful interest in the developments along this line and the con- servation of the natural resources of the state. He has established a 640-acre game refuge on property owned by him west of Bitely, Michigan, which will permit the increase of all kinds of game in western Newaygo and Lake counties. Incidentally it is to be noted that he is an enthusiastic member of the Izaak Walton League of America. His basic Masonic affiliation is with Doric lodge, No. 342, A. F. & A. M., and in the Scottish Rite of the time- honored fraternity he has received the thirty-second degree, besides which he is a noble of the Mystic Shrine. He is affiliated also with the Elks and the Knights of Pythias, and he and his wife hold membership in the Park Congregational church. In 1894 was solemnized the marriage of Judge Jewell to Miss Euphemia S. Smith, daughter of Rev. J. Malcom and Euphemia (Eadie) Smith, her father having been a clergyman of the Congregational church. Judge and Mrs. Jewell have three children: Roger A., Ruth (wife of Malcom H. Sherwood, of Chicago), and Robert H. Mrs. Helen Baker Rowe is a talented musician who has wielded much influence in advancing cultural interests in her native city, especially those pertaining to the “divine art” of music. As a pianist her fame is more than local, and she has appeared as accom- panist with many leading vocalists and other concert artists, the while she has gained rank as one of the leading music instructors in Grand Rapids, where she was born and where she received her early education and where she stands as a popular representative of one of the old and honored pioneer families of Kent county. Mrs. Rowe is the only child of Robert Archibald and Mary Ann (Mc- Namara) Baker, the former of whom was born in Canada and the latter in County Limerick, Ireland. Mr. Baker was a scion of a family of English origin, that was founded in New England in the 622 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY colonial period of American history, and he was a descendant of Joseph Baker, who was a patriot soldier in the war of the Revolu- tion and one of the famous "Green Mountain Boys,” the family home being in Vermont. He was a lad of fourteen years when his parents came from the Old Dominion to Michigan and established their home in Grand Rapids, where his parents continued to reside until their death and where he himself passed the remainder of his life, he having here been associated with the Berkey & Gay Furni- tur Company more than half a century and having advanced from the position of hand carver in the factory to an executive office of important order. He was one of the venerable and honored pio- neer citizens of Grand Rapids at the time of his death, in May, 1919, and while he had no desire for public office he always mani- fested deep interest in all things concerning the welfare of his home city. His wife was an infant when her parents came from Ireland to the United States and settled in Grand Rapids, where she was reared and educated and where she continued to reside until her death, January 26, 1925. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Baker was ever one of ideal relations and of gracious social atmosphere, and there their devoted interests were centered largely in their only child, Helen May, to whom they gave the best of advantages. Mrs. Helen Baker Rowe received the best of preliminary musical train- ing available in her native land and supplemented this by study under leading instructors in Germany, where she developed to a high proficiency her talent as a pianist. She has elected to make Grand Rapids the central stage of her splendid service in the advancing of musical art, and has here had much of leadership along this line. She is a past president of the St. Cecilia society, a representative musical organization in her home city, and she was the incumbent of this office at the time when the club effected the organization of a symphony Orchestra that gained high rank and that formed the nucleus of the present fine civic organization known as the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra. While she was president of the club, provision was made also for the St. Cecilia scholarship, for the benefit of talented young musicians, and the Schumann chorus, organization for women's voices was founded. Mrs. Rowe has presented to the society an individual piano schol- arship and has also given five years of effective service as president of the Morning Musicales. She has the distinction of having served as president of the Michigan Music Teachers' Association, and as delegate for the National Federation of Music Clubs, and she has been for five years the Grand Rapids correspondent of the Musical Courier, which is published in New York city and is one of the foremost of American musical journals. At the time of this writing, in 1925, Mrs. Rowe is regent of the local chapter of the Daughters of the War of 1812, and she is also a member in the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She is a past president of the Grand Rapids organization of the Alliance Francaise, and has been a valued member of the official board of HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 623 the Ladies' Literary Club. She is a life member of the McDowell League, one of the most interesting and important musical organi- zations of the United States, and is a member of the National Society for the Publication of American Music. She has given occasional service as accompanist for the Schubert Club of Grand Rapids and as assistant director of the girls' choir of St. Mark's church, Protestant Episcopal. Mrs. Rowe has been called upon to act as accompanist for many of the leading musical artists who have given recitals in Michigan, and she has wide acquaintanceship among nationally celebrated artists, from many of whom she has received autographed portraits, her collection of such photographs being now one of exceptional interest and value. In 1902 occurred the marriage of William S. Rowe and Miss Helen May Baker, Mr. Rowe having been one of the principals in the upbuilding of the great business of the Valley City Milling Company, in which he and his brother, Frederick N., were the virtual successors of their father, who was one of the founders of this important Grand Rapids industrial corporation. The death of Mr. Rowe occurred in May, 1923, and the four children remain with their mother: Helen Mary, eldest of the children, was, in 1925, a student in the Uni- versity of Wisconsin, at Madison; Celene is attending Vassar Col- lege, and Carl and Robert William are in the public schools of Grand Rapids. William McKay Northrup, M. D., has been engaged in the practice of his profession since 1894, and has specialized in internal medicine since 1911. He was one of the organizers of the Grand Rapids Clinic, with which he serves as internist, and he has served on the staffs of Butterworth, Blodgett and St. Mary's hospitals. The doctor has maintained an advanced position in his profession and has taken effective post-graduate courses in Rush Medical Col- lege, Chicago, as well as in leading medical schools, hospitals and clinics in Edinburgh, Scotland; London, England, and Breslau, Prussia. Dr. Northrup is one of the successful and represenative physicians of Grand Rapids and is well entitled to recognition in this publication. Dr. William McKay Northrup was born at Fingal, near the city of St. Thomas, province of Ontario, Canada, in December, 1866, and is the son of William and Christina (Mc- Kay) Northrup. The Northrup family came from England and settled in the state of New York. During the rebellion Dr. North- rup's grandfather, being a United-empire loyalist, moved to Canada, where William Northrup, Dr. Northrup's father, was born. He married Miss Christina McKay, whose parents were of the Scotch Highland stock, the McKay family having early been estab- lished at Woodstock, Ontario, Canada. Dr. Northrup gained most of his early education in the public schools of the county in which he lived and the high school at Sarnia, Ontario. In preparation for his chosen profession he entered the historic Trinity College, in the medical department of which he was a student three years, his final studies having been prosecuted in the medical department of 624 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Western University at London, Ontario, in which he was gradu- ated as a member of the class of 1894. After thus receiving his degree of doctor of medicine he came to Michigan and engaged in practice at Freeport, Barry county, later having been in practice at Clarksville, Ionia county, whence, in 1899, he came to Grand Rapids, in which broader and metropolitan field he has developed a large and representative practice in his special domain of internal medicine, his being also exceptional ability as a diagnostician. The doctor is a member of the Kent County Medical society, the Mich- igan State Medical society, American Medical association, and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians. He and his wife attend the Fountain Street Baptist Church. Mrs. Northrup, whose inaiden name was Harriet Salsbury, was a resident of Alto, Kent County, at the time of her marriage. Dr. and Mrs. Northrup have no children. Daniel Howard Waters. Although more than three decades have passed since Daniel Howard Waters was called to his final reward, he is remembered as one of the sterling pioneer business men of Grand Rapids who contributed much to the industrial and financial prestige of the city. He was born at West Falls, Erie county, New York, December 29, 1834, a son of Asa and Anna (Dudley) Waters, and he fully exemplified the alert and enter- prising character for which the people of the Empire state have always been noted. His educational advantages were those afford- ed by the public schools of his native county and an academy at Aurora, New York. His boyhood days were spent upon his father's farm, where he was taught the habits of industry and economy, and the discipline was a valuable one during the formative period of his life. He early began lumber manufacturing, a market being found for his product in Buffalo, and this business was continued at Grand Rapids, Michigan, to which he removed in 1856. He invested largely in pine lands, his holdings being situated in Wex- ford, Newaygo, Mason, Lake, Kent and other counties. In addi- tion, he gave considerable time to inventing; produced machines for the manufacture of bent ware, measures, salt boxes, grease and bail boxes and bent pieces for covering oil cans, and for the economical utilization of small trees, which up to that time had been considered almost unavailable. In 1869 Mr. Waters organ- ized the Michigan Barrel Company, with a capital of $300,000, to handle his devices, and he was elected president and general manager. Great prosperity attended this undertaking, the stock paying large dividends. He remained at the head of this company until 1882, and at the same time was interested in other manu- facturing enterprises which have given Grand Rapids its promi- nent position as an industrial center. From 1884 until the time of his death he gave his attention chiefly to the purchase and sale of timber lands. Mr. Waters was one of the organizers of the Old National Bank of Grand Rapids and one of its directors, and held the same position in connection with the Grand Rapids Eng by W T Bather, Bklyn NY Stuated HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 625 are: National Bank and the Michigan Trust Company. He aided in organizing the People's Savings Bank, and was one of the founders of the Peninsular Club. As a business man he was progressive, but with him progressiveness was not a synonym for rashness in speculation. He was married at Grand Rapids, Michigan, De- cember 27, 1859, to Mary, daughter of Christopher William and Mary (Hiliman) Leffingwell, and a member of an old family of Connecticut origin. She bore him a son, Dudley E., now. a success- ful business man, and two daughters. In 1894 Mr. Waters made a journey to the South for the sake of his health, and there died, at Green Cove Springs, Florida, March 17, 1894. His remains were interred in that beautiful spot, Valley City Cemetery, Grand Rapids. The Luce Furniture Shops of Grand Rapids. One of the largest and most significant industrial transactions in the history of Grand Rapids was consummated November 9, 1925, when the large facto- ries of the Luce Furniture Company and the Furniture Shops of Grand Rapids were consolidated under the name of The Luce Fur- niture Shops of Grand Rapids, bringing these two important insti- tutions under one management with a total authorized capitaliza- tion of approximately $6,000,000. Officers of the new corporation Martin J. Dregge, president; William A. Bowen, vice-presi- dent; and J. Hampton Hoult, secretary and treasurer. These men have spent their entire business careers in the furniture industry and will continue in the active management of the business. The Luce Furniture Company began its business career under the name of the McCord & Bradfield Furniture Company, in the year 1878. The corporation was organized by the late Fred R. Luce, Ransom C. Luce, Thomas McCord, John Bradfield and George Kendall. Its first factory operations were in the old factory building of the Grand Rapids Cabinet Company on Ottawa avenue. The busi- ness of the company at the beginning was confined to the manu- facture of folding tables, after a patent obtained by John Bradfield. Shortly after the manufacture of bedsteads, in ash and maple, was added and the plant of the company enlarged. This was continued for a year or more, when the company entered largely into the manufacture of medium priced furniture for the bedroom. Later the immense and modern plant on Godfrey avenue was erected and the name was changed to the Luce Furniture Com- pany. The factory since has been increased by approximately one-third its original floor space and the company has been gen- erally known as one of the largest manufacturers of exclusive bedroom and dining-room furniture in the world. In 1903 the management of the Luce Furniture Company passed to the late John Hoult, who was considered one of the ablest and most prac- tical wood-workers in this country, and under his guidance Martin J. Dregge and J. Hampton Hoult were brought up and to them has been largely responsible the success of the company during the past twenty years. The Furniture Shops of Grand Rapids 626 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY was founded in 1905 as the John D. Raab Chair Company, orig- inally manufacturing high-grade chairs under the management of John D. Raab, one of the most prominent designers of chairs in the furniture industry. The company made only the highest . grade of chairs. The present plant of the company was erected in 1913. It covers a full block and all conveniences for the eco- nomical and practical construction of furniture were embodied in the plant. In 1920 the company incorporated a complete line of living-room, library and hall furniture under the name of The Furniture Shops of Grand Rapids and is rated as among the fore- most in this line of woodworking factories. William A. Bowen has been general manager of the Furniture Shops and the success of the company is largely credited to him and his associates. Mr. Bowen for more than a quarter of a century was associated with the Phoenix Furniture Company before taking the management of the Furniture Shops. Both of the companies enjoy an enviable reputation as manufacturers of medium-priced furniture and the consolidation is looked upon with favor by the customers, who include the largest department stores and the strongest exclusive house furnishing stores in America. The products also are distrib- uted to Mexico, Cuba, Honolulu, Canada, and South America. The factory buildings have an aggregate floor space of more than eleven acres and the company's lumber yards have a capacity in excess of 7,000,000 board feet. Its dry kilns and dry storage have an inside storage capacity of 8,000,000 board feet of lumber. From one thousand to twelve hundred workmen are employed and more than a score of traveling salesmen. The policy of the companies always has been one of leadership in the industry, as is evidenced by the steady growth of the business and their status has long been one of prominence in connection with the representative industrial activities of the country. Paul J. Hake was born in the “Valley City” on July 31, 1874, the son of William and Anna Marie (Shuitler) Hake, who were among the early settlers and a sketch of whose lives appears elsewhere in this volume. Paul J. Hake, after receiving his education in the local schools, took a business course in the J. U. Leans Busi- ness College at Grand Rapids, after which he entered the Univer- sity of Notre Dame, graduating in the year 1891. Fresh with the knowledge gained from books and full of ambition he and his four brothers engaged in the manufacture of wood furniture trimmings under the name of the Hake Manufacturing Company. Upon the subject of this review fell the responsibility of keeping the factory wheels moving and as a traveling salesman he covered thirty-nine states and Canada, and well did he perform his task for when he sold out his interests in 1901, which was only ten years later, they were considered the largest manufacturers of their kind in the Middle West. Tired from these years of travel he became general bookkeeper for the Citizens Telephone Com- pany, but again in 1903 the desire to be up and doing found him HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 627 - a traveling salesman for the Voigt Milling Company, with whom he remained twelve years, rendering them faithful and valuable service and gaining for himself a complete knowledge of the mill- ing business. Thus in 1915 with the experience gained and the desire to be independently engaged he entered the flour brokerage business, but two years later he sold out. On August 7, 1917, he purchased an interest in the Rempis & Gallmeyer Foundry Com- pany, located at 524 to 540 Front avenue northwest, manufacturers of iron, brass and aluminum castings. The officers are: E. Duus, president; J. H. Rempis, vice-president; Paul J. Hake, secretary- treasurer and general manager. Under his careful supervision and executive ability the firm is enjoying a healthy growth. On June 23, 1903, Paul J. Hake was united in marriage to Abbie Berles; daughter of Franz and Regena (Green) Berles, the former of whom was born at Dolar and the latter at Schoenhauzen, West- phalen, Germany. They came to America and in the early fifties settled in Grand Rapids and here in later years they passed on to receive their just reward in the hereafter. To this happy union were born three promising sons—Paul William, age nineteen; Dob- ert Francis, seventeen, and William, eight. Paul J. Hake and family are communicants of St. Mary's Catholic Church, and though his father was a staunch Democrat, Paul J. has always been a Republican, but with no political aspirations. William Edward Vogelsang. One of the important and well- ordered business concerns of Grand Rapids is the Weidman-Vogel- sang Lumber Company, of which the vice-president and general manager is the progressive citizen and business man whose name initiates this review and who has been a resident of Grand Rapids the greater part of the time since his childhood. Mr. Vogelsang was born at Saginaw, Michigan, March 12, 1879, and is a son of William and Amelia (Steinmann) Vogelsang, the former of whom died March 18, 1923, and the latter of whom still maintains her home in Grand Rapids. William E. Vogelsang was but one year old at the time of the family removal to Grand Rapids, and he is the second in order of birth in the family of six sons: Arthur A. is secretary of the Grand Rapids Y. M. C. A.; Omar E. is an executive in the Minneapolis offices of the Coca-Cola Company; Herbert A. is with the Berkey & Gay Furniture Company, Grand Rapids; Leander A. holds a position with Walker & Company, in the city of Detroit; and Irving E. is associated with the Grand Rapids Show Case Company. The early education of William E. Vogelsang was obtained in the public schools of Grand Rapids, and while taking a course in a business college he defrayed his expenses by his service as janitor of the building. Thereafter he held various positions as bookkeeper and accountant, and for five years he held the position of assistant general auditor with the G. H. Hammond Company, which was then a prominent meat- packing concern at Hammond, Indiana. He next passed two years as financial man and assistant manager of the States restau- 628 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY rant, one of the leading concerns of its kind in the central business district of the city of Chicago, and he then returned to Grand Rapids and became an office executive and also a salesman with the Dennis Brothers Lumber Company, manufacturers of and wholesale dealers in hardwood lumber. He thereafter became a salesman for the Turtle Lake Lumber Company, of which he became manager and vice-president, an office he retained for eleven years. He was then advanced to the position of president and general manager of the company, serving in this capacity for three years, and upon selling his interest in the business he effected the organization of the Weidman-Vogelsang Lumber Company, as general manager and vice-president, of which he has been the prime force in the development of the large and prosperous busi- ness, the company being sales agents in the handling of the prod- ucts of the Weidman Lumber Company, of Trout Lake, Michigan, and the Bergland Lumber Company, of Bergland, this state. John S. Weidman, Jr., president of the company, is one of the best-known and most successful representatives of the lumber industry in Michigan, where his father was a pioneer in this field of enterprise. He is president also of the Trout Creek State Bank and the Isa- bella County Bank, of Mount Pleasant, Michigan, is a director of a bank in the city of Marquette, is president of the Weidman Timber Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and is secretary and treasurer of the Bergland Lumber Company. He was the first president of the Marquette Development Bureau. Mr. Vogelsang is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, including the Mystic Shrine, and he attends and supports the Fountain Street Baptist Church, of which his wife is an active member. He has member- ship in the Exchange Club of Grand Rapids, the Hamilton Club of Chicago, and the Milwaukee Athletic Club of Milwaukee, Wis- consin. In 1899 Mr. Vogelsang married Miss Evelyn Pauline Trebilcock, who was born at Woodstock, Ontario, Canada, a daugh- ter of James Trebilcock, who was a native of England and for many years a resident of Grand Rapids, and is now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Vogelsang have two children: Caroline Fay is the wife of Sumner A. Terry, of Detroit, and they have one child, Patricia Ann. James William is, in 1926, a student in the Central High School of Grand Rapids. Chaffee Brothers Furniture Company. The principals in this progressive and successful Grand Rapids business corporation, whose well-equipped headquarters are at the corner of Division and Oakes streets, are all native sons of Kent county and are repre- sentatives, on both the paternal and maternal sides, of sterling pioneer families of Michigan, besides which they have the honor of being scions of the tenth generation of the Chaffee family in America, the first representative of the family having come from England to this country in 1635 and having become a colonial pioneer in New England. Owen R., Burt K. and Glenn D., the constituent principals of the Chaffee Brothers Furniture Company, HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 629 were all born in the old homestead in which their maternal grand- mother passed more than seventy years of her exceptionally long life at Rockford, Kent county. They are sons of Ezra M. and Hannah (Young) Chaffee, the former of whom died at Rockford in March, 1925, at the age of eighty-one years, and the latter of whom now resides at Grand Rapids. Ezra M. Chaffee was a pioneer settler in Kent county, and the major part of his active life was spent in this county. Mrs. Hannah (Young) Chaffee is a daughter of Elihu and Rachel (Watkins) Young, the former of whom was a son of John Watkins, one of the earliest settlers in Courtland township, where he established his home in the midst of the dense forest and literally hewed out a farm from the forest wilds. Mrs. Rachel (Watkins) Young was ninety-six years of age at the time of her death, April 12, 1924, and had resided seventy-six years in the house that was the place of her death. She taught in the pioneer schools of Kent county, and in the house that was her home for three-quarters of a century had previously lived the person who was the first white teacher in the county. Of the six children of Ezra M. and Hannah (Young) Chaffee four are living—the three sons who constitute the busi- ness concern whose name appears at the head of this review, and one daughter, Mrs. T. S. Hutchings, of Hilts, California. The Chaffee Brothers were reared and educated in their native town, and the first of the brothers to engage in the furniture business was the late Guy Chaffee, who, in 1891, became associated with his maternal uncle, Robert Young, in opening a retail furniture store in Grand Rapids. He continued his connection with the business until his death, in 1913, and was succeeded by his brother, Burt K. Chaffee. In December, 1914, the brothers, Owen R. and Glenn D., became associated with their brother, Burt K., in organ- izing The Chaffee Brothers Furniture Company, and opened a retail store in the Gilbert block in Grand Rapids. All were expe- rienced in this line of enterprise, and through honorable and pro- gressive policies the business rapidly expanded in scope and import- ance, with the result that in 1925, they erected for their business the large and modern building now occupied at the corner of Division and Oakes streets. The concern is one of the largest and best equipped enterprises of its kind in the city of Grand Rapids, and its status has long been one of prominence in connec- tion with the representative commercial activities of the country. The brothers are all practical business men and have made many friends in Grand Rapids. They have made their business helpful to those in moderate circumstances, their slogan being "No pay when sick or out of work." The utmost harmony prevails in the frater- nal and business relations of the brothers, and they have enjoyed working together for the genuine success that has attended their combined efforts in the upbuilding of their present substantial business. Very Rev. Charles Edward Jackson, the dean of St. Mark's 630 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY pro-cathedral of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Grand Rapids, is giving loyal and devoted service in the parish of this pioneer mother church of western Michigan, the history of which has been replete in large and consecrated work for community welfare and for the advancing of the cause of the Divine Master, with foremost place in the upbuilding of the Protestant Episcopal church in the diocese of western Michigan. The dean of St. Mark's was born in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, April 14, 1878, and is a son of Henry and Annie Jackson, the former of whom is deceased and the latter of whom still resides in Boston. The early educa- tional advantages of Dean Jackson included those of Boston Latin School. In 1902 he was graduated in Harvard University, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He thereafter completed his course in the Episcopal Theological School at Cam- bridge, Massachusetts, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1904, which year was marked also by his ordination to the diaconate. A year later he was ordained to the priesthood. His first call was to the position of curate of the Church of the Epiphany in New York City, thereafter he served as vicar of Christ church in Newark, New Jersey, and he next became rector of the parish of St. John's church in East Boston, Massachusetts. Thereafter he was rector of the Church of the Ascension in the city of Fall River, that state, and since February, 1922, he has been the dean of St. Mark's pro-cathedral in Grand Rapids, this being the See church of the diocese of western Michigan. In his field Dean Jackson is well upholding the noble traditions and splendid constructive precedence of this old and important parish. While still a resident of his native state, Dean Jackson served as president of the Massachusetts Sunday School Association and as president of the Fall River Ministers Association. In Grand Rapids likewise he has given effective service as president of the Ministerial Association of the city. Here he has been also an active worker in the Family Service Association, president of the Rotary Club and president of Central High Parent-Teachers Asso- ciation. The parish of St. Mark's church in Grand Rapids dates its inception from the year 1836, when Michigan's second city of the present day was but a pioneer hamlet in the midst of the surrounding forests. The work of this mother parish of western Michigan thus began in the year prior to that in which Michigan was admitted to statehood, and its service has continued during the long intervening years as a potential force in spiritual, ethical and cultural growth. The first church edifice, on the site of the present pro-cathedral, was consecrated in October, 1848, by Right Rev. Samuel McCoskry, the first Episcopal bishop of Michigan. St. Mark's represented pioneer influence in higher education in western Michigan. Here it founded the first college and the first hospital, the original St. Mark's hospital having been the nucleus around which was evolved the present modern Butterworth hos- pital in Grand Rapids, and the hospital having been conducted HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 631 under the direct auspices of St. Mark's church for fully a quarter of a century. St. Mark's likewise established the first manual training school and the first social center in Grand Rapids, founded the Mothers League, and organized St. Mark's Cadets, a command that was well equipped and drilled and that functioned largely as do now the National Guard and the Boy Scouts. Major James G. McBridge, who was at the head of this military organization, was long an honored and influential citizen of Grand Rapids. With St. Mark's Cadets many young men received their early mili- tary discipline who later served with the American Expeditionary Forces in the World war. The church and the parish house of St. Mark's are open daily. St. Mark's pro-cathedral, like his- toric old Trinity Church in New York City, stands now in the center of a section given over largely to business, and in the hurry and rush of modern commercialism it represents a calm and gen- erous influence for spirituality and higher things. At Little Bost- wick lake St. Mark's maintains Camp Roger for the entertaining and training of boys in the summer vacation period, this splendid camp having been given by William H. Anderson as a permanent and fitting memorial to his son Roger, who died in boyhood. Of this camp the admirable boy choir of St. Mark's avails itself each successive season. All phases of the spiritual and community service emanate from St. Mark's as a center. Dean Jackson was married in 1909 to Mary Roberta Sparklin, of Maryland. They have three children, Nancy, Mary Louise and Frances. Albert H. Martin is president, treasurer and general manager of the Martin Stores Corporation, which conducts five retail cloth- ing and furnishing goods stores in the city of Grand Rapids and which consistently lays claim to maintaining “Michigan's largest stock of workingman's clothes,” in which line the corporation spe- cializes, and in which it controls a large and important business in Grand Rapids, as well as a substantial mail-order service that extends into the most diverse sections of the state. The general offices of this reliable and progressive business corporation are in the building at the corner of Weston and Ionia streets, and the locations of the five well-equipped stores are as here noted: Opposite the Union railroad depot, 1369 Plainfield avenue, 344 Leonard street, 239 Monroe avenue, and Monroe avenue at Cres- cent, the last named being conducted under the title of Benjamins, Incorporated. From an advertisement of the corporation are taken the following statements: “We make a real effort to supply every need of the workingman, and undoubtedly carry the largest stock of this kind in the state. And, furthermore, our prices are based on a forty-one-store buying power and quick cash turnover, which gives you the utmost money can buy.” Albert H. Martin was born in Indianapolis, the fair capital city of Indiana, December 18, 1877, and is a son of Ezra G. Martin, who there established his home in 1839 and who for many years was there professor of classical languages in what is now Butler College. In Butler 632 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY College, Albert H. Martin was graduated as a member of the class of 1895, and thereafter he was for some time associated with the Martin-Parry Company, then engaged in the manufacturing of wagons and buggies in Indianapolis. Later he became associated with Cassius D. Hauger, of Indianapolis, in founding the Martin- Hauger system of clothing stores, the enterprise having been initi- ated on a modest scale and with a partnership investment of only $1,400. With unique and effective service the business rapidly expanded in scope and importance, and eventually Mr. Hauger assumed active charge of the corporation's southern stores, while Mr. Martin became the manager of the northern stores. From the Grand Rapids headquarters Mr. Martin now has executive control and general supervision of twenty-five stores—in Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana and Missouri, and including the five stores in Grand Rapids, where the business was initiated May 1, 1910, and where the corporation now utilizes 25,000 square feet of floor space in the large building at the corner of Ionia and Weston streets. The first store was at 239 Monroe avenue, and in 1913 the business was incorporated, with conjunctive expansion of operations. In 1919 The Martin Stores Corporation bought the large business of the F. O. Lindquist clothing stores at Muskegon, Alma and Lansing, and in 1922 it assumed control also of the well-established clothing, furnishing goods and custom tailoring business of Benjamins, Incorporated, an enterprise that was found- ed in Grand Rapids fully forty years ago. It has been the policy of the Martin Stores Corporation to make judicious investment in real estate in the various cities in which it operates, and thus it owns most of the buildings in which its various stores are estab- lished. This policy is one that makes for permanency and that shows loyalty to the various communities in which business is carried on, the while it stands in significant contrast to the policy followed by most of the other important concerns conducting sys- tems of chain stores. Mr. Martin is a member of the National Retail Clothiers Association. He is valued as one of the loyal and liberal citizens and business men of Michigan's fine “Valley City," and is here a member of the Peninsular Club and the High- land Country Club. He and his wife are zealous members of the Central Church of Christ, Disciples, in which he is chairman of the executive committee, besides which he is treasurer of the Michigan state missionary society of this religious denomination. In 1907 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Martin to Miss Harriet R. Hurst, of Indianapolis, and they have two children, Harry A. and Mary K. Corda E. Beeman, M.D. Specialization is the art of this age. In practically every profession and line of business a small percent- age of those engaged abandon the attempt to become sufficiently proficient in all lines and branches to maintain a general, versatile practice or management. Through university training, post-grad- uate work and special application the subject of this record has HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 633 become particularly a specialist in diseases and surgery of the eye and an authority upon cataract surgery. Doctor Beeman was born in the state of New York on January 27, 1874, and was brought to Evart, Osceola county, Michigan, by his par- ents when a child of two years of age. He graduated from Evart High School, and then from Cleveland Homeopathic Medical Col- lege in 1903. He served an interneship at Huron St. Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, for two years, and then returned to Evart, Mich- igan, where he engaged in general practice for five years. . After securing this foundation in the general practice for special- ized work the Doctor went to India, where he took post-graduate work in cataract surgery in Dr. H. T. Holland's Eye Clinic at Shikarpur, India, in 1921-22. In 1907 Doctor Beeman located at Grand Rapids, and has here built up a very large practice, limiting his work largely to diseases and surgery of the eye and more especially cataract surgery. Doctor Beeman is a member of the Homeopathic State and National Association, Kent County, Mich- igan State and American Medical Associations. He also has taken post-graduate work at Vienna, Austria, Zurich, Switzerland, New York City at the Knapp Eye Memorial Hospital and New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, and at Chicago Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital, is a member of the American College of Surgery and is on the consulting staff in ophthalmology at Blodgett's Hospital at Grand Rapids, and is on the staff of the Blind Association. In addition to his heavy professional duties, Doctor Beeman has carried on his affiliation with the Masonic order, is a Knight Tem- plar and Shriner and is affiliated with the Westminster Presbyte- rian Church. In 1906 he married Miss Amy Hoag, of Springport, Michigan, and they are the proud parents of two children, Carl B., a junior at the Grand Rapids High School, and Adelia, a student in the East Grand Rapids High School. John P. Platte, who is now living in Grand Rapids, which city has been his home for many years, has become a successful manu- facturer of high grade umbrellas, and his interest in the now large and important business is still continued. He is likewise vice- president of the Gast Motor Sales Company, of which progressive concern specific record is given elsewhere in this publication. Mr. Platte is a native son of Michigan and a representative of one of the sterling pioneer families of this state. In 1834 Eberhardt and Theresa Platte left their old home in the province of Westphalia, Germany, and set forth to establish a new home in the United States. They found transportation on a sailing vessel of the type commonly in commission in that period, and after a stormy sea voyage of sixty days they finally arrived in the port of New York City It was theirs to endure still further trials and fatigue ere they arrived at their destination in the wilds of Michigan Territory, for they made the long and weary overland journey from the east to the territory that did not become a state until several years after their arrival within its borders. Finally they arrived in the 634 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY little pioneer village of Lyons, Ionia county, and thence they pro- ceeded in their quest for a desirable location in the midst of the surrounding forests. Mr. Platte finally selected a home site in Clinton county, where he became one of the founders of the fine little German settlement now represented in the prosperous and attractive village of Westphalia, named in honor of the old home province in Germany. On the site of this village Mr. Platte made a clearing in the forest and there erected the little log house that served as the first home of the family in Michigan. He reclaimed and developed the tract of land that he obtained from the govern- ment, and the passing years brought to him independence and prosperity, at which time he erected the first frame house in the village. He and his wife were honored pioneer citizens of Michigan at the time of their death. In this frame house at West- phalia, Clinton county, John P. Platte was born in the year 1852, and is next to the youngest of eleven children. He was nine years of age at the outbreak of the Civil war. Two of his brothers enlisted as volunteer soldiers of the Union army, and within six months after they had left home his father died. Mr. Platte attended the little log cabin school whenever opportunity was afforded, but his broader education was that gained through self- discipline and through the lessons of practical experience. In 1869, as a youth of about seventeen years, Mr. Platte came to Grand Rapids and entered upon an apprenticeship to the tinner's trade, in the Gunn hardware store, his compensation during his first year of apprenticeship being seventy-five dollars, and during the second year he received one hundred and twenty-five dollars. He became a skilled artisan at the tinner's trade, and as a journeyman he followed his trade in Detroit and also in several cities in the East. During these years of industrious application he carefully saved as much as possible of his earnings, and eventually he became identified with the manufacturing and repairing of umbrellas. He became convinced that along this line lay an opportunity for suc- cess, and he finally went to New York City to learn the business with thoroughness. In 1877 Mr. Platte returned to Grand Rapids, and there he opened a small shop in which he initiated business in the covering and repairing of umbrellas and parasols. Correct methods and effective service caused his enterprise to expand to such an extent that in 1878 he obtained larger and better quarters in the Porter building. Later he removed to the Sheppard building, and for a time he occupied quarters in the Putnam building. Eventually he returned to the Porter building, and there the sub- stantial business has been continued during the past thirty years, the enterprise having grown to one of large success and volume in the manufacturing and sale of the best grades of umbrellas. Mr. Platte has been extremely fortunate in not having met with any business reverses during his long career in the business world. Mr. Platte has made judicious investments in Grand Rapids real estate, having a rare vision which enabled him to select choice HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 635 lots, and is one of the substantial citizens who have here found ample opportunity for the achieving of worthy success and stable prosperity. His advancement has been won through his own industry and ability, and in the community that has so long repre- sented his home he has an enviable place in popular confidence and esteem. Mr. Platte married, and has three sons who are in the fullest sense upholding the honors of a family that has been worthily linked with the history of Michigan since the early pioneer era. Frederick M., eldest of the sons, is engaged in the automobile industry, being connected with Gast Motor Sales Company, and served in the United States Navy during the World war; Henry W., the second son, is in the real estate business, and served in the Eighty-fifth Division, United States Army, during the great conflict, and was overseas for two years with the American Expe- ditionary Force in France; Edward, youngest of the sons, has the active management of the umbrella manufacturing business estab- lished by his father. Stephen C. MacNeil, who was formerly vice-president and treas- urer of the C. J. Litscher Electric Company, is one of the aggressive and public-spirited young business men of Grand Rapids who has made his way to prominence and honorable prestige through his own well-directed energy and efforts. He has had such a varied business career that he frankly states it would consume too much space in this work to cover it, though he has admitted that he left home at the age of thirteen years; has worked for a Chinese laundry; shined shoes; sold newspapers; worked as bell- hoy; later as head bell-man for a large resort hotel; then as mes- senger boy in a railroad office at Grand Rapids; was promoted five times in two years; got the wanderlust and worked for five other different railroads during the next few years; then procured a position as purser on a freight and passenger boat in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. After the newness of the glorious West had worn off Mr. MacNeil returned to Chicago and took the position of chief clerk and cashier for the New York Central Railroad at the Grand Crossing station, where he remained until 1909, when he returned to Grand Rapids and for the ensuing sixteen years was in the wholesale electric and supply business in the capacity of vice-president and treasurer. He is at present forming a new electrical jobbing house in Grand Rapids, which was opened Jan- uary 1, 1926, and with his experience and his acquaintance with the trade in this field of activity, it is believed his success in this enterprise is assured. Mr. MacNeil was born at Petoskey, Mich- igan, in 1885, and is a son of John and Emma (Hatt) MacNeil, the former of whom was a native of Canada and a pioneer of northern Michigan, having settled at Petoskey, in 1873, and the latter of whom was a native of Chesaning, Michigan. The father was a contractor and builder by occupation, and the major portion of the early buildings in Bay View, Michigan, were built by him. He also built the first wharf at Petoskey for the Kirby company. 636 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY The early educational advantages of Stephen C. MacNeil were those afforded by the public and normal schools of his native town, and though experience has been his supreme teacher, he has become well informed and is a man of comprehensive knowl- edge along many lines. During the many years of his residence in Grand Rapids he has proven himself a man of sagacity and probity, and has contributed materially to the commercial prestige of the city, as well as to its civic and social affairs. He is a member of the village council of East Grand Rapids, his place of residence, and is also a member of the Grand Rapids Association of Commerce. He is a Mason, a Shriner, and an Elk, and both he and his family are members of the Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. MacNeil married Miss Anna Louise Leveck, of Petos- key, Michigan, a woman of engaging personality and a daughter of Jacob and Anna (Mosel) Leveck, who were pioneers of that community and are both now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. MacNeil have two children, Stephen Leveck and Mary Louise MacNeil. The family home is at 533 Gladstone avenue, southeast, and is a hospitable one, where their friends are always welcome. Charles C. Cargill, who is president and general manager of The Cargill Company, engravers, printers, binders and advertising counselors in the city of Grand Rapids, with a large and modern production plant at 24-32 Wealthy avenue, southwest, has been the resourceful upbuilder in this connection of one of the really great American institutions of its kind, for the business of The Cargill Company has been extended into the most diverse sections of the United States. Mr. Cargill is not only a native son of Grand Rapids and a scion of one of the honored pioneer families of this city, where his parents established their home more than seventy years ago, but his ancestral prestige is that of colonial American order, the while it is to be recorded also that the family was one of prominence in the annals of Scottish history. Rev. Donald Cargill, a clergyman of the Presbyterian church in Scot- land and a covenanter for the reformation and defense of religion in his native land, fell a victim to religious persecution in Scotland, where he was beheaded, by reason of his religious beliefs and activities, in the year 1681. It will be recalled that in Sir Walter Scott's “Sir Roland's Well” a character named Cargill is one of prominence throughout the narrative. Captain William Cargill was a native of Scotland, and as a pioneer explorer he emigrated to New Zealand, where he founded the settlement of Otago in 1848, and in his honor a monument was erected at Dunedin. Charles C. Cargill, one of the foremost business men and most loyal and progressive citizens of Grand Rapids, was born in this city at a time when it could claim but little of its present metro- politan attractions, the date of his nativity having been May 5, 1863. He is a son of Hawley N. and Frances (Kraal) Cargill, (, the former of whom was born in Cayuga county, New York, in 1830, and the latter of whom was born in Holland, she having HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 637 been a child when her parents came to the United States and numbered themselves among the pioneer Holland Dutch colonists of Michigan. Hawley Nathan Cargill was an infant when, in 1831, his parents became territorial pioneers of Michigan, the family home having been here established in the town of Plymouth, Wayne county, and he having been reared to manhood under the conditions and influences of the pioneer days. He was about twenty-four years of age when he came to Grand Rapids, in 1854, and for a time he had charge of the local steamboat freight house on Grand river. In the sixties he was here in the employ of C. C. Comstock, one of the most influential business men of that period. Mr. Cargill originated and managed the first shipment of Grand Rapids furniture by water to Chicago, the little furniture cargo having comprised twenty-four bureau wash stands of the primitive type then popular, and the same having been sold at auction in Chicago. It was this successful venture on his part that opened the furniture jobbing trade of Grand Rapids and revealed the possibilities of making Michigan's “Valley City” a center for the furniture industry, which in later years has brought to it world-wide fame. Mr. Cargill later engaged in the contracting business, of which he became a leading representative in Grand Rapids, and as a citizen his influence was ever loyal and con- structive. He was a man of fine intellectual attainments, upright and honorable in all of the relations of life, and he and his wife were venerable and loved pioneer citizens of Grand Rapids at the time of their death. To the public schools of Grand Rapids, Charles C. Cargill is indebted for his early educational discipline, which has been effectively supplemented by the associations and expe- riences of a signally active and successful business career. In 1884, about the time of attaining to his legal majority, Mr. Cargill found employment as bookkeeper and general clerk in one of the then great lumber camps of northern Michigan, and event- ually he was made superintendent of a logging railroad. In 1894 he became an active executive of The Cargill Company, which succeeded the Grand Rapids Engraving Company, the latter hav- ing been founded in 1881 by Frank K. Cargill, a brother of Charles C., in partnership with William A. Reed, the latter of whom shortly afterward sold his interest to his associate. Frank K. Cargill thereafter conducted the enterprise in an individual way until 1892, when the business was incorporated under the present title of The Cargill Company and he became president of the new corporation. In 1902, when the capital stock of the company was largely augmented to meet the demands of the constantly expanding business, the officers of the company were as here noted: Frank K. Cargill, president; George T. Cargill, vice-presi- dent; and Charles C. Cargill, secretary and treasurer. In 1903 the company erected its present substantial and modern building, which affords a floor area of 50,000 square feet and the equipment of which, in all departments, is of the best modern standard. 638 Orivi X HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY This company has pioneer precedence among similar concerns in the field of direct advertising, through the medium of which its business has been extended into all parts of the United States. The model production plant of the company has the most approved facilities for the execution of the finest grade of engraving by the various processes, as well as in the designing and originating of special engraving, and equally well ordered are the large print- ing and binding departments. In the year 1925 the operations of The Cargill Company were based on a capital stock of $210,000, and the personnel of the official corps was as follows: Charles C. Cargill , president and general manager; John F. Murphy, vice- president; William J. Johnson, secretary and treasurer. Charles C. Cargill has used his powers in the developing of an important industrial and commercial enterprise that has contributed much to the prestige of his native city, and here he has earned an inviolable place in popular confidence and esteem. He is a mem- ber of the American Photo-Engravers Association, the United Typothetae of America, the Grand Rapids Association of Com- merce, the Peninsular Club and the Highland Country Club. In the Masonic fraternity he has received the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite and is also a noble of the Mystic Shrine. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party and he and his wife are zealous communicants of Grace church, Protestant Episcopal, he having been for many years a member of the vestry of this parish. On the 12th of April, 1888, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Cargill to Miss Ida May Hubbard, of Georgetown, Ottawa county, Michigan, and they have three children: M. Frances, the only daughter, is the wife of Leeman O. Lindsley, who is associated with The Cargill Company; Charles Roger, the elder son, was a lieutenant in the nation's army air service in the World war period, and is also associated with The Cargill Company; Richard Irving, who is now in business at Elkhart, Indiana, had the distinction of serving on the staff of General Pershing while the latter was commander-in-chief of the American Expeditionary Force in the World war. Benjamin P. Merrick, of the law firm of Travis, Merrick, War- ner & Johnson, 1004-1009 Michigan Trust building, Grand Rapids, is one of the leading attorneys of that city, where he has practiced law for more than twenty years. He was born in Holyoke, Massa- chusetts, March 19, 1877, the youngest of six children born to his parents, Timothy and Sarah (Congdon) Merrick, the former of whom was born in Connecticut, December 2, 1823, and the latter of whom was born in June, 1834, dying in 1883. Timothy Merrick moved to Holyoke, Massachusetts, in 1865, where he engaged in the manufacture of spool cotton, the firm being known as the Merrick Thread Company. He operated this business until his death, which occurred March 19, 1894, after which the company became a subsidiary of the American Thread Company. He was a prominent business man of the town in which he lived and HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 639 attained success. Benjamin P. Merrick attended the graded and high schools of his native city and then prepared for college at the Boston Latin School. He then matriculated at Harvard Col- lege, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1899. He elected to study law and in 1903 took his degree of Bachelor of Laws at the Harvard Law School, being admitted to the Massa- chusetts bar in the same year. In the fall of that same year, he came to Grand Rapids where he entered practice with the law firm of Bundy & Travis. In 1904 he was made junior partner in the firm, which then adopted the name of Bundy, Travis & Mer- rick. He has since continued with that firm, which now bears the name of Travis, Merrick, Warner & Johnson. It is one of the leading law firms of Grand Rapids and has built up a large practice. Mr. Merrick is not only one of the most successful and best-known lawyers in the city, but he has also been active in social welfare work, in which he has been one of the moving figures for many years. From 1913 to 1922, he was president of the Social Welfare Association. He was instrumental in the or- ganization of the Federation of Social Agencies in 1917, and for his work in this connection, he was elected president of the feder- ation in February of that year, serving in that capacity until 1921. Mr. Merrick has also served as chairman of the Home Service section of the Grand Rapids Chapter of the American Red Cross and is now a director of the Grand Rapids Welfare Union, the successor to the Federation of Social Agencies. He is second vice-president and a trustee of Butterworth Hospital. For several years he has been a member of the executive committee of the Michigan State Conference of Social Work and in 1916 was elected president of that body. In 1916, he was appointed by the governor as chairman of the state commission created by the legislature to investigate and report on public outdoor relief work being carried on in the state. He assisted in the drafting and procuring the adoption of provisions for the Grand Rapids city charter relative to public welfare. On October 26, 1918, Mr. Merrick married Roberta Mann, of Muskegon, Michigan, and to them have been born two daughters—Elizabeth Louise, who was born August 24, 1919, and Eleanor Congdon, born October 19, 1924. Mr. Merrick is held in high esteem by the members of the legal profession for his integrity and ability as a lawyer and by the people of the city at large for the public-spirited manner in which he has given time and energy to the promotion of social welfare work in their city. Julius Houseman Amberg, an active young attorney of Grand Rapids, is a descendant of pioneer settlers of the city, his family history recording the presence of one of his grandfathers in Grand Rapids in the days before Michigan was admitted to the Union, and both sides of the house are closely linked with the development of the city since that time. His maternal great-grandfather, Maxim Ringuette, a shoemaker of French-Canadian origin, came to Detroit on foot in 1834. There he bought a horse and rode to Ionia where 640 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY ernor. he traded the animal for a canoe in which he came to Grand Rapids. He was the first shoemaker to locate in the settlement, which at that time comprised only a few white families and several hundred Indians. Julius Houseman, the maternal grandfather of our sub- ject, was born in Zeckendorf, Bavaria, Germany, December 8, 1832, and received a common school and commercial education in Mu- nich. In 1848 he emigrated to the United States and settled at Grand Rapids in 1851. Thereafter until 1876, he engaged in mer- cantile pursuits in that city and then became interested in timber lands. His integrity and popularity were such that he was elected alderman, serving eight years in that capacity. He was then elected mayor of Grand Rapids for two terms. The people of his district then sent him to the state legislature in 1871 and 1872, and in 1876 he was the Democratic candidate for lieutenant-gov- He was elected to Congress in 1882 on the Union ticket, receiving 16,725 votes as against 16,609 votes cast for the Repub- lican candidate, William O. Webster, and 336 for William H. Taylor, the Greenback candidate. His daughter, Hattie Houseman, married David M. Amberg, a native of Middletown, Ohio, who came to Grand Rapids in 1868 at the age of twenty years. Mr. and Mrs. Amberg were the parents of four children, Melvin, Sophie, Hazel, and Julius H., the subject of this review. Julius Houseman Amberg was born in Grand Rapids, February 27, 1890. He at- tended the Wealthy Street Grammar School and then the Central High School, being graduated from the latter in 1908. He then matriculated at Colgate university from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1912. During the four years spent at this university he was editor-in-chief of the college annual and the college weekly paper; he was winner of prizes in Latin and English and lead the debating team; he was a mem- ber of Skull and Scroll, Phi Beta Kappa, and Delta Sigma Rho honorary fraternities, and he was graduated first in his class. He is a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity, Colgate Chapter. In 1912 he entered the Harvard Law School and was graduated therefrom in 1915. He was note editor of the Harvard Law Review, winner of the Sears prize for foremost scholarship in 1913 and 1914, and secured the Fay diploma in 1915 as a mark of the highest position in the class. Following his graduation from Harvard, he returned to Grand Rapids and became a clerk in the office of Butterfield & Keeney on September 1. He was ad- mitted to the bar on October 15 and was taken into partnership September 1, 1916, the firm later adopting the name of Butterfield, Keeney & Amberg. In 1917 he was called to the office of the Secretary of War to perform legal work in connection with labor disputes, being the author of the War Department pamphlet on enforcement of the eight-hour law in government contracts. Later in the war Mr. Amberg entered the United States Navy as a sea- man, second class, at Great Lakes, Illinois, but the war ended before he was sent over seas. Mr. Amberg was married October HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 641 10, 1916, to Callie S. Smith, the daughter of Eugene and Ella (Sutherland) Smith, of DePere, Wisconsin, and to Mr. and Mrs. Amberg have been born a daughter, Mary Sutherland, October 10, 1917; a son, David M., January 31, 1920, and a daughter, Hazel Fe- lice, April 18, 1925. Mr. Amberg is a member of the Doric Lodge of Masons, the Harvard chapter of Acacia, the I. O. B. B., Kent Country Club and the University and Triangle Clubs. He has served as president of the Grand Rapids Anti-Tuberculosis Society, and in the Grand Rapids chapter of the American Red Cross; has been a director, member of the executive board, secretary of the Civilian Relief Committee and chairman of the speakers' com- mittee during the war campaigns. He is a director of the Social Welfare Association and has been a director in the Big Brother movement. He was also chairman of the advisory board of the Grand Rapids Federation of Social Agencies, and became president of that federation in 1920 and continued as its president during its reorganization into the present Grand Rapids Welfare Union of which he was president until 1925. He is also a trustee of Butter- worth Hospital, the Grand Rapids Bar Association, and the Grand Rapids Foundation. Mr. Amberg has taken part in many import- ant cases in the Michigan and Federal courts and is the author of an article entitled “Retroactive Excise Taxation” printed in the Harvard Law Review in 1923. He is president of the Foster Welfare Foundation, organized under the will of Clara J. Foster. Oscar E. Kilstrom, who is engaged in business as one of the representative morticians and funeral directors in his native city of Grand Rapids, with a well-ordered establishment of the best modern facilities and service, at 511 Union avenue, southeast, is also one of the city's loyal, progressive and popular municipal officers, he being city commissioner from the Third ward. Mr. Kilstrom was born in Grand Rapids, March 26, 1874, and is a son of Emil and Christine (Johnson) Kilstrom, both of whom were born and reared in Sweden, whence the former came to the United States in 1868 and the latter in 1870. Emil Kilstrom in the earlier period of his residence in Grand Rapids was in the employ of the Berkey & Gay Furniture Company, and from 1884 until his death, January 19, 1912, he was engaged in the coal and wood business. His widow died the following December 25, 1912, the subject of this review being the only son in a family of six children, and the daughters being Mrs. Ellen S. Hansen, of Grand Rapids; Mrs. Anna M. Titus, of Yreka, California ; Mrs. Jennie A. Hice, of Indianapolis, Indiana; and Mrs. Amanda M. Ford, of Kansas City, Missouri. - After completing his studies in high school Oscar E. Kilstrom took a course in the Grand Rapids Business University, in which he was graduated in the year 1891. Within a short time thereafter he assumed a position in the city tax office, with the affairs of which department he continued his association five years. He has been retained in public service in his native city during the intervening period and his official 642 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 2 record covers an interval of fully twenty years. After his service in the Spanish-American war he was, in 1899, appointed deputy city treasurer, under Marcus A. Frost. In 1903 he was elected city treasurer, this having been the first election held in Grand Rapids after the adoption of the primary election law. His able and loyal administration of the fiscal affairs of the city continued eight years, and since his retirement from the office he has been successfully engaged in business as a mortician and funeral di- rector. He is serving, in 1925, his second term as city commissioner of the Third ward. From a recent newspaper article is taken the following pertinent extract “Commissioner Kilstrom has con- tinued to demonstrate his fitness for office, based upon twenty years of active public service. His knowledge of the city and its needs makes him a most valuable member of the commission." Mr. Kilstrom was a member of the commission that framed the present city charter, was for six years a member of the board of managers of the Michigan Soldiers' Home at Grand Rapids, and in the World war period he served as a member of the governmental board of appeals for Kent county. He enlisted October 5, 1891, in Company I, Second Infantry, M. S. T., which was the famous Custer Guard, known as one of the best-drilled organizations in the United States. In the Spanish-American war, this company became Company E, Thirty-second Michigan Volun- teer Infantry, and after the war Company H, Thirty-second Mich- igan Infantry. During the Spanish-American war, Mr. Kilstrom . was a sergeant of Company E, Thirty-second Michigan Volunteer Infantry, with which command he served until the close of the conflict. After the war he was promoted to first lieutenant and served seven years as such, and he later won advancement to the rank of captain, from which he was eventually promoted major on the staff of Brigadier General Perley L. Abbey. He retired from the National Guard in 1914, after twenty-two and one-half years of military service. He was commander of the Department of Michigan of the United Spanish War Veterans in 1914, and in 1917 he had the distinction of serving as junior vice-commander- in-chief of the national organization of veterans of the Spanish- American war. He was a charter member, and helped to institute Guy V. Henry Camp No. 3, United War Veterans. He is past chancellor of Grand Rapids Lodge No. 2, Knights of Pythias, is a Knight Templar and a Shriner, his basic Masonic affiliation being with Doric Lodge No. 342, F. & A. M., and he is affiliated also with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of the Maccabees, and the Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. Kilstrom is a Republican in politics, and is a communicant of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in which he has served as both trustee and treasurer. He is a member of the local Kiwanis Club, the Masonic Country Club, and the Cascade Country Club. In 1899 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Kilstrom to Miss Annie P. L. Hatch, and the gracious companionship was severed when 4 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 643 Mrs. Kilstrom passed to the life eternal, October 23, 1924. Mrs. Kilstrom was born and reared in Grand Rapids, as were also her parents, Ira C. and Addie Portia (Warrell) Hatch, representatives of honored pioneer families of this city. Of the two children of Mr. and Mrs. Kilstrom the elder is Adelaide P., who is, in 1924, a student in the University of Wisconsin, at Madison, and the younger is Frances C., who is a student in the Michigan State Normal College, at Ypsilanti. Wencel L. Cukerski, former superintendent of the park system of the city of Grand Rapids, is known for his exceptional talent and skill as a landscape gardener and horticulturist, and since his retirement from the important municipal office just mentioned, he has given his attention primarily to his prosperous business enter- prise, conducted under the title of the Grand Rapids Floral Com- pany. His administration as superintendent of the parks of Grand Rapids covered a period of slightly more than twenty-five years, and in connection with his relinquishment of the position a local newspaper, under date of November 20, 1908, gave the following appreciative estimate and tribute: “When Wencel L. Cukerski retires from the office of superintendent of parks he will leave behind him visible proof of the effectiveness of his labors in the service of the city. The parks, in their beauty, stand as monu- ments to his artistic skill as a landscape gardener and to his ability to accomplish large results with a comparatively small financial outlay. Eighteen years ago, when Mr. Cukerski became connected with the city parks, Grand Rapids had little cause to be proud of its park system. Today the praises and delighted exclamations of outside visitors to the parks, and especially the John Ball park, are sweet music in the ears of Grand Rapids citizens. Travelers who have journeyed far are quick to admit that in John Ball Park this city has one of the most charming parks on either side of the Atlantic. Much of the credit for this gratifying condition is due to the skill, good taste and wise direction of Mr. Cukerski. With rare sound sense, he has not sought to replace the beauties of nature, but rather to preserve and embellish them. Mr. Cuker- ski has rendered a notable service to Grand Rapids, and he retires from office with a record of which he may well feel proud.” Mr. Cukerski was born in the historic old city of Posen, Poland, Sep- tember 14, 1869, and is a son of Michael and Caroline (Pawloski) Cukerski, who passed their entire lives in German Poland. Michael Cukerski was an able landscape gardener and for many years had charge of the gardening on a fine estate of 40,000 acres, of which 30,000 acres were available for cultivation and the remainder covered with heavy timber. In his native land Wencel L. Cuker- ski attended the Catholic parochial school of the church in which his parents were communicants, and there he continued his studies until he was fourteen years of age. He has ever manifested a deep appreciation of the excellent discipline and training that he thereafter received in landscape gardening under the able and 644 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY punctilious direction of his father, and he early manifested distinct talent in this line of work. He later attended Enfurth College, one of the largest agricultural institutions of Germany, and there he admirably fortified himself in all scientific and practical details of floriculture and landscape gardening. After leaving college he served as assistant to one of the foremost landscape gardeners in the city of Berlin, and in 1890, about the time of attaining to his legal majority, he came to the United States and established his residence in Grand Rapids. Here he was in the employ of Henry Smith until 1892, and to gain a better knowledge of the English language and to fit himself more fully for business affairs, he took a course in a leading commercial college in Grand Rapids. In 1892 he was engaged as a landscape engineer in connection with the public parks of the city, and recognition of his ability and his loyalty came when he was made superintendent of the city park system, a position in which he continued his service until 1909 and in which he achieved a splendid work that shall ever be of cumulative value to the city and remain a perpetual reminder of his talent and constructive service, besides which his admin- istration in this office gained him professional fame that far trans- cends mere local limitations. It was upon his retirement from this municipal service that Mr. Cukerski established himself in independent business as a florist, and he has made the Grand Rapids Floral Company one of the most successful concerns of its kind in this section of Michigan. As a consulting landscape gardener and architect, Mr. Cukerski finds much requisition for his advise and service, and such service he continues to render in connection with the improving and maintenance of public parks and boulevards, public and private institutions, cemeteries, real estate dealers, railroad corporations and owners of city and sub- urban homes. Mr. Cukerski was called into service as landscape engineer of the Michigan state park system, during the period of 1920-22, and within this interval he laid out 10,000 acres in parks. He has had supervision of park platting and development in numer- ous Michigan cities, including Ludington, Muskegon, Cadillac, and Holland. In passing the civil-service examination for landscape engineer Mr. Cukerski gained rank as thirteenth of all who took the examination throughout the United States, and he was noti- fied to report for government work, but he had to refuse this by reason of the important Michigan state work he had in line at the time. He is affiliated with the Elks, is a member of the Lions Club, and he and his family are communicants of the Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart. February 6, 1894, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Helen Poposki, who was born and reared in Grand Rapids and whose parents, Andrew and Catherine Poposki, were born in Poland. Mr. and Mrs. Cukerski have three children: Florence (Mrs. Stanley Gogulski), Josephine and Katherine. Fred C. Temple. For nearly half a century Fred C. Temple has been a potent factor in the legal profession of Grand Rapids, HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 645 and no lawyer of this city has made a more lasting impression for both professional ability of a high order and for the individuality of a genial personal character. As an advocate his ability has been demonstrated repeatedly and in the practice of his profession his course has been marked by inflexible integrity and honor. He was born in Grand Rapids, September 3, 1857, a son of Henry and Mary (Belknap) Temple, the former of whom was a native of England and the latter of whom was born in the state of New York. Henry Temple immigrated from England to Cattaraugus county, New York, when a young man and later came to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he married and afterward resided until his death. He is remembered as one of the sterling pioneer busi- ness men of this city who contributed much to its growth and development, and who was numbered among the highly esteemed citizens of the community. His widow survived him until June, 1925, dying at the venerable age of ninety years. Fred C. Temple has been a resident of Grand Rapids all his life and he has never lost an opportunity to do what he could for the advancement of the best interests of his native city. His educational advantages were those afforded by the grammar and high schools of Grand Rapids, and his interests have always been centered in this city. Having early determined upon the legal profession as a life work, he entered the law office of Grove & Thompson, where he fitted himself for his chosen profession. He was admitted to the bar in 1881 and practiced alone for three years, establishing himself in practice in the same office which he now occupies. In 1884 he formed a copartnership with George W. Thompson under the firm name of Thompson & Temple and this alliance continued until Mr. Thompson's death in 1921. Since the latter date Mr. Temple has been practicing alone. His high standing at the bar is firmly assured, and as a conscientious and profound counselor, his services are ever eagerly utilized. Both thorough and practical, he is admirably equipped to take the leading part in all matters in which he is interested, and as a man of earnest purpose and pro- gressive principles, he has wielded definite and benignant influence both as a citizen and as a man of splendid professional ability. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Knights of Pythias, I. O. R. M., D. O. K. K., Woodmen, I. O. O. F. and A. E. U., and is prominent in both social and professional circles. Mr. Temple was married May 14, 1895, to Miss L. Almedia Wright, of Oneida town- ship, Eaton county, Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Temple have had no children born to them, but they adopted two infants—Georgiana, who died at the age of four years, and Bessie L., who is the wife of John C. Miller, of Grand Rapids. William B. Banks. Upon the shoulders of William B. Banks has rested the responsibility of management of the Hart Mirror Plate Works, of Grand Rapids, since 1916, and that the company has enjoyed continued success since that time is proof positive that he fully merits the name given him in Grand Rapids of being 646 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY one of the city's ablest business men. William Banks is of Eng- lish descent, his great-grandfather, John Banks, coming with his wife, Muria Nauton, from England to settle in Richmond, Vir- ginia. Grandfather Bartholomew settled in Marshall, Michigan, in the early days around 1830. John Banks, father of William, was a native of Marshall and engaged in railroading during his entire life. He came to Grand Rapids, where he was in the employ of the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad. He married Caroline V. Roberts, of Canastota, New York, and to them on February 28, 1878, was born a son whom they named William B. William Banks attended the public schools of Grand Rapids, entering the high school in that city from which he was graduated in due course in 1897. For two years thereafter he worked in the offices of the railroad company at Grand Rapids. He began his con- nection with the Hart Mirror Plate Company in 1900 as stock and order clerk. His faithfulness to duty and the characteristic energy with which he applied himself to his work soon attracted the attention of his superiors and he was steadily advanced through the various departments of the company until, in 1916, he became secretary and treasurer and general manager after the death of Joseph S. Hart. The Hart Mirror Plate Works was incorporated in 1899 with George G. Heye as president and Joseph S. Hart as secretary and treasurer, the original plant being located on the same site at 101 Front street, southwest, that is occupied by the present factory. Mr. Hart continued as secretary-treasurer and general manager until his death, in 1916, at which time Mr. Heye retired and was succeeded by Mrs. Rose S. Hart. Mr. Banks, through his connection with the company, has gained an enviable reputation in the manufacturing circles of Grand Rapids, where he is recognized as one of the ablest men and most influential citizens of which the city can boast. The business of the company is steadily growing under his efficient management and at the present time the firm is ranked as one of the substantial enter- prises of the city. Mr. Banks married Marion, the daughter of John Savage, of Grand Rapids. Paul A. Mastenbrook, executive head of the firm of Paul A. Mastenbrook Company, general contractors, with offices in the Michigan Trust Building, is one of the enterprising and public- spirited young men of Grand Rapids who has made his way to prominence and honorable prestige through his own well-directed energy and efforts. He was born at Grand Haven, Michigan, August 17, 1887, and obtained his education in the grammar and high schools of that place, graduating from the latter with the class of 1905. He began his business career with the firm of Williamson & Crow, architects, with whom he later became an associate member. This alliance proved most valuable, and was destined to have important influence in directing his subsequent activities. He later became associated with the Owens-Ames- Kimball Company, one of the largest concerns in construction work HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 647 in the city of Grand Rapids, and he was identified with this con- cern for five years. In 1919 he embarked in business for himself and has since conducted a business in an individual way. He has built up a large and remunerative business in Grand Rapids and the surrounding country and is recognized as one of the leading contractors of this community. Besides his business connections Mr. Mastenbrook is also loyal and public-spirited in his civic atti- tude, and gives generously of his time and means to all measures tending to the public good. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, and a member of the Grand Rapids Association of Commerce, Grand Rapids Engineering Society, Lions Club and the Masonic Country Club. He is also secretary and treasurer of the Schubert Club and a member of the Grand Rapids Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Mr. Mastenbrook was married October 5, 1916, to Miss Velma F. Saunders, of Grand Rapids, and they have two children, John F. and Mary Elizabeth. Robert W. Irwin, president of the furniture manufacturing company which bears his name, comes of a pioneer family of Huron county, Michigan. His father, also Robert W. Irwin, came from Canada and became one of the first settlers of that county, where he operated a general store. He was one of the organizers of the county and after its erection by the state legislature was elected the first county clerk and register of deeds. In 1861, Huron county was swept by forest fires and Robert Irwin at the risk of his life saved the county records, which would otherwise have been lost to future generations. He married Elizabeth Winsor, who was also a native of Canada. Robert W. Irwin, the son of Robert W. and Elizabeth (Winsor) Irwin, came to Grand Rapids in 1889 to take a position with the Grand Rapids School Furniture Company. In 1900 he acquired a controlling interest in the Royal Furniture Company with a Mr. Hompe. This joint control of the company continued until 1911, when Mr. Irwin purchased the controlling interest. During these years, the development of the company and its steady growth in volume of business was due principally to him, and his name began to figure prominently in furniture manufacturing in Grand Rapids. In the same year in which he gained the controlling interest in the Royal Furniture Company, Mr. Irwin and business associates acquired the Phoenix Furniture Company, which had been organized in 1873 and was one of the flourishing concerns of its kind in Grand Rapids. The controlling interest in that company was secured by Mr. Irwin in 1919. The following year he consolidated the two plants under the name of the Robert W. Irwin Company, although he maintains the identity of the two older concerns. Mr. Irwin became presi- dent of the new corporation; Earle S. Irwin, vice-president; J. Stewart Clingman, secretary; and J. Frederick Lyon, treasurer. The offices of the company are maintained in the plant of the Phoenix company. Mr. Irwin is one of the leading figures in furniture manufacturing of Grand Rapids, where his company is 648 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY recognized as one of the substantial and thriving concerns of its kind. David S. Brown, who has been president of the Century Furni- ture Company, of Grand Rapids, since its incorporation in 1905, heads one of the large and thriving manufacturing concerns of the city, rising to that position through years of conscientious effort and work in the furniture business. He was born in Grand Rapids in 1869, the son of William Alfred and Jeannette (Urquart) Brown, the former a native of Warwick, England, and the latter of Nova Scotia. William Alfred Brown came to Boston, Massachusetts, and in 1865 to Grand Rapids, where he opened the first plumbing shop in the city. David S. Brown attended the public schools until he reached his twelfth year, when he found employment with a Mr. Clark, a manufacturer of pumps, whose shop was located in a basement of a building opposite the present site of the county jail. At that time, C. O. and Z. E. Allen were manufacturing carpet sweepers, and young David soon went to work for them. The Bissell Carpet Sweeper Company was then in its infancy, but David Brown, with that foresight which has led him to suc- cess, sought and found employment with that concern after a short time. While working with that concern, he realized the future in the furniture manufacturing business, and with this thought in mind, he entered the employ of the Radcliff & Holt Company. Mr. Brown was then but seventeen years of age. Be- ginning with the learning of the upholstering trade, he progressed through the successive steps of the furniture trade until in 1898 he went into the repair business for himself, his shop being located on Division street. During the next two years he continued in that work, but at the expiration of that time through the efforts of Julius Berkey he formed a partnership with J. C. Rickenbaugh for the manufacture of furniture. On the death of Mr. Ricken- baugh, in 1905, the business was incorporated under the same name with David S. Brown president, and David H. Brown secre- tary and treasurer. Though the company began its operations in a small way, it now occupies a large plant located on Logan street. (A more detailed statement of the company will be found in the biographical sketch of David H. Brown.) Mr. Brown, through his connection with the Century Furniture Company, has gained a place of prominence in manufacturing circles of Grand Rapids, where he is looked upon as one of the able executives and influential business men in a city noted for the quality of the furniture manufactured there. In 1902, he married Alice Nash, the daughter of Homer and Lucy Nash, of Grand Rapids. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have one daughter, Marian, who is the wife of Chester F. Idema. Mr. Brown is a member of the Grand Rapids Furniture Association, the Highland Golf and Kent Country Clubs, and of the Westminster Presbyterian Church. Christopher William Leffingwell. The late General Christopher W. Leffingwell was a territorial pioneer in Michigan and in his HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 649 character and distinguished services and achievements he left an enduring and worthy impress upon the history of this common- wealth. General Leffingwell was born in Albany, New York, September 9, 1808, and in his youth he received good educational advantages, as was shown in his subsequent record of success as a teacher in various schools. From the old Empire state he went to Ohio, where he studied law and was in due course admitted to the bar. It was from the Buckeye state that he came to Michigan in about 1849, and he made settlement at DeWitt, Clinton county, a pioneer community of no minor importance at that time. He con- tinued in the practice of law in Clinton county until 1855, when he removed to Grand Rapids, which was then a mere village but which had gained its first city charter in 1850. He was one of the leading members of the Grand Rapids bar at the inception of the Civil war, was for some time here associated in practice with Lucius Patterson, and in 1856. he was chosen city attorney, besides which he was among those who early served her in the office of justice of the peace. Although he was more than fifty years of age when the Civil war was precipitated on the nation, he entered with characteristic loyalty and vigor into the military preparations that were being carried forward in Michigan, and in addition to serving on the military staff of Hon. Austin Blair, the war governor of Michigan, he enlisted in a Michigan regiment and with the same saw active service at the front. After victory had crowned the Union arms, General Leffingwell was assigned to supervision of government property in the southern states, but in 1866 he returned to Kent county, Michigan, and settled on a farm in Grand Rapids township. There he remained until the . early part of 1871, when he removed to Illinois, where, at Rock Island and Hovey, he passed the few remaining months of his noble and earnest life, his death having occurred July 17, 1871. His daughter Mary became the wife of Daniel H. Waters, who was long one of the honored and influential citizens of Grand Rapids and of whom specific mention is made elsewhere in this work, in the record of the career of his only son, Dudley E. Waters. He was quartermaster general with rank of colonel. He went with his regiment to Washington, D. C., and engaged in the follow- ing battles: Bull Run, Williamsburg, Virginia, Seven Pines, Fair Oaks, Antietam and Fredericksburg. He was breveted brigadier general of volunteers at Lookout Mountain and served until March, 1866. Edward J. Clark has standing as one of the substantial and progressive business men of his native city of Grand Rapids, where he is president of the W. B. Chalmers Company, one of the well- ordered and important contracting concerns of this section of the state, and vice-president of the Michigan Hardware Company, besides which he is president of the Zoerman & Clark Manufac- turing Company, of Chicago, a concern engaged in the manufac- turing of threading tools. Mr. Clark was born in Grand Rapids, 650 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY June 11, 1886, and is a representative, in the third generation, of one of the honored pioneer families of Kent county. He is a son of Melvin J. and Emily (Jewell) Clark, of whose three children he was the second in order of birth, the youngest of the number being Melvin Jewell Clark, and the one daughter, Marguerite, being the wife of Edmund W. Wurzburg, of Grand Rapids. Mel- vin J. Clark was born in the province of Ontario, Canada, in 1835, and was eight years of age when his parents came to Kent county, Michigan, and settled on a pioneer farm in Cannon township, his parents having here passed the remainder of their lives and his father having done much to advance the earlier civic and indus- trial development and progress of this now favored section of the Wolverine state. Melvin J. Clark was reared and educated in Kent county and eventually became one of the prominent busi- ness men and influential citizens of Grand Rapids, his business and capitalistic interests having been of broad scope and large importance. He became associated with his brother, I. M. Clark, in the wholesale grocery business that was here conducted under the title of I. M. Clark & Company and which became one of the leading concerns of this kind in Grand Rapids, with a trade extending through many Michigan counties. This firm eventually was merged into the Clark-Jewell-Wells Company, which contin- ued one of the foremost concerns in its field of operations until 1896, when it closed its business. Mr. Clark was prominently iden- tified with the establishment of the wholesale hardware house of the Clark-Rutka-Weaver Company, the title of which later became the Clark-Weaver Company. Mr. Clark became prominently in- terested also in lumbering enterprise in the west and also in mining operations in Minnesota. He was president of the Grand Rapids Timber Company, with large holdings in Washington and Oregon; and was president also of the Clark-Sligh Timber Company and of the Clark-Nickerson Timber Company, of Everett, Washington, besides which he was a director of the Grand Rapids National Bank. Mr. Clark became widely known as a substantial capitalist and representative business man, but in his home city and county he will be best remembered for his civic liberality, his generosity and his manifold acts of charity, benevolence and practical philan- thropy. He was the donor of the beautiful Clark Memorial Meth- odist Episcopal Church, on Sherman street, Grand Rapids, and also of the Clark Memorial Home, generously provided and en- dowed by him for the use of superannuated clergymen of the Methodist Episcopal church and for their widows. His was a noble conception of personal stewardship, and he appreciated to the full the duties and responsibilities that individual success brings. Thus he expressed his stewardship in liberal support of charitable and benevolent agencies, and marked the passing years with kindliness and helpfulness that shall long cause his memory to be revered. Mr. Clark died November 23, 1909, and his wife is now living in Grand Rapids. Edward J. Clark duly profited HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 651 by the advantages of the excellent public schools of Grand Rapids, and as a youth he became actively associated with the wholesale hardware business of which his father was the executive head. In his integrity of purpose, his initiative and executive ability as a business man, and his loyalty and progressiveness as a citizen he has proved a worthy successor of his honored father, and is one of the representative business men of the younger generation in Michigan's fair “Valley City.” Mr. Clark gained intimate knowl- edge of all details of the wholesale hardware business, and event- ually became one of the organizers of the Michigan Hardware Company, which succeeded the Clark-Weaver Company and of which he is now the vice-president. He organized the W. B. Chalmers Company, of which he is president and which under his careful and progressive policies has gained high standing and reputation, especially in connection with its admirable work in street improvement service in Grand Rapids, where it has suc- cessfully handled large contracts along this line. Mr. Clark has other large capitalistic and business interests, the more important of which have already been mentioned in this review. He is an active member of the National Asphalt Association, is a Repub- lican in political alignment, and he and his wife are communicants of the parish of Grace church, Protestant Episcopal. His basic Masonic affiliation is with Malta Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and he has membership in the various other Masonic bodies in his home city, including those of the Scottish Rite, besides which he is a noble of the Mystic Shrine. He is affiliated also with Grand Rapids Lodge, B. P. O. E., and in his home community has membership in the Peninsular Club and the Highland Country Club, while in the great western metropolis he is a member of the Chicago Yacht Club. In the year 1914 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Clark to Miss Florence Teele, of Grand Rapids, and they have two children: Edward J., Jr., and Virginia. Charles B. Hamilton has significantly demonstrated his capac- ity for doing big things in a big way, and his intrinsic powers have been developed by a broad and varied experience of prac- tical order in connection with industrial and commercial affairs. Thus he has distinct finesse and facility in modern advertising service, of which he has become a well-known and influential exponent and through which he has given splendid service in advancing the industrial and general business interests of Grand Rapids. That Mr. Hamilton is one of the vital and progressive citizens of Michigan's fair "Valley City” needs no further voucher than the statement that in the advertising business he is here pres- ident of the Brearley-Hamilton Company; president of the Furni- ture City Realty Company; secretary and treasurer of the Holden Hotel Company; secretary of the Grand Rapids Furniture Mar- ket, in the organization of which, in 1915, he was primarily instru- mental and in the affairs of which, as a medium for advancing the status of Grand Rapids as one of the most important furniture 652 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY markets of the world, he has been most influential; treasurer of the Highland Country Club; trustee of Butterworth Hospital and also of the Fountain Street Baptist Church; and a loyal and pro- gressive member of the local Association of Commerce. Mr. Ham- ilton is a Knight Templar and Shrine Mason, and is a popular member of the Peninsular Club. Charles B. Hamilton was born at Uxbridge, province of Ontario, Canada, December 23, 1873, and is a son of Albert and Letitia (Vernon) Hamilton. He is a scion of sterling English and Scotch ancestry. In the schools of his native place Mr. Hamilton's discipline included that of the high school, though he did not complete a full course therein. At the age of fifteen years he found employment in a private bank con- ducted by one of his uncles, in the city of Toronto, where he remained two years. He then came with his parents to Michigan, where the family home was established at Mount Pleasant, judicial center of Isabella county. For a time he was employed as clerk in a mercantile establishment, and he next engaged in the retail grocery business at Mount Pleasant, his copartner in this enter- prise having been his uncle, Urias C. Hamilton, of Toronto, Can- ada, and the enterprise having been continued five years under the title of Hamilton & Company. He then sold the business and came to Grand Rapids, where for the first six months he was employed in the William Killean grocery store, on Monroe avenue. During the ensuing year he had supervision of sales with the Holmes Paper Company, a wholesale concern, and he next initiated what proved to be a most successful^and constructive service with the Fox Typewriter Company, with which he continued his alliance nine years, during the last two of which he was secretary and sales manager of the company. Concerning his connection with this Grand Rapids manufacturing corporation the following esti- mate has been given: “The fact that Mr. Hamilton was able to do effective work under difficult circumstances and place the Fox machine in high favor in all parts of the world, speaks louder than words in recognition of the painstaking methods he intro- duced and successfully matured.' Upon severing his connection with the Fox company Mr. Hamilton became sales and advertising manager for the great Berkey & Gay Furniture Company, and five years later he retired from this position to initiate his splendidly successful career in the independent and general advertising busi- ness. It was at this juncture that Mr. Hamilton organized the Brearley-Hamilton Company, which under his vigorous and re- sourceful administration as president has become one of the lead- ing concerns of its kind in the Michigan advertising field. In his civic attitude and his standing as a business man Mr. Hamilton stands above all else as a true exponent of loyalty and service, and such a citizen is always valuable in a community. As noted in the initial division of this review, he has identified himself with numerous concerns of importance aside from the advertising com- pany of which he is the head, and he is essentially one of the HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 653 enterprising and forward-looking citizens of Grand Rapids. Mr. Hamilton is a staunch advocate and supporter of the cause of the Republican party, but in political matters Mrs. Hamilton seems to have placed her husband somewhat in relative obscurity, as is indicated in the distinction that is hers of having been the first woman elected to the state senate of Michigan. From the Michigan Manuel, the authorized legislative publication, is ob- tained the following extract, with minor changes in context: “Mrs. Eva (McCall) Hamilton, first woman elected to the Mich- igan senate, as representative of the Sixteenth district, 1921-22, was born in St. Clair county, Michigan, of Scotch-Irish and Eng- lish ancestry. She received her education through the medium of the public schools, including high school, through the Michigan Normal College, and through special courses. She has made a record of successful service as a teacher in the public schools and as an instructor in physical culture. She has been active in many committees and commissions having to do with civic affairs, has devoted years to the study of public questions, and has had actual experience in an unofficial capacity before both branches of the legislature.” The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton occurred June 7, 1895. They have no children. James Vander Waals, secretary, treasurer, manager and owner of the Glendon A. Richards Company, sheet metal roofing, has achieved a very successful career in this line of service. He is a native of the Netherlands, born October 2, 1877, and came to Grand Rapids in 1889 with his parents, Peter and Josie (Ste- houeer) Vander Waals. The father, a native of the Netherlands, born May 1, 1845, is now retired at the age of eighty, but his wife passed on in 1895 at the age of fifty years. That worthy couple had eight children, born in the Netherlands, all of whom are now living. James Vander Waals received his preliminary education in the schools of Grand Rapids township. He began his business career by clerking in a hardware store in Grand Rapids. He remained in that employment for three years and then assumed duties in another hardware store and tinshop. Then he advanced in his work through a connection with the well-known W. C. Hopson Company, and remained there for three years. He then went with Barrett Daly and had charge of putting on the new roof on the state capitol at Lansing, Michigan. He remained with Mr. Daly for about nine months. In the fall of 1907 he took up work with the Richards-Kuennen Company. Mr. Richards purchased the interest of Mr. Kuennen and later sold out to Mr. Vander Waals, who became the sole proprietor and has operated the business under the name of Glendon A. Richards Company. In addition to his operation of this business Mr. Vander Waals was secretary and treasurer of the Michigan Sheet Metal Works, of Lansing, Michigan; secretary and treasurer of Flint Cornice and Roofing Company; vice-president of Richards Manufacturing Company, and vice-president of Brunnel Rugels Company. In 654 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY his fraternal affiliations Mr. Vander Waals is a thirty-second de- gree Mason, Shriner and a member of the B. P. O. E. He was joined in matrimony in 1919 with Miss Almeda Brost, of Big Rapids, Michigan. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Vander Waals, Andrew Stehoueer, came to this community in a very early day, about the same time that C. C. Comstock arrived. As one of the early settlers, Mr. Stehoueer owned a farm where the Grand Rapids Chair Company was located. He died in Grand Rapids at the age of ninety-six years. Fred H. Locke. Grand Rapids was one of the first of the major cities of the country to adopt the modern business-like plan of Commission Form-City Manager Government. Further than that this city not only adopted this efficient plan used by all large corporations and businesses, but has proven that it is not neces- sary to go to the far corners of the country or great metropolitan cities to secure a man of sufficient training and capabilities to assume the onerous duties of this responsible task. In doing so, Grand Rapids has chosen, and for the last eight years profited by the services of, a native son of Kent county in this great task. Fred H. Locke was born in Plainfield township, Kent county, on a farm, September 11, 1874. His father, Orson E. Locke, set- tled in this county in 1839, coming to Paris township. Orson E. was the son of William and Abigail (Withy) Locke, who came ( from Vermont to Ohio, and then to Michigan. The grandparents of the subject of this narrative had five boys and four girls, of whom the father of the subject was youngest. The father, Orson E., followed farming and lumbering. He reared three children: Clarence E.; Lida A. Eason living in Grand Rapids; and Fred H., who was educated in the high school in Grandville, graduating in 1891, and following this preliminary training with a business col- lege course in 1893. He then entered the West Michigan Univer- sity. On completion of his education he returned to the farm for a short time and then took up his business career in the Cedar Springs Bank, then the Northern Kent Bank, for four years. He then went to Muskegon with the E. H. Stafford Desk Company. He sold out the interest acquired there and returned to Grand Rapids, where he engaged in business eighteen years. Mr. Locke entered upon his career of public service as director of welfare in 1917-18, and was selected as city manager in 1918, upon which important duty he has remained until this time. The concentra- tion of authority and responsibility into the hands of one general managing officer is simply applying to the business of the public, in which every citizen and elector is a stockholder, the same prin- ciples that all of the many successful and growing corporations and industries of the city have applied to their own businesses. The success of one of the city's own business managers is a source of pride to the citizens of the community. Mr. Locke was married on January 25, 1897, to Miss Nellie C. Provin, a native of Kent county with whom he became acquainted at Cedar Springs. They HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 655 have a fine family of two children, Estelle M., a student of South High School, and Marjorie M., a student at Ottawa Hills High School. Mr. Locke is a thirty-second degree Mason, a past com- mander of Knights Tempar, and a member of the Woodmen, the B. P. O. Elks, and the Exchange Club. He has found time to take active part in these organizations in addition to the official burdens and sharing the enjoyment of his family and his civic responsibility. Samuel A. Morman, senior member of the firm of S. A. Morman & Company, and for more than forty years a potent factor in the industrial life of Grand Rapids, was born in Kent county, April 13, 1858, and obtained his education chiefly in the public schools of this city. His father, William Morman, was a native of England and immigrated from thence to Canada in 1834. He came to Kent county, Michigan, in 1836, where he married Eliza- beth Jeffords, a native of New England, and they became early residents of Walker township. In about 1856 he became a manu- facturer of lime and was for many years an extensive shipper of that product. This business which he established under the name of William Morman, was the beginning of the present S. A. Mor- man & Company, and he continued to be actively identified with the enterprise until 1884. As a youth Samuel A. Morman mani- fested unusual business talent and when only sixteen years of age he became associated with his father, and has since been identified with this enterprise. In 1883 he became a partner in the business and the name became William Morman & Son. In 1884 he purchased his father's interest and the name changed to S. A. Morman. Later Martin Lowerse became asso- ciated with the business and the name became S. A. Morman & Company, to which organization William B. Steele was later admitted. The concern is one of the leading industries of its kind in Grand Rapids, and its status has long been one of prom- inence in connection with the representative industrial activities of the country. Besides his connection with this business Mr. Morman is interested in numerous other enterprises and his pro- gressive spirit is evident in many ways. He is a director in the Grand Rapids National Bank, vice-president of the American Box and Board Company, vice-president of the Wilmarth & Mor- man Company, and a director in the Wilmarth Showcase Company. He also finds time and opportunity to give effective co-operation in movements for the social and material betterment of the com- munity and has ever stood as an exponent of the best type of civic loyalty and progressiveness. He is a member of the Peninsular and the Kent Country Clubs, and is prominent in both business and social circles. Mr. Morman was married in 1886 to Miss Ada Wilmarth, of Grand Rapids, and to this union were born two children: Helen, who is the wife of H. P. Dix, manager of the Wilmarth & Morman Company, and Florence, wife of William B. Steele, junior member of S. A. Morman & Company. Mrs. 656 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Morman, the mother of this family, died April 4, 1919, and in October, 1922, Mr. Morman married Mary P. St. John, of Orange, New Jersey. Richard Schaddelee is not only vice-president and general man- ager of the United Light and Power Company of Grand Rapids, but has achieved a success in the field of electric light and power development which reaches far beyond the borders of the state of Michigan. He was born in the Netherlands on March 30, 1873, a son of William and Hubertha (Kievit) Schaddelee. His father in 1887 came to Holland, Michigan, and in the fall of that year came to Grand Rapids, where he spent the remainder of his life, passing on in 1916 at the age of seventy-four. His wife had died in 1892 at the age of fifty-seven years. Richard Schaddelee re- ceived his early education in the Netherlands public schools. He was fourteen years of age when he came to Holland, Michigan. There he began his busy career of industry upon a farm, and later at carpentry work, finally coming to Grand Rapids. He spent about two years of employment in the Widdecomb Furniture Factory of Grand Rapids and then assisted for two years in the office of Dr. Louis T. Barth and later helped in a dentist's office. He then began his career in the line of public utility work, in which he has achieved such a notable success by entering the employ of the Grand Rapids Gas Company. In 1891 he started in with the Grand Rapids Gas Company as a meter reader and collector and in 1902 was made cashier for the company. Later in 1902 he went to Albion, Michigan, where he assumed the more responsible duties of general manager of the Albion Gas Com- pany. In 1905 he found a partnership with Frank Hulswit, Ralph S. Child and Howard Thornton, all of Grand Rapids, under the name of Childs-Hulswit Company. Mr. Schaddelee took the posi- tion of vice-president and general manager with this new com- pany. In 1910 Mr. Hulswit and Mr. Schaddelee founded the United Light and Railway Company, of which Mr. Schaddelee became vice-president and general manager. In 1924 the name of this institution was changed to United Light and Power Com- pany, of which Mr. Schaddelee now holds the position of vice- president and general manager. The growth of this company has been phenomenal. Its gross revenues in 1910 were about $800,000. In 1924 this business had so expanded that its gross revenues were approximately $34,000,000. Through recent acqui- sition of properties and expansion of the scope of operations this company has acquired utility properties, plants and systems until it now serves 289 communities very generally situated in Iowa Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, Ohio, Nebraska, Missouri, and Can- ada. Mr. Schaddelee is also president of the Continental Gas and Electric Corporation, with properties in Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Canada; president of Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gas Company; vice-president of United Light and Railways Company of Dela- ware; vice-president and director of Tri-City Railway and Light HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 657 Company (Davenport, Iowa); president of the Lincoln Gas and Electric Company (Lincoln, Nebraska); director of Grand Rapids Gas Company; director of American Light and Traction Company of New York City; president of Fort Dodge (Iowa) Gas and Electric Company; president of Mason City (Iowa) and Cedar Lake Railway Company, and an active member in the National Electric Light Association, American Gas Association and Amer- ican Electric Railway Association. In local civic affairs Mr. Schaddelee is a member of the Grand Rapids Associ ion of Commerce and the Peninsular Club. He is also secretary and treasurer of Highland Park Association. In June, 1902, he was married to Miss Gertrude Klomparens, of Fillmore, Michigan. Their children are Herbert R., born January 17, 1905, now a sophomore in the University of Michigan; Leona G., born Novem- ber 26, 1906, a senior in the Central High School of Grand Rapids; and Geraldine J., born November 25, 1911, a student in East Grand Rapids School. Mr. Schaddelee has long been a student of the best literature and is well informed on all subjects. When the son of the great Russian poet, Tolstoy, was in Grand Rapids, Mr. Schaddelee had the honor of entertaining this noted gentleman in his own home. He is personally acquainted with Doctor Kel- logg and other men of note connected with the Battle Creek Sani- tarium and is an ardent advocate of the methods used in this institution. Wilmarth Show Case Company. Of the beginning and devel- opment of this important industrial corporation of Grand Rapids, of which Oscar B. Wilmarth is the executive head, brief record may consistently be given. In 1889 J. J. Wheeler and A. A. DeLisle organized a company for the manufacturing of hand screws, and in February of that year the incipient industry was incorporated under the title of the Grand Rapids Hand Screw Company and with a capital stock of $12,500. The original head- quarters were established in the Reelman building, on Grandville avenue. April 20, 1890, Oscar B. Wilmarth became a stockholder and was made treasurer and general manager of the company, the factory of which at that time was on the second floor of the Geissler & Fritz wagon factory, at the corner of First and Alabama streets. Under the management of Mr. Wilmarth the concern did a business of $18,000 during the first year of his connection therewith. The enterprise expanded rapidly and normally in scope, and larger quarters were soon acquired, at 55 Front street, northwest. In 1900 the company acquired still better accommo- dations for its growing business in a building at the corner of Ionia and Bartlett streets, where was instituted the manufacture of show cases, in addition to the hand screws. In 1907 the com- pany built the first unit of its now extensive manufacturing plant, situated at the corner of Jefferson avenue and Cottage Grove street, on the Pere Marquette Railroad. The first structure here erected was a building of U shape, each wing being 300 by 64 feet in dimen- 658 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY sions and connected by a structure with a frontage of 36 feet. This substantial and modern brick structure of two stories later received the addition of a third story, and a three-story extension gave to each wing a length of 350 feet. In 1922 was erected the office and warehouse building, three stories in height and 95 by 135 feet in lateral dimensions. The spacious offices of the company are modern in equipment and general appointments. In 1908 the hand-screw department of the business was sold by the company, and the title of the corporation was then changed to the Wilmarth Show Case Company. The death of Mr. Wheeler was followed by the election of Walter C. Winchester as his successor in the office of president of the company, and since 1920 Mr. Wilmarth has been both president and general manager of the corporation, the splendid growth and success of which has been in large measure due to his vigorous and progressive policies. In the first year of his connection with the enterprise the company had but ten em- ployes in its factory, and, as previously noted, the business for that year aggregated $18,000. A comparison with conditions at the present time offers its own significance. The number of em- ployes is now 350 and the business for the past year reached an approximate aggregate of $2,000,000. Operations are now based on a capital stock of $600,000, and the other officers of the com- pany are as here designated: Lewis T. Wilmarth, vice-president; Edmund Morris, secretary and sales manager; and Harold C. Wilmarth, treasurer. Oscar B. Wilmarth was born in Grand Rapids, April 28, 1861, and is a son of the late Oscar R. and Ada (Brown) Wilmarth, whose marriage was solemnized in 1858, in the state of New York. Oscar R. Wilmarth came from the old Empire state to Grand Rapids in 1856, and here became local representative of the Aetna Life Insurance Company. His ability and effective service eventually led to his being advanced to the position of Michigan state agent for that company. In the seven- ties he removed with his family to Edmore, Montcalm county, where for a number of years he was engaged in the manufacturing of shingles. Eventually he returned to Grand Rapids, and he and his wife were venerable and honored pioneer citizens of this city at the time of their death, he having passed away in 1914 and his widow having survived until 1918. Oscar B. Wilmarth gained his early education mainly in the public schools of Grand Rapids, and as a youth entered the employ of the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad. Later he was employed in the freight office of the Detroit, Lansing & Northern Railroad, now the Pere Marquette Railroad, at Stanton, Montcalm county, and while thus engaged he was induced by M. R. Bissell to take a position in the offices of the Grand Rapids Felt Boot Company, with which he continued his association seven years, during the last three of which he held the office of superintendent. He then iden- tified himself with the Grand Rapids Hand Screw Company, and of his business activities since that time adequate record has HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 659 zen. already been given in this review. He has become one of the representative figures in the industrial and commercial circles of Grand Rapids, and is a vigorous, loyal and public-spirited citi- Mr. Wilmarth married Miss Carrie Coye, daughter of Albert Coye, of Grand Rapids, and they have four children, namely: Mrs. C. Harley Bertsch, and Harold, Albert and Donald Wilmarth. Subsequent to the writing of the above article the Wilmarth Show Case Company has completed negotiations for the consoli- dation of their organization with the Welch Manufacturing Com- pany of Grand Rapids, Michigan, a concern with which they have been closely allied for a period of some fifteen years. The new consolidated organization is to be known as the Welch-Wilmarth Corporation. The consolidation represents one of the largest financial and industrial amalgamations in the recent history of Grand Rapids, and brings under one control the factories and organizations of the Wilmarth Show Case Company and of the Grand Rapids and Sparta factories of the former Welch Manu- facturing Company. Both institutions have been among the most permanent and successful in the industrial expansion of Grand Rapids. The new institution will have a total capitalization approximating $3,000,000 and will be the second largest organiza- tion in the country manufacturing store equipment. O. B. Wil- marth, the founder of the Wilmarth Show Case Company, and for many years its president and general manager, will continue actively in the management of the new corporation as secretary. T. Stewart White was born June 28, 1840, at Grand Haven, Michigan. He was the son of Capt. Thomas W. White, of Ash- field, Massachusetts, and Caroline Norton, of St. Alban, Vermont. He received the advantages offered by the public schools of that day. The panic of 1857 prevented him from obtaining a college education. He saw the advantage of constructing a ferry between the two banks of the river there and its operations were extensive. However, he was soon offered a position in the office of the county clerk and registrar, and two years later, having attained to the age of nineteen, he became bookkeeper for the bank which at this time had been established by W. M. Ferry & Son at Grand Haven, and soon after was promoted to the position of cashier, which he held for three years. In 1862, at the age of twenty-two, he enlisted in the Fourteenth Michigan Volunteers, under command of Col. Wm. M. Ferry, and was assigned to duty as adjutant or clerk to his commanding officer. He remained in the service until after the battle of Corinth, when he returned home and for a time was interested in a market at Grand Haven, but in 1863 entered the employ of Gray, Phelps & Company, Chicago, as receiving and shipping clerk. The year following, however, found him at his place as cashier of the Ferry & Sons Bank. Seeing the need of more out-of-door work Mr. White removed to Grand Rapids (1866), but returned to Grand Haven the next year and entered into partnership with Heber Squires, the firm entering 660 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY upon a general lake contracting business. This lasted for ten years. During that time, however, Thomas Friant became con- nected with them and the firm name of White & Friant was then established. In 1868 Mr. White became associated with John M. Avery and the firm of White & Avery entered upon a general lumber interest. This firm was succeeded by Robinson, Lettellier & Company, and Lettellier & White, later becoming White, Friant & Lettellier, continuing up to 1892 in a general planing mill and lumber business. In 1877 the firm of White, Friant & Company was formed by connection with John Rugee, of Milwaukee, for the prosecution of a general lumber business, and this company was in 1885 incorporated as the White & Friant Lumber Company. T. Stewart White was president of the firm. The firm held large tracts of land in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, California, in the cypress lands of Louisiana, Florida and South Carolina. The company operated sawmills at Spring Lake for many years and also at Manistee and Menominee, Michigan, with a yearly production of about 50,000,000 feet of lumber. Besides his active interests in the lumbering trade, Mr. White found time to attend to the duties of a director in the City National Bank and Michigan Trust Company of Grand Rapids. He also was a director in the Grand Rapids Fire Insurance Company and for a while was president of that company. He was president of the Monitor Vapor Engine Company of Grand Rapids, manufacturers of marine engines, and was interested in the Michigan Vapor Stove Company, and the Sweeperette Company. He was a director in the Grand Rapids Packing and Provision Company. Politically, Mr. White was a Republican. He attended the Congregational church and was a member of the Peninsular Club. April 20, 1870, Mr. White married Mary E. Daniell, of Milwaukee, and as a result of the union has five sons-Stewart Edward, Thomas G., Norton Rugee, Rhoderick I., and Harwood A.—and one daughter who died in infancy. Mr. White died October 14, 1915, at Flint, Michigan, and is buried in Grand Rapids. Edwin Owen, of the firm of Owen, Ames & Kimball, building contractors of Grand Rapids, has been prominently identified with that class of work in Grand Rapids for the past thirty-five years. Many of the largest and most beautiful buildings of the city have been erected by his company, and in this field few have been more successful than Mr. Owen. He is a native of Newark, Ohio, born September 18, 1860, where he attended the district schools and studied two years in the high school. He completed his high school education in Minnesota, where he went in 1884, and then entered the University of Minnesota, where he pursued an engi- neering course for å time. At the age of twenty-four he entered the employ of the Great Northern Railroad, working in the engi- neering department. He located forty miles of road for that company in Minnesota and later with the Soo railroad he located a similar length of road in Minnesotà. He came to Grand Rapids HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 661 when he was twenty-eight years old to assist in the construction of the cable street railway system. Upon its completion, he was retained in the employ of the company, continuing in that work until the line was bought by the Grand Rapids Railway Company, remaining several years until the road was electrified. During the ensuing years he worked with the latter company, assisting in the changing of the line from a cable railway to an electric road. That work completed, he formed a partnership, in 1891, with Charles A. Hauser and William J. Hayden for general con- tracting and building, the firm adopting the name of Hauser, Hayden & Owen. Mr. Hayden retired from the firm in 1900 and a Mr. Ames became interested in the company, and in 1918, after the retirement of Mr. Hauser, the present company of Owen, Ames & Kimball was established. From its inception the com- pany has enjoyed a steady growth. The technical knowledge acquired by Mr. Owen in college and during his years of experi- ence in the engineering departments of the various railroad com- panies with which he worked, has been invaluable to the partner- ship, and that the company is now regarded as one of the most successful in its field in Grand Rapids is due in large measure to his training and his ability as an executive. Many of the largest buildings of which the city can boast have been erected by his company, while a large number of smaller buildings of all kinds were built by the Owen, Ames & Kimball Company. It is need- less to say that he is an outstanding figure in the building con- tracting business, for his name among business men stands for quality in the workmanship in construction and for integrity and fairness in business dealings. In 1894, Mr. Owen married Martha Frances Graves, and though they have no children of their own, they adopted two girls, one of whom is now the wife of R. Dwight Owen, and the other the wife of Ralph W. Ballew. Among the buildings erected by the company are included: Butterworth Hos- pital, New Morton Hotel, Rowe Hotel, Grand Rapids Trust build- ing, Grand Rapids National Bank, Ottawa Hills High School, Burton Heights High School, Y. M. C. A., Y. W. C. A., Fountain Street Baptist Church, Bell Telephone Building, South High School, Grand Rapids Savings Bank, part of Hotel Pantlind, and many smaller ones. His parents were Griffith D. and Ellen (Hughes) Owen, the father born in Wales, and the mother in Ohio. Both parents died in Michigan. Mr. Owen is a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church, also of the Masonic frater- nity and the Knights of Pythias. He is a director of the Grand Rapids Trust Company and also of the Michigan Hardware Com- pany, and has been director and president of the Y. M. C. A. for the past five years. He is a Republican, but not an office seeker. James L. Murray. Among the men prominently identified with the industrial interests of Michigan, none is more worthy of men- tion in the history of Kent county than James L. Murray, executive head of the Grand Rapids Brass Company. He has not only 662 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY achieved success in business, but has gained distinction in the management of large affairs and well deserves a place in the front rank among the leading business men of the country. The Grand Rapids Brass Company, of which he is president, stands forth as one of the many important and well-ordered industrial concerns of this city, and its present prosperity may be attributed in no small degree to Mr. Murray's executive ability and untiring efforts. This notable enterprise had its inception in Grand Rapids nearly half a century ago, when, in the early eighties Daniel W. Tower, here established a small brass foundry and engaged in its oper- ation on a modest scale. His original products were represented in four samples that he presented for the approval of the furniture manufacturers of the city, and the wonderful expansion of the enterprise is best indicated in the statement that the Grand Rapids Brass Company now manufactures approximately 6,000 different products, largely for use by furniture and refrigerator manufac- turers. At the time of the incorporation of the company Mr. Tower became its president and George F. Sinclair its secretary and treasurer. Mr. Tower continued as the executive head of the company until 1919, when he sold the greater part of his interest in the business. In 1909 there came to this company a young man who was destined to assume much of leadership in its affairs, and particularly in its development to its present important status. It was in that year that James L. Murray assumed the position of salesman for the company and became its representative throughout the United States and parts of Canada. He thus con- tinued his efficient and successful service until 1916, when he was advanced to the office of sales director, his energy and ambitious purpose in advancing the business having been such that he still continued to travel extensively in the interest of the company, in special exigencies and in the handling of matters of major importance. In 1918 he assumed still greater responsibilities, upon his election to the office of vice-president of the company, for he still continued his service as sales director. In 1922 he became president and general manager of the company, and under his administration in this executive capacity the business of the con- cern has become four times as great as that controlled when he formed his initial alliance with the corporation, in 1909. The original capital stock was $100,000, and a concrete idea of the wonderful expansion of the business is conveyed when it is stated that operations are now based on a capital stock of $1,250,000, the concern being one of the largest of its kind in the United States. The large and modern manufacturing plant of this pro- gressive corporation covers the north half of the block bounded by Shawmut, Scribner and Front avenues, northwest, with ade- quate offices at 66-90 Scribner. Since Mr. Murray assumed the office of president and general manager the organization has be- come one of distinctive harmony and loyalty, and employes have given the most effective co-operation in the upbuilding of the HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 663 business. The other officers of the corporation are: H. M. Ber- telson, vice-president, and Carlton Austin, secretary and treasurer. Mr. Bertelson has been associated with the company since 1903, and has advanced from the position of order clerk to that of vice- president. Mr. Austin has been with the company since 1899, except for the interval of 1919-21, his original service having been in the capacity of bookkeeper. Both are practical business men, and with Mr. Murray are devoting their time and energy to the upbuilding of the enterprise. Mr. Murray was born in Chicago, February 2, 1872, a son of James L. and Margaret (Johnston) Murray, and was a lad of five years at the time the family moved to Traverse City, Michigan. He has made for himself a secure vantage place as one of the progressive business men of Grand Rapids, and has achieved prestige as one of the city's versatile and resourceful captains of industry. Besides his business con- nections he also finds time and opportunity to give effective co-op- eration in movements for the social and material betterment of the community, and has ever stood as an exponent of the best type of civic loyalty and progressiveness. He is a member of the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce and is vice-president and a director of the National Metal Trades' Association. He is also a thirty-second degree Mason, a Shriner and a member of the Cascade Hills Country Club, and both he and his family are members of the East Congregational Church, of which he is chair- man of the Board of Trustees. Mr. Murray was married in 1905 to Miss Edith May Sullivan, of Grand Rapids, and they became the parents of three children: Margaret I., James L., Jr., and Donald S. Alfred Day Rathbone I, of Grand Rapids, was born January 18, 1806, in Aurora, New York. In that state he received his educa- tion, studied law and was admitted to the bar. In 1836, when he was thirty years old, he came to Grand Rapids and engaged in the practice of law. He was an earnest Democrat and was keenly interested in all political campaigns. Before the present school system in Grand Rapids was established he served as a township school inspector, and was later a member of the city board of education. He was postmaster of Kent, the village which later became the city of Grand Rapids, having received his appoint- ment under President Van Buren. In 1839 he was elected the first regular prosecuting attorney of Kent county and held this office four years. In 1850 he was a member of the committee which drafted the city charter of Grand Rapids; and in 1854 he accepted, against his wish, the nomination for the office of state senator, Mr. Rathbone also took a leading part in developing factories in Grand Rapids, and was one of the founders of the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad. He was a member of the St. Mark's Episcopal Church, which he supported liberally. He died on April 5, 1856, leaving one son, Alfred Day Rathbone II. 664 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY Alfred Day Rathbone II was born in Grand Rapids on June 14, 1842. He attended the public schools in this city and in 1856, after the death of his father, he went to work in the store con- ducted by his uncle, Amos Rathbone. He remained an employe of his uncle until 1866, and in this year he and Amos Rathbone pur- chased the famous Gypsum Quarries at Grand Rapids. In 1882 they made a contract with the Alabastine Company to supply rock from their quarries for a period of five years. In 1886, as provided in the contract with the company, the quarries were sold to the Alabastine owners. Mr. Rathbone then became secre- tary of the Alabastine Company. In 1897 he became manager, secretary and treasurer of the consolidated interest which included the Alabastine Corporation and other smaller concerns. Mr. Rathbone was, for several years, secretary, treasurer and manager of the Anti-Kalsomine Company, and president of the Aldine Man- ufacturing Company, makers of patent grates and mantels. He also was a director of the Fourth National Bank of Grand Rapids, and served that organization as a member of the discount com- mittee. In 1867 he married Orcelia Adams, of Lynchburg, Vir- ginia. Mr. Rathbone died in 1902, leaving one son, Alfred D. Rathbone III. Alfred D. Rathbone III has been prominent in the business activities of his home city for more than a quarter of a century. He was born in Grand Rapids, in 1869, and was educated in the public schools and at the University of Michigan, where he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1892. In the same year he entered the employ of the Alabastine Company, beginning in a humble position and working his way upward to an executive office in that concern. He remained with the company fifteen years, mastering each detail of the manufacture and sale of gypsum products, and distinguishing himself as an energetic, able and upright business man. Leaving the Alabastine Company, he asso- ciated himself with the Aldine Grate and Mantel Company, with which he remained twelve years. In 1919 he acquired an interest in the old firm of Clapp & Stewart and at once reorganized this enterprise, making Earl Stewart president, and himself secretary and treasurer. The name of the Grand Rapids Marble and Fire- place Company was adopted to replace the former name of the concern and a vigorous selling campaign was immediately begun. This company today does a large amount of contract installation of fireplaces and laying of tile and marble floors, walls and ceilings. Under Mr. Rathbone's able management the Grand Rapids Marble and Fireplace Company has become one of the biggest concerns of its kind in the middle west. He says his success is chiefly due to his hard work and close attention to duty. He married Jessie Ball, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. O. A. Ball, who formerly con- ducted a wholesale grocery in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Rathbone have three children, one of whom, Alfred D. IV, HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 665 is an employe of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company and is a rising business man. Frank Theodore Hulswit, president of the United Light and Power Company, is a native of Grand Rapids, in whose career is reflected the opportunity for an American boy of vision and a capacity for hard work, to reach the top of the business ladder and become a national leader in a great industry. Mr. Hulswit was born in Grand Rapids, September 10, 1875, the son of Frank Michael and Johanna Ursula (Louis) Hulswit. His father was born and raised in Amsterdam, Holland; his mother in Rotterdam. His paternal ancestry was of pure Holland blood; his mother's, Holland on the maternal side and of French descent on the paternal side. Mr. Hulswit's father and mother came to America in the early seventies and were married in Grand Rapids. Mr. Hulswit went to work when he was fourteen years of age. His meager elementary education was applied to his varied tasks and supple- mented with a determination to climb, ability to master detail, and the great gift of ability to learn big business in that greatest of all schools—experience. During his fifteenth and sixteenth years he served as an apprentice to a jeweler in Grand Rapids; then as a clerk in the post office for two years. He then embarked into work that gave him an insight into financial affairs, as he progressed from one situation to another, from 1895 to 1902, with the Michigan Trust Company, of Grand Rapids, leaving there to take a position and gain a further experience as a bond salesman for MacDonald, McCoy & Company, of Chicago. He began to connect this experience with the new and growing utility world in which he was destined to become such an important figure, in October, 1904, when he became associated with Ralph S. Child and Richard Schaddelee in the formation of Child, Hulswit & Company, conducting a general bond business in Grand Rapids and securing ownership of a number of gas and electric properties. In 1910, Mr. Hulswit formed an association with Richard Schadde- lee, the United Light and Railways Company, which recently was absorbed by a greater enterprise, the United Light and Power Company, of which Mr. Hulswit is president. The growth of the United Light and Power Company has been rapid and is best reflected by citing that its gross revenues in 1910 approximated $800,000, and in 1925 its gross revenues reached $40,000,000. Through properties largely located in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Nebraska and Missouri this company now serves almost 300 com- munities with light, gas and power, or some branches of those utility products. In addition to being president of the United Light and Power Company, Mr. Hulswit is a director of the Mich- igan Trust Company of Grand Rapids; of the American Hide and Leather Company; president, United Motors Products Company; vice-president and director, Tri-City Railway and Light Company; director and chairman, executive committee, American Superpower Corporation; director, American Light and Traction Company, 666 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY and president, American States Securities Corporation. Mr. Huls- wit engages in many activities aside from his business responsi- bilities, as evidenced by his membership in the National Guard of Michigan; the Metropolitan Club of New York; the Union League Club of Chicago; the Union Club of Cleveland; the Westchester- Biltmore Country Club, Rye, New York; the Peninsular Club of Grand Rapids; the Highland Country Club of Grand Rapids; and the Congressional Country Club, Washington, D. C. Mr. Hulswit married Cornelia Maria Hoebeke on June 20, 1900, and they have two children: Charles Louis Hulswit, who is now a graduate engi- neer from the University of Michigan, and Robert Marius Hulswit. Lee M. Hutchins was born at Sharon, Wisconsin, October 14, 1854. In the year 1860, he accompanied his parents when they moved to Ionia, Michigan, where he attended school and was grad- uated from the high school in 1873. His father had been a drug- gist and in 1873 Lee M. Hutchins went into the same store. his father had left five years before. From errand boy to manager he worked through all the grades, being the manager for ten years. , In all of his business life he has been off the pay and profit rolls but six weeks. In 1887 he went with James E. Davis & Company, wholesale druggists in Detroit. He remained with that company through its various changes until the name was changed to the Michigan Drug Company in 1898. He came to Grand Rapids in 1898 as secretary and treasurer of the company of which he is now the head. In the development of the business and on account of the death of Henry Fairchild, one of the founders of the Hazel- tine & Perkins Drug Company, and later through the death of Dr. C. S. Hazeltine, he became the company's treasurer and gen- eral manager. That the great drug house, one of the best known in the north-central states, owes in a great measure its success to his unusual ability and thought is known to all men who know Grand Rapids. In all his years in this city Mr. Hutchins has been prominent among the business men, the professional men and others who have done the big things accomplished in this city. He is vice-president of the Grand Rapids Trust Company, a director of the Grand Rapids National City Bank, a director of the Macey Company. For many years he has been one of the leading men in the extension of the wholesale trade in this city, and has been active in the Association of Commerce, being one of its leading speakers. In church matters Mr. Hutchins has been identified with Westminster Presbyterian Church, and for several years has been an elder of that church. Mr. Hutchins was married November 26, 1879, to Miss Alice Wilson. She was born in Ionia, September 24, 1856, and died at her home on College avenue, Grand Rapids, September 4, 1921. Mrs. Hutchins was survived by her husband, Lee M. Hutchins, and one son, Wilson Hutchins. He is president of the Grand Rapids Foundation. His parents were John B. and Charlotte E. (Bowles) Hutchins, natives of western New York and Sandusky, Ohio. The father was a farmer and druggist and HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 667 died at Ionia in 1891, aged sixty-eight years. His mother died in 1893 at the age of fifty-nine. The father was a Democrat and at one time a candidate for congress. William Alden Smith was born in Dowagiac, Cass county, Michigan, May 12, 1859, where he attended school until his par- ents moved to Grand Rapids. In this city he attended school, sold popcorn, was a newsboy, messenger boy, and in 1879 became page in the house of representatives at Lansing. He studied law in the office of Burch & Montgomery and was admitted to the bar in 1882. Mr. Smith practiced law alone for some time, but later became associated with Fredrick W. Stevens. This firm after- wards became Smiley, Smith & Stevens. Mr. Smith was attorney for the Detroit, Lansing & Northern Railroad Company when it built its first lines from Grand Ledge to Grand Rapids and con- tinued their attorney until long after it was completed. He also became attorney for the Chicago & West Michigan Railroad. While in this practice, Mr. Smith became an expert on railroad law and finance. Mr. Smith was a member of congress 1895-97 and 1905-07. He was United States senator 1907-19. He was a member of the Republican State Central Committee 1888-90-92. In 1901 he was honored with the degree of Master of Arts by Dartmouth College. He was elected to the fifty-fourth, fifty-fifth, fifty-sixth, fifty-seventh, fifty-eighth and fifty-ninth congresses. He was re-elected to the sixtieth congress November 4, 1906. He was elected United States senator for a full term January 15, 1907, and elected senator to fill the unexpired term of the late Senator Russell A. Alger, February 5, 1907, and immediately re- signed his seat in the house of representatives, entering upon his duties as senator, February 11, 1907. He was nominated at the pri- mary election August 22, 1912, and elected by the legislature Janu- ary 15, 1913, for the term ending March 4, 1913. Mr. Smith is a Republican in politics and in 1894 was elected to congress from the Fifth congressional district of Michigan. He was State Game and Fish Warden from 1887 to 1891. Mr. Smith was married in 1885 to Miss Nana Osterhout, of Grand Rapids. They had one son, Wil- liam Alden Smith, Jr., now deceased. Francis Van Driele was born in Middleburg, Zeeland, the Neth- erlands, June 6, 1816. He came to this country in 1847 and for nine months lived in Ulster county, New York. From there he removed to Zeeland, Michigan, and four weeks later he moved to Grand Rapids. This was in 1848. He was a pioneer in the move- ment of bringing his countrymen here and in the establishment of the Reformed church in this country. He was the person chosen to occupy the pulpit in this movement and held services in the basement of the First church. The resignation of Rev. Taylor of that church left a vacancy which he filled. Mr. Van Driele married Mrs. Anske Postma, of Vriesland, in 1849. Together they fitted up the basement of that church and made their home there. In 668 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY 1849 Rev. A. C. Van Raalte, however, was called to fill the position which Mr. Van Driele held and the latter was then appointed one of the elders of the church. In September, 1875, the Fourth Reformed Church was organized with Rev. L. J. Hulst as pastor. Letters of accession from the mother church were numerous and in April, 1876, Mr. Van Driele was elected elder of this new church. Due to differences arising in the church, another faction sprung up and became known as the Holland Christian Reformed Church. Mr. Van Driele, however, remained loyal to the old organization and at the formation of a new consistory, he was chosen as one of the elders. He was a member of the Sweet & Clements Milling Company, and was associated with them for fifteen years, when he became head of F. Van Driele & Company with William and John Kotvis. In 1900 he was re-elected president of the Holland Old Settlers' Association. He died at his home in Grand Rapids, February 3, 1900. He was (1900) survived by a daughter, Mrs. C. J. DeRoo, of Flint, Michigan; a step-daughter, Mrs. William Kotvis, and a brother, Arie Van Driele, of this city. He was very active in building the Second Reformed Church on Bostwick street, which is now joined with the Central Reformed Church. He also, in company with others, erected the Keystone Block on the south- west corner of Monroe and lonia avenues, which has just been torn down to make way for the new Grand Rapids Trust building. He was a Republican, but never sought office. BENTLEY HISTORICAL LIBRARY 3 9015 07121 9136 1 ! 1 1 1 *** 1 $ 1 1 Conservator's Report Bentley Historical Library Title: Historic Michigan - Kent County Received: Book bound in case style binding (it had been rebound previously). Cover was of cloth. Joints were shaken. Book was sewn all along over cloth tapes. Sewing was sound. A portrait was coming loose (p. 320-321). Treatment.. Disbound book. Trimmed spine lining to the edge of the spine. Guarded the portrait page and reattached it in its proper place. Overcast new z-fold endsheets. Added new machine-woven headbands. Lined the spine. Rebound in new case-style binding. 1 Materials: Talas wheat paste. PVA adhesive. Gane Bros. HKOC adhesive. Barbour's linen thread. Archival-quality endsheet paper. Cotton cambric. Machine-woven headbands. Backing flannel. Solid binder's board. Pyroxylin-impregnated cotton text cloth. 23K gold. Date work completed: April 2008 Signed: Ann Flowers tom t