a I i m N4.M 1 II I I II m i I ST. CLIAIR AND 'A k 91~~~~ d~ V&d4u ~ % -1 67 t —"~ ~~ 7 C / c 3 ~. /4 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.) IN TWO VOLUMES Also A Third Volume Containing Local History and Personal Sketches of St. Clair and Shiawassee Counties THREE ILLUSTRATED VOLUMES Published by National Historical Association, Inc., and dedicated to the Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society in commemoration of its fiftieth anniversary THIS 1S THE PROPEPRTY OF Citizens Historical A.sso4;iation CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 1tOG. INDIANAPOLIS, IND. I Table of Contents St. Clair County CHAPTER I-INDIANS AND EXPLORATIONS CARTIER-CHAMPLAIN-FATHER LE CARON-NICOLET - JOLIET - LA SALLE-FATHER HENNEPIN-FORT ST. JOSEPH BUILT IN 1686 -DETROIT-ENGLISH TAKE POSSESSION OF NEW FRANCE-FORT SINCLAIR BUILT IN 1764 AT MOUTH OF PINE RIVER-LIFE OF PATRICK SINCLAIR-FORT GRATIOT-INDIANS AND INDIAN TREATIES..-.... -............................1...-....-...................................... 17-27 CHAPTER II-EARLY SETTLEMENT BEGAN WITH ESTABLISHMENT OF FORT SINCLAIR-LAND ACCESSIBLE TO SETTLERS-FRENCH FAMILIES WHICH CAME ABOUT 1790 -NAMES OF SOME EARLY WHITE SETTLERS-ADDRESS OF WILLIAM T. MITCHELL-LAND CLAIMS............................................................ 28-37 CHAPTER III-COUNTY ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT COUNTY ORIGINALLY PART OF MACOMB-ST. CLAIR COUNTY ERECTED MARCH 28, 1820-ORGANIZED MAY 8, 1821-COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED-TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION-COUNTY SEAT LOCATION AND REMOVAL-COUNTY OFFICERS..........................................38-56 CHAPTER IV-TRANSPORTATION ROAD LOCATION DELEGATED TO COUNTY COMMISSIONERS IN 1819 -ROADS LOCATED- FORT GRATIOT MILITARY ROAD —OTHER EARLY ROADS LAID OUT-TOLL ROADS-PLANK ROADS-MODERN ROADS - RAILROADS - ELECTRIC LINES - NATURAL GAS - ARTIFICIAL GAS —COMBINED GAS AND ELECTRIC SERVICE-ABANDONED RAILWAY PROJECTS-CITY ELECTRIC LINES-RIVER AND LAKE TRANSPORTATION-MOTOR COACH LINES......................... 57-74 CHAPTER V-EDUCATION EARLY DAYS-PORT HURON SCHOOLS — ST. CLAIR SCHOOLSCOUNTY SCHOOLS-PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS-LIBRARIES.........75-82 CHAPTER VI-MILITARY TERRITORIAL MILITIA ORGANIZATION IN 1805 AND ST. CLAIR COUNTY'S PART-MEXICAN WAR-CIVIL WAR-SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR-WORLD WAR........................... 83-90 CHAPTER VII-BENCH AND BAR COUNTY COURTS ESTABLISHED IN 1820-JAMES FULTON FIRST CHIEF JUSTICE OF COUNTY COURT-JAMES B. WOLVERTON FIRST ACTING SHERIFF-MAJOR THORN-CIRCUIT COURT ESTABLISHED IN 1825-COUNTY COURT ABOLISHED IN 1827 AND RE-ESTABLISHED IN 1828 AND CONTINUED TILL 1833-EARLY LAWYERS AND JUDGES -PROBATE COURT.................................................................. 9199 CHAPTER VIII-PHYSICIANS AND THE PUBLIC HEALTH CAREERS OF PROMINENT EARLY PHYSICIANS-MICHIGAN MEDICAL SOCIETY-MEDICAL SOCIETY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY-NORTHEASTERN DISTRICT MEDICAL SOCIETY-ST. CLAIR, SANILAC AND LAPEER MEDICAL SOCIETY-MICHIGAN STATE MEDICAL SOCIETY -PORT HURON ACADEMY OF MEDICINE-PUBLIC HEALTH AND HOSPITALS...................................100-109 CHAPTER IX-BANKS AND BANKING BANK OF ST. CLAIR ORGANIZED IN 1836-MOVED TO DETROIT IN 1842-FIRST NATIONAL BANK-FEDERAL COMMERCIAL AND SAVINGS BANK-UNITED STATES SAVINGS BANK-ST. CLAIR BANKSMARINE CITY BANKS-YALE BANKS-FIRST NATIONAL, BANK OF AVOCA-CAPAC STATE SAVINGS BANK-CITIZENS STATE BANK OF EMMETT -MARYSVILLE SAVINGS BANK -JEDDO STATE BANK............................................................................................................. 110-116 CHAPTER X-THE PRESS PIONEER JOURNALISM-THE "WHIG" WAS FIRST PAPER-PORT HURON "OBSERVER"-ST. CLAIR "BANNER"-PORT HURON "COMMERCIAL"-PORT HURON "TIMES" —PORT HURON "HERALD"-ST. CLAIR "REPUBLICAN"-"ST. CLAIR COUNTY PRESS"-"POSTMASTER EVERYWHERE"-THE "FREE PRESS"-"EASTERN BREEZE" OF ALGONAC-THE CAPAC "JOURNAL"-MARINE CITY "REPORTER" AND "MAGNET"-YALE "EXPOSITOR"-OTHER PUBLICATIONS..... 117-126 CHAPTER XI-CITIES AND VILLAGES PORT HURON-ST. CLAIR-YALE-MARYSVILLE-ALGONAC — CAPAC -EMMETT-MEMPHIS-NEW BALTIMORE-POSTOFFICES.........127-133 CHAPTER XII-INDUSTRIAL LUMBERING IN THE EARLY DAYS-SALT-FISHING-PORT HURON INDUSTRIES-WATER WORKS............................................................. 134-138 Shiawassee County. CHAPTER I-EARLY SETTLEMENT WHITMORE KNAGGS WAS FIRST WHITE SETTLER IN COUNTY-HAD TRADING POST-ALFRED L. AND BENJAMIN 0. WILLIAMS CONDUCTED SHIAWASSEE EXCHANGE-JOHN I. TINKLEPAUGH WAS FIRST FARMER-OTHER EARLY SETTLERS-LAND SPECULATION AND PANIC OF 1837-THE KNAGGS CONTROVERSY-CORUNNA, BYRON AND LAINGSBURG SETTLED IN 1836....................... 141-146 CHAPTER II-COUNTY ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT SHIAWASSEE BECAME A COUNTY IN 1822-PROCLAMATION OF GOVERNOR CASS-LEGISLATIVE ACT-ERECTION OF TOWNSHIPS-LOCATION OF THE COUNTY SEAT-PUBLIC BUILDINGS..............147-151 CHAPTER II-EDUCATION PIONEER SCHOOLS-SCHOOL DISTRICTS FORMED AND EARLY TEACHERS-OWOSSO SCHOOLS-OWVOSSO PUBLIC LIBRARY.....152-158 CHAPTER IV-TRANSPORTATION RIVER TRANSPORTATION ON THE SHIAWASSEE A FAILUREGRAND RIVER ROAD —STATE ROADS MAPPED OUT WHICH AF'FECTED SHIAWASSEE COUNTY-PLANK ROADS-RAILROADS..159-163 CHAPTER V-BANKS AND BANKING VTILDCAT BANKING AND THE PANIC OF 1837-A RECEIVER'S REPORT-GOULD BANK WAS FIRST SUBSTANTIAL INSTITUTION IN COUNTY-STEWART BANK NEXT-THIRTEEN STATE BANKS IN COUNTY-INFORMATION CONCERNING EACH.......................... 164-168 CHAPTER VI-THE PROFESSIONS COURTS-JUDGES-LAWYERS-MEDICAL PROFESSION................169-174 CHAPTER VII-THE PRESS FIRST PAPER WAS "SHIAWASSEE EXPRESS AND CLINTON ADVOCATE" IN 1839-OWOSSO "ARGUS"-OWOSSO "AMERICAN"-"OWOSSO PRESS"-THESE TWO MERGED AS "PRESS-AMERICAN" —OWOSSO "ARGUS-PRESS"-NEWSPAPERS OF CORUNNA, DURAND, BANCROFT, LAINGSBURG AND PERRY............................................................... 175-177 CHAPTER VIII-CITIES AND VILLAGES MUNICIPAL HISTORIES OF OWOSSO, DURAND, BANCROFT, BENNINGTON, BYRON, LAINGSBURG, LENNON, MORRICE, PERRY, SHIAWASSEETOWN AND VERNON............................................1...78-180 CHAPTER IX-INDUSTRIAL LUMBERING THE EARLY INDUSTRY-FLOUR MILLS-PRINCIPAL INDUSTRIES NOW ARE AT OWOSSO-AMERICAN MALLEABLEf-CONNOR ICE CREAM-ESTEY MANUFACTURING COMPANY-WOODWARD FURNITURE COMPANY-INDEPENDENT STOVE COMPANY-JOHN R. KELLY COMPANY-OWOSSO CASKET COMPANY-OWOSSO MANUFACTURING COMPANY - OVOSSO MILLING COMPANY - ROBBINS TABLE COMPANY-STANDARD MACHINERY COMPANY-A, H. STOKES MANUFACTURING COMPANY-WOLVERINE SIGN COMPANY-181-183 I I . CHAPTER I INDIANS AND EXPLORATIONS N 1535, less than fifty years after Columbus had startled Europe with the announcement that far to the west lay a new continent, Jacques Cartier founded the town of Montreal at the site of the Indian village of Hochelaga, on the banks of the St. Lawrence river, and claimed tfe territory in the name of his royal master, Francis I, king of France. From that time until the coming of the great Samuel de Champlain, however, the French made no further attempts at colonizing the new country which they claimed. Champlain, in 1603, was commissioned by the king to record the explorations of an expedition up the St. Lawrence. From the Indians, the Frenchman learned of the presence of copper in the Lake Superior region, and his published report aroused new interest in the New World. Between May, 1604, and the summer of 1607, Champlain explored more than a thousand miles of seacoast, at a time when not a single colony existed from Newfoundland to Mexico. On July 3, 1608, Champlain took possession of what is now Quebec and established the village that soon became the capital of New France. The following spring, while engaged in explorations in the vicinity of Ticonderoga, Champlain aided his attendant Indians against 200 Iroquois of the Mohawk tribe with such disastrous results to the latter that the eternal hatred of the Six Nations was thereafter directed against the French, threatening the life of the village of Quebec and virtually closing Lake Ontario to the French. After a trip to France, Champlain returned to Quebec in the spring of 1610 as lieutenant-governor of New France. Five years later, in heading an expedition against the Iroquois Indians, Champlain visited the Lake Huron region, and though the Iroquois successfully defended their fort against the French and Indian allies, Champlain had explored nearly 1,600 miles of territory and had opened the gate to the west. In 1609, an Algonquin chief who visited Quebec, exhibited a lump of copper that he said came from the region near Lake Superior. Etienne Brule, who accompanied Champlain to the Huron villages, journeyed as far as the Sault a few years after the trip made by Champlain to the Lake Huron country. Shortly before Champlain made the trip to Lake Huron, a Jesuit priest, Father Le Caron, had settled among the Hurons in the territory between Lake Simcoe and Georgian bay, but whether or not he ever traversed the lake to what is now Saint Clair county has never been ascertained. Brule, too, followed the usual route of travel by way of the Ottawa river, Lake Nipissing, the French river, and Georgian bay to reach the Sault, for the easier lake route was closed to the French by the unfriendly Iroquois. To the work of Nicolet, however, is due the real opening of the western territory, and upon his reports were based those of Champlain to the home government embodying accurate descriptions of the country *0 18 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY at the foot of Lake Huron and including recommendations for the establishment of various missions and trading posts. Jean Nicolet arrived in New France in 1618, while he was still a young man, and was soon sent by Champlain as an interpreter to the Algonquins, his first station being the Isle des Allumettes on the Ottawa river, a hundred leagues from Quebec. He learned much of the western country during the years he spent among the Indians at the various stations. In 1632, with the return of Quebec to the French by the British, Nicolet once again went to the French colonial capital. The French continued to hear more about the country beyond Lake Huron from the Indians; the Green Bay country of Wisconsin and its inhabitants, the Winnebagoes, were also much discussed. The name of the tribe signifies "Men of the Salt Water," derived from the Algonquin word Ouinipeg meaning "bad smelling water." The Winnebagoes were believed to have lived at one time on a body of salt water far to the west of their home on the Fox river in Wisconsin. The inflammable imagination of the French was ignited by the thought that if these Indians once lived on the shores of a body of salt water perhaps the French might discover a water route to the Indies by way of the Great Lakes. Champlain eagerly grasped the idea. An expedition was accordingly fitted out in 1634, and placed in command of Jean Nicolet. Proceeding by the usual route to Georgian bay, Nicolet skirted the southern shore of the Northern Peninsula after leaving the Sault and went to Green Bay, where he found the Winnebagoes. In 1635 he returned to Quebec, probably in July, and the following Christmas was saddened by the death of the great Champlain, whose last report to the home government, however, included much of the information gleaned by his able lieutenant. Fort St. Joseph was built at the outlet of Lake Huron in 1686 by Daniel Graysolon Du Luth. Father Rene Menard, who began a journey to the Lake Superior and Wisconsin territory in 1660, that caused his death, is believed to have kept a mission shortly before his departure, at the Sauble river, forty miles north of Sarnia, that had been started prior to his time there. The Jesuit Relations of 1656 record the advent of two nameless explorers who spent two years in the Lake Superior country and in central Wisconsin and returned to Quebec in August, 1656. Journals and letters that have been preserved show more or less conclusively that these two.men mentioned in the Relations were Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Medart Chouart des Groseilliers. The memoirs of the former claim for the two men the distinction of discovering the Mississippi river and descending it almost to the gulf, as well as exploring those parts of Wisconsin visited by Nicolet and spending some time on Lake Superior above the Sault. Discrepancies found throughout the journal tend strongly to discount the veracity of the writer in many things, such as the discovery of the Mississippi, but that Radisson and Groseilliers were the two men referred to in the Jesuit Relations cannot be doubted. To them is due the honor of being the next to follow Nicolet, and it is recorded that they lived for a time among the Indians between the head HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 19 waters of the Mississippi river and the St. Croix river, being visited there by the Sioux Indians. To offset the work of Radisson and Groseilliers, who in the service of the English at Hudson bay were drawing the trade of the Indians beyond Lake Superior, France formally took possession of the country of the Great Lakes in 1671, the ceremony being held at Sault Ste. Marie on June 4, Nicholas Perrot being instrumental in bringing about the affair and inviting the Indians to attend. Present at the ceremony at the Sault was one Louis Joliet, the discoverer of the Mississippi river and the first to undertake the lake route from Montreal to the westernmost of the Great Lakes. In 1669 he led a party of Frenchmen to search for the copper mines of Lake Superior and to find a shorter route from Montreal to that section of the country. On his return, he traversed the length of Lake Erie, passed into Lake Ontario by way of the Grand river and at the head of Lake Ontario met another explorer, La Salle, who was accompanied by two Sulpitians, Dollier de Casson and Rene de Galinee. La Salle's party was in search of the Mississippi, and though Joliet urged them to follow the lake route with him, La Salle turned southward toward the Ohio and failed, while Joliet discovered the Mississippi by the same route which he recommended to La Salle. Thus it was that Joliet became the first to open the lake route and to pass through the Saint Clair river. Nearly a decade elapsed before other Frenchmen were to come to what is now St. Clair county. In the fall of 1678, La Salle, having become a rich trader under the patronage of Frontenac, returned from France with Henry Tonty and Louis Hennepin, the latter of whom was a Recollet friar. Thirty ship-carpenters and a supply of cordage, anchors and other materials for the building of ships were brought to the mouth of Cayuga creek, above Niagara Falls, where the "Griffon," a forty-five ton ship armed with five small cannon, was built. On August 7, 1679, the little vessel set sail, reaching Detroit on the tenth. From there the party turned north through Lake St. Clair, which La Salle named at that time in honor of the saint on whose feast day the party arrived in the lake. The description of the surrounding country as given by Father Hennepin, is as follows: "The country between the two lakes (Erie and Huron) is very well situated, and the soil very fertile. The banks of the strait (Detroit) are vast meadows, and the prospect is terminated with some hills covered with vineyards, trees bearing good fruit, groves and forests so well disposed that one would think that nature alone could not have made, without the help of art, so charming a prospect. The country is stocked with stags, wild goats and bears, which are good for food, and not fierce as in other countries; some think they are better than pork. Turkey cocks and swans are there very common; and our men brought several other beasts and birds, whose names are unknown to us, but they are extraordinary relishing. The forests are chiefly made up of walnut, chestnut, plum and pear trees, those loaded with their own fruits and vines. There is also abundance of timber for building, so that those who shall be so happy as to inhabit that noble 20 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY country cannot but remember with great gratitude those who have led the way." The "Griffon" arrived at Mackinac on August 27 and from there proceeded to Green Bay, where it was loaded with furs and sent back to its station at the mouth of Cayuga creek. It never reached its destination, however, and though it was for a time thought that the crew stole the furs and went to Hudson bay, the loss of the "Griffon" was probably the first of the naval disasters on the Great Lakes. That La Salle and his party were able to take the "Griffn" through the lakes to reach the westernmost waters of the group, demonstrated to the French the value of protecting the waterways which held such possibilities in the development of the western country in the region of the Great Lakes. To that end, Denonville, the French governor, authorized, in 1686, the building of a fort at the entrance of the St. Clair river, Du Luth being the builder. Fort St. Joseph, as it was called, was subsequently placed under the command of Baron Lahontan, whose map published in 1703 showed the location of the building to be on the American side of the St. Clair river, a short distance below the entrance of the river. In the spring of 1688, a party of Hurons from Mackinac who had made their homes at the post, informed Lahontan that the Iroquois were planning a war party to be directed against Fort St. Joseph. Lahontan accordingly went to Mackinac in April for a supply of corn, returning July 1, and leaving July 3 for an attack upon the Six Nations. In August, when he returned from the expedition, he learned from a party of Miami Indians that the fort at Niagara had been abandoned, and Lahontan, realizing that without its support Fort St. Joseph would be helpless, burned the fort on August 27 and sailed with his command for Mackinac. The year 1699 witnessed the abandonment of the extreme western forts on the order of the French king, but two years later the strategic position of Detroit was strengthened by the construction of a fort which commanded the route by water to the Great Lakes region, and it was this fort at Detroit which soon became the scene of the massacre of the Fox Indians of Wisconsin who, for nearly fifty years, opposed the western progress of the French with a craftiness and stubbornness that at times became wellnigh impassable. To crush the Foxes, the French bent every effort, each time to struggle in vain against the Wisconsin tribe. Cadillac, upon the establishment of the fort at Detroit, brought with him the Hurons and Ottawa Indians and the missionaries from Mackinac. Early in the spring of 1712 the Foxes, Mascoutens, Kickapoo, and part of the Sauk Indians of Wisconsin settled near the fort, and though the governor of Detroit, Dubuisson, believed that they came there to eventually exterminate the garrison of thirty Frenchmen, the Foxes had brought their women and children, something they never did when war was their object. The Hurons and the Ottawas were determined to make war on the Foxes, however, and when the arrival of a host of Indian allies of the French increased the enemies of the Foxes, an attack was directed against the stockade of the Wisconsin tribes. After fruitlessly protesting against the unwarranted assault, the Foxes settled down HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 21 to a long fight. After a siege of nineteen days, the Wisconsin Indians stole from their fortifications under cover of a stormy night but were overtaken near Lake St. Clair, at Presque Isle, about four leagues from the fort. When a second siege was begun, the Foxes surrendered. All the men, except one hundred who escaped, were put to death, and the women and children were sold among the various nations as slaves. The nation was not exterminated, however, for the one hundred who escaped, returned to Wisconsin to the remainder of their tribe and began again the relentless war on the French. In 1713, they killed a Frenchman named l'Epine at Green Bay; three Frenchmen and five Hurons they killed within the very shadow of the walls of Fort Ponchartrain at Detroit; and later they slaughtered five Frenchmen who were taking grain from Detroit to Mackinac; allied with the Sioux, they began a war against the Illinois, who aided in the massacre of the Foxes at Detroit, pushing them back from the Illinois river, which formed the French highway to the Mississippi river. Though a gigantic war of extermination against the Fox Indians was undertaken in 1715 by the French, so difficult was the task found that surrender of the Foxes at Little Butte des Morts, near Neenah, Wisconsin, on the Fox river, was accepted in place of continued fighting. The surrender only resulted in the practical defeat of the French aims, and some years later, another expedition was directed against the Foxes, resulting in another great massacre of the Wisconsin Indians. From time to time, the matter had to be repeated by the French, and a wholesome respect for the Fox tribe was entertained by the French to the last. Had the number of the Fox warriors been in the thousands instead of the hundreds, they would have undoubtedly expelled the French from the west long before the British accomplished the act. After the surrender of Montcalm on the plains of Abraham and the conclusion of the treaty in Paris, which gave Canada and the French claims south of the Great Lakes into the hands of the British, the control of the French forts on the lakes was taken over by the English in 1760. English possession of the new country was not destined to be a quiet one for a few years. Early in 1763, Pontiac, the great Michigan chief, projected the gigantic conspiracy against the British that was designed to wipe them from the face of the land. But for the failure of the Indians to capture the posts of Detroit and Pitt, the plot would have been entirely successful, but even so Pontiac remained a virtual dictator from the lakes to the Ohio and the Alleghenies to the Mississippi until 1766. Though the English had then won back much of their strength in the new country, they treated carefully with Pontiac, whose very word was sufficient to bring all the Indians once again into savage rebellion against the English rule. His assassination in 1769 near St. Louis by a renegade Kaskaskia Indian removed all danger of a repetition of the conspiracy. A new fort was built on the St. Clair river in 1764 just south of the mouth of Pine river by Lieutenant Patrick Sinclair, after whom the post took its name, and the fort was used for about twenty years, after which it was abandoned. The establishment of Fort Sinclair has resulted in the confusion of the source from which St. 22 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY Clair lake and river received its name, but the writings of the early French explorers have definitely shown that St. Clair was the name of the lake long before the English lieutenant located his fort on its banks, but was not generally given to the river until after the American occupation in 1796. Patrick Sinclair was of Scotch origin. He became a lieutenant in the British army in 1758, accompanied his regiment to the West Indies in 1759 and to America in 1760, remaining here when his regiment was returned to that dependency in 1761. Two years later he came to Detroit to be in charge of transporting supplies from that place to Mackinac. While in this position, he acquired from the Indians a deed to a large tract of land at Pine river, where he erected the fort and trading post. Sinclair insisted that the deed was approved by General Gage and was executed in the presence of the commanding officer and the Indian agent at Detroit. Houses and barns were erected by Sinclair and orchards were set out, the object of the owner being to establish a manor on the 5,000 acre tract befitting an English nobleman. He returned to England in 1769, received his captaincy in 1772, and was appointed lieutenant-governor of Mackinac in 1775, a position which carried a general control of civil affairs but no military authority. He landed in Maryland, but when he arrived at New York, he was arrested and held at Long Island. He was soon paroled, from which he was released by the continental congress March 11, 1776. Two years later he made an6ther attempt to reach his post, which he did by way of Halifax and Quebec, arriving at Fort Mackinac in 1779. He had also negotiated the transferance of the military control to him. The removal of the fort from the mainland to the island of Mackinac brought expenses way in excess of what was allowed him for the work, and in the fall of 1782 he was recalled to Quebec to explain his accounts. During 1783 and most of 1784 he was at the Isle of Orleans, Quebec, after which he sailed for England. Upon his arrival in Britain, he was thrown in the debtors' prison of Newgate because of his protested drafts, remaining there but a short time. His advancement in the army seems to have been unharmed, for by the time of his death in 1820, he had attained the rank of major-general. While Sinclair was stationed at Mackinac, he gave some attention to his estate on the St. Clair river, for in May, 1780, the commandant at Detroit wrote him that his (Sinclair's) man was at the pinery and would remain there until a vessel came from Mackinac. Alexander Harrow, later a resident of St. Clair county, where he took a large tract of land above Algonac, was at that time master of the sloop "Welcome" transporting supplies between Detroit and Mackinac. In June, 1780, De Peyster, commandant at Detroit, wrote Sinclair that the "Yandot" was also in the same service but that difficulty had been experienced in attempting to get her off and that the "Welcome" had got as far as the pinery. In that year, the Indians along the St. Clair through the Chippewa chief, Maskeash, asked that a free negro who had been trading with the Miamis until arrested and taken to Mackinac the preceding year, HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 23 Point de Sable by name, be placed at the pinery as trader in place of Francis Belcour, the British agent at Detroit. Sinclair granted the request of the Indians. Sinclair, while at the Isle of Orleans at Quebec, gave power of attorney to Nicholas Boulvin to take charge of the Pine river estate after May, 1783, but the man remained only a short time, leaving for St. Louis, where he became United States Indian agent, and then removing to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, in the same capacity. There he was appointed justice of the peace by General Cass in 1818. Boulvin delegated the power of attorney to David Ross when he left Detroit, and on May 19, 1788, the property was sold at public auction to Meldrum and Park, Detroit merchants, who secured a deed in 1795 from twenty-six Chippewa chiefs and tribesmen. Although the treaty of peace that concluded the Revolutionary war set the boundary between Canada and the United States as the Great Lakes, actual possession of the forts on the lakes was retained by the British, and though nominally this territory was part of the United States, the results made it practically a part of Canada until the forts Were turned over to the United States in 1796. The War of 1812 influenced the United States government to build another fort on the St. Clair river, and in 1814 General Harrison directed Major Thomas Forsyth, with Captain Cobb and forty men, with Captain Charles Gratiot, as engineer, to build a fort near the entrance of the St. Clair river. It was completed in the summer of the same year and named in honor of the engineer in charge of construction. The north, south, and west sides were embankments of earth while the river side was re-inforced with large logs. Charles Gratiot, after whom the fortification was named, was born in the Missouri country in 1786 and graduated from West Point Military Academy as second lieutenant of engineers, winning his captaincy in 1808. During the War of 1812, he was chief engineer of Harrison's army. He rose steadily in the service, and finally was breveted brigadier-general and assigned to West Point as inspector. Ten years later, in 1838, he was dismissed by the president for alleged financial irregularities in his dealings with the government, and though the United States Senate made a favorable report on his character and ability after an investigation, that body had no power to re-instate him. From 1840 to 1855 Gratiot was a clerk in the Land Office at Washington and then went to St. Louis, where he died. Although no private rights were supposed to exist on the St. Clair river at the time Fort Gratiot was built in 1814, it developed that one Pierre Bonhomme had presented to the land board at Detroit in 1808 a claim for a piece of land on the banks of the St. Clair, six arpents wide on the river and extending to a depth of forty arpents. Records, however, failed to substantiate the Bonhomme claim, but when the land board was renewed in 1821 and the Bonhomme claim again placed befort it, the board found that as early as 1803 there had existed a house, blacksmith shop and stable, and improved land on which crops had been raised. On this land, according to the claim of the Bonhomme heirs, 24 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY was built Fort Gratiot. The land board upheld the claims of Andrew Westbrook and P. J. Desnoyers, the owners of the Bonhomme claims, and the government was forced to buy from them the site on which the fort was built. When the army reduction became effective in 1821, Fort Gratiot, as one of the unimportant posts, was abandoned, and the following year two Presbyterian missionaries, Hart and Hudson, opened a school in the fort but left for Mackinac in 1823. Schoolcraft described the fort as a mass of ruins in 1826. Two years later, the fort was again occupied by troops under Brevet-Major Alex R. Thompson, and in 1828, the buildings and earthworks were largely rebuilt. It is said that Mrs. Thompson had a piano which was probably the only one within the limits of St. Clair county at that time. Troops were withdrawn in June, 1837, and Fort Gratiot was unoccupied for a year when soldiers were again quartered there, the fort being entirely rebuilt in 1841. The post was again abandoned in 1852 and remained unused until 1866, when it was re-garrisoned. Final abandonment of the fort occurred in 1879, part of the military reservation having been sold in 1870, another part in 1871, and the remainder in the year 1881. Indians and Indian Treaties. It is now generally accepted that central United States, including Michigan, was inhabited by a race of Indians, the ancestors of the Indians that the first explorers found. Due to their characteristic of raising large burial mounds, these early inhabitants have been termed the Mound Builders. It was the custom of these people to build their mounds onthe banks of some river or lake, and archaeologists have found them to be filled with implements of war and peace placed there probably with the intent of supplying the dead person in after life with those things which might be necessary. St. Clair county, situated as it is on rivers and the lake, has its share of the mounds erected ly these predecessors of the Indians. The mounds in this county begin at the south of old Fort Gratiot and run for a distance of about a mile and a half to the northward along the shore of the river and Lake Huron, and it is probable that there are even more that have not been examined. In size the mounds range from small ones ten or twenty feet in length to some hundreds of feet long, one being more than five hundred feet in length and more than one hundred feet in width. In some states the mounds were given various stated shapes, among the more common of which were the bird, turtle, and bear mounds, but the usual form was rectangular and one that prevailed generally throughout Michigan and St. Clair county. The Indians of Michigan at the time the first white men explored it were included in the Algonquin nation, which covered a larger territory than any other family of North America, as far as has been determined. The Ottawa, Chippewa, and Mississauga tribes of northern Michigan, the Sauks of central Michigan, and the Potawatomies of the southwestern part, were all clans of this nation which extended as far west as to include the Blackfoot, Arapaho and Cheyenne Indians. According to Indian tradition, the Sauk Indians had originally ranged HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 25 the central portion of Michigan, and so strong and warlike were they that their sovereignty was long unquestioned by the Chippewas of the north and the Potawatomies of the south. However, according to the stories of the Indians, the Sauks made a raid against the Chippewas in the neighborhood of Traverse Bay that so aroused the northern Indians that they formed an alliance with the southern tribes in a war of extermination against the Sauks. In the dead of night, the Sauks were attacked as they slept in their camp at Skull Island, on the Saginaw river, and were all but massacred. The remnants of the tribe were pursued and caught in Genesee county on the Flint river, where two great battles were fought that effectually broke the power of the dreaded Sauks and caused the flight of the remainder to the Wisconsin territory to seek refuge with their kinsmen, the fierce and wily Foxes. Even within the memory of the first white settlers of Bay county, however, war parties of the Chippewas would scour the woods of that section when a report that Sauks had been seen in the neighborhood was made. The fear of the Sauks spurred them on in their search for days, so great was the dread of the Sauk implanted in their hearts. The remnants of the Sauks are now found in the state of Iowa. With the expulsion of the Sauks, the Chippewas descended to make use of their territory, but that section in the region of Skull Island, in the vicinity of the present Bay City, was for many decades regarded as haunted, and though it was one of the richest hunting sections of the state, the Chippewas avoided it as they would the plague. In 1701, when Cadillac established the fort at Detroit, he encouraged the Indians to locate in the vicinity of the post, his object being to maintain a closer control of the fur trade by this means. The Chippewas and the Mississaugas were drawn toward Detroit, and a French report of 1736 showed that a small village of the latter Indians was located at the end of Lake St Clair, but all maps after that time showed the tribe to be located on the east side of the St. Clair river. The Hurons had complained to the French governor in 1688 that the Mississaugas had pre-empted the beaver hunting grounds of the Hurons and requested the removal of the trespassers. The Sauks, Foxes, and Potawatomies seem to have been located at one time in the southeastern part of Michigan but were driven thence by the Neutral Indians in 1642. Thus it was, when the United States opened negotiations in 1807 for titles to the land of the entire southeastern section of Michigan, the tribes included in the councils were the Chippewas and the Ottawas, the Wyandottes and the Potawatomies, the last two having rights that extended to the Ohio. The reservations made in St. Clair and Macomb counties were claimed only by the Chippewas and by them were occupied only until 1836, when they were ceded to the United States by the Swan Creek and Black River bands of the Chippewas. These two reservations were inhabited by the Indians only during the fishing season, and Schoolcraft, the Indian agent of those times, estimated the numbers on the river reservation at 200 and on the Swan Creek reservation as 150; but these estimates are probably too high, for 26 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY in 1839 thle total number of the two bands was placed at 198. The treaty ceding these reservations to the United States Government in 1836 was signed by these Indian chiefs, Eshtonoquot, Naykeeshig, Mayzin and Keewaygeezhig. Naykeezhig was the grandson of Maskeash and a nephew of Nemekas, one of the signers of the treaty of 1807. His grandfather was one of the leading chiefs along the St. Clair river during the time of the British occupation of the country and during his life he signed many of the deeds given by Chippewa chiefs to land in this county. He died shortly after the War of 1812 and was buried north of Mt. Clemens. Naykeezhig was often employed by Judge Bunce and he was the uncle of the last named signer of the treaty of 1837. Nemekas, or Animikans, the uncle of Naykeezhig, lived until 1825, dying at what was believed to be the age of 106 years. During his young manhood, he had served as a soldier under Patrick Sinclair at the fort built near the mouth of the Pine river, and as a reward for his services, he was presented with the uniform of a British brigadiergeneral. Mother Rodd, a granddaughter of Maskeash, was a familiar figure to the early settlers of this county and her portrait now hangs in the rooms of the Michigan State Historical association at Lansing. Though her home was on the Indian reservation of Sarnia and she received a pension from the English government, she frequently came to the American side of the river, where she had many friends. It is related of her that she was well versed in the Indian herbs and their use, and that upon one occasion she attempted to cure a male relative of hers of love for a woman other than his wife by swathing him in a blanket and having him hang his head over a pot of water containing a hot stone to make steam. Okemos, a nephew of Pontiac and partly of Ottawa blood, was made a chief of the Chippewa tribe. He fought with the British in the War of 1812, but later professed allegiance to the United States. The name of John Riley is commemorated in the name of Riley township, St. Clair county. When the American soldiers came to the county in 1814 to build Fort Gratiot, they found here John, the halfbreed son of James Van Slyck Riley, of Schenectady, New York, and Menawcamegoqua, a Chippewa woman of Saginaw. John Riley was a large man of fairly good manners and education, and during the War of 1812 supported the American cause. It is told of him that in 1786, when he was a boy in Detroit, he was ordered by a British officer to work on the highway. Upon his refusal, the soldiers were ordered to flog him, but he dared them to begin, in such a determined manner, that the officer ordered him to be released. John Riley was one of the Indian interpreters at Detroit, and in the treaty with the Saginaw Chippewas in 1819, 640 acres of land near the present town of Bay City was reserved for him. He lived at the northeast corner of the Indian reservation in St. Clair county until its cession to the United States in 1836, and though he represented to Congress that the Chippewa chiefs had deeded him eighty acres of land in 1825 in the reservation, his claim was not allowed. He then opened a store in the present township of HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 27 Riley, but his laxity in collecting the outstanding bills resulted in failure, and within a few years he removed to Canada, where he died in 1842. The treaty of 1807 above mentioned included all the territory now embraced by St. Clair county and the limits of the Indian cession to the United States were as follows: "Beginning at the mouth of the Miami river of the lakes (Maumee river) and running thence up the middle thereof to the mouth of the great Au Glaize river, thence due north until it intersects a parallel of latitude to be drawn from the outlet of Lake Huron, which forms the River Sinclair, thence running northeast the course that may be found will lead in a direct line to White Rock in Lake Huron, thence due east until it intersects the boundary line between the United States and Upper Canada in said lake, thence southwardly following the said boundary line down said lake through the River Sinclair, Lake St. Clair, and the River Detroit into Lake Erie to a point due east of the aforesaid Miami river, thence west to the place of beginning." A 1,200-acre tract south of Black river and a 5,760-acre tract at the mouth of Swan creek on Lake St. Clair were reserved for the Chippewas in those sections of the state. The Indian signers of the treaty included seventeen Chippewa chiefs, five Ottawas, five Potawatomies,. and three Wyandottes. The west line of the grant was later taken as the principal meridian for the public surveys and forms the west lines of Shiawassee, Lenawee and Saginaw counties. Long before the United States had been ceded this land by the Indians, many families had settled along the banks of the river and lake. Two Canadian families had settled on the low marshy land, probably on Lake St. Clair, according to the report of the Indian agent at Detroit in 1803, and from the mouth of North Channel the St. Clair river at Anchor Bay to a point six miles north were located twelve farms, none of which were more than 240 acres in extent, the claims of the residents being those of squatters' rights, for they settled on the land between the years 1780 and 1790. For the distance of twelve miles up the river from this settlement, not a vestige of human habitation could be seen, and then for a distance of about ten miles, the bank of the river was lined with twenty-five fertile farms. The claims of those people then occupying land along the river were ordered investigated by a land board appointed for that purpose in 1805. The report of the board made in December, 1805, showed that only eight of the farmers then located below Lake St. Clair had legal titles to the land which they occupied, and these were grants obtained either from the French or the English. The board, however, recommended that the titles of those squatters whose claims were illegal be guaranteed by the United States Government, for they were mostly poor French-Canadians and all had occupied the land in faith that they would receive title. CHAPTER II EARLY SETTLEMENT T HE history of the early settlement of St. Clair county rightfully begins with the establishment of Fort Sinclair, for it was at that time that the first real influx of settlers came to what is now St. Clair county. Prior to this time, however, the length and breadth of the county were traversed by men who cannot rightly be called settlers but whose names are so linked with the early history and the memories of pioneer days in the county that they deserve mention. These men were the Indian traders, interpreters and trappers, who lead a life nearly as nomadic in character as that of the Indians with whom they associated and many of whose names are also connected with the earliest history of other counties because of that fact. The accessibility of the lands of St. Clair county was the factor which contributed to their early settlement, especially those portions bordering the deep St. Clair river. Among the earliest of these settlers to locate on the banks of the St. Clair was Captain William Thorn. He was a lake captain and familiar with the banks of the St. Clair river, and when he came to choose a homesite, he selected a fine tract of land near the present town of Marine City. About twenty years before, had come the location of Captain Patrick Sinclair at the mouth of Pine river and the erection of the fort and trading post at that point, which gave an impetus to the settlement of the lands along the river and lake. The heirs of Sinclair afterward laid claim to the lands on the theory that they had been given him in lieu of expenses contracted in behalf of the government and to reimburse him for money paid for the release of colonial prisoners brought to the country by Indians, but the English government never admitted the validity of the claim. The names of Frenchmen who brought their families to the county about 1790 were Francois Lerviere, Batiste Levais, Duchien, Jarvais, Corneais, and Moreau. Jarvais located on Indian creek, then named Riviere Jarvais in his honor, and erected a sawmill, and since one of the most profitable undertakings for the pioneer was the cutting of logs and rafting of timber to Detroit, the mill of Jarvais probably played an important role in the development of the new settlement of Desmond. The mill made possible the opportunity for the pioneers to make ready money during the seasons of the year when farming could not be carried on. Such were the beginnings in St. Clair county, but so early were they and so many were the settlers who followed them soon after, that their names for the most part have been lost. The St. Clair County Pioneer Society was not organized until 1875, and even the work of this society has not set down the names of all those sturdy men and women who were instrumental in establishing the various communities in the county. The St. Clair county assessment rolls for 1821, however, give us many HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 29 names of the earliest settlers. The list is as follows: Hezekiah Adams, Joseph Bazenett, Moses Birdsall, Lambert Beaubien, William Brown, John Brown, Joseph Bourdman, Lovin Blanchard, Judge Z. W. Bunce, Francois Chortier, John Cartwright, James Cartwright, Louis Chortier, Joseph Chortier, Francois Chortier, Jr., John Cottrell, David Cottrell, George Cottrell, Henry Cottrell, Louis Casehand, Laba Campau, Peter Dupre, Francois Dechene, William Duvall, J. B. Dichard, John Elliott, John Eillott, Jr., John S. Fish, John Flynn, N. Frederick, F. Fleuver, James Fulton, Jacob Guy, Joseph Gear, William Hill, David Hill, Francis Harsen, William Harsen, Jacob Harsen, Robert Hamilton, Phillip Jarvis, Jacques Leeson, George Little, Mariann Minnie, Ira Marks, Joseph Minnie, Angus McDonnell, Pascal Podvant, Joseph Pennock, Anselm Petit, James Robertson, Thomas Robertson, Sarah Robertson, David Robertson, John Robertson, Etien Russell, Peter Rice, Oliver Ricard, John K. Smith, Richard Sansbury, Henry Saunders, Louis St. Bernard, Seth Taft, William Thorn, John Thorn, Louis Thebault, Van Wagenan & Jersey, Romulus Van Wagenan, James B. Wolverton, Samuel Ward, Andrew Wesbrook, Jean B. Yax and Harvey Stewart. This assessment roll shows that Andrew Wesbrook owned more land in the county at that time than any other man. A total of 800 acres was credited to him, 100 acres of which was improved and on which he had built two houses and a barn. Andrew Wesbrook and William Thorn each owned a carriole and a cart as did several other residents of the county. L. Beaubien, William Brown, John Elliott and Joseph Minnie had wooden clocks, and J. S. Fish, Samuel Ward and Andrew Wesbrook were each assessed for a silver watch. At the meeting of the Pioneer society held November 16, 1875, Hon. William T. Mitchell gave an address concerning early settlers which is herewith quoted in part: "The body of the population was confined to Clay, Cottrelville, China, St. Clair, and Port Huron. All west and north of the river towns was a comparative wilderness. Supplies for the lumber woods and even those for the villages were imported from Detroit or the older portions of the state. Every barrel of flour and bushel of corn had to be brought from abroad to supply the wants of the entire people except the more favored residents of the southern part of the county lying south of St. Clair. "Lumber was the ruling interest, and wherever that interest prevailsj the people are poor. So long as there is a pine tree on a settler's land capable of making a thousand shingles, he will not raise corn nor wheat, although he could earn twice the money with half the labor. At that time there were so many pine trees that there was no agriculture, and while a few reaped large profits from labor expended in the pine woods, the great mass of the people remained poor. A few like the Cottrells, Carletons, Barrons, Clarks, Robertsons, 'Recors, Browns, Wesbrooks, and Smiths, who happened to own land not cursed with pine or hemlock, were the only exceptions. They knew enough to reap abundant harvests, by tillage and ready markets, while the others were content to be 'hewers of wood and drawers of water' to those who were 30 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY stripping the forests of their evergreens and hoarding their riches to be expended in more fortunate communities. It was a fortunate day for us when pine and lumbermen ceased to predominate and when farmers commenced to till instead of rob their lands. "In 1847 St. Clair township, including the city, had a population of 1,150, and Port Huron township, including Gratiot and the city, about the same and not exceeding that number. "The lawyers in the county were L. M. Mason, True P. Tucker, M. E. Ames, B. C. Farrand and John McNeil, of whom B. C. Farrand and John McNeil are the sole survivors. John J. Falkenbury was admitted soon afterward and is since dead, and Mr. Grace and myself came into the county in that year. The Hon. O. D. Conger, afterward a lawyer of worthy note and renown, and now your honored representative in Congress, though he had been admitted, was ruralizing in a water sawmill at the then city of New Milwaukee, now the flourishing town of Lakeport, and being both head and tail sawyer in the old flutter-wheel mill, had hard work to make both ends meet; a fair example of the ill condition of laboring lumbermen. But his better genius found him, lifted him worthily upon the legal rostrum and introduced him to that worthy career which none but political opponents can ever wish to see checked. But peace to his ashes as a lawyer. His future life is elsewhere. "A passing word to the memory of the dead of that little band of lawyers. True P. Tucker, a man of queer as well as brilliant parts, then held a foremost position, and by his friends was esteemed as a successful advocate. His memory is cherished by members of the old pioneers. "M. E. Ames soon left the county, and it is said after taking a prominent political position in Minnesota, died and was buried among strangers. It is proper and right to mourn the dead but I have never known of anyone that regretted his removal from this county. "Of L. M. Mason, there was not one of the old pioneers who was not stricken with grief at the announcement of his death. A man of iron frame and heart, head and hand to match, full of generous and kindly impulses, the friend of the poor and helper of the needy, we may all rise and call his memory blessed. "Of those who were practicing law in the county in 1848, Mr. Conger, Mr. Grace, Mr. Farrand, Mr. McNeil and myself are the only survivors as far as I know. "There were then actively engaged in business in this county but a few who are now living. I can call to mind of the business men not a full list but a mournful one, when we see how busy death has been in thinning their number. J. K. Smith, of Algonac, long since gone to an honored grave and better home, leaving among his worthy sons Abram and S. L. Smith. Dr. John Chamberlain left our midst and died, honored and respected in Detroit. It would be impossible in this brief sketch to name all the Carletons, Browns, Saint Bernards, and Barrons who have left us for a better land. "Nor can I call back to memory all the Wards, Browns, Robertsons and Gallaghers and others who were the business and active men of HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 31 Newport, now Marine City, some alive, mostly dead, and who, some of them, were such men of enterprise that their wills and estates are still the subject of litigation and world-wide comment. "M. S. Gillett, James W. Sanborn, Alvah Sweetser, N. S. Horton, E. B. Clark, Colonel Davis, Esquire Hamilton, and a long list of others of Port Huron should not pass without comment. They left honored and honorable memories, and none of us let them pass to the tomb without tears and sorrow. "I cannot pass without calling some of them and perhaps others to your especial memory on this occasion. Who of the old pioneers cannot recall some pleasant memories of Dr. Harmon Chamberlain, the good physician and true friend, of Dr. John, the witty and sarcastic, who joked friends and enemies alike? Who will not gratefully remember J. K. Smith, one of, if not the earliest settler of Algonac, whose common sense and upright conduct made him the adviser and the helper of all in distress and need. "Of M. S. Gillett, the strong and sturdy, who believed in and lived up to the doctrine of total depravity, who is there among his old associates but has a kindly memory? E. B. Clark, the frank and free, and always well dressed; Col. W. Davis, the bold and ready and ever brave; Elijah Burtch, the outspoken and enduring, whose ripe years defied the ordinary rules and habits of life as now accepted. The 'Old Court,' Reuben Hamilton, whose eccentricities and queer decisiveness during a long life has been a fund of humor for half a century. Judge B. F. Cox, the mixture of the civic and the military, well reputed as general and probate judge. Cummings Sanborn, commanding in stature and form and amiable in all polite circles. James W. Sanborn, a remarkable contrast to Cummings, but whose life, though short, was successful. Col. Andrew Mack, the true gentleman of the old school, of whom his friend and equal in all amenities of life, Judge Zephaniah W. Bunce, still survives to remind the young of what his youth must have been, and of all the beautiful graces of old age that succeed to a wellspent and honorable life. "Of all these, what can we say except that the most laudatory tombs erected over their earthly remains do not bespeak all their worth and virtues? And in speaking of them, we can only regret that time (especially the time of such an occasion) will not give us space to mention others equally worthy, and whose memories should not be overlooked. "Of the living early pioneers of St. Clair county I shall want the aid of those present even to name them, much more to give them the worthy mention to which they are entitled. I do not expect to name a tithe and will only speak of a few that readily occur to my mind. The venerable Judge Zephaniah Bunce, whom I mentioned as a compatriot of Col. Mack, by his nearly ninety years, whom I hoped to see in our midst, still stays with us, the type of an honorable life and a worthy example to the young who look for long life. Old Uncle Jonathan Burtch, who has passed his fourscore, one of our earliest settlers, whose long life proves the hardy stock from which he sprung and the struggles and hardships 32 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY that such a nature outlives. Ralph Wadhams, the good natured and genial as well as successful, whose delight is now in his famous stock and herds, after nearly eighty years still shows us that a life of single blessedness, is not incompatible with old age, and makes us all regret that, while introducing such fine herds and stock in animals, he had not thought and acted on the thought that his own superior qualities should have been perpetuated in children, who sixty years hence could have with pride recited the incidents in the life of such a sturdy ancestor. "John Howard, of Port Huron, whose long life has seen so many of the incidents of our early history, first visiting this country in 1822, and still a man of vigor and active enterprise, should he not come forward with his fund of knowledge and experience? Ira B. Kendrick, whose eighty years are carried with the apparent vigor of youth. Elihu Granger, of Berlin, with more than three score and ten, but whose life must have left to him many pleasant memories, and has been crowned with more than the usual honors allotted to citizens. May he long continue in health and vigor. "Daniel B. Harrington, your honored president, whose early memories must be full of incidents of interest and whose pen or voice could not fail to relate a wondrous history. Samuel Russell, of Algonac, whose experiences must have been varied and large. John E. Kitton, the enterprising citizen of St. Clair, whose hopes and wishes have excited him to such extraordinary efforts for his adopted city, could tell us of some of the marvels of his long residence. 'Judge' F. Saunders, who doesn't know how he acquired, but who has always worthily worn the title. Amos James, whose ancestors in this county are proudly sustained by their sons. "W. L. Bancroft, so early connected with the press of this county, and whose experiences he can relate better than anyone else. Daniel Follansbee, who asks no honors, but who has been the worthy recipient of county offices. Wesley Truesdell, associated from an early day with our earliest and most venerated pioneers, who has ever been active in promoting the welfare of his beloved St. Clair, and whose years, though not as ripe as those of some I have mentioned, have brought to him many wise experiences and happy memories, and with whom I must close." The address of William T. Mitchell before the Pioneer society of the county gives many names prominent in the history of the county and of those names many are descendants of some of those first families above mentioned who settled in the county while it was yet under the nominal rule of the United States, yet actually ruled by England. The same meeting of the Pioneer society, held in 1875, gave the following names with the dates when the men in question came to the state of Michigan, the dates for the most part being the years in which they settled in St. Clair county: Daniel B. Harrington, 1819; Samuel Carleton, 1830; John Clarke, 1830; George Morttenger, 1814; John Russell, 1832; Alexander St. Bernard, 1809; Z. W. Bunce, 1816; HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 33 James D. Brown, 1814; David Hart, 1836; Chester Carleton, 1831; Amos James, 1828; John E. Kitton, 1841; Chester Kinball, 1830; Edmund E. Carleton, 1830; Joseph C. Cox, 1830; William A. Parsons, 1834; Simeon B. Brown, 1834; David Bryce, 1837; W. B. Barron, 1836; Moses F. Carleton, 1831; Edwin T. Solis, 1842; John McMichael, 1836; Charles L. Poole, 1840; Robert H. Jenks, 1849; George L. Cornell, 1854; Bela W. Jenks, 1848; Allen R. Aiken, 1835; William T. Mitchell, 1839; John M. Hart, 1838; Lucian Howe, 1836; Henry Whiting, 1846. Into the early history of the county are brought other names through the survey of the land claims in St. Clair county. The claim of Sinclair on the St. Clair river has been discussed as has its sale to the Detroit merchants, George Meldrum and William Park. In 1780 Duperon Baby received a large tract of land from the Indians by deed. The tract adjoined that of Sinclair immediately to the north, beginning at the lower end of Isle du Cerf, or Stag island, thence to Lake Huron and along the lake for two leagues, thence up the Riviere Du Lhud, or Black river, to a depth of five leagues, or as far as the stream was navigable for the rafting of timber. The deed of the land conveyed to Baby by five chiefs is certified before a justice of the peace at Detroit and Major A. S. De Peyster, commandant at Fort Detroit. Many other deeds were given by the Indians along St. Clair river, the sole motive of the donors being that of goodwill for the recipient. William Tucker, Jr., a son of William Tucker, the official interpreter of the Chippewas, was given a grant of land by the tribe. Thomas Williams, James Thompson, Alexander Dyce, Thomas Cox and his wife Margaret, George Cottrell, Thomas Smith, Bernardus and James and William Harsen, James May, Richard Cornwall, Jacob Graverodt, and Fontenoy all received grants of land from the Indians. It was not infrequent that the Indians gave the same piece of land to several people, and when the United States Land Board was established in 1808 to investigate the claims of those who were granted by the Indians, it was found that the deeds were invalid. The claims submitted to the Land Board, sitting at Detroit during the summer of 1808, bring to light many names of residents of St. Clair county which are not found in other places and the claims are herewith given: Francois Marsac, twelve acres wide by forty deep. Allowed on testimony of Peter Yax, that he had been in possession before July 1, 1796, and that it was sold to claimant in February, 1808. The land is described as being situated on Pointe au Cotoner, or Cotton Point. Peter Yax, twelve arpents by forty. Allowed on testimony of Louis Champagne that claimant was in possession before July 1, 1796, and had about five acres under cultivation. Peter Mini was allowed to retain possession of land six arpents by forty on the testimony of Antoine Nicholas Petit. Pierre Delorme was granted possession of land three arpents by forty when Francois Chartier testified that on July 1, 1796, Jacques 34 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY Toulouse was in possession, afterward selling to Reynier, who sold it to Brindamour, who made the final conveyance to Delorme. On the testimony of William Hill, Ignace Champagne retained possession of a piece of land four arpents by forty. When it was shown that Pierre Mini had been in possession of 240 arpents of land more than twenty years, he was allowed to retain title. Joseph Bassinet's claim to land three arpents by forty was allowed on the testimony of J. M. Beaubien. Two hundred and forty arpents of land was granted to the heirs of Jacob Hill when testimony proved that the man of that name had been in possession by the required time. Meldrum and Park, on the testimony of Jean Semar, were allowed to retain title to a piece of land three arpents by forty. Alex Harrow was granted eight acres by forty when in the testimony of Ignace Champagne it was brought out that the land was occupied by Louis Champagne in 1796 and that it was sold the following year to Pratt, who in turn sold it within the year to Alex Harrow. The claimant, according to the tax lists of 1802, which showed that he employed two hired men and owned three horses and six cows, was one of the largest taxpayers in the county at that time. James Harrow, a son of Alex, was allowed to retain possession of land sixteen acres by forty on the testimony of George Cottrell, whose testimony also allowed Alex Harrow to continue in possession of a piece of land equal in size to that of his son. Toussaint Chovin, on the testimony of Jean Simare, continued as owner of a piece of land three acres by forty. James Cartwright, who purchased 240 acres of land from Alex Harrow in 1796, was allowed to continue in possession when William Thorn proved the necessary conditions of occupancy. Samuel Cribble purchased 160 acres from Harrow, George Cottrell's testimony proving possession by July 1, 1796. Land seven and one-fourth acres by forty was allowed to William Thorn on the evidence of George Meldrum. When George Meldrum testified that John Wright was in possession of land, four and three-quarter arpents by forty, many years before 1796, Wright's heirs were given title to the land. James Robison (name properly Robertson) continued in possession of a tract of land six and three-quarter acres by forty on the testimony of William Hill. When it was shown by Joseph Mini that a piece of land seven arpents by forty had been occupied continuously from July 1, 1796, by Antoine Mini, Robert McNiff, Joseph Rowe and Antoine Nicholas Petit, the claim of the last named to the land was allowed by the board. The heirs of Antoine Mini, claiming six and one-half acres by forty, were granted their claim when Antoine Nicholas Petit showed that the family had been in possession of the land continuously since 1788 or longer. In 1781, George Cottrell secured 400 acres of land from the Indians according to his claim made to the United States Land Board. After HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 35 hearing the testimony of Alex Harrow, the board allowed Cottrell the title to 300 acres of the land. With one exception, Cottrell was the largest land owner in the county in 1802, when he employed two men and had four horses and sixteen cows. Jean Baptiste Daunay's claim to three arpents by forty arpents of land was allowed when it was shown that Joseph Ambroise Tremble was in possession of that tract before 1796 and that after him Beaubien, Jean Baptiste Yax, and the claimant had occupied the land. The claim of George, Jr., Henry, John, David, and James Cottrell to a section of land was allowed to the extent of 400 acres following the testimony of the boys' father, George Cottrell. Joseph Robitaille gave the testimony which resulted in the allowance of the claim of the heirs of Jean LeMay to 500 acres of land. Another claim of Meldrum and Park, that to 300 acres of land, was allowed on the testimony of Henry Saunders and Peter Curry. The former was a negro servant of the Detroit merchants, who was given the use of the land during his life, and at the time of the filing of the claim in 1808, about fifty acres were enclosed. The claim of Jean Marie Beaubien to 640 acres of land was allowed by the board following the testimony of Toussaint Chovin, during which it was shown that Beaubien acquired from the Indians a deed with Meldrum and Park in 1781 and had occupied more than one parcel. This tract of land was sold to Andrew Wesbrook in 1815. Jean Marie Beaubien was commissioned justice of the peace in 1805 by Governor Hull, and the following month he was appointed a lieutenant of a militia company to be composed of men from the territory along the river between Lake Huron and Lake St. Clair. Joseph Ricard's claim to three and one-half arpents by forty was allowed when George Meldrum testified that the land had been owned by Meldrum and Park and sold to Ricard in 1806, Lariviere and Gerard having occupied it as tenants prior to that time. Oliver Ricard, claiming four arpents by forty, received title to the land when Francois Chartier, Jr., testified that J. M. Beaubien had been in possession of the land before July 1, 1796, and had continued to hold it until he sold the tract to Ricard. Jean Marie Beaubien was allowed his claim to sixteen arpents by forty on the testimony of George Meldrum. Claims to a section of land for each of the four sons of George Meldrum were allowed by the board when it was shown that they came from the tract purchased by Meldrum and Park from Patrick Sinclair and confirmed by treaty with the Indians. The tracts of John and James Meldrum fronted on the St. Clair river, while those of William and David Meldrum were located in back of them and on the Pine river. Beaubien testified that the owners were in possession before 1796 and that a water grist and sawmill had been built on one of the claims located along the Pine river, but that the buildings had been burned when all the people were at Detroit attending a church ceremony. The later surveys, however, left the location of these improvements outside the lines of the claims as allowed by the Land Board. 36 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY Another Meldrum and Park claim to 500 acres was allowed by the board on the testimony of Jean Simare, who stated that the land had been occupied before July 1, 1796, by Rene, Tremble, and others as tenants and after that by Ignace Krisler and Jean Baptiste Deschamps. After J. M. Beaubien testified that apple trees had been planted, houses and a sawmill built before 1790, the claim of the Detroit merchants to another 500 acre tract was allowed by the board. Francois Bonhomme was given title to 640 arpents of land which, according to the testimony of J. M. Beaubien, had been occupied by Pierre Bonhomme before 1796, and that the claimant had lived on the land since 1802. A tract of 640 arpents was guaranteed Antoine La Salle, Jr., when Charles Pouier stated that Alexander Bouvier had been in possession from 1785 to 1808, when he sold to the claimant. Seven of the claims submitted to the board for permanent possession of land within the limits of St. Clair county were rejected by the board. Alexander Harrow's claim to a section of meadow land was disallowed because no improvements had been made on the land since 1796. For the same cause, John Harrow's claim to a section was disallowed. No action was taken by the board on the claim of John McGregor to 240 acres of land, for no evidence was produced. The claim of Francois Fontenoy to six and one-half arpents by forty was rejected when the testimony of George Cottrell, Ignace Morass and Jean Baptiste Comparet failed to show continuous possession of the land. A claim of Pierre Bonhomme to 320 arpents of land located on the River Delude was not acted upon, although the testimony of Joseph Morass showed that he had been in possession before 1796. No action was taken and when the revived board met in 1821, the matter was again laid before them and the claim was allowed. In the meantime, however, Fort Gratiot had been built on a part of the land claimed by Bonhomme and the government was finally ordered to pay him for the land taken as a military reservation. Two other claims of Bonhomme, one for 240 arpents on the St. Clair river and the other for 640 arpents on the south side of the River Delude were allowed by the revived board in 1821. The revived board allowed the claim of Francis, William and Jacob Harsen, and of Mary Stewart to Harsen's Island, of which they each received a tract of 640 acres, Francis having one claim as assignee of his brother James. In those cases where a strong equity appeared, although the claim had not been filed within the time required by the act reviving the board, these decisions were reached: Victor Morass applied for title to 640 acres of land on the south side of the Chippewa reservation, several men testifying that the land had been occupied many years before 1796 and that improvements, including a sawmill, had been made in the place. Recommendation of confirmation of title was made by the board and in 1854 Congress passed an act whereby he was able to enter any 280 acres of land in Michigan provided he gave up the claim. Another claim of Victor Morass to land almost the same as that nominated in the former HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 37 Baby claim was not granted, although the board recommended the confirmation of other land to Morass, an act that does not seem to have been performed. The claim of Ann Smith to 1,500 acres under a purchase from Richard Cornwall, who secured it from the Indians by deed, was rejected by the board on evidence, although it recommended that Congress favorably review the matter because of the poverty of Ann Smith. Congress took no action in the matter. The claim of Angus McDonald to 600 acres on Dickinson's Island received no action, but the board's action in the cases of Gage and Davenport concerning the same island seems to confirm the McDonald claim as well as those of Gage and Davenport. In 1807 Aaron Greeley was appointed surveyor of private claims and in 1810 he surveyed the claims in St. Clair county. The surveys completed, he went to Washington to make his final maps and secure certificates. While he was returning to Michigan with the papers, he was captured by the British near Malden, the papers taken from him and never returned. The loss was not as great as it might at first seem, for the proceedings of the Land Board defined the property and provided for the issuance of certificates of ownership to the claimants of the land. CHAPTER III COUNTY ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT W HEN the states of New York, Massachusetts and Virginia relinquished to Congress their claims on the Northwest Territory and when the British forts at Detroit and Mackinac had been garrisoned with troops by General Wayne, what is now the state of Michigan was organized as the county of Wayne and permitted to send one representative to the general assembly held at Chillicothe, Ohio. With the organization of the Indiana Territory in 1802, Michigan was annexed to the southern territory but in 1805 came the organization of the Michigan Territory according to the provisions of the ordinance of 1787, with William Hull as governor; Augustus B. Woodward, chief judge; Frederick Bates, assistant judge; John Griffin, assistant judge; Col. James May, marshal; Abijah Hull, surveyor; and Peter Audrain, clerk of the legislative board. What is now included within the limits of St. Clair county was originally a part of Macomb county, which, upon the petition of the requisite number of inhabitants, was erected by the decree of Governor Hull on January 15, 1818, the county to be included within the following boundaries: "Beginning at the southwest corner of Township number one, north of the base line (so-called), thence along the Indian boundary line north to the angle formed by the intersection of the line running to the White Rock upon Lake Huron; thence with the last mentioned line to the boundary line between the United States and the British Province of Upper Canada; thence with the said line southwardly to a point in Lake St. Clair due east from the place of beginning; thence due west to the eastern extremity of said base line; and with the same to the place of beginning." The county seat of Macomb county was then located at Mt. Clemens, where it has since been established despite the subsequent shrinkage of the boundaries of the county. The following officers were the first appointed by the governor to administer the affairs of the county: Christian Clemens, chief justice; Daniel LeRoy and William Thompson, associate justices; John Stockton, clerk of the court of general and quarter sessions; Conrad Tucker, justice of the peace; Elisha Harrington, justice of the peace; Ignace Moross, coroner; John Connor, constable; and Rufus Hatch, justice of the peace. The foregoing officers were appointed January 20, 1818, but during the year other appointments were made as follows: Daniel LeRoy, justice of the peace; John Connor and John B. Petit, commissioners; James Robinson, constable; Benoit Tremble, supervisor of Harrison township; Daniel LeRoy, judge of probate; John Stockton, register of probate; John Stockton, justice of the peace; and Ezra Prescott, who was appointed prosecuting attorney on January 4, 1819. By the same act which erected Macomb county in 1818, "the district beginning at the opposite shore of the River Huron, including the shore, HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 39 and running along the shore of Lake St. Clair, to the mouth of the River St. Clair, and along said river to Fort Gratiot, and extending in the rear as aforesaid, shall form one township, and be called the township of St. Clair." The territory nominated as St. Clair township had previously formed the township of the same name of Wayne county, it being made a part of Macomb county in 1818, with no change in the boundaries as they existed when St. Clair township was a part of the original Wayne county. The people of the township of St. Clair were not entirely satisfied with the arrangement, however, and it was not long after the erection of Macomb county that the people of St. Clair township began a movement for the erection of their section of the county into a separate political unit. A petition was accordingly drawn up by the people and submitted to the governor, who on March 28, 1820, issued the following proclamation: "Whereas, A petition has been presented to me, signed by a number of the citizens of the said territory, requesting that the boundaries of a new county and the seat of justice thereof may be established by an act of the Executive, which shall not take effect until the arrival of a period when its population may require such a measure; "Now, Therefore, Believing that a compliance with this request will have a tendency to increase the population of such part of the Territory as may be included within these boundaries, and to prevent those difficulties which sometimes arise from the establishment of counties, when the settlements are formed and conflicting opinions and interests are to be reconciled, I do, by virtue of these presents, and in conformity with the provisions of the ordinance of Congress of July 13, 1787, lay out that part of the said Territory included within the following boundaries, viz.: Beginning at the southeast corner of Township 3 north, Range 14 east; thence north to the northeast corner of Township 4 in the same range; thence west to the county of Oakland; thence north to the northeast corner of Township 6 north, Range 11 east; thence west to the Indian boundary line, as established by the treaty of Detroit, November 17, 1807; thence north with the same, north and northeasterly to the boundary line between the United States and British Province of Upper Canada; thence with the said boundary line southwardly, to a point due south of the place of beginning; and thence to the place of beginning, into a new county, to be called the county of St. Clair. And I do, in conformity with the report of the Commissioners appointed for that purpose, establish the seat of justice of the said county at the town of St. Clair. And I do further declare, that this proclamation shall take effect and be in force after the same shall be so declared by the Governor of the said Territory, or other competent authority therein, for the time being, and not sooner." The proclamation of Governor Lewis Cass did have a decided "tendency to increase the'population" and to "reconcile conflicting opinions and interests" of the newly erected St. Clair county, and with the lapse of a year, the inconveniences to the population had become so great that the residents of the county presented to Governor Cass a petition asking 40 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY the organization of the county. In compliance with the wish of the people, Cass declared St. Clair county organized on May 8, 1821, in the following proclamation: "Whereas, The inhabitants residing within that part of the Territory included within the county of St. Clair, as the same was laid off by an act of the Governor of this Territory, bearing date the 28th day of March, 1820, have requested that the same should be organized; "Now, Therefore, I do, by virtue of the provisions of the ordinance of Congress of July 13, 1787, determine the limitation of said act of the Governor of this Territory, and I do hereby declare the inhabitants thereof entitled to all the rights and privileges to which, by law, the inhabitants of the other counties of this Territory are entitled. "And I do further declare, that the seat of justice of the said county, in conformity with the report of the Commissioners appointed for that purpose, is temporarily established at the town of St. Clair, and that as soon as the building, contracted to be built by the proprietor of the said town, for a courthouse and gaol, is completed agreeably to contract, the seat of justice of the said county shall be permanently established at the town of St. Clair." The original limits of the county as laid off by the proclamation of the Governor in 1820 included all but the northwest corner of the present county of Sanilac, the entire area representing a total area of approximately 1,500 square miles. The population of this great section, however, has been estimated at about eighty families, by far the greater majority of whom were located on the river below St. Clair, where the county seat was temporarily located. Under a law which had been in force since May 8, 1820, the governor appointed three county commissioners, who were to meet on the first Monday of March, June, September and December of each year. The duties of the commissioners, work for which they were to receive thirty dollars a year, included the recommendation of persons as constables, determination of property assessment, the division of the county into townships, the creation of road districts and the appointment of the overseers of these districts. The clerk of the board of supervisors was to receive the yearly salary of fifty dollars. Andrew Wesbrook, George Cottrell and John K. Smith were appointed the commissioners of St. Clair county soon after the organization of the county. John Thorn became the first clerk of the board, and James Wolverton took office as the first sheriff of the county. Apparently, George A. O'Keefe was the first prosecuting attorney, for the records of the January term of court in 1823 shows that he received five dollars for services. On June 4, 1821, the three commissioners of the county met in their first session, and their first duty was to enumerate taxable property, both real and personal, as follows: "Improved lands, wild lands, orchards, buildings, distilleries, grist mills, sawmills, horses three years old or upwards, horses two years old and not three years, oxen, cows, young cattle two years old and not four years, hogs one year old, household furniture, callashes, carrialls, wagons, carts, gold watches, silver HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 41 watches, brass clocks and wooden clocks." At this meeting, Joseph Minnie was appointed deputy assessor to work with Sheriff Wolverton, the two levying the first assessment. The returns were accepted August 29, Wolverton and Minnie were allowed four dollars each for their services. The county budget was placed at $100, out of which were to be paid the wolf bounties of two dollars each for wolves over six months of age and one dollar for wolves six months old or under. At this first meeting of the board, Joseph Minnie, who had been appointed supervisor of highways by the governor, was directed to open the highway from the mouth of Belle river to Pine river or to appropriate for that purpose half the labor required by statute for that year. This action concerning the highway was the final work of the board before adjourning. Andrew Wesbrook, born in Massachusetts in 1771, was taken to Nova Scotia by his parents when he was but a child of a few years. At the age of twelve, he accompanied his parents to Delaware, Canada, on the Thames river, where he grew to manhood and continued to live until he had attained middle age, acquiring several thousand acres of land, including good buildings and a distillery. He refused to accept a commission as captain in the Canadian militia when the War of 1812 broke out, going instead to Detroit, where he offered his services to Governor William Hull, who made him captain of a company of scouts. Regarded as a traitor by the British, Wesbrook was undismayed by the confiscation of his property and merchandise by the British government, and when he accompanied.a company of American soldiers to his old home in the attempt to save something of his personal property, he himself set fire to the buildings lest the English be able to use them. After the war he purchased two claims on the St. Clair river in 1815 in what is now the township of East China, where he became one of the largest landowners in the county and one of the most prosperous farmers. In 1828, he was granted two sections of land for his services during the War of 1812, and the largest part of this grant Wesbrook selected from the public lands in the eastern part of Clay township. Wesbrook was appointed supervisor of highways by Governor Cass when St. Clair county was a part of Macomb county. His first wife died in 1815; his second was Nancy, the daughter of William Thorn; his third, married after the death of Nancy Thorn Wesbrook, was Margaret Ann Crawford, whom he divorced in 1834; and he subsequently married a fourth time. Andrew Wesbrook died in 1835. George Cottrell, another of the first county commissioners, was born in Detroit in 1783, two years after his father, also George Cottrell, had obtained a deed from the Chippewa Indians to a large piece of land on the St. Clair river, to which the family moved in 1784. George Cottrell, the younger, won the commission of ensign in a militia company that was being raised in the country from Lake Huron to Lake St. Clair in September, 1805. On April 8, 1818, he was appointed by Governor Cass to the office of supervisor of highways of St. Clair township, an area that included all of the present St. Clair county. He remained a commissioner of the county until the board was abolished in 1827, and 42 HISTORY OF ST. GLAIR COUNTY in 1829 and 1830, he was elected supervisor of Cottrellville township, where he and his four brothers, Henry, John, James and David, held claims and-were prominent and influential residents of that section of the county. John K. Smith, the third member of the first board of commissioners of St. Clair county, was born in Westchester county, New York, November 29, 1785. When he was three years of age his parents moved to Chittenden county, Vermont, where John Smith, despite the handicap of a crippled arm and leg, secured a good education, being eventually admited to practice at the bar at Pottsdam, New York, where he practiced for a time. Soon after the outbreak of the War of 1812, he performed services for the American army that won for him the position of forage master and licensed trader for one regiment, a unit with which he came to Detroit in 1815. The following year, the regiment was disbanded. Smith, learning that brown earthenware was not manufactured in Michigan, persuaded two soldiers, who were potters, to join him in the search for suitable clay deposits for the manufacture of the earthenware articles. On Dickinson's Island he found the sort of clay for which he was looking, leased the property from the Laughton heirs, and began work early in 1817. The following winter he taught school at Harsen's Island, and in February, 1818, Smith was appointed justice of the peace by Governor Cass, who also appointed him commissioner of Macomb county two years later. Upon the organization of St. Clair county, John Smith became commissioner of the new county in addition to receiving the appointments of associate justices of the county court and justice of the peace. He became the first postmaster of the office at Plainfield when it was established in 1826, holding the position until 1841. When the name was changed to that of Algonac, he was reappointed postmaster in August, 1843, retaining the office until his death in 1855. In May, 1828, he was appointed judge of probate, was reappointed in 1832, and was elected the first probate judge of the county when Michigan became a state in 1836, holding the office four years thereafter. His wife, Catherine McDonald, whom he married in 1819, was the daughter of Angus McDonald, who settled at Baldoon in the Chenile Ecarte settlement of Lord Selkirk in 1804, but later located on Stromness Island. Township Organization. At a meeting of the board of commissioners held March 4, 1822, the division of the county into three road districts was made, and at the same time, the commissioners ordered that the division be submitted to the governor in order that he might declare the same districts duly organized as townships. The governor's proclamation, issued March 17, 1823, read as follows: "Whereas, The Commissioners of the county of St. Clair have recommended the division of the said county into townships; now, therefore, in conformity with the ordinance of Congress of July 13, 1787, I do hereby establish the following townships in the said county of St. Clair, namely: "The township of Plainfield to be bounded as follows: Beginning on the border of the River St. Clair, at the north line of land, belonging HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 43 to the heirs of Alexander Harrow, deceased, thence northwesterly along said line to the northeast corner of Section No. 28; thence along the north line of Sections No. 28, 29, 30 and 25, to the border of Lake St. Clair; thence southerly until it intersects the boundary line between the United States and Upper Canada; thence northeasterly along said boundary line to a point due east of from the place of beginning; thence west to the place of beginning. "The township of Cottrellville to be bounded as follows: Beginning on the border of the River St. Clair, at the south line of land belonging to James Fulton, Esq.; thence westerly along said line to the northeast corner of Section No. 12, in Town No. 4 north, and Range No. 16 east; thence west to the boundary line of said county; thence south along said boundary line to Lake St. Clair; thence easterly along the border of Lake St. Clair, till it intersects the north line of the township of Plainfield, and continuing northeasterly along the north line of said township to the border of the River St. Clair; thence northeasterly along the border of said river to the place of beginning. "The township of St. Clair to include all that part of said county west and northwest of the township of Cottrellville." Cottrellville township took its name from George Cottrell, the county commissioner at the time, whose home was in that section of the county. Plainfield township was named by John K. Smith, another commissioner, in honor of his old Vermont home, and St. Clair township merely retained the name of the one original township that included the entire county. On the same day that the proclamation was issued forming the new townships of the county, John S. Fish was appointed supervisor for Plainfield, David Oakes supervisor for St. Clair, and Andrew Wesbrook for the township of Cottrellville. The area of Plainfield township was substantially the same as that of the present Clay township; Cottrellville township included the present township of that name in addition to the present ones of China, East China, Ira; and St. Clair included the rest of the county and the lower part of Sanilac county. An act of the Territorial legislature, approved April 2, 1827, made sweeping changes in the township boundaries of the various counties of the state. The surveyed townships and fractional parts of townships numbered three in ranges, fifteen, sixteen and seventeen east in St. Clair county formed the new Cottrellville township, an area that included the present one of that name as well as Ira township and the three northern tiers of sections from Clay township. The surveyed townships and fractional townships numbered four and five north, ranges fourteen, fifteen, sixteen and seventeen east, were formed into a township named Sinclair, which then included the land now embraced by Casco, China, Columbus, East China and St. Clair townships in St. Clair county, and by Armada, Richmond, Lenox and Ray townships in Macomb county. The act further provided for Desmond township, which was to include surveyed townships six, seven, eight and nine north, ranges thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen and seventeen east. The present towns of Berlin, Riley, Wales, Kimball, Port Huron, Fort Gratiot, Clyde, 44 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY Kenockee, Emmet, Mussey, Lynn, Brockway, Greenwood, Grant and Burtchville in St. Clair county, and those of Worth, Speaker, Flynn and Maple Valley in Sanilac county were included in Desmond township, the origin of whose name has been lost. That part of the county south of the new town of Cottrellville and a three-mile strip of land lying to the north of Desmond township were unprovided for in the act of 1827, and the legislature approved an act on April 27, 1828, by which the land south of Cottrellville and the lower tier of sections from that township were joined to form a new township known as Clay in honor of Henry Clay. That strip north of Desmond was unsettled at the time. Berlin Township, which has been reduced to its present size by the organization of Lynn in 1850, and of Mussey in 1855, was erected from Clyde township March 22, 1839, at that time including surveyed townships six, seven and eight north, range thirteen east. When the system of county government was placed in the hands of a board of supervisors, Elihu Granger was the first elected supervisor from the township. The east half of the township was surveyed in 1817, but the west half, owing to the extensive swamp lands, remained unsurveyed until 1835. Brockway Township, organized by an act of March 17, 1848, was formed from town seven north, ranges fourteen and fifteen east, of Clyde township and township eight north, ranges fourteen and fifteen east, of Burtchville township. It was reduced to its present size, town eight north, range fourteen east, by the formation of Emmet and Kenockee townships in 1850, and of Greenwood in 1855. The first supervisor of the township was David A. Brockway. The name of the township came from Lewis Brockway, who was an owner of extensive timber lands in the township at that time. Burtchville Township, erected by an act of the legislature approved February 16, 1842, originally comprised township eight north, ranges fourteen, fifteen, sixteen and seventeen east, from which Brockway was formed in 1848 and Grant township in 1866. The name of the town was given it in honor of Jonathan Burtch, one of the earliest settlers and the first supervisor. Casco Township was formed from town four north, range fifteen east, of China township by an act of March 15, 1849. The origin of the name is obscure, but it is thought that the name was suggested by Captain John Clarke, of China, who came from Casco, Maine. William Hart was the first supervisor elected by the people of the town. China Township, originally embracing township four north, ranges fifteen, sixteen and seventeen east, was erected by an act of the legislature approved March 17, 1834, it being named after China township, Kennebec county, Maine, upon the suggestion of Captain John Clarke, who lived there as a boy. The creation of Casco in 1849 and of East China ten years later left the town in the present size. Doubt having arisen as to the location of the north line of the township, an act of April 12, 1839, extended the line due east through the private claims to the River St. Clair. A second act of March 17, 1849, changed the line so that it run by the west, north and east line of private claim No. 306 to HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 45 Pine river, along the river to the south line of George Palmer's land, and along the latter line to the St. Clair river. The following year, the preceding act was repealed and all the land within the corporate limits of St. Clair village was attached to the township of St. Clair. David Hart became the first supervisor in 1842, and the first commissioner was Peter Carleton, who served from 1835 to 1836. Clay Township was first named Plainfield, being one of the three original townships formed as the result of the first subdivision. In 1836, the line between Clay and Cottrellville townships was changed so as to begin at the northeast corner of the Harrow farm on the St. Clair river and run to the northwest corner of the same farm, thence west to the northeast corner of section 28, then along the north line of the section to the northwest corner of section 29, thence north to the northeast corner of section 18; thence west to the county line of Macomb county. The following year, the township of Ira was formed from Clay, and though by an act of 1849 all the town of Ira lying east of the Indian reservation line was attached to the town of Clay, the action was repealed in 1850. Sections 29, 30 and 25 were detached from Ira in 1859 and added to Clay by the supervisors, this being the last change that has been made in the size of the township. Harvey Stewart was the first commissioner from Clay township, he serving from 1828 to 1833, and when the commissioners were superceded by the board of supervisors, Stewart was elected the first supervisor of his township. Clyde Township was organized March 26, 1836, and was composed of twenty townships, including townships 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 north, ranges 13, 14, 15 and 16 east. The formation of Lexington the next year detached towns 8 and 9 north, ranges 15 and 16 east, from Clyde, which was further decreased by the creation of Columbus in the same year and by the erection of Riley and St. Clair townships in 1838, by Berlin in 1839, by Wales in 1841, by Emmet and Kenockee in 1850, and by Kimball in 1855, its area remaining unchanged since 1855. The name was suggested by Ralph Wadhams, who was then the proprietor of a small settlement in Clyde Mills, which was later known as Wadhams in Kimball township. Wadhams secured the establishment of a postoffice at his village under the name of Clyde Mills in 1835, and it is said that he was greatly disappointed when the later township organizations placed his village and postoffice in a township which did not bear the name of Clyde. He was the first commissioner from the township and served in that capacity from 1838 to 1841, and when the election for the first supervisor came before the people in 1842, he was continued in office as supervisor of Clyde township. Columbus Township was organized by the legislature March 11, 1837, with the same size that it now has, that of township 5 north, range 15 east. Theodore Bathey was the first supervisor for the township in 1837, and Daniel Weeks became the supervisor in 1842, after the board of commissioners had been abolished. Cottrellville Township was organized in 1823 as described above. John S. Fish was the first supervisor of the township in 1827, and 46 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY David Cottrell became the supervisor after the abolition of the board of county commissioners in 1841. East China Township was erected by an act of February 12, 1859, and comprised fractional township 4 north, including the private claims extending into range 16 east. The northern boundary of the town has been changed several times, due to the changes in the corporate limits of St. Clair city. The first supervisor was Henry Baird, in 1859. Emmet Township. Though there is no record of a legislative act organizing the township of Emmet, an act of February 19, 1850, legalized the organization of the town, which was formed of town 7 north, range 14 east, of Clyde township. It is believed that the new township was named in honor of Robert Emmet, the Irish patriot, for many of the settlers of the township were of Irish extraction. Fort Gratiot Township. The board of supervisors erected Fort Gratiot township at a meeting on July 13, 1866, the purpose being to give the north end of the county a larger representation on the board, to this end the new township being taken from Port Huron. It comprised town 7 north, range 17 east, and was named after the fort which still existed there. The purpose of the supervisors in strengthening the northern representation on the board was to secure the removal of the county seat from the city of St. Clair to Port Huron. Henry Stephens became the first supervisor of Fort Gratiot township. Grant Township. Township 8 north, range 16 east, was taken from Burtchville township on October 9, 1866, and erected into a separate township and named after the Civil war general, the only object of the supervisors in their action being to increase the representation of the northern part of the county in the effort of the board to secure the removal of the county seat from St. Clair to Port Huron. Thomas Dawson became the first supervisor. Greenwood Township, comprising township 8 north, range 15 east, was erected from Brockway by an act of the legislature approved February 12, 1855, Lincoln Small becoming the first supervisor, a position which he retained until 1858. The name of the township is derived from the fact that because of the distance of its lands from navigable waters and its consequent late settlement much timber remained when the organizers cast about for a suitable name. Ira Township. Named in honor of Ira Marks, one of the prominent early settlers of the township, Ira township was erected by an act of the legislature March 11, 1837. The original boundaries were as follows: Beginning at the southwest corner of section 28 of the township of Clay; thence north to the south line of town 4 north; thence west to the east line of Macomb county; thence south to Lake St. Clair; thence eastward along the border of the lake to the south line of section 25; thence east to the place of beginning. Sections 5, 6, 7, 8, 17, 18, 19 and 20 were detached from Ira and added to Cottrellville in 1840. In 1849 that part of the township east of the Indian reservation line was added to Clay township, but the act was repealed the following year and the boundaries of the township have remained the same to the present time. Much of the land of the township was included in the Indian HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 47 reservation set off by the Indian treaty of 1807, and was surveyed in 1810. The reservation was surrendered by the Indian following the treaty of 1836, and at that time the land was surveyed into sections and placed on sale by the United States in 1839. Chester Kimball became the first supervisor of the township, and the first supervisor after the board of commissioners was abolished was Charles Kimball. Kenockee Township received its name from the Chippewa Indian word meaning "crooked." The township comprises town 7 north, range 15 east, of Clyde township, by an act of February 9, 1855, Abel Stockwell becoming the first supervisor. Kimball Towznship. When township 6 north, range 16 east, was detached from Clyde by an act of February 12, 1855, and erected into a separate township, it was given the name of Kimball in honor of John S. Kimball, one of the most prominent of the earliest residents of that section of the county. The first supervisor was William B. Verity, and John S. Kimball became the second supervisor of the township which bore his name. Lynn Township, which is township 8 north, range 16 east, was erected March 28, 1850, from the township of Berlin. The organization came at the suggestion of Alfred A. Dwight, owner of extensive lumber lands in that section of the county, and when the organizers proposed to name the township after him, he objected strongly and gave them instead the name of his foreman, Edward J. Lynn, later of Port Huron. Dwight was elected the first supervisor. Mussey Township, also organized from Berlin township, was composed. of township 7 north, range 13 east, and was erected by an act approved February 10, 1855. It was named in honor of Dexter Mussey, who was state representative from Macomb county for many years. William P. Preston was elected the first supervisor of the township. Port Huron Township was organized with the name of Desmond by an act of April 12, 1827, and at that time included townships 6, 7, 8 and 9, ranges 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 east. The erection of the townships of Clyde in 1836 and of Lexington in 1837 reduced the township to include only towns 6 and 7 north, range 17 east, and when the latter township was created, the name of Desmond was changed to that of Port Huron. In 1838 the north line of the township was changed but the original boundary was restored the following year. Fort Gratiot township was taken from Port Huron in 1866 and St. Clair township was confirmed at the same time. The supervisors, at their session on October 16, 1891, made this change in the line between Port Huron and Fort Gratiot townships: Beginning at a point where the present boundary between the two townships intersects the center of Black river; thence upstream along the center of the river to a point where the quarter section line running east and west through sections 31 and 32 intersects the river; thence west along said quarter section line to a point where the line intersects the Beach road; thence south along said road to a point where it is intersected by the River road; thence northwesterly along the River road to a point where the road intersects the quarter section line running east and west through section 31; thence west 48 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY along said quarter section line to the western boundary of said township of Fort Gratiot; thence south along said western boundary between the townships of Fort Gratiot and Clyde to the southwest corner of said township of Fort Gratiot, so that all territory lying southerly of the aforesaid lines shall be detached from the township of Fort Gratiot, and attached to and made a part of the township of Port Huron. Black river was later made the dividing line between the two townships, and the corporate limits of the city of Port Huron have from time to time been so changed as to alter the area of the township. Upon the erection of Desmond township, of which Port Huron is the successor, Martin Peckins became the supervisor, and when the board of county commissioners was abolished, John S. Heath became the supervisor of Port Huron township. Riley Township was organized March 6, 1838, from township 6 north, range 14 east, until then a part of Clyde township. The name of John Riley was given to the township in honor of the half-breed Chippewa Indian of that name, who made regular trips to the woods of the township to hunt and to make maple sugar. Riley lived on the Indian reservation on Black river and when this was bought by the United States in 1836, Riley's father bought the southwest quarter of section 27 in this township and gave a life lease of it to John for the yearly rental of six cents. The first supervisor elected from the township was Oel Rix, who served in that capacity during the year 1842. St. Clair Township. As previously described, the township of St. Clair originally included the entire county, included all the county west and northwest of Cottrellville township after the division of 1823, and comprised townships 4 and 5 north, ranges 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 east, under the name of Sinclair township, after the changes of 1827. However, at that time the county did not include townships 4 north, ranges 13 and 14 east, nor the west half of township 5 north, range 13 east. County boundaries changed in 1832, and the erection of the townships of China occurred in 1835 an dof Clyde in 1836. The narrow strip left along the river, including town 5 north, range 17 east, was increased by an act of March 31, 1838, to take in town 5 north, range 16 east, and all of a private claim. The following year, the south line was extended through two private claims in a straight line to the St. Clair river, and though another change was made in 1849 relative to China township, the act was repealed the next year, when all of China township within the corporate limits of St. Clair village was attached to St. Clair township. Since that time, no material changes have been made in the township lines except where changes were made in the corporate limits of St. Clair. Everett Beardsley became the first supervisor of the township after the revision of 1827, and Harmon Chamberlain became supervisor after the commissioners were abolished. Wales Township was detached from Clyde by an act of March 27, 1841, and comprised town 6 north, range 16 east. The origin of the name of the township is unknown. The first supervisor was Clark S. Cusick. HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 49 County Seat Location and ReImoval. In 1818, James Fulton, appointed sheriff of Macomb county by Governor Cass upon its organization, purchased in company with Edward Brooks, a regular army officer stationed at Detroit, the two claims at the mouth of the Pine river from John and James Meldrum, the original patentees. One claim was located north of the mouth and the other was on the opposite bank of the Pine river, both fronting on the St. Clair river. With the intention of making the land a city site, the partners sent a force of men from Detroit in 1818 to begin clearing the north claim in preparation for the building of houses, stores and streets. In May, 1818, just two months after the land had been purchased from the Meldrums, Brooks sold his interest in the enterprise to James Fulton. The establishment of Oakland county in January, 1819, with the county seat at Pontiac, gave to Fulton the desire to secure the erection of a new county to include his town and to gain the nomination of his town as the county seat of the new county. To this end, Fulton circulated a petition among the scattered residents of the shore of Lake St. Clair and the River St. Clair, a large part of them signing the instrument which purported to show the desirability of erecting a new county. In July, 1819, Fulton presented the petition to the governor and proposed to him that if the seat of justice were located at the town of St. Clair, which Fulton had just laid out on the Pine and St. Clair rivers, he would donate the grounds and the buildings necessary for the adequate administration of the county offices. The governor at once appointed David C. McKinstry, Benjamin Stead and John Hunt as the commissioners to investigate the matter of the creation of a new county and to look into Fulton's offer to erect a courthouse and jail. The commissioners recommended the erection of the county and the acceptance of Fulton's offer in a report submitted to the governor August 30, 1819, reading in part as follows: "It appears to your commissioners that a portion of the citizens of Macomb county, under its present organization, are subject to very great difficulties; being separated from the seat of public business by a morass at some seasons impenetrable, and the distance being so great that in those the most favorable, it requires three days to perform the journey out and home, without any time being allowed for the transaction of business, it is also represented unto them that from the settlement in the county as it now is, being in three distinct and opposite districts, prevents such improvements being made as to road, etc., as are needful. We are, therefore, of the opinion that it will be for the benefit of each branch of the present county that a division should take place, which would destroy local jealousies and excite a feeling of emulation, which would secure to the phblic passable roads which are so necessary for the prosperity of every district. "Though the population of that part of the county which prays to be set off is at present small, no doubt, we think, can be entertained, such is the fertility of the soil, the salubrity of the clime and its facility for commerce and navigation that it insures to the settlers such certain and speedy advantages that it will increase rapidly. 50 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY "Accompanying this Your Excellency will receive such propositions as were presented to us, for the erection of county buildings, and we beg leave to recommend as follows: "First-That it is expedient that the inhabitants of the River St. Clair be set off as a new county. "Third-That the offer of Mr. Fulton be accepted as it respects a county seat." On March 28, 1820, when the organization of St. Clair county was proclaimed by the governor, James Fulton gave a deed to Cass in trust for the people of the county of a block 180 feet square and six lots, three of which were to be sold to assist in the erection of the public buildings. Fulton gave bond as surety that he would build the body of a house to be used as a courthouse and jail, which was to be not less in size than twenty-six by forty feet, and was to be built on a stone foundation. The lower story of the structure was to be made of hewn oak timber one foot square, the second story was to be frame, and the whole was to be weatherboarded and the roof shingled. Two outside doors and a sufficient number of windows were also called for by the plans. Although Fulton conveyed his town site to Jesse Smith, of New York, with the exception of those lots deeded to the governor, he continued to look upon the land as his own after that time, and apparently the deed was regarded by Fulton as security only. However, the county building was progressing slowly, and on December 10, 1821, the commissioners adopted a resolution naming the building as the common jail of St. Clair county. The board further ordered that thirty-five dollars be paid Fulton for the building. Dissatisfaction had arisen among the inhabitants of the county by this time concerning the slowness with which the buildings were being erected by Fulton, and spurred on by Samuel Ward, who had purchased land on the Belle and St. Clair rivers in the same year that Fulton began the Pine river settlement, a movement was begun for the removal of the county seat from Fulton's village. When the first legislative council of the Michigan Territory met in 1824 with Z. W. Bunce, of St. Clair county, as a member, a petition for removal of the county seat was presented to the council, together with a remonstrance of James Fulton and others opposed to the move. On August 5, 1824, an act was passed appointing Thomas Rowland, William Burbank, and Charles Noble as commissioners to search into the matter to determine whether or not it was to the best interests of the people of the county that the seat of justice be removed from St. Clair. On January 19, 1825, Rowland and Noble reported to the legislative council, their report reading in part as follows: "That in obedience to the provisions of said act, we caused the Commissioners of the said County of St. Clair to be notified that we should assemble at the present seat of justice of said county on the 15th of November last past, and that said county commissioners did agreeably to the provisions of said act post up notice of the same in each of the townships of the county. And further did notify the inhabitants of said HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 51 county that at the time and place aforesaid the sense of the majority would be taken as to the expediency of the removal of the seat of justice from its present location. "That we, the undersigned, being a majority of the commissioners appointed by your honorable body, did meet at the seat of justice of St. Clair county on the fifteenth day of November last, when the commissioners of the county in our presence proceeded to ascertain the sense of the majority, and it was found on counting the votes that the majority were opposed to the removal as will be seen by a certified poll list returned herewith. "We have the honor further to report that we have examined the situation of the present county seat and the particular contract entered into with the executive respecting the same, and find that the condition of a bond entered into by James Fulton, the original proprietor, with the governor for the erection of a building of certain dimensions therein described, has not been complied with, but that proposals in writing have been handed to us by Thomas Palmer and David C. McKinstry, stipulating on their part to fulfill the condition of the aforesaid bond, together with some additional donations for the benefit of the county, more fully set forth in the written proposals of the said Palmer and McKinstry which accompany the report marked 'A.' "We have also received a subscription of sundry inhabitants of said county stipulating to pay the sums severally annexed to their names, for the building of a jail and courthouse in said county, provided the county seat be established at any place between certain points therein designated, which subscription accompanies the report, marked 'B.' "We have further to report, that after a diligent examination of the several sites pointed out to us and a general view of the county from actual observation and such other means of information as were accessible to us, we are of the opinion that the present location is the most eligible one that can be made, either as it respects the present or future prospects of the county; and we are therefore decidedly of the opinion that it would be inexpedient to remove the seat of justice from its present location, provided the engagements with the public made by the proprietors are promptly and punctually complied with. As a preliminary step to which we would recommend to your honorable body that measures be taken to have a plan of the town recorded at the county seat; a measure which is so obviously necessary, but which by some strange inadvertancy has been hitherto neglected." The two points designated by those who subscribed money for the erection of county buildings were the house of William Gallagher and Thomas Fargo, at what is now Marine City, and the lower line of the farm of Moses Birdsall, near the present Robert's Landing. The hope of the subscribers that the county seat be located between these two points was blasted, however, by the report of the commissioners, Rowland and Noble. A short time before the commissioners came to the county, James Fulton entered into an agreement with Thomas Palmer and David C. McKinstry, both of Detroit, whereby the latter two were to complete 52 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY the public buildings begun by Fulton, who had defaulted in the payment of his mortgage, and the mortgagees had begun foreclosure in 1823. The Detroit men agreed to complete the buildings for county purposes, to obtain the title of Jesse Smith, to sell the property as fast as possible, and to divide the net profits at the end of five years. Palmer and McKinstry re-platted the village, changed the name to that of Palmer, and even changed the names of the streets. Encouraged by the report of the commissioners, the partners went to work and completed the courthouse and jail as they had agreed. The land boom of the period from 1830 to 1836 had swelled the settlement at Port Huron from a few French families to one which attained a size to warrant the reception of county seat aspirations by the minds of the inhabitants of that section of the county. The old sore of removal of the county seat was reopened in 1842, when J. W. Sanborn, representative in the legislature from this county, presented a petition for removal. Although the measure was lost for the time being, other petitions and remonstrances came before the committee of the legislature the next year, only to receive adverse reports from the committee entrusted with the matter. The constitution of 1850 now provided that relocation of county seats must be designated by a two-thirds vote of the supervisors of the county affected and that a majority vote of the qualified electors was required to endorse the action of the board. A resolution of J. P. Minnie, of Port Huron, submitted to the board in October, 1854, called for the removal of the county seat to Port Huron, the township of that name agreeing to build a courthouse and jail costing not less than $15,000. Furthermore, the wooden county buildings at St. Clair had just been destroyed by fire and the proponents of removal to Port Huron felt the time propitious for the renewal of the struggle. By a vote of eight ayes and six nayes, not a two-thirds majority, the resolution was defeated. To make doubly certain the county seat remaining at St. Clair, the citizens of that village, led by Harmon Chamberlain, built a brick courthouse, which served as the county building until the seat of justice was finally located in Port Huron. The building was partially completed in 1857, and in November, 1858, the first session of court was held in its second story. At the session of the board of supervisors held October 17, 1861, Edgar White, of Port Huron, submitted to the board a proposal whereby if the county seat were removed to Port Huron, several men agreed to erect county buildings equal to those at St. Clair without expense to the county. A resolution was offered to submit the question to the vote of the people of the county. The opponents of the measure secured in the circuit court an injunction against the supervisors, placing the question before the electors of the county. The supreme court decided that the question of removal could not be legally submitted to a vote of the people in St. Clair county, and thus the attempt to make Port Huron the seat of justice was again lost temporarily. On October 13, 1865, E. W. Harris, of Port Huron, again placed before the board of supervisors a resolution calling for the removal to be made to Port Huron. A bare two-thirds vote of the supervisors was HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 53 obtained and the matter submitted to the electors at the spring election of 1866, an election in which only one vote in all the city of St. Clair was cast. Removal of the county seat to Port Huron was therefore approved by the voters and the board ordered county papers and books to be removed to Port Huron on or before January 1, 1867. The people of St. Clair again went to the courts, and though the circuit court dismissed the bill in chancery, the supreme court on appeal sustained St. Clair with the result that the county seat remained in that city. The Port Huron proponents returned to the attack the following year, however, but all attempts met with failure, even the efforts to establish the county seat in outlying sections of the county meeting with disfavor. Finally in 1869 Supervisor Frink from Kimball township offered the following resolution: "Resolved, That it be and is hereby proposed to remove the county seat of St. Clair county from the City of St. Clair; therefore, "Resolved, by the Board of Supervisors of the said St. Clair county, that said county seat be removed to the Township of Kimball of said county; that section 31, Town 6 north of Range 16 east be and is hereby designated as the place, site or location for said removal." The resolution carried by a 29 to 2 vote of the supervisors, for the board members from the north hoped to gain their point by indirect action and those of the south never believed that the people would accept the change. M. D. Frink, supervisor of the township and the father of the resolution, had consistently voted against the removal to Port Huron, but as he was a merchant at Smith's Creek Station, he instantly fell in with the plan to remove the county seat to that point in the extreme southwest corner of Kimball township. When the question was voted upon by the people, the removal won by the majority of 117 votes. On October 15, Frink offered resolutions to the board calling for a committee to be appointed to purchase necessary grounds for the new buildings in Kimball township and to secure plans and specifications for a building costing not more than $40,000. This resolution and a similar one submitted by Supervisor White were both lost, while $1,000 was appropriated for the purpose of providing buildings for county purposes and one asking that the people be called upon to vote on whether or not $20,000 should be voted by the county for the erection of new county buildings. Both resolutions were carried but were repealed in January, 1871, when they became unnecessary following the vote to move the county seat to Port Huron, a vote that was taken on October 18, 1870. The following April the people, by a majority of 532, sanctioned the removal of the county seat to Port Huron. Again the people of St. Clair turned to the courts, which had heretofore upheld them in their efforts to retain the county seat in the southern part of the county. Eugene Smith filed a bill of complaint against the board of supervisors, alleging the illegality of the proceedings to remove the county seat and praying an injunction. Though the injunction was granted on application to William Grace, a circuit court commissioner, Judge Mitchell vacated the injunction within a few days after he returned to the county. Probate Judge E. W. Harris went to St. Clair and 54 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY brought the records with him to Port Huron, but a Mr. Chadwick, acting as deputy sheriff, was unsuccessful in his attempt to duplicate the feat of Judge Harris. Action was brought against the county clerk, Hazzard P. Wands, who refused to bring the county records to Port Huron, and in the meantime, both sides laid their case before the supreme court. On July 7, 1871, the court formally decided that the removal was accomplished in strict accordance with the law and was therefore valid. The remainder of the county offices and records were removed to Port Huron after a struggle lasting more than half a century to secure the adoption of the city as the seat of justice. Following the removal of the county seat to Port Huron, the county offices were temporarily housed in the high school building. A strong feeling that the city was not dealing fairly with the county in so housing the county offices began to develop among the people, and at the next meeting of the supervisors, several propositions were made by the city, only to be rejected. Finally the city offered to erect a city hall which would contain a court room and county offices to be furnished to the county rent free. The supervisors accepted the offer, and the city began the construction of the city hall and courthouse immediately. Before it was completed, however, the high school burned, on February 24, 1873, but the county records were saved. Although the county offices have long since outgrown the quarters in which they are maintained and improvements have been made from time to time, the need for a new courthouse is pressing. In 1912, the voters rejected a proposition to bond the county to the extent of $150,000 for the erection of a new county building, and the offices have continued in the cramped and obsolete quarters which they have occupied since the latter part of the year 1873. The officers who have administered the affairs of the county since the county was organized have been as follows: Sheriffs: Henry Cottrell, May 12, 1821; James B. Wolverton, July 14, 1821; Henry Cottrell, April 27, 1822; Harmon Chamberlain, January, 1835; Reuben Moore, 1841; John S. Heath, 1843; Lyman Granger, 1845; Pierce G. Wright, 1847; Robert Scott, 1851; David Whitman, 1853; James H. White, 1855; Amos James, 1859; Elijah R. Haynes, 1861; Samuel Russell, 1865; W. H. Dunphy, 1867; Edward Potter, 1869; Joseph Stitt, 1871; John B. Kendall, 1873; John M. Hart, 1877; John Milton, 1879; Frank L. Follensbee, 1883; Jacob Bernatz, 1887; George Mann, 1889; Jacob Bernatz, 1893; George E. Mallory, 1895; Harrison W. Maines, 1899; George W. Davidson, 1903; Thomas Moore, 1905; George W. Davidson, 1907; William F. Wagenseil, 1909; Harrison W. Maines, 1913; Stephen Windsor, 1917; Harrison W. Maines, 1921; B. C. Turbin, 1925. County Clerks: John Thorn, 1821; Harmon Chamberlain, 1827; Thomas C. Fay, October 30, 1830; James Fulton, February 26, 1831; Horatio James, January, 1833; Marcus H. Miles, 1839; Edward C. Bancroft, 1843; Charles Kimball, 1845; Daniel Follensbee, 1847; Marcus H. Miles, 1849; James S. Clark, 1853; Albert A. Carleton, 1855; Tubal C. Owen, 1857; George F. Collins, 1863; Hazzard P. Wands, 1867; Moses HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 55 F. Carleton, 1873; Horace Baker, 1879; Charles S. Warn, 1883; Michael Reid, 1889; William Mason, 1893; John L. Shepherd, 1897; Eugene A. Bartlett, 1901; Daniel Foley, 1905; Jefferson G. Brown, 1909; Albert P. Ryan, 1913; Joseph E. Vincent, 1917. Treasurers: David Cottrell, 1821; Sargent Heath, 1832; Edmund Carleton, 1837; Horatio N. Monson, 1839; William B. Barron, 1843; Duthan Northrup, 1845; Edmund Carleton, Jr, 1853; Henry Johr, 1863; Valentine A. Saph, 1867; Robert Thompson and John Miller, 1871; John Johnston, 1873; Charles D. Thompson, 1875; John Johnston and Edward Vincent, 1877; Edward Vincent, 1879; Edward C. Recor, 1881; Richard Shutt, 1885; William Burns, 1889; Henry F. Marx, 1893; Stephen Moore, 1895; Henry Streeter, 1899; Charles Beyschlag, 1903; Stephen H. Moore, 1907; Edward L. Vincent, 1911; William Robertson, 1913; Fred H. Beach, 1915; Alexander Cowan, 1919; Robert Anderson, 1923. Registers of Deeds: Horatio James, 1837; Marcus H. Miles, 1839; Edward C. Bancroft, 1843; Charles Kimball, 1845; Volney A. Ripley, 1847; Thomas E. Barron, 1851; Alfred Weeks, 1853; Fred H. Blood, 1855; Charles H. Waterloo, 1863; Fred H. Blood, 1867; John A. Lamb, 1871; William W. Hartson, 1873; Henry C. Mansfield, 1879; John S. Duffie, 1885; William O'Connor, 1891; Daniel L. Runnels, 1893; Spain E. Pearce, 1899; William T. Dust, 1903; Spain E. Pearce, 1907; David D. Martin, 1911; David T. Montieth, 1917; and Gilbert Sovister, 1925. Prosecuting Attorneys: George A. O'Keefe; Lorenzo M. Mason, July, 1836; Ira Potter, March, 1840; True B. Tucker, February, 1841; Lorenzo M. Mason, 1842-43; John McNeil, 1843-44; Bethuel C. Farrand, 1844; John J. Falkenbury, 1848-49; True P. Tucker, 1851; Smith Falkenbury, 1853; William Grace, 1855; Harvey McAlpin, 1859; Bethuel C. Farrand, 1861; O'Brien J. Atkinson, 1863; Edward W. Harris, 1867; Charles F. Harrington, 1869; William Grace, 1873; Alex R. Avery, 1875; Elliott G. Stevenson, 1879; William Grace, 1881; Patrick H. Phillips, 1885; Bethuel C. Farrand, 1887; Seward L. Merriam, 1889; Cyrus A. Hovey, 1891; Lincoln Avery, 1893; Joseph Walsh, 1897; Eugene F. Law, 1901; Burt D. Cady, 1903; Alex Moore, 1905; Frederick B. Brown, 1909; Thomas H. George, 1911; Shirley Stewart, 1915; Henry R. Baird, 1919; and Robert M. Souper, 1925. Circuit Court Commissioners: Marcus H. Miles, 1853-55; John McNeil, 1857-61; George F. Collins and Joseph F. Merrill, 1863-65; William Grace and George W. Wilson, 1867; William Grace and Bethuel C. Farrand, 1869; William Grace and Nahum E. Thomas, 1871; Alexander R. Avery and Jabez B. Waldron, 1873; William Baird and Herman W. Stevens, 1875; Herman W. Stevens and William Grace, 1877; John McNeil and William Baird, 1879; John McNeil and Albert A. Carlton, 1881; Charles K. Dodge and John M. Kane, 1883; Charles K. Dodge and Ada Lee, 1885; John L. Black and Patrick H. Cummings, 1887; Frank T. Wolcott and William Grace, 1889; O'Brien O'Donnell and Dennis Sullivan, 1891; Alexander Moore and Asa R. Stowell, 1893 -97; Burt D. Cady and Hugh H. Hart, 1899-1901; Charles W. Adams 56 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY and Henry R. Baird, 1903; Henry R. Baird and George S. Clarke, 1905; Frank R. Watson and George S. Clarke, 1907; James W. Benedict and Stanley Lambert, 1909; Isaac S. Hughes and William R. Walsh, 1911-13; Isaac S. Hughes and Robert Soutar, 1915; Donald R. Carrigan, 1917; and Lowrie Pelfer and W. O. Covington, incumbent. Coroners: Philo Leach, 1831; William Brown, 1833; Reuben Hamilton and Chester Kimball, 1837; Elisha B. Clark and Henry Cottrell, 1839; Aura P. Stewart and Reuben Hamilton, 1841; James D. Brown and Alfred Comstock, 1843; James D. Brown and Clark M. Mills, 1845; L. B. Parker and John Galbraith, 1847; James D. Brown and Oliver Dodge, 1849; Joseph Luff and A. F. Ashley, 1851; Henry Cottrell and James Demarest, 1853; John Howard and Isaac Klein, 1855; John Howard and Daniel Leach, 1857; Ezra Hazen and Asa Lamed, 1859; James Rickerson and Asa Lamed, 1861; Aura P. Stewart and Herman Herzog, 1863; A. E. Fechet and John P. Quick, 1865; Asa Lamed and John Nicol, 1867-69; Asa Larned and T. J. Nicol, 1871; Malcolm McKay and Peter Rider, 1873; Asa Lamed and John Nicol, 1875; Asa Lamed and Chester Kimball, 1877-79; John Nicol and James Bingham, 1881; Asa Lamed and Ezra H. Buddington, 1883; James Wilson and J. A. Van Dam, 1885; 0. M. Stephenson and Joseph L. Bartholomew, 1887; Loren A. Cady and John M. Robertson, 1889; Joseph L. Bartholomew and Ezra H. Buddington, 1891; Loren A. Cady and Arthur V. Langell, 1893; Albert B. Carlisle and Jacob C. Vollmar, 1895; Albert B. Carlisle, 1897; Albert B. Carlisle and John M. Robertson, 1899; Albert B. Carlisle and Albert Falk, 1901; Albert Falk and Robert Bennett, 1903; Allen A. Brink and Albert Falk, 1905; Albert A. Falk and John Schwickert, Jr., 1907-11; Ernest Hill and Henry Hoffman, 1913; Albert A. Falk and John Schwickert, Jr., 1915; Albert A. Falk and Ernest Hill, 1917; and Albert A. Falk and Asa McNinch, 1925. CHAPTER IV TRANSPORTATION IONEER development of the Northwest Territory invariably found its beginnings along the margins of lakes and the banks of navigable streams, for the waterways formed the first easy means of travel and communication in the days of thick forests and impenetrable underbrush. The early history of St. Clair county shows this to be the fact in this section of the state, for the first settlers established their homesteads on Lake St. Clair or the St. Clair river. But as the community developed and the favorable sites on navigable waters were taken up, the settlers turned inland for their claims, and at once arose the need for better means of land travel. Wherever possible, the pioneers used the light birch canoe of the Indian on the rivers, and travel through the forests frequently followed the Indian trails, many of the roads of today following approximately the same courses as did the forest highway of the Indian. Road location before 1819 seems to have rested wholly within the jurisdiction of the governor and judges, but an act that became effective on December 31, 1819, empowered the county commissioners to open and vacate roads and to recommend to the governor prospective appointees for the positions of supervisors of highways. That George Cottrell was appointed supervisor of highways of St. Clair township in April, 1818, before Macomb county had been established, is taken to mean that roads existed in the county prior to the passage of the act allowing the establishment of highways by county commissioners. At the time, a settlement existed on the north shore of Lake St. Clair and another between Marine City and Algonac, and it is believed that a road connected these two settlements. Andrew Wesbrook was appointed road supervisor of St. Clair township in May, 1819, and in October of the following year, Joseph Mini was appointed to the same position to which he was re-appointed when St. Clair county was organized in May, 1821. David Oakes was appointed to the position in March, 1823, the last man to be named for the office by gubernatorial appointment. No record exists to show that the commissioners of Macomb county located or opened any roads during 1820, but on June 4, 1821, at their first meeting after the erection and organization of St. Clair county, the commissioners of the new county directed the highway supervisor to open a road from Belle river to Pine river, in order that the inhabitants of the southern part of the county might be able to reach the county seat. At the meeting of August 29, the commissioners ordered the supervisor to open that part of the same road from the house of Oliver Ricard to Pine river. Three road districts, which also became the first three townships of the county, were created by the commissioners at their meeting of March 4, 1822, and John S. Fish was named as the supervisor for the Plainfield district, Joseph Mini for the Cottrellville district, and 58 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY Lewis St. Bernard for the St. Clair district. An alteration in the highway near the mouth of Belle river was authorized by the commissioners in December of the same year. Isaac Davis, Reuben Dodge and Samuel Wilson were appointed in 1824 viewers of a proposed road from John Riley's, at the northeast corner of the Indian reservation, along the Black river to Morass's mill, in section 17 of Clyde township. Jeremiah Harrington was appointed the surveyor of the road. In March, 1825, the construction of a road was authorized from the mouth of Belle river along the south bank to the grist mill of Ward & Gallagher in section 15, China township, and a year later work on the road from the home of Judge Z. W. Bunce to the county seat was ordered, and in 1827 a road from Pine river to St. Bernard's was ordered opened and a bridge built across the mill stream of Judge Bunce near its mouth. A road system, over which the county commissioners had no jurisdiction, was instituted in 1827, the road system at the time connecting Morass's mill with the mouth of the Black river and by another road along the St. Clair river with the Belle river grist mill and the county seat. The road act of 1827 was due in large measure to Governor Cass, who addressed the legislative council on the matter the previous year. Fort Gratiot, which had been built in 1814, was virtually isolated from the rest of the state as far as good roads were concerned. True, it was connected with Black river and the St. Clair river settlements by a trail, but roads suitable for the transportation of supplies and munitions in haste were totally lacking. Governor Cass had for some time impressed upon Congress the necessity of connecting Detroit and the outlying posts with good military roads that would aid materially in the defense of the Northwest Territory, and the result of his effort was the passage of a congressional act, March 2, 1827, authorizing the construction of a military road from Detroit to Fort Gratiot. Amos Mead, Hervey Parke and Conrad Ten Eyck were appointed commissioners to lay out the road, and in June, 1827, Parke, a public land surveyor, began the running of the line. The course of the highway ran from Detroit to Mt. Clemens and continued on straight across Belle river, crossing the Black river at about the place of the Grand Trunk railway bridge today and continuing to the fort. The first contracts were let for the Detroit end of the road and it was there that the first construction began. Work was slow, and when by 1831 a settlement had been founded at the mouth of Black river, it became apparent that the service to the fort would not be impaired and the advantage to the county would be much greater if the course of the road were altered to strike the St. Clair river by a more direct route. Under orders from Major Henry Whiting, U. S. A., who was empowered by Congress, stationed at Detroit, John Mullett, public land surveyer in Michigan, altered the course of the road in 1831 from the thirty-seventh mile post so that it crossed Bunce's creek near Bunce's storehouse, and from there following approximately the course of the River road, Military street, and Huron avenue to Fort Gratiot. The road followed the shore a few rods east of Military street but struck HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 59 Black river at the present Military street bridge. Authority for the change was granted by a congressional act of July 3, 1832, and during the year and the following year work was pushed so far that a bridge was built over Black river and the road completed from the river to Detroit, and although it was primarily a military road, it had some influence in the opening of the county to settlement. The road was always known as the Fort Gratiot turnpike. The military road was abandoned for a mile south of Black river in the plat of Harrington and White in 1835, the new Military street being laid out in a straight line south from the bridge as it at present exists. The legislative council in March, 1831, ordered the building of a territorial road from Romeo to St. Clair, Roswell R. Green, Horace Foot and Thomas Palmer being appointed commissioners to lay out the course. A road from Point du Chene to the Fort Gratiot turnpike was authorized the next year, and in 1833 a road was ordered built from the south line of William Thorn's land to the Fort Gratiot turnpike. However, work on these two roads was not promptly executed, for in 1834 new commissioners were appointed with instructions to complete them within the year. With Michigan once organized as a state, the people began to make more urgent pleas for the construction of good roads, not only to encourage immigration but to further the development of those communities already established. The legislature soon adopted a measure providing for the appointment of commissioners, whose duty it was to lay out roads from a point in one county to a point in another. The expenses of the commissioners were to be paid by the state but all rightof-way expenses were to be born by the counties affected. Public lands were appropriated in some cases, after the state acquired such lands, to aid in the construction of roads believed to be essential to the welfare of the communities applying for them. The first road authorized by the state was in 1836 and was to run from China to the Fort Gratiot turnpike, J. Boynton, B. Cox and Reed Jerome being appointed the locating commissioners. Still another state road was that from Palmer to the Point du Chene to Fort Gratiot turnpike road, running by way of the Gallagher mill in China. The next year, 1837, several state roads for St. Clair county were authorized by the legislature as follows: One from the Black river to the county seat of Sanilac county; one from Algonac to the Fort Gratiot turnpike; a third from Newport to the same road; a fourth from Palmer to Lapeer; and a fifth from Fort Gratiot to Point au Barques. It is believed that the last named was not laid out, for its authorization is again recorded in 1841. A state road from Palmer to Riley was authorized in 1845 and apparently was the same one authorized in 1837. The line of the road as it was built crossed the turnpike at Battle Run. An influence tending to the development of the counties in which they were located were the toll roads built by private enterprise which were allowed to collect tolls from vehicles traveling over their road. Such roads represented the peak of road construction in those times, for the best types of roads were constructed between the main villages and 60 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY towns of the state and county. The principal type of road built by these companies was the plank road, and many were the plank road companies organized throughout Michigan during this period. In March, 1844, the Detroit & Port Huron Plank Road company was incorporated, and the following year witnessed the inception of the St. Clair and Romeo Turnpike company. The organizers of these two corporations, however, failed to build the roads for which they had established the companies, probably finding that the traffic over these highways was too small to justify the expenditure necessary for the road improvements. The St. Clair Plank Road company, incorporated in April, 1849, died before work was ever commenced. It was capitalized at $20,000 for the purpose of constructing a plank road from St. Clair village to the Gratiot turnpike in St. Clair township, and instrumental in the organization of this illfated concern were Pierce G. Wright, Charles Kimball, Horatio N. Monson, Simeon B. Brown, Harmon Chamberlain, John E. Kitton and Marcus H. Miles. The Clyde Plank and Macadamized Road company was organized November 30, 1874, for the purpose of constructing a plank road from Port Huron to Brockway Centre, with a branch to the Wild Cat road in Grant township, thence to the Davisville and Lexington Plank road. The shareholders of this company were John Beard, John Kinney, Alexander McNaughton, E. Vincent and F. A. Beard. The branch of the road was never built, but the main route was constructed, aiding materially in the development of the country through which it ran. The building of the Port Huron & Northwestern railroad near it destroyed the hopes of the proprietors for a successful company and it was not long before the road was thrown open to the public. The Port Huron & Lapeer Plank Road company was one of the earliest successful companies of its kind in the county. It was incorporated March 16, 1849, with John R. White, Lorenzo M. Mason, Samuel Rogers, N. H. Hart and James W. Sanborn, commissioners. The company was established under a special charter and built a plank road from Port Huron to Brockway. When the lumber was fairly well exhausted, A. and H. Fish obtained control of the road and used it for hauling lumber from their mill in Kimball township. Sometime later that part of the road within the corporate limits of Port Huron was turned over to the city and still later the remainder of the road was abandoned as a toll road. The pavement of the River road was the object of the incorporators of the Riverside Turnpike company, which was organized in 1881. Cedar blocks were first laid on that part of the road as far as Marysville and later it was graveled. The company was never a success, the part within the city limits of Port Huron being sold to the city in 1903 and the rest of the road turned over to the public. Eagerly as the early settlers sought improved road conditions, little did they foresee the radical changes that would be wrought in road building by the development of automotive vehicles. Once automobiles and automobile trucks began to come into general use, highway engineers found themselves faced with problems wholly unlike HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY e1 anything else with which they had been forced to deal. It was found that the swiftly moving wheels of pleasure cars wore deep ruts in the roads then constructed, and it was seen that the terrific impacts delivered upon the road surface by the wheels of heavily loaded trucks quickly reduced the roads to a state bordering on impassability. As the result of the coming of the automobile new types of road surfaces have been developed, such as water-bound and bituminous macadam, brick, asphalt, concrete and gravel. St. Clair county has not been backward in adopting the new types of roads to keep pace with the trend of modern highway transportation. The county as well as the state has constructed many miles of the various kinds of roads, and the main arteries of travel in the county are paved with the most suitable kinds of surfaces. The latest figures given out by the county road commissioner show that state and county roads in St. Clair county have the following miles of the various types of pavements: Gravel, 306.53 miles; macadam, 9.86 miles; and concrete, 133.06 miles (approximate figures at the end of 1925). Railroads. When the constitutionof the new state of Michigan was adopted in 1835, one provision therein called for the internal improvement work to be done by the state, for it was believed at the time that private capital would be unable to finance the long lines necessary to connect Michigan with the seaboard by mail. Besides, in 1830 the total rail mileage in the United States was but thirty-six miles and the prospects for Michigan in this line were not bright. Private enterprise, however, showed the way to the state, in this line, for in 1836 the St. Clair & Romeo Railroad company was organized with a capital stock of $100,000 in $25 shares, John Clark, H. R. Jerome, H. N. Munson, Thomas Palmer, Elijah J. Roberts, of St. Clair county, and Asahel Bailey, Jacob Beekman, Aaron R. Rawles, and Linus S. Gilbert, of Macomb county, being named as commissioners to receive subscriptions for stock. The interest manifested in the company was considerable and a large amount of its stock was disposed of, and when the company was organized for business Thomas Palmer was chosen president and H. N. Monson secretary. The company began its work, surveying the line from St. Clair river just north of the mouth of the Pine river, running west along Clinton avenue and proceeding west to cross the Pine river just south of the present state road. Several miles of the roadway were cleared and graded, for which about nine thousand dollars was expended. The company made application to the state in 1839 for a loan of $100,000 to complete the construction of the road, and though E. B. Harrington from this district strongly advocated the bill, it was defeated in the Senate. During this time, Thomas Palmer made a new map of the village and upon it was lithographed a railroad train consisting of an engine and three coaches. It is thought that the work on the proposed road stopped as a result of the action of the legislature of 1837, which proposed, in a huge internal improvement program, to construct three trans-state railroads, in the northern, central and southern parts of the state. According to the plan of this legislative body, the Northern road was to commence at 62 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY Palmer or near the mouth of the Black river and was to terminate at the navigable waters of the Grand river in Kent county or at Lake Michigan in Ottawa county. Expecting such action on the part of the legislators, the governor had negotiated with the railroad companies of the state to surrender their charters. The St. Clair & Romeo Railroad company agreed to do so provided that the state repay the money expended and complete the building of the road within six years. The eastern terminus of the road was to be left to the selection of a board which picked Port Huron. The report of the board was in part as follows: "If, at any time hereafter, a railroad should be constructed through Canada from the head of Lake Ontario to the River St. Clair, the most direct and eligible point to connect with the northern railroad would be near the foot of the lake. Such a company has been formed, and by its charter it is to terminate at a point opposite the commencement of the northern railroad. "When the Canada road shall be completed, then the real value and importance of the northern railroad will commence, because it is the shortest and most direct route from the Atlantic states to Wisconsin and the mineral region west. The road from the mouth of the Black river west passes through lands belonging to people of this state, of some, but to what extent, the commissioners are not informed. "The location at Palmer was urged for a variety of reasons, and among others, that in addition to the business the road would do, if commenced at Black river, a rich and productive part of Macomb county would at once furnish produce and business enough to pay the interest on the cost of construction for at least that distance of the road; and minute calculations were made in proof of these statements. That the principal business of the road would be to and from the city of Detroit and the East, and that by commencing at Palmer, twelve or fourteen miles of difficult and often tedious river navigation would be avoided; that Palmer was an old settlement and was, and long has been, the county seat of St. Clair county. That in relation to the termination of the Canada road, interest would induce that company to terminate their road opposite the commencement of the northern road, wherever that should be." The board chose Port Huron as the terminus of the road and further decided to run the line along the south side of Black river and there terminate. The board also entered into contracts and so rapidly did the work progress that in 1838 their report showed that the amount of $12,772.44 had been expended and that other contracts already let totalled $85,204. Governor Mason's message to the legislature in January, 1839, pointed out that the contracts for clearing and grubbing had been let from Port Huron to Lyons in Ionia county, and that the amount of $20,998 had already been spent for work of a similar nature. However, the optimistic attitude of the young state in regard to her internal improvements were destined to come to an early end. By 1841, the money had been exhausted; the bank which had agreed to place the bonds for a five million dollar loan failed; and all talk of the northern railroad and HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY the Canadian road with which it was to connect vanished into the limbo of unsound enterprises. The improvident legislators, however, wishing to reclaim as far as possible some of the $70,000 that had been spent in clearing the line of the railroad, appropriated $30,000 of the unexpended balance to complete the bridging, clearing and grading necessary to convert the right-of-way into a good wagon road. Seven years later, in 1848, 20,000 acres of swamp land were appropriated to aid this road. The Port Huron & Lake Michigan Railroad company was chartered by the legislature in 1847 for the purpose of constructing a railway from Port Huron to some point on Lake Michigan near the mouth of the Grand River. The company was granted an authorized capitalization of $2,000,000 and was required to begin buildfig within five years and to complete the road within fifteen years. The act was amended in 1855 to increase the capitalization to $8,000,000 and extending the construction period to ten years to start and twenty years to finish. Even with this aid, however, no construction work was started by the company. In the same year that the company was granted a charter amendment, the Port Huron & Milwaukee Railway Company was incorporated to construct a road from St. Clair county to Shiawassee. Land on the St. Clair river north and south of Griswold street was bought for terminals and yards, part being paid for in cash and the remainder with mortgages. When the company failed to complete its line, the mortgages were foreclosed and the company's title extinguished. In Port Huron much work was done, and the villages of Capac and Emmet were platted at that time in the anticipation of the completion of the railroad. Failure also rode on the banners of this company, and for another ten years, the people of Port Huron nursed their sickly hopes of making their city a rail terminus. To William L. Bancroft, a native of Martinsburg, New York, journalist, lawyer, banker of Port Huron, is due the credit for bringing to the city and to St. Clair county the first railroad. Bancroft first came to Port Huron in 1844, bought the Port Huron Observer, which he conducted until 1848. This he sold, going to New York to study law. He then returned to Port Huron and practiced law for a time with Omar D. Conger. In 1854 he was Democratic candidate for secretary of state and in the same year his office burned to the ground. He then bought an interest in the Port Huron Cormmercial, which he edited for two years; and with Cyrus Miles established the first bank in Port Huron. He withdrew at the end of a year to enter the lumbering business in Sanilac county, althought he retained his residence at Port Huron. In November, 1858, he was sent to the legislature by the people of the county. In the year 1864, Bancroft became interested in railroad work. He took up the interests of the Port Huron & Lake Michigan and the Port Huron & Milwaukee railroads and united them. In the fall of that year, he was elected to the state senate. The legislature of that year passed several acts authorizing certain cities and villages the right to aid specified railroads. Similar acts were passed in 1865, and though 64 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY many of them were vetoed by Governor Crapo, they were passed over his veto. Among the railroad acts of that year was one authorizing the municipalities of St. Clair, Shiawassee, Lapeer and Genesee counties to aid the Port Huron & Lake Michigan Railroad company. In 1866, the Port Huron & Lake Michigan road began purchasing the lands necessary for terminals and yards in Port Huron and began to make other necessary arrangements in preparation for the construction of the line. Bancroft, with the foresight that characterized his business dealings, realized that connections with Chicago were infinitely more desirable than one with Lake Michigan, and to this end he opened negotiations with the Peninsular Railway company, which was formed to build a road from Lansing to Battle Creek. The result of the negotiations was that the two were consolidated as the Chicago & Northeastern Railway company with the purpose of extending the line to Chicago. In 1867, the legislature passed an act authorizing municipalities in the state to aid railroad companies up to ten per cent of their assessed valuation, and two years later, the city of Port Huron voted to loan the railway company $42,000, the bonds bearing ten per cent interest. In May, 1870, the supreme court declared that such railroad aid bonds were illegal and therefore worthless. Despite the handicap placed on the company by this decision, the road was completed to Imlay City in July of that year, to Lapeer in June, 1871, and to Flint in December of that year. Thus was completed the first link of the chain that was to connect Port Huron and Chicago. Bancroft retired from railroad work in 1876, after having been practically the only bulwark upon whom the promoters might rely in their darkest hours. But though Bancroft is remembered for the part he played in securing the construction of the line, he was not the one to bring in the first railroad to the county, an honor that fell to a Canadian company backed by English capital. The road from the head of Lake Ontario mentioned by the commissioners who selected Port Huron as the terminus for the Northern railroad, was built to Point Edward by the Grand Trunk Railway company of Canada. In 1859, the company built a line from Port Huron to Detroit, disregarding in choice of route, the communities already established. This great system has since bought the line of the Port Huron & Lake Michigan, or the Chicago & Northeastern railway as it was known in connection with the other road with which it joined in the effort to build their line to Chicago. To the Grand Trunk Railway is due the credit of establishing the St. Clair tunnel. Sir Henry Tyler, president of the company, realized that ferrying the St. Clair river had its drawbacks, and to obviate these, he persuaded the directors of the company to authorize the building of a tunnel under the river. Two separate attempts to build the tunnel were made in 1886 and 1888, but the methods used were not successful and they were abandoned. Finally in July, 1889, tunneling was begun, using the shield method, and the following year witnessed the completion of the tunnel and the approaches. The total cost was approximately $2,700,000; its length was 6,025 feet with a maximum grade of two per cent. The engineer in charge of construction was Joseph Hob HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 05 son. Actual use of the tunnel was first made in 1891, and it soon became apparent that steam locomotives could not be used in the tunnel, for gas developed by the engines claimed the lives of several trainmen working in the tunnel. A contract was made with the Westinghouse company in 1907 to install electric locomotives on the line and to electrify the tunnel system. The electrification was completed the following year, and since that time, the Grand Trunk trains have been drawn through the tunnel by large electric locomotives. Not long after the completion of the Port Huron & Lake Michigan Railroad as far as Flint, the people of St. Clair county began to look forward to the building of a line which would give Port Huron connections north into Sanilac and Huron counties. The interest shown by the people resulted in the formation of the Port Huron & Northwestern Railway company in 1878, with the following men as incorporators: D. B. Harrington, John P. Sanborn, Charles R. Brown, Fred L. Wells, Henry Howard, James Beard, Henry McMorran, William Hartsuff, C. A. Ward, S. L. Ballentine and P. B. Sanborn. Subscriptions began pouring in at once, and in the fall of the same year that the company was organized, the construction of a narrow gauge railroad was begun in the fall of 1878. On May 12, 1879, the first train was sent over the section of the line that had been completed as far as Croswell, and in September, 1880, the line had been completed as far as Harbor Beach. With such favor had the road met by this time, that the directors of the company had decided to build a branch to Saginaw. The junction was made in the southern part of Grant township, and from there the line was projected to Saginaw, being completed February 21, 1882. At a later date, the line was changed so that it started directly from Port Huron instead of at the branch point in Grant township, making it possible for it to start on the south side of Black river and eliminate the river crossing. Under this new arrangement, part of the earlier line to Saginaw was abandoned. In June, 1880, the city of Port Huron was granted the right by Congress to give a railroad right-of-way through Pine Grove park, and at that time a Union passenger station was built at the foot of Court street to be used by all roads entering Port Huron. The Almont branch was completed in 1882 under the name of the Port Huron & Southwestern Railway, and in December, two months later, the branch from Palms to Port Austin by way of Bad Axe was ready for service. In 1889, the Port Huron & Northwestern Railway was bought by the Flint & Pere Marquette Railway company, the name of which has since been reduced to simply that of the Pere Marquette Railway company. A short freight line of about three miles in length, known as the Port Huron Southern, was built in January, 1900, by the Port Huron Salt company to connect the plant with the Grand Trunk and Pere Marquette railroads. On December 28, 1917, was incorporated the Port Huron & Detroit Railroad company, with authority to construct a line from Port Huron to Detroit. At that time, the three-mile line of the Port Huron Southern was purchased by the new corporation and made the first unit of the 66 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY line. The company was capitalized for $75,000. Beginning at the southern terminus of the line of the Port Huron Southern, the Port Huron & Detroit built their line as far as Marine City, beyond which it has not yet been extended. The road is still in operation and gives service between Port Huron and Marine City regularly. Electric Lines. Under the Street Railway act, the Detroit & River St. Clair Railway company was organized in August, 1895, to build a road to the River St. Clair from a junction with the Grand Trunk road at the Chesterfield station. Rights-of-way and franchises were soon obtained from Chesterfield east. The company met with financial difficulties within a comparatively short time, and with the double purpose of protecting the creditors and building the line, James G. Tucker was appointed receiver in January, 1897. Enough money was then secured to complete the construction of the line through New Baltimore and along the north shore of Lake St. Clair through Algonac to Marine City, the work being finished in 1899. In March of the same year, however, Judge C. J. Reilly and C. M. Swift, the owners of the Rapid Railway, a line from Detroit to Mt. Clemens, organized the Detroit, Mt. Clemens & Marine City Railway company and during the year built an electric line from Mt. Clemens to Chesterfield. In December, 1899, the Detroit company purchased from the receiver all the rights of the Detroit & River St. Clair Railway. The Port Huron, St. Clair & Marine City Railway company was organized in April, 1899, by Albert and F. J. Dixon and W. L. Jenks, the owners of the City Electric Railway of Port Huron Franchises for a right-of-way from Port Huron to Marine City were secured and construction of the electric line was commenced immediately and completed the following year. In 1901, the rights of all the electric lines between Port Huron and Detroit were sold to the Detroit United Railways, of Detroit, and a cut-off was built from Marine City to Anchorville in 1902. Power for the entire line between Port Huron was supplied from a central station at New Baltimore, from which it was distributed to sub-stations that stepped down the voltage and put it into the lines at the proper voltage to be used by the cars. The Deroit Edison company now supplies the electric power. Hourly service between Port Huron and Detroit is given by the company, and the electric line has proved a decided aid to the development of the communities in the southern part of the county. Natural Gas. In 1886 a thirty-year franchise was granted to the St. Clair Light and Fuel Company for the distribution of natural gas in the streets of Port Huron. In 1889 this company went bankrupt and was succeeded by the Port Huron Fuel Gas & Light Company. The Port Huron Fuel Gas & Light Company went bankrupt in 1895 and was succeeded by the Port Huron Light & Heating Company, in which Mayor Stevens was interested. In 1898 the natural gas properties were sold to the Port Huron Gas Company. Artificial Gas. The first gas business in Port Huron and the first utility of any kind was the Port Huron Gas Light Company, which began in 1870 to manufacture and distribute artificial gas. Mr. Clements HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY and Mr. Beal were interested in this company. The company continued to manufacture artificial gas until 1898 when, with Mr. Goulden as president, the property was sold to the newly organized Port Huron Gas Company, in which Mr. Goulden was a director. The Port Huron Gas Company purchased at the same time the natural gas properties of the Port Huron Light & Heating Company. The Port Huron Gas Company was sold to the Port Huron Gas & Electric Company in 1914. The Port Huron Gas & Electric Company combined in 1914 for the first time the gas and electric businesses. Electricity. The original electric utility was the Excelsior Electric Company who, in 1901, sold their property for $288,000 to the Port Huron Light & Power Company, organized June 17, 1901. Mr. A. C. Marshall was general manager in 1905. In 1914 the property of the Port Huron Light & Power Company was sold to the Port Huron Gas & Electric Company. Combined Gas and Electric Service. The Port Huron Gas & Electric Company, beginning in 1914, with the purchase of the properties of the Port Huron Gas Company and the Port Huron Light & Power Company, operated a combined gas and electric service. The Port Huron Gas & Electric Company was purchased by the Detroit Edison Company in November of 1919. The Detroit Edison Company has conducted combined gas and electric businesses in Port Huron since 1919. Abandoned Railway Projects. The fever of railroad construction which possessed the country in the years immediately following the Civil war found ardent supporters among the people of St. Clair county, and many were the roads projected to build into the county that never advanced beyond the paper stage. The most promising of the proposed roads that failed to materialize are enumerated below. The Air Line Company of Michigan filed articles of association April 28, 1869, having a capital stock of $4,000,000 and its termini to be Port Huron and Indiana state line. The object of the incorporators was to build a line from Chicago to Port Huron, where it was to connect with a projected Canadian road that was to supply the connection with Buffalo, New York, thus making the road the most direct from Chicago to Buffalo. The Detroit, Romeo & Port Huron company was originally chartered under the name of the Shelby & Detroit Railroad company, but when the name was changed the capital stock was also changed to the amount of $100,000. The charter of the company was later amended to permit the company to arrange with any other company to guarantee its bonds, and also for an increase of capital stock. The Canada, Michigan & Chicago Railway company was organized February 8, 1872, with a capital stock of $4,000,000, to built a road from Lansing to St. Clair. The Chicago & Lake Huron Railway company, formed by the consolidation of the Peninsular Railroad company and the Port Huron & Lake Michigan Railroad company, filed articles of incorporation on August 15, 1873, the capital stock of the company being set at $10,000,000. The line was to run from Chicago to Port Huron. 68 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY Grand Haven and St. Clair were to have been the termini of the Chicago, Saginaw & Canada Railroad company, which filed articles of incorporation January 4, 1873, with a capitalization of $4,200,000. With a capital stock of $500,000, the Detroit & Port Huron Railroad company filed articles of incorporation March 26, 1858, to operate between the two points mentioned in the name of the company. The articles of incorporation for the Detroit, Port Huron & Sarnia Railroad company were filed March 27, 1858, the capital stock being placed at $1,200,000. The East Saginaw & St. Clair Railway company filed articles of incorporation October 31, 1872, stating the capital stock as being $1,000,000. With a capital stock of $200,000, the Fort Gratiot & Lexington Railroad company filed its articles of incorporation April 30, 1872. Its termini were to be the same places named in the style of the company. The Michigan Air Line Extension company, incorporated July 15, 1870, was capitalized at $1,000,000 for the purpose of building a road from Ridgeway to St. Clair. The Michigan Midland Railroad company filed its original articles of incorporation July 4, 1870, with a capital stock of $3,000,000. In 1872 the charter was so amended that the capitalization was increased to $6,000,000. The route of the proposed road would have been from St. Clair to a point in the township of Holland on Lake Michigan. In 1869, the Port Huron & Owosso Railroad company was organized with a capital stock of $1,000,000, and its terminals were to have been Port Huron and Owosso. The Port Huron & Saginaw Valley Railroad company was incorporated Januuary 16, 1873, with a capital stock of $1,000,000. The incorporators of the company sought to build a road which would be a link between the St. Clair river at Port Huron and the Saginaw river. The Saginaw & St. Clair River Railroad company was incorporated in 1870 with a capital of $3,000,000. It was to operate between East Saginaw and St. Clair. Articles of incorporation were filed April 8, 1872, for the St. Clair River, Pontiac & Jackson Railroad company with a capital of $1,200,000. On October 2, of that year, the amendment changing the name to that of the St. Clair & Chicago Air Line Railroad company was filed, the capital stock being increased to $1,700,000 at that time. The terminals of the line were to have been in St. Clair and Jackson counties. Capac and Marlette would have been connected with a railroad if the Capac & Northern Railway company, incorporated in 1879 for $300,000, had carried through its plan to build between those points. The Bay City, Caro & Port Huron Railroad company was incorporated February 15, 1886, with a capital stock of $1,000,000. The Port Huron & Lexington Railroad company was organized in 1895. Another road between Bay City and Port Huron was projected in 1904 when the Bay City & Port Huron Railroad company was formed with a capital stock of $1,000,000. HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 9 City Electric Lines. When the Grand Trunk Railroad built its station, in 1859, it was located at the extreme northeast corner of the military reservation, and passengers going to and from the station were compelled either to walk or take a bus. It was this condition that engendered the idea of providing horse car service between the city and the station. In 1866, Gurdon O. Williams, of Detroit, and some business associates, organized the Port Huron & Gratiot Railway company and obtained a franchise to operate cars on Huron avenue in Port Huron. On January 31, 1866, Congress granted Williams a right-of-way across the military reservation to the Grand Trunk station, and in 1867 the line was built along the river bank through Pine Grove park, then from the station to Huron avenue, down which the line was run to River street, and later it was extended to Pine street across the bridge. The line, despite the relatively slow horse cars, proved to be a convenience, the fare during the daytime being ten cents and during the night twentyfive cents. What was more, the company was fairly successful in its venture with the result that when the Reservation was platted and sold in 1873, a second concern, the City Railway company, was organized. The new company proposed to build a line west on Michigan street (now State street) from the Grand Trunk station, south on Stone street to Pine Grove avenue, down Pine Grove avenue to Erie street, south on Erie and Seventh streets to Griswold street and east to the Port Huron & Lake Michigan station, with a branch on Butler street running from Erie street to the St. Clair river. Permission was obtained from Congress to build a curve track on the military reservation at the corner of Stone and Michigan streets, and the other necessary franchises were given by the city. The old line then withdrew its tracks from Pine Grove park, substituting for it a line on Pine Grove avenue from Huron avenue to Elk street. Under these new arrangements, much of the construction that was carried on by the two companies was duplication of the other's line and therefore unnecessary. The franchise of the City Railway was so amended in 1874 as to permit it to build its road on Pine Grove avenue to Superior street, down the latter to Broad street, east on Broad to Huron avenue, down Huron to Butler street, on which the line continued to the St. Clair river. At Huron avenue, the City Railway's construction crews found that the other company was building a second track on the street, interfering with the work of the City Railway. Litigation immediately arose, the ultimate result being the formation of the Port Huron Railway company in 1877 to take over the interests of both companies and to take out of service the trackage that was now rendered unnecessary by the transaction. The new company applied to the city in September, 1883, for a new thirty-year franchise which called not only for changes and extensions in the line, but also asked for permission to operate electric cars over the line, although at that time electric cars had not been placed in service at any place in the world. In 1886, only three years after the charter granting the operation of electric cars had been granted, the Port Huron Electric Railway company was organized and took over the interests of the preceding company. The work of converting the system to an elec 70 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY tric one was at once begun, and before the year was out, Port Huron had the distinction of being the first city in Michigan to have an electrically operated street railway line. A short line was built on Dix avenue, Detroit, in the same year and was continued in operation for a short time only. One of the factors that influenced the adoption of electromotive force for Port Huron was the installation of an electric traction system in Windsor. It is believed that the Port Huron street railway line is the second or third oldest one on the continent in point of view of continuous use of electricity since 1886. The early cars were small affairs, powered with seven horsepower motors set in the middle of the cars and geared to the axles. After the completion of the Grand Trunk tunnel, officials of the company realized that a street railway connection with the tunnel station would be desirable, and in May, 1892, the City Electric Railway company was organized to take over the Port Huron Electric Railway company and to install the most' modern equipment and to extend the line to the tunnel station. Other extensions were made in the line, and in 1900, the rights and franchises of the company were acquired by the Detroit United Railways, by which the Port Huron street railway is still operated. Rizver and Lake Transportation. Situated as it is upon navigable waterways, it was only natural that St. Clair county would find in the river and lake a convenient and cheap means of transportation. The first white men to view this country came to it by way of the rivers and lakes, and for many years after the first settlements were established on the shores of Lake St. Clair and the River St. Clair, the principal means of communication between the settlements and the outside world was by boat. The "Argo," a vessel of nine tons, constructed of two large logs bolted together and hollowed out, was the first steamer to break the waters between Detroit and the St. Clair river. The little boat was forty-two feet overall in length, with a beam of nine feet, and its small engine, which turned the sidewheels to produce a speed of two miles per hour, was placed on the deck amidship. Captain John Burtis, of Detroit, operated the boat for some time as a ferry between Detroit and Windsor. She was unable to carry sufficient fuel to make the entire trip from Detroit to St. Clair, and it was her custom to stop at Stromness Island to refuel. The schooner "Emily" was built for Howard & Wadhams to carry supplies to their mills at Clyde Mills, on the Black river. The "General Gratiot" was built in Ohio in 1831 for F. P. Browning, who built the first steam sawmill in Port Huron in 1833. This small forty-five ton steamer was first captained by Arthur Edwards, who was succeeded in 1833 by Captain John Clark, who later settled on a farm in East China township and became one of the most prominent residents in that part of the county. In 1833, the "General Brady," a sixty-five ton steamer, was commissioned in the river service, and two years later the 149-ton "Erie" was built and placed on the river the following year, 1836. It was owned chiefly by James Abbott, of Detroit, and for many years it held the reputation of being the fastest boat on the lakes. It HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 71 was sunk by ice in Lake St. Clair in the spring of 1842. In 1837, a regular schedule was maintained between Port Huron and Detroit, the "General Gratiot," captained by S. T. Hanson, and the "Erie," Henry Ballard master, leaving Port Huron alternate mornings for Detroit and points between. The river traffic witnessed the advent of the "Huron," a steamer of 139 tons, in 1840, it being the first of the fleet of boats owned and operated by the Wards of Marine City, who in later years had a virtual monopoly of the river traffic despite competition that threatened from time to time. The patronage that river boats received in those years, encouraged the Ward family to continue in the business, and from their yards at Marine City, where the "Huron" was built, they turned out larger, faster and better equipped boats that insured the family supremacy on the river. Captain Eber B. Ward, who captained the "Huron," was the director of the affairs of his river line and became one of the richest men in Michigan through the river traffic. The Wards were able, by their business acumen and superior resources, to drive out all serious competition for the river trade that threatened to interfere with their own monopoly. In 1851, the "Pearl" and the "Ruby," two steamers of 251 tons each, excellently equipped, appeared on the river to make a bid for a share of the trade, but they, too, by the tactics of the Wards, soon retired to leave the field clear for the enterprising Marine City men. The village plat of Ruby, in Clyde township, was named in honor of one of these boats by John Beard. In 1853, the steamer "Canadian" was placed in service on the river, and it was only by resorting to a rate war that cut fares to almost nothing that the Wards were able to force the retirement of this contender. The "Forester," the "Forest Queen," the "Dart," and in the Sixties the "Reindeer" and "Evening Star," and the "Milton D. Ward" in 1870, were all familiar vessels on the river in their time. In the early Eighties, the White Star line was organized and since that time it has had a virtual monopoly of the river trade between Detroit and Port Huron. For a number of years, in fact until the electric lines made their operation unprofitable, short steamer lines between Port Huron and Marine City and Algonac were maintained. The "Belle of Oshkosh" was put on in 1870 between Port Huron and Algonac, superceding the small boat that inaugurated the service in the late Sixties. The "Carrie H. Blood" came the next year to remain on the run for ten years. Next the "Agnes" carried the passengers and freight over the route for a short time, and finally the "Mary" was commissioned with S. H. Burnham as master and Spain E. Pearce as clerk. This was a successful venture, for the "Mary" proved to be not only the best but the most popular boat that ever plied between Algonac and the county seat. The "Mary," however, was taken out of the service when the electric lines were completed, and the faster service offered spelled the doom of local river traffic. Crockett McElroy, the owner of the "Mary," in 1894 planned and built the steamer "Unique," which was to have been the fastest vessel plying between Detroit and Port Huron, but the vessel failed to meet 72 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY the expectatidns of the designer and owner, and after several accidents, the boat was taken off the run, which had been regarded as the special field of the Wards since they first established their line on a monopoly basis. An important phase of transportation in St. Clair county traversed by so many rivers is that of ferries. The granting of a license to James Fulton to operate a ferry across Pine river was one of the first official acts of the first county court, held January, 1822. Six and a quarter cents was the authorized ferriage fee for one person, nine cents for a horse and one shilling for a horse and carriage. In 1824 Jean B. Desnoyer was granted a similar license to maintain a ferry on Black river, and the following year, Louis Chortier applied for and received a license to run a ferry across the Belle river. No further ferries were established, and when, in 1831, the county built floating bridges across the Pine and Belle rivers, the ferries operated there went out of business. With the completion of the military road from Detroit to Fort Gratiot, the government constructed a bridge over Black river in 1833 and it was then that the last officially licensed ferry within the county ceased to exist. The development of the county, however, resulted in a constantly growing trade between Michigan and Canada, and in March, 1837, an act of the legislature granted to Norman Nash and Nicholas Ayrault the right to operate a ferry over the St. Clair river near the mouth of the Black river, Nash was born in Ellington, Connecticut, in 1790. He was ordained a minister of the Episcopal church and in 1825 went to Green Bay as a missionary and teacher to the Menominee Indians. In 1836, he was appointed missionary and teacher to the Indians in the vicinity of Port Huron, where he settled as soon as possible, building a house near the site of the later Huron House. The building he erected consisted of one large room downstairs, in which he taught school, and his own living quarters in the second story. A salary of $400 was to have been his for the work, but through some trouble with the Indian agent and the Episcopal bishop, he was never paid for his work among the Indians of this county. Reverend Nash was also frequently known as Doctor Nash, due to the fact that as he obtained some knowledge of the medical science he was often called on cases when no physicians could be obtained. He remained in Port Huron when the Indian reservation was sold and bought the property immediately south of the Episcopal church on Sixth street, where he lived during the rest of his life. Though he was not officially installed in a pastorate, he preached regularly at Clyde Mills, Fort Gratiot, and other places throughout the county, and when he died in 1870 after a residence in Port Huron of more than thirty-five years, he had earned the love and respect of the entire community. Nicholas Ayrault, the partner of Reverend Nash in the ferry business, was a merchant of Livingston county, New York, who became interested in the Huron Land company and came to Port Huron in 1836 to handle the interests of the company. About 1840, he with Edgar Jenkins, sutler at the fort, built a power sawmill at McNiel creek. Be HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 73 cause of the interests he represented, Ayrault was a man of considerable importance in the little settlement. He remained in Port Huron only a few years, however, returning to New York. There were other ferry operators who preceded Nash and Ayrault in the Michigan-Canada business, although these earlier operators neglected to secure licenses to run their boats. William Eveland came from Canada in 1833 and began the operation of a ferry between Port Huron and Sarnia soon after. A man by the name of Hitchcock is said to have operated a ferry for a time until he was driven out of business by Malcolm Cameron, the founder of Sarnia, who took over the rights of Nash in the ferry business. Passengers and light freight were carried by Cameron in rowboats but teams and heavy freight were transported across the St. Clair river in a kind of scow rigged with a sail. Orrin Davenport next succeeded to the monopoly established by Cameron. He constructed a cartamaran, the power for which was supplied by two Indian ponies attached to a sweep, the steering being done by means of a large oar hung on a pivot. The steamer "United" was purchased by Davenport to be used as a ferry in winter and for towing purposes in the summer. Another ferry was started in 1851 by Captain Moffat, who had been in the employ of Davenport, and he and a Mr. Curtis built a ferry whose power was supplied by four horses. So successful were the partners in this venture that they drove out all competitors for the trans-river service. Soon after, Captain Moffat and a man named Brockway built the small steamer "Union," whose services were augmented in 1859 by the addition of the "Sarnia." Such were the beginnings of the ferry service which has since connected Sarnia and Port Huron with a line of boats that leaves nothing to be desired in point of excellence of service and equipment. At that time Nash and Ayrault were granted their license to operate a ferry to Canada from the mouth of the Black river, Thomas Palmer, James McClannan and David Lockwood, of St. Clair, were granted a similar license to operate a ferry over the St. Clair river from that village. McClannan, who invested heavily in St. Clair real estate in 1836, left the village in 1837, and it has never been definitely ascertained whether or not he used the license granted to him by the legislature. It soon became generally known, however, that the ferry business at that point was open to everyone, and for many years thereafter many rowboats and sailboats plied between the Canadian shore and St. Clair. When the steamboat was put on after the construction of the Canadian Southern railroad, the smaller fry of ferries disappeared. Motor Coach Lines. As the electric traction lines introduced a new era of local transportation and supplied rural communities with frequent and fast rail service, the motor coach lines are even now opening another era of short haul service. That the motor coaches have become a serious rival of the electric lines for the trade of the rural communities is due largely to three factors; namely, the development of motor bus building, the improvements in highway construction, and the convenience of busses to a greater number of inhabitants of rural districts. 74 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY Port Huron is connected with all sections of the state by motor bus lines, those running into the city coming from Detroit, Flint, Lexington and Croswell. From these cities, other lines branch out over the highways of the state, giving easy access to communities not touched by railroads and electric lines in many instances. The White Star Motor Bus company operates the lines out of Port Huron and uses the most modern equipment on all the lines. Intra-city bus transportation also carries many passengers to the outlying portions of the city and has proved a great convenience in developing the suburban sections. CHAPTER V EDUCATION EFORE the passage of the general education act by the Territorial legislature in April, 1827, all instruction in the state had been carried on by private tutors hired by one or more families to teach the children of those families. The act of 1827, however, provided for the establishment of a school in every township having fifty or more families, and provision was made for division of the townships into districts, the election of school inspectors and the financing of the school district. A new act in 1833 introduced the rate bill method of supporting the schools wherein the parents were taxed in proportion to the number of children they had attending the public schools, but so unsatisfactory was this method of supporting the schools that it was later changed to the present system whereby part of the money is obtained through taxation and part through the primary school fund. In 1846, graded schools were created, and graded and high schools were established. An act was passed in March, 1867, providing for county superintendents of schools and during the eight years this act was in effect, the schools of St. Clair county were greatly benefited. John C. Clarke, of St. Clair, filled the office for two terms, followed by William H. Little and Miles H. Carleton for a term each. When the act was repealed, the schools were placed in charge of township inspectors, who were replaced in 1881 by county boards of examiners composed of three members each. In 1891, the county superintendency was restored, the term of the superintendent being two years at first and four years since 1901, the office being an elective one. Charles J. McCormick became the first county superintendent of schools; Robert Bruce Fairman served from 1893-97; Reuben S. Campbell, 1897-1903; Elmer T. Blackney, 1903. Jacob G. Streit was the first hired school teacher in the county. The son of a German Lutheran clergyman, he was born in Winchester, Virginia, in April, 1788. He served in the American army during the War of 1812, and in 1816, after his discharge from the army at Detroit, he was induced to come to St. Clair county to conduct a school, first at Harsen's Island and later in various schools maintained in Clay and Cottrellville townships. Streit was hired to teach in a log schoolhouse built by William Brown on his farm in Cottrellville township, which probably was the best school then conducted in the county. John K. Smith taught school on Harsen's Island in 1818, and in 1824, the same school was taught by Peter F. Brakeman, who in the winter of 1827-28 opened the first school in Point du Chene, now Algonac. Samuel Roberts was one of the first teachers to conduct a school in Marine City. Port Huron Schools. John S. Hudson and John Hart, missionaries who came to Fort Gratiot in 1821, were the first to teach school in what is now Port Huron. Occupying the barracks abandoned by the soldiers, the two men opened a school for the Indians. The prejudice engen 76 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY dered by their teaching the Indians kept the young white children away from the school but it is believed that in spite of this antipathy toward attending the same school as Indians, Edward Petit and the children of several other French families located in this section availed themselves of the opportunity of increasing their education. Disheartened after the labors of three years, Hart and Hudson left Fort Gratiot for a field more appreciative of their efforts. It was not until 1833, however, that the first schoolhouse was erected within the limits of Port Huron. It was built almost entirely at the expense of Francis P. Browning, owner of the Black River Steam Mill company, and was located at the southwest corner of Broad and Superior streets. The mill was started the same year just west of the Seventh street bridge, and the company built several houses in the vicinity of the mill for the use of Its employees. Unpainted as it was, the schoolhouse assumed a weatherbeaten, brownish tinge through the years that earned for it the appellation of the "Old Brown Schoolhouse." It was first occupied in the fall of 1834, when a Miss Gamble, the daughter of a Baptist clergyman, was engaged to teach the few children who attended there. Until the erection of the North Union school building in 1849 on the site of the present jail, the "Old Brown Schoolhouse" remained the only school on the north side of the river. The first school was built on the south side of Black river in 1842 on the west side of Court square and was destroyed by fire in 1859. It was replaced by the Second Ward or Washington school, which has been known as the Taylor school since the erection of the new Washington Junior high school. Rev. Norman Nash was appointed teacher to the Indians in 1836 by President Andrew Jackson and located his school near Fort street, north of Butler street. The same year the reservation was ceded to the United States and within three years all the Indians had been withdrawn to other reservations. Miss Abigail Thompson taught school at the same time. John L. Beebe, who had been divorced, asked her to marry him, but she, being in doubt as to the propriety of such a marriage, borrowed a Bible to see if she could find in it any reason why she shouldn't marry Beebe. Evidently she failed to find any passage that might forbid her marriage, for she accepted him. She again taught school in 1845 at her home on Military street. From 1839 to 1842, Mr. and Mrs. Alex Hulin taught school near the southwest corner of Military and Court streets, each teaching the children of his or her own sex. Horatio James, who moved from St. Clair to Port Huron in the summer of 1841, when his commission as postmaster expired, taught school in the east wing of the building then standing on the south side of Court square. A private school was also taught by General Duthan Northrop about 1840. Northrop was subsequently treasurer of St. Clair county. A private school was kept the following winter near the corner of Fort and Quay streets by Rev. Sabin Hough, the Episcopal minister, who was assisted by Miss Foster, and the school was kept the next winter by Professor Elijah W. Merrill and Miss Mary Whicher. A private school was opened in the summer HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 77 of 1846 at the southeast corner of Sixth and Pine streets by John and Anderson Quay. The first district school in Port Huron was under the instruction of Dr. John S. Heath, who came from St. Clair in 1836, and taught school during the winter of 1841-42, when he found that the services of teachers were more in demand than those of doctors. A Rev. Wright was the next teacher of this school, and he in turn was followed by Miss Persis Carleton and later by a Miss Waterhouse. David Ward, who became one of the leading timber operators of the state, had attended the academy of Rev. O. C. Thompson at St. Clair during the summer and winter of 1843 and on November 30, of that year, obtained a license to teach from the school inspectors of Port Huron and conducted a school here during that and the following winter. A school built on Court square, where the present Taylor school now stands, was taught by James H. Smith during the year 1847. Alex Crawford, a native of Ayrshire, Scotland, who came to Michigan when he was nine years of age in 1831, accepted the position of principal of the "Old Brown Schoolhouse," and during the next fourteen years, the direction of the school was in his hands. Stern disciplinarian though he was, Alex Crawford was adept at arousing in the children the desire to learn, and among the early schoolmasters of Port Huron he stands pre-eminent. Among the principals of the schools on the north and the south sides of the river were John H. Mulford, later a lawyer of Port Huron, C. F. Bellows, Robert S. Straight, Manley Tripp, and William Roach. William Hartsuff came to Port Huron to teach in 1857, continuing until 1861, when he resigned to enter the army. H. T. Bush was principal of the North Union school from 1861 to 1863, he being succeeded by Miles H. Carleton and he by Richard Montgomery. Henry M. Bacon was principal of the South Union school in 1860-61. He was followed by F. E. Manley, who was succeeded in 1865 by Dr. W. C. Catlin, who was in turn followed by a Mr. Winchell for a few months during the spring term of 1867. A marked step forward in school administration was made in 1867 when they were all consolidated under the superintendency of Carroll S. Fraser, who during his three years in that office formed the school system of the city into an efficient working unit. H. C. Baggerly was superintendent in 1870-71 and John C. Magill from 1871 to 1874, Bernard Bigsby holding the office during the ensuing two years. From 1876 to 1888, H. J. Robeson headed the city schools; John A. Stewart, 1888 -93; James A. Beazell, 1893-99; W. F. Lewis, 1899-1917; and Harlan A. Davis, 1917 -Under the general plan laid down by the state board of education, the schools of Port Huron have steadily progressed. In 1919, the city decided to adopt the Junior high school system and built the Washington Junior high school on Tenth street, the old Washington school then taking the name of the Taylor school. Still another advance was made in 1923 when the Junior college was opened, giving the students of the city and county the opportunity of securing the first two years of an academic college education. The work of the Port Huron Junior college 78 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY is accredited at the University of Michigan, and graduates from Port Huron may enter the junior year at the state university without taking preliminary college entrance examinations. The city built a high school building on the site occupied by the present building at a cost of $41,000, this in 1870, and when the county seat was removed to Port Huron, some of the high school rooms were occupied by the county offices. On February 24, 1873, the building was destroyed by fire, and the new building constructed the following year was burned to the ground in May, 1906. The city then resolved to build a structure that would be a model school building in every way, and in 1908, the present $120,000 school building was occupied by the high school classes. The Junior college students attend classes in the same building, and the principal of both the Senior high school and Junior college is L. F. Meade, a graduate of Grinnell college, Iowa, whose efficient management has been responsible for the success of the 6-3-3-2 plan that has been in operation for two years. The present graded school buildings of Port Huron are as follows: Adams school, 719 Twelfth street; Campau, Campau avenue; District School No. 5, 2601 Griswold; Buchanan, 1917 Twentieth street; District Schools No. 7, 3310 Vanness and 2202 Twenty-fifth streets; Fillmore, 813 Hancock; Harrison, 1507 Nelson street; Jackson, 716 Michigan street; Jefferson, 1329 Poplar street; Lincoln, 1527 South boulevard; Madison, 708 Division street; Monroe, 1418 Lyons street; Pierce, 2625 Cherry street; Polk, 1809 Eleventh street; Tyler, 908 Stone street; Van Buren, 1209 Tenth street; and Taylor, 621 Court street. St. Clair Schools. A Rev. Donahoe kept the first school at St. Clair, opening it in a small building owned by Charles Phillips and located on the south side of the Pine river. The following year, 1828, Horatio James kept school. The first school organized under the laws of the territory was maintained in the upper story of the courthouse about 1831 and taught by Sarah Barron. The first public schoolhouse built in the village was said to have been located on the Loomis property above Brown street, making the "Old Red Schoolhouse," moved over on Block 64 in 1849, the second school. District No. 2 purchased the "Old Red Schoolhouse" in 1849 and it was first taught by Bela W. Jenks at this location and later by his brother, R. H. Jenks. The Red Schoolhouse was originally built in 1837 to be used as a factory and stood on the bank of the St. Clair river. It was later used as a schoolhouse and then removed to the above mentioned location in 1849. When the Union school district of St. Clair was organized in 1858, the "Old Red Schoolhouse" and the White schoolhouse, located on Fourth street, were the only two school buildings in the fractional district. The first meeting was held May 21, 1858, John E. Kitton, Bela W. Jenks and Chester Carleton being elected the officers of the district, which included the city of St. Clair and parts of the surrounding townships. One of the first acts of the school district was to authorize the construction of a new school building that was completed in 1862. During the first two years of the Union School District, William Campbell HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 79 was the superintendent. The schools of the city have kept pace with the improvements in educational methods and equipment. A standard four-year high school course is given in the city, and graduates of the high school are permitted to enter state university without taking entrance examinations. 0. M. Misenar, a graduate of Alma college, is the present superintendent of schools. A leading part in the educational life of the city in the early days was played by the Thompson academy, started in 1842 by Rev. O. C. Thompson, a Presbyterian minister, who settled at St. Clair in 1834. In the northern part of the village, Thompson erected a building capable of accommodating fifty pupils and started the St. Clair academy, as it was named. Thompson spared no expense or effort to get the best of teachers for his academy, among the instructors being the following: Miss Abigail Alexander, Princeton, New Jersey; Miss Alice Jenks, from Connecticut, whose piano was one of the first to be brought to the county and which she sold to Dr. Justin Rice, of St. Clair, when she resigned to marry a New York doctor; Ann Jane Foster, of New York; Delia Grosvenor; Martha Nutting, a niece of the principal of the academy at Romeo; Cummings Sanborn; and Lavallette Blodgett. During the five years that the school was conducted, it proved its excellence, and many were the children who attended the school who in later years became prominent figures in the state and nation, notable among whom were Thomas W. Palmer, who became a United States senator; David H. Jerome, who became governor of Michigan; and David Ward, who made a fortune in the pine lumber business. Thompson's health failed in 187, and he gave up the operation of the academy. Mrs. Caroline L. Ballentine opened an academy in 1879 in Port Huron for the education of young women. She secured a staff of excellent assistants and at the suggestion of President Angell, of the University of Michigan, named it the Somerville school. After a year, the prospects of the school were so pleasing that several St. Clair men bought the property at the extreme north end of the city on the St. Clair river and erected school buildings, for it was apparent that the residence of Mrs. Ballentine would no longer accommodate the numbers of students that were coming. At the new location, the school was operated until 1888, when it was compelled to close its doors because of insufficient funds. During the quarter of a century that the county schools have been under the direction of Elmer T. Blackney, the system has been steadily improved until it now ranks as one of the best county organizations in the state. Ten school districts comprise Berlin township, nine of which are one-room schools, and District No. 2 of the village of Berville having three teachers. Brockway is divided into eight districts, seven having one-room schools and District No. 1, the city of Yale, which is under the superintendency of V. P. Pierce. Yale has a four-year high school course. Burtchvile township has three districts with one-room schools. Casco township is divided into seven districts, all with one-room schools. The following townships all have one-room schools only: China, eight districts; Clyde, seven districts; Cottrellville, five districts; Columbus, 80 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY eight districts; East China, three districts; Fort Gratiot, four districts; Grant, five districts; Greenwood, six districts; Ira, three districts; Kenockee, six districts; Lynn, seven districts; Ripley, eight districts; St. Clair, eleven districts; and Wales, nine districts. Of the eight districts of Mussey township, seven have one-room schools and District No. 2 comprises Capac village, which has a standard high school. C. J. Addington is the superintendent of the schools of Capac village. In Clay township, Districts No. 2, 3 and 4 have two-room schools, District No. 5 has a one-room school, and District No. 1 is the village of Algonac, which has a standard four-year high school course, Gerald F. Bush being the Algonac superintendent of schools. The first six districts of Emmett township have one-room schools. Although District No. 7 is the village of Emmett, the district school is temporarily closed down since the opening of the Catholic parochial school in the village two years ago, 1923. District No. 6, of Kimball township, is provided with a two-room school but the other six districts have one-room schools. District No. 1, of Port Huron township, is the city of Marysville, of which A. A. Riddering is superintendent; Districts No. 3 and 5 have two-room schools; Districts No. 2, No. 4 and No. 6 have one-room schools; and District No. 7 has two one-room schools. Four parochial schools are maintained in Port Huron, they being St. John's Evangelical school, St. Joseph's Catholic school, St. Stephen's Catholic school, and the Trinity Evangelical Lutheran school. St. Stephen's parish also maintains a Catholic high school which is an accredited institution at the universities. A large, new building is now being constructed to house the high school and promises to be one of the finest Catholic high schools in the state. Libraries. The libraries maintained throughout the county were sponsored by the various Ladies' Library associations which were formed, Port Huron, St. Clair, Marine City, and Algonac having such organizations. The Port Huron association was organized in January, 1866, the year following the enactment of the library act by the state legislature, and was incorporated January 10, 1868. The St. Clair association was organized March 7, 1869; the Marine City society came into being in 1886, and the Algonac organization on October 7, 1901. The St. Clair Ladies' Library association has acquired 3,024 books, which are under the care of Bessie J. Howell. The school library of Yale, numbering 1,223 books, is under the direction of Mrs. A. T. Greenman, while Enrique Beeman has charge of the Marine City school library containing 3,731 volumes. Marguerite Beatty is the librarian of the Algonac school library, which has 1,303 books. The Port Huron Public Library is the only one in the county not directly connected with the schools. The city charter was so amended in 1895 to provide for a public library commission of three members who were to have full control and administration of the school library which was at that time converted into a public library. A tax of not less than one-fifth of a mill was to be raised for the support of the HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 81 library. O'Brien J. Atkinson, John C. Johnstone and William L. Jenks were the first commissioners. The number of commissioners was changed to five in 1901 but was again placed at three in 1910, with the provision that one of the number shall be a woman. Present commissioners are W. L. Jenks, Dr. C. C. Clancy and Mrs. James A. Muir. The first building occupied by the library was the old Universalist church on Pine street. In 1903, Andrew Carnegie gave the city $40,000, later increasing it to $45,000, on the condition that the city supply a site and contribute not less than ten per cent of the gift to the support of the library. The Second ward park was finally selected as a site and the library building, constructed of Indiana limestone, was completed and occupied in 1905. Large reading rooms and quarters for the use of various organizations are included. National and state documents, reference books of all kinds and books of fiction totaled nearly 32,500 in 1925. On October 18, 1917, the supervisors voted to appropriate a sum of money annually for the support of the county library, the Port Huron Public Library to operate the county end of the work. The measure took effect on January 1, 1918, and with the exception of the year 1924 has been in continuous operation since that time. Miss Kathryn Slennoe, the librarian at that time, instituted the work. Branches were established throughout the county (there are thirteen at the present time) to which books were taken by automobile; the people of the county could also get books by parcel post, by calling at the main desk, or through the other libraries of the county which work in co-operation with the county library. Special collections of books are sent from Port Huron to the other libraries upon request. The total circulation from May, 1925, to May, 1926, was 28,445, of which 21,460 were to county people not over the main desk and the balance was given out over the main desk at the Port Huron library. The library at Marine City was converted to a city library in 1924 and is now under the direction of Elizabeth Hyatt. Under the new regime, the library has grown ocnsiderably and has served to distribute books among the people of the city more successfully than when it was a school library. CHAPTER VI MILITARY S a heritage of their days in England and Europe, the earliest Americans were well schooled in arms. The first settlements of white men on the North American continent were maintained only through the ability of the men, farmers though they were, for the most part, to take up arms against the Indians. Practically all Europeans, and in particular the Englishmen, were enrolled in companies of militia which met at stated intervals for drills and maneuvers. The colonists perpetuated the militia system in the New World, and at one time in Americal Colonial history, nearly every colony required its able-bodied male citizens to retain membership in a militia company which drilled under competent officers at least once a week. The skirmishes with the Indians were frequent on the frontiers, and the American colonists formed the bulk of the British forces in the French and Indian wars, these same hardy soldier farmers learning the rigors of war before the walls of Louisburg. In no sense, then, were the soldiers of the American Continental army raw recruits called upon to face well-trained and disciplined troops of England. And to the fact that victory ultimately graced the American arms is due largely to the training of the militia and the ability of war trained officers as well as to the fact that Britain was too occupied in Europe to throw her full strength against the rebel colonists. The continued expansion of the American nation to the westward after the Revolution kept alive that need for militia companies, and the hardy pioneers of the Northwest Territory were often enrolled in companies of militia that were called upon in time of need. A large part of the forces that prosecuted the Black Hawk war after the War of 1812 was composed of militia organizations, and the War of 1812 found in the organization of the American army a large portion of militia companies. With the organization of the Territory of Michigan on July 1, 1805, the state entered actively upon her military history, for at that time Governor William Hull, or on September 10, of that year, ordered the organization of two regiments of infantry, one to be raised in the Erie district and the other in the district outside of the Erie. To further the organization of these two regiments he made a number of appointments, among which was that of George McDougall, later the first tender of the Fort Gratiot lighthouse, as second aide-de-camp with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Of the companies of the first regiment, Governor Hull established September 17, the district from Lake Huron to Lake St. Clair was to raise one company, the officers of which were to be George Cottrell, captain; Jean Marie Beaubien, lieutenant; and George Cottrell, Jr., ensign. Ten days later the following order describing the uniform to be worn by the militiamen was issued: "Long blue coats, white plain but oq HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 83 tons, white underclothes in summer and white vests and blue pantaloons in winter, half boots or gaiters, round black hats, black feathers tipped with red, cartridge belt and bayonet belt, black." On October 9, the company of George Cottrell was detached from the first regiment, divided into two companies, and with the two companies formed by the division of one other company made into a battalion to be commanded by George Cottrell as lieutenant-colonel. On January 6, 1806, Stanley Griswold, acting governor, made the following appointments to fill the positions of officers of the two St. Clair river companies: Jean M. Beaubien, captain; Pierre Mini, lieutenant; Francis Bonhomme, ensign; and for the other company, George Cottrell, Jr., captain; Joseph Mini, lieutenant, and William Brown, ensign. At about this same time an order was issued requiring the men to appear in full uniform. The men, hardy and industrious pioneers that they were, were hard put to it to wrest more than a mere living from the wilderness and to expect them to secure such elaborate uniforms was entirely out of the question. Upon the advice of Colonel Cottrell, the limits of the companies were changed in February, 1806, to be as follows: "The company to be commanded by Captain Francois Bonhomme to commence at the lower end of Lake Huron and descend on the river St. Clair to the mouth of the Belle river. The company commanded by Captain George Cottrell, Jr., to commence at the mouth of the Belle river and extend to the mouth of River St. Clair, including the most southern and western inhabitants in that vicinity." By the same order Francois Bonhomme was made captain of the company of which he had been ensign under Jean M. Beaubien; Pierre Mini was transferred to the lieutenancy of Cottrell's company, and Joseph Mini was transferred to the lieutenancy of Bonhomme's company; and Jean Baptiste Racine was made ensign in the company commanded by Bonhomme. The threatened Indian outbreak of 1806 failed to materialize, and though for many years the Indians were numerous in this section of the country and their raids were frequent during the War of 1812, there was practically no more fear of them. In 1811, George McDougall, then adjutant-general of the Michigan Territory, issued an order regarding the St. Clair battalion, making Elisha Harrington adjutant in place of Robert McNiff, resigned; Pierre Mini captain to succeed George Cottrell, Jr., who resigned his commission; Samuel Grabel to fill the place of Pierre Mini, promoted to captain; and Henry Cottrell, ensign in place of McNiff, who resigned. Apparently, the militia battalion of the St. Clair river region took no active part in the War of 1812. General Lewis Cass revived the militia organization when he became governor. An assembly of the First Regiment brought out only thirtyeight men and three officers in 1814, and by the end of the year it was regarded as disbanded. A new River St. Clair company was established by Adjutant-General McDougall in 1816 to include the Point au Tremble and the Belle river settlements, Joseph Mini being appointed captain; Henry Cottrell, lieutenant; and William Brown, ensign. In August, 1818, Governor Cass 84 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY appointed these officers for the company: Andrew Wesbrook, captain; Henry Cottrell, lieutenant; and Lambert Beaubien, Victor Morass and William Brown, ensigns. The following year, William Brown was promoted to lieutenant and David Cottrell to the rank of ensign. Z. W. Bunce became lieutenant-colonel of the First Battalion in March, 1821, and J. B. Petit was appointed a lieutenant in the same organization. John Thorn was later made regimental paymaster; and Henry Cottrell, captain; Ira Marks, lieutenant; and Joseph Mini, ensign of a new company that was formed to include the inhabitants of the county living south and west of the Belle river. The company of Captain Wesbrook included those men living north and east of Belle river. Matters went on in this matter with the militia companies until a new act was passed in 1833 re-organizing the militia of the state. There was very little interest in military matters, however, during this time, and it was not until 1840 that the Port Huron Guards were organized under the State Militia act. Elisha B. Clark became captain of the new company, but no arms were drawn from the government, and after a short time it went out of existence. The St. Clair Guards, organized in September, 1843, drew thirty-two muskets and equipment for that number of men from the United States Government, the company being under the command of Captain S. B. Brown. Since they formed an artillery battery, they were also issued a brass cannon and carriage with harness for a team of four horses. Although there is evidence of the organization of the Newport Rifles in 1841, it is believed that the company failed to continue for long. Mexican War. Grover N. Buel, who was named brigadier-general of the Eighth Brigade in April, 1842, raised Company B, First Regiment of Volunteers, when the Mexican war broke out, and was made captain of the unit. He went with his organization to Mexico, where he contracted yellow fever and died at Cordova. His company returned to Michigan and was mustered out of the service in July, 1848. When the president made his call for volunteers in 1846, the St. Clair Guards promptly answered the call, the officers of the organization being Captain S. B. Brown, First Lieutenant Israel E. Carleton, and Second Lieutenant F. E. Barron. Although the Cass Guards had been organized in Port Huron some time before this, the company was apparently disbanded before the President's call for volunteers was issued, for no record of the Cass Guards answering the call has remained. The records of 1854 show Benjamin C. Cox to be colonel of the Fifteenth Regiment, Nathaniel W. Brooks being lieutenant-colonel, and Oel Rix, major. Elisha B. Clark, Hannibal Hollister and Cephas Thompson held the corresponding positions in the Forty-third Regiment. The Washington Guards was organized by St. Clair citizens in 1860 with these officers: Captain Wesley Truesdail, First Lieutenant Henry C. Morrill, Second Lieutenant George W. Willson, and Third Lieutenant David E. Sickles. Civil War. The first real test of the metal of the men of St. Clair county. With Lincoln's first call for volunteers, the men of the county rose in answer, and the records of the adjutant-general show that hundreds of men from this county served during the war, principally in HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 85 Michigan regiments. The official figures of the number of St. Clair county men in the Civil war showed that 1,378 enlisted prior to September 19, 1863, that 779 enlisted under the enrollment system, 199 veterans re-enlisted, twenty enlisted in the navy, twenty drafted men commuted, and 185 were drafted, making a total of 2,581 men from this county who served with the Union army. Nearly every Michigan organization in the war, found in its ranks men from the county on the St. Clair river, but to chronicle the actions of each regiment would occupy too much space at this point. The Tenth and Twenty-second Regiments of Michigan Infantry were the two organizations on whose rosters were the greatest numbers of St. Clair names. The Tenth Michigan Infantry was organized at Flint under the command of Colonel E. H. Thompson and mustered into the Federal service February 6, 1862, leaving for the battle-front the following April under the command of Colonel Lum. The organization participated in thirty engagements during the progress of the war, its first action being in the battle at Farmington, Mississippi, May 9, 1862, and the last before Bentonville, North Carolina, on the days of March 19 and 20, 1865. The regiment was mustered out of the service at Louisville, Kentucky, July 19, and was disbanded at Jackson, Michigan, the following August. The Twenty-second Michigan Infantry was recruited in the counties of St. Clair, Macomb, Oakland, Livingston, Lapeer, and Sanilac, and in its ranks were many men from this county. The work of enlistment began July 15, 1862, and was completed August 29, when it was mustered into the Federal service with a strength of 997 men under the command of Colonel Moses Wisner. William Sanborn, of Port Huron, was first major, then lieutenant-colonel. The regiment left Pontiac, September 4, 1862, for Louisville, Kentucky, and was soon after attached to the Fourth Army Corps commanded by General W. C. Whittaker. With the exception of light skirmishing, the regiment saw practically no action before the battle of Chickamauga on September 20, 1863. In this battle the Twenty-second received what might be termed its baptism of fire, a baptism that cost heavily in lives but won undying glory for the regiment. The conduct of the regiment in this battle is best shown in an extract from the report of the commanding general reading as follows: "My command was then moved by the flank in two lines at double quick time up the valley for nearly a mile, under a heavy fire of shell from a rebel battery. Several were killed and wounded in this charge. Arriving at the point occupied by General Thomas, we found him sorely pressed and yielding stubbornly to superior numbers. I was directed to drive the enemy from a ridge on which he had concentrated his forces in great numbers, supported strongly by artillery, and was imminently threatening the right by a flank movement. Forming my command in two lines, Ninety-sixth Illinois on the right, Twenty-second Michigan on the left, and One Hundred and Fifteenth Illinois on the center of the first line. Both lines advanced then at a double quick against the enemy. The conflict was terrific; the enemy was driven nearly half a mile; rallying, they drove my command a short distance, when they in turn were driven again with great loss. Both lines had been thrown into the con 86 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY flict on the second charge, and the whole line kept up a deadly and welldirected fire upon the enemy, who fought with great determination and vigor. The Twenty-second Michigan, after fighting for nearly three hours, having exhausted their ammunition, boldly charged into the midst of overwhelming numbers with the bayonet, driving them, until overcome by superior numbers." This last charge of the gallant Twenty-second was a disastrous one for the regiment, for it was cut off by Confederate forces. Great numbers were taken prisoner, and the casualty lists of the Michigan adjutant-general show that many of the men died amid the horrors of the notorious Andersonville prison. The remnants of the regiment were then attached to the Engineer Brigade, remaining in that work near Chattanooga until late in 1864. For several months it was occupied in building bridges to permit the passage of troops and was later a part of the Reserve Brigade of the Department of the Cumberland. It was mustered out of the Federal service June 26, 1865, and was paid off at Detroit on July 11. The Second Michigan Cavalry had many of its members from St. Clair county, although it was organized in Grand Rapids. On November 14, 1861, the regiment with a strength of 1,163 officers and men and under the command of Colonel F. W. Kellogg, entrained for St. Louis to join the command of General Carter, with whom it participated in the raids in East Tennessee during the following December and January, a period that inaugurated a service that was noted for its excellence during the entire war. The regiment returned to Jackson, Michigan, and was discharged August 26, 1865. The Eighth Michigan Cavalry, organized at Mt. Clemens in 1862 -63, was mustered into the Union service May 2, 1863, under the command of Colonel John Stockton and with a strength of 1,817 officers and men. The regiment was then sent to Kentucky and during the remainder of the war its operations were carried on in that part of the country. The organization was mustered out of the Federal service at Nashville, Tennessee, and was discharged at Jackson, Michigan, September 28, 1865. The Twenty-seventh Michigan Infantry, organized at Ypsilanti, April 12, 1863, was ordered to Port Huron soon after its organization was started, and while it was in St. Clair county, men were recruited to fill its ranks. It was sent to Kentucky and was then attached to the Ninth Corps during the Mississippi campaign around Vicksburg. Its service was mainly confined to Kentucky and Tennessee until it entered the Virginia campaign, beginning with the hard-fought battles of the Wilderness. The service of the regiment was concluded in that state before Petersburg on April 3, 1865, and was discharged at Detroit, June 30, 1865. The Fifth Michigan Infantry, one of the first regiments organized in Michigan, found within its ranks many men from St. Clair county, for the Washington Guards, which had been organized in St. Clair in 1860, became Company G, Firth Michigan Infantry. The regiment was organized at Fort Wayne and mustered into the Federal service on HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 87 August 28, 1861, the following commissioned officers of the unit hailing from this county: Captain Judson S. Farrar, First Lieutenant Edgar H. Shook, and Second Lieutenant Henry C. Edgerly. The regiment left Detroit for the front on September 11, 1861, and went into camp at Alexandria, the first skirmish with the Confederates occurring at Pohick church, January 9, 1862. From that time forward, the regiment was engaged in nearly all the major engagements of McClellan's Peninsular Corps. Hard battles were still before the regiment which participated in the largest battles fought in the eastern campaigns. The Battle of Gettysburg found the Fifth Michigan Infantry in the line, where its casualty list was swelled by nineteen killed and ninety wounded in addition to five taken prisoners. After the battle of Mine Run, the regiment went into camp at Brandy Station and left there January 4, 1864, to recruit in Detroit on a thirty-six day furlough. It then returned to Brandy Station, crossed the Rapidan, and entered the Wilderness Campaign at Orange Courthouse on May 5. The battles of Todd's Tavern, Po River, Spottsylvania, North Anna River, and Tolopotomy followed in quick succession, but the fields were disastrous for the Fifth Michigan, for on June 10 the regiment was consolidated with the Third Michigan Infantry under the name of the latter. The re-organized regiment re-entered active service before Petersburg and continued in the hottest part of the campaign, which terminated in the surrender of Lee at Appomattox Courthouse, April 9, 1865. After participating in the review of the Grand Army of the Potomac at Washington on May 23, 1865, the regiment was mustered out of the Federal service at Detroit July 8, and was disbanded a week later. The casualties sustained by the regiment during the years of heavy fighting in which it was engaged were heavy, and many were the brave St. Clair county men who were killed on the field of battle as members of that organization. Although brief resumes have been given of the regiments in which there were the greatest number of St. Clair county men, it must be remembered that nearly all Michigan regiments in every branch of the service, including the navy, found their quota of St. Clair men in the ranks. Other organizations in which were St. Clair county men were: First Michigan Infantry, Second Michigan Infantry, Third Michigan Infantry, Fourth Michigan Infantry, Sixth Michigan Infantry, Seventh Michigan Infantry, Eighth Michigan Infantry, Ninth Michigan Infantry, Eleventh Michigan Infantry, Twelfth Michigan Infantry, Thirteenth Michigan Infantry, Fourteenth Michigan Infantry, Fifteenth Michigan Infantry, Sixteenth Michigan Infantry, Seventeenth Michigan Infantry, Nineteenth Michigan Infantry, Twenty-first Michigan Infantry, Twenty-fourth Michigan Infantry, Twenty-sixth Michigan Infantry (Stephen L. Craine being the only St. Clair soldier in this regiment), Twenty-eighth Michigan Infantry, Twenty-ninth Michigan Infantry, Thirtieth Michigan Infantry, First Michigan Cavalry, Third Michigan Cavalry Fourth Michigan Cavalry, Fifth Michigan Cavalry, Sixth Michigan Cavalry, Seventh Michigan Cavalry, Ninth Michigan Cavalry, Eleventh Michigan Cavalry, First Michigan Engineers and Mechanics, First Light Artillery, First Michigan Sharpshooters, Dy 88 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY gert's Sharpshooters, and the First Michigan Colored Infantry. There were several regular army organizations which had in them men from St. Clair county. Spanish-American War. For a few years after the Civil war, interest in the National Guard languished, due to the fact that veteran soldiers were many and the need of the militia was therefore unfelt. In 1873, however, the Port Huron Guards were organized and in July, 1874, mustered into the state service as Company F, Third Infantry, with Edwin S. Petit as captain. The company was disbanded in 1895, after internal dissension had disrupted the organization, and the following year, a new Company F was mustered into the state service with the same captain heading it that had started the old Port Huron Guards in 1874. With the outbreak of the Spanish-American war, enlistments became rapid in the new company which became Company F, Thirtythird regiment, under the re-organization effected at that time. The company, with the rest of the Thirty-third regiment was sent to Camp Alger, Virginia, where after a period of training in a camp devoid of sanitary arrangements that brought on much sickness, the regiment went to Aquadores, Cuba, where it became a labor detachment because of the obsolete rifles with which they were equipped. It was in reserve, however, when the final action occurred at San Juan hill that ended the war. The regiment was returned to Montauk Point some time later, for it had been quarantined for yellow fever just when it was ready to leave Cuba. It was mustered out of the service December 30, 1898. The company from Port Huron lost five men from sickness. St. Clair county men also served in Company L of the same regiment and in Company F, Thirty-fifth Infantry, both of which were captains by former members of the Port Huron company. Captain Joseph Walsh and Lieutenants George H. Brown and William A. McKenzie were the officers of Company F, Thirty-third regiment. World War. When the Mexican trouble in 1916 necessitated the sending of National Guard units to the border, the Thirty-third Regiment, of which Company F, now Company C, was a part, was called to the colors. This regiment, together with another from Wisconsin, was still doing guard duty on the Mexican border when Congress in April, 1917, declared a state of war to be existing between the United States and Germany. War Department orders of July 18 laid the plan for the organization of the Thirty-second Division to be composed of National Guard units of Wisconsin and Michigan. In the meantime, two battalions of the Thirty-third Michigan Regiment were returned to this state under the command of Major Augustus H. Gansser, to be the guard over the National Army cantonment, Camp Custer, while it was in process of construction. This work at an end, the battalions were sent to Camp MacArthur, Waco, Texas, where on September 22, 1917, the units were re-organized, Company C from Port Huron now becoming Company L, One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Infantry of the Sixtythird Infantry Brigade, Thirty-second Division. After an intensive course of training, the division was ordered to France, Division Headquarters leaving Waco on January 14, 1918, and HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 89 the infantry regiments leaving a few days later for Camp Merritt. That part of the division of which the One Hundred and Twelty-fifth Infantry was a part, sailed from Hoboken, New Jersey, on February 10, and in due course the entire division reached the area in the vicinity of Prauthoy, France, designated by General Pershing as the training area of the Thirty-second Division. Soon after the arrival, however, the Thirty-second was made a replacement organization and for four weeks functioned as such. The privates and captains of the One Hundred and Twelty-eighth Infantry were used as replacements for the First Division, and the One Hundred Twenty-fifth, One Hundred Twenty-sixth and One Hundred Twenty-seventh Infantry regiments were assigned as temporary labor troops with the Service of Supply. The remaining units of the division were scattered throughout the Tenth Training Area. The German offensive of March 21, 1918, enforced upon those in command that all American troops must be utilized at the front, and General Haan's appeal that the Thirty-second be made a combat unit was granted, for in May the division was ordered to report to the commanding general of the Fortieth French Corps in the Belfort region in Alsace for further orders. After a short training period there, the division took over a front of twenty-seven kilometers from Aspach le Bas to the Swiss border, thus inaugurating a career as a combat division that was second to none in the American army. The Thirty-second Division's first real baptism of fire came in the engagement at Chateau-Thierry, the Sixty-fourth Infantry Brigade being sent into the lines to relieve the Third Division on the night of July 28. During the night of July 30-31, the Sixty-third Brigade, composed of Michigan men, were sent into the front lines and duplicated the rapid advance of their Wisconsin comrades of the Sixty-fourth Brigade. They were equally successful and the division continued to drive forward against desperate German resistance, so that when the division was relieved during the night of August 6-7, it could boast that it had advanced nineteen kilometers to the Vesle river, capturing the important town of Fismes. By the time the armistice went into effect on November 11, five fronts had seen the fighting of the Thirty-second Division, which had participated in three major offensives, the Aisne-Marne, Oisne-Aisne, and Meause-Argonne. Casualties from all causes numbered 14,000 from this division alone; it had met and defeated twenty-three German divisions and taken 2,153 prisoners; it had gained thirty-eight kilometers in four attacks and repulsed every German counter attack; they were the first American troops to set foot on German soil; it occupied the center section of the Coblenz bridge-head for four months; and 800 of its officers and men were decorated for bravery. In April, 1919, the division left Germany for the United States and was demobilzed in this country in May of that year. Throughout the county have been organized various patriotic societies to perpetuate the memory of the wars engaged in by the United States and to keep green the memory of those who fell in those wars. 90 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY The Grand Army of the Republic established a post at Port Huron known as the William Sanborn Post No. 98, on December 30, 1882, the charter members of which were George K. Nairn, Stephen K. Avery, Edgar G. Spalding, Harry Traver, George B. Mann, Frank Whipple, Orlando H. Ewer, Benjamin J. Karrer, Henry C. Mansfield, Albert B. McCallam, Joseph Davis, William F. Ernst, Ransom I. Holland, Joel D. Kenney, Peter B. Sanborn, James Gain and Samuel B. Carll. The Women's Relief Corps, the auxiliary of the G. A. R., was organized on February 12, 1895. The passing years have so reduced the numbers of the Civil war veterans that the post of the G. A. R. at Port Huron, as in so many other cities, has become almost inactive. Other patriotic organizations at Port Huron are the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Spanish-American War Veterans, and Charles A. Hammond Post No. 8 of the American Legion, this being one of the first American Legion posts organized in the state of Michigan, The work of these organizations in promoting the interests of the veterans and in social work, as well, has been signal and their importance should not be under-rated by those who are not entitled to membership in them. CHAPTER VII BENCH AND BAR N the days of the early settlement of the county, the justice of the peace occupied a place of much more importance than he does under the present judicial system, which has reduced him to a place of relative insignificance. Yet to the pioneers, the justice of the peace represented law and order, and the men selected for the office of justice of the peace were usually men of considerable importance in the community. John K. Smith, Zephaniah W. Bunce and Reuben Hamilton were such justices. The organization of St. Clair county brought it under the jurisdiction of a law adopted by the governor and judges May 20, 1820, providing for a supreme court order of the territory consisting of three judges to be appointed by the president. This court was to have jurisdiction in civil actions where the amount exceeded $1,000, in cases of divorce, criminal cases where the punishment was capital, and in cases not particularly cognizable before some other court. Appellate jurisdiction from the county courts and concurrent jurisdiction with other courts over all offenses were powers also conferred upon the supreme court. By the same act, county courts were established presided over by a judge and two associate justices to be appointed by the governor. Cases from the justices courts might be appealed to the county courts. On May 12, 1821, James Fulton was appointed the first chief justice of the St. Clair county court, with John K. Smith as associate justice, Z. W. Bunce being appointed an associate justice on June 19. John K. Smith and James Fulton were also appointed justices of the peace, and before the close of the year, the county court system was rounded out by the appointment of Z. W. Bunce as probate judge. Bunce was also made a justice of the peace in 1824. The first chief justice of the county court, James Fulton, came to Michigan from his native state of Virginia when he was a young man, in 1817. In March of the following year, he and Edward Brooks bought from John and James Meldrum, of Detroit, the two private claims held by them at the mouth of the Pine river. The partners set to work to clear the land on the north side of the river and in a few months Fulton bought out the interests of Brooks, becoming the sole owner of the property on which the city of St. Clair is now located. He became a stockholder in the Pontiac company in November of the same year. Fulton was one of the leaders in the movement started in 1819 to set off St. Clair county from Macomb county. In 1820 the county was erected and his land was named as the county seat. When the county was organized in 1821, he was appointed chief justice of the county court, and at that time he built a home on his townsite and married Harriet Thorn, the daughter of William Thorn, one of the earliest settlers on the St. Clair river. He was chief justice of the county court but one year, but 92 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY was made a justice of the peace in 1827. Financial troubles caused him to sell his townsite in 1824 to Thomas Palmer and David C. McKinstry, who named the village Palmer. The conditions of the sale stated that the two purchasers were to sell as much of the land as possible during the next five years and were to divide the profits of the sales with Fulton, who in the meantime moved to a farm in private claim No. 206 in Cottrellville township. While he was still living on the farm, Governor Cass appointed him county clerk on February 20, 1831, with the stipulation that he change his place of residence to the county seat. From 1828 to 1830 he had served as the clerk of the county board of supervisors. Records would indicate that he failed to comply with the condition of residence but continued to maintain the county clerk's office at his farm, some thirteen miles distant from the county seat. He continued to discharge the duties of the office, however, until March 7, 1834, when Horatio James was appointed his successor. He died in Cottrellville township in 1849. James B. Wolverton, who was appointed the first acting sheriff of the newly organized St. Clair county, came from New York state in 1819. A nephew of Mrs. Samuel Ward, the wife of the founder of Marine City, his public career was inaugurated in October, 1820, by his appointment as constable of St. Clair township. His appointment as sheriff of St. Clair county came July 14, 1821, duties of which were augmented By those of assessor of the new county. The collection of taxes was also placed upon him by the county commissioners, but in this work difficulty between himself and the commissioners must have arisen for the records of March 12, 1822, cited him to appear before the board to account for money received on the tax roll of 1821. It was perhaps because of this trouble that Henry Cottrell was appointed sheriff by the governor April 27, 1822. Matters were successfully straightened out without resorting to the courts, for in the same year Wolverton was appointed surveyor of a road near the mouth of Belle river and was appointed a justice of the peace by the governor April 27, 1822. Five years later he was made commissioner of bail, an officer whose duty it was to fix the amount of bail on which a defendant in civil process was to be released. Major John Thorn, son of Captain William Thorn, who located on the St. Clair river about 1780 and died about 1842, was born about 1799. He was appointed the first county clerk in 1821, a position which he retained until September, 1827. Thorn was the first to buy land on the townsite of James Fulton, his brother-in-law, erecting a house at the northwest corner of Front and Adams street, which was used for a store and dwelling for some years. By gubernatorial appointment, he also became register of probate in 1821, was re-appointed in 1825, and filled the office until he was succeeded by Reuben Hamilton on April 27, 1827. In May, 1838, he was again placed in the office by appointment, this time holding it until 1835. In 1844 he was elected an associate justice of the circuit court and held that office four years. His title of major was acquired in 1829, when he was given such a commission in the Fifth Regiment of Militia by Governor Cass. HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 93 In 1831, John Thorn came to Port Huron, then Desmond, and in December of the following year made a contract with Marie Germaine, daughter and sole heir of Jean B. Racine, for the purchase of her land subsequently as Thorn's plat in the city of Port Huron. It so happened that Thomas S. Knapp, of Detroit, had built a trading post on the north side of Black river east of Michigan street, in 1825. About two years later Knapp bought the same tract of land which Thorn later bought from Marie Germaine. Although the land board at Detroit had recommended the confirmation of Henry Germaine's (husband of Marie) title to the land, no patent had been issued for it up to the time of purchase by Thorn. After considerable effort, such a patent was finally secured in June, 1836. Meanwhile, Knapp and Thorn had united their rights under an agreement for a division of the property, Knapp having married a niece of Thorn. Knapp having died in August, 1834, of the cholera, Thorn proceeded to plat the land south of Broad street into the village of Gratiot. Knapp's administrator brought suit for an accounting in 1849, and after a suit that was bitterly contested by both sides, it was ruled by the supreme court that Knapp's estate was entitled to half interest in the property, much of which had been sold as lots by Thorn. Major Thorn died in May, 1851, before the decision had been handed down and left a widow but no children, his heirs being the descendants of his brothers and sisters. The proceedings in court failed to make most of the heirs party to the suit and thus it was that their rights were unaffected. In 1873, in a suit of D. B. Harrington against John M. Hoffman, the title to Thorn's tract was involved and it was then shown that a large part of the title was held in the Thorn heirs, who had not been made parties in the old suit. Hoffman thereupon proceeded to purchase the rights of as many of these heirs as possible and then to bring suit against the occupants, a condition that brought on the famous Thorn plat litigation that was before the courts for many years. When Michigan passed into the second stage of territorial government in 1824, supreme court judges were appointed for four years and lost their legislative powers, while a legislative council of nine members, chosen by the president from a larger number elected by the people, became the law-making body. This council passed an act approved August 5, 1824, requiring judges of the supreme court to hold court in the counties of Wayne, Oakland, Monroe, Macomb and St. Clair, that for St. Clair to be held in the village of St. Clair on the second Monday of each year. Circuit courts were created the next year to be conducted by the supreme court justices and to have the same jurisdiction as the supreme court under the act of 1820. The county court was abolished in St. Clair county in 1827, although it was retained for a time in most of the other counties of the territory. The abolition of the St. Clair county court was apparently a poor experiment, for on July 2, 1828, it was re-established with Mark Hopkins as chief justice and Samuel Ward and Z. W. Bunce as associate justices. With the exception of Hopkins, these men held office until November 5, 1829, when John K. Smith was appointed chief justice and David Oaks and Lewis J. Brakeman associate justices. Z. W. 94 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY Bunce and Amasa Heminger were installed as associate justices on March 3, 1831, holding office until the county court was finally abolished April 15, 1833. The first session of the circuit court, under the act of 1827, was held October 16, 1827, in the courthouse at St. Clair village. Supreme Court Justice Solomon Sibley presided over this first circuit court, while the session of 1828 was held by Henry Chipman, a supreme court judge who had been appointed the previous year. Either William Woodbridge or Ross Wilkins presided at the subsequent sessions of the circuit court until 1833. Upon the abolishment of the county courts, a circuit court for the entire territory of Michigan was created with an appointive judge who was to hold office for four years. He was to hold court in every county in each of which were to be two associate justices also appointed by the governor. The first selections for associate justices of St. Clair county under this system were Horace R. Jerome and Z. W. Bunce, who were to sit with William A. Fletcher, the circuit judge. Judge Fletcher held his first term of court in this county on July 9, 1833, with Horace R. Jerome in attendance, Judge Bunce not appearing until February, 1834. The first action of the judge was to present and have recorded on the journal his commission and oath of office, and he then appointed George Young commissioner and Amos Wheeler and James Robertson, constables. After the grand jury was sworn and retired, the civil cases were called and nearly all, thirteen in number, were continued over the term. George A. O'Keefe was the district attorney at this session of the court, and among the attorneys who appeared in the cases were A. D. Fraser, Charles W. Whipple and F. B. H. Witherell. Julia Ann Beebe filed petition for divorce from her husband, John Beebe, at the first term of court, the record seeming to indicate that she was married when she was but thirteen years old. Robert P. Eldredge was appointed acting district attorney by the court at its session held in December, 1833, and Hosea Powers appeared as the attorney for Andrew Wesbrook in a divorce action. The first case tried in the circuit court was that of the United States against William Brown, but though the record does not show the charge against Brown, the jury returned a verdict in his favor. At this same session of court, William Brown, Jr., aged twenty-seven years, a native of Canada, renounced allegiance to Great Britain and declared his intention of becoming a citizen of the United States. Timothy Halpin, born in Ireland, made a similar declaration of intention at this session. In July, 1834, L. M. Mason and Ira Porter applied for admission to the bar, and the committee appointed to examine them, reported favorably on Porter in February, 1836, and though no mention is made of Mason, he was probably admitted at the same time, for in July of that year, he was appointed district attorney by Governor Mason. L. M. Mason was a native of Vermont, where he had studied law and been admitted to the bar before coming to Michigan. In 1834 he settled at St. Clair and edited the St. Clair Republican with John S. Heath. In a few months he removed to Desmond, where he formed a partnership HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 95 with Ira Porter under the firm name of Mason & Porter. He invested heavily in Port Huron real estate, with the result that he was forced to go throught bankruptcy in 1840, subsequently paying every debt in full. He took into partnership in 1845 the young lawyer B. C. Farrand, who had come to the county two years before, an arrangement that continued until 1850, when Farrand engaged in the lumber business, Mason then allying himself with William T. Mitchell. The following year, however, Mason went to Detroit, where he engaged in the banking business until his death in 1874. He left a strong impression on the life of his community, for although nominally law was his profession, it really played a comparatively small part in his life, for he was interested in business enterprises of all kinds during the years he remained in this county. The last territorial court was held by Judge Fletcher in February, 1836, for the state constitution submitted to Congress in 1835 was to go into effect in January, 1837. The new constitution made no changes in the judicial system except that the three supreme court judges were to hold court in each district, the state having been divided into three circuits by an act approved March 26, 1836. The associate justices were continued by the same act but they were to be elected and could not practice law in their own counties. In 1836, Z. W. Bunce and Edmund Carleton were elected associate justices for terms of four years. The lay judges were seldom, if ever, consulted by the presiding judge. Judge George Morell, associate justice of the supreme court, was assigned to this circuit and held his first session of court in this county at St. Clair on October 19, 1836. At this session, George S. Meredith was admitted to the bar, and the following day, the second of the term, Ebenezer B. Harrington was also admitted to practice on the recommendation of Elijah J. Roberts and Isaac S. Rowland, both Detroit lawyers. Harrington opened an office in Desmond and while engaged in practice was instrumental in the organization of the Lake Huron Observer, of which he was editor and then editor and owner for a time. He soon left to go to Detroit, where he died in 1844. He was one of the commissioners appointed to publish the Revised Statutes of 1838, and he published Harrington's reports, a volume of the decisions of the court of chancery. At the next term of court, held in October, 1837, Daniel B. Cady, True P. Tucker and Alfred Treadway were admitted to the bar, the last named never practicing in this county; Cady practiced for about two years; True P. Tucker was elected state representative in 1838 and 1839, and after a residence of nearly twenty years in the county, removed to Alpena, where he died in 1870. Judge Daniel W. Goodwin appeared as presiding judge at the October term in 1843 and continued in that capacity until 1846, when Judge Warner E. Wing took the bench until October, 1848, after which Judge Sanford M. Green presided until the constitution of 1850 made the position of circuit judge elective. The county courts had been re-established in 1846 and Joseph T. Copeland had been elected county judge and Z. W. Bunce second judge. The county courts were again abolished by the constitution of 1850, but before it was known that the new constitution would be adopted, Omar 96 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY D. Conger and Henry Rix were elected to the positions of county judge and second judge, respectively, the last session of the court being held December 9, 1851, the following verses constituting the last entry on the record: "Judges and lawyers can go home And take a retrospective view Of causes lost or causes won; The old court merges in the new. "The county court is dead and gone, For the last time we've heard the cry, 'Hear ye, hear ye,' the time has come, This court's adjourned sine die." Under the constitution of 1850, St. Clair was made a part of the circuit which included Oakland, Macomb and Sanilac counties, Joseph T. Copeland being elected the first judge of the circuit, the judges of the six circuits constituting the justices of the supreme court. Joseph T. Copeland was born in Newcastle, Maine, in 1813, and came to St. Clair in 1844 to begin the practice of law in this county. Two years later he was elected first chief judge of the county court, holding office until 1850. In 1849 he was elected state senator, and after his election as circuit judge, he removed to Pontiac, which was in the same judicial circuit. He was elected first president of the village of St. Clair in 1850 and served as treasurer of the same corporation in 1851. While Judge Copeland was circuit judge, his health was in a poor condition and he arranged with Judge Green to hold most of his sessions in St. Clair county in addition to holding the sessions in his own district. Judge Copeland resigned his position of circuit and supreme judge in 1857 and thereafter devoted himself to business. He entered the army as lieutenant-colonel of the First Cavalry, became colonel of the Fifth Cavalry on August 14, 1862, and was finally made brigadiergeneral of volunteers on November 29, 1862. This commission he held until his resignation from the army in November, 1865. Judge Copeland removed to Florida in 1878 and became judge of Clay county, that state. Though Judge Copeland's decisions as a member of the supreme court were few, they were nevertheless marked by their brevity, clear reasoning with few references to authority. Of the four cases from St. Clair county that appeared before the supreme court during this time, one was to have considerable bearing upon the lumber industry of the entire state. The case in question was a controversy between Reuben Moore and Cummings Sanborn concerning the floating of logs on that part of Pine river in Kimball township. Although the river would float logs, it would not permit the navigation of boats. The supreme court was asked to decide whether or not the river was a navigable stream under the definition of the Ordinance of 1787, the court holding that it was a navigable stream. This ruling was one of considerable importance to the lumbering industry of the state. HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 97 By an act of 1857, the circuit judges of the state were no longer members of the supreme court. In that year, Sanford M. Green was elected circuit judge of St. Clair county, was re-elected in 1863, and served until his resignation, which took effect in April, 1867. In 1837, at the age of thirty, Green came to Michigan, first making his home in Shiawassee county for six years, a time during which he served as justice of the peace, prosecuting attorney and state senator. He removed to Pontiac in 1843, and the following year he was chosen one of the commissioners to revise the statutes of the state, a work that was completed by 1846 and accepted by the legislature in that year. He was appointed judge of the supreme court in 1848 and held office until 1851, but was defeated by Judge Copeland in the same year for the nomination for judge of the Sixth circuit. Following the death of Judge John S. Goodrich, judge of the Seventh circuit, Green was asked to accept the nomination for judge to succeed Goodrich. He accepted and won the election, and held court not only in the Seventh but also in the Sixth district for Judge Copeland, as described above. When Judge Green came to the county in 1857 as judge of the Sixth Judicial Circuit, he found the court conditions in bad shape as far as attention to court proceedings was concerned. With firmness and tact, he quickly remedied matters, and within a short time, the people as well as the members of the legal profession soon realized that one of the ablest men in the state sat on the bench of the Sixth circuit. When Judge Green resigned, he went to Bay City to practice and was elected judge of an adjoining circuit. He died in 1901 at the age of ninetyfour years, concluding a long life of service to the people. James S. Dewey, also of Pontiac, was elected to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Judge Green in April, 1867, but he sat for only two years, the circuits being so revised by the legislature in 1869 that St. Clair county was placed in the Sixteenth circuit with Macomb, Sanilac and Huron counties. He was re-elected, however, to the circuit in which Oakland county was placed after the revision. He resigned this office in 1873 to engage in the practice of law at Detroit. Judge Dewey, who was thirty-six years of age when he became judge of this circuit, was born in Brown county, New York, in 1831, and settled with his parents in Lapeer county in 1838. Graduating from Miami University in 1858, he taught school while he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1860. He was chosen by the legislature while he was still on the bench to assist in the compilation of the statutes of the state known as the Compiled Laws of 1871. William T. Mitchel, of Port Huron, was elected judge of the Sixteenth circuit in November, 1869, serving until July, 1872, when he resigned. Edward W. Harris, who was appointed to succeed Mitchell, was elected for the full term of six years in 1875. In November, 1881, Herman W. Stevens won the election for judge of the Sixteenth circuit, which was that year reduced to include only St. Clair and Macomb counties. Stevens, a Port Huron man, served one term and was succeeded by Arthur L. Canfield, of Mt. Clemens, who also served but one term. The county of St. Clair was made the Thir 98 HISTORY OF ST. OLAIR COUNTY ty-first Judicial Circuit by an act of April 16, 1891, William T. Mitchell at that time being appointed to hold the position of judge from the third Monday of May, 1892, to the first day of January, 1894. Samuel W. Vance, of Port Huron, was elected judge of the Thirtyfirst circuit in 1893 and re-elected in 1899. An additional judge for the circuit was provided by an act of 1899, O'Brien J. Atkinson being appointed by the governor to act as judge until January 1, 1901. The death of Judge Vance in April, 1900, brought about the election of two judges in November of that year. Judge Frank Whipple, appointed at the death of Vance, was elected to succeed himself, and Nahum E. Thomas was made the successor of Judge Atkinson. However, in August, 1901, Judge Whipple died, to be followed in death the following April by Judge Thomas. Eugene F. Law was immediately appointed to succeed Whipple and Harvey Tappan to succeed Thomas. In November, both Tappan and Law were elected to fill the unexpired terms, and at the elections since that time have been successively re-elcted to the bench, so that they have both nearly completed a quarter century of service on the bench. The two judges, Law and Tappan, have served longer on the bench in this county than any others, and when they finally give up their duties as judges of the Thirty-first Judicial Circuit, they will have a record in continuous years of service that may not be equaled for many years. Probate Court. The district courts seemed to have had the power before 1811 of acting upon the estates of deceased persons, but on January 19, 1811, the governor and judges adopted an act providing for the appointment by the governor of a register of probate, whose duties were to receive wills, issue letters to executors or administrators, and perform most of the duties now discharged by judges of probate. Four years later the duties of the register were made to include the recording of deeds and conveyances. A court of probate, as we know it today, was not established until July 7, 1818, an act of that date stating that a judge of probate should be appointed for each county to take the probate of wills and grant administration and that appeals from the probate courts would be made to the supreme court of the territory. The recording of the ordinary instruments was left in the hands of the register of probate until the office was abolished by an act of January 29, 1835. The constitution of the new state of Michigan provided for the establishment of a probate court in each regularly organized county to be presided over by a judge elected by the people for a term of four years. On August 7, 1821, Governor Cass appointed Z. W. Bunce as the first judge of probate of the newly organized St. Clair county, John Thorn being named the register of probate. Thorn was re-appointed in 1825 and held office until April 14, 1827. George A. O'Keefe, who appeared as the first district attorney for St. Clair county, became judge of probate December 18, 1824. On April 14, 1827, Mark Hopkins was appointed judge and Reuben Hamilton register of probate, but they held office only a year, John K. Smith and John Thorn being appointed judge and register of probate by the governor on May 3, 1828. The last two HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 99 held their offices by successive re-appointments until Michigan became a state. When Michigan became a state, John K. Smith was elected the first judge of probate under the new constitution, and in 1840 Benjamin C. Cox was elected, being returned to the office in 1844. John McNeil, of Port Huron, was elected in 1848 and served two terms, he being succeeded by Marcus H. Miles, of St. Clair, for one term. In 1860, James J. Scarritt, who had established the Port Huron Press two years previously, was elected judge of probate, but within a short time he became involved in the organization of the Tenth Michigan Infantry, of which he became a major in November, 1861, resigning as probate judge of the county. He died of disease at Nashville, Tennessee, two years later to the month. Edward W. Harris, of Port Huron, was appointed to fill out the unexpired term of Scarritt, and in 1864 DeWitt C. Walker, of Capac, was elected judge, serving but one term. Edward W. Harris served from 1868 to 1872; Nahum E. Thomas was elected in 1872 and again in 1876; Joseph W. Avery, of Port Huron, became judge of probate in 1880 and served two terms, as did his successor, John L. Black. Frank T. Wolcott was elected in 1896, serving one term; Harvey Tappan, of Yale, was elected in 1900 but resigned in 1902 to become judge of the circuit court by appointment. Stephen A. Graham was appointed to fill out the unexpired term and was elected again in 1904 and in 1908. Hugh H. Hart was then elected judge of probate, serving until 1920. George L. Brown was then elected but died in office during the summer of 1921. Clair R. Black was appointed to fill out Brown's unexpired term and at the next election was named for the same position, which he now fills. CHAPTER VIII PHYSICIANS AND THE PUBLIC HEALTH T HE history of the medical profession in St. Clair county is best studied in the lives of the men who endured the hardships borne by the pioneer doctor and in the records of the societies which these men formed for the furtherance of the study and practice of medicine. Equipped in knowledge of medicine far less than the doctors of today, forced to make weary journeys by boat or on horseback to make calls among the scattered settlers, the physicians of the early days won the love and respect of the people whom they attended. The lot of the doctors was not an easy one, for before roads were built, they were forced to make their way along forest trails, either afoot or on horseback, and when roads began to appear throughout the county, they were often practically impassable at some seasons of the year. Yet the doctor must make his calls in all seasons and in all kinds of weather, and none were held in greater esteem in the various communities than the pioneer doctors, who, despite hardships unknown in these days, brought comfort and cheer to the sick. Records tell of only one regular physician to locate within the limits of St. Clair county prior to the organization in 1821, and he was Dr. Harmon Chamberlain, who established himself in Algonac in 1819, soon after graduating from medical college. Early settlers spoke of him as a man well versed in the various phases of his profession and was exceptionally good as a surgeon. As was frequently the case with the early doctors, Chamberlain did not confine himself solely to medicine, for he served as sheriff of the county, supervisor of the township, and state representative in the legislature. He died in St. Clair in December, 1865. Dr. Amasa Hemenger settled at Newport, later Marine City, in 1824, practicing there until his death in 1840. He, too, was active in the public affairs of his township and twice served as supervisor of the township of Cottrellville, being elected in 1828 and in 1831. He first boarded with Captain William Brown, who owned a farm south of the town, and from his landlord, Dr. Hemenger rented a tract of ground on which he grew poppies, from which he made opium, and lettuce from which he made lactucarium. It is told of him that he believed in bleeding for most illness. Dr. Johnson L. Frost located in Clay township in 1830, but how'long he practiced in that section of the county is not known. Dr. John S. Heath came to St. Clair in 1833 with his father, Sargent Heath, who was a blacksmith and became prominent in the public life of the village and county. In 1835-36, Dr. Heath, in addition to conducting his practice, edited the St. Clair Republican with L. M. Mason, but in 1836, Dr. Heath came to Port Huron, he being defeated for election to the state legislature in the same year. He was an un HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 101 successful candidate for the office of sheriff in 1840. During the winter of 1841-42, Dr. Heath taught school at the district school on the south side of the Black river, and in the latter year he was elected sheriff of the county. When his term of office was concluded, he engaged in lumbering in Huron county in partnership with Peter F. Brakeman, and in March, 1849, when returning to Port Huron in a boat, Dr. Heath was drowned. His wife was Marilda, the daughter of Horatio James, a prominent pioneer. Dr. Norman Nash, who was mentioned in the chapter on Early Settlement, came to Port Huron in 1836 as missionary and teacher to the Indians in this vicinity, an office to which he was appointed by President Andrew Jackson but for which he never received the stipulated $400 per year, due to trouble with the Indian agent for this part of the state. When the Indians were removed from their Black river reservation, Reverend Nash turned his attention to the practice of medicine, a profession that he had studied before he became a missionary to the Indians. However, for many years thereafter, Dr. Nash preached regularly in some of the churches of the county. He lived in a small house where Grace church now stands until the time of his death in 1870, at an advanced age. Like Dr. Nash, Dr. Alonzo E. Noble, who came to Port Huron in 1838, had two callings, he having learned the jeweler's trade before he began the study of medicine. He studied under a Dr. Stearns, of Pompey, New York, after which he took a medical course at the Berkshire Medical College, Pittfield, Massachusetts, and on July 3, 1839, he was issued a license to practice medicine in the state of Michigan by the officers of the Michigan Medical society. He continued in the practice of his profession at Port Huron for about twelve years, and then abandoned it in favor of the jeweler's trade. He, too, died in 1870, after reaching an advanced age. Dr. John B. Chamberlain practiced in St. Clair in the late Thirties and was associated with his nephew, Dr. Harmon Chamberlain. He became the first president of the St. Clair County Medical society, but he was not as active in public life as his nephew. His son, John D. Chamberlain, began studying medicine in 1846, but later kept a drug store in St. Clair. Dr. Alfred E. Fechet came to the county as an army doctor with a battery of artillery assigned to Fort Gratiot. A Frenchman by birth, Dr. Fechet studied medicine and surgery in the medical school of Tours and then in the University of France, from which he received his degree. He then attended the University of Heidelberg for a post-graduate course, and upon his return to France was appointed junior medical officer in the French Army of Occupation in Algiers. Soon after joining his regiment, he became involved in a conspiracy to restore the Bonapartes, a plot which was betrayed, nearly all Fechet's comrades in the plot being tried and sentenced for treason. He, however, was warned in time and made his escape to New York, where he went into practice. His straits were soon desperate due to his inability to speak English fluently. Since the army was then looking for young doctors 102 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY to serve in the Seminole war then in progress in Florida, Fechet secured an appointment in this capacity on much the same basis as the contract doctors of later years in the army. After a short period of service in Florida, the battery of artillery to which he was attached was assigned to Fort Gratiot. He soon realized that the growing village of Port Huron presented a good field for the services of a skilled surgeon and physician as he, and in 1841, a brief time after his arrival at the fort, he settled in the village of Port Huron to engage in practice. He was the first medical man in the county to specialize in surgery, and in this department of the medical science he had a preparation through study and practice far above the average of doctors of his days. He died in 1869. In 1836, Dr. Henry B. Turner, an eccentric Englishman from Norfolk, settled at St. Clair and remained there until his death in 1850. He was a man of good education but he practiced little and lived a rather retired life. His daughter, Clemantina, married H. N. Monson, a prominent resident of St. Clair in the early days. Dr. Jeremiah Sabin was the first physician to settle in Memphis, where he located in 1844. During the ten years he was engaged in practice at Memphis, he built a small sawmill on the Belle river. He moved away from the village in 1854, leaving his practice to Dr. D. H. Cole. Dr. Laban Tucker, one of the active members of the old St. Clair County Medical society, settled at Port Huron in 1854. He built a large colonial house on Military street, where he made his home. Dr. Tucker was active in the affairs of the Congregational church, which he joined soon after his arrival in Port Huron. One of the outstanding figures in the medical profession in this county was Dr. Leonard B. Parker, who settled in Newport, now Marine City, in 1846. He began his medical studies at St. Albans, Vermont, and then attended the Castleton Medical college, in the same state, being graduated in 1843. Thereafter, until he came to Marine City, Dr. Parker practiced in New York state. When he first came to Marine City, he dressed in a blue swallow-tail coat with large brass buttons and wore a tall hat made of white fur. He was a man of great physical endurance, a fact that enabled him to be active in his profession for a period of fifty-eight years. In addition to the extensive practice which he gained in Marine City and the vicinity, he was active in public life, serving as state senator from 1861 to 1862 and as president and mayor of Marine City and as a member of the board of education of that city. He was one of the four organizers of the first medical society in St. Clair county. His two sons both entered the medical profession, Dr. Delos L. Parker becoming professor of materia medica at the Detroit Medical college and Dr. Walter L. Parker occupying the chair of ophthalmology at the University of Michigan. Dr. Solomon Gilbert settled in St. Clair in 1845 and practiced there until his death in 1895. An old biographical sketch of Dr. Gilbert does not credit him with being a graduate of any medical college, and during his fifty years in St. Clair, he was not identified with any medical society. His name was originally Caleb Smith Douglas but was changed to Solo HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 103 mon Gilbert by the Massachusetts legislature on his petition. He served as alderman of St. Clair for four years and occupied the office of constable for seven years, he being the only medical man in St. Clair county to fill such a position. Dr. John L. Travers came to Port Huron in October, 1847. He started from London, Ontario, to go to Milwaukee, but a storm caused a delay, during which he stopped at Port Huron, then a village of some seven hundred inhabitants. So impressed was he with the possibilities of the village that he decided to locate here, practicing medicine in Port Huron for the remainder of his life. He was a native of Cork, Ireland, and a graduate of the Royal College of Surgeons, London, England, and when he was twenty-one years of age, he came to London, Ontario. After four years in that city, he came to Port Huron. He was active in the medical organizations of his time, being the president of the St. Clair County Medical society in 1856 and president of the St. Clair and Sanilac Counties Medical society in 1866. He died in 1870. Dr. Travers was a man of great resourcefulness, of which this incident is given as an example: Called to attend a very sick woman some forty miles distant, Dr. Travers took with him only such articles as he thought would be necessary for that case. When he arrived at his destination, he was asked to continue a few miles further to see a man whose leg had been crushed by a falling tree. Dr. Travers found that an amputation would be necessary to save the man's life, but he had not brought with him the instruments necessary for such a major operation. Undismayed by the circumstance, he fashioned instruments from steel table knives and two-tined forks, and with these rude instruments and a hand saw, he successfully performed the operation. Dr. Charles M. Zeh settled in Port Huron in 1848. He graduated the same year from the Castleton Medical college, of Vermont, and came at once to Michigan, where he secured a license to practice medicine from the state medical society. Hle remained in Port Huron, however, only three years, his departure coming as the result of an accident in using the new anaesthetic, chloroform. Believing his usefulness to the community to be at an end, he turned over his practice to Dr. C. M. Stockwell, who had come from Friendsville, Pennsylvania, where he had practiced both medicine and surgery. Dr. Zeh was still practicing in Newark, New Jersey, in 1900. Another arrival in the year 1848 was Dr. William Bell, who was born in Quebec of Scotch parents about 1807. He attended the medical college of Edinburgh university, returning to Canada after his graduation. He was appointed assistant surgeon in the British army and assigned to Sault Ste. Marie, Canada. At that post, he met and married a Miss Armitage, whose grandfather, McKee, was an officer stationed at the American Sault, as the post was called. Dr. Bell located at Malden, Ontario, after he left the army, but shortly after he sought new fields at Port Sarnia, coming to Port Huron in 1848. He first occupied a little house at 507 Michigan street and later built a small house at the southwest corner of Fort and Park streets. Dr. Bell died in 1852, leaving a widow and seven children. 104 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY Dr. Orange B. Reed came to Newport in 1839, and Dr. R. R. McMeens located in the same village in 1848, becoming the first secretary of the medical society. Dr. Benjamin Dickey settled in St. Clair and began the active practice of medicine in 1851, he having received his state license to do so two years previously. He was born in the north of Ireland in 1808 and received a literary education in his native land. Later he came to Canada and then took up the study of medicine, graduating from the medical college of the University of Pennsylvania. Thereafter he served as house physician in Bellevue hospital, New York City, for a time. He then returned to London, Ontario, and after engaging in practice in that city for five years, Dr. Dickey came to St. Clair. He was described as a brilliant scholar and a skillful physician who served the poor without pay. He died in 1865 while still engaged in active practice. Dr. Cyrus M. Stockwell, who took over the practice of Dr. Zeh in 1851, was one of the prominent medical men of this county for nearly fifty years. In New York state, where he was born, he received his academic education and taught school for a time. He then began studying medicine in a doctor's office at Binghamton, New York, and completed his studies at the Berkshire Medical college, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, from which he was graduated in 1850. After a year's practice in Friendsville, Pennsylvania, he came to Port Huron in December, 1851. In 1862 he accepted a commission from Governor Blair as regimental surgeon to the Twenty-seventh Michigan Infantry. At the siege of Vicksburg he contracted typhoid fever that left his health in such a precarious condition that he was compelled to resign his commission and return home. For many years after the war, he was assisting physician for Fort Gratiot and was United States pension physician for St. Clair county. Dr. Stockwell's desire to keep abreast of the latest developments in the medical science and his ability to acquire the newest phases of his work, were contributing factors to his great success as a practitioner, and it is said of him that he probably subscribed to more medical journals than any other physician in Eastern Michigan. He made a deep study of sanitation and hygiene, and when the matter of giving Port Huron a sewerage system arose, Dr. Stockwell was made the chairman of the commission appointed by the city council to report on the most feasible method of going about such work. Despite the plan of the commission, which recommended no outlet into Black river, the council disregarded the recommendations of the commission and made such outlets the folly of which was seen in later years as the city grew and better means of sewage disposal became necessary. Dr. Stockwell made it a point to attend, whenever possible, every meeting of the local and national medical societies throughout the country. For his activities, he was rewarded by being chosen the first president of the Michigan State Medical society when it was organized at Detroit in 1866. He was twice elected president of the Northeastern District Medical society, twice president of the St. Clair, Sanilac and Lapeer Counties Medical society, and once president of the Port Huron Academy of Medicine. For several years in the Seventies, he served on the board of education, HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 105 and from 1864 to 1871 he was a regent of the University of Michigan. Dr. Jeremiah N. Peabody began a period of twenty years' practice in East China in 1848, his home being located about three miles north of Marine City. He was a large and handsome man as well as being a good physician. When his wife inherited a considerable fortune in 1868, they removed to Detroit and Dr. Peabody gave up active practice. Dr. Daniel H. Cole, the second doctor to locate in Memphis, settled there in 1853 and succeeded to the practice of Dr. Jeremiah Sabin the next year. Dr. Cole came to Michigan in 1845 and was for a time located at Detroit. During the ensuing six years, he alternately taught school and studied medicine, a part of the time working as a drug clerk in Detroit. When he had accumulated sufficient money to finance his education, he entered the medical college of the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated in 1852. When he died in 1904, concluding fifty-one years of active practice, his record in length of practice was second only to that of Dr. L. B. Parker, of Marine City. Influential in the affairs of the city in which he practiced medicine, was Dr. George L. Cornell. He was reared near Jackson, Michigan, and after receiving a good academic education, he began the study of medicine in the office of his father, who was also a physician. Later he came under the tutelage of Dr. Moses Gunn, and in 1854, two years after his graduation from the medical school of the University of Michigan, he settled at St. Clair and began a practice that was interrupted by his death in 1877. During the Civil war, he was regimental surgeon of the First Michigan Sharpshooters, serving until ill health forced him to resign his commission. A skillful surgeon and resourceful physician, he was active in promoting the welfare of his adopted city. Several times he was elected mayor of St. Clair and was a member of the school board for more than twenty years. Dr. Reuben Crowell came from Peoria, Illinois, to Port Huron in 1855 and, after practicing two or three years, went into the drug business with Edgar White. On the first day of the Civil war, he removed to Ann Arbor. One of the most brilliant surgeons the county has ever known was Dr. George B. Willson, who died of tuberculosis at the age of thirtytwo years. He came to Port Huron from Canada in 1850 and began the study of medicine under the instruction of Dr. Zeh, by whom he was regarded as a man of great promise, and graduated from the medical college of the University of Michigan in 1857, his thesis being quoted as an authority on its subject for many years after. He spent a year during the Civil war as surgeon of the Third Michigan Infantry, a work in which he distinguished himself for his application of medicine and surgery. Although his active practice in St. Clair county was only four years in duration, he performed operations and research in medicine and the allied sciences which bade fair to mark him as one of the leading physicians not only of the state but of the country as well. How far he might have gone in the profession had he lived to old age, can be left only to conjecture. He was once called to attend a man whose brain had been pierced by a breech-pin and screw of an exploded gun. At 106 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY that time, it was considered sure death to the patient to work on the brain, but, reasoning that where the object had penetrated without causing death he, too, could enter, Dr. Willson operated, removed the breechpin, so that the man recovered and lived for many years thereafter. It was during the conduct of this case that Dr. Willson made experiments to determine the pressure of tactile sensation in the brain, a condition no anatomist or physiologist had yet attempted to demonstrate. As a diagnostician he was perhaps without equal in this section of the state. Upon one occasion he diagnosed cancer of the stomach, disagreeing with another physician of the city. He secured the promise of the relatives of the patient to perform an autopsy when the man died, but the promise was withdrawn after the death of the patient. Dr. Willson, accompanied by a medical student, went to the cemetery the night after the burial, exhumed the body, and examined the stomach, finding that his diagnosis had been correct. His constitution was unequal to the strain of the hard work he demanded of it, and he died when he was but thirtytwo years of age. Probably the first physician of the school of homeopathy was Dr. Frederick Finster, a native of Bavaria, Germany, who came to Windsor, Ontario, with his father and brothers when he was a boy of six years. The father died soon after and Frederick Finster was taken into the family of a Mr. Remington at Detroit and given a common school education. After reaching manhood, he was inspired to take up the study of medicine by Dr. E. R. Ellis, of New York, who supplied him with the means to attend medical college. Finster attended a course of lectures at the University of Michigan in 1853-54 and the next year pursued a course of study in the Homeopathic Medical college at Cleveland, Ohio, from which he was graduated in 1855. He had also studied in the offices of Dr. John Ellis and Dr. S. B. Thayer, of Detroit, and when he finished medical college, he formed a partnership with Dr. E. H. Drake, of Detroit, with whom he continued two years, coming to Port Huron in 1857. He practiced in this city until the time of his death in 1885. Though Dr. Finster was a disciple of a school of medicine regarded with disfavor by medical men of his day, he won the respect of his professional confreres. His generosity, though it was almost a byword in the community, left him unprovided for in his later years and left no provision for his family after his death. Michigan Medical Society. The first organization of medical men in the state of Michigan was formed at Detroit, August 10, 1819, in accordance with an act adopted by the governor and judges of the territory for the purpose of forming medical societies to regulate the practice of "physic and surgery in the Territory of Michigan." Under its provisions the territorial and the county medical societies formed with its permission were to examine students and give diplomas and authorize the holders to practice medicine, and to acquire property and enact by-laws. The act further provided that doctors practicing without the permission of the society were subject to fine and could not collect money for their services. The board of censors required that certificates be presented to them stating the amount of time spent in the doctor's offices studying HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 107 medicine. Four or more physicians in any county were granted the right to form a society within the county to exercise almost the same ~rights as held by the Territorial, later the State Medical society. C. M. Stockwell and George B. Willson were apparently the only St. Clair county members of the State Medical society. Medical Society of St. Clair County. The records of the county clerk contain the following announcement of the formation of the medical society in St. Clair county: "The undersigned physicians and surgeons met at St. Clair, St. Clair county, state of Michigan, for the purpose of forming a medical society in pursuance of the revised statutes of the state of Michigan to regulate the practice of physic and surgery in said state, at which meeting John B. Chamberlain was appointed president; Harmon Chamberlain, vicepresident; R. R. McMeens, secretary, and Leonard B. Parker, treasurer. "JOHN B. CHAMBERLAIN, (Signed) "H. CHAMBERLAIN, "R. R. McMEENs, "L. B. PARKER. "The meeting was adjourned to the last Saturday in January 1848. "December 3, 1847. "R. R. McMEENS, Secretary." The next meeting of the society that was recorded was held May 21, 1851, in the office of Dr. Dyer, at which fees for various medical services were set. The signatures on the bill were those of Laban Tucker, John T. Travers, C. M. Zeh and A. E. Noble, Port Huron; Benjamin Dickey, St. Clair; L. B. Parker, Newport; John Galbraith, Lexington; Walter B. Kellogg, Winthrop Dyer and Charles Gibson. At the meeting of the society held February 12, 1856, the society met in the Port Huron office of Dr. J. Kibbee, and at this meeting a committee reported in favor of giving the poor of the villages gratuitous attendance. Northeastern District Medical Society. Many physicians and surgeons of St. Clair county were members of the Northeastern District Medical society which was organized at Romeo, Macomb county, June 14, 1854, to include Oakland, Macomb, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac and, in 1896, Genesee counties. The prominence attained by the doctors of this county is attested by the fact that many of this county have served as president of the society, several for two or more terms. About twoscore doctors of this county have at one time or another held membership in the organization. St. Clair, Sanilac and Lapeer Medical Society was organized at Port Huron, August 4, 1866, although Lapeer county was not included in the society until 1871. A great many doctors of St. Clair county have not only held membership in the organization but have held various offices in the society. Michigan State Medical Society was organized at Detroit, June 5, 1866, C. M. Stockwell, of St. Clair county, being elected the first president of the new state organization. At the annual meeting held at Port Huron, June 26 and 27, 1902, the society was so re-organized that there 108 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY after the county medical societies were made component parts of the state society, and the membership of the state organization was to be composed solely of the members of the county organizations. Port Huron Academy of Medicine. Soon after the meeting of the state medical society, held at Port Huron in 1886, the Port Huron Academy of Medicine, C. M. Stockwell being elected the first president and H. R. Mills the first secretary and treasurer. The academy ceased to be in 1902 when, after the meeting of the state medical society, it was decided to make a county organization in accordance with the plan outlined by the state organization. The result of the re-organization was the St. Clair County Medical society, of which C. C. Clancy became the first president and A. H. Cote the first secretary-treasurer. Public Health and Hospitals. Within the past quarter of a century, public health work has become one of the most important functions of county and city government, particularly of the latter, where congested areas are the most vicious in fostering contagious diseases and unsanitary conditions. The health work of the city of Port Huron ably illustrates the methods now prevailing in safeguarding the public health. Headed by the commissioner of health and public safety, the department is under the active direction and supervision of Dr. Elizabeth Coleman. Sanitary inspections, the investigation of complaints made to the board of health, and similar work is performed by Robert Grisley, whose duty it is to placard houses in which are confined contagious cases and to superintend the fumigating of such houses and of school buildings when such work is deemed necessary. One of the most important functions of the department is the milk and food inspection carried on by M. Roy Stover. All dairies supplying milk to the city are inspected regularly and made to conform to certain standards of cleanliness, handling, and transporting. Food handling establishments are also inspected for their sanitary conditions. In connection with the food inspection comes the work of the city chemist, H. G. Naumann, who analyzes samples of water and milk at regular intervals. Port Huron is fortunate in that it possesses one of the finest municipal laboratories in the state of Michigan, and a county laboratory, also one of the best in Michigan, is under the direction of Chemist Samuel Etries. In addition to the regular work given the laboratories by the health departments of the county, doctors may have cultures made of smears which they send in, obviating the necessity of sending them to Lansing and losing time thereby. Three regular clinics are held by the department of health: the eye, ear, nose and throat clinic being held every Monday; the general clinic every Wednesday; and the dermatology and venereal clinic on Fridays. All the clinics are held at the Emergency hospital. The county is served by three hospitals, the St. Clair hospital, at St. Clair, the Port Huron hospital and the Emergency hospital, of Port Huron. The Emergency hospital, formerly known as the Detention hospital, is one of the best of its kind in Michigan. It is divided into two parts, the general and the contagious wards. It is under the superintendency of Marie Fouchard, registered nurse, and is operated almost exactly after the plan used in the famous Pasteur Institute, Paris, HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 109 France. The Port Huron hospital is superintended by Josephine Halvorsen, R.N., and is located at 1010 Richardson street. Having more than eighty beds and equipped to handle any kind of a case that might be brought to it, the Port Huron hospital is a credit to the city. The St. Clair hospital serves the needs of the southern part of the county and though it is not as large as the Port Huron institutions, it is as well equipped as the other two. CHAPTER IX BANKS AND BANKING T HE constitution of the state of Michigan adopted in 1835, carried no clauses concerning banking, all corporations wishing to form a bank being required to obtain a special charter from the legislature. Incorporators were also ordered to allow the general public to buy stock on the theory that the advantages of bank formation would be more widely distributed. In most cases, commissioners were appointed to place the stock on sale and when enough had been subscribed by the people, the organization was completed by the commissioners. Such a method had its evils, and the comparative ease with which a bank might be formed, and the right of these banks to issue paper money worked hand in hand with the huge land speculations of 1836 to bring about the panic of 1837. For this reason, the early banking history of the state is not a pleasant one to contemplate and many were the shady business schemes promulgated behind the skirts of an apparently sound banking institution. When Michigan became a state, there were few banks located outside of Detroit and in that city was located the bank closest to this county. The opportunities held out by the action of the legislature in granting bank charters with little or no contest influenced would-be bank organizers to establish unsound institutions. It became evident that St. Clair county would soon need a bank. In March, 1836, the Bank of St. Clair was organized by the legislature, Charles Kimball, John Clark, H. N. Monson, C. Sanborn, D. B. Harrington and Ralph Wadhams being named commissioners to receive subscriptions toward filling the authorized capital stock of $100,000. Sanborn and Harrington, the two commissioners from Port Huron, or Desmond, at it was then known, and Fortune C. White, the one who platted the village, attempted to get a majority of the stock in order that the bank might be located at the village on the Black river instead of at Palmer, the county seat. Their efforts in this direction were fruitless, a majority of the stock being subscribed by St. Clair people or persons who wanted the bank at Palmer. John Clark was elected president of the Bank of St. Clair, and in October, 1836, the position of cashier was offered to Wesley Truesdail, of New York City, who became interested in the village through the urging of Jesse Smiih, a capitalist of that state. The first report of the bank was made in 1837 and showed a paid-in capitalization of $40,000 and deposits amounting to $2,404, while the report of February, 1838, showed that deposits had increased to $5,471. Specie to the amount of $14,500 was then in the vaults of the Farmers and Mechanics Bank of Detroit, whither it had been taken by the Brady Guards of that city on their return from salvaging the military material at Fort Gratiot. In the same year, the bank reported that during the year it had redeemed HISTOBY OF ST. CLAIB COUNTY 111 on demand all notes presented during the preceding seven months. In 1839, the paid-in capital was increased to $50,000 but the deposits had enjoyed only a slight increase. The next year, according to the report of the bank examiner, the Bank of St. Clair was the only one in the state that continued to redeem its notes on demand. Though the bank was in a healthy condition, it soon became apparent to the officers and directors that if the institution was to prosper, a larger field of operations than St. Clair county must be sought. It was, accordingly, decided to remove the bank to Detroit in 1841, but some, believing that the act might be illegal, appealed to the legislature to sanction such removal, which was granted by an act of February, 1842. The bank failed during the presidency of Alpheus S. Williams, later a Civil war general, in 1845 due, it was then claimed, to the failure of the eastern correspondents of the bank. First National Bank. The second bank to be established in the county is still in existence and stands as a monument to the men who have conducted its affairs since its inception in 1856. In November of that year, W. L. Bancroft furnished the capital and money to start a private bank with Cyrus Miles under the company name of Cyrus Miles & Company. Opening for business in November, 1856, the company continued thus for a few months, when Bancroft disposed of his interests to John Miller and Elliott T. Brockway, the firm continuing business under the same name until the withdrawal of Brockway in 1861, when it became John Miller & Company. In 1868, the place of Miles was taken by John E. Miller and during the next two years business was continued under the firm name of Miller & Son. In 1870, the First National bank was organized for the purpose of taking over the business of the Miller company, for it was felt by business men that a regularly chartered bank was imperative for the development and advancement of the business interests of the growing community. It was incorporated, therefore, in October, 1870, with a capital stock of $100,000, the one hundred dollar shares being held as follows: D. B. Harrington, 200 shares; John Johnston, 300 shares; and John Miller, Henry Howard, James Goulden, O'Brien J. Atkinson and Samuel S. Ward, 100 shares each. The president in January, 1871, was D. B. Harrington, the two Millers, father and son, being cashier and assistant cashier, respectively. Upon the expiration of the bank's charter in 1890, the company was reorganized as the First National Exchange bank, with Henry Howard as president, and another extension of the bank's corporate existence was granted in 1910, and the word Exchange was dropped from the bank's name at the time. The bank is now capitalized for $150,000, and its last report showed deposits amounting to more than $5,600,000 and surplus and profits aggregating nearly $300,000. Its present officers are Gus Hill, president; F. E. Beard, vice-president; and D. D. Brown, cashier. John Johnston came to Port Huron from St. Clair, to become associated with A. and H. Fish, lumber manufacturers, and then conducted a lumber brokerage business for a time. In 1865 he started in the banking business with W. C. Green under the firm name of Johnston & 112 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY Green, but the following year Green withdrew. The bank was re-organized, forming an exceptionally strong firm, the organizers being Johnston, John L. Woods, James W. Sanborn, I. D. Carleton and H. G. Barnum, the last coming from Detroit. Sanborn died in 1870 and Woods and Carleton withdrew, the firm being continued by Johnston, Barnum and F. L. Wells. Barnum withdrew in 1874 to ally himself with the First National bank, Wells leaving at the same time The new organization comprised Johnston, W. F. Botsford, Miron Williams, John W. Porter and A. A. McDiarmid. In 1877, Porter retired from the firm and went to Mt. Clemens and the firm failed in the same year with heavy liabilities. Federal Commercial and Savings Bank is the outgrowth of the consolidation of three Port Huron banks. The first one of the three established was the Port Huron Savings bank, established in 1872 by D. B. Harrington, president of the First National bank, who felt that the city of Port Huron needed a savings bank. In December of that year, he brought about the organization of the company, which did not open its doors for business until January 20, 1873, with D. B. Harrington as president; Henry McMorran, vice-president; and C. F. Harrington, cashier. The three officers and Charles Baer, J. H. White, James Beard, Otis Scott, Edward Vincent, and L. B. Wheeler formed the first board of directors. The original capitalization of the concern was $50,000 but was subsequently increased to $400,000. The bank continued as a separate financial concern until the end of 1911, when the stockholders voted for consolidation with the Commercial bank, the merger taking effect January 2, 1912. The Commercial bank was organized December 6, 1881, with C. A. Ward as president; William Hartsuff, vice-president; and S. L. Ballentine, Otis Joslyn, J. G. O'Neill, D. N. Runnels and A. N. Moffatt, directors. In January, 1882, John W. Porter, who had been connected with the old Johnston company, which he had left to become cashier of the Mt. Clemens Savings bank, accepted a similar position with the Commercial bank of Port Huron. The original capitalization of the bank was $50,000 and was later increased to $100,000, its corporate existence being extended for thirty years in December, 1911. Consolidation with the Port Huron Savings bank became effective January 2, 1912, but business was continued under the old name of the Commercial bank. The third unit that went to form the modern Federal Commercial & Savings bank was the St. Clair County Savings bank, which was organized in the spring of 1890 with the following officers and directors: J. B. Hull, president; Charles Wellman, vice-president; George W. Moore, cashier; and J. B. Hull, Charles Wellman, E. G. Spalding, Stephen Moore, S. W. Vance, Edward Hollis, E. L. Vincent, directors. The authorized capitalization was $50,000 but it was subsequently increased to $100,000. On May 16, 1918, the St. Clair County Savings bank and the Commercial bank were consolidated as the Federal Commercial & Savings bank with Charles Wellman as president and Stephen A. Graham as vice-president and cashier, the capital stock of the new HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 113 bank remaining at $100,000. The deposits in the bank, according to its last report, amount to nearly $6,000,000 and its surplus and profits were $257,000. United States Savings Bank, third and youngest of the Port Huron banking establishments, was organized in 1907 as the German-American Savings bank, but the change in name came in 1917, when war between the United States and Germany broke out. At its inception, the bank's capital was $100,000 as it is today, and the following men were the first officers and directors: H. F. Marx, president; C. C. Peck, cashier; R. H. Kruger, assistant cashier; and Henry F. Marx, A. E. Stevenson, C. C. Peck, E. W. Ortenburger, A. T. Slaght, E. J. Ottaway, Robert Watson, Fred E. Farnsworth and M. D. Smith, directors. According to the last report of the bank, its deposits amount to nearly $2,500,000, surplus and profits aggregating $101,690. The present officers of the United States bank are C. C. Peck, president; A. E. Stevenson and E. J. Ottaway, vice-presidents; and L. W. Miller, cashier. To the initiative and energy of C. C. Peck, the enterprising president of the United States Savings bank, is traceable the organization of three private banks in the county, one of which is located at Smith's Creek and was established in 1908, a second which was established in the same year at Goodells, and a third organized in 1911 at Lamb. Of these three banks, C. C. Peck is president. In 1873, the J. J. Boyce & Company private banking concern began business in Port Huron, James J. Boyce and Jacob Haynes being connected with the company. During his later years, Boyce was sole owner until his death in January, 1905. H. J. Boyce then became manager and later Maurice Boyce, who continued until the summer of 1911, when the bank was closed. St. Clair Banks. No regularly organized and chartered bank did business in St. Clair after the withdrawal of the Bank of St. Clair in 1841 until 1871. During the years that intervened, Henry Whiting & Company accepted deposits for people of the town, but the merchants made no attempt to conduct a private banking business, holding deposits only as a matter of convenience to the people of the city. However, it became apparent by 1870 that the southern section of the county would need a bank. The month of February, 1871, witnessed the establishment of the First National Bank of St. Clair, for which Gabriel S. Holbert had been secured from New York to assume the duties of cashier. W. B. Barron became the first president and the following men constituted the first board of directors: Abram Smith, Solomon Bendit, W. B. Barron, J. C. Clarke, Bela W. Jenks, Henry Whiting, and Diodorus Sheldon. The bank continued operations as a national bank for fifteen years, but it was felt that it could be of more service to the community operating under a state charter. Accordingly, on October 18, 1886, the Commercial & Savings bank was organized under the laws of the state to take over the business of the First National bank. When the bank was organized in 1871, it had a capitalization of $50,000, but it was subsequently increased to $75,000, where it is placed today. The present officers of the bank are R. S. Jenks, president; Henry Whiting 114 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY and Fred W. Moore, vice-presidents; A. E. Maw, cashier; and Frank E. Douglas, assistant cashier. That the Commercial & Savings bank enjoys the patronage of the people of that section of the county is shown by the fact that deposits, according to the last report of the bank, totaled $1,006,490, while $58,030 was given as surplus and profits. The State Savings bank of St. Clair was organized early in 1920 under the laws of the state and was opened for business on March 8, of that year, its capital stock being set at $50,000. Although the bank has been in operation but five years, its deposits already total more than a quarter of a million dollars and its surplus and profits, according to the last report, were $3,200. The present officers of the bank are Franklin Moore, president; J. H. Schlinkert and L. A. Holmes, vice-presidents; and F. D. Beadle, cashier. Marine City Banks. A private bank was conducted for several years in Marine City by Charles H. Westcott, and when this establishment ceased to do business, Marine City was without the services of any bank for a period of several years. In June, 1884, John W. Porter, cashier of the Commercial bank of Port Huron, and George W. Carman, of Memphis, opened the Marine bank with a capital of $10,000. Until September 5, 1891, this bank continued to serve the needs of a community, but on that date the Marine Savings bank was organized to take over the business of Porter and Carman and opened for business on November 12, that year. At the outset the bank was capitalized for $50,000, a figure that has never been altered. The first officers were John W. Porter, president; Frank Hart, vice-president; and George W. Carman, cashier. The officers in 1925 were Hale P. Saph, president; F. W. Becker and J. L. Carman, vice-presidents; J. L. Carman, cashier; and J. N. Bates, assistant cashier. The First State Savings Bank of Marine City was organized September 1, 1891, with a capital of $25,000, Robert Leitch being president and Frank McElroy, cashier. The bank survived until 1898, when it liquidated, paying all depositors in full. On February 10, 1903, the Home Savings bank was organized with a capital of $35,000 and the following men as officers and directors: F. T. Moore, president; George N. Jones, vice-president; C. L. Doyle, cashier; and John D. Baird, James Davidson, C. L. Doyle, George N. Jones, Harry Lawrence, F. T. Moore and W. F. Sauber, directors. The bank was consolidated with the Marine Savings bank on May 6, 1912, business being continued under the name of the latter bank. The Liberty National bank received its charter in 1918 and began business with the following men directing the affairs of the bank: Sydney C. McLouth, president; Aaron B. Armsbury, vice-president; and W. A. Blinn Bushaw, cashier. Capitalized for $50,000, the Liberty National bank is rapidly approaching the Marine Savings bank in the amount of business it transacts, for its last report showed deposits amounting to $645,000 and surplus and profits amounting to $26,400. The present officers of the bank are Benjamin Armsbury, president; L. A. Bushaw, vice-president; W. A. B. Bushaw, cashier; and H. G. Bell, assistant cashier. HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 115 Yale Banks. B. R. Noble & Company was the first bank to be established in the city of Yale. In 1886, B. R. Noble came to the city and opened the private bank that bore his name, conducting it until 1900, the year in which the First National bank was organized to take over the business of the Noble bank. With a capital of $35,000, the bank opened for business on June 8, 1900, with the following officers and directors: B. R. Noble, president; James McCall, vice-president; E. F. Fead, cashier; and G. E. Beard, assistant cashier. The present officers of the bank are A. E. Sleeper, president; W. V. Andreae and W. F. Ruh, vicepresidents; L. V. Andreae, cashier; and Duncan McKeith, assistant cashier. According to the bank's last report, the paid-up capital was $40,000, deposits amounted to $460,550, and surplus and profits were $5,200. The Yale State bank was organized early in 1901 and opened for business on February 21, that year, with a paid-up capital of $25,000, which was later increased to $30,000. The first officers of the bank were James Livingston, president; James McCall, vice-president; W. H. Learmont, cashier; and James Livingston, James McCall, John P. Livingston and Harvey Tappan, directors. James McCall is still vice-president; John P. Livingston is now president; G. E. Beard is cashier; and the assistant cashiers are Eva Lothier and B. B. Middleton. According to the last report of the bank, its deposits amount to $656,820 and surplus and profits $21,706, making it the largest bank in Yale. The First National bank at Avoca was chartered in 1902. It has a paid-up capital of $25,000, showed deposits in 1925 amounting to $340,000 and surplus and profits of $23,500. William V. Andreae, the president of the bank, has been head of the institution since its inception and the other officers are F. A. Hill, vice-president; C. V. Andreae, cashier; and R. L. Jones, assistant cashier. The first bank in Capac was owned by George W. Moore and Fred T. Moore, of Port Huron, and was opened June 18, 1889, continuing in business for nearly a quarter of a century before it liquidated. The Capac Savings bank was organized in 1898 and opened for business on September 18 with a capital of $14,200. The first officers were J. W. Porter, president; Robert Morrison, Jr., cashier; and John W. Porter, H. C. Siegel, Walter Shearsmith, E. J. Buck and Richard Shutt, directors. The capital stock has subsequently been increased to $20,000; deposits in 1925 amounted to $377,280 and surplus and profits were $13,680. The present officers of the bank, which is now named the Capac State Savings bank, are A. E. Sleeper, president; H. C. Sigel and Albert Toash, vice-presidents; W. C. Siegel, cashier; and L. R. Glassford and N. H. Brennan, Jr., assistant cashiers. Before 1918, the banking needs of Emmett were served by the private bank of H. P. McCabe, but in that year the Citizens State bank was organized under the laws of the state with a capital stock of $25,000. The doors of the bank were opened for business on October 4, 1918. The present officers of the bank are E. Harvey Wilce, president; F. G. Peck, vice-president; George Johnson, cashier; and E. A. Voice, as 116 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY sistant cashier. According to the last report of the bank, deposits amounted to $205,220 and surplus and profits were $5,830. On October 28, 1919, the Marysville Savings bank was organized with an authorized capitalization of $100,000, but when the doors were opened for business on November 12, 1919, the paid-up capital was $50,000. The first officers were C. Harold Wills, president; John R. Lee, Henry E. Bodman and William B. Jones, vice-presidents; and John C. Barron, cashier. The officers in 1925 were John C. Barron, president; A. H. Moorman, vice-president; and M. E. Johns, cashier. Deposits in the bank were $219,180, according to its last report, and surplus and profits were $28,810. The Jeddo State bank was organized in 1911 with a capital stock of $20,000. The officers in 1925 were W. C. Ernest, president; James McCall, vice-president; Squire Langs, cashier; and Ruth Lamb, assistant cashier. Deposits amounted to $86,000 that year and surplus and profits totaled $3,000. Late in 1925 the bank failed and was placed in the hands of the receiver on December 22, of that year. CHAPTER X THE PRESS P IONEER journalists followed closely on the heels of the first settlers in the county, and that the first small newspapers wielded a considerable influence among the people of the county cannot be doubted. The troubles of the early newspaper publishers were many. Cash was very scarce among the pioneers, and' subscription rates were usually quoted in terms of cash or produce; often for weeks at a time, the employees of the paper were paid only in such produce or with orders on stores that advertised in the papers. With such conditions prevailing, it is no source of wonder that many were the newspapers that suspended publication within a few months, or at most a few years, after they were started by their hopeful publishers. Many causes, too, contributed to the establishment of many of the early newspapers. A political candidate, desiring the support of a newspaper, frequently organized such an enterprise for the sole purpose of advocating his candidacy, and if he failed to gain the office which he sought, the paper went out of existence. A political party, wishing representation in the press of the county in sections not reached by the papers then established, influenced some man to start a paper to be the organ of their party in some locality. In more cases than not, this factor of party patronage meant either life or death to the small papers. The printing of matter authorized by the supervisors, notices of sheriff sales, and similar work of a public nature was always given to those papers which supported the party in power, and the revenue derived from this source was no inconsiderable part of a newspaper's income. Then, too, party allegiance in the early days was so much stronger than at the present time that merchants were inclined to give their advertising only to the paper maintaining the same political views as themselves, and the advertising and job printing were all that kept these papers alive. The. small investment required to start a newspaper in those days led many men of practically no newspaper ability or training to enter the business, the ultimate result being that one more paper lived for a time and then passed into the journalistic graveyard. The village of Palmer, now St. Clair, was the first place in St. Clair county to have a newspaper. The first issue of the Whig, as it was named, appeared December 2, 1834, with T. M. Perry as editor and publisher. It was a weekly and that it failed to appear on some of the regular publication days was not uncommon in those days. The press used in the plant had been sent to Palmer from Georgetown, South Carolina, the previous year by Thomas C. Fay. The name of the paper was changed to that of the St. Clair Republican in 1835, a year when J. S. Heath and L. M. Mason directed the affairs of the sheet. Within a short time, these two men removed to Port Huron, and the history of 118 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY the Republican is obscure after that time, but it is believed that publication was suspended in 1837. Port Huron was not to be outdone by her sister village to the south, and in 1837 the following prospectus was issued for a proposed newspaper: "Proposals for Publishing at Huron City, St. Clair County, Michigan. "THE LAKE HURON OBSERVER "A Weekly Paper of Imperial Size, at $2.00 Per Annum, Payable in Advance, $2.50 at the End of Six Months, or $3.00 at the End of the Year. "It is, perhaps, unnecessary, here to enter into detail of the causes or circumstances which have led to the establishment of a newspaper in this county or to discuss the merits or demerits of the paper already established. Suffice it to say, the growing importance of the county, and the interests of its inhabitants, seem to require a public journal through whose columns a fair expression of the opinion of the people in different sections of the county can be had, upon all political and other questions of importance; such is intended to be the character of the Observer. Although decidedly a Democratic Journal, its columns will always be open for the discussion of important political questions, whether of general or local interests, when such discussions are couched in candid and decorous language. "Our Canadian friends at Port Sarnia and its vicinity will find the Observer a ready vehicle for the conveyance of information respecting their village, harbor, railroad and other topics of general importance. "It is hoped that the Observer will be conducted in such a manner as to be sustained by the inhabitants of the county, and to merit the confidence and support of the public generally. "Huron City, January 24, 1837." Accompanying the prospectus, was a list of sixty-eight subscribers living within the county and a number whose homes were outside the county. The paper was duly established by Ebenezer B. Harrington, who was one of the owners and promoters of the first Democratic journal in the county. He continued his connection with the paper for a year, carrying on his law practice as well. In 1838, Harrington removed to Detroit, where he died in 1844. After a few years the Observer was merged with a paper named the Representative, and in 1844 William L. Bancroft came to Port Huron, purchased the paper, and changed its name to the Port Huron Observer. By him its publication was continued until August, 1849, when he sold it to J. H. Hawes, who removed it to St. Clair. The Northern Miscellany was published in Port Huron for a short time in 1841. The next paper to make its appearance in the county was the St. Clair Banner, which was established at St. Clair in 1842 by John N. Ingersoll, who continued to issue the paper during the next four years. He then removed to the Upper Peninsula, where he established the Lake Superior News, the first paper in that section of the state. He HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 119 was later elected to the state legislature and was speaker of the house for one session. For some time he was connected with newspapers of Detroit and Rochester, New York, and during the later years of his life, he published the Shiawassee American for nearly twentyfive years. The place of the Banner was filled by the St. Clair Observer in 1850 with J. H. Hawes as editor, who relinquished his rights to B. B. Bissell the following year, the name then being changed to the St. Clair County Observer. In 1852 A. M. Tenney bought the paper and again changed the name to that of the St. Clair Observer, and when the St. Clair Herald was established in August, 1853, by J. J. Falkenbury, a lawyer, for the purpose of breaking the Observer, a feud began that resulted in the death of both papers. Tenney won a libel suit for $500 from Falkenbury, and a man named Remer obtained a verdict for $1,000 against the Herald publisher. Falkenbury died in January, 1856, and the Herald ceased to exist, the Observer suspending publication within a short time. J. K. Averill published the Chief during the presidential campaign of 1860, and in 1861 the Standard was issued for a few months. On Saturday, June 7, 1851, appeared the first weekly edition of the Port Huron Commercial under the editorship of George F. Lewis. A four-page, six-column affair, the Commercial supported the Whig party, which was then in control of the national government. A half interest in the paper was sold to Daniel B. Harrington in March, 1852, and the publication was continued under the firm style of George F. Lewis & Company, the political allegiance of the paper then being transferred to the Democratic party. For a matter of eighteen months, Harrington published the paper, and then for a time Lewis was editor. On April 3, 1854, the Commercial became the property of Henry S. Decker and William L. Bancroft, who continued the publication of the paper under the name of Henry S. Decker & Company, William L. Bancroft discharging the duties of editor. Lewis left Port Huron after selling the Commercial and established several other papers throughout the state, among them being the Bay City Daily Morning Call, Saginaw Daily Courier, the Saginawian, and the Mt. Pleasant Journal. Bancroft became the sole proprietor of the Commercial when he purchased Decker's interests August 5, 1854, and in November of the same year, he sold a half interest to Henry S. Potter, the company name then becoming Henry S. Potter & Company. Bancroft continued as editor until April, 1856, and during the ensuing ten years, the Commercial was published by H. S. Potter,& Company, Potter being postmaster of Port Huron during a part of that time. Colonel John Atkinson either owned the Commercial or had a large interest,in it after the close of the Civil war, and his brother, William F. Atkinson, edited the paper. Thomas J. Hudson and Horace E. Purdy were the editors, and they were followed by Nathan C. Kendall, who was the editor for only,a few months. James F. Talbot became the principal owner of the Commercial in 1868 and conducted it with his sons, John F., James H. and Harry L. Talbot. for nearly ten d 120 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY years. In 1875, the paper passed into the hands of the Commercial Printing company, the stock of which was held largely by the Talbots. Late in 1873, the Sunday Commercial appeared, but the publication of the Port Huron Commercial on Wednesdays was continued for the benefitof the rural subscribers. Eugene Schoolcraft, who learned the printer's trade in Port Huron, purchased a quarter interest in the paper in 1878, and after being actively identified with the business, editorial and mechanical ends of the -newspaper, disposed of his stock in the company in February, 1888. The Evening Commercial, issued daily except Sundays, issued its first edition on February 1,.1888, each issue being a four-page, sixcolumn affair. The two weekly editions were continued during the months that the daily lived. The Talbots published the paper until September 19, 1888, and in, October the daily edition was discontinued. The Huronia Printing company, with A. H. Finn as business manager, purchased the Commercial on September 19, 1888, and when the daily was discontinued near the end of October, the Commercial was consolidated with the Tribune, a weekly started six years before by a Mr. Finn, under the name of the Commercial-Tribune. In September of the following year, Ernest King.and Fred W. Stevens bought the paper, and the following year the Commercial-Tribune Printing company succeeded Stevens & King, the president of the company being E. King and the secretary and treasurer F. W. Stevens. The Michigan Maccabee and the Bee Hive were also published by this company. When the Riverside Printing company bought the Commercial-Tribune in the fall of 1895, the pew company discontinued the publication of the paper, for the principal owner, Loren A. Sherman, was the owner and the publisher of the Daily Times. Under the name of the Port Huron Press, James J. Scarritt started a weekly newspaper in September, 1858, and by him it was published until his death in 1863. Henry C. Bluffington then became the owner and editor and under his, regime it issued a small daily for a short time, the first daily newspaper to be printed in St. Clair county. In 1866, George W. Howe, who learned the printer's trade at Lapeer, formed the firm of Burnett & Howe and bought the Press, Bluffington going to Dowagiac, Michigan, where he continued in the newspaper business. Howe retired from the firm within a few months, leaving the Burnett brothers in sole charge. Major Nathan S. Boynton, with Marcus Young, bought the Press in 1868, and though the paper had always been staunchly Republican in its political persuasion, Boynton, although supporting the same party, was opposed to the party leaders in the county. So influential became the Press in the Republican politics of the county, that the Port Huron Times was established in 1869 to counteract the work of Boynton, and in 1870, the Times company bought the Press and discontinued it. As mentioned above, the Port Huron Weekly Times owed its inception to the desire of the Republicans of the county at large for a paper that would accurately express their side in the attempt of Boynton to oust John P. Sanborn, acknowledged leader of the party, from the of HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 121 fice of collector of customs and his position as party leader. The Port Huron Times company was accordingly organized in the spring of 1869 with a capital stock of $6,000. James H. Stone, who had been connected with the Detroit Advertiser and Tribune, was secured as editor and business manager.of the Times, and the first edition of the paper was run off the press June 25, 1869. The first power press to be used by a St. Clair county newspaper was brought to Port Huron and installed in the offices of the Times. At that time, the paper was a weekly. The struggle between the Press and the Times reached the climax in 1870, when the latter paper bought the Press from Boynton and discontinued the publication. In September of the same year, Stone resigned as editor and manager of the Times to take up his duties with the Kalamazoo Telegraph, of which he had become part owner. Loren A. Sherman resigned the position of state and news editor of the Detroit Post to accept the position left vacant by Stone. Sherman, born in Bennington, New York, in 1844, served a year with the First Michigan Infantry during the Civil war and inaugurated his newspaper career in the business office of the Adrian Daily Expositor when he was nineteen years of age. By the time he was twenty-one years old, he was editor of the paper, and when the Detroit Post was established in 1866, he organized the state department of that sheet. Six months in this position and he was appointed managing editor by General Carl Schurz, editor-in-chief, but the following year the Post changed hands and Sherman resumed his old place of state and news editor, which he resigned to accept the editorship of the Port Huron Times. In the spring of 1871, the Times changed its weekly edition from a four-page to an eight-page edition and began the publication of the paper on a tri-weekly basis, the first edition of the Tri-Weekly Times appearing March 4, 1871. On March 23, 1872, the Daily Times was started in place of the tri-weekly publication, and with the exception of Sundays and four legal holidays a year, the paper never missed a daily issue until the time it was merged with the Herald in 1910. Stone, the predecessor of Sherman, severed his connection with the Kalamazoo Telegraph in 1875, and during the next three years was with the Times, resigning in 1878 to become managing editor of the Detroit Post and Tribune. Gil R. Osmun, who was later connected with Saginaw and Detroit newspapers and was secretary of state for Michigan for four years, was city editor of the Times three years during the early days of the paper's existence. From 1881 to 1886 James Bartle Parker occupied the same position. George A. Ashpole, who became a printer with the Times in 1874, was advanced through the various departments until he became advertising manager of the Tines and of the Times-Herald after the consolidation. The Times and the Herald were consolidated as the Times-Herald January 1, 1910, and in 1915 occupied its present building on Sixth street, opposite the postoffice. A third floor is now being added to the building. The first office of the Times was located on the second floor 122 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY of what was then the Merchants Exchange block on Water street, and after a few years it occupied all the floors of the next section west of its first location. The Sanborn building, opposite the Federal building on Water street, was next occupied, remaining there until the fall of 1894, when the offices were removed to the new Sherman building opposite the foot of Sixth street. The plan was maintained in that location until the removal to the present building after the consolidation with the Herald. Although the old Times was staunchly Republican and was one of the most potent factors in winning the county over from Democratic to Republican control, it has been independent in politics since the consolidation with the Herald, supporting the men best suited for the offices and the measures calculated to be of greatest benefit to the people. L. A. Weil, who has been connected with the paper since December, 1909, has so built up the circulation of the paper that it now has a net paid circulation of nearly 18,000, not only in the city but in the county as well. The Sunday Herald was established in 1886 by John Murray and J. Bartle Parker, the latter retiring from the business in a few years to leave Murray in sole charge of the paper. In 1900 he sold the paper to Elmer J. Ottaway and Louis A. Weil, who had previously purchased X-Rays, a small sheet started in 1897 by Hiel B. Buckeridge. (Buckeridge started the Port Huron News in 1895, later changed it to the Port Huron Sunday News, and continued its publication for many years.) X-Rays and the Sunday Herald were merged by the new owners as the Port Huron Daily Herald, the first issue of which bore the date of August 1, 1900. In July, 1901, Ottaway sold his interest to John Murray, who continued in partnership until his death in May, 1907, L. A. Weil being editor and business manager of the Herald until the consolidation with the Times in 1910. The Herald plant was first located at 928 Sixth street and after a few years was located in the Desmond building opposite the postoffice. The first floor of the White building, next to the Desmond building, was leased by the Daily Herald company and the Herald Printing company, this location becoming the office of the Times-Herald after the consolidation. On May 24, 1856, Benjamin B. Bissell established the St. Clair Republican in that village and continued to edit the paper until 1865, when he sold it to R. B. Ross and Hazzard P. Wands. Ross retired from the partnership in 1870 and afterward gained a considerable reputation as a humorous writer with Detroit newspapers. Wands was a lawyer and was thrice elected clerk of St. Clair county, serving as such from 1867 to 1873. He died August 15, 1877. After the death of Wands, the Republican passed into the hands of Charles R. Greene, who continued to publish the sheet until September, 1878, when Charles G. Conger bought the paper. He in turn sold it to Franklin Moore in 1879. While Moore was editor of the paper, he was postmaster of St. Clair for eight years and his chief clerk, Stephen S. Hopkins, did most of the editorial and reportorial work on the Republican from 1881 to 1892. The sheet was sold to Hannibal Allen Hopkins in 1895, who leased it in January, 1903, to Charles C. Parker. Hopkins again took charge in 1906, leasing it in HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 123 September of that year to Elmer J. Ottoway, who published the paper as an independent until the end of December, 1909. In 1910, George H. Pond assumed the active management of the Republican, which was again an organ of the party whose name it bore. Robert D. Harmer became the editor of the Republican and built up the circulation until it was one of the largest weeklies published in the county. In the fall of 1925, the plant burned and publication was suspended. The St. Clair County Press, an independent weekly published on Fridays, was established in 1900 by a Mr. Taylor, and within a few months George Wildren was directing the affairs of the paper, continuing its publication until August, 1901. At that time, Frank Schrepferman and Charles R. Roberts bought the plant. In 1907, Schrepferman retired and later Roberts took into partnership a Mr. Thompson, the Press now being published by the firm name of Roberts & Thompson. As a politically independent paper, the Press proved to be acceptable to the people from the outset and now enjoys a circulation of nearly 1,500. The Postmaster Everywhere, a monthly postal publication, is also edited by the owner of the Republican and was established in 1903. It has proved to be a successful periodical and is a decided asset to the journalistic field of St. Clair county and the city of St. Clair. Port Huron has not been unlike other cities insofar as defunct newspapers are concerned, for many newspapers have been started here, lived for a time, and then passed on to be all but forgotten except by the oldest inhabitants. The Old White Hat was a campaign paper published by James Talbot & Sons during the presidential campaign of 1872 when Horace Greeley was nominated for the presidency by liberal Republicans and Democrats. In 1873, the Saturday Morning Journal was started by Thomas L. Kilets and Oscar Morse, the former of whom purchased his partner's interests in March, 1874, and continued as sole proprietor until June, 1875, when he sold the paper to Milo Marsh and Jedediah Spalding, the former publishers of the Greenback Dollar. Until 1875, the paper had been independent in politics, but the new owners changed the name to that of the Port Huron Journal to succeed the Greenback Dollar, as an organ of the. Greenback party. In 1881, however, publication was suspended. Kilets, after selling the Journal, established the Mail in 1876, but ceased publication in a year to give his entire attention to the job printing business. The Farmer's Visitor was published in Port Huron in 1875 but had disappeared before two years were out. According to the Michigan Manual, only five papers were published in St. Clair county in 1879, they being the Port Huron Times, daily and weekly; the Port Huron Commercial, Wednesdays and Sundays; the Port Huron Call, published three times a week in the interests of the National party; the Saturday Morning Journal; and the St. Clair Republican, weekly. Two years later the Journal was printing daily and weekly editions and the Call had become a semi-weekly publication. Both papers had disappeared within two years after the above statement in the Michigan Manual of 1881. 124 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY The Daily Telegraph began in Port Huron as a weekly in the fall of 1882 but was discontinued in 1885 or 1886. Henry Little was instrumental in promoting the establishment of the paper which was believed to have been backed by St. Clair city capital. The publishers during the later years of the paper's life were B. H. Williams & Sons. The Port Huron Mail, a weekly issued on Saturdays and independent in politics, appeared in 1883 and was discontinued after 1885. Albert H. Finn began the publication of the Port Huron Tribune, a weekly, in 1883, it being merged with the Commercial in 1888. The National party sponsored the establishment of the New Era in 1887 but the sheet suspended publication two years later. L. H. Krause published the Western Farm and Home in Port Huron in 1891. This agricultural weekly he afterward turned over to the Riverside Printing company, together with the Grange Visitor, a monthly organ of the Patrons of Industry, and the German Herald, the first two being soon discontinued and the last turned over to other publishers. The Daily News was started in 1895 as a subsidiary of the Detroit News but was sold to David R. Waters, who discontinued it in 1897. The Port Huron Republican, semi-weekly, was edited for a time by Charles J. Seely in 1897 and by him was merged with the Port Huron Sun in 1903, the consolidated paper disappearing before 1905. The Labor Leader, issued every Thursday, appeared for a short time during 1893. Democrats of Port Huron established the Port Huron Sentinel in April, 1905, Charles Wellman being president of the company, William Springer, vice-president; and E. E. Stockwell, secretary. Thomas Wellman was the editorial writer. In January, 1907, the Sentinel was placed in the hands of Robert Watson, E. F. Percival and A. E. Stevenson, who turned over the paper in 1908 to Edwin Mason, who had been editor and manager for some time prior to the change. Within a month the Sentinel passed out of existence. The Free Press has been published in Port Huron since 1919 as a weekly issued on Fridays. It is independent in politics and now has a circulation of approximately 2,000. Fred Marvin is the editor and publisher. Two monthly magazines are published in Port Huron, one, the Ladies' Review, was established in 1895 by the Women's Benefit Association of the Maccabees and now has a circulation of 240,000 throughout the United States, and the other, the Lady Maccabee, was established in 1892 by the Ladies of the Maccabees and now enjoys a circulation of more than 55,000. The first newspaper to be published in Algonac was the Eastern Breeze, which was started about 1893 but had disappeared within two years. In 1903, the Times-Courier was established and was later changed to the Algonac Courier under the editorship of Charles C. Parker, the former publisher of the St. Clair Republican. The paper is now published by the Speed Printing company every Friday and enjoys a circulation of 800. The Argus, a weekly, was established in Capac in 1879 by Joseph E. Soults, but the office was removed to Fort Gratiot in 1882, where Soults became associated with A. H. Finn in the publication of the Sun. HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 125 In that same year, Charles A. Bacon started the Capac Bugle, continuing it three years as a weekly. In 1887, the Capac Journal was established. It is a Republican weekly issued on Fridays, and is now published by the Journal Publishing company, of which Noble Hunter has been editor for many years. The Gazette, under the editorship of the veteran journalist Benjamin B. Bissell, first appeared in January, 1874, to become the first newspaper of Marine City. It was succeeded by the Marine City Reporter, with Del C. Huntoon and Calvin A. Blood as publishers, its first issue appearing December 15, 1877. William N. Miller and later F. Callahan directed the affairs of the little paper. In January, 1884, Frank Sutton took charge of the Reporter, beginning a successful newspaper career which he is still continuing as the editor of the same paper. For a few months after he took over the paper, Joseph Patterson was his partner in the enterprise. The Post, published for a few months in 1908 by H. D. Cottrell, was absorbed by the Reporter. The paper is issued on Thursdays and supports the principles of the Republican party. The Marine City Magnet was published from 1887 to 1900 as an independent weekly, its issues appearing on Thursdays. The Marine City Globe, a weekly issued on Saturdays, was started in 1897 and for ten years thereafter supported the principles of the Republican party. The Weekly Greeting was published in 1905 and 1906. The Marine City News, a weekly, was established in May, 1903, by T. J. Wreath and George W. Guyor as a Republican paper. Its place was taken by the Marine City Independent in 1919, a paper published every Thursday by W. A. Robertson. The Yale Expositor is the sole survivor of the several newspapers that have been started at Yale. It was originally known at the Brockway Centre Expositor but the name was changed to the present one when the village of Brockway Centre became the city of Yale. The paper was started in May, 1882, under the editorship of Del Sutton, who sold it after a number of years to James A. Menzies, the present owner and publisher. The Expositor is a Republican weekly issued on Thursdays and has a circulation of 1,200. The Yale Democrat was published from 1890 to 1894, and the Yale Hustler appeared in 1899 to continue for two or three years. In 1897 the Yale Democrat was established and survived for about.fifteen years under the direction of George W. Allen. The first paper to be established in Memphis was the Memphis Bug, which survived two years under the editorship of E. H. Beach. The Banner was next started and it was succeeded in 1882 by the Memphis Tribune with A. H. Patterson as editor. It was discontinued in a few years, and in 1887, the Memphis Record was started by A. G. Taylor to live but six months. The Memphis Bee, an independent weekly, was started in December, 1893, and was conducted for more than twenty years successfully, a great part of that time Dwight E. Blackmer being the editor and publisher. The paper has lately been withdrawn from circulation. 126 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY The Fort Gratiot Enterprise was established in 1880 as an independent weekly by the Burkholder brothers, its publication day being Saturday. The plant was soon sold to William Berry but the building and equipment were destroyed by fire in 1881. The place of the Enterprise in the village of Fort Gratiot was then filled by the Fort Gratiot Sun, a weekly conducted by A. H. Finn, which was merged with the Capac Argus in 1882. Joseph E. Soults, former publisher of the Argus, soon bought out Finn and later sold the sheet to Edward Williams, who was connected with the paper until it was discontinued in 1901 or 1902. The name of the paper was changed to the Port Huron Sun after Fort Gratiot became a part of the city of Port Huron. In addition to the two fraternal journals now published at Port Huron, there were formerly four other papers of a similar character printed in this city. They were: The Bee Hive, official organ of the Knights of the Maccabees of the World; the Forester, the monthly organ of the Independent Order of Foresters; the Modern Maccabee, originally the Michigan Maccabee, official monthly journal of the Knights of the Modern Maccabees; and the Michigan Hibernian, the official publication of the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Ladies of the Ancient Order of Hibernians. The International Magazine was published in Port Huron for several years, and at one time it enjoyed a circulation of 75,000. The monthly magazine, the Thresherman's Review, was established in Port Huron in May, 1892, by Frank A. Peavey, who sold it in 1900 to A. H. Shoemaker, E. C. Davidson, J. R. Stone and W. V. West, the office being removed to St. Joseph, Michigan, at that time. CHAPTER XI CITIES AND VILLAGES PORT HURON. Though St. Clair was the county seat of St. Clair county and was the first village platted in this county, Port Huron was the first village to be regularly incorporated, an event that occurred in 1849. Included within the present boundaries of the city of Port Huron are five distinct village plats in addition to other additions, the villages being Desmond, Huron, Fort Gratiot, and Peru. In 1835, Edward Petit, the son of the original owner of that part of fractional section eleven lying north of Griswold street and east of Fourth street, secured the assistance of Hosea Powers as surveyor in platting the piece of ground as the village of Peru. The east half of the northeast quarter of section ten lying south of Black river was platted as the village of Desmond by White and Harrington. Desmond was bounded on the east by the village of Peru, on the south by the section line, now Griswold street, and on the west by the line of the Indian reservation and by Seventh street. Two years later, in 1837, John Thorn, who had secured a patent to fractional section two and that part of section eleven lying north of Black river, platted the part lying south of the present thoroughfare of Broad street, naming it the village of Gratiot. The land lying between the Military Reserve and the present Holland road, constituting-the Bonhomme and Lasselle claims, was platted by the owners in 1837 as the town of Huron. The plat of this town contained eight thousand lots. The panic of that year dampened the enthusiasm of the owners and in 1841, upon application to the court, the plat was reduced to the area bounded by Superior street on the north to State street on the south. A part of section ten, lying north of Black river, was also platted and divided among various interests and was included in Charles Butler's "Plat of a Part of the Town of Port Huron," which he made in June, 1837. The name was probably given to Butler's plat because of the agitation then going on to collect the various village plats under one name. In August of that year, the proprietors of the villages of Desmond and Gratiot united their rights and asked the county court of St. Clair to have the name of the united villages changed to Port Huron. Apparently the court granted the plea of the petitioners, for thereafter the village on the Black river south of the reservation was known as Port Huron. The village continued to grow so rapidly that by 1849 incorporation was sought as a village. On April 2, of that year, an act of the legislature was approved incorporating the territory within the following limits as the village of Port Huron: Commencing at the bank of the St. Clair river a half mile below the mouth of the Black river; thence west a half mile; thence north to the south line of the United States Military Reserve; thence east along said line to the St. Clair 128 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY river; and thence south along the bank of the river to the place of beginning. Under the impetus given by the incorporation, Port Huron entered upon such a period of prosperity and growth that the movement for its incorporation as a city was begun in 1856. The act of incorporation was passed by the legislature and approved February 4, 1857. The territorial limits of the city have been changed from time to time, important among the changes being the acquisition of a considerable part of land at the south of the city in 1891 and the taking in of Fort Gratiot in 1893. The usual aldermanic form of city government was maintained in Port Huron until 1909, when the commission form was installed, Port Huron thus becoming one of the first cities in Michigan to adopt that form of government. The village presidents of Port Huron were Lorenzo M. Mason, 1849; Martin S. Gillett, 1850; Daniel B. Harrington, 1851; Alonzo E. Noble, 1852; Wellington Davis, 1853; Alvah Sweetser, 1854; Newell Avery, 1855; and John Miller, 1856. The mayors of the city of Port Huron have been: William L. Bancroft, 1857; Edgar White, 1858; Newell Avery, 1859; John Miller, 1860; Calvin Ames, 1861-62; Frederick L. Wells, 1863; Cyrus Miles, 1864-65; Jared Jibbee, 1866; John Johnston, 1867; John L. Newell, 1868; John Hibbard, 1869; Samuel L. Boyce, 1870; John Miller, 1871 -72; John Johnston, 1873; Nathan S. Boynton, 1874-75; Samuel L. Boyce, 1876; Daniel L. Runnels, 1877-78; Edmond Fitzgerald, 1879; Joseph Jacob, 1880; Ezra C. Carleton, 1881; Henry Howard, 1882; John G. O'Neill, 1883-84; Elliott G. Stevenson, 1885; Myron Northrup, 1886; William Hartsuff, 1887; Frank J. Haynes, 1888; James B. McIlwain, 1889-92; Seward L. Merriam, 1893; Nathan S. Boynton, 1894-97; Herman W. Stevens, 1898-99; Albert A. Graves, 1900-02; Fred T. Moore, 1903-04; Clark E. Spencer, 1905-06; John J. Bell, 1907-11; Frederic J. Dixon, 1912-13; John L. Black, 1914-19; John V. French, 1920-23; John B McIlwain, 1924-24. St. Clair. The village of Palmer was platted in May, 1818, by James Fulton on his land at the mouth of the Pine river, but unlike most of the other villages that were platted about that time, purchasers failed to heed the advertisements run by Fulton in the Detroit Gazette wherein he described the village as being located at the site of old Fort St. Clair. Fulton secured the naming of his village as the county seat, but his projects had so depleted his finances that he was forced to make the arrangement with Thomas Palmer and David C. McKinstry previously described. By Palmer the name of the village was changed to Palmer, although the postoffice of St. Clair continued to bear that name during the time that the village was called Palmer. An act of the legislature of 1846 changed the name back to the original one of St. Clair to correspond with the postoffice name. When Port Huron was incorporated in 1849, stimulus was given to a similar movement at the county seat, and an act was passed by the legislature and approved April 1, 1850, incorporating the village of St. Clair. James T. Copeland became the HISTORY OF ST. CIAIR COUNTY 129 first village president in 1850; William B. Barron, 1851; John E. Kitton, 1852-56; and George W. Carleton, 1857. As in the case of Port Huron, St. Clair did not long remain a village, for on February 4, 1858, the original territory of the village, with some additions, was incorporated as the city of St. Clair, and Harmon Chamberlain was elected the first mayor of St. Clair. Marine City owes its origin to Samuel Ward, who bought that part of section one lying between the Belle and St. Clair rivers and platted thereon in 1834 that part of Marine City now bounded by Ward and Bridge streets and Belle river. He gave to his village the name of Newport despite the fact that another Newport existed in Wayne county and the postoffice of Ward's village, established in 1831, was named Belle River. The community was known, however, as Newport, and by 1865 had grown to such proportions that the people urged its incorporation. Accordingly, an act of the legislature incorporating the village of Marine was approved March 12, 1865. The name of the postoffice was changed to Marine City in May of the same year and on March 13, 1867, the legislature changed the name of the village to correspond with the postoffice name. The village was re-incorporated in 1879 with the addition of territory, and on June 8, 1887, more territory was annexed from Cottrellville township and the city of Marine City incorporated by the legislature. David Lester took office as the first president of the village, while Frank McElroy was elected the first mayor of the city of Marine City. Yale. A settlement early began to develop in Brockway township and bore the name of the township in which it was located. In May, 1865, the postoffice of Brockway Center was established in the village, and after the completion of the Port Huron & Northwestern railway through the village it entered upon a period of unprecedented growth and prosperity. An act, approved April 2, 1885, incorporated the village of Brockway Center. The name of the village was not entirely satisfactory to the people; it was not even descriptive of the location for the community was two miles from the center of the township. The name Yale, suggested by B. R. Noble and taken from Yale university, was accepted, and an act of March 6, 1889, legalized the name, and the following June witnessed the change of the postoffice name to Yale. Yale became a city of the fourth class with the same territory by an act approved June 7, 1905, Thomas W. Wharton becoming the first mayor. John W. Lamon was the first village president. Marysville, a city in rank more than in effect, was incorporated as a village in 1921, when its population was still less than 1,000, but during those years that followed, Marysville was a boom town and the enthusiasm of the people led them to secure its incorporation as a city of the fifth class, an act of March 13, 1924, authorizing such a move. Algonac. A settlement appeared in this vicinity even before the erection of the county and in 1826 a postoffice was established under the name of Plainfield after the name of the township. Though the name of the township was changed two years later, the postoffice name remained Plainfield until 1835. when it was given the name of Clay. The 130 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY Algonac and Point du Chene company was organized in the spring of 1836 by Dr. Justin Rice, Dr. Thomas B. Clarke and Enoch Jones, all of Detroit, and at the settlement they bought a considerable tract of land and platted the village of Algonac, meaning land of the Algonquins, but the name of the postoffice was not changed to Algonac until 1843. Incorporation of the community as a village was authorized by the board of supervisors in October, 1867. The presumption of the village's legal incorporation was the subject of a legislative act of 1874 and in 1893 the village was re-incorporated by the legislature. The first village president in 1867 was J. S. Raymond. Capac. In May, 1852, a postoffice with the name of Pinery was established in Mussey township, was discontinued in September, and was re-established in August, 1853, the name of Capac finally being given it in January, 1858. The village of Capac was platted by Dewitt C. Walker, later probate judge of the county, in anticipation of the construction of the Port Huron & Milwaukee railroad, its name being taken from the Inca Manco Capac mentioned in Prescott's Conquest of Peru. An act of 1873 incorporated the village of Capac, and Dewitt C. Walker, the founder of the village, was chosen the first president. Emmett. Thomas Crowley platted a part of his land in December, 1856, at the village of Mt. Crowley, expecting the construction of the railroad through that site. Nearly fourteen years elapsed, however, before a train passed through the village. In December, 1869, the postoffice of Emmett was established in the village, which apparently adopted the name for the community, for the map of an addition to the village in 1873 referred to it as Emmett. The village was incorporated by an act approved April 21, 1883, and David Donahue was elected the first president. Memphis, lying partly in Macomb county and partly in St. Clair county, started as a small settlement on the property of Anthony Wells, who located in the south half of section 35, Riley township, in 1834. James Wells bought land the next year in section two, Richmond township, Macomb county. A dam and grist mill appeared and as the little community grew it was known as Wells Settlement. When the selection of a name for a postoffice arose in 1848, Memphis, after the Egyptian city, was chosen and the office established with that name. An act approved March 9, 1865, authorized the voters to incorporate their village according to the general law concerning villages, but uncertainty in the boundaries caused Memphis to be incorporated by the legislature March 14, 1879. Sherman S. Eaton became the first village president in 1865. New Baltimore, also lying in both Macomb and St. Clair counties, was laid out as the village of Ashley in 1851 by Alfred Ashley and his wife, Euphemia A. Ashley, who settled on that land in 1845. The name of the village was changed to the present one, the postoffice of New Baltimore being established in 1867. On March 23, 1867, the village was incorporated and two years later the act of 1867, chartering the village of New Baltimore, was continued in effect. Joseph M. Wilson was the first village president. HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 131 Postoffices. The station of St. Clair was the first postoffice to be established in this county. It was opened in February, 1826, with Mark Hopkins as postmaster, but in 1828 the name was changed to that of Palmer. As such it was continued until 1846, when the name again became that of St. Clair. Plainfield postoffice was established August 5, 1826, under the direction of John K. Smith, and on December 23, 1835, the name was changed to Clay. On August 17, 1843, the name became Algonac and has never been changed since that time. Smith again became postmaster after an absence of two years from the office, when the name became Algonac and continued in the office until his death in 1855. Fort Gratiot was the third postoffice in the county and was established December 16, 1826, through the solicitation of the lightkeeper there, George McDougall, who also became the first postmaster. On November 22, 1837, the office was discontinued; it was re-established July 18, 1838, and again discontinued November 19, 1845. The postoffice was again opened on March 18, 1870, and continued until June 13, 1895, since which time it has never been revived. The Port Huron postoffice was established May 12, 1831, under the name of Desmond, with Z. W. Bunce as postmaster, who maintained the office at his residence until he went to the Albert mill two years later. Jonathan Burtch then became the postmaster and moved the office to the north side of Black river, continuing until November 4, 1834, when D. B. Harrington bought out Burtch and also took over the office of postmaster. During the latter's term of office the name was changed to Port Huron, and Harrington retired May 31, 1841, to be succeeded by John Wells. The Marine City postoffice was established under the name of Belle River on December 27, 1831, with Samuel Ward in charge. The present name of the office was taken on May 20, 1865. The Memphis postoffice was established December 7, 1848. The postoffice of the Pinery was established May 15, 1852, near the present village of Capac, under the care of Daniel Alverson but was discontinued in September of the same year. On August 8, 1853, it was revived with the same name with William B. Preston as postmaster, and on January 5, 1858, the name of Capac was given the office. Yale was first known as Brockway Center, for as such it was started May 11, 1865, under the direction of Orrin P. Chamberlain. When the village was incorporated as the City of Yale, the name of the postoffice was changed to conform to that of the city on June 24, 1889. Emmett postoffice was established December 13, 1869, with Oel N. Sage as postmaster. Other postoffices that have been established in the county have been as follows: Abbottsford: Established May 21, 1892; Jabin Cronk, postmaster. Burtchville: Established January 20, 1846; Hannibal Hollister, postmaster; changed location and name to Lakeport on June 19, 1857. Campbelltown: Established August 14, 1854; Cortlandt Lindsay, postmaster; discontinued October 30, 1863. 132 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY Canora: Established March 14, 1876; Justin L. Paldi, postmaster; discontinued December 15, 1879; re-established March 1, 1880; discontinued December 14, 1883. Casco: Established August 14, 1854; Stephen A. Fenton, postmaster; discontinued January 31, 1907. China: Established March 23, 1835; John Clark, first postmaster; Lemuel Parmely, December 17, 1856; Enoch Drone, January 27, 1857; Mrs. Sarah A. Drone, March 31, 1863; Mrs. Mary Baker, February 14, 1876; discontinued September 5, 1876; re-established March 10, 1886; John Hill, March 10, 1886; Joshua L. Wood, January 19, 1889; Kittie B. Martin, November 17, 1890; discontinued January 9, 1894. Clyde Mills (Private): Established March 16, 1835; Ralph Wadhams, postmaster; discontinued December 17, 1872. Columbus: Established March 14, 1839; John S. Parker, first postmaster; E. S. Cross, May 30, 1844; J. S. Parker, September 29, 1849; James Graham, May 11, 1853; William O. Fuller, March 7, 1855; Abel Eaton, December 4, 1856; E. S. Cross, March 28, 1857; George S. Granger, April 27, 1860; Robert Ramsey, March 4, 1864; George S. Granger, October 2, 1866; Robert Ramsey, October 7, 1868; Ira P. Burke, May 10, 1870; Ward J. Hunt, February 25, 1876; discontinued July 14, 1876; re-established July 31, 1876; Eugene Breese, July 31, 1876; Ira P. Burke, December 15, 1876; Henry P. Hunt, November 26, 1877; Dan A. Hunt, January 31, 1894; discontinued December 15, 1904. Cottrellville: Established December 18, 1827; Seth Taft, postmaster; discontinued December 28, 1831; re-established July 8, 1834; L. Canchois, July 8, 1834; William Brown, September 3, 1835; S. B. Grummond, May 30, 1850; Samuel Roberts, August 22, 1853; Samuel Haywood, February 4, 1857; David Cottrell, May 11, 1860; discontinued October 8, 1863. Dingman: Established November 3, 1897; George Dingman, postmaster; discontinued August 24, 1900. East Berlin: Established March 15, 1851; William H. Baker, postmaster; discontinued December 5, 1856. East Greenwood: Established October 8, 1874; George Todd, postmaster; discontinued November 30, 1905. Elliott: Established February 25, 1889; Conrad Feiger, postmaster; discontinued September 30, 1903. Floyd (Columbus Township): Established December 18, 1855; Lester Cross, postmaster; discontinued July 21, 1857. Goodells: Established November 7, 1870; John C. Johnstone, postmaster. Harmon: Established March 26, 1836; James Ogden, postmaster; discontinued November 22, 1841. Hickey: Name changed to Columbus, May 5, 1910; Martin W. Bourke, postmaster. Lakeport: See Burtchville. Lynn: Established December 31, 1852; Rollin A. Smith, postmaster; discontinued January 31, 1902. HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 133 Mack's Place: Established January 5, 1849; Andrew Mack, postmaster; discontinued July 19, 1854; re-established and location changed on July 28, 1854; Stephen B. Knapp, postmaster; name changed to Vicksburgh, April 24, 1855. Marysville: Established December 28, 1858; George N. Carleton, December 24, 1859; Isaac Hubbard, December 21, 1860; H. A. Caswell, November 12, 1861; Nelson Mills, February 10, 1864; William C. Rhodigan, August 16, 1893; Herman Hazleton, September 21, 1897; Charlotte A. Allen, March 18, 1917; Frank P. Brogan, March 14, 1918; Frank T. Jackson, June 4, 1920. Merrillsville (Brockway Township): Established June 2, 1852; John D. Jones, postmaster; discontinued November 17, 1876. Mount Salem: Established July 23, 1884; John Lothian, postmaster; discontinued November 14, 1903. North Street: Established April 7, 1879; Charles G. Townsend, postmaster; discontinued May 22, 1879; re-established June 11, 1884; John M. Atkin, postmaster. Pottersburgh: Established February 12, 1859; Nelson Potter, postmaster; name changed to Jeddo, July 6, 1864. Robert's Landing: Established April 29, 1869; Samuel Roberts, postmaster; discontinued December 15, 1891. Ruby: Established September 30, 1854; John Beard, postmaster; discontinued January 31, 1907. Smith's Creek: Established October 11, 1861; John McSweeny, postmaster. St. Mary's: Established November 23, 1866; William I. Parkinson, postmaster; discontinued June 8, 1868. Swan Creek: Established October 17, 1857; Thomas C. Delano, postmaster; name changed to Fair Haven, February 11, 1862. Tara's Hall: Established July 29, 1854; Patrick Kennedy, postmaster; discontinued January 29, 1863. Thornton: Established October 4, 1858; Stephen V. Thornton, postmaster; discontinued October 14, 1859; re-established November 7, 1859; Stephen V. Thornton, postmaster; discontinued January 31, 1907. Vicksburgh: Established April 24, 1855; E. P. Vickery, first postmaster; L. J. Cleveland, March 24, 1856; Timothy Barron, April 13, 1858. Vincent: Established June 10, 1868; Hiram Manning, postmaster; discontinued July 14, 1876. Wadhams: Established June 8, 1886; Ivory H. Wakefield, postmaster; discontinued October 26, 1887; re-established February 19, 1890; Frank Kinney, postmaster; discontinued October 11, 1905. Wales: Established May 1, 1851; Benson Bartlerr, postmaster. West Berlin: Established October 12, 1850; John Whitcomb, postmaster; discontinued January 5, 1868. CHAPTER XII INDUSTRIAL T HE industrial history of St. Clair county begins with those industries that were the result of the abundant natural resources of the county. Lumbering was the first large work of the pioneers. Not only were the forests of St. Clair county of excellent quality but they were also the nearest to Detroit, which was a city of 2,000 inhabitants in 1780 with no good lumber for building purposes in the immediate vicinity. A mill was placed at the Fort Sinclair settlement in 1765 and French sawmills made their appearance in the county a few years later. Duperon Baby was one of the first to realize the possibilities of the lumber industry of the county relative to Detroit, and to this end he built a waterpower sawmill on Bunce creek. He also secured from the Chippewa Indians a deed to a tract of land on the Black river extending five leagues up inland from the St. Clair river. The Baby mill was operated only a short time, for after the treaty of 1783, Duperon Baby abandoned his claim, as he believed himself to be a loyal British subject and his property would be in American territory. He died in 1790. Another mill was operated by Antoine Morass, a Frenchman from Detroit, in 1786, and it may have been the same one abandoned by Baby. Morass operated his mill for several years. Tradition has it that a Frenchman built a sawmill on Bunce creek in 1690 but nothing exists to confirm the legend. A mill was built by Z. W. Bunce in 1818 just below the site of the French mills on the creek which bears his name. Meldrum & Park, of Detroit, built a mill in 1792 near the mouth of a creek in private claim No. 255, and they also erected mills on Pine river about seven miles from its mouth, but they were destroyed by fire in 1803. Thomas Palmer and Horace R. Jerome built two mills on the same site in 1827. A man named Jervais built a mill on Indian creek either before or about 1800, and it thus seems that before 1800 there were seven sawmills in operation in the county, two on Black river, two on Pine river, two on Bunce creek, and one on Meldrum creek. Sometime prior to 1816, Ignace Morass built a sawmill on Mill creek in section seventeen, and here he cut lumber which he hauled to Detroit on the river ice during the winter. It is also believed that he cut lumber for spars and ship timbers for the United States Government during the War of 1812. From that time forward, the number of sawmills in the county increased rapidly. Smart built the Clyde Mills in 1825 that later were owned by Ralph Wadhams; Palmer and Jerome built the Pine River mill in 1827; Thomas S. Knapp built a mill at Burtchville in 1828; Ai Beard built a mill at Ruby in 1830 which had a yearly capacity of 800,000 feet. John Howard, a native of Pennsylvania, who came to Port Huron from Detroit in 1833, was one of the prominent early lumbermen. He HISTORY OF ST. CLAIB COUNTY 135 built a mill on the north side of Black river, above the canal, which he operated until it was burned in 1838; then he built another mill in Port Huron in partnership with Cummings Sanborn and John L. Beebe, which had a capacity of two million feet yearly. It was sold in 1856 to the Port Huron & Milwaukee railroad. Howard, in partnership with his son Henry and J. F. Batchelor, built a mill in 1854 on the St. Clair river north of the railroad, disposing of his interests to Batchelor, and in 1860 bought a steam sawmill, using eight saws, which was operated for nearly twenty years thereafter. Cummings Sanborn was another prominent figure in the lumber milling industry and was instrumental in the establishment of several mills. Beebe, partner of Sanborn, was also engaged in various mill enterprises in this section of the county. The Browning mill, the first steam mill in the state, was erected on Black river in 1833, Browning himself dying of the cholera the following year. The mill, however, was afterward operated by the Black River Steam Mill company. The mill used sawdust for fuel and had a capacity of 10,000 feet in a twelve-hour shift. The steamboat "General Gratiot" had been built for Browning in 1831. D. B. Harrington built a water mill on the north side of the river in 1845, and David Whitman built a mill on the St. Clair river in 1853. Nathan Chase and John Miller built a mill about 1850 on the St. Clair river on land that was known as the Avery farm. The next year, John Wells and his son, Fred L., built a steam sawmill on the Black river at Port Huron, and four years later, in 1858, A. and H. Fish built a mill in Kimball township. Jacob F. Batchelor and his son, Henry, erected a sawmill on the St. Clair river just below the Avery and Murphy mill, and were able to saw long timbers, but the panic of 1873 brought the failure of the enterprise. Fred Fish bought this mill in 1877 and two years later removed it to Duluth. In 1871, George Brooks and Otis Joslyn built a mill on the Black river, a short distance above the old Black River Steam Mill, and operated it until 1889. Thus it was that the census of 1837 showed that thirty mills were operating in the county in addition to four grist mills. Some of these mills, however, were located in what was later Sanilac county. Thomas Palmer owned a mill at St. Clair, which he built in 1834-35 under an agreement with Marcena Monson, of New York. It was a two saw steam mill and was operated for different lumbermen on the Pine and Black rivers. Harmon Chamberlain and James Ogden built a mill in 1845 just north of the mouth of the Pine river at St. Clair and operated it until 1852. Wesley Truesdail bought the Palmer mill in 1841 and also erected a grist and sawmill on the adjoining property. In March, 1852, he bought the mill of Chamberlain and Ogden. He also built two planing mills at St. Clair. Justin Rice built a steam mill at St. Clair in 1848, completing it the following year. In 1849 another steam mill was built by Grant P. Robinson. Marine City had three mills at various times, the first being built in 1837 by Henry Folger, the second in 1842 by Samuel Ward and Aloney and David W. Rust. Dr. L. B. Parker built a mill at Catholic point at Newport in 1851 but con 136 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY verted it into a stave plant after several years. Dan Daniels built a steam sawmill at Algonac in 1845, and another was built in 1845 by Nathaniel Brooks and William M. St. Clair. Hardwood lumber working also became an important phase of the lumber business, particularly between the years 1860 and 1870. At Memphis, Capac and other places were erected mills for the sawing of staves which were shipped east. Although salt springs were known to exist in the state at an early date, commercial quantities of brine were not discovered until 1860 in the Saginaw region. Five years later, the first salt manufacturing company was formed in St. Clair county, using the name of the St. Clair Salt company. From George Palmer, a tract of land was bought and a well 1,195 feet was sunk. Though good brine was found, a fine plant built and an able man placed in charge, the high cost of fuel caused the shutdown of the plant. The people of the city were not willing to let their dreams of prosperity in the salt industry die in this way. By public subscription $1,200 was raised to further the re-establishment of the company and the matter placed in the hands of Crockett McElroy, who reported after investigation that a solid bed of salt underlay this part of the county. In May, 1883, a modern salt block was begun at Marine City and completed, making it the first plant in Michigan to use coal as fuel. Other plants immediately were built but over-production, competition, and lack of transportation facilities so cut the price that the twelve salt blocks of 1886 were soon reduced in number. The report of 1912 of the Michigan Geological and Biological Survey stated that the St. Clair district had the advantage of a lower freight rate on coal, that nowhere else in the state has the industry used the same method of sinking shafts to rock, and that almost the entire output of table salt of the state is in this district, a fact that brings a higher price than is obtained by the salt companies of the other salt-producing sections of the state. The reduction in the number of plants worked for the general well-being of the industry, for several large plants now form a strong and permanent part of the industrial life of the county, notable among which are the Morton Salt company, of Port Huron, and the Diamond Crystal Salt company, at St. Clair. Fishing was an industry that was of considerable importance during the early years of the county's existence, and though fisheries are still conducted on a small scale, the disappearance of the whitefish has reduced the industry to a point of virtual extinction. The legislature was asked in 1824 to regulate fishing in the St. Clair river and at that time the length of seines were limited to forty-five fathoms, the running of the whitefish could not be diverted, and that fishing could be done only in the channel of the river, not using the land of other persons along the shore from which to fish. Descriptions of seines were required under oath in 1833. The value of catches in 1837 was estimated at $125,800, most of the work being done by those of French extraction in the county. Land properly located for fishing was considered of great importance and the Huron Land company laid out a road parallel to the shore south from the town line of Fort Gratiot. The land between the road and the HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY 137 shore was divided into lots approximately a mile in length and designated as fisheries, and it was in this connection that the long litigation between John M. Hoffman and the city of Port Huron arose. In addition to the whitefish, pickerel and herring were caught, salted, and packed for shipment. In 1836 it was estimated that catches of these fish at Fort Gratiot amounted to 3,100 barrels. About 4,000 barrels were shipped the next year, valued at from $6.00 to $8.00 per barrel. With the passing of the lumbering, the county had to turn its attention to other industries and manufacturing enterprises of various kinds were gradually established in the county. As the concentration point for the Thumb and St. Clair river districts, Port Huron has stepped into first place in industrial matters in the county, if not this section of the state. The following list of principal industries of the city, together with their products, compiled by the Chamber of Commerce, gives an accurate idea of the prominence Port Huron is attaining industrially: Acheson Oildag Co., lubricating oils; Aikman Bakery Co., cookies, crackers; Anker-Holth Manufacturing Co., cream separators; Bryant Engineering Co., feed choppers; Bunny Products Co., white shoe polish; Cream Production Co., cream machinery; Mueller, copper and brass rod and tubing, screw machine products, forgings, castings, etc.; New Egyptian Portland Cement Co., cement; Pioneer Boiler Works, boilers, tanks, etc.; Port Huron Engine and Thresher Co., threshing and road machinery; Port Huron Pattern Works, patterns; Port Huron Sulphite and Paper Co., pulp, paper; Riverside Iron Works, iron foundry; Riverside Printing Co., printers and binders; Robeson Preservo Co., waterproofing; United Brass and Aluminum Co., brass, aluminum, bronze and iron castings; Violinola Company of Michigan, violinola phonographs; Wolverine Dry Docks, ship and boat repairs; X-Ray Products Co., oil, polishes, liquid and shampoo soaps; Yeager Bridge and Culvert Co., bridges and culverts; Draper Manufacturing Co., turntable motors, pneumatic flue welders and reclaiming attachments, etc.; Dry Dock Iron Works, general machine shop specializing in marine repair work; Fead & Sons Knitting Mills, lumbermen's and miner's heavy sock, etc.; Great Lakes Foundry Co., grey iron castings; Gruel & Ott, cereal beverages; Herald Printing Co., job, book and label printers; Holmes Foundry, gray iron automobile castings; Home Manufacturing Co., sash, door and window frames; Ideal Septic Tank Co., septic tanks; C. Kern Products Co., cereal beverages; LaBelle Garment Co., aprons, play suits, creepers; Little Brothers Foundry, general grey iron castings; Miller Mattress Works, mattresses; Moak Machine and Tool Co., woodworking machinery, custom machine work, etc.; H. G. Moyer Sash and Door Co.; Morton Salt Co., salt; Muller Chicory Co., chicory; Dunn Sulphite Paper Co., paper; Erd-Marshall Co., children's wear; Port Huron Terminal Co., lake and rail transportation. Waterworks. Although the water suppliy of the various villages and cities does not constitute an industrial feature, yet it is a public utility that is rightfully placed in this chapter. Port Huron was the first community in the county to secure a modern water system. The subject was 138 HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY first considered in 1870 and was talked of during the ensuing two years. Finally, in 1872, bids for the installation of a waterworks and water system were advertised for, and on May 8, that year, the bid of $25,000 for the installation of the Holly system was accepted on condition that the machinery be installed and ready for operation by September 15 of the same year. Piping contracts were let to the firm of Walker & Rich for $68.85 per ton, but some of the contracts were declared illegal, and the resulting litigation delayed construction, so that it was not until September 6, 1873, that the system was in operation. The same basic system of water supply is maintained today, and Port Huron, with its Holly system drawing water from Lake Huron, is second to none in the state for the excellence of its water and the efficiency of its supply system. The decade between 1880 and 1890 found nearly all the larger municipalities in the county installing water systems. The Algonac waterworks was established with steam pumps drawing water from the St. Clair river and pumping it into a standpipe, from which it flowed into the mains. The same system prevails today except that electric pumps, two with a capacity of 350 gallons per minute each, and a third with a capacity of 1,200 gallons, have supplanted the steam apparatus of the first plant. The new equipment was installed in 1919 at an approximate cost of $30,000 and a chlorinating apparatus treats the water chemically. The Marine City Waterworks is a steam plant pumping direct from the river or from a well when the water is high, and approximately 1,000,000 gallons are pumped in each twenty-four hours. The plant was installed in 1885 and has given excellent service since that time. The St. Clair waterworks was started in 1885 as a steam system, but in 1920 the city officials felt that the equipment needed to be modernized. Accordingly, on March 29, 1921, contracts were let for a standpipe 150 feet high, with a capacity of 100,000 gallons, and for the purchase and installation of two electris driven pumps with capacities of 700 gallons per minute and a gasoline engine pump with a capacity of 1,000 gallons per minute. Without delay, the new equipment was installed and has been operating successfully since that time. In 1922 water meters were installed, but because they became clogged with fine silt from the river, nearly all of them have been taken out. Yale and Capac are supplied with artesian well water and have their own pumping stations for that purpose. SH IAW\ASSEE COUNTY 16 j CHAPTER I EARLY SETTLEMENT SO far as is known, the forests of Shiawassee county saw no white man until the coming of Henry Bolieu, a Frenchman, who traversed the part of Michigan now included in Shiawassee, Saginaw and Genesee counties. His trade was with the Indians for their furs and his interests lay far from the establishment of a permanent settlement. He had made himself familiar with this territory long before the coming of the first white settlers, and it was he who guided Jacob Smith to the crossing of the Flint river to found the settlement that eventually became the proud manufacturing city of Flint. Bolieu was on the best of terms with the Indians, and his services to the incoming whites cannot be underestimated. At several of the river fords which he had discovered, Bolieu built shanties, but about 1816 or 1817 he built a larger log house in an Indian clearing on the Shiawassee river. Near what is now Owosso, he built another house, the only other that he ever constructed within the limits of the present Shiawassee county. Known as the first white settler of the county was Whitmore Knaggs, who in 1820 established a trading post at the crossing of the Shiawassee river. The only other inhabitants of the county at the time were about three thousand Indians who were living on a reservation allotted them by the treaty of 1819, this reservation being partly in Antrim and partly in the townships of Burns, Shiawassee and Vernon. Knaggs Place, as the trading post became known to all the people of that country in years to come, was a gathering place for the Indians and the few whites that ventured into that country. Henry Bolieu had sent his half Indian daughter, Angelique, to Detroit, where the girl received a rudimentary education and acquired more or less proficiency in singing. Following the girl's return from Detroit, she lived at the Knaggs Place and succeeded in creating an air of gaiety about the place that made it famous among all the early pioneers of that section of the state. According to the late Governor Begole, who came to Knaggs Place in the early Thirties, the post consisted of three log shanties with bark roofs. Antoine Beaubien, the friend of Knaggs, was a hunter and trapper and lived near the post with his three daughters. When Whitmore Knaggs gave up the active management of the post, his son, John Knaggs, took up the work and carried on until 1839. Whitmore Knaggs died the following year and was taken to Fremont for burial. Alfred L. and Benjamin 0. Williams, the latter then a minor, came to the Shiawassee in 1831 to settle on land purchased previously from the government by the elder brother. The land purchased by the Williams' was located about two miles above Newburg. Benjamin 0. Williams claimed that this was the first purchase of land in the county with a view to permanent settlement. The Williams party left Grand Blanc and on the third day arrived at their destination. The work of making 142 HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY the clearing began at once when Chief Wasso appeared with a band of his Indians and demanded that the work cease. After some words on the matter and unfriendly action by the chief in kicking the cooking food into the fire, the white men fell upon the Indians with sticks and routed them. This decisive action on the part of the white men won for them the respect of the Indians and from that time forward the trading post that eventually became known as the Shiawassee Exchange was never molested by the Indians. Williams states in a paper on the early settlement of the county, that the first white man to locate here to become a farmer was John I. Tinklepaugh, who in May, 1833, settled with his family on section twenty-four about a mile above Newburg. Tinklepaugh had built a log house and plowed some land on the river bottom before he brought his family to the county, and Williams tells of the first winter of the family in Shiawassee county. The Williams were kind enough to lend Tinklepaugh large quantities of flour and venison hams for his family. The first crop put down by the pioneer farmer was potatoes. The couple lived out the remainder of their lives in the county. In the fall of 1832, Henry S. Smith and a Mr. Cooley brought a small stock of goods and a barrel of whiskey to the county and after building a small cabin below Shiawassee town opened a trading post, a venture in which they were not very successful. In June of the following year, Smith brought his wife and five children to their new home. A blacksmith by trade, Smith had the first plow in the county, and when the family subsequently took up its residence in the first house to be built at Owosso, Smith opened the first blacksmith shop in the county. The spring of 1833 also witnessed the arrival of Hosea Baker and his son, Ambrose. After purchasing the land on which was founded the village of Newburg, the father returned to Pennsylvania while the son remained here to build a house. This log building was located near an excellent spring. Baker returned, bringing his wife and several daughters, and was accompanied by Aaron Swain and wife, the latter of whom was the daughter of Baker. Julia Swain, the daughter of Aaron, was the first white child born in Shiawassee county. A boy, Alexander Stevens, also came with the Baker family. Baker hired a Mr. Lathrop to break up the fallow on the bench of land under the hill at Newburg in the spring of 1834. In the same spring, Lathrop plowed a field for William Black, near the Indian town. Black subsequently married a daughter of Baker and Lathrop put up a bark house on the south bank of the Shiawassee river, near Vernon, but the mosquitos, gnats and other insects made life unbearable for the wife of Lathrop and they moved away in the fall of the same year. In the fall of 1833, came Henry Leach with his wife and three children at what became Vernon village. He built the best log house then in the county and in 1835 built at the Shiawassee Exchange the first frame barn erected in the county. The lumber for this barn was drawn by wagons from Waterford, Oakland county. Leach was a native of Ohio, a hard worker, and always ready to take his share of any work to be done. Later he removed to Sciota township, where he cleared a large HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 143 farm and where his wife died. Leach met his death in California from injuries received from a runaway horse. That part of the county west of the Shiawassee river had been, until now, known only to the Indians and a band of counterfeiters, some of whom were named Prentis, King, and Belcher. In the early part of May, 1833, Judge Dexter with a colony of some eight or ten families comprising about seventy-three people, secured Benjamin O. Williams for a guide, and started for Ionia, where they arrived within six days, the route followed by Williams being approximately Grand River road through Shiawassee and Clinton counties. In 1834 came new settlers to the county, among them being Josiah Pierce and family, the first county treasurer; John Smedley, Clark, Bovier, Z. R. Webb, Cornelius Miller and Judge Retan, the last of whom became one of the first county judges. They settled in Vernon and along the line of a road that had just been cut through Vernon and Genesee to the place where William Gage had just established his home. During the summer of 1835, a Mr. Banks, Vary, Philips, Van Aukin and John Knaggs, the last a half-breed of French descent, settled in the county, most of them locating along the route of the Grand River road. During the winter of 1835 and 1836 the settlement was started at Owosso. The Williams brothers had purchased land at that point and had sent Henry S. Smith to live there. Elias Comstock purchased land there in 1835, and immediately commenced making the improvements on the land near the house he erected. The spring of 1836 and 1837, after the location of the county seat at what became Corunna, witnessed a great increase in the tide of immigration. Judge Daniel Ball brought a colony to settle at the Big Rapids on the Shiawassee with the Comstock, Smith, Overton and Van Wormer families that had already gone to that place. In this colony brought by Judge Ball were the following families: Phelps, Laing, Nichols, Hutchins, Rowe, Jackson, Sargent, Seymour, Wilkinson, Griggs, Castle, Dewey, Slocum, Flint, Roberts, Green, Cook, Harmon, Beard, Whitcomb, Prevost, Ezra D. Barnes, Green J. Barnum, Crawford, Cole, and many others. As this influx of settlers came to the county, the great speculations in land began, the speculations that eventually led, in part, to the financial panic of 1837. Settlers poured into the county and the settlements at Shiawassee town and Byron grew rapidly. During the fall of 1837 there settled at Owosso, Daniel Gould, the first county surveyor; the Chipmans, George Parkhill, Sanford M. Green, the Findleys, and other families. At that time was chosen the name of Owosso, in honor of the Indian chief, the first letter being prefixed to make it more euphonius. Roads were then so bad that considerable money was spent by the Williams and by Judge Ball in the effort to make the river navigable to Saginaw, that part of the river between Chesaning and Bad River being improved particularly. Several scows were built and a tow path was made along the shore, the scows being towed by a horse. Ebenezer Gould and David D. Fish had established themselves in business at Owosso in 1838, they becoming the first merchants in the settlement. The following year witnessed the arrival of Dr. S. W. Pattison from Fenton 144 HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY ville to become the first regularly practicing physician to locate in Shiawassee county. A Dr. Perry had previously settled in Perry but he had turned his attention to agricultural pursuits rather than to the practice of medicine. Before that time, each household had been provided with the various medicines for treating the common ills, calomel, jalap, Peruvian bark, quinine, castor oil, Epsom salts, opium and Dover's powders, as well as turnkeys for extracting teeth being found in every pioneer home. Such was the settlement of Owosso during the first few years of its existence. It has been a matter of controversy as to whether the man who established the Knaggs trading post was Whitmore Knaggs, as he claimed to be, or was Peter W. Knaggs, a representative of a different branch of the famous family. It is beyond doubt that the settlers of Burns and Shiawassee knew him as Whitmore Knaggs and his son as John Knaggs, who kept the trading post after the older man gave up the work. In the Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections is the account of Mrs. Rhoda Snell concerning her arrival in the county in 1836, and her description of Whitmore Knaggs and John Knaggs is as follows: "I was about fifteen years old when I first saw Whitmore Knaggs at the Shiawassee Exchange. When I first saw him he was over sixty years of age, I should think. He was a fine looking man, tall and stout, with broad shoulders. Whitmore Knaggs was an intelligent man and a good and interesting talker. He was always a perfect gentleman.... He was at our house, the old Exchange, every few days. The people always called him 'Old Whit.' He never gave us the name of Peter. He always held himself out to be Whitmore Knaggs. "I knew John Knaggs. He would come to our house there at the Exchange on the river; then he would go to Fremont and to Newburg. At the time I knew him he was as much as thirty years of age. John Knaggs was not as tall as his father, Whitmore, but was a short man and quite thick set. At one time, he had charge of the trading post which his father had established at the turn in the river from the Exchange. He was a hunter and trapper. At the time John Knaggs died we were living in Newburg, and I saw the funeral procession go by our house to the burying-ground." Others of the first settlers of the county stoutly maintained that they never heard of a Peter W. Knaggs, and corroborated the words of Mrs. Snell and others. According to the same paper in the Pioneer and Historical Collections, one Whitmore Knaggs, of Detroit, was granted a license in 1820 to establish a trading post and to trade on lands included in the reservation of Ketch-e-won-daug-o-ning. This right was exclusive to Whitmore Knaggs and his assigns. The elder Knaggs died in 1827, and two years later came the Williams brothers, who stated that the post was then in charge of Benjamin Cushway, Richard Godfroy then being the proprietor of the post that had been established by Knaggs. Quoting further from the paper contained in the Pioneer and Historical Collections: "In 1843 a quitclaim deed was executed by Non-e-dash-e-maw, alias P. W. Knaggs, or Peter Whitmore Knaggs, as the justice of the peace:*A HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 145 who took his acknowledgment certifies his name. By this deed P. W. Knaggs sells all his interest in the reservation to David Bush, Jr. The deed gives the residence of this Knaggs as Shiwassee. It leaves us to guess whether P. W. Knaggs was at the time a resident of the county, town, or village of Shiawassee. At this time the town of Burns had been organized for several years, so he could not have been a resident of the place where the store and post was situated and where John Knaggs lived. This deed was made three years after the death of the man whom Mrs. Snell and so many others knew as Whitmore Knaggs. So then we have the following names of the famous Knaggs family: Whitmore Knaggs, Whitmore Knaggs, Jr., John Knaggs, James Knaggs, and Peter Knaggs. "Were there two men named Whitmore Knaggs? Let us examine that question. The Peter Whitmore Knaggs above mentioned we dispose of by stating that he was a younger man than the Whitmore Knaggs who died on the reservation and was buried at Fremont in 1840. Besides, Peter W. died early in the Sixties, in Toledo, as stated by Mr. Ross. "We place before the reader a statement which the late B. O. Williams has left in writing, which may clear up this matter somewhat. He states that the John Knaggs who lived on the reservation was a 'halfbreed of French descent.' This same John Knaggs held himself out to be the son of Whitmore Knaggs, who died in his (John's) house and was buried at Fremont. This reminds us of a statement made by Mrs. Snell that she never saw the wife of Whitmore Knaggs, but she said 'I always heard he had a squaw for a wife.' "It appears, then, that both these men were of Indian descent. Was this last Whitmore Knaggs, then, a half-brother or son of the Whitmore Knaggs of Detroit, who established the trading post in 1820. And if so, then the John Knaggs referred to in these papers was a cousin or a half-brother to the John Knaggs of Maumee. "When John Knaggs, in 1839, closed the trading post of the reservation which his uncle or his grandfather, Whitmore Knaggs, of Detroit, and of Saginaw treaty fame, had established in 1820, not far from the house above described, he without doubt retained what goods there still remained for. his new enterprise." Upon the matter of the true identity, much space can be taken in the discussion of both sides of the question as to the real or supposed name of the first white settler in Shiawassee county, but the fact that the early settlers of the county are virtually unanimous in their assertion that he was Whitmore Knaggs would seem to outweigh any evidence that might be gleaned to the contrary from the imperfect and often ambiguous records of that time. Settlement of other villages began about 1836, when the tide of immigration began flowing steadily into the county. Corunna, the county seat, consisted of one log house owned and erected by John Davids, who entered land there in 1836. A steam mill was begun in 1837 at the county seat. To Byron in 1836 came Major Francis J. Prevost, Robert Crawford, John Burgess, Wallace Goodin, John B. Barnum, P. L. Smith 146 HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY and S. S. Derby. The village of Laingsburg was founded in 1836 by Peter Laing in what is now Sciota township, and in the same year Samuel Carpenter, Milton Phelps and Mason Phelps took up land in the same township. Samuel and James Nichols located lands in Bennington township in the spring of 1836, and in the fall of that year came Jordan Holcomb and Aaron Hutchins. Ephraim Wright, William Newberry, William M. Warren and others made their homes in Shiawassee township in that year. To Vernon township in that year came John Smedley, William K. Reed, Noah Bovier and Joseph Parmenter. Obed Hathaway and George W. Slocum settled in 1836 in Middlebury township, and Horace Hart and Richard Freeman bought lands in New Haven township. The other townships of the northern tier did not receive their first settlers until considerably later in the county's history. CHAPTER II COUNTY ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT HIAWASSEE COUNTY, after the erection of the Northwest Territory by Congress and the Territory of Michigan, was a part of Wayne county until Macomb county was created by a proclamation of Governor Cass on January 15, 1818, when the territory now embraced by this county was attached to Macomb. With the erection of Oakland county by Governor Cass by proclamation of January 12, 1819, nearly the southern half of the present Shiawassee county was included in the unorganized county of Oakland. Upon the petition of the people of Oakland county, Cass, on March 28, 1820, declared the county organized, and for another period of two and a half years, the southern part of Shiawassee was attached to Oakland county, about two-thirds of the northern half was attached to Macomb county, and the balance of the present county was still included in the Indian possessions and belonged to no county. Shiawassee first attained recognition as a separate county when Cass, on September 10, 1822, issued the proclamation that read in part as follows: "Beginning on the principal meridian, where the line between the eighth and ninth townships north of the base-line intersects the same, and running thence south to the line between the second and third townships north of the base-line; thence east to the line between the sixth and seventh ranges east of the principal meridian; thence north to the line between townships numbered eight and nine north of the baseline; thence west to the place of beginning." Shiawassee as defined by this proclamation of the governor included in addition to its present area the north half of Livingston county, the northeast quarter of Ingham county, and eight townships in Genesee county. By the erection of Livingston county on March 21, 1833, Ingham county on October 29, 1829, and Genesee county on March 28, 1835, Shiawassee county lost these portions that had previously formed a part of her territory and was reduced to its present limits. Prior to the erection of Genesee county, Shiawassee county was attached to Oakland county, but after the organization of Genesee it was attached to that county as a part of Grand Blanc township. On March 23, 1836, Shiawassee county was organized into a township with the same name as the county designation, Shiawassee. On March 18, 1837, the legislature passed the following act in relation to this county: "Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Michigan, That the county of Shiawassee be and the same is hereby organized for county purposes; and the inhabitants thereof entitled to all the rights and privileges to which by law the inhabitants of other counties of this state, organized since the adoption of the constitution, are entitled. 148 HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY "Sec. 2. All suits and prosecutions in law pending at the time of the taking effect of this act, between inhabitants of Shiawassee county, or inhabitants of any other county and inhabitants of Shiawassee county, shall be prosecuted to final judgment and execution; and all taxes heretofore levied and unpaid shall be collected in the same manner as though this act had not taken effect. "Sec. 3. The circuit court for the county of Shiawassee shall be held at the county seat if practicable; and if not, at such other place as the sheriff of said county shall provide, until county buildings shall be erected. "Sec. 4. The county of Shiawassee shall belong to the Second Judicial circuit, and the terms of the circuit court shall commence on the first Monday of June and December in each year. "Sec. 5. There shall be elected in said county, on the second Monday of May, and the next succeeding day, all the county officers, which by law the organized counties are entitled to elect, and the terms of all said officers shall expire at the same time that they would provided they had been elected at the annual election in November last; and the said election shall be held and conducted, and the returns made and certified, in all respects as is provided for in the act organizing the county of Ionia, and providing for the election of county officers in that county. "Sec. 6. The county of Clinton shall be attached to the county of Shiawassee for judicial purposes, and all suits touching the rights of the inhabitants of Clinton county, pending in any court, and all taxes unpaid at the time of the taking effect of this act, shall be continued and proceeded upon in like manner as though this act had not taken effect." Prior to its organization, on March 11, 1837, the county had been divided into townships, so that Owosso township comprised the northern half of the county, Burns and Vernon townships each included their present area, and Shiawassee township included the present towns of Antrim, Bennington, Perry, Sciota, Shiawassee and Woodhull. By an act of March 6, 1838, Antrim township was organized in its present size and Bennington township was organized to include its present territory and also the area of Perry township. On April 2, that year, Woodhull township was erected, including the present Sciota township in addition to its present area, and by this creation of Woodhull township, Shiawassee township was reduced to its present size of one Congressional township. On March 21, 1839, Middlebury township was erected from Owosso township to include its present area and the present Fairfield township within its boundaries, and the present Venice township was taken from Owosso and attached to Vernon township. On the following day, the governor approved an act that erected all of township seven north, of range three east, except sections six, seven, eighteen, nineteen and thirty, into Caledonia township. By an act of February 16, 1842, these six sections that had remained a part of Owosso were given to Caledonia township to make it a full Congressional township. HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 149 On March 15, 1841, Perry township was erected from Bennington, reducing the latter to its present size and making the new township with the same limits that it has at the present time. New Haven township was erected March 20, 1841, from Owosso township, and it included its present area and the township of Hazelton in addition. Sciota township was erected by an act approved February 16, 1842, having its present boundaries and being taken from Woodhull township. What is now Venice township was organized March 9, 1843, from the north half of Vernon township, leaving the latter, and the new township, in the size they are today. Hazelton township was erected March 25, 1850, from the east half of New Haven township, their boundaries then becoming what they are today. By the erection of Rush township on March 28, 1850, Owosso township was reduced to its present size of one Congressional township. Fairfield township, the last to be erected in Shiawassee county, was formed by an act of the board of supervisors on January 4, 1854. Location of the County Seat. Governor Cass, on August 4, 1824, appointed George Meldrum, James McCloskey and Frederick A. Sprague commissioners to locate the county seat of Shiawassee county. Their choice, influenced possibly by the interest of Judge Samuel Dexter, of Washtenaw county, who owned considerable land there, and also by the consideration that the place was much nearer the geographical center of the county as it then existed, fell upon land on which now stands the village of Byron. The subsequent organizations of neighboring counties made Byron an isolated point in the southeast corner of the county and therefore undesirable as a county seat. Furthermore, no public buildings had been erected by the proprietor of the village by 1833. With these two considerations in mind, the legislature on February 26, 1837, passed an act vacating the seat of justice of Shiawassee county. Thereupon the governor appointed John Greenfield and Col. Garry Spencer, of Detroit, and Samuel Axford, of Macomb county, commissioners to locate the county seat of this county. An account written by B. O. Williams for the Owosso Weekly Press and re-printed in the Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, gives the following story of the location of the county seat: "During the winter of 1836 the county seat was located on section twenty-eight, then recently purchased by Mr. Mack, of Detroit. I came from Pontiac with the commissioners, making headquarters at my brother's house at our old trading post. The late Hon. Jacob M. Howard and a young attorney of Baltimore, Maryland, named Churchman, with two or three others besides the commissioners, formed the party. We spent three days examining various locations and visiting the rapids (Owosso), twice on different days. The second day, on returning to my brother's, we found a boy courier with letters to Spencer and Greenfield, who, after a long private consultation, asked my brother to describe to them where, on our route down the river, made the first day upon horse 150 HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY back and upon the ice, all the way from the present site of Shiawassee town, was situated section twenty-eight, carefully examining a map to see where that section was. (Mr. Axford had, upon seeing the rapids and meeting Judge Comstock there, expressed his opinion very frankly in favor of the place.) The next day after the dispatches were received we again visited the rapids after going to the geographical center of the county, and that day before they had seen section twenty-eight-except when riding rapidly down the river upon the ice the first day of our exploring-Garry Spencer and John Greenfield, both of Detroit, in my presence decided to locate the county seat on section twenty-eight, its present site. Mr. Axford told them it seemed strange to him that they could arrive at such a conclusion before they had seen the land, and that he would go with them the next day and look at it, provided they could find it. At that time, neither Spencer nor Greenfield had ever before been in the country, and I had been with them all the time in exploring. There was no road, and the Indian trail did not run within a mile of the river at that point. The next day my brother piloted the commissioners to Col. Mack's land on section twenty-eight, where the location was made, myself returning to Pontiac the same day, fully satisfied that a great wrong was being perpetrated. It may not be amiss to say that every man in the county, a settler at the time, signed a remonstrance asking the governor to withhold his sanction of the act. Thus was located the county seat of Shiawassee county." The governor approved the act on July 1, 1836. Public Buildings. On October 7, 1839, the board of supervisors voted unanimously a block of land at Corunna three hundred feet square as the donation of the County Seat company to the county as a site for county buildings. Stephen Hawkins was authorized by the board to build thereon a building for county offices twenty by thirty feet for the consideration of $382.50, contract price. The building was located at the northeast corner of the Public Square, as the block of land was termed. Somewhat later in the year, the commissioners rented for $30 a year a building at the corner of Fraser street and Shiawassee avenue for the housing of the circuit court and for other county purposes, and in April, 1840, the proprietors of the village offered the building to the county as a gift. In February, 1842, the commissioners decided to attempt the raising of $4,000 for the erection of a suitable courthouse, but the people defeated the measure at the polls. In July, 1842, the board decided to inquire into the legality of their title to the land given by them by the town proprietors of Corunna, but Sanford M. Green, despite the favorable report of the committee, gave the opinion that the title of the county was a feeble one if it existed at all. The board rented rooms from E. J. Van Buren on January 4, 1847, and when that time had expired, the board again gave its attention to the building of a county building. The necessary resolution was adopted in April, 1850, and the committee appointed to report on the most desirable form of building for the county. The committee's report called for a two-story brick building forty by sixty feet in size, the walls of the lower floor to be sixteen inches thick and the walls of the upper floor HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 151 to be twelve inches thick. The first floor was to contain two office rooms, two rooms fitted up for a jail, and a grand jury room. The upper floor was to contain a courtroom and two jury rooms. The committee estimated the probable cost of the building at abont $4,500. R. W. Holley, L. H. Parsons, and Z. Bunce were appointed the building committee and was authorized to receive bids. George O. Bachman was awarded the contract, the building to be completed on November 1, 1851. At the January session, 1852, the board adopted a resolution to the effect that the board had no further use for the building which had been used for county purposes. The new courthouse was formally taken over by the sheriff on January 6, 1854. The county business grew so rapidly during the next decade, that by the close of the Civil war, the board found itself faced with the necessity of making an addition. Accordingly, on July 9, 1865, the board adopted a resolution to build fire-proof offices for the register of deeds and the county treasurer, immediately south of the courthouse. The additional office space was secured with all dispatch, and these augmented quarters served the purposes of the county until the erection of the new courthouse. By the opening of the present century, the quarters of the county offices had become too cramped for further usefulness and the supervisors set about paving the way for the erection of a new one. A resolution to that effect was adopted, tentative plans decided upon, and the question of a bond issue placed before the people of the county. The bond issue carried, contracts were let, and on May 4, 1904, the cornerstone of our government realized that the success of that self-rule lay in laid with fitting ceremonies. When completed, the new courthouse represented a total cost of approximately $142,000, and although its beauty is a credit to the county, the feature of the building is the ample fireproof vault space that was provided, for the supervisors, from their experience with the old courthouse, realized that this respect was the paramount consideration in erecting a county building. CHAPTER III EDUCATION T HAT education is one of the salient features of American democracy is a fact that cannot be denied. Those who laid the cornerstone of our government realized that the success of that self-rule lay in intelligent voters. Thus it was that from the earliest days of American history, the education of the children of the nation has formed one of the paramount duties of the local governments. The settlers who carved farms from the forests of Shiawassee county were imbued with the same will to educate their children as were those who first landed on the shores of this continent to escape the oppression of the Old World. As the clearings in the forests of the county grew larger and more frequent and as the pioneers found time to devote a little more attention to the development of their community life, schools were established. The pioneer schools were generally of a type. They were constructed of logs with bark or slab roofs and doors. Not more than a window or two lighted the interior of the cabin where rude benches were set on the customany puncheon floor. As a rule, the only desks were large slabs laid across huge pegs driven in the log wall below the windows of the cabin. The first school buildings were often unheated; others boasted but a crude fireplace at one end of the room. With such conditions prevailing, it was not unusual for the terms of these schools to be held during the summer months and the more clement parts of the spring and fall. The difficulty of obtaining teachers, too, resulted in irregular terms of school, terms that varied in length from a few weeks to several months. Before the number of children in any one community warranted the establishment of a school, some man or woman would volunteer to teach the few children of school age in that vicinity. As the section developed, the residents built a school and cast about for a teacher, whom they paid a few dollars a week and room and board from the families whose children attended the school. Such a practice was usual throughout pioneer communities and was succeeded by the rate bill system of school support that was eventually superceded by the present method of taxation for school maintenance, made possible through the enactment of general education laws by the state legislature. Antrim township, while yet it was a part of Shiawassee township, was first divided into school districts on November 14, 1837, although actual organization of the four districts so created was left until two years later. In the fall of 1838, John Stiles came from New Jersey to visit his uncle, John Ward, who had settled in the township the previous year. Stiles was approached by members of the school board and expressed a willingness to teach school in what is now Antrim township. A meeting of the board was called and Stiles was hired to teach a threemonths' term of school in the log cabin built by Horace B. Flint, who HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 153 was then erecting a new home. The salary of thirty-six dollars was paid Stiles for the entire term. The attendance was quite irregular at the school, and among those who attended this first school was Levi and Lyman Kellogg, of Bennington. The first formal meeting of the school board was held April 6, 1839, John Culver and Thomas Locke being elected to the positions of moderator and clerk, respectively. On April 19, the board divided the township into four districts, the same size as the first districts but differently numbered. District No. 1 included the northeast corner of the township; District No. 2 was the northwest quarter; District No. 3 was the southwest quarter; and the southeast quarter was set apart as District No. 4. Ten days later a third meeting was held, at which it was decided to raise $200 for the erection of a schoolhouse on the northeast corner of the northwest quarter of section eighteen. On May 29, Alanson Alling leased that piece of land to the school board for twenty-five cents. A log schoolhouse was soon erected and Miss Polly A. Harmon installed as teacher with a salary of one dollar per week. School District No. 1 was formed in 1848; the Durfee district was the second one organized in the township; and School District No. 3 was organized by the inspectors on September 3, 1853. In District No. 3, a log school was erected and opened for a thirteen weeks' term during the winter of 1853 under the instruction of Ruth E. Converse at a salary of a dollar a week. Four school districts were defined in Bennington township while it was still a part of Shiawassee township on November 14, 1837, but nothing further was done until after the erection of Bennington township when the first school inspectors elected met in April, 1838, and established five districts. No records indicate the existence of any schools in that year in the township, but in 1839 the voters cast their ballots in favor of raising a fifty-dollar tax for the support of primary schools. Of the $43.50 raised for school purposes in 1840, District No. 1 received $16.65 and District No. 2 was the recipient of $26.73. The first record of the names of teachers in the township appears in 1843, when these men and women were in charge of the district schools: William C. R. Patterson, Louisa Pitts, Diantha F. Chaffin, M. L. Whitford, Sarah Edson and Clarissa Pond. The log cabin built by Amos Fraser near the road on the southwest quarter of section twenty-two housed the first school kept in Burns township. During the winter of 1838-39, Andrew Huggins, later a resident of Corunna, taught this school. This gave impetus to the education movement in the township, and during the following summer several schools were maintained in various sections of the township. It was also said that the first school taught in the township was kept by a woman at Byron during the summer of 1838, she later marrying a man at Fentonville. A school was also taught in the early days in the log cabin of Robert Crawford near the river. The next school taught was that maintained by Miss Jane Duncan in a log house on the northeast quarter of section twenty in 1840. The children of the township had also attended several schools that had been kept across the line in Livingston county. The first district was organized in 1843 at a meeting 154 HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY held on May 18 at the home of Dyer Rathburn. The first school meeting in the village of Byron was held at the Byron hotel on December 6, 1843. The early school history of Caledonia township is scanty, indeed. A school was maintained in Corunna for some time before a school building was erected in the township, and it was not until 1842 that a building was erected for school purposes and placed in charge of Miss Drusilla Cook, who taught in the township for several years. Elizabeth Borden taught the first school in Fairfield township in 1855, the children receiving their instruction in Henry Stebbins' house for the first part of the term and in the new schoolhouse in the latter part of the term. Of the twelve pupils who attended this school, Edwin R. Bennett was the only boy in the class. Schoolhouses were built in Districts No. 2 and No. 3 in 1856, No. 2 having been organized on November 7, 1854, and No. 3 on November 3, 1855. District No. 1 was organized at the same time as was No. 2. Henry Higgins contracted to erect the first schoolhouse in District No. 3 for seventy-five dollars, but when he bargained with some of the residents of the district provided that they furnished the lumber, he decided he had made a bad bargain and gave R. G. Van Deusen to take the work off his hands on the consideration of a thousand feet of lumber. Soon after the organization of Hazelton township, it was divided into school districts. The first school taught in the township was kept by Mrs. Daniel L. Patterson in 1851 in a log cabin built on her husband's farm by John Willis. The cabin stood on section twenty-two. Miss Mary Gillet succeeded Mrs. Patterson as teacher of the school, and in 1854, Miss Jane Judd opened a school in a log house on section thirtyfour. On May 28, 1845, six years after the organization of Middlebury township, the first school district was organized. Before the organization of District No. 1, however, Curtis Stafford taught a subscription school in 1843 in a log cabin on the property of William Palmer. Mary Doane taught there a short time after Stafford left. Although a school district was established in 1845, it does not seem that a school was erected until 1849, when William Rideout erected such a building on section twenty-eight. This school was taught by Mary Sherman. In 1849, the school districts were re-organized, and according to reports of 1852, the first district had twenty-four pupils between the ages of four and eighteen years, Esther Doane having taught three months that spring at a salary of $1.75 per week. Seven years elapsed after the organization of New Haven township before schools were established. In 1843 a log schoolhouse was erected on the south line of section twenty-one on land owned by F. R. Pease. In this school Ira W. Rush was installed as the first teacher, and religious services were also held there by Noah Pettus. The log building was later superseded by a frame building that was for years a township landmark and was known as the old red schoolhouse. On November 14, 1837, the school commissioners of Shiawassee township divided that part which is now Perry township into four school HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 155 districts, the northeast quarter becoming District No. 1, the southeast quarter being numbered two; the northwest quarter receiving the designation of No. 3, and the southwest quarter being numbered four. In 1839 Miss Julia Green taught what is believed to have been the first school in the township in an upper room in her father's house. She taught the seven or ten pupils twelve weeks and received six dollars from the school fund for her labors. Horace Green, her father, built a small log building in the same year which he intended to use as a shop, but the people secured it as a schoolhouse. It was located on section fifteen. James Andrews and Henry Smith were among the first teachers to hold forth here. Charles Locke built a schoolhouse in the southeastern part of the township about 1840, and another, erected about the same time in the northern part of the township was known as the Austin schoolhouse. Miss Julia Green taught the first term of school in the building erected by Charles Locke on section twenty-four. The first schoolhouse in Rush township was built in 1850 on section twenty-five and was known as the Goss schoolhouse. Miss Amanda Shepard was one of the early teachers in this school, but the fragmentary records give no further facts about the school. The second school was that built on section six and named the Washburn school, it having been established some years after the Goss school. In December, 1839, a school was opened in Lucius Beach's tavern at Shiawasseetown in Shiawassee township. The founding of this first school in the township was due to the work of Mrs. Beach, who determined to open her house as a school and who secured the services of a Mr. Wilcox as teacher, he receiving the salary of forty dollars for four months. The four Beach children and the three children of William Hart composed the class when it was first opened. The second day showed twenty-five pupils present, and by the opening of the second week of the school, forty children were in attendance, many of whom rode several miles to reach the tavern. Miss Mary Ann Post taught school at an early date in the house of Aaron Swain on section twentythree, and though it is not definitely known, it is possible that Miss Post's school may have been started before the one sponsored by Mrs. Beach. The division of Shiawassee township into school districts came in 1837, the school inspectors creating seven districts on November 14, that year. Mrs. Cornelius Putnam, who had been a school teacher in New York before she came to this county, opened the first school in Sciota township in 1837, she teaching her own children and those of Henry Leach in her own home. District No. 1 was organized September 15, 1843, and a log school was built near Henry Leach's home and placed in charge of Oliver B. Westcott that same year. District No. 2 was organized in May, 1844, and the first teacher was Mrs. M. A. Phelps. District No. 3 was organized May 22, 1844, and the fourth district was created May 28, 1847. In June, 1850, the districts were re-organized and a fifth was added. No information exists today concerning the early schools in Vernon township, but it is believed that the first school was probably established in District No. 3. On April 4, 1844, the school inspectors, J. B. Clark, 156 HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY Caleb Curtis and Joseph Parmenter, divided the township into nine school districts. Frances Ferry taught the first school in Venice township in 1840 in her father's house. Nelson Ferry had built an addition to his house to accommodate the school. Soon after a frame school building was erected on section thirty-two, with Nelson Ferry as the first teacher. Subsequently, another school was opened in a barn belonging to Charles Wilkinson. Miss Julia Card was the teacher of this school. The second school built in the township was that erected in this district in 1850, of which Miss Celia Hawkins was the first teacher. Woodhull township was divided into four school districts of equal size by the school inspectors of Shiawassee township, of which Woodhull was then a part, on November 14, 1837. In the fall of the following year, inhabitants of Woodhull and the neighboring towns of Bath and Victor met to discuss school matters, Josephus Woodhull being elected moderator at that time. It was determined to erect a log schoolhouse near the county line on section five a few days later. In this building was taught the first school by Oliver B. Westcott, who received ten dollars per month for his services. The attendance ranged between ten and sixteen and the children who attended came from four townships to receive instruction from this pioneer school. The second school district was established in 1842, Martha Spicer teaching in the frame building that was erected. Owosso Schools. The first school was opened in Owosso during the winter of 1837-38 in a log house, Samuel N. Warren, who was clerk at the first township election in 1837, being the first teacher. The structure was a double log building, according to a memoir of one of the pupils in this first school. At the meeting of the school board, held on October 2, 1837, Benjamin O. Williams reported that thirty children of school age resided in his district, that the people had voted to raise five hundred dollars for the erection of a schoolhouse, that seventy-five dollars had been voted for the purchase of a library case and ten dollars for the purchase of books, and that no money had been received by him up to that time. The first schoolhouse was not erected until 1840 or 1841, and was located at the corner of Washington and Williams streets. This school, the only boasted by Owosso township at the time, was first taught by Sanford M. Green, who became one of the most prominent lawyers of the state of Michigan. About this time, J. N. Graham started his select school in the upper story of Gould & Fish's frame store building at Washington and Exchange streets. Perhaps no school of its kind in the central part of the state was more favorably known than was Graham's Select School, for its pupils were drawn from Byron, Howell, Fentonville and Flint, as well as from Owosso. The old school building was used until October 23, 1858, when the brick Union school building was occupied. It had two recitation rooms and large reception halls. According to an announcement in the newspaper of that date, the children were placed in three grades, primary, intermediate and upper departments. Vocal and instrumental music was to be taught in addition to the languages, sciences, and higher Eng HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 157 lish. A Mr. Winchell was principal of the school at that time. The building was subsequently enlarged to accommodate the rapidly swelling number of pupils. As the city has developed, other schools have been erected and today, in addition to the four parochial schools of the various denominations, Owosso has seven graded school buildings and a high school building. At the present time, the board of education is contemplating the erection of a new high school to round out the facilities of the Owosso schools. The Central school, with grades from kindergarten to seventh, has nine teachers. The Emerson school has eighteen teachers in addition to Miss Cora Miller, the principal. Bryant school takes children from kindergarten to the seventh grade and has ten teachers. The Lincoln school has ten teachers, and the Roosevelt, with four teachers, is the smallest in the city. The New Washington school has eight teachers and the old Washington school has six teachers. The board of education is changing the school system from the old 8-4 plan to the 6-3-3 plan that is widely endorsed by educators throughout the country. The erection of the new high school will undoubtedly bring the plan to fruition and Owosso will then have nothing further to seek in school efficiency to equal other cities of the state regardless of size. Corunna boasts one of the finest schoolhouses in the state of Michigan. Recently completed, it has been fitted with everything necessary to the welfare of the children in an educational way. The people of the city are rightfully proud of the educational system that they have developed, and they feel that few cities of its size can equal the record of Corunna in that respect. Owosso Public Library. On May 5, 1867, was formed the Ladies' Library association by the members of a literary society which had been in existence for a few years. From the literary society, the association received forty-eight books and twelve dollars in cash. Each member was assessed a membership due of one dollar a year, and with these small funds the Library association managed to increase the size of the library they had started soon after the Civil war. The first meetings of the association were in the home of Mrs. E. Gould, at whose home the books had been placed, but in December, 1868, the bank parlor was converted into a library. In 1870, the year in which the first class graduated from the high school, the association received a charter from the state, and in October, of the following year, the library was removed to Union hall, where entertainments were held to secure funds to increase the number of books. At the end of 1868 the library had 262 books and by June 1, 1876, it possessed 910 volumes. In January, 1876, Alfred L. and Benjamin O. Williams gave a lot located at the corner of Exchange and Park streets to the association. The ensuing two decades produced nothing startling in the conduct of the library. Finally, the city officials were asked to take over the library of the association but they refused to consider the matter favorably. In 1909, the association sold the lot to the United States Government as a postoffice site. Under the leadership of the new president, Mrs. Margaret MacBain, the proposition was again made to the city fathers, who on August 22, 1910, voted to receive the books, property, and $1,000 in 158 HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY cash belonging to the association, Alderman Reineke being appointed chairman of the library committee. In 1911, Mrs. MacBain opened negotiations with the Carnegie foundation for the establishment of a library at Owosso. William Seegmiller continued the negotiations and finally the terms of the gift were complied with and Owosso was given $20,000 with which to build a library. The L. E. Woodard estate gave a site at the corner of West Main and Shiawassee streets. The plans of Edwyn Bowd, of Lansing, were accepted by the council and construction was begun, and on July 4, 1914, the building was formally dedicated. Two weeks later all was in readiness for the circulation of books. Mrs. MacBain was librarian until September, 1917, when Miss Frances Jones assumed charge of the library, a position that she still retains. CHAPTER IV TRANSPORTATION T HE progress of settlement in Shiawassee county is exemplary of conditions in most counties which have means of river navigation. The Indians and, of course, the first white men who followed them, utilized the rivers as far as possible. Points where trails and rivers met, such as fords or rapids, usually became the site of the first settlements by the white men, for in looking for advantageous places at which to locate trading posts, they naturally selected those which were the foci of various routes of travel. Thus rivers, because of the easy highway of commerce they offered, were used whenever possible. Whitmore Knaggs, when he established his post on the Shiawassee, selected that point for the above mentioned reasons. The Exchange of the Williams brothers had a similar location, and the settlement of Owosso arose from the same considerations. That the pioneers believed in the possibilities of navigation on the Shiawassee river is shown by the fact that several of them expended a considerable amount of money in clearing the river and making a tow path along the bank in order that barges might be towed to the Saginaw. Even later the scheme was revived, and when the plan had almost reached fruition, it was frustrated only by chance. Men of this city planned to make the Shiawassee navigable to the Saginaw, and the owner of an old steamboat on that river was to pick up freight at the confluence of the streams and take it down the river. When plans had nearly been completed, a party of Owosso people went on an excursion to Saginaw City and were met by the steamboat in the upper reaches of the river. So shallow was the stream at that point, however, that the loaded boat stuck hard and fast on a sandbar, and when the promoters of the project had spent a night in the wilderness on a stranded, open boat, they gave up all thought of establishing water communication between Owosso and Saginaw. So much for water transportation. One of the first roads to be cut in this county was that now known as the Grand River road, the route of which was followed approximately by Benjamin O. Williams when he guided the colony of Judge Samuel Dexter from Byron to Ionia. Soon after this colony had gone through, settlers began to pour into the county, and it became apparent that roads would soon be the paramount consideration of the people. On March 9, 1844, the governor approved an act to establish and improve the Pontiac and Grand River road, and of the several locating commissioners appointed at the time, Jonathan M. Hartwell was selected for that section of the road running through Shiawassee county. Work on the road progressed slowly, and though sections of it were opened relatively soon after the act was passed, the entire highway was not declared open through Clinton county until July, 1854. The military road started by the United States Government from Detroit to the mouth of the Grand 160 HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY river then passed through the southern part of Shiawassee county, not as it exists today, but as Shiawassee county stood with its much wider boundaries at that time. The road did not touch the present county. The first state legislature set about a comprehensive system of road building, and several of those established in 1835-36 were partially included in Shiawassee county. One was a road from Pontiac to Brooklyn in Clinton county; a second from Pontiac to the county seat of Ionia, traversing the entire width of this county; a third from Jackson through the centers, as near as possible, of Ingham and Shiawassee counties to Saginaw; a fourth from Pontiac to the county seat of Clinton county, passing through Shiawassee county near the Williams place on the river; and a fifth, subsequently declared inoperative, was to have run from Pontiac to the center of Shiawassee county. The next legislature established six more state roads that crossed Shiawassee county. However, less than half of the roads authorized were ever built or even located. In 1848, the legislature located five more state roads that affected Shiawassee county, and these five became the nucleus of the highway system of this county. One was run from Flint to Lansing by way of Corunna; the second was to run from Michigan village in Ingham county by way of Owosso to Saginaw City; a third was to be located from Byron to Lansing; a fourth from Flint to Byron; and the fifth from Corunna to Flushing, Genesee county, and by the same act a sixth from Corunna to Shiawasseetown. The early roads were little better than tracks cut through the forests, and even as the settlement of the country continued the roads were no better for traveling purposes than they had first been. The best method of road improvement devised by the settlers was that of planking, and to further this, plank road companies were incorporated to plank various roads and to charge toll for travel over them. The Pontiac and Corunna Plank Road company was incorporated March 17, 1847, with authority to maintain a plank or macademized road from Pontiac to Corunna by way of Byron and Shiawassee. The capital stock was placed at $200,000. The Portland & Shiawassee Plank Road company was incorporated at the same time with authority to build a plank road from the village of Portland eastward to some point on the Pontiac & Corunna plank road. The capital of this concern was placed at $250,000, and the object of the two companies was to plank the Grand River road from Pontiac to the village of Portland. Before the enactment of the general plank road law, the legislature incorporated these plank road companies in this county as named below. The Clinton & Bad River Plank Road company was organized April 3, 1848, to build a road from DeWitt, in Clinton county, to the forks of the Bad river in Saginaw county. Capital was $75,000. The Portland & Michigan Plank Road company was incorporated April 3, 1848, to build a plank road from Portland, Ionia county, to Lansing. It was capitalized for $50,000. HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 161 The Owosso & Bad River Plank Road company was also organized on April 3, 1848, to build a road from Owosso to the forks of the Bad river in Saginaw county. Alfred L. Williams, Amos Gould and John B. Barnes were appointed the commissioners to receive subscriptions for stock, the capital being $40,000. The Corunna & Saginaw Plank Road company was incorporated April 3, 1848, to build a plank road from Corunna to the Saginaw, the capital of the firm being $50,000, an amount that was subsequently increased to $70,000. The Howell & Byron Plank Road company was incorporated March 25, 1850, with a capital stock of $30,000, to build a plank road from Howell, Livingston county, to Byron. The utility of the plank roads cannot be underestimated, for at that time, improved roads were unknown, and the introduction of this method of paving was a distinct advance in promoting the land travel of the interior of Michigan, and the fact that they went out of existence was due to the building of the railroads, making operation of toll roads no longer profitable. Railroads. Governor Stevens T. Mason, when Michigan became a state, secured the passage of an act whereby the state was to build three railroads across the state, one in the south, another at the central part, and another in the north. It was Mason's theory that such railroads would not only be an impetus to settlement but would eventually defray all expenses of state government by their revenue. The Northern railroad, as it was called, was to start at Palmer or Port Huron in St. Clair county and was to terminate at the navigable waters of the Grand river in Kent or Ottawa counties, the route thus passing through Shiawassee county. The route was surveyed and located, passing from Flint to Owosso and thence to St. John's. In 1838 contracts were let for the clearing and the grubbing between the eastern terminus and Lyons, Ionia county. A. L. and B. O. Williams, of Owosso, secured the contract of clearing that portion of the line from Owosso to Lyons, and the line from Owosso to Flint was to be cleared by A. H. Beach & Company, of Flint. In the fall of 1838 the work began and by September 1, 1839, all but seventeen miles of the line east of Lapeer and about three miles east of Owosso had been cleared. Some of the grading contracts were then let and the work continued until the following July, when the contractors refused to continue unless they were paid for what they had already done. But the state was now out of money for the continuance of these premature public improvements and work thereupon stopped. In 1841 the commissioners of internal improvement were authorized to expend $30,000 in making the line of the road suitable for a wagon road. In March, 1843, the legislature appropriated 20,000 acres of public lands for the construction of a wagon road over this line through Shiawassee county and eastward to Port Huron. By this means, a poor wagon road was secured for this section, whereas a railroad had been expected by the people. Obviously, then, further railroad projects would have to be of a private nature. 162 HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY On March 22, 1837, the legislature passed an act incorporating the Detroit & Shiawassee railroad to run from Detroit through Farmington, Kensington, and Byron to Shiawasseetown. The company was required to complete twenty-five miles of the line within three years, but no part of the line was ever built and the $500,000 railroad company died. The Detroit & Pontiac railroad, which had been projected in the spring of 1830, had many troubles beset the company, so that it was not until the fall of 1839 that the trains were running over the entire line. On April 3, 1848, the legislature incorporated the Oakland & Ottawa railroad with a capital of $2,500,000 and authority to build from Pontiac to Lake Michigan by the most practicable route. On March 20, 1850, an act was passed permitting the Detroit & Pontiac to connect with the Oakland & Ottawa railroad at Pontiac when the latter road should be built. Actual construction did not begin on the new road until 1852, when H. N. Walker purchased 2,600 tons of railroad iron, enough to build the road through Fenton, Genesee county. Work was pushed slowly but steadily forward, and on February 13, 1855, an act of the legislature was approved that permitted the consolidation of the Detroit & Pontiac and the Oakland & Ottawa railroads under the name of the Detroit & Milwaukee Railway company. (The railway in the name of the company was changed to railroad in 1860.) The company was empowered to increase its capital stock to any amount not in excess of $10,000,000. A European loan of $1,250,000 was negotiated, and thereafter the work was pushed so rapidly that in October, 1855, it was opened to Fenton, and on July 1, 1856, was opened to Owosso. By September, 1857, the line had been completed to Ionia, and on November 22, 1858, the tracks had been laid into Grand Haven, the Lake Michigan terminal of the line. From 1860 to 1878, the line was in the hands of the receiver and in the latter year it was bought by the Great Western railway of Canada. Some question as to the legality of the sale arose but eventually the proceeding was upheld. The Great Western was then bought by the Grand Trunk, the name becoming the Grand Trunk Western. The Detroit & Milwaukee is still operated under that name as a division of the Grand Trunk system, and the division headquarters are located at Owosso. Michigan Central Railroad. In 1857, the Amboy, Lansing & Traverse Bay railroad was incorporated for the purpose of building a road from Amboy to Traverse Bay. The road received lands granted by the United States Government and accepted by the state to help it in the construction of its line. The route of the original road was to have passed through Hillsdale and Lansing and gone far to the west of Owosso and Saginaw. But on the board of directors of the road were Amos Gould and Alfred L. Williams, of Owosso, and these men with others who wished to see justice done, secured a re-location of the line to take in Owosso and Saginaw. Construction on the line was begun in 1857, and in spite of the many obstacles that had to be overcome, the line was completed between Owosso and Lansing on November 20, 1862. In 1864, the road was placed in the hands of a receiver and by him was HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 163 sold to the Jackson & Lansing railroad, which had been organized on February 23, 1864. The name of the purchasing company was changed to that of the Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw Railroad company on February 25, 1865. In June, 1866, the line between Jackson and Lansing was opened, and in January, 1867, the line was opened from Jackson through to Owosso. The old Amboy, Lansing & Traverse Bay road had done considerable clearing of the right-of-way from Owosso toward Saginaw. When the Jackson & Lansing purchased the road, they continued the work with all possible speed and in the same year had the line opened to Saginaw. The Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw subsequently became a division of the Michigan Central railroad, of which it is still a part. Another division of the Grand Trunk system is that running from Port Huron to Flint and thence southwest through this county, crossing the other part of the Grand Trunk at Durand. This line was first projected in 1874, when the Chicago & Northeastern Railroad company was incorporated for the construction of a line from Lansing to Flint, a line that was opened for traffic on February 1, 1877, as a link in the Chicago & Lake Huron. This connected with the Port Huron & Milwaukee road at Flint and gave connections between Port Huron and Chicago. In 1879, an eastern capitalist bought the Chicago & Northeastern link in an effort to break the competition of the Grand Trunk, which was then leasing the line for its eastern traffic. The Grand Trunk thereupon set about surveying a new line from Lansing to pass through Owosso and so to Flint, but before work was started, the Grand Trunk was given an opportunity to buy the link line of the Chicago & Northeastern, with the result that the line was never built. The latest railroad to be built was the Ann Arbor, which was incorporated in 1869 as the Toledo, Ann Arbor & Northern railroad, to build a line from Toledo through Ann Arbor and Howell to Owosso. Several attempts were made to complete the road beyond Owosso, but it was not until the financial troubles of 1873 were forgotten was it possible to complete the line. The Ann Arbor railroad enters the county at the southeast corner, passes through Byron, Corunna and Owosso, and runs northwest out of the county. CHAPTER V BANKS AND BANKING PERHAPS no bill ever passed by a state legislature was as ruinous in its effect than was the banking law of 1837, which permitted any twelve freeholders of any county to form an association for the banking business provided that the capital be not less than $50,000 and one-third of the capital paid in specie into the vaults of the bank. No elucidation of the bill is necessary. It was patent that the people of the state went mad over banking. By 1839, forty-nine banks had been formed under this act with a combined nominal capital of $7,000,000. Fifteen regularly chartered banks were then in existence with a combined nominal capitalization of $4,000,000. The total nominal capital stock of the banks in Michigan, then, was $11,000,000, and the population of the state at that time was but slightly more than 100,000. The banks formed under the act of 1837 at once began to issue their own notes that were as worthless as the paper they were engraved on. To add to the troubles they themselves had created, the bankers themselves, of the wildcat banks, resorted to various ruses to deceive the bank examiner about the condition of the bank. Rings were formed by banks visited by the same examiner, enough specie was secured to satisfy the demands of one bank, and this specie was sent ahead of the examiner as he made his rounds, so that he found at each bank of the ring the required amount of specie. Still others not members of such a ring were wont to fill small kegs with ground glass and cover the top with a thin layer of specie, hoping in that way to evade the watchful eye of the examiner. But the crash came. The Eastern merchants would no longer honor the notes issued in Michigan; merchants here were forced to send produce in exchange for the goods they wished to buy. Jackson's famous specie circular, which had ordered public officials to take in and pay out only specie, began to tell on the paper, and the banks collapsed like pricked bubbles. Shiawassee county was unfortunate in having two of these banks, one the Exchange Bank of Shiawassee and the other the Bank of Shiawassee, the former of which was located in an old building some two or three miles south of Newburg and the latter located at Owosso. The officers of the Exchange Bank of Shiawassee were: A. Morehouse, president; G. W. Clark, cashier; and John Pierson, L. Brown, H. Baker, G. W. Clark, A. Morehouse, Aaron Swain, I. Castle and H. Rowe, directors. The chief promoters of the bank were Root, Morehouse, Pierson and Clark, none of whom were residents of the state or county, or so testified Hosea Baker and Lemuel Brown before the state bank examiner. Andrew Parsons was appointed receiver for the bank, and his report is interesting because it gives a good idea of the condition of HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 165 the wildcat banks generally and of the two Shiawassee county banks. It follows: "Sir: In compliance with your request of November 27, 1839, I herewith transmit such information as I am able to give upon the points named. "1. The amount of notes obtained from the engraver is unknown, but were ordered by G. W. Clark, cashier. "2. As no books of the bank have ever been kept, I have no means of knowing the largest amount ever in circulation at any one time, only by a statement drawn up by the president and cashier, which is now in the bank, and it is even impossible by that to ascertain the amount positively. By that statement the whole amount of notes ever numbered and signed was $34,320, and the amount then in bank, $14,174, but when I took possession of the bank, there were but $7,303 signed by the president only, which sum, I suppose, was reckoned in said statement. "3. By this statement, it appears that the amount of liabilities is $22,261-and of this amount there has been deposited in my hands as receiver $5,288. "4. I know of no way that I can calculate the amount of assets belonging to the bank, only to give such information as I am able with reference to that of which the assets consist. There was mortgaged about 1,760 acres of land to secure the payment of the debts of the bank-the title to about only 1,500 of which seems to be good. There are notes and receipts in the bank to the amount of about $7,200-$2,940 of which are given to individuals and not to the bank; some, however, of said receipts do not even run to any one, or the bank. All the business of the bank was done in not only an imperfect but a ridiculous manner. In examining over all the notes and receipts, I find but one note (on which is due $1,623) that is given to the bank, that can in any probability be collected-and that the remainder, $5,540, cannot be collected, or at least by me as receiver of the bank. There is an iron safe belonging to the bank worth probably fifteen or twenty dollars. "5. As to what amount of capital stock was paid in, I have no means of knowing anything about it. "I have collected of the notes and receipts which were in the bank, $3,273. "I am fully persuaded that there are not many more of the notes of the bank that will ever be deposited with me as receiver. I have been informed that many of the notes have been burned or destroyed, in consequence of their being considered worth nothing, and it is undoubtedly the fact. There were some of the directors of the bank who absconded with several thousand dollars, bills of the bank, without giving their notes or receipts, or even anything else to the bank for the amount. "It is of much importance to some of our farmers here, that the mortgages upon their lands are soon released." To say anything further of either of the wildcat banks of the county is obviously useless, for the report of Parsons gives an excellent idea of how not only the Exchange bank stood but also the Bank of Shiawassee. The first substantial banking enterprise established in Owosso was 166 HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY the firm of D. Gould & Company, which was started in 1854, under the management of Amos Gould. Three years later the company erected its own bank building and continued until 1865, when the business of the firm, having grown too large for private enterprise, the First National bank was organized to take over the banking and brokerage interests of the bank. Amos Gould became president of the First National bank when it was organized. It was originally capitalized for $50,000, increased its capital to $100,000, ard then reduced its capitalization to $60,000. The second bank started in Owosso was the private bank of M. L. Stewart, who was a merchant in this city from 1860 to 1869, but in the latter year he opened his banking and brokerage business, in which he was highly successful. At 201-03 North Washington street, he erected the building which is still known as the Old Stewart Bank building, commemorating the name of Owosso's second bank. The First National bank went into voluntary liquidation, and since that time, the only banks in Shiawassee county have either been private or state banks, thirteen of the latter being established throughout the county at the present time. The State Exchange bank, of Bancroft, was organized April 24, 1906, and commenced business soon after with the following officers: T. M. Euler, president; C. E. Ward, vice-president; and E. P. Sherman, cashier. At that time, the bank was capitalized for $20,000, as it is now, and the present officers of the institution are E. E. Harris, president, T. M. Euler and Henry Peach, vice-presidents; and H. W. Parker, cashier. The State Bank of Byron was organized November 12, 1905, with a capital of $20,000, the first officers of the institution being L. C. Kanouse, president; William Harper, vice-president; and F. William Nothnagel, cashier. The capitalization of the bank has never been changed, and the men now directing the affairs of the bank, which has been such an aid to the people in the southeastern part of the county, are as follows: F. S. Ruggles, president; E. D. Wiltse and Guy L. Brader, vice-presidents; and J. S. Van Alstine, cashier. The Old Corunna State bank, which took the place of the First National bank in that city, was organized May 9, 1906, with its present capitalization of $30,000. W. F. Gallagher, one of the chief promoters of the State bank, was chosen as the first president; John Driscoll and T. M. Euler became the vice-presidents; and W. A. Rosenkranz, who has been identified with the banking interests of the county for about a quarter of a century, was the first cashier. The present officers of the bank are E. T. Sidney, president; W. A. Rosenkranz, vice-president; and John V. Martin, cashier. Two banks chartered by the state serve the people of Durand, one of which, the Shiawassee County bank, was the second state bank organized in this county. Its charter was authorized by the State Bank Commissioner on August 28, 1891, and on October 5, that year, it commenced business with a capital stock of $25,000 and with the following officers in charge: W. H. Clark, president; Charles H. Sayre, vice-president; HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 167 and F. N. Conn, cashier. The present officers are: Robert C. Fair, president; Clair G. Bates, vice-president; and Harry A. Thomas, cashier. The second bank chartered in Durand was the First Commercial & Savings bank, which was organized April 8, 1909, and began business soon after with a paid-in capital of $22,500, an amount that has since been increased to $25,000. The first officers chosen by the organizers of the institution were Luther Loucks, president; George Brooks, vicepresident; and Harry H. Simpson, cashier. The present officers of the bank are C. S. Reed, president; E. J. Carney and U. P. Ferguson, vicepresidents; and F. D. Sayre, cashier. The Citizens' Savings bank, of Owosso, was organized on February 10, 1896, with an original capitalization of $50,000, which was subsequently increased to $75,000 as it is today. Among the chief promoters of this bank were these three men, who were chosen to be the first officers: I. H. Keeler, president; Herman C. Frieseke, vice-president; and G. L. Taylor, cashier. The business of the bank grew steadily from the outset, so that it is regarded as one of the strongest banks in the county today. The present officers are Rudolph L. Colby, president; Frank A. Marshall and W. J. Hathway, vice-presidents; and H. S. Beardslee, cashier. The first state bank organized in this county was the Owosso Savings bank, which received its charter on January 22, 1891, and opened for business almost immediately. Its original capitalization was $60,000, but that amount has been increased to its present figure of $100,000, as the growing demands of the business made it necessary. The first officers of the Owosso Savings bank were Daniel M. Estey, president; E. Salisbury, vice-president; and A. D. Whipple, cashier. Those who now hold the official positions with the bank are Charles E. Rigley, president; C. P. Bentley, F. B. Woodard and A. D. Whipple, vice-presidents; and W. S. Cooper, cashier. The State Savings bank, of Owosso, capitalized for $100,000, was organized June 5, 1906, with a capital of $50,000. W. F. Gallagher was chosen to be the first president and cashier, while A. L. Arnold and W. A. Rosenkranz were the vice-presidents of the new banking house. W. A. Rosenkranz is the present president and cashier, with A. L. Arnold and L. C. Hall as the vice-presidents. The Farmers' State bank, of Henderson, although it was organized April 19, 1923, was not opened for business until March 21, 1904. The first officers of the bank were the ones who now direct its affairs with the exception of the cashier, the first one being Rex P. Teeters. The present officers are Glenn T. Soule, president; D. J. Evans and Peter C. Pardee, vice-presidents; and H. R. Tyson, cashier. The Union State bank, of Laingsburg, was organized November 12, 1907, with its present capitalization of $20,000. The first officers of this bank were: Andrew Rohrbacher, president; Frank B. Smith, vicepresident; and W. H. Hunt, cashier. Mr. Hunt is still cashier of the bank whose success is, in large measure, attributable to the business judgment of the cashier who has been with the institution for nearly twenty 168 HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY years. Frank B. Smith is now president, and J. D. Houghton is the cashier. The Lennon State bank, of that village, was organized November 6, 1924, and began business on the seventeenth of the same month. The officers have never been changed since the bank was started, and they are: Grant G. Brown, president; Peter B. Lennon, vice-president; Harry L. Mann, vice-president; and Charles N. Talbot, cashier. The State Bank of Perry is one of the oldest state banks in the county and was organized February 20, 1892, and started in business with a paid-in capitalization of less than $14,000. The first officers of the bank, they being the men who were instrumental in the organization of the bank, were L. M. Marshall, president; C. H. Calkins, vice-president; and S. E. Olcott, cashier. The capital has been increased from time to time, so that it is now $25,000. The present officers of the bank are Ira Cummings, president; C. Frank Otto, vice-president; and H. I. Troop, cashier. The Vernon State bank was organized March 13, 1922, and commenced business on August 12, of that year. The original paid-in capital of the bank has since been increased to $20,000, as it is today. The officers who first started in the bank have continued to direct the affairs of the house since that time and are as follows: W. P. Strauch, president; William J. McCullough, Charles R. Paine, vice-presidents; and Frank S. Hardy, cashier. CHAPTER VI THE PROFESSIONS W HEN Shiawassee county was erected, no county buildings had been built for the holding of the circuit court, and according to the enabling act, the sheriff named the office of the county clerk as the meeting place of the court. The court met for the first time on December 4, 1837, with only the associate justices, Alfred L. Williams and James Rutan, present to carry on the court business. Levi Rowe was appointed crier for the term, and the sheriff was ordered to appoint four constables, his appointees being Noah Bovier and Mason Phelps. The sheriff did not appoint the two other constables as ordered by the court. Sanford M. Green, subsequently judge of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, then made application for admission to the bar, and after he had been examined he was admitted to practice. At that time, and until I850, prosecuting attorneys were appointed by the governor of the state, but no such appointment had yet been made for Shiawassee county when the first term of court was held; consequently, the court appointed Green acting prosecutor for that term. The grand jury impanelled at that time included the following men: Daniel Ball, Daniel Gould, Horace Hart, Robert Crawford, Thomas P. Green, Elisha Brewster, Stephen Post, Samuel Brown, M. Bradley Martin, Ira B. Howard, Ephraim Wright, Cornelius W. Miller, James Van Aukin, Joseph Parmenter, Josiah Pierce, John Smedley, Samuel W. Harding and S. N. Whitcomb. Daniel Ball was made foreman of the grand jury, which, after finding one indictment charging a man with perjury, was discharged. The records of that day show that on the motion of Sanford M. Green, the court ordered that John Knaggs be permitted to present a petition for divorce from his wife, Phillis,.and that Knaggs serve notice of the action on his wife within thirty days. This was the first divorce action in Shiawassee county. The court adjourned on the second day of the term. The second term of the circuit court began June 4, 1838, at which James Rutan, an associate justice, was the only judge present. The grand jury reported that there was no business for them, whereupon the court adjourned forthwith. At the third term of court, held on November 25, 1838, was called the first petit jury in the county, the members being Harvey Harmon, David T. Tyler, Stephen Post, Samuel W. Harding, Francis T. Mann, John Smedley, William P. Laing, George Harrington, John B. Clark, Ichabod Kneeland, Eli Shattuck, Calvin Sweet, Rufus Collier, Nicholas P. Harder, Samuel N. Whitcomb, Samuel Millard and Ephraim Wright. The grand jury at this same term found five indictments, but no further business was transacted by the court. At the fourth term of the Shiawassee county circuit court, Charles W. Whipple, the circuit judge, was present, sitting with Associate Justice James Rutan, this being the first term at which the circuit judge had 170 HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY been present. George W. Wisner and Alfred H. Hanscomb were admitted to the bar at this term, both becoming prominent members of the Pontiac bar in after years. At this term, too, was tried the first criminal case in he county, but the jury disagreed and no decision was forthcoming. Judge Charles W. Whipple, the first circuit judge of the county, was born in New York and removed with his father to Detroit. Judge Whipple received his education at West Point, and was subsequently elevated to the legislature, being chosen speaker of the house in 1836 and 1837. He was appointed a supreme court justice in 1838 and held that office for nearly twenty years. He was a member of the constitutional convention of 1850 and was recognized as a jurist of the first ability. His death occurred on October 25, 1856. Edward Mundy was the second judge to sit on the bench of the Shiawassee circuit court and held his first term here on August 2, 1848, and his last in June, 1850. He was one of the early immigrants to the Territory of Michigan, and was elected the first lieutenant-governor of the state after the admission of Michigan to the Union, holding the office until 1840. He was appointed attorney-general of Michigan in 1847, and was elevated to the supreme bench in 1848, of which he was a respected member until his death in 1851. He was a regent of the state university from 1844 to 1848. The third judge for this county was Sanford M. Green, who was the first attorney to be admitted to practice at the bar in this county. He held his first term in the county in May, 1852, and his last in May, 1857. He was born in 1807, in Grafton, New York, and was admitted to the bar of his native state in 1832. Five years later he removed to Michigan and settled in Owosso. He was elected to the senate in 1842, was appointed commissioner to revise the statutes in 1844, and reported on this work in 1846. He was elected to the senate in 1845 for another term of two years, and in 1848 Governor Ransom appointed him a justice of the supreme court, of which he was a member until May, 1857. During that time he served two years as chief justice of that court. He then went to Bay City, where he served two long terms as judge of the Eighteenth circuit. Judge Josiah Turner, of Owosso, became judge of this circuit in May, 1857, beginning a period of twenty-four years' service on the bench of this circuit. Perhaps no judge either before or since has been so much admired and respected by the electors of the county. 'His ability as an advocate, his undoubted integrity, won his election to the bench, and because he more than fulfilled the expectations of his constituents, he was three times returned to the position. He retired from the bench on December 31, 1881. At that time a re-adjustment of the judicial circuits placed Shiawassee in the circuit with Genesee county as the Seventh Judicial circuit, and William Newton, of Flint, served as judge until December 31, 1893, two terms. Charles H. Wisner, of Flint, one of the most prominent attorneys and judges that Michigan has known, then served one term as judge of the Seventh circuit. During Wisner's term the Fifty HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 171 fifth Judicial circuit, comprising Livingston and Shiawassee counties, was created, Luke S. Montague, of Howell, being appointed judge thereof by the governor. His death occurred in a few months thereafter, and Stearns F. Smith was appointed to succeed him, being elected to the office at the next regular election and serving until the close of 1905. Selden S. Miner, of Owosso, was elected judge of the newly created Thirty-fifth circuit and served two terms, retiring from the bench on December 31, 1917. Judge Miner was succeeded by Joseph H. Collins, of Corunna, who was re-elected in 1923 to serve a second term. Four years of this term yet remain. Attorneys. Sanford M. Green, the first attorney in this county, has already been mentioned in conhection with the judges of the circuit court. Andrew Parsons was born in Rensselaer county, New York, and later removed to Mexico, New York. In 1835 he came to Washtenaw county, Michigan, and the following year took up his residence in Shiawassee. He had been one of those instrumental in securing the naming of Corunna as the county seat, and when the legislature had done this, he removed to Corunna, where he and his brother, Luke H. Parsons, opened law offices under the firm name of L. H. and A. Parsons, Attorneys-at-Law. He was elected the first clerk of the county and was later register of deeds. In 1846 he was elected a member of the state senate and from 1852-54 was a regent of the state university. In 1852, he was elected lieutenant-governor of the state. When Governor Robert McClelland resigned in 1852 to become a member of the President's cabinet, Parsons became governor and was inaugurated on March 8, 1853, serving the remainder of McClelland's term. He was elected to the House of Representatives of the legislature in 1854 and served during the winter term of 1855. He returned to Corunna, where he died in June, 1855. Luke H. Parsons, brother of Andrew Parsons, also a native of New York, came to Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1835 and was there admitted to the bar. He came to Corunna about 1839 and went into practice with his brother. He, too, became active in county politics, being elected register of deeds in 1846, probate judge in 1848, prosecuting attorney in 1852, and regent of the university in 1857. He lived at Corunna until the time of his death in 1862. Amos Gould, attorney and manager of the first substantial bank in Owosso, was born in Aurelius, Cayuga county, New York, and studied law at Auburn, New York, in company with William H. Seward and Theodore Spencer. He centered practice at that place and came to Michigan in 1843, locating at Owosso in 1844. He entered business and began the practice of law in 1845, keeping up the latter until 1865, when he was forced to give up the law to attend to his wide property interests. He was judge of probate for a full term beginning in 1844, was supervisor of the county from 1845 to 1850, was elected prosecuting attorney for two years, and was sent to the state senate in 1852. Owosso was his home throughout his busy life. William F. Mosley was born in Ohio and came to Oakland county, Michigan, in 1825. There he entered practice, was elected prosecuting 172 HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY attorney and probate judge. He removed to Fenton from Pontiac in 1840, and was there elected the prosecuting attorney of Genesee county. When he came to Shiawassee county in 1842, he took up farming, but also practiced some. Soon after, however, he removed to Newburg and gave his entire attention to the study of the law. Both by appointment and election, he served several terms as prosecutor of the county, and he was also master in chancery here. He died in 1860. David Bush, Jr., was a merchant in Shiawasseetown prior to 1840. In that year he was elected county commissioner. Later he studied law and became one of the prominent men practicing at the Shiawassee county bar. He also held township offices and was supervisor. Ebenezer Gould, a brother of Amos Gould, came to Owosso in 1837 and engaged in milling and other businesses. In 1846 he began reading law and was admitted to the bar in 1851. Except for the time when he was in the army during the Civil war, he practiced in Owosso until 1875. He was colonel of the Fifth Michigan Cavalry. He was elected prosecuting attorney in 1866. His death occurred at Owosso in 1877. S. Titus Parsons was a brother of Andrew and Luke H. Parsons already mentioned. He studied law with his brothers in Corunna and was admitted to the Shiawassee county bar in May, 1854. For twenty years thereafter he practiced at Corunna. In 1856 he was elected prosecutor and was re-elected in 1858. He served in that capacity from 1872-74. From 1863-64 and again in 1867-68, he served in the state legislature and was a member of the constitutional convention of 1867. He removed to Detroit in 1877 and entered practice there. Mtedical Profession. As already stated in the chapter on early settlement, the first settlers of the county were accustomed to have at hand certain homely remedies for sickness of the milder kinds. For medical attention these settlers were forced to call upon Dr. Samuel W. Pattison, of Dibbleville, now Fenton, or upon Dr. Cyrus Baldwin, of Grand Blanc. Dr. Baldwin came from Onandaga county New York, in the spring of 1833 to settle in Grand Blanc. One of his first visits to this county came in the spring of 1836, when he was called to Owosso to attend David Wormer. Dr. Samuel W. Pattison came to the state in 1835, went on an exploring trip through several counties in this section, and finally settled at what is now Fenton. The memoirs of Dr. Pattison mention two trips he made in the late fall, one to Byron and another to Owosso, the latter being made in 1838. At the earnest solicitation of many of the most prominent men of the county at that time, Dr. Pattison soon after located at Owosso. But the arduous life of the pioneer doctor was too much. He, became unable to sit on a horse on the long rides which were necessary through the forests, and in 1845 he removed his family to Ypsilanti. Dr. Joseph P. Roberts was the first physician to reside in the county for any great length of time. He settled in Perry township in 1837 and located land there. Upon the night of his arrival he was called to attend Deacon Austin. Dr. Roberts died during the winter of 1844-45. HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 173 Although he was a licensed physician, he practiced only in cases of emergency or when other doctors could not be secured for the patients. Dr. Washington Z. Blanchard kept the hotel at Shiawasseetown in 1837 but it is not known whether or not he ever practiced, for he left the county soon after that. Dr. Peter Laing practiced before he came to the state but not afterward, and Dr. Abner Sears came to Byron in 1838 to remain but a few years. Dr. C. P. Parkil, born in Niagara county, New York, came to this state when he was nineteen years of age, coming to Owosso in 1841. For a year he worked with the Owosso Argus, for he was a printer by trade, and then began the study of medicine with Dr. S. W. Pattison, of Owosso. After the removal of the doctor to Ypsilanti, he entered the office of Dr. Barnes, and after two years entered Willoughby Medical college in Ohio, and was graduated therefrom in 1846. For some time he practiced in Bennington. In 1868 he moved to Owosso and opened a drug store. In 1857, Dr. Parkil was elected to the legislature. A Dr. Pierce was the first physician to locate at Corunna, where he opened an office in 1842. He returned to Philadelphia in about five years, from which he had come, because he could not stand the work demanded of the pioneer physician. Dr. William Weir came to Shiawasseetown and was one of the leading residents of that part of the county. Between 1840 and 1850 he was one of the leading physicians of the county, although he was never a graduate of any medical college. In the latter year he removed to Albion but died at a hotel on the way to that city. Dr. Nicholas P. Harder first located at Newburg, then removed to Corunna, which he left for his old home in Newburg, where he remained until the time of his death. Dr. John B. Lowell, a native of Massachusetts, brought with him to this county in 1842 his prejudices against slavery and was one of the leaders in this section of the country in advocating the freedom of the negroes. He located at Owosso and practiced there for nearly half a century. Dr. E. M. Bacon, a native of Albion, New York, was a graduate of the Geneva Medical college. He located at Corunna in 1846. His health was undermined by hard work, and he went to California ini the effort to regain his health. Failing in this, he returned to Corunna, where he died in 1869. Dr. Freeman McClintock and Dr. L. D. Jones both came from Ohio to Laingsburg in the spring of 1846 and entered practice in that same year. They remained but a few months, however, and went back to Ohio. In 1847 Dr. McClintock came to Laingsburg, this time remaining until 1851. In that year, he went to California and returned in 1856, after which he engaged in mercantile pursuits. Dr. J. D. North succeeded him as the physician in that locality, North returning to Ann Arbor, whence he had come in three years. North's practice was taken in 1862 by Dr. E. B. Ward, who became one of the leading physicians 174 HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY of the county and built up a wide practice among the inhabitants of the township in which he made his home. The Shiawassee County Medical society was organized in 1879 when, in December of that year, the doctors of the county met at Owosso with the intention of organizing a society for their protection and for the advancement of science in this county. In January, 1880, the doctors met to complete the organization of the society, and at that time these men were chosen to be the first officers of the society: Dr. Jabez Perkins, president; Dr. A. J. Bruce, vice-president; Dr. L. M. Goodrich, secretary; and Dr. W. C. Hume, treasurer. The society has been re-organized to conform to the requirements of the State Medical society. In 1912, the state body declared that it would thereafter consist of county organizations, the members of which would be members of the state body. At that time, the Shiawassee County Medical society was re-organized to suit the provisions of the new constitution adopted by the state medical body in convention at Port Huron. The city of Owosso has reason to be proud of the hospital which the public spirit of its citizens has erected. The movement for the hospital had its inception in 1921 and reached completeness the following year. The Memorial hospital was built in 1922, and though it has but a hundred beds, it is as modern in every respect as any institution of its size in the state of Michigan. CHAPTER VII THE PRESS THAT many newspapers have come and gone in the county of Shiawassee should not lead the reader to believe that poor management or poor support on the part of the people have been the causes leading to the frequent changes in the character of the field of journalism in the county. The causes leading to the establishment of the papers in the first place were several. One was that a party wishing an organ in the county, influenced some man to start a paper. Many times these papers represented a small part of the voters of a county which was predominately Republican or Democratic, and thus the establishment of a party newspaper was not fair to the publisher in the first place. Then, too, the comparative small capital necessary to buy a printing plant and to establish a paper in those days often influenced men of no newspaper experience to enter the business. Their inexperience, therefore, resulted in their own failure. Party patronage, that is, the public printing was given to those papers representing the party in power in those days, and since that source of revenue meant a considerable figure in the budget of the newspapers, the withholding of it might mean failure to the sheet that was dangerously close to financial distress. Party lines were so strong in those days, too, that merchants would seldom advertise in papers which represented some other party, and the commercial printing was let out with the same consideration in the minds of the advertisers. For these many reasons, then, a newspaper with a good editorial policy and published by an able editor might fail because it happened to be on the wrong side of the political fence. The history of the press in Shiawassee county is at best fragmentary. The first paper established in the county appeared at Owosso in the early part of 1839 under the name of the Shiawassee Express and Clinton Advocate, under the editorship of Edward L. Ament. The paper was circulated in both Clinton and Shiawassee counties, for at that time Clinton was attached to this county for judicial purposes. It was the editor of this first paper that started the Owosso Argus in 1841. How long the first paper started by Ament continued is not known, but on June 22, 1841, a preamble to a resolution of the board of supervisors stated that the act would be published in the Owosso Argus and the Shiawassee Express and Clinton Advocate. From the serial numbers of the Argus it appears that the paper was not started until November 1, 1843, although by the above fact and from Dr. Parkill it is known that the paper was started at least two years earlier. Ament continued the Argus until he died in December, 1847, when Ephraim Gould assumed the management of the sheet. Gould had been a compositor of the paper. M. H. Clark became the editor in the middle of 1848 and at that time he changed the name of the paper to the Owosso Argus 176 HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY and the Shiawassee Democrat. Late in 1849 he removed the paper to Corunna, where he continued to publish it as the Shiawassee Democrat until 1856, when he removed to Omaha, Nebraska. Owosso was without a newspaper then until 1854, when C. C. and 0. R. Goodell issued the Owosso American, the office being located in the National Hotel building at Owosso. Charles E. Shattuck purchased the paper in 1855 and by him it was published until the winter of 1856 -57, when Ephraim Gould purchased it. John N. Ingersoll bought it from Gould in 1858 and changed the name to the Owosso American and Peninsular State Times, a name which persisted until May, 1862. In that month, Ingersoll removed the paper to Corunna and merged it wih the Corunna Democrat, which he had bought a short time before, changing the name of the consolidated papers to the Shiawassee American. Ingersoll continued as sole proprietor of the sheet until 1880, when George W. Owen, publisher of the Shiawassee Republican, merged his paper with the American. The paper was Republican in politics and was continued as a weekly paper until 1895, when it was returned to Owosso and established as the Owosso Daily American. As such it was continued until 1900, when it was merged with the Owosso Press as the Owosso Press-American. The Owosso Press was started in 1862 by Hanchett & Lyon, the first number being issued on September 20, that year. A year later Green & Lee became the publishers, and on January 1, 1867, J. H. Champion & Company became the publishers, continuing as the proprietors of the sheet until it was consolidated with the American in 1900. The PressAmerican continued as a separate publication until 1916, when it was merged with the Owosso Argus under the name of the Argus-Press. The paper is the only daily newspaper in the county and is under the management of J. E. Campbell, although the owners of the paper is a stock company capitalized for $60,000 and having these officers: H. K. White, president; John E. Campbell, vice-president; and J. C. Rexford, secretary-treasurer. The company owns its plant on East Exchange street and is thoroughly equipped for all kinds of printing work and has one of the most complete printing establishments in this section of the state. The first newspaper founded at Corunna was the Shiawassee Democrat, started in the fall of 1841 by William B. Sherwood. He continued in charge of the paper until the latter part of 1843, when he removed the printing plant to Flint and began the publication of the Genesee County Democrat. The Corunna Democrat was started some time later but the exact date of its inception is not known nor cannot be determined from any records that exist. The paper was later bought by John N. Ingersoll and merged with the American which he had moved from Owosso to Corunna. The Corunna Weekly Courier lived for a short time in the fall of 1859. It was published by William B. Pulis. Several other papers were started at Owosso and then moved to Corunna, but for the most part they have been short-lived affairs and the newspaper graveyard of Corunna is an exceptionally large one for the size of the city. At the HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 177 present time, it is served by a weekly, the Corunna News, which is published by Louis N. Sheardy, the plant being located at 307 North Shiawassee street. The Durand Express is a weekly paper published by Harry L. Izor. The paper has built up a good circulation in that part of the county and is in every way representative of the thriving village in which it is located. Several newspapers have been started at various times in the village of Bancroft and the present one is a weekly, published under the name of the Commercial by Frank J. Peek. The first newspaper published in Laingsburg was the Laingsburg Recorder, started by E. L. W. Baker in August, 1870, and continued about a year when it was discontinued. Not only was this the first paper at Laingsburg but it was also the first newspaper to be published in the western part of the county. Laingsburg has had many newspapers that have come and gone, as have the other villages. The Laingsburg Herald appeared soon after the discontinuance of the first newspaper there. A Mr. Judevine, the editor of the paper, sold it in a short time to Charles Wilcox. At the end of two years the Herald passed out of existence. On November 2, 1877, J. C. Stone started the Laingsburg News and continued it for a number of years before he retired from the Laingsburg newspaper field. The Laingsburg Leader, a sevencolumn folio, was started in June, 1880, by W. C. Walters and by him continued for several years. Other papers have been established between that time and the establishment of the present sheet, the Laingsburg News, a weekly published by Frederick W. O'Brien. The News has a wide circulation among the people of the western townships of the county. William Secord established both the Bancroft Bulletin and the Morrice Times, but the latter village has no newspaper at the present time. The Vernon Herald was established by a stock company in May, 1878, but was subsequently withdrawn from circulation and the village is without the advantages of a local paper now. A. L. Chandler was the first editor and publisher, and Lucius E. Gould became the owner and publisher not long after. Perry has a weekly newspaper published by Thomas H. Halsted, who has made the'Journal, as it is named, one of the strongest rural weekly newspapers in the county. CHAPTER VIII CITIES AND VILLAGES SHIAWASSEE COUNTY has two incorporated cities and seven incorporated villages located at advantageous points throughout the county. Corunna, the county seat, has a population of nearly 1,600 inhabitants and is located on the Detroit & Milwaukee division of the Grand Trunk railway and on the Ann Arbor railroad. It was incorporated as a village on October 11, 1858, by the board of supervisors, and on the second Tuesday of December, that year, the first village election was held, at which the following officers were elected: A. McArthur, president; 0. T. B. Williams, clerk; and E. F. Wade, A. A. Belden, C. W. Coe, George Wilcox, P. S. Lyman and Daniel Bush, trustees. But Corunna was then enjoying a period of growth that would not let it remain long a village, and on March 12, 1869, the legislature passed an act incorporating the city of Corunna with boundaries that embraced a territory approximately four square miles in extent. The first city officers elected were: Alexander McArthur, mayor; Spencer B. Raynale, recorder; William Oaks, clerk; Morris Ormsby, treasurer; John N. Ingersoll and Curtis J. Gale, justices of the peace; and Clark D. Smith and Marvin Miller, constables. The fire department of Corunna had its inception in 1876, when the Corunna Hook and Ladder company was organized on April 12, that year. Almon C. Brown was chosen foreman of the company; William H. Cole, first assistant; C. H. Shuttleworth, second assistant; E. M. Wheeler, secretary; Andrew S. Parsons, treasurer; and Frank Millard and Andrew Jackson, stewards. On June 5, that year, the council voted $190 to be spent in the purchase of uniforms for the company, which were subsequently bought. Owosso. Following the completion of a part of the Amboy, Lansing & Traverse Bay railroad in 1862, the people of Owosso realized that as a junction point of two railroads their community needed incorporation. Accordingly, without going through the usual first step of incorporation as a village, the people asked a city charter of the legislature, and on February 15, 1859, that body passed an act incorporating the city of Owosso. In keeping with its new-found dignity, the city was divided into four wards, and a fifth ward has since been added. The first election, according to the provisions of the incorporating act, was held on April 4, 1859, and the following men were chosen to be the first city officers: Amos Gould, mayor; John N. Ingersoll, clerk; Daniel Lyon, treasurer; E. W. Barnes, supervisor of the first district; Elisha Leach, supervisor of the second district; Charles M. Moses and Charles L. Goodhue, aldermen of the First ward; Daniel L. Thorpe and Thomas D. Dewey, aldermen of the Second ward; John Gutekunst and George R. Black, aldermen of the Third ward; Stillman J. Harding and Eli D. Gregory, aldermen of the Fourth ward; Ira Merell, justice of the peace for the Second district; George K. Newcombe and Amos M. Kellogg, HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 179 school inspectors; Daniel Wait and M. W. Quackenbush, directors of the poor; Robert Hodgkins, constable for the First district; and Ephraim Gould, constable for the Second district. Sometime after the incorporation of Owosso, the matter of establishing a fire department was brought up. Prior to 1870, the people had no fire protection whatsoever, but they now felt that fire hazards were becoming greater as the community grew and developed. True, about fifty leather buckets and eight or ten ladders were used when fires started, but such means, that of forming bucket lines, was inadequate to the needs of the city. In the spring of 1870, a hook and ladder truck and eight Babcock fire extinguishers were bought and a company organized with Frederick Wildermuth as foreman of the company. This company continued to serve the city until the organization of the Owosso fire department in 1876. In February of that year a Silsby steam fire engine was bought by the city. In April the first city fire company was organized and during the year these companies were started: Centennial Engine Company; Defiance Hose Company, No. 1; Reliance Hose Company, No. 2; and the Phoenix Hook and Ladder Company. Thomas D. Dewey was chief engineer that year; James Osburn, first assistant; Henry B. Gregory, second assistant; Moses Keytes, treasurer; and Newton McBain, secretary. From this beginning sprang the highly efficient and fully motorized fire department that is the pride of Owosso today. William Howell is the chief and maintains headquarters in the City Hall. Hose House No. 1 is also maintained in the city hall and is commanded by Captain Karer, eighteen firemen being assigned to this company. Hose House No. 2 is situated at 1007 West Main street and is commanded by Captain Patrick Rourke, who has six men under him. The Owosso Gas Light company was incorporated in 1885 and now has a capital stock of $135,000. The company has grown with the city and its service has been a factor in the development of the community. Electric power and a good water supply have also been features of Owosso's development for many years. Durand, the second in size in the county, is primarily a railroad town, for it is estimated that nearly half of the population of the village of 2,800 is employed by the Grand Trunk railroad, two divisions of which cross at that point. The development of the village has been due in large measure to the interest of the railroad, for approximately $300,000 has been spent on property in and around Durand by the company, including the largest roundhouse on the line between Chicago and Montreal, a $100,000 depot, coal shutes, carpenter shops, and machine shops. Durand owns its own water plant and electric light plant, giving the people the cheapest possible water and electricity. The water is pumped from artesian wells and is as pure as any to be found in the state. The village was incorporated in 1887 and has never changed its status since that time. A fully motorized fire department is maintained by the vilage and the sewage system is thoroughly modern. Industrially, the interests of the village are not large beyond the railroad work. A branch of the Beatrice Creamery company, managed by Frank McDevitt, manufactures Meadow Gold Butter that is sold over the entire state. A 180 10HSTOR'y 01" -or IAWAS; t EOOttN8T grain elevator, a flour mill, a hoop works, and a machine shop complete the list of industries in the village. Bancroft, with a population of 700, is located in Shiawessee township, on the Grand Trunk railroad. It was incorporated as a village in 1883. The village is a trading point for that section of the county and is also a shipping point for the farmers of that vicinity. Bennington is an unincorporated village in the township of that name on the Michigan Central railroad. It has a population of 150. Byron, in Burns township, was incorporated as a village in 1873. It has graded schools, but industrially the village has little to offer, it being primarily a trading point for the agricultural district. Laingsburg has a population of 700 and was incorporated as a village in 1871. It has a bank and a newspaper and is served by the Michigan Central railroad. Lennon is an unincorporated village in the township of Venice and has a population of 350. Morrice, in Perry township, was incorporated in 1884 by the supervisors, an action that was legalized by the legislature in 1895. It is on the lines of the Grand Trunk railroad and the Michigan Railways, electric. Perry, in the township of that name, has a population of 800. It was incorporated in 1893. It has a good water system, electric lights, and has good graded schools. A glove factory and a grain elevator are located at the village, which is served by the Grand Trunk and the Michigan Railways. Shiawasseetown, originated by Charles Bacon, of Ohio, formed a company of which the most influential member was Moses Kimball. They bought nearly six hundred acres, and a survey of the land was made in 1836. The town site was laid out approximately 3,000 feet square, which contained two public squares, one of which it was proposed to use for a state capital and the other for the county buildings. During the political maneuvering to locate the state capital it is said that Shiawasseetown held that honor for a night. A bronze tablet mounted on a boulder was unveiled on the public square in Shiawasseetown on June i4, 1926, by the Shiawassee Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The monument was unveiled by Miss Georgia Colt, who was a granddaughter of Moses Kimball. Vernon, in Vernon township, has a population of little more than 400 and was incorporated by the legislature in 1871. It has a graded school, and is the location of a grain elevator and flour mills. It is served by the Ann Arbor and the Grand Trunk railroads. CHAPTER IX INDUSTRIAL T was only to be expected that the first industrial endeavors of the pioneers of Shiawassee county should be confined to those which bore directly upon the settlement of the new country in which they had elected to make their homes. Consequently, when the first settlers arrived, they turned their attention to the establishment of saw and grist mills, for sawed lumber was a crying need of the pioneers, and it was obviously impracticable to transport their new grain to distant mills over roads little better than trails, in order that it might be ground. Statistics on this were compiled for the year 1839, a year which found the county, a bare six years old, containing eight sawmills and one flour mill. This solitary flour mill manufactured 800 barrels of flour that year. Another decade brought the establishment of four more flour mills, the five mills in the county representing a total investment of $31,000, and 11,700 barrels of flour were manufactured. Six waterpower sawmills and one steam mill were then in operation in the county, which sawed 1,500,000 feet of lumber in that year. For a few years thereafter, the milling of lumber endured a slump but after the Civil war, the industry picked up immeasurably, so that 1874 found sixteen sawmills, both water and steam, operating in Shiawassee county with an annual output of 11,500,000 feet. Flour mills, mounting twenty-two run of stone in all, numbered eight at that time. In the meantime, woodworking plants had been established in the county, and for many years, Shiawassee county saw many firms engaged in the manufacture of hardwood products of all kinds, including furniture factories. Thus were born the industries of the county which have, despite the fact that this county is primarily an agricultural community, flourished and grown steadily as the years have brought continued prosperity to the people. At Owosso are located the principal manufacturing enterprises of the county. The Chamber of Commerce lists car shops, a sugar factory, cheese plant, gray malleable iron plant, two furniture factories, truck body plant, baseball bat factory, stove works, ice cream factory, planing mill, casket factory, furnace factory, table manufacturing plant, engineering works, tile plant, two cement block plants, gluing machinery factory, and boiler works. The American Malleable company is one of the thriving industries of Owosso. The president of the concern is a Buffalo man, Arthur Argeltinger, while Jambs C. Mullaney is the plant superintendent at Owosso. Gray iron malleable castings are the products of the concern, which is one of the leaders in the metal working trade in the county. The C. A. Conner Ice Cream company is capitalized for $125,000 and has a good sale for its products throughout this county and the borders of the surrounding counties. The officers of the company are J. J. 182 HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY McDonald, president and manager; C. P. Bentley, vice-president; and William A. McDonald, secretary and treasurer. The furniture establishment of the Estey Manufacturing company is one of the time honored institutions of the county. On February 3, 1879, the company was incorporated by Jacob Estey, of Brattleboro, Vermont, D. M. Estey and Charles E. Rigley, of Owosso. It was started with a capital of a little more than $50,000, but today the company boasts a capitalization of $250,000. The products of the company at first were only common bedsteads and sawed lumber, while today it manufactures tables and other furniture. The present officers of the company are: Burt A. Hathaway, president; Charles E. Rigley, Jr., vice-president; J. E. Sackrider, secretary; and Courtney D. McIntyre, treasurer. The Woodard Furniture company was incorporated in 1901 for $100,000, and the officers of the company are Fred B. Woodard, president; Joe C. Osborn, vice-president; Frank J. Woodard, treasurer; and Lee L. Woodard, secretary. This firm is the second furniture manufacturing establishment in Owosso and has more than gratified the people of the city with the success it has won through the quarter century that has elapsed since its founding. The Independent Stove company was incorporated in 1906 and has a capitalization of $225,000 for the manufacture of stoves of all descriptions. The firm is one of the strongest manufacturing enterprises in the county. The officers of the corporation are: William V. Robinson, president; D. M. Christian, vice-president; J. Edwin Ellis, secretarytreasurer and general manager. The John R. Kelly company, capitalized for $130,000 and incorporated in 1922, is one of the largest plumbing and heating, and sheet metal job work companies in the county. John R. Kelly is president of the corporation; Lee H. Ratan is secretary; and Carl Uhlman is treasurer. Though strictly speaking, the concern is not a manufacturing line, yet its size and the nature of certain classes of its work warrants mention of it in this volume. The Owosso Casket company, which might be classed with the woodworking companies, is owned by the same corporation, relatively, as the Woodard Furniture company, for its officers are Fred B. Woodard, president; J. C. Osborn, vice-president; Frank J. Woodard, treasurer; and Lee L. Woodard, secretary. The company was incorporated in 1901 with a capital stock of $100,000, and its products are noted for their excellence. The Owosso Manufacturing company, making sash and doors, ranks as one of the foremost factories of the county. It was incorporated in 1893 and is now capitalized for $100,000. The present officers of the company are: Calvin P. Bentley, president; Albert E. Green, of Detroit, vice-president; and Claude C. Day, secretary. Screens and screen doors are also manufactured by this concern, and wherever such articles are used, the name of Owosso is known in this connection, for the concern has developed a state-wide and nation-wide market for its output. HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 183 The Owosso Milling company, that manufactures flour and feed from native soft grain, is the largest milling concern in the county, and it was incorporated in 1909 for $20,000. The present officers of the company are Joseph Rundell, president; Elizabeth Rundell, vice-president; and Chase F. Dawson, secretary and treasurer. The Robbins Table company, which specializes in the manufacture of tables, is one of the oldest corporations in Owosso, and for this reason the company has played an important part in the development of the industries in this section of the county. It was incorporated in 1899 for $27,500 and has these men as the present officers: B. P. Robbins, president; E. A. Willson, vice-president; and Joseph H. Robbins, secretary and treasurer. The Standard Machinery company manufactures sawmill and special machinery and paving block conveyors. The concern was incorporated in 1916 and has the following men as the officers: D. M. Christian, president; William J. Blood, vice-president; Edward W. Brown, treasurer; and F. M. Glander, secretary. The A. H. Stokes Manufacturing company makes all kinds of tubular and stamped products. The company was incorporated in February, 1920, for $25,000, and the present officers of the concern are: James S. Hansell, president; A. H. Stokes, secretary-treasurer. Of a different nature, yet one which brings the name of Owosso perhaps more prominently before the people of the state than any other concern in the county, is the Wolverine Sign Works, which does outside advertising throughout the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. I PESON*AL SKECHE 411S fr ST CLAIR COUNTYI i PERSONAL SKETCHES Robert P. Anderson, treasurer of St. Clair county, former Grand Master of the Michigan Lodge of Masons, has for many years been an active supporter of worthy business, political, educational and civic welfare movements in Port Huron. He is the owner of considerable real and personal property, accumulated solely through his own efforts. Mr. Anderson was born in Picton, Ontario, Canada, on December 29, 1866, the son of George and Sarah (Mills) Anderson, both of whom were born in Ireland. His father died in 1900 and his mother in 1911. While a pupil in the public schools of Derseronto, Ontario, he worked during vacations in a planing mill in that town, and when he came to Port Huron on September 1, 1887, he obtained employment in the planing mill of Cooley & Campbell. He worked for Mr. Campbell, who later purchased his partner's interest in the mill, ten years. He then became a member of the firm of Johnston, Anderson & Haller, which operated a house, store and church fixture factory under the name of the Home Manufacturing Company. Their plant was the largest planing mill in the city at that time. During all of his adult years Mr. Anderson has taken an active part in fraternal affairs, being a Mason, an Odd Fellow, a Knight of Pythias, a Maccabee, a Modern Woodman, a member of the Detroit Consistory, Scottish Rite Masonry, and the Shrine. An active Republican, he was first elected alderman, serving four years in that office, and later was elected to the board of education. He won the office he now holds, that of county treasurer, in 1922. He has been a director of the Chamber of Commerce and is now a director of the Port Huron Building and Loan Association. He retired from the Home Manufacturing Company in 1920. He was elected Grand Marshal of the Grand Lodge, F. & A. M., in 1915 and advanced year by year through the various offices to the office of Grand Master in May, 1921. He was re-elected county treasurer in 1924. On January 14, 1891, he married Elizabeth Jackson, who was born July 22, 1867, in Sarnia, Ontario, the daughter of George and Mary Ann (Wilson) Jackson, natives of England. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have two children, Hazel M., their first child, born June 24, 1896, was married on November 10, 1919, to Albert C. F. Schewe. Their second child, Robert E. Anderson, born March 9, 1898, was married on February 2, 1924, to Katherine Dunford, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred J. Dunford, of Port Huron. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson are members of the Grace Episcopal church. 188 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY Frank E. Beard, president of the Beard-Campbell & Co., wholesale and retail dealers in hardware, 312-314 Huron avenue, Port Huron, is also vice-president and director of the First National Bank of this city. He has held many public offices in St. Clair county and has been active in fraternal affairs many years. Mr. Beard enjoys an excellent reputation as a business man and citizen and is one of Port Huron's most respected residents. He was born May 21, 1853. Mr. Beard's parents were James and Mary (Decker) Beard, his father having been born in New York and his mother in Vermont. Frank E. Beard attended school in a house on Court street, west of Seventh street, until the old Washington school, which was then being built, was finished. After finishing the course of study at this school, he entered Albion College, studying there in 1869 and 1870. He began to earn his way in the world in 1870 as a lumber worker in the woods of Alcona county. He quickly mastered the details of timber working and logging, and in 1875 was placed in charge of the lumber camps and sawmill at Alcona. He was very successful in this position, and earned a reputation as the best at logging roads in the county. Later, in 1878, he supervised the construction of a steam railroad nine miles long, equipped with one locomotive and fifty cars, which supplanted the logging roads in hauling the timber from the woods to the mill. While employed in the woods he met Minnie A. Hewlett, of Indiana, and was married to her on February 9, 1876. Mr. and Mrs. Beard continued to reside in the town of Alcona, near the mill and camps under Mr. Beard's direction, until 1884. At that place Mr. Beard first entered politics, serving as township treasurer three years, supervisor four years and school director five years. After coming to Port Huron, in 1884, he continued active in politics, and has served two years as alderman, ten years as a member of the school board, and eight years as county road commissioner, with four years yet to serve in the latter office. He has also been a member of the canal commission. In 1893 he helped organize the Beard, Goodwillie & Company hardware concern, which is now the Beard, Campbell & Company store, the largest of its kind in Port Huron. Mr. Beard is a member of Port Huron Lodge No. 58, F. & A. M., Huron Chapter No. 27, R. A. M., Port Huron Commandery Knights Templar, Moslem Shrine and the Grace Episcopal church. Only two of Mr. and Mrs. Beard's five children are now living, Mrs. Charles W. Taylor and Howard F. Beard, of Port Huron. Albert Dwight Bennett, banker, of Port Huron, is more than a business man and financier. He is a wise and willing counselor of those who need advice and guidance in their financial affairs, and is a port of refuge to worthy industrial and mercantile enterprises in need of funds for development of their businesses. Mr. Bennett has done much to advance the best interests of the city in which he lives, and few men are held in greater esteem by their fellow-citizens. He was born in Warsaw, Wyoming county, New York, on March 11, 1858. He is a direct descendant of William PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 189 Adrianse Bennett, founder of one of the first prominent families in New York. The family were of English ancestry and settled in New Netherland before 1636, and with an associate, Jacques Bentyn, purchased from the Indians one thousand acres of land which is now part of Brooklyn, New York. He built a residence on this land, on the shore of Gowanus Bay, and married Mary Badye Verdon, widow of Jacob Verdon. Mr. and Mrs. William A. Bennett became the parents of several children, and after his death, the estate was awarded his widow by Sir William Kieft, predecessor of Peter Stuyvesant, governor of New Netherlands. His descendants intermarried with members of the Van Sicklen and other prominent Dutch families, and some of his posterity were confirmed in their property rights by Governor Dongan in the second year of the reign of King James II. George Bennett, great-grandfather of Albert Dwight Bennett, was born in Brooklyn about 1767 and married Mary Lockwood Miller, widow of Lewis Miller, of Steuben county, New York. The couple settled in Phillipstown, Columbia county, New York, where their son, Albert Bennett, was born. The latter married Rachel Warner, of Rensselaer county, and came to Lee township, Athens county, Ohio, where on July 5, 1825, Daniel Miller Bennett, father of Albert Dwight Bennett, was born. Daniel Miller Bennett was taken by his parents to New York and educated as a homeopathic physician. He married Eliza Prail Ransom, of Carlton, Orleans county, in that state, on October 15, 1847. She died on February 7, 1854, leaving a son, Daniel Willard Bennett, and in December, 1855, Dr. Bennett married Helen Maria Sheldon, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Dwight and Prudence (Wells) Sheldon, of Orleans county. In 1863 he brought his family to Saginaw, Michigan, where he became a.prominent physician and citizen. He helped to found and was first Worshipful Master of Saginaw Valley Lodge No. 154, F. & A. M. He resided in Saginaw six years, coming from that city to Port Huron at the beginning of a ten-year siege of hard times, which were augmented by a panic and a forest fire which burned much timber in 1871. Dr. Bennett remained with the suffering inhabitants. of the city, and numbered every resident of the community among his friends. He acted as city physician many years, and was greatly mourned when he died, in 1910, at the age of eighty-five years, after living in Port Huron forty years. He was survived by three sons: Daniel, by his first marriage, and Albert Dwight and Lewis Ten Eyck Bennett, by his second. Daniel Bennett married and settled in the Upper Peninsula region. Albert Dwight Bennett's mother was a descendant of Isaac Sheldon, who was born in England in 1629, and married, after coming to Hartford, Connecticut, Mary Woodford. Mr. Sheldon and his fatherin-law were among the first settlers in Northampton, Massachusetts. The descendants of Isaac Sheldon and wife inter-married with members of the Stebbins, Barnard, Hoyt, Field, Church and Welles families; and, by virtue of the Field alliance, Mr, Bennett 190 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY is a descendant of a Revolutionary soldier, Aaron Field, of Bernardtown, Massachusetts. Another ancestor, named Wells, was governor of the colony of Connecticut in 1655 to 1658. He was born in England in 1598 and came to America as secretary for Lord Saybrook. Albert Dwight Bennett was educated in public and private schools in Saginaw and Port Huron, and began his career as correspondence clerk in the Port Huron Savings Bank when he was sixteen years old. He rose to the position of bookkeeper in this institution and, in 1890, at the age of thirty-two, became secretary and manager of the Howard Towing Association, and later Mr. Bennett became trustee and manager of the Howard estate, which included a sawmill and lumber yard in Port Huron and considerable improved and unimproved real property. He became a director and finally president of the Commercial Bank, and when that institution was consolidated with the Federal Commercial & Savings Bank, he was made director of the latter and is now chairman of the board. Among the important positions he has held are: the presidency of the St. Clair County Abstract Company; the office of treasurer of the Aikman Bakery Company; the vice-presidency of the Port Huron Gas Company; the directorship of the Michigan United Railways Company, and the National Gas, Electric Light & Power Company of Detroit; and the presidency of the Vermont Power & Lighting Company and the Consolidated Lighting Company of Montpelier, Vermont, concerns which he helped to organize and finance; and the presidency of the Port Huron Elevator Company. Mr. Bennett is a former member of the board of trustees of the Baptist church, of which his family are members, though he is an Episcopalian. He holds membership in practically every civic and social organization of consequence in Port Huron, and is also affiliated with the Sons of the American Revolution and two outof-town clubs and societies, among which is the Detroit club. In politics he has usually upheld Republican principles. In 1885 he married Emily Louise Howard, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Howard, wealthy residents of Port Huron, and granddaughter of John Howard, one of the first settlers in this city. Mr. and Mrs. Bennett have three children. The eldest, Henry Howard Bennett, born June 24, 1888, was a second lieutenant in the World war and is now vice-president of the Nicol-Ford Company, Detroit bond dealers. He was married on January 11, 1913, to Dorothy E. Edgar and has two children, Henry Howard Bennett, Jr., and Emily Elizabeth. Mr. and Mrs. Albert Dwight Bennett's second child, Helen Howard, was married August 25, 1915, to Charles Rust MacPherson, and is the mother of three children: Louise Bennett, Suzanne and James Grant MacPherson II. Elizabeth Experience Bennett, the youngest of the family, was born July 1, 1901, and is now the wife of Raymond St. Ledyard Babcock, of Pittsburgh, Pa., and the mother of two children, Frederick Raymond Babcock II, and Albert Dwight. Mrs. Bennett is, because of her descent from prominent early American families, a member of the Colonial PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 191 Dames and the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Founders and Patriots and Daughters of 1812. Clair R. Black, judge of the probate court, St. Clair county, was born January 29, 1877, at Watford, Ontario, Canada. His father, A. N. C. Black, who was born in 1849, for many years conducted a hardware store at Watford, going from there to Dutton, Ontario, and founding a private bank. From Dutton, Mr. Black moved to a farm at Battleford, Saskatchewan, where he resided until eight years ago, when he came to Port Huron and established the firm of Black & Company, agents for Dodge Brothers' automobiles and trucks. His wife, Mrs. Sarah C. (Moore) Black, died in September, 1924, at the age of seventy-six years. Mr. and Mrs. Black were the parents of ten children: Charles Allen, Fred, John R., David Moore, Lorne C., Ada, who is now Mrs. Boughtner, of Regina, Saskatchewan, Lena, now Mrs. Smith of Toronto, Ontario, Minnie, Ina, now Mrs. Sam Neil, and Clair R. Black, of Port Huron. Judge Black came to Port Huron in 1894, soon after graduating from high school, and obtained a position in the law office of Atkinson & Wolcott. In this office he studied law several years. Then, for a period of three years, he was employed in the Chadwick McIlwain law office, leaving that position in 1898 to join the Thirtythird Michigan Volunteer Infantry at the outbreak of the SpanishAmerican war, in which he saw active service. Returning to Port Huron at the end of hostilities, he took the state bar examination and was admitted to practice in January, 1899. Associating himself with Attorneys John M. Gleason and David Fitzgiven, under the firm name of Gleason, Fitzgiven & Black, he engaged in active practice one year, after which the firm was dissolved. Later he was made assistant police judge, in which office he remained from 1904 until T910, when he became presiding judge of the police court. On July 20, 1923, he was appointed by Governor Alex Groesbeck to fill an unexpired term as judge of the probate court and was elected in 1924 to the full term. He is a vestryman of Grace Episcopal church, a Kiwanian, and member of Lodge No. 58, F. & A. M., of which he served as Master in 1918. He was married in 1901 to Carrie McIllroy, of Port Huron, who was born on October 31, 1878, and who died on January 21, 1912, leaving one child, Archibald, born June 11, 1906. Judge Black re-married on March 27, 1914, to Maude Wheatley, of London, Canada. Elmer T. Blackney, who has been St. Clair county school commissioner since 1903, was left fatherless at the age of thirteen years. He at once went to work to help support his mother and his brothers and sisters, receiving for his labor as a farm hand seven dollars a month. In spite of many difficulties which would have dismayed a person of weaker will, Mr. Blackney completed his common school education, worked his way through college and at last became a teacher. He has done much to advance the cause of education in St. Clair county, and few men in public life have received greater approval of their efforts than has Mr. Blackney. 192 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY As a member of the Republican party he was elected village clerk of Capac and has been a delegate to many party conventions. He was born August 9, 1863, on Grand Island, in the Niagara river, Erie county, New York, the son of William W. and Frances M. (Bell) Blackney. His father, who was also a teacher, came to Genesee county with his family and entered business as a contractor and when he died, Elmer T. Blackney was compelled by necessity to aid in the support of the family, and he met this task with admirable resolution. After five years as a farm hand he obtained a position in a store in Clio at one dollar a day, and from this small wage he met his own expenses and contributed to the support of his mother and his brothers and sisters. He entered Valparaiso University, Indiana, at the age of twenty-two with forty-nine dollars to meet his expenses. Undaunted, he worked his way through college, obtained his diploma and returned to Genesee county as a school teacher. Later he taught schools at Bridgeport, Saginaw county, and at Swartz Creek, Genesee county. His services were so satisfactory that in 1894 he was made superintendent of the Capac schools and, nine years later, in 1903, was elected commissioner of the St. Clair county schools. He was re-elected in 1907, 1911, 1915, 1919 and 1923, and is today incumbent in that office. Mr. Blackney has made many improvements in the school buildings, in the courses of study and equipment in the schools since he became commissioner. He carried to completion the program outlined by his predecessor to obtain uniform text books in all of the county schools, and arranged uniform courses of study. Commissioner Blackney is a Past Worshipful Master of the Masonic Blue Lodge of Capac, and is an active member of the Capac Methodist Episcopal church. Both he and Mrs. Blackney are members of the Eastern Star, of which he has been Patron and Mrs. Blackney Associate Matron. Mrs. Blackney was, before her marriage, which occurred March 29, 1898, Maude G. Curtiss, of Capac, where she graduated from high school. Mr. and Mrs. Blackney have three sons: Forest G., who was born in Capac, and Willard Curtiss and Elmer Thomas, who were born in Port Huron. Isaac Bowden, physician and surgeon, 9135/2 Military street, Port Huron, was left an orphan when he was ten years old and at the age of thirteen years he was guiding a walking-plow on a farm for the sum of fifty cents a day. Dr. Bowden owes his success to his own hard work, determination and privation. How well he has succeeded is shown by the fact that in 1918, while he was an officer in the United States Medical Corps, he was in charge of brain surgery at Base Hospital No. 73, Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. He was born November 16, 1874, on a farm six miles north of Park Hill, Ontario, Canada, the son of Charles and Mary Jane (McKnight) Bowden. When he was three years old, in 1877, his father died, and in 1884, when he was ten years old, his mother died, at the age of forty-four, the age of her husband at his death. Charles Bowden was a native of Cornwell, England, and his wife was born in PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 193 Ontario, Canada. Faced by the necessity of earning his own living, Isaac Bowden set himself resolutely to his task. With the scant savings accumulated from his meager earnings on the farms in his neighborhood he managed to complete his elementary grade education and graduated from high school. Receiving his diploma from high school in 1891, he entered the Detroit College of Medicine and Surgery, obtaining his M.D. degree in 1894. He began practice of his profession at Orchard, Nebraska, going from there to Atkins, Iowa. After remaining in that city a few years he moved to Sioux City, Iowa. He has, however, taken several post-graduate courses since graduating from the medical college. His first postgraduate studies were at the New York Polyclinic Institute in 1902-03. In 1910 he took a course at the Post-Graduate Hospital, Chicago, and returned to that school for additional instruction in 1912. In 1916 Dr. Bowden was first assistant surgeon to Dr. A. Reese, the noted specialist and surgeon, and when he offered his services to his country during the World War he was commissioned captain and placed in charge of brain surgery at the base hospital at Oglethorpe, Georgia. He was honorably discharged on December 24, 1918, and since that time has been a successful physician and surgeon in Port Huron. He married Lyla Walser, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. They have three sons: William Stewart, Charles and LeRoy Bowden. Dr. Bowden is a Woodman of the World, a Modern Woodman, a Moose, a member of the Knights of Pythias and the American Legion, and was a delegate to the first Legion convention, held at St. Louis in 1919. Charles E. Boyce, secretary and treasurer of the Wright-Hoyt Company, real estate and insurance brokers, Port Huron, was born March 31, 1861, in Port Huron, the son of Samuel L. and Hannah (Barrett) Boyce. Samuel L. Boyce, who was owner of a hardware store in Port Huron, was born in Ireland on October 12, 1821. He came to Michigan in 1835 and settled in this city in 1844. For twenty-five years he was an active lumberman, giving practically all of his walking hours to his work and carrying his food supplies on his back and in his hands through the woods at night, with no path or trail to guide his footsteps. It was said of him that he often carried thirty pounds of sugar, twenty-five pounds of pork, a pail of butter in one hand and a pail of soft soap in the other, which was characteristic of pioneer workers in the big woods. On October 8, 1848, he married Hannah Barrett, a native of England, and reared a family of four children: William J., Samuel L., Charles E. and Fred Boyce. In 1878 he founded a hardware business, in which he continued until he was quite old. He was active in politics, and was elected town clerk, justice of the peace, and, in 1870, mayor of Port Huron. In 1876 he was re-elected to this office. Mr. Boyce also served his city as alderman and as one of the commissioners who had charge of the construction of the water works system. His son, Charles E. Boyce, graduated from the Port Huron high school in 1880 and from the University of Michigan at 194 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY Ann Arbor four years later. His first employment after finishing his education was with his father in the hardware business. During the administration of President Cleveland he was appointed to the United States Custom Service, from which he resigned to become an official of the Wilson Saw Manufacturing Company of Port Huron. He disposed of his interest in this concern in 1906 and purchased the Sparling & Maxwell Insurance Agency. This firm in January, 1907, was consolidated under his direction with the Wright-Hoyt Company, of which he is now secretary and treasurer. Mr. Boyce is now Generalissimo of the Michigan Grand Commandery of the Knights Templar. He is also a member of the Port Huron Golf and Country club and a regular attendant at the Baptist church, of which his father was deacon. Mr. Boyce married Maude Earl, of Lapeer, on September 5, 1894. Colonel Charles Lincoln Boynton, former Commissioner of Public Safety and prominent business man of Port Huron, was commanding officer of the Thirty-third Michigan Infantry in the Spanish-American war. His father, Major Nathan S. Boynton, was commended for meritorious service in the capture of General John Morgan, noted Confederate raider, during the Civil war, and later distinguished himself by leading the Knights of the Maccabees through a trying period in the history of that organization. Colonel Boynton is a lineal descendant of Sir Matthew Boynton, of England, who was knighted in the seventeenth century for his successful efforts in introducing sheep and goats in the British colonies in America. His grandfather, a native of New York, settled in Port Huron about 1827, where he died in 1846. His wife was Frances Rendt, a daughter of Captain Lewis Rendt, a native of Bremen, Germany, who served several years in the German army and was also in the British army in the War of 1812. Nathan S. Boynton was born June 23, 1837, in Port Huron. He received his education in Port Huron and Marine City, attending high school for a short while at Waukegan, Illinois. He worked, as a young man, in a grocery store and learned the art of whip-making. Later he invested his savings in timber land, and was wiped out by the memorable panic of 1857. He then moved to New Orleans, where his freely-spoken sentiments on the slavery question caused him to be unpopular. He then settled at O'Fallon, Illinois, where he taught school, cleared land and worked at the carpenter trade until July, 1858, when he took his savings, two hundred dollars, and moved to Cincinnati. In that city he began the sale of electrical apparatus recommended for the treatment of various diseases, and commenced the study of medicine. In 1862 he returned to Michigan and enlisted in Company C, Eighth Michigan Volunteer Cavalry, as a private. Promotion to first lieutenant followed soon afterward, and later he became captain. Having distinguished himself by gallantry in the capture, in Ohio, of the Confederate raider Morgan, he was made major. This promotion was due, in part, to his valiant service in the campaigns in East Tennessee and Georgia. After being PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 195 discharged from the army at the end of the war, Major Boynton came to Marine City, where he was deputy assessor of internal revenue and postmaster. In 1866 he was elected village clerk; in 1867 village president; and in 1868 was elected representative from his district in the state legislature. Late in that year he returned to Port Huron to enter the newspaper business, which he gave up two years later to engage in real estate operations. In 1872, as an earnest admirer of the great editor and preacher, Horace Greeley, he became an active Republican, and in 1874 was elected mayor of the city. He was re-elected in 1875 and in 1894, receiving on the latter occasion the largest vote ever received by any mayor of Port Huron up to that time. He was again elected to this office in 1896. He served on the board of education six years, four of which he was president of that body. In fraternal affairs he was also active, and was a member of the Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Foresters, the Woodmen of the World, the National Fraternal Congress, the Elks, the Knights of the Maccabees, the Knights of the Khorassan. In activities in veterans' organizations he also played a prominent part, and was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and the military order of the Loyal Legion. He joined the Knights of the Maccabees, an order in which he was deeply interested, in 1878, when Diamond Tent, at Port Huron, was founded. The Maccabees in the United States were then under the supervision and control of the Canadian Knights of the Maccabees. Major Boynton was a delegate from the Michigan lodge to the general review of the order at Buffalo, New York, in 1879. He declared himself to be in sympathy with the movement instigated to separate the two branches of the order in Canada and the United States, and he voted for the adoption of a new constitution framed at that review. At the same convention Major Boynton was elected Supreme Lieutenant Commander of the First Supreme Tent of the Knights of the Maccabees and, when the Supreme Commander resigned, Major Boynton was elevated to his position. When a grand review of the order was held in Port Huron in 1881, he devoted his efforts to the reconciliation of the two opposing factions of the national organization, with the result that an amicable adjustment of the difficulties was reached at that time. Not long after Major Boynton retired from Supreme Commander of the organization its management became indifferent, and complete collapse of the order was avoided only after Major Boynton came to the rescue. When the Supreme Tent was instituted, he was urged to extend the lodge to other states. This was done, and he was made Supreme Record Keeper, holding this office until 1894, when he was elected Great Commander. He was elected vice-president of the National Fraternal Congress in 1892 and in 1893 was elected president of that body. In 1900, at the Great Camp of.the Maccabees convention in Michigan, he was again elected commander, receiving three times as many votes as his nearest opponent for that office. From that 196 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY time until the Great Camp Review at Toledo in 1908, he championed the Modern Maccabee cause. At that convention he retired from active labor in this order, bearing the honorary title of "Father of the Maccabees." He died May 27, 1911. Major Boynton married Annie Fidelier, of Cincinnati, during his stay in that city. Mr. and Mrs. Boynton were the parents of five children: Charles Lincoln, Mrs. A. E. Parker, George H., Mrs. J. D. Patterson and Mrs. H. H. Wright. Colonel Charles Lincoln Boynton received his early education in the schools of Port Huron and at the Detroit Business College. After quitting school he clerked in various drug stores in Port Huron and Detroit, later becoming chief clerk of the Great Camp of the Maccabees. Still later he became financially interested in the vessel, coal and jewelry business, in all of which he was very successful. He became president of the 0. K. Laundry Company, president of the R. S. & J. D. Patterson Jewelry Company, and a leader in other enterprises. Having joined the Michigan National Guard twenty years before the Spanish-American war, he was made Colonel of the Thirty-third Michigan Infantry in that conflict, leading his men in battle in Cuba. Returning to Port Huron at the close of the war, he took an active part in politics, serving twelve years as a member of the board of education and being elected to the office of commissioner of public safety in 1917. To this office he devoted practically all of his time. He is active in affairs of the Masons, the Odd Fellows, the Moose, the Eagles, the Elks, and is also a member of Grace Episcopal church. He was married January 8, 1907, to Gertrude \.inton, of Johnston, Pennsylvania, and they maintain their home at 2637 Military Road, Port Huron. Ira Bricker, trust officer of the First National Bank, Port Huron, has been employed in banking continuously since his graduation from high school at Yale, St. Clair county. Mr. Bricker was born June 19, 1881, on a farm in Greenwood township, St. Clair county. His parents, Elijah and Louisa (Burkholder) Bricker, were born in Canada and came to St. Clair county in 1879, soon after their marriage. Elijah Bricker, who was for many years a prominent farmer and a leader in politics in his community, is now living in Yale, where he has business interests. Ira Bricker's first employment was in the State Savings Bank at Peck, Sanilac county, where he learned the fundamentals of the banking business. Later he went to Bay City as first assistant cashier of the First National Bank. He came to the First National Bank, Port Huron, as manager of the trust department in 1921, and has since filled that position in a highly satisfactory manner. Mr. Bricker is a member of the Masons, the Kiwanis club and the Chamber of Commerce. He was married in 1905 to Mabel H. Ferguson, of Yale, whose father, Alexander W. Ferguson, a native of Scotland, came with his wife to the village of Almont, Lapeer county, where Mrs. Bricker was born. Mr. and Mrs. Bricker have two children: Robert F. and Helen Louise. The Bricker- are members of the Presbyterian church. PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 197 Brock E. Brush, M.D., 502~4 Huron avenue, Port Huron, one of the leading surgeons in northern Michigan and president of the St. Clair County Medical Society, is a man of magnetic personality, a deep student and a thorough gentleman. Dr. Brush was born July 14, 1865, in Amherstberg, Canada, the son of Wheeler and Margaret (Anderson) Brush, parents of eight children, four sons and four daughters. The father was a native of Malden, Essex county Canada, and the mother was born in Falkirk, Scotland, on March 5, 1831. Dr. Brush received his early education in the schools near his home at Amherstberg and entered the Detroit College of Medicine and Surgery when he was yet a very young man. He graduated from that institution in 1896 with the degree of M.D. and has since taken several extensive post-graduate courses in surgery in hospitals at New York and London. As a result of his exceptional abilities and excellent education, Dr. Brush has won an enviable reputation as a surgeon, and few men in Michigan are considered his equal in this highly-specialized vocation. He began general practice at Croswell, Michigan, where he remained eleven years, and came to Port Huron in 1907. He has, at all times, enjoyed a large and profitable practice and the respect and admiration of all who came in contact with him. He is, fraternally, a Mason and an Odd Fellow, and in politics, under usual conditions, a Republican, though he is ever ready to support the man he considers best fited for the office sought. He was married on January 1, 1901, to Josephine McDowell, who was born in March, 1867, in the province of Ontario, Canada, of Canadian and English descent. Jack Buckley, dealer in automobile accessories, 504 Huron avenue, Port Huron, is a former cowboy. He was born November 4, 1887, in Cheapside, Ontario, Canada, the son of William and Emma (Brown) Buckley. His father, a farmer, took his family to Weyburn, Saskatchewan, when Mr. Buckley was thirteen years old. There the father and son "homesteaded" government land and, when Jack Buckley was sixteen years old, in the year 1903, they had acquired a total of sixteen hundred acres. From 1900 until 1903 he worked as a cowboy on one of the big cattle ranches of North Dakota, returning to Saskatchewan in 1903 to assist his father in growing wheat on their extensive agricultural lands. He was married on Junet-; 1912, to Olive Lytle, of Harbor Beach, Michigan, and shortly afterward came with his bride to Port Huron, where he became buyer for the Beard-Campbell Hardware Company in 1913. In 1922 he resigned from this position to enter the automobile accessory business, in which he has been very successful. He is a Mason and member of the Kiwanis club, of which he was treasurer two years. Mr. and Mrs. Jack Buckley are the parents of three children: Lloyd, and Marjorie and Mildred, twins. Burt D. Cady. Among those who have gained distinction in the practice of law none stands higher or enjoys a wider acquaintance throughout the state than the subject of this sketch, Burt D. 198 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY Cady, of Port Huron. Mr. Cady is at the present time filling the position of city-attorney for the city of Port Huron, and his many friends are persistent in their demands that he be chosen as his party's candidate for the highest office within the gift of the people, namely that of governor of the state. That he possesses the necessary qualifications ably to discharge the duties of that important office is conceded by all. He is not only an able lawyer and a recognized leader of the bar of the state, but possesses many other qualities of both mind and heart which eminently fit him to fill that position. Mr. Cady has served the people of his native city and county in numerous positions of responsibility and trust. The able and fearless manner in which he has discharged the duties of the offices to which he has been chosen has won for him the respect and confidence of the entire community regardless of party or creed. In the capacity of city attorney he has successfully defended the city in a number of important cases, among which can be mentioned the Harold Baker and Emslie Gerrie actions brought against the city, and while serving as prosecuting attorney he prosecuted the famous Gaffney murder case, which resulted in a conviction, and many others of greater or less importance. His social and business connections are indeed numerous, and at the present time (1926) he is serving as president of the board of trustees of the First Congregational church. He is a member of the Commission of the Mackinaw Island State Park; director of the Harrington Hotel Company, director of the Detroit Life Insurance Company, and also fills a like position in the following named corporations: Detroit Fidelity and Surety Company, of Detroit, Standard Trust Company of Detroit, Detroit Bread Company, Wills Ste. Clair Sales Company of Port Huron, Port Huron Theater Company, Forman Shoe Company, and at one time served as president of the Young Men's Christian Association. In politics Mr. Cady has ever given his allegiance to the Republican party and is a recognized leader of his party in county, state and national affairs. In 1920 he was chosen as a delegate to the Republican national convention and elected chairman of the Michigan delegation. He is a pleasing speaker and has rendered valuable service to his party in both state and national campaigns. Burt D. Cady was born in Port Huron on July 25, 1874. His father, Elwin M. Cady, was born in Medina, Ohio, on April 18, 1834. As a child he was brought by his parents to New Port, which is now Marine City. Later the Cady family moved to Rochester, Wisconsin, where Elwin M. Cady attended school. After graduating from Racine College, Wisconsin, he came to Port Huron in 1854 and entered the lumber industry. He was for many years a deputy collector of customs under John P. Sanborn, and after Mr. Sanborn's retirement from that office he was employed by him in private pursuits. He was employed by the board of election twenty consecutive years, in each one of which he made the annual distribution of ballots to all of the townships in the county. He was elected alderman on the Republican ticket in I PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 199 1895 by a large majority, and had represented his ward, the Sixth, but a short while when the first serious illness in his life seized him and he died, on January 30, 1896. The city council adopted lengthy resolutions commending his "sturdy, rugged and energetic character, his versatile qualifications for the service of the public, and his devotion to duty and the full performance of every trust, private and public, confided in his charge, entitle his life, character and public spirit to a fitting tribute of respect and commemoration. Resolved, that in the death of Elwin M. Cady, this city loses one of its most respected citizens, this council the services of one who would have made an able, diligent and efficient member, his neighbors a kind, considerate and obliging friend, and his family a fond, indulgent husband and parent..... " Elwin M. Cady was married in 1861 to Mehitable E. Kimball, who was the mother of seven children: Ella E., Erwin A., Sarah E., Mertie Maude, Elwin M., Burt D., and Clay C. Mrs. Cady was born August 12, 1837, on what was known as the Bunce farm, the daughter of Everett and Mehitable (Moulton) Kimball, natives of New Hampshire, who came to Michigan in 1836, where Mr. Kimball engaged in the lumber industry. Mrs. Cady was, before her marriage, a school teacher and had schools in Clyde, Kenockee, and what is now Yale, Michigan. She died July 23, 1925, on the same farm on which she was born. Burt D. Cady began the study of law when he was eighteen years old, in the office of Avery Brothers & Walsh, attorneys. He was admitted to the bar on July 25, 1895, his twenty-first birthday. He was successful from the start, and has since enjoyed a large practice and has held many public offices. He was elected assistant police justice of Port Huron in 1896, for a four-year term, and in 1898 was elected circuit court commissioner for a term of two years. He was appointed prosecuting attorney and in the fall of 1902 was a successful candidate for the same office. In November, 1906, he was elected from the Eleventh senatorial district to the state senate, and on August 3, 1909, he was appointed postmaster of Port Huron by President Taft. In social and fraternal affairs he has also been active. In 1897 he was secretary of the State League of Republican Clubs, becoming vice-president in 1898 and president of the body in 1899. In 1896 he formed the Municipal League of Republican Clubs in Port Huron, and served as president of that organization several years. He has also been chairman of both state and county Republican central committees, was chosen chairman of the state central committee in 1898 and served continuously for seven years. He is president of the Port Huron Driving Park and Agricultural Society, and director of the Cozy Homes, Limited, of Welland, Ontario, in addition to holding the many offices mentioned above. While prosecuting attorney he gained a favorable reputation by his successful conduct of two very important cases. The first was the People against William Gilfoy, in which Gilfoy was convicted of the murder of James Gaffney and sentenced to eighteen years' imprisonment. The other 200 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY case was that of the People versus George Bearss, who was charged with the murder of the wife of Abel Brown, a farmer of Berlin township. For the death of this woman, Jane Brown, Bearss was sentenced to life imprisonment. Mr. Cady is a member of the First Congregational church, having joined the denomination when he was sixteen years old. He also is a member of the Pine Grove Lodge No. 11, F. & A. M.; Huron Chapter No. 27, R. A. M.; Port Huron Commandery No. 7, Knights Templar; Moslem Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; Port Huron Lodge No. 261, I. O. O. F.; Charter Lodge No. 18, Knights of Pythias, and Port Huron Lodge No. 343, B. P. 0. E. He was married on June 3, 1902, to Mary K. Beamer, of Lapeer, Michigan. They have one daughter, Eleanor Maurine, and one son, Gordon D. Cady. Albert B. Carlisle, proprietor of the Carlisle Ice Cream Company, 514 Superior street, Port Huron, was born March 12, 1862, at Stainer, Ontario, Canada, the son of William N. and Harriett (Ransier) Carlisle. His father, who was born in Cob, Canada, in 1836, was a ship carpenter. He came to Port Huron in 1864 and became a cabinet maker and cabin builder, constructing many of the cabins for the larger vessels on the Great Lakes in those days. He took an active part in politics, serving as alderman of the Third ward in 1885 and becoming superintendent of public works in 1890. He died in 1908, and his widow, who was born in 1837, died in 1911. They were the parents of seven children, five of whom are now living, as follows: Arthur N., an employe of the postoffice department, Port Huron; Theodore J., a captain on the Great Lakes; Allen W., a marine engineer, employed on vessels on the Great Lakes; Frank, employed.with Albert B. in the ice cream business; and a daughter, Mrs. William Johnson. Mr. Carlisle, the subject of this sketch, attended the public schools and obtained a position as a traveling salesman when yet a young man. In 1885 he started in the ice cream business on a very small scale. To make even this modest beginning he was forced to employ his savings, accumulated while he was engaged in selling candy for a wholesale confectionery house. His first day's output of ice cream, which totaled five gallons, was shipped to Justice Brooks, of Minden City, in 1887. The daily production remained at five gallons for only a short while, as Mr. Carlisle's vision proved correct and the business grew rapidly. The building which the Carlisle Ice Cream Company now occupies was erected in 1922, and is a substantial brick structure, thoroughly modern in every respect and equipped with the latest improved machinery for the manufacture of this product. Twenty-two persons are employed in the plant. Mr. Carlisle has been active, as was his father, in Port Huron politics. From 1885 until 1910 he served as alderman of the Fifth ward, a total of sixteen years, and was coroner for eight years. He was married on October 10, 1888, to Margaret M. Breeze, of Vassar, Michigan. They have three children: Mrs. PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 201 Norman Grund, of Chicago; Lloyd H., who is associated with his father in the ice cream plant; and Lillian, a student. John Cawood, head of the Cawood Sales Company, Michigan avenue and Grand River, Port Huron, is one of the most enterprising young business men in that city. Mr. Cawood's career has been a busy, if not a lengthy one, in which he rose from teacher in a country school to school superintendent, newspaper publisher and, finally, to his present status as one of the most successful automobile dealers in Port Huron. John Cawood was born on a farm near Marlette, Michigan, on July 26, 1885. His father, James Cawood, was a native of Michigan, and his mother was born in Scotland. Mr. Cawood is the eldest son of a family of eight children, and spent his boyhood in the country, attending the Marlette township schools and high school at Marlette. While a sophomore in high school he was offered the post of teacher in the Evergreen township, Sanilac county, schools. After teaching one year he returned to high school, where he graduated with his class. He then taught school another year, after which he entered Ypsilanti State Normal College, graduating from that institution and from the Cleary Business College in the same year, 1909. Having been offered the superintendency of the Brown City schools, he again joined the teaching profession and remained in Brown City many years. Resigning from his position in the schools, he purchased the weekly Brown City Banner, and later became owner of the Marlette Leader. He managed these publications in a successful manner five years, after which he sold them and came to Port Huron to seek a larger field of opportunity. On April 1, 1920, he established the Cawood Sales Company in a building on East Water- street, and began the sale of Hudson and Essex automobiles, a venture which was successful from the start. In 1921 he gave up the Hudson and Essex sales rights and became agent for the Studebaker cars, moving to a new location at Court and Military streets. He also handled the finer Packard cars. In 1922 Mr. Cawood formed an association with Earl Paige and became distributor of the Reo automobile, later becoming sales agent for the Chevrolet Company, with branches at Yale, Brown City, Marine City, Algonac, Croswell, Carsonville, St. Clair, Capac, Marlette, Deckerville and Sandusky. In January, 1925, Mr. Cawood disposed of his interests in the Cawood & Paige Sales Company to Mr. Paige and began the erection of his present commodious and modern building, which was completed in July, 1925. A part of this building is now occupied by the Earl Paige Company and the remainder is used by Mr. Cawood in the sale of Packard, Willys-Overland and Studebaker cars. His sales rooms, service station and machine shop for repairing autos are considered the finest in the city. Mr. Cawood was married on June 4, 1914, to Merle C. Benedict, daughter of J. L. and Mrs. Benedict, of Brown City. To this union has been born one daughter, Helen Cawood. Charles C. Clancy, A.B., M.D., 502Y2 Huron avenue, Port Hu 202 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY ron, president of the Michigan State Medical Society, who makes a specialty of internal medicine, enjoys the respect of his neighbors and friends. He is known as a gentlemanly and conscientious physician and a public-spirited citizen. Dr. Clancy was born August 1, 1859, on a farm near Bothwell, Ontario, Canada, the son of Patrick and Mary Clancy. He attended elementary school at Wallaceburg and high school at Chatham, Ontario. Later he studied at Assumption College and at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, receiving the degrees of A.B. and M.D. in 1883. He came to Port Huron after graduation and has resided here since that time. He served as a member of the board of education, and has been a member of the library commission for a number of years; has been president of the St. Clair County Medical Society and is now president of the Michigan State Medical Society. He has given freely of his time and effort to all worthy civic, educational and medical projects in Port Huron. He finds most pleasure in the friendship of his fellow physicians. Dr. Clancy was married, in 1885, to Margaret M. McNeal. Thomas Henry Cooper, M.D., 915 Military street, Port Huron, county physician of St. Clair county and district surgeon for the Grand Trunk railway, was born March 23, 1884, at Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. His mother, Mrs. Carolina (Allingham) Cooper, is now living at the family home in Port Huron, being at this time sixtyeight years old. His father, John Edward Cooper, a marine captain, was born in Ontario, in 1858, the son of a marine captain, and died in 1917. Mr. and Mrs. Cooper were the parents of two children: Thomas Henry and Florence Beatrice, who is now Mrs. Dewitt F. Jennings, of Detroit. Thomas H. Cooper attended the public schools at Sarnia, Ontario, until he was thirteen years old, when he came with his parents to Port Huron and began his studies here, graduating from high school in 1902. He next studied at the Ferris Institute, taking one year's work in pharmacy and successfully passing the state examinations for aspirants to that profession at the end of that period. He then entered the Detroit College of Medicine and Surgery, where he remained two years. He completed his medical education and received his M.D. degree at Illinois Medical College in 1908. He engaged in general practice at Portland, Oregon, two years, when he returned to Port Huron and established himself here. He has been very successful and has held the office of county physician nine years. He has been president of the St. Clair County Medical Society, and is now a member of that organization, the Michigan State Medical Society, the American Medical Association, the Chamber of Commerce, the Port Huron Golf club, the Port Huron Yacht club, the Masons, the Shrine, the Knights of Pythias, the Odd Fellows and the Lions club. He was married December 8, 1909, to Florence Margaret Wright, daughter of George H. and Emma (Rogers) Wright, prominent residents of Port Huron. Dr. and Mrs. Cooper have PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 203 two children, Marian Elaine and Dorothy Adelaide. He and his family attend the Methodist Episcopal church. William Walter Cox, civil engineer and road manager for the St. Clair county board of road commissioners, has, during the past five years, superintended the construction of three hundred and fifty miles of paved highway and fifteen bridges. He is an ardent advocate of an improved highway system which, if adopted, will provide wider trunk highways for the handling of heavier traffic on the more important state routes. Mr. Cox was born at Edon, Ohio, the son of George W. and Isabel (Ruff) Cox. His father, who was born in Ohio, brought his family to Branch county, Michigan, in 1901. He was a farmer and a mason, and worked at those occupations until a short while before his death, in 1919. His mother is now a resident of Quincy, Michigan. William Walter Cox was educated in Ohio, graduating from high school at Reading in 1904. He then enrolled in the engineering department of Case University of Technology at Cleveland, working during summer vacations in engineering projects. During his school period and for some time after his graduation from college he was employed in engineering work in Cleveland. At the end of that period he formed a partnership with his brother, John J. Cox, at Coldwater, Michigan, and engaged in drainage, highway, municipal and county engineering contracting at Three Rivers, Sturgis and nearby cities. Later Mr. Cox became an engineer in the state highway department, and was placed in charge of inspections of highway and bridge construction. After a few years he was advanced to the rank of district engineer and stationed at Kalamazoo, in charge of work in southwestern Michigan. In 1917 he was promoted to first deputy chief engineer at Lansing, where he remained until 1919, when he came to Port Huron to take charge of the county road construction and supervise the highway work done by the state in this section. He is an energetic, able engineer, and entirely above reproach in all of his business relations. He is a Mason, holding his membership in that order at Coldwater, a member of Moslem Shrine, Detroit, and the Port Huron Commandery, Knights Templar. He is also affiliated with several engineering societies, among which are the American Association of Engineers, the Michigan Engineers' Society, the Port Huron Engineers' club and the County Road Commissioners and Engineers' Association. Mr. Cox married, in 1914, Charlotte Fletcher, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Nelson P. Fletcher, of Coldwater. They have one daughter, Charlotte Louise. Mr. Cox and family are members of the Episcopal church, and reside at 602 Park street, Port Huron. Captain William H. Crawford, retired mariner, 2469 Military street, Port Huron, began sailing on the Great Lakes twenty years before the advent of steam-propelled vessels on these waters. He has led a busy, strenuous life, filled with thrilling experiences and and many hardships, and is now enjoying a well-earned rest at his home, which he has made very comfortable and attractive. Captain 204 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY Crawford was born on a farm near Perth, Canada, August 31, 1854, the son of Scotch parents. His mother, Mrs. Mary Ann (Hannah) Crawford, was born on Islay Island, Scotland, and died soon after he was born. His father, James Crawford, was born on the Scotch mainland. Captain Crawford received but a meager schooling as a boy, and went to sea when he was only fifteen years old. In 1880, while he was yet employed on sailing vessels, he came to Port Huron to live. He has seen every phase of a sailor's life, from service as an apprentice seaman on a sailing vessel to master of a modern steamship. He was married in 1887 to Janet MacFadden, who was born in Sunderland, Manilla township, Canada, of Scotch ancestry. To this union were born five children, three of whom are now living. The eldest, Marion Agnes, is now Mrs. Albert Millard, of Michigan City, Indiana, where she is a teacher in the public schools. Mrs. Millard was retained as a teacher after her marriage because of the fact that the parents of her pupils circulated a petition to set aside the Indiana school regulation which provides that married women shall not teach in the public schools. Captain and Mrs. Crawford's second child, Islay Janet, was named after her mother and the island where her grandmother was born. She married Theodore James Henry, the son of Senator Henry, of Battle Creek, and is the mother of one daughter, Marian Janet. The third child of the Crawford family now living is John Alexander Crawford, former state auditor, who is now assistant buyer for the state hospital at Traverse City, Michigan. The Crawford residence at 2469 Military street is one of the first dwellings erected on this thoroughfare and was formerly known as the Vanderberg house. Captain and Mrs. Crawford have remodeled and re-arranged the building, retaining its attractive lines, which makes it one of the prettiest homes in Port Huron. The captain is a member of Pine Grove Lodge of Masons and the Foresters, and Mrs. Crawford is a member of the Eastern Star and the W. B. A. Both are members of the Presbyterian church. William J. and Charles H. Dart, proprietors of the J. A. Dart & Sons sheet metal works at 525 Quay street, Port Huron, are owners of a business that has been established many years. J. A. Dart, who founded the business in 1880, was born in Mt. Clemens, Michigan, on March 4, 1838, the son of a native of New York, who came to Macomb county in the early thirties and died in that county in 1845. J. A. Dart came to Port Huron in 1856 and began work in the William Stewart hardware store. In that store he learned the tinner's trade, remaining in Mr. Stewart's 'employ until 1880, when he purchased the sheet metal department of the store and en-, tered business for himself. His first shop was above the Stewart store. From that location he moved across the street to 509 Water street and, after several subsequent changes of location and after Mr. Dart's sons, William J. and Charles H., were members of the firm, the present substantial brick building owned by the company was erected at 525 Quay street. The two brothers assumed entire PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 205 control of the business at the death of Mr. Dart in December, 1911. William H. Dart was born at the family home on Lapeer street, Port Huron, on September 25, 1868. His mother, Mrs. Susan (Bowman) Dart, widow of the founder of the J. A. Dart & Sons Company, was born at Beansville, Novia Scotia, and came with her parents to St. Clair county when she was seven years old. Her father became head sawyer in the old Harrington lumber mill and remained in Port Huron until his death. William J. Dart entered his father's shop as an apprentice sheet metal worker soon after graduating from high school. When he became a capable mechanic he was admitted to partnership in the business, and has since proved himself to be a thorough merchant and executive. He was married on June 1, 1914, to Rose Taft, daughter of James and Mary Taft, of Port Huron. Mr. and Mrs. William J. Dart have two children, James and Ruth. Mr. Dart is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Elks, and the Modern Woodmen. His brother, Charles H. Dart, the other member of the firm of J. A. Dart & Sons, was born on Lapeer avenue, Port Huron, in the old family home, on May 26, 1874. He also entered his father's shop after finishing high school and has been employed in the family business since that time, with the exception of three years he spent as manager of another shop at Battle Creek. On April 6, 1898, he married Violet Rush, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Rush, pioneer residents of Port Huron. Mr. Rush is remembered by older residents as one of the first shoemakers in the city. Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Dart have three children: the eldest, Eunice, is now Mrs. Russell Norris, of Port Huron; Adelaide and Charles, Jr., are the younger members of the family. Mr. Dart is a member of the Masons and the Woodmen of the World. Thomas Edward De Gurse, physician and surgeon, Marine City, is a veteran of the Spanish-American war and a former mayor of Marine City. His two sons, John and Newell De Gurse, graduates of the University of Notre Dame, are now members of the St. Clair county bar. Dr. De Gurse was born on a farm near Corunna, Canada, July 18, 1873, the son of Samuel and Margaret (Stanley) De Gurse. After graduating from the schools near his home he spent one year at Assumption College, Canada, entering that institution in 1891 at the age of eighteen years. In 1892 he began his studies at the Detroit College of Medicine and Surgery, obtaining his M.D. degree in May, 1895. He then practiced his profession at Marine City three years, entering the United States regular army in 1898 to serve during the Spanish-American war. He was made acting steward at the army hospital at Porto Rico. He was honorably discharged from the service at Fort Wayne, Michigan, in 1899. He then returned to Marine City to resume his practice and has since been very successful. On June 11, 1901, he married Margaret E. Newell, daughter of Patrick and Agnes (Brophy) Newell. To this union were born four children: E. Newell, born in June, 206 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 1902; John Lewis, in December, 1903; Thomas Edward, born in 1909; and Margaret Elizabeth, who was born in March, 1911, and who died in April of that year. Dr. De Gurse for many years was surgeon for the Rapid Railway Company and has kept informed on all the developments.in the science of medicine and surgery. He is a former president of the St. Clair County Medical Society and a member of the Michigan State Medical Society. Fraternally he is a Knight of Columbus and, as is his family, a member of the Holy Cross Catholic church. During his administration as mayor of Marine City in 1919-21 he paved many streets and did other things to improve the city. During the World war he was a physician member of draft board No. 2, and in 1919-20 was appointed by the state department of health as health officer of St. Clair county and was the first physician in St. Clair county to do official disease prevention work on a broad scale. He was ably assisted in this work by the Misses Molly McKenny and Flora Neil and has received much commendation for his efforts. Dr. De Gurse is now a director of the Marine Savings Bank and a leader in the civic affairs of his city. His youngest son, Thomas E., Jr., is now a student at Campion College, Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin. Dr. De Gurse is the possessor of a large and lucrative practice and is popular both as a physician and as a private citizen. Albert Dixon, Stewart building, Port Huron, retired wholesale grocery and real estate operator, was born under the British flag and started his business career as a grocery store employe when he was thirteen years old. Though he is now eighty-seven years old, and firmly insists he has withdrawn from active participation in business affairs, he is still able, energetic and thoroughly informed on all subjects pertaining to any of his many investments. Mr. Dixon was born in the town of Kenninghall, Norfolk county, England, on Christmas eve, 1839, the son of Zachariah and Deborah (Carter) Dixon, who brought him to Bristol, Kendall county, Illinois, in 1848. His father entered tinsmithing and copper working in that city, dying there in 1862. Having attended school in England until he was nine years old, Mr. Dixon continued his studies in Illinois until he was thirteen, when he came to Port Huron and obtained a place as clerk in a grocery store. This store was owned and operated by F. Saunders, who had been a friend of the senior Dixon in England. Albert Dixon worked several years in the Saunders' store, helping him expand the business later to a wholesale grocery, in which Saunders and he were partners. Mr. Dixon was married on April 3, 1861, to Sarah A. Wilson, who was born in northern Ireland, the daughter of John and Nancy (McNaull) Wilson, who brought her to the United States when she was yet a child. Mr. Dixon's son, Fred, was later admitted to partnership in the wholesale grocery, and after the death of Mr. Saunders in 1900, the two Dixons conducted the business alone. In 1901 the National Grocery Company made them an offer for their business that they could not refuse, and the store was sold. Mr. Dixon PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 207 then entered the real estate business, in which he was also very successful. In 1904 he placed on the market seven acres of highgrade residence property known as the Dixon plat, which sold rapidly and neted him a handsome profit. He bought and sold many other smaller parcels of real estate, re-investing his profits in permanent holdings, so that today he is one of Port Huron's most substantial business men. He has, at all times, adhered to an upright, straight-forward policy in conducting his mercantile operations, with the result that he enjoys the entire confidence of the residents of the community. With his son, Fred J. Dixon, and W. L. Jenks, he established the Port Huron city electric railway and built the Detroit interurban branch to Marine City. This venture has aided the growth of Port Huron tremendously. He has also invested heavily in other local enterprises and was one of the directors of the Commercial Bank. He has ceased to be greatly interested in politics, though he served one term as city clerk, being elected to that office in 1867. He has always been a consistent Democrat. He is a member of the Pine Grove Lodge of Masons, and has filled all chairs in that lodge. He also is an enthusiastic Knight Templar. Mr. and Mrs. Dixon have three children: Frederic J., who is mentioned in this sketch; Eva N., who is now Mrs. J. E. Sloan, of Port Huron; and Harvey A. Dixon, owner and manager of the Riverside Printing Company. John W. Fead, of the John L. Fead & Sons Knitting Mills, Port Huron, is also a director in the Federal Commercial & Savings Bank, president of the Port Huron Theater Company and the Harrington Hotel Company, and vice-president of the Foreman Shoe Company and the Wills-St. Claire Sales & Service Company. He has been a member of the Port Huron board of education over ten years and served as president of that body in 1921-25. Mr. Fead is also a member of the Mackinaw Island commission of the state of Michigan. He was born September 26, 1860, at Lexington, Michigan. His father, John L. Fead, founder of the John L. Fead & Sons mills, was born in Bavaria, Germany, on July 12, 1834. The latter came to the United States when he was eighteen years old, making the trip alone and paying for his transportation with money he had himself earned. He settled at Lexington, where one of his uncles resided, and became a merchant. Later he became senior member of the firm of Fead & Andreae in the woolen mills at Lexington. Still later he purchased the interest of the Charles Andreae family in this enterprise and became sole owner of the concern. In 1907 the mills were destroyed by fire, and Mr. Fead sought a new and more advantageous location in Port Huron, where the John L. Fead & Sons Company is now a leading industry. Mr. and Mrs. Fead were the parents of nine children: John W., William L., Charles C., Nellie M., Edward F., Emma A., Fred F., Louis H. and George A. Fead. Mrs. John L. Fead was, before her marriage, which occurred at Lexington, Augusta Walthers, and was born in 208 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY Hamburg, Germany, on May 2, 1839. She was brought to the United States by her parents when she was two years old. John L. Fead, prior to 1908, when the burning of his factory necessitated moving to Port Huron, had been trustee and treasurer of the Lexington school board for a period of twenty years. He continued as head of his company until his death, which occurred on January 18, 1918. His wife, Mrs. Augusta (Walthers) Fead, died July 12, 1912. Fred F. Fead, treasurer of the John L. Fead & Sons Company, was born March 10, 1873. Charles C. Fead, president of the concern, was born January 12, 1865; and William Fead, another brother and member of the firm, who was born October 25, 1863, died on September 1, 1917. Louis H. Fead, still another brother and member of the firm, is judge of the circuit court at Newberry, Michigan. He is a Past Grand Master of the Michigan Lodge of Masons. John W. Fead, the subject of this sketch, took a course in a business college in Detroit after graduating from the schools at Lexington. He then entered his father's business, which at that time was the Fead & Andreae Woolen Mills. In 1881, when the son was twentyone years old, John L. Fead became sole owner of the company and admitted him to partnership, as he did his younger sons as they reached their majorities. In 1902 the company was incorporated as a knitting mill, manufacturing woolen socks and mittens, it being a closed corporation, the stock all owned in the family. John W. Fead was married on September 29, 1886, to Eugenia A. Vilerott, of Detroit. They have two children: Robert Stanley and John A. Mr. Fead is a popular, successful business man and a ready supporter of every movement for the betterment of Port Huron. Ray M. Forrister, osteopathic physician, 935 Military street, Port Huron, was born February 9, 1886, at Waldron, Michigan. His father, Clarence M. Forrister, was born in Waldron on March 1, 1859, the son of James Forrister, a wagon maker, who was born in New York and who came to Waldron to establish himself in business. The latter was postmaster of that town many years and died there at an advanced age. He married a girl who was a relative of the Baker family and a descendant of Robert Morris, of Revolutionary war fame. Her father, a Quaker, came to Michigan in 1867 and settled on a farm near Waldron. Clarence M. Forrister, father of Dr. Forrister, was a wagon maker, like his father, until 1890, when he went into the meat business, opening a shop at Waldron, where he is still living. Mr. and Mrs. Clarence M. Forrister were the parents of two children: Rexford, who now lives at Adrian, Michigan; and Ray M., now an osteopathic physician at Port Huron. The latter graduated from high school in 1903 and from Ypsilanti College, where he took a literary course, in 1908. For two years he taught in the high school at Ionia, Michigan. He then entered the Still College of Osteopathy at Columbia, Missouri, obtaining his degree in 1913. He at once came to Port Huron and began the practice of his profession, in which he has been very successful. He has a host of friends, and enjoys PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 209 the good-will of other physicians and surgeons in Port Huron. He was secretary of the Michigan -Association of Osteopaths three years, and is now a member of the official board of the First Methodist church, a director of the Rotary club, a director of the Y. M. C. A., as well as a leader in various other organizations. He was married on June 6, 1914, to Luella Wright, daughter of H. G. and Samantha (Antoinette) Wright, of Ionia. Dr. and Mrs. Forrister have one son, Robert Morris Forrister. John P. Gates, manager of the Morton Salt Company, Port Huron plant, is the type of man who usually gets what he goes after. Though he is modest in disposition, and says that the success of the Morton company is due to a fortunate combination of events, circumstances and personnel, his associates say that he is chiefly responsible for'the present success of this plant. He is interested in various other lines of industry, and is now secretary of the United Brass and Aluminum Company, vice-president of the Port Huron Theater Company and'president of the Wills-St. Claire Sales Service Company. Mr. Gates is a Mason, a member of the Shrine, the Elks and the Rotary club. In politics he is an ardent Republican, and has served as chairman of the county committee and the seventh district congressional committee of that party. He has also been chairman of the finance committee for the seventh district of Michigan. He was born at Monticello, Indiana, on November 21, 1869,'the son of Jacob and Mary A. (Hastings) Gates. Jacob Gates, a native of Illinois, came to Indiana after the Civil war with a brother of Mary A. Hastings, residing for awhile at Monticello and later moving with his wife and family to Winamac, in the same state. John P. Gates began his career in the civil engineering department of the Pennsylvania railroad on the "Panhandle" division. He remained in railroad work five years, going at the end of that period to Chicago, where he was employed by the engineering department of the contracting company which built the South Side railway in that city. His next position was that of shipping clerk for the Chicago Sugar Refining Company, now the Corn Products Company. Mr. Gates remained with this concern during its transition from the first-named corporation to the ownership of the Glucose Sugar Refining Company and, eventually, to the Corn Products Company. During his eighteen years in this plant he worked his way upward to a very responsible position. Under the regime of the Glucose company he was agent at Davenport, Iowa and, after the fire in the Chicago plant, he returned to Chicago to assist in the purchase of new equipment for the plant. Later he was made agent of the Pekin, Illinois, plant and of the Waukegan plant, in the same state. While in the latter city he resigned from the Corn Products Company to take charge of the Great Western Cereal Company plant at Akron, Ohio. From Akron he went to Fort Dodge, Iowa, to remodel the cereal company's plant in that city, finally going to Chicago as general superintendent of all of the company's factories. This promotion was m 210 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY received in 1909, and a few months later in the same year he was made vice-president of the concern. In 1912 he came to Port Huron to assume charge of the Morton Salt Company plant, which he has greatly increased in size and efficiency and completely rebuilt. Roy T. Gilbert, funeral director and furniture dealer, Algonac, made an enviable record as chairman of the Liberty Loan drive in Clay township during the World war, when a total subscription of one hundred and forty-four per cent was obtained, setting a record which eclipsed all other townships in St. Clair county. Mr. Gilbert has held many public offices, and is an admired and respected resident of this community. He was born March 5, 1879, the son of Charles M. and Lillian (Bulling) Gilbert. His grandfather, Charles Gilbert, came to Algonac with the great-grandfather of Roy T. Gilbert and established a grocery store which they conducted during the Civil war. They were originally residents of the state of New York. Charles M. Gilbert also conducted a grocery store in Algonac, in the same building used by his father, and later established a hotel. Mr. and Mrs. Charles M. Gilbert were the parents of three children: Clayton, Lillian, who is now dead, and Roy T. Gilbert. The latter took a course in the Cleary Business College after finishing high school, and worked in his father's grocery store until he was nineteen years old. He then entered the livery and boarding stable business, which he conducted until 1905, when the Detroit United Railway reached Algonac. He saw that this enterprise was certain to affect his business in a detrimental manner, so he disposed of his horses and equipment and became a funeral director. He was successful in this venture and, five years later, established a furniture store in connection with his undertaking parlors. Mr. Gilbert has been active in politics since he was twenty-one years old, when he was elected clerk of Clay township, a position that he held ten years. Three years later he was elected village clerk of Algonac, serving seven years in this office. Since 1904 he has been a member of the school board, and has been secretary of that body eleven years. Since 1915 he has been township supervisor, and has been chairman of the latter organization five years. He has been a tireless worker in the cause of good roads, and is one of the most widelyknown men in St. Clair county. He is an Odd Fellow, a Mason, a member of the Shrine and the Rotary club, and often acts as toastmaster at public meetings and banquets. He was married in October, 1900, to Abigail Morrison, of St. Clair, a native of Montreal, Canada. To this union have been born three children: Bernice, principal of Grant high school at Royal Oak, Michigan, Electra and Shirley Gilbert. Jacob S. Goldman, merchandise broker, 216 Court street, Port Huron, was born June 10, 1876, in Germany, and came with his parents to Detroit in 1886. His father was a dealer in scrap metal in that city until he definitely retired from business, twenty years PERSONAL SKETCHES FOB ST. CLAIR COUNTY 211 afterward. Jacob S. Goldman began his business career as a newsboy in Detroit. As he grew older he obtained a more responsible position with the Detroit News, leaving that paper later to work for the Detroit Journal and, finally, the Detroit Times. During his twelve years in newspaper work he obtained the bulk of his education. Desiring to enter the business in which his father was engaged, he began in a humble position with the L. Levine scrap metal yards in Detroit, and later came to Port Huron and opened a branch yard here. He then went to Marine City and established another branch there and at St. Clair. His next venture was in Lapeer, where he remained but a short time. Returning to the Levine company at Detroit he married, on September 18, 1899, Isabella Roberson, of that city. He then moved to St, Clair as an employe of the Levine company, and in 1903 severed his connection with that firm and returned to Detroit for a period of one year. He was then sent by his employer, in another line of business, to Saginaw, where he remained two years. At the end of that time he founded his own scrap metal business in Marine City. A disastrous fire destroyed his buildings and stock of materials at that city, so in 1913 he returned to Port Huron and purchased the branch yard of the Levine Scrap Metal Company. Mr. Goldman has been very successful in his business ventures, and is now president of the United Brass and Aluminum Company and owner of the United Iron and Metal Company. He is also a director of the Wills-St. Claire Sales & Service Company and president of the Port Huron branch of the Detroit Automobile club. He is a modern, progressive business man and is ever ready to co-operate with his fellow business men and citizens in any project for the betterment of Port Huron. He is a Scottish Rite Mason, a Shriner, a Knight of Pythias, an Odd Fellow, an Elk, a Rotarian, a director in the Jewish Society, and a member of the Port Huron Country club. Mr. and Mrs. Goldman have one son, Edward, who is a chemist at the Morton Salt Company plant. Though Mr. Goldman has made much money in his investments in Port Huron, he has not neglected his obligation to his friends and to his city. He has given his support, personal and financial, to various civic movements in Port Huron, and is admired and respected by all his associates. Jeremiah Harrington, the founder of the Harrington family which has been so prominent in the history of St. Clair county and Port Huron, was a lineal descendant of the Harringtons who, as Minute Men in 1776, earned the undying gratitude of the citizens of this great republic. With his son, Daniel Brown Harrington, who was at that time a small boy, and a party of fur-seekers, he came to the Black river in the spring of 1819 on a trip to the Saginaw Bay country. The members of this expedition were from Ohio, and on their way northward had stopped in Detroit to confer with Governor Cass, who advised them to delay their visit to Saginaw Bay until in the fall of the year. Acting on his advice, the fur 212 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY traders paddled their way up the St. Clair lake and river in canoes to the mouth of the Black river, where they landed and established themselves for the summer. A scouting expedition revealed the location of land which the Indians had cleared for cornfields, and they employed their time in cultivating this land and in fishing and hunting, leaving for Saginaw after the corn was harvested in October. During their stay with the Indians at Saginaw Bay in the winter of 1819-20, Daniel Harrington made many friends among the savages, who taught him to speak their language and demanded that he remain with them when the other members of the trading party left for Ohio, presumably to return the following fall. To avoid trouble with the Indians young Harrington's father and friends spirited him away at night. Jeremiah Harrington led another expedition, which included Daniel, to Michigan in the autumn of 1820. As a result of this trip the elder Harrington settled on a tract of land on the bank of the Black river, cleared the soil of trees and began farming. Here Daniel Brown Harrington lived until 1835. In that year he made a trip to the state of New York to borrow capital for the development of Michigan land. The Hon. Fortune C. White, of Whitestown, New York, listened to his arguments in behalf of Michigan's opportunities and loaned him money for the purchase of wilderness land, under a partnership agreement. Daniel Harrington's first purchase consisted of eighty acres south of the Black river, which were platted and sold as the village of Desmond, later becoming known as White's plat of Port Huron and, in 1837, by petition of Mr. Harrington, being admitted to the city of Port Huron. Mr. Harrington rapidly became wealthy through his investments in real estate and timber. He also was prominent in politics, serving as postmaster from 1834 to 1841, state representative in 1847 and state senator in 1852. In 1852 he built a mill on the north bank of the Black river, four miles from its mouth, and in 1878, helped organize the company which built the Port Huron & Northwestern railway, now the Pere Marquette, and was elected the first president of that company. In 1870 he founded and was elected president of the First National Bank of Port Huron, and in 1872 helped establish the Port Huron Savings Bank. In 1874 he built the Opera House Block, which was the finest structure in the city in its day. He died in Port Huron on July 7, 1878. His son, Charles F. Harrington, was born in Port Huron in 1843. He studied law in the office of G. V. N. Lothrop & Duffield, Detroit, and practiced his profession ten years in partnership with Judge Harris, of St. Clair county. From 1869 to 1873 he was prosecuting attorney of this county and was elected to the state legislature in 1877. He assisted his father in the founding of the Port Huron Savings Bank, and was manager and director of that bank over forty years. Like his father, he was a forward-looking, public-spirited citizen, and was greatly mourned when he was removed by death in 1917. His son, Edmund R. Harrington, is now living in the family PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 213 homestead at 1017 Huron avenue, and is the only surviving member of this important family. Edmund R. Harrington is perhaps best known through his efforts in the banking business and in the management of the Harrington Hotel, which is now one of the famous hostelries of Michigan. He married Fay L. Porter, whose father, John W. Porter, was a former postmaster and bank president. Mr. and Mrs. Harrington have one daughter, Janice Harrington. George L. Harvey, architect, Huron avenue and Quay street, Port Huron, member and former president of the board of examinters of architects, engineers and surveyors of the state of Michigan, is a thirty-third degree Mason, a veteran of the SpanishAmerican war and a former commander of the Michigan Knights Templar, Grand Commandery. He was born in Detroit, the son of a carpenter, Hannibal B. Harvey and Mrs. Milly (DeFoe) Harvey, a native of Canada. His grandfather, James Harvey, was born in England and came to Detroit as a young man. The latter for many years was a sailor on the Great Lakes. He became an active member of the St. James Episcopal church, Detroit, where he married, reared his family and died. George L. Harvey began the study of architecture at the age of eleven years, in the office of Mason & Rice, Detroit. He remained with this firm until he was twenty-one, when he came to Port Huron and opened his own office for the practice of this profession. Since that time he has been a prominent figure in the affairs of Port Huron. He served twenty-four years as a member of the Michigan National Guard, rising from private to the rank of major and adjutant-general in the First Brigade. During the Spanish-American war he was adjutant of the Thirty-third Michigan Volunteer Infantry. He retired from military service with an honorable discharge. Mr. Harvey has been a devoted Mason since his first admission to Port Huron Lodge No. 58, on September 21, 1893. In 1902 he was made Master of the lodge, to which he gave much of his time and effort. He has since been admitted to the Chapter, Council, Commandery, Michigan Sovereign Consistory, Moslem Shrine and, on September 21, 1920, to the highest rank in the entire realm of Masonry, the thirty-third degree. His chief interest, however, has been in the Commandery, in which he served for years as Captain General, both before and after attaining the rank of Commander of Port Huron Commandery No. 7. In 1907 he was made Grand Warder and in 1915 reached the rank of Grand Commander of the Michigan Grand Commandery. He was appointed to the board of examiners of engineers, architects and surveyors in 1919, and during the World war was appeal agent for the St. Clair county draft board. He is a former member of the park commission, a charter member and director of the Rotary club, secretary of the Community Service board, a member of the Boy Scouts camp committee, a member of the American Institute of Architects, and a junior warden of Grace Episcopal church. Born in 214 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY Detroit, October 12, 1871, he was married in August, 1894, to Emma Louise Kell, of Detroit. They have one daughter, Edith. Major Harvey has conducted his business affairs with honor and fairness and his reputation is spotless. His practice as an architect has now grown beyond the point which would permit him to care for it alone, and he is forced to turn aside many demands for his services. Peter M. Hayden, general insurance agent, 4 Hatsuff building, Port Huron, was born March 7, 1856, in the parish of Borna Coola, County Leitrim, Ireland. The Hayden family homestead, which was erected in 1790 on a site one and one-half miles from the river Shannon, and in which his father was born in 1814, is still in the possession of the Hayden family and occupied at this time by Michael Hayden, a nephew of the subject of this sketch. Mr. Hayden visited this spot in 1922 and found the sublimely beautiful scenery around his boyhood home unmarred by the fighting which had destroyed many fine buildings in the city of Dublin. He was especially happy because his old home was just as he remembered it, with the drooping ash and roses he had planted as a boy still thriving. He brought with him to Port Huron when he returned a photograph showing the quaint beauty of his birthplace, which he first left, as a young man in 1875, to come to Canada. Mr. Hayden remained in Canada but a few years, going from there to Lincoln, Nebraska, where he resided fourteen years. He was employed as an assistant bookkeeper in a wholesale grocery a part of this time, and later was a traveling salesman for Armour & Co., meat packers. He lived in the same ward in which William Jennings Bryan had his home, and held many conversations with him during his race for the presidency in 1896. Returning to Port Huron in 1899, Mr. Hayden started in the insurance business as the representative of one company. He is now an authorized agent for fifteen companies, and writes life, accident, fire and other forms of insurance for an established clientele. Mr. Hayden is a member of the National and Michigan State Associations of Insurance Agents, and is also a member of the Maccabees, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, of which he was many years financial secretary, the Modern Woodmen, Knights of Columbus and the Chamber of Commerce. He and Mrs. Hayden are members of St. Stephen's Roman Catholic church. Mrs. Hayden, before her marriage, was Mary G. Walsh, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Walsh, pioneer residents of St. Clair county. Mr. Hayden is a very popular man, and is much admired by the younger residents of the city, in whose welfare he is particularly interested. Frank J. Haynes was a Port Huron citizen whose sterling qualities, civic loyalty and exceptional business ability marked him as one of the strong and valued men of this community. He was direct and unassuming in his human contacts, never made compromise with injustice or wrong in any of the relations of life, and was ever to be counted upon for loyalty to friends and to hu PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 215 manity in general, his intrinsic kindliness and generosity having in a general way been disguised in an attitude that perhaps proscribed suavity at times but that gave assurance of honesty, courage and fine sense of personal stewardship. The Haynes family became one of prominence in the great lumbering industry of Michigan in the early days when that line of industry was the most important in this commonwealth, and in this specific connection, as in all other relations of life, the late Frank J. Hayes upheld the prestige of a family name that is honored in the annals of Michigan history. The lumber firm of James Haynes & Son had as its original constituent members James and Jacob P. Haynes, respectively grandfather and father of the subject of this memoir. The firm extended their lumbering operations from the Black river and other streams emptying into the St. Clair river to the Manistique river region of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, at the mouth of which river they purchased what was then known as the Clark & Thompson sawmill. There, as modern machinery was invented, the mill was remodeled from time to time, to conform with more progressive and economical methods of manufacture, and there the Haynes concern found abundant timber resources in a valuable tract of 10,000 acres of pine land, along the banks of the Manistique river. After fifteen years of successful operations in that field, the firm sold the mill and business to Charles S. Harvey, of Chicago, and later the mill passed into the possession of the Chicago Lumbering Company. James Haynes, the founder of the business, died in 1868. Jacob P. Haynes was born in the state of New York, February 22, 1832, and was seven years of age at the time of the family removal to Port Huron, Michigan, where he was reared and educated and where as a youth he became associated with his father's lumbering operations. He was thirty-six years of age at the time of his father's death. In 1882 the firm of F. J. Haynes & Company was organized, the members being Jacob P. and Frank J. Haynes. This later became the Haynes Lumber Company in 1910. He then assumed the active control and management of the extensive business, which he continued under the original firm name and with which he was actively identified until 1886, when he retired, his second son, Frederick R., having taken his place, and the third son, William J., having been admitted to the firm in 1894. In the meanwhile the concern had established a subsidiary branch at Cedarville, Mackinac county, and developed an extensive business in the white cedar and white pine district of that section of the Upper Peninsula. The physical health of Jacob P. Haynes became impaired in 1907 and, after sustaining three strokes of paralysis, he died, April 8, 1911. He was a man of buoyant and happy disposition, was a close student of and lover of nature, and enjoyed greatly his annual forest tramps. In 1873 he became associated with J. J. Boyce in the banking business, on Water stret, Port Huron, and with this enterprise he continued his alliance until 216 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 1884. He was a staunch Republican but had no desire for public office. He was affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Elks, was liberal in his religious views and gave support to all denominations, the while he attended the Methodist Episcopal church, of which his wife was a devout member. Mrs. Haynes, whose maiden name was Mary J. Young, passed away July 13, 1903, and the remains of both rest in Lakeside cemetery at Port Huron. Of the four children Frank J., subject of this memoir, was the eldest; Frederick R. died in 1909, and is survived by two children, Helen and Mark; James, Sr., died in 1870; and William J. died in 1908. Frank J. Haynes was born at Port Huron on April 6, 1861, and after completing his studies in the local high school he attended the Orchard Lake Military Academy, which was one of the important educational institutions of Michigan for many years, until its closing, and thereafter he completed a course in the Bryant & Stratton Business College in Detroit. He then assumed charge of the office work of his father's lumber business, and in connection with that business he had charge of the operation of sawmills and lumber vessels on the Great Lakes. He and his brothers eventually became the owner of valuable timber tracts in Oregon and Mississippi and gained precedence as one of the leading representatives of the lumber business in Michigan, his operations having been of broad scope. He was president of the Port Huron Paper Company and a director of the Port Huron Driving Association. Loyal, liberal and progressive, Mr. Haynes was one of the foremost in advancing the civic and material progress and prosperity of his native city, and he commanded uniform popular confidence and esteem. He was a stalwart Republican, served his home city as mayor and alderman, and was for eleven years the efficient police commissioner of Port Huron. Under the administration of Governor Rich he served as inspector general of the Michigan National Guard. Mr. Haynes was one of the organizers and was the first Exalted Ruler of Port Huron Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and was chairman of the building committee that had charge of the erection of the fine Elks Temple in this city. He was liberal and instant in his support of religious, charitable and benevolent agencies, and his civic stewardship was in consonance with the intrinsic strength and loyalty of his nature. In 1883 was recorded the marriage of Mr. Haynes to Miss Anna E. Crawford, who survives him, as do also their three children: James J., Edward A. and Mary L., both sons being graduates of the University of Michigan. Mrs. Haynes is a daughter of Alexander and Mary (Parmerlee) Crawford, both natives of Macomb county, Michigan. Mr. Crawford was one of the early school teachers in this section of Michigan, served as superintendent of the Port Huron schools and had as pupils many men who are now prominent citizens of this city. Jacob P. Haynes was one of his pupils. He was for many years in the United States customs service, with official headquarters at Port Huron. The death of PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 217 Frank J. Haynes occurred December 5, 1914, and in this memoir are given extracts from local newspaper estimates made at the time of his demise. The Port Huron Times-Herald of December 7, 1914, gave the following tribute: "F. J. Haynes was one of the real big men of Port Huron-more so than the average citizen realized. The democratic manner of the man was the magnet which drew men to him, and the sorrow that is in evidence today is of the deep, sincere and gripping type which only real men can entertain for a man whom they loved and respected. They admired his brusqueness, and although they might not always agree with him, they gave his credit for the courage of his convictions. Among men there are always a few who stand out conspicuously because of certain marked characteristics. For instance, there are many men who in the count of dollars and cents in this world are considered important, but in count of friends are poverty-stricken. F. J. Haynes possessed both wealth in friends and money. His friendship was worth while. His outstanding quality that was above all others that distinguished him was the quality of loyalty to his friends and a willingness to help a friend in need. He was a man who preferred to turn his roughest side to the community, but those who knew him best loved him for his kindliness of heart. He showed an interest in Port Huron and its affairs such as few wealthy citizens have ever exhibited before." Mr. Haynes was but twenty-six years of age when he was elected mayor of Port Huron, and his administration was marked by mature judgment as well as by progressiveness. At the time of his death he was the directing head of the firm of the Haynes Lumber Company and Port Huron Paper Company, and thus his entire active career was marked by close association with the lumber business. James J., elder of the two sons of the honored subject of this sketch, was born October 4, 1884, and in 1907 he was graduated in the University of Michigan, with the degree of Mechanical Engineer. In 1908 he was admitted to partnership in his father's lumber business, of which he is now the directing head. He is a director of the Harrington Hotel Company and the Port Huron Sulphite Paper Company. He is a Republican in politics and he and his wife are communicants of Grace church, Protestant Episcopal. He served three years as a member of the board of education, 1920-22, has been for ten years a trustee of the local lodge of Elks, also a member of the Masons and Shrine, of which he is now a director, and he is a director of the Port Huron Yacht club. August 27, 1907, he wedded Miss Fannie F. Parsons, who was born in Detroit, a daughter of Frederick and Alice (Knill) Parsons. Mr. and Mrs. Haynes have two children: Elizabeth Parsons, born August 1, 1908, and Frank J. II, born in August, 1915. Edward A., younger son of the subject of this memoir, was born and reared in Port Huron and is a graduate of the University of Michigan, as previously noted. He is now an executive official of the Port Huron Sulphite Paper Company, is a member of the 218 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY Masonic order and B. P. 0. E.; also a director of the First National Bank. Mary L. Haynes married Walter R. Wright, of Port Huron. Mr. Wright served in Camp Custer and rose to the rank of major. Theodore F. Heavenrich, physician and surgeon, 928 Military street, Port Huron, former president of the St. Clair Medical Society and present medical director of the Port Huron Hospital, was born May 31, 1874, in Detroit. His father, Simon Heavenrich, was born in Germany on June 18, 1832, and died on June 14, 1906. His mother, Mrs. Sarah (Benda) Heavenrich, was born in England, October 3, 1842, and died in Detroit, Michigan, in 1897. Simon Heavenrich came to the United States when he was fourteen years old, making the trip alone and later sending for the members of his family. He worked for a while in Cincinnati, Ohio, going from there to Leavenworth, Kansas, when that city was a wild frontier town. He helped patrol the town for a time and later opened a clothing store there. He left Leavenworth shortly before the Civil war and went to Detroit, where, with his brother Samuel as partner, he founded the wholesale and retail clothing firm of Heavenrich Brothers. This concern was for years the largest clothing manufacturing company west of Rochester, New York. Mr. Heavenrich was interested in all charitable and civic enterprises, and served as president of the city poor commission. Mr. and Mrs. Heavenrich were the parents of six children: Sydney F., of Detroit; Hortense G., now Mrs. Benjamin Lambert, of Detroit; Edgar E., of Detroit; Abe B., of Detroit; Osmond D., of Detroit; and Dr. Theodore F. Heavenrich, of Port Huron. Dr. Heavenrich graduated from high school in 1890 and began work in the wholesale drug business. Later he obtained employment in a retail drug store, and began a course of study in the Detroit College of Pharmacy, where he graduated in 1893. Continuing in the drug business as a registered pharmacist until 1897, he enrolled in the Detroit College of Medicine and Surgery. On receiving his degree from that institution in 1900, he entered Harper Hospital in Detroit as house surgeon, a position which he held for two years. Having thus fitted himself for his life work, he came to Port Huron in 1901 and began general practice. On April 18, 1905, he married Katherine F. Ballentine, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Silas L. Ballentine, a pioneer merchant family of Port Huron. A graduate of the University of Michigan and possessor of a charming personality, Mrs. Heavenrich has been of great assistance to her husband in his professional career. During 1924 she served as president of the Port Huron Business and Professional Women's club. Dr. Heavenrich has earned an enviable reputation as a physician and surgeon. In addition to being medical director of the Port Huron Hospital, he is surgeon for a number of corporations in St. Clair county. He also has a large private practice. Dr. Heavenrich is a member of the Rotary club. PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 2,19 Frank S. Henson, clothier and dealer in men's furnishings, 220 Huron avenue, Port Huron, is a man of magnetic personality, who has done much to advance the civic welfare of the city in which he lives. Possessing rare ability as a public speaker, he is in great demand whenever assistance is needed in conducting a drive for funds for charity or other purposes, and he is, beyond question, one of the big men of the community. Mr. Henson was born in Port Huron on August 10, 1880, the son of Thomas and Emma (Stokes) Henson, both of whom were born in England. Thomas Henson was born October 2, 1848, in Northampton county, and his wife was born March 17, 1849. Mrs. Henson's death occurred in December, 1924. William Henson, grandfather of Frank S. Henson, was a member of a family of watchmakers and jewelers in England, and Mr. Henson has in his possession a coat-of-arms which shows that one of his forbears had been knighted by the English crown in 1491. Mrs. Emma (Stokes) Henson was the daughter of an English wheelwright and carriage builder. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Henson were married in England. Soon afterward Mr. Henson came to Leamington, Ontario, Canada, and, when he had become firmly established financially, sent for his wife in England. They came to Port Huron in the early seventies and before 1880 were owners of a jewelry store which stood on the site now occupied by the Mecca soft drink parlor. Mr. Henson had served a fourteen-year apprenticeship as a jeweler and engraver in England, and was a highly-skilled artisan. His first work in Port Huron was for the Robert Walsh store. Mr. Henson became a member of the old volunteer fire department and constable. He and his wife were the parents of four children: Eva, who is now with the Women's Benefit Association; Fred W., of Leadville, Colorado; J. Edward, an importer of European water color paintings; and Frank S. Henson. The last began working for Abraham Weil soon after finishing high school. Later he attended business college, returning to the Weil store as bookkeeper and later going to St. Clair as manager of the Weil store in that city. After the death of Mr. Weil, Mr. Henson formed an organization and purchased the two stores. Later he sold the store at St. Clair and has since been sole owner of the establishment at 220 Huron avenue, Port Huron. This concern is considered one of the most up-to-date and dependable business houses in the city. Mr. Henson was married in August, 1907, to Emily Myers, daughter of George and Louise Myers, of Port Huron. Mrs. Myers, a native of New York, came to Port Huron to accept a position of Supreme Finance Keeper with the Women's Benefit Association. Mr. and Mrs. Henson have two daughters: Frances, who is now fifteen, and Louise, nineteen. Mr. Henson is one of the founders of the Chamber of Commerce and has been director and president of the board of governors of the retail merchants' division of that b6dy. He is now a member of the Rotary club and is a founder and director of that organization. He has held all offices in the Port 220 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY Huron Elks except that of Exalted Ruler and was Master of Pine Grove Lodge of Masons in 1916. He is also a Royal Arch Mason and member of the Chapter, Consistory and Shrine, Moslem Temple. He is now a director of the Wills-St. Claire Sales and Service Company and a stockholder in other enterprises. George C. Higgins, owner of a coal yard at the foot of Thomas street, Port Huron, enlisted in Company F, Thirty-third Michigan Infantry, when he was only eighteen years old and saw active service in Cuba in the Spanish-American war. Mr. Higgins was born December 19, 1879, in New York City. His father, Hugh Higgins, who enlisted in the United States Army in 1859 and served during the Civil war as first sergeant of Company A, Eighth United States Infantry, was born in New York City in 1834. At the close of the Civil war he returned to New York and remained in that city until 1880, when he was sent, still a member of the army, to St. Clair county. Here he left the service and settled on a farm in Gratiot township. He became an active Democrat and was alderman of the old Fifth ward and a member of the board of education. He died on January 18, 1912, in Port Huron. His widow, Mrs. Delia (Weston) Higgins, is still living in this city. She was born in Ireland on May 12, 1837. Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Higgins were the parents of eight children, only three of whom grew to maturity. They were George C., Lillian and Emma. George C. Higgins was brought to St. Clair county by his parents when he was not quite one year old. He attended the parochial elementary schools and high school and, after leaving school and until he enlisted in the army in the Spanish-American war, was an apprentice machinist in the Grand Trunk railway shops. When he returned to Port Huron at the end of the war he became a railway mail clerk. He continued in this occupation nineteen years. On July 18, 1908, he married Blanche J. Oag, daughter of James M. and Mary Ann (Mitchell) Qag, of Port Huron. In 1918 Mr. Higgins resigned from the United States mail service to become a partner in the Webb & Higgins Coal Company. He remained a member of this firm until May 15, 1925, when he purchased the Lakeside Coal Company, a concern which he has since conducted in a successful manner as the Higgins Coal Company. Mr. Higgins is a very popular business man and is much interested in various civic programs. For five years he has been vice-president of Port Huron Boy Scouts and he is also active in the work among crippled children conducted by the Rotary club, of which he is a member. Fraternally he is a Knight of Columbus and an Elk. Mr. and Mrs. Higgins have one daughter, Lillian Cordelia, born March 18, 1913. Lyman A. Holmes, former senator from St. Clair and Macomb counties, was for many years one of Michigan's leading financiers and manufacturers, but has now retired from business and public life and is enjoying a well-earned rest at his home in St. Clair. Senator Holmes made a success in life through his own efforts, PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 221 and has contributed greatly to the development of the great state of Michigan. The business projects in which he has been interested and which have prospered under his management are indeed numerous, but he was not only a business man, but a sincere, public-spirited citizen as well. He was born November 7, 1858, at Buffalo, New York, of English and Irish parents, and received his schooling in Buffalo and in Cleveland, Ohio. When he was sixteen years old he dropped his studies and became an assistant timekeeper and paymaster in the employment of Sir John McDonald in the building of the Q. M. & 0. O. railway from Montreal to Ottawa, Canada. When the railway was completed he became an apprentice foundryman at Springfield, Ohio, where he worked his way upward to the superintendency of the plant. Later he held similar positions in other foundries about the country, and in 1906 same to Romeo, Michigan, and started the first of three foundries conducted by him over a period of many years. His rise in the financial world was rapid, and in 1915 he was elected director and vice-president of the Romeo Savings Bank. Having declared himself as a member of the Republican party, he was elected to the Michigan senate in November, 1916, and re-elected in 1918 by an overwhelming majority over his two opponents. In 1912 he organized the Holmes Foundry Company, of Port Huron, a concern which was first known as the Romeo Foundry Company, and of which he was president for many years. Among the other important positions he has held or is now holding are: the vicepresidency of the State Savings Bank of St. Clair; membership on the board of governors of the Northwestern Finance Company; the directorship of the New Egyptian Portland Cement Company; and the chairmanship of various church and social organization committees. While a member of the senate he served two terms on the finance committee. He was successful in his efforts to improve conditions at the Boys' Industrial School in Lansing and was one of the senators who instigated the movement to sell the old site of the school and purchase the tract of ground where the new buildings are now erected, and where the boys receive practical training in various trades to assist them when they have been released from the school to make their own way in the world. During the World war Senator Holmes was an active supporter of the Red Cross and was a "minute-man" speaker during the various campaigns conducted in that trying period. As an expert foundryman he has made many improvements in shop practices, and was the first to adopt the multiple system of molding which is now in general use throughout the country. He also perfected what is known as the "saw-tooth" system of ventilation for foundries. Mr. Holmes also had charge of the erection of the Ford company's foundry at Highland Park, Detroit. He has been much interested in the progress of the Ford Motor Company, which he saw was destined to become one of the huge business enterprises of America, and has profited greatly through the 222 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY growth of this concern. He has been associated, indirectly, with Henry Ford since the building of the Ford foundry at Highland Park. Senator Holmes is one of the charter members of the Detroit Athletic club, and is also a member of the Detroit Aviation club, the Port Huron Golf and Country club, the St. Clair River Country club, the Rotary club, the Grotto of the Mystic Shrine, Detroit, and various other Masonic bodies. Hannibal Allen Hopkins, postmaster of St. Clair, has in his possession the sword and breastplate of General Ethan Allen, famous Revolutionary soldier, for whom he was named. Mr. Hopkins is a direct descendant of Stephen Hopkins, who was one of the colonists who came to America on the "Mayflower." Hannibal Allen Hopkins was born January 23, 1871, at Spring Lake, Ottawa county, Michigan, the son of Hannibal Allen and Emma (Comfort) Hopkins, natives of New York. His father and an uncle, Benjamin Hopkins, came from western New York to Michigan when they were young men, and engaged in the lumber business at Mill Point, Ottawa county, which is now the town of Spring Lake. Mr. Hopkins, Sr., was for many years associated with Thomas W. Ferry, prominent early resident of Michigan. Mr. Hopkins entered the agricultural college at East Lansing in 1887, and in 1899 was appointed a page in the state legislature. During his year in this position he made many friends among the legislators, who in 1890 made him press clerk of the assembly. In this capacity he received a thorough training in journalism and four years later, in 1894, he went to Washington, D. C., to engage in newspaper work. In that city he met Congressman Justin R. Whiting, whose daughter, Pamelia, he married on April 30, 1895. Mr. Whiting, who died on January 31, 1903, was a prominent business man, and was part owner of several vessels on the Great Lakes. Mr. Hopkins became owner of the St. Clair Republican, a weekly newspaper, on July 1, 1895. He conducted this publication in a highly successful manner, taking a leading part in political affairs, and on February 25, 1898, he was appointed postmaster of St. Clair, retiring from that office in 1916. While he was thus employed he conceived the idea of editing and publishing a magazine devoted to the interests of the postal service, and on January 1, 1903, he founded the "Postmaster Everywhere," a very successful publication. Soon afterward he relinquished the St. Clair Republican to George H. Pond. Mr. Hopkins in 1906 was elected secretary of the Michigan Press Association, and held that office for twelve years. From 1902 until 1914 he was secretary and treasurer of the Michigan Postmasters' Association, and in 1903 was elected secretary and treasurer of the National Association of Postmasters of America. In 1916 he went to New York as assistant publicity director of the Republican National Committee during the Wilson-Hughes presidential campaign. He was also publicity director for Truman H. Newberry, successful candidate for the United States senate. In 1916 Mr. Hopkins was appointed INIII I i I i PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 223 principal clerk of the United States Senate, a position he held until in 1921, when he returned to St. Clair as postmaster. He is a Mason, a Knight Templar, Shriner, Knight of Pythias, a Maccabee, Modern Woodman and Forester. He has also affiliated with the Sons of the American Revolution. He was one of a family of eight children, of whom only two others are now living: Louise M., of Santiago, California, and Frank, a postal employe at St. Clair. Rosamonde Allen, the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins, was born in 1900 and married Henry Earle, June 16, 1923. Mr. Hopkins has, beside the sword and breastplate of General Ethan Allen, commissions signed by Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Hon. Henry Howard, for upwards of forty years one of the most active and honored citizens of Port Huron, successively president of the board of estimates, president of the board of education, alderman, mayor, representative in the state legislature and regent of the University of Michigan, prominent and influential as a business man and banker, and a potential factor in the industrial, commercial and educational advancement of the city, county and state, was the son of John and Nancy (Hubbard) Howard, honored pioneer settlers of Michigan, born in Detroit, Michigan, March 8, 1833, and died at his residence in Port Huron, May 24, 1894. The splendid traits of character and sterling manhood which distinguished Henry Howard throughout his long, busy and eminently useful life, came to him, it may be said, through inheritance from a number of generations of strong, honorable, and gifted American ancestors. In every line his lineage is traced to the first settlers of New England. Lieutenant John Howard, his earliest progenitor in the paternal line, born in England in 1628, came to Plymouth Colony in his boyhood, was a member of the household and a friend and associate of Captain Myles Standish, and enrolled in his military company as early as 1643. As a commissioned officer he displayed great gallantry in the Indian wars and rose to the rank of lieutenant. He was one of the original proprietors of Bridgewater, represented that town in the general court of Massachusetts, and is recorded in history as "a man of much influence." At his death in 1700 he left a large estate to be divided between his wife and seven children. Lieutenant John Howard's wife, Martha, was a daughter of Thomas Hayward, of Kent, England, who came to New England in 1635 and was also an original proprietor of Bridgewater, and a deputy to the general court of Massachusetts. Their youngest son, Ephraim Howard,'married Mary, daughter of the Rev. James Keith, first minister of Bridgewater, and granddaughter of Deacon Samuel Edson, one of the original proprietors of the town and a most substantial and respected citizen. The line comes down through a grandson of the foregoing, also named Ephraim, who was a Massachusetts soldier of the Revolution, to the father of the subject-of this sketch, John Howard, who was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, in 1799, spent 224 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY a portion of his boyhood in Ohio, and came to the Territory of Michigan in 1821, settling in Detroit, where he laid the foundation of his fortune during a brief but successful career as a builder, business man and hotel-keeper. When cholera visited Detroit in 1832 he sent his family away for safety but bravely remained to supervise the care and comfort of his numerous stricken guests. On the second visitation of the scourge, in 1834, he closed up his affairs in Detroit and with his family went to live in the virgin forests of the "Black River Country," where he engaged in lumbering, having previously, with John Drew, established a sawmill within a few miles of Port Huron. In 1836 he bought property in Port Huron, whither, in 1839, having lost his mill by fire, he removed his family and business. His initiative and energy gave the small village of that day a substantial hotel and also a large sawmill. Later he built another mill and with his son, Henry, as partner, under the firm name of John Howard & Son, operated it until his retirement from business in 1879, and was active in various useful ways to the great advantage of the town. He was a trustee of the village at one time, and subsequently held the office of assessor. He died in 1887, having lived to see the obscure little hamlet to which he came as a pioneer develop into a beautiful and flourishing city, where his name must ever be held in respect and esteem as that of one of its founders and most capable, energetic and progressive citizens for nearly half a century. John Howard married in Detroit, in 1825, Nancy Hubbard, daughter of Jonathan Hubbard, of Hartford, Connecticut, granddaughter of James Hubbard, of Haddam, Connecticut, a soldier of the Revolution, and a descendant of George Hubbard, born in England, 1601, who was one of the early settlers at Hartford, Connecticut. Born in Fairview, Pennsylvania, in 1806, she was brought to Detroit by her parents at the beginning of the War of 1812. Her father died a year later, and her elder brother, after serving some time in the American army, was taken prisoner by the British and was never heard of afterwards. The widowed mother and her children, obliged to abandon their plundered and threatened home and farm at Grosse Pointe through fear of Indian massacre, took refuge in Detroit (then held by the British), where Nancy, though young, saw much of the horrors and suffering of war, of which she retained a vivid consciousness through life. She was in her turn a devoted wife and mother, keenly interested in human events and the progress of the world, and an unflinching advocate of righteousness in public and private life. This grand woman of the pioneer period survived her husband four years and died at Port Huron in 1901, in her ninety-fifth year. A paper, written by her, detailing some of the thrilling experiences of her earlier years, has been published in the Collections of the Pioneer Society of Michigan, and is a valuable contribution to the history of the state. In character, conduct and enterprise, Henry Howard, during a long and exceptionally active career, proved worthy of his ancient and reputable lineage. Having effi PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 225 ciently prepared himself to begin the battle of life by a sound English education, obtained in the public and private schools of Port Huron, he entered the world of affairs at the age of sixteen years. For six years he held minor positions in Detroit and Port Huron, but at the age of twenty-one he began his real life work as partner of his enterprising father and an associate, Jacob F. Batcheler, in the firm of John Howard & Co., which, upon the retirement of Mr. Batcheler, a few years later, became John Howard & Son. The firm was heavily engaged in the lumber business, operating extensive sawmills on the St. Clair river, and having other large and profitable investments in Port Huron. After a little more than a quarter of a century the elder, Howard retired, leaving the business solely in the hands of Henry Howard, who conducted it with ever-increasing success until his own death in 1894. The mantle of John Howard fell upon his son in many other regards, for the latter inherited the paternal enterprise and public spirit. It has been said of him that he became identified with almost every business of magnitude established in Port Huron. Henry Howard succeeded his father as president of the Port Huron Gas Company, one of the founders of the latter. He was one of the incorporators of the Port Huron & Northwestern railroad, and its president several years. He was a charter member of the First National Bank of Port Huron and its president fifteen years, to the time of his death. In 1886 he was president of the "Star Line" of steamers plying between Detroit and Port Huron, but disposed of his interest therein the following year. He was also president of the Howard Towing Association and Wrecking Company; president of the Port Huron Times Publishing Company; and vice-president of the Upton Manufacturing Company, now Port Huron Engine and Thresher Company, also director of the Chicago Grand Trunk railroad. Sincere and upright in every relation of life, both public and private, he enjoyed the people's confidence in an eminent degree. Blessed with excellent health and a vigorous physique, and uniting sound judgment to extraordinary energy, he made his various enterprises successful and profitable, and accumulated a substantial fortune. He employed his wealth with great liberality in stimulating industry and developing the city. He was, in fact, an acknowledged leader in every undertaking looking to the public good, a generous contributor to all public charities, and an interested and kindly helper in private life of the struggling unfortunate, and the poor. Mr. Howard's fellow-citizens availed themselves freely of his services in a public capacity. He was elected a member of the board of estimates and served for a time as its president. He filled the office of alderman for fourteen years. In 1871 he was elected to the state legislature, and was re-elected in 1873. During one term in this body he served in the responsible position of chairman of the committee on ways and means. He was urged to become a candidate for the office of speaker of the House, but declined to allow his name to be used. 226 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY Always a warm friend of the public schools, he gladly served on the board of education, and during his term as president of the board rendered valuable aid in developing and improving the local system and standards. In 1891 he was elected a regent of the University of Michigan, for a term of six years, becoming in this capacity the colleague of a number of the ablest men in the state in the government of one of the largest and most advanced educational institutions in the world. He died in 1894, serving but two years of his term. Mr. Howard believed firmly in the principles of the Republican party, and during his whole active career gave freely on his time and means in their support. In no sense of the word was he a politician, and the prominence and honors of a political character that came to him were wholly unsought. In the discharge of these public trusts he observed the high standards which he maintained in his private life and business and set an example that was gratefully appreciated by the people of his city and state, and that brought him the respect and friendship of many distinguished contemporaries elsewhere. Mr. Howard's private life was exemplary in every way. He was one of the most respected and valued attendants of the Port Huron Baptist church, and a member of its board of trustees for a number of years; he was a large contributor to the church fund. He affiliated with the Masonic order in early manhood and was a member of Port Huron Lodge, F. and A. M.; of Port Huron Chapter, Royal Arch Degree, and of Port Huron Commandery, Knights Templar. He was likewise a member of the Port Huron club (being its second president and serving two terms), charter member of the Lake St. Clair Shooting and Fishing club; member of the Michigan club, Detroit, and of other social organizations, in all of which he was most popular. He was congenial by nature, devoted to his family, kindly and considerate to all, and his friendship was loyal and enduring. In every relation of life he appeared to be actuated by the highest motives. Few men have been more truly respected or more genuinely loved in the domestic circle and by their fellow-citizens. It has been publicly said of him that "he was one of the best men who ever lived on the St. Clair river"; and to his lasting honor it may also be said that while his career fell in one of the most strenuous commercial eras of the nation's history he maintained his high standards unflinchingly and preserved untarnished the noble and honored name he bore, transmitting it with added lustre to his children and his children's children. Henry Howard married at Port Huron, February 25, 1856, Miss Elizabeth Experience Spalding. She was born on September 10, 1835, at Pendleton, New York, was the daughter of Jedediah Spalding, a soldier in the war of 1812; a great-granddaughter of Samuel Spalding of Connecticut, a young non-commissioned officer of the Revolution; and a descendent in the sixth generation from Lieutenant John Spalding of Massachusetts, a colonial officer in the early Indian wars; and in the eighth generation from Edward Spalding, born in England at the close of PERSONAL SKETCHES FOB ST. CLAIR COUNTY 227 the sixteenth century, who came to America with Sir George Yeardley in 1619, was a resident at James City, Virginia, with his wife and two children, in 1623, and who ten years later moved to Braintree, Massachusetts, whence his posterity spread to other New England colonies. Mrs. Howard was a descendent also of Captain Roger Clap, who came to Massachusetts in 1630, was an officer of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery company, commandant of Castle William in Boston Harbor, and a deputy to the Massachusetts general court for fifteen years. Henry Howard died in Port Huron, on May 24, 1894. His widow died there on February 12, 1897. Of their family of six children, two survived them-Emily Louise, wife of Albert Dwight Bennett, banker of Port Huron; and John Henry Howard, who died in Mexico, August 5, 1907. Bert B. Hyde, automobile dealer, 514 Broad street, Port Huron, was managing a flour and feed business when he was only eighteen years old. He was born on a farm four and one-half miles west of Lexington, Sanilac county, Michigan, July 27, 1873. His father, Almond Hyde, was born on the same farm, the son of John and Catherine Hyde, natives of England, who came from that country on a sailing vessel and, on their trip to Sanilac county, passed through the pioneer settlement of Port Huron. John Hyde and wife were among the very first settlers in that section of Michigan, and used the ox team, which had brought them and their worldly possessions to Michigan, as an aid in clearing the timber from their government homestead and breaking the ground for their first crops. Their son, Almond Hyde, also became a farmer, though he entered the implement business later.in life at Lexington. In 1890, when he retired from business, he came to Port Huron, where his death occurred. His widow, Mrs. Mary E. (Lakin) Hyde, was born in Sanilac county, Michigan, and now resides at Hollywood, California. Bert B. Hyde had finished high school and a course in business college by the time he was eighteen years old. At that age he started his business career, his first venture being in the flour and feed business. Though he was in reality the manager of this enterprise,' it was thought best, because of his youth, to include his father as a partner in the venture. This concern, which at first was a retail flour and feed store, has since widened its scope and is today a substantial wholesale distributing company, of which Bert B. Hyde is now sole owner. Mr. Hyde began the sale of automobiles, which also proved a successful venture, on February 20, 1915, as an agent for the Chalmers cars. In 1918 he assumed the distribution of the Maxwell line in this city, and now is owner of a valuable franchise for the sale of the Chrysler automobiles. He has made many friends by his policy of rigid honesty and fair dealing, and is one of the substantial business men of the city. He is a member of the First Congregational church. He was married on May 3, 1899, to Susan M. Ruddock, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Ruddock, the former of whom was born in 1847 and was a 228 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY veteran of the Civil war. Mr. and Mrs. Hyde have one daughter, Frances A. Gilbert H. Isbister, registrar of deeds of St. Clair county, is one of the youngest men in public life in this community. Honest and upright in all of his dealings, private and public, he has made a host of friends in St. Clair county. Mr. Isbister was born in Port Huron on July 9, 1900, the son of Henry and Mary (Morgan) Isbister. His mother was born in St. Clair county and his father in Canada. The latter came to this county with his father, Gilbert Isbister, when he was seven years old. Gilbert Isbister in that year, 1869, settled on a tract of government land. Both he and his son, Henry, were farmers, though the latter in 1900 moved to Port Huron and became a United States customs inspector. Henry Isbister was a Mason, an elder of the Presbyterian church and an active Republican. He served as supervisor and township treasurer. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Isbister were the parents of three children: Bessie, Beatrice and Gilbert I. Isbister. The last left high school at the age of seventeen to enter the United States Marine Corps when this nation entered the World war. In the battle of Belleau Wood he suffered the loss of a leg and, after many months in army hospitals, took a literary course at the University of Michigan. For awhile he was employed in the Wills-St. Claire Motor Company plant and offices, where he remained until assuming his present office on January 1, 1925. William J. Johnston, proprietor of the Home Manufacturing Company, 508 Tenth street, Port Huron, began to learn the woodworking trade when he was fifteen years old, receiving for his labor the sum of six dollars a month. One year later his wages were raised to nine dollars a month, and the next year to twelve dollars. Out of these earnings, which now seem very small, he helped provide for his widowed mother. Mr. Johnston was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, in the village of Potsdam, on June 6, 1859. His father, Hiram Johnston, who volunteered for service in the Union army at the beginning of the Civil war, spent six months of his four years' service as a prisoner of war in the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia. His hardships on the battlefield and in prison so weakened his health that six years after the war he succumbed to an illness and died. William J. Johnston was then twelve years old. His mother, Mrs. Julia (Cleveland) Johnston, then decided to join her two married daughters at Lexington, Michigan, and brought her son there. Mr. Johnston attended the district school at Lexington three years, when he obtained a job as an apprentice wood-worker in the shop of R. D. Shenick, receiving the wages mentioned above. In this shop he remained until he was twenty-one years old, mastering all details of the trade and becoming an expert workman. He then went to Marlette, Michigan, where he worked at his trade several years. In that city he became acquainted with and married Ida Gertrude Lund, a school teacher, who was born in Port Hope, Michigan, the daughter of PERSONAL SKETCHES POR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 229 Mr. and Mrs. Josiah Lund, prioneer residents of that section of the state. Not long after he and Miss Lund were married he went to Cleveland, Ohio, and entered the wood manufacturing business. Mr. and Mrs. Johnston's two children, Vera Edith and Roy Orville, were born in that city. After spending a few years in Cleveland, Mr. Johnston brought his family to Port Huron, where, for a short time, he was employed in a wood manufacturing plant. Then, with Robert Anderson and others, he became financially interested in the Home Manufacturing Company, a concern which was very successful. On April 1, 1920, Mr. Johnston purchased the interest of Mr. Anderson and became sole proprietor of the concern, which is a very substantial enterprise. Mr. Johnston is a Mason, a Modern Woodman, a Maccabee, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and a consistent Republican. He and his family attend the Methodist church. Benjamin J. Karrer, undertaker, owns, at 336 Ontario street, Port Huron, what is one of the finest mortuary establishments in Michigan. He had this building erected according to his specifications in 1923, and has installed in it the most modern equipment obtainable. The Karrer funeral parlors are regarded as a great convenience in many instances. He was born March 13, 1882, in Port Huron and, as were his sisters, was educated in Miss Coyle's private school, Port Huron. His grandfather, Peter Karrer, a cabinetmaker, was born in Switzerland in 1800, and married Madeline LeVere, of French descent. Peter Karrer and wife were the parents of fifteen children, all of whom were born in Switzerland. In 1847 the family came to Detroit, where the father and mother died. Their son, Benjamin Karrer, father of the subject of this sketch, was born August 26, 1842, and was five years old when he was brought to America. He left school at the age of thirteen to work in a grocery store and meat market and, at the age of nineteen, answered President Lincoln's second call for volunteers, serving in Company K, of the First Michigan Cavalry, until November, 1862. He was then made first lieutenant of Company K of the Ninth Michigan Cavalry, and was discharged from this organization because of injuries received in service, in January, 1864. He was in the battles of Winchester, Antietam, Knoxville, Murfreesboro, and many other notable engagements. In 1866 he came to Port Huron and worked for three years in the Edward Kaseneyer butcher shop, after which he engaged in business for himself. In April, 1873, he married Louise B. Saety, of Lexington, Michigan, whose parents came from Germany in 1849, residing in Detroit a short while and then starting a flouring mill at Lexington. In 1878 Mr. Karrer built a race track and hotel on a tract of land he had purchased on Lapeer avenue. Three years later he leased the Union Hotel in Port Huron, which he relinquished after six years, and for twenty-four years he operated a restaurant in a building he owned in the central part of the city. He was a Roman Catholic, an Elk and a Democrat, and as a member of that party cast his 230 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY first vote for George B. McClellan, candidate for the presidency. He was alderman, city treasurer, member of the board of estimates, city assessor, and commissioner of highways in Port Huron township. Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Karrer were the parents of five children: Frances, born in June, 1874, widow of the late Otto Hill; Louisa, now Mrs. William Sullivan, of Boston; Kate, widow of William Haynes; Benjamin J. and Anna, who is now Mrs. Willis Filer. Soon after finishing school at Chicago, Benjamin J. Karrer went to Detroit and worked for the P. Blake Sons undertaking establishment two and one-half years, returning to Port Huron to enter the undertaking business for himself in 1905. He has been very successful in this work, and is now vice-president of the Commercial Securities Company, of Port Huron. He is a member of St. Stephen's Catholic church, the Elks, Knights of Columbus and the Rotary club. In 1908 he married Helen Olive Hayes, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Berthwaite) Hayes, of Port Huron. Mr. and Mrs. Karrer have three children: Katherine Frances, Mary Louise and Madeline. Fred J. Kemp, real estate operator and banker, 518 Union street, Port Huron, was born April 10, 1875, at Lexington, Michigan. His grandfather, Richard Kemp, a native of England, was one of the pioneer residents of Sanilac county. His father, William H. Kemp, a Washington township farmer, was born in 1847 and is still living in Sanlac county. Mrs. Margaret (Willoughby) Kemp, daughter of John Willoughby, a Fremont township, Sanilac county farmer, and mother of Fred J. Kemp, died in 1880 at the age of twenty-six years. Mr. and Mrs. William H. Kemp were the parents of five children, of whom four are now living, as follows: Bina M., now Mrs. James H. Brown, Carsonville, Michigan; Mattie, now Mrs. J. S. Scringer, Flint, Michigan; Della, now Mrs. C. H. Williamson, of Findlay, Ohio; and Fred J. Kemp, of Port Huron. The latter was educated in the schools of Sanilac county, and for eleven years afterward was a teacher in the same schools. In 1904-06 he was superintendent of the Deckerville schools, and graduated the first class from the high school at that city. He was a member of the board of school examiners of Sanilac county from 1902 to 1906. Mr. Kemp was elected clerk of Sanilac in 1906, and held that office from 1907 to 1911. At the end of his tenure of office he went to Minden City and was one of the organizers of the State Savings Bank there; and was cashier of this bank until in 1920. He was also one of the organizers of the Citizens' Bank at Ruth, Michigan, and has served continuously on the board of both banks since their organization. At this time he is a director of three banks, one at Minden City, one at Deckerville, and one at Ruth. In 1920 Mr. Kemp came to Port Huron and entered the real estate business, in which he has met with much success. He also owns a fifty per cent interest in the O'Brien & Kemp shoe store, better known as the O.-K. shoe store, at 928 Military street, Port Huron. He is also president of the Deckerville Construction Company, one of the PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 231 largest and most successful operators in road and bridge construction in eastern Michigan; a Mason, a member of Bay City Consistory and Elf Khurafeh Temple of Saginaw; and a member of the Lions club, the Chamber of Commerce and the Port Huron Golf and Country club. His wife, Mrs. Joyce (Kerr) Kemp, a native of Canada, died in 1923, leaving three children: Gertrude, Dorothy and Jack Kemp, who are all at home at 518 Military street. Christian Kern, president of the C. Kern Products Company, of Port Huron, a cereal beverage manufacturing concern that produces one million bottles of soft drinks each working day, has now practically retired from business, leaving the management of his extensive investments to his sons. Mr. Kern was born in Wuertemburg, Germany, in November, 1848. On reaching his eighteenth birthday he came to the United States and worked for a brewery in Cincinnati, Ohio, having learned the art of brewing as a boy in Germany. From Cincinnati he went to New York, and from there to Muscatine, Iowa, where he remained only six months. In January, 1870, he came to Detroit, and from that city to Port Huron, working practically all of the time at his trade of brewer. He next went to New York, where he stayed two years, then coming to Detroit and in 1875 to Port Huron, where he has since remained. In 1879 he purchased a brewery which was located on the present site of the Kern Products Company He operated this brewery, manufacturing a high grade product, in a highly successful manner until the advent of prohibition, and since that time has been producing soft drinks and cereal beverages with no loss in revenue. He was married in 1879 to Marie Mesle, and is the father of five children: Otto, Julius, Tillie, Hulda and Fred Kern. The three sons now conduct the affairs of the C. Kern Products Company in a manner that leaves nothing to be desired. Mr. Kern has been much interested in the management of the Workmen's Aid Society and has also been active in Port Huron politics, holding the offices of alderman and member of the board of estimates. He is a member of hut one fraternal organization, the Knights of Pythias. Mr. Kern is a splendid example of that type of German citizen which has played such an important part in the development of this country. Lester L. Kerey, principal of the Port Huron Business University, is well fitted, both by education and experience, for his life work. He began teaching school at the age of seventeen, and has since held many responsible positions as instructor and as accountant. Principal Kerney is also the possessor of considerable education in business subjects, and has taught in other important schools in the Middle West. He was born at Tidioute, Warren county, Pennsylvania, May 10, 1887. His mother, Mrs. Desta (Deemer) Kerney, was born January 14, 1859, in Crawford county, Pennsylvania, and is now living at Warren, Pennsylvania. His father, Frank Kerney, was born in Warren county, Pennsylvania, July 6, 1860, and died in 1909. The latter was a farmer and timber dealer 232 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY and was also active in politics, being elected as a Democrat to the offices of road commissioner, supervisor, school director and county clerk. Lester L. Kerney, one of a family of three children, had graduated from high school and taken a course in Edinborough Normal School in Erie county, Pennsylvania, when he was seventeen years old. He began teaching in the Warren county schools at that age and, three years later, became a teacher in the Glade township high school, holding that position six years. He resigned from the high school instructorship to take a course in Oskaloosa College, Iowa, after which he took extension work at Peoples College at Kansas City, Missouri. He next entered the Zaner School of Penmanship at Columbus, Ohio, and after finishing that course went to Elyria, Ohio, as a teacher in the Elyria Business College. Two years later he left Elyria to become an instructor in the Rasmussen Practical Business School at St. Paul, Minnesota. Here he taught salesmanship, commercial law and accounting until purchasing the Port Huron Business University in 1921. This school, which has an enrollment of almost one hundred and fifty pupils annually was founded in 1897, and is one of the best business colleges in the state. Principal Kerney has, during intervals in his teaching experience, been bookkeeper for the United Service Company, electric power and light, and Armour & Company, packers. He also worked for the Cleveland Credit Men's Association for the experience to be obtained. He is a Mason, a Republican, a member of the National Commercial Teachers' Association, and is affiliated with the Private Business Schools of Michigan. He was married on December 27, 1919, to Edith Hughes Welsh, daughter of Herbert and Jane Welsh, of Port Huron. Eugene F. Law B.S., LL.B., judge of the circuit court, St. Clair county, has distinguished himself as an attorney, jurist and educator. When he was superintendent of schools for St. Clair county in 1890 and 1891 he rendered a great service to the community in organizing the elementary schools in the rural districts and preparing uniform courses of study. He has written many able expositions of legal questions for the law journals, and as a judge he has shown remarkable ability, impartiality and understanding of deeply involved issues. St. Clair county is fortunate indeed to have in its midst and in public life a man of Judge Law's exceptional mental attainments. He was born on a farm in Portage township, Kalamazoo county, on June 23, 1859, the son of William and Mary (Johnson) Law, both of whom were born in Rutland county, Vermont, of Puritan ancestry. Mr. and Mrs. Law were direct descendents of men who fought in the Revolutionary and 1812 wars and had relatives who defended the Union in the Civil war. The names of Law and Johnson were of English origin. Mr. and Mrs. Law came to Michigan many years before the birth of their son, Eugene F., and were among the first of the pioneer residents of Kalamazoo county. The father, who was born in 1822, died in that county in 1886. The mother, who was born in 1832, PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 233 died in January, 1919, at Yale. They were the parents of four children. A son died at the age of five years and a daughter at the age of nineteen. Jennie, who makes her home with her brother and Judge Law, are the surviving members of the family. Judge Law attended the rural schools near his farm home until he had completed the course of study offered, when he became a teacher in those same schools. Later he attended the Michigan Agricultural College at East Lansing, graduating in 1883 from the department of science. He was employed as a surveyor and civil engineer until 1885, part of the time as a partner of Frank F. Rogers, who is now head of the state highway department. During the winters of 1884 and 1885 and in the summers of those years he followed the routine of teaching school in winter and surveying in the summer. During the next four years he was a teacher and superintendent of the Yale, Michigan schools, doing civil engineering work in the summer months. He was also a member of the county board of school examiners and served as secretary of that body in 1890-91. He continued active in school work for years, and was a leader in establishing a graded elementary school system in St. Clair county. In 1890-91, while he was superintendent of schools of St. Clair county, the graded system he had devised and for which he had prepared courses of study, was formally adopted by the boards of education and placed in operation. Entering the law department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1891, he obtained his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1892 and at once began practice in Port Huron, associating himself with Attorney A. E. Chadwick, in whose office he remained a year and a half. He next became a member of the firm of Sparling, Law & Moore, which, when Mr. Sparling withdrew from the partnership, became Law & Moore. Mr. Law soon became influential in Republican politics, and in 1900 was elected prosecuting attorney of St. Clair county. After serving eight months in this important office with entire satisfaction to the voting public, Judge Frank Whipple, of the circuit court, died, and Mr. Law was appointed his successor by Governor Bliss on August 21, 1901. In 1902 he was a candidate for this office, and was elected by a substantial majority. He was re-elected in 1905 and in 1911 and at each election since. He is a Mason, an Odd Fellow, a Maccabee and a Knight of Pythias. He was married in 1889 to Clara Boice, of Grant township, St. Clair county. Their only child, Ilda May, died in 1893 at the age of two and one-half years, and Mrs. Law died in January, 1916. Judge Law later married Gertrude Inch, of Port Huron. He has made many friends by his fairness and impartiality on the bench, and may be truly said to be one of Port Huron's foremost citizens. John W. Leighton, president of the American Bushing Company, Port Huron, is a man who possesses both inventive genius and business ability. His patents, controlling the process of pressing bushings of desired shape and size from the unmachined metal, 234 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY have earned him great prestige, but he has also distinguished himself as an able executive in other branches of industry. He is president of three corporations, as follows: the Pressed Metals Company, of Toronto, Canada; the International Construction Company, of Detroit, and the American Bushing Company, of Port Huron, of which he is also general manager. The plant of the last-named concern is the most modern of its kind in the state of Michigan, if not in the entire country. Mr. Leighton was born November 17, 1881, at Orangeville, shortly afterwards moving to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His father, John Simpson Leighton, was born in the northern part of Ireland and his mother, Mrs. Mary Anne (Shaw) Leighton, was born in Canada. John S. Leighton was brought by his parents to Canada when he was quite young and became a lumberman. John W. Leighton received his education in Toronto, graduating in science from the University of Toronto in 1905. His first business venture was in the manufacture of dental equipment as a member of the Leighton-Jackes Manufacturing Company, though he had, between 1905 and 1907, been employed by the Dominion Engineering Company. He continued as a business associate of Mr. Jackes, of the LeightonJackes Company, until the latter's death, selling his interest in the concern in 1916. He then organized the Pressed Metals Company of Canada, which is the holding corporation for the American Bushing Company of Port Huron. Mr. Leighton was married on November 4, 1914, to Martha R. Smellie, of Toronto. They have one son, Donald. Daniel E. Lynn, of Lynn Brothers, vessel agents and marine reporters, 800 Prospect Place, Port Huron, are the owners of a very unusual business. The service rendered by Mr. Lynn's company consists of keeping a record of all boats passing through the St. Clair river, with their names, tonnage, destination, cargo, crew and registry, and preparation of marine reports for the newspapers and shipping journals. To obtain all of this necessary information Mr. Lynn's employes meet each vessel as it passes by Port Huron, going out to the vessel in a motor launch with such mail as may have been sent to the members of the crew in care of Lynn Brothers and returning with other mail to post at Port Huron. Only three other such concerns are in business on the Great Lakes, one at Detoit, one at Mackinac and one at Sault Ste. Marie. Mr. Lynn's brother, Dennis Lynn, who was associated with him in this business, died in 1924 and his brother, James J., died in 1925. Daniel E. Lynn was born in Port Huron August 15, 1870, the son of Dennis and Ellen (Mulvahill) Lynn, the former of whom was born in Canada and the latter in Ireland. His father, who came to Port Huron from Ontario in 1856, was one of the first vessel agents on the Great Lakes and taught his sons the details of the business. Daniel E. Lynn in 1902 married Mary Woodward, who was born in Port Huron, the daughter of a railroad man, William Alfred Woodward, and wife. Mr. Lynn is a member of St. Jos PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 235 eph's Catholic church and owns a lovely home on South Military street, Port Huron. Mr.'Lynn is a member of the Port Huron Golf and Country club and is a highly respected citizen. Duncan J. McColl, M.D., 312 Sperry building, Port Huron, specialist in obstetrics and who is associated with his son, Dr. Clark Munro4 McColl, in the practice of medicine, is a highly respected and very successful physician. He is rendering a great service to the community as president of the milk commission, which is exerting a close supervision over the sources of Port Huron's milk supply. Dr. McColl was born on a farm in Elgin county, Ontario, Canada, on November 24, 1868, the son of Duncan D. and Marga-? ret (Munro) 'McColl, both of whom were born in Canada of Scotch parents. Duncan D. McColl was a mechanic and carpenter. He manufactured pumps and conducted carpenter and blacksmithing shops at Chatham and Thomas, Ontario, until his death in 1892, at the age of fifty-five years. His widow, the mother of Dr. Duncan J. McColl, is still living in Manitoba. Dr. McColl attended high school at Wardsville, Ontario, after finishing his studies in ".-the rural schools near his home, and later took a one-year business course inthe4JnirsiYMi chigan. Then, for a period of three years, he taught school at Rodney, Michigan. Having decided to become a physician, he entered the Detroit College of Medicine and Surgery, graduating in 1893 with the degree of M.D. He began practice at Elkton, Huron county, Michigan, where he remained thirteen years. At that time he moved to Croswell, where he remained until 1912, when he gave up his practice to take post-graduate work in various hospitals and colleges. In 1914 he same to Port Huron and has since specialized in obstetrics, though he has a very extensive general practice. Dr. McColl was married on December 9, 1896, to Helen Marr Clark, of Harbor Beach, Michigan. They have three children: Dr. Clark M. McColl, who is associated with his father in the practice of medicine; Duncan J., Jr., and Helen Marr McColl Alexander, residing in Wauluki, Isle of Mani, Hiawaii Territory. Dr. Duncan J. McColl is a Mason, Scottish Rite and Shrine, and a member of the Port Huron Yacht club. Irving E. McCollom, president of I. E. McCollom & Company, dealers in coal, coke and wood, 578 Quay street, Port Huron, was born in Richmondville, Sanilac county, on February 9, 1867. His grandfather, James McCollom, a native of Canada, of Scotch ancestry, married Nancy Wade, of New Jersey, and settled on a farm in Ontario. Later he conducted a wagon, carriage shop and foundry, in addition to his farming operations. James Edwin McCollom, son of Mr. and Mrs. James McCollom, and father of Irving E. McCollom, was born December 26, 1839, in Middlesex county, Ontario, Canada. He married Clarissa Burk, who was born in Dunnville, Ontario, on April 8, 1843, the daughter of William T. Burk, who was born aboard a ship enroute to America from Ireland in 1804, and who died in Canada in 1884. James E. McCollom 236 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY came to Michigan with his wife in 1863, remaining for a while at Port Huron and then going to Lapeer county. From there they went to Marine City, where he helped to build some of the first steam vessels used on the Great Lakes. He returned to Port Huron in 1874 and made it his permanent home until his death, July 20, 1924. He was a cabinet maker and carpenter, and assisted in the building of the United States custom house and postoffice at Port Huron in the years 1875-76, afterwards building houses and working at pattern making. He was a Republican and, as was his wife, a member of the First Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. and Mrs. James E. McCollom were the parents of three children: Almira and Mary, who occupy the old homestead on Wall street, have been school teachers, Mary being the present principal of Adams school. Irving E. graduated from the J. R. Goodier Business College in 1884, and was bookkeeper for the James A. Hope Grocery Company until 1892, when he accepted a position with the Wheeler Coal Company. On June 22, 1892, he married Mary Frances Hoffman, daughter of Wesley L. and Mary (Moore) Hoffman, of Port Huron. Mr. Hoffman, a native of New York state, was employed in the United States mail service many years, and became associated with I. E. McCollom in 1894, when the present I. E. McCollom & Company coal business was founded. Mr. Hoffman died in 1912. Mr. and Mrs. I. E. McCollom were the parents of two children: Wesley E., who died in 1905, and Clarissa, a teacher in the Port Huron senior high school. Mr. McCollom is a member of Port Huron Lodge No. 343, B. P. O. Elks, and of the Shrine, Moslem Temple. He is a Past Master of Port Huron Lodge No. 58, F. & A. M., and its present secretary, also Past High Priest of Huron Chapter No. 27, R. A. M., Past T. I. M. of Fred L. Wells Council, and Past Commander of Port Huron Commandery No. 7, Knights Templar. John B. McIlwain, mayor of Port Huron, started to earn his own living when he was twelve years old by working on a farm for fifty dollars a year. Without assistance and entirely by his own effort he educated himself and worked his way upward from that lowly station in life to his present position. He was born July 8, 1856, in Napier, Ontario, Canada. His father, John McIlwain, was born in Londonderry, Ireland, in 1828, the son of a Baptist preacher who had received a medal for bravery exhibited while fighting with the English army at the battle of Waterloo. John McIlwain came to the Dominion of Canada with his father and mother when he was two years old, and spent his entire life upon a farm. Here he married Elizabeth Hicks, whose death occurred soon after his, in 1868, when their son, John B. McIlwain, was but twelve years old. Of their family of seven children only he is living today. Faced with the necessity of making his own way in the world, young McIlwain began work on a farm for the sum of fifty dollars per year, with the privilege of attending school three months of each winter. Undaunted, he made the best possible use PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 237 of these brief periods and later decided to attend an academy to obtain more education. After spending six months in a school of this kind at Rockford, Ontario, he risked taking the examinations given prospective teachers, with the result that he was granted a second-class teacher's certificate when he was but seventeen years old. Then for two years he taught school at Adelaide, Ontario, going from there to a school at Silver Island on the north shore of Lake Superior, where he was isolated from the rest of the world from September until the following May. This spot, Mayor McIlwain says, holds many pleasant memories for him, as it was there he spent some of the happiest hours of his youth. This school was in a mining settlement which, during his two years there, had no police system, courts or judges, despite the fact that over 800 persons were included in its population. On the Fourth of July, 1877, he came to Port Huron, where he obtained a place in the law office of William F. Atkinson. Here he studied law and made good use of his ability to write shorthand, acquired by study while teaching school. He had been in St. Clair county but a short time when he was made official court stenographer for this and Macomb counties. During his nineteen years in this position Mr. McIlwain fitted himself for the practice of law by study and by court room observation. Though he had previously passed the state bar examinations and had been admitted to practice, he did not formally enter the profession until in 1893. His debut in politics was made in 1887, when he was elected alderman of the Fourth ward of this city. In 1889 he was elected mayor for a term of four years, and was made chairman of the Republican county committee in 1891, '92, '93 and '94. He has been attorney for the Ladies' Order of Maccabees for over twenty-five years and has many other legal connections of long standing. He was married on January 14, 1879, to Frances H. Bennett, daughter of Edward and Mary Bennett, of Port Huron. Mrs. McIlwain died on September 27, 1923, leaving five sons: Herbert, a veteran of both the Spanish-American and the World wars; Bruce, who died at the age of twenty-one; Frank, who died at the age of twenty-eight; Russell and Jack, all of Port Huron. Peirce McLouth, Marine city, was born December 12, 1898, in this city and was educated in the public elementary and high schools and at the University of Michigan, where he graduated in 1921 with the degree of A.B. Following his graduation from college, he spent a while in traveling in this country and Europe, and since the death of his father, Sydney C. McLouth, has had charge of the latter's extensive estate. Peirce McLouth served during the World War in the heavy artillery of the United States army. He is president of the McLouth Steamship Company and vice-president of the Marine City Rotary Club. Fraternally he is a Mason, and is Worshipful Master of Ward Lodge No. 62, F. & A. M. Sydney C. McLouth, banker, shipbuilder and former mayor of Marine City, was born at Pittsford, Hillsdale county, 238 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIB OOUNTY Michigan, in the year 1862, the son of Cyrus and Mary (Cook) McLouth, natives of New York. Mr. McLouth's grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. After the death of his mother, Mrs. Mary McLouth, Sydney C., then a small boy, was sent to New York to live at the home of an aunt. Even at this tender age he exhibited great strength of character, and at twelve years of age he ran away because he was not contented at his aunt's home. He became a farm hand, receiving for eight months' hard work the sum of forty dollars. During the four winter months of the year he was permitted to attend school, receiving no wages for this period. He remained on the farm until he was sixteen, when he went to West Virginia to work in the oil fields. Later he roamed about the country, working at various occupations and acquiring much valuable experience and information. In 1879 he came to Michigan, where he worked for several years in the lumber camps and on the lake vessels, and for the thirteen years between 1881 and 1894 was an engineer on the Great Lakes. At the end of that period he established a salt factory at Marine City, and suffered a great disappointment when his buildings burned soon after he had the business well under way. Undaunted, he rebuilt his factory and started anew, becoming financially independent despite the small profits in the business at that time. This concern was the Michigan Salt Works, and the first salt well at this city was drilled in 1886 by the National Salt Company and later purchased by the Michigan Salt Works. The success he attained in business is a part of Marine City's most important history, for hardly any other man has done as much to advance the industrial and civic welfare of this community as he. He gradually became owner of a number of vessels, and erected a shipyard of no mean size, where he built many vessels. He helped organize the Liberty National Bank of Marine City and became president of that institution, and was also an organizer and director of the Michigan Investment Company and the American Trust Company, of Detroit. He was a leader in political and civic movements, and at all times was an ardent supporter of all projects for the betterment of his adopted city. He was mayor of Marine City five terms, being elected to this office for the last time in the year 1918. He was alderman four years and a member of the board of education twenty-one years. He was also a member of the county jury commission and the Republican county committee. Because of the fact that his grandfather, Peter McLouth, was a Revolutionary soldier, he was a member of the American Sons of the Revolution. He was a Mason, an Odd Fellow and the St. Clair County Pioneer Society. After he had withdrawn from the salt business and had devoted his attention to his shipyard he became widely known throughout the country as a leading builder of vessels, and when the United States entered the World war he was prevailed upon to establish a foundry for the production of government work. Because of difficulties in reach PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 239 ing a satisfactory financial settlement after the war, his extensive holdings became involved, and the resultant worry is said to have hastened his death, which occurred on September 22, 1923. He was mourned sincerely, not only by his family but by the residents of Marine City and his thousands of business and personal friends. Sydney C. McLouth will not soon be forgotten, for he left a heritage which is greater than wealth-a good name. He was married in 1887 to Mary Wonsey, daughter of John and Mellica (Wilson) Wonsey, of Marine City. Mr. and Mrs. McLouth were the parents of two children: Verne, born in 1891, and Peirce, born in 1899. Mrs. McLouth is a member of the Eastern Star. Angus G. Mackay, real estate and loans, farm and timber lands a specialty, 601-2 Meisel building, Port Huron, was born March 7, 1847, at Strathalbyn, Queens county, Prince Edward Island, the son of William and Christina (Gillies) Mackay, both of whom were born in Invernesshire, Hebrides Islands, of Highland-Scotch ancestry, and who came to America in 1839. Mr. Mackay's education included a course in normal school in his native province, where he was a school teacher for several years after completing his own studies. Desiring to become a resident of the rapidly growing state of Michigan, he cast aside his home ties and arrived in Port Huron on December 18, 1869. Soon afterward he went to Sanilac county as a tutor for the children of Charles Decker, a lumberman. When he returned to Port Huron in 1871 he was appointed deputy county clerk of St. Clair county and while filling the duties of that office studied law with the intention of taking the state examinations and being admitted to the bar. However, when his term as deputy county clerk was ended he became bookkeeper for Archibald Muir, shipbuilder, until the dissolution of the Port Huron Dry Dock Company, when he again studied law, this time as an employe of Chadwick & Potter, lawyers. In May, 1875, he formed a partnership with Hiram and William C. Anderson, father and son, and entered the real estate and insurance business, continuing as a member of that partnership until 1876, when he purchased the interests of the Andersons and engaged in business alone. He was married in 1884 to Alma Jennie Bowers, who was born at Port Perry, Ontario, of Essex, England, parentage. Mr. and Mrs. Mackay have three children: Earl Bowers, the eldest, a graduate of Port Huron high school and the school of pharmacy at the University of Toronto, Ontario, is now in the drug business at Port Huron; Hazel Jeanette, the second child, a graduate nurse, is now employed in the Ford Hospital, Detroit; Kenneth John Mackay, the youngest child, is now assistant secretary and treasurer of the Nizer Corporation in Detroit. Hazel Jeanette Mackay enlisted in the Army Nursing Corps during the World war and served in hospitals at Battle Creek, Fort Dearborn and Ohio and Minnesota army camps, and at Walter Reed Hospital, Washington, D. C. Her brother, Kenneth J. Mackay, is also a veteran of the World war. Angus G. Mackay, as a member of the firm of 240 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY Mackay & Marsh, in 1881 put down the first paving ever on Huron avenue and Butler street in Port Huron, which is now called Grand River avenue. Mr. and Mrs. Mackay are members of the First Presbyterian church, and Mr. Mackay is a life member of Pine Grove Lodge No. 11, Free and Accepted Masons. G. Ellsworth Miller, owner of drug stores at 927 Military street and at 203 Huron street, Port Huron, was born on a farm two miles south of Port Sanilac, on September 20, 1884, the son of Simon Miller, once bugler boy for General George A. Custer, and Mrs. Elizabeth (Matheson) Miller. Simon Miller was born in Germany on October 30, 1840, and came to Macomb county, Michigan, with his parents when he was four years old. His father, Constantine Miller, a farmer, died on the home farm in Macomb county. Simon Miller also was a farmer for a number of years. He enlisted in the Sixth Michigan Cavalry in the Civil war as an orderly for General Custer, and was a member of that regiment when Custer's Brigade was formed in 1863. He served as bugler and as orderly, and fought with that brigade until the end of the war. He was in many important battles, including Gettysburg, and was with Sherman on the march to the sea. He was a talented musician as well as bugler, and was a devoted admirer of the brave general who was but a few years older than himself. Returning from the war Mr. Miller farmed for a few months and then entered a cooper's shop to learn that trade. Later he came to Port Huron and was employed at that occupation by H. M. McMorrow. He was married at Port Sanilac to Elizabeth Matheson, who was born in New Brunswick, Canada, in 1851, and is still living. Mr. and Mrs. Miller were the parents of five children: Mrs. Guy Pritchett, of Toledo, Ohio; Mrs. Frank Mellon, of Detroit; Ellsworth Miller, of Port Huron; Mrs. Ivan Steeves, of Jackson; and Mrs. Lloyd Patterson, Detroit. Simon Miller died July 9, 1925, at the age of eighty-five years. He was a Mason, a former officer of William Sanborn post, Grand Army of the Republic, and a member of the Custer Brigade Society. He and his wife had lived together over fifty-five years. Their son, G. Ellsworth Miller, helped to support himself while attending high school at Carsonville by selling newspapers, delivering the papers to homes of subscribers from the horse he rode. He also worked at intervals on his father's farm. After graduating from the high school in 1900, at the age of sixteen years, he began to learn the printing trade, having already become a cooper while working under his father's direction. With Glenn McGregor he conducted a printing office for a short while, engaging in all these activities before he was seventeen years old. After working for the Lohrstorfer drug store in Port Huron seventeen months he entered Ferris Institute, taking a two-year course in one term. Returning to Port Huron he worked in the Huebler drug store for a while and then became a traveling salesman for the Fred Stearns Company of Detroit. Later he purchased the Huebler drug store in Port Huron and entered business for himself. PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 241 He has operated other stores in this city in addition to the two he now owns, which are the former Huebler store and the W. Sylvester store at 203 Water street. He married, on August 10, 1911, Ethel McCarty, daughter of Michael and Sarah McCarty, members of an old Port Huron family. Mr. Miller is financially interested in several business enterprises and is a Mason, an Elk and a Rotarian, having been president of the latter organization in 1924. Myron W. Mills was born at Marysville, Michigan, April 8, 1866, the second child of Nelson and Mary (Williams) Mills. He received his elementary education in the schools at Marysville and Port Huron, and graduated from the Ann Arbor high school. He then took a literary course at the University of Michigan, obtaining his degree in 1887. For a number of years after leaving college he was employed by his father in the lumber and shipping industries and, after the death of Mr. Mills, became executor of the large estate. Myron W. Mills is interested in many enterprises and has been a motive factor in many industries. Becoming interested in electric railway development in 1903, he aided in the promotion of the Lansing, St. Johns and St. Louis railway and became a part owner of street railways in Lansing, Jackson, Battle Creek and Kalamazoo. These lines were later combined into the Michigan United Railways, of which Mr. Mills was president. He has also been a director in the Commercial Bank of Port Huron and financially interested in other enterprises in St. Clair county. He has never been active in politics but has held the office of supervisor. For many years he supervised his big farm in Kimball and St. Clair townships, consisting of four hundred acres of fine land. Mr. Mills was married in 1893 to Mabel Mann, daughter of Walter S. and Mary (Teeple) Mann, of Pinckney, Livingston county, Michigan. They have one daughter, Mary Elizabeth Mills, who was born in 1894, and one son, Robert Edgar, born in 1920. Nelson Mills, his father, was born January 15, 1823, in Novia Scotia, of English parents, who moved to Wardsville, near Chatham, Ontario, when he was three years old. Here, after finishing school and until he was twenty-one years old, he worked on his father's farm. In 1844 'Nelson Mills came to Newport, which is now Marine City, and engaged in shipbuilding, acquring a wide reputation for strength and endurance. In 1850, with Myron Williams and Nathan Reeves, he became part owner of two thousand acres of timber land near Marysville and for many years was active in the lumber industry. Later with his brother, Barney, he became owner of his partner's share in the firm and bought fifteen thousand acres of pine land in Ogemaw and Arenac counties, where for fifty years he obtained the timber for his lumber manufacturing. Early in the sixties he engaged in shipbuilding and gradually became owner of a large fleet of vessels on the Great Lakes. His first vessel, the "Antelope," earned her cost the first season and was sold for more than that at the end of the season. Nelson Mills' boats were op 242 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY erated under the Mills Transportation Company and the Pawnee Boat Company, in addition to lesser lines. Mr. Mills and his brother were active in the lumber business in Toledo and Cleveland (dating from about the year 1860), and as members of the firm of the Mills & Carleton Company, were part owners of the largest yards in that city. With his son, John E., Isaac Bearinger and Hiram W. Sibley, he bought ten thousand acres of black walnut and yellow poplar land in West Virginia. This timber they manufactured into lumber in their owns mills. His son, John E. Mills, in 1900 began the construction of the interurban electric line between Lansing and St. John's, but did not live to complete the undertaking. Nelson Mills carried the work to completion, and later bought the Lansing street railway, in partnership with his son, Myron W. Mills, his son-in-law, J. R. Elliott, and George G. Moore. At the time of his death he was president of nine corporations and director of seven others. In 1862 he married Mary J. Williams, daughter of his former partner, Myron Williams. To this union were born seven children: Margaret M., whose second husband was George K. Barnes; Hanna E., who married Dr. W. B. James; Emeline, who married James R. Elliott, and David W. Mills. John E. Mills, the first child of Mr. and Mrs. Nelson Mills, died in 1903, and their second child is Myron W. Mills, subject of this sketch. Mrs. Nelson Mills died in Marysville in 1891, on May 3, and her husband died March 16, 1904. The youngest child, Hally B. Mills, died in 1900. Great-grandfather William Gallagher was a pioneer of St. Clair county, coming here in 1821, the year of the county's organization, and associating himself with Samuel Ward, the pioneer shipbuilder of Marine City. He came from New York state. He built the old Ward & Gallagher mill on Bell river, near Marine City, the first in this section of Michigan, built in 1821. Edward L. Moak was born in St. Clair county, Michigan, June 13, 1868, attended the district schools and afterwards the Port Huron University. He is a son of Charles J. and Alice M. Moak. A more complete history of the Moak family will be found in the narrative of the life of Eugene H. Moak, which is printed in this volume. In the year 1885 Edward L. Moak became connected with the Upton Manufacturing Company, afterwards known as the Port Huron Engine and Thresher Company, and remained with it until 1900, at which time he with other prominent Port Huron men organized the Factory Land Company, Ltd., and was its secretary for more than ten years. A large amount of the credit is due him and associates for the building up of the manufacturing and residential section of what is known as South Park. In 1910 he was elected treasurer of the South Park Manufacturing Company, afterwards organized as the Moak Machine and Tool Company, of which he has been secretary and treasurer since 1915. He is also secretary and treasurer of the Moak Realty Company and a director of the Port Huron Loan and Building Association. He is financially interested in a number of Corporations in Port Huron, PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 243. is trustee of the Sturgis Congregational church and a member of the I. O. O. F. He was married, April 28, 1891, to Bessie M. Balmer, who was born in Scotland August 12, 1871, and a daughter of George and Mary Balmer. He has three children: Elwyn R., in the newspaper business; Genevieve C., now Mrs. Roy Kemp, and Frances H., now Mrs. Francis W. Scott. Eugene H. Moak, manufacturer, Port Huron, is a grandson of Nicholas Moak, pioneer resident of Michigan, who settled in St. Clair county in 1837. Many interesting stories are told of this hardy farmer who later became a prominent farmer in this county. It is said at one time he shot and killed a deer as it was passing his house, aiming his rifle from an open window. At the time he settled in St. Clair county a tribe of Indians, known as the Riley tribe, lived in Riley township. The savages usually camped on Mr. Moak's farm when making their regular pilgrimages to Fort Gra- CX. tiot to obtain their food and money allowance from the govern- /7 ment. Charles J. Moak, father of Eugene H. Nfoak, and one of the —. } four children of Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Moak, was born inS3t. / Clair township, July 2, 1846, and died in 1901. At an early age he ij enlisted in Company K, Second Michigan Cavalry, and served five r years in the northern army in the War of the Rebellion. On being discharged from the army, he returned to St. Clair county and married Alice Carpenter, who was born in Lake county, Ohio, in 1849 and died in Port Huron in 1902. He lived in Port Huron township and during that time he served as highway commissioner and held other township offices. When that part of the township was incorporated in the limits of Port Huron he was highly instrumental in building up that part of the city and served as alderman of the eleventh ward and a street in that section bears his name. At the time of his death he had been an active member of the William Sanborn Post, G. A. R., for a great many years and was con\ Ad nected with the United States customs office at the Port Huron %. tunnel. He reared a family of four children: Eugene H., Edward -L., Viola A. and Myron C. Eugene H. Moak was born January 1~)1866, in St. Clair county, Michigan, and his first employment was with the.Port Huron Engine and Thresher Company. He commenced work in 1885 and remained there until 1914, during which time he was steadily promoted until he became mechanical superintendent. In 1914 he became connected with the South Park Manufacturing Company, in the capacity of superintendent, which was afterwards organized as the Moak Machine & Tool Company, of which he is at the present time general manager. A large amount of the success of the Moak Machine & Tool Company is due to his untiring efforts. For a great many years he has had charge of the manufacturing and sales part of the business. He is president of the Moak Realty Company and is financially interested in several other Port Huron corporations. Mr. Moak was married December 25, 1895, to Minnie M. Humphries, who was born in Canada, November 9, 1873, and is a daughter of David and Margaret Hum 244 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY phries. Mr. and Mrs. Moak's three children are Elmer D., superintendent of the Moak Machine & Tool Company; Lillian M., now Mrs. Carlton Lasher, and Eugene H., Jr., now a student at the Michigan State College. Mr. Moak is deeply interested in the community, also in historical subjects, of which he is an apt student and has a fine collection of Indian relics. He is pleasant and friendly in his manner, has many friends, business and personal, belongs to the Woodmen of the World and is trustee of the South Park Baptist church. Alexander Moore has been engaged in the practice of law in the city of Port Huron more than thirty years, and these years have represented on his part a professional achievement that gives him high vantage-ground as one of the representative members of the bar of St. Clair county-a county that has been his place of residence since his boyhood. Mr. Moore was born at Mornington, province of Ontario, Canada, March 30, 1866, and is one of a family of five children, two of whom died in infancy, the other two surviving members being Esther, wife of William Methren, of Port Huron, St. Clair county, Michigan, and William S., of Deckerville, in that county. In Ontario were born also William and Margaret (Johnston) Moore, the former of whom was born in Perth county and the latter in Perth county, both having been reared and educated in their native province, where was solemnized their marriage and where occurred the birth of their son, Alexander, of this review. The parents were honored citizens of Port Huron, Michigan, for many years, they having here established their home in the year 1871. Here the death of William Moore occurred in June, 1914, his wife having died here in 1897. William Moore was a son of Samuel and Margaret (Carson) Moore, natives of the fair old Emerald Isle, where the former was born in Londonderry. Upon coming to America, Samuel Moore and his wife established their home near Northeast Hope, Ontario, Canada, in which province they passed the remainder of their lives, Mr. Moore having been a carpenter by trade and having there become a successful contractor and builder. William Moore gained his early education in the schools of his native province and there he learned in his youth the carpenter's trade, under the direction of his father. In 1871 he came with his family to Michigan, and the remainder of his active career was marked by his successful activities as a contractor and builder in Port Huron and vicinity. Alexander Moore is indebted to the Port Huron public schools for his early educational discipline, which was forwarded thereafter by his attended the Michigan State Agricultural College at Lansing. He read law in the office of and under the effective preceptorship of the representative Port Huron law firm of Avery, Jenks & Avery and, after his admission to the bar in 1891, he here became a member of the law firm of Sparling, Law. & Moore, in which his associates were Eugene F. Law, who is now judge of the circuit court for this circuit, and Harvey Sparling, after whose retirement from PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 245 the firm the title of Law & Moore was retained until Judge Law initiated his services on the circuit bench. In the control of a large and important law business Mr. Moore is now senior member of the firm of Moore & Wilson, in which his coadjutor is John F, Wilson. Mr. Moore has been a steadfast and successful worker in his profession, and he has served as assistant prosecuting attorney of St. Clair county, from which position he was advanced to that of prosecuting attorney, an office in which he gave a characteristically loyal and efficient administration and of which he was the incumbent two terms. Since 1920 he has been a valued member of the Port Huron board of education. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party, and he is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Moore's loyal interest in all that concerns the welfare and advancement of his home city has been shown in divers avenues of influence, including his alliance with various business enterprises of important order. Thus it is to be recorded that he was one of the organizers and is president of the corporation that erected and owns the Gratiot Inn, a modern resort hotel at Gratiot Beach, Port Huron; that he is vice-president of the Port Huron Building and Loan Association; and that he is secretary and treasurer of the Port Huron Terminal Company. February 20, 1895, Mr. Moore was united in marriage to Miss Blanche P. Haywood, daughter of Joseph E. and Caroline (Bacon) Haywood, of Port Huron, the Haywood family having been founded in New England in the colonial days and representatives of the same having come from New Hampshire to Michigan in 1859. Franklin Moore, Sr. (deceased July 12, 1915) was born in St. Clair township in 1845, the son of Reuben and Margaret Moore. He received his education in the district schools, in a private school in St. Clair city, in Williston Seminary at Easthampton, Massachusetts, and at Yale University, where he was graduated in 1868 with the degree of A.B. Returning to Michigan, he followed the lumber business at Saginaw until 1875, when he bought and operated a farm in St. Clair township for ten years. For seventeen years he published the $t. Clair Republican and was twice appointed postmaster of St. Clair, receiving his first appointment from President Garfield. Franklin Moore, Sr., and three others organized what is now one of the biggest salt producing plants in the world, the Diamond Crystal Salt Company, of which he was secretary and treasurer until his death. He was elected in 1877 to the board of education of his city, serving until 1883 and being again elected in 1894 to serve until 1900. In 1896 he was elected supervisor of his ward and was elected to the state legislature in 1898 and 1900, holding office on various committees. He was an active member of the Congregational church. He was married on June 11, 1873, to Emily Parmalee, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William G. Parmalee, of Toledo, Ohio, who died June 20, 1898. To this union were born four children, as follows: Laura, January 19, 1875; Franklin, Jr., 246 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY September 6, 1877; Margaret, November 28, 1879, and Emily, January 4, 1886. Franklin Moore is another St. Clair county man who has received many honors at the hands of his fellow citizens. He has been mayor of St. Clair, member of the common council, member of the board of supervisors, member of the legislature and speaker pro tem. of the House of Representatives, Master of his lodge of Masons at St. Clair and Grand Patron of the Michigan Eastern Star. He is not only an able politician but a highly successful business man. He is now secretary and treasurer of the Diamond Crystal Salt Company of St. Clair and president of the State Savings Bank of that city. Mr. Moore was born September 6, 1877, in St. Clair township, the son of Franklin and Emily (Parmalee) Moore. Franklin Moore left school when he was in the tenth grade of the St. Clair high school to take a position in the Diamond Crystal Salt Company. After working in the plant for five years he was made shipping clerk and then traffic manager. In 1902 he was elected alderman from his ward to fill a vacancy and was reelected in 1904, defeated in 1906 and again elected in 1908. In 1910 he was defeated for the office of mayor by forty votes and in 1911 was successful in the race for this office. He was elected to the legislature of 1917, was speaker pro tem. in 1919 and was again elected in 1921. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the office of lieutenant governor in 1924 and, at this time, is a member of the board of supervisors. He has been elected eight of the twelve times he has been a candidate for public office. Fraternally he is a Knight of Pythias, an Elk, an Odd Fellow, a Mason, a Knight Templar and a member of the Mystic Shrine. Mr. Moore was married on June 27, 1905, to Jennie Harkness, daughter of Samuel and Samantha (Quackenbush) Harkness, of St. Clair, where Mr. Harkness was for many years collector of customs. To this union have been born two children; the eldest, Margaret, was born April 22, 1906, and the youngest, Franklin Harkness, September 1, 1907. Fred T. Moore, Sr., lumberman, banker, former mayor of Port Huron and present head of the Port Huron Plumbing & Sheet Metal Works, knows the lumber industry thoroughly, being practically identified with the lumber industry since he was fifteen years old, and today owns valuable timber lands and mill property in the state of Oregon. His. grandfather was a farmer and miller in New Brunswick, Canada, where Stephen Moore, father of Fred T. Moore, Sr., was born, December 11, 1828. Stephen Moore left Canada and came to St. Clair county when he was twenty-one years old, taking a tract of government land in Fort Gratiot township and clearing the land of its timber so that it could be used for farm purposes. It is said that Mr. Moore often spoke of the wonderful quality of the pine trees he felled on this farm, which remained in the possession of the family until a few years ago. He married Eliza Ann Thompson, a native of New Brunswick, Canada, and in 1874 moved to Osceola county, Michigan, where PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 247 they remained until 1880. At that time they returned to St. Clair county, as the father intended to resume farming. Instead of following his first plans, he worked in the lumber industry and in time became an extensive operator. He was an active member of the Congregational church; was county treasurer in 1893-96; was supervisor of Fort Gratiot township and an ardent Republican. He died in 1912. He and his wife were the parents of thirteen children, of whom nine are now living, as follows: George W., Clara A., Fred T., Florence M., Bert W., Grace M., John A, Vina R. and Nathaniel G. Moore. Fred T. Moore, Sr., was born in St. Clair county, Michigan, May 27, 1864. He attended school and business college until he was fifteen years old, when he began work in the lumber camps. He continued in this branch of the lumber industry until he was twenty-four. On October 30, 1889, he married J. Catherine Maxwell, daughter of Thomas A. and Ada Joan Maxwell, of Clyde township, who were natives of New Brunswick. Mr. Moore and his brother, George W., founded the G. W. & F. T. Moore bank at Capac, St. Clair county, on June 18, 1889. In 1900 they established the St. Clair County Savings Bank in Port Huron, an institution which was conducted with the co-operation of their father until in May, 1912. George W. Moore served as cashier of the County Bank until he was appointed state banking commissioner, when Fred T. Moore, Sr., became cashier. In 1912 the two brothers went to Oregon to look after their extensive timber holdings in that state and organized the Moore Mill & Lumber Company, of which Fred T. Moore is president. At the present time they own, in addition to a vast amount of timber, a big mill at Bandon, Oregon. Fred T. Moore, Sr., before leaving Port Huron for Oregon, held many positions of a private and political nature. He was a trustee and treasurer of the Port Huron Hospital; was alderman of the sixth ward in 1895-99; was mayor in 1900-02; was president of the board of trustees of the First Congregational church and Eminent Commander of the Port Huron Commandery, Knights Templar, in 1908. He is now proprietor of the Port Huron Plumbing & Sheet Metal Works, having assumed control of that enterprise when he returned to Port Huron to attend to other business matters in which he was interested. Mr. and Mrs. Moore have five children: Florence M., Mrs. B. M. Wright, Laura E., Fred T., Jr., and James G. Moore. Nathaniel G. Moore, of the S. H. & N. G. Moore Coal Company, is a brother of Fred T. Moore, Sr., lumberman, banker and former mayor of Port Huron, who is also mentioned in this book. Nathaniel G. Moore was born November 22, 1880, in Hersey, Osceola county, Michigan, the son of Stephen and Eliza Ann (Thompson) Moore. His grandfather Moore was a farmer and miller in New Brunswick, Canada, where Stephen Moore was born on December 11, 1828. The latter left Canada when he was twenty-one years old and settled on a tract of government land in St. Clair county. He later became a prominent figure in the lumber industry, and 248 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY was supervisor of Fort Gratiot township, where his farm was situated, and also treasurer of St. Clair county. Nathaniel G. Moore is one of a family of thirteen children, nine of whom are now living. They are George W., Clara, Fred T., Florence M., Bert W., Grace M., John A., Mrs. Archie Cowan and himself. After going to school in Port Huron, Mr. Moore returned to his father's farm in Fort Gratiot township, which only recently passed from the ownership of the Moore family. Later he bought a farm near Jeddes, Michigan, and farmed there twelve years. Mr. Moore came to Port Huron in 1916 and with his brother Stephen purchased the coal yard owned by Thomas Molloy. The business founded by the two brothers has been known since that time as the S. H. & N. G. Moore Coal Company. After the death of Stephen H. Moore in January, 1919, Mr. Moore purchased his brother's interest in the firm and has since been sole proprietor. He was married on November 4, 1904, to Jessie Avery, daughter of Joseph and Caroline Avery, of Port Huron. They have three children: Natalie A., J. Willard and Margaret E. Moore. Mr. Moore has been treasurer of the Methodist Episcopal church two years, and is a trustee of that church and a member of the Chamber of Commerce. He is a sound, conservative business man and is very pleasant in his manner. He has established a large patronage for his company, which is one of the biggest fuel supply firms in Port Huron. Howard G. Moyer, president and general manager of the Moyer Sash and Door Company, 309 Griswold street, Port Huron, entered that business after ill health had forced him to give up a successful career as a commercial illustrator. He first entered business in an old shed along the St. Clair river, and from the start the venture has been profitable. Today Mr. Moyer's plant employs ten workers, and is equipped with some machinery. Because of the nature of the work done, the total value of interior finish and millwork produced by this concern is many times greater than the worth of products manufactured by an equal number of employes in other factories. Mr. Moyer was born September 4, 1876, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Charles H. and Mary (Griesmer) Moyer. His father, who was born in 1849 on a farm in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, was for many years a farmer. He later moved to Philadelphia and with his brother Milton operated a wholesale produce business under the name of Moyer Brothers. Mrs. Mary Moyer was born in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, in 1850. Mr. and Mrs. Moyer have been very active church workers, and Mr. Moyer was superintendent of Sunday School twentyone consecutive years. Howard G. Moyer began to study the art of making commercial illustrations as soon as he had finished his schooling. He was employed in various establishments in Philadelphia for a period of twenty years, becoming very proficient. At the end of that period his health began to fail, and he was ordered by physicians to seek an outdoor employment. He came to Port Huron in 1917 as a traveling salesman for a Chicago millwork firm. PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 249 He continued as a commercial traveler three years, and then decided to engage in business for himself. The old shed in which he started operations was supplanted six months later by a set of new buildings in a new location. The Moyer Sash and Door Company is growing and promises to become one of the city's big enterprises. Mr. Moyer is a Mason and Knight Templar, an Elk, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and the Port Huron Country club. He was married on June 2, 1923, to Bessie Dudley, of Detroit. Mr. and Mrs. Moyer attend the First Congregational church. The Mueller Family has represented much in the history of American invention, industrialism and civic and commercial progress, and the city of Port Huron, Michigan, has gained much through the manufacturing operations here carried forward on a large scale by the Mueller Brass Company, one of the strongest and most important industrial concerns of its kind in the United States. In this article will be given a brief review of the inception and development of the business of this corporation, together with record concerning members of the Mueller family, who have had leadership in the enterprise that had its initiation nearly seventy years ago. Hieronymus Mueller was the founder of the Mueller industries, which include besides the Mueller Brass Company, of Port Huron, the Mueller Company, Decatur, Illinois, and Mueller, Limited, Sarnia, Ontario. He was born in the grand duchy of Baden, Germany, July 16, 1832, the Mueller family having been established many generations in that picturesque section of Europe. Mr. Mueller was a son of John Michael Mueller, who was born in Wertheim, Baden, June 11, 1794, and whose wife was born there June 5, 1795, their children having been five in number and the only daughter, Christina, having died in girlhood. The brothers of Hieronymus Mueller were Adolph, Henry and Philip. The maiden name of the mother was Ursula Elizabeth Kast. Hieronymus Mueller early gave evidence of inheriting his full share of the natural mechanical talent for which the family has been known for many generations. At Mannheim he served an apprenticeship to the trade of machinist. In 1852 he came to the United States, where he had been preceded by his brothers Adolph and Henry. Later the widowed mother, at the age of sixty years, joined her sons in this country, and remained here until her death, at the remarkable age of ninety-two years. After working for a time at his trade in the city of Chicago, Hieronymus Mueller went to Freeport, Illinois, where on May 26, 1856, he married Miss Fredericka Bernhardt, who was born in Minden, Prussia, in 1839, and who was a daughter of Christian and Annie Mary Bernhardt, she having been a girl when she accompanied her parents to Quebec, Canada, and having been a resident of Freeport, Illinois, when she formed the acquaintance of her future husband. In 1857 Mr. and Mrs. Mueller established their residence at Decatur, Illinois, which represented their home during the remainder of their lives. Of 250 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY their nine children seven attained to maturity: Henry, Philip, Frederick B., Robert, Adolph, Leda (Mrs. Cruikshank), and Oscar B. Hieronymus Mueller became a modest integer in the industrial and commercial activities at Decatur, and with the passing years he won large and worthy success. At the time of his death, March 1, 1900, he was at the head of the most important manufacturing industry in that vital Illinois city. His advancement was won through his own ability and well directed efforts, and he gained place among the world's influential and honored captains of industry. He was a loyal supporter of the Union in the Civil war period, was originally a Republican and later a Democrat in politics, he having been persuaded, at the time of the administration of President Cleveland, to become a candidate for mayor of Decatur, but having refused to accept nomination. Concerning him the following estimate has been given: "He was a man of well fortified convictions but his real nature was one of gentleness and kindness. His own integrity of thought and action made him a hater of dissembling in others, and his contempt for injustice and dishonesty was one of his dominating characteristics." In 1857 Hieronymus Mueller opened a small gunsmith shop in Decatur, but he soon sold his business to join the historic gold stampede to Pike's Peak. In 1858 he returned to Decatur and re-established himself as a gunsmith. His business expanded until it required a building of three stories. His ability and ambition led him into enterprises far removed from the mere work of his trade, and it is a demonstrated fact that he was one of the pioneers in the development of motor vehicles, his mechanical talent having given him pre-vision of the possibilities for the "horseless carriage." He gave much thought and study to this matter, and in 1895 he imported from Europe a Benz motor wagon. Upon this he made many improvements, and thus it became really a Mueller machine. The Mueller motor wagon was the only one to finish in a competitive race that was held at Chicago in 1895 and that is now to be given place in the pioneer chapter of the history of the motor vehicle and that of automobile racing. This was really the first contest between self-propelled vehicles in America, and has been designated as the birth of the automobile industry. The Mueller motor wagon won second place in another contest held in Chicago the same year, and in both of these events the car was driven by Oscar B. Mueller, who is now president of the Mueller Brass Company. Encouraged by their success in the two races, Hieronymus Mueller and his sons thereafter continued experiments and research, and constructed four additional cars, the last one having a two-cylinder engine, of about eight horsepower and capable of a speed of twenty-two miles an hour. The Muellers' activities in this field of industry terminated in 1900, when Hieronymus Mueller, the honored head of the family, was fatally burned by a gasoline explosion while working on one of his cars. Mr. Mueller was the inventor of many important devices, and in the earlier period PERSONAL SKETCHES POR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 251 of his career at Decatur he manufactured by hand a fine doublebarreled muzzle-loading shotgun, the same being now owned by the Mueller Brass Company, and having been exhibited at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis. In 1872 Mr. Mueller invented a water-tapping machine; in 1882 he invented and patented a water-pressure regulator; in 1885, with his sons, Henry, Philip, Frederick, Robert and Adolph, as partners, he initiated the manufacturing of high-grade brass products. In 1893 the Mueller Manufacturing Company was organized and incorporated with a capital stock of $68,000. The Mueller industries now include three large and modern factories, each separately incorporated and each manufacturing its own line of brass and copper products, but all under the control of the five sons of the late Hieronymus Mueller. These plants are the Mueller Company, Decatur, Illinois; Mueller, Limited, Sarnia, Ontario, established in 1912; and the Mueller Brass Company, Port Huron, Michigan, established in 1917. The Port Huron plant was built at the instigation of the United States government, and its work was confined exclusively to government munitions during the World war period. Then came the armistice and this war work ceased suddenly. Without a customer, outside of the, government, on their books, this company kept its organization intact and turned its attention to peace time business. The Mueller Brass Company manufactures brass and copper products in the form of rods, tubes, forgings, castings and screw machine parts. Much of the output is hardware and parts used in the automobile and electric refrigeration industries. Here are manufactured also copper tubing and manifolds for water heaters, brass pipe and fittings, and fabricated parts for oil burning equipment, hot water and steam heating appliances, musical instruments, and other manufactured products in many industries. This plant now represents one of the leading brass mills of the Middle West. The company maintains branches and sales offices in New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, Indianapolis, Dayton, Flint, New Orleans, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The factory at Decatur, Illinois, manufactures plumbing, water works and gas brass goods, and the Sarnia, Ontario, plant produces the same line of goods for Canadian trade. South of Decatur the Mueller Company erected in 1925 a plant for the manufacture of vitreous ware, such as lavatories, closets, tanks and other fixtures. The Mueller industries represent a total capitalization of $9,000,000 and employ approximately two thousand five hundred people. The personnel of the official corps of the Port Huron factory is: Oscar B. Mueller, president and general manager; Robert Mueller, vice-president; Adolph Mueller, treasurer; Robert W. Peden, assistant treasurer; Fred L. Riggin, secretary; and Fred B. Mueller, assistant secretary. The directorate of the corporation includes the executive officers mentioned, also Philip Mueller. Oscar B. Mueller, president of the Mueller Brass Company, was born at Decatur, Illinois, March 25, 1871, and there his William W. Ryerson, M.D., 901 Sixth street, Port Huron, sur 252 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY early education was received in the public schools, including the high school. Thereafter he took a course in mechanical engineering at the University of Illinois. He entered the Mueller factory after leaving school, and has familiarized himself with all technical and commercial phases of the business. He assumed charge of the company's New York City branch at the time when the same was established, in 1904; in 1912 he was concerned in the establishing of the Canadian plant, at Sarnia, where he is president of Mueller, Limited. Mr. Mueller is a man of distinct initiative and executive ability, and is valued as one of the most liberal and progressive citizens and business men of Port Huron, where he is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and a director of the Federal Commercial & Savings Bank. He has membership in the American Water Works Association, the American Gas Association, and the Sigma Chi college fraternity, besides which he finds much satisfaction in his membership in the Old Timers club, composed of persons who ran automobiles in 1895. It will be recalled that in a preceding paragraph of this review Mr. Mueller was mentioned as a pioneer driver in motor-car racing events. Mr. Mueller is genial and democratic in his personality, and the employes at the great Mueller manufacturing plant at Port Huron are looked upon by him as virtually members of one big family, with the result that his loyalty has begotten the most perfect loyalty on the part of employes. Mr. Mueller married Miss Beatrice A. Wetzel and the two children of this union are Bernhardt F. and B. Florence. James A. Muir, attorney, White building, Port Huron, was born October 15, 1866, at Port Dalhousie, Ontario, Canada, and was brought while an infant to Port Huron. His father, Captain Archibald M. Muir, was born in Stirling, Scotland, in 1833, and became a sailor early in life. He became a shipbuilder in Canada, where he was married in 1860 to Elizabeth Gregory, who was born in 1834 near St. Catharine, Lincoln county, Ontario, on a tract of land given her parents, who were Loyalists, by the English government. Mr. and Mrs. Archibald M. Muir were the parents of nine children, two of whom, Alexander and Emma K., died in infancy. The others were William Frederick, Johnson G., James A., Florence E., Jessie A., Mary Agnes, and Archibald A. The father lost his life off Point Clark, near Goderich, Ontario, on October 2, 1892, drowning while sailing on the "Nashua." James A. Muir graduated from Port Huron high school with the class of 1883, and immediately afterward became a sailor on the Great Lakes. He followed this occupation until in 1887, attaining the dignity of first officer when he entered the law department of the University of Michigan. He graduated from that institution in 1889 with the degree of LL.B., and returned to Port Huron to enter the law office of C. A. Hovey, a leader of the St. Clair county bar. In 1890, when Mr. Hovey was elected prosecuting attorney of St. Clair county, the office of assistant prosecutor was created and he tendered the appointment to Mr. Muir, who assumed office January PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 253 1, 1891. He resigned this post a few months later to become office manager of the Atkinson, Vance & Wolcott law firm, which at that -time had the largest practice of any of the Port Huron attorneys. Mr. Muir remained with this firm until in 1893, when he purchased the practice of his former employer, Mr. Hovey, who had decided to establish himself in the West. When Mr. Hovey returned to Port Huron later the firm of Hovey & Muir was formed. This partnership was of short duration and was dissolved in 1894. In 1896 Mr. Muir associated himself with Elmer D. Smith and, since the latter moved to the West in 1898, has practiced alone. He was married in 1893 to Laura M. Findley, of Akron, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Muir attend the Congregational church, of which she is a member. Mr. Muir was reared in the United Presbyterian church, in which his father was a prominent member. Mrs. Muir is exceptionally brilliant and charming, a Daughter of the American Revolution and secretary of its local chapter; a member of the board of commissioners of the Port Huron library for fifteen years; ex-treasurer of the Michigan State Federation of Women's Clubs, and was affiliated and is actively interested in the Woman's club of the city. Mr. Muir is a member of the Sigma Chi scholastic fraternity and has passed the chairs of Port Huron Lodge, Knights of Pythias, and of its Grand Lodge and has served as Grand Chancellor of that order and has twice represented his state in its supreme body. He has taken an active part in the councils of the Democratic party. Mr. and Mrs. Muir have one son, James Findley Muir, born October 12, 1908. Andrew J. Murphy, president and treasurer of the Great Lakes Foundry Company, 3112 Moak street, Port Huron, was a paving contractor when he was only twenty-five years old. He has continued in mercantile pursuits since that time and is today one of the big men in Port Huron industry. He was born February 20, 1872, at Columbus, Ohio, the son of John and Eliza (Whalen) Murphy. He received his education in public and private schools in that city, and began when quite young to work with his father in the Portland cement manufacturing business. Entering the street paving industry also with his father, at the age of twentyfive, he was successful in obtaining contracts for that work in Columbus and other large cities of the Middle West, including Chicago. Having been awarded contracts in Port Huron in 1901, he came to this city to direct operations and obtained additional contracts from time to time. Many of the principal streets and avenues of Port Huron received their first hard surface from Mr. Murphy's company. John Murphy, his father, continued in the paving business until his death, at the age of eighty-six, in 1913. In 1917 Mr. Murphy, with Henry McMorran and A. J. Theisen, organized the Great Lakes Foundry Company, which is now one of the biggest industrial concerns in Port Huron. Mr. Murphy became aware of the possibilities of such an industry in Port Huron while he was secretary and treasurer of the Havers Motor Car 254 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY Company, of Port Huron. This enterprise, which was started in 1910, suspended operations after the plant was destroyed by fire in 1914. For a time the Great Lakes Foundry Company manufactured castings for the Ford Motor Company and the General Motors Company, and since the Ford company has been producing its own castings it has devoted its facilities to the making of General Motors castings almost exclusively. The company in the last four years has had a tremendous growth. Mr. Murphy was married on June 21, 1905, to Emma McMorran, daughter of Hon. Henry G. and Emma (Williams) McMorran. In addition to his holdings in the Great Lakes Foundry Company Mr. Murphy is interested in other enterprises. In political affairs he is a consistent Republican. Frank John Edward O'Hara, owner and secretary-treasurer of the Smith & O'Hara Insurance Agency, 29 White building, Port Huron, was born on a farm in Kimball township, St. Clair county. His father, Daniel O'Hara, who was born in Ireland, came to Michigan in the early sixties and was a member of the Twenty-fourth Michigan Volunteer Infantry in the Civil war. His mother, Mrs. Catherine (Crowley) O'Hara, was also born in Ireland, and was married at Kinkora, Ontario, Canada. Soon afterward she came with her husband to Michigan, where she is still living. Frank John Edward O'Hara was educated in the schools of Kimball township and at St. Stephen's convent. He began his business career as a salesman, and later entered the offices of the Port Huron Gas Company, rising during his fourteen years with that company from collector to bookkeeper, and finally to assistant manager. Mr. O'Hara was married in 1909 to Elizabeth Lysaght, of Sarnia, Ontario. He continued with the gas company until he went into war work in 1917, when he had charge of the department of labor, United States Employment Service, in six counties-St. Clair, Macomb, Lapeer, Sanilac, Huron and Tuscola. Mr. O'Hara took an active part in the development of the Knights of Columbus in Michigan. He has held many important offices in this order, and was formerly district deputy of the eighth district, and was, on May 25, 1926, elected State Deputy for the state of Michigan. At the close of the World war he engaged in the contracting and building business, in which he continued until 1920 when, with the Hon. John W. Smith, he formed the Smith & O'Hara Insurance Agency, Incorporated. This concern deals in fire, casualty, automobile and other forms of insurance, as well as surety bonds. Mr. O'Hara has the following brothers and sisters: Joseph O'Hara, Mrs. Alice Cochrane, Mrs. Mary Bovine, all living in St. Clair county. Mr. and Mrs. Frank O'Hara have two children: James and John. All are members of the St. Stephen's Roman Catholic church. James O'Sullivan, Sr., is remembered as a stalwart, rugged pioneer of Port Huron, a high-minded public official, and a man of many friendships. For twenty-five years he served his city as alderman and for a short period as mayor. During most of this PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 255 time he was chairman of the ways and means committee of the council and thus controlled its finances in the interests of efficiency and economy. He declined higher honors, being content to serve his city in a modest way. He was noted in politics for his tact and judgment and on many occasions turned almost certain defeat into victory. Although educated only through the eighth grade, he found time for study and managed to secure for himself the equivalent of a good college education. With the trade of a cabinet maker as a foundation, he built up one of the leading construction organizations in Michigan and was engaged in varied construction enterprises, such as the construction of railways, grain elevators, bridges, channel deepening, dock building, sewers, and buildings of every class. Many of the most important buildings in Port Huron were constructed by him, including several Maccabee temples, the First National Bank building, and the original Morton Salt plant, and he also constructed the Diamond Crystal Salt plant at St. Clair, Michigan. He was born in Ireland in 1847, received his education in Guelph, Ontario, and moved to Port Huron in 1868. Upon his death, in 1915, he left surviving him his wife, Mrs. Anna O'Sullivan, his sons, James, Alfred and Paul J. O'Sullivan, and his daughters, Margaret O'Sullivan Sabichi and Evelyn O'Sullivan. Mrs. Anna O'Sullivan died in 1923 and Miss Evelyn O'Sullivan in 1926. James O'Sullivan, Jr., manager of James O'Sullivan & Sons Company, general contractors, Port Huron, Michigan, is a man of varied experience and attainments. Born in Port Huron in 1876, he graduated from the Port Huron high school in 1896 and from the literary department of the University of Michigan in 1902. He was admitted to the practice of law in 1904. Moving to the state of Washington in 1905, he was appointed instructor in history, political and social science in the State Normal School at Bellingham, Washington. In 1908 he took up the practice of law at Ephrata. Grant county, Washington. He soon became engaged as attorney in the contest of government desert land entries involving thousands of acres in Grant county and after three years of hard fighting, secured the cancellation of these entries. He became interested in several irrigation projects and found time to do considerable research work in connection with the Columbia Basin irrigation project. He made preliminary surveys for a dam on the Columbia river at the head of the Grand Coulee with the idea of diverting the Columbia, in part, down its old channel, the Grand Coulee, for the reclamation of nearly two million acres of land in that state. He was largely instrumental in securing federal recognition of the feasibility of this method of reclamation and in securing appropriations to complete his surveys. Through his efforts the feasibility of damming the Columbia river has been established and his contention that good bed rock existed at a reasonable depth for dams on the river has been proved by elaborate tests. Noted engineers have declared that the establishment of the fact that 256 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY good foundations for dams exist in this river will eventually be worth many millions of dollars to the state of Washington, in the development of electric energy and reclamation. The Columbia Basin project is now recognized as of national importance and Congress will undoubtedly supply the necessary funds for its construction as soon as the Boulder Canyon project on the Colorado is completed. While a resident of Ephrata he served as councilman, member of the school board and county chairman of the Bull Moose party during the Roosevelt campaign for president, electing all but one of the entire county ticket. Upon the death of his father, James O'Sullivan, Sr., in 1915, he was obliged to return to Port Huron to help carry on the various enterprises in which his father had been engaged. As manager of James O'Sullivan & Sons Company he erected, among other structures, the Mueller Metals Works, the new Kresge Dollar Store, and the Detroit Edison Substation in Port Huron; extensive work for the Detroit Edison Company and the Morton Salt Company at Marysville; the Detroit Edison sub-station, the splendid St. Clair high school, St. Mary's church, and additions to the Diamond Crystal Salt Company's plant at St. Clair, Michigan. Mr. O'Sullivan has supported every movement for the betterment of Port Huron. He is a member of the Elks, a former director of the Lions' club, a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Port Huron Yacht club, and one of the board of governors of the Michigan Contractors' Association. He was married in 1905 to Pearl Twiss, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Twiss, of Port Huron, and to this union three children were born, John T. O'Sullivan, now a student at the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, Kathleen and Arthur J. O'Sulilvan. All are members of St. Stephen's church, Port Huron. Albert B. Parfet, whose new building, erected at 1432 Military street for his Ford car and Fordson tractor sales rooms, is one of the most attractive in Port Huron, was born in Golden, Colorado, on March 10, 1894, the son of G. W. and Mattie (Bates) Parfet, both of whom were born and reared in the South. The father was a clay mining engineer, a business man and banker. After graduating from high school at Golden, Mr. Parfet came to the University of Michigan, obtaining the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1916. He afterward took a course in economics and business administration, receiving a special certificate for his studies in these branches. He then obtained a position in the sales department of the Ford Motor Company at Detroit and was sent, in 1919, to establish a Ford agency. He did this entirely alone, with his own financial resources. His business grew so rapidly that in 1922 he erected a new building, one of the most attractive in the city, at a cost of $175,000. He was married on June 22, 1914, to Madeline McVoy, of Minneapolis. They have two children: Stephanie, born in 1918, and Meredith, born in 1922. Mr. Parfet is one of the most enterprising young men in Port Huron. In addition to attending to his own business in a creditable manner he finds time PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 257 to devote to many civic and public welfare movements. He is a director of the Federal Commercial Savings Bank; a Mason and Knight Templar; a member of the Knights of Pythias; a member of the scholastic fraternity, Sigma Chi; a former director of the Chamber of Commerce and an active participant in the affairs of other business institutions in Port Huron. He has made numerous investments in enterprises which he thinks will help the growth of his adopted city, and is known as one of the most progressive business men in this community. He is especially interested in the work among boys and crippled children conducted by the Rotary club, of which he is now treasurer and director. His chief hobby is radio and he is deeply interested in the operation of the five hundred watt broadcasting station maintained by his company. Dorsey W. Patterson, M.D., 202-03 U. S. Bank building, Port Huron, general practitioner and urologist, gained much valuable experience during the time he was a medical officer in the United States army during the World war, one and one-half year's training as resident house physician of Providence Hospital, Detroit, and at general practice at Blaine, Michigan, from 1915 to 1918. During the war he was first at Camp Greenleaf, Georgia, and was sent to France as commanding officer of Exceptional Medical Replacement Unit No. 54, with the rank of first lieutenant. Later he was made urologist at Camp Hospital No. 82, also commander of the camp infirmary at Le Havre. After receiving an honorable discharge on May 16, 1919, he came to Port Huron and has since enjoyed a large and lucrative practice in this city. Dr. Patterson was born at Elko, Nevada, on March 5, 1890. His mother, Mrs. Elizabeth (Dorsey) Patterson, was also born in Nevada, and his father, Webster Patterson, was born in Wilmington, Delaware. Dr. Patterson obtained his degree of M.D. from the Detroit College of Medicine and Surgery in 1913. He desired to fit himself as well as possible for his chosen profession, so he entered Providence Hospital, Detroit, as an interne. He was married while holding this position, on August 23, 1914, to Edith Keen, of Detroit. To this union have been born two children: Vera and Cudahy Webster Patterson. Dr. Patterson is a Mason, a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Lions' club, commander of the Port Huron post of Veterans of Foreign Wars and departmental surgeon of the state branch of that body. He is one of the most popular of Port Huron's younger physicians. Joseph S. Platt, M.D., physician and surgeon, 9272 Military St., Port Huron, one of the most highly respected professional men in St. Clair county, has withdrawn from the more strenuous duties connected with the practice of medicine, though he still retains an office for the convenience of his large clientele. He was born January 9, 1857, at Warren, Illinois, the son of John D. and Julia E. (Carpenter) Platt, both of whom were natives of Otsego county, New York, they having been born about the year 1824. John D. 258 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY Platt came to Warren, Illinois, when he was a young man, and became a successful merchant in that city. Later he and his family moved to Waterloo, Iowa, where he conducted a bank, which is now the Commercial National Bank in that city. Both he and his wife died at Port Huron, at the home of their daughter, Mrs. William Thompson. They were the parents of six children, only two of whom survive, Dr. Platt, of Port Huron, and Mrs. Evelyn P. Thompson, widow of William Thompson, who resides with her daughter at Mishawaka, Indiana. Dr. Platt first began the study of medicine at Warren, Illinois, and later entered the medical department of the New York University, which is now consolidated with Columbia University of New York. He received his M.D. degree in 1880 and began general practice at Alta, Iowa, remaining at that place until 1883, when he went to New York and took post-graduate work, and in the spring of 1884 he came to Port Huron, where he established himself in general practice and for forty-two years he has been a potent factor in the medical profession of this city. Doctor Platt has at all times been a respected and honored resident of the community and a leader in his profession. He has taken special post-graduate courses since coming to Port Huron, and is held in high regard by other practitioners in St. Clair county, not only because of his mental attainments but because of his integrity and kindly attitude toward others. He has been president of the St. Clair County Medical Society and a leader in welfare activities of the Port Huron Elks. He has traveled extensively, and conversation with him reveals the fact that he has a brilliant, cultured mind. Though he could, if he wished, have one of the largest medical practices in Port Huron, he has chosen to enjoy'life at his leisure. He was married at Warren, Illinois, on November 9, 1881, to Elsie Hawley. Having had no children of their own and being at the same time lovers of children, Dr. and Mrs. Platt have adopted and reared Mildred and Charles Collard, who have not assumed the name of Platt. Dr. and Mrs. Platt's many acts of charity have greatly endeared them to the residents of this community. James L. Reid, merchandise broker, 28 Grand River avenue, Port Huron, was born in Emmett, St. Clair county, August 31, 1884, the son of Michael and Margaret (Crowley) Reid. Michael Reid, the son of Mr. and Mrs. James Reid, was born while his parents were enroute from their native land, Ireland, to Michigan, in 1850. The Reids settled in St. Clair county, buying a tract of land from the government at two and one-half dollars per acre, clearing the land of trees and farming it until their death. Mrs. Margaret (Crowley) Reid was born in Emmett township, St. Clair county, in 1863. Her father, Thomas Crowley, also from Ireland, first came to Canada and settled in St. Clair county in the early fifties. Michael Reid was an able politician and in 1890-92 was clerk of St. Clair county, being elected to that office on the Democratic ticket. He and his wife were the parents of ten children, PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 259 all of whom are living, though only James L. and Thomas are residents of St. Clair county at this time. James L. Reid attended Ferris Institute six months after graduating from the Emmett township schools. His first position was with the Richmond Elevator Company, where he remained six years. During the next two years he was employed in Jackson, Michigan, after which he returned to Emmett and conducted a general store successfully for five years, when a disastrous fire destroyed his building and entire stock of goods. He then came to Port Huron and, in 1917, established his present business, which is a thriving one. He is a wholesale dealer in fruits, grain, produce, wool, twine and other commodities, and is one of Port Huron's most substantial business men. He is an active politician and holds an important position as chairman of the Democratic county committee, though he has never been a candidate for any elective office. He is a Past Grand Master of the Knights of Columbus, an Elk and a Rotarian. He was married on May 31, 1922, to Irene McCabe, of Emmett. They have one daughter, Mary Jane, who was born May 9, 1923. Mr. Reid is considered one of the most progressive business men in this community and is an ardent supporter of every movement for the betterment of Port Huron. Ira G. Richardson, retired plumber and business man, founder of the Richardson-Baker Plumbing Company, 934 Sixth street, Port Huron, was born January 26, 1856, at Brockway, St. Clair county. His father, Lyzander Richardson, was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, of English parentage, and came to Michigan alone when quite young. He was a superintendent for the Labelle Mining Company in northern Michigan, and in 1849 came to Brockway to work for Lewis Brockway, pioneer lumber man. Lyzander Richardson owned a farm in Brockway township, but left its cultivation to others and worked for Mr. Brockway until his death. He was a Republican and served as treasurer of Brockway township. He met Sarah Graham, who was born in Ireland in 1836 and who came to Canada with her parents in 1847, in Brockway township, where she came from Canada. They were married in Detroit in 1850. In 1859 Mr. Richardson died, leaving two children: Catherine, who became the wife of David Williams and who died in 1910; and Ira G. Richardson, of Port Huron. The mother died in 1905, in Port Huron, and is buried in Lakeside cemetery. Ira G. Richardson received his early education in Canada, where he was taken by his uncle after his father's death, and where he remained until he was eighteen years old, working on farms near his uncle's home. In 1874 he came to Port Huron and began to learn the plumbing trade in the Rich & Walker shop. He soon became a proficient workman, and in 1889 he founded the Richardson-Baker company, with which he is still connected. This firm for thirtythree years had its office and shop where the Desmond Theater now stands. Mr. Richardson married Ida, May Mitts, of St. Clair county, on February 8, 1883. Her father, John Mitts, came to St. 260 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY Clair county from Canada in the late fifties. Mr. and Mrs. Richardson are the parents of two children: Fred W., who is now dead, and Helen E. Mr. Richardson is a hightly respected man, a Mason and a Maccabee. William B. Robeson, inventor and manufacturing chemist of Port Huron, has gained a world-wide reputation as the discoverer of a highly efficient method of waterproofing and preserving fabrics. During the World war Mr. Robeson was engaged by the English government to assist on antiseptics and preservatives, being associated with the Royal Army Medical Corps and St. John's Ambulance Corps. He was born on Christmas day, 1854, in Toronto, Canada, and was brought to Port Huron in 1863, when he was nine years old. His father, David Robeson, was born in Scotland and his mother, Mrs. Helen (Martin) Robeson, was a native of Quebec. After graduating from high school in Port Huron, Mr. Robeson studied for a brief period in the College of Quebec He began his business and inventive career as an employe of the Standard Oil and Chemical Company of Cleveland, Ohio. In this employment he made an intensive study of chemistry and also acted as a traveling salesman, visiting all parts of the United States. Later he was associated with Thomas Alva Edison in the utilization of waste ores in the Rocky Mountain mining districts, remaining with Mr. Edison several years. Though he has distinguished himself in several ways, Mr. Robeson's chief accomplishment is, perhaps, his invention of the chemical compound known as "Preservo," a substance which renders canvas and similar fabrics both waterproof and durable. This invention has received the entire approval of the United States and English war departments, it is said, and is also used extensively in private industry. Mr. Robeson's efforts have been expended in many directions. He has invented a preservative for iron, steel and concrete and a substance for fireproofing wood. These products now have a world-wide distribution through the sales branches of the Robeson Preservo Company, which he founded in 1911. Though he has retired from active management of this company, he is still interested in its chemical research department as consulting chemist. He also travels to various parts of the world, making chemical tests under varying climatic actions. Mr. Robeson's success is due, he believes, to the fact that he disregards what other chemists consider scientific fundamentals, and conducts his experiments along independent lines. Mr. Robeson was married in 1881 to Mary Palmerlee, of Romeo, Michigan, who died in 1893, leaving one daughter, Vera Robeson. In 1897 he again married, taking as his bride Carrie Louise Rivard, of Detroit, who died in 1921. Mr. Robeson is a man of splendid bearing and appears to be much younger than he really is, seventy-one years. His daughter, Vera Robeson, lives at the family home in Port Huron. William W. Ryerson, M.D., 901 Sixth street, Port Huron, surgeon and obstetrician, was born at Waterford, Ontario, Canada, PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 261 the son of the Rev. Joseph E. and Alice (Heath) Ryerson. His great-grandfather was a prominent educator and the founder of the Canadian school system. His father, the Rev. Joseph E. Ryerson, who was born in Simcoe, Ontario, graduated from Albion College in the early eighties and for thirty years was a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church. For twenty-nine years he conducted services in the state of Michigan. The Rev. Joseph E. Ryerson was popular in fraternal circles and was a Mason, an Elk and a Knight of Pythias. Rev. and Mrs. Ryerson were the parents of two children: Frank L., of Detroit, a physician and specialist in eye, ear, nose and throat work, and Dr. William W. Ryerson, of Port Huron. The latter graduated from the Chelsea high school in 1907 and from the Detroit College of Medicine and Surgery in 1911. He then took a post-graduate course in the Metropolitan hospital, New York, and came to Port Huron to enter general practice in 1912. On December 25, 1913, he married Jennie Albertha Pritchard, of Sunrobin, Ontario, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Pritchard. Dr. Ryerson is a very successful physician and enjoys an enviable reputation as a practitioner and as a private citizen. He is a member of the Masons, the Knights of Pythias and the First Methodist Episcopal church. Eugene J. Schoolcraft. Among the men prominently identified with the insurance and real estate business of Port Huron, none is more worthy of mention in the history of Michigan than Eugene J. Schoolcraft. He has been a potent factor in the insurance and real estate business at Port Huron for nearly forty-five years, has always maintained the highest standards of business ethics and his course has ever been marked by inflexible integrity and honor. He has made his way to prominence and honorable prestige through hard work and close application to business, and is a splendid example of that type of citizen whose industry and unselfishness have made possible the development of our present social structure. As both a private citizen and an official Mr. Schoolcraft has given his best efforts to the advancement of the cause of education, of good roads and churches and the many other things which are so important to a growing community. Mr. Schoolcraft was born in Port Huron, April 8, 1855, the son of James Schoolcraft and Sarah (Ruddock) Schoolcraft, the former of whom was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and was a son of Henry R. Schoolcraft, an Indian trader, who was killed from ambush by an Indian. He was a native of New York state and was one of the very first settlers in Northern Michigan. He met his death as he went out one morning to supervise the efforts of a group of Indians who were working in a cornfield. Eugene J. Schoolcraft's great-grandfather, Henry R. Schoolcraft, Sr., the noted historian and Indian writer, was also a native of New York state. He was a pioneer in Northern Michigan and was a man of high ideals and sterling character. The county of Schoolcraft was named in his honor. James Schoolcraft, father of Eugene J. Schoolcraft, married at Newport, 262 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY Michigan (now Marine City) Sarah Ruddock, who was born in North Ireland, and they became the parents of four sons and four daughters, two of whom, Eugene J., of Port Huron, and Frank, of Chicago, are now living. Eugene J. Schoolcraft began his business career at the age of twelve years by working as a printer's devil for one dollar per week. After leaving school he learned the printer's trade and by hard work and frugality he later became able to purchase a half interest in the Port Huron Commercial, a paper which later was merged into the Sunday Commercial. From 1873 until 1876 he was employed as compositor by James Stone, editor of the Tri-Weekly Times, of Port Huron, and the Telegram, of Kalamazoo. In 1886 Mr. Schoolcraft sold his newspaper holdings and entered the real estate and insurance business, to which he still gives much of his time. From 1886 until the present writing he has occupied the same offices at 101-03 Huron avenue, and is recognized as authority on all matters along these lines. He became a member of the board of trustees of the Port Huron Hospital at the time of its inception and for twenty-two years was an active factor in the management of that institution. He has been secretary and president of the Chamber of Commerce, county supervisor, alderman of the third ward, member of the board of education and board of estimates and city assessor. He organized and is president of the Port Huron Real Estate Board and has ever been an exponent of the best type of civic loyalty and progressiveness. Although he has always been a stalwart Democrat, he has never permitted partisanship to influence him against his better judgment in the choice of a candidate. He is a member of the Pine Grove Lodge of Masons, the Knights Templar, Moslem Shrine and the Modern Woodmen. Mr. Schoolcraft was married in 1876 to Emma Harder, who was born in Chatham, Ontario, the daughter of Christian and Bertha (Kaesemeyer) Harder. The father was a miller by trade and conducted one of the first grist mills in St. Clair county. Mr. and Mrs. Schoolcraft have one daughter, Blanche H., who is the wife of Percy C. Kidder, of Chicago, and they have one son, E. J. Schoolcraft Kidder. Thomas S. Scupholm, Jr., postmaster of Port Huron, formerly manager of the bond and savings departments of the Federal Commerce Savings Bank, director of the Title and Trust Company, of Detroit, and Past Grand Master of the Michigan Lodge of Odd Fellows, assumed the responsibilities of the head of a family when he was only thirteen years old. He was born in Wales township, St. Clair county, on March 24, 1867, the son of Thomas S. and Myra (Moody) Scupholm. His mother, who was born January 7, 1837, died December 18, 1925. His father, who was born in Lincolnshire, England, in 1833, died on January 4, 1919, after having been partially disabled many years. Thomas Scupholm, his father, served an apprenticeship to a cabinet maker in England, and brought his wife to America soon after their marriage, arriving in Michigan in 1857. From that year until in 1865 he did car PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 263 penter work at Marine City, and afterward conducted a wagonmaking shop at Battle Run. He was an apt mechanic in the art of woodworking, and was called upon to perform varied tasks. He was also a local Methodist minister. Many times, when a death occurred in the community, he dropped his carpentry and wagon making, constructed a coffin for the deceased and preached at the funeral services. During his later years he was a farmer, and the homestead on which he died is still in possession of his family. The accident which resulted in his partial disability occurred in 1880. Thomas S., the subject of this sketch, was the sixth of the family of nine children, of whom the following are now living: Sarah Jane, now Mrs. John Morton, of Stanton, Nebraska; George F., of Strausburg, Saskatchewan, Canada; Mary Ann, now Mrs. Brown, of Marlette, Michigan; Agnes, now Mrs. Parson, of Wales township, St. Clair county; Charles W., of Battle Creek, locomotive engineer on the Grand Trunk railway. Thomas S. Scupholm worked on his father's farm until he was twenty-one years old, attending the country schools when opportunity afforded. On reaching his majority he married, on February 20, 1889, Rose E. Winn, of Columbus, Michigan, and continued farming. During the year his health began to fail, so he decided to enter another occupation. Spending one year in acquiring a knowledge of telegraphy, he fitted himself for a position with the Grand Trunk railway and was placed in charge of the freight office and terminal at Port Huron. He remained with this company seven years, during which time he was promoted to chief clerk in the office of the superintendent. He resigned from this position to become cashier for the McMorran Milling Company, a position he relinquished seven years later to associate himself with the Port Huron Savings Bank, which later consolidated with what is now the Federal Commercial and Savings Bank. From this institution he withdrew in 1922 to become postmaster of Port Huron. Mr. Scupholm has been an active member of the First Methodist church for thirty years, and has served as a member of the church board much of that time. He is also an Elk, a Knight of Pythias and a leading Odd Fellow. He has passed through all chairs in the Port Huron lodge of that order and has also been Michigan representative at the Sovereign Grand Lodge as well as Grand Master of the state. He is now trustee and secretary of the board, of the First Methodist church. Mr. and Mrs. Scupholm have seven children: Ethel May, who is now Mrs. L. O. Moody; Fred Justin, chief engineer of the Sarnia Bridge Company, Port Huron; Myra Beatrice, a teacher in the Pettingill.high school, Lansing; Edna Pearl, now Mrs. Claire Tripp, of Port Huron; Walter Moody, mechanical engineer at the Detroit Metal & Steel Company, Detroit; Charles Ross and Earl, of the Scupholm Motor Sales, Port Huron. Chris C. Smith, of Algonac, is one of the few boat builders whose reputation has extended all over the world. He is known as the man whose boats won nine consecutive United States cham 264 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY pionship races, from 1914 to 1923 and builder of the fastest boat in the world. He is now associated in business with his sons, under the firm name of Chris Smith & Sons Boat Company. Mr. Smith was born at Marine City on May 20, 1861, the son of James and Harriett D. Smith. His grandfather, a farmer, brought his family to St. Clair county when James Smith was a boy. The latter was a skilled mechanic, and did gunsmithing and furniture making. James Smith and wife were the parents of five children: Henry, of Algonac; James Curtis and Mrs. Fred Marsden, of Marysville; Mrs. Moore, of Chicago, and Chris C. Smith, of Algonac. The last was brought to Algonac by his parents when he was five years old. He was a lover of outdoor life, a hunter and fisherman, and began sailing on the Great Lakes when he was quite young. Two years after becoming a sailor he began work on a steamboat. Later, to fill a need created by his desire to hunt and fish, he built a boat to carry him on his numerous pleasure excursions. This first product of his handiwork was very satisfactory, and he continued to improve it until he had a very creditable little vessel. Later he built other and better boats, continuing to improve the design and workmanship until his reputation as a maker of fine boats extended over the state. In 1911 he built his first race boat, under the name of the, C. C. Smith Boat Engine Company, a concern which was later sold to Gar Wood. He has, during his forty years as a boat builder, constructed everythig which floats on water, from a row boat to sail boats and motor boats, having been one of the first men to experiment in building the latter. Mr. Smith founded his present firm of Chris Smith & Sons in 1923. He has been postmaster of Algonac fourteen years, and is now president of the Chris Smith Realty Company. He was married April 13, 1884, to Anna Rattery. To this union have been born six children: J. W., Bernard T., Owen Newton, Hamilton, Laura M. and Catherine. Mr. Smith's factory at this time employs a personnel of sixty men, almost all of whom are highly skilled mechanics. William D. Smith, founder of the Smith Brothers' chain of grocery stores and meat markets, has made a success of his business through close attention to details. Of a calm, even temperament, he seldom seems hurried, regardless of the pressure of his many duties. He was born in Mt. Horeb, Canada, in 1865, the son of William D. and Eliza Jane (Reynolds) Smith. His mother, a native of Canada, died in 1874, and his father, who was born on the Isle of Wight, died in 1910, at the age of eighty-one years. William D. Smith, Sr., was a shoemaker, and came to Port Huron in 1866 to work at that trade. Seeing the possibilities of the grocery business in a rapidly-growing community, he opened a grocery store at the north end of the city, at the village of Gratiot. His business prospered, and he remained a groceryman until a short time before his death. He held many offices in the village of Gratiot, serving as clerk of the village, as treasurer and as alderman. He was, at all times, a Democrat. When he died he left a host of PERSOPNAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 265 friends and was deeply respected by all who knew him. His son, William D. Smith, attended the Grant township schools for awhile, completing his education at the Fort Gratiot school. As soon as he was old enough to look over a counter he began work in his father's store, beginning first as errand boy, then clerk, and finally, partner. He continued as part owner of the business established by his father from 1890 until 1894, when he and his brother, Mark, engaged in the grocery business under the firm name of Smith Brothers. In 1897 he purchased his brother's interests and conducted the business alone until his sons became members of the firm. On November 1, 1917, Mr. Smith founded the first chain of stores in Port Huron. Mr. Smith's son, Charles, became a part owner of the business in 1919, and Russell was admitted to partnership in 1922. Mr. Smith is a director of the Federal Commercial and Savings Bank, and was for a number of years one of the board of governors of the merchants' division of the Chamber of Commerce. While he feels that he has accomplished a great task in establishing the chain of ten grocery stores, three meat markets and the bakery operated by the Smith Brothers Company, he still continues to keep in touch with the progress of the business, which is chiefly managed by his son, Charles W. He is a man of forceful personality and keen business judgment. In his long years of dealing with the public he has made thousands of friends through a policy of square dealing and courtesy. His long experience makes it possible for him to determine at a glance whether or not all details of the business are to his liking. He is a member of several lodges, the Elks, the Maccabees, the Modern Woodmen and the Woodmen of the World. Herman L. Stevens, who is associated with his brother. Major Walter R. Stevens, in the law firm of Stevens & Stevens, was born December 31, 1874, in Port Huron, the son of Judge Herman Walter and Sarah E. (Bishop) Stevens. The Stevens family is of English origin, and has been established in this country for approximately three centuries. The dwelling erected in 1660 by the first of the family to settle in America, at Killingsworth, Connecticut, was but recently destroyed. Harmon L. Stevens, grandfather of Herman L. Stevens, was married in New York to the daughter of Judge Mitchell, of that state, and came to Michigan in 1840. They first lived at Romeo, ip Macomb county, where their son, Herman Walter, was born November 4, 1843.- Later the Stevens family came to Port Huron, where the father engaged in the lumber business and entered politics, being elected justice of the peace for thirty-five consecutive years. Herman W. Stevens received his elementary schooling in the public schools of Port Huron, and then took a course in the Ypsilanti Seminary, which at that time was under the management of Professor Estabrook. From the seminary he went to the University of Michigan, graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1866. Two years later he received the degree of Bachelor of Laws from the same institution 266 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY and was admitted to the bar. Returning to Port Huron, he associated himself with Attorney George W. Wilson, under the firm name of Wilson & Stevens, and practiced for one year. The firm was then dissolved, and in 1870 he formed a partnership with N. E. Thomas, under the name of Stevens & Thomas. This partnership continued until 1882, when Mr. Stevens was elected judge of the eighteenth judicial circuit for a term of six years. This was not, however, his first public office, as he had been city attorney of Port Huron in 1878 and 1879, and also circuit court commissioner. On retiring from the bench, in 1888, Judge Stevens and Attorney S. L. Merriam opened offices for the practice of law under the name of Stevens & Merriam. This arrangement was continued until in 1894, when he engaged in practice alone. He enjoyed an excellent reputation as a lawyer and citizen, and possessed a lucrative practice. He was proficient, direct and prompt in all of his decisions. As a business man he was also unusually successful, and was director of the Port Huron Savings Bank and many other financial institutions. He was married in June, 1869, to Sarah E. Bishop, daughter of Russell Bishop, who was, for many years, president of the Genesee, County Savings Bank, at Flint, Michigan, an institution which is now headed by Arthur E. Bishop, a brother of Mrs. Stevens. She was born in Flint on April 16, 1847, and died in Port Huron on September 9, 1904. Judge Stevens died on May 15, 1907. They were the parents of seven children, four of whom are now living, as follows: Herman L.; Walter R.; Mary B., now Mrs. John D. Menish; and Rose M., now Mrs. E. J. Albright. Herman L. Stevens entered the University of Michigan after graduating from the Port Huron high school, obtaining his Bachelor of Science degree in 1900 and his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1902. Returning to Port Huron, he began the practice of law under his father's direction, as a member of the firm of Stevens, Graham & Stevens. He married, on October 2, 1910, Anna Broomhall, of Muscatine, Iowa. They have three children: Harmon L., Allen B. and John M. Mr. Stevens is a very successful attorney and business man, and director of the Dunn Sulphite Paper Company, the Michigan Salt Works, at Marine City, the First National Bank and other corporations. He is also vice-president of the Port Huron Thresher Company and has been president of the Chamber of Commerce. He is an active trader in Port Huron real estate. With his brother, Major Walter R. Stevens, he enjoys a flourishing legal business and occupies a respected place in the mercantile and social life of the community. Shirley Stewart, of Port Huron, former prosecuting attorney of St. Clair county, is one of the most able corporation lawyers in the state of Michigan. He has been a prominent member of the St. Clair county bar since his graduation from the University of Michigan in 1906. In 1923, although he made no effort to solicit votes and was practically inactive in the campaign which preceded the election, he was defeated for the office of circuit judge by less PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 267 than two hundred votes. His defeat was, no doubt, due to a great extent to the fact that the judges elected were men of high standing and had been on the judicial bench for twenty years. Mr. Stewart was born in Port Huron on January 19, 1883, and is the son of Charles F. and Frances (Moffat) Stewart. His grandfather, William Stewart, conducted one of the first hardware stores in Port Huron at the site now occupied by the J. A. Davidson store on Military street, and became one of the city's first capitalists and business men. William Stewart and wife were the parents of three children: William, Nellie (wife of George Crane), and Charles F. Stewart. Charles F. Stewart was born in Port Huron in 1855. His wife, who was also born in this city, was the daughter of Captain James Moffat, a native of Scotland, who first settled in Canada and, after coming to Port Huron, built many of the ferry boats operated between this city and Sarnia, Ontario. Captain Moffat was for many years in the vessel business, operating, in addition to his ferry boats, a line of tugboats. Shirley Stewart is a graduate of the Port Huron public schools and the law department of the University of Michigan, where he received the degree of LL. B. His first legal work was done while he was a member of the law firm of Moore, Brown, Miller & Ladd, with whom he remained until 1907. Since that time he has practiced alone, with enviable success. He was appointed assistant prosecuting attorney for St. Clair county in 1909, and held that office until in 1911. In 1914 he was a successful candidate for county prosecutor, and for four years conducted the affairs of that office in a highly creditable manner. Mr. Stewart was tendered the appointment of assistant attorney-general of Michigan by Judge Franz Kuhn when the latter assumed office. This appointment Mr. Stewart declined, choosing to attend to his private practice instead. The most recent honor conferred upon Mr. Stewart has just been tendered to him by Governor Groesbeck. During the last special session of the legislature a law was passed providing for the appointment of a commission to investigate crime and to prepare suitable laws codifying criminal procedure and criminal laws in this state. Three of the members of this commission were from the House of Representatives and three from the Senate. The last member was appointed by the governor and it is his duty to act as counsel for the commission and to prepare the important legislation tending to curb the commission of crime in this state. While Mr. Stewart has not engaged in criminal practice since he retired from the prosecuting attorney's office, the governor considered that his experience and ability as one of the leading lawyers of the state fitted him for this important work. The acceptance of this important post is somewhat of a personal sacrifice on Mr. Stewart's part, but there is no question that the performance of his duties in connection with this commission will be a distinct service to the state for many years to come. He has been chairman of the Republican county committee, vice-president of the Michigan Children's Aid 268 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY Society, director of the Y. M. C. A., director of the Community Service Board, and was first president of the Rotary club and first treasurer of the Chamber of Commerce. He is also secretary and treasurer of the Robeson Preservo Company, and secretary of the Commercial Securities Company. Fraternally he is a Mason, a Knight Templar, a member of the Shrine, the Elks, the Odd Fellows, and the Knights of Pythias. He was married in 1912 to Elizabeth Beale Atkinson, niece of Colonel John Atkinson, famous Michigan trial lawyer. Mr. and Mrs; Stewart have two children, Elizabeth Grey and Marjorie Wyeth Stewart. Ethan W. Thompson, Great Commander of the Maccabees of Michigan, is an authority on the subject of fraternal insurance. He has been a Maccabee worker since 1897, the year in which he became Deputy Great Commander of the Michigan Maccabees. Mr. Thompson was born at Lodi, Ohio, July 4, 1869, the son of David and Elizabeth (Tracy) Thompson, both of whom were born in Ohio. When he was three years old his parents moved to West Virginia and in that state he received a common school education, partly subscription schools. When he was fourteen years old his parents settled on a farm in Charlevoix county, Michigan, where his father farmed and operated a sawmill in the lumber industry. He worked on the farm until he was twenty-two years old, living in Clinton county three years of this time, then worked in the lumber mills, and later was employed as a printer, editing a paper for a time at Elmira, Michigan, and then became an insurance salesman. For some time he was field manager for the Modern Woodmen of America after leaving the army, resigning that position in 1897 to become field worker of the Maccabee order. Through tireless devotion to his duties and because of his abilities as an organizer and salesman, he has won the approval of his fellow Maccabees, and has been the recipient of many honors at their hands. In 1902 he was made state commander of the order in Minnesota, and after one year in that office returned to Michigan to become District Deputy Great Commander, with headquarters at Grand Rapids, Michigan. He remained in that city until he was elected Great Commander in the year 1919 and came to the home office of the Maccabees in Port Huron. Since 1919 he has also been a member of the board of trustees of the Supreme Tent. As a fraternal insurance man he has won wide recognition, and has served as vice-president of the Michigan Federation of Insurance and as trustee of the Michigan Fraternal Congress. He is a Mason, an Odd Fellow, a Modern Woodman and a member of the Mystic Workers of the World. During the Spanish-American war he was a member of the Thirtyfifth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and is now affiliated with the United Spanish-American War Veterans' Association. Other organizations in which he takes an active interest are the Michigan Grange, the United Audubon Societies, the American Game Protective Association, the National Geographic Society, the Michigan PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 269 Historical Association and the Detroit Hunt and Fish club. On December 23, 1903, he married Josephine A. Mogg, a resident of Elsie, Michigan, who was then principal of the schools at Charlevoix. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson have three children: Elizabeth Nellie, Josephine Elaine and Mary Ethalyn. D. C. Turbin, sheriff of St. Clair county, is one of the few ministers of the Gospel to be elected to an office of that nature. He is a popular citizen, as is shown by the fact that he received the largest vote and the greatest majority, six thousand, ever given a sheriff of St. Clair county. He was born March 11, 1888, in Brant, Saginaw county. His mother, Mrs. Goodworth (Coggins) Turbin, was born in England, and came to Canada with her parents when she was fourteen years old. His father, William H. Turbin, was born September 12, 1849, in Maine, and died in Saginaw county in 1913. William H. Turbin's father was drowned shortly before William was born. He was thus left largely on his own resources after he became old enough to provide for himself, and as a boy went to Canada to live. Shortly after he married he brought his wife to Brant, Michigan, and started a harness shop, which he managed until 1896, when he moved to a farm. D. C. Turbin, one of a family of six children, finished the elementary grades at Brant and worked on his father's farm until he was twenty-one years old. He then went to Lansing and for four years worked in the Reo automobile factory in that city. Having felt an urge to join the ministry, he continued his studies during spare hours and in 1914 was made a probationer of the Methodist Protestant conference. In 1919 he was ordained in the ministry and made pastor at Caro, Michigan. After filling that post in a satisfactory manner two years he was given a charge at Fargo, Michigan. Three years later he came to Reilly Center, St. Clair county, as pastor of the church there. He also had charge of two churches in Lapeer county, and held regular services at all three places. The Rev. Turbin became very prominent in Republican politics after coming to St. Clair county, and his election to the office of sheriff was easily accomplished by his many friends. Sheriff Turbin is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the F. & A. M. and I. 0. O. F. He was married on April 27, 1912, to Tina C. Moray, daughter of the Rev. J. A. Moray, pastor of the Brant Methodist Protestant church. To this union have been born five children: Clinton A., Alice M., Donald C., Warren G. and Kenneth LeRoy. Joseph E. Vincent, clerk of St. Clair county; is a member of a family that has played an important part in the politics of this community. His uncle, Edward Vincent, a Republican, was elected clerk of Clyde township, a democratic stronghold, in 1848, and was re-elected each term until 1854, when he became township supervisor. This office he held twenty-nine years. In 1877 he was appointed county treasurer to fill an unexpired term, and at the following election bested his opponent for this office. In 1882 he was a successful candidate for the state legislature. His son, 270 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY Edward L. Vincent, cousin of the present county clerk, was elected county treasurer in 1910. John D. Jones,, father of Mrs. Joseph E. Vincent, was also a successful politician. He served as township supervisor twenty-seven years and was also a member of the state legislature. Jonathan A. Vincent, father of the county clerk, was township clerk twelve years and supervisor one year. James I. Vincent, the first of the family to settle in St. Clair county, came from his native state, New York, in 1835, and settled on a tract of government land. He died in St. Clair county in 1847 after a busy life as a farmer and school teacher. His son, Jonathan A. Vincent, was born in Clyde township on September 18, 1837, and spent his entire life in St. Clair county. He married Julia Michael, a native of Switzerland, in 1865. They were the parents of four sons: Joseph E., clerk of St. Clair county; George, of Chicago; James, of New York, and Frank, of Chicago. Jonathan A. Vincent died in 1913 and his widow in 1925. Joseph E. Vincent attended the schools in Greenwood township and the Yale high school, beginning work on a farm as soon, as he had completed his education. He continued in this occupation until 1916, when he was elected to his present position, county clerk. He was successful in winning re-election to that office, and his, present term will not expire until 1926. While living on the farm he held other minor public offices. From 1905 until 1915 he was township supervisor, and in 1914 and 1915 was county poor commissioner. He resigned from the office of poor commissioner to assume his duties as clerk of St. Clair county. He was married on September 6, 1893, to Mattie Jones, daughter of John D. and Martha (Vanderburg) Jones, who settled in St. Clair county in 1848. Mr. Jones was regarded as one of the community's substantial farmers and lumbermen. Mr. and Mrs. Vincent have three children: Dwight, Ralph and Mattie. The latter is now the wife of Gordon Morrison, of Long Island, New York, who is employed in research work in the Carnegie Institute. Mr. Vincent is deeply interested in educational affairs in his community. Fraternally he is a Mason and a member of the Knights of Pythias. William E. Warner, of Algonac, dealer in building materials and automobiles, started his career as a sailor on the Great Lakes, and founded his present business many years later while still working on the water. Mr. Warner was born in Algonac, the son of Willis S. and Sarah Jane (Carr) Warner. His father, who was a marine engineer, was brought to Algonac by his own parent, Captain E. B. Warner, also a veteran sailor. Willis S. Warner followed the, water all of his life, and died in Florida in April, 1925, in his eighty-first year. His son, William E. Warner, began working on lake vessels when he was very young, his first job having been on a steam boat. Twenty years of his life was spent with the Pittsburgh Steamship Company, and he was captain of one of their boats for fourteen years. Later he was employed on a sailing vessel and, still later, worked two years as manager of a lum PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 271 ber yard in Algonac. At the end of this period he returned to sailing and continued on the water until 1920, when his business interests required his entire attention. He founded this enterprise, which is known as William E. Warner & Sons and consists of the manufacture and sale of cement building blocks, building materials, and he was the distributer of Chrysler automobiles. Several years ago his first cement blocks were manufactured by hand in small quantities, but as the business grew he added modem machinery which makes the manufacture of this commodity a simple task. The firm also supplies gravel, sand and cement to contractors and builders. Mr. Warner is a Mason and an Odd Fellow. Associated with him in business at this time are his five sons: Ralph, Charles, Norman, Vernon and Wilbert Warner. George Waters, M.D., physician and surgeon, Pine and Military streets, Port Huron, graduated from high school when he was only fifteen years old. He then worked in a general store at Park Hill, Ontario, until he attained the age of eighteen. From 1895 until 1899 he conducted a general store of his own at Spring Bank, Ontario. In 1903, when he finished medical school, he was president of the graduation class. He was commissioned a first lieutenant December 22, 1911, in the first Medical Reserve Corps in the United States and during the World war served as a major, receiving his commission soon after this country entered the conflict. He was born February 20, 1874, in Middlesex county, Ontario, Canada. His father, John Waters, was born in Thurso, Scotland, in 1829 and came to the Dominion of Canada with his parents in 1843. He was the son of Donald Waters, who was a contracting carpenter in Scotland, but who became a farmer after coming to America. Mrs. Donald Waters, grandmother of Dr. Waters, died very soon after the family settled in Ontario. Donald Waters later divided his time between his farm and the contracting business, erecting the courthouse at St. Thomas, Ontario, and other important buildings. He died in 1898, lacking just two months of being one hundred years old. His son, John Waters, was quite young when he and his brothers assumed management of their father's farm. He followed this occupation until 1879, when he was elected warden of Middlesex county. He was later elected to the legislature, and continued as a member of that body sixteen years, resigning only to become county registrar. Though he was a Liberal, the Conservatives, on taking over the administration, insisted that he continue in office because of his clean public record. He was an elder, a trustee and a liberal supporter of the Presbyterian church. He married Catherine Frazier and reared a family of six children: Christina A. and Agnes, of London, Ontario; Mrs. D. N. McLeod and Dr. Hugh Waters, of Nekoosa, Wisconsin; David, of Winnipeg, Canada, and Dr. George Waters, of Port Huron. The last named attended the elementary schools and the Park Hill high school in Middlesex county, graduating from the latter when he was but fifteen years old. As he was not per 272 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY mitted under existing regulations to enter a higher educational institution until he was eighteen, he began work in a general store, helping in his spare time with the work on his father's farm. Later he bought and managed a general store at Spring Bank, selling the same at a profit when he entered Model School to prepare for college. Soon after obtaining his M.D. degree in 1903 he began practice at Memphis, Michigan, remaining there until 1917, when he entered the Medical Corps of the United States army. Having been called to the colors soon after the declaration of war, because of his being a reserve officer, he was sent to the first officers' training camp at Fort Benjamin Harrison. From there he went to Camp Devens and was made commander of the Three Hundred and First Sanitary Train of the Seventy-sixth Division, with the rank of major. An illness, which caused him to remain in a hospital several months, prevented his going overseas and caused him a great deal of disappointment, as he had become very much attached to the boys in his command. When he was discharged from service on May 26, 1919, he returned to Memphis and resumed practice, coming to Port Huron soon afterward to enter general practice, though he now specializes in diseases of the chest. He is a former commander of the American Legion; former vice-president of the Kiwanis club; member of the board of control of the Otter Lake Children's Billet; vice-president of the St. Clair County Medical Society; president of the seventh district of the Michigan American Legion; president of the St. Clair County Republican Service Men's League; a member of the Chapter, the Council and Commandery of the Masons; an Odd Fellow; a Maccabee and a member of the Presbyterian church. He was married on June 27, 1906, to May Elizabeth Wayte, of Memphis, Michigan. They have two children: Catherine A., born March 29, 1907, and George, Jr., born May 27, 1910. William H. Watkins, of Marysville, has more than one title to fame. As manager of the Detroit ball club in 1887 he won the world's series games, and since retiring from professional baseball he has been very successful as a business man. He is general manager and treasurer of the Marysville Company, director of the Marysville Supply Company, director of the Marysville Savings Bank, director of the United States Savings Bank of Port Huron, secretary-treasurer of the Lake Gravel Company, director of the McMurray Asphaltum & Oil, Ltd., and vice-president of the United Brass and Aluminum Manufacturing Company. Mr. Watkins was born at Brantford, Ontario, Canada, May 5, 1861, the son of J. H. and Eliza Jane (Tyler) Watkins. His mother, the daughter of William and Sarah Tyler, was brought to America by her parents when she was very young. Mr. Tyler, who lived to be more than ninety years old, was one of the founders of Erin village, Wellington county, Canada, and died at that place. Mrs. J. H. Watkins, his daughter, was born in 1836 and died in 1868. Her husband, father of William H. Watkins, was born in Wales in PERSONAL SKETCHES FOB ST. CLAIR COUNTY 273 1820 and was brought by his parents to a farm in Halton county, Ontario. During his early years he was a farmer and afterward became a merchant at Hamilton, Ontario. He moved to Toronto and retired from business, dying in that city at the age of ninetyone. After his mother's death in 1868, William H. Watkins went to live with his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. William Tyler, in Wellington county, where he received his elementary schooling. Later be studied botany and chemistry at Thorold Academy. In 1883 he made his initial entry into the ranks of professional baseball players by coming to Port Huron to take a place on the team in that city. He was made manager of the Port Huron team that year, and the next season resigned and became manager of the Bay City ball club. From Bay City he went to Indianapolis to manage the club in that city until the same was sold to Detroit. He continued as manager of the Detroit players during 1885-88, and in 1887 won the world's series games for that city. From Detroit he went to Kansas City as manager, then to Rochester, New York, then to St. Louis, and finally to Sioux City, Iowa. Then, with Ban Johnson, he organized the Western League, which is now the American Association. He then became manager of the Pittsburgh National League team, and later purchased the Indianapolis ball club, which he sold in 1914, when he came back to Port Huron, the scene of his first success in professional baseball. Mr. Watkins has also been prominent in fraternal orders many years. He has been a member of the Elks forty years; has been Master of Ancient Landmarks Lodge of Masons in Indianapolis, and is a Scottish Rite and Knight Templar Mason. He helped organize the Marysille Lodge No. 498, F. & A. M., of which he has been Master two years. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, the St. Clair River Country club and the Rotary club. He was married on November 4, 1884, to Edna Buzzard, daughter of Captain George W. Buzzard and wife, of Port Huron. Captain Buzzard was born at Cattaraugus, New York, December 3, 1834. At the age of thirteen he began sailing with his father, Captain Philip Buzzard, on the sloop "Morning Star," signing later on the schooners "Avenger" and "Stranger." His father then built the "H. H. Day," which was later sold. George Buzzard then farmed for a few years, returning to the water as mate for W. A. Chisholm. He next was on the "Mary Stockton," the "Meisel," the "Skinner" and the barge "W. B. Jenness." Later he bought the "St. Andrew" and was captain of that vessel three years, and in 1880 purchased the "Snowdrop." Captain Buzzard was married December 3, 1854, on his twentieth birthday, to Persis L. Leonard, of Parma, New York. John Watson, of the wholesale and retail plumbing and heating supply firm of Watson Brothers, 517 River street, Port Huron, is one of the most substantial business men in this city. His company, which is one of the largest of its kind in Port Huron, handles a complete line of plumbing supplies and heating equipment. Wat 274 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOB ST. CLAIR COUNTY son Brothers for a number of years conducted a branch warehouse at Detroit, but now devote their entire attention to their establishment here. John Watson was born September 28, 1876, at Fort Gratiot, the son of James and Margaret (Fleming) Watson, who were born in Scotland. His parents came to Port Huron not long before 1870, where his father obtained a position with the Grand Trunk railway. John Watson, one of a family of six children, attributes much of his success to the excellent training given him by his mother. Three of the children of Mr. and Mrs. James Watson are now living, as follows: John, the subject of this sketch; James, also a member of the firm of Watson Brothers; and Harry E., who has been employed by the Grand Trunk railway fifty-five years. John Watson obtained his early education in the Philmore school, at Fort Gratiot. As a boy he obtained work in a plumbing shop, learning all details of the business in which he has since been continuously employed. In 1898, with his brothers, Robert, who is now dead, and James Watson, he organized the Watson Brothers Plumbing and Heating Supply Company. Both members of this firm are skilled, experienced mechanics, and keep thoroughly informed on all subjects pertaining to their business. Mr. Watson is a member of the Methodist church, the Fort Gratiot Lodge of Free and Arch Masons, the Port Huron Chapter of Royal Arch Masons and the Port Huron Commandery of Knights Templar, of which he is a former commander. Mr. Watson was married in 1901 to Laura Bonnah, who died in 1916, leaving two children: James Victor and Margaret S. By a later marriage Mr. Watson has another son, John, Jr. Mr. Watson is at this time a member of the board of review of St. Clair county. Herbert L. Weil, vice-president and director of the Desmond Theater Company, general manager of the Bijou Theatrical Enterprise Company, of Port Huron, and general manager of the Equity Pictures Corporation of Michigan, is known throughout the United States because of his prominence in the great motion picture industry. Mr. Weil was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, November 24, 1887, the son of Abraham and Caroline (Strauss) Weil, both of whom are now dead. His father at one time was a merchant in Port Huron, where he conducted a clothing store under the firm name of Abraham Weil. Herbert L. Weil was one of a family of eight children, of whom he and five others are now living. Their names are: Louis Weil, editor of the Port Huron TimesHerald; Mrs. William MacArthur, Mrs. William Godley, Mrs. Frank Branagan and Mrs. Sam Weiss. Mr. Weil was educated in Miss Coyle's private school and the high school in Port Huron. He began his business career as an employe of the Daily Herald in Port Huron in 1901. Later he became a reporter for this paper, and worked his way upward to city editor. Desiring to obtain additional experience, he resigned this position and became a reporter on The Detroit Tribune. From that paper he went to The Detroit Free Press. Returning to Port Huron, he became managing edi PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 275 tor of The Times-Herald in 1910-11. His next venture was with The Alliance (Ohio) Leader, a newspaper he purchased and edited for a short while. He then went to California as managing editor of The Daily Independent of that state. During his one year in California he became much interested in the motion picture industry, and when he returned to Port Huron assumed control of all the theaters in this city. He continued in charge of these playhouses until 1920, when he sold his interests in them. A year later, however, he returned to the motion picture industry as a partner of W. S. Butterfield in the operation of the Bijou Theatrical Enterprise Company, Inc., of which Mr. Weil is now general manager in Port Huron. He has a wide acquaintance among movie stars because of his connection with the theaters and because of the fact that he was a room-mate of Marshall Neilan during his year in California. He was at one time mentioned as a probable associate of Will Hays, former postmaster general, in the supervision of the motion picture industry, but he chose to devote his time to his business interests in Port Huron. Mr. Weil is a member of Mt. Sinai Synagogue, the Rotary club, the Port Huron Golf and Country club, the St. Clair Country club, the Elks, the Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. He is an enthusiastic worker in every civic movement in Port Huron and is very popular among his business associates. He has two sons: Herbert L., Jr., and C. Knill Weil. Louis A. Weil, editor of the Port Huron Times-Herald, was born June 19, 1878, at Brooklyn, New York, the son of Abraham and Caroline.(Strauss) Weil. In 1884 he came with his parents to Port Huron, where his father conducted a clothing and men's furnishing store. Louis A. Weil was one of a family of eight children, six of whom are now living. A brother, Herbert L. Weil, vice-president and director of the Desmond Theater Company, of Port Huron, was formerly a newspaper man. Mr. Weil was educated in Miss Coyle's private school and the Port Huron high school, graduating from the latter in 1896. His early ambition was to become a lawyer, and for this purpose he entered the law office of Atkinson & Moore, of Port Huron. Having had some experience in editing The Tatler, a high school paper, in 1895 and 1896, while a student in high school, Mr. Weil obtained a position with the Port Huron Daily News after leaving school, and remained with that publication several months. He then gave up his connections in this city and went to Detroit to accept a place on the staff of the Morning Tribune. Later he became a member of the editorial staff of the Detroit Free Press, remaining with that paper until 1900, when he and E. J. Ottaway established the Port Huron Daily Herald. Later Mr. Ottaway sold his interest in this publication to John Murray, and from that time until the death of Mr. Murray in 1907, Mr. Weil was a managing head of the enterprise. After Mr. Murray's death Mr. Weil was both editor and business manager until 1910, when he and his former associate, Mr. Ottaway, purchased the 276 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY Port Huron Times and consolidated it with the Herald. Since the purchase of the Times, Mr. Weil has been editor of the amalga, mated papers, which are associated with the Michigan State Dailies, the Inland Press Association and the Associated Press, and give their subscribers the very best news service obtainable. Mr. Weil was a member of the Michigan Park Commission when that body was originated. He is a member of Mt. Sinai Synagogue, of Port Huron. On September 15, 1904, he married Blanche Granger, of Detroit. Mr. and Mrs. Weil have three sons: Louis A., Jr., now a student in the University of Michigan; Frank Granger, a student in high school; and William Lee Weil, who is now four years old. Mrs. Weil is a member of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic church. Alfred Edgar West, president of the Port Huron Engine and Thresher Company, worked his way upward to that responsible position entirely unaided. He entered the offices of this concern in 1896, soon after he graduated from high school, and has given all of his adult years to this business institution. Mr. West is also interested in several other companies, and is secretary-treasurer and director of the Aikman Bakery Company, of Port Huron, chairman of the board of directors of the Port Huron Machinery Company, of Des Moines, Iowa, and president of the Inter-Ocean Land Company, of Florida. He was born on a farm near Bondhead, Simcoe county, Ontario, Canada, October 29, 1876, the son of Wakefield and Matilda (Vance) West. His father was of English descent, and his mother was of Irish parentage. Wakefield West brought his family to Sanilac county, Michigan, in 1878, settling on a farm in Worth township. Later the family removed to Croswell, where the father died. His brother, a physician, who came with him to Sanilac county, became widely known throughout that section of the state. The latter's son, Raymond West, is still a resident of Sanilac county. After the death of her husband at Croswell, Mrs. Matilda West brought her children to Port Huron, where she died in 1903. At the time his mother moved to Port Huron Alfred Edgar West was fourteen years old. Desiring to obtain a high school education, he was faced with the necessity of providing his own clothing and meeting other expenses, so he obtained a job in the subscription department of the "Threshermen's Review," and in this capacity he worked his way through high school, graduating in 1895. During his later years in school he had entire charge of the subscription department of this publication and for a while after graduation continued in the same position. In 1896, soon after he began work with the Port Huron Engine and Thresher Company, he was sent to Iowa, and later was made manager of the company's western headquarters at Des Moines, in that state. In 1910 he returned to Port Huron as general manager, and a few years later was advanced to the presidency of the company, the position he now holds. While at Des Moines, Mr. West helped organize the Port Huron Machinery Company of Des Moines, of PERSONAL SKETCHES FOB ST. CLAIR COUNTY 277 which he is now an official. In 1907 he was made general manager of the Northwestern Port Huron Company, of Minneapolis, which distributes the products of the Port Huron Engine and Thresher Company in that territory. In this year Mr. West also had charge of the distribution of the company's road-making machinery in the state of California. Mr. West has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Red Cross in Port Huron, and is now a trustee of that organization. While a resident of Des Moines he became a member of the famous Grant club of that city, which is known throughout the country because of its elaborate programs in observance of the birthday of that illustrious general. Mr. West is a Mason, a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Rotary club and the Port Huron Chamber of Commerce. He has two brothers and one sister now living, as follows: William Vance West, of St. Joseph, Michigan; Benjamin Franklin West, of Port Huron, and Mrs. Dean Peters, of Benton Harbor, Michigan. He was married in 1912 to Cornelia Davidson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. F. Davidson, of Port Huron. Mr. and Mrs. West have two sons, Wilbur Wakefield and Alfred Edgar West, Jr. Mr. West and his family are members of the Episcopal church. Bina M. West is known to thousands of women throughout the United States and Canada as the founder and supreme commander of the Woman's Benefit Association, of Port Huron, Michigan. A brief history of the origin and development of this huge organization will be found in another part of this book, and a perusal of it will give a clearer understanding of the character and abilities of Miss West, who is internationally known as a fraternalist, financier, insurance expert and public speaker. She was born at Columbus, St. Clair county, Michigan. Her father, Alfred J. West, was born in Battle Creek, near Binghampton, New York, in 1843, and was brought to St. Clair county by his parents. In the Thirtyeighth Illinois Infantry during the Civil war he fought in the battles of Pea Ridge, Chapin Hills, Boonville, Stone River, Liberty Gap and the Siege of Corinth, and was in a hospital recovering from a shell wound when peace was declared. Coming to Michigan, he married. Elizabeth Conant at Armada, and settled in the town of Capac. He became a contractor and builder of roads and drainage works and, at the time of his death, June 15, 1912, was a resident of Atlanta, Montmorency county, a village he founded and named. Mr. West was buried in Lakeside cemetery, Port Huron. His wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Jane (Conant) West, daughter of Roger and Margaret (Van Valkenburg) Conant, was a direct descendant of Roger Conant, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, her death at Port Huron on November 9, 1924, closing a long and useful life. Bina W. West graduated from high school at the age of sixteen and became a teacher in the schools near her home. As a school teacher she first became interested in the idea of a plan for the protection of women, her attention having been drawn to this idea through the misfortunes of two of her pupils, whose 278 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY mother had died and left them without a home and to the mercies of those who would adopt them, the father being unable to keep the home together. She conceived a method of binding women together in one great society which would provide, through insurance, for children bereft of their mothers and also give to each woman fraternal help and assistance in sickness or in other misfortunes. While yet a school teacher, Miss West began the study of insurance, and on October 1, 1892, her plans took definite shape in the organizing of the Ladies of the Maccabees of the World, now the Woman's Benefit Association. Bina W. West founded this association without funds and without assistance, and its tremendous growth is a splendid tribute to her remarkable abilities. During the early years of the Woman's Benefit Association Miss West zealously traveled from coast tq coast, undergoing the discomforts of travel in those days, and establishing her association in every state, undaunted by obstacles and filled with enthusiasm for her work. She did not enter this exacting work unprepared by experience in public affairs. While yet a school teacher, in 1886, she was appointed a member of the board of school examiners of St. Clair county, and was the first woman in Michigan to hold such an office. The institution she founded grew rapidly under her careful management and is now the largest fraternal benefit organization, composed exclusively of women and managed by women, in the world. That this remarkable growth is due to the personal efforts of Miss West cannot be questioned. Her intelligence and creative energy have, in a greater degree than anything else, made this association what it is today. She was, from its inception in 1892, until 1911, supreme record keeper, and in this capacity signed checks for the first thirteen millions of dollars of benefits granted the members or their beneficiaries. In 1911 she was advanced, by the unanimous vote of the supreme review, to the office of supreme commander of the association. She has also been recognized by organizations not connected with the Woman's Benefit Association. She represented the Women's Fraternal Societies of the United States in the National Council of Women at its international convention, held in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1908. Miss West was a member of the first national Republican executive committee to include women, as a national committeewoman from Michigan, and the first state vice-chairman to serve after the enfranchisement of women in Michigan. She has been a close student of political economy and international, politics and has traveled in every province of Canada, in Spain, Switzerland, Holland, Italy, France, Germany, Turkey, Greece, England, the Orient, Egypt and the Holy Land. As an official of the Woman's Benefit Association she has supervised the disbursement and investment of over fifty-five millions of dollars. Since 1895 she has been editor of the "Ladies' Review," the official organ of the association, and is fully qualified by experience and education to pass judgment on the many legal and technical questions involved in the management of the associa PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 279 tion's business. She is a member of the Congregational church, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Eastern Star, the Woman's Relief Corps,, the Port Huron Music club, the Woman's club of Port Huron, the Port Huron Golf and Country club, and holds a life membership in the Congressional Country club at Washington, D. C. Miss West has become prominent in actuarial circles through the publishing, by her, of a pamphlet on the subject of excess earnings of interest as a valuation credit, a subject that at once established her as a competent actuarian. Bina M. West stands alone as a woman who possessed the finer sensibilities necessary to the visioning of the enterprise of which she is now governing head, as well as the possessor of the business ability, energy and matchless feminine courage to bring that enterprise to a sound financial basis. Miss West is a woman's woman and a believer in womankind, and her valiant and successful efforts to teach the home woman of this generation the principles of thrift and self-reliance will be long remembered by the members of her sex. Truly, Bina M. West has won a, place in the sun. She had the honorary degree of Master of Arts conferred on her by the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, June 16, 1924. The citation on this occasion was for "Courage in pioneering a woman's institution to unparalleled success." Miss West was elected unanimously the first woman president of the National Fraternal Congress of America at the Duluth convention in 1925. This congress represented ninety-three fraternal benefit societies with membership of over seven million, her presidency being crowned with a most progressive program carried through at the Buffalo convention of this congress in 1926. The Woman's Benefit Association, Military street, Port Huron, was organized by Miss Bina M. West, a Michigan school teacher, on October 1, 1892. This association, which is now the largest of its kind in the world, is composed entirely of women and has assets on May 1, 1926, of over twenty millions, earning over a million dollars a year in interest, and a membership of 275,000 to date. The office of this organization, which was first known as the Ladies of the Maccabees of the World, consisted in 1892 of one small room, which was furnished with one chair, one table, one letter file and a waste paper basket. The assets at that time were not entirely financial assets, they included what Miss West had learned by experience as a young teacher and the one hundred and fifty dollars she had borrowed to finance her first trip into Ohio, the first state to receive her attention. The new order, which was intended to offer the same fraternal and protective benefits offered to men by various secret orders, grew rapidly. From October 1, 1892, until October 1, 1894, branches of the association had been established in Illinois, Indiana, California, Tennessee, Oregon, West Virginia, Kansas, Colorado, Texas, Missouri, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Iowa, Nebraska and the province of Ontario, Canada. Existing solely for the protection of its members and their benefi 280 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY ciaries and yielding no profit to any private individual, and possessing the attractive features of life and disability protection with benefits in event of sickness, together with a representative form of government and ritualistic lodge work, the ultimate success of the idea evolved by Bina M. West was inevitable. From the one small room in the basement of the Temple of the Knights of the Maccabees in Port Huron the order has grown in size and strength to truly mammoth proportions. Perhaps the most important event in the recent history of the association was the laying of the cornerstone of the beautiful home office building on Military street, Port Huron, in 1917. Participating in this ceremony were, approximately two hundred thousand members of the order and representatives of practically every other secret and fraternal organization in the state of Michigan. Bina M. West, supreme commander of the Woman's Benefit Association of the Maccabees, in an address at this ceremony related the history of the order, and with a silver trowel presented to her for the purpose, spread a portion of the mortar on the stone. The completed edifice was formally occupied by the association in 1917. To date the Woman's Benefit Association has paid a total of approximately $35,000,000 in sickness, disability and death benefits. Its business affairs are conducted entirely by women, ample proof that women are indeed able to successfully combat the exigencies of finance and commerce. In the Woman's Benefit Association a place has been made for the new-born child, the growing child and the matured woman. Thirty-eight health centers, fully equipped to give free health service in large city centers, have been established to date; a visiting nurse service free to every member of the association are two of the outstanding progressive fraternal features of the organization. The beautiful W. B. A. Lake Huron Camp, with 125 acres situated on the shores of Lake Huron, twelve miles north of Port Huron, bring to this section annually thousands of members holidaying, the camp being equipped to care for five hundred guests through the summer season. Richard K. Wheeler, M.D., physician and surgeon, 504X2 Huron street, Port Huron, a leading practitioner of St. Clair county, comes of a long line of medical men. His great-grandfather was practicing medicine in the vicinity of Interlaken about the time of the Revolutionary war, a conflict in which several of Dr. Wheeler's ancestors took part. Dr. Richard K. Wheeler, his grandfather, also practiced medicine in New York many years, and his two sons, William Wirt and Claude C. Wheeler, also chose that profession. Dr. William Wirt Wheeler, father of the subject of this sketch, was born at Interlaken on July 25, 1836, and died December 18, 1888. His wife, Mrs. Sarah (King) Wheeler, also a native of New York state, was born in 1843 and died in Port Huron in 1916. Dr. William W. Wheeler was a forwardlooking, progressive man, a fine example of the type of country physician which is now seldom found in this country. He led in PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIB COUNTY 281 conducting original researches and did much toward stimulating interest in the medical societies of his day. Dr. and Mrs. Wheeler were the parents of two children: Guernsey K., who is now an architect in Summitt, New Jersey, and Richard K., who is a successful physician at Port Huron. The latter was born on September 30, 1872, at the family home at Interlaken, where he was given his elementary and high school education. After graduating from high school in 1891 he entered the University of Rochester, where he graduated in 1895 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then enrolled in the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, where he was granted his M. D. degree in 1899. Desiring to prepare himself in the best possible manner for the practice of his profession, he supplemented this fine education with two years of interne work in the Rochester General hospital, coming from that city in 1906 to begin general practice in Port Huron. While in hospital practice in Rochester, on February 21, 1900, he married Margaret Lydia Brown, of Canada. Dr. Wheeler is a Mason, Knight Templar and member of the Shrine, and a regular attendant at the Grace Episcopal church. Dr. and Mrs. Wheeler have one daughter, Sally Elizabeth, born in Port Huron in 1908. She is a graduate of the Port Huron high school and is now a student at Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio. Edward A. Willson, works manager for the Acheson-Oildag Company, 1635 Washington avenue, Port Huron, was born April 6, 1893, at Youngstown, Ohio, the son of John Rankin and Jean (Acheson) Willson. His father was born at Sharon, Pennsylvania, and during his later years was part owner of a furniture factory, having as his partner his father, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. John Rankin Willson and his father were also prominent in banking and other business affairs. Edward A. Willson, after graduating from high school at Sharon, took a course in the department of commerce and finance of the Pennsylvania State College, receiving his degree from that school in 1916. He then obtained a position in the steel mills in his native city, rising to the rank of inspector and holding that post when he left Sharon to enter the employ of his uncle, Dr. Edward Goodrich Acheson. The latter founded the Acheson-Oildag Company at Port Huron in 1910, to manufacture what is a very efficient lubricating oil called Oildag, which is a blend of a high-grade oil and deplacculated Acheson graphite. Mr. Willson proved himself to be a very capable business man and was placed in charge of the Port Huron plant of the company in 1918. Under the Acheson Corporation are three other plants, including one in London, England. Mr. Willson is a director of the Young Men's Christian Association, also a member of the Rotary club and a Mason. He is considered one of the most enterprising of the younger business men of Port Huron and a brilliant future is predicted for him. His wife, who was before her marriage Katharine Kennedy, of Pitts 282 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY burgh, Pennsylvania, died, leaving two children, Mary Jane and Katherine Kennedy Willson. Mortimer Willson, M.D. By the measure of its human sympathy, helpfulness' and service is every life to be best gauged, and by his standard the late Dr. Mortimer Willson, of Port Huron, measured high above the average. By his own ability and effort his advancement was gained, and by the responsibilities he thus early assumed was quickened his enduring appreciation of real human values, with the result that he was ever kindly and tolerant in judgment and ready to extend aid to those in need. This helpfulness was expressed not only through the medium of his profession but also in manifold benevolences and philanthropies of unostentatious order, and through a civic stewardship marked by intense loyalty and effective service. Dr. Willson was a resident of Port Huron forty years, and during this long period here exemplified the best of ethical and humanitarian service in the work of his profession, besides standing to the front also in constructive and fortifying citizenship. He was loved and honored in this community, and his death brought to the people of this community a deep sense of loss and bereavement. "He gave the full value of a well ordered mind, heart and conscience" to all community institutions and all community enterprises tending to advance the general welfare. All in all, he was a man who would "do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame." Since his death it has been found that he gave freely to charitable and philanthropic agencies. The doctor lived much in the great out-doors. He loved nature and he loved his friends; he appreciated all that is represented in the finer social amenities. He was suddenly stricken while indulging in a game of golf on his favorite links, and there his death occurred November 3, 1921. Dr. Willson was born at Sparta, Elgin county, Ontario, Canada, August 2, 1847, and was a son of Christian S. and Hannah Willson. Christian Willson was born in the state of New Jersey, and the first American representative of the family was Robert Willson, who came from Scarborough, England, on the ship "Welcome" in 1682, he having been a member of the Society of Friends and having come to America in connection with the colonization work of William Penn. Robert Willson become a pioneer settler in New Jersey, where he passed the remainder of his life. Christian Willson was reared to manhood in New Jersey, and in 1836 he thence removed to the province of Ontario, Canada, where for many years he was engaged in farm enterprise in Welland county. In 1861 he came with his family to Michigan and settled on a farm in Tuscola county. He was born in the year 1813, November 13, and attained to the patriarchal age of more than ninety years, his death having occurred in 1907. His wife was born in 1818 and died in 1858, the subject of this memoir having been the fourth in their family of seven children. In his native province of Ontario Dr. Mortimer Willson received his rudimentary education, and he was a lad of fourteen years at the PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 283 time of the family removal to Michigan, where he continued his studies in the schools of Tuscola county. He later was a student in the public schools of Ypsilanti and also in the University of Michigan, and he depended almost entirely on his own resources in defraying the expenses of higher academic and also his professional education. In 1874 he was graduated in the Detroit College of Medicine and after thus receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine he was for two years engaged in practice in the village of Reese, Tuscola county. He was for a time in practice at South Bay City, and for five years he was engaged in the superintendency of schools in Carthage, Missouri. In 1881 he established his home at Port Huron, and this city continued as the stage of his earnest and able professional ministrations during the remainder of his life. The doctor insistently kept in close touch with the advances made in medical and surgical science, and in the period of 1889-91 he did effective post-graduate work in leading medical schools in Europe, including that of the University of Berlin. He attended lectures also in Vienna and London, and availed himself of the advantages of the best hospital clinics. Dr. Willson gave the best of his talents and powers to the work of his profession, and had secure status as one of the able and representative physicians and surgeons of Michigan. He long controlled a large and important general practice in Port Huron, and was largely instrumental in the forming and developing of the Port Huron Hospital Association, it having been mainly due to his efforts that the present modern hospital of this association was'provided in his home city. He was president of the hospital association ten years, was untiring in his efforts to advance its service to the community, and was influential also in the forwarding of the educational interests of Port Huron, where he gave characteristic loyal service as a member of the board of education. He was an earnest communicant of Grace church, Protestant Episcopal, he having become a member of its vestry in 1886, and having been senior warden of the parish from 1904 until his sudden death, resulting from a stroke of apoplexy. Dr. Willson was for many years a director of the First National Bank of Port Huron, and well worthy of perpetuation in this publication are the resolutions passed by the board of directors at the time of his death: "In the sudden death of Dr. Willson, on the third of November, 1921, the entire community, as well as this bank, has met with a very great loss. Dr. Willson was a good citizen in the broadest meaning of that term. Public-spirited, generous of both his time and money, always ready to work for the interests of the city, he was the type of citizen that every community needs, and Port Huron has been honored and fortunate in having him as a resident for forty years. Dr. Willson has been a member of this board of directors since January 11, 1916, and has brought to the affairs of the bank the same open-mindedness, fairness and good judgment that he displayed as a citizen. He viewed the bank not only as an institution to be carefully managed for the interest 284 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY of its stockholders but also as an important part of the activities of the community. He was a valuable member of this board, and in his death we have not only the sense of personal loss, because as an associate he was uniformly pleasant, courteous and obliging, but as a director he was firm, just and vigilant in the interests of the bank. Resolved, That the foregoing resolutions be spread on the records of this bank." From an appreciative editorial estimate that appeared in a local newspaper are taken the following extracts: "From a more than cursory acquaintance with the doctor, we can fancy now a friendly admonition as we write to be 'careful what you say about me.' He did not do things for the good report he might hear of himself. He gave the full value of a well ordered mind, heart and conscience to all community institutions and all community enterprises that would advance the civic interest, especially hospital, church and school. He gave onethird of his entire income to philanthropic enterprises." Special memorial services were held at Grace church, November 20, 1921, the funeral of the doctor having been held from this church, in which his remains had lain in state prior to the funeral. His life and service were an inspiration to all touched thereby, and he was loyal and true in all of the relations of that life. Dr. Willson was a member of the American Medical Association, the Michigan State Medical Society, the Northwestern District Medical Society (of which he served as president), served as councilor, 1903-10, of the Seventh District Medical Society, and was one of the most honored and influential members of the St. Clair County Medical Society. He was long and actively affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, in which he gained the rank of Knight Templar. In 1879 Dr. Willson wedded Miss Elizabeth Chase, whose death occurred in 1884, as did also that of the only child, Elizabeth, who was born in 1882. In 1889 was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Willson to Miss Jennie Jenkinson, daughter of William Jenkinson, of Port Huron, and she likewise preceded him to eternal rest, her death having occurred in 1911, and the one surviving child being William Jenkinson Willson, who was born September 14, 1894, and who graduated in the Port Huron high school and the University of Michigan, is now engaged in the real estate business in his native city, where he is well upholding the prestige of the honored family name. J. Frank Wilson, one of the most able lawyers in St. Clair county and a former president of the St. Clair County Bar Association, was born, January 21, 1875, in Detroit. His father, Benjamin Franklin Wilson, was born at Beaver Furnace, Pennsylvania, the son of David Wilson, whose father,, the great-grandfather of J. Frank Wilson, was one of the early Scotch-Irish emigrants to Pennsylvania. David Wilson was a merchant, bookkeeper, miller and tobacco grower in Pennsylvania and moved to Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania, where he reared his family and died. His son, Benjamin Franklin Wilson, came to Detroit as a young man. In that city he met and married Mary Rowing Robinson and followed PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 285 his trade, interior decorating. When his son, J. Frank Wilson, was six years old, he took his family to Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania, and died in that city in 1885, at the age of thirty-five years. His widow, Mrs. Mary (Rowing) Wilson, then returned to Sarnia, Ontario, with her three children: Wilmer H., who is now a conductor on the Grand Trunk railway; Mabel G., now Mrs. Frank Tuverson, of Port Huron, and J. Frank Wilson, the subject of this sketch. Their mother, who was born in England in 1850, died in 1920. J. Frank Wilson was educated in the schools at Mifflinburg and Sarnia and began to study law in the offices of Atkinson & Wolcott, Port Huron. Later he entered the law offices of Law & Moore to complete his studies, remaining in the latter office three years. At the end of that period he became a special agent for the Bradstreet mercantile agency, and traveled about the country doing special work for this firm. In 1902 he passed the state bar examinations and was admitted to practice. His first and only association as a member of the bar was with Alexander Moore, whose former partner, Eugene F. Law, is now circuit judge of St. Clair county. The firm style is Moore & Wilson. Mr. Wilson is a consistent ReL publican, but has never taken an active part in politics nor seriously considered being a candidate for public office. He has a thriving practice in the county, state and United States courts and is an able trial lawyer. Much of his work consists of corporation and estate law matters, though he is considered thoroughly competent in all branches of his profession. He has been president of the St. Clair County Bar Association and the Michigan Bar Association, is director and member of the Michigan Council of the American Bar Association. He is a member and attends the First Baptist church. Mr. Wilson was married in September, 1907, to Mrs. Almira (Will) Cady, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Will, Canadian farming people. Mrs. Wilson is also a lawyer, admitted to practice in 1903. To this union were born two children: Franklin Harvey, who is now dead, and Frances, who was born in 1908. Alvin S. Winkelman, proprietor of Winkelman's ladies' and children's ready-to-wear and millinery store, 218 Huron avenue, Port Huron, was born July 31, 1893, at Manistique, Michigan, the son of Mose and Hattie (Friedman) Winkelman. Mose Winkelman, a native of Poland, came to Manistique as a young man and established a general store in that city in 1885. His business prospered, but in 1893 a fire destroyed his entire stock of goods and he was practically bankrupt. However, his reputation for honesty served to re-establish him in business, as several Detroit wholesale houses offered to supply him with merchandise until he was again on a firm financial basis. He accepted these unusual offers, opened another store and continued in business until in 1922, when he retired. Alvin S. Winkelman had planned to attend college after graduating from high school, but was dissuaded from the latter course by his science teacher, who felt that he should obtain practical business experience. After finishing high 286 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY school in 1911, he entered his father's store, remaining there until he entered the navy during the World war. While in the navy he was transferred to service as an inspector in the steel mills at Erie, Pennsylvania. He was honorably discharged in 1919, in the month of April, following the signing of the armistice. Returning to Michigan he went to Detroit in search of a position, and became a traveling salesman for a Buffalo, New York, men's clothing firm. During his trips about the country for this company he watched for a suitable location in which to start a business of his own. He decided to come to Port Huron, believing it to be a growing city and because of the fact that it is near the city of Marysville, a thriving automobile center, and for other reasons, and in 1920 leased and remodeled the J. Marx store at 218 Huron avenue. Mr. Winkelman is a Mason, belonging to the Scottish Rite and Shrine; a Knight of Pythias; an Elk; a member of the Chamber of Commerce and a director of the credit bureau; a director of the Jewish hospital and of the Jewish orphanage at Denver, Colorado; and a supporter of various charitable and civic organizations in Port Huron. Mr. Winkelman was married January 5, 1926, to Miss Rosalind H. Herbert, of Brooklyn, New York. Mr. Winkelman attended a summer class at Columbia University, New York City, in July and August, 1926, and spent his spare time with one of Fifth avenue's foremost stores, acquiring a general knowledge of the new methods of scientific merchandising. Jesse P. Wolcott, assistant prosecuting attorney of St. Clair county, was an officer in the Machine Gun company, Twenty-sixth Infantry, First Division, during the World war, and saw service in the Argonne and with the Army of Occupation in Germany. He was born March 3, 1893, at Gardner, Massachusetts. His father, William Bradford Wolcott, the son of a village blacksmith, was born at Felchville, Vermont, on November 27, 1851. His mother, Mrs. Lillie Betsy (Paine) Wolcott, was born in Ludlow, Vermont, on December 15, 1858. Mr. and Mrs. Wolcott were married on March 3, 1878, and soon afterward moved to Gardner, Massachusetts, where their son, Jesse P., was born. Mr. Wolcott was an official of the Haywood Brothers & Wakefield Company, chair manufacturers, of Gardner. He died on July 3, 1924. Mrs. Wolcott is now living at Port Huron. Jesse P. Wolcott is a descendant of the Wolcott family which settled in America in 1636. This family has contributed many noted lawyers to the public life of this country and has also given to its armed forces many soldiers and sailors. Mr. Wolcott graduated from high school at Gardner in 1912 and came to the Detroit Technical Institute to complete his education. After obtaining some college credits at that institution he entered the Detroit College of Law, graduating from that school with the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1915. During his studies in the law college he defrayed his expenses by acting as commercial attorney for the Michigan State Telephone Company. Having been admitted to the bar soon after graduating from the PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY 287 Detroit College of Law, he associated himself with the law firm of Anderson, Wilcox & Lacy, of Detroit. From that office he entered the United States army to serve during the World war, and was sent to Fort Sheridan, Illinois. He was attached to the staff of General Dickman at Camp Custer on September 1, 1917, as regimental sergeant major. He was commissioned second lieutenant June 1, 1918, and on September 7 of that year he went overseas and was assigned to the Twenty-sixth Infantry. He was honorably discharged July 28, 1919, at Camp Grant, and came to Port Huron to enter the law office of Burt D. Cady. Two years later he was appointed assistant prosecuting attorney under H. R. Baird, and when the latter's second term expired the incoming prosecutor renewed the appointment. Mr. Wolcott is one of the organizers and a former president of the Lions club, of which he has been recently elected district governor; is Past Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias; is Past Department Commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars; a member of the American Legion, Moose, the Odd Fellows and the Masons. I PESON)TAL SKETCHE fr SHIIAWVASSE COUNTY 1%I' PERSONAL SKETCHES Roy Adams was born at Little Rock, Arkansas, July 8, 1891, the son of William Adams, who was born in Detroit and died in 1892 after devoting his life to railroad work, and Emma (Saxton) (Perry) Adams, who was a native of Shiawassee county, where she now resides. After finishing his early education in Shiawassee county and Detroit schools, Roy Adams entered the automobile business. Through hard work and executive ability he has progressed from his early employment to the proprietorship of a fine and splendidly equipped garage at 220 East Main street, Owosso. He has struggled through adversity to attain this success, since his first wife, Ruby (Mason) Adams, who was a native of Corunna, was called beyond in 1920. To Roy and Ruby Adams were born three children: Ruth, aged ten, and Edward, aged eight; Janet died at the age of three years. Both claim Shiawassee county as the place of their nativity and both are now exercising their talents in the public schools of Owosso. In 1921 Mr. Adams and Christine Willington were united in marriage. Mrs. Adams is a native of this county and has a host of friends and admirers throughout this section of the state. Roy Adams is a popular member of the Elks and Masons in Owosso, and of the Odd Fellows of Lennon. C. Marcus Andersen, florist, of Owosso, was born in Denmark, November 25, 1891. His father, Nels Andersen, a farmer, who is now seventy-six years old, and his mother, Mrs. Mina (Olsen) Andersen, who is now aged seventy-seven years, are living in their native country, Denmark. Mrs. Louise V. (Nelson) Andersen, wife of C. Marcus Andersen, also was born in Denmark. Mr. Andersen spent four years in greenhouse work in Owosso before he bought his present establishment on West Main street. Mr. Andersen now produces and sells large quantities of flowers, nursery stock, shrubbery and hothouse vegetables and takes a leading part in the civic and social movements in his community. He is a member of the Masons, the Elks, the Maccabees and the Kiwanis club. Mr. and Mrs. Andersen have one daughter, Joy, who is now six years old and a pupil in the second grade of the Owosso schools. Alfred Leston Arnold, Jr., M.D., was born in Owosso, August 4, 1891, the son of A. L. and Florence N. (Mountford) Arnold. The father of Dr. Arnold was born in Ontario, Canada, August 7, 1857, and attended and graduated from the Detroit College of Medicine and Surgery in 1886, after which he removed to Owosso in 1886 and began active practice in that city. He is extremely well known throughout this county, and is one of the most prominent physi 292 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY cians in it. The mother of Dr. Arnold, the subject of this memoir, was born in Ontario also, being married to Dr. A. L. Arnold, Sr., after he had graduated from medical college. She is living in Owosso and is one of the most popular and active ladies in that city. Beside Dr. Arnold, Jr., Dr. and Mrs. Arnold have another son, Harry L. Arnold, who at the present time is practicing the profession of medicine in Honolulu, to which city he was sent during the World war, with the rank of major. He had served in the Mexican uprising in 1916 and remained in service throughout the World war. Dr. A. L. Arnold, Jr., attended the public schools and high school of Owosso and then studied at the University of Michigan, from which he graduated in 1917. It was just at this time that the United States entered the war, and Dr. Arnold immediately enlisted in the Medical Corps of the United States navy, and was soon after appointed lieutenant, junior grade, for one year, when he was promoted to the senior grade. In August, 1919, he was honorably discharged and returned to Owosso, where he has been associated with his father in the practice of medicine ever since. During the war Dr. Arnold was on board the ship U. S. S. President Lincoln when it was torpedoed and sunk, and spent twenty hours on a raft in mid-ocean. During this time the raft and its occupants floated fourteen miles from the scene of the ship's foundering. His father also served during the war as the United States employes compensation commissioner. Both are members of the Elks and the Masons, and are attendants of the Episcopal church of Owosso, where they have many friends and enjoy a clientele from the entire county, and where they make their homes. The home of Dr. A. L. Arnold, Jr., is presided over by his wife, who was Zilpha Smith. They have two children, Alfred Leston III, aged three, and John Mountford, aged one, both of whom were born in Owosso. Mrs. Arnold is the daughter of Fred W. and Lulu (Knapp) Smith, who are prominent residents of Owosso, where Mr. Smith conducts an undertaking business and is a well-known business man of that city. B. L. Axford, coal dealer, of Owosso, is a member of various civic and fraternal organizations, among which are the Elks, the Knights of Pythias and the Kiwanis club, of which he is president. Mr. Axford was born in Saginaw in 1874. His father, W. H. Axford, who was a dealer in coal and hay, was a native of New Jersey, but died in Owosso in 1909. Mrs. Rosella (Rogers) Axford, widow of W. H. Axford and mother of B. L. Axford, of Owosso, was born in the state of New York. She is now living at the family home in Owosso. Her son, B. L. Axford, learned telegraphy soon after he finished school in Owosso, and until 1909 was employed as a telegrapher by the Ann Arbor railroad. When his father died in 1909 he resigned his position with the railroad to assume the management of the Axford coal yard and wholesale hay business at 1008 West Main street, Owosso. He married, in 1896, N. Gertrude Conlogue, who was born in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. To PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 293 this union has been born one daughter, Ruth, who is now twentyseven years old and a teacher in the schools at Royal Oak, Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Axford attend the Episcopal church. H. W. Beedon was born in Meaford, Ontario, August 11, 1901, the son of Edwin Beedon, who is now the owner of one of the finest laundry businesses in Flint, and who was born in Lexington, Michigan, and Emily (Wolfel) Beedon, who was also born in Lexington and is now living at the family home in Flint. H. W. Beedon attended the schools of Marshall, Michigan, and Woodstock, Ontario. After completing his course in the latter school, he entered the employ of a wholesale house in Toronto, and then for a number of years was employed in the drafting room of the Sarnia Bridge Company, of Sarnia, Ontario. At this time he came back to the United States and to Flint, where he, worked for his father in the laundry business owned by the latter, and which is one of the most up-to-date and thoroughly equipped in the state, going under the name of the Sanitary Laundry. At the present time Mr. Beedon is the manager of the City Laundry of Owosso. He has utilized all of the experience gained under the tutelage of his father toward making the City Laundry one of the most successful in the county. The City Laundry is owned by the Merchants Linen Service Company, which company has branch businesses in Corunna, Perry and in Laingsburg, and also linen supply stores in Flint and Owosso. Mr. Beedon is a young man, but he has had invaluable experience in the business in which he is now engaged, and is destined to make the business which he manages one of the most successful in the county. C. P. Bentley is the president of the Owosso Manufacturing Company of Owosso. This company was established in 1885 by Mr. Bentley's father, who was Alvin M. Bentley, one of the pioneer manufacturers in this part of the state, and also one of the most prominent up to the time of his death in 1920. His widow, who was Clara Brown before marriage, survives him and is now living in Owosso. The Owosso Manufacturing Company makes screen doors, snow shovels, window screens and collapsible screens at the factory in the western part of Owosso. This factory is one of the best equipped in the entire state, covering 300,000 square feet of ground and having parking, shipping and storage facilities of the most modern trend. Their products are shipped and used throughout the United States. Upon the death of his father, C. P. Bentley took over the active management and presidency of the concern, which position he now holds. He attended the Owosso schools, Michigan Military Academy, and the University of Michigan. After leaving the university he went to Arizona, where he spent five years on a cattle ranch, before returning to Owosso. One year after his return he and Miss Irma Brewer, of Shiawassee county, were united in marriage, and they are now the parents of three children: Marion, aged seventeen, and now attending school in Washington, D. C.; Irma, thirteen years old, in 294 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY school in Miami, Florida; and Clara, aged seven, also in school in Miami. All of the children were born in Owosso at the beautiful home of Mr. and Mrs. Bentley on West Oliver street. Mr. Bentley is a member of the Masons, Elks, and the Owosso Country club. He is one of Owosso's most prominent business men, being vice-president of the Owosso Savings Bank and always doing his utmost to make Owosso one of the most progressive cities in the state. His brother, Alvin M. Bentley, gave his life to our cause during the World war, in which he was a lieutenant in the United States army overseas, where he was taken by death. Albert Boursmith was born in Corunna, Michigan, March 19, 1891, the son of Charles and Abigail Boursmith. Charles Boursmith was taken by death in 1910 at the age of eighty-four years, the greater part of which he spent in productive and successful farming. Abigail Boursmith is now making her home in Corunna with her son, at the age of seventy-five. This home is ably presided over by Albert Boursmith's wife, who before marriage was Edith Hein, the daughter of Henry and Pauline Hein, the former of whom is now deceased and the latter of whom is now living at the age of sixty years. Albert Boursmith and Edith (Hein) Boursmith have been blessed with two children: Pauline, aged four, and Dorothy, aged two, both of whom were born in Corunna and will receive their education at the Corunna schools. Albert Boursmith attended the Corunna public schools and the high school until he became sixteen years of age, at which time he left to go to work in the Corunna Furniture factory. He remained with them for five years and then entered the employ of the Flint Motor Company, remaining in this position for seven years. It was at this time that he entered the army to help the United States in the World war. He entered the service as a member of the Machine Gun Company of the Eighty-fifth Division, and was then sent to France, where he landed in August, 1918, being immediately sent to the front, where he took an active part in the Meuse-Argonne offensive. After the armistice was signed he spent eight months in the Army of Occupation, being stationed near Coblenz, Germany. After this period of eight months, in July, 1919, he sailed for home, and on August 4, 1919, after landing on his native soil, he was honorably discharged. After returning to Corunna he entered the employ of the Corunna Knitting factory, but in 1922 he felt the urge to establish a business of his own, and it was at this time that he opened the business which he now owns and ably operates. He has a modern and up-to-date shoe store on Shiawassee street. He is a member of the Odd Fellows and the Corunna German Evangelical church. Mr. Boursmith is a staunch citizen, as can be seen from his war record, and is of a pleasing personality. He has made many friends and patrons and these friends, coupled with his honesty and integrity, are bound to make him a success in any business which he may choose to undertake. PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 295 F. Bovee was born in Lenawee county, Michigan, in 1856, the son of Albert and Eliza (Myers) Bovee, the former of whom was also a native of Lenawee county, where he was born in 1829 and where he remained practically all of his life following his chosen vocation of farming until his death in 1907. Eliza (Myers) Bovee likewise was born and spent her life in Lenawee county. She was taken by death in 1915, leaving hundreds of staunch friends to mourn her passing. F. Bovee has lived in Corunna for the past sixteen years, the first seven of which he spent in the livery and feed business and the last nine in the grocery business. Throughout this time he has shown his fairness and integrity to such an extent that his friends requested him to run for the mayorality in Corunna, and he was elected to this position, which he now holds. He served as alderman for four years, from 1913-1917, and at that time gained a reputation for fair and honest policies. He and his wife, who was Martha E. Older, an Ohioan, are the parents of two children: Erma, aged thirty-eight, who is now working at Lansing for the Reo Service, and Flossie P., who is now the wife of H. Hazelton, who is a tool designer of Detroit. Mr. Bovee is one of the highly respected members of the Odd Fellows and a Republican politically. Leonard Bowles was born in Clarendon, Orleans county, New York, July 8, 1843. He was the son of James Bowles, who came to Michigan with his family about 1856 following the vocation of farming until 1905, when, at the age of eighty-nine, he was called beyond, and Anna Bowles, who was taken from life in the early part of 1925. Before removing to Michigan with his father in 1856, Leonard Bowles attended the public schools at Clarendon, New York, the town of his nativity, and then resumed his studies in this state upon his arrival here. The great courage and patriotism which has carried Mr. Bowles so successfully through life, was manifested six years after his arrival in Michigan, when the Civil war broke out. Although he was not yet eighteen years of age, he tried to enlist, but since his brother had already answered the call for volunteers, his father refused to give him permission to join the army, so Leonard Bowles had to content himself with entering the employ of the government as citizen teamster, in which capacity he was sent to Pilot Knob, Missouri. In this position he underwent many of the rigors of actual warfare, such as being compelled to burn the wagon trains bf supplies to keep them from falling into enemy hands. A short time later, Leonard Bowles became of enlisting age and immediately joined the cavalry, with which he took part in the now famous Union drives at Fort Scott, Arkansas, and other points of conflict. While with the cavalry he was also engaged in escorting several hundred Confederate prisoners to the nearest railroad. While on the last of these trips, the surrender of the Confederate forces took place, and Mr. Bowles was honorably discharged from the service at St. Louis, Missouri. After cessation of hostilities, he and two comrades traveled to northern Mich 296 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY igan in search of land investments, but upon failure to find anything suitable, they returned to Calhoun county, Michigan. While in Calhoun county, the three comrades were told of the great opportunities in Shiawassee county, and they immediately set out for this promised land of success, coming from Battle Creek to Lansing by walking, and from Lansing to Owosso by means of the early day Rams Horn railroad, arriving here in November, 1865. Here it was that Mr. Bowles bought an eighty-acre farm, to which he shortly added forty additional acres. The years of successful farming have only added to the great popularity always enjoyed by Leonard Bowles, and it was partly because of this good fellowship, and partly because of the great size and lusciousness of his melons, that he was lovingly known as the Melon King of Owosso. He was the first farmer to raise melons and berries on a large scale in this section of the state. In 1907 Mr. Bowles purchased a fine home in Owosso, and he has divided his time here and on the original farm which he first called his home. Shortly after returning from his army service, Mr. Bowles and Miss Ida McNickle were united in marriage. Two children were.born to them, Floyd J. Bowles, who is now holding a fine position with the Ford Motor Company in Detroit, and Nettie Bowles, who is now the wife of L. C. Hall, one of the prominent Owosso business men. Two years ago the home of Leonard Bowles was darkened by the death of his beloved wife, who left many staunch friends at her departure. Mr. Bowles has several times been the justice of the peace of Owosso township, and is now the honored Commander of the G. A. R. and a colonel in the county battalion of that organization. He is a Republican politically. Roger G. Brooks was born near Vernon, Michigan, November 15, 1886, the son of George and Mary (Rogers) Brooks, the former of whom was born in Oakland county in 1850, coming to Shiawassee county when twenty-five years of age and settling on the homestead which since that time has been the property of the family. Mrs. Mary Rogers Brooks was born in Oakland county also, in 1853, and she, too, was a pioneer of Shiawassee county, coming here when she was young and spending the remainder of her life here with her husband, whom she preceded to the grave by five years, dying while residing in Durand, in 1919, Roger G. Brooks attended the county schools and Vernon high school and then went to work for his father on the farm, remaining with his father until the latter was taken by death in 1924. Since that time Mr. Brooks has been taking care of the numerous farming properties which comprised his father's estate, and also managing his own farming interests. He and his wife, who was Miss Bessie Dunn before their marriage in 1908, and who was a native of Jackson county, Michigan, the daughter of Harvey and Addie (Proper) Dunn, and their son, Wyman Brooks, who is seventeen years of age and a student at Durand high school, reside in Durand, where they have a beautiful home at 205 Shiawassee PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 297 street. The father of Mrs. Brooks was called beyond in 1925 at Flushing, where for many years he was a prominent and prosperous farmer, and where his wife is now residing. Roger G. Brooks is very well known throughout Shiawassee county, and enjoys a popularity attained by very few. He is a member of the Masons and is the Master of that lodge at the present time. He also is a member of the Chapter and Corunna Commandery, and an attendant of the Methodist church. C. N. Buckley has been associated with and interested in the automobile business for the past fifteen years. Before opening the garage which he now owns and operates at Corunna, he was employed by the Mansor-Fox Company, Moore's Garage, Chevrolet Sales and Service Company, and the Phillips-Taylor Company, all of Owosso. Through these years of experience he has learned the automobile business thoroughly and because of this knowledge and his own pleasing personality he has built up a steady and profitable business. His garage is modern and complete, there being a repair shop, battery installation and service, and accessory department in connection. Mr. Buckley was born in Glencoe, North Dakota, in 1898, the son of D. W. and Anna (Kern) Buckley. D. W. Buckley was born in New York state but followed his chosen vocation of farming in the west for a great number of years of his life. He was taken by death in 1925 at the age of sixty-three, after having retired from active farming. Anna (Kern) Buckley was born in Springfield, Illinois, and is now living with her son at his home. This home is presided over by Mr. Buckley's wife, who was Mildred Crandall, of Stanton, Michigan. They have two children, Stanley Wayne, aged four, and Maxine, three years old, both born in Owosso at the family residence. Arch W. Burnett has been the county clerk of Shiawassee county for the past eight years. He became admirably fitted for this position through his education in the Corunna schools and one year he studied in the law department of the University of Michigan. Before being elected chief clerk, he spent thirteen years as deputy, and in this time he learned the business and the needs of the county. He is holding office in his native-city, for it was in Corunna, on October 18, 1883, that he was born. His father, Floyd Burnett, was for many years a prominent merchant and contractor of Corunna and it was with great sorrow that his passing took place in September, 1922. The mother of Arch Burnett was Anna Ackerson before marriage. She was born in Caledonia township, and is now making her home with her son in Corunna. Mr. Burnett's wife was Mary Joy, the daughter of James and Elizabeth Joy, of Corunna, both of whom are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Burnett are the proud parents of a son, David Joy Burnett, aged twelve, and a daughter, Mary Margaret Burnett, aged eight. Both children were born in Corunna and are being educated in the schools of that city. Mr. Burnett is a popular member of the Masons and Elks. 298 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY J. E. Campbell is known throughout the state of Michigan as the able publisher and editor of the Argus-Press of Owosso. He is a veteran of the World war and a member of the Masons, the Elks and the Rotary club. Mr. Campbell was' born in Owosso, December 20, 1895, the son of George 'I. and Harriet (Evans) Campbell. His father, who was the publisher of the Argus-Press and was greatly interested in the Knights Templar and other Masonic orders, was born in Louisville, Kentucky. George T. Campbell died in Owosso in 1923, a highly respected business man and citizen. His widow, Mrs. Harriet Campbell, who was born in Owosso, is still a resident of that city, being at this time fifty-six years old. J. E. Campbell graduated from high school in Owosso and obtained the degree of Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan in 1918. He enlisted in the ordnance department of the United States army to serve during the World war, and spent one and one-half years as a casual member of the First Division. When he was honorably discharged from the army he returned to Owosso to become office manager of the newspaper published by his father, and when the latter died he succeeded him as publisher. J. E. Campbell's brother, George W. Campbell, who was born in Owosso in 1902, graduated from the University of Michigan in 1925 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He is now employed in the office of the Argus-Press. George W. Campbell is a member of the Masons. He married Louise Pletke, of Winona, Minnesota. J. E. Campbell married Louise Osmer, who was born in Lake City, Iowa. They have one son, George Thomas, who was born in Owosso and is now three years old. Offices and plant of the Argus-Press are at 201-05 East Exchange street, Owosso. Silas M. Campbell was born in Galveston, Texas, July 16, 1877, the son of John R. and Elsie (Matheson) Campbell. John R. Campbell was born in Scotland, but early in life removed to this country, coming to Owosso in 1887, where he successfully carried on a general contracting and building business until the time of his death in October, 1923, at the age of seventy-six years. Mrs. John R. Campbell was born in New York state and is now living in Oregon at the age of seventy-five. She has many friends in Shiawassee county, where she spent the greater part of her life. Silas M. Campbell attended the Owosso schools until he became fourteen years of age, when he began work in the Owosso factories, being thus employed until 1903, when he joined his father in the general contracting business and the manufacture of cement blocks. He has remained in this business since, but during the years has enlarged greatly upon the former business. He now manufactures cement blocks, Dunn tile, and cement burial vaults. These products are used and shipped throughout Shiawassee county, where Mr. Campbell has for years enjoyed a business regard and popularity equalled by very few. In 1900 Mr. Campbell and Miss Ethel B. Smith, of Laingsburg, Shiawassee county, were united in marriage, and to them have been born six children, all of whom PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 299 were born and raised in Shiawassee county, where they are well liked and have many close friends. The oldest is Hazel B., who was born in October, 1902, and is now teaching school, having attended Ypsilanti Normal and the University of Michigan, as did her sister Marie, aged twenty-two, who is likewise now engaged in teaching school. The other children are Bob, aged sixteen; Kenneth, aged fourteen; Maxine, aged eleven; and Margaret, aged six, all of whom are now pupils of the Owosso public schools. Mr. Campbell is a member of the Masons of this county, he being a Past Commander of the Knights Templar. He and his wife are both popular members of the Eastern Star and are attendants of the Congregational church. Mr. Campbell has always maintained high ideals and principles and is one of Shiawassee county's strongest boosters. The same patriotism and spirit which led him to enlist in the United States army during the Spanish-American war and which led him through fire as a member of Owosso Company B, during that conflict, have often manifested themselves in the years of his residence in this county, where he has always striven and fought for the welfare of the public at large, and bended every effort toward the good of Owosso and the county. Ward G. Cobb is a native of Saline, Michigan, where he was born May 14, 1882, the son of George H. and Ella V. (Cook) Cobb. The place of Mr. Cobb's nativity, Saline, is also the birthplace of his father, who is now living at Grand Rapids as a retired grocer at the ripe old age of seventy-five. Ella V. (Cook) Cobb was also born near Saline, and she is now living in her seventy-third year at Grand Rapids. Ward G. Cobb attended the Grand Rapids schools, where his father was at that time operating a large grocery concern. After finishing his early schooling, he spent one year in the U. B. A. hospital of that city, under the employ of his uncle, who was the hospital superintendent. However, he perhaps had visions of gaining the high position in business which he now holds, and so he entered the employ of the G. R. Brush Company, where he remained for one year, after which he entered the employ of the Bromwell Brush and Wire Company, of Cincinnati. This was a large concern, having many plants in the United States. Mr. Cobb spent one year each at two of these plants, first at Jackson, Michigan, and then at Mansfield, Ohio. In June, 1906, he was united in marriage with Mary E. Ainsworth, the daughter of Eugene and Ann Ainsworth, of Detroit, in which city her birth took place. Mrs. Cobb's mother is now living in Owosso at the home of her daughter and son-in-law. Eugene Ainsworth has departed this life after a long and useful career. In June, 1907, Mr. Cobb entered the employ of the Commonwealth Power Company, which company was later absorbed by the Consumers Power, for whom Mr. Cobb is now devoting his ability in the capacity of district manager. His rise to his present position did not occur overnight, however, but through steady and efficient service, for he spent four years at Jackson as storekeeper and three years at Charlotte as manager of 300 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY that plant, and one year at Kalamazoo on special rate work, before he came to Owosso as district manager in June, 1914. The ability and popularity of Mr. Cobb was not recognized by the Consumers' Power Company alone, however, as he was chosen to be Exalted Ruler of the Elks' lodge during 1921 and 1922, and is also a member of the Rotary club, Chamber of Commerce and the Country club. Mr. and Mrs. Cobb have four children: George E., aged eighteen; Donald A., fifteen; Robert A., twelve, and Gertrude E., ten. The first two children were born at Jackson, and are now students at Owosso high school. The next oldest, Robert, was born at Charlotte, Michigan, and he and his sister, Gertrude, who was born in Owosso, are also attending the Owosso schools. Charles E. Coons was born in Bay City, Michigan, the year of his nativity being 1896. His father, Charles A. Coons, is a native of New York state, but is now living at Bay City at the age of sixty-two, where he has followed his vocation of stationary engineering for the past thirty years. He married a Bay City girl, Lucy Fogelsinger, and she is now residing in the city of her birth with her husband. Charles E. Coons, the subject of this brief memoir, attended the public schools and high school of Bay City, after graduating from which he entered the employ of the Jennison Hardware Company. After remaining with this company for one year he worked for the Moore Hardware and Furniture Company for one and one-half years. It was at this time that Mr. Coons decided to go into the shoe business, and shortly after this he commenced his training in the employ of the J. H. Brazette shoe store, where he spent five and one-half years. At the expiration of this time he learned the buying business by taking one year of training on the road, after which, in February, 1922, he came to Owosso and opened his present business, which is one of the most thoroughly equipped and efficiently run shoe stores in the city. He is the sole owner and proprietor of the shoe store which bears his name at 102 West Exchange street, Owosso. He is also the owner of a fine new home at 1402 North Washington street which has just been completed and where his wife, who was formerly Eva Elizabeth Kent, of Portland, Michigan, and their two sons, Charles P., aged seven, and William V., aged six, now reside. Both children were born in Bay City and are now attending the public schools of Owosso. Charles E. Coons is a member of the Masons, Knights of Pythias and the United Commercial Travelers. He is one of the youngest and best-liked merchants in Owosso. Arthur W. Denison was born in Ovid, Clinton county, Michigan, December 23, 1869, the son of Jared C., who was born in West Lyden, Massachusetts, coming to this part of the state with his parents in 1839, and Fanny J. (Passage) Denison, who was born at Niagara Falls, New York, and who passed away ten years after the death of her husband in 1907. Mrs. Arthur W. Denison's parents, Daniel, who was a native of New York state, PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 301 and Jane Cox Beckwith, born in Ireland, were very well known in this part of the state, where for many years they owned a farm and operated it until the time of Mr. Beckwith's death in 1919. Mrs. Beckwith is residing now at Durand, Michigan, where she has hundreds of friends and admirers of her generous and kind nature. To Mr. and Mrs. Denison have been born three children: Ruby, who graduated from the Ypsilanti' Normal College at Ypsilanti and is now the wife of Mr. Klager, the superintendent of schools at Manistee; Ralph A., who is a graduate of the University of Michigan and is now practicing his chosen profession of dentistry in Flint, and Ruth Opal, who is now attending school at Monroe, Michigan. Arthur Denison attended the Denison country school until he became about eighteen years of age, when he began his apprenticeship in the contracting business. At the expiration of one year he entered business for himself, remaining for two years at Ovid and then removing to Durand. For twenty-nine years he has been extremely successful in his chosen vocation in Durand, and during this time he has become well known and respected for his integrity and sincerity throughout the county. He is one of the most popular members of the Masons and Odd Fellows and with his wife, who is a well-liked member of the Eastern Star, attends the Methodist church. E. Deuell Devereaux is one of the young men who have been born and raised in Shiawassee county, and who are now making a name for themselves both in business and commercial pursuits. He was born at Bancroft, January 30, 1899, where his father and mother, Derward and Grace (Parmenter) Devereaux, had for many years lived a happy and useful life in farming. Upon the death of his father in 1923, his mother moved to Corunna. Mr. Devereaux's wife before marriage was Mildred Mattoon, of Corunna, the daughter of B. and Carrie Mattoon, prominent farmers of the county. In the latter part of July, 1925, there was born to them a fine and healthy baby girl, whom they named Lois Aileen. Mr. Deveraux attended and graduated from the Lansing high school and then enrolled in the Michigan State College, from which he received his engineering degree in 1921. For the nine months following his graduation, he worked in the state highway department as a civil engineer, and then came to Corunna to carry on the county engineer's work. This he has done to the very evident satisfaction of everyone. In March,, 1925, he was elected city clerk of Corunna, and is now holding that position in addition to his other duties. Mr. Devereaux is a hard worker and has the reputation of finishing what he begins. The county of Shiawassee and the city of Corunna are fortunate in obtaining his services. He is a member of all branches of the Masons with the exception of the Shrine and the Grotto. Warren W. Doan was born in Caledonia township, Shiawassee county, June 4, 1863, the son of Charles and Elvira J. (Youngs) Doan, the former of whom was born in New York state, but car 302 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY ried on a mercantile business in Corunna until 1915, when he was called beyond. The mother of Mr. Doan was born at Lapeer, Michigan, and she, too, was a resident of Corunna until 1917, when she was taken by death, leaving a host of friends and admirers to mourn her passing. Warren Doan attended the county and Corunna public schools, after which he spent two years studying in the Corunna high school, then going into the grocery business for the space of three years. At this time he entered the employ of the Grand Trunk railroad for two years and a half as operator and baggage man. At this time his health gave out and he removed to New Haven township for thirty-eight years, where he owned and operated a farm. During this time he became supervisor of his township, and his service was so satisfactory that the people chose him to fill the office of county drain commissioner in 1922 and re-elected him in 1924. Warren Doan and Martha Grace Orser, a native of New Haven township, were united in marriage in 1885, and are the parents of three present residents of this county: Zilpha, now Mrs. Westley Spitler, of New Haven township; Delta, now Mrs. Silas Lecureaux of the same township; and Wendel H., now a fireman on the Owosso fire department. Mrs. Warren Doan was born in New Haven township, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Orser, who owned and operated a farm in that place. She was educated in the schools of this county, and has hundreds of friends who, like herself, are true natives of Shiawassee county. Mr. Doan's grandfather, Samuel Youngs, settled in Caledonia township in 1836, and was one of the most widely known pioneers of this region. Warren Doan has long been known as one of the staunch supporters of this county, and his years of public service have stamped him as a man in whom the public trust is safe, and in whom the welfare of the people is always placed above any thoughts of personal gain. He is an attendant and supporter of the Methodist church, the welfare of which he has always endeavored to forward in any manner in his control. William H. Duffey is the owner and proprietor of the W. H. Duffey Produce Company of Corunna. He is known as one of the fairest and most reliable merchants in the county. He was born in Delaware, Ohio, November 1, 1879, the son of Thomas Duffey, who is now living in Corunna at the age of seventy-nine as a retired farmer, and Rachel (Foreman) Duffey, who was seventytwo years of age when she died, July 26, 1923. William Duffey was brought to reside in Corunna with his parents when he was six years of age. He attended the public schools of that city until he became seventeen years of age, when he entered the employ of the Thompsonville Cooperage Company as buyer and seller of buggies. Here he remained for one year, then going to work for the Cash Is King Shoe Company of Owosso, where also he remained for the space of one year. At this time he and his brother formed the partnership in the shoe business in Corunna which bore their name, but two years later this partnership was PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 303 dissolved and William H. Duffey entered the employ of the C. H. Davids Grocery Company. One year later he took up the contract with the government to carry mail, which he did for twelve years. During this twelve-year period, in 1905, Mr. Duffy and Ella Newell were united in marriage, and are now occupying a fine and comfortable home in Corunna. Mr. Duffey is popular with his fellow townsmen, and his integrity and widespread geniality were evidenced when, during 1914 and 1916, he held the office of city treasurer of Corunna. He is one of the best-liked members of the Masons, he being a brother in the Blue Lodge, Chapter and Council of Corunna, and of the Owosso Commandery. He is an attendant and contributor of the Methodist church. Mr. Duffey is still the holder of the government contract for the delivery of mail, and with the help of his father and an assistant, he carries out this undertaking, in association with an express company which he also owns and operates. A man of his versatility, integrity and popularity cannot help but succeed in any business community. Oliver M. Elliot, who is one of the owners of the Ford salesrooms and garage, 207-17 East Main street, Owosso, was born in Detroit on February 6, 1887, the son of John Oliver Elliot, a contractor, who died May 2, 1894. John Oliver Elliot was born in Scotland, as was his widow, the mother of Oliver M. Elliot. Mrs. Margaret (Weir) Elliot died in 1922, at the age of sixty-five years. Oliver M. Elliot graduated from Central high school at Detroit and at once entered the Michigan Agricultural College, where he finished as a civil engineer in 1911. From that year until 1915 he practiced his profession in Detroit, where he met with great success. In 1915, having decided to engage in a mercantile pursuit, he came to Owosso to become associated with Karl J. Welte in the automobile business. Mr. Elliot has proved himself to be an able business man and an honorable gentleman. His social and fraternal associations are many, and include the Masons, the Elks, the Kiwanis club, the United Commercial Travelers, the Community Center, the Chamber of Commerce and the Country club of Owosso, in all of which he is much interested. Mr. Elliot was married in 1914 to Edith Hartshorn, who was born in Owosso. They have three children: Virginia, aged eight years; Fred, aged six years; and Robert, who is two years old, all of whom were born in Owosso. Roy G. Fletcher. A very successful business man and a very popular citizen of Owosso is Roy G. Fletcher, of the Himburg & Fletcher Plumbing Company, 904 West Main street. Mr. Fletcher was born in Owosso November 9, 1892. His father, M. B. Fletcher, who was for many years a machinist for the Owosso Casket Company, died in 1924 at the age of seventy-two years, and his mother, Mrs. Ida Ellen (Warby) Fletcher, is still living in Owosso. Roy G. Fletcher attended the public schools of Owosso until he was fourteen years old. At that age he obtained a position in the Owosso Manufacturing Company plant, where he remained one year. Hav 304 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY ing decided to become a plumber, he served four years as an apprentice with the A. F. Hollis Plumbing Company, of Owosso. On February 24, 1917, he enlisted in the United States navy. On August 6, 1920, he was honorably discharged from service and, returning to his home, he resumed his old position with the Hollis plumbing establishment. Six months later he accepted a place with the Kelly Plumbing Company, where he remained a year and a half. He then went to Lansing to work at his trade, and on his return to Owosso purchased the half interest owned by W. B. Holils in the plumbing firm of Himburg & Hollis, at 814 North Main street. Mr. Fletcher assumed his responsibilities as a member of this concern on March 15, 1923, thus changing the firm name to Himburg & Fletcher, and they arranged to move the company's materials and equipment to its present location, 904 West Main street. The Himburg & Fletcher Plumbing Company is now one of the most substantial of Owosso's business houses, and enjoys an enviable reputation for honesty and square dealing. Mr. Fletcher is a member of the Masons and the American Legion. He married, in 1922, Mabel Kent. They have two children: Karyl, aged three years, and Kent, who was born August 27, 1924. Gustav F. Friegel, a lawyer of the firm of Chandler & Friegel, Ward building, Owosso, was born on a farm in the township of Bennington, Shiawassee county, July 7, 1870. His father, Conrad Friegel, was born in Germany and migrated to this country when a young man, where he married Elizabeth Bender, who had also recently come from Germany. Together they spent their entire life on their farm in Bennington, where they raised a family of nine children. Gustav received his elementary education in the rural school, his high school education at the village school in Perry, and later read law in the office of A. L. Chandler, at Corunna, the county seat, and was admitted to the bar in May, 1892. Soon after this he taught school in the rural schools of the county for six years, after which he attended the State Normal College at Mt. Pleasant, graduating from the life certificate course. He was superintendent of schools at Benzonia and Muskegon Heights during the next five years, attending the University of Michigan in the summer time. In 1907 he gave up school work to devote his time to the practice of law, forming a co-partnership with Mr. Chandler in Owosso. After two years he was elected to the office of municipal judge, which office he held for the period of twelve years. Mr. Friegel married Maud Lawcock, who was born in Venice township, Shiawassee county, Michigan. To this union were born the following children: 0. A. Louise, who was born in 1899, is the wife of Chester Gorham, of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan; Gayle E., who was born in 1901, and is now the wife of Dr. J. H. Beckwith, now residing at Coral Gables, Florida; Theodore G., born in 1905, now attending Olivet College; Virginia M., born in 1912; Jean K., born in 1914, and Gwendolyn Mae, born in 1918, who are at home and attending the public schools in Owosso. Mr. PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 305 Friegel has been active in civic and political movements of the city and county, and is a member of various fraternal and civic organizations, including the Masons, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Maccabees, Eagles, Modern Romans and Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is a member of the Congregational church, in which for several years he served as superintendent of the Sunday school. For a number of years he has been chairman of the civic and community welfare committee of the Elks lodge, which has been very active in Americanization work among the foreign people, consisting mostly of Bohemians and Slavs who have recently migrated into the county. Mark R. Frink was born in Detroit, in March, 1893, the son of Martin and Esther (Hope) Frink, the former of whom was born in New York state and the latter in England, but who early in life removed to the United States. Mr. Frink's father is a decorator by vocation, and is now living in the "Motor City" with his wife. Mark Frink attended the schools of Detroit and then took up a position as a tool and die maker with the Burroughs Adding Machine Company. At the outbreak of the World war he immediately enlisted in the navy, and was very actively engaged throughout the struggle doing convoy duty. After being honorably discharged from the service, he returned to his native state and went on the road for the Ford Motor Company in their tractor division, representing a distributor. He received his experience in automobile selling with the Johns Brothers Company, of Detroit. In 1921 he came to Durand, Michigan, and took over the Ford agency of that city, which he now owns and operates with his partner, Merritt E. Dean. In Durand he has a modern garage, repair shop and accessory department in connection with the Ford Sales and Service. Mr. and Mrs. Frink, who was Edythe Anderson, also of Detroit, are the parents of a fine young son, Mark, Jr., aged five, who was born in Detroit but who is now attending school for his first term in the public schools of Durand. Mr. Frink has his home in Durand and takes his stand as one of that city's representative citizens. He is one of the most popular members of the Masons in this county. Sherman W.'F. Garnett was born in Oakley, Saginaw county, Michigan, on the first day of December, 1885, the son of Christopher C. and Caroline A. (Forbes) Garnett. Mr. Christopher C. Garnett is a member of the clergy. He was born at Hartman's Corners, County of York, Ontario, Canada, where he spent part of his life, the remaining years being spent in Michigan preaching the Gospel and administering to those who were in need. He is now living at Durand, Michigan, at the age of eighty-two, but he has retired from active service. Caroline A. (Forbes) Garnett was born at Brigham's Corners, Derham, Ontario. She is also living at Durand at the age of seventy-seven. Sherman W. F. Garnett received his early school training at the Shelby, Michigan, high school and at the McLachlan Business University in 306 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY Grand Rapids, after which he entered the ministry. Shortly after this, while he was serving a mission station in Newaygo county, the local option question came up in Oceana county and Mr. Garnett was asked by Ed Palmiter, the manager of the Shelby Advance, a newspaper in Oceana county, to go to Shelby and take charge of the paper. This Mr. Garnett did, and after finishing his task satisfactorily there he removed to Flint and worked in the printing company of Fred Pierson on First avenue. Again he was asked to help in the management of a newspaper, this time by R. J. MacDonald, to manage the Whitehall Forum. Mr. Garnett went to Whitehall and took up his duties there, where he remained for one year. After this Mr. Garnett removed to Holland, Michigan, where for five months he worked as a job printer for Garrett Klaasen. This for a time concluded his printing activities, for after this he took over a church at Hickory Corners, Michigan, as pastor. Here he remained for four years and then removed to Hastings as pastor for eight months. From Hastings he went to Capac, later to Brown City, where there was a new and unpaid-for church. This obligation he took over and in the course of three years, during the World war, managed to clear the church of all indebtedness. During his stay in Brown City, Mr. Garnett also assisted in the publication of a newspaper. During these years of his work as pastor and editor, Mr. Garnett had transferred from the Wesleyan Methodist church to the Methodist Episcopal, in which he is now an ordained elder and member of the Detroit Conference. Mr. Garnett's last church was at Durand, in this county. Here he completely remodeled the church and parsonage during his three years' stay. During this time he owned and operated the Commonwealth in Durand, until the time when he purchased the Durand Express and merged the two. After this he sold the merged paper back to the former owner. After his residence in Durand, Mr. Garnett came to Owosso, where some time before he had taken the Owosso Times on lease. Here he has ably managed and edited the Owosso Times since March 1, 1924, purchasing the paper in January, 1926. Sherman W. F. Garnett and F. Pearl Manning, of Fruitport, Michigan, were united in marriage in 1907. To them have been born seven children. The first and oldest of these is Caroline Garnett, aged eighteen, born at Whitehall, Michigan, a graduate of the Durand high school, and now the probate registrar of this county. The next child is Christopher, aged seventeen, born in Hart, Michigan, and now attending the Owosso high school. Clifford, the next oldest son, was born at Hickory Corners, Michigan, and is now attending the Owosso schools at the age of thirteen. Maxine, the seven-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Garnett, was born at Brown City, and she also is an attendant of the public schools here in Owosso. John, six years of age, was also born at Brown City, and he is now a member of the first grade of the public schools. William is four years old and was born at Durand. Flora Pearl, the youngest child, PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 307 was born in Owosso, September 14, 1925. Sherman W. F. Garnett, with his wife and seven children, have a comfortable home in Owosso, and this county should be proud, indeed, to claim them as citizens and residents. Mr. Garnett is a member of the Masons, Knights of Pythias, and the Loyal Order of Moose lodges. He is a staunch Republican politically. J. R. Gaymer is the owner and proprietor of one of the finest shoe stores in Owosso. This store is completely equipped with modern and much in demand shoes, Bostonians, Arnolds, and various lines of women's footwear comprising the stock. The store is situated in an enviable location at 106 West Main street, and its patrons are made up of that class of people who want and buy the best. Mr. Gaymer was born in Jackson, Michigan, August 9. 1885, the son of Abraham and Mary (Marshall) Gaymer, both of whom were born in England but early in life removed to the United States and to Jackson, where Mr. Gaymer carried on his chosen vocation of gardening until he was taken by death in 1919, leaving his wife to survive him, she living in Owosso at the present time at the age of seventy-seven. Eighteen years ago J. R. Gaymer and Miss Louise Ott, who was born at Albion, Michigan, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Ott, prominent farmers of Albion, were united in marriage, and to them have been born three children, Dorothy, aged seventeen, was born at Jackson and is now attending Owosso high school; Marshall, aged eight, and Gale, aged four, both born in Owosso and pupils of the public schools of that place. Mr. Gaymer received his education in the Jackson schools, and immediately thereafter he entered the shoe business, in which he has remained practically all of the time since then. He removed to Owosso from Jackson fourteen years ago and became associated with the Payne Shoe Company of that city. In 1919 he bought out the other interests in this company and has been the sole owner since. Through honest policies and fair dealing he has built up a very gratifying and profitable business, making friends with everyone who comes in contact with him through his geniality and enviable personality. He is a popular member of the Elks lodge of Owosso, in which city he and his family reside in their comfortable home at 206 John street. C. A. Gladden, automobile dealer and real estate operator, won success after battling many obstacles. He was born September 3, 1893, on a farm six miles northwest of Owosso, the son of Arthur G. and Louisa (Moore) Gladden, who were born in Shiawassee county. His parents are still living on a farm, his father being at this time sixty-five years old and his mother sixty-three. C. A. Gladden attended the Smith school near his home until he was thirteen years old, and he lived in a log house until he reached that age. Because of the condition of his father's health he was forced to drop his studies when he was yet a boy and instead of pursuing an education he worked for many years in the beet fields near his home. However, he found time to complete a course in 308 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY business college and having thus prepared himself for a mercantile career, he obtained a position as messenger in the Owosso State Savings Bank. Here his abilities were quickly recognized and six years later, when he left the bank, he held the position of assistant cashier. His next venture was in the automobile business, as one of the owners of the Auto Sales Company, whose salesrooms were in the Mathews building. This concern later became the Stanton & Gladden Company. Still later Mr. Gladden purchased his partners' interests and became sole owner of the enterprise. Mr. Gladden has moved his salesrooms to more handsome and commodious quarters in a building on Water street, which he purchased and remodeled. Much of Mr. Gladden's time is devoted to the buying, selling and building of homes in Owosso. He is an ardent supporter of every project to add to the welfare of his city and is a member of various fraternal, social and civic organizations, among which are the several branches of the Masons, the Elks, the Kiwanis club, the Chamber of Commerce and the Owosso Country club. He was married, in 1915, to Hazel E. Curtis, who was born in Canada. They have two children: Charles A., Jr., aged nine years, and Josephine Ann, aged six years. Frederick Harvey Gould was born in Owosso, Shiawassee county, Michigan, October 11, 1857, a son of Judge Amos and Louisa (Peck) Gould, natives of New York state, of Revolutionary ancestry, who came to Owosso in 1842, being among the earliest settlers of this county. Amos Gould had been associated while in New York in the practice of law with William H. Seward, George Rathbun, Theodore Spencer and in rivalry with F. J. Jewett, James R. Lawrence, B. D. Noxon and other leading talent, soon took a leading place among the best lawyers of Michigan. The city of Owosso accepted him as a leader in many ways, electing him as their first mayor, in which position he served two terms. He was elected to the state senate in 1844 and to other positions in Shaiwassee county. A leader in the financial affairs of the city, he invested money in the erection of several brick blocks of stores and had other investments in real estate. Death in 1882 found him the only president of the First National Bank of Owosso since its organization in 1865. He was organizer and moderator of Owosso Union School district, organizer and president of Oak Hill Cemetery Association, and one of the founders of and president of the board of trustees of the Congregational church. He was a large employer of labor in his lumber enterprises and in the conducting of an improved farm of 1248 acres in Caledonia township. F. H. Gould spent his early boyhood years in Owosso and at the early age of twelve years he was sent east to school, first at a preparatory school at Bergen Heights, New Jersey, and then to Chester Military College at Chester, Pennsylvania. At the latter school he recalls with a great deal of pride the incident of having been a captain of one of the two large military companies from the college, which with the militia regiments from all over the N 7% PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 309 United States and the regular army, received the second honor for military form and precision of movements while passing in review before President U. S. Grant,. the Emperor of Brazil and other notables at the opening of the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876. In the fall of 1876 he entered the University of Michigan and graduated from the law department of that institution in 1878. Mr. Gould then occupied the position of assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Owosso for several years. In 1883 he was married to Miss Josephine Fletcher, of Owosso, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Fletcher, pioneers of Owosso. Mr. Fletcher was born in England and came to Owosso with his parents, Daniel Fletcher and wife, when but a young boy and was later an influential citizen. Mrs. Fletcher was born in Ovid, New York, and came to Michigan with her parents in 1835 and to Owosso in 1855. She was of Revolutionary stock and organized the Shiawassee Chapter of the Daughters of the Revolution in 1907. Mr. and Mrs. Gould are the happy parents of four children: Fletcher Amos, now of the engineering faculty of Michigan State College at East Lansing; Frederick Eugene, who is financially interested in and assistant sales manager of the Great Lakes Land Corporation of Detroit, Michigan; Lena Mary, a member of the high school faculty of Battle Creek, Michigan; and Louise Josephine, now Mrs. B. F. Donahue, of Germantown, Pennsylvania. Mr. Gould has served the city as an alderman and as a supervisor several terms. He was one of the organizers and elected first lieutenant and later captain of the first state military company in Owosso, Company G, Third Regiment. Mr. Gould was for many years active in church work and as a member of the board of trustees of the First Congregational church, was made its financial agent and superintendent of construction, including the accounting of subscriptions for, the selection of material, the selection of designs for art glass, lighting fixtures, furniture and pipe organ scheme and the keeping of accounts with all contractors in the building of the field stone church in 1891 and 1892. His early military training having formed for Mr. Gould confirmed habits of regularity in diet and sleep, in work and play, these habits have continued in life to register in the performance of all duties placed upon him. In later life the knowledge acquired through the study of law and engineering has been of benefit in all business transactions. The real estate work, the management of farm property, the platting of land, which with other private interests have taken his time and attention, all receive careful detailed attention. Mr. Gould's continuous residence in the community and long acquaintance with many residents of note, and his knowledge of changes of property in the city have had much to do with his selection as a member of the advisory board in the compilation of this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Gould, through purchase from his mother of the homestead of Amos Gould, his father, and a remodeling of the same in 1893, are now living in the old home at the corner of Washington and Oliver 310 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY streets, Owosso, making a home for themselves and a place of home-coming for their children. Lena Estelle Gregory was born in Owosso, Michigan, the daughter of Henry Burton and Wilhelmina Gaylord (Austin) Gregory. The former was born in, Lee, New York, came to Owosso in 1859, and died September 25, 1883, in Owosso. The latter was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, came to Owosso when only six years of age, and died there on November 4, 1893, her grandparents being among the early settlers in Michigan. Henry Gregory was the senior member of the then well-known firm of Gregory & McHardy, who were located in a large brick building which has since burned down and replaced by the Arthur Ward department store. A business review appearing in the "Valley City Stereoscope" newspaper on Tuesday, May 16, 1876, is of interest: "Gregory & McHardy, a name well known throughout Shiawassee county, are the representatives of one of the most important features in the business interests of Owosso and an enterprise worthy of a foremost position in this review of the city. The above firm was organized in 1868. Mr. Gregory, however, had been identified with the business affairs of the place a number of years previous to that date. The principal features of this enterprise at this season of the year is the sale of agricultural implements. In this line they handle a wide range of articles and machines that have gained an extended popularity with the farming public. The long experience of the proprietors has enabled them to secure a knowledge of the business of the utmost importance to the public, inasmuch as their stock embraces a general line of implements, wagons, buggies, etc. They are also extensive grain dealers, and at the proper season make pork packing an important feature in business matters. They have the offices of the Western Union Telegraph and the American Express companies and their facilities for doing business are not excelled by any. There is no business enterprise more deserving of success or one of more undoubted reliability." Henry Gregory was a great civic worker, ever having the welfare of the city and community at heart, and when he was city clerk during 1865-67, and alderman of the second ward from 1873-74, he was a great organizer and a great believer in advertising, even in his day. Miss Lena Estelle Gregory attended the public schools of Owosso and when a mere child of six showed a great liking and talent for music and at the age of twelve was a pianist, an accompanist on many occasions to several well-known musicians. As she progressed with her studies in music she went to Detroit and for several years studied under the well-known teacher of piano, Julius V. Seyler, and eventually proceeded to New York City and for three strenuous years while teaching pupils she studied under the famous teacher of piano, Dr. William Mason, acquiring perfect knowledge of the "Mason Touch and Technic," which she uses in her profession. She also studied harmony under Harry Roweshelley, the noted composer and organist of the Fifth Avenue Baptist BURT A. HATHAWAY PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 311 church, New York. She was accompanist at the Fifth Avenue studio of Nora Maynard Green, vocal teacher; also an accompanist for Mrs. Jennie King Morrison, concert singer and contralto soloist, at the Church of Divine Paternity, New York. And at many appearances of Mrs. Morrison before the prominent clubs of New York, Miss Gregory accompanied her at the piano. After finishing her studies, she returned to Owosso and opened a studio at her residence, 317 East Oliver street, and has been most successful maintaining a large class of pupils. She also has been organist at the Methodist Episcopal church and Christ Episcopal church of Owosso and the St. Paul's Episcopal church at Saginaw. Lena Estelle Gregory is historian of the Shiawassee Chapter, D. A. R.; was state chairman on the committee for historical research and preservation of records 1916 to 1917, and has been for many years a member of the Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society. She was a member of the historical research committee of Shiawassee chapter, D. A. R., and was active in the work of marking the sites of the first house in Owosso, which was marked June 9, 1921, and the first school June 14, 1921. She was chairman of the log cabin board of Shiawassee Chapter, D. A. R., from October, 1922, to June, 1925, during which period historic relics were collected for the founding of a city museum. This log cabin was the first permanent home in Owosso, built by Judge Elias Comstock in May, 1836, and is now located on West Main and Michigan avenue. Miss Lena Estelle Gregory, like her father, is an active worker for the betterment of the community and a citizen Shiawassee county should be proud to claim. Roscoe C. Hain, Owosso distributor of Chevrolet automobiles, was born August 20, 1891, in Fremont, Michigan. His father, Garrett E. Hain, who was born in Decatur, Michigan, is now living at Burbank, California, having retired from business, and his mother, Mrs. Della (Johnston) Hain, who was born in Pennsylvania, died in 1920. Roscoe C. Hain graduated from high school at Fremont and obtained a degree from the department of electrical engineering of the University of Michigan in 1913. He began his career as an employe of the Bell Telephone Company in Chicago, where he remained a short while. He, then returned to Fremont, where he engaged in the hardware business and with his father conducted the Ford automobile agency until 1924. In that year he assumed ownership of the Chevrolet Sales and Service Garage, 300 East Main street, Owosso. Mr. Hain's business is a steady, dependable one, and his pleasant manner of meeting the public and his rigid honesty and fairness have made him many friends. In 1917 he married Eva Stevenson, who was born in Canada. They have one son, John Garrett Hain, who was born in Fremont and is now four years old. Mr. Hain is a member of the Masonic lodge at Fremont and the Shrine and Consistory of that order at Grand Rapids, besides belonging to a number of local clubs and organizations. 312 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY Arthur J. Hanchett has been the sheriff of Shiawassee county for the past three years, during which time he has served the people faithfully and well. During the time following his early education and correspondence business course, he has acted, in addition to his activities in farming in this county, as treasurer of his township for two years, as a member of the county canvassing board for five years, supervisor of the township for four years, and chairman of the board for one year. It is now apparent to the people of Shiawassee county that they have in Mr. Hanchett a public officer who will act for the best interests of the people and will put their welfare above and before any thoughts of personal gain. His father, Myron Hanchett, came to this county when it was necessary for him to cut his own road in order to gain access to the land which he desired. His father came here from Rochester, New York, his birthplace, and after a useful life of farming and serving the people in the capacity of supervisor and school director, he was taken by death in February, 1918. Mr. Hanchett's mother was Ellen Gilmore, of Oakland county, before her marriage to Myron Hanchett. She is now living at the old home in Hazelton township, where Arthur J. Hanchett, the subject of this memoir, was born on the third day of October, 1884. During his years of farming and serving as a public officer, Arthur J. Hanchett has shared his worries and successes with his wife, who was Ethel Downey, a native of Oakland county, the daughter of Ed and Martha (Aus-. tin) Downey, the former of whom was long a respected and wellliked farmer in that county. Mrs. Downey is now living at the age of seventy-four, but her husband was called beyond a few years ago. To Mr. and Mrs. Hanchett have been born two children: Zelma, aged eighteen, who is now attending high school in Corunna; and Harold, aged sixteen, who is now taking a business course at the Owosso Business College. Both children were born on the farm which has housed the three generations, in Hazelton township, Shiawassee county. Arthur J. Hanchett is a member of the Farmers' club, Elks, and Masons, in all of which he is well liked and respected, and at present is chairman of the Republican county committee. S. Jay Hart was born at Cleveland, Ohio, March 26, 1879, the son of Jay A. and Jennie (Hurlburt) Hart, the former of whom was born at East Liverpool, Ohio, and was a traveling salesman by occupation until the time of his death in 1900, leaving his wife, whose place of nativity was Freedom, Ohio, to survive him, she living in Owosso now with her son, the subject of this brief memoir. The wife of S. Jay Hart was Miss Florence J. Hartwell, the daughter of George and Eva Hartwell, the former of whom was a very prominent business man of Owosso until the time of his death on November 8, 1923. Mrs. Hartwell is living now at the age of sixty-two, making her home in Owosso, where she has a host of friends who admire her for her generous and kindly nature, and who, through the years that her husband was in the shoe busi PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 313 ness in that city, shared her sorrows and her joys. To Mr. and Mrs. S. Jay Hart one son, Harry, aged thirteen, was born, the city of his nativity being Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is now attending school in Owosso.and is one of the most popular youngsters in that city. Mr. Hart attended the Cleveland, Ohio, and Mt. Pleasant, Michigan schools. He was engaged in business in Milwaukee until 1912, when he and Mr. Hartwell, the father of Mrs. Hart, became associated in the shoe business in Owosso. Upon the death of Mr. Hartwell, Mr. Hart took over the business and is now the sole owner and proprietor. His store is located at 213 North Washington street, in an admirable location. Here Mr. Hart has one of the finest and most completely equipped stores in this part of the state. He deals exclusively in women's footwear, specializing in the finest makes which are in demand by women of Owosso and Shiawassee county. Mr. Hart always has been recognized for his square dealing and upright and honest transactions and this, coupled with his pleasing nature and genial character, has made him a prominent and popular business man in Shiawassee county, where he is a member of the Elks and a booster for the entire county. Fred Himburg was born in Detroit, Michigan, July 4, 1890, and was the son of John and Minnie (Pierow) Himburg. John Himburg was employed in the finishing department of the Woodward Furniture Company and died in February, 1925, at the ripe old age of seventy-five years. Fred Himburg was united in marriage to Lucy Phillips and to this happy union was born a son, William, now four years of age. The wife's parents are now living in Owosso. Fred Himburg attended the public schools of Owosso and at the age of fifteen he went to work for the Robbins Table Manufacturing Company, remaining there for two years, when he worked for the Sunnyside Greenhouse for one year, after which he went on a farm in Shiawassee county for about a year. Immediately following this he removed to Detroit for one and one-half years, where he worked in the Ford plants, after which he returned to Owosso and went to work for the Owosso Gas and Light Company as gasfitter, remaining with them for nine years. When the war broke out he entered the Thirty-sixth Coast Artillery, and was just about to sail overseas when the armistice was signed. He was honorably discharged December 17, 1918. On returning to Owosso, he again took up his duties with the Owosso Gas Company for a short time, after which he went to work for the Steere Engineering Company, doing electric welding. After this for about six months he was in the employ of the John R. Kelly Company, then with Walter B. Hollis he formed a partnership and started a plumbing shop on North Elm street, later moving to 814 West Main street, where they were in business for three years when Mr. Fletcher bought out the share of the business belonging to Walter B. Hollis, the two new partners later buying a new building at 904 West Main street, where they now carry on their 314 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY business. Here they have a complete and up-to-date shop, thoroughly equipped. Mr. Himburg is a member of the Masons and the Eagles. D. S. Hooker was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, December 1, 1896, the son of Charles E. Hooker, who is now a physician practicing in Grand Rapids, and Lena (Pratt) Hooker, who is a native of New York state and now living in Grand Rapids at the family home at the age of fifty. D. S. Hooker obtained his education at the schools of Grand Rapids and then entered the employ of the Chevrolet Motor Company. After a short service with them, he went into the Flint Spring Water Ice Company, until the United States entered the war, when he entered the service as a member of the Hospital Corps, Unit Q, with which he spent eleven months overseas until he was honorably discharged in 1919. In April, 1925, Mr. Hooker came to Shiawassee county and Owosso as manager, secretary and treasurer of the Owosso Ice and Fuel Company. This is an old and well-known company of Owosso, having been established over twenty-five years ago by Samuel Willis. In 1925 this company was purchased by R. K. Homer, of Flint, who is now the president, and George C. Willson, of Flint, now the vice-president. It handles ice, fuel and wood, and has a large patronage throughout Owosso and the surrounding country. They are now planning to erect a new plant which will contain a sixtyton ice manufacturing machine, on the corner of Hickory and Jerome streets. This plant will insure the people of Owosso the finest service of its kind in this part of the state, and will rival the plants of the larger cities in modern appliances and facilities for the manufacture of ice. D. S. Hooker and Lillian Myers, of Grand Blanc, were united in marriage and are now making their home in Owosso. Mrs. Hooker is the daughter of Charles E. and Elizabeth Myers, who are prominent residents of Grand Blanc, near to which town they have a fine farm. Mr. Hooker's grandfather was Justice Frank A. Hooker, formerly on the supreme court bench of Michigan, where he will long be remembered as one of the finest jurists this state has ever had. D. S. Hooker is a member of the Rotary club and American Legion of Owosso, where he has a host of friends notwithstanding the comparatively short time that he has made his residence here. C. F. Jeffords owns and conducts one of the most up-to-date and sanitary meat markets in Owosso. He is the son of Martin and Charlotte (Taber) Jeffords, the latter of whom is now living at Carson City, Michigan, the birthplace of C. F. Jeffords. Both of his parents were born in New York state, but in the early eighties migrated to Michigan, where, in 1889, the subject of this memoir was born. Martin Jeffords died in 1903 after carrying on a successful meat business during his life. After coming to Owosso to make his home twelve years ago, C. F. Jeffords entered the employ of E. L. Carr, who conducted a meat market in that city. He remained with Mr. Carr for the space of seven years and then opened PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 315 his present business at 111 East Main street, Owosso. Here he has made hundreds of friends and is looked upon as one of the most popular business men of the city. This popularity was manifested in a material way when, in 1924, he was made Past Master of the Masonic lodge. Mr. Jeffords and Miss Wilda Reynolds were united in marriage and are the parents of two fine children: Bernice, aged twelve, and a native of Carson City, Michigan; and Betty, aged four, born in Owosso. H. H. Jeffords is the owner and proprietor of the meat market at 123 West Main street in Owosso which bears his name. He has been in the meat business in Owosso for fifteen years associated in the Barrie market of that city. Before coming to Owosso, Mr. Jeffords was in the meat business in Carson City, Michigan, and before that at Hubbardston, Michigan, where, on December 12, 1879, he was born. His father, Martin J. Jeffords, who was born in Hamburg, Michigan, successfully carried on a meat business during his life at Hubbardston, and later at Carson City, until he was called beyond, February 7, 1903. The mother of H. H. Jeffords, who was Miss Charlotte Tabor, of Hubbardston, before marriage, is now residing at Carson City at the age of sixty-eight. Mr. Jeffords and Mildred Gilbert, who was born in Fulton Center, Gratiot county, Michigan, the daughter of Francis and Isabelle Gilbert, were united in marriage in 1909 and are now residing at the family home at Owosso. Mr. Jeffords is extremely well liked in Shiawassee county, and is known for his integrity and honesty. During the one year in which he has been operating his own market he has built up a very gratifying and profitable trade. He is a member of the Masonic lodge of Owosso, where he is very popular. Daniel A. Jones is one of the best known real estate and insurance men of Shiawassee county. He was born in Flint, August 28, 1875, the son of John R. and Sarah A. (Vincent) Jones, the former of whom was born in New Jersey state and was a well-known manufacturer of potash in Durand from 1887 to 1890. His death occurred in October, 1906. In his later years he was also engaged in the farming business and mercantile trade of meats. The mother of Daniel A. Jones is now living in Durand at the grand old age of eighty-one, at her family home at 210 Mercer street. D. A. Jones and Miss Flora B. Wray, of Duffield, Michigan, were united in marriage December 29, 1896, she being the daughter of William B. and Rose (Burton) Wray, well-known farmers of Swartz Creek. Mr. and Mrs. Jones are the parents of nine children: Kenneth D., who is an auditor living in Utica, New York; Warren W., who is a draftsman for the Western Gas Construction Company of Fort Wayne, Indiana; Helen May, who is a clerk at the First Commercial and Savings Bank of Durand; Hazel, who is a clerk in Fort Wayne, Indiana; Margaret, who is a stenographer at the Walker Candy Company of Owosso; and Edward R., Alice, Flobell and Dorothy, all of whom are now at 316 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY tending school in Durand. Daniel A. Jones attended and graduated from the Durand high school and then went to work on a farm for ten years. After this he went on the road for the Vermont Farm Machinery Company as a salesman of United States cream separators, being thus occupied until he was made special confidential traveler by the same concern. After remaining with this company for ten years, Mr. Jones became associated with the Thomas Manufacturing Company of Springfield, Ohio, remaining with them for three years, when his health gave out, and he was compelled to give up traveling. It was at this time that he returned to Durand in 1916 and entered the automobile insurance business, to which he soon added real estate. Mr. Jones has built his original small business into one of the finest in the county, throughout which he is known for his fairness and honesty. His clientele is large and extends to every section of the county and this part of the state. D. A. Jones is a popular member of the Masons of Durand, and is an attendant and contributor of the Methodist church. He has a host of friends in Durand and Shiawassee county, who showed their amity in a substantial way when they chose him justice of the peace and village assessor, both of which positions he has held in the past. W. E. King was born in Genoa township, Livingston county, January 18, 1892, the son of William and Mary (Beattie) King, the former of whom was born in Bennington township, Shiawassee county, where he is now living, retired from active farming, having spent many years following that vocation, and having made hundreds of friends and admirers through his pleasing personality and geniality. Mrs. King, the mother of the subject of this memoir, was born in Livingston county also, but is now residing in Shiawassee county at the age of sixty, she, too, having a host of close friends and well-wishers. W. E. King attended the Shiawassee county schools, and then entered the elevator business, remaining in that business in this county since. For seven years he was interested in the elevator at Byron, where he made his home, but six years ago he removed to Laingsburg, where he is now the manager of the Farmers' Elevator Company of that place. Mr. King and Miss Nina Mae Keyes, who was born at Gaines, Genesee county, Michigan, the daughter of Caton and Mae Keyes. prominent farmers of that locality, were united in marriage in 1912, and are the parents of a fine little daughter, Dorothy Mae, aged ten, who is now attending the Laingsburg schools. Mr. King is one of the most enterprising young men in this county. He is the president and one of the organizers of the Laingsburg Commercial club, and also the president of that village. He is known and exceptionally well liked all over the county, and has done more for the welfare and development of the county, perhaps, than any other young man in the community. He is a member of the Masons, Odd Fellows, Star Lodge and Rebekah Lodge, in all of which he enjoys a popularity and friendship surpassed by few. PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 317 E. W. Lewis, although only a recent arrival in the business life of Corunna, has one of the largest number of friends and patrons in that city. Corunna and Shiawassee county are not unknown to him, however, for he was born in Owosso, August 26, 1888. He is the son of Frank H. and Rosie (Josenhans) Lewis, both of whom are also natives of Owosso. They are now living at Fullerton, California, where Mr. Lewis, although sixty-five years of age, is actively practicing in his chosen profession of engineering. E. W. Lewis' wife, who was Edna Lindsey, is a native of Corunna, the daughter of William and Eliza Lindsey. She was less fortunate than her husband, for both of her parents are dead, her father dying after a useful and successful life in the cement and well contracting business. E. W. Lewis attended the county and Owosso schools, after which he worked in Owosso for a short time for the Owosso Hardware Company. After this he entered the employ of the Pierce & Jerow Company, going from there into the Corunna Hardware Company, where he worked for five years. During the seventeen years preceding his coming to Corunna, he was in business in Bay City for eight years with the Bay City Hardware Company and for nine years as assistant manager of the Hubbell Auto Sales Company. On the twenty-sixth of August, 1925, he came to Corunna, where he bought out Wm. H. Rust's Ford Sales and Service Company. Besides the sales department, he also maintains an up-to-date garage and repair shop, and a complete line of tools, tires and accessories. E. W. Lewis is a member of the Elks of Owosso, Bay City Commandery No. 26, Corunna Masons. He makes his home in Corunna, where he and his wife and their daughter, Mary Jane, aged five, have a host of friends and where Mr. Lewis is destined to go far in a business way. George V. Long, city engineer of Owosso, has held many important civil engineering positions in various parts of the United States. He was born April 22, 1892, in Spring Mills, Pennsylvania, the son of George H. and Blanche (Bitner) Long. His father, who is now fifty-eight years old, is a leading furniture and hardware dealer at Newark, Ohio. George V. Long attended the elementary schools in Spring Mills, Pennsylvania, and in Steubenville, Ohio. After graduating from high school at Newark, Ohio, he took a course in the civil engineering department of Ohio State University, where he graduated in 1916. He immediately entered upon what has been a brilliant career. His first position after leaving college was that of assistant engineer in the highway department of Elkhart county, Indiana. In 1917 he was construction engineer for the Union Pacific railroad at Bitter Creek, Wyoming. In 1918, after the United States had entered the World war, he enlisted in the army and was assigned to construction work at the Edgewood, Maryland, arsenal, and was honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant in December of that year. During 1919 he was placed in charge of the engineering of the building of a new plant for the Columbus (Ohio) Railway, Power and 318 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY Light Company, and in 1920 he held the post of engineer with the Akron, Ohio, city planning department. In 1921 he was employed in state highway construction near Chardon, Ohio, and in 1922 he was made assistant to the city engineer of Aurora, Illinois. In June, 1923, he accepted his present position, that of city engineer of Owosso. Mr. Long is a registered and licensed civil engineer of the state of Michigan and is regarded as a man of much ability in his profession. He married, in 1920, Lena Tannreuther, of Columbus, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Long are members of the Owosso Congregational church. Mr. Long is a member of the Blue Lodge and Chapter of the Masons. Milton Mikan was born in Vernon township, April 8, 1881, the son of Verzel and Mary (Berka) Mikan, both of whom were born in Bohemia, but early in life migrated to the United States, where they made their home in Vernon, Shiawassee county, and where the father was called beyond in 1900 at the age of sixty-five and where the mother is now living. Mr. Mikan married an Owosso girl, who was Miss Lena Cook, in November, 1912. Mr. Mikan has one son, Verzel, aged eighteen, from a former marriage, who is now engaged in the real estate business in Detroit. Milton and Lena (Cook) Mikan are the parents of two popular students at the Durand public schools, Phyllis, aged twelve, and John, aged nine. The parents of Mrs. Mikan were well known residents of Owosso, where Mr. Cook was in the carpenter contracting business until the time of his death. Milton Mikanr attended the public schools until about eighteen years of age, when his father was taken by death, and then was engaged for seven years in farming on the family farm. At this time he decided to leave the farm and enter the drain and sewer contracting business which he is now engaged in but not actively since his brother, Victor Mikan, is the active manager. Milton Mikan has two brothers and three sisters beside Victor. They are John, who is now employed by the Oregon Short Line railroad; Frank, who is farming two miles east of Durand; Ella, who is now living in Durand; Tilly, who is now Mrs. Wilmuth Allen, of Detroit; and Blanche, who is now Mrs. M. P. Hunt, of Lansing, Michigan. All of the sons and daughters are well known and popular citizens of Shiawassee county, where they received their early education and spent their younger days. In October, 1925, Milton and Victor Mikan entered the wholesale and retail oil business, handling the Sun Oil products and all kinds of automobile accessories at their up-to-date and well-equipped station on East Main street. Milton Mikan is very popular in his community and is known for his integrity and generosity in furthering any enterprise which is beneficial to the county and city of his nativity and residence. Clare L. Miller was born in Clinton county, September 25, 1888, the son of Louis J. and Emma L. (Emmens) Miller. His father was a lumberman by vocation, and is now retired and living in Owosso at the home of his son, Clare L. Miller. Mr. Miller's PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 319 mother is now sixty-one years of age and living at Howell, Michigan. She is a native of New York state. Clare L. Miller attended school at St. John's, Michigan. In 1900, after he had finished his school work, he served an apprenticeship and became a machinist and toolmaker until 1918. Part of this span of seventeen years he worked in Detroit, where he was factory and sales manager of the Spencer-Smith Machine Company at Howell, the largest manufacturers of pistons in the United States. In Detroit he was also employed by the E. M. F. Company, which is now the Studebaker corporation. The first twelve cars that E. M. F. built were built under the supervision of Mr. Miller. He made the first babbit lined bronze shell bearings, which now enjoy a universal use on automobiles. On the twenty-ninth day of January, 1919, Clare L. Miller moved to Owosso and opened his present business. It was at this time that Mr. Miller was married to Ethel M. (Golden) a Petoskey girl who had lost her father when she was a baby. Her mother died in 1915 and after this Mrs. Miller was brought up by her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry J. Sweet, pioneers of Livingston county. One babe was born to Mr. and Mrs. Miller, but she passed away, November 27, 1922. Shortly after this, on December 5, 1922, Mrs. Miller also died. In spite of this great misfortune Mr. Miller has carried on his business successfully. He owns and operates a creamery bearing his name, on West Main street. Here he manufactures butter and carries on a wholesale and retail trade in eggs and all farm products. During the war Mr. Miller drew a captain's pay, but he was unable to get a commission because of physical disabilities. He worked out of Detroit as production supervisor during this time. He is a member of the Masons and the American Legion. Leon F. Miner, the junior member of the law firm of Miner & Miner, was born September 26, 1886, at Corunna, Michigan, being the son of Selden S. and Effie V. (Jones) Miner. He attended the public schools in Owosso, later taking his preparatory work for two years in the Michigan Agricultural College and in 1909 was graduated from the University of Michigan, with the degree of A. B. In 1911 Mr. Miner was graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan with high honors, receiving his degree of Juris Doctor. After graduation he took up the practice of law in Owosso and in 1912 was appointed city attorney of the city of Owosso, which position he held, giving admirable and efficient service, until 1918, when he resigned to answer his country's call for soldiers. Because of his executive ability Mr. Miner was commissioned first lieutenant in the Field Artillery at Camp Zachary Taylor, Kentucky. After the cessation of hostilities, he returned to Owosso, where he again took up the practice of law, being then associated with his father, Selden S. Miner, under the firm name of Miner & Miner. In 1920 Mr. Miner was elected prosecuting attorney, which position he is now filling to the satisfaction of the people of Shiawassee county. Leon F. Miner and Helen E. 320 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY Woodworth, of Clinton county, Michigan, were united in marriage in 1912, and now are the parents of two children, James Selden and Phyllis H., aged twelve and nine, respectively. Mr. Miner is Past Master of Owosso Lodge, F. & A. M., No. 81; a member of the Owosso Chapter and of Corunna Council and Owosso Commandery and the Elf Kharufeh Mystic Shrine, and also the Owosso Lodge of Elks. Mr. Miner is also a charter member of the Kiwanis club of Owosso, a charter member of the Patterson-Dawson Post of the American Legion. He is one of the younger members of the Shiawassee county bar and should go far up the ladder in his chosen profession of law. The senior member of the firm of Miner & Miner, his father, Selden S. Miner, was born in Livingston county, June 5, 1854, attending the public schools of that county and afterwards taking up the study of law at the University of Michigan. At first he located in Corunna and afterwards moved to Owosso. For four years Selden S. Miner was prosecuting attorney of Shiawassee county and on January 1, 1906, he became circuit judge of the Thirty-sixth Judicial Circuit, composed of Shiawassee and Livingston counties, which position he held for twelve years, retiring at that time and becoming associated with his son, Leon F. Miner. He is one of the oldest and most respected members of the bar of this state. Selden S. Miner had five children in his family, the oldest being Willman Miner, who was a graduate of the Ferris Institute at Big Rapids and is now a contractor and builder in Detroit; Harold E. Miner, the second son, was graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and now holds the commission of major in the regular army, stationed at Schofield Barracks, Hawaiian Island. The oldest daughter, Maude, died in 1919, at the Island of Borneo, where she lived with her husband, Arthur C. Green, formerly of Corunna. The youngest daughter, Virginia, was a graduate of the Owosso city schools, later attending Smith College in Massachusetts and is now married to Dr. Ward W. Harryman, a neurologist of Detroit, Michigan. Mr. Harryman is a graduate of the University of Michigan, from both the literary and medical departments. Selden S. Miner lives at 318 West Oliver street, Owosso, and Leon F. Miner lives at 809 West Oliver street, Owosso; the firm of Miner & Miner have offices in suite 408-10 Miner building, Owosso. James Mulhall, who, as head of the Mulhall-Erb Company, has built up a huge business in lumber, fuel and builders' supplies in Owosso, was born in Albany, New York. His father, Henry Mulhall, a pioneer lumberman, died in 1905 at the age of seventy-five years. His mother, Mrs. Ellen (Burns) Mulhall, died in 1909. James Mulhall received his academic education in Bay City. Following in his father's footsteps, he entered the lumber industry and, in 1906, he had amassed sufficient capital to help found the Michelson-Mulhall Company. In 1907, with L. G. Erb, of Royal Oak, Michigan, he established the Mulhall-Erb Company of Owosso. Mr. Mulhall married Lucy Kilmurray, who was born in Imlay City, PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 321 Michigan. They have two children: James H., who is now eighteen years old and a student in high school, and Joseph M., aged twenty, who was born in Grayling, Michigan, and is now attending Notre Dame University. The younger son, James H., was born in Owosso. The Mulhall-Erb Company, of which Mr. Mulhall is president and general manager,, has extensive yards on Elm street, Owosso. Mr. Mulhall is a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Elks and the Detroit Athletic club. George North is one of the partners in the firm of North & Benson. This firm is one of the well-equipped and efficiently run plumbing businesses in the city of Owosso. George North is the son of George and Catherine (Grey) North, the former of whom was a native of England, but who early in life felt the call of the United States, where he migrated to Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. In this country he followed a blacksmith's vocation until 1890, when he was taken by death. Mrs. Catherine (Gray) North was a native of Scotland, but she, too, was attracted to this country, and it was here that she married George North, and, when she and her husband were living in Williamsville, New York, the subject of this memoir first saw the light of day on the twentyseventh day of February, 1871. Twenty-four years after the birth of George North his beloved mother was called beyond. George North and Dora (Van Strander) were united in marriage in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. She is a native of Howell, Michigan, where she also received her early education. They are the parents of four children: Richard W., who was born at Port Huron, is now following his father's vocation at Howell, Michigan; Henrietta, who is now Mrs. Craig, resides at Detroit, as do her two sisters, Jeanette and Ruby, now Mrs. Albert Walker and Mrs. Lewis McWilliams, respectively. George North is one of the respected members of the Masons and Maccabees. Nine years ago Mr. North and DeForrest Benson formed the partnership which now bears their names. DeForrest Benson was born at Grayling, Michigan, July 6, 1886, the son of L. S. and Mary E. (Renshaw) Benson. L. S. Benson was born in New York state, but early in life moved to Michigan, where he was a milliner until the time of his death in 1913. Mary E. (Renshaw) Benson is a native of Rochester, Michigan, and is now residing in Shiawassee county. This home is presided over by Nellie E. (Moore) Benson, of Union City, Michigan, who was united in marriage to DeForrest Benson in 1910. To them have been born three children, Mary Elizabeth, thirteen; Barbara Florence, three; and Lewis David, who is only one year old. The two oldest children were born at Union City, Michigan, but the baby first saw the light of day in Owosso. DeForrest Benson came to Owosso to make his home in 1897. In Owosso he has made a host of friends and is one of the most popular members of the Masons and the Knights of Pythias. 322 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY F. W. O'Brien is the owner and proprietor of the Laingsburg Press, which is a weekly newspaper of that village. Since 1921, when Mr. O'Brien established this paper and business, his wife, who assists him, and he have built up a very flourishing and profitable business. Since graduating from Ferris Institute, Mr. O'Brien has been in the printing business, which he understands thoroughly. He was born in Cedar Springs, Kent county, Michigan, September 4, 1894, the son of F. W. and Ora Elizabeth (Reighley) O'Brien, the former of whom was born at Ionia and is now living at Coral at the age of fifty-six, operating a printing business and actively carrying on a campaign for the Michigan Anti-Saloon League, in which he is deeply interested. Mr. O'Brien's mother, who was born at Newton, Kansas, was called beyond in 1920 at the age of forty-nine, leaving hundreds of close friends and admirers to mourn her passing. Mr. and Mrs. O'Brien, who was Miss Alice Hucklebeury, of Sand Lake, Michigan, the daughter of William and Carrie Hucklebeury, prominent farmers of that locality, are two of the most prominent and popular young members of the residents of Laingsburg. They have three children: Frederick, aged seven; Elizabeth, aged six; and Katherine, aged four, all of whom are now attending the Laingsburg schools. Mr. O'Brien is a member of the I. O. O. F., Masonic Lodge F. and A M., Michigan Press Association, and the National Editorial Association. He is known for his pleasing personality and honest business policies, and the two combined have made for him many friends throughout the county. William Ormsby is exceptionally well fitted for the position of manager of the Lincoln and Strand theaters of Owosso, which he has held since coming to Owosso in 1918. Just prior to his arrival in this city, he was engaged in selling films for the Mutual Film Company, and in this position he learned the moving picture business thoroughly. He, himself, was on the stage for many years, being at various times with the California Opera Company, the Boston Opera Company, the National Opera Company, and with various New York musical comedy successes. He had been engaged in managing and operating several amusement enterprises before, sometimes for other people but usually in one of his own theaters. After spending five years on the stage as a member of the Aborne Opera Company, he was enbaged by Allardt Brothers, who at that time owned eighteen vaudeville houses, as manager. Mr. Ormsby graduated from Woodland College at Independence, Missouri, and for a number of years owned and operated a photograph business in Kansas City, Mo. He then studied voice culture and sang in several church choirs both in Kansas City and in Chicago at the Church of the Ascension. It was shortly after this that his musical ability became better known and he went on the stage. In the course of his travels, while performing before the footlights, he has visited every city and town of any consequence in the United States, Canada and Mexico. It is unnecessary to say that he has PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 323 learned much on these travels, both of life and; of the wants of the theater-going public. Owosso is lucky indeed to have such a man in a position to choose their very necessary amusement features for them. William Ormsby was born in South East, Missouri, near St. Louis, in 1865, the son of C. K. and Elizabeth (Sawyer) Ormsby. His father was a native of Alabama and was a contractor by profession. His mother was also from the south, being born at Louisville, Kentucky, where, in 1915, she was taken by death, preceding her husband by five years. Mr. Ormsby was married to Celeste E. Morrow, of New York City, the daughter of a very prominent musician of our country's metropolis. It was his great misfortune to have her taken from him by death in 1913. Mr. Ormsby is an exceptionally well-liked member of the Elks and the Metropolitan club. Allen L. Orser has, with the help of his wife, developed one of the best businesses in Owosso. A few years ago he started in a very small way and through perseverence and good business principles he has now a business which inventories several thousand dollars for equipment alone, and has purchased the two-story brick building where he is now located, remodeling it to suit the needs of a modern printing and office outfitting establishment. He now employs six persons and receives contracts for printing from all over this section of the state. Beside his printing business he has recently installed a small office supply line. Mr. Orser was born in Shepherd, Michigan, July 16, 1887, the son of E. W. and Estelle (Austin) Orser, both of whom were born in Michigan, the former a native of Ludington, and the latter of Shepherd. Mr. Orser's father is a carpenter and builder by profession, and although sixty-six years of age, is yet active in his trade. Mrs. Orser, who before marriage was Edith Royce, of Morris, Michigan, has not been so fortunate as her husband, for both of her parents, who were L. P. and Louise Royce, have been called beyond. Mr. and Mrs. Orser are the parents of two children: Louise, aged thirteen, and James, aged four, both of whom are now students at the Owosso public schools. Mr. Orser attended the schools of Shepherd, Michigan, for his early education, and immediately entered the printing business upon the completion of his studies. He has always been in the printing business since that time, and the years and his own great interest have made him exceptionally well qualified to keep up to the standard in that line of work, as his evergrowing volume of work mutely testifies. Mr. Orser makes his home in Owosso, and is one of the popular members of the First Methodist Episcopal church, Eagles and Kiwanis club of that city. A. E. Osmer, a leading merchant and business man of Owosso, was born in Stanley Corners, New York, August 16, 1873. He was the son of George Osmer, a farmer, who died in 1921, and Mrs. Eliza (Page) Osmer, who died in 1918. Both parents were born in England. When he was seven years old Mr. and Mrs. George Osmer brought him to a farm two miles north of Owosso. He at 324 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY tended the Carson school and when he had finished his studies he spent six years with E. F. Dudley. Mr. Osmer established his present business enterprise, which embraces a large grocery store and butcher shop, in 1907. He has become one of the city's most substantial citizens, and in addition to holding an interest in the Owosso Merchandise Company, he operates four branch grocery stores, one in Ashley, one in Ithaca, one in Middleton, and one in Pompeii. Mr. Osmer in 1898 married Mamie B. Shanafelt, who was born in Ohio. They have three children: Kenneth, aged twenty-one, who is manager of the office of the Heckman Biscuit Company; Emily, aged eighteen, a student in high school; and Frederick, aged sixteen, who is attending high school. All were born in Owosso. Mr. Osmer is a member of the Masons and various other civic and fraternal organizations. George E. Pardee, former prosecuting attorney of Schoolcraft county, is one of the leading members of the Shiawassee county bar and a respected resident of Owosso. He was born May 1, 1867, in Livingston county, Michigan, where his father, Gilbert B. Pardee, who was born in that county, has a farm. His mother, Mrs. Prudence Emeline (McDowall) Pardee, who was also born in Livingston county, died on March 21, 1890. George E. Pardee is a graduate of the Howell, Michigan, high school and of the University of Michigan School of Law. When he was graduated from the university in 1892 he was at once admitted to practice. He opened an office at Manistique, on the Upper Peninsula, where he had an extensive practice and was elected to the office of prosecuting attorney. After eight years in Schoolcraft county he, in the year 1900, came to Owosso, where he has built up a large and lucrative practice. Mr. Pardee married Bertha A. Winkel, who came to the United States from her native land, Prussia, when she was fourteen years old. Mr. Pardee's offices are in the Matthews building. He is a member of both the Masons and Odd Fellows. Millis Vincent Parshall was born November 11, 1896, the son of Millis Lincoln and Delphine (Judd) Parshall, the former of whom is now living at Chesaning, Michigan, at which place he owns a milling business and is the president of a bank, and with his wife they are among the best known and respected families of Chesaning. M. V. Parshall, the subject of this memoir, attended the grade and high schools of Chesaning, and then took up his studies at the University of Michigan, from which he graduated in 1918 with an engineering degree. Immediately after his graduation, he entered the service as a student at the United States Naval Training Station at Hoboken, New Jersey, where he received the commission of ensign. However, the armistice cut short any dreams that Mr. Parshall had about getting overseas, and so he returned to Michigan and entered the employ of the General Motor Truck Company in the engineering department at Pontiac. After remaining in this work for one and a half years he removed to Utah to help in a flour mill, and it was during his two years' so PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 325 journ in the west that he married Ruth Gregory, who was the daughter of Edwin W. and Mary Gregory, her father being a prominent architect of Detroit. After leaving the west, Mr. Parshall came to Chesaning and worked for his father in the milling business. In 1924 he took the place of his brother, D. I. Parshall, of the Parshall Milling Company of Corunna, due to his removal to South Bend, Indiana. His brother, whose name is Lynn I. Parshall, and D. I. Parshall had established and operated the milling concern before the advent of M. V. Parshall to Corunna, and because of the business ability and executive fitness of the latter, Lynn I. Parshall thought it wise to take his brother in to help him with the ever-increasing volume of business which is coming in. The two brothers are among the most prominent and wellliked young business men in the county and are destined to become even more prominent in the years to come. Millis Vincent Parshall has a comfortable home in Corunna, and it is here that his two children, Millis, Jr., aged four, and David, aged two, hold full sway. Mr. Parshall is a popular member of the Masons. Ethel May Putnam Patten, the daughter of William H. and Josephine (Delano) Putnam, was born in Durand and has lived there all her life. William H. Putnam, the father, was born in Ovid township, Clinton county, Michigan, and was a descendant of Israel Putnam, who was a Revolutionary soldier. Josephine, the mother, is the eighth generation of Delano, descendant of Dr. Thomas and Mary Alden. Mary was the daughter of John Alden and Priscilla (Mullinis) who came over in the "Mayflower" in 1620. Dr. Thomas was the son of Phillip Delano, who originally came from Flanders, France, and was the founder of the Delano family in America. William Putnam, the father of this review, came to Vernon township in 1867 and engaged with James Jones, who was then building a sawmill at the village of Vernon for the manufacture of hardwood lumber in its various forms to be used in furniture and carriage works. Here he remained for two years and then went to Muskegon, where he was engaged in a similar business for about one year, and then returned to Vernon. The mill property there having changed hands, he worked for the new proprietor a couple of years, then engaged with James C. Brand as foreman in charge of his then quite extensive business in hardwood lumber, staves, etc., where he remained for several years, in what was then known as Vernon Center. Mindful of the need of a postoffice he, through the influence of Hon. George H. Durand, at that time a member of Congress, succeeded in having a postoffice established at Vernon Center and suggested to the committee that the name be changed to Durand in honor of the Hon. George H. Durand, of Flint. In the month of May, 1876, Mr. Putnam received his commission from Marshall Jewell, postmaster general under U. S. Grant. And on June 19 following he opened up the new postoffice. Mr. Putnam was again commissioned postmaster at Durand in 1885 under Grover Cleveland, taking 326 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY charge of the office June 6, and continued in that position until June 1, 1889. Mr. Putnam turned his attention to the securing of a railway station on the Detroit & Milwaukee railway. His efforts were rewarded by the company making Durand a flag station. In the year 1877 Mr. Putnam engaged in the hardware business with Mr. Child under the firm name of Child & Putnam, doing business for two years, when Mr. Child retired and Mr. Putnam took in his brother-in-law, E. H. Delano, until 1882, when Mr. Delano sold his interest to Mr. Putnam, who continued the business until 1887. William H. Putnam married, on August 13, 1872, Josephine M. Delano, who was born in Sodus Center, Wayne county, New York, on October 8, 1848, coming to Michigan with her parents when about six years old. To this union was born a son, Home Delano, in 1874, and a daughter, Ethel May, in 1878. Home Delano passed away on April 13, 1920, having been a mechanical draftsman by profession. William Putnam, the father, passed away May 19, 1910, but the mother, Mrs. Josephine (Delano) Putnam, is still living at 307 Saginaw street, Durand. Mrs. Ethel May (Putnam) Patten, the subject of this review, was educated in the public schools, graduating from high school in 1895, and since has been interested in organizing different social and welfare activities in Durand. She is a Past Matron of the Durand Chapter, Eastern Star, No. 244; is Past President of the King's Daughters, and was a member of the county board of the King's Daughters for several years; and for two terms was president of the Durand Woman's club. For the past three terms she has been president of the Ladies' Afternoon Social club, and helped organize and was first president of the Shiawassee County Federation of Women's Clubs. She was married to Charles Edward Patten, a native of Vermont, on February 1, 1913. Seth Q. Pulver, a leading member of the Shiawassee county bar, is a former city attorney of Owosso and a former prosecuting attorney of Shiawassee county, and a veteran aviation officer of the United States army, in which he received the rank of captain. He was born July 20, 1879, in Shiawassee county, the son of Henry H. and Rosalia (Feezler) Pulver, both of whom reside in Shiawassee county. Henry H. Pulver, though he is now eighty-three years old, is still following his profession, the law. He was born in the state of New York but has been a lawyer in Michigan many years. His wife, Mrs. Rosalia Pulver, was born in Jackson, Michigan. Their son, Seth, received his elementary and high school education in Shiawassee county. He completed his collegiate education at Olivet College in 1901 and was admitted to the bar in the same year. He practiced law at Caro, Michigan, six years, and spent one year in Bay City. He then came to Owosso, where for seventeen years he has had a large and lucrative general practice. In 1909 he was elected city attorney of Owosso and held that office until 1914. In 1914 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Shiawassee county, and in 1918, when he retired from that office, he enlisted in PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 327 the air forces of the United States army to serve during the World war. He won a commission as lieutenant and was later commissioned captain in the air service, being stationed for a time at Washington, D. C., and later transferred to the flying school at Taylor Field, Alabama. When he was honorably discharged from the army after the war he returned to Owosso to resume his practice and in 1920-21 served on the Republican central state committee and the Michigan state hospital commission. In 1901 he married Grace Galusha, who was born at Olivet, Michigan. They have two children: Henry Hull Pulver, aged twenty-two, who was born in Caro, is a graduate of Owosso high school and is a senior at Yale University; and Betty Rosalia, aged eighteen years, who was born at Caro and is now a student at the University of Michigan. Captain Pulver is a member of the American Legion, the Elks, the Country club and the Chamber of Commerce. He is known as an able, conscientious lawyer and citizen and has a host of business and'personal friends in the state of Michigan. His offices are in the Citizens Savings Bank building, Owosso. Joseph H. Robbins, furniture manufacturer, of Owosso, is a son of Joseph H. Robbins, deceased, who, with his father, Benjamin F. Robbins, founded the business now conducted by the subject of this sketch. Benjamin F. Robbins and his son, Joseph H., came to'Owosso from New York in 1860. The former, a preacher of the Adventist faith, was also a very capable cabinetnmaker, and the latter was an accomplished musician and the teacher of vocal and instrumental music. Both obtained employment in the furniture factory conducted by the-N. H. Robinson Company in a building which stood on a site now occupied by the Owosso fire department on Water street. Power for the Robinson factory was supplied by an old mill race which has long since passed into history. In 1873, when the Robinson Company became bankrupt, Benjamin F. Robbins and his son Joseph began manufacturing furniture on a small scale in a building on Water street, transporting their finished product by means of wheelbarrows to a store on West Main street, which is now the site of the Central Hotel. After several years the Robbins shop discontinued the retailing of furniture and became engaged in the manufacture of a line of extension tables. After Benjamin F. Robbins died, in 1886; his son conducted the enterprise until he himself died in 1894. Since that year the Robbins factory has been managed by the latter's sons, who moved the plant to its present advantageous location at 1237 West Main street. Joseph H. Robbins, Sr., married Emma Jones, who was born in New York and was a resident of Wisconsin at the time of her marriage. To this union were born three sons. The eldest, Joseph H. Robbins, married Nellie Priest, who was born in Corunna, Michigan, and to this union two sons were born: Joseph H., III, aged twenty-eight, who graduated from the University of Michigan in 1919, and George R., aged twenty-five, a graduate of Mt. Pleasant Normal College. After the death of the 328 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY mother of these two sons, Mr. Robbins married Mrs. Anna Whymer, of Owosso, in 1913. Ben P. Robbins, second son of Joseph H., Sr., and Emma Robbins, is the president of the Robbins Furniture Company and is now thirty-nine years old. He married Rose Easton, who was born in Bay City. They have one son, Benjamin E., Jr., who is now seventeen years old. Elbert P. Robbins, third son of the Robbins family, is a twin of Ben P. Elbert married Eula Dutcher, of St. Johns, Michigan. They have a daughter, Marceline, who is now attending Albion College. Elbert Robbins is treasurer of the Robbins Furniture Company and Joseph H. Robbins is vice-president. The latter is a member of the Elks and the Masons. John Rosevear, city commissioner of Owosso, was born May 26, 1867, in New York. His father, John Rosevear, a marine captain, died in New York in the same year, and his mother, Mrs. Celia (Crago) Rosevear, died at his home in Owosso in 1907. Commissioner Rosevear attended school in Owosso but dropped his studies, when he reached the fourth grade, to work on a farm near his home. He remained on the farm until five years later, when he began working in the polishing room of the Estes factory. After four years in this work he left the factory to become an employe of the Ann Arbor railroad car shops in Owosso. In 1891 he quit the car shops to resume work in the Estes factory, where he spent the next two years. In April, 1893, he was made a driver in the Owosso fire department. He continued in this position, giving excellent satisfaction to his superior officers, until 1900, when he was transferred to the water department of the city of Owosso. In his new position he gave the city the very best service possible, with the result that in 1914 he had become so popular that he was elected to the office of commissioner of public utilities, a post he has since held continuously. Commissioner Rosevear married Mabel Green, of Owosso, in 1907. He is one of Owosso's most popular officials and is known as an upright, conscientious citizen. George W. Runyan is a native of Shiawassee county, being born in Rush township in 1868, the son of Samuel and Sophia Runyan, the latter of whom is now living at Elsie, Michigan, at the fine old age of eighty-two. Samuel Runyan was a native of Ohio, but early in life he removed to the great state of Michigan, where he spent the greater part of the eighty-one years allotted to him for his life span, in farming. He was taken by death in this county in 1916, leaving a host of friends to grieve at his departure. George W. Runyan received his early education in the schools of Rush township, where, at the age of sixteen, he began his career by helping his father on the farm for two years. After this period he took a two years' apprenticeship in the painting and decorating business, after which he joined the regular army as a soldier in the Fourth Artillery, stationed at Fort Barancas in Florida. After two years' army service, Mr. Runyan was honorably discharged at Fort MacPherson, Atlanta, Ga., at which city he then was em PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR, SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 329 ployed in the painting and decorating business for two years. At the expiration of this time he felt the urge to return to his native state and county, and so he returned to Shiawassee county, locating in the city of Owosso, where he continued in the painting and decorating business until 1908, when he spent two winters in New Orleans, conducting the same business, until the winter of 1911, when he again returned to Owosso and entered the real estate and insurance business. Because of his fairness and popularity, Mr. Runyan has been very successful in this business, and in the fourteen years during which he has handled property exchanges and insurance, he has built up a clientele extending throughout this section of the state. Mr. Runyan is a staunch Republican and one of the most genial members of the Odd Fellows. A. T. Scarlett. Few men in Shiawassee county have demonstrated greater business ability than A. T. Scarlett, who maintains display rooms for the sale of Reo passenger cars and trucks at 323 West Main street and also operates a large auto repair shop and garage at 109 Michigan avenue. In addition Mr. Scarlett is the Reo distributor for the following three counties: Shiawassee, Genesee and Lapeer, with a branch office at Flint, Michigan. Mr. Scarlett was born in South Dakota in 1889. His father, William Scarlett, was born in Canada, and his mother, Mrs. Anna Scarlett, was born in Ireland. Both are now living at Mason, Michigan, where William Scarlett is now a retired farmer. A. T. Scarlett was married in 1915 to Gladys L. Jennings, who was born and lived all her life in-Owosso, being the daughter of C. W. Jennings, who has been in the undertaking business for the past twenty-seven years in Owosso. They have three children: Billy, now seven years old; Bobby, aged six years, and Barbara, aged five years, who were all born in Owosso. Mr. Scarlett conducts his extensive business transactions on an honest, straightforward basis, which has made him both prosperous and popular. His garage and repair shop provides day and night service for automobilists at moderate prices, and his sales rooms, which he opened in 1918, the year he came to Owosso, are busy throughout the year. Mr. Scarlett is a member of the Masons, the Shrine, the Elks and the Country club. G. A. Sherman, although in business in Corunna only since November, 1924, has built up in that short time one of the best trades in that city. He owns and runs an exclusive and modern jewelry business in which, because of his honest policies, he has. made a host of friends. He returned to Owosso and Corunna after the cessation of the World war, feeling the urge to visit the people and the towns of his home county, for it was in Hazelton township, on March 3, 1890, that he first saw the light of day. Both of his parents are living, his father being the superintendent of tracks of the Detroit United Railway Company. Mr. Sherman joined the navy in 1907 and from then until 1916, when he was honorably discharged, he has been in many out-of-the-way corners of the world. After leaving the navy, he answered the call for volunteers by 330 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR' SHIAWASSEE COUNTY joining the United States army, in which he became a non-commissioned officer, stationed at Camp Custer, Michigan. In Mr. Sherman this county has a man who was willing to give everything to protect his country. He uses the same policy in his business. If he believes a thing to be right, he will go to any extent to protect that thing, even to fighting for it. It is because of such men that our great country is able to maintain the high ideals set for it by our predecessors. Henry Smetana was born in Bohemia, March 11, 1870. Adolphe Smetana, his father, was a hotel keeper and in the meat business, in Austria, up to the time of his death in 1881. Upon his death his wife, Rose, the mother of the subject of this memoir, removed to the United States, and was a resident of New York state until the time of her passing in 1920. Henry Smetana and Elfriede Hollander were united in marriage in 1897, and are the parents of three of Owosso's present citizens: Meta, who is now Mrs. Frank Kranich; Stephie, now Mrs. O. D. Langham, and Arthur, who now runs a mail order business in Owosso. Mr. Smetana came to Owosso in 1909, where he took up his duties with the Owosso Sugar Company as superintendent of labor and as interpreter to the men employed by this concern. From the time when he first entered the employ of the sugar company, he has been instrumental in bringing laborers into the state and in helping them to choose farms and homes for their families. Through this association he became very well acquainted with the real estate holdings in Shiawassee county, and in 1922 he severed his connection with the sugar company and established a real estate and insurance office in Owosso. In this business he has a large clientele in the county and enjoys one of the most gratifying list of patrons in this section of the state. He is a member of the Elks and Masons of Owosso, where he makes his home. Standard Machinery Company. A very busy and progressive factory in Owosso is known as the Standard Machinery Company, which occupies a mammoth plant at 605 South Washington street. This company was incorporated in 1916 with a capitalization of seventy-five thousand dollars, by a group of able business men headed by E. W. Brown, who in January, 1925, sold his controlling interest in the enterprise to F. O. Whiting and 0. M. Davis. Present officers of the Standard Machinery Company are: D. M. Christian, president; W. J. Blood, vice-president; F. O. Whiting, secretary and plant manager, and 0. M. Davis, treasurer. The company's directors are: Fred Woodward; J. E. Ellis, of the Independent Stove Company; E. W. Brown, D. M. Christian, W. J. Blood, F. O. Whiting and 0. M. Davis. The concern manufactures an improved line of sawmill machinery and other factory equipment, maintaining a main office at Owosso and sales offices in Detroit. To its original products have been added a complete line of electric water heaters and electric radiators which are marketed under the name of "Owosso Head Heaters." The Stand PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 331 ard Machinery Company is a sound and able-managed enterprise which promises to develop into a truly huge institution. Its plant contains the most modern machinery and equipment and employs a large number of highly-skilled workmen. George A. Stanton is a native of Shiawassee county, he being born in Hazelton township, June 23, 1888. His father's name was Enos Stanton, an Englishman by birth, Liverpool being the city of his nativity. He came to America when a lad, settling first in Canada, where he followed the vocation of farming. It was here that he met and married Matilda Brown, a native of Tilsonburg, Ontario, and to whom George A. Stanton was born after she and her husband had removed from Canada to this country. Enos Stanton was taken by death May 4, 1903, his widow surviving him and living in Owosso with her son at the present time, at the age of seventy-nine. George A. Stanton received his early education at Judd's Corners, Shiawassee county, and after he had exhausted their course of study, he attended the Owosso Business College for two years. Through his training here he was enabled to enter the employment of the State Savings Bank of Owosso, where he remained for nine years. After this he entered the automobile business with two partners, but three years was the length of time before Mr. Stanton bought them out and formed a partnership with C. A. Gladden, of Owosso. While he and Mr. Gladden were carrying on their business under the name of Stanton & Gladden, Roy Sweetland and the two partners established the Sweetland Automobile Company in 1922. In September, 1924, Mr. Stanton sold out his interest in the Stanton & Gladden company and he is now devoting his time to the Sweetland Auto Company. In 1912 the marriage of Mr. Stanton and Gladys Perkins, the daughter of J. J. Perkins, retired farmer living in this county, and Lillian Perkins, of Owosso, was solemnized. They have two children: Margaret, aged eight, and Helen, seven years of age, both of whom were born in Owosso and are attending the Owosso public schools. George A. Stanton is a member of all branches of the Masonic fraternity, of the Elks and of the Country club. He is a well-liked and respected citizen of Owosso, where he has a fine home on North Water street. Charles G. Tebelman with his wife, who was Florine Hennig, of Detroit, and their five children: Florine, fourteen; Virginia, twelve; Charles, Junior, ten; Betty, eight, and Peggy, aged two, live in Corunna in one of the most beautiful homes in Shiawassee county. Mr. Tebelman is the assistant secretary and treasurer of the Weatherproof Body Corporation, one of the largest and best equipped manufacturing concerns in this part of the state. This factory occupies over one hundred and ten thousand square feet of ground beside the large area used for storage and parking space. In it are manufactured truck, bus and auto bodies, radio cabinets, clock frames, and everything in the way of wood work. Their products are shipped to all parts of the world, the highest testimo 332 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY nial of their quality being that in the past year their business has doubled in quantity. Mr. Tebelman was born in Detroit, December 31, 1883, the son of Charles G. and Wilhemine (Raeder) Tebelman, the former of whom was born in Madrid, Spain, coming to the United States when he was twenty-five years of age and following his vocation of manufacturing cigars until the time of his death in 1920 at the age of eighty-six. The mother of the subject of this memoir was born in Germany, but she, too, heard the call of the United States in her early girlhood and it was here that she was married and lived until she was called beyond in 1917 at the age of sixty-nine. Charles G. Tebelman attended the Duffield school and Central high school in Detroit, and then studied at the Detroit Business college. After finishing his course in this institution he was employed for four years in a grocery store, and then decided to go into the automobile business. He traveled for eleven years, and then entered the R. C. H. Corporation of Detroit, where he was office manager for four years, then severing his connection with them and going to the Saxon Automobile Company, where he was assistant secretary and treasurer for eight years. It was at this time, in 1917, that the Weatherproof Body Corporation was established and Mr. Tebelman took over his duties with them, remaining with them since. He is a member of all branches of the Masons, a member of the Owosso Country club, Rotary club, and the Detroit Masonic Country club. Although only a comparatively young man, he has traveled far on the hard road of success, and because of his ability and integrity he is destined to go farther in the years to come. J. H. Thuma has been with the W. R. Roach company for the past twenty-three years. The W. R. Roach company is a canning corporation, with several branches throughout the state of Michigan, the largest of which is in Owosso. Mr. Thuma is general manager of this branch, where peas, corn, lima beans, string beans, and almost every kind of vegetable is canned in their immense plant in the western part of the city of Owosso. This plant covers over two hundred thousand square feet of ground and is equipped with the most modern machinery utilized in the business. Mr. Thuma was born at Mackinaw City, Michigan, February 8, 1889, the son of S. S. and Ella (Benjamin) Thuma, both of whom are now living in Pewamo, Michigan, where S. S. Thuma was a well-known contractor until the time of his retirement a few years ago. J. H. Thuma and Miss Maude E. Nelson, a native of Hart, Michigan, the daughter of J. B. and Emma Hart, who are now farming in that locality, were united in marriage in 1910, and are now residing at their home at 509 West Mason street, Owosso. Here they have hundreds of friends and are respected and liked by all who come in contact with them. Mr. Thuma is a popular member of the Masons and Elks of Owosso, and is a prominent booster of the city. PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 333 Francis A. Tudeno was born October 19, 1877, in Italy, where his father, Frank Tudeno, is now engaged in farming, although in his seventy-second year. Mr. Tudeno's mother, Marie, was called to her eternal sleep in 1915 at the age of sixty-five. After finishing seven years of preliminary educationt in Italy, and when he was twelve years of age, he was sent to the United States to complete his education, first as an attendant of the Newberry (Pennsylvania) grade school and then as a student at Starkey Seminary, Lakemont, New York. After completing his course there he entered the law department of the University of Michigan, where he remained until 1910, when he left for Rochester, New York, to accept a position as an assistant editor of the Rochester Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Company. He remained in Rochester from 1911 to 1919 in this capacity, when he decided to move to Owosso, where, in 1921, he established his present coal business. He also handles fire insurance as a sideline. Francis A. Tudeno and his wife, who was May Butterfield, of Owosso, are attendants of the Christ Episcopal church. Mr. Tudeno is a Republican politically, but uses the same honest policy in voting as he does in his business relations, which is to see that the right man receives his support. George J. Van Horn. The studio conducted by George J. Van Horn, photographer, at 204 South Washington street, Owosso, is indeed a busy one. Mr. Van Horn is an expert and thorough artist, and his patrons are assured of the very best that photography affords. Though he has been established in his present location only since 1923 his business has expanded to more than five times its original volume. George J. Van Horn was born April 23, 1869, in Portland, Ionia county, Michigan, the son of John W. and Arminda (Lindley) Van Horn. His father, who was born in Ohio and was a veteran of the Civil war, in which he fought as a member of Company D of the Ninth Regiment and Company E of the Twenty-seventh Regiment of the Michigan Volunteer Infantry, died in 1920 at the age of seventy-eight years. Mrs. Arminda Van Horn was born in Michigan. George J. Van Horn married Katherine Jackson, who was born in Grindstone City, Michigan. Their only child, Gladys, who is now Mrs. Carl Mintz, of Ionia, was born in Detroit. Mr. Van Horn is a member of the Masons and a Knight Templar. Mrs. Van Horn is a member of the Eastern Star, the White Shrine, was president of the W. R. C. at Portland for five years and a member of the National Aid Department, Senior Aid, and the Methodist Episcopal church, which her husband also attends. James H. Van Pelt came to Michigan from Elmira, New York, in 1909. Upon his arrival in Owosso in 1918, he was known to be experienced and thoroughly cognizant with every phase of the business of manufacturing bushings and castings and other metal parts for machinery and automobiles. He had, previous to his coming to Owosso, been associated in the American La 334 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY France Company, one of the largest manufacturers of heavy trucks in the world, and had spent eight years with the Buick Motor Car Company of Flint as an efficiency expert on increased production and minimized expenditures, being in charge of the rearrangement of the machinery in Buick plant number eleven until he was made superintendent of plant number one. One year after this he became associated with the Johnson Bronze Bearing Company, doing government work until the expiration of the World war. It was at this time that he came to Owosso and organized the Owosso Bronze Bearing Company, becoming general manager of that concern after the incorporation. In 1920 he bought out the other interests in this company and became the sole owner. He has an exceptionally well-equipped factory which covers over two hundred thousand square feet of ground, manufacturing bronze bearings and bushings and special and heavy castings which he supplies to several automobile companies and large hardware concerns. Mr. Van Pelt is extremely well known throughout the county, and is recognized as one of the prominent manufacturers of Owosso. His products are in heavy demand, and his honest dealings and personal integrity are fast building up a business which gives every indication of becoming one of the largest and finest in the state. William H. Van Sice was born in Clinton City, Michigan, November 29, 1867, the son of John and Mary (Vanginson) Van Sice, the former of whom was born in Rochester, New York, coming to Michigan in the early fifties and acting as a soldier in the Civil war, at the expiration of which he bought and operated a farm in Clinton county until the time of his death at seventy-one years of age. The mother of Mr. Van Sice was born in Rochester, New York, and also moved to Michigan and Clinton City, where her death occurred when she had reached the age of seventy-eight. William Van Sice and Miss Cora A. Ryan were united in marriage October 23, 1889. She was born and raised in this county, her father being John Ryan, one of the prominent and pioneer farmers in this part of the state, who was called beyond in April, 1925, at the age of eighty-two years. The mother of Mrs. Van Sice was Odella M. Voorhes, who passed away in 1913 at the age of sixty-five, leaving many friends and admirers to mourn her death. William Van Sice attended the public schools at Ovid, Michigan, and when a young lad began his business career working for eight years on various farms at a wage of sixteen dollars a month. After gaining this valuable experience he rented a farm and worked it himself for the next eight years. At this time he entered the lumber business in the form of buying and sawing timber and making building material. He bought a threshing machine and built a sawmill and for twelve years was engaged in making railroad ties, which he disposed of to the railroads in this county. Mr. Van Sice then bought the property where the Harris Lumber Company now stands, and in a few years, after PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 335 paying $9,000 for it and making $1,500 worth of improvements, built it into a $300,000 business, which he sold out in April, 1919. Since that time he has been interested in a small way in real estate. Mr. Van Sice is very interested in the Owosso school system, and is now treasurer of the school board. He has expended much time and effort toward making the school system in the county one of the finest in the state. He is exceptionally well liked and respected, and in 1904 served on the city council. He is a member of the Elks, and an attendant at the Baptist church. Mr. Van Sice has always been a philanthropist, giving freely toward any worthy cause, especially charitable institutions and homes. He has recently donated ten thousand dollars toward the erection of a nurses' home for the new hospital completed in Owosso, Michigan. Ralph T. Vosburg, who died on December 29, 1925, made his home in Owosso but little more than eight of his forty-six years of life, but during that time he was the principal factor in making the Wolverine Sign Works one of the outstanding concerns engaged in the outdoor advertising business in the state of Michigan. His work, that was largely responsible for the almost unbelievable progress of the enterprise, won for him the name of being one of Owosso's ablest business executives, and the company in whose success he figured so conspicuously has been a distinct asset to the commercial life of the city and county. His parents were George and Salina (Van Camp) Vosburg, the former of whom was born in New York and now at the age of seventy-five years is engaged in business at Lisbon, that state, and the latter of whom was a native of Cardnell, Ontario, died in 1890. Ralph Vosburg received his education in the district schools of Lisbon, New York, where he was born April 19, 1879, and then worked on farms in that part of the state for several years after he left school. When the Spanish-American war broke out he enlisted in Company K, Second Illinois Volunteer Infantry, with which he served eleven months until he was honorably discharged from the service. On June 29, 1902, Mr. Vosburg married Ruth Steele, the daughter of Hiram and Ella (Ault) Steele, of Adams, New York, and to them, on November 10, 1903, was born a son, Leon, For three years he gave his attention to the grocery and meat business at Buffalo, New York, after which he spent several years as a traveling salesman. Upon giving up his position as salesman, he entered the business in which he was destined to become so prominent in Michigan, for at that time he entered the employ of the Ithaca Sign Works, of Ithaca, New York. To this work he applied himself with the energy and ability for which he was so well known in' Owosso, and when he felt that he had thoroughly learned every detail of outdoor advertising, he came to Owosso in August, 1916, and organized the Wolverine Sign Works as a partnership. In 1922 the company was incorporated and he became secretary and treasurer. In 1923 he was elected president of the corporation, but death closed his career within the span 336 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY of a year. The territory of the company extends over the entire state of Michigan, and its business grew so rapidly under Mr. Vosburg's expert direction that a short time ago property was purchased on Corunna avenue, in Owosso, for a new studio. Since his death in December, 1925, the business has been conducted by his son. Mr. Vosburg was a member of the Elks, the Owosso Country Club and United Commercial Travelers. He was also a-member of the Rotary Club and was intensely interested in the boys' work of the club. R. E. Walker is one of the younger business men of Owosso, who is destined to go far along the narrow road of success, in any business which he may choose. He is a registered pharmacist of the state of Michigan, which in itself is an achievement of note. He was born in Marlette, Michigan, July 25, 1886, the son of John B. and Grace (Sleeman) Walker. Both of his parents are Canadians by birth, natives of Ontario, but early in their lives they removed to the land of promise, and since that time they have made their home at Marlette. The father is a farmer by vocation, but is now retired, being ninety years of age, though still hale and hearty. He is accompanied on the road toward the century mark by his wife, who is eighty-three years of age. R. E. Walker received his education at Marlette, and then removed to Detroit, where he practiced his profession of pharmacy for six years, later removing to Flint, where he stayed for eleven years in the same profession. In June, 1924, he came to Owosso, where he is a partner in the Wolverine Stationery Company. This company is one of the most exclusive and up-to-date stores for the handling of office, school and stationery, supplies in the state. It is located at 214 West Main street, Owosso, and is under the direct proprietorship of Mr. Walker. He is one of the best-liked members of the Masons and Elks of Flint, and of the Odd Fellows of Detroit. Karl J. Welte, proprietor of the Ford automobile salesrooms and service station in Owosso, was born in that city November 22, 1890.- His father, George Welte, who was born in Ann Arbor, is now sixty-eight years old, and his mother, Mrs. Clara (Sipley) Welte, who was born in Owosso, is now sixty-four years old. Both reside in the city of Lansing. Karl J. Welte attended school in Owosso, finishing his studies in high school at Ypsilanti in 1910. He married Vivian Hartshorn, who was born and reared in Owosso. Then, for eight years, Mr. Welte lived on a farm. Desiring to enter business he' left the farm and returned to Owosso to form a partnership with Hartshorn and Oliver Elliot for the sale of Ford motor cars. Needless to say the business is a large and prosperous one. In addition to selling the Ford and Lincoln automobiles and the Fordson tractors Mr. Welte's company maintains a thoroughly modern garage and repair shop for the convenience of Ford owners and the motoring public. Mr. and Mrs. Welte hhve four daughters: Marceline, aged fourteen; Freder PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 337 icka, aged nine; Isabelle, aged seven; and Vivian, two years old. All were born in Owosso. Mr. Welte is a member of the Elks and the Owosso Country club. The Ford salesrooms and garage are at 207-17 East Main street, Owosso. W. D. Whitehead is one of the best-known business men in Shiawassee county. For the past decade he has been the owner of a large and profitable drug business in Owosso. He came to Owosso in 1903 as manager of the drug business of Mrs. Haggart, and in 1911 he bought out her interest. Since then he has added two stores to the original on West Main street, one in the Wildermuth Hotel and one close to Ball street on West Main. Mr. Whitehead has always been a staunch supporter of Owosso and the county, and in 1905 and 1906 he was the manager of the indoor baseball team of Owosso which won the world's championship for two years in succession. Mr. Whitehead was largely instrumental in the financing and development of this team, which greatly advertised the city of Owosso. His understanding and willingness to help any worthy enterprise have won for him the esteem and friendship of a great number of friends. This esteem has been shown in a material way when he was made exalted ruler of the Owosso Elks and president of the Rotary club a few years ago. He is also a member of the Masonic lodge and the Knights of Pythias. Mr. Whitehead was born in Strathroy, Ontario, August 9, 1878, the son of J. P. and Sarah (Gearns) Whitehead. Both of his parents were subjects of Great Britain, his father being horn in Delaware, Ontario, and his mother in Warwick, Ontario. His father is now living at seventy-two years of age, after having served for forty years in the revenue service of Canada, and is retired. His mother was called beyond in 1912 at the age of fifty-nine. Mr. Whitehead and Miss Ann Morrish, a native of England, were united in marriage in 1901, and are the parents of one son, Leston, who is twenty-one years of age and now is a senior at the University of Michigan. Mr. Whitehead obtained his early education in the Strathroy (Ontario) schools and then studied his chosen profession of pharmacy at the University of Toronto, from which he graduated in 1901 with the degree of Ph.M.B. He has had twenty-four years of experience in the drug business and is cognizant of every phase of successful operation. He has his home in Owosso, where he has hundreds of friends who wish him success in every way. E. C. Whiteherse was born in Eaton county, at Vermontville, Michigan, in 1883. He is the son of Samuel and Dana (Parks) Whiteherse, the former of whom was born at Wellsborough, Ohio, and who was taken by death in 1919 after a useful and respected life. His wife also was an Ohioan by birth. She left a host of friends at her passing who had known her sweet and generous nature. E. C. Whiteherse, the subject of this memoir, and Miss Lucy Wardwell, of Gratiot county, were united in marriage in 1903. To them have been born nine children, Leston, the oldest 338 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY of whom was born in Gratiot county; then Myrtle, who is now Mrs. Myrtle White, of Owosso. The others, all of whom were born in Owosso, are Ernest, Lucille, Earl, Jr., Dora, Dalma, Vernagine, and Jack. Mr. Whiteherse came to Owosso in the fall of 1898, at which time he was employed in the shops as millwright and stationary engineer. It was at the severance of his employment with the railroad that he first became a member of the Owosso police department. He remained on the force for three years and then joined the sheriff's force for three years, coming back to the police department at that time. He has been one of the best-liked and trusted officers in the Owosso city personnel. In May, 1925, he received the much-deserved promotion to the office of chief of the police department. Throughout his years of service he has never shirked a duty, and has always acted to the best advantage of the people. He is courageous and levelheaded and an ideal man for the position which he now holds. He was a member of the National Guard of Owosso for thirteen years, and has taken every grade in that organization, being mustered out in the spring of 1917 with the rank of second lieutenant. Mr. Whiteherse is a member of the Masons, Woodmen of the World, and the Eagles. In each of them he shows a keen interest in any activities of the city development, and always stands ready to do his share toward making Owosso and Shiawassee county among the leaders in the state. Fred B. Woodard is the president of the Owosso Casket Compan of Owosso. This company was established in 1866 under the name of Woodard Brothers. In 1886 it was taken over by L. E. Woodard, who was the father of the three sons who are now officers of the present company, namely, Fred B. Woodard, president; Lee L. Woodard, secretary; and Frank J. Woodard, treasurer. In 1898 the old factory was destroyed by fire and in 1902 the new factory, which is the present one, was built. The casket factory was first built in 1881 by the Stever brothers and L. E. Woodard. That factory and the furniture factory above mentioned were merged and the two now compose the present corporation of the Owosso Casket Company, the stockholders of which are the Woodard brothers, Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Osburn, and Mrs. J. S. Mitchel, of Hollywood, California. The Owosso Casket Company manufactures furniture, consisting of beds, dressers, chiffoniers, chifforobes, toilet tables, chairs, and a full and complete line of caskets and undertakers' supplies. Most of their shipments are to the north central states, but many of their products are used all over this country. The organizer and first owner of this business, L. E. Woodard, was called beyond August 10, 1904, and was followed by his wife, who was Miss Emma R. Weidman before marriage, on the 28th day of July, 1917. Fred B. Woodard and Miss Martha Pier, of Flint, were united in marriage and are now the parents of three children, Pier, Florence and Dean, all of whom were born in Owosso. Mrs. Frank J. Woodard was PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 339 Miss Flora Estey, of Owosso, before marriage, and they are now the parents of one son, Frank, Jr., who is now six years of age and a native of Owosso. The wife of Lee Woodard was Miss Sadie Greenman, of Owosso. They have three children, Joe, Russell, and Lyman, all born in Owosso. J. C. Osburn, who is the vice-president of the company, was married to Miss Grace Woodard, a sister of the Woodard brothers, and they have one daughter, Jane, and a son, Joe C., Jr., both of whom were born in Owosso. J. C. Osburn is the son of Mary C. Osburn, now living, and Morris Osburn, who established the Owosso firm of Osburn & Sons, and who died in 1918. Marquette J. Woodbury was born in Woodhull township, Shiawassee county, August 30, 1878, the son of Herbert E. and Barbara Estella (Smithgall) Woodbury, the former of whom was one of the pioneers of this county, coming here in 1849 from New York state, where he was born, at Monroe City. He was a lover of the outdoor life and was considered the best woodman, naturalist and trapper in Shiawassee City even up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1915. The mother of Mark Woodbury was a native of Michigan, having been born in Detroit, the daughter of one of the pioneer potters of the Motor City. Her parents were born in Germany, but early in life removed to this country where they spent long and useful lives farming, the latter part being spent in this county, where they resided until taken by death, both at the ripe old age of ninety.* Mrs. Woodbury was called beyond in 1915, leaving a host of friends and admirers to mourn her passing. In 1908 Marquette J. Woodbury and Estella B. Woodbury were united in marriage, and are now the parents of two fine children, Joseph Reid Woodbury, aged ten, and Carl Ripley Woodbury, aged six, both of whom are attending the public schools of Owosso. The parents of Mrs. M. J. Woodbury are both deceased, having died in Michigan, after removing to this state from Canada many years ago. Mark J. Woodbury attended the schools of this county and Laingsburg high school. After completing his course there he entered his first employment blacking stoves for J. V. D. Wyckoff at Laingsburg. One year later he entered the employ of the R. J. Currie Hardware Company, receiving one dollar a day remuneration. He remained with this company for three years and then entered the sheet metal business for himself, in which business he remained for three years. At this time he formed a partnership with Arthur Ward and acted as foreman of the sheet metal department of the Arthur Ward Company for six years. Six years ago he bought out the interest of Mr. Ward in the sheet metal business and moved this business to 111 East Main street, but being dissatisfied with the inadequacy of the space, he constructed the present new two-story brick building which he now occupies at 214-18 North Park street, and which also houses the Owosso Business College and the Buick automobile agency. In his new structure Mr. Woodbury employs from 340 PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY six to ten men and is considered the oldest sheet metal worker and furnace man operating his own business in this county. He has the most up-to-date and thoroughly equipped shop in the county, and has the agency for the Ruby and Premier furnaces. He is a member of the Masons, Knights Templar, Elks, and is an attendant of the First M. E. church. Here is a man who from a humble beginning has worked and labored until he has built up one of the finest businesses in the county. He has ever endeavored to help the progress of the county and of Owosso, and the new building which he has just erected will long act as a monument to him and as a testimonial of the sincerity, integrity and generosity which has enabled him to be looked upon as a successful and respected business man of Owosso. Assa Torance Wright was born on August 4, 1872, in Sydenham, Ontario, Canada, the son of William and Roda A. (Oser) Wright, the former of whom was born in 1842 in Sydenham, Ontario, and the latter at Kingston, Ontario, Canada. William Wright, the father, was a farmer and in 1876 moved with his family into Shiawassee county, purchasing a farm four miles west of Owosso. This farm is still in the family, being owned by the mother, who has reached the ripe old age of eighty-one and now lives at 213 East Comstock street, Owosso. William Wright died in 1911, having retired from active farming. The subject of this memoir had three brothers and one sister, all of whom are now living in Owosso. Assa Wright married in March 25, 1903, Mary Alta Brown, who was born in Elsie, Michigan, the daughter of Eugene and Olive (Love) Brown, who owned a farm near the Wright homestead. Both her parents have passed into the haven of rest. To this union were born three children: Assa Torance, Jr., aged twenty-one, now attending Olivet college; Thelma Brown, aged fifteen, and Maxwell Eugene, aged thirteen, who attend the Owosso public schools. Mr. Wright first attended the district school in the country, then the Oakside in Owosso, a private school, after which he attended for three years the state normal at Ypsilanti, working his way through. He then returned to help his father on the farm and at the end of three years his parents moved to Owosso, while he got married and remained two years longer on the homestead. He then moved to Owosso as circulation manager for the Owosso Press American and at the end of the first year accepted a similar position with the Argus Press of Owosso, remaining with them for four years, but wanting to be independently engaged he entered the real estate business until 1913, when he was elected city treasurer, and for faithful and satisfactory service rendered the people they elected him mayor in 1917, which office he still holds. Under his administration the big south Owosso sewerage system was started and completed, the Bentley Park filled in and made into a beautiful city park and tourist camp, a new and most modern city hall building erected, and a new fire department with two of the departments motorized. Mr. Wright with his varied experiences on the farm, the factory and PERSONAL SKETCHES FOR SHIAWASSEE COUNTY 341 lumber camps has seen all phases of life, having experienced the ups and downs himself. Therefore in no small measure has he given help to those who have needed it. Mr. Wright is a staunch Republican and he and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. William A. Wright, city commissioner of Owosso, has been making his own way in the world since he was fourteen years old. He was born in Livingston county, in Marion township, in 1878, the son of Alfred and Sarah (Lyons) Wright, both of whom were born at Howell, Michigan. Mr. Wright came to Owosso twenty-seven years ago and entered the ice business as a partner of a Mr. Appleton in the Lake Ice Company. Six years later Mr. Wright established, as a private enterprise, the Owosso Coal Company, which he managed in a successful manner for a period of seven years. At the end of this period he and Samuel Willis founded the Owosso Ice & Fuel Company, which became one of the city's substantial concerns. Six years after the Owosso Ice & Fuel Company began operations Mr. Wright again formed a new company, known as the Owosso Truck Company. This concern was the first in that section of the state to engage in long-distance hauling by motor truck, and is now operating a fleet of trucks on regular schedules. From 1912 until 1914 Mr. Wright served his ward as alderman, and in 1924 he was elected to his present position, that of city commissioner. He married Imah Tanner, who was born at Fowlerville, Michigan. To this union were born three children: Helen, wife of Mr. Snyder, of Owosso; John W., a machinist, of Detroit; and Lewis, who is farming in Shiawassee county. Commissioner Wright is a member of the Elks, Moose and Eagles. I I I I I I f O (ThcI ~~tC/4r THIS IS THE PROPERTY OF Citizens Historical Association OMAMjbiR OF COMMERCE BLDG. INDIANAPOLI8, IND.