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HISTORY OF

MICHIGAN

000 BY
CHARLES MOORE

ILLUSTRATED

VOLUME II

CHICAGO
THE LEWIS PUBLISPHNG COMPANY
191 5

History of Michigan

James Frederick Joy. The distinction of having been the prime
factor in the building of more than sixteen hundred miles of railroad in
Michigan alone is of itself sufficient to make the name of James F. Joy
one of the most significant in the history of this state. From 1836
until his death in 1896, Mr. Joy was a resident of the city of Detroit. Be
ginning his career there as a struggling young attorney, he rose to be
one of the foremost business men of the United States, a recognized au
thority on finance, and one of the ablest railroad managers of the mid
dle west. His achievements both in his profession and in practical affairs
is remarkable. With his great executive ability he combined attri
butes of character which marked him, as one of the most distinguished
of Michigan's citizens. It has been said of him that he was too honest
to be politic, too conscientious to be sycophantic and that his practice
of all times telling the truth often made enemies of small-minded men,
but brought him the friendship, never violated, of the greatest individ
uals of his time.
James Frederick Joy was born at Durham, New Hampshire, Decem
ber 2, 1810, a son of James and Sarah (Pickering) Joy. His father
was a blacksmith by trade, and at Durham manufactured scythes and also
engaged in ship building. The first ancestor of the name was Thomas
Joy, who left England about 1632, locating at Boston. The town rec
ords show him to have been a landholder at Boston in 1636. James Joy,
the father, was a man of strong character, of much enterprise and orig
inality, was a Federalist in politics, a Calvinist in religion, and a leader
in both religious and civil life in his community. His character and ex
ample were influential in the lives of his children, and from him the
great railroad builder and lawyer inherited some of his best native traits.
The common schools of New England introduced James Frederick
Joy to a knowledge of life, and he completed his education in an academy,
.a short distance from his home. He then 'took up teaching and with
some assistance from his father finally, entered upon a collegiate course,
graduating at the head of his class at Dartmouth College, with the
degree of Bachelor of Arts. From Dartmouth he went to Harvard Col
lege, and took up the study of law. His finances did not allow him to
continue until graduation, and he supplemented his income by teaching
in the academy at Piftfield, Massachusetts, and for a year as a tutor in
Dartmouth College. Resuming his studies at HarVard, he completed
the course within a year and was admitted to the bar at .Boston.
In September, 1836, Mr. Joy arrived at Detroit, and entered the law
office of Hon. Augustus S. Porter, later United States senator from
Michigan. In 1837 he opened a law office of his own, and became asso
ciated in practice with George F. Porter, who had a large acquaintance
with prominent moneyed interests in this state and elsewhere. Mr. Joy
649

650 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
took a front rank as an able attorney, and in a few years his pro
fessional and business ability were directed into the channels where he
made his greatest success.' During the decades of the thirties and for
ties, Michigan, like many other states had entered upon a great scheme
for internal improvements, and a part of the system was the construc
tion of a railroad line across the southern half of the state. In 1846,
the state treasury had become bankrupt through the attempt to com
plete and manage this railroad and undertakings of a similar character,
and the result of this disastrous experience was that the state finally
sold what was then called the Michigan Central Railroad to a private
corporation. In the interests of this corporation Mr. Joy framed the
charter, organized the company, and induced capitalists to embark in
the enterprise. The new company undertook to extend the road to Chi
cago, and in the litigation connected therewith Mr. Joy was busily en
gaged and from that time forward gradually made railway law his
specialty, and in his time had no superior as a railway attorney in the
entire country. From serving as legal adviser of railroads he was grad
ually drawn into the management and became prominent in extending
railway connections and new constructions, occupying places of executive
control among the new lines. The last important case in which Mr. Joy
appeared as leading counsel and advocate was that of ejectment of
George C. Bates against the Michigan Central and Illinois Central Rail
road Companies in the United States Circuit Court. The case involved
the title of the two companies to the station grounds at Chicago — prop
erty valued at that time at more than two million dollars. The argu
ments of Mr. Joy in this trial have been models for attorneys ever since,
and it was his successful conduct of the litigation that brought to a climax
a career as counsel and attorney which placed Mr. Joy among the great
est of his class during the generation.
The record of the late James F. Joy as a railroad builder and or
ganizer introduces many of the best known transportation systems in
the middle west. He organized the company which constructed the Chi
cago, Burlington & Quincy at a cost of sixty million dollars, and before
any of the construction work was begun he made a trip on foot over the
proposed route. For many years he was president of the corporation
and under his direction the road was extended to both Quincy and
Omaha. The railroad from Kansas City to the Indian Territory was
another enterprise projected by him, and it was finished along the route
he indicated. Mr. Joy also was chiefly instrumental in constructing the
first bridge across the Missouri River at Kansas City, thus giving great
impetus to the development of that community. About 1850 Mr. Joy
became interested with Mr. J. W. Brooks, and they made the contract for
completing the construction of the Sauk Ste. Marie Canal. Within two
years the canal was completed much to the benefit of the navigation in
terests of the inland seas.
' For many years Mr. Joy had been general counsel for the Michigan
Central Railroad, and in 1867 became its president. In that office he
superintended the rebuilding of the line, and the new equipment of every
department, and it was largely owing to his effective labors that the. Mich
igan Central came to rank as one of the leading trunk lines between
the east and middle west. During his presidency the road was double-
tracked over a greater part of the distance, and the old style rails were
replaced with steel rails which cost one hundred and thirty dollars
($130.00) in gold per -ton in England. Mr. Joy promoted and finally se
cured control of the Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw Railroad, which was
built from Jackson to Saginaw and from the latter place to Mackinaw. He
was also instrumental in the construction of, the line from Jackson to

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 651
Grand Rapids, both of these roads now being parts of the Michigan
Central System. He built the Detroit & Bay City, and the Detroit, Lans
ing & Northern Railroad, also the Michigan Central's Air Line from
Jackson to Niles, the Kalamazoo & South Haven, and the Chicago and
West Michigan. During the early seventies, Mr. Joy became interested
in a railroad projected to run along the west bank of the Mississippi
River from 'Dubuque, Iowa, to a point opposite La Crosse, Wisconsin,
and the line completed as the result of his efforts is now a part of the
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul System. His work was an important
factor in securing to Detroit its connection with the Wabash Railroad,
and in the planning and establishment of adequate station facilities at
Detroit. With other influential Detroit capitalists he supplied most
of the money which built the Wabash from Detroit to Logansport, In
diana. He and four other business men constructed the Union Station
and the Western Detroit facilities now enjoyed by the Wabash.
For several years before his death Mr. Joy lived in retirement, but
up to the end of his life his advice and counsel were often sought by
men of large affairs, not only in Michigan, but throughtout the nation.
His death occurred September 24, 1896, at the advanced age of eighty-
six years. It has justly been said of him: "His life was of great bene
fit to his city and state, as well as to Chicago and the western country.
Few men have guided and invested such vast sums for a number of
years as he did."
Mr. Joy was one of the Michigan capitalists, who, in 1845, bought
the stock of the Michigan State Bank, and that institution paid regular
annual dividends of ten per cent until the expiration of its charter in
1855,- at which time its stockholders received one hundred and fifteen
per cent. He was also a director of the Second National Bank of De
troit, when its charter expired. The Second National was succeeded by
the Detroit National, and Mr. Joy was one of its honored directors until
his death. In politics though a vigorous advocate of the principles of
the Republican party, Mr. Joy was never prominent as a practical poli
tician, though he gave serious and beneficial attention to the duties of
citizenship. He was elected a school inspector of Detroit in 1838, and
in 1848 was city recorder. In 1861 much against his will, he was in
duced to accept nomination for the legislature, and was elected by an
overwhelming majority, serving during the Civil war period when patriots
were needed at the helm of the ship of state. Until business affairs com
pelled him to resign, he also served as a regent of the University of
Michigan. James F. Joy was twice married. His first wife was Martha Arger
Reed, a daughter of Hon. John Reed of Yarmouth, Massachusetts, at
one time a congressman and lieutenant governor of- his state. Mrs. Joy
at her death left children: Sara Reed, who married Dr. Edward W.
Jenks, both now deceased; Martha Arger, who married Henry A. New-
land, both of whom were killed in a railway accident on the Michigan
Central Railroad; and James Joy. By his marriage to Miss Mary
Bourne, of Hartford, Connecticut, Mr. Joy became the father of : Fred
erick, who died in 1895 ; Henry Bourne Joy, now at the head of large
business interests in Detroit, including the Packard Motor Company of
which he is president; and Richard Pickering Joy, president of the
National Bank of Commerce of Detroit.
Richard P. Joy. While none of his sons has attained to such a pre
eminent position in connection with such large and varied affairs, as was
occupied by the late James F. Joy — and under the modern methods of
business organization and system, the possibilities of such individual pre-

652 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
eminence are now greatly limited — Richard P. Joy has for a number of
years been regarded as one of Detroit's foremost bankers, and has well
upheld the dignity and importance of the family name and fortune.
Richard P. Joy was born in the city of Detroit, January 25, 1870. He
received his education in the public schools and then entered Phillips
Academy at Andover, Massachusetts, where he graduated in 1890. His
active business career began in the engineering department • of the Fort
Street Union Depot Company, and he quickly demonstrated his in
dividual capacity for business and proved a worthy son of his father.
Mr. Joy was one of the young men of wealth and social prominence,
who early manifested a large interest and took a public spirited part in
civic affairs. He devoted much of his time to the study of municipal
problems, and from 1898 to 1901 served as alderman in the city council
from the second ward. In 1906-07, he served in the office of comptroller
of Detroit. When there came an advantageous opening for a new bank to afford
more adequate facilities for the commerce of Detroit, Mr. Joy became
interested in the formation of the National Bank of Commerce, of which
he was made president by the unanimous vote of the board of directors.
From its beginning this bank has been exceedingly successful. It was
the first large bank of Detroit to establish its quarters on the second floor
of a building, a situation which caused many firms to predict its early
failure. The founders of the institutions believed that business would
go where it was best taken care of, and their judgment was proved sound
when $800,000 was deposited in the National Bank of. Commerce on the
opening of the institution. The bank proved one of the strongest of local
concerns during the crisis of 1907, and since that time no Detroit bank
has stood higher in the confidence of the people than the National Bank
of Commerce. Aside from his duties as president of this bank, Mr. Joy is vice
president of the Detroit Copper & Brass Rolling mills, a director in
the Packard Motor Car Company, director in the Diamond Manufactur
ing Company, president of the Detroit Union Railroad Depot & Station
Company, and stock holder in many manufacturing enterprises. His
social clubs are the Detroit Club, the Detroit Board of Commerce, the
Yondotega Club, the Country Club, the Old Club, the New York Yacht
Club and others. In 1908 Mr. Richard P. Joy married Miss Mary Moore
and their three children are Ella H., Richard P., Jr., and William Moore.
Henry Bourne Joy. On other pages of this work is a review of the
career and a consistent tribute to the memory of the late James F. Joy,
father of him whose name initiates this review, and thus it is not neces
sary to offer further record concerning the family history or to designate
the pre-eminent position held by James F. Joy as one of the most influ
ential and honored citizens of Michigan, a state in which his sons have
distinctively furthered the high prestige of the family name. Henry
Bourne Joy has been one of the dynamic forces in connection with the
great industrial and commercial progress of his native city, where his
capitalistic interests are many and varied and where he stands forth as
an alert, enterprising business man and a loyal, public-spirited citizen, so
that he is fully entitled to specific recognition in this history of his native
state. Henry B. Joy was born in Detroit, on the 23d of November, 1864,
and here his early educational training was acquired in the public schools
and private schools. This was supplemented by attendance in the Michi
gan Military Academy at Orchard Lake, and the historic Phillips
Academy at Andover, Massachusetts, in which he was graduated as a
member of the class of 1883. Thereafter he was a student for three

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 653
•
years in the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University, from which
institution he withdrew in 1886, in his junior year.. His business career
began in the offices of the Peninsular Car Company,- a Detroit corporation,
and with this company he filled successively the offices of clerk, pay
master and assistant treasurer. From 1887 to 1889 Mr. Joy was actively
identified with mining operations in Utah. In November, 1890, he was
appointed secretary of the Fort Street Union Depot Company, Detroit,
on the 4th of February, 1891, was made secretary and assistant treasurer
of the company, and on February 7, 1900, was elected director, positions
which he held until February 5, 1902. He was elected a director of the
Detroit Union Railroad Depot and Station Company February 7, 1894,
elected treasurer October 8, 1896, vice president and treasurer, February
2, 1898, and from February i, 1899, to February 5, 1913, was president,
and in the last named year was elected vice president. Specific mention
of the building of the fine union station is made in the sketch of the life
of his father, elsewhere in this volume. From 1899 to 1906 Henry B.
Joy served as treasurer and director of the Peninsular Sugar Refining
Company, and from 1906 to May 25, 1910, he was a director in the
Michigan Sugar Company, which absorbed the interests of the former
corporation. His most important industrial connection is with the Pack
ard Motor Car Company, which has contributed greatly to the precedence
of Detroit as the leading center of the American automobile industry.
This company was founded by James W. Packard at Warren, Ohio. One
of the earliest purchasers of Packard cars was Henry B. Joy, who later in
terested Detroit capitalists and the Packard plant was moved to this city
in 1903, he becoming a director and the general manager of the company.
In 1908 he was elected to the presidency of the same, — a position which
he has since held. From a review of the history of the automobile busi
ness in. Detroit are taken the following facts:
"On October 12, 1903, the Packard Motor, Car Company, which had
operated at Warren, Ohio, opened its new plant in Detroit. . Henry B.
Joy had been one of the early owners of a Packard phaeton, and his en
thusiasm was so great that a company was formed and a handsome fac- .
tory was built on the boulevard. An interesting commentary on how
little even the men in the industry anticipated the expansion that would
take place is that the Packard Company did not buy the frontage on the
boulevard, but contented themselves with seven and one-half acres of
ground about two hundred feet off the street, figuring that not for many
years would they need to acquire the piece of ground between their prop
erty and the street. Today this company owns all the frontage for
blocks on both sides of the boulevard, and their property covers fifty-two
and one-half acres. The Packard was the first company in the city
to make a motor car with four cylinders, and was one of the pioneers
in the building of six-cylinder cars, which it now builds exclusively." .
Mr. Joy has not only been most prominently identified with important
enterprises that have conserved the material progress and prosperity of
the beautiful Michigan metropolis, but he has also entered fully into its
representative civic activities and social life. For five years he was a
member of the Michigan Naval Militia, and he served in the United
States navy in the Spanish-American war, in which he was chief boats
wain's mate, the Michigan Naval Reserves, consisting of eleven officers
and two hundred and seventy men, having been detailed on the auxiliary
cruiser "Yosemite" and having seen service in Havana, Santiago and
other points. In all situations they won the approval of the regular
naval authorities and honored the state which they represented. For the
sinking of the Spanish transport "Antonio Lopez," off San Juan, Porto
Rico, June 28, 1898, the crew of the "Yosemite" was, in 1902, allowed

654 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
by congress a bounty of fifty thousand dollars. Mr. Joy is a member of
the Navy League of the United States, is affiliated with the Yale Uni
versity Chapter of the Delta Psi fraternity, and in his home city he holds
membership in and is a director of the Detroit Board of Commerce, a
member of the Detroit Club, the Country Club, the New Detroit Athletic
Club, the Old Club, the Detroit Boat Club, the University Club, the Yon
dotega Club. He is also a member of the Yale Club of New York and
the New York Yacht Club. He is a director of the' American Fair Trade
League of New York and of the American Protective Tariff League, New
York. Mr. Joy's wide interest in public affairs has made his name known
all over America, and as president of the Lincoln Highway Association,
which is building a concrete road from New York to San Francisco, as
a memorial to Abraham Lincoln, his work has won the favorable comment
of the motor enthusiasts and nature lovers of the nation.
On the nth of October, 1892, Mr. Joy was married to Miss Helen
Hall Newberry, of Detroit, and they have two children, Helen Bourne
an Henry Bourne, Jr.
Charles Edwin Thomas. Since the establishment of organized gov
ernment, the legal profession has attracted to it men of unusual ability.
It is a calling that brings out the best in an individual, developing his
natural talents so that he is able to cope with opportunities that arise in
his own life or those about him, and it is not therefore unusual to find
the lawyer acting in positions of responsibility in various other fields of
endeavor. Battle Creek can boast of some of the most learned and pro
found legists in the state of Michigan, and among them one who has
arisen to merited eminence in a professional way and who is widely
known among his fellow citizens as one who has ever been ready to give
of himself in the cause of the public welfare, is Charles Edwin Thomas.
A native son of this city, his entire life has been passed within its borders.
He was born November 28, 1844, his parents being Thomas H. and Ma-
rinda (Whitford) Thomas, natives of New York. He is a member of a
family which was founded in this country by his great-grandparents in
1806, they coming to America from Wales. On his mother's side he is
of English and Irish descent. The parents of Mr. Thomas came to Mich
igan in 1835, and his father, Thomas H. Thomas, became one of the lead
ing contractors and builders of this part of the state. Nearly all of the early
bridges of the Michigan Central Railroad and some of the early mills of
Calhoun and Kalamazoo counties were erected by him. When he passed
away, December 27, 1850, he was known as one of the substantial and
highly respected citizens of Calhoun county.
Charles Edwin Thomas attended the public schools of his native city.
In 1858 he entered the home of Dr. Edward Cox, well remembered as one
of the pioneers of Michigan in the medical profession. Mr. Thomas
entered the law department of the University of Michigan in 1864, and
graduated therefrom in 1868. During the progress of his law course he
studied under the preceptorship of and in the offices of Judge Benjamin F.
Graves and Myron H. Joy. In 1869 he entered active practice as a member
of the law firm of Dibble, Brown & Thomas, an association which con
tinued until 1 87 1, in which year was formed the firm of Brown & Thomas.
When Mr. Brown died, in 1887, Mr. Thomas succeeded to the business,
and for a number of years continued in practice alone until the business
of the Advance Thresher Company took his whole time.
Mr. Thomas became one of the five original stockholders of the Ad
vance Thresher Company, at the time of its organization, May 1, 1881,
and when it went out of business was the only surviving stockholder. He
acted in the capacity of director, legal advisor and member of the execu
tive board from the date of its organization until November, 191 1, at

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 655
which time the business of the Advance Thresher Company was sold to
the Rumely Company, Indiana. Mr. Thomas was also one of the organ
izers of the Union Scbool Furniture Company and several other corpora
tions. He has ever taken a warm pride in the growth and development
of his native city by taking hold of incipient industries and developing
them to their full power, and few men have done more to stimulate
business. From his young manhood Mr. Thomas has been interested and ac
tively engaged in politics. In politics he is a Democrat of the old school,
and was early recognized as the leader of his party in this part of
Michigan, and, although his party was generally in the minority, his per
sonal popularity and influence took him time and again to public office.
He became a member of the school board in 1873, a position which he
occupied for eighteen years continuously, during all of which time he acted
as secretary, and in this period a debt of $81,000 was liquidated and three
new buildings erected without bonding, an accomplishment which may be
in a large part accredited to his unflagging and well-directed efforts. He
had been first sent to the city council in 1871, and in 1873, was elected to
that office for a second term. He was appointed to fill a vacancy therein
in 1887, and in the following spring was elected for a full term. He stood
high in the confidence of his colleagues, and in the capacity of chairman
of the ways and means committee provided the way in the payment of
$200,000 railroad aid bonds, the payment of which had been stopped by
the Michigan courts and enforced by the United States courts, after a
lapse of five years. These bonds, bearing interest of. eight and ten per
cent, accumulated a large indebtedness. While a member of the council
for seven years, and of the school board for eighteen years, no bonds or
indebtedness were created, save the bonds for construction of water works.
He was chairman of the committee which negotiated the sale of these
bonds, they being the first to bear a low rate of interest. It has always
been Mr. Thomas's belief, and the policy under which he has worked, that
• posterity should not be made to bear the burden created by a former
generation. Also, while a member of the board of supervisors, he repre
sented Calhoun county before the State Board of Equalization. He was
chosen a circuit court commissioner in 1882, being one of the three candi
dates elected on the Democratic ticket for the first time in Calhoun county
in a period of twenty-four years. He served Battle Creek as city attorney
two terms, and while so engaged drew up most of the city ordinances,
and which were the ground work of the present ordinances. In 1894
came his appointment from President Cleveland to the postmaster-
ship of Battle Creek, and his administration was marked by numerous
innovations- and improvements to the service, this postoffice being ad
vanced from a second-class to a first-class station. Another helpful public
service was as a member of the charter commission of Battle Creek, when
he was delegated by the commissioners to make the first draft which
was adopted by the commission and people.
Mr. Thomas is well and favorably known in fraternal circles, being
connected with the Knights of Pythias and the Royal Arch Masons. He
belongs also to the Athelstan and Country Clubs. He takes a keen in
terest in the welfare of Oakhill Cemetery and during the past forty years
has served as clerk. With implicit confidence in the, future welfare and
advancement of his native city, he has invested heavily in real estate, and
in addition to the Thomas Block, in which is located the Central.
National Bank,' he owns the Doctor Cox block which he built and has
a handsome residence at No. 216 South Jefferson street. Mr._ Thomas
is very fond of travel and has visited every state in the Union, with
the exception of North Carolina and Florida, and has been to California
more than twenty times. In 1913, With Mrs. Thomas, he took an ex-
voi. n— 2

656 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
tended trip to the Orient, during which he visited various interesting
points in Hawaii, Japan, China and the Philippines. In 1914 they took
a trip through England, Scotland, Wales, France, Belgium, Holland and
Germany. They were at Berlin for four weeks after the war was declared
and reached home without trouble through Holland and England.
Mr. Thomas has been an eye-witness to the wonderful changes which
have developed Battle Creek from a straggling village into a metropolis
which, by reason of its numerous industries and the men who control
them, is known all over the world. No man has labored more steadfastly
or helpfully to make the municipality's prosperity permanent and his
public-spirited and unselfish service has been of a nature signally encour
aging to the city's growth. It but naturally follows that he stands high
in public esteem and confidence and that many trusts have been placed
in his capable hands. In company with Hon. F. W. Moore he was
executor of the large estate of the late Charles Willard, carrying out his
wishes faithfully in the erection of the Young Men's Christian Asso
ciation Home and the Charles Willard Library, in Battle Creek, and also
in the dedicating to the city of the Charles Willard Park. He also handled
the $23,000 fund donated by the late Charlotte M. Rogers to the Char
itable Union, a benefaction which enabled the society to build the Jabez
Rogers annex to the Nichols Hospital. These are but few of the num
erous trusts which have been carefully and conscientiously executed by
Mr. Thomas.
The marriage of Mr. Thomas occurred November 25, 1874, to Miss
Isabell Adams. One daughter has been born to this union: Maud A.,
who was born at the old family homestead* which stood on the present
site of the Michigan Central Passenger Depot, Battle Creek, and in which
Mr. Thomas was also born.
Judge Clarence W. Sessions. As judge of the United States dis
trict court for the western district of Michigan, Judge Sessions of
Muskegon fills a place of distinction and important public service in this
state. He has been identified with the Muskegon bar for nearly thirty
years, and for upwards of eight years has been either on the state or
federal bench. His record of service classifies him as- a fine, type of the
modern judge. As a lawyer he has represented the best ability of the
Muskegon bar, and whether alone or in partnership, had a place second
to none among his contemporaries.
Clarence W. Sessions was born in the town of North Plains, in
Ionia county, Michigan, February 8, 1859, a son °f William and Julia
(Jennings) Sessions. The paternal grandparents were Nathaniel and
Chloe Sessions, natives of Connecticut, who lived in New York State
until 1837, in which year, marked by the entrance of Michigan territory
to the union of states, they came west and settled on a farm in Michigan.
The maternal grandparents were John and Elizabeth Jennings, who
came from New York to Michigan in 1843. Thus it is seen that on both
sides the family has been represented in this state since pioneer days.
William Sessions, father of the judge, was born in Chautauqua county,
New York, in 1821, and died in 1894. The mother was born in Livings
ton county, New York, in 1832, and died in 1908. They were married in
Michigan in 1854, and in 1871 moved to the city of Ionia. The father
was a farmer there, and afterwards moved to Montcalm county, where
he died on a farm. He was a man in prosperous circumstances and had
a prominent part in social and civic affairs. He was a deacon and elder
for many years in the Presbyterian church, was a Republican in politics,
and for sixteen years served as supervisor of his township, and in 1873
was elected a member of the state legislature. There were three children,
and two are now living. John F., the brother of Judge Sessions is a
farmer in Montcalm county on the old homestead.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 657
Judge Sessions grew up on a farm, where he attended district
schools, and also the Ionia high school. Entering the University of
Michigan, he was graduated in the Arts Department in 1881. He then
studied law at the University and was admitted to the bar in 1884. For
a short time he was in the lumber business, but in 1885 established his
practice at Muskegon, and was at first in partnership with Lewis M.
Miller, for one year. After practicing alone for a while he joined Dan
T. Chamberlain, in 1887, and that firm continued until 1891. Later for
two years he was with Alexander Sutherland. From 1902 to 1906,
Judge Sessions was a member of the most prominent law firm of Mus
kegon and one of fhe largest in western Michigan, his associates being
Smith, Nims, Hoyt and Erwin.
A Republican in politics, Judge Sessions has given much time to
public affairs. He served as city attorney of Muskegon for six terms,
and in 1906 was elected circuit judge of the fourteenth judicial circuit
of Michigan. He continued on the state bench, until his appointment
in 191 1, as U. S. District Judge for the Western District of Michigan.
In 1882 at Ionia, Michigan, Judge Sessions married Mary S. Foote,
a daughter of Charles Foote, who for a number of years was pastor of
the Presbyterian church at Ionia, and died in 1880. Mrs. Sessions was
born in Jerseyville, Illinois, August 19, 1862, and was educated in a
seminary at Springfield, that state. Judge Sessions and wife have two
children: Marjorie F., a graduate of the high school at Muskegon, and
of Ferry Hall, at Lake Forest, Illinois, and now serving as her father's
secretary ; Clarence N., a young attorney of Muskegon, concerning whose
career brief mention will be found in later paragraphs.
Judge Sessions and family belong to the Congregational Church.
In Masonry he is one of the best known in Michigan, having affiliattions
with the Blue Lodge, the Chapter and the Knights Templars. He is
also a thirty-third degree Scottish Rite Mason. He was Eminent Com
mander of Muskegon Commandery for two years and at present is com
mander-in-chief of DeWitt Clinton Consistory at Grand Rapids. He is
also affiliated with the Knights of Maccabees, the Independent Order
of Foresters, and the Modern Woodmen of America.
Clarence N. Sessions, a son of Judge Sessions, was born at Muske
gon, April 2, 1890. He graduated from the Muskegon high school, and
also spent one year in Cornell University, and in 1912 graduated from
the University of Michigan Law Department. Returning to his native
city he established himself in practice as a member of the firm of Suther
land, Johnson & Sessions, and they are doing a large general practice, Mr.
Sessions has been admitted to practice in all the courts except the United
States supreme court. Fraternally he has membership in the Phi Kappa
Psi College fraternity, and is a thirty-second. degree Mason. In politics
he is a Republican.
Stephen Edwin Wait. The residence of Stephen Edwin Wait in
Traverse City dates back to the days when this now thriving community
was little more than a wilderness, with but small promise of becoming
a center of intense industrial and commercial activity. From that time
to the present, Mr. Wait has been engaged in a variety of pursuits, all
connected with the rising business interests of the city, being intimately
identified with its growth, and prospering with its great prosperity. Ship
building and navigation, exportation of produce and educational activities,
all have shared his labor, while the drug business has been the longest
and most important of his undertakings, having engaged his attention
for thirty-nine years. At the age of eigbty years Mr. Wait survives to
witness the scattering population of a few hundred souls that he joined
more than sixty years ago increased to 13,000, and the straggling hamlet of

658 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
his first location become one of the leading cities of the Northwest.
Mr. Wait was born at Fairfield, Franklin county, Vermont, July 21, 1834,
and is a son of John J. and Maryann E. (Fox) Whittier. His father
died when Stephen E. was but three years of age, and in 1837 his mother
married Martin S. Wait, whose name the youth subsequently adopted.
Stephen Edwin Wait was still a child when taken by his mother and
stepfather to Ohio, and there secured his early education in the public
schools. Several years later the family residence was changed to Mackinac
Island, Michigan, where the youth completed his schooling, and at the age
of sixteen years began to learn the trade of wagonmaker in the shop
of his stepfather. In 1848 the family moved to Old Mission, Grand
Traverse county, locating on a farm, upon which Mr. and -Mrs. Wait
passed the remainder of their lives. Martin S. Wait was one of the
strong and forceful men of his community, was well known in business
circles, and was a stalwart Republican, filling various offices for some
years, including that of justice of the peace. Five children were born
to him and his wife: Dudley Monroe, Mary Elizabeth, Francis Martin,
Sarah Ann and Arthur Wellesley.
Stephen Edwin Wait left home to embark upon a career of his own as
a youth and went to Old Mission, where he had the experience of teach
ing the first white school in this county. In November, 185 1, there arrived
at Old Mission, on the schooner Madeline, five young men, three brothers
named Fitzgerald, a fourth, William Boyce, and another, all good sailors
but with no education. The teacher secured to teach at Old Mission failing
to arrive, Mr. Wait, then nineteen years old, was employed at $20 per
month and board, the Madeline was brought to Bowers Harbor and
anchored for the winter, the afterhold was converted into a dining room
and kitchen, and the, cabin became the school. Regular hours were
observed and strict discipline was maintained, and under Mr. Wait's
teaching the young men made very satisfactory progress. After leaving
Old Mission, -Mr. Wait went to Elk Rapids, and following this spent one
summer at Middlevillage and a year at Pashabatown. During President
Lincoln's administration he was appointed by D. C. Leach, Indian agent,
to teach the Chippewa Indians, and rounded out his career as an educator
in Summit county, Ohio, where he taught one winter. Mr. Wait was
known as one of tbe most popular and efficient instructors of his day and
numerous citizens who afterwards rose to position and prosperity in the
community gave credit for much of their success to his kind and careful
instruction during their youth. Mr. Wait was widely known for his
thoroughness and accuracy, particularly in mathematics.
Upon giving up the profession of educator, Mr. Wait went to Elk
Rapids, Michigan, where for eight years he was employed by the firm
of Dexter & Noble, mill owners, in the capacity of carpenter. Subse
quently he planned and superintended the building of the old side-wheel
steamer Albatross, the first vessel of its kind to operate on inland lakes,
and later returned to Traverse City, attaching himself to the grocery de
partment of the Hannah & Lay Company and soon becoming clerk and
steward of the City of Traverse, a vessel belonging to this concern, which
plied between Traverse City and Chicago and also made special trips,
loaded with grain, to Buffalo, New York. Upon leaving the employ of
this concern, Mr. Wait received his introduction to the drug business as
bookkeeper for L. W. Hubbell, the pioneer druggist of Traverse City,
and so thoroughly mastered the details of this business that in 1875 be
purchased his employer's interests and since that time has continued as
proprietor of the largest and best-patronized pharmacy in Traverse City,
a period of thirty-nine years. Mr. Wait has seen marvelous transforma
tions during his day, and still retains sufficient vigor of body and mind to
interest himself in the busy life that surges about him and to enjoy the good

J2. //. MaUiJ(^n^~

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 659
thines with which Providence has crowned a life of industry and probity.
During pleasant weather his figure is a familiar sight on the streets of the
city which has been his home for so many years and to which he has
contributed so largely.
Mr. Wait has taken a keen and intelligent interest in all that has gone
to make for the welfare of his community, and has faithfully discharged
the duties of citizenship, serving as township clerk for two years, as justice
of the peace for one season, and in other capacities. While a resident
of Elk Rapids he served as town clerk for two years. Politically, Mr. Wait
is a Republican. As clerk in the Congregational Church for a period of
thirty-eight years, Mr. Wait has established a record for continuous serv
ice, in every walk of life has conscientiously given of his best to the
responsibilities which have devolved upon him, and at all times has fully
merited the high esteem and regard in which he has been held by those
with whom he has been associated. The pleasant home in which Mr. Wait
now resides was built in 1866 by Mr. Wait, and with the passing of the
years has been improved by him from time to time, it now being one of
the most attractive residences of the city. Here, surrounded by his family,
Mr. Wait is passing the evening of life, still fulfilling the obligations of
citizen, father and neighbor in the kindliest manner.
Mr. Wait was married first at Old Mission, Michigan, April 8, 1858,
to Maria Louisa Colburn, who died at Traverse City, Michigan, January
29, 1868. Two children were born to this union: Ida Rowena, at Elk
Rapids, May 8, 1859, who died at Traverse City, April 29, 1879; and
Cora Louisa, born at Traverse City, October 26, 1867. Mr. Wait's second
marriage occurred at Racine, Wisconsin, June 23, 1870, when he was
united with Miss Ellen Packard^ and they had three children: Minnie
Belle, born at Traverse City, December 8, 1871, a graduate of the local
high school, and now the wife of Frank O. Nicholson ; Edmund Whittier,
born at Traverse City, July 14, 1873, a graduate of the National Institute
of Pharmacy, Chicago, Illinois, and now associated in business with his
father, married Miss Etta Mae O'Neal; and Cyrus Raymond, born at
Traverse City, April 3, 1877, a graduate of the National Institute of
Pharmacy, and now engaged in the drug business in Detroit, married
first, Miss Mary Seager, at Cadillac, Michigan, September 4, 1901, and
second Miss Frances Margaret Condon, of Isabella county, Michigan. The
mother of these children passed away at Traverse City, May 9, 1903.
C. H. Haberkorn. The Plaberkorn family has lived in Detroit over
fifty years, and during the greater part of the time the name has been
associated with important manufacturing and general business activities.
Furniture dealers in all parts of the United States, Europe and South
America are familiar with the output of the Haberkorn Furniture Factory,
and in Detroit the family has also been prominent in real estate circles and
civic and social life.
C. H. Haberkorn, capitalist, president of C. H. Haberkorn & Co., treas
urer of the Grosse Pointe Park Corporation and president of the Haber
korn Investment Company, was born in Detroit, July 27, 1856. Plis father,
the late Henry Haberkorn, was born in Altenburg, Hesse-Darmstadt,
Germany, in 1831, and was a younger son of the mayor of that place,
descended from an old Bavarian family which had come to Hesse toward
the end of the fifteenth century. The elder Haberkorn came to the United
States in 1851 and settled in Detroit, where he was married in the same
year to Margaret Kolby, who had likewise come to this country from
Germany a few years before.
After an education in the public schools of Detroit, C. H. Haberkorn
went to San Francisco early in the '70s, and was engaged in the construe-

660 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
tion of several of the first large buildings erected in that city. His return
to Detroit was followed by a beginning in the manufacture of furniture,
resulting in 1878 in the establishment of the C. H. Haberkorn & Co.,
which has since been incorporated and of which he is president.
In 1884 Mr. Haberkorn was married to Miss Frances H. Ruehle,
daughter of Frederick Ruehle, who was one of the most prominent figures
in the early city government of Detroit, having been president of the Board
of Public Works and one of the four founders of the old Michigan Demo
crat. From this marriage there are two children : Christian Henry Haber
korn, Jr., and Adelaide Dorothea Haberkorn. Mrs. Haberkorn died in
1910, and Mr. Haberkorn in 1913 married Miss Helen Hortance Harvey
of Detroit. The business energy of Mr. Haberkorn has been devoted chiefly to the
,building up of the business of C. H. Haberkorn & Co. in the manufacture
of high-grade furniture and of motor car accessories, and to the improv
ing of real estate in and about Detroit. He is also interested in a number
of the banking concerns and railroads of the country. In addition to these
business activities Mr. Haberkorn is an extensive traveler, and spends con
siderable part of each year away from Detroit.
Outside of practical affairs his associations are as a member and trustee
of the First Congregational church of Detroit, a member of the Detroit
Club, the Detroit Country Club, the Detroit Golf Club, the Wayne Club,
Detroit Board of Commerce, the Geographical Society of America and
The Old Club. His residence is at 45 E. Ferry avenue and his office at 393
W. Elizabeth Street.
Christian Henry Haberkorn, Jr. A son of C. H. Haberkorn, Sr.,
and of Frances H. Ruehle, whose family has been prominent in Detroit
for four generations, Christian Henry Haberkorn, Jr., is an example of
the aggressive college man in business affairs, and is a manufacturer,
secretary and treasurer of C. H. Haberkorn & Company, secretary of
the Grosse Pointe Corporation, and secretary and treasurer of the Haber
korn Investment Company.
Born in Detroit, May 24, 1889, he received his preparatory education
at the Detroit University School and entered Harvard University in the
fall of 1908. At Harvard he was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha
of Massachusetts; the Sigma Alpha Phi Society of Harvard University,
the Harvard Mission, the Star Chamber, the Student Council, the Harvard
Cosmopolitan Club, the Cercle Francais, the Deutscher Verein, and the
Harvard History Club. He took his degree of Bachelor of Arts with the
class of 1912, holding a John Harvard Scholarship and being First Marshal
of Phi Beta Kappa.
In the spring of 1912 Mr. Iiaberkorn entered into the active affairs of
C. H. Haberkorn & Co., manufacturers of furniture, and is secretary and
treasurer of that important Detroit industry. His other associations with
the large business interests of his father make him secretary of the Grosse
Pointe Corporation and secretary and treasurer of the Haberkorn Invest
ment Company.
In 1913 Mr. Haberkorn was given the degree of Master of Arts by
Harvard University, and besides his membership in the various college and
honorary societies already mentioned, is also a member of the Old Club
and of the American Economic Association. On September 17, 1913, was
celebrated his marriage to Miss Charlotte M. Beck, daughter of George
Beck, president of the Beck Cereal Company and a past president of the
Detroit Board of Trade. -Mr. Haberkorn's residence is at 1005 Second
avenue and his office is at 393 W. Elizabeth street.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 661
William F. Hicks. During many years of his lifetime a civic
leader and business man of Hastings, which city was his home for more
than thirty-five years, William F. Hicks, deceased, was an honored veteran
of the great Civil War, lived in Michigan for seventy years, and made a
most creditable record in all the activities which at different periods of
his life engaged his attention.
His birth occurred in the state of New York, in Clinton county, April
6, 1840, as the third son of M. W. and Sarah (Fox) Hicks, both parents
also natives of the state of New York. In 1844, when William F. was
four years old, the family came west and settled at Southfield, in Oak
land county, Michigan. The father was a man of no little importance
in Oakland county during many years, and the character of his activities
were such as to constitute a valued service to the people. He was pro
prietor of both a mill and a store, besides operating a considerable tract
of farming land. His store and mill were patronized by the people of a
large territory, and the mill was for a number of years the only one in
this section of the state, and its facilities were proportionately valuable.
In 1868 he moved to Bay City, Michigan, where his death occurred in
1869, and his widow survived only a short time.
William F. Hicks grew up in Oakland county, was a student in the
public schools at Southfield until his eighteenth year, and after some fur
ther preparation in a select school, took up the work of a teacher, which
vocation was followed by him in several different school districts. In
the meantime his active assistance had been given to his father in the
store, but soon after reaching his majority his services were enlisted in
the cause of freedom and the preservation of the Union4 In 1862 he en
listed in Company D of the Twenty-fourth Michigan Infantry, under
Colonel Henry A. Morris. This company was soon sent to the front
and saw service in a number of skirmishes, and Mr. Hicks fought in the
battle of South Mountain. Soon after that engagement he fell ill, was
sent to a hospital and later to Philadelphia, remaining in that city until
August, 1863, and was then given a discharge on a surgeon's certificate.
His return home to Oakland county was followed by a period of compara
tive inactivity in consequence of the hardships of army life, but on re
covering his health he moved to Bay City, became a clerk in a general
store, and after several years bought an interest in the establishment.
Finally disposing of his mercantile holdings at Bay City, in 1878, Mr.
Hicks moved to Hastings and began dealing in ice and salt. At the end
of two years this business was sold, and most of his time for a number
of years' was taken up with the operation of a farm and in looking after
various private interests and public affairs. In 1910 he again bought an
ice business, and continued it to the time of his death. He owned a farm
of forty-six acres near Hastings, and made^that almost a model place,
well stocked and improved, and gave his own personal supervision to
its management. The name of Mr. Hicks was an influential one in Democratic politics
in Barry county for a number of years. In 1900. he was made a mem
ber of the Democratic Central Committee, and in 1912 was a member of
the State Democratic Central Committee, and gave active support to the
campaign of Champ Clark during that year. In the city of Hastings his
chief public service was in the office of alderman, of which he was the
incumbent for sixteen years from the Fourth Ward. Fraternally he affil
iated with Hastings Lodge, No. 52, A. F. & A. M. ; Plastings Chapter,
No. 68, R. A. M., and he took much interest in Masonic affairs. Mr.
Hicks' wife preceded him in death some years, and their only daughter,
Belle, served as her father's private secretary.

662 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Henry Hulst, M. D. In preparing a biographical sketch of such a
man as Dr. Hulst, whose brilliant professional achievements are based
on an intimate knowledge of the sciences, the historian feels the limita
tions of his knowledge. In truth, any biography of such a man should
be prepared by some one having adequate professional knowledge, and
might be better presented in the pages of medical journals, whose readers
are familiar with the subjects which have engaged his thoughts,. and can
follow the line of original investigation which it has been his fortune
to make in some important lines of medical science. The present writer
must be content to confine himself merely to the salient points of a bril
liant career; briefly to present the life of an eminent citizen as it has
been seen by the mass of unprofessional people.
Dr. Hulst is a native of the Netherlands, and was born June 25, 1859,
a son of Rev. Lammert Jan and Aebeltje (Hellenga) Hulst. His father,
for sixty years a minister of the Christian Reformed church, was largely
instrumental in the formation of that branch of the organization, leading
his followers from the Dutch Reformed to the Christian Reformed. He
is an author of wide reputation, and has published a number of books
on theology, and an autobiography, which have enjoyed a remarkable
sale, both in the Dutch and Englisb languages. He had held a charge
in Illinois before he was located in Grand Rapids, and although he is
now living retired at the home of his daughter in Ottawa county, being
ninety years of age, he still preaches a large number, of sermons each
year. This remarkable man began life as a poor shepherd boy in the
Netherlands, early received his call to preach the Gospel, and studied
faithfully for a. number of years at a theological seminary, but mainly
educated himself. His life has been one of usefulness and helpfulness
to his fellow-men, and he has done much to forward the cause of his
Master. His wife, who was also born in the Netherlands, passed away
after becoming the mother of six children, of whom the subject of this
sketch is the second in order of birth. Another son, John Hulst, a grad
uate of the University of Michigan, is now chief engineer for the Car
negie Steel Works, maintaining his home in Pittsburgh.
The early education of Dr. Henry Hulst was secured in the public
schools of his native land. He. was fourteen years of age when he accom
panied his parents to the United States, and after graduating from Hope
College and for a time attending Princeton University, he entered the Uni
versity of Michigan, where he was graduated in 1888, as president of his
medical class. He then spent two years at the Northern Michigan Asylum,
as assistant physician, and at the end of that period came to Grand
Rapids, which city has since been his home and the scene of his profes
sional labors and successes. Here, December 31, 1889, Dr. Hulst mar
ried Miss Cornelia Stetekee, daughter of John and Catherine (van der
Boegh) Stetekee, of Dutch and Hugenot stock. Both parents had come
to the United States when fourteen years of age, and settled in Kent
county, Michigan. Mr. Stetekee's father, Jan Stetekee, was a leader of
the colony that came from the province of Zeeland to Michigan and set
tled the town of Zeeland. John Stetekee's occupation was that of a
notary public and conveyancer, and through good management and ener
getic efforts he was able to amass a competency. He stood high in gen
eral public esteem, and he was one of the foremost Republicans of his
day, serving for years as supervisor, as deputy sheriff for Kent county
as U. S. collector of internal revenue, and as consul for the Netherlands!
Mrs. Hulst is widely known in educational and literary circles. A stu
dent of the University of Michigan in 1888-1889, in 1914 she was given
the honorary degrees of Master of Pedagogy by the Michigan State Nor
mal College and Master of Arts by the University of Michigan. She is

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 663
instructor in English literature at the Central High School of Grand
Rapids, and is the author of several books which have attracted a wide
spread and favorable attention, one book being of the legend and history
of St. George of Capadocia, and the other book, Indian sketches, a study
in Michigan history. In 1912 she was elected vice-president of the Na
tional Educational Association, and in 1913 became president of the
Michigan State Teachers' Association. She is also a charter member
and officer of the National Council of English Teachers. She was the
first president of the Drama League of Grand Rapids, and has contributed
greatly to the aesthetic development of the people of Grand Rapids.
• In the line of his profession, Dr. Hulst is a member of the Kent County
Medical Society, the Michigan State Medical Society, and the American
Medical Association. A man of advanced thought, he has made an ex
haustive study of hypnotism, and conducted some experiments of value
to it, but he has gained his greatest reputation in the use of the X-Ray.
On both of these subjects he has written papers which have been ac
cepted as keen and thorough studies, and he is frequently quoted as an
authority abroad as well as in America. Among the more notable papers
which Dr. Hulst has published are the following-: "Gastrostomy in
Hypnosis," "An Experimental Study in Artificial Multiple Personality,"
"An Experiment in. Automatic Writing," "An Examination of the Lungs
by Roentgen Rays," "The Compression Cylinder in Skiagraphy of Cal
culi," "Roentgenography in Diseases of Stomach and Intestines," "Fur
ther Observations on the Roentgenography of the Stomach and Intes
tines," "Soft Tissue Roentgenography." Dr. Hulst was the first physi
cian to display X-Ray plates of one-quarter second exposure, thus secur
ing lung detail, and served for one term as president of the National
American Roentgen Society. In 1908 he was made the American repre
sentative to the International Congress of Electrology and Radiology,
and attended its meetings in Amsterdam. Still in the fullness of his
powers, with the best years of his life apparently before him, he has
already accomplished what would seem satisfactory, even after a lifetime
of endeavor. Few men stand higher in the ranks of their calling or in
the general esteem and admiration of the public.
Frank Woodman Eddy. The late Frank Woodman Eddy, for nearly
forty years was closely identified with the financial, commercial, industrial
and social life of Detroit, and during the major part of that time was a
dominant factor in a number of the city's leading concerns, and ever an
influence in the direction of the higher things of life. Mr. Eddy first
became identified with business in Detroit, in 1875, in which year he
held a clerkship with the house of N. D. Edwards & Co. The following
year saw him admitted as a member of that firm, and from that time on
he kept forging toward the front, year after year, until he became one of
the leaders in business at Detroit. His rise in the business world was not
meteoric; neither was it the result of a plodding career, but rather his
plans came to fruition through well ordered methods, keen foresight, a
clear understanding of men and their limitations and a quiet persistence
along each line of activity until the legitimate end was reached.
Frank Woodman Eddy was born at Warsaw, Wyoming county, New
York, July 29, 1851, and his death occurred June 12, 1914, at his Grosse
Point residence, Detroit. His parents were Rev. Zachary and Malvina
(Cochran) Eddy, the father a native of Vermont and the mother of New
York. The Eddy family is of Puritan colonial stock and an uninter
rupted line of ancestry may be traced to Rev. William Eddye, vicar of
St. Dunstan, Cranbrook, England, for many years, whose son, Samuel
Eddy, came to the shores of New England in 1630 and was the American

664 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
ancestor. He settled at Plymouth, Massachusetts, where his son, Obediah,
probably was born. The latter became the father of children, among them
Samuel (2), who was the father of Samuel (3), and he in turn became the
father of Nathan, who was the father of Isaac Eddy, who was the
grandfather of Francis Woodman Eddy. One of the direct descendants
of the marriage between John Alden's daughter and Miles Standish's son,
married Nathan Eddy, and they were the great-grandparents of the late
Frank Eddy.
Rev. Zachary Eddy, son of Isaac Eddy, was a Congregational minister.
He came to Detroit in 1873 and for ten years was pastor of the First
Congregational Church in this city. In 1883 he practically retired from
the pulpit, although afterward he had charge of a church at Atlanta, Geor
gia, for a short time. After the death of his wife in that city he returned
to Detroit and his life closed in this city.
Mr. Eddy, familiarly and affectionately known as "Frank," attended
the Round Hill school, the public schools of Northampton, Massachusetts,
and the Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, New York, to
which city the family had removed in 1866. He finished his school days
in Williams College-, at Williamstown, Massachusetts, where he spent two
years. Mr. Eddy's entrance into business life was as a clerk in a whole
sale hardware store in New York City. In 1873 he went to Sacramento,
California, where for two years he was engaged in a hardware store, after
which he was interested, for a short time, in the newspaper and printing
business. His family having come to Detroit in 1873, he joined them in
1875, and this remained his home ever afterward. His first employment
in Detroit, interesting because hereby he took the initial step that led on
to fortune, was as a clerk for H. D. Edwards & Co. As previously stated,
he had some measure of experience and here he became so useful and so
clearly demonstrated his capacity for business, that in 1876 he was admit
ted to the firm as a member, and from that time on was the dominating
factor in that company. His inherent business ability led him into many
other fields of enterprise. He was a director of the Morgan & Wright
Company, manufacturers of rubber tires, leaders in the line at that day,
a company he was largely instrumental in bringing to Detroit ; was a di
rector of the Rubber Goods Manufacturing Company of New York
City; was president of the National Can Company, Detroit; a director of
the Detroit Oak Belting Company; of the Wayne County Savings Bank;
of the Detroit Trust Company ; of the Detroit Fire and Marine Insurance
Company ; and treasurer of the H. V. Hartz Company of Cleveland, Ohio.
Mr. Eddy married Florence Taylor, a niece of Mrs. William A. But
ler of Detroit, and to that union the following children were born : Kath
leen, who married William Offutt Mundy, of Kentucky; Marian, who
married William Colburn Standish, of Detroit; Florence, who married
Frederick S. Munger, of Utica, New York ; Grace Fletcher, who married
Aikman Armstrong, of Detroit ; Dorothy, who married William McPher
son Browning, of Detroit; and Frank Woodman, residing with the
mother. Mr. Eddy was notably public spirited and always exerted, on account
of his high character, a marked influence. He ever evinced a deep interest
in all public affairs, civic movements and charitable endeavors. As a
trustee of the new General Hospital he gave freely both of time, advice
and means, and during the administration of President Taft he was ap
pointed a member of the Red Cross Society. Mr. Eddy was an ex-presi
dent of the Detroit Club, was the first president of the Detroit Athletic
Club and was prominently concerned with the reorganization of that club
in 1913, when the movement to build the present club building was under
consideration. He was a charter member of the Detroit Boat Club, and

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 665
was a member of the Country Club, the Yontodega Club, the Grosse
Pointe Hunt Club and of the Big Point and Caledon Mountain Clubs of
Ontario. George Albert Baldwin. This Munising citizen and business man,
for many years identified with the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, has a
specially notable family record, the line being traced back directly for
many generations to prominent early Englishmen. The following gene
alogy has been carefully compiled from documentary sources, and may
be considered a reliable sketch of the Baldwin family in this particular
branch. Richard Baldwin of the county of Bucks, England, described as of
"Dourigge" in the Parish of Aston-Clinton, made his will January 16,
1552. He was a brother of Sir John Baldwin, Chief Justice of England.
Richard Baldwin's wife's name was Ellen, and they had six children.
Henry Baldwin, the first child, died June 1, 1603, and his wife's name
was Alike. They were the parents of seven children.
Of these the fourth child was Sylvester Baldwin4 who died on board
the ship "Martin," June 21, 1638, while emigrating to America. He was
married in England to Sarah Bryan. They had nine children.
Richard Baldwin, the second child and oldest son, was one of the
three brothers who were with their parents on the ship Martin.
He was baptised in the Parish of Aston-Clinton, Buckinghamshire,
August 25, 1622, and ,was probably born not long before. He settled
in Milford, Connecticut, in 1638, becoming one of the founders of
that place. He evidently had a good education for the time, since
his handwriting is as good as that seen in any early records. He
frequently appeared as attorney before the general court at New Haven,
and his arguments are so redolent of the shrewd, technical manner of
the times that it would seem that he must have had some schooling. It
appears likely that he was in some attorney's office, perhaps in London,
a position to which the Baldwins of Bucks and Herts inclined, influenced
thereto no doubt by the eminent success of their kinsman, Sir John Bald
win, the chief justice. He was probably in the office of his Uncle Henry,
an attorney. Richard Baldwin married Elizabeth Alsop on February 5,
1642-3, and his death occurred July 23, 1665. His children's names and
date of baptism at Milford are as follows: Elizabeth, September, 1644;
Sylvanus, November, 1646; Sarah, April 1, 1649} Temperance, June 29,
1651; Mary, November 6, 1653; Theophilus, April 26, 1659; Zachariah,
September 22, 1660; and Martha, April 1, 1663.
. Theophilus Baldwin, the sixth child, was born April 26, 1659. He was
married in Milford, February 8, 1682-3, to Elizabeth Campfield, prob
ably a daughter of Thomas. He died June 22, 1698. His children were:
Martha, born in 1690; Abigail, born in 1694; Theophilus, born in 1694;
and Hezekiah, born in 1697 — Milford being the birthplace of all.
Captain Theophilus Baldwin, the third child, born in 1694 in Milford,
settled at New Milford, Connecticut, as one of the founders of the town.
At that place on June 5, 1722, he married Jerusha Beecher. He was ad
mitted to the New Milford church, June 19, 1727. He was a captain of
the militia during the early Indian wars, in charge of the military stores.
For seven sessions he was a member of the General Assembly. His chil
dren, all born in New Milford, were as follows : Jerusha, born August
22, 1.723; Elizabeth, September 16, 1725; Theophilus, January 16,, 1728;
Hezekiah, September 26, 1732; Isaac, March 17, 1735; Israel, March 19,
1736-7; Asel, June 29, 1739; David, December 5, 1741 ; Anne, November
25, 1744-

666 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Captain Hezekiah Baldwin, the fourth child among the above, was
born September 26, 1732, in New Milford. In a late (1904) examina
tion of the New Milford records he is found described as Lieutenant Bald
win. He was a lieutenant in the French and Indian war with Abercrom
bie and is said to have been at Crown Point and Ticonderoga. He was a
captain in the Revolutionary war. He served as captain of the Second
Regiment of New York forces commanded by Colonel Goose Van Schaick.
At the siege of Quebec he was with Arnold and Montgomery. In 1795
Captain Hezekiah visited New Milford in company with his son-in-law,
PI on. Norman Fox. He was married in New Milford in 1759 to Abigail
Peer, who was born in 1735. She died March 13, 1803, and he on May
11, 1822, at Chestertown, New York. His two eldest sons were born at
New Milford, and the others at Chestertown, New York. The children
were: Jerusha, born September 9, 1760; Hezekiah, born March 25,
1762; Martha, born October 15, 1766; Abel, born March 25, 1769; Reu
ben, born May 4, 1772; Aaron, born in February, 1775; Israel P., born
May 8, 1778. Of these Jerusha Baldwin Fox died September 3, 1819;
Martha Baldwin Graves died September 27, 1822; Reuben died June 12,
1813; Israel P. in 1815. Israel P. Baldwin was town clerk and school
commissioner of Queensbury township in Warren county, New York.
Hon. Seth Baldwin, Chancellor of New York, after whom the town of
Lake George was named, was the son of one of these children. Israel
P. Baldwin is recorded as having been a contributor to the" building fund
of the first church built in Glens Falls, New York.
Lieutenant Hezekiah Baldwin, the second child, was born at New
Milford, March 25, 1762, and died at Chestertown, New York, May 7,
1 83 1. He married Abiel Curtis, September 22, 1784, at New Canaan,
New York. She was born November 9, 1762, and died September 4,
1843. Hezekiah was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, his service hav
ing been in Colonel Marenius Willett's Regiment, New York troops. In
1795 he was appointed a lieutenant in the New York militia, an office he
held until 1805. For many years he was a justice of the peace and was
familiarly called Squire Baldwin. His court records are now in the hands
of his grandson, Philander Baldwin, of Glens Falls, New York. He was
engaged in the lumber business and built and operated the first two mills
north of Fort Edwards on the Hudson river. His children were: Syl
vester, born November 5, 1786; Calvin, born May 21, 1788; Hulda, Born
Marcb 16, 1790; Philo, born February 13, 1792; Samuel, born February
16, 1794; John, born May 18, 1796; David, born April 8, 1801 ; Hezekiah,
born June 20, — .
Captain Sylvester Baldwin, the oldest of the last named children, was
born in Chestertown, New York, November 5, 1786. He married Phoebe
Sherman, daughter of Nathan and Rachel Osborne Sherman, at Saratoga.
New York, shortly after which he settled at Newport, Herkimer county,
New York. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, having been an officer
in Colonel Bellinger's regiment of New York militia. In 1854 he re
moved to Camp Douglas, Wisconsin, and he and his children were granted
5,120 acres of land in recognition of his service in the War of 1812. His
death occurred at Camp Douglas August 12, 1872. His children, born at
Newport, were as follows: Rachel Baldwin Junkins, born in October,
1810, and died April 8, 1866; Israel P., born April 15, 1815, and died in
1894; Norman Sylvester Baldwin, born October 8, 1820; Esther Bald
win Jones, born May 5, — , died November 5, 1894; Hannah Baldwin
Whitmore, born in March — , — , died March 4, 1861 ; Phoebe Baldwin
Wood, born April 28, 1832, died January 15, 1894; Abigail Baldwin

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 667
Eaton, born — , — ; John Baldwin, last known in 1878 was living in
Rochester, New York.
Norman Sylvester Baldwin was born at Newport, New York, Octo
ber 8, 1820. He was married at Percy, Ontario, to Emma Miles, who was
born in England and was the daughter of John and Lady Snooks-Miles.
Lady Jane Snooks was the daughter of a Dorsetshire baronet who disin
herited her for marrying beneath her station. His children were all born
in Percy. The following notice of Norman Sylvester Baldwin's death,
which occurred September 16, 1886, is from the Howard City (Michigan)
Record of September 24, 1886: "Norman Baldwin, Sr., died at his
home in Maple Valley last Saturday, his death resulting from a fall on
the end of a plank last Thursday. Mr. Baldwin was born in Herkimer
county, New York, October 8, 1820. When fifteen years of age he
moved to Canada and came to Michigan in 1865. He had been a resi
dent of Maple Valley about twelve years, was a member of the Coral M.
E. church and very much respected by all who were fortunate to make
his acquaintance. He was the father of F. A. Baldwin of Coral." His
children were as follows: Elizabeth Baldwin Black, born November 15,
1840; Frederick A., born September' 8, 1843; Emma Baldwin Emory,
born April 25, 1846; Hannah Baldwin Sturdevant, born November 5,
1851; Norman S., born February 28, 1853; and Sophia Baldwin Tracy,
born in 1855.
Frederick A. Baldwin, the second child, was born at Percy, Ontario,
September 8, 1843. He was married at Brighton, Ontario, December 27,
1866; to Aurilla Maria Sherman, who was born May 24, 1843, the daugh
ter of John and Mary Cryderman Sherman. Leaving his father's home
in 1862; he settled at Ann Arbor, Michigan, and after his marriage be
gan the manufacture of wagons and carriages at Dexter, Michigan. From
this place he moved to Coral, Michigan, in 1872, where he died February
3, 1900. His children, born at Dexter, were: Frederick J., born Sep
tember 27, 1867; Earl E., born December 10, 1868, died in September,
1869; George Albert, born April 26, 1870; Francis L., born February 7,
1872; while the three following had Coral as their birthplace: Mary
A., born September 1, 1873; Charles A., born February 20, 1878; and
Eugene E., born September 18, 1879. The oldest child, Frederick J.,
was married November 6, 1890, to Mary Haviland, daughter of Rev.
Daniel S. and Mary Cambum Haviland. He was associated with his
brother, Charles, in the hardware and agricultural business under the
firm name of LaDu & Baldwin at Coral, Michigan. His children are:
Frederick Haviland, born April 15, 1900; and Faith Olive, born April
22, 1 901.
George Albert Baldwin, whose line of ancestry has thus been traced
through the various generations from its original seat in England, was
born at Dexter, Michigan, April 26, 1870. He was married at Coral,
Michigan, January 28, 1889, to Adah, daughter of Edwin R. and Augusta
B. (Wood) Medes, who was born March 12, 1871, at Coral. Mr. Bald
win graduated from the West Michigan Business University at Grand
Rapids in the spring of 1891, accepted a position with the Harrison Wagon
.Company of Grand Rapids, and was assigned to its store at Williams (or
Harrison) to take charge of the business at that place. On the first day
of March, 1892, he came to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to take a
position in his brother, Francis L.'s printing office at AuTrain, where he
remained several months. Leaving the printing office he went with the
Onota Charcoal Manufacturing Company at Onota as store and book
keeper. In January, 1893, returning to AuTrain and again engaging in
the printing business with his brother, he remained in that employment

668 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
until the spring of 1895, when his connections with the printing trade
were permanently severed. Then followed his embarking in the hard
ware and implement business at AuTrain. While there he took an active
part in public affairs, served as postmaster for eight years, as register
of deeds in Alger county from 1899 to I9°2 inclusive, and was poor com
missioner of the same county from October, 1895, to 1906, inclusive.
On November 18, 1902, Mr. Baldwin and his family moved to Munis-
ing, Michigari, and lived at 120 Onota street in a residence which had
just been completed. His business relations were continued with the
hardware trade until he sold out to W. C. Flye in April, 191 1. Mr.
Baldwin made and is now the owner of the first set of abstract books
covering all the lands of Alger county.
After moving to Munising Mr. Baldwin was elected register of deeds
for Alger county, serving from January, 1909, to December, 191 2. In
the primary of 1912 he was defeated for the same office by Charles G.
Peterson. From March 1906, to March 1912, he was a member of the
village board of trustees. He was a member of Grand Island Lodge No.
422, F. & A. M., at Munising, and on December 5, 1913, took the higher
degrees in Masonry, and is a member of the Francis M. Moore Consis
tory, thirty-second degree Masons, at Marquette. He was also a member of
Ahmed Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Marquette. In politics he is a
Republican and his church associations are with the Methodist Epis
copal. Mrs. Baldwin's father was in the grocery business at Coral, Michigan,
and die^d in March, 1892. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin
have been born the following children : Ethelyn Augusta, born Novem
ber 29, 1889, at Coral, and married June 26, 1912, to Jacob U. Korpela;
Ruth May, born at Onota, Michigan, June 3, 1892 ; Mabel Luella, born
September 9, 1894, at AuTrain; Mildred Naomi, born at Munising, June
11, 1903; George Sherman Baldwin, born at Munising, August 24, 1905;
and Jean Lillian, born at Munising, August 22, 1912.
Hon. Don M. Dickinson. For forty years one of Michigan's most
distinguished lawyers and public men, Don M. Dickinson has many
achievements to his credit, and in Detroit, which has been his home city
for so many years, he enjoys a place of peculiar esteem.
Don McDonald Dickinson was born at Fort Ontario, Oswego county,
New York, January 17, 1846. The fine old American family to which
he belongs has a residence ante-dating the Revolutionary war, and num
bers among its members, patriot, statesmen, judges, lawyers, and edu
cators. The father, Col. Asa C. Dickinson, in 1820 explored the shore of
Lake Erie, Huron and Michigan in a canoe, and in 1848 moved his fam
ily from New York and bought and settled on Dickinson's Island in the
Delta of St. Clair River. In 1852 the home was transferred to Detroit
Col. Dickinson married Minerva Holmes, a daughter of the Rev. Jesse-
niah Holmes of Pomfret, Connecticut.
Don M. Dickinson attended both public and private schools in De
troit. He was graduated LL. B. from the law department of the Uni
versity of Michigan, with the class of 1866. Not having arrived at his
majority at the time of his graduation he was not admitted to the bar
until the following year, starting practice in Detroit, he soon took rank
as one of the leading young lawyers of Michigan, and in the course of
a few years his position was impregnable as one of the ablest and
most brilliant lawyers of a bar which at that time numbered many dis
tinguished men, and for general ability, has perhaps never been sur
passed. Mr. Dickinson as a lawyer has gained many splendid successes,
not only in the local and state but in the Federal Court, and Supreme

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 669
Court of United States, his practice having been especially large and
important in the latter. While Detroit has always been his home, much
of his practice has been in the cities of New York and Washington, and
he is equally well known in all these cities. In -politics and in public
affairs, Mr. Dickinson has long enjoyed conspicuous prominence. From
his early manhood, an active Democrat, he was in 1872 Secretary of the
Democratic State Central Committee, and in the memorable campaign
of 1876, when Hayes and Tilden contested for the presidency, he was
chairman of the State Central Committee. In 1880 he was delegate at
large from Michigan to the Democratic Convention of Cincinnati, and
at that convention was unanimously chosen chairman of the Michigan
delegation. In 1884 he presided over the Michigan State Convention
when delegates were chosen to the St. Louis • National Convention, and
was made Michigan representative upon the national Democratic ticket.
He served as chairman of the Democratic National Campaign Committee
in 1892. In October, 1887, President Cleveland tendered the position of post
master general to Mr. Dickinson upon the formation of his cabinet,
but Mr. Dickinson declined. But in October, upon the personal appeal
of Mr. Cleveland, he accepted the position and as a member of the cabinet
the relations of the president and the postmaster general were of a very
intimate character and the later was throughout that administration a
very close adviser of this great statesman. In 1888 Mr. Dickinson's name
was, without his knowledge, mentioned for vice president on the ticket,
but he personally supported Mr. Thurman of Ohio. In 1893 Mr. Dick
inson declined the offer of a cabinet position.
In 1896-97 on appointment by the president, Mr. Dickinson served as
senior counsel of the United States before the International High Com
mission on Behring Sea claims, under the fur seal arbitration. Later he
was a member with Rt. Hon. Henry Strong of the British Privy Coun- ,
cil, and Senor Dr. Don Pacas of Salvador, of the court of arbitrations,
to adjust the controversy between the United States and the Republic
of Salvador and wrote the opinion of the court which was in favor of
the United States, this being in 1902.
In his social and civic relations, Mr. Dickinson is well known in
many bodies, both in Detroit and elsewhere. He is an ex-president
and trustee of the Detroit Museum of Arts, vice president of the Jeffer
son Memorial Association ; trustee of the Detroit University school ;
president of the Senator McMillan Memorial Association; member of
the Detroit Board of Commerce; a director of the First National Bank
of Detroit; member of the National Geographical Society; the American
Historical Association; the American Bar Association; the Michigan
Bar Association; -Detroit Bar Association, of which he is an ex-presi
dent. Pie belongs to the Chi Psi Fraternity and his principal clubs are
the Pilgrims of London, the Manhattan, the National Democratic, the
Pilgrims of United States, these last named clubs being in New York'
City; the Huron Mountains, the Detroit, of which he was the first
president, the Bankers, the Detroit Boat, the University, and the Coun
try Club of Detroit.
Mr. Dickinson has his residence at Trenton in Wayne county. He
was married at Grand Rapids, Michigan, on June 15, 1869, to Miss
Frances Piatt, a daughter of Dr. Alonzo Piatt, a celebrated physician
of western Michigan.
Hon. Daniel W. Buck. The capital city of Lansing has had an
interesting development and its citizenship has comprised many splendid
men, but none more note worthy as pioneers, as business builders and in the

670 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
larger field of citizenship than the late Hon. Daniel W. Buck, who was
three times honored with the office of mayor of his city and for more
than sixty years was prominent in the manufacturing and mercantile
affairs of the community.
Daniel W. Buck was a native of New York state, born at East Lan
sing, Tompkins county, on April 21, 1828. He was a son of Daniel Buck
and a grandson of the Rev. Daniel Buck, of Puritan ancestry. Rev.
Daniel Buck served as an American soldier in the Revolutionary war.
Daniel Buck, the father, was born in New York state, became a sub
stantial citizen of East Lansing, and was a deacon in the Baptist church
there. That old New York state community has an interesting relation
ship with the present capital city of Michigan, and that was due chiefly
to members of the Buck family. Levi Buck, an older brother of Daniel
W., early in the decade of the forties came out to Michigan in company
with a number of other citizens from Tompkins county, including au
uncle, Joseph North. Their chief reason for coming to this then western
wilderness was to test some wonderful stories that had been spread over
Tompkins county by a party of hunters, who had fabricated a glowing
account of a city which had been founded by them at the junction of the
Grand and Cedar rivers, the site of the present city of Lansing. This
party of hunters, on the strength of their representations, succeeded in
selling some lots of their supposed city to citizens of East Lansing. The
substance of their stories and the city itself were a product of vivid
imagination, largely prompted by mercenary motives, and the entire
location which they described was little more than a swamp. A little later
those who had bought lots at East Lansing organized a party to go out
and take possession, and they reached Detroit before they learned the
real truth about the swindle. Many of them then turned back, but Levi
Buck and his uncle, Joseph North, determined to make the best of a bad
bargain and accordingly came out to the location of the townsite that
had been pictured to them, and there took up tracts of government land.
It was Levi Buck and Joseph North who afterward really established
the site of the town of Lansing, which they named in honor of their old
home village in New York.
A young man not yet twenty years of age, whose experiences had
come from a quiet life in Tompkins county, with an education in the local
schools, Daniel W. Buck, in 1847, set out for Michigan to visit his brother
at Lansing. The result of this visit was a determination to remain with
the young community. Having served an apprenticeship at the cabinet
maker's trade in Ithaca, New York, he engaged in business at his trade,
and was one of the pioneers in that line at Lansing. His first shop was
a hunter's cabin, eight by twelve feet, five feet high, apd constructed of
logs without windows. In those cramped quarters he fitted up a bench
and began work on his first piece of furniture October 8, 1848. The
first article made in this shop was a table with folding leaves, which he
sold for four dollars. That table is still in use, after more than sixty-
six years, in a good state of repair, and is the prized possession of a
grandson of the buyer. After the old cabin had been his headquarters
for about six weeks Mr. Buck's brother built a better shop at what is
now the northeast corner of Michigan and Washington avenues. Daniel
W. Buck had acquired the land there, and later sold the lot for three
hundred dollars. The same corner today is regarded as the most valu
able piece of real estate in Lansing, in the very heart of the business
section. Some time .later he acquired a lot on Washington avenue, where
the Beck clothing store now stands, and sold that for a twenty dollar
gold piece! The first bureau manufactured in Mr. Bucks' shop was sold
for a load of potatoes, an equivalent of twelve dollars.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 671
Six months from the humble beginning of his work as a cabinet maker
he was employing a force of ten men in his shop, and from year to year
his business increased until there were from forty to sixty employes under
his general direction. In 1854 he erected a large factory on the northwest
corner of Washington avenue and Ionia street, the site occupied by the
present Buck furniture store. For many years this factory continued, to
produce all kinds of furniture, much of it hand made, and with a repu
tation for durability and finish such as only the highest priced goods of
the present time could equal. The output of the factory was sold
through his own retail store. In 1890, largely due to the invasion of ma
chine and corporation methods of manufacture, Mr. Buck discontinued
the manufacturing end and devoted his time entirely to selling furniture
at retail. For fifty-four years he was in business on one site, and at
the time of his death was the oldest business man in point of active ex
perience in Lansing, his aggregate of service comprising sixty-one years.
While his career as a manufacturer and merchant was sufficient to
give him distinction among Lansing's citizens, it by no means included
all his usefulness to the community. To him is due the credit for the
erection of the Buck Opera House, which was dedicated in March, 1873,
and opened the following May by Edwin Booth, and was for many years
the home of theatrical and musical entertainments in the city. Mr. Buck
and his son, Mayton J., conducted this opera house until 1891. Mr.
Buck even in the years of his old age never lost interest in local affairs,
and one of his greatest pleasures when the sun of his life was setting-
was to have old customers come into his store and ask his personal service
in attending to their wants. Many were the distinctions paid this hon
ored ' business veteran, and at the Annual Business Men's Banquet in
1902 he was made the guest of honor.
In politics a Democrat, Mr. Buck, took an active part in the affairs of
his party, yet was no office seeker. It was only through his sense of civic
responsibilities and the opportunities for unselfish service that caused
him to accept any official preferment. He was a member of the board of
aldermen during the early seventies, and in 1874 was elected mayor of
the city, followed by re-election in 1875 and by another election in 1886.
It was with a sense of direct bereavement that the community of
Lansing regarded the death of this pioneer citizen on March 30, 1908.
His funeral services were conducted by Knight Templars, of which he
was at the time the oldest member, and was likewise the oldest surviving
member of Lansing Lodge, No. 33, A. F. & A. M. A pleasing tribute
paid at the time of his death was the presence of Mayor Hugh Lyons and
nine ex-mayors of the city in the capacity of honorary pall bearers.
On May 11, 1863, Mr. Buck married Miss Nancy M. Russell, of
Crown Point, Essex county, New York. Her death occurred in 1885.
The following children survived: Mayton J., a Lansing merchant; Flor
ence A. ; Mary E. ; Bailey M. ; Martha E., who is the wife of Roderick I.
Speer, of Fort Wayne, Indiana. There are also six grandchildren.
The late Mr. Buck saw Lansing grow from a village of two hundred
inhabitants to a city of thirty-five thousand, and in that growth his own
business enterprise was a conspicuous factor, and he was of the class of
rnen who had the ability to increase their own powers and capacity in
proportion to the growth of the community. From a cabinet maker with
a log cabin shop, located practically in the woods, his business has been
developed to a furniture factory employing over half a hundred work
men, arid after his retirement from manufacturing he continued as one
of the city's foremost merchants throughout his long and eventful career
in Lansing. His business methods, his probity and his public spirit were
vol. n— 3

672 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
so manifest that he was both honored and respected by everybody with
whom he came into social or business relations.
Maynard D. Smith. The city of Detroit has a number of con
tractors whose operations are carried on upon a very extensive scale, and
whose work is known not only in the immediate vicinity of their home
city, but throughout this part of the country, where they have been en
gaged to erect large public buildings, manufacturing plants and other
edifices requiring the expenditure of many thousands of dollars. Fore
most among these stands the firm of Andrew J. Smith Construction Com
pany, the president of which, Maynard D. Smith, belongs to a family
which has contributed three generations of capable and prominent Mich
igan contractors.
Mr. Smith is a native of Michigan, and was born at Port Huron, De
cember 22, 1876, the son of Andrew J. and Mary (Quinn) Smith. His
paternal grandfather, David Smith, was a native of England, who went
from his native land to Scotland in young manhood, and came thence to
America, spending first about two years in Ontario, Canada, and then
removing to Port Huron, Michigan, where he passed the remainder of his
life. A contractor by occupation, he carried on business both in Canada
and Port Huron for many years, and became widely and favorably
known in his chosen line. Andrew J. Smith was born in Scotland, and
was a lad of four or five years when brought to America. His education
was secured in the public schools of Canada and Michigan, and when he
laid aside his school books, he adopted the occupation in wbich his father
had been engaged, and with him learned the contracting business. For
years Mr. Smith bas been one of the leading contractors of Port Huron,
where he is the head of the Andrew J. Smith & Sons Contracting Com
pany, and has erected the majority of the important buildings in the St.
Clair county city. He has been prominent in Port Huron affairs in gen
eral from the time that he served three years as a member of the first
board of governing commissioners of that city, under the new city law,
and few men stand higher in public esteem. Mrs. Smith also survives,
and is a native of St. Clair county, where she was born on a farm as the
daughter of a pioneer.
Maynard D. Smith received his education in the public schools of
Port Huron, and while he applied himself assiduously to his studies in
the school terms, in the vacation periods he was always to be found assist
ing his father in the work of contracting, which from his boyhood had an
intense attraction for him. When he laid aside his studies, he devoted
himself entirely to learning the contracting business, with the result that
he eventually became a partner in the firm of Andrew J. Smith & Sons,
contractors of Port Huron, and he was so engaged at the outbreak of the
war between the United States and Spain. He at once volunteered for
service, was accepted, and went to the front as a member of Company F,
Thirty-third Regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry, subsequently see
ing active service in Cuba, where he was stationed at the time peace was
declared. Upon his return to Port Huron he resumed contracting with
his father, and was so engaged until June, 1909, when he came to Detroit
and organized the Andrew J. Smith Construction Company, of which he
has since continued to be president. This firm has built many of the larg
est- and best buildings erected in Detroit in recent years, among them
being the new J. L. Hudson Company's Woodward avenue store, the new
Broadway Market building, the Henry Clay hotel, the Riverside and
Leonard storage plants, portions of the Packard Automobile Company's
plant, the Hudson Motor Car Company plants and many of the buildings
of the Ford Motor Car Company. Mr. Smith is one of the distinctively
helpful men of his city, public spirited and progressive, and no move-

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 673
ment for the real advancement of the city is launched that does not receive
his active and hearty co-operation. He is preeminently an organizer and
an executive, a man of business talent, and one upon which his associates
can depend absolutely in matters of importance. He is a member of the
Detroit Athletic Club, the Town Club, the Red Run Golf Club, and is
prominent in masonry as a Knight Templar and a Shriner. He main
tains offices at No. 18 Campau building.
Mr. Smith was united in marriage with Miss Laura Seville Reynolds,
who was born in St. Clair county, Michigan, and they have become the
parents of two sons, namely : Andrew Reynolds and Maynard Seville.
John Stoughton Newberry. With the strongest incision and clear
est definition must be limned the depicture of the character and services
of the late John S. Newberry, whose name was prominently and in
separably linked with the history of Michigan and its metropolis for
more than thirty years and to whom is due for all time a tribute of honor,
by reason of his fine intellectual ken, his sterling integrity, his distinctive
business and professional ability and his liberality and loyalty as a citizen.
He contributed in generous measure to the progress and prosperity of
Detroit, and the versatility of his genius could not lack for objective
recognition. As a lawyer he won definite prestige and honor; as a busi
ness man he produced results of most benignant and positive order and
as a public official he served with signal fidelity and ability. He accu
mulated a substantial fortune and made good use of the same, with
naught of selfishness or parsimony and with a high sense of stewardship,
his civic liberality having been potent in furthering the best interests of
his home city, where his name and memory are held in lasting honor. His
strength was as the number of his days and the record of his noble career
offers both lesson and inspiration.
John Stoughton Newberry was born at Waterville, Oneida county,
New York, on the 18th of November, 1826, and at his home in the city
of Detroit he was summoned to eternal rest on the 2d of January, 1887.
He was a son of Elihu and Rhoda (Phelps) Newberry, both of whom
were natives of Connecticut and representatives of families that were
founded in New England in the colonial era. Thomas Newberry, grand
father of Elihu, immigrated from England to America in 162=; and
settled at Dorchester, Massachusetts, whence members of 'the family
later removed to Connecticut. John S. Newberry was a lad of five
years at the time of his parents' removal to the territory of Michigan,
and the family home was established at Romeo, Macomb county, where
he availed himself of the advantages of the pioneer schools. He thereafter
continued his studies in the schools at Ann Arbor, where he finally en
tered the literary department of the University of Michigan, in which
he was graduated as valedictorian of the class of 1845 and from which
he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In the meanwhile he had
acquired a practical knowledge of civil engineering and surveying, and
after his graduation he attached himself to the construction depart
ment of the Michigan Central Railroad, in which service he continued
two years, thereafter passing one year in traveling through the west
ern territories. Upon returning to Michigan Mr. Newberry located in
Detroit and began the study of law under the preceptorship of the
well known law firm of- Van Dyke & Emmons. In 1853 he was admitted
to the bar, and in the practice of his chosen profession he became a mem
ber of the firm of Towle, Hunt & Newberry. After the dissolution of
this alliance he entered into partnership with Ashley Pond, . under the
title of Pond & Newberry, and a little later the firm was augmented by
the admission of Henry B. Brown, who finally became an associate jus-

674 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
tice of the supreme court of the United States. After the withdrawal
of Mr. Brown from the firm, Messrs. Newberry and Pond continued to
be associated in practice until 1863, when Mr. Newberry decided to
abandon the work of his profession, in which he had confined his at
tention almost exclusively to the trial of admiralty cases in the federal
courts. It is worthy of special note that before his retirement from the
bar he compiled a valuable work on admiralty law and practice — a work
that has continued to be recognized as a standard authority in its province.
In 1863, in company with Messrs. McMillan, Dean and Eaton, Mr.
Newberry assumed a government contract to build railway cars for army
purposes, and this venture proved highly remunerative, with the result
that, in the following year, the Michigan Car Company was organized
and incorporated, with Mr. Newberry as president and one of the larg
est stockholders. From this enterprise have sprung some of the most
important manufacturing industries of Detroit, including the Baugh
Steam Forge Company, the Detroit Car Wheel Company, the Fulton
Iron & Engine Works, and many kindred concerns, in each of which
Mr. Newberry was president and had large financial interests. Un
der his able administration the several industries transacted an average
volume of business ranging from three to five million dollars annually,
and employment was given to nearly three thousand persons. Mr. New
berry was also largely interested in car-building enterprises at London,
Ontario, and St. Louis, Missouri. At the time of his death he was a
director of each of the following named corporations: The Detroit &
Cleveland Steam Navigation Company; the Vulcan Furnace Company,
at Newberry, Michigan, a village named in his honor ; the Detroit National
Bank ; the Detroit, Bay City & Alpena Railroad Company ; the great
Detroit seed house of D. M. Ferry & Company; and many other promi
nent corporations of Michigan.
Mr. Newberry was distinctively a careful and conservative man of
affairs — so much so, in fact, that his death caused no cessation of busi
ness in any of the corporations in which he was financially interested and
which had felt the strength of his directing influence. He was a large
investor in real estate during the later years of his life, especially in
centrally located business property in Detroit, and wherever his money
was thus placed it has proved of metropolitan benefit.
Upon attaining to his legal majority Mr. Newberry identified him
self with the Whig party, the cause of which he continued to support
until the organization of the Republican party, when he transferred his
allegiance to the latter. He was the first person to be appointed by
President Lincoln to the office of provost marshal of Michigan, and he
served in that capacity during 1862 and 1863, with the rank of captain
of cavalry. During this period of the Civil war he had charge -of the
drafts for military service in his jurisdiction, and he personally attended
to the forwarding of the drafted men and the substitutes to the stage
of polemic activities. In 1879 Mr. Newberry was elected to represent
the First District of Michigan in the United States congress, in which
he served during the session of 1879 and 1880. As a member of the
house committee on commerce he accomplished a splendid work in the
advancement and protection of the commercial interests of the nation.
He served also on other important committees, to the labors of which
he devoted himself with characteristic earnestness and ability.
Realizing that his personal business affairs demanded his attention,
Mr. Newberry positively declined a renomination for congress, and un
til the hour of his death he thereafter devoted his great energies toward
the development and supervision of his vast business interests. In early
life Mr. Newberry was a member of the Congregational church, but

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 675
upon establishing his home in Detroit he united with the Jefferson Avenue
Presbyterian church, upon whose services he continued a regular attend
ant, besides contributing with marked liberality to the support of the vari
ous departments of its work. In contributions to charitable and philan
thropic causes he had few equals in Detroit, and his crowning act in this
direction transpired after his death, when it was found that he had be
queathed $650,000 to charitable institutions. Within the last years of
his life, in company with his honored business associate, the late Hon.
James McMillan, he founded Grace Homeopathic Hospital, one of the
noble institutions of Detroit, and to this worthy cause he contributed
more than $150,000.
Mr. Newberry's abiding interest in his alma mater, the great Uni
versity of Michigan, was shown in no uncertain way, and Newberry
Hall, a magnificent modern structure erected at Ann Arbor by Mrs.
Newberry, as a memorial to him and for the use of the Students' Chris
tian Association, constitutes an enduring monument to his memory. A
second consistent memorial erected in honor of Mr. Newberry is the
Newberry Memorial Chapel, which was erected by his widow, in 1887,
at a cost of about $70,000, and which was presented to the Jefferson
Avenue Presbyterian churcb. This unique edifice is located at the corner
of Earned and Rivard streets, Detroit, and is utilized for church purposes.
In the year 1855 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Newberry to
Miss Harriet N. Robinson, of Buffalo, New York, and her death oc
curred early in the following year. She was survived by one son, Harry
R. Newberry, who died in October, 1910, who was one of the repre
sentative capitalists and business men of Detroit. On the 6th of October,
1859, Mr. Newberry wedded Miss Helen P. Handy, daughter of the
late Truman P. Handy, who was one of the pioneers and most honored
and influential citizens of Cleveland, Ohio. Mrs. Newberry survived her
honored husband until the 17th of December, 1912, and until her death
maintained her home in Detroit, as. do also their three children — Truman
H, John Sv and Helen H. The only daughter is now the wife of Henry
B. Joy, son of the late James F. Joy, of Detroit, who was one of the most
prominent citizens of the state and who served as president of the Mich
igan Central Railroad Company. Truman H. Newberry was assistant
secretary of the United States Navy, to which office he was appointed
in 1905, by President Roosevelt, and in November, 1908, he was ad
vanced to the position of secretary of' the navy, since his retirement
from which office he has continued to reside in Detroit. John S. New
berry II is individually mentioned on other pages of this publication.
John Stoughton Newberry, II. An effective exponent of the pro
gressive spirit and stalwart initiative power that have caused Detroit to
forge so rapidly forward* as an industrial and commercial center, Mr.
Newberry holds secure place as one of the representative business men
and loyal and public-spirited citizens of the metropolis of his native state,
where he is president and general manager of the Detroit Steel Castings
Company, besides having other capitalistic interests of important order.
A memorial tribute to his father, the late Hon. John S. Newberry, appears
on other pages of this publication, and thus it is not necessary to again
incorporate the family data.
Mr. Newberry was born in the beautiful old family homestead, at
483 Jefferson avenue, Detroit, on the 21st of July, 1866, and after
availing himself of the advantages of the public schools he continued his
educational discipline in the Michigan Military Academy, at Orchard
Lake, an admirable institution whose recent obliteration should be a
matter of uniform regret throughout the state. After leaving this acad-

676 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
emy Mr. Newberry attended for two years the excellent military school
at Chester, Pennsylvania, and in 1890-91 he was a student in Cornell
University, at Ithaca, New York, where he completed a special course
in the engineering department. Upon his return to Detroit Mr. New
berry became assistant manager of the Detroit Steel & Spring Com
pany and in this connection he gained valuable experience. In 1902 he
was associated in the organization of the Detroit Steel Castings Com
pany, of which he was assistant manager until 1905, since which time
he has been president and general manager of the important corporation,
the affairs of which he has administered with marked discrimination and
ability. He is a director of the National Bank of Commerce, Detroit,
and is a trustee of Grace Hospital, of which his father was one of the
founders. He has given unswerving allegiance to the Republican party,
but has had no aspiration for political preferment. He is a valued mem
ber of the Detroit Board of Commerce, and holds membership in such
other representative organizations as the Detroit Club, the Yondotega
Club, the Detroit Boat Club, the Detroit Country Club, the Detroit Au
tomobile Club, and the Lake St. Clair Shooting and Fishing Club, which
is familiarly known as the Old Club. Concerning him the following
pertinent and consistent estimate has been offered: "Mr. Newberry
exemplifies, in his courteous bearing and democratic ways, the gracious
and cultured influences under which he was reared, and he enjoys marked
popularity in the business and social circles of his native city, to the
interests of which he is insistently loyal, even as he is fully appreciative
of the city's manifold attractions and advantages. Mr. Newberry has
been prominently identified with the Michigan Naval Reserves, with
which he continued in active service from 1894 to 1899, both dates in
clusive. During the Spanish-American war he was chief quartermaster
on the United States cruiser 'Yosemite,' which made an admirable rec
ord at Havana, Santiago and other points and the crew of which re
ceived from' the government a bounty of $50,000 for the sinking of the
Spanish vessel, 'Antonio Lopez,' off San Juan, Porto Rico. At the pres
ent time Mr. Newberry is a member of the Gilbert Wilkes Command,
Naval War Veterans, besides which he is identified with the Society of
Colonial Wars."
On the 30th of September, 1908, was solemnized the marriage of
Mr. Newberry to Mrs. Edith Stanton Field, daughter of Alexander M.
Stanton, a representative citizen of Detroit and a member of one of the
old and honored families of this city. Two children have been born to
this union, John Stoughton, Jr., and Rhoda Phelps.
Charles Louis Palms. A scion of a distinguished and patrician family
whose name has been one of significant prominence in connection with
the annals of Michigan and the city of Detroit in particular, Charles L.
Palms is one of the influential citizens of the Michigan metropolis and
is well upholding the prestige of the honored name which he bears.
Charles Louis Palms was born in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana,
on the 2d of June, 1871, and is a son of Francis F. and Celimene (Pellerin)
Palms. His early educational discipline was acquired in excellent private
schools in his native city of Detroit, and in 1889 he was graduated in
Georgetown University, in the District of Columbia, with the degree of
Bachelor of Philosophy. He subsequently attended the law school of
Harvard University. After finishing his education Mr. Palms traveled
extensively in Europe, and upon his return to Detroit, in 1892, he became
associated with his father in the management of the estate of his grand
father, the late Francis Palms, who died in this city on the 4th of Novem
ber, 1886. Mr. Palms has been trustee of his grandfather's estate and

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 677
administrator of that of his father since 1905. Pie is identified with a
number of interests of broad scope and importance, and in this line it
may be noted that he is secretary and a director of the Detroit Journal
Company, and a director of each the First National Bank, the Union Trust
Company, the Michigan Stove Company, the Michigan Fire & Marine In
surance Company, besides being a stockholder in other Detroit corpora
tions. Mr. Palms accords allegiance to the Republican party, and among the
representative Detroit organizations with which he is affiliated may be
mentioned the Detroit Club, the Country Club, the Bankers' Club, the
Detroit Boat Club, the Players' Club, and the University Club. He is also
a member of the Michigan Naval Reserve Veterans and is president of the
Alliance Francaise of Detroit. His office is maintained in the Campau
building. In the city of St. Louis, Missouri, in 1894, was solemnized the marriage
of Mr. Palms to Miss Isabel De Mun Walsh, daughter of Julius S. Walsh,
president of the Mississippi Valley Trust Company. Their residence is
maintained at 452 Jefferson avenue, Detroit.
- Francis F. Palms, father of him whose name initiates this review, died
in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, on the 4th of March, 1905, his
habit having been to pass. the winters in that historic old city during the
last twenty years of his life. On his last- trip to the south he contracted
a severe cold, which developed into la grippe and finally resulted in his
death. The date of his departure from Detroit for New Orleans was the
19th of January prior to his demise. He was a well known and influential
banker and manufacturer of Detroit, contributed in a very definite degree
to the development and progress of this beautiful city, in which his interests
were centered, and was a citizen who not only exerted a potent and benig
nant influence in community affairs but also held inviolable place in the
confidence and esteem of those with whom he came in contact in the
various relations of life.-
Francis F. Palms was a scion of an ancient and distinguished Belgian
family. His grandfather, Ange Palms, was a resident of the city of
Antwerp and served as quartermaster of one of the divisions of Napoleon's
army at Waterloo. For his successful effort in saving a part of the ammu
nition in this disastrous battle, Napoleon, on the battlefield, made him a
chevalier of the Legion of Honor. During the stormy period incident to
the dethronement of Charles X and the elevation of Louis Phillippe, the
citizen king, Ange Palms was compelled to leave Belgium. 'After spending
two years at Mayence, Germany, he immigrated with his family to
America, bringing letters of introduction from the Prince of Liege to
President Martin Van Buren. On his travels he proceeded as far as
Detroit, Michigan, where, on the 26th of August, 1833, his wife died of
. cholera. "Thus," says a biographist, "a new land became her tomb," even
as it became the cradle of the Palms race on American soil.
Francis F. Palms was a child at the time of his mother's death and was
taken to the home of his grandfather in New Orleans, where he received
his early education. In 1854 he entered the college at Georgetown, District
of Columbia, in which he was graduated three years later. After leaving
college he opened an engineering office at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where
he continued in this field of professional enterprise until the outbreak of
the Cjvil war, when he manifested his loyalty to the cause of the Confeder
acy by enlisting in the Fourth Louisiana Infantry. In 1862 he organized
a signal corps, with which he rendered great service to the Confederate
cause at the siege of Port Hudson. He established a range of signals
extending fifteen miles on the west side of the river, and by means of
these signals the besieged forces were kept informed at all times of the

678 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
movements of the Federal troops under General Banks. General Banks
finally got the upper hand, and it was the fortune of war that Lieutenant
Palms should fall into the hands of this Union general while in command
of the line of signals which he had established. He was sent as a prisoner
of war to Fortress Monroe, Virginia, but within a short time his exchange
was effected and he rejoined his command. He served with marked gal
lantry and valor until the close of the war, and on more than one occasion
distinguished himself for mature judgment, quick action and master of
expedients in connection with military operations. At the close of the great
conflict between the states of the north and the south Lieutenant Palms
returned to the parish of West Baton Rouge, where he engaged in the
cotton-planting industry. His crops were destroyed in the flood of 1867,
whereupon he abandoned his enterprise as a planter and removed to New
Orleans. Soon after thus establishing his home in the metropolis of Louisiana
' Mr. Palms was appointed chief clerk in the office of the register of deeds
in that city, and of this position he continued the incumbent until 1870.
In that year he was appointed minute clerk of the Fourth civil district court,
parish of Orleans, for a term of eight years, at the expiration of which
he was reappointed, his incumbency of the office continuing until 1880. At
the urgent request of his father he then resigned his position and became
his father's private secretary. In this position he assumed the management
of his father's affairs, which he conducted until the death of his honored
sire, in 1886. There were but two heirs to the vast Palms estate, — Francis
F. and a half-sister, Clotilde, wife of Dr. James B. Book, of Detroit. This
estate was left to the two for life, with a reversion to their children, but
with a provision for the continuation of the trust through any grandchild's
minority. The grandfather sought to prevent any possible overturning of
the will by a provision that should either of his two children contest the
will that one should be disinherited. The chief beneficiaries evaded this
provision by uniting in a petition to the circuit court for a construction of
the will, which was upheld in every particular.
Francis F. Palms was a man or broad and varied interests, many of
which were in Detroit. He was president of the National Loan & Invest
ment Company ; president of the Buck Stove Company, of St. Louis, Mis
souri; vice-president of the Peninsular Stove Company, of Detroit; and
in the Michigan metropolis he was also a director of each the People's
Savings Bank, the Michigan Stove Company, the Standard Life & Accident
Insurance Company, and the Matthews-Ireland' Company. In politics he
was unswerving in his allegiance to the Democratic party, and for a time
he served as a member of the Detroit board of park commissioners. A
short time prior to his death he resigned his position as a member of the
municipal art commission of Detroit.
The domestic chapter in the life of Francis F. Palms shows that he was
thrice wedded. In July, 1866, he married Miss Devall, daughter of a
prominent planter of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but her death occurred
within the same year. In 1869 was solemnized the marriage of Mr.
Palms to Miss Celimene Pellerin, of Breaux Bridge, St. Martinsville
parish, Louisiana, she having been a representative of one of the patri
cian old French families of that state. This gentle and gracious woman
was summoned to eternal rest in 1888, her death having occurred in
Detroit. She was survived by seven children. The eldest was Martha,
the Countess of Champeaux, who died in France, in 1904; Bertha is the
wife of A. Ingersoll Lewis, of Detroit; Charles L. ; Viola is the wife
of Dr. Burt R. Shurly, of Detroit; Corinne is the wife of Hamilton
Carhartt Jr., of Detroit; Francis, of Detroit; and William, who died
May 19, 1913. In 1890 Mr. Palm's contracted a third marriage, Miss

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 679
Marie Aimee Martin becoming his wife. Mrs.. Palms survives her hus
band and maintains her home in Detroit. She is a daughter of Hon. S.
V. Martin, of St. Martinsville parish, Louisiana. Of the third marriage
were born three children, — Helene, Clarence and Marie Louise, and of
these Clarence is deceased.
Francis F. Palms, distinguished and honored as a citizen and as- a
man of the highest integrity, was sixty-seven years of age at the time
of his death. His remains were brought from New Orleans to Detroit
and were laid to rest in Mt. Elliott cemetery. Mr. Palms was a man of
courtly presence and of remarkable kindliness and benevolence. His
gracious personality gained to him the friendship of all with whom he
came in contact. While invariably unostentatious in his charities and
benevolences, he was at heart one of the most generous of men, and
especially at Christmas time he never failed to remember with gifts the
charitable institutions of Detroit. In this city his memory will long be
cherished, and he will be remembered alike for his charming personality,
his good deeds, and his public-spirited attitude toward all movements for
the general good of the community.
Bryant Walker. The name Walker has since 1845 been continu
ously associated with the Detroit bar, and with the citizenship of that
metropolis since 1837, at the beginning of Michigan's statehood. In the
law, during nearly threescore and ten years, the work of father and son
have been marked by all the efficiency of solid ability and singular devo
tion to the interest of their clientage. The career of the senior Walker
was distinguished by public service of the larger sort, sufficient to place
him on the roll of public benefactors to his state during its formative
period and in succeeding decades. For personal attainments and pro
fessional and public services, few Michigan families have been more note
worthy. The late Edward Carey Walker was born at Butternuts, Otsego
county, New York on July 4, 1820, a son of Stephen and Lydia Walker.
At an early age he became an inmate of the family of his brother Ferdi
nand Walker, then living at Hamilton, Madison county, New York.' He
was prepared for college at the Hamilton Academy, but at the age of
fifteen left school to take a position with an engineer corps engaged in
building the Chenango Canal. After two years' experience with the
engineer corps he met with an accident. Thrown from a carriage his
knee was broken, and he was unfitted for active continuance with his
work. In September, 1837 (the year of Michigan's admission as a state),
while still suffering from his injuries and obliged to use crutches, young
Walker came to Detroit to visit his sister Mrs. Alexander C. McGraw.
Mr. McGraw advised him to resume his studies, offering to bear the
expense. This kind offer was accepted, and the young man entered the
University of Michigan, then located at Detroit. In 1840, entering Yale
College he was graduated with honors, in the class of ,1842. On his
return to Detroit he taught school for a time in the branch of the Uni
versity, and then took up the study of law in the office of Joy & Porter.
Subsequently a year, was spent in s.tudy at the Harvard Law School. In
1845, Mr. Walker, having been admitted to the bar, began the practice
at Detroit, which through his career and that of his son has been continu
ous in all succeeding years. In 1850, at his request, he was joined by his
brother, Charles I. Walker, under the firm name of C. I. & E. C. Walker.
In 1853, Alfred Russell became a member of the firm, and this partner
ship continued until i860. In the meantime, in 1857, Charles I. Walker
retired from the firm and for the fifteen years following Charles A. Kent
was associated with Mr. Edward C. Walker, under the firm name of

680 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Walker & Kent. In 1884, Mr. Walker was joined by his son Bryant
Walker in the practice, under the firm name of Walker & Walker, a
firm which continued until the death of the senior member in 1894. The
late Edward C. Walker was regarded as one of the most successful mem
bers of the Detroit bar, and in his line, that of commercial law, land
titles, and corporations, he stood foremost.
For many years Mr. Walker served as a member and secretary of
the Detroit Board of Education. In 1846, he was secretary of the first
temperance society, organized in Detroit. He was long a member and
elder of the Fort Street Presbyterian Church. In politics a Republican,
for four years he served as chairman of the Republican State Central
Committee. In 1863 he was elected by popular vote of the state regent
of the University of Michigan, and drawing by lot the short term, served
two years, and was then reelected for the long term of eight years. In
1873 he was again elected regent for a similar period. In 1876 his legis
lative district elected him to the Michigan Legislature, and while a repre
sentative he served as a chairman of the house committee and judiciary.
Especially noteworthy was the service of the late Mr. Walker during the
Civil war. Always a persistent supporter of the Federal government,
he gave liberally of his time and money in aid of the cause of the union.
In 1863 he was one of the organizers and the chairman of the Michigan
Branch of the United States Christian Commission, which sent dele
gates to the hospitals and fields and expended more than thirty-five thou
sand dollars in ministering to the welfare and comfort of the Union
soldiers. As a member of the Commission Mr. Walker spent six weeks in
caring for the wounded after the' battle of the Wilderness. In 1852
Edward Carey Walker married Miss Lucy Bryant, of Buffalo, New York.
Bryant Walker, a son of Edward C. and Lucy Walker, was born in
the city of Detroit on July 3, 1856. His boyhood and youth were spent
in his native city, where he attended the schools of Philo M. Patterson,
later entered the University of Michigan, where he was graduated A. B.
in the class of 1876. He then entered the law department of the same
University, and won his degree LL. B. in 1879. Admitted to the bar in
the same year, he took up practice in Detroit, in the office of the firm of
Walker & Kent. In 1884 he became associated with his father under
the firm name of Walker & Walker, and this firm continued until dis
solved by the death of his father. Since then Mr. Walker has been at
the head of the well known legal firm of Walker & Spalding. Mr. Walker
has membership in the Society of Colonial Wars, in the Detroit & Old
Clubs, and the Detroit Bar Association.
At Washington, 1 D. C, in 1890, Mr. Bryant Walker married Miss
Mary McGuire.
Hon. J. Byron Judkins. It is now forty years since Mr. Judkins
began his practice as a member of the Michigan bar. In that time many
of the finest distinctions of the law have come to him. Three times he
was elected judge of the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, without opposition.
His popularity is equalled by his efficiency as a jurist, and there is good
basis for the claim that fewer cases from Judge Judkins' court were re
versed by the higher court than was true of any other circuit in the state.
Since leaving the bench, Judge Judkins has been in active practice of the
law, at Grand Rapids, where he stands among the leaders of the Kent
county bar.
J. Byron Judkins was born at Coldwater, Ohio, in 1851. His par
ents were James and Mary (Dornick) Judkins. His father moved from

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 681
Ohio to Michigan in 1870, and lived in Mecosta county, until his death in
1905. During the Civil war he went out with an Ohio regiment, and be
came captain of Company I in the One Hundred and Fifty-Sixth Ohio
Infantry. There were five children, and the only now living besides Judge
Judkins is Lewis F., a railroad man whose home is at Fife Lake, in this
state. Judge Judkins spent most of his boyhood in Mercer county, Ohio,
where he attended the public schools, and later was a student in tbe high
school of Celina in Mercer county. After two years of college work at
Liber College in Indiana, he came to Michigan, and pursued his studies
in the law at Big Rapids with the firm of Nottingham & Murdock and
Judge Michael Brown. His admission to the bar came in January, 1874.
He soon afterwards located at Hersey, in Osceola county, where he re
mained in active practice until 1880. During that time he was a member
of the law firm of Burch, Beardsley & Judkins.
On March 12, 1880, Governor Croswell appointed Mr. Judkins as
judge of the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, and in the fall of the same
year he was elected to fill the vacancy. In 1881 came his reelection for
the full term of six years, and his tenure of office was continued in 1887
by another election, so that he served altogether nearly fourteen years,
and presided over the Nineteenth Circuit with a rare ability and with
the complete confidence of both the bar and the laity. In the popular
election for the office all parties united in supporting him, and at the
conclusion of his last term he declined a renomination, since he believed
it his duty to apply himself to private practice. He then came to Grand
Rapids, where for the past twenty years he has been one of the leading
lawyers. During his career as a judge he decided some of the most
important cases ever tried in the circuit courts of the state, several in
volving hundred of thousands of dollars.
Judge Judkins was married at Cedar Springs, Michigan, October 31,
1876, to Miss Anna L. Haskins, a daughter of Abram and Margaret
Haskins. Her father was a veteran of the Union army, and his remains
now rest in the National Cemetery at Nashville, Tennessee. Mrs. Haskins
died in 1890. Mrs. Judkins received her education in the public schools
of Kent county and Cedar Springs high school. To their marriage have
been born three children as follows: Laverne M., who was educated in
the Grand Rapids schools, and in Oxford College, Ohio, and lives at ,
home; Carolyn A., who attended the Grand Rapids schools, and com
pleted her education in the Ward Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee, is'
the wife of "'Frank D. Longyear of Lansing, and has one son, Byron J. ;
Edna C, after attending the Grand Rapids high school and Oxford Col
lege, Ohio, married J. Wade Tucker, a lumberman and now lives in
Florida, and their two children are Clara L. and 'Joseph W.
Judge Judkins's ancestry on his father's side goes back to North Caro
lina, and his grandfather, James Judkins, came from that state and set
tled in Coldwater, in Western Ohio, during the decade of the forties, and
practiced his profession of medicine in that vicinity for nearly a half a
century. The maternal ancestors came from Pennsylvania, and were
settlers in Ohio, about 1840. Judge Judkins among other interests is a
director in the First National Bank of Reed City, and is its counsel. In
the fall of 1898 he was elected regent of the University of Michigan, but
it subsequently transpired that no vacancy existed, so that he never filled
the office to which he was elected. He has membership in the Lincoln
Club at Grand Rapids, belongs to the Grand Rapids Bar Association, and
in politics is a Republican. He affiliates with Park Congregational church,

682 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
of which his wife and daughter are members. Judge Judkins has his
office in the Widdecomb Building, and his home is at 639 Kellogg Street.
Jeremiah Dwyer. In this age of huge industrial enterprise to have
made one plant the greatest concern of it kind in the world, is a distinction
such as few men can expect to possess and one which stamps the holder
as truly a captain of industry. That honor will be readily granted to
Jeremiah Dwyer, president of the Michigan Stove Company, a plant which
with its branches manufactures more stoves and ranges than any other
similar organization in the world. Mr. Dwyer has for half a century been
identified with stove manufacture, and a resident of the city for nearly
seventy-five years, he is one of Michigan's oldest and ablest business men,
and citizens.
The branch of the Dwyer family to which Jeremiah belongs was
founded in Michigan in 1838, the year following the admission of the
territory to the Union. Plis parents were Michael and Mary (O'Donnell)
Dwyer, both of whom were born in the south of Ireland. Michael Dwyer
was a contractor in Brooklyn, New York, until he moved his family west
to Michigan in 1838. He became one of the early settlers and farmers in
Wayne county, and reclaimed and cultivated his land, until his death in
1848. His widow then disposed of the farm and moved into the city of
Detroit, where she invested her means in city property.
Jeremiah Dwyer was born in Brooklyn, New York, August 22, 1838,
and was about three months old when the family located in Michigan.
His earliest years were spent on a farm, and after his schooling he found
his first regular employment in the planing mill of Smith & Dwight. From
that time forward, barring intervals of ill health, his efforts have been
directed chiefly along industrial lines, and he early distinguished himself
not only as a hard but an intelligent worker, and quickly found a position
of independence. After one year in a planing mill, he became an appren
tice at the moulder's trade, in the Hydraulic Iron Works operated by
Kellogg & Van Schoick. His apprenticeship there produced a master
workman, and the first three years after reaching majority were spent
as a journeyman founder in different cities of the east. His health became
impaired at this strenuous toil, and he then returned to Detroit, and for
the time was employed with the Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee Rail
road Company.
In 1859 Mr. Dwyer took the position of foreman with the Geary &
Russell foundry at Detroit. In 1861, in company with his brother James,
and Thomas W. Meisner, he organized J. Dwyer & Company, manufactur
ers of stoves. They had a small foundry for the manufacture of their
castings, and the annual product of the plant would hardly equal one day's
output of the present giant industry of which Mr. Dwyer is the head.
However, the stoves were of excellent quality, and his partners were not
only successful manufacturers, but good salesmen, and the business saw a
growing prosperity. In 1863 the Meisner interests were bought by William
H. Tefft, though the firm name remained the same as previously. In
1864 the business was incorporated under the name Detroit Stove Wrorks.
In a short time Mr. Dwyer again suffered impairment of health, and was
obliged to go south to recuperate. Before going he sold his interests in
the Detroit Stove Works to his brother James and Edwin S. Barbour.
After about a year in the south, Mr. Dwyer returned greatly improved ii
not entirely restored, and again resumed his place as one of fhe leading
manufacturers of the city. In the fall of 1871 he effected the organization
and incorporation of a new concern under the title of the Michigan Stove
Company. He was vice president and manager of this industry, and sub
sequently was elevated to the presidency, a post which he continues to

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 683
hold, and it is through his detailed knowledge of stove manufacture and
his broad vision of the large field of business comprised under this de
partment of industry that the Michigan Stove Company has easily attained
its place as the largest establishment of its kind in the world. The facil
ities of the plant have been increased from year to year, and the output
in stoves and ranges from the Detroit factories are now sold through
branches in all the larger cities of the United States, also in London, Paris,
Berlin and other foreign markets, and countries.
As a matter of course, Mr. Dwyer has become identified with various
other business concerns, was one of the founders of the People's Savings
Bank of Detroit, a member of the Board of Directors of the present time,
and is a director in the Michigan Copper & Brass Company of Detroit,
the Ideal Manufacturing Company of that city, and holds stock in many
other important enterprises.
Mr. Dwyer is a member of, the Catholic church, and his clubs are the
Detroit Club and the Country Club. On November 22, 1859, he married
Miss Mary L. Long, who was born in Michigan, the daughter of John R.
Long. They are the parents of seven sons and one daughter. James W.
' (deceased) ; John M. ; Elizabeth B. ; William A.; Francis T. (deceased) ;
Vincent R. (deceased) ; Emmett and Gratton L.
Russell A. Alger. Were one to name half a dozen of the most
eminent characters in Michigan's history, there would be no question as
to the inclusion of the late General Alger in the list. General Alger
began his career as a lawyer in Michigan shortly before the Civil war,
went out from this state as a Company Captain, reached the rank of
Brevet Major-General, returned home and soon became conspicuous in
the lumber operations of Michigan, and when the basis of his large for
tune had been securely laid, he consented to enter the political arena,
where his name soon became conspicuous, not only in his home state,
but in the nation. The late General Alger possessed remarkable business
genius, was a commanding figure in public affairs, and was equally nota
ble for his beautiful personality and his many kindly and varied relations
with his fellowmen.
Russell Alexander Alger was born in a log cabin in Medina county,
Ohio, February 27, 1836, and died in the city of Washington-, where
he was representing his state in the office of United States senator,
January 24, 1907. His parents were Russell and Caroline (Moulton)
Alger. The first American settler of the name came from England in
1759, and the ancestral stock has been traced back to the time of William
the Conqueror. His great-grandfather, John Alger, was a gallant soldier
on the American side during the American Revolution. The mother of
General Alger was a direct descendant of Robert Moulton, who came
to the colony of Massachusetts in 1627, m charge of a vessel laden with'
ship building material, and he brought with him a number of skilled ship
carpenters: The first sea-going vessel built in Massachusetts was built
under his supervision. The family moved from New, England to Ohio
early in the nineteenth century, and were pioneers in that commonwealth.
The career of the late Russell A. Alger is notable for the difficulties
overcome during his youth, and that has a place alongside of many other
stories of other eminent men familiar to our American annals. His
parents were in very modest circumstances, and the greater part of their
lives in poor health, so that more than average responsibility fell upon
the shoulders of the boy as he grew from childhood to youth. Left an
orphan at the age of twelve, he was then thrown entirely upon his own
resources, and assisted in providing for his younger brother and sister.
He had little schooling, and nine years of the period of life which modern

684 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
youth spend largely in school were devoted by him to work on a farm
in Summitt county, Ohio. In this stern school of necessity he developed
the powers of self-reliance and courage, which stood him in better stead
for the great responsibilities confronting him in after years than college
education While he was working on the farm, he attended a nearby
academy during the winter months, and studied and progressed in a
manner characteristic of so many whose opportunities are limited, but
whose ambition and energy are apparently inexhaustible. He finally
qualified himself as a teacher, and followed that vocation and worked
on a farm during the vacation months. In March, 1857, soon after
reaching his twenty-first birthday, he took up the study of law at Akron
Ohio. In 1859 he was admitted to the bar before the Supreme Court of
Ohio, and then found a position in the office of a law firm at Cleveland.
As the result of his arduous study through the preceding years his
health failed, and that event proved the turning point in his destiny,
and led him to the great lumber regions of Michigan.
Coming to Michigan in 1859 he located at Grand Rapids, then a mere
village. The lumber industry was the one great enterprise of that
vicinity, and he was soon on a fair way to large success and prosperity.
His business career was interrupted by the shadow of the Civil war,
and he was among the first to tender his services to the Union.
In August, 1861, Mr. Alger enlisted as a private in the Second Michi
gan Volunteer Cavalry. The official record of his army service is as
follows : "Captain Second Cavalry, September 2, 1861 ; Major, April 2,
1862; Lieutenant-Colonel Sixth Michigan Cavalry, October 16, 1862;
Colonel Fifth Michigan Cavalry, February 28, 1863 ; wounded in action
at Boonesboro, Maryland, July 8, 1863; resigned September 20, 1864,
and honorably discharged. Brevet Brigadier General United States
Volunteer for gallant and meritorious services, to rank from the battle
of Trevilian Station, Virginia, June 11, 1864; Brevet Major-General
United States Volunteers, June 11, 1865, for gallant and meritorious serv
ice during the war." Every advancement in his military career was
honestly and meritoriously won. During the first year of the war he
served in the south and the west, but the largest portion of his service
was with the Army of the Potomac. As colonel of the Fifth Michigan
Cavalry, he entered Gettysburg on the twenty-eighth of June, 1863, his
being the first Union regiment to reach the village. On July I, 1862,
he participated in the battle of Booneville, where he was acting as cap
tain of Company C of the Second Cavalry. General Chalmers, with five
thousand mounted Confederates, made an attack on Booneville, which
was held by Colonel Sheridan, who brought with him at the time only
two small regiments, the Second Michigan Cavalry and the Second Iowa
Cavalry, numbering in all less than nine hundred men. The Second
Michigan were armed with sabers, Colt's revolvers and revolving car
bines. So great was the heroism displayed by these two regiments that
General Chalmers was led to believe that he had been deceived in the
strength of the enemy, as he inferred that the slaughter effected by the
Michigan regiment with their carbines must certainly be the work of an
infantry bridage. Sheridan, with his little body of men, was in danger
of being surrounded and captured, and in this emergency he decided
to send out ninety-six men, in command of Captain Alger, to make a
circuit of the enemy and charge upon the rear with "sabers and cheers."
This ruse had the desired effe"ct, for as soon as Captain Alger and his
men charged upon the enemy, numbering at least two thousand men,
they broke and fled, as did also the force directly in front of Sheridan,
leaving one hundred and twenty-five of their comrades upon the field.
The Second Michigan, which had borne the burden of the fight, lost

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 685
forty-one dead and wounded. In the official reports of engagements,
General Alger was frequently mentioned for distinguished , services,
notably by Custer in his report on the Battle of Gettysburg. On July 8,
1863, he was seriously wounded in the fight near Boonesboro, Maryland,
and did not resume service until September. He served with distinction
during the campaigns of 1863-64, taking part in all the engagements of
the Army of the Potorriac within this period, and with his brigade ac
companied Sheridan to the Shenandoah Valley in 1864. In all General
Alger participated in sixty-six battles and skirmishes, and by bravery
and faithfulness richly merited the distinctions which he gained.
In 1866 General Alger established his home in Detroit. In the fol
lowing year he engaged in business as a member of the firm of Moore,
Alger & Company, dealers in pine lands and lumber. This was the line,
of enterprise to which he had directed Tiis energies while at Grand
Rapids. Soon the firm became Moore & Alger, and this was succeeded
by R. A. Alger & Company, and subsequently the business was incorpo
rated as Alger, Smith & Company. Of this corporation General Alger
was president from the beginning until his death. In the lumber field
his operations have probably been as extensive as those of any other
individual concern in the United States. His success in this field led
General Alger's .participation in numerous other corporate and indi
vidual enterprises, and it would be a" large task to enumerate the various
business connections which he held through many years in Michigan
and elsewhere. Through normal and legitimate means he gained a large
fortune, the use and stewardship of which was always a matter of -deeji
concern to him.
Though one of Michigan's prominent men from the time of the Civil
war, General Alger steadily refused any political honors until his busi
ness ambition had been well satisfied. In 1884 he was a delegate to the.
Republican National Convention in Chicago, and in the same year was
nominee of his party for governor of Michigan. Though that was a
Democratic year, and Michigan had been Democratic for some time,
General Alger was elected by a plurality of 3,953, and he gave his state
the most capable administration as governor, refusing at the end of his
term to accept the nomination for a second term.
As a favorite son of Michigan, and a man whose name was not
unfamiliar in many states, General Alger was one of the most prominent
among the various candidates in 1888 for nomination before the Repub
lican National Convention. His name was presented at the beginning
of the session, and after a number of ballots his strength increased to
one hundred and forty-three votes. On the sixth ballot a break was
made among his followers, and as a result General Harrison was brought
forward and received the nomination. In the national convention of
1892 General Alger was again a popular candidate, though the judgment
of his party conferred the choice upon the then incumbent of the White
Plouse. Few men reach so high a position in public life as did the late General
Alger without enduring the almost inevitable reverses which attend a
public career. In the life of General Alger that came during his service
in the office of Secretary of the War, under President McKinley, and
at the time of the Spanish-American war. Time has already shown how
unjust were the criticisms directed against this loyal, honorable and
patriotic citizen and able official. In 1896 he was called to the cabinet
of President McKinley, and assumed the duties of his office March 4,
1897. The unpleasantness which marked his administration was the
result of "long existent conditions revealed by the stern test of war."
Practically all citizens who followed the course of events during the

686

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN

s

succeeding years understand the source of trouble from which General
Alger was an innocent victim. The conditions were summed up by the
New York Post at the time of his death in the following words: He
was a victim of the wretched organization of the army and the depart
ment which clung to the system of the Civil war that had long been
outgrown." When he resigned his post as Secretary of War in August,
1899, he returned to Michigan to receive one of the most enthusiastic
and sympathetic receptions ever accorded to one who had served faith
fully, but against heavy odds, in the public cause. After General
Alger's death, Mr. Taft, then secretary of war, paid him the following
tribute : "General Alger was patriotic, earnest and most devoted to the
interests of the army and, especially, considered- the welfare of the en
listed men. Pie was a gentle, kindly man, with great confidence in his
friends and associates, and was much beloved by his subordinates. He
was the subject of unjust criticism because of the country's lack of
preparedness for war when war came, although for this he was in no
wise responsible."
General Alger was appointed a member of the United States Senate,
September 27, 1902, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Senator
James McMillan, and in the following January was regularly elected to
the office by the legislature. Owing to failing health he declined to
become a candidate for reelection and his first term would have expired
March 4, 1908. He had been sitting as a member of the senate until
confined to his home by his last illness. An editorial in the Washington
Herald published at the time of his passing containing a few of many
similar tributes paid by the press throughout the country: "General
Russell A. Alger did not live in vain. A kindly, lovable character, he
was helpful to his fellows and served his country well. He was the type
of rich man whom riches do not spoil — a man who had his wealth to
good ends, while material success did not put him out of touch with
humanity. Michigan loved him as he loved Michigan." Many tributes
were paid to him in Congress and elsewhere, but the most distinctive
were those enacted at Detroit while his body lay in state at the city
hall, and when the entire community of the city showed its deep sense
of personal loss.
General Alger was a member of the Military Order of the Loyal
Legion of the United States and of Fairbanks Post No. 17, Grand Army
of the Republic, of Detroit. His affection for and sympathy with his
old comrades in arms endured to the end and one of the last acts of his
life was in connection with securing a merited pension for an old soldier
of his command. In 1889, at the National Encampment, General Alger
was unanimously elected Commander-in-Chief of the Order. In the
memorial address given by Hon. Edwin Denby of Michigan in the House
of Representatives in Washington appear the following statements: "If
I were asked to name the qualities of General Alger which more than
others accounted for his remarkable success in political life and for the
devotion of his friends, I would say his kindness, generosity, tact and
sweetness of disposition — the great human attributes which charm and
attract and make the world akin.. His course through life was marked
by many deeds of almost unostentatious charity. How much he gave
will never be known, but that his bounties were large is evident from
the occasional instances brought to public notices. In Detroit he was
mourned by none more thoroughly than the newsboys of that city. There
they have a large organization, consisting of six or seven hundred mem
bers, called the Newsboys' Association. General Alger helped the boys
in and out of the Association with clothing and other necessaries, and
with his kindly cheer, year after year, until he became the 'Newsboys'

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 687
Friend,' a badge of honor he was well worthy to wear. How many other
persons there are who regard his passing as the lost of their best earthly
friends will not be known. His charities he tried to hide, but you will
hear today some instances that could not be concealed. He rendered
back to society in constant benefactions the riches it gave him. He was
one of the kindest, most lovable men in public life."
Said Senator Spooner in the United States Senate at the same
memorial session of Congress : "No man without noble purpose, well-
justified ambitions, strong fiber, and splendid qualities in abundance
could have carved out and left behind him such a career. His pathway
was from the beginning upward, and all along it, at every stage of it,
he discharged well every duty which manhood could demand, and all
along he scattered with generous hand seeds of kindness and helpfulness
to those who were in need, sowing the seed which blossomed in fra
grance along his pathway and made it beautiful."
General Alger was married in Grand Rapids, Michigan, April 2,
1861, to Miss Annette H. Henry, daughter of William G. Henry, of
that city. This marriage occurred four months before General Alger
went away to the 'war. Of the nine children of their marriage, five are
living, as follows : Caroline, wife of Henry D. Sheldon, of Detroit ;
Fay, wife of William E. Bailey, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Frances,
wife of Charles B. Pike, of Chicago ; Russell A. and Captain Frederick
M. Alger, of Detroit, who have largely assumed the business interests
and responsibilities conducted by their late father. Mrs. Alger, who
throughout their married companionship was a worthy helper to her
husband, and who possessed distinctive social qualities and many notable
attributes of personal character, is still living, and divides her time be
tween her beautiful homes in Detroit and Grosse Pointe.
Russell A. Alger, Jr. With ample capital and the precedent of his
father's great success behind him, 'the younger Alger has proved himself
in every way capable and worthy of his great heritage, both of name and
fortune, and for some years, practically ever since leaving college, has
been an efficient business man of Detroit.
Russell Alexander Alger, the younger, was born in Detroit, February
27. J873. From the public schools he entered the Michigan Military
Academy at Orchard Lake, and later the Phillips Academy at Andover,
Massachusetts. His admirable business training was largely under the
eye of his father, and he became well prepared for the administration
of the great responsibilities which subsequently devolved upon him.
He has succeeded his father in the presidency of the great lumber cor
poration of Alger, Smith & Company, with offices at 1213 Ford Build
ing. He is an executor of the large Alger estate, and he and his younger
brother, Captain Alger, are associated in its management. Since 1903
Mr. Alger has also been an independent factor in Detroit and Michigan
business affairs. He is executive head of the Anderson Forge & Machine
Company, vice president of the Packard Motor Car Company, treasurer
of the Duluth & Northern Minnesota Railroad Company, a director in
the Security Trust Company, the People's State Bank, the Manistique
Lumber Company, and the Alger-Sullivan Company. Mr. Alger has
his home at Grosse Pointe Farm.
In politics he gives his staunch allegiance to the party in which his
father was so distinguished. His club membership includes connection
with the Detroit Club, the Yontedoga Club, the Country Club, the Detroit
Yacht Club, the Detroit Boat Club, the Detroit Automobile Club, the
Detroit Racquet & Curling Club, and the Old Club. He is also a member
of the New York Yacht Club, the Automobile Club of America of New
Vol. II— 4

688 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN /
York City, the Kitchi Gami (Dutch) Club of Duluth, and belongs to the
Mount Royal Club of Montreal, Canada. Mr. and Mrs. Alger have
membership in the Fort Street Presbyterian Church of Detroit.
On January 23, 1896, he married Miss Marion Jarves, daughter of
Deming Jarves, of Detroit. Their children are Josephine, Fay and
Russell A., Jr.
The Russel Family of Detroit. Among the notable Michigan
families, none has been more conspicuous in public and professional life,
nor borne the responsibilities of citizenship with greater dignity and
social service than have the Russels during their residence in the state
since the year 1836. The founder of the family, the late Dr. George B.
Russel, had no superior as a pioneer physician, and as a broad-minded and
enterprising business man. His four sons have since upheld the reputa
tion established by their honored father, -and George H., the oldest, is
president of the People's State Bank of Detroit; Henry is the General
Counsel of the Michigan Central Railroad Company, and at the head of
one of the most important law firms of Detroit; Walter S. is president
of the Russel Wheel and Foundry Company; and John R. is vice presi
dent and secretary of the Great Lakes Engineering Works. The daugh
ter, Sarah, is the wife of Jere C. Hutchins, president of the Detroit
United Railway, and the other surviving member of that generation is
Miss Anne D. Russel.
The career of the late Dr. George B. Russel, who died at his home in
Detroit, August 31, 1903, in his eighty-eighth year, is in reality a chapter
from the pioneer history of medicine and business affairs of Detroit
Born in the village of Russelville, Chester county, Pennsylvania, March
7, 1816, he came of an old American family. The house in which he was
born had been built by his great-grandfather before the war of the Revo
lution. Hugh Russel, the builder of the home just mentioned, was born
in Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1726, and fought in the great battle of Culloden
in 1746. After that defeat he became an exile and fled to the north of
Ireland and from there with three brothers came to America and estab
lished his home at the settlement in Pennsylvania which was founded
and named Russelville. Alexander. Russel, a son of Hugh, was born at
Russelville July 4, 1756, and died there in 1799. Francis, son of Alex
ander, was born at Russelville, June 14, 1783, and died there in 1859.
He served with the rank of colonel, during the war of 1812. Francis
Russel married a Miss Whiteside, whose family came from Ireland to
America in 1718. Dr. George B. Russel, a son of Francis Russel, had
his early schooling in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and later in the West
Chester Academy, an institution which did much to form and direct his
young mind. The scholarship of Mr. Russel was such that he acted as
tutor in giving instruction in mathematics and Latin when only fourteen
years of age. At the age of seventeen he completed the course at Frank
lin and Marshall College, and at this time was able to read the Bible in
five different languages. In 1836, at the age of twenty, he was gradu
ated doctor of medicine from Jefferson College at Philadelphia. He was
associated with and had friends among many conspicuous members of
the older generation. Among these was General George B Porter who
afterwards became, governor of Michigan territory, and who had invited
young Russel to come out to Michigan as soon as his medical education
was completed. Though Governor Porter had in the meantime died
the invitation really proved the cause of Dr. Russel's removal to the
west. At the time of his graduation in 1836, Dr. Russel was still under
age and unable to begin his practice under the laws of Pennsylvania He
made the trip west by stage coach and canal, and by lake vessel' from

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 689
Cleveland, arriving in Detroit, April 24, 1836. It is said that almost on
the same day he took up the duties of what proved a busy and successful
medical career. In. Detroit he found Drs. Chapin, Rice, Pitcher, Hurd
and a number of others. Soon after locating in Detroit, he was one of
the lo.cal physicians who gave their services in combating the cholera and
the smallpox epidemic. Afterwards he returned to Philadelphia and took
a post-graduate course during 1837-38, and then located in Detroit in
1839, where he began practice with Dr. Adrian R. Terry.
Concerning the early labors of Dr. Russel, much has been written,
but the following so well illustrates the conditions of pioneer medical
practice, not only for Detroit, but for- the state that its inclusion in this
work needs no apology.
In those days the practice of local physicians was difficult and ardu
ous. Dr. -Russel's medical and surgical circuit was on both sides of the
Detroit River. In Canada it extended from Amherstburg to Belle River,
a distance of thirty-three miles. On the American side it extended from
Trenton to Lake St. Clair, and inland along the four leading avenues of
Detroit to Mount Clemens, Romeo, Royal Oak,' Eirmingham, Pontiac,
Farmington, Dearborn and Wayne. All these routes were traveled on
horseback, .and in the saddle-bags were carried the needed- drugs with
scales and measures to fill his prescriptions, as well as surgical instru
ments. Of the six thousand inhabitants in 1838, about four thousand
were French speaking. The roads were very bad and many hardships
were encountered. * Dr. Russel was in the saddle for twenty-seven years,
and then retired from general practice. As a physician, his memory
will always fill a beautiful place in the annals of Detroit. He was a
skillful healer and a philanthropist. He gave every day of ' his time,
skill and' money to poverty-stricken, and suffering humanity. In his daily
ministrations among the poor his beneficence was perennial, and grate
ful thanks from, the recipients were scattered at. his feet like flowers.
An educated and scientific man, fully abreast with medical science and
a wise 'physician, he was a John the Baptist who recognized that his only
mission was to prepare the way for a greater than himself — Nature. He
was very active in epidemics of smallpox and cholera, and successfully
treated many cases of the former disease shortly after ' he arrived in
Michigan. In October, 1837, a tribe of seven hundred Indians from the
Saginaw region arrived in Detroit to receive their annual present and
camped on Conner's Creek near Gratiot Avenue, a few miles from
Detroit. The doctor learned the smallpox had broken out among them,
and he proceeded there at once. About twelve Indians, living in five
tents were found to be infested. Aided by Richard Conner, the pro
prietor of the farm, and Sister Therese of the Sisters of Sainte Claire,
whose convent at that time was at the southwest corner of Lamed and
Randolph Streets, he treated six persons and also vaccinated, or rather
inoculated every, member of the tribe. This work occupied fully twenty-
four hours and was performed without rest or sleep. A daughter of
Henry R. Schoolcraft, the famous Indian ethnologist and historian, was
visiting friends in Detroit, and afterward related this episode to her
father at Albany. Mr. Schoolcraft promptly informed the United States
Indian bureau, which procured an appropriation of seven hundred dollars
which was paid to. Dr. Russel in 1842. In the same year the doctor built
a smallpox hospital on the present site of the House of Correction on
Russel Street. In this hospital he gratuitously treated about two hundred
cases, principally colored people and white immigrants. He was also
active and efficient during the cholera seasons of 1849-1852 and 1854.
During the so-called Patriot War on the Canadian side, in 1838, a battle
occurred in which the Patriots were defeated, and some of. their wounded

690 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
men were brought to Detroit, where they were attended by Dr. Russel.
His service was mentioned to the British minister at Washington, and
one day Dr. Russel was surprised to receive a letter of thanks, and one
year's pay as assistant surgeon in the British army from the British
government. As chief physician and a trustee of Harper Hospital for
about, a quarter of a century, Dr. Russel greatly advanced the interests
of that noble Detroit institution. It was largely through his influence
that Nancy Martin, the old market woman, donated part of the land,
now the site of the hospital. In addition to his distinction as a physician,
Dr. Russel was a remarkable business man and a pioneer of some of De
troit's greatest enterprises. In 1863, he reliquished the general practice
of medicine, though he continued to minister to his family, his relatives
and to indigent persons to the end of his life.
In the early fifties Dr. Russel built the first car-ferry boat, which
plied between Detroit and Windsor, and which brought over the first
locomotive in 1854, — which year marked the connecting of the Great
Western Railway, now the Grand Trunk with Detroit. ' He founded the
Detroit Car Works, an enterprise subsequently merged into the Pullman
Car Company. He originated the project upon which George M. Pull
man, John S. Newberry, and James McMillan rose to fortune. To Dr.
Russel is also due the credit for having built the first iron furnace and
produced the first ton of pig-iron at Detroit. He built the first large
steamer of more than thirty-foot beam on the Detroit River, and the
first steamer especially designed to carry iron ore upon the great
lakes. He was the leading spirit in building up the ferry system now
controlled by the Detroit, Belle Isle and Windsor Ferry Company.
Many houses were built by him in Detroit and vicinity, he was the owner
of thousands of acres of land in the city and suburbs, and property once
owned by him is now worth many millions of dollars. In the panic of
1857 his losses were severe, but he recovered and was one of the most
prominent men of Detroit during the constructive era of the late sixties.
In 1880 following in his footsteps his son George H. established the
Russel Wheel & Foundry Company, now one of the large industrial con--
cerns of the city and still owned principally by the Russel family. Dr.
Russel also established ship yards at Detroit, and contributed largely to
the development of local iron industry.
For a number of years before his death Dr. Russel spent most of his
time on his farm on the banks of Lake St. Claire in Canada. His son
Walter has a fine summer home there, but the doctor preferred to live
in a cabin nearby, and with only a man servant to help him lived free
and independent. He cut down trees, repaired fences, and did other
vigorous work and lived ideally the simple life.
His long years were the result of this sane and simple mode of liv
ing. A large man, weighing over two hundred pounds, he was very ac
tive in his movements, and never lost his mental alertness, reading two
newspapers every day, and keeping in close touch with the advance
ment in medicine and surgery up to his last years. He disdained all
formality in his speech and habits, and was also outspoken, hearty and
genial in conversation and social relations. He was considered among
his associates as a remarkably handsome man, and as a gentleman of the
old school always dressed in fine broadcloth and wore a silk hat. His
face was ruddy, his complexion clear, and his eye quick and penetrating
He frequently said he thought he would reach the century mark, and
might have easily done so had not an accident occurred which short
ened his span of natural existence. While stepping from a street car
he was struck by a bicycle, and the injury terminated in his death a
few days later-. In special spheres of activity, Dr. Russel had his su-

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 691
periors, but in his varied and successful attention to many affairs, in
professional, business, manufacturing and social duties, he occupied a
unique position. His own accomplishments and the impress which he
left through his family and others whom he stimulated to useful en
deavor will remain a conspicuous part of the history of Detroit. As a
youth he had had the advantage of recourse to one of the finest private
libraries, that of his uncle, John Whiteside, and to the end continued to
be a student and reader. For many years he was reputed to be the best
informed man in his knowledge of English literature in Michigan, and
he memorized large portions of the Bible, Shakespeare, and other Eng
lish, Latin, Greek and French authors, especially the poets.
Dr. Russel was married at Detroit, July 7, 1845, 'to Miss Anna E.
Davenport, a daughter of Lewis Davenport, a pioneer of Detroit. Mrs.
Russel, as well as her mother and grandmother, was born in Detroit,
and as a wife and mother and socially was a worthy companion and
helpmate to her honored husband. Her death occurred June 8, 1888.
The second of the four sons of the late Dr. Russel, Henry Russel
has for many years been one of the leading lawyers, capitalists and
business men of Detroit. He was born in Detroit, May 16, 1852, at
tended the public schools, and the classical and mathematical academy
conducted by Philo Patterson, after which he entered the University of
Michigan, and was graduated A. B. in 1873. His preparation for the law
was pursued in the offices of Alfred Russell and Judge Cooley and in the
university, where he was graduated LL. B. in 1875. In the same year
the degree, Master of Arts, was conferred upon him. On leaving the
university, Mr. Russel continued his law studies in the office of Alfred
Russell, then, one of the leading members of the Detroit bar. In 1877
Mr. Russel became assistant attorney to the Michigan Central Railroad
Company. In later years Mr. Russel has become , General Counsel for
the road. In 1878 he established a partnership with Henry M. Campbell,
under the name of Russel & Campbell, and this partnership has since
been expanded to the present firm of Russel, Campbell, Bulkley & Led
yard. Mr. Russel has large interests in business affairs. He is a director
in many banking, railroad, manufacturing and land companies, and is
president of several of them. He projected and effected the construction ,
of several important railroads, and the upbuilding of different manufactur
ing institutions. Suburban real estate has received much of his attention,
and he was the pioneer in the reclamation and improving of the outlying
marshlands along the River Rouge.
A man of wide culture and literary tastes, Mr. Russel has found
time to travel extensively and to cultivate an acquaintance with the best
of classic and current literature. In politics he is' a Democrat, and is a
liberal supporter of the Presbyterian church. Public spirited, his
genial disposition and rare humor has brought him many friends and
great popularity. His outdoor sports are pursued principally through
the diversions of golf and fishing. He has membership in the Detroit
Club, the Country Club, the Detroit Golf Club, the University Club and
the Fontinalis Club.
On June 3, 1880, he married Miss Helen H. Muir, a daughter of
the late William K. Muir of Detroit. Their five children were : Christ
ine M., wife of Allen F." Edwards; Anne Davenport, wife of James
Thayer McMillan; Helen, wife of Harold F. Wardwell; John Farrand
and William Muir, of whom John F. is deceased. Mrs. Russel was
active in church and charitable works, belonged to the Jefferson Avenue
Presbyterian church and was for many years president of the Pastor's
Aid Society. She was also on the executive board of the Thompson
Home for Old Ladies, and was identified with other charitable and

692 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
philanthropic works. Mrs. Russel was born in Detroit, June 29, 1858,
and died November 23, 1908. On February 15, 1912, Mr. Russel mar
ried Mrs. Eleanor Towle, a resident of Detroit for many years and a
distant relative of the Russel family.
James McMillan. From 1889 until his death in Manchester,
Massachusetts, August 10, 1902, James McMillan was one of the nation's
leaders, and for the greater part of his service in the United States senate
was one of the commanding personalities in that body. In the city of
Detroit, and the State of Michigan, the late James McMillan will long
be remembered for many other activities and for his prominence in
political affairs. He was one of the men who did much to develop the
transportation interests of .the state, especially in the northern penin
sula. His liberality and enterprise in Detroit has been evidenced by
many contributions to the institutional and educational departments of
the city. He was an eminent business man, a large-minded statesman
and was strong of mind, strong of heart, and noble and true in his
ideals. Of sturdy Scotch ancestry, James McMillan was a native of Canada,
born at Hamilton, Ontario, May 12, 1838, a son of William and Grace
, McMillan, both of whom were born and reared in Scotland, and after
their marriage came to America in 1836. It was their intention to
locate in the State of Illinois, but a visit to friends in Hamilton, Onta
rio, led them to make that city their home. William McMillan, it has
been said, was a man of exceptionally strong and symmetrical char
acter and of the highest integrity. His business interests were wide,
and his identification with many and important enterprises made his
name well known throughout Ontario. He became specially interested
in the promotion and management of railway enterprises, and from the
inception of the Great Western Railway until his death in 1877 was a
stockholder, and much of the time an executive officer. As he was
prosperous in business, so was he also influential in civil and religious
activities. The McMillan home, if somewhat stern in discipline, after
the fashion of those days, was one of comfort, intelligence and piety.
The wife of William McMillan survived him several years, and the
remains of both were laid to rest in a cemetery at Hamilton.
James McMillan was a resident of Detroit from 1885 until his
death. His early education was received in the Hamilton grammar
schools, where he had unusual advantages under the direction of Dr.
Tassie, one of the best educators of his time. His inclinations led him
to business as soon as his preparatory course was completed, and at the
age of fourteen he became clerk in a hardware establishment' at Hamil
ton. Four years were given to learning the details of the business, and
when he arrived in Detroit in 1855 he was seventeen years of age. With
letters of introduction which he presented to several influential mer
chants of this city, he at once secured a place in the hardware trade,
and later, through the influence of his father, became purchasing agent
of the Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railroad. An interruption
to this service was caused when he accpted a place on the staff of a
prominent railroad contractor, who was then finishing the western end
of the railroad. In 1864 his business ability led a firm of car builders
in Detroit to seek him for a partner in their splendid enterprise The
late John S. Newberry' also joined in the partnership,- and under Mr
McMillan's active and energetic supervision the Michigan Car Company
grew to be one of the great manufacturing concerns of the country
In the meantime it put forth important branches, such as the Detroit
Car Wheel Company, the Detroit Iron Furnace Company the Bauo-h

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 693
Steam Forge Company, and the Detroit Pipe and Foundry Company,
in which establishment employment was given to between five and six
thousand men. Practically every undertaking to which Mr. McMillan
put his hand in a business way prospered. In time he became inter
ested in vessel building at the works of the Detroit Dry Docks Com
pany, in marine passenger transportation in Cleveland, Detroit and
Mackinac, and in lake transportation by means of fast freighters.
A very conspicuous enterprise in which the late Senator McMillan
participated was the construction of the semi-political railroad project
linking the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan by the road that
is now the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railroad. His was largely
the enterprise and money that carried the enterprise through, after
death had removed several of his associates and when obstacles seemed
insuperable. Of this railroad company Mr. McMillan was president
until he resigned soon after entering- the United States senate. Always
ready to fake hold of new enterprises, and to lend to them his con
structive and administrative power, yet in spite of his busy career Sen
ator McMillan always had leisure for society and money for charity
and philanthropy. Extensive foreign travel aided in cultivating a nat
urally refined taste, and led him to take a deep and active interest in
those things that represented the higher ideals of human existence.
This was specially manifested in his interest in the Detroit Museum
of Art, of which he was president for several years. Mr. McMillan
gave to the University of Michigan a comprehensive Shakespeare
library. At fhe same institution he built for the Presbyterian students
a fine hall to be used in connection with theological training. He
was- also the donor of a large dormitory at Mary Allen Seminary, a
school for the education of colored girls at Crockett, Texas. To Albion
College, a Methodist institution at Albion, 'Michigan, he gave a fine
chemical laboratory building, -which bears his name. His thoughts
were always of his home city, and- he planned and assisted in carrying
out many institutional improvements. He planned a free hospital for
the city, and in association with his partner, the late John S. Newberry,
erected Grace Hospital on land set apart for such a purpose by the late
Amos Chaffee. The hospital was amply endowed by Mr. McMillan
and others, and he was its president at the time of his death. His pri
vate benevolences and charities were large but unostentatious, and the
sum of them can never accurately be estimated. He accumulated a
splendid fortune and used it to a good end, and few rich men have
showed a higher sense of their responsibility to the community than the
late Senator McMillan.
From the early years of .his citizenship Mr. McMillan interested
himself in the cause of the Republican party. He had a large personal
acquaintance among the leading men of Michigan, and at one time was
a very efficient worker in the interests of Hon. Zachariah Chandler,
who secured the aid of Mr. McMillan as a member of the State Central
Committee. In i886; when the Republican party in Michigan was very
much in need of his services and influences, Mr. McMillan became
chairman of the committee, and held the chairmanship until he declined
re-election in 1896. It was as a result of his valuable services to the
party and to the state that the Republicans in the legislature in 1889
unanimously elected Mr. McMillan to the office of United States sen
ator. In 1895 he was re-elected by a unanimous vote in the legislature,
an honor seldom conferred in the history of senatorial elections. He
was elected for a third term, and that term, which would have expired
in 1907, was ' abbreviated by his death. In the senate Mr. McMillan
was noted for his industry- and ability to deal comprehensively with

694 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
questions of detail. He served on the committees of commerce, post
office and naval affairs, and on the District of Columbia committee, in
the chairmanship of which he succeeded the late Senator Ingalls. _ At
the same time his familiarity with the great industry of Michigan
enabled him to be of service to his state, particularly when river and
harbor matters were under consideration.
On entering the senate, Mr. McMillan relinquished the active man
agement of much of his business to his older sons, and was thus free
to devote practically all his attention to his legislative duties, and this
fact, combined with his extraordinary broad experience and ability as
a business man caused him to be regarded as one of the ablest legis
lators in Congress during the last decade of the previous century. In
Washington, as well as Detroit, Mr. and Mrs. McMillan were prominent
in social affairs, and their home in the national capital was a center for
quiet and distinguished hospitality. Since the death of her husband
Mrs. McMillan has passed much of her time in Washington; though
she still retains her love for Detroit, a city endeared to her by the asso
ciation and memories of many years. Mrs. McMillan is an active mem
ber of the Presbyterian church, to which her husband belonged, and
she has been liberal in carrying on its work and benevolence in the
various departments.
Mr. McMillan in i860 married Mary L. Wetmore, daughter of
Charles P. Wetmore of Detroit. Of their six children, three sons and
one daughter survived Senator McMillan, but since then one of the
sons died. All of the sons graduated from Yale University, and the
record of the children is as follows : William C, who died on the
twenty-first of February, 1907, leaving a widow and two children,
James T. and Doris; Grace McMillan Jarv'is, who died in 1888, leaving
one daughter, Grace McMillan Jarvis; James Howard McMillan, who
died in 1902, leaving one daughter, Gladys ; Amy McMillan, who is now
Lady. Harrington of England ; Philip H. and Francis W. McMillan, the
surviving sons in Detroit, have the general supervision of the family
estate and many of the interests formerly supervised by their honored
father. Samuel H. Ranck. Librarian of the Grand Rapids Public Library.
Mr. Ranck is one of the best known men in the United States in a pro
fession which has been developed largely within his own time, and which,
as a result of the spread of library facilities throughout the country, has
become one of the most important of the learned professions. Mr. Ranck
is a scholar, has active, and at times has held official, membership in many
learned societies.
Samuel Haverstick Ranck was born near Lancaster, Pennsylvania,
October 23, 1866, a son of Jacob Eby and Martha Bausman (Haber-
stick) Ranck. Both parents were also born in Lancaster county, Penn
sylvania, and still live there. His father's ancestors (French Huguenots)
came to the United States in 1729 and settled in Pennsylvania, where
the various successive generations have lived. His mother's ancestors
(German and Swiss) came to America a little later in the 18th century.
The oldest of six children, Samuel H. Ranck at the age of five years'
entered the district school, and at sixteen became a student in the First
Pennsylvania Normal School at Millersville, Pennsylvania. After two
years in that school he taught a district school during 1885-86, and 1886-
87. Matriculating in Franklin and Marshall College, he was graduated
A. B. in 1892, and in 1895 the same institution conferred upon him the
degree of A. M. The introduction to his present line of work began dur
ing his freshman year in college, when he was appointed an assistant in

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 695
the Goethean Literary Society Library. During his two years as librarian
he re-catalogued a collection of about six thousand volumes in that library.
In 1892, three months before his graduation from College, he became con
nected with the Enoch Pratt Free Library at Baltimore, Maryland, where
he was assistant librarian from 1898 to 1904. Since October 1, 1904, he
has been in Grand Rapi.ds as librarian of the public library in this city.
Since 1895 he has been Chairman of the Publishing Committee and
editor of the Franklin and Marshall College Alumni Association's pub
lications, d.uring which period the Association has issued 35 books,
pamphlets and leaflets. The most important of these edited or written
by Mr. Ranck are the Catalogue of Officers and Students of the College,
1787-1903 arid the Obituary Record containing biographies of all the
graduates of the College who have died. Since it was established in 1903
he has been President of the Alumni Council of the College.
On the general subj ects of his' profession, on college education, and
topics presented by his wide excursions into- literary and outdoor af
fairs, Mr. Ranck has contributed much to magazines and newspapers.
Since 1896 he has been a regular monthly contributor to the Library
Journal. He has been a member of the council of the American Library
Association since 1908, twice elected to that position, and is a life mem
ber of the association. His other relations with learned societies include
membership in the American Historical Association, the Maryland His
torical Society, the Lancaster County Historical Society, the Michigan
Pioneer and Historical Society, the Historical Society of Grand Rapids,
of which he has been secretary since 1905, the American Economic Asso
ciation, the Bibliographical Society of America, the American A. A. A. S.,
the Michigan Library Association of which he was president during
1905-07, the Pennsylvania Library Club, the American Civic Association,
the Society of Chemical Industry, etc. Mr. Ranck is a Phi Beta Kappa,
and belongs to the Grand Rapids Boat and Canoe Club, and the Grand
Rapids Association of Commerce. During his vacations his time is spent
chiefly in canoeing, on the rivers of Michigan, and in that way he has cov
ered thousands of miles of the various water courses, and has a collec
tion of photographs of Michigan waterways of unusual interest and value.
Mr. Ranck is in politics an Independent, and in religion a member of the
Society of Friends, (Quakers).
On October 15, 1901, he was married to Miss Judith A., daughter of
Edwin and Maria (Powell) Blackburn. Mrs. Ranck is a graduate of
Wellesley College, 1897. Their three children are: Elizabeth Powell
Ranck, Theodore Valentine and Wilson Marcy, all of whom are attend
ing school in Grand Rapids. Their home is at 728 Terrace Avenue, with
a summer home on their farm near Grand Rapids — Woodbrooke Farm.
Hon. Charles E. Townsend. In the choice of Charles E. Townsend
for the United States Senate, Michigan contributed one of its ablest law
yers and public men to the honors and activities of the larger sphere of
national government. The campaign of Mr. Townsend for his present
office is still fresh in the minds of Michigan citizens, and is interesting for
its breaking of ipng established precedents in state political history. As
a member of the senate of the United States, Mr. Townsend by reason of
his profound ability, his progressive attitude, and his thorough training in
political life, has become one of the strongest individual factors in that
august body, and to his work as senator brought a ripe experience from
eight 'years of service in the house of representatives.
The career of Senator Townsend has abundant material for an inspir
ing story of early struggle against heavy odds and final accomplishment
of secure success and attainment of one of the highest offices in the nation.

696 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
His birth occurred on a farm, one mile west of the village of Concord,
in Jackson county, Michigan, August 15, 1856, of a family of pioneers
in this part of Michigan, his father being James W. Townsend, who was
born in Wayne county, New York in 1825. When his father was less than
nine years of age his parents, Isaac and Hannah (Penny) Townsend,
in 1834, located a home in the wilderness of Michigan territory. The
journey from the east to the west was accomplished in the typical style of
that day, in a covered wagon, drawn by an ox team. Journeying westward
from Detroit, they passed through the village of Jacksonburg, as it was then
called, containing only a few rude log cabins, but what is now the pros
perous and growing city of Jackson. James W. Townsend married Eunice
S. Parmeter, who was born in Allegany county, New York in 1827, and
was six years of age when her parents, Jesse and Electa (Van Wormer)
Parmeter emigrated west also in pioneer style in 1833,- and settled in Con
cord township of Jackson county. The Townsend and Parmeter families
were both of substantial New York State stock, and they settled in Con
cord township within two miles of each other. James W. Townsend who
was a farmer and was also honored with various local offices, died April
3, 1892, before his son had attained any of the larger honors of his politi
cal career. The mother passed away September 5, 1908, in her eightieth
year. The parents were married on Christmas Day of the year 1850, and
of their four children Senator Townsend was the third and now the only
survivor. The place where he was born was the homestead which the Grandfather
Isaac Townsend had located in 1834, and thus the senator has many pleas
ing associations with this locality, and few men in Michigan public life
have more substantial claim to pioneer lineage. His boyhood days were
spent on the farm, and the household comprised his father and mother,
and four children, all of whom lived in a humble home consisting of only
two rooms. One of the first institutions with which Senator Townsend
became familiar as a boy was a mortgage, and he continued on more or
less intimate though embarrassing terms with it until after he had grown
up and established a home of his own. The home farm was burdened with
a mortgage representing a large proportion of its total value, and the
burden had come down from the* time of the grandfather. Tbe annual
interest payment at ten per cent, proved a heavy drain upon the parental
resources, and it was a well understood fact that the children could expect
no education beyond that supplied by the schools located within the home
district. Charles E. Townsend from boyhood had an ambition for knowl
edge and for higher usefulness than was bounded by the limits of a small
country community. After completing the ordinary branches in the dis
trict school, he determined to continue his studies in the Jackson high
school. The distance between the home farm and the city was fourteen
miles. However, that was no bar to his determination. Every night and
morning he made the trip to and from school on the old "Air Line" Rail
road, but during the last year improved matters by keeping "batch" in a
room which he rented in the city, and while he lived in the simplest man
ner he kept down expenses by bringing all his provisions from the home
farm. He was twenty-one years of age when he graduated at the Jackson
high school in 1877. A well-to-do citizen, who admired the plucky fight
made by the young man then loaned him two hundred dollars, with which
sum he entered the freshman class of the University of Michigan, and
spent one year there. In 1878, at the end of his first year of college, he
resolved to begin work and rid himself of this debt of two hundred dollars.
Returning to Concord township, he was engaged to teach school for fifteen
months in district No. 6, and for the following seven years was principal
of the Parma schools in Parma township. Many of his old pupils are

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 697
still to be found in various parts of Michigan, and they all speak highly of
his example and his general work as a teacher. During the first year his
salary was six hundred dollars, and finally it was advanced to nine hundred
dollars a year. In the meantime there were some heavy obligations to be
met with this, comparatively meagre income. Besides the two hundred
dollars which he had borrowed to attend University and besides the requir-
ments of his individual household, he applied all he could save toward the
reduction of the mortgage on the old homestead. The interest rate of ten
per cent proved almost too much for his limited income, and though he
did not succeed while teaching in wiping out the debt, he did materially
reduce it.
Practically from the time he cast his first vote, Mr. Townsend has
taken a vigorous interest in political affairs. In 1886 he was made a dele
gate to the Republican county convention at Jackson from Sandstone
township. In the same convention sat his father, James W. Townsend, a
delegate from Concord township. The father was chosen temporary chair
man of the convention and when it came time to- choose the permanent
chairman that choice fell upon the son, an honor which he greatly appreci
ated and which proved one of. the stepping stones to his larger political
career. That same convention placed his name on the county ticket for the
office of register of deeds, and after he had accepted the nomination he
started out to make a complete canvass of the county. Nearly every even
ing during the campaign, he was found speaking at some school house,
and five days of the week were spent in holding his job as principal of the
Parma schools. His popularity as a citizen, and his known qualification
brought him at election time eight hundred majority for the office, and
after that he was four times re-elected, so that he served at the county
seat and in the office of register of deeds for ten years.
In the meantime even while teaching school, Mr. Townsend had his
ambition fixed upon the law, as his ultimate career, and was studying
while teaching and also while in the office of register of deeds. In 1895
he was admitted to the bar, and then announced that at the conclusion of
his fifth term he would not again be a candidate for the office with which he
had so long been honored. In December, 1896, he formed a legal partner
ship with the late Hon. Charles A. Blair, and the Hon. Charles H. Smith,
both of whom are now deceased. This law firm, composed of three men
- each of whom bore the name Charles, was familiarly known as "The Three
Charlies," or officially as Blair.'Smith & Townsend. These partners agreed
that neither member of the firm should become a candidate for any public
office for a period of four years. This agreement was carried out. In
1902 Mr. Smith was appointed by president Roosevelt, prosecuting attorney
at Manila; and in the same year Mr. Townsend was elected to Congress
from the Second Michigan District, while in 1904 Mr. Blair was elected
attorney general of Michigan. Thus all three entered upon public life at
about the same time.
Senator Townsend in 1888 was a delegate to the Republican National
Convention in Chicago, and was a member of the Republican State Central
Committee from 1898 to 1902. At the district Republican convention at
Adrian, in 1902, Mr. Townsend on the eighth hundred and thirty-third
ballot, was nominated for congress. His election followed in the fall, and
in 1904 he was renominated by acclamation. In 1906 he was nominated
for the first term under the new primary system and he was unopposed both
in the primary and at the election. His election in 1908 came by a very
large majority. In 1910 he had the field without opposition, and though
elected for a fifth term in the house of representatives, he had announced
that he would be a candidate before the Michigan primaries held in Sep
tember, 1910, for the office of United States senator. This was a bold step,

698 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
notwithstanding the fact that he had proved himself one of the most pro
gressive and useful workers in congress. In the office to which Mr. Town-
send aspired, Hon. Julius C. Burrows had served so long that he apparently
had a prescriptive right to its continuance, and it was apparently very
presumptuous for a comparatively young congressman to combat the posi
tion of a man who for more than a third of a century had been either in
the house of representatives or the senate. Both Mr. Townsend and
Senator Burrows made a thorough canvas of the state, under the primary
system, and when the votes were counted there showed a majority of about
forty-one thousand in favor of Townsend. Thus he accomplished what
was supposed by his best friends to be only a forlorn hope. Senator Town-
send took his seat in the United States Senate March 4, 191 1.
When he entered the House of Representatives in 1903 he was made
a member of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. This
gave him an opportunity for some useful service during his first term, in
Congress. He introduced what was known as the Townsend bill for the
regulation of railroads, enlarging the powers of the Interstate Commerce
Commission and creating a court of transportation, as its chief features.
In the last days of the Fifty-eighth Congress this bill was passed through
the house, but failed of passage in the senate. At the beginning of the
Fifty-ninth Congress, Mr. Townsend reintroduced a similar bill and in the
meantime the great agitation throughout the country and a general public
conviction that many important reforms were needed in railroad legisla
tion, opened the way for the almost certain passage of this proposed bill.
However, the chairman of the committee, Col. W. P. Hepburn, introduced
a similar bill, and asked as a special favor that his bill be accepted instead
of that of Mr. Townsend. Accordingly the railroad legislation enacted
that year was chiefly under the name of Hepburn Bill, though in all its
essential provisions, it was a copy of Mr. Townsend's bill and the latter is
probably deserving of more credit for the legislation than any other mem
ber of Congress. In the Fifty-ninth Congress, Mr. Townsend introduced
a bill relieving the state of Michigan from paying ninety-six thousand
dollars interest to the Federal government on what was known as the Soo
Canal Funds. This measure was enacted into law, and a large sum was
thus saved to the state. While a member of the house Mr. Townsend was
a warm personal friend and a supporter of the policies of President Roose
velt and had charge of some of the Roosevelt measures in Congress. The ¦
insurgency of the House a few years ago against the iron-clad rule of the
speaker is a well remembered movement by all who have kept in touch
with political developments within the last decade. It is of interest in this
sketch to mention that the first meeting of the socalled insurgents was held
in Mr. Townsend's office, and all the subsequent meetings were held there
until the office became too small to accommodate the growing faction. Mr.
Townsend was very prominent in the movement by which the house was
finally emancipated from the objectionable rules which had for years inter
fered with the deliberate character of the body, and which concentrated
an autocratic authority in the speaker. He insisted that at least one day
in each week should be set apart to consider bills which had been reported
from committees, .regardless of whether the speaker favored their con
sideration or not. Mr. Townsend prepared and introduced the resolution
providing for this reform, and its adoption made it a rule of the house
which is still standing. Still later in his congressional career Mr. Townsend
during the sixty-first session had charge of the administration bill enlarging
the powers of the Interstate Commerce Commission over the regulation of
railroad rates. Among other features this bill contained a provision for
controlling the issuance of stocks and bonds, and also one prohibiting the
ownership by one railroad of a competing line. However, both those com-

J^*-

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 699
mendable provisions were stricken from the bill before it was finally
enacted into law. In the last three sessions of congress, Mr. Townsend
has again and again introduced a bill providing for the settlement of dis
putes between capital and labor. In the senate he introduced a bill, au
thorizing the president to enter into a treaty with Canada for the pur
pose of creating a deep water way from the Atlantic Ocean to the great
lakes, by way of the St. Lawrence River. Such a waterway would per
mit all ocean-going vessels to load and unload their cargoes at the im
portant lake ports, thus saving the great expense and additional time
and labor required for the transfer of goods from water to land traffic.
This bill has now passed the senate, and at this writing President
Wilson has submitted the measure to the International Commission
for consideration. Senator Townsend is a member of the Inter
state Commerce Committee, the Committee on post offices and post
roads, on Indian affairs, and coast and insular surveys, and reforms in the
civil service and several minor committees. He is a member of three stand
ing commissions of congress, one relating to parcel post, one to Indian
affairs generally and the third to the health of Indians, the establishment of
a tuberculosis asylum for Indians, and the settlement of the irrigation
project in the Yakima Valley of Washington.
On September I, 1880, while still a teacher, and struggling with debt,
Senator Townsend was married to Miss Rena Paddock. She had grown
up in Concord township and had been one of his schoolmates. They have
no children living. Senator Townsend is a Knight Templar Mason and
Shriner, having served as eminent commander, and also belongs to the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and tbe Loyal Order of Moose.
In a business way he is second vice president and a director of the Jackson
State Savings Bank.
Charles Carroll Hodges. The character and achievement of Mr.
Hodges had benignant and potent influence upon the civic and material
history of the Michigan metropolis, where his name and memory are
held in lasting honor and where he long lived and labored to righteous
ends and worthy accomplishment in connection with temporal affairs.
He was one of the strong, resourceful and representative business men
and loyal citizens of Michigan and there is all of consistency in accord
ing to him a specific tribute in this publication. Mr. Hodges was
associated with his brother, Henry C, in the founding of one of the
most important industrial enterprises of Detroit and was closely iden
tified with its development and upbuilding, and preliminary to more
specific data it is pleasing to reproduce the statements appearing in a
previously written review of his career: "One of the most energetic,
enterprising, upright business men of Detroit, distinguished for his civic
patriotism and broad-minded views on all questions, the late Charles
Carroll Hodges left behind him a memory which is honored by all those
with whom he came in contact.' A man of indomitable energy, inviolable
integrity and genial personality, he was loved and admired by all who
knew him."
Mr. Hodges claimed the old Green Mountain state as the place of
his nativity and in 'his character exemplified the sturdiness ever attrib
uted to that historic commonwealth. He was born at South Hero, Grand
Isle county, Vermont, on the 22d of July, 1830, and was a son of Nathaniel
and Clara (Phelps) Hodges. He acquired his early education in the
common schools of his native county, but was a mere lad when he be
gan to depend largely upon his own resources, by assuming a position
as general-utility boy in a general merchandise store at St. Albans, Ver
mont. He was a gifted penman and was independent and self-reliant

700 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
even as a boy. He early showed marked energy and adaptability in
connection with business activities, and the result was that he was soon
promoted to the position of bookkeeper. He continued as a valued and
trusted employe in the store at St. Albans for several years and he then
found means to indulge his ambitious desire to identify himself with
the pioneer activities of the "far west," as Michigan was then designated
in the states of New England. Coming to Michigan he established his
home at Battle Creek, the present thriving metropolis of Calhoun county,
where he had kinsfolk, and there he obtained a position in the gen
eral store conducted by the firm of Wallace & Collier, the junior mem
ber of the firm having been V. P. Collier, who later served as state
treasurer of Michigan. The young man from New England soon won
secure place in popular confidence and esteem in the new home and
here he was not long in availing himself of opportunity to engage in an
independent business venture. He became associated with William An
drus in the purchase of an established drug store in Battle Creek, and
they conducted the same successfully until 1862, when Mr. Hodges sold
his interest. In the following year he removed to Detroit, in which city
was initiated the larger business career which was to bring to him both
prestige and large prosperity.
In the Michigan metropolis Mr. Hodges and his elder brother, Henry
C, who is still a resident and honored pioneer citizen of Detroit, were
made general agents for the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Com
pany, with an immense territory in their jurisdiction. Their field of
operations included the greater part of the eastern provinces of Canada,
besides all of Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota. Un
der their effective administration the business was developed to such
extensive administration the business was developed to such extensive
proportions that they found it expedient to sell a part of the territory
originally assigned to them. During this period of successful operations
in the insurance field Mr. Hodges and his brother entered the real-estate
business, and their energy and discrimination enabled them to gain
marked precedence and success in their operations, which were car
ried forward with distinctive progressiveness, courage and judgment. At
a time when such a venture was looked upon as most precarious, they
purchased and platted that portion of the Woodbridge farm lying north
of Grand River avenue, and in the handling of the new addition their
success fully attested their business foresight as well as their sagacity in
an executive way, as they disposed of the land at a gratifying profit. The
Hodges brothers were also the founders of the Detroit Lubricator Works,
and this enterprise likewise proved a distinctive success, as well as a
factor in fostering the industrial and commercial precedence of Detroit.
Of this company Henry C. Hodges was president and Charles C. Hodges,
treasurer. The plant of this corporation has been enlarged from time
to time until it is now one of the most extensive and important of its
kind in the country. In 1882 the Hodges brothers effected the organiza
tion and incorporation of the Detroit Radiator Company, and they were
the first to manufacture the type of cast-iron radiators which have since
become the standard throughout the world. The subject of this memoir
was prominently concerned with the upbuilding of 'this splendid indus
trial enterprise, which was eventually consolidated with the present Amer
ican Radiator Company. Mr. Hodges became the owner of valuable real
estate in Detroit and through improving the same he contributed much
to the development of the city.
Though essentially a zealous and indefatigable business man, Mr.
Hodges did not deny himself those gracious amenities and indulgences
that represent the higher ideals of human existence. He was a painter

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 701
Of genuine talent, both in oils and water colors, and for many years he
passed a portion of his summers in travel, with his easel and pallette as
prized companions. Many fine specimens of his art work remain to
attest his excellent talent. He was one of the organizers and most
valued members of the Detroit Water Color Society and was president
of the same at the time of his death. In his travels abroad and in his
native land his abiding appreciation was shown by his collecting many art
treasures, and the same now adorn the beautiful home in which his in
terests and affections ever centered. He was not only an artist but also
a cultured musician, with a voice of exceptional purity and sympathetic
timbre. He was one of the founders of the Detroit Philharmonic So
ciety, as well as a charter member of the Prismatic Club. In the face
of tbe exections and cares of business he broadened and matured his
mental ken and kept in touch with the best in classical, standard and
periodical literature. Through self-application he acquired the equiv
alent of a liberal education, though his opportunities in his youth had
been meager.
Mr. Hodges was unswerving in his allegiance to the Republican party
and was a member of the historic' company which met "under the oaks"
in the city of Jackson, Michigan,, where on that occasion the party had
its birth. A man of large affairs and diversified interests, he had in all
the relations of life a high sense of personal stewardship, and this was
significantly manifest in his civic attitude, though he never sought or
desired the honors or emoluments of public, office. He was a member
of the Detroit Club and was identified with representative philanthropic
and social organizations in his home city. His religious faith was of
the deepest order and dominated his course in all relations. He was a
devout communicant of the Protestant Episcopal church. It has well
been said that "There was no ostentation about either his religion or his
charity, but the evidences of both were everywhere apparent, and he
enjoyed the love of his associates in the highest walk of life."
Mr. Hodges passed to the life eternal on the 18th of December,
1 90 1, and it is but consistent to offer in reproduction an estimate that
appeared at "the time in one of the Detroit daily newspapers:
"By the death of Charles C. Hodges Detroit has lost an excellent
citizen, in all that the term implies. It is doubtful if there was a citizen
of Detroit who possessed a, great variety of interests or lived a more
rounded life than Mr. Hodges. None of his tastes was warped or
dwarfed. Personally he was a singularly charming man. Broad in his
religious views and utterly without ostentation or affectation of any kind,
scrupulously honest in all the affairs of life, and charitable in the ex
treme, he gave gladly and freely, but his was not the charity that loves
to parade itself in the newspapers. All in all, Detroit has sheltered no
kindlier, gentler, nobler, manlier man." *
The associations which represented the domestic chapter in the life
of Mr. Hodges were of ideal order, and there can be no wish to lift the
gracious veil further than to enter the briefest of data. In 1853 was
solemnized his marriage to Miss Harriet Pew, of Battle Creek, who
has been a loved figure in the best social life of Detroit, where she still
maintains her 'home. Of the four children two survived the honored
father, Dr. Rollin C, a representative physician and surgeon of Houston,
Texas, who died in 1907, and Fanny, who became the wife of a prominent
banker of Cleveland, Ohio, Albert L. Withington, who died in 1907.
Isaac Odel Chapman. The march of progress, while admittedly the
proper thing for any community, and the one element that is perhaps more
to be desired in a given place than any other, still takes with it some-

702 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
thing of the early charm of that community, and none will be found
who will make this assertion more boldly than Isaac Odel Chapman, who
was born in Shiawassee county, and has been familiar with the conditions
here since the early sixties. He has' seen the gradual cleaning up of the
county, which in his boyhood was a wilderness, and which today boasts
cities, towns and villages far removed from existing conditions of fifty
years ago. While he appreciates the growth of the district, he yet deplores
the lack of early conditions to a certain extent, and remembers fondly
the days when the howl of the wolf was not strange to his ears, and when
the hunt of the deer and the wild turkey gave additional charms to
the country life of his boyhood. All these pleasures have been replaced
by the more modern and perhaps artificial sports, and the men of another
generation remember with some regret the joys of their boy life, with
which their children and grandchildren have little or no acquaintance,
save by hearsay. Mr. Chapman, one of the most prominent and success
ful lawyers of Owosso and the county, has spent his entire life within
the confines of Shiawassee county, where he was born on January 24,
1859, at Caledonia, one mile south of Corunna. A one story log cabin
on the farm familiarly known as the old McCarthy place, is the exact
spot of his birth, and in that vicinity he was reared. He is the son of
Robert and Mary (Derr) Chapman. His father was born in Lincoln
shire, England, and came to Michigan in 1837, settling in Shiawassee
county, where he identified himself with farm life and continued in that
occupation all the rest of his days. He was fairly successful, and he
died at his home in 1896, when he was eighty-one years of age. The
mother of Mr. Chapman comes of one of the oldest families in America
today. The Derrs were natives of Hesse, Germany, and the founder of
the American branch of the family came to America in the days of the
Revolution as a soldier in the Hessian army, in British service. He was
captured by General Washington on the memorable night of the Crossing
of the Delaware, and later he joined the service of the Continental army
and fought under Washington until the close of the war. In 1812 George
Derr and two brothers fought in the War of that time, and when peace
finally settled down the family settled in Maryland. John Derr, the
maternal grandfather of Isaac Odel Chapman, came west, and settled
in Michigan, and here the mother of the subject was reared. She
lived to be seventy-nine years of age, death claiming her in 1894. They
were the parents of four children. John W. Chapman died in 1855,
when he was thirty-two years of age. ' He was a Methodist minister and
a man of splendid standing. Isaac O. was the next born. Idell Chap
man married Herbert H. Hill and they reside in New Haven township,
in Shiawassee county. Edwin M. Chapmann, the youngest of the four, is
a ranchman and contractor of some prominence ir Libby, Montana.
Isaac O: Chapman attended the public schools as a boy and when he
had graduated from the high school he entered the State University of
Michigan and continued there for two years. In 18I79 he began the
study of law in the office of Hon. A. R. McBride, of Corunna, two
years later gaining his admission to the bar. He began practice in Co
runna, where he remained until 1883, and in the autumn of that year
he set out upon an extended trip through the west, including travel in
Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washingon. He spent two years in his
tour of those states, and in 1885 returned to Shiawassee county and took
up the practice of law at Bancroft. After two years there he moved to
Owosso, and he has since 1887 been engaged in active practice in this
place. It is quite needless to say that he has built up an extensive practice
here, or that he is among the foremost lawyers of the county and in a
professional way he has represented every large corporation in Owosso

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 703
for many years past. His position in professional as well in other circles
is undeniably secure, and he stands forth among the leaders before the
Shiawassee . county bar.
In the years of his activity in his profession, Mr. Chapman has won
and retained the friendship of many men of national importance and
reputation, for he has always been a leader in public affairs. An orator
of some note in the state, he has stumped Michigan for ten years on
national issues, and in the years of the free silver agitation he fought
a valiant fight for sound money whenever the matter was up for decision.
Not alone has he confined his attention to professional and political affairs,
but he has identified himself with other matters in the best interests of the
city and county. He is a large stockholder in the Citizens National Bank
and for more than twenty years has held a similar relation with the
Owosso Savings Bank, both well established and reliable financial insti
tutions of the county. Mr. Chapman owns one of the finest farms in
the county, twelve hundred and forty acres making up its extent, and
the place is one to which he devotes not a little of his time and attention.
His fine home in Owosso also adds to the attractiveness of his particular
locality, and he has in many ways been active in the growth and upbuild
ing of the city proper.
On March 28, 1884, Mr. Chapman was married to Miss Edna A.
Rathbone, the daughter of Daniel Spofford Rathbone, and to them have
been born three sons : Albert R. ; Odell, Jr., and Wellington Chapman.
The second named is prominent in athletics in the state and is well known
in foot ball circles, where he is something of a favorite.
Mr. Chapman has gained not a little prominence on account of his
oratorical abilities. Possessing a splendid memory, he is mentally quick
and sharp, and in debate is especially apt. He has a fund of rem
iniscences that make him a most interesting person to engage in con
versation, and while he enjoys a good story, he is known for his ability
to always match such a recital with a better one. He is enthusiastic in
his sentiment regarding education for the masses, and has done good
work in the interests of education in his town. He is the owner of a
magnificent private library, while his law library is said to be the finest
in the state. His suite of offices in the Miner building are perhaps the
best equipped 'in Owosso. Mr. Chapman is still an enthusiastic fisher
man, and finds a deal of innocent pleasure in that way.
William Robert Grieve. During twenty-five years of residence in
the state of Michigan William R. Grieve was continuously identified with
milling, and until recently was proprietor of the largest flour mills at
"Owosso. He learned the trade by thorough apprenticeship when a boy,
gave close attention to his duties, advanced himself from one responsi
bility to the next higher, until eventually he was on an independent foot
ing. On account of ill. health Mr. Grieve sold his milling interests in
Owosso in the spring of 1914, and is now residing at the great health
resort of Hot Springs, Arkansas. His value and influence as a business
man and citizen has been greatly missed at Owosso, and there are many
ties of friendship, business associations and long residence which still
connect him with this state.
William Robert Grieve is a Canadian by birth, born at Guelph -in
Ontario November 14, 1868, the ninth among the twelve children of John
and Ellen (Murry) Grieve. Both his parents were from Scotland, and
after their marriage crossed the ocean and settled in Canada in 1843.
John Grieve made a success of life, being engaged^ in real estate and
other commercial ventures, and was a man of exceptional character.
vol. n— 5

704 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
William R. Grieve had his early training in the common schools, fin
ishing with a course in a commercial college. At the age of seventeen he
began learning the trade of millwright .and miller. After two years in
his native city, in 1887, he came to Michigan, first locating at North
Branch, and was employed in a flour mill for one year. By this time his
apprenticeship was completed, and as a journeyman he worked six years
in different parts of the state. In 1896 Mr. Grieve went to Portland,
Michigan, and for thirteen years was superintendent of the Portland
Mills, and his efficiency brought him to a high standard of business suc
cess and quality of products. In the fall of 1908, with his brother A. M.
Grieve, flow of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mr. Grieve purchased the
Owosso City Mills, and changed the name to Owosso Milling Company.
As a practical miller, Mr. Grieve did much to improve the plant, and
made it a profitable industry with a capacity of one hundred barrels per
day. In 1913 Mr. C. M. Jones of Edmore bought an interest in the mills,
and less than a year later Mr. Grieve sold his interest in the property and
moved from the state.
In April, 1894, Mr. Grieve married Miss Bessie Eoff, a native of
Lapere, Michigan, and daughter of Jacob Eoff, an early settler of Lapere
and prominent as a real estate man during his active life, but now retired
and one of the highly respected citizens of his home town. The two chil
dren of Mr. and Mrs. Grieve are: Marie and William Earl. Mr.
Grieve is a Democrat, but has not participated in practical politics. Dur
ing his residence in Owosso he had one of the attractive homes and it
was regarded as one of the social centers of that city.
Charles Herman Frantz. On October 9, 1899, with a capital of
less than five hundred dollars, but with a good reputation for business
ability, which gave him substantial credit, Mr. Frantz started a drug
business in a modest way at 407 Center Street in Bay City. There was
no doubt about his prosperity from the start, and in 1905 his business
had grown to a point where it was necessary to secure larger and better
quarters. He then obtained the corner of Center and Battery Park
Place, where since then he has developed the largest and best retail drug
house in the city. When he started to retail drugs in this city he had
no assistance, but now employs nine clerks, and his entire establish
ment is a credit to Bay City.
Charles Herman Frantz was born December 29, 1871, at Bay City,
a son of Charles Herman and Theresa S. (Strassburg) Frantz. His
father was born in Baden Baden, and the mother in Heldrungen, Prus
sia. The senior Frantz, who was born March 9, 1842, and died in Bay
City, May 30, 1877, was educated in Baden, adopted merchandising as'
his vocation and came to the United States and located in Bay City,
January 15, 1865. He was married in this city in 1869. For a number
of years he was general agent and superintendent of the Toledo Brewing
Company, and was at one time superintendent of building the old Camp
bell House. Besides his activity in a business way, he had a prominent
part in Bay county politics, was active in German fraternal societies, was
captain of the Turn Verein, was fond of athletic sports, and a general
favorite in social circles. He built a fine home and accumulated con
siderable other real estate. He had two sons, Charles H. and Adolph
Rudolph Frantz. After his death his widow married John M. Schucker,
now deceased, and there were three children by that union, the two
survivors being : Clara Schucker, bookkeeper for her brother, Charles H.
Frantz, and Ella Schucker, wife of Otto H. Schmidt, of Saint Marys]
Ohio; John F., died, aged 15 years. Since the death of her second'
husband, Mrs. Schucker returned to the old homestead in Bay City, where
she resides at the age of sixty-eight years.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 705
Charles H. Frantz was. educated in the Bay City public schools, and
his first experience in the line of a regular vocation was in the employ
of G. L. Frederick Von Walthausen, the pioneer pharmacist of Bay City.
Under him he studied . pharmacy, and did a general, clerk's duties for
two years, then went as clerk with Arthur ; Loranger, druggist, at the
corner of Third and Washington Avenue, and on November 5, 1889,
passed his examination before the state board and was qualified as a
registered pharmacist. At Saginaw, he found employment with R.
Bruske, and when the latter died he became, manager of the business. In
April, 1896, he became assistant manager of the stores conducted by
the West Drug Company at Grand Rapids* and continued there until
he returned to Bay City in 1899, and started business on his own account
Mr. Frantz is active in fraternal and social affairs, belongs to the
York Rite Masonic body, and is past commander of Bay City Com
mandery No. 26, K. T., and has been a delegate to the Knights Templars'
Conclaves at Louisville, and in Chicago. He is also affiliated with the
Elks, is a charter member of the Bay City Country Club, belongs to the
Bay City Boat Club, and is an enthusiastic hunter and fisherman. A
Republican, he has always refused official honor, but is public spirited
in his attitude toward all movements for the public benefit. Pie is the
owner of a pleasant home, and has other city real estate.
On January 25, 1905, Mr. Frantz married Edith (Twist) Traham.
- They have two sons, Cbarles Herman, Jr.s born March 9, 1906,. and
Virgil Theodore, born July 4, 1910. Mrs. Frantz is entirely a home
woman, belongs to the Congregational church, and in a quiet way, so far
as other responsibilities do not interfere is a worker for the social
welfare. She belongs to the Civic League and was organizer of a sewing
club which spent one year in making clothes for the poor, and their
distribution proved one of the philanthropies undertaken in Bay City
in a long time.
Boehringer Brothers. For twenty years the name Boehringer
Brothers has represented the finest greenhouse products in Bay City and
all that part of the state. They have a splendid establishment at 325
Park Avenue, and from their hot houses they supply more flowers than
any other single establishment in northern Michigan. The business,
like many other substantial concerns, was started on a modest scale,
and has been growing from year to year, until the plant now covers
large acreage and is supplied with all the facilities for the growing of
roses, violets, carnations, chrysanthemums, and other flowers. The pro
prietors are Albert G. and Rudolf G. Boehringer, both of whom are
thoroughly experienced and scientific floriculturists, and through their
energy and enterprise have never had occasion to fear competition.
Alfred Gabriel Boehringer, the older of the brothers, was born Sept.
20, 1868, at Brettaeh, Wuertemberg, Germany, a son of Rudolph and
Barbara (Widener) Boehringer, and a grandson of Gabriel Boehringer.
Rudolph Boehringer, who died at Brettaeh, February 18, 1885, at the
age of forty-eight, was a farmer, and also did a large business as a beet-
sugar contractor. He contracted to supply a beet-sugar factory with the
products from twelve or fifteen villages, and after the beets were out of
the ground he stored and kept them until the factory was ready for
manufacture. His wife, Barbara Boehringer, who was horn October 8,
1840, some years after her husband's death moved to Bay City. There
were seven children in the family and the four who reached maturity
all came to Bay City, as follows: Pauline, wife of George Nusselt;
Albert G, and Rudolph G., and Amelia.
Albert G. Boehringer grew up in his native locality, was educated
in the schools there, and after the death of his father in the fall of 1885

706 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
came to America and located in Bay City. He was then seventeen
years of age. His uncle Albert had emigrated to America, and found a
home in Bay City in 1868, and in 1885, while visiting Germany, being
without children of his own, he persuaded his nephew to go back with
him to Bay City. During the first year Albert 6. Boehringer worked
with his uncle, who was a butcher, and then secured employment with
the John A. Irvine Greenhouse Company. During the five years spent
with that company, he acquired a thorough practical knowledge of both
horticulture and floriculture, and at the same time was diligently con
tinuing his studies in preparation for an independent business career.
During three winters he attended night school, and then took a course
of special study in the Michigan Agricultural College at Lansing, where
he specialized in horticulture and floriculture. ' On his return to Bay
City in August, 1893, he formed a partnership with his younger brother
Rudolph, under the firm name of Boehringer Brothers, and thus was
launched the enterprise which in twenty years has been constantly grow
ing. They began with one acre of ground and two small greenhouses, and
at first divided their attention between vegetables and cut flowers and
potted plants. Almost every year saw the erection of a new green
house, and also the acreage has been increased until the pleasant plant
covers twelve acres of ground, and there are thirteen green houses. More
than fifty thousand square feet are under glass, and it requires nearly two
miles of steam pipes for the heating of these bouses. The brothers have
made a special reputation in the growing of carnations, and have improved
several seedlings by hybridation and fertilization until the Boebringer
carnations are among the finest and most perfect flowers of the time.
Besides the local business, both brothers are technical and scientific men
in their profession, and have a large reputation as landscape gardeners,
and among their work in this connection they have assisted in the laying
out of the beautiful park system of Bay City. Their trade in flowers
goes throughout northern Michigan. When they started, the two brothers
did practically all the work, but at the present time they require the
assistance of fifteen employes.
Alfred G. Boehringer was married July 25, 1894, to Miss Margaret
Weber. Mrs. Boehringer, who was a daughter of Philip Weber, died
February 17, 191 1, and is interred in Elm Lawn Cemetery. Six children
were born to their union, three sons and three daughters, named as
follows: Alma M., a graduate of the Bay City Business College, and
now a bookkeeper for the firm of Boehringer Brothers ; Dorothy W. ;
Nelda Gertrude ; Edwin Oscar ; Carl Herman ; and Albert William. Mr.
Albert Boehringer is prominent in the German Lutheran Church, has
served as president of the Lutheran Society seven years, and was twice
elected vice president of the State Society. He has been a trustee of the
German Lutheran Church in Bay City for twelve years.
Rudolph G. Boehringer, the junior member of the firm was born in
Brettaeh, Germany, June 23, 1872. His early training and education
were given him in his native village, and in 1888 he follpwed his older
brother to America, and at the age of sixteen began work in the Irvine
Greenhouses at Bay City. After four and a half years under the Irvine
Company, he was in the employ of Charles Breitmeyer a year, and then
joined his brother in the partnership above described, and has since
contributed his full share to the successful operation of the business.
Both brothers are Republicans in politics, and as self-made men who
have risen on their own resources to places of influence and prosperity,
they enjoy the highest esteem of the community.
Rudolph Boehringer was married in Bay City, September 25, 1900,
to Miss Emma Gansser, who was born in Wuertemberg, Germany, and

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 707
was two years of age when her parents, August andjphanna (Bauer)
Gansser, located in Bay City. Rudolph and wife have three children,
Elsie, Clara and Rudolph, Jr.
August Gansser, brother of Mrs. Rudolph Boehringer, has long been
a well known citizen of Bay City, and has made a reputation as an author,
and among his works was the history of Bay and Saginaw counties, pub
lished in 1905, a work which will always remain a permanent monument
to his careful and painstaking endeavor as a historian.
Rev. Frederick J. Schalk, C. -P. P. S. Since 1909 pastor of the Holy
Trinity Catholic Church of Bay City, the,, life work of Father Schalk
in the service of his church has been of almost unbroken activity since
he entered the ministry at the age of twenty -three. His, labors have
called him from one state to, another, and. the forty years that have
elapsed since he entered upon his life's duties, he has done service in
many places and among all classes of people. His special ability has been
along the line of church organization and rehabilitation, and for this
reason he has had both the variety and the arduous foil of the pioneer
and the missionary.
He was born at New Riegel, Ohio, March 2, 1850, a son of Martin
and Emilia (Rose) Schalk, who were born in Bavaria, Germany. The
father came to America when a boy of fourteen, was a poor German
lad, and found means of getting a livelihood , by -working on farms in
Seneca county. Later he married and. continued farming in that county
until his death in 1874, at the age of fifty-one. His wife lived to the
age of sixty-four. Tbey were hard working, honest people, and only
through their combined efforts acquired a substantial prosperity, and
were liberal in providing for the education and training of their chil
dren. They were devout Catholics, and reared their children in that
faith. The children were six in number, and two are now deceased.
Those living besides Father Frederick are: Anthony Schalk, born in
1852, after a successful career as a farmer, is now living retired at Tiffin,
Ohio; Rev. Francis Schalk, born in 1859, is now in charge of the
novitiate of the Order of Precious Blood at Burkettsville, Ohio. He
was educated in _the parochial schools at New Riegel, studied for the
priesthood at Carthagena, Ohio, was ordained a priest in 1882, and has
had a continuous record of service since that time.- He was first assist
ant pastor of the Church of the Assumption at Nashville, Tennessee,
then became assistant pastor of the Church of the Sacred Heart at
Sedalia, Missouri, went to Tipton, Kansas, and later to Cawker City,
Kansas, to succeed his brother, Rev. Frederick, as. pastor of the Church
of Sts. Peter and Paul, and for many years was superintendent of edu
cation at Rensselaer, Indiana. Joseph E. Schalk, the youngest of the
sons, born in i860, is now connected with the Logan Gas & Fuel Com
pany at Tiffin, Ohio.
Father Frederick, as he is affectionately called by his many friends,
was educated in the parochial schools of New Riegel, and after his first
communion at the age of fourteen entered upon the study for the priest
hood in the community of Precious Blood. At the age of twenty-three he
took his first pastorate at Ottawa, Ohio, in charge of Sts. Peter and Paul
Church, where he remained two years. His next work as pastor of the
Holy Rosary Church at St. Marys, Ohio, where he remained until 1878.
From Ohio Father Frederick was transferred to the unsettled country
of western Kansas, and at Stockton succeeded in building a substantial
stone church, and for two years endured the hardships of a pioneer
priest. There were no railroads in this part of the state, and in his
labors he covered eight counties, most of his travel being by horseback.

708 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
As a reward for his excellent service in Kansas, Bishop Fink, in 1880,
promoted him to a pastorate at Beloit, Kansas, where he was four years
pastor at St. John's Church. He then became pastor at Cawker City,
where he remained for four years, and the following four years ' were
spent at Wapakoneta, Ohio. While there, among other successful under
takings, he built the parsonage for St. Joseph's church, and continued
as pastor until 1892. At that juncture a failure of healtb compelled him
to retire from his duties for fifteen months, and most of that time was
spent in travel abroad. On his return he undertook missionary work
throughout the states of Indiana, Ohio and Illinois, and that service
brought him into connection with many different parishes and com
munities. In 1909 he was sent to Bay City, and given charge of the
Parish of the Holy Trinity. That this parish is now one of the most flour
ishing in the city and a worthy rival of the eight or nine other Catholic
churches is due to the efficient leadership of Father Frederick. The
church when he took charge had little vitality, it was in debt and its
membership losing members and interest, and the situation required the
services of just such a man as Father Frederick. Although bis parish
is closely surrounded. by other Catholic churches, which had previously
proved a drain upon the Holy Trinity, he has succeeded in increasing
his regular communicants to one hundred and twenty-five families, has
undertaken plans for a school, which will be in complete operation by
the fall of 1914, and has purchased several properties adjoining the
church for the erection of a teacher's home. Father Frederick is an
enthusiastic scholar as well as a worker, a man of fine physique, is cheer
ful in temperament, large-hearted and generous, and is not only a bearer
of sympathy and practical help to those in need, but as a charming con
versationalist proves himself good company among all classes of men.
Henry Stephens. When' a young man, in 1844, Henry Stephens
came to Michigan and at Romeo in Macomb county became a pioneer
merchant and for some years did business on a moderate scale. His
success gradually broadened, resulting in the opening of a branch store
at Almont, Lapeer county, and from one point to another his enterprise
spread until few names suggested more power and none was more hon
ored in the great lumber industry of Michigan.
Henry Stephens was born in the city of Dublin, Ireland, March 14,
1823, and died at Mission San Jose, Alameda County, California, Febru
ary 22, 1884. His great-great-grandfather, James Stephens, gave to the
city of Dublin that part which is now called "Stephens' Green," being
about in the center of the city. His mother, Emily O'Brien Stephens,
died at his birth. His father, Robert L. Stephens, brought him to Kings-
but these were largely due to his efforts to assist his half-brother, James,
who at that time conducted the old "Checkered" store in Detroit. Soon
Mrs. Thomas Marrah, who, with her husband, had established their
home in that city some years previous. His father then returned to Ire
land. His father was three times married and had children by each wife,
and his death occurred while at sea enroute to Dublin.
Only limited educational opportunities were presented to Henry Ste
phens as a boy, but by his alert intelligence and remarkable industry
and enterprise more than made up for such a handicap. Soon after
reaching his majority in 1844 be came to Michigan and invested his
capital of three hundred dollars in a stock of merchandise at Romeo
His business grew and in 1856, on moving to Detroit, the firm of Stephens
& Marvin was established in the hardware business, but Mr Stephens
soon became sole proprietor. The panic of 1857 brought him reverses
ton, Ontario, when he was six years old, to leave him with his half-sister'
afterwards Mr. Stephens closed his business career in Detroit and in 1861

1 1

. HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 709
moved to Almont and took personal charge of the branch store which
had previously been established by him in that town.
In the year preceding the Civil, war Mr. Stephens was active in the
abolition cause and served as station-master on the underground rail
way, assisting many negroes to freedom across the Canadian boundary,
the cellar of his home at Almont having been a place of refuge for many
slaves in escaping the tyranny of their southern owners. At Jackson in
1854 Henry Stephens was one of the delegates who met "under the
Oaks" and organized the Republican party, and his support was given
to that party in a financial way at a time when it was most needed.
Though a man of prominence in the state and in the party, and although
offered some of the highest honors in the gift of his political organiza
tion, he never accepted public office, but continued to contribute in a
financial way and as one of the active leaders in the Republican ranks
until his death. When civil war was declared he bought nails and
cotton. His foresight led him to recognize the value of Michigan pine
lands at the time when they were almost unbroken, and his purchases
began as early as 1868, with his acquisition of large tracts in Lapeer and
adjoining counties. His first mill was a shingle factory at Clear Lake
in Lapeer county. In a large tract of land north of Lapeer which had
been purchased by him there was operated under his financial control
the largest lumber plant of its kind south of Saginaw, and he also did a
large business in handling lumber purchased from other mill operators
in that section of the state. Subsequently his capital and enterprise
brought about the establishment of large plants at St. Helen in Ros
common county, and at Waters in Otsego county, which were among
the largest and best equipped lumber mills in the state. The logging,
milling and general operating and sales department of the lumber busi
ness developed by Henry Stephens gave employment to an average of
four thousand men, and he was also the builder of many miles of log
ging railway through his property. In 1882 Mr. Stephens organized the
stock company, under the title Henry Stephens & Company, in which
he associated his two sons, Henry Jr. and Albert L., and twelve of his
old and trusted employes. The management of the large lumbering in
dustry conducted by this company was continued by Henry Stephens
until his death two years later.
At a time when the lumber business in Michigan was at its high tide
and far and away the largest and most valuable resource of the state,
the name of Henry Stephens suggested a leadership and power hardly
second to none. At his mills at St. Helen alone more than a billion feet
of lurhber were manufactured within a period of fourteen years. The late
Mr. Stephens was a man of great executive ability, and from a begin
ning which was practically one of poverty rose to success that was as
honorable as it was great.
On September 20, 1853, Henry Stephens married Miss Clarinda
Leete, whose father, Dr. Albert Leete, was a pioneer physician and early
citizen of Macomb county, establishing his home there in 1830: Mr. and
Mrs. Stephens became the parents of three children : Henry Jr., who
died in 1910; Albert L. ; and Catherine. Albert L. lives in Detroit, and
the daughter, who became the wife of Charles Mclver, died in 1898, in
California. Mrs. Henry Stephens has reached the venerable age of
eighty-three years, and spends part of her time in California and the re
mainder at the old home at. Romeo, Michigan.
Albert L. Stephens. Bearing a name which has been worthily
identified with' the annals of Michigan for nearly seventy years, and a
son of Henry Stephens, who in his time was one of the lumber kings of
this state, Albert L., Stephens has since 1887 been one of the leading
fnen of affairs at Detroit, and his business interests are of a varied and

710 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
important nature. During his earlier years he was identified with the
lumber industry which his father had developed.
Born at Romeo, Macomb county, Michigan, November ii, 1857, a
son of Henry, and Clarinda (Leete) Stephens, Albert L. Stephens at
tended the public schools of his native town, and in 1874, when about
seventeen years old, became actively associated with his father in the
latter's extensive lumbering operations. The senior Stephens died in
1884J and Albert and his brother Henry then assumed the care and man
agement of the large holdings and factories previously acquired by their
father, and continued business together until 1895. Since that date Al
bert L. Stephens has given most of his attention to the management of
the affairs of several important corporations in which he is a stockholder
and official. Of the many enterprises which now claim a share of his
attention the more noteworthy are as follows: the Wabash Portland
Cement Company of Stroh, Indiana, of which he is president, the O. &
W. Thum Company, manufacturers of the celebrated "Tanglefoot" fly
paper, with headquarters in the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, of
which Mr. Stephens is one of the largest stockholders; The Hugh
Wallace Company of Detroit, of which he is vice president; the Quincy
Gas Company of Quincy, Illinois, of which he is president; and a director
in the Wayne County Savings Bank, in the First National Bank and the
Union Trust Company, a director of the Detroit Fire & Marine Insur
ance Company, and was special commissioner in charge of the closing up
of the affairs of the old Preston National Bank after its liquidation.
His part in the community has been that of a public spirited citizen,
although like his father never an aspirant for public office and content
to do his duty as an individual. He was one of the first appointed of
the Mackinac Island State Park Commission when the Island was turned
over to the State of Michigan by the United States government. He
was one of the state commissioners for three years of the Home for the
Feeble Minded and Epileptics and was a member of the Detroit Board of
Water Commissioners in 1894-97. His social relations are with the De
troit Club, the Yondotega Club, the Detroit Boat Club, the Lake St.
Clair Shooting and Fishing Club, better known as the Old Club, and the
Caledon Mountain Club of Canada. In March, 1884, Mr. Stephens
married Miss Frances Harvey, daughter of the late Dr. James Harvey
of Romeo. Mrs. Stephens, who died March 16, 1910, was the mother of
one child, Marjorie. In October, 1912, Mr. Stephens married Mrs. Mary
(Loree) Sheldon, of Guelph, Ontario.
John Alexander McDonald. Since 1868, for forty-five years, the
name McDonald has been identified with the grain milling and elevator
business at Bay City. This fact speaks well of the family integrity and
permanence, and there is no name in the city more entitled to the respect
and esteem paid it than that of McDonald. John A. McDonald, after
some experience in the flour mills operated by his father, finally got into
the grain elevator and the bean trade, and at the present time, besides
the large plant in Bay City, he operates elevators in various locations
in this vicinity. Mr. McDonald is one of the leading business men and
public-spirited citizens of Bay City.
John Alexander McDonald was born at Chatham, Ontario, November
30, 1867, a son of John Naughton and Mary (Warren) McDonald The
mother was a daughter of Charles Warren, of Cold Spring New York
whose ancestry goes back in direct line to General Warren the patriot
hero at Bunker Hill, who lost his life in that first important' engagement
after the opening of hostilities between the American colonies and Great
Britain. The senior John McDonald early in life took up the trade of
miller, and in 1868 brought his wife and family to Bay City He was

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN v 711
a man of some means, and for the, time considered well-to-do. In Bay
City he built a flour mill at the corner of First and North Water streets,
that being the first flour mill in Bay City. The industry was inaugurated
under most adverse conditions. During the late sixties wheat sold as
high as three dollars a bushel, and thereafter began to decline steadily
until the price reached about as low a point as has been known within
the past half century. The senior John. McDonald operated his mills
at Bay City for a period of thirty years. In 1872 the mills were totally
destroyed by fire, causing a large financial loss and a severe handicap
to the business. He rebuilt "the plant, and in later years there came
another heavy loss by fire. In 1898, thirty years from his beginning,
he retired from active business cares, leaving a record of substantial
success and prominence in the community. John McDonald was one of
the organizers of the First Presbyterian church of Bay City, a trustee,
and always an active worker in the denomination. His death occurred
when sixty-four years old in Bay City in 1903, and his wife passed away
March 27, 1913. They are both interred at Elm Lawn Cerrfetery. John
McDonald was a member of the board of education of Bay City for
many years, was always willing, to sacrifice his personal interests in
behalf of the community welfare, and was in politics a regular Democrat,
but in 1896 voted for McKinley and sound money. Fraternally he was
affiliated with the Masonic Order. There were six children, two of
whom are deceased, and those living are : William Archibald McDonald,
a prominent lumberman at Seattle, Washington ; Margaret, wife of John
A. Stewart, the present county clerk of Bay county; Annie, wife of
Albert H. Morley, a well-known banker at Saginaw.
John A. McDonald was educated in the Bay City public schools, also
attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and when nineteen
years of age began his experience in his father's mill. His association
with his father in the well-known industry, established in 1868, con
tinued until the latter's retirement, and then changed and broadened his
operations, starting in a modest way in the wholesale grain and bean
business at Bay City. Under his shrewd and active management the
business has grown to be the largest bean picking plant in the state. It
requires the service of the two hundred employes to conduct the enter
prise. The elevator and warehouse and other equipments are located
in an ideal situation on Arbor Avenue and the Michigan Central Rail
road. Adequate shipping facilities, side-tracks, and all the modern ma
chinery have been installed, and the entire business is conducted along
modern lines. Mr. McDonald possesses the' ability of the born business
mari, is keen in his perceptions of opportunities, through a long number
of years has made his word as good as his bond in dealing with pro
ducers and business men generally, is quick to- act on his judgment, and
his success can be credited entirely to his own "efforts. Personally he
probably has as many friends as any other business man in Bay City,
and is a quick-witted, genial gentleman, enjoys a joke, even at his own
expense, and his hearty laugh and cordial manner goes a long way in
facilitating his business relations. The central plant of his business at
Bay City covers a space of one hundred by two hundred feet.
Mr. McDonald is also largely interested in real estate in Bay City.
Hjs greatest desire is to own and operate a model farm, and aside from
his regular business, he is enthusiastic on model scientific farming. He
and his family reside in a pleasant home at 1101 Fifth Street in Bay
City. In politics he is both Independent and Progressive, and he and
his family worship in the Presbyterian church. June 29, 1^92, at Utica,
New York, Mr. McDonald married Miss Caroline Tompkins, of Utica,
a daughter of Dr. H. H. and Cynthia (Tompkins) Tompkins. The
parents, though of the same name, were not related. Her father was

712 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
for many years a prominent physician at Utica. Mr. and Mrs. McDonald
have two children, Helen and Marian McDonald. Mr. McDonald is a
member of the Bay City Boat Club, but he and his family usually spend
their vacations in travel.
Charles Coryell. For upwards of half a century the name Coryell
has been identified with the developments in salt manufacture, coal
mining, and other large business undertakings in the vicinity of Bay
City, where the Coryell family have had their residence during the
greater portion of this time. Mr. Charles Coryell is the son of one of
the early salt manufacturers in Bay City county, and to his own inde
pendent career are to be credited many achievements, particularly in the
direction of coal development, in this part of the state. Mr. Coryell has
for many years enjoyed a place of conspicuous prominence in Bay City,
both as a business and civic leader. He has acquired wealth, but has
used it without ostentation, and has made himself a valued and esteemed
factor in the citizenship of the state.
His birth occurred at Petrolia, Ontario, September 2, 1865. His
parents were John and Elizabeth (Carnell) Coryell, the father a native
of New Market, and the mother of Tiverton, England, and from that
country the father, after getting his education in the local schools, came
to America and settled in Bay City in 1863. During the one year of his
residence there he married, and in 1864 went to Petrolia, Ontario, where
the oil excitement had attracted thousands of prospectors and others in
terested in the development of petroleum. At Petrolia he engaged in
the work of drilling oil wells. In 1866 the discovery of salt water in
Bay county, Michigan, led him to return to his original place of resi
dence and he utilized his experience in drilling oil wells in the sinking
of deep wells for the salt beds, and in a year or so became one of the
successful manufacturers of salt. Thereafter his interests grew and
expanded rapidly, and John Coryell became one of the leading business
men of Bay City. He was born in 1843, and his death occurred at
Saginaw, September 1, 1905, when sixty-two years of age. His wife,
who was born in 1840, died in 1885 at Bay City, aged forty-five. They
had two children, and the daughter is Mabel Coryell, of Bay City.
Charles Coryell grew up in Bay City, attended the grammar and high
schools until twenty years of age, when he became. associated with his
father in the manufacture of salt. At the age of twenty-five he started
on a new line. With Dr. Ferguson he became interested in the coal,
lime and mason's supply business at Bay City, and as active manager
did a large business for the following six years. The firm was known
as the Bay City Coal & Lime Company. It was this experience chiefly
which turned his attention to coal mining, and on leaving mercantile
operations he began prospecting in both Bay and Saginaw counties for
coal, and discovered and brought about the development of what became
the Standard Mine, one of the earliest paying mines opened up in that
section. Mr. Coryell became a director of the Standard Mining Com
pany. Since the beginning of his career as a mine operator, Mr. Coryell
has been associated with Robert Gage, whose name is that of one of
Michigan's leading and successful business men. After his experience
with the Standard Mine, Mr. Coryell located and operated the Central
Coal Mine of Bay county, then the St. Charles Mines, and altogether has
developed fifteen mines in this state, eight being still in active operation.
Six of these were in Bay county, and nine in Saginaw county. In 1907
the Robert Gage Coal Mining Company was organized and incorporated,
and Mr. Coryell has since been vice-president and general manager of
this well-known organization. The company secured all the interests
of the J. H. Somers Coal Mining Company, and at the present time

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 713
fully twelve hundred men are employed by the Gage Company, which
is regarded as the largest firm of coal operators in the state.
Mr. Coryell is president of the Beaver Coal Mining Company of Bay
City and The Saginaw Salt Company, is also secretary of the Republic
Fuel Company of that city, and. is regarded as one of the distinctive
leaders in the larger field of business affairs. In politics he is Repub
lican, in Masonry has taken the .Knights Templar degrees, and belongs
to the Shrine, is an enthusiastic yachtsman, a director in the Bay City
Boat Club, a member and director of the Country Club, a member of
the Bay City Club, and was for three years president of the Bay City
Boat Club. Mr. Coryell owns one of the finest yachts between Bay City
and Detroit. The "Caroline" is a seventy- foot boat, constructed at a
cost of eighteen thousand dollars, luxuriously equipped and furnished,
and during the summer it is put in almost constant use by Mr. Coryell
for the pleasure of his family and their friends.
In April, 1888, Mr. Coryell married Elizabeth Cunning, who was
born in Edinburg, Scotland, a daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth Cun
ning, now residents of Port Huron, Michigan. Andrew Cunning, who
is now retired, was, during his business career, one of the prominent
coal and mason supply men of Bay City. To tbe marriage of Mr. and
Mrs. Coryell have been born six children, as follows : Jane Coryell, at
home; Ida, whose marriage, September 27, 1913, at the Center Avenue
Presbyterian church of Bay City ,to Clarence Ambrose, was the most
brilliant social event of the year in Bay City; John Andrew Coryell,
who is a graduate of the Bay City High School, and is now general
superintendent of the Robert Gage Coal Mining Company; Charles
Alexander Coryell, a student in the University of Michigan at Ann
Arbor; Margaret Coryell, now attending Gunston Hall at Wasbington,
D. C. ; and Harry Coryell, still in the grade schools.
John Redmond Cotter. In business and manufacturing, in politics,
and in the field of outdoor sports, Mr. Cotter has won many distinctions
for himself, and there are many persons in every section of the state
who will at once recall some fact of interest about this well-known Bay
City citizen.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, June 29, i860, John Redmond Cotter is a
son of Redmond and Annie (O'Neil) Cotter, both of whom were born
in Dublin, Ireland, and after doming to America lived in Chicago until
1868. The father, a stonecutter by trade, then moved to Essexville, Mich
igan, a suburb of Bay City. There he continued to follow his trade as
contractor and stonecutter, until his death at the age of eighty-one years.
His wife passed away when seventy-five years old. Of their six children
two are deceased, and besides John R., the others are: Ella, wife of
.James Hines of Saginaw; William H. Cotter, with the Michigan Sugar
Company of Bay City; James Cotter, principal of the Pinconning High
School at Pinconning. It was a matter of pride to- their parents to give
their children the best possible educational advantages, and the second
generation have proved a credit to their parents.
John R. Cotter was educated in the grammar and high schools of
Bay City, where he lived from the age of eight years and in early youth
learned the trade of shingle packing, a vocation which during the high
tide of lumbering was considered the best paid in the entire industry.
That was his regular line of work for a long period of years. In 1907,
Mr Cotter engaged in boat building. Buying an ideal location at the
foot of Main Street in Essexville, he has built up a successful business
in the building of gasoline power boats, and row boats. He not only
constructs these crafts, but- maintains a general boat renting headquar
ters, and has a stock of more than fifty boats of different kinds,

714 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
which are rented to his customers during the open seasons of the year.
His establishment is situated on the banks of the Saginaw River, within
two blocks of the car Une.
Mr. Cotter has long been one of the public spirited citizens of Essex
ville, which suburb he served as president for one term, for eight years
as marshal, also as street commissioner, for many years as town clerk,
and was deputy sheriff of the county. A Democrat, in a quiet way,
Mr. Cotter has worked hard in behalf of the party, and is well known in
Democratic councils throughout this section of the state. It will now be
in order to say something concerning Mr. Cotter's activities in the field
of sports. Mr. Cotter has personal friends among people in all walks of
life, and these friendships have been due not only to his business rela
tions and political'career, but also to his intimate association with the
devotees of sport, particularly with the gun. For many years Mr. Cotter
was the champion trap shot in Michigan, and had the distinction of
winning all the medals and pennants given as trophies by the gun clubs
in Michigan, during the years when his skill was at its height. In 1887
and again in 1888 he won the diamond medal at Detroit, scoring ninety-
seven out of one hundred clay pigeons, in a field comprising more than
one hundred contestants. That score has never since been beaten in the
state of Michigan. During the days of his prominence as a marksman,
Mr. Cotter was as well known among gun enthusiasts as Ty Cobb or
other great ball players are known to the devotees of the national past-
time today, and the daily papers of the state gave a great deal of space
to his name and achievements. Mr. Cotter is affiliated with the Benevo
lent and Protective Order of Elks, the Modern Woodmen of America,
and the Knights of the Maccabees. His genial personality and hon
orable business efforts have gaine'd him the respect and friendship of all
the people of Bay City. Mr. Cotter was reared in the faith of the
Catholic religion.
In 1895 Mr. Cotter became the owner of the racing yacht, St. Elmo,
designed by Small Brothers, of Boston, and built by Lon Arnold of Bay
City. After owning and racing this boat for five years, and winning
many events, Mr. Cotter sold it to Charles P. Seider of Detroit, who
won every race in which the St. Elmo was an entrant during the summer
of 1913. In October, 1885, Mr. Cotter married Miss Maude Kinderman, a
native of Bay City, and a daughter of Dr. Constantine Kinderman, one
of the prominent pioneer physicians of Bay City, now deceased. They,
are the parents of two children: John R. Cotter, of Flint; and Ellen
M. Cotter, living with her parents.
John Andrew Vogtmann. Among the best known brands of flour
in the country are the Wenonah and Gold Medal brands. That these
flours have so wide a reputation is due almost entirely to the efforts of
one man, the proprietor and manager of the mills, John Andrew Vogt
mann. Mr. Vogtmann's story is one of hard work, earnest and ambitious
endeavor, the conquering of many difficulties, in short, not at all the sort
of a career that a boy looking for a short cut to prosperity would seek,
but a life that offers untold encouragement to the lad with big ambitions'
and empty pockets.
John Andrew Vogtmann was born in Bavaria, Germany, near Heids-
braun, on the 17th of April, 1863. His father was Leanhart Vogtmann
and his mother was Elizabeth Vogtmann. His father was a weaver by
profession and both of his parents are deceased, having died in their
native village of Bardoltsdorf. They reared a family of seven children
and, although only in moderate circumstances, they managed to give their
children a fair education. John Andrew Vogtmann was the fifth of his

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 715
brothers and sisters. He received his education in the village schools,
attending school until he was thirteen years old. He then left school and
at the age of seventeen he was apprenticed to a miller, learning the trade
in the mills near Ansbach. At the age of twenty-one, feeling that he could
better his condition in the newer land across the seas, he came to America.
This was in 1884 and he came directly to Saginaw, Michigan. Here he
found his brother, Adam, who had emigrated four years before, and had
already saved enough money to purchase a farm near Frankenlust. For
three years the young German worked as a farm hand, then having be
come more accustomed to the language and the people he was able to
secure a better paying job as a lumberman in the Michigan forests. He
remained for nearly two years in this work, but being very anxious to
follow his own profession he went to work without pay in the flour mills
of the Harrison Brothers at Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. He grasped this
opportunity eagerly, for he was very desirous of learning American
methods of milling, although his small savings melted like mist. At the
end of two months they were gone and he was forced to return to lum
bering once more. This time he found work in the saw mills in Bay
City where he worked for a year. During this time he was constantly
on the watch for an opening in the milling business, and at last he was
offered a position as manager of a flour mill at Freeland, Michigan.
Six months after taking charge of these mills he rented them and thus
began his successful career as a miller.
In 1893, Mr. Vogtmann bought the Hecht Mills' at Frankenlust. These
mills had been a financial failure, but under Mr. Vogtmann's management
prosperity soon began to smile upon them. He renamed the mills, calling
them the Frankenlust Mills, and the flour soon became famous, farmers
from all parts of the country becoming his customers. These mills had a
capacity of thirty-five barrels per twenty-four hours. He operated the
plant for five years and then, owing to a scarcity of water, and poor
wheat crops, he decided to move the mills. This was in 1908, and he
decided to come to Bay City. Previously he had bought three lots in this
city on the corner of Williams and John Streets, opposite the Michigan
Central railroad yards. In 1906 he had built an elevator on this site, the
building having a capacity of fifteen thousand bushels of grain. Upon
determining to remove to Bay City, Mr. Vogtmann tore down the mills
at Frankenlust and -rebuilt and enlarged the plant in Bay City. He
equipped- it with modern machinery, giving the mills a capacity of two
hundred barrels a day. He employs eight or more men to operate this
mill and that he is an expert in his business is proved by the fame which
the Wenonah Patent Flour has gained throughout the country. In addi
tion to manufacturing wheat flour, the mills also produce rye, graham and
buckwheat flours.
Aside from his success as a miller, Mr. Vogtmann owns and operates
a fine farm of eighty acres at Frankenlust and is also the owner of his
pleasant home at 306 Midland street, Bay City. Mr. Vogtmann came
to Michigan without a dollar in his pockets, without knowing a word of
the English language, but with undaunted determination. He has won
the esteem of everyone with whom he has come in contact and his strong
character has made him a valued citizen wherever he has resided. Gen
erous in disposition and always ready to assist in any movement which
has as its object the upbuilding of his city or the state, Mr. Vogtmann
has often been of service to his fellow citizens.
In politics Mr. Vogtmann is a member of the Democratic party. He
and his family are all members of the German Lutheran church. He
was married in 1891 to Miss Catherine Burk, a native of Swabach, Ger
many. Two children have been born to this 'union : Mary Vogtmann and
John Matthew Vogtmann, who is bookkeeper in his father's mills.

716 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
David Whitney, Jr. When David Whitney, Jr., died at Detroit
November 28, 1900, it was said of him : "He coveted success, but scorned
to attain it except through industry and honest means. He acquired
wealth without fraud or deceit, and the results of his life are full of
inspiration to the rising generation." His was one of the productive
careers in the citizenship of Michigan during the last half of the nine1
teenth century. In the various departments of the lumber industry lay
his chief activities, and his success in that field was sufficient to place
his name alongside that of the great lumber kings of the state. His
business was for many years conducted from Detroit, and the greater
share of his investments was placed in that city.
David Whitney, Jr., was born at Westford, Middlesex county, Mas
sachusetts, August 23, 1830. He always wrote his name David Whitney,
Jr., perhaps partly from early usage and partly from respect for his
honored father. David Whitney, Sr., was of the true New England
type of energy, resourcefulness and rectitude of character, was the owner
of a good farm, and also did lumbering and brick making on a small
scale. The activities of the farm and the common school was the chief
sources of training for David Whitney, Jr., in his boyhood. Through
out his life he acknowledged a close fellowship with honest toil, and it
was hard work as much as endowment of masterful ability which brought
him success. On coming of age he left the farm and for three years
was clerk in a lumber firm, which also operated a box factory. That
experience proved of great value to him in his subsequent career.- He
proved his worth with the firm, and when he left it was superintendent
of the plant. In 1857, at the age of twenty-seven, David Whitney, Jr.,
came to Detroit. He was western representative and a member of the
firm of C. & D. Whitney, Jr., and of Skillings, Whitneys & Barnes
Lumber Company, which corporation is in existence today and is one
of the oldest corporations in the United States. His brother Charles was
interested with him in those two firms, whose headquarters were in the
east. Mr. Whitney had the immediate management of all the western
business, which was principally the buying and shipping of lumber and
the purchase of pine lands and logs. The two firms mentioned were for
some years among the largest lumber dealers in the United States, and
the work of David Whitney, Jr., covered the states of Michigan, Ohio,
and Pennsylvania, while the eastern partner had supervision over the
business in the northeastern states and Canada. The partnership of
C. & D. Whitney Jr., was dissolved in the late seventies, and from that
time forward David Whitney, Jr., operated independently, and invested
heavily in the pine lands of Michigan and Wisconsin, but he still retains
his interest in the Skillings, Whitneys & Barnes Lumber Co. He pos
sessed a practical knowledge of lumbering conditions which made him
almost an authority, and with characteristic foresight he realized that
the great forests of Michigan and Wisconsin before the close of the
century would be called upon to supply a large portion of the lumber
Consumed in the United States, and his investments were carefully laid
to take advantage of such development. As the owner of magnificent
tracts of uncut timber, and as a manufacturer, his operations were amon^
the most extensive in the lumber regions of those two states, and even£
ually made him a millionaire.
Naturally his relations with lumbering led him into many related
commercial fields, and into banking. He owned and had in commission
a large fleet of steam barges and other vessels on the Great Lakes, utilized
chiefly for the transportation of lumber, but subsequently also used for
shipping iron ore from the Lake Superior ports to the manufacturing and
distributing centers on the lower lakes. The proceeds of his lumberincr

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 717
operations were invested chiefly in Detroit real estate. He was a stock
holder and director in many banking institutions, and was officially and
financially identified with several industrial and manufacturing plants,
chiefly in the production of lumber material.
The late Mr. Whitney was a Republican in politics, a member of the
Presbyterian church, and a liberal though unostentatious contributor
to the benevolent work of his home city. While an aggressive and force
ful business man, perhaps his most noteworthy characteristic was his
extreme reticence and his avoidance of all public notice. He knew and
estimated the dispositions and character of men almost as unerringly as
he understood the lumber business, and had many close friends among
his business associates. Personally he was straightforward and frank
in all his relations, and with a proper sense of the responsibilities im
posed by success and wealth he used his influence and resources for the
substantial improvement and betterment of his home city and state, and
would never have deserved any other tribute to his memory than an
exact measure of what he accomplished "in a business way. Mr. Whitney
left four children, as follows : Grace, now Mrs. John J. Hoff, of Paris,
France; David C, of Detroit; Flora, wife of R. A. Demme, of Detroit;
and Katherine, wife of Tracy W. McGregor, of Detroit.
Patrick Hurley. A large book binding and printing establishment
of Bay City is the outgrowth of a beginning in this city thirty-five years
ago, and represents the persistent business enterprise of Patrick Hurley,
who learned his trade of printing when a youth, and who is now con
sidered one of the successful of Bay City's men.
Born in Ireland, April 28, 1845, Patrick Hurley is a son of Patrick
and Ellen (Hayes) Hurley. Two years after his birth his parents left
their native land, and crossed the ocean to New York, where they lived
for some years and then came west and located in Chicago.. The senior
Hurley died in Chicago in 1898 at the age of seventy-eight years, and
the mother passed away in the same city, aged seventy-five. Of their
children the first was William H. Hurley, now deceased, who was a
soldier in the Civil war, in the 37th New York regiment. The second was
Patrick, and the others in order of birth were Michael, Jeremiah Hurley,
of Chicago, and Mary Strath, of Minnesota.
Patrick Hurley as a boy attended the New York City public schools
and the parochial schools, and was still in his teens when he entered a
printing office and began learning the trade which was to become the
basis for his life's work. For some years he was employed as a journey
man in New York City and elsewhere, and in 1874 located at Hancock,
Michigan, where he was in business for himself four years. In 1878 Mr.
Hurley moved to Bay City, and here on a modest scale established the
plant which has grown under the impetus of his enterprise, and in pace
with the general development of this part of Michigan until it is now a
large plant in Bay City for book binding, printing and stationery. Mr.
Hurley makes a specialty of expert printing of all kinds, and his facilities
and stock are now grouped in a building twenty-five by one hundred feet
on two floors.
Mr. Hurley is Independent in politics, is affiliated with the Knights
of Columbus, and the Independent Order of Foresters, and is a com
municant of the Catholic church. In 1888 at Bay City occurred his mar
riage to Miss Anna M. Burns, who died in 1909. The five children of
their marriage were : Thomas P. Hurley,- born in Bay City in 1892, and
now associated with Tiis father in business; Ellen, born at Bay City
in 1895 and a graduate of the high schools; Genevieve, born in 1897
and still in school; Marion, born in 1899 in Bay City; Rose, born in
1905, and already in school.

718 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Peter Niedzielski. The Fashion Boot Shop, of which Peter Nied
zielski is president, is one of the best retail shoe stores in northern
Michigan, with an established reputation for its goods, and a high class
patronage which has continued dealing there year after year. A trade
of this kind is a business asset of no small importance, and the leader
who is able to accomplish this is always regarded in business circles as
a successful man. A few years ago Peter Niedzielski, who had acquired
a good deal of practical experience in selling boots and shoes, but who
at the time had only twenty-five dollars in cash, determined to start mer
chandising on his own account. Few men undertake a project of that
kind with so many obstacles and discouraging facts before them. One
fortunate circumstance was that his previous record enabled him to get
credit for a stock of shoes, which represented five hundred dollars more
than his cash assets. Since then Mr. Niedzielski has steadily and in
creasingly sold shoes to the Bay City public, and his patronage is now
probably as high class as that enjoyed by any other sboe establishment
in the city, and the annual volume of business amounts to more than
thirty thousand dollars. Four expert salesmen are employed in the es
tablishment, the store building is modern and equipped in a way to at
tract and to furnish good service to customers, and the line of goods
handled is only of the highest grade, there is nothing cheap in the en
tire stock. From what has been stated already Mr. Niedzielski started
business with good credit, and as he has never failed in fulfilling his ob
ligations, and in properly meeting his bills when they fell due, his credit
at the present time with all the wholesale houses and the local banks,
is.A-i. He is now president of an incorporated firm, and is also inter
ested in other business affairs at Bay City.
Peter Niedzielski was born in German Poland, October 19, 1870, the
fifth in a family of seven sons, born to Joseph and Mary (Solinzczyk)
Niedzielski. The parents came .to America in 1883 settling in Bay
City. The father, who is now living retired at the age of seventy-nine,
was for many years engaged in the brokerage business. The mother
is now seventy-five years of age.
Peter Niedzielski was seventeen years old when the family came to
America, and his education was finished in Bay City, with graduation
from the high schools. Several lines of work occupied him for several
years after leaving school, and then for four years he was employed in
the 'retail shoe business. In 1892 Mr. Niedzielski made the humble be
ginning in the shoe trade as already described. In 1908 the firm was
incorporated as the Fashion Boot Shop, with Mr. Niedzielski as presi
dent, Mr. H. J. Buck, as vice president, and H. Clifford as secretary.
Mr. Niedzielski is also director of the Polish Newspaper Company, and
is manager of the Polish Standard. In politics he is Independent, is an
active member of the Polish National Alliance, and worships in the
Catholic faith.
At Grand Rapids, in February, 1900, he married Miss Nettie Ma-
linowski, a daughter of John Malinoswki, who is still living. To their
marriage have been born six children, Bay City being the birth place
of all as follows: Theodore, born December, 1901, and attending school;
Sylvester N., born in 1902, and in school; Helen, born in 1904, and in
school; Bernice, born in 1906 and a school girl; Walter N., born in 1907,
and Clements, born in 191 1.
Rev. Alexander Lipinski. A splendid work as a church builder
has been accomplished by Father Lipinski during the past six years of
his activities as pastor of St. Hyacinth's Catholic Church in Bay City
Before coming to Bay City, Father Lipinski made an equally efficient

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 719
record for beneficent extension and upbuilding of the church in
Saginaw. Rev. Alexander Lipinski was born in Prussian Poland, November
2,"], 1861, a son of Marian and Victoria (Szymanski) Lipinski, both
Polish people. . In 1892 the father emigrated to America, locating at
Grand Rapids, and later to Bay City where he died in 1910 at the age
of eighty-six years. The mother died in 1882 in her native land when
sixty-one years of age. Father Lipinski was the fifth of seven children,
the others mentioned as follows : Florentine, who died at Grand Rapids
in 1893 ; Constance, who lives in Wilmington, Delaware ; Felix, a resident
of Wilmington, Delaware; Stanislaus, of Wilmington, Delaware; Rev An
thony, who is rector of a Catholic church in Kingston, Pennsylvania ;
and Francis, of Grand Rapids.
Father Alex Lipinski grew up in Poland, attended the public schools,
and gymnasium, and afterwards entered the Gregorian University in
Rome, where he was ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal Parrochi in
1888. His first charge, to which he devoted three years was at Krahan and
Lemburg, Galicia. He was then selected for duty across the sea, and
spent the first fourteen months of his residence at Gaylord, Michigan.
Then followed his transfer to Saginaw, where he remained fifteen years
in busy and profitable work for the faith, and in that time built. up the
Holy Rosary Church to a point of efficiency never before attained in
its existence. Since 1907 he has had charge of St. Hyacinth's Parish
at Bay City. Some of his activities outside the more formal duties of
the priesthood may be comprehended from the fact that he is at the
head of the following Catholic Societies ; St. Adalbert, St. Michael, Sacred
Heart, St. Joseph, St. Stanislaus, St. Hyacinth, Lady of the Holy Ros
ary, St. Barbara, St. Rose, Young Ladies' Sodality, Children of Mary
and the Boys' Society.
The parish of St. Hyacinth, up to the time Father Lipinski took
charge was a portion of St. Stanislaus. From the beginning Father
Lipinski became very popular with the Polish Congregation, and in a
short time the church building was inadequate to contain the worshipers.
He immediately started upon a series of building Operations which have
not yet fulfilled all the plans of this energetic priest. He built a large
modern school, with ground dimensions of one hundred by one hundred
and fifty feet, and now has a modern building and all the facilities
of thorough and systematic instruction. The school is conducted under
the direct supervision of Father Lipinski. The parish house is likewise
a modern home, and grounds about the church and school are ample for
the needs of the large attendance.
Louis Hine. The secretary-treasurer and manager of the Phoenix!
Brewery at Bay City, Louis Hine has a record of business accomplish
ments that rank him among the resourceful men whose united enterprise
has moved Bay City from the small city to a place among the most flour
ishing industrial centers of the middle west. Bay City is his birthplace
and he has had a loyal interest in all its development, not only on the
purely commercial side, but in behalf of those improvements and adorn
ments which make for civic pride, comfort and duty.
Born April 5, 1872, jn Bay City, Louis Hine is a son of Theodore and
Fredericka (Walke) Hine. Both parents were born in Germany, and
both were brought at an early age to this country. The mother came
when two years of age, and her parents first settled near Fort Wayne,
Indiana, and then in the vicinity of Owosso, Michigan, where her father
took up a' farm but died soon afterwards. Theodore Hine was sixteen
years old when he came to America, and from New York City soon after-
voi. n— e

720 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
wards moved to Michigan, where the family located near Freeland.
Grandfather Henry Hine lived in Michigan for many years and died
in 1872. Theodore Hine and wife were married in Bay City in 1871,
where he engaged in the retail meat business and conducted it success
fully until 1886. After that he was in the lumber business, and is now
living retired at the age of seventy-nine. The five children of the fam
ily were: Louis; Julius, who is in business with his father; Charles,
superintendent of a sugar factory in Ohio j Fredericka, teacher of
Latin and German in Bay City; and Mrs. J. H. K. Humphrey, whose
husband is a quartermaster in the government service at Panama.
Louis Hine, the oldest of the family grew up in Bay City, attended
the local schools and finished with a course in the Bay City Business
College. He then began working for his father in the meat business,
and continued in that line until 1897. In that year he assisted in the or
ganization of the Phoenix Brewing Company, and as secretary-treasurer
and manager has kept this industry up to a bigh standard. Some years
ago the plant was entirely destroyed by fire and for two years no business
was done. Mr. Hine then took active charge of the concern, and the
plant now is one of large proportions, employs thirty expert workmen
and does a large bottling and shipping business to all parts of the state.
Mr. Hine is vice president of the Hine Lumber Company, of Bay
City, is a director in the People's Savings Bank of Bay City, and a stock
holder in a number of other well known local concerns. In public affairs,
great credit should be given to his work in behalf of public parks in Bay
City. He served on the park commission for a number of years, and
has always taken the lead in this line of public improvements. Mr.
Hine is a Mason, and belongs to the Knights of Pythias, the Independ
ent Order of Odd -Fellows and the Benevolent and Protective Order of
Elks. He is a trustee of the German Reformed Church at Bay City.
At Bay City on November 25, 1896, Mr. Hine married Miss Wilhel-
mina Kobler, a daughter of Jobn Kohler, now deceased. They have
three sons : Theodore Hine, born at Bay City, in 1901, and attending
school. Louis F. Hine, born in 1903, and also a school boy; and Gus
tavus E. Hine, born in 1905, and in school. Mr. Hine takes much in
terest in outdoor life and spends his summers in a delightful cottage on
the bay shore.
Richard H. Fletcher. It is sixty years since the Fletcher family
was established in Bay county. That fact alone gives the family a posi
tion in the pioneer annals. Richard H. Fletcher, a son of his pioneer
parents, has himself gone through the viccissitudes and strenuous life
of the old lumbering era, employed his energies at farming for a num
ber of years, recently retired from the office of labor statistics, in which
he made a splendid record in behalf of the public welfare and is now a
prominent real estate man in Bay City.
Richard H. Fletcher was born at Bay City, June 2, 1858. His par
ents were Robert and Marie Rye (Wing) Fletcher, the former a native
of England and the latter of Genessee county, New York. Robert
Fletcher when a young man left England, and on a sailing vessel spent
nine weeks before landing in New York City. He then enlisted for a
three years' cruise on a whaling vessel, and spent three years in the
north Atlantic and Baltic seas. On the expiration of his term, and the
return of the ship to New York he went to Genessee county, and began
working at his trade of blacksmith. At the age of twenty-five he met
and married Miss Wing, in Genessee county, and then with eleven other
families the young couple came west to Michigan. Most of the journey
was made overland, and in the year 1853, they arrived in Bay county,

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 721
located on a quarter section of land, eight miles west of Saulsburg. The
eleven other families all likewise took up quarter sections in the same
neighborhood. Indians and wild animals were still a plague in the
country, and these New York families settled close together for pro
tection. Robert Fletcher opened a blacksmith shop at Grand Blanc
near Flint, conducted it a year, and in the meantime assisted in clearing
the land for his farm. Land near Bay City and Saginaw was then
selling at fifty cents an acre. Farming and blacksmithing occupied the
energies of this pioneer until his retirement, and he finally moved to
West Bay City, where he died, at the age of eighty-seven years. While
his own part was that of the rugged pioneer laborer in the forest and
in the fields, his wife likewise should be mentioned as a pioneer woman,
who bore her share of hardships and yet reared and cared for a family
of twelve children. In the early days she provided the clothes for the
household, shearing the sheep and spinning the wool into cloth. She
often walked to Bay City to do her marketing. She is still living at the
venerable age of eighty-one and her home is with her son in West
Bay City.
Richard H. Fletcher, who was third of the twelve children, had no
-sooner got into the years of early boyhood before he had to go out into
the forest and assist in the lumber camps, and in the duties of the farm.
In spite of the primitive conditions in which he was reared, he managed
to secure an education by studying at night by the light of an old-fash
ioned tallow candle. His experience in the woods developed his self-
reliance, so that when he was still very young he took a contract for a
drive of lumber down the Ripple river. The successful fulfillment of
that contract meant everything to his future, and with a force of sixty-
eight lumber jacks, he started in during the fall of the year when the
river already had a thin coat of ice, and he himself stood in the water
up to his waist for hours, while directing 'and performing much of the
work. Most of his men deserted him in the increasing cold, and he
was finally left practically alone and unaided got the last log through
the boom. After that grilling experience he went home and lay for four
days in bed, and at much bodily sacrifice earned his first thousand dol
lars. Following that experience Mr. Fletcher spent ten years at farm
ing, and then sold out and went into the lumber trade, buying and selling.
A number of years ago he was appointed to a clerical position in the state
labor department, became an inspector, and on August 15, 1908, became
commissioner of labor statistics, an office which he held until July, 191 1.
He was for twenty years connected with the state labor department, and
on resigning he returned to Bay City, and has since engaged in the
real estate and insurance business.
Mr. Fletcher has for the' past twenty years been a member of the
Bay County Road Commission. He was elected" a member of the City
Council but resigned after one year in 1909. In politics he has always
been an active Republican.
Among other interests acquired by his long business career, Mr.
Fletcher is a director and vice president of the Zagelmeyer Machinery
Company of West Bay City, director of the Bay City Cast Stone Com
pany of West Bay City, and is president of the Grand Rapids Granite
Block Company of Grand Rapids.
Mr. Fletcher has been twice married, and the children of his first
wife were: Mrs. Nettie Whigham, born in Bay City, December 27, 1881,
and now a resident of Cleveland, Ohio: Henry E. Fletcher born at Bay
City, August 13, 1884, a resident of Cleveland, and the father of five chil
dren: Charles Fletcher, born June 16, 1887, in Bay City, lives in Cleve
land and has three children ; Mrs. Alma Tulley, born February 20, 1889,

722 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
lives in Chillicothe, Ohio, and has one child; Ross, born at Bay City,
June 20, 1892, is a soldier in the United States army and is now sta
tioned at Pekin, China. At Port Huron, Michigan, August 11, 1895,
Mr. Fletcher married Harriet Phillips, a daughter of Gilbert Phillips,
now deceased. To this marriage have been born the following chil
dren: Richard Harold Fletcher, born at Bay City, December 17, 1896,
who has completed the work of the grade schools ; Olive Fletcher, born
April 20, 1898, and now attending high school ; Harriet, born August 24,
1899, and a student in the high school; Dorothy Fletcher, born Novem
ber 24, 1902, and in the sixth grade of the Bay City schools ; and Gertrude
Fletcher, born September 24, 1904, and in the fourth grade of school.
Charles B. Warren has had a career as a lawyer of worthy effort
and accomplishment in the City of Detroit, and his name is well known
in the State; he is an authority on commercial and international law arid
as one of the leaders in the Republican party he has a large acquaintance
that is not confined to the limits of his home state.
Charles Beecher Warren was born at Bay City, Michigan, April ioth,
1870. His parents, Hon. Robert L. and Caroline (Beecher) Warren, were
born in Michigan and their respective families were among the pioneers of
the State. Robert L. Warren, after spending his youth in Flint, graduated
from the University of Michigan and became prominent as an editor and
publisher. He had no small influence in upbuilding of the Saginaw Valley,
where he was one of the first to publish a daily newspaper. Robert L.
Warren founded the Bay City Journal and the Saginaw Daily Enterprise,
and for a time was owner and editor of the daily newspapers in the city
of Ann Arbor, where he consolidated the competitive journals under the
ownership of a single company. He is now living in retirement at Ann
Arbor. He served in the army, leaving the University of Michigan when
he was a student, but returned later and continued his studies until gradua
tion. During his earlier life he served as a member of the State legisla
ture, and has always taken an active part in Republican politics, and in
1908 was a delegate from the second congressional district to the Repub
lican National Convention. For a number of years he has served as presi
dent of the board of trustees of the Michigan School for the Deaf at Flint.
When Charles B. Warren was about fourteen years old the family
moved to Albion, where he was a student in both the preparatory and the
regular academic department of Albion College. He was president of the
Freshman class, and during his sophomore year was managing editor of
the college paper. In 1889, leaving Albion, Mr. Warren entered the junior
class of the University of Michigan, where he graduated in 1891 a Bachelor
of Philosophy. In the university he specialized in history, philosophy and
constitutional law, and was the first editor in chief of "The Inlander," the
literary magazine of the university.
With the law as his chosen vocation, he went from the University of
Detroit and studied in the office and under the direction of Hon. Don M.
Dickinson. He also carried on his studies in the Detroit Law School, an
institution at that time under the management of Professor Floyd Mech'em,
who subsequently was one of the ablest members of the faculty in the law'
department of the university. Mr. Warren graduated with the class of
1893 and was admitted to the bar, and then for a few years continued
as a law clerk in the office of his honored preceptor, Mr. Dickinson. In
1897 came bis admission as a partner in the firm of Dickinson, Warren &
Warren. There was hardly a stronger or more successful law firm in
the city of Detroit. In January, 1900, Mr. Warren became associated with
John C. Shaw and William B. Cady in the organization of the firm of
Shaw, Warren & Cady, and after Mr. Shaw's death, in 191 1, Mr. Warren

Q\~*Jk~&^

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 723
became senior member of the present firm of Warren, Cady, Ladd and
Hill, one of the large and strong legal organizations of Detroit. While
Mr. Warren has participated in many notable cases and made a distinc
tive success in the general field* of law, he has from the first been consid
ered an expert and an authority in international law, and achieved the
record of having twice represented his country in great international con
troversies. In 1896, when twenty-six years of age, he was appointed
associate counsel for the United States before the joint high commission
ers who adjudicated the claims of Great Britain against the United States
in the long drawn out controversy affecting the rights of these two nations
in the Behring sea. Mr. Warren delivered one of the important arguments
before this tribunal. His work in that connection was of such character
as to give him a place among the ablest younger members of the Michigan
bar. Subsequently President Roosevelt appointed him one of the lawyers
for the United States in the controversy with Great Britain over
the North Atlantic waters and fisheries. The two powers subse
quently agreed to submit the matters in dispute to The Permanent
Court of Arbitration at the Hague, and before this Court of International
Arbitration Mr. Warren appeared in 1910 to make one of the arguments
in behalf of his country. Mr. Warren is a member of Phi Beta Kappa,
the honor society of the literary department of American colleges ; a mem
ber- of the executive committee of the American Society of International
Law, and is regarded as an authority in both legal and diplomatic affairs
affecting international relations. Mr. Warren is a director of many com
panies of which he is legal adviser and in which he is financially interested,
including the Detroit Stove Works, the Michigan Sugar Company, the
Paige-Detroit Motor Car Company and The National Bank of Commerce
of Detroit, and others.
Mr. Warren was signally honored in 1914 by being elected president of
the Detroit Board of Commerce.
For a number of years Mr. Warren has been one of the influential
Republicans In Michigan. In 1908 he was a delegate at large from the
State to the National Convention, in which his father also sat as a dele
gate, and was chosen the Michigan member of the Republican National
Committee, and is now serving as a member of the executive committee
of the Republican National Committee and as chairman of the committee
on the revision of the rules regulating the organization of and basis of
representation in the National Convention. He drafted the new rules and
resolutions cutting down the southern representation, and making pro
vision for the recognition of delegates elected in accordance with the
primary laws of the several States, and in the reorganization of the
party has always stood for the progressive and liberal policy.
"The social organizations in which he has membership include the
Detroit, the Country and the Yondotega and University Clubs, the Uni
versity Club of New York City, the Metropolitan Club of Washington,
D. C. He served as vice chairman of the University of Michigan Alumni
committee which had charge of the erection of tbe beautiful memorial
building on the University Campus. On December 2, 1902, Mr. Warren
married Miss Helen Hunt Wetmore, daughter of Charles Wetmore of
Detroit, and a niece of the late United States Senator James McMillan, of
Detroit. Mr. and Mrs. Warren have four children — Wetmore,, Charles
B., Jr., Robert, and John Buel.
Richard Scheurmann. Frank B. Scheurmann. Soon after
the close of the Civil war the name Scheurmann became familiar to the
then meagre population of Bay City in connection with the retail boot
and shoe trade. An able young German had opened a store, to which
lumbermen and citizens in general soon found their way when wanting

724 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
reliable goods. A reputation for fair dealing is an asset that increases
rapidly, and brings the other fruits of success. For fifty years
business so modestly started has gone on and prospered. Its founder
died twenty-five years ago, but was succeeded by his son who has sold
shoes to Bay City people for twenty-seven years, and as a merchant
ranks among the most successful in the state.
Richard Scheurmann, who died at Bay City in 1889 was born in
Baden Baden, Germany, August 25, 1834, a son of Ernst Scheurmann.
His education was acquired from the common schools and also in col
lege at Stuttgart, and from school he entered directly into merchandising
as' a clerk in a large dry goods house. He went in as an apprentice,
served five years, acquired a detailed knowledge of the business, and
was promoted from one grade to another, until thoroughly proficient.
Leaving Germany for America he spent eigbt months in New York City,
from there to Detroit, and in 1854 located at Saginaw City. He was em
ployed by a relative for a time on a farm, and also clerked in stores. In
1857 Richard Schuermann moved to Bay City, where he was- employed
in a general store conducted by Henry Flatou, and was afterwards with
Binder & Company, shipping and commercial agent, who also con
ducted a general store. It was in 1866 that Richard Schuermann launched
out for himself with a stock of boots and shoes on Water Street, and
spent five years each in two different locations. In 1876 he moved to 802
North Water Street, and occupied a large store there during the rest of
his active career. He built what is known as the Schuermann Block on
Washington Avenue near Center Street. That was1 at the time regarded
as one of the best store buildings in Bay City, and presented an impos
ing and attractive front to that prominent business thoroughfare. In
that block his son has since continued the business established by the
father nearly fifty years ago.
The late Mr. Schuermann was not only a successful business man, but
readily gave his time and energies for the public good. Outside of his
shoe business he had varied interests in real estate, invested in transporta
tion properties, and was prosperous in every direction. Various offices
of trust were conferred upon him in which he served with credit, was
for a number of years a member of the school board, served as police
commissioner, and was tax collector and fire commissioner.
On September 18, 1861, Richard Schuermann, married Miss Cornelia
Boutell, a member of one of the pioneer families in Bay county. Mrs.
Schuermann was highly educated and performed the duties of her house
hold with a care and devotion which has made her memory blessed
among her children. Her death occurred in Bay City, February 1912,
when sixty-nine years of age. There were six children, and three of
them died in childhood. Emma G. is the wife of Albert Etzold, of De
troit; Minnie A. is the wife of Mr. Campbell of Bay City. The late
Richard Schuermann was a trustee of the Congregational church, and
fraternally was affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
In 1872 he built a beautiful residence on Fifth Avenue and Jackson
Street. Frank B. Schuermann, who succeeded to the business established by
his father, was born in Bay City, February 4, 1870. His education was
acquired by attendance at the public schools, and he also had private in
struction and a course in a business college. Entering his father's store
he was assigned to duties which gave him an intimate knowledge of
every detail and he has not only maintained the prestige of his father's
mercantile career, but has gone on increasing the reputation of the
Schuermann establishment until today it is foremost of its kind in the
city. Mr. Schuermann has been actively identified as manager of the
enterprise for twenty-seven years. No other store of the kind in Bav
City has so large a patronage.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 725
In political affairs, Mr. Schuermann takes no active part except as a
good citizen, and has always steadily declined any offers for political of
fice. He is Independent in his views as to party matters. In Masonry
he has taken thirty-two degrees of the Scottish Rite, and also belongs
to the Knight Templar Commandery. Fond of outdoor sport, he takes
his recreation in that way, and is a member of the Bay City Boat Club.
His church is the Congregational.
In January, 1892, Mr. Schuermann married Miss Mary Berkey, a
daughter of Frederick N. and Josephine Berkey. To their marriage have
been born two children: Miss Cornelia J., born in Bay City in 1895,
is a graduate of the high school ; and Richard B. Jr., born in November,
1901, and now a student in tbe high school. Mr. Schuermann and
family reside in a beautiful home, which is a center of the social life of
Bay City.
J. J. Wason. The Bay City Business College has for years fur
nished the trained office workers to the city and vicinity, and a large
number of the independently successful business men speak gratefully
of this school as a source of their early training.
This college has been in existence since 1889, and among its former
proprietors were R. R. Lane and R. Gillespie. In 1905 Gillespie & Wason
bought out Mr. Lane, and have been instrumental in giving this school
its present high standing among commercial colleges.
Mr. Wason is a Scottish Rite Mason of the thirty-second degree, and
affiliates with the Independent Order of Foresters. He is a Progressive
Republican, and a member of the Presbyterian church.
Edward W. Porter. A Bay City lawyer, who by hard work and by
close attention to business has made a name for himself in his profession
and also as a citizen, Edward W. Porter was admitted to the bar in
1876, and is now one of the older lawyers still active in affairs, and now
reaping the fruit for ability established by many years of careful train
ing and conscientious administration of the affairs entrusted to his
care. Edward W. Porter was born at Metamora, Lapeer county, Mich
igan, March 4, 18-51, a son of Moses G. and Maria (Morse) Porter.
Both parents were born in Western New York, and came to Michigan
in early youth, their respective families settling in Oakland county, and
later going to Lapeer county. Moses G. Porter was a farmer throughout
his entire active career and his father was a Revolutionary soldier, and
well known in the early history of Connecticut. Moses G. Porter died
in Michigan in 1885 at the age of sixty-four years. The mother was
educated in Granville Seminary in Ohio, now the Denison University, and
she died in this state in 1896, when seventy-eight years old.
Edward W. Porter, the third in a family of four children, as a
boy attended school in Oakland county, and later at Northville High
school, from which he entered Hillsdale College in 1871 and graduated
in 1875 in the literary department. He graduated with the class of 1876
in the University of Michigan law school and after graduation was ad
mitted to the bar at Pontiac. After a brief period of practice at Saginaw,
he came to Bay City, in March, 1878, and entered the office of Judge
Maxwell, and proceeded vigorously to the work of making himself
known among the' local profession. On October 1, 1878, he formed a
partnership with Henry Lindner, and they were associated in an agree
able and profitable partnership for seventeen years. Mr. Porter's pres
ent partner is Mr. Haffey, who came into the firm in 1885. Besides a
large general law practice, Mr. Porter looks after an extensive real esr

726 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
tate business. For one term, from 1882 to 1884, he served as assistant
prosecuting attorney of Bay County. In politics he is a Republican, be
longs to the Bay County Bar Association, has membership in the Delta
Tau Delta College Fraternity, and he and his family worship in the
First Baptist Church.
In 1883 in Oakland county, Michigan, Mr. Porter married Miss
Alma K. Welsh, a daughter of Andrew J. Welsh of Oakland county.
To their marriage have been born eight children as follows: Sidney
Welsh Porter, born in Bay City in 1887, and who was married in July,
191 3; Laura, who died in infancy; Mrs. Angie Wells, who was born at
Bay City in 1890 and has one child, David Porter Wells ; Irwin E. Porter,
born in 1891 and died in 1912, a graduate of the high school, and at
the time of his death employed at the Ford Automobile Works in De
troit ; Wendell J., born in Bay City, in 1893, now at Detroit in the auto
mobile business; Inez, born in 1897 in Bay City, and attending high
school; Morse, who was born in 1900 at Bay City, in the grade schools;
Frank B., born in 1902 at Bay City, and also in school.
Hon. James Van Kleeck. As a lawyer James Van Kleeck has prac
ticed with many successes and honors in Michigan for over forty years.
Outside his profession his career has been no less prominent. Beginning
in the Civil war, after his discharge bearing a wound which never com
pletely healed, he has been honored with many offices in municipal,
county and state governments, and his intelligent and disinterested serv
ice has more than repaid all the distinctions paid him by a grateful pub
lic. James Van Kleeck was born at Exeter, Monroe County, Michigan,
September 26, 1846. His parents were Robert and Catherine (McMan-
niss) Van Kleeck. His father was born in New York, Dutchess county,
and was a son of Simeon Van Kleeck, a native of New York State,
who during the Revolutionary war was loyal to the mother country, be
longed to the class known as United Empire Loyalists, and moved across
the line to Canada, settling in a locality which thereafter was known as
Van Kleeck Hill. The ancestry goes back eight generations in America
to Holland. Robert Van Kleeck was reared in Canada, when a young
man* came to Michigan, first in 1832, lived in Monroe county, returned
to Canada to take part in the Rebellion with McKenzie's men, and re
turned to Michigan as a permanent home in 1837. At Exeter he con
tinued his labors as a farmer, cleared and lived on land that he reclaimed
from the wilderness, and died in Monroe county in 1906 at the age of
seventy-three. His wife, Catherine McManniss, was born in Buffalo, New York, and
died in Monroe county, Michigan, in 1863, at the age of forty-three years.
Of the five children, James Van Kleeck was the third. Reared on a
farm, he attended the common schools, and was fifteen years old when
the Civil war broke out. His boyish patriotism was stirred by the rending
of the country, and in June, 1862, he enlisted in Company D of the
Seventeenth Michigan Infantry. From Detroit, his regiment was sent
south to Virginia, and participated in the battles of South Mountain and
at Antietam, where in September, 1862, Mr. Van Kleeck was twice
wounded. The second time a ball was lodged in his side, and he was
left on the field supposedly dead. Taken to the hospital, he remained for
a number of montbs in the Frederic City Hospital in Maryland, and was
finally discharged in December, 1863, for disability. For one year after
his wound he was unable to walk, and he has suffered from the injury
more or less ever since. Mr. Van Kleeck when measurably restored to
health proceeded to get a better education, studied law in Monroe county,

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 727
and in 1869 entered the law department of the University of Michigan,
where he was graduated LL. B. in 1871. After six months' practice in
Monroe he moved to Midland City. Fifteen years were spent in success
ful practice at Midland City, and since then he has been one of the fore
most members of the Bay City Bar. For five years he was in partner
ship with Mortimer Stanford, and then for two years was associated with
George W. Mann, but with those exceptions has practiced independently.
While at Midland City, Mr. Van Kleeck served two years as city
attorney, and for six years was prosecuting attorney of the county. He
was also president of the Midland County Agricultural Society, and was
elected representative to the state legislature from Midland in 1882 on
the Republican ticket. He was in the legislature which elected Thomas
W. Palmer United States senator. Mr. Van Kleeck served as prosecut
ing attorney of Bay County, elected in 1886 and serving two years, and
was the last commissioner of immigration, serving until that office was
abolished. In 1907-08, he was representative from Bay County, in the
recent constitutional convention. Mr. Van Kleeck has always taken an
active part in Grand Army circles, and in 1901 was commander of the
Michigan Department. In line with his profession he belongs to the
Bay County, the State and the American Bar Association. In politics
he has been a true-blue Republican . since getting his first vote. In
Masonry Mr. Van Kleeck, has attained thirty-two degrees of the Scot
tish Rite. At one time, earlier in his career, he served as judge advocate
of the state under H. M. Duffield.
At Midland City, on July 2, 1873, Mr. Van Kleeck married Miss
Juliette C. Carpenter. To their marriage have" been born three chil
dren : Edith A. Van Kleeck,- a graduate of the University of Michigan ;
James C. Van Kleeck, who graduated at the Bay City schools, and is
now practicing with bis father; Delia Van Kleeck, a graduate of the
University of Michigan and teacher in the high scbools at Brennerton,
Washington. All the children were born in Midland City.
Walter D. Young. It is only the possessor of a mind of unusual
strength, persistent grasp and broad sweep of abilities who is able to
earn signal success in a field already crowded with keen competitors,
and then to transfer his activities to various other fields, just as difficult,
and to achieve a like measure of distinction. The character of Walter
D. Young, therefore, is cast in no ordinary mold, for his activities have
brought him prominently into widely separated lines of endeavor, and in
each he has achieved a full measure of prosperity, while at the same
time he has been able to accomplish much for the welfare of his adopted
city. Mr. Young was born at Albany, New York, September 25, 1855,
and there resided with his parents until 1870. . His father, George Young,
was born in Scotland and came to the United States at tbe age of twelve
years, locating in the city of Albany, where he became a clerk in a grocery
store. He was enterprising and industrious and possessed of the thrift
for which his race is noted, and carefully conserved his earnings until
at length he was able to enter business life as the proprietor of a modest
establishment of his own. This he rapidly built up to large proportions
and gradually branched out into the wholesale trade, meeting with suc
cess in both lines. In 1870 he removed from Albany to Bay City, Michi
gan, where he organized and became vice-president of the Bay City
Bank, in which capacity he continued to act up to the time of his death in
1890 at the age of seventy years. He had varied other interests, was
largely engaged in the lumber business, and was known as one of his
community's helpful and enterprising citizens. Mr. Young married

728 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Miss Annie McCormick, who was born at Bethlehem, near Albany, New
York, and she died at Bay City in 1897, at the age of seventy-four years.
Four children were born to this union, of whom Walter D. is the
youngest. The common schools and an academy of Albany furnished Mr.
Young with his educational advantages until he came to Bay City, where
he attended the high school. At the age of eighteen years he began
clerking in the Bay City Bank, where he remained for five years, and in
1877 he engaged in the brewing business, under the firm style of C. E.
Young & Company, which succeeded the firm of Van Meter & Company.
In 1884 the style was changed to the Bay City Brewing Company, and
Mr. Young has continued as president of this concern, although his other
large interests have made this somewhat of a side issue. Prior to his
advent in the brewing business he had been engaged quite largely in
operating vessels on the Great Lakes, and this has continued to receive a
large part of his attention. In December, 1890, he was the organizer of
the Michigan Log Towing Company, which owns and operates a num
ber of powerful tugs, some of tbe largest on the lakes, which do an ex
tensive business in towing logs from Georgian Bay to Saginaw river. In
March, 1891, Mr. Young organized the Young Transportation Company,
which for a number of years operated two boats on the great lakes en
gaged in the ore and grain business, namely, the steamer Arizona and
the schooner Plymouth. In 1894 he organized the W. D. Young Co. Saw
Planing Mills, and Lumber Yards, of which he is sole owner and pro
prietor. This is one of the large enterprises of Bay City. Mr. Young
is vice-president of the German- American Sugar Company; vice-presi
dent of the Bay City Bank, of which his brother, George H. Young,
is president; and a large owner of valuable real estate, the latter in
cluding his own palatial residence, one of the finest on East Center
street. He is possessed of great executive and organizing ability and his
associates constantly rely upon him for counsel and leadership where
matters of importance are at stake. He has ever manifested a public-
spirited willingness to advance Bay City's welfare, and few men have
been so unselfish in contributing of their time and means in forwarding
movements of progress.
Mr. Young was married to Miss Elizabeth Androse, of Bay City,
and they have four children: Fannie M., Walter D., Jr., Florence and
Francis L., a son. Mr. Young is a thirty-second degree Mason, a Knight
Templar and an Elk and belongs also to the Bay City Club. A man of
charitable impulses he has done much for the worthy poor, and all that
makes for good citizenship and religion has his hearty support. His
fidelity and loyalty have made admiring friends out of a large number of
acquaintances. William Bryan Cady, now a member of the Detroit law firm of
Warren, Cady and Ladd, Mr. Cady has been a member of the Michigan
bar for about thirty years, and has practiced in Detroit since 1897. In
real estate and corporation law, he is an acknowledged leader, and during
the last fifteen years few other Detroit lawyers have handled so large and
important interests in these departments as Mr. Cady.
William Bryan Cady, who was born on a farm in Canton township,
Wayne county, Michigan, February 10, 1861, belongs to one of this state's
pioneer families, and is in the eighth generation of the name since it was
established in New England during the Colonial period. Nicholas Cady,
founder of the American branch of the family, was of an old English
family, and left Kent, England, in 1630 and established a home at Water-
town, Massachusetts, about the time of the first permanent settlement on

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 729
the shores of Massachusetts Bay. His descendants subsequently became
pioneers in the state qf New York. From Nicholas Cady to William B.
Cady the line of descent is direct and through the following heads : James,
born in 1655 ; John, in 1680 ; Ebenezer, in 1714 ; David, in 1754; Samuel P.,
in 1800 ; James B., in 1830 ; and William B., in 1861.
_ It_ was David Cady, born in 1754, who founded the family name in
Michigan territory. He was a young man at the beginning of the Revo
lutionary war, and with his six brothers served with honor and fidelity in
that struggle for independence. A number of years later, when the area
of the Atlantic colonies had been extended across the Alleghanies to the
Mississippi, in 1832 he emigrated to the territory of Michigan. He was
the patriarch of a considerable family colony, including his son Samuel,
and grandson James B., the latter being then about two years of age.
David Cady was one of the early settlers of Wayne county, where he
obtained a tract of wild land and reclaimed it. A portion of bis original
homestead is now included in the grounds of the Wayne County Home
Farm. Some years later he returned to his old home at Freeport, New
York, and lived there until his death at the venerable age of ninety years.
James B. Cady, father of the Detroit lawyer, was born in New York state
in 1830, and was an infant when the family came to the territory of Michi
gan and settled in Wayne county. His life was taken up with the activi
ties of agriculture and stock raising, and for many years he was an
influential citizen of Canton township.
On his father's farm in Wayne county William B. Cady started life
with the excellent advantage of rural surroundings, in addition to his
inheritance of an old American name and the elements of a sturdy lineage.
With such schooling as was afforded in the public institutions of Wayne
county, he entered the Ann Arbor high school, graduating in 1878, and
then began his studies in the literary department of the University of
Michigan, from which he received the degree Bachelor of Philosophy in
1882. After one year in the law department of the university Mr. Cady
continued his studies with the firm of Sawyer & Knowlton at Ann Arbor,
and then for one year was in the offices of Brennan & Donnelly at Detroit.
• Soon after being admitted to practice Mr. Cady moved to the northern
' peninsula, locating at Sault Ste. Marie, where in a few years he had gained
a leading place in the local bar and had built up a large and profitable busi
ness. In January, 1897, Mr. Cady, having returned to Detroit, engaged in
practice with the late John C. Shaw under the name Shaw & Cady. In
1901 Charles B. Warren and Herbert K. Oakes were admitted to the
partnership, which was entitled Shaw, Warren, Cady and Oakes until
the death of Mr. Shaw in January, 191 1. Mr. Oakes later retired from
the firm to engage in business at Cleveland, Ohio, and Mr. Cady now has
as his associates Mr. Warren and Sanford W. Ladd. Warren, Cady and
Ladd have a large practice at Detroit, and each member of the firm has
some distinctive ability and forte in the law, and together they present
an aggregate of some of the best legal talent to be found in Michigan.
Mr. Cady has brought great strength to the combination- by reason of his
admitted ability in real estate and corporation law.
Until the campaign of 1896 Mr. Cady was one of the leading Democrats
in the northern part of the state, but the monetary issues of that year
and the candidacy of Mr. Bryan caused him to leave his party. For six
years preceding he had been a member of the Democratic state central
committee of Michigan. On rejecting the platform of the Democrats in
1896, Mr. Cady gave a vigorous support and stumped a large territory in
northern Michigan in behalf of William McKinley. His political as well
as his legal activities in northern Michigan have naturally brought him a
large acquaintance, and he still has much influence in that section of the
state.

730 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Mr. Cady is a Knight Templar Mason, and his social relations are
with the Detroit Club, the University club, the Country club, and the
Detroit Boat club. On June 30, 1904, he married Miss Myra Post, a
daughter of the late Hoyt Post, one of Detroit's honored citizens. The
one child born to their marriage is Elizabeth Winsor.
Octavius A. Marsac. This well known resident of Bay City, long
identified with public affairs is now serving as county clerk of Bay
county. Mr. Marsac is well known over the state of Michigan, and is a
son of one of Michigan's distinguished pioneers, and an old-timer who
was associated with Governor Cass, and many other prominent men in
the old territorial days, and also after Michigan became a state.
Octavius A. Marsac was born at Bay City, Michigan, in April, 1856.
His family was one of the first to locate there, and no name has been
longer or more closely identified with this community. His parents
were Joseph F. and Theresa (Revard) Marsac. His mother, who was
born at Grosse Point, near Detroit, was a daughter of one of the very
first farmers in that locality. Joseph F. Marsac, who was born in 1796,
and died in 1880 at the venerable age of eighty-four, came to Michigan
early in the last century, and showed his ability and usefulness as an
Indian interpreter and also acted as Indian agent. He served as inter
preter for Governor Cass during the treaty at Saginaw in 1813. For some
years he was engaged in farming, and in 1838 moved to Bay City, when
there was scarcely a single habitation on the site of that now flourishing
center of population and industry. For a number of years he was in the
real estate business. His wife, who died at Bay City, in 1881 at the
age of seventy-four, was a very capable helpmate to her husband during
the pioneer time, and both are well remembered for their many acts of
kindness to travelers and to newcomers, who suffered misfortune in
sickness and in financial troubles. The Marsacs were always quick and
ready to help any unfortunate, and their home in Bay City was always a
place of liberal charity and hospitality. Their family of cbildren were as
follows : Charles F., a well known resident of Bay City ; Mrs. M. South-
worth of Simcoe, Ontario; Mrs. T. J. McClellan, wbo lives in Still-*
water, Minnesota; Mrs. G. H. Robinson, of Waterville, Michigan.
Octavius A. Marsac, the youngest of the family, attended the public
schools of Bay City, and also took a commercial course in Detroit, grad
uating in 1875. From that time forward for a number of years he was
engaged in various lines of business experience, and from 1892 to 1905
was city recorder of Bay City. He also held office for one term as alder
man and as supervisor. For five years, from 1905 10 191 1, Mr. Marsac
was in business with the Pioneer Boat & Pattern Company. He was
then nominated and elected county clerk of Bay county, a position which
he has filled most capably for two terms.
Mr. Marsac is one of the influential Democrats in his section of the
state. Fraternally his relations are with the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks and the Knights of Columbus, and his church is the
Catholic. In October, 1890, was celebrated his marriage with Miss Mary Conley
in Bay City. Her father, John Conley, now deceased, was long a well
known citizen of Lapeer county, Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Marsac have
two children: Miss Marie Marsac, born at Bay City, is a graduate of
the St. James Catholic School and is now assisting her father in clerk's
office ; Miss Lucy Marsac, a native of Bay City, is also a graduate of the
St. James School.
Rev. R. G. Van Rooy, pastor of St. John's Catholic Church, Essex
ville, Michigan, was born October 18, 1867, in the Province of North

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 731
Brabant, Netherlands, and is a son of Henry and Petronella Van Rooy,
still residents of their native land. For a number of years the father
carried on a successful business as a merchant and dealer in iron and
iron castings, but is now living retired, having been succeeded by his
four sons, who continue to carry on the industry. The family consists
of five sons and one daughter, Father Van Rooy being the only mem
ber to come to the United States.
Until twelve years of age Father Van Rooy attended the parochial
schools of his birthplace, and then for six years enjoyed collegiate ad
vantages in North Brabant. At the age of eighteen years he entered a
Belgian convent college, and upon his return to the Netherlands he com
pleted his theological studies at. the convent of Heeswijk, following which
he was sent to America by his church superiors. He arrived in the city
of New York, August 4, 1894, and proceeded at once to Wisconsin to
take up work in the Diocese of Green Bay, being settled at Dyckesville.
There the young priest had a congregation "of 180 families, and during
the next ten years built a new church and parish house and became widely
known all through that section for his religious zeal and executive ability.
Father Van Rooy came to Essexville, Michigan, April 1, 1904, taking
charge of a parish of 360 families, made up of many nationalities, includ
ing 200 French, 160 Hollanders and Belgians, with a considerable sprink
ling of Irish and Germans. This large parisb provides Father Van Rooy
with numerous duties. The parochial school, with an average attendance
of 270 children, is under the care of the Dominican Sisters, and a beau
tiful residence bas been erected on the site of the old academy which was
burned just before the arrival of Father Van Rooy. The first church
was, what was erected for a schoolhouse by, Father Thomas Rafter, of
Bay City, in 1884, and the first resident pastor was Father Roche, who
came in 1887 and built the present parish house in the following year and
the present church in 1892. Father Roche died here in 1900, and Father
Kenny supplied until Father Bresson came to take charge. The latter
fell ill and was succeeded by Father Van Rooy, who has made many
friends, both within and outside of his congregation, and has impressed
all who have come within the sphere of his influence as a man of su
perior intelligence, great learning and high Christian character.
In 1884 Father Rafter started a mission in Essexville, and at that time
built the present parochial school, which was used as a temporary place
of worship until the erection of St. John's Church. Work on this edi
fice was commenced in 1889, and the church was dedicated in 1894. It
has a seating capacity of about 700, and there are in the vicinity of 365
families in the parish. The parochial residence was built in 1888 by the
Rev. Cornelius Roche, the first resident priest appointed to the parish.
Father Roche met an accidental death by drowning, in June, .1901, and
his work was taken up by Rev. Peter Bresson, who was pastor for two
years and nine months. Father Van Ropy, the present incumbent, took
charge March 27, 1904. The Holy Rosary Academy, a boarding school
for young ladies is presided over by the Dominican Sisters, and the first
building was erected by these holy women in 1898. The structure was
destroyed by fire March 2, 1904, and on its site was built a beautiful
residence, two and one-half stories in height.
William B. Fitzgerald. The sheriff of Bay county, Michigan,
William B. Fitzgerald, needs no introduction to the citizens of this com
munity, for more than twenty years he has been an incumbent of office
of a public character, and his signal services to his city and county
have been of a nature to commend him to all. His election to his pres
ent office, in January, 191 3, was but the public's stamp of approval on

732 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
his career, which has demonstrated his fearlessness as an officer, his
executive talents, and his courteous and pleasing personality. Mr. Fitz
gerald is a native son of Bay City, born June 8, 1873, a son of Daniel
and Margaret (Lee) Fitzgerald.
Daniel Fitzgerald was born in Ireland, and came to the United States
in 1864, settling in Bay City. Here he became identified with the lumber
trade of the growing city, developed into a contractor of standing, and
continued to be connected with this industry during the remainder of .his
life. He died March 9, 1910, at the age of sixty-six years, in the faith
of the Roman Catholic church, of which he had been a lifelong member.
In his political views, Daniel Fitzgerald was a sturdy and stanch Demo
crat, and his influence was ever given to the party and its candidates.
He married Margaret Lee, who was also a native of Erin, and who came
to the United States as a small child, being reared and educated in Mas
sachusetts. She met and married Mr. Fitzgerald in Bay City. She is
still living, having reached the advanced age of seventy years, and is the
mother of six children, of whom William B. is the tbird in order of
birth. William B. Fitzgerald received his educational training in the public
and parochial schools of Bay City, but at the age of seventeen years laid
aside his books to face the business world. His first experience was
with his father, in the line of lumber contracting, but in 1890 he em
barked upon a career of his own as the proprietor of a grocery store.
It was not long, however, before Mr. Fitzgerald grew dissatisfied with
the quiet life of the merchant, and he accordingly disposed of his busi
ness interests to become a member of the Bay City Fire Department, in
which, during the next eight years, he made an enviable record as a
fire-fighter. In 1901, when he left the department, he became a city
police officer, and during the next seven and one-half years served Bay
City faithfully in that capacity, at the expiration of that period becoming
under sheriff, during the administration of Sheriff Henry J. Kinney. In
this position he continued to serve for four years, and on November 5,
1912, the people voiced their appreciation of his long and faithful service
by electing him sheriff. Sheriff Fitzgerald is not only one of the most
active incumbents of the office that the county has known, but he has
also accomplished some difficult detective work. He is the kind of an
officer who has always been depended upon to take hold of any especially
knotty business with determination, enthusiasm and bravery. A Demo
crat in politics, he is considered one of the strong party men of his sec
tion, but his activities have always been carried on in such a straight
forward and honorable manner that he has friends among men of all
political creeds. Fraternally, he is connected with the Knights of Colum
bus, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of the
Maccabees and the Loyal Order of Moose. He was reared in the faith
of the Roman Catholic church, and has ever endeavored to live accord
ing to its teachings.
On July 20, 1893, Mr. Fitzgerald was united in marriage at Bay
City to Miss Sadie Fennelly, a native of Michigan and a daughter of
James Fennelly. Three children have been born to this union : Margaret,
James and Daniel. Sheriff Fitzgerald has a comfortable home, located
not far from the County Jail.
Harvey Gilbert, M. D. The dean of the medical profession in
Bay City is Dr. Harvey Gilbert, who began practice there forty years ago
and who is one of the men of ability and splendid professional and in
tellectual attainments in this profession in Michigan.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 733
Dr. Harvey Gilbert was. born in Simcoe, Ontario, January 28, 1846.
His parents were John W. and Christine (Smith) Gilbert. On the
mother's side, the family were among the early pioneers, settling on
Long Island in 1643, and the paternal grandmother was a Wykoff, of
Dutch stock, while most of the paternal ancestors were Norman French.
The old homestead of the original settler still remains at Little Clam
Neck on Long Island. John W. Gilbert was a prosperous farmer, and
died at Simcoe, Ontario, in 1892, while his wife died about 1900. In 1888
they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary, and length of life
in this family has been accompanied by good citizenship and independ
ent and vigorous ability as workers in the world. There were five sons
and one daughter reared by the parents and all are living, the doctor
being third in order of birth. The other children are mentioned as fol
lows: Isaac A., an attorney at law in Bay City; Albert, who lives on
the old homestead in Ontario ; Frank O., who is a dentist by profession,
but at the present time is grand lecturer for the Masonic Order in
Michigan; Samanatha, is the widow of William Culver, and lives in
Bay City; Hon. Peter Gilbert, of Sterling, Michigan, recently retired
from service in the state senate and has been very prominent in pub
lic affairs. The family for a number of years were Methodists in
religion but are now Episcopalians.
Dr. Gilbert was educated in the public schools of Simcoe, and since
seventeen years of age has been on his own resources. About that time
he entered the New York Homeopathic College, supported himself while
a student of medicine, and was graduated with his degree in 1874. The
doctor is also a graduate of the Ophthalmological Hospital of New
York. Dr. Gilbert was chairman of Bay City Board of Health and
served as health officer thirteen years. To him was given the task of
revising the city charter so, far as health matters and sanitary regulations
were concerned, and he wrote -the clauses which still govern the city's
health department. At the present time Dr. Gilbert is holding the
office of county coroner of Bay County, and still tends to his practice
which grew, up in the early years of his residence in Bay City, and which
has always kept him in the front rank of local successful physicians.
During the small pox epidemic some years ago, Dr. Gilbert made a
reputation not only in Bay City, but in the state as an expert in stamp
ing out that disease, and was employed by the state as one of the chief
workers during the ravages of the disease. During that time he treated
personally Over two thousand patients; Dr. Gilbert belongs to the Bay
County and the State Medical Societies and the American Medical Asso
ciation. Very prominent in Masonry, he was one of the leaders in con
structing the Masonic Temple in Bay City, and has been active in other
lines of Masonic work.
On May 26, 1875, Dr. Gilbert married Ida fieamer, a daughter of
William Beamer of Simcoe, Ontario. Of their two children Leta
is the wife of Rev. M. L. Marshall. Rev. Marshall is a minister of fhe
Presbyterian church at Ionia, Michigan; Van Gilbert, a graduate of the
University of Michigan, is a leading .engineer at Bay City, and has been
connected with various industrial enterprises. He married Miss Edith
Booth. Dr. Gilbert's home at 605 Grant Street is the only residence he
has ever occupied in Bay City, and is both an old and beautiful home.
In politics the doctor is a progressive Democrat, and so far as the de
mands of his profession have permitted, has for many years been in
terested in political and the broader affairs of good citizenship.
Henry J. Kinney. One of the leading and responsible factors in
the political life of Bay City for a number of years has been Mr. Kinney,

734 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
who recently retired from a long service in the office of sheriff. His
record as sheriff was one of capable efficiency, not excelled by any in
cumbent of that office since Bay county elected its first citizen for that
post. Mr. Kinney is a native of Bay county, has lived in that vicinity
all his life, has been a merchant and public official, and has well earned
the various distinctions which have come to him.
Henry J. Kinney was born in Bay county, February 9, 1863. His
father, Thomas Kinney, a native of Ireland, on emigrating to America
first settled in Buffalo, New York, later in Ohio, and during the fifties
established his home in Bay county, where he lived until his death in the
fall of 1904, when ninety years old. A shoemaker by trade he was most
actively connected with farming during the years of his residence in
Bay county. The maiden name of his wife was Mary Griffin, also. born
in Ireland, and who came to America alone and met her busband at
Buffalo, New York. To their marriage were born five children, one of
whom died in infancy, and the others are : Michael of Flint, Michigan ;
Thomas Kinney of Seattle, Washington ; Henry J. ; and Ann Jane, wife
of Morris Walsh, of St. Albans, Vermont.
Reared in the country, and educated in the district schools of Bay
county, Henry J. Kinney at the age of fifteen began to be self supporting
by contributing his services to the management of the home place. After
some years spent on the farm, and having in the meantime acquired some
prominence in public affairs, when twenty-three he started on his own
account, and opened a stock of hardware in Bay City. The six years of
merchandising in Bay City were entirely successful, but at the end of
that time he gave up a close supervision of his business in order to
enter politics. For four years he served as under-sheriff, and then was
chosen to the office of sheriff of Bay county, and by reelection served con
tinuously for eight years his lifeterm, coming to an end on January 1,
1913. In May, 191 1, Mr. Kinney bought the E. J. O'Neill Livery and
Boarding Stable, and that has been his chief business activity ever since.
The business headquarters are 716 Adams Street. Besides the major
political activities already mentioned, Mr. Kinney was for some years
township treasurer and highway commissioner of Merritt township in
Bay county. His politics is Democratic and he has been one of the work
ers for party good and one of the most influential advisers in the Demo
cratic councils.
Well known in social circles, he belongs to the Knights of Colum
bus, the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association, the Modern Woodmen of
America, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the New Era,
and the Modern . Brotherhood. His religious affiliation is with the
Catholic church. Though he started in life a poor boy he has won pros
perity and a high position in his civic community.
In June, 1889, Mr. Kinney married Miss Marie Mooney, who was
born in Bay City, and her father William Mooney was one of the old
settlers of the county. Five children have blessed their marriage : Mor
ris H, who is employed in the Capitol at Lansing; Marie, who is a book
keeper in her father's office ; Florence ; Harry ; and Dolores. The Kinney
home is an attractive residence at 608 Monroe Street.
Joseph Kinnell. In the material development and the business and
civic affairs of the Delray district of Detroit no one citizen has taken a
more active and useful part in the past thirty years than Joseph Kinnell
His business for a number of years has been as a home builder and real
estate dealer, but for many years previous to that he was the principal
carpenter contractor and builder of that suburban community

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 735
Joseph Kinnell was born in Ontario, Canada, in the village of Orillia,
in Simcoe county, June 7, 1862. His grandfather, Jasent Kinnell, was bom
in the city of Paris, France. The 'father was Zib Kinnell, who was born
in .New York state, at Clayton, in 1838, when a young man moved to
Canada, settling in tbe vicinity of Orillia, and was a farmer for many years
there, and later, in 1882, came to Michigan, living for a time at Caro, and
later at Gagetown, where the remaining years of his life were spent, in
quiet and reasonable prosperity on a farm. His death occurred there in
August, 1910. The maiden name of his wife was Elizabeth R. Annis, who
was born at Lockport, New York, in 1836, and is now living at a venerable
age with her son Joseph.
The latter spent the first twenty years of his life in his native town, and
in the meantime profited by attending the common schools. After locating
at Caro, Michigan, in 1882, he learned the carpenter trade and also became
. proficient in drafting. Nearly all his independent business experience has
been in Detroit, and in 1885 be located as a general building contractor in
the village of Delray, which is now a part of the larger city. His work as
contractor continued until 1906, when he modified his business and con
centrated on the buying of land and the building of homes for sale. He
has also handled a large amount of real estate as a broker in Delray. At
least a hundred homes have been constructed in the Delray district by Mr.
Kinnell, and he has also been instrumental in the platting of several new
additions. Mr. Kinnell is affiliated with Detroit Lodge No. 2, A. F. & A. M., and
he has taken the Consistory degrees and also has membership in the Mos
lem Temple of the Mystic Shrine. His interest in fraternal matters
extends to the Knights of Pythias, with membership in Delray Lodge
No. 177, and in Delray Temple No. 52 of the Pythian "Sisters. He is
also a member of Samson Chapter No. 254 of tbe Eastern Star. His
church is the Methodist. In 1883 occurred his marriage to Lillie Jane
Havens, of Caro, who was born in Rochester, New York, daughter of
the late William J. Havens, who was one of the early settlers of Caro,
Michigan, and by trade a carpenter. Mr. Kinnell and wife .have three
children : Reina May, who married Clarence V. Gesley, of Detroit ; Lester
J., a carpenter by trade and associated with his fatber; and Tola W.,
living at home, also a carpenter.
During his long career as a building contractor Mr. Kinnell con
structed schools, churches, residences and factory buildings.' A long list
might be compiled of his works in the Delray district. One of the most
conspicuous examples of his work is the Morley school in the Delray
district, one of the finest in the city; also the factory in Delray of the
Chicago Equipment Company; the Lady of Lourdes Catholic church at
River Rouge; the People's State Bank Building in Delray; and the old
McMillan school of Delray.
In addition to his activities as a business man Mr. Kinnell has given
much time to affairs in his part of the city. For several years he was a
member of the Delray school board until that village was incorporated in
Detroit. ; His service also includes two terms as treasurer of Spring
wells township, the organization of the village of Delray, and two terms
as president of the village. In politics he is a Republican.
Edward R. Monroe. A mechanical engineer with offices in the
Phoenix Block at Bay City, Mr. Monroe is one of the. best in his pro
fession in the state. A young man of thirty-five he was only partly
college-trained, and his attainments really represent long continued and
persistent application under the stimulus of his own ambition. The
services of Mr. Monroe have been engaged in a large amount of pro-

736 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
fessional work, and in every case he has demonstrated his ability to cope
with the problems involved.
Edward R. Monroe was born at Lawrence, Michigan, November 12,
1878, a son of Isaac and Carrie (Cook) Monroe. The public schools
of Lawrence furnished him the basis of his education, after which he
entered Purdue University at Lafayette, Indiana, spent two years at the
University, where he specialized in mecbanical and shop studies. Illness
finally compelled him to discontinue his University career, and he later
taught matbematics and drawing in the Business College at Bay City. In
1902 Mr. Monroe began the practice of his profession as mecbanical en
gineer at Grand Rapids, and in 1910 formed a partnership with Frank
C. Learman, and they established offices as mechanical engineers in the
Phoenix Block in Bay City, under the name of Monroe & Learman.
This firm has since been not only the chief one in its line in Bay City,
but has a state wide reputation for expert service.
Mr. Monroe though engaged in one of the active professions is a
student by nature, and not only was his preparation for mechanical en
gineering largely self-acquired, but he bas allowed his alert mind to
venture out into new fields, and has contributed at least one useful serv
ice to the profession in general. He is the designer and publisher of the
structural card index system, a tabulation of weights for the estimating
of bills of material and now in quite general use among foundries all
over the country. Some of the large foundries, structural iron works,
bridge companies, and other concerns have introduced the Monroe Card
Index System as one of the permanent and valuable features of their
offices. This system is the product of five years of application and study
on the part of Mr. Monroe. In recent years Mr. Monroe has taken
up the study of patent law, and at this writing expects in a short time
to pass his examinations for that profession. All his work along this
line has been done after business hours, and his knowledge of patent
law will prove of the greatest value in the practice of his profession.
Politically Mr. Monroe is Independent, is affiliated with the Masonic
Lodge, belongs to the Board of Commerce and his church is the Baptist.
At Grand Rapids in 1904, he married Harriet Cole, who was born on
Long Island, New York, a daughter of Alfred Cole. Mr. and Mrs. Mon
roe reside at 252 Jefferson Street.
Henry Sheldon Wickware. In business relations and in public
affairs none stands higher in Tuscola county than Henry S. Wickware,
the present county treasurer of Tuscola county. For a long number of
years he was identified with the city as a contractor and manufacturer,
and his success in business has also been equalled by his public enterprise
and spirit.
Henry Sheldon Wickware was born in Leeds county, Ontario, June
23> 1849, a son of Lebeus Philip and Matilda (Mallory) Wickware, his
father a native of Leeds county and his mother of Germany. The Wick-
wares are of English ancestry. In the spring of 1870 the family moved
to Tuscola county, Michigan, settling in Ellington township, where the
father followed farming and died seven years later at the age of sixtv-
mne. The mother passed away in 1885. Both parents are laid to rest
in Elkland cemetery in Cass City. They were highly respected in theii
community, were church goers and active Methodists. Of their nine
children those now living are as follows : Mercy, the widow of Samuel
Elliott, of Ellington township ; Mary, wife of Sheldon T. Kinyon, of Cass
City; Henry S. ; Charles Wickware, of Ellington township; and Lebeus
Wickware, of Cincinnati, Ohio.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 737
Henry S. Wickware, though now one of the foremost citizens of
Tuscola county, had only a meager schooling when a boy, and very early
in life began to make his own way and assist his family. Learning the
trade of carpenter and wagonmaker, he made that the basis of a long and
successful career, and was actively identified, with that line in Cass
City for twenty-five' years. - During the busy seasons of the year he
employed a staff of workmen numbering between twelve and sixteen
men and was the largest contractor in Tuscola county. He put up nearly
all the larger business blocks in Cass City, including the town hall and-
the banks. In 1875 Mr. Wickware engaged in the manufacture of
wagons, and increased his shop and manufacturing facilities from year
to year, including blacksmithing and general carpentering, and in 1873
built and began the operation of the first planing mill in Cass City.
For many years Mr. Wickware has taken a prominent part in politi
cal affairs, and his success as a business man has given him a strong
position in the regard of his fellow citizens so that, had he been an office
seeker, he might have had any honor within the gift of the community.
Republican in belief, he has done much for his party in a quiet way,
although never an orator and seldom in the conspicuous places of pub
lic affairs. He served as the first village and township clerk for six-
years, was a member of the council six years, for ten years was treasurer
and one of the active workers in the Tuscola, Huron and Sanilac Fair
Association, and by appointment from President McKinley served twelve
years as postmaster of Cass City. In the fall of 1912 Mr. Wickware
was elected county treasurer, and though his home is still at Cass City,
as it has been for many years, he performs his official duties in the court
house at Caro. The only office for which he was a candidate unsuccess
fully was that of county register during the fall of 1891. In that cam
paign the Republican ticket was opposed by a coalition of the people's
party and the Democrats, and in spite of that handicap. Mr. Wickware,,
ran three hundred votes ahead of his own ticket. It has always been at
the urging of his many friends that he has consented to accept office,
and his services performed in a quiet way for the upbuilding of Cass
City have been as important as his official record.
In Cass City on September 15, 1874, Mr. Wickware married Miss
Vania E. Alvers. She was born in Canada, but when nine years of age
was brought to Michigan by her parents. Her father, Francis Alvers,
was a soldier of the Civil war on the Union side. Mr. Wickware' and
wife have two children: Ora is the wife of Dr. Richard Lionel King, a
prominent physician at Prince Albert in Saskatchewan.- Mark S. Wick
ware, who is now cashier of the Exchange Bank of Cass City, the second
strongest bank in Tuscola county, graduated from the Cass City high
school, and in 1903 left home for Seattle, Washington, where he at
tended college and completed a business education, and then started his
commercial career with an insurance company. During the two years
of his connection with that company, from a start at a modest salary
and in a minor capacity, he rose to the position of manager over an office
of thirty-five clerks. Through a serious illness of his father he then
returned home, in order to look after the many business interests of the
elder Wickware in Cass City and Tuscola county, and after his father's
recovery decided to remain in Michigan, and 'soon afterwards accepted
the position of cashier in the bank. Like his father, Mark Wickware
is a progressive and energetic business man and citizen, and has some
important relations with the civic and business community at Cass City.
Mr. H. S. Wickware is one of the most popular. men of Tuscola
county, and is a gentleman of pleasing address, has always been a hard
worker and a straight and vigorous thinker, and his. attainments have

738 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
not been thrust upon him but have been manufactured in the laboratory
of his own energy and talent. He possesses extensive interests, includ
ing valuable real estate in Cass City.
David Knox Hanna. The executive power of justice in Tuscola
county is in the hands of D. Knox Hanna as the present sheriff of that
county. Mr. Hanna was elected sheriff in 1910, going into office on the
Republican ticket, and has been active in the affairs of that party in
Tuscola county since coming here. He had previously served as super
visor, and his official record has well justified the confidence manifested
by tbe electorate.
Of an old Michigan family, David Knox Hanna was born in Royal
Oak township in Oakland county, Michigan, October 12, 1873, a son of
David H- and Agnes (Arthur) Hanna. David H. Hanna was nine years
of age, when his parents, Robert and Elizabeth Hanna, emigrated from
Belfast, Ireland, in 1850 and located on a farm in Oakland county, among
the early settlers of that section. The Hannas in the early generations
were strict members of the Reformed Presbyterian church, and Pres-
byterianism is still the doctrine to which most of the members adhere.
Grandfather Robert Hanna died when he was eighty-four years of age,
while his wife lived to the extreme limit of ninety-eight years. Sheriff
Hanna's mother, Agnes Arthur, was born in Oakland county, Michigan,
and the Arthurs were likewise early settlers in the state.
David H. Hanna, who is now living retired at Caro, was reared on
a farm, lived with his parents until he was twenty-seven years of age, and
then he and two brothers bought a farm in Royal Oak township and car
ried on a partnership venture for three years. David H. then bought forty
acres of his own in Southfield township, married and after spending sev
eral years on his farm, sold it and bought a larger place adjoining the town
of Birmingham, where for twenty years he prospered in his labors and
became known for his substantial character and influence in that com
munity. At the end of the twenty years, having sold out, he moved
his family into Birmingham, spent tbree years retired, and then becoming
dissatisfied with the easy routine of life again took up farming, but this
time in Tuscola county, where he bought a farm in Fairgrove township.
For three years he actively pursued his vocation on the farm, and in the
spring of 191 1 retired permanently and has since had his home in a
pleasant residence at Caro. He is a Republican in politics, and religiously
was a steady member of the Reformed Presbyterian church until 1908,
when he and his wife joined the regular Presbyterian organization. He
has lived a life of quiet industry, is a man of retiring disposition, has
never mixed in politics, but throughout a long career has maintained the
respect due true "worth everywhere. There were nine children, and the
four now living are as follows : Jennie, the wife of William Kraft, a
farmer at Fenton, Michigan ; David K. ; Elizabeth, wife of Robert D.
Kirk, a former merchant of Acron in Tuscola township, but now re
tired; and Claude S. Hanna, for many years a merchant in Fairgrove
township. The early training of David Knox Hanna was acquired in the schools
of Birmingham until he r'eached the age of sixteen. His father's poor
health then led him to take active management of the farm, and after an
interval of three and a half years his schooling was finished with another
term at Birmingham, and he left school at the age of twenty. Then in
partnership with his uncle, John Hanna, he engaged in the retail meat
business at Birmingham, sold his interest to his uncle three years later,
and with his accumulations invested in a farm near Birmingham and fol
lowed the active life of an agriculturist for another three years. This

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 739
farm was sold and another larger and better one was bought in Tuscola
county, and Mr. Hanna was a hard-working and steadily prospering
farmer in that section until the fall of 1910, when his election to the office
of sheriff obliged him to move to Caro, but he continues the management
of his farm. His previous official experience comprised three years as
supervisor. Mr. Hanna is a director in the People's Savings Bank of Caro. Since
he was twenty-one years of age he has taken an active part in Republican
campaigns, and has not only the faculty of winning material prosperity
but of making friends wherever he goes, and men trust him absolutely.
Another characteristic of the present sheriff is that he is a type of man
who apparently never grows old, and while still a young man in years will
probably retain his youthful vigor and manner when he really becomes
an old man. Fraternally his affiliations are with the Knights of Pythias
and with the Masonic Lodge No. 96. Reared a Presbyterian and still
a believer in that denomination, he attends worship with his wife in the
Methodist church. Mr. Hanna was married April 10, 1894, at Bir
mingham to Miss Sarah Purdy, who was born in Oakland county, Michi
gan, a daughter of John and Anna Purdy, a family of pioneer estab
lishment in Oakland county. Mr. and Mrs. Hanna have become the par
ents of eight children, tw.o of whom died in infancy, and those now living
are: Iva, born in Birmingham October 29, 1895, and a student in the
Caro high school; Delia, born at Birmingham December 27, 1901 ; Ruth,
born on a farm in Tuscola county February 2, 1903 ; Dorris, also born
on a Tuscola farm, October 28, 1906; David John, whose birth oc
curred on the Tuscola county farm January 29, 1909 ; and Maxine, born
in Caro June 7, 191 1. It is in his home that Mr. Hanna finds his chief
joys and he joins in the pleasures of his children, and it is for the sake
of his family that he has followed his ambition for accomplishment be
yond the average. For a man who had little schooling after he was twelve
years of age, Mr. Hanna is well informed and a thoroughly practical man
and citizen, and believes in education and gives his support to schools
and every movement for social improvement and betterment.
Colin G. Robertson, M. D. The training and general characteristics
that make for distinctive success in the medical profession are clearly
manifest in the personality of Dr. Robertson, who is engaged in the prac
tice of his profession at Sandusky, Sanilac county.
Dr. Robertson was born at Hawkesbury, Prescott county, province
of Ontario, Canada, on the 15th of May, 1875, and is a son of William
and Marian "(Fraser) Robertson, both of whom likewise were born in
the, Dominion of Canada and. the lineage of both being traced back to
sterling Scotch origin. The son was a student .of the famous McGill
University, in the city of Montreal, in which he was graduated in 1901
and from which he received his degree of Doctor of Medicine. After his
graduation he gained valuable clinical experience by serving one-half
year as an interne in the Royal Victoria hospital in the city of Montreal,
and during the ensuing two years he was engaged in the general prac
tice of his profession at Van Kleek Hill, a village in his native county.
The year 1904 marked the arrival of Dr. Robertson in the thriving
village of Sandusky, Sanilac county, Michigan, where he has continued
in active general practice during the intervening decade. He is actively
identified with the Sanilac County Medical Society, the Michigan State
Medical Society and the American Medical Association. In public affairs
he has closely identified himself with the interests of the state and is
an advocate and supporter of the principles of the Republican party. He
is affiliated with the blue lodge and chapter of the Masonic fraternity

740 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
and also with the local lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
and the Knights of Pythias.
In December, 1913, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Robertson
to Miss Florence Detweiler, who was born in Middlesex county, province
of Ontario, Canada, but who had lived at Brown City, Sanilac county,
Michigan, where her parents, A. S. and Martha (Simpson) Detweiler still
maintain their home.
Fred A. Farr. In noting the representative members of the bar of ,
the middle eastern section of Michigan, there is all of consistency in
according special recognition to Fred Arad Farr, who was born and
reared in this section of the state, who is a scion of an honored pioneer
family of Michigan, and whose ability and achievement have given him
assured vantage-ground as one of the leading attorneys of Sanilac county.
He is engaged in the successful practice of his profession at Sandusky,
the county seat, has been concerned with much of the important litiga
tion in his chosen field of endeavor, and is also one of the influential
representatives of the Republican party in eastern Michigan.
Mr. Farr was born in Greenwood township, St. Clair county, Michi
gan, on the 12th of, January, 1867, and is a son of Charles P. and Mary
(Conlon) Farr, the former of whom was born in the state of New
York, arid the latter of whom was born in St. Clair county, Michigan,
a member of a family that was there founded in the pioneer days.
Charles P. Farr was reared to manhood in his native state and there
he learned the trade of blacksmith, in which he became a specially skill
ful artisan. As a young man he came to Michigan and establisbed his
residence at Forester, Sanilac county, where he engaged in the work of
his trade and where he built up a large and profitable business, as his
services were much in demand in connection with the operations of the
lumber companies that were then operating upon an extensive scale in
this part of the state. He there married and his work and his home
continued to represent his paramount interests until he responded to
the call of higher duty and went forth in defense of the integrity of the
Union. At the inception of the Civil war he enlisted in the Tentb Michi
gan Volunteer Infantry, with which command he proceeded to the front.
He was severely wounded in the battle of Antietam, and he was sent
home on furlough. After recovering from his injuries he rejoined his
command, with which he served until the close of the war, bis record
being that of a valiant and faithful soldier.
After the close of his military career Charles P. Farr returned to St.
Clair county, where he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits.
He became one of the most prominent and successful farmers of the
county, was influential in public affairs of a local order as a steadfast
supporter of the cause of the Republican party, and he was called upon
to serve in virtually every official position of importance in his township.
He was a man of impregnable integrity and positive character, and he
held at all times the unequivocal confidence and esteem of his fellow
men. He was a devoted husband and father, and he gave to his sons
and daughters the best possible advantages, fitting them for lives of use
fulness and honor. He lived retired for a number of years prior to his
death, continuing to take a lively interest in community affairs and in
the Grand Army of the Republic, with which he was closely affiliated.
He died in 1891, at the age of sixty-six years, and his wife met a tragic
death several years before, having been killed in an accident resulting
from the running away of a team of horses. Of the large family of
children, one died in infancy and of the number Fred A., of this review
was the ninth in order of birth. Ellen is the wife of Dr. E. I. Persinger'

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 741
of Mansfield, Louisiana; Emma died, unmarried, in 1907, at the age
of thirty years; James was a representative farmer of St. Clair county
at the time of bis death, in 1908; Mary is the wife of James Moqre, of
Fremont, Sanilac county; Charles is a successful farmer of Shiawassee
county, this state, his homestead being near the village of Burton; Sarah
is the wife of William Routley, of Port Huron; John died in young
manhood; Frank is a resident of Arenac county; Sherman W. has been
for the past twenty-five years manager for tbe Western Union Tele
graph Company at Cheboygan, this state; and Ada is the wife of Jesse
F. Holden, engaged in the drug business at Bad Axe, Huron county.
Fred A. Farr is indebted to the public schools of his native county
for his early educational training, which included the curriculum of the
high school. When he was still a mere boy his ambition became clearly
defined in its trend, for, at the age of fifteen years he was found as a
law studerit in the office of Seward L. Merriam, of Port Huron, who
was then recognized as one of the foremost members of the bar of St.
Clair county. After continuing his studies several years under such
effective private preceptorship, Mr. Farr. continued his professional read
ing for three or more years under other equally effective direction, and
in the meanwhile his active duties in this connection began to assume
the proportions and responsibility of actual practice as an attorney and
counselor. In 1895 Judge Vance, presiding on the circuit court bench
in St. Clair county, admitted Mr. Farr to practice, anrl soon after gaining
this official recognition of his eligibility he located at Brown City, Sanilac
county, where he soon assumed a position of leadership as an able and
versatile trial lawyer and as a counselor well fortified in the science of
jurisprudence.* He built up a large and representative general practice
and in 1900 he was elected prosecuting attorney of the county as candi
date on the Republican ticket. Few men in Michigan have made so note
worthy a record as public prosecutor as did Mr. Farr, for, through suc
cessive re-elections, he retained the office of prosecuting attorney for the
period, of ten years, this implying that he was five times elected and
given emphatic and significant assurance not only of popular confidence
and esteem, but also objective recognition of his admirable powers as a
public prosecutor. Upon assuming office Mr. Farr removed from Brown
City to Sandusky, the judicial center of the county, and here he has
continuously resided since 1900, his retirement from the, office of prose
cuting attorney having taken place in January, 191 1. His high reputa-
tion and many victories insured to him a large and important clientage
when he resumed the private practice of his profession, and his success
in his professional work has been distinctly exceptional, giving him secure
prestige as one of the strong and representative members of the bar of
his native state. He maintains a fine suite of offices, with the best of
appointments and with one of the largest and most select law libraries
in this part of the state, his private library of general works likewise
being a comprehensive, well ordered collection.
As an unswerving advocate of the principles df the Republican party,
Mr. Farr is known as a forceful and convincing campaign speaker and
he has given active servidte in this line. He is at the present time attorney
for a number of the most important local corporations and also for the
Pere Marquette Railroad. In the' York Rite of the Masonic fraternity
he has advanced through the degrees of all four bodies except the
Knights Templar, and aside from this he is affiliated with the Inde-
penderit Order of Odd Fellows, the Elks, the Knights of Pythias, the
Independent Order of Foresters and the Woodmen of the World. He
was reared in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church, but in San
dusky he attends and gives more special support to the Presbyterian

742 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
church, of which his wife is a most zealous member. The chief recreation
found by Mr. Farr in his vacations is that of hunting and fishing in the
woods of northern Michigan. He and his wife also find pleasure in
their various automobile excursions, Mrs. Farr being a leader in the best
social activities of her home city, where she holds membership in the
leading literary and social clubs for women and where her gracious per
sonality has gained to her the staunchest of friends.
On the 26th of December, 1912, was solemnized the marriage of
Mr. Farr to Miss Ethel Sommerville, the marriage ceremony having been
performed in the city of Chicago. Mrs. Farr was born in Sanilac county
and is a daughter of John and Jeanette (Maxwell) Sommerville, who
are also residents of Sanilac county.
Mrs. Ann Strong Holmes. Since the early '20s no Detroit family
has been more conspicuous in public and business affairs nor has borne the
responsibilities of citizenship with greater dignity than has the Strongs,
of which Mrs. Ann Strong Holmes is now the oldest living representative.
The founder of the name was her father, the late John Strong, who
was a Detroit pioneer, a successful business man and a broad-minded
vigorous citizen. Establishing his home, in Greenfield township, four
miles from Detroit, in 1826, he was both a witness and an actor in the
changing developments which transformed Detroit from a frontier set
tlement to a modern metropolis. While a large degree of wealth followed
his efforts, the honor paid to his memory is more especially due to his
fine independence of character, his active influence in the social and polit
ical movements of the country and the stability which he gave to his
fortune and influence in this section of the state. •
Mrs. Ann Strong Holmes was born December 1, 1832, in Wayne
county, Michigan, a daughter of John and Isabella (Campbell) Strong.
John Strong, who was born in Roxton, England, November 26, 1798,
and who died in Greenfield township of Wayne county February 23, 1881,
first studied 'for the ministry of the Episcopal church, found that vocation
not to his taste, and after bis father's death came to America and" at the
age of twenty-five began his long residence in Wayne county. In Green
field county he bought much land directly from tbe government, and his
subsequent business career swelled his property until he became one of the
large owners of country and city real estate. For some of his land he
paid ten shillings an acre, and' Mrs. Holmes a few years ago sold some of
that original land at twenty-five hundred dollars an acre. It has been
said of the "late John Strong that he gave of his best to every undertaking,
was a liberal promoter of industrial growth and development, and served
with credit and distinction in various official posts. He was one of the
leading Democrats of Wayne county, held various local offices, and was
a member of the first Michigan legislature after the territory was made
a state. During the early years of his residence in Greenfield township, it is
said he was. one of tbe few well educated men in the vicinity, and per
formed a great deal of business and legal service for the Indians and
French settlers, especially in making out deeds and other documents,
and at a later date he assisted in the development of the country by selling
small tracts of ten to forty acres to German colonists, whom he assisted in
many ways in getting their start in the new country.
Isabella Campbell, the wife of John Strong, was born , in Scotland
January 25, 1810, and died in Wayne county, October 29, 1840. Her
father, George Campbell, was born in Tain, Scotland, and married Elinor
Monroe. Elinor Monroe was the daughter of John Monroe, and was
born in Tain, Scotland, in 1792. The mother's name was Catherine Suther-

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 743
land. Her grandfather was Daniel Sutherland and her maternal grand
father was Hugh Ross. George and Elinor Campbell had two children,
born during their residence in Scotland and they came to the United
States in 1812. Elinor Monroe Campbell died in Greenfield township
near Detroit January 6, 1885.
John Strong and wife were the parents of six children. The late John
Strong, Jr., who died April 6, 1913, was a resident of South Rockwood,
Michigan, a prominent land owner and business man, and stood high in
political affairs, having served as lieutenant governor of the state and in
the state legislature. The second child and now the oldest of those living
is Mrs.. Holmes. George Strong, the third child, died at the age of
eighteen; Isabella married Alonzo Goodman, deceased; Elizabeth, now
deceased, was the wife of Lorenzo B. Hagerty; and Sarah is Mrs. John
Wilkins of Bay City.
Ann Strong married Marquis L. Holmes, who was born in Oakland
county, Michigan, December 3, 1830, and died February 16, 1907. Mrs.
Holmes- has lived in Detroit for sixty-four years, and the greater part
of this time has occupied the beautiful residence at 166 West High street,
one of the notable landmarks in the residence district, and she drew the
plans for the house herself. She is a keen business woman, and though
now past eighty years of age, has handled her affairs with a success that
would be preditable to any Detroit business man. Mrs. Holmes is the
mother of three children: Walter J., who married Josephine McDonald;
Frank B., who married Mabel Wormer; and Euretta T., who married
C. K. Blackwood. Mrs. Holmes is a charter member of St. John's Epis
copal church, with which she united at the time of its organization.
Charles M. Swantek, M. D. The Bay City Medical Fraternity has
no abler or more proficient member than Dr. Swantek, who began prac
tice there about twenty years ago, and has established himself securely
in the confidence and esteem of the people. He represents the alert,
scholarly, but business-like type of the modern doctor, and in many ways
has shown his value as a factor in the social community of which he" is
a part. Though born in Europe Dr. Swantek has since his infancy lived in
America, and is a thorough American. His birth occurred at Tremesen,'
in the Province of Po&en, Prussia, May 28, 1873, the oldest of five
children born to Peter J. and Theophila (Gotzkowski) Swantek, both
natives of Prussia, and the mother now a resident of Grand Rapids.
The father, w"ho came to America, the same year in which his son Charles
was born, settled at Grand Rapids, was a meat dealer, and died in May,
1913, at the age of sixty-seven years. He was successful in business,
followed the Democratic party as to politics and was a Catholic in
religion. Dr. Swantek grew up in Grand Rapids, was educated in the gram
mar and high schools of that city, and during 1885-89, was a student in
St. Francis Seminary, at St. Francis, Wisconsin, where he took the class
ical course. Entering the University of Michigan, after two years he
transferred his studies to the Rush Medical College of Chicago, and
from that institution was graduated M. D. inthe class of 1894. On Sep
tember 3, 1894, Dr. Swantek located in Bay City, began his practice, rely
ing only on his ability and his thorough training and his patronage has
grown steadily ever since. The doctor belongs to the Bay County and
the State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association, served
one year as health Officer of Bay City, but outside of this official serv- .
ice in behalf of the community has no part in political affairs, though a
Democratic voter. Dr. Swantek is affiliated with the Knights of Colum-
bus, and belongs to the Catholic church.

744 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
At Bay City, on November 26, 1901, Dr. Swantek married Miss
Agnes Louise MacDonnell, who was born at Bay City, a daughter of
Archibald MacDonnell, now deceased. Dr. Swantek is a home man, has
no outside interests except his profession, and he and his wife reside in
a pleasant home at 240 Washington Street.
Frederick Peter Bender. One of the leading physicians and sur
geons of Tuscola county, and an earnest and public spirited as a citizen,
Dr. F. P. Bender has beeri an important factor in the professional, busi
ness and social life of Caro and vicinity for a number of years. A man
of energetic nature, he has identified himself with the best interests of his
home town, and it was in recognition, of his capacity both as a physician
and as a citizen that led to his choice by the citizens as mayor of the
community, an office which he now fills.
Frederick Peter Bender was born in Ceresco, Calhoun county, Michi
gan, August 9, 1874, a son of William and Susan (Loehr) Bender. His
parents were natives of Bradford county, Pennsylvania, and settled in
Calhoun county, Michigan, in 1868, where the father became a success
ful farmer and a large land owner. Both parents were active in the
Evangelical church. The father died in Calhoun county in 1880 at the
age of fifty-two years, and the mother lived until 1912, and was seventy-
eight years old when she died. Their nine children are briefly enumerated
as follows : Frank Bender, the oldest son, was a farmer and died at the
age of forty-eight in Calhoun county ; Elizabeth, the wife of William D.
Miller, lives in Marshall, Michigan ; Joseph Bender is a successful rancher
in Frazer, Montana; Jacob Bender is a traveling salesman with head
quarters in Tacoma, Washington ; Emma is the wife of Silas E. Decker,
of Marshall, Michigan; John I. Bender is a salesman with home in To
ledo, Ohio; Alice Bender lives in Marshall, Michigan; and William L.
Bender is engaged in the meat business at Tacoma, Washington.
Dr. F. P. Bender grew up in Calhoun county, from early youth has
earned his own way and has depended upon his own exertions to fulfill
his ambitions for a career. With a public school education at Ceresco,
he entered the Northwestern College at Naperville, Illinois, was a student
in the literary department there for three years, and then earned his way
by teaching for two years at Garden City, Missouri. Returning to Michi
gan, he entered Albion College and finisbed the first two years of the col
lege course. In the fall of 1898 entering the medical department of the
University of Michigan, he continued a student there until graduating
M. D. with the class of 1902. Dr. Bender's first practice was at Caro,
and in the dozen years tbat has since elapsed he has made a success
trom a material point of view and has extended his reputation as a
scholar and broad-minded and capable physician and surgeon. He served
in 191 3 as president of the Tuscola County Medical Society, has mem
bership in the State Society and in the American Medical Association.
In May, 1913, Dr. Bender was elected mayor of Caro and in his
handling of municipal affairs has shown an independence and a deep-
seated interest in the public welfare that has meant a great deal to this
community. Dr. Bender is also a director and the active vice-president
of the People's Bank of Caro. He has fraternal affiliations with Mt.
Maria Lodge No. 231, A. F. & A. M., and with the Royal Arch Chap
ter; with the Knights of Pythias; is a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal
church; and in politics is one of the local leaders in the Republican
party. Among other interests he has extensive farm properties and city
real estate, including his present home.
On September 14, 1899, at Bellevue, Michigan, Dr. Bender married
Miss Nellie M. Adams of Eaton county, Michigan. Her parents were

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 745
Dr. William and Nancy (Cesson) Adams, and her father, now retired,
was one of the pioneer physicians in Eaton county. To the marriage
of the doctor and wife have been born three children, as follows : Char
lotte D., born March n, 1903, at Caro; William F., born May 6, 1906;
and Alice Elizabeth, born January 26, 1909. Mrs. Bender is one of the
prominent workers in society and philanthropic activities at Caro, and
is president of the Caro Literary Club and a member of the Ladies Aid
Society. Joseph Fremont. The able incumbent of the office of postmaster
at Bad Axe, the little city that is the judicial center of Huron county,
is Joseph Fremont, whose career has shown a mastering of expedients,
the overcoming of obstacles and the determined advancement toward the
goal of worthy success. He has been one of the world's workers and
has so ordered his course in all of the relations of life as to merit and
receive the unqualified respect and confidence of his fellow men. He
is one of the public-spirited and progressive citizens of Huron county,
considerate and generous, democratic in bearing, and ever ready to help
a good cause. Such are the men who specially merit recognition in a
publication of this order, for their influence is beneficent in a general
way and they prove useful to themselves and to the community at large.
Joseph Fremont finds greater satisfaction' in his status as one of the
representative citizens of Huron county by reason of the fact that he
can claim this as his "native heath," and that he is a member of a
sterling pioneer family of this section of the state. He was born at
Port Austin, Huron county, Michigan, on the 15th of August, 1861, and
is a son of Maguire and Elizabeth (Smeader) Fremont, the former of
, whom was born in the city of Montreal, Canada, and the latter of whom
was born in Germany, whence she came with her parents to Michigan
when she was seven years of age, the family home being established
in Huron county in 1855, when tbis part of the state was little more
than a wilderness, save that lumbering operations were being carried
forward exterisively. Peter Sneader, maternal grandfather of the post
master of Bad Axe, worked for many years in the sawmills and lumber
woods and finally purchased a tract of wild land, which he reclaimed
from the forest into a productive farm. This, homestead was located
near Port Austin and there he remained until his death, his name merit
ing high place on the roll of the honored pioneers of Huron county.
Maguire Fremont traced his lineage back to French origin and the family
was early founded in one of the French colonies near the city of Montreal,
Canada, in which vicinity he was reared and educated. At the age of
nineteen years Maguire Fremont came to Port Austin, Michigan, and
he. became a representative figure in lumbering and farming operations
in Huron county, where he continued to reside on his well-improved farm,
near Port Austin, until his death, on the 18th of April, 191 3, at the age
of seventy-two years. His cherished and devoted wife still resides with
her youngest son, on the home farm near Port Austin, and she is now
one of the venerable pioneer women of Huron county, her home having
bee/i on the present farm, four and one-half miles south of Port Austin,
since the time the place was purchased by her husband in 1886. She is
a devout communicant of the Catholic church, as was also her husband,
and their twelve children all are likewise communicants of this great
mother church of Christendom, the political allegiance of the father
having been given to the Democratic party.
Of the twelve children the eldest is Joseph, who figures as the im
mediate subject of this review; Charles is now a resident of the city
of Detroit; Mary is the. wife of George Bruce, of Port Huron; Anna

746 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
is the wife of Patrick Maguire, of Nashua, Minnesota; Peter and
Michael reside in the Michigan metropolis; Susan is the wife of Felix
Bleicher, a farmer near Port Austin; William maintains his home in
the city of Duluth, Minnesota; Margaret is the wife of James R. Mc
Donald, of Marquette, Michigan; Elizabeth is the wife of Jacob Neph,
of Kinde, Huron county ; Richard resides in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma ;
and Edward remains with his widowed mother on the old homestead
farm. The early home environment of Joseph Fremont was one of peculiar
order. In their early married life his parents were able to converse with
each other only with distinct difficulty, as the father originally spoke
the French language only and the mother was confined to the use of
her native tongue, the German. The financial resources of the family
were very limited during the early life of Joseph, the eldest of the chil
dren, and he naturally found that productive toil fell to his portion when
he was a boy ratber than amplified educational opportunities, his
scholastic discipline having thus been confined to a very desultory attend
ance in the primitive district school near his home. At the age of twelve
years he began work in the sawmills, and after two years of application
he was given employment and a real home with Charles G. Learned, a
prominent and wealthy lumberman mill owner and farmer, who gave
to the ambitious youth a wage of five dollars a month, the incidental
home privileges, however, being of far greater value: Mr. Fremont
remained with his friend and benefactor for fifteen years, and Mr.
Learned assisted him most generously in obtaining an education. Young
Fremont was paid liberally for his services during the later years of this
pleasing association and bad practical charge of much of the business
of his employer.
The first public service rendered by Mr. Fremont was in the capacity
of township clerk of. Port Austin township, and after holding this
position one year he was elected township supervisor, he having been
the youngest man elected to this office in the entire history of Huron
county. He served two years, with marked acceptability, and in the
autumn of 1888 he made a house to house canvass of Huron county in
the furtherance of his candidacy for the office of county clerk. He was
made the nominee on the Democratic ticket and he so far overcame the
large Republican majority in the county as to win victory by a majority
of forty-five votes, this being only one of the many evidences that have
been accorded to him of popular esteem granted him in his native county.
By two re-elections he served as county clerk for six years, and his
administration of the office was in every sense admirable, the while he
had much influence in bringing the normal political complexion of Huron
county to the Democratic texture.
While serving as county clerk, Mr. Fremont gave as much time as
possible to the study of law, and in 1894 he was admitted to the bar,
to which he came specially well qualified. After retirement from office
he was for a time engaged in the practice of law at Bad Axe, but he
finally decided to turn his attention to mercantile pursuits. He pur
chased a half interest in the well-established and prominent dry goods
and clothing business of James Nugent, and he continued to be actively
identified with the enterprise for the long period of fourteen years,
within which he did much to further the pronounced success of the
business as an able coadjutor of his business associate. Within these
years Mr. Fremont was. elected president of the village of Bad Axe
and after its incorporation as a city he had the distinction of being
chosen first mayor of the thriving town in the advancement of which
along- civic and business lines he has been an influential force. He has

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 747
given also excellent and loyal service as a member of the city council
and is at the present time president of the Bad Axe board of education.
In June, 191 3, Mr. Fremont was appointed ppstmaster of Bad Axe
by President Wilson, and he assumed the discharge of his official duties
on the ist of the following September, his appointment having met with
the strongest popular commendation and support in the community.
He is one of tbe leaders in the local ranks of the Democratic party and
be and his family are zealous communicants of the Catholic church.
On the 4th of May, 1885, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Fre
mont to Miss Mary Stone, the ceremony being performed at Port Austin.
Mrs. Fremont was born at St. Clair, this state, and is a daughter of
George and Mary (Inkster) Stone, but the mother is deceased. Mr.
and Mrs. Fremont have six children: Raymond, Elmer G., Bernice,
Justin M., Courtney and Perry.
Aaron Cornell, D. V. S. A busy, varied and productive career has
been that of Dr. Cornell/who is now serving his first term as probate
judge of Huron county and who has been an influential figure in public
affairs, in business activities and in the general progressive movements
which have contributed to the development and upbuilding of this section
of the state. He long maintained bis home at Elkton, Huron county,
where he served many years as postmaster, where he practiced his pro
fession of veterinary surgery and where he was engaged in mercantile
business of varied orders, besides owning and operating- farms and being
an extensive buyer and shipper of horses. He is genial and whole-souled,
direct and democratic in bis demeanor, and he has a host of warm
friends in the county that has been hi« home for more than thirty years.
Judge Cornell was born in Lambton county, Ontario, Canada, sep
arated from Michigan by the St. Clair river, and the date of his nativity
was November 25, 1855. He is a son of David S. and Mary (Briggs)
Cornell, the former of whom was born in the state of New York, and
the latter in the county of Waterloo, Ontario, where both were reared
and educated and where their marriage was solemnized. Aaron Cornell,
father of David S., was a gallant soldier in the war of 1812, and received
a medal in recognition of his brave and meritorious service in this con
flict. He was an influential figure in the political activities of the state
of New York for a number of years, but finally became so dissatisfied with
the condition of public affairs in his native- commonwealth that he left
the state in disgust and made his way on foot to Waterloo, Ontario, where
he settled and passed the residue of his life.' David S. Cornell was prom
inently concerned with farming and lumbering operations in his native
province, .as was he later in Michigan and Wisconsin, his settlement at
Ashland, in the latter state, having taken place ^1879, and the closing
, years of his life having been passed iri Ashland, where he died at the
age of eighty-six years. He was a member of the Reform party in Can
ada and after coming to the United States he espoused the cause of the
Republican party, which ever afterward held his allegiance. His widow,
who is eighty-two years of age at the time of, this writing, in 1914, re
sides at Bad Axe, Huron county, and is one of the loved and revered
pioneer women of this part of the state. Of the six children all are liv
ing except Margaret, who died at the age of thirteen years ; Chester is a
succ'essful business man in the city of Chicago ; Morris is engaged in the
banking business at Ashland, Wisconsin ; Aaron, of this review, was the
next in order of birth ; Edgar is a contractor and builder at Duluth, Min
nesota ; . and Minnie is the wife of Hammil Lamb, of Spokane,
Washington.

748 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Judge Aaron Cornell passed the days of his childhood and early youth
in Lambton county, Ontario, where he was afforded the advantages of the
public schools. In 1882 he came to Huron county, Michigan, and set
tled in Chandler township, where he engaged in farming, the land which
he purchased having been but little improved when it came into his pos
session. For four years he was also identified with lumbering operations,
at Bay City, and finally he located in the village of Elkton, Huron county,
where he began to buy grain for J. Jenks & Company, of Harbor Beach,
at the same time engaging in an independent mercantile business in the
village. After four years in the general merchandise business he sold
out the stock and business and purchased a drug store, of which he is
still the proprietor. He was appointed postmaster of Elkton under the
administration of President Harrison, and continued to serve under the
regimes of Presidents McKinley, Cleveland, Roosevelt and Taft, his ten
ure of office having continued twenty years and having not been inter
rupted even by Democratic administration of national affairs. His record
in the office of postmaster is probably without a parallel in Michigan, in
point of consecutive service, and he retired, by resignation, in 1913, after
bis election to the office of which he is now the honored and efficient in
cumbent, that of .judge of probate of Huron county. He also served as
president of the village council of Elkton and there held likewise the posi
tion of township clerk for some time. In 1895 Judge Cornell was grad
uated in the Ontario College of Veterinary Surgery, and he continued
in the active practice of the profession for nineteen years, his success
being unequivocal and his services being much in demand throughout
Huron and adjoining counties. The Judge has ever been a lover of the
horse and is looked upon as an authoritative judge of equine values. This
ability has inured to his benefit in his active operations as a buyer and
shipper of horses in car-load lots, and he still continues his activities
along this line of enterprise, besides which he is the owner of a well
improved farm of 160 acres, near Elkton. He was elected probate judge
in November, 1912, and received at the polls a majority that amply tes
tified to the high regard in which he is held in the county, his assump
tion of official duties, in January, 1913, being attended, of course, by his
removal from Elkton to Bad Axe, the judicial center of the county. He
is a zealous advocate of the cause of the Republican party, is a Knights
Templar Mason, is affiliated also with the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, and he attends and gives liberal support to the Presbyterian
church, of which Mrs. Cornell is an active member.
In February, 1879, Judge Cornell wedded at Strathroy, Ontario, Miss
Isabelle Riddle, who was born in Lambton county, that province, but who
was reared and educated near Waterloo, Ontario. Concerning the chil
dren of this union brief record is here offered : Margaret -is the wife of
Dr. David Winer, of Vanderbilt, Michigan; Ethel is the wife of John
Rowe, of Flint, this state ; Estelle, who was for many years her father's
efficient assistant in the Elkton postoffice, now resides with her parents
in their attractive home in Bad Axe ; Louise is the wife of Oscar Rogers,
engaged in the banking business at Elkton ; Mabel is the wife of James
McKibben, of Vanderbilt; Austin, who wedded Miss Marian Foster,
of Pigeon, Huron county, resides at Elkton, Michigan, a veterinary sur
geon, succeeding his father; Warner is a student in the Michigan Agri
cultural College ; and Bernice is attending the public schools of Bad Axe.
Mrs. Cornell is of staunch Scotch lineage. Judge Cornell's great-grand
father on the maternal side was the founder of Cornell University, at
Ithaca, New York, he having immigrated from Wales to America in
company with two of his brothers.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 749
Frederick J. Benedict. Eight years of effective and widely com
mended service as register of deeds of Sanilac county stands to the last
ing credit of Mr. Benedict, and in this county his circle of friends is
coincident with that of his acquaintances. At Sandusky, the judicial cen
ter of the county, he is now engaged in the abstract business,' as a mem
ber of the firm of Dawson & Benedict, and the interposition of the firm
is in constant demand in the examining of titles and the incidental abstract
service, which is maintained at the highest standard of efficiency. He is
one of the broad-minded and progressive citizens of this section of the
state and is fully entitled to specific recognition in this comprehensive
history of Michigan.
Frederick James Benedict was bprn in Worth township, Sanilac
county, Michigan, on the 25th of September, 1856, and this date indi
cates beyond peradventure that he is a representative of a pioneer family
of the county. He is a son of Peter H. and Janet (Smith) Benedict,
the former- of whom was born in Otsego county, New York, and the
latter of whom was' born in the fine old seaport city of St. Andrews, in
Fifeshire, Scotland. Peter H. Benedict settled in Sanilac county, Mich
igan, in 1843, and he became one of the substantial pioneer farmers
and representative citizens of the, county. He was a stalwart Democrat
and was the first representative of the first district of Sanilac county in
the lower house of the state legislature, besides which he served for a
long term of years as township supervisor. From a dense forest of
beach and maple he reclaimed a productive farm of 120 acres, and he also
found demand for his services at his trade, that of millwright. He as-
sited in the building and equipping of the first saw mills along the Mich
igan shores of Lake Huron, and for many years before his death he lived
virtually a retired life, honored by all who knew him. He was born on
the 25tb of November, 181 1, and thus was eighty-two- years of age at the
time of his. death, which occurred on the 19th of February, 1894. His
cherished and devoted wife, who had been a true helpmate, died on the
19th of May of the same year, at the age of seventy-three years. She
was born January 26, 1821, and in 1835 accompanied her parents, William
and Janet (Luke) Smith, on their immigration from Scotland to the
United States. Of the six children of Peter H. and Janet (Smith)
Benedict four are still living, — G-eorge F.,- a merchant in the city of St.
Paul, Minnesota ; John A., a resident of Croswell, Sanilac county, Mich
igan; Frederick J., of this review; and James L., a successful banker at
Brown City, Sanilac county.
Frederick J. Benedict passed the days of his childhood and early
youth on the old homestead farm which was the place of his birth, and
his memory recalls many of the conditions and incidents of the pioneer-
era in Sanilac county. He availed himself duly of the advantages of
the district schools of the period, and at the age*of seventeen years he
entered upon an apprenticeship to the carpenter's trade. During the
winter months at this time he found employment as clerk in mercantile
establishments at Amadore, Sanilac county. In 1880 he initiated, in a
modest way, his independent career as a merchant, his financial rein
forcement for this venture being represented in the amount he had been
able to save from his earnings. For four years he conducted a general
store at Minden, and then, in the autumn of 1884, he was elected regis
ter of deeds of his native county, the judicial headquarters of which were
then at Sanilac Center and now in the city of Sandusky. In assuming this
important- office Mr. Benedict disposed of his mercantile business, and
he continued his service "as register of deeds for eight years, or four suc
cessive terms. His administration brought about a thorough systematizing
of the records of the register's office and its results have been of en
during value.

750 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
, In 1892 Mr. Benedict purchased an interest in the abstract busi
ness now conducted by the firm of Dawson & Benedict, and in this con
nection he has since given the major part of his time and attention
to the business, which necessarily has important bearing on all real-estate
transfers in Sanilac county, the abstracts of the firm being looked upon
as invariably authoritative. Mr. Benedict served fourteen years as vil
lage clerk of Sandusky, and for an equal term of years he has been
a member of the local board of education.
Interested in all that pertains to the welfare and progress of his
home town and native county, Mr. Benedict has wielded much influ
ence in public affairs of a local nature and his political allegiance was
given to the Democratic party until 1908, since which time he has sup
ported the cause of the Republican party. At the present time he is serv
ing as deputy county treasurer, so that it may be seen that he has ample
demands upon his attention in connection with official duties and busi
ness affairs. Mr. Benedict is affiliated with the local lodge, chapter and
council of the Masonic fraternity and with the Independent Order of
Foresters, and he and his family are zealous communicants of St.- John's
church, Protestant Episcopal.
At Amadore, Sanilac county, in the year 1880,- was solemnized the
marriage of Mr. Benedict to Miss Caroline Reynolds, who, like himself,
was born in Worth township, this county. She is a daughter of Josiab
and Eliza (Defoe) Reynolds, and her father was a pioneer merchant at
Amadore, as well- as a substantial farmer of Sanilac county. He was
a gallant soldier of the Union in the Civil war, and in the battle of
Antietam received a wound that necessitated the amputation of one of his
legs. He passed the closing years of his life at Amadore, where his
venerable widow still resides. Mr. and Mrs. Benedict have four chil
dren, each of whom received the advantages of the public schools, in
cluding the high school : Nina M. is the widow of Dr. Walter M. Mann
and resides at Sandusky, as does also her sister Geneva, who is the
widow of Addison Care Orr, the latter having been a prominent hard
ware merchant of Sandusky; Beryl, died April 10, 1914, and Roland
A., who remains at the parental home.
Benjamin F. Comfort. Now principal of the Cass Technical High
School of Detroit, and to a large degree responsible for the founding of
this institution of vocational training, Mr. Comfort has for upwards of a
quarter of a century been closely identified with educational affairs in
Michigan and in Detroit. Mr. Comfort was fortunate in entering the
field of education at the beginning of the great modern uplift movement
in his department of human affairs, and having the spirit of service char
acteristic of the best of modern teachers, working constantly for pro
gressive measures, he has won a worthy place in his profession and his
beneficent relations with hundreds and thousands of the younger genera
tion, cannot easily be overestimated.
While much is due to the personal ability of Mr. Comfort in his career
as a successful educator, he also owes much to his splendid ancestry.
Benjamin F. Comfort was born in the city of Detroit, on December 22,
1863, a son of. B. Newell and Lucretia Goodwin Collins Comfort. On the
maternal side the ancestry of Professor Comfort has been identified
with Michigan since 1813, having been introduced to this section of the
northwest, through the hostilities between the Americans and the British
during the war of 1812. His maternal grandfather, Lieutenant John
Collins, of the Kentucky Mounted Riflemen, came from Kentucky along
with Col. Richard M. Johnson, and fought through the campaign in Michi
gan after Perry's victory on Lake Erie. As a fnember of Col. Johnson's
staff, he was at the side of that officer during the battle of the Thames,

HISTORY OF. MICHIGAN 751
when Tecumseh, the noted Indian chieftain was slain. An interesting story
of the death of that chief, and varying considerably from the usual
accounts is a part of the Collins family annals. The story runs that five
of the mounted riflemen under C°l- Johnson all shot at Tecumseh as he
skulked through the timber, half hidden by the smoke of battle. The horse
on which Col. Johnson was riding had been shot, and while the Colonel was
being extricated from under his steed, the wily Tecumseh was seen rush
ing upon the scene with uplifted tomahawk, preparing to dispatch the
intrepid Kentuckian. His act was detected in time, and five of the Ken
tuckians met his advance with balls from their double-barreled flint-lock
pistols, and three of the bullets took effect in the body of the Indian. John
Collins was one of the five who shot at Tecumseh. As Col. Johnson also
fired a shot, and as he was the commander, history gives him the credit
for killing the Indian.
Lieutenant , John Colliris located at Detroit after the war, and was
otherwise distinguished as a citizen in addition to his military record.
Friend Palmer, in his "Annals of Detroit," gives credit to Collins for
bringing his cousin, Judge Daniel Goodwin to Detroit, in 1820. Daniel
Goodwin was subsequently president of the Constitutional Convention of
Michigan in 1850. Another citizen of Detroit, whom Palmer gives Collins
credit for bringing to Michigan, was Chauncey Hurlbut, father of the
city's present water work system, and a cousin of Collins'. John Collins
on locating at Detroit engaged in merchandising, and was long one of the
leading men of the city.
The Collins family which was otherwise noted in colonial and early
American history, descended from John Collins, who crossed the Atlantic
and settled in Boston in 1638. The family intermarried with many other
notable stocks of Connecticut and Massachusetts, notably with the family
of Governor William Leete, second governor of Connecticut (1666), with
the Trowbridges, the Buells, the Hydes, the Hurlbuts, and the Goodwins.
Rev. Timothy Collins, M.A., born at Guilford, Connecticut, in 1699,.
graduate of Yale college in 1718, was one of the founders and the first
pastor of the town of -Litchfield, Connecticut. During the French and
Indian war, he served as surgeon and participated in the storming of
Ticonderoga, and Crown Point in 1762.
The motber of Benjamin F. Comfort was Lucfetia Goodwin Collins,
who was born in Detroit in 1830, at the corner of Bates and Woodbridge
Streets. That location, then in the fashionable quarter of Detroit, is now
in the very heart of the wholesale district. She married in 1847, B.
Newell Comfort, and two sons survived them — John Collins Comfort,
cashier of the Alpena National Bank of Michigan, and Benjamin F.
Comfort. The Comfort family came to Michigan in 1832 from Elmira, Chemung
county, New York. They were originally Knickerbocker stock, who set
tled in the Mohawk Valley about 1,690. The Indian massacre at Schenec
tady in 1692 drove them back to Long Island. The first of the Comfort
name was Geraldus Cambefort, as the name was then spelled. He mar
ried Anritjie Raal, and their issue was one son, Geraldus (II) born May
ir. 1690. Geraldus (II) married Catherine Burger in New York, March
24' 1713 Three of their children are thus recorded: Anettie, born Sep
tember 28, 1714; Catherine, born August 18, 1717, and married June 4,
1737 Nicholas Roosevelt; Jacob Comfort, born in 1736. Jacob Comfort
was a soldier in the French and Indian wars in the year 1759. He had
four sons Benjamin, John, Samuel and Richard, all of whom served as
soldiers in the Revolutionary war, going out from Ulster county, New
York, in the militia in 1775. Richard, son of Jacob Comfort, was born
August 15 1745, and married Charity Shaw, who was born November 17,
1747. They became the parents of Thomas Comfort, who was born April
Vol. II— 8

752 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
30, 1794, married Abigail Davids, who was born April 18, 1790. A son
of the last marriage was B. Newell Comfort, father of Benjamin F. Com
fort. The birth of Benjamin F. Comfort's father occurred at Elmira,
New York, September 11, 1818, and he died in Detroit, Michigan, July
5, 1883. Throughout most of the years of his life, Benjamin F. Comfort has
had his home and center of activities in Detroit. Educated in the public
schools, graduating from the Detroit high school in 1882, he taugbt for
a time in the Episcopal Academy of Michigan, and studied law under
Honorable William C. Maybury, from 1882 to 1885. Entering Trinity
College at Hartford, Connecticut, 'he remained there two years and left
college to become principal of the Tappan School at Detroit. Resigning
this position in 1890, he left educational work to become secretary and
treasurer of the Calhoun Printing Company of Hartford, Connecticut.
Two years were spent at Hartford in business, and six years in the Cypress
lumber business in St. Mary's Parish in Louisiana, with E. P. & S. A.
Swenson of New York City. His experience in the lumber business
proved disastrous financially, and in 1898 the yellow fever in the south
drove him away, and completed the ruin of his business prospects in that
quarter. Returning to Michigan, in 1898, he resumed his career as an
educator, and became teacher of Latin and Mathematics in the Central
high school of Detroit. A few years later he was made principal of the
Webster School, where he remained three years. In 1904 Mr. Comfort
was appointed principal of the Cass Union School and in 1907 was given
the management as principal of the Cass Technical high school, an insti
tution which owes much to Mr. Comfort's energy and foresigbt for the
position it now enjoys in the estimation of citizens of Detroit. For
twenty-three years in the aggregate, Mr. Comfort has been one of the
leading- teachers and educators of Detroit, and hundreds of the young
men and women of the city and state owe him debts of gratitude for his
¦self-sacrificing interest in their behalf and in the cause of general
education. Besides his work as a teacher, Mr. Comfort has earned creditable dis
tinction in the field of letters. He is author of "Arnold's Tempter," a
work on the Revolutionary war which has enjoyed a well merited recog
nition in the field of historical fiction. Will Levington Comfort, another
American writer of prominence, is a cousin to Professor Comfort.
Mr. Comfort has membersbip in the Society of Colonial Wars, the
Sons of the American Revolution, Delta Psi College fraternity, the
Masonic Order, the Michigan Schoolmasters' Club, the Association for the
promotion of Industrial Education, the National Educational Association,
the National Geographical Society, the Michigan Authors' Association,
and St. Paul's Episcopal church.
On July 17, 1888, at Hartford, Connecticut, he married Annie Eliza
beth Calhoun, daughter of Alexander and Rebecca Knox Calhoun. Mr.
Calhoun founded the large and prosperous Calhoun Printing Company of
Hartford. To their marriage were born the following children : Benjamin
Calhoun Comfort, Dorothea Calhoun Comfort, Alice Calhoun Comfort,
and Newell Calhoun Comfort.
John B. Laing. The state of Michigan is known throughout the
country for her fine school system, and this is in a large measure due
to the work of the united efforts of the county commissioners and superin
tendents. John B. Laing, of Bay City, is one of the most efficient and
successful county commissioners in tbe state. Being a man of long
experience in teaching, thus being fully cognizant of the difficulties to
be overcome, and being, in addition, a man of great tact and personal

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 753
charm his years as county commissioner have been of inestimable bene
fit to the county.
John B. Laing was born in Norfolk county, Ontario, Canada, on the
22nd of June, 1855. His father, John Laing, was a native of Aberdeen,
Scotland. Tbe latter came to Canada in 1832 and lived here until 1878.
He was a farmer and a successful one,, but he was one of those men who
can never see anyone needing help without offering it so he was never
able to save very much. In 1878 he removed to the United States, set
tling in Bay City, Michigan. Here he lived until 1893 when he removed
to Chicago where he lived until his death. He lived to be over one hun
dred years of age and now lies buried in Bay City. He was a member
of the Presbyterian church and in politics belonged to the Republican
party. Being a man of fine intellectual attainments, although largely self
educated, his example was a great inspiration to%his sons to seek and ob
tain an education. John Laing married Miss Sarah Elizabeth Youmans,
who was born in New Brunswick. She died in Bay City at the age of
seventy-two. Thirteen children were born of this marriage, eight of
whom are living. Four died when they were quite young and of those
left five are sons and five are daughters.
John B. Laing passed his childhood, and youth in Canada, receiving
his education in the public schools. He was graduated from the high
school in 1883 and soon after this came to Michigan where he took his
first school. This school was located in Bay county and from this
time until the ist of July,. 1903, he followed the profession of a teacher.
It was upon the latter date that be became county commissioner of schools
of Bay county. He has filled this office continuously ever since and has
done much for the schools of the county. Before taking this office Mr.
Laing served for nine years as a member of the Board of County
Examiners. In addition to his educational work Mr. Laing is a director of the
State Bank of Linwood and is a member of the Board of Commerce of
Bay City. In politics he is a member of the Republican party and is a
very active worker for his party. In the fraternal world he is also
greatly interested/being a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fel
lows, of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and of the Masons.
Mr. Laing was married in Bay City, in 1891, to Miss Jessie Sprague.
Mrs. Laing was born in New York, being a daughter of O. K. Sprague.
One son, John H. Laing, was born to Mr. and Mrs. Laing.
Joseph H. Beckton. A resident of Caro for more than "twenty
years, Joseph H. Beckton has a place gained through long activity in busi
ness affairs. He is head of the People's State Bank of Caro, and is a
business man of progressive ideas and of great public spirit, and during
his residence in Caro has done much to build up that community, and
has never been selfish in any of his relations with the city.
Joseph H. Beckton is a native of Scotland, born in Dumfriesshire,
October 28, 1865. His parents, George and Mary (Stoddard) Beckton
were also born in Dumfries, but a few years after tbe birth of their son
Toseph emigrated to America and settled in Middlesex county, Ontario.
The father was a working man, possessed only modest means, but did his
best to provide for his children. He died at the age of sixty-six years,
and the mother passed away in March, 1911, at the age of seventy-two.
By hard work they had reared and carefully trained a family of eight
children. Both the father and mother now rest side by side in the
cemetery at Strathroy, Ontario. Their eight children are named as fol
lows: John Beckton, who is a farmer near Mason, Michigan; George
Beckton, a merchant in Middlesex county, Ontario; William Beckton, a

754 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
railroad man who lives at Sarnia, Ontario ; James Beckton, connected with
the Richelieu Boat Company at Hamilton, Ontario; Joseph H.; Mary, wife
of Charles Pole of Sarnia, Ontario ; Isabelle, wife of John Large of Port
Huron. Michigan ; Jane, wife of John McMahon of Middlesex, Ontario.
The sixth in this family of children, Joseph H. Beckton, acquired an
education by attending the public schools and the Strathroy Collegiate
Institute, and at the age of seventeen obtained a license and began earn
ing his way as a teacher in Middlesex county. That calling was con
tinued for three years, and in 1886 he moved to Port Huron, Michigan.
The following *ix years were spent as a clerk in the drug store of R.
G. Burwell, and gave him a thorough knowledge in pharmacy in all its
details and in the practical management of drug merchandising. In the
closing period of his employment by Mr. Burwell he had entire charge
of the business. In 1892 Mr. Beckton came to Caro and bought the
drug stock of Jesse McEntyre. That was an old established business
but had in its later years been sadly neglected and neither the stock nor
the good will were of great value when Mr. Beckton took charge. His
energy and enterprise as a merchant enabled him to build up business
rapidly from modest beginnings, and in time he had established his store
as the leading drug house in the county. Mr. Beckton retired from the
drug business in 1913, having sold out his stock in order to engage in
banking. ,
In 1912 Mr. Beckton had been one of the leading men in the organiza
tion of the Peoples' Savings Bank at Caro, with a capital stock of forty
thousand dollars fully paid up. Mr. Beckton is one of the largest stock
holders of this institution. Always a man of progressive spirit, he felt
that the bank should have appropriate quarters, consistent with its busi
ness, and also for the advantage of the community, and therefore took
the lead in the erection of the new stone front modern banking house,
which cost about twenty-five thousand dollars, and which as a distinctive
ornament to the city, was occupied by the bank about the middle of
March, 1914. For the "organization of the bank and the erection of its
handsome quarters Mr. Beckton and Dr. F. P. Bender, vice president of
the bank, deserve the chief credit. Mr. Beckton is cashier of the bank,
and is the active executive in charge of its business.
A Republican in politics, Mr. Beckton has had an important part in
local public affairs, having served as mayor of Caro two years, as super
visor of its townsbip six years, and for many years as a member of the
school board and justice of the peace. In Masonry he has been promi-
ment, and has served years as master of Mt. Moriah Lodge, A. F. & A.
M., has taken the Knights Templar degree, belongs to the Mystic Shrine,
and has taken thirty-two degrees of the Scottish Rite. He is also affiliated
with the Knights of Pythias and has been through all the chairs of the
Odd Fellows Lodge.
On November 8, 1899, at Yale, Michigan, Mr. Beckton married Miss
Jennie Palmer. Mrs. Beckton was born in St. Clair county, Michigan,
a daughter of William Palmer. To their marriage have been born three
children as follows: Jack Palmer Beckton, born at Caro, December 21,
1901, and now a student in the local schools; Frederick Joseph Beckton,
born at Caro, June 11, 1903 ; and Ina Jean Beckton, born in Caro, Novem
ber 29, 1908. Mr. Beckton for all his success and standing owes his at
tainments to individual powers and industry and is a man of pleasing per
sonality, well educated, and bears his honors with a dignity which makes
him one of the most highly respected citizens of Tuscola county.
Lewis J. Weadock was born in Bay City, on the nth of January,
1882, the son of Thomas A. E. Weadock. The latter was born in Ireland,

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 755
being a babe in arms when _ his parents removed to this country. His
father was Lewis Weadock, and his mother was a Miss Cullen before her
marriage. They settled in Ohio,' at St. Mary's. Here, on a farm,
Thomas A. E. Weadock, was reared. He received his education in -the
country schools of that section of the state. Hfe entered the University
of Michigan, taking a course leading to an LL. B. degree, which he
received in 1873. After his graduation he located in Bay City and be
gan the practice of law. He remained in this place until 1896, building
up a splendid practice and taking an active part in many phases of the
life of the city. In 1896 Mr. Weadock removed to Detroit where he
continued to practice law. He is now one of the best known lawyers
of that city and is looked upon as a leader among his fellow members of
the bar.
During his residence in Bay City, Thomas A. E. Weadock, took an
active part in public life. He served as assistant prosecuting attorney
and as prosecuting attorney for several terms and was also mayor of
Bay City from 1882 until 1884. In 1892 he was sent to Congress as rep
resentative from this district, serving until 1896. In the business world
he was also prominent, being one of the organizers of the Commercial
Bank of Bay City and a director of this institution for a number of years.
In politics Mr. Weadock is a member of the Democratic party, and
has always been one of the leaders of this party in the state. ' He is a
member of the Roman Catholic church and in the fraternal world is a
member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians and of the Catholic Mutual
Benefit Association.
Thomas A. E. Weadock married Miss Mary E. Tarsney, of Hills
dale county, Michigan. Mrs. Weadock died in 1889, while she was
visiting jn Toledo, Ohio. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs.
Weadock, six of whom are living. Of these the eldest is Lewis Weadock,
the others being Mary Isabel, Frances Clare, Paul, who is an attorney in
.Detroit, Monica and George", who is -still attending school.
Lewis J. Weadock was brought up in Bay City and educated in his
home state. His early education was received in the parochial school of
St. James, in Bay City. He later attended the high school of St. James,
from which he was graduated in 1899. He entered the University of
Michigan in 1902, receiving his LL. B. degree in 1905. He located in
Bay City after his graduation and has been in continuous practice here
since that time. He is in partnership with James E. Duffy, the firm
being known as Weadock and Duffy, and his practice is an enviable one.
In politics M. Weadock is a member of the Republican party, but
he has never sought or accepted public office. He is a member of the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and in his own profession
belongs to the county, state and American Bar Associations. In religious
matters he is a communicant of the Roman Catholic church.
Mr. Weadock was married in Bay City on the nth of June, 1910,
to Miss Gertrude Greening, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Josephine Green
ing. Mrs. Weadock is a native of the state of Michigan.
Charles B. Morden, M. D. Technical ability and proper concen
tration of energies have given to Dr. Morden a secure vantage-place
as one of the representative physicians and surgeons who are upholding
the dignity and honors of tbe profession in Huron county. He is en
gaged in the successful practice of medicine at Bad Axe, the county
seat, and the character and extent of his professional business indicate
alike his talent and his intrinsic attributes that have inured to his un
equivocal personal popularity. He finds his present field of endeavor
altogether to his liking and he is the valued coadjutor of Dr. Willet

756 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
J. Herrington in the order of the affairs of the Hubbard Memorial
Hospital, an institution that is a credit to Bad Axe and to the state.
Dr. Charles Bowman Morden was born at Belleville, Prince Edward
county, province of Ontario, Canada, on the 15th of April, 1879, and
is a son of John Benson Morden and Hattie M. (Young) Morden, who
likewise were born in Ontario and who came to Michigan in 1883, to
establish their home in the city of Adrian, where they still reside and
where the father is now living virtually retired, after having been one
of the representative merchants of that place, as he had been at Belle
ville, Canada. He is affiliated actively with the Republican party, has
served several terms as a member of the Adrian board of aldermen.
He was a gallant soldier and enlisted officer during the celebrated
Fenian raids in Canada, and he received medals for his bravery and
effective service in this connection. Both he and his wife are earnest
communicants of the established church of England, as represented in
the Protestant Episcopal church in the United States. Of their five
children, one died in infancy; Dr. Charles B., of this review, having
been the second in order of birth. Mary, who was graduated in Adrian
College, is now a successful and popular teacher in that institution;
Maude is the wife of Richard A. Bury, of Detroit, this state ; and Walter
L. remains with his parents in Adrian.
Dr. Morden was about four years of age at the time of the family
removal from Ontario to Michigan, and he was reared to adult age in
the city of Adrian, where he duly profited by the advantages afforded
in the public schools, including the high school. After formulating
definite plans for his future career he was matriculated in the medical
department of the University of Michigan, in which he was graduated
as a member of the class of 1903, and with the degree of Doctor of Medi
cine. Plis initial work in the practice of his profession was achieved
in Huron county, and for the first four years he maintained his resi
dence and headquarters in the village of Pigeon. He then, in 1907,
removed to Bad Axe, the county seat, where he has made an enviable
advancement and gained place as one of the able and representative
physicians and surgeons of this part of the state. He has the suavity
and fitness of gentle breeding and abiding human tolerance and sympathy,
so that he has made of every acquaintance a friend and is one of the
popular men of his community. He holds membership in the American
Medical Association, the Michigan State Medical Society and the Huron
County Medical Society, and he continues a close and avidious student
of his profession, his constant desire being to keep in touch with the
advances made in medical and surgical science. He is associated with
Dr. Herrington in the Hubbard Memorial Hospital, as previously stated,
and he is a member of the Masonic fraternity.
The Doctor was formerly a Republican in his political proclivities,
but he united with the Progressive party at the time of its organization,
incidental to the national campaign of 1912, and now has the distinction
of being chairman of its general or central committee in Huron county.
He is an enthusiastic admirer of Colonel Roosevelt and takes pleasure
in supporting the principles and policies advocated by that great leader
of the Progressive party. He is identified with the Bad Axe Social
Club and Mrs. Morden is an active member of the Ladies' Aid Society
of her church, as well as the Bad Axe Literary Society, besides being
a member of the board of trustees of the pubfic library. The Doctor
is thoroughly en rapport with sports afield and afloat, and his principal
source of recreation is in hunting and fishing, though he is also fond
of travel, in which he gives himself and Mrs. Morden as much in
dulgence as possible. They have an attractive residence in Bad Axe
and a summer home at Crescent Beach, on the shore of Lake Huron.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 757
In 1905 was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Morden to Miss Jessie
Strong, who was born and reared at Adrian, this state, as were also
her parents, Earl_ T. and Marie (Clegg) Strong, still residents of that
city. The only, child of this union is Earl Benson Morden, who was born
at Bad Axe, on the 2d of April, 1913.
Martin and Daniel Cummins have been so identified in their busi
ness careers in Caro that the history of one is the history of the other.
Partners in planing mill operations, as they were_ formerly in the mer
cantile business, they have attained position and success by the honorable
manner in which they have conducted their operations, and the city and
county can produce no citizens of whom it can be more justly proud.
The family was founded in Michigan in 1869, when Daniel and Lucinda
(Kinney) Cummins moved from Newstead, Erie county, New York to
Chessing, Saginaw county, Michigan. While' a resident of Newstead,
Daniel Cummins, the father of the brothers, had endeavored on sev
eral occasions to enlist for service in the Union army, during the Civil
war, but had been rejected on account of physical disability. On his
arrival in Michigan he became active in the manufacture of hoops, and
subsequently took up mercantile pursuits, which he followed at Chessing
for ten years. Wben the family came to Caro he continued in the
same line, and was thus engaged until his death March 5, 1899, when he
was seventy-three years of age, the mother passing away in 1901, when
she was seventy-seven years old. Both. Mr. and Mrs. Cummins 'were
widely and favorably known in Caro, and had the respect and gsteem of
all by reason of their many sterling qualities of mind and heart. Of
their ten children, four are deceased, the others being as follows : Jean-
nette, who is the wife of William Topping, of Ten Strike, Wisconsin :
Katherine, who became the wife of Peter Bush ; Adelbert, who for thirty
years has been associated with the Bay City Railroad Company ; Martin,
of this review ; Rpxie, who is the wife of Perry W. Dick, of Grand Rap
ids, Michigan; and Daniel, of this review.
Martin Cummins, the elder of the brothers, was born July 30, 1859,
at Newstead, Erie county, New York, and there received his early edu
cational training. He was ten years of age when he accompanied his
parents to Michigan,' and for a time attended the public schools of
Chessing, but at the age of eighteen years laid aside his books and turned
his attention to learning the trade Of carpenter, to which he devoted some
years. Developing into a contractor, he associated with his brother,
Daniel, and the partners built up an excellent business through in
dustry, energy and thorough reliability in their every engagement. After
the family moved to Caro the brothers opened a grocery and shoe busi
ness, which they also made a profitable venture by the exercise of hon
orable methods, but in 1910 disposed of their interest therein and turned
their attention to the lumber and planing mill business. At this time
they have a substantial mill and modern sheds of their own construction,
where they carry a complete line of the finest lumber to be secured on
the market, and have over 6,500 square feet of ground in use, with the
most modern machinery and equipment of every kind. They are fully
prepared to furnish building material of all kinds, and in connection
with this enterprise accept contracts to build all kinds of structures, for
which they have been eminently fitted by their past experience. Martin
Cummins is a Republican and a stalwart supporter of his party's prin
ciples and candidates, but has never cared for public office, preferring
to give all of his time to his business operations, although be has al
ways displayed a commendable willingness to assist in the forwarding of

758 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
movements for the public welfare. He and his wife are consistent mem
bers of the Methodist church, and have a comfortable home; where their
numerous friends are always made welcome. Mrs. Cummins takes an
active interest in church work and in the activities of tbe Ladies Aid
Martin Cummins was married at Caro, in November, 1898, to Miss
Flora C. Leisher, who was born at this place, a daughter of Frank Leisher,
and to this union there have been born two children, namely: Bessie
M., who is a student in the Caro- High school, and Winifred Louise, who
is still attending the graded schools.
Daniel Cummins, the younger of the partners, was born March 22,
1864, at Newstead, Erie county, New York, and was a lad of five years
when brought to Michigan. The public schools of Chessing furnished him
with his education, and when he was sixteen years of age he displayed
his industry and ambition by beginning to assist his father in the manu
facture of hoops. He likewise learned the trade of carpenter, and in
this latter connection first entered into partnership with his brother, their
subsequent careers having already been reviewed. Like his brother Mr.
Cummins is a Republican, but also like him', the struggles and doubtful
emoluments of the political arena have held out no attractions for him,
and he is satisfied to remain a good and public-spirited citizen. He has
a nice home, where he finds his greatest pleasure, and dispenses hospital
ity to his numerous friends. Mrs. Cummins is a member of the Pres
byterian church, and is active in religious and charitable work.
Daniel Cummins was married first in 1889 at Caro to Levina Craw,
who was born at Caro, daughter of Farley Craw, a pioneer farmer
of Caro, now deceased, who was for many years postmaster at this
point. Mrs. Cummins died in 1893, and was laid to rest at Caro, having
been the mother of two children : Essie D., of Caro ; and Percy J., now
a resident of Detroit. Mr. Cummins married for his second wife Miss
Lily Clark, a native of Tuscola county, and a daughter of William Clark,
who was a native of Metamora, Michigan. Four children have been born
to this union : Thurber, Hallie, Dora and Alice.
The Cummins brothers are men of untiring energy, vigorous and
active in their business pursuits, and in all respects useful and honored
citizens. In whatever venture they have found themselves, they have
unsparingly given of their best efforts, and their activities have done much
to contribute to the material commercial and industrial importance of the
place of their adoption.
Hugh Woolman. Not only the mark of distinctive personal accom
plishment as one of the world's productive workers stands to the credit
of Hon. Hugh Woolman, who has marked the passing years with worthy
achievement, but he is also able to claim an ancestral history Of special
interest, both as touching the history of Michigan and that of the nation
in a generic way. Mr. Woolman is one of the most honored and in
fluential citizens of Sandusky, the judicial center of Sanilac county; he
is a native of Michigan and a scion of one of the sterling pioneer families
of this commonwealth ; he was the organizer of the Woolman Construc
tion Company, which has completed important dredging contracts in
various states of the Union ; he has shown distinctive administrative abil
ity as a man of affairs ; and be has exemplified the loyalty and progressive-
ness which best represents the true type of th,e American citizen. He has
served as mayor of Sandusky and in many other ways has he aided in
the furtherance of civic and material advancement, his genial and demo
cratic ways and impregnable integrity of purpose having gained and re
tained to him the implicit confidence and esteem of those with whom

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 759
he has come in contact in the various relations of life. By his character
and achievement he has honored the state of his nativity and it is most
consonant that he be given recognition in this history of Michigan.
Mr. Woolman was born in Ross township, Kalamazoo county, Mich
igan, on the 9th of August, 1858, and is a son of Marvin J. and Sarah
Ann (Orr) Woolman, the former of whom was born in the state of
New York and the latter in Ohio. In an ancestral way special interest
attaches to the life of Mrs. Lydia Woolman, grandmother of the sub
ject of this review. This noble and venerable woman, who died in
1907, at the remarkable age of 104 years, was a daughter of Albert and
Lydia Finch. She was the youngest in a family of nine children and was
born in Dutchess county, New York,, on the 10th of April, 1796. Her
father likewise was a native of America, where the family was founded
in the early colonial era, and he served in the war of the Revolution, as
a minuteman in the command of General Washington, two of his sons
likewise having been patriot soldiers of the Continental line, one of the
Revolutionary battles having been fought at a point so near the Finch
home that the mother and younger children, including Mrs. Woolman,
could plainly note the details of the contest. The motber of Mrs. Lydia
Woolman was a representative of one of the fine old Knickerbocker fam
ilies of - New York, the first of the line having come from Amsterdam,
Holland, to become founders of New Amsterdam, New York, the nucleus
from which was evolved our great national metropolis. In 1824 was
solemnized the marriage of Miss Lydia Finch to Herman Woolman, and
they became the parents of seven children, of whom Marvin J., father
of Hugh Woolman of this review, was born in 1826. In the same year
the parents le.it the old Empire state and came to the wilds of the Ter
ritory of Michigan, settlement being made in Macomb county, which
was then very sparsely settled, the Indians being far more in evidence
than white settlers. Civilization as yet held most precarious foothold
in the Territory, and the Woolman family lived up to the full tension
of the early pioneer days, in which were laid, amidst dangers, privations
and hardships, the foundations for the great Woolverine commonwealth
of the present day. Marvin J. was the only one of the children born
before the removal to Michigan, where were born the others — Morgan
J., Martin J., Miles J., Madison J., and one who died in infancy. Mr.
and Mrs. Herman Woolman were thus numbered among the earliest set
tlers of Macomb county, and the devoted wife and mother survived her
husband by many years. Shortly after the removal of the family to what
is now Armada, Macomb county, upon coming from the state of New
York, one of the sons, not named in the foregoing list, was captured by
the Indians, and though vigorous search was instituted, no trace of him
was ever found thereafter by his kinsfolk. Mrs.BLydia Woolman had
the unique distinction of living in thr,ee different centuries and under
the administration of every United States president from Washington
to Roosevelt. In her venerable years she retained to a wonderful ex
tent her mental and physical faculties, and her memories concerning the
early days of Michigan history were graphic, as shown by her many
reminiscences of conversational order. She was undoubtedly the oldest
woman in Michigan at the time of her demise and was one of the few
who had been for many years previously able personally to revert to the
conditions and incidents of the territorial ,epooh in the history of the
state. Here her name and memory should be held in lasting reverence.
Aside from the loss of her little son into the hands of the Indians, Mrs.
Woolman lived to see other tragedy stalk into the family circle, to her
enduring sorrow. Two of her sons, Marvin and Morgan, the former the
father of him to whom this sketch is dedicated, had gone to California

760 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
at the time of the gold excitement and upon their return trip both were
murdered and robbed, at Shell Creek, Nevada, in June, 1865. The
brothers had thirty head of horses and several thousand dollars at the
time when they set forth from Sonoma, California, on their return trip
across the plains. They were murdered by two men whom they had
hired to assist in driving the horses across the desert to Salt Lake City,
and a fifth member of the party was likewise murdered by the desperadoes,
John Webb and Ransom Young, who were apprehended, made full con
fession and were then hanged, in accordance with the provisions of the
vigilantes' law. The third murdered man had been a partner of the
Woolman brothers in their venture from California homeward, and thus
three brave and worthy men sacrificed their lives at the hands of cow
ardly assassins. Mrs. Marvin J. Woolman survived her husband and
passed the closing period of her life in Michigan, where she died at a
venerable age.
Hugh Woolman passed the days of his boyhood in Kalamazoo county,
where he was reared to the discipline of the farm and was a lad of
about seven years at the time of the tragic death of his father, as noted
in the preceding paragraph. His educational advantages were limited
to the district schools of the pioneer days, but his alert mentality has en
abled him to make good this handicap and to hecome a man of broad
information and mature judgment. He worked as a farm hand, for small
wages, until he had attained to the age of twenty-four years, but he so
carefully conserved his meager earnings during the passing years that
in 1882 he effected the purchase of eighty acres of land in Watertown
township, Sanilac county. From the veritable wilderness he reclaimed
this land into a productive farm, and he had during the five years of his
residence on this place full fellowship with arduous toil, with many in
cidental hardships and privations. He exemplified, however, the en
durance, vitality and determination of the staunch pioneer stock of which
he is a scion, and he never flinched at any ordeal or responsibility that
confronted him. He has related that in those days of his early endeav
ors as an independent farmer he frequently hauled corn stalks a dis
tance of forty miles, thus to provide fodder for his horses while utiliz
ing them in the clearing and cultivating of his land. During the later
period of his residence on his farm Mr. Woolman manifested a lively
interest in public affairs of a local order, and his loyalty and liberality
led to his being called to local offices- of trust, including those of town
ship treasurer and township supervisor, of which latter he was the in
cumbent for three terms. He then resigned, to accept the office of drain
commissioner, a position which he retained four years and in which he
gained experience that eventually led him into the field of industrial
enterprise. Within his regime as drain commissioner of Sanilac county,
Mr. Woolman superintended the dredging of Cass river for a distance
of twenty-three miles, and in 1903 he organized the Woolman Construc
tion Company, which is incorporated under the laws of Michigan and
in which his associates were James Smalldon, Henry Balhoff and Gilbert
Smalldon. The company was incorporated with a capital stock of $41,000,
and Mr. Woolman assumed the general management of the business, in
connection with which he has superintended the making of hundreds of
miles of effective dredging. The effective service and honorable policies
of this company gained to it marked prestige and definite success, em
ployment being given to a force of fifty or more men, and large and
important contracts have been handled by the company, in the most di
verse sections of the United States, as well as in Canada. The com
pany operates ten dredging machines of the best modern type, and to the
various details of the business Mr. Woolman continued to give his at-

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 761
tention until the opening of the year 1914, when he retired from mem
bership in the corporation, believing that his protracted and indefatigable
activities in the field of business enterprise justified him in seeking to
give to himself more of leisure and surcease of responsibilities. He is
in the very prime of life, but has accomplished a man's work in the world
and is entitled to the enjoyment of the fruits of his years of earnest ap
plication. He has the spirit of perennial youth, and his genial and
buoyant nature makes him a prime favorite with young folks, the society
of whom he greatly enjoys, the while he finds special satisfaction in mak
ing his beautiful home a oenter of generous hospitality and good cheer.
In addition to his own residence property he is the owner of other well
improved real-estate in Sandusky, and he is a. member of the directorate
of the State Bank of Sandusky.
In politics Mr. Woolman has ever been an ardent supporter of the
cause of the Republican party, and as a liberal and progressive citizen
he has done much to place Sandusky in the front rank among the vari
ous cities of the attractive "Thumb" district of Michigan. He has twice
served as mayor of Sandusky, but in a generic way he has had no desire
for the honors of political office. Mr. Woolman is affiliated with the
lodge, chapter and council bodies of the Masonic fraternity, as is he
also with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Glean
ers. The religious faith of this representative citizen of Sandusky is that
of the Methodist Episcopal church.
In 1882, when initiating his independent career as a farmer, Mr.
Woolman wedded Miss Nettie Lester, who was born in" Macomb county,
this state, a daughter of Mordecai and Sarah (Forshee) Lester, and
she remained a devoted and loved companion and helpmeet to him dur
ing twenty years, at the expiration of which the gracious bonds were
severed by her death, at the age of forty-three years. She was a devout
member of the Methodist Episcopal cburch and was a woman whose
gentle and noble character gained to her the love of all who came within
the sphere of her influence. She is survived by one daughter, Mrs.
Jessie Woolman Allin. In 1907 Mr. Woolman contracted a second mar
riage, Mrs. Susan (Teets) Doane, of Denver, Colorado,, becoming his
wife. She passed to the life eternal in 1912.
Bela Cogshall, M. D. Perhaps no other member of the medical pro
fession in Michigan has done more to advance the bounds of both knowl
edge and practice than Dr. Bela Cogshall of Flint. Dr. Cogshall is one
of the eminent authorities in sanitary science, and has long been a leader
in the public health movement. Dr. Cogshall has practiced medicine since
the years immediately following the Civil war, and it is given to few men
to look back upon so long and valuable a career as his has been.
Dr. Bela Cogshall was born at Groveland, Oakland county, Michigan,!
March 31, 1842. His ancestry is traced back to John Cogshall, the date
of whose arrival and settlement in the American colonies was 1632. His
father, Hon. Bela Cogshall, was born in Schenectady, New York, in 1816.
His occupation was that of farming, but. he filled a large place in public
affairs, and later entered the law. He was one of the early settlers of
Oakland county, Michigan, where he arrived in 1836. He married Susan
J. Hunt, also a native of Schenectady county. Soon after he settled in
Michigan, he took up the study of law, and was admitted to the bar and
began practice at Holly. During his residerice' there, he served as president
of the school board, filled the office of justice of the peace, and spent one
term in the state legislature. He was very proihinent in the Masonic
Order. He took the Knight Templar degrees, March 21, 1854, and held
the highest offices at the gift of the various branches to which he belongs.

762 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
From 1854 to 1856 the senior Cogshall was an instructor of the -Blue
Lodge in Michigan and visited every lodge then in the state excepting one.
His death occurred October 21, 1881, while his wife passed away in
i860. - Dr. Cogshall has spent most of the years of his life in Flint since i860.
He attended the public schools of that city, and was also a student in the
Academy at Clarkston. After his literary education was finished, he
entered the office of Dr. William E. Fenwick at Davisburg, in Oakland
county, and spent two or three years in reading under the direction of that
able practitioner. He was next a student under Dr. M. L. Green of Pon
tiac, and in 1864 entered the medical department of the University of
Michigan. In March, 1866, Dr. Cogshall graduated from the Jefferson
Medical College of Philadelphia. After his graduation he located in the
village of Gaines, where he practiced for eight years, and since then his
home has been in Flint continuously except during the years from 1904
to 1909. That period of time was spent in a large range of activities,
first at Baltimore, Maryland, where he remained for two years, and con
ducted a Sanitarium. He was at Galveston, Texas, one year, removing
then to Dallas, where he held the chair of professor of electro-tberapeutios
in the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Dallas, Texas. From Dallas
he moved to Washington, D. C, and had a sanitarium there for one year.
Dr. Cogshall has long been recogriized as a special authority on diseases
of the eye, and has few equals in the country as an oculist.
His accomplishments and distinctions in the medical world are numer
ous, and it would be difficult for a layman to describe them with appropri
ate justice to the doctor. Dr. Collins Johnson of Grand Rapids is now pre
paring an article for a medical journal, concerning Dr. Cogshall's work in
the profession especially with regard to his notable connections with the
great fight on the white plague. In 1881, a year before the tubercular
germ had been discovered, Dr. Victor C. Vaughan of Ann Arbor, dean
of the University of Michigan, credited Dr. Cogshall with the distinction
of having been the first to advocate the theory of the germ of consumption,
and though others profited by more extensive exploitation as discoverers
of that germ, the consensus of opinion is gradually shifting in favor of
Dr. Cogshall, as the pioneer of this theory. Dr. Cogshall has subsequently
written many articles in medical journals and for the press on the sub
ject of consumption, and in later years has had the satisfaction of seeing
much of his early descriptions and also his theories as to prevention and
cure of the disease become adopted as common practice by the profession
generally. Dr. Cogshall since 1909 has conducted a fine sanitarium known as the
Cogshall Sanitarium at Flint, and this is one of the finest institutions of
the city. The accommodations in the sanitarium are for thirty patients.
All the equipment is modern, and the service is as good as is furnished
in any similar institution in the state. For many years the doctor has
been sanitary editor for the Flint Democrat, and later for the Globe. He
formerly served as a member of the American Health Association and
did much work along lines of public health and sanitation, a broad sphere
of the medical profession which in recent years has become more directly
recognized by the medical fraternity, but Dr. Cogshall's work in that line
was somewhat as a pioneer. He served for several terms as president of
the Flint Academy of Medicine, and is a member of the State Medical
Society and the American Medical Association. He has served as health
officer of Flint, and was county physician for many years. Also he held
the position of secretary and is a member of the United States Examining
Board of Surgeons for the third term.
A Mason of thirty-two degrees, Dr. Cogshall has filled all the offices
in the subordinate lodges, and branches. Locally and also among the

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 763
Methodists of the state, Dr. Cogshall has long been prominent for his
work in connection with the Garland Street Methodist Church. He was
one of the organizers of this society, was long a president of its board of
trustees and for twenty-five years is leader of the church choir. Previous
to 1890 he was editor and publisher of "The Methodist," but after his
removal to Baltimore, the publication was discontinued. Much has been
said in the press concerning the doctor's interesting labors in behalf of
the Garland Street Methodist Church. During his many years as choir
leader, he never accepted pay, and was always among the first to assist
financially, and in otber ways for the continued prosperity and broaden
ing activities of his home church.
Dr. Cogshall has been twice married. On October 17, 1866, Miss
Martha E. Pepper became his wife. Her home was in Davisburg of
Oakland county, and her parents were Robert and Lydia Pepper. The
three sons born of this union all died in infancy. On July 3, 1881, at
Flint, Michigari, Dr. Cogshall married Miss Effie Kenny, a native of this
state and a daughter of Timothy and Charlotte Kenny. The doctor has
no children. For such advantages as are comprehended in a common
schooling, and the gift of a horse and saddle, Dr. .Cogshall is indebted
to his father. Otherwise his career has been one of self-attainment, and
few men have gone further in the chosen line of life than this splendid
physician of Flint.
Richard Pearson. Personal advancement and distinctive success
have characterized the career of Judge Pearson, of Sandusky, who is
now serving his second term as judge of probate for Sanilac county, but
greater than this has been his service to the community in general and to
the aiding and uplifting of his fellow men. His has been in a prac
tical way the faith that makes faithful, and he is today one of the best
known and most highly honored citizens of Sanilac county. He has served
as a member of the Michigan legislature and has held many minor offices
of public trust, and his administration in the probate court has been
maintained on the same high plane that has characterized his labors in all
other official positions. He is instant in good works and kindly deeds
and in this publication is to find due recognition as one of the leading
citizens of Sanilac county.
Judge Pearson was born on a farm in Whitby township, Huron county,
province of Ontario, Canada, October 6, 1853, and is a son of Bartholo
mew and Emily Jane (Hudson) Pearson, the latter of whom was born
in county Wexford, Ireland, and the former in Yorkshire, England. As
a young man, Bartholomew Pearson immigrated to the United States
and in the spring of 1849, when twenty-six years of age, he became a
resident of Huron cotfnty, Ontario. The mother of Judge Pearson emi
grated to Ontario the same year locating at the same place, and there the
young people soon afterward met. Mr. Pearson turned his attention to
farming and after his marriage he continued his residence in Huron
county until December, i860, when he came with his family to Mich
igan and settled in Sanilac county. In Sanilac township be obtained
¦eighty acres of. wild land, and here he reclaimed and improved a pro
ductive farm. He was one of the sterling pioneers of the county and he
continued, to reside on his homestead farm until his death, at the age
of seventy-nine years, his widow survived him and was eighty-two years
of age when she was summoned to the life eternal. Both were devout
members of the United Brethren church and their lives constituted a
distinct tribute to those things that are good and true. Their names
merit enduring place on the roster of the honored pioneers of Sanilac
county. Of their eleven children Judge -Richard Pearson, of this re-

764 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
view, was the firstborn, and concerning the others the following brief
data are consistently entered: Mary is the wife of George Derby, of
Detroit; Francis died at the age of four years; Matilda is the wife of
William Kirk, of Applegate, Sanilac county; Rev. John is a clergyman
of the Baptist church and holds a pastoral charge at Onaway, Presque
Isle county, Michigan ; Lavinia is the wife of Hugh Caldwell, of Ubly,
Huron county; Thomas is a successful mine owner and operator in tbe
Fairbanks district of Alaska, where he was a pioneer, having gone to
that far northland in 1879; Matthew is a contractor in the city of De
troit ; Aaron B. is a merchant at Yakima, Washington ; William is a resi
dent of Nome, Alaska; and Ernest remains on the old homestead place.
as one of the representative farmers of Sanilac county.
Judge Pearson was a boy at the time of the family' removal to the
pioneer farm in Sanilac county, Michigan, and there he early began to
assist in the work of the farm, his educational advantages being those
afforded in the district school, of district No. 2. When but eighteen
years of age he began working in the lumber woods and saw mills of
this part of the state, and to this sturdy and invigorating vocation he
gave his attention for a period of seven years, during which he did not,
like many other similarly engaged, dissipate his earnings, but by econ
omy and frugality he made appreciable savings in a financial, way. At
the expiration of the period mentioned he purchased 120 acres of un
improved land, in Moore township, Sanilac county, and here he reclaimed
a farm from the veritable wilderness, his days being given to arduous
toil and many hardships being endured in an incidental way. He took
unto himself a wife in the year, 1876, and thus he had a devoted and
capable helpmeet when he settled on bis pioneer farm, in 1878. He added
to the area of his landed estate as success attended his labors, and he
remained on his farm for the period of thirty years, the place today giv
ing splendid example of what may be accomplished by energy, ability and
tenacity of purpose.
Judge Pearson soon became one of the most popular and influential
citizens of Moore township, and there he was, at various intervals, called
upon to serve in virtually every township office. In 1881 he was elected
justice of the peace, and of this position he continued the honored and
valued incumbent for twelve years. During two years of this period he
also served as highway commissioner, in which capacity he did effective
work in the construction of good roads in his township. He served two
terms as township treasurer 'and one term as school director of his dis
trict. As a representative of Sanilac county in the lower house of the
state legislature Judge Pearson accomplished much and made a record
that shall ever redound to his credit and honor. He has been a stalwart
of stalwarts in the camp of the Republican party and was a member of
the Republican district committee at the time of his first election to the
legislature, his entire service in which comprised three terms. He was
first elected in 1894, was re-elected in 1896, and his third election took
place in 1898. He was a most active and influential worker in the
deliberations of the house and its committee rooms, especially during the
administration of Governor Pingree and the latter's agitation of various
matters of great importance to the state. The Judge thus labored
zealously for the bringing about of equitable taxation policies and in
the dissolution of the long existing Michigan Central Railroad franchise.
In the session of 1897 he was made chairman of the drainage committee
of the house of representatives, and as such he was most influential in
procuring the enactment of the new drainage law of the state with the
incidental repealing of the old law. In the session of 1899 Judge Pearson
introduced and most ably championed the present inheritance-tax law

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 765
of Michigan, the. law having been declared unconstitutional in 1893, by
decision of the Michigan supreme court. The Judge ably challenged the
points of the court decision and the eventual result was the enactment of
the wise and equitable inheritance-tax law that is now on the statute
books of the state.
In the spring of 1900 Judge Pearson was again demanded for local
official service in his home community, as he was then elected township
supervisor of Moore township, which he ably represented as a progressive
and liberal member of the county board of supervisors during the en
suing seven years. Still further honors then came to- him, as the autumn
of 1908 recorded his election to the responsible office of judge of probate,
to which he was re-elected in the autumn of 1912, at the expiration of
his first term. His administration in this important county office is
giving unqualified satisfaction and his present term, will expire in 191.6.
During the celebrated "free-silver" campaign that attended the nomina
tion of William Jennings Bryan as Democratic candidate fo-r president,
Judge Pearson effectually "stumped" his congressional district and de
livered forceful speeches in opposition to- the financial heresy proposed.
He has held every township office in Moore township, and in his first
election to his present position, in 1908, he received all but twelve of
the votes cast in his township, leading his ticket by more than 2,900 ma
jority in the county. In the election of 1912, notwithstanding the split
in the Republican party, he received 2,700 majority, only 200 less than at
his first election to the office of judge of probate. •
Judge Pearson is affiliated with the lodge, chapter and council bodies
of York Rite Masonry, ,as well as with the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Pie was reared
in the faith of the Brethren church but now affiliates with and supports
the Protestant Episcopal church at Sandusky, of which his wife is a
zealous communicant. He is an earnest supporter of civic movements
that make for general morality and uplift, and this is significantly shown
by the fact that he is now not only president of the Sandusky Young Men's
Christian Association but also chairman of the Sanilac county organization
of this noble body. He is an ardent worker in this cause and gives to it
liberal contributions of both time and money. Mrs. Pearson is equally
zealous-in church and charitable work, is an active member of the Ladies'
Guijd of the parish of her church.
In 1876 was solemnized the marriage of Judge Pearson to Miss Addie
M. Pope, of AuSable, Iosco county. She was born in Oceana county,
this state, and is a daughter of Captain Alfred Pope and Nancy J.
(Brown) Pope, both of whom continued residents of Michigan until
their death, Captain Pope having served many years as captain on ves
sels plying the Great Lakes. Judge and Mrs. Pearson have two children :
Lillian J., who is the wife of Edward E. Wie-mann, of Armada, Macomb
county; and Leroy, who is successfully engaged in the real-estate busi
ness at Port Huron and also captain of the National Guards, Company
C, Third Regiment. He was graduated in the Sandusky high school and
also in the Port Huron Business College.
Joseph J. Leszczynski. A representative capitalist and business man
of Harbor Beach, Huron county, Mr. Leszczynski has marked the pass
ing years with large and worthy achievement, as he has been in the most
significant sense the architect of his own fortunes, and above this he
has ordered his course upon a high plane of integrity and honor, so that
he has never been denied the objective confidence and respect that are
eminently his due. Though he has now relegated to others the detailed
exactions of business he finds ample demands upon his time and atten-

766 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
tion in the supervision of his varied business interests, so that he can
hardly be said to have retired, in the specific significance of the term. He
is one of the large property owners of his home city, has been one of its
foremost merchants, and has made noteworthy contribution to the de
velopment and upbuilding of Harbor Beach, both in a civic and a ma
terial sense. Upright and honorable in all the relations of life, kindly
and considerate, tolerant and unostentatious, he represents the best type
of the American self-made man, and he is one of the well known and
influential citizens of Huron county and of his native state, his parents
having established a home in Michigan fully sixty years ago.
Joseph James Leszczynski was born in Wayne county, Michigan, on
the 16th of February, 1861, and is a son of Anthony and Anna (Skiba)
Leszczynski, both of whom were born and reared in Poland. In the city
of Constantinople, Turkey, was solemnized the marriage of the par
ents, and shortly afterward they set forth for the United States, where
they were assured of better opportunities for advancement through
personal effort. They landed in New York city in 1850, and there An
thony Leszczynski earned a livelihood through bonest and arduous man
ual labor. After passing four years in the national metropolis he came
to Michigan, and he numbered himself among the pioneer settlers of
Springwells township, Wayne county, the greater part of this township
being now within the corporate limits of the city of Detroit. He pur
chased a tract of heavily timbered land, and he endured many hard
ships and privations, as his financial resources were merely nominal, but
he was fortunate in having as his coadjutor his devoted wife, who proved
a veritable helpmeet. His farm now comprises to a large extent the at
tractive village of Oakwood, a suburb of Detroit, and, as a matter of
course, the property is of great value. After devoting eleven years
to agricultural pursuits this sturdy pioneer began to consult ways and
means by which to provide better educational facilities for his children
than were offered in the schools of his township. He accordingly sold
his farm, the major part of which he had reclaimed to cultivation, and
he then removed to Wyandotte, Michigan, where he engaged in the
grocery business and where, in 1876, he sacrificed his life in a fire that
destroyed his store. He was forty-five years of age at the time of his
death and his wife long survived him, having passed the closing period
of her life at Harbor Beach, where she died at the venerable age of
eighty-four years. Both she and her husband were devout communi
cants of the Catholic church, in the faith of which they reared their six
children who attained to years of maturity, two children having died in
infancy. Concerning the other children the following brief data are
given : Sabina, became the wife of Anthony Wieruszwski, who was long
a valued member of the city detective force of Detroit, and she died at
Harbor Beach, in 1890; Alexander S., who was closely associated with
his brother Joseph J., of this review, in the early years of their busi
ness careers, was a resident of Chicago at the time of his death, in 1905,
his life having been marked by worthy achievement; Joseph J. was the
next in order of birth ; John M. is a successful shoe merchant in the city
of Detroit; Peter J. is a representative clothing merchant in the same
city: and Edward A. is an orange-grower at Fort Meyers, Florida.
Joseph J. Leszczynski was afforded the advantage of the public
schools of Wyandotte, Wayne county, until the death of his father, when
circumstances compelled him to become largely dependent upon his own
resources and to assist in providing for other members of the family,
though he was but fifteen years of age at the time. He went to the city
of Detroit, where he became clerk- in a grocery store, having previously
gained considerable experience in his father's store. He remained in

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 767
the Michigan metropolis until 1879, when he removed to Harbor Beach,
Huron county, a place then known as Sand Beach, where he assumed
a clerical position in the mercantile establishment of J. Jenks & Com
pany, with which firm he remained six and one-half years, during the
latter part of which period he was the active manager of the business.
In the meanwhile he had carefully saved his earnings, and he then in
stituted his independent business career by associating himself with his
brothers, Alexander S. and John M., and opening a modest general store.
This new enterprise in Harbor Beach was successful from the beginning
and rapidly expanded in scope and importance, owing to excellent service
and fair and honorable dealings. With the passing of the years the
business grew to be one of the most important of its kind in the thriving
little city, and in 191 1 Mr. Leszczynski, who had in the meanwhile be
come sole owner, incorporated the business and erected for its accom
modation a modern brick building, at a cost of $25,000. This is a fine
structure of two stories and basement, and the entire building is utilized
by the company, each story of the same having an aggregate floor space
of 4,000 square feet, and the original establishment, on the opposite side
of Main street, being used for general storage purposes. In many in
stances Mr. Leszczynski has found it expedient to purchase goods in
car-load lots, and thus it may be seen that a merchandise warehouse is an
absolute requisite, besides which indication is incidentally given of the
great volume of the company's trade. The first floor of the new build
ing has the dry-goods, sboe, men's furnishing and notion departments,
as well as the equally well equipped grocery department. The entire
basement is devoted to the crockery, glass and house furnishing depart
ments ; the second floor is given over to men's and women's clothing and
wall paper. A balcony or mezzanine floor, above the first floor, furnishes
office accommodations and an attractive rest room for ladies, with a
floor space of 800 square feet. The appointments and facilities of the
establishment are in every respect of the best modern order, and the fine
store stands as a monument to the splendid business ability and creative
talent of Mr. Leszczynski, besides which the establishment is a source of
civic pride to the attractive little city in which it is established. Mr.
Lezczynski owns in Harbor Beach nearly an entire city block, improved
with excellent buildings, and he erected also' his present residence, which
is one of the most modern and attractive in the city. The mercantile
business is now conducted under the title of Leszczynski and Company.
Incorporation was effected on the ist of February, 1914, and Mr.
Leszczynski is president of the company, his son, F. Carroll, being sec
retary and treasurer. He who figures as the subject of this sketch is
a director and vice-president of the State Bank of Harbor Beach, is a
silent partner in the well known clothing house of M. J. Moloney & Com
pany, of Detroit; and is senior member of the Leszczynski-Clark Com
pany, conducting a prosperous mercantile business at Palms, Sanilac
county. Mr. Leszczynski has ever held secure place in the confidence and high
regard of the people of Hurori county, and has been emphatically liberal
and public-spirited in his civic attitude. He is a staunch supporter of
the principles of the Democratic party, served ten years as supervisor of
San Beach township, and has been for twelve years a trustee of the local
school district, an office of which he is the valued incumbent at the pres
ent time, and for over twenty years a member of the city council. He
and his family are earnest communicants of the Catholic church, and he
is very actively identified with the Polish National Alliance, which now
claims a membership of 150,000 persons' in the United States. He is
an official of Bad Axe Council of the Knights of Columbus and is af-
Vol. II- 9

768 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
filiated also with the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association and the Inde
pendent Order of Foresters.
Generous and considerate in all the relations of life, Mr. Leszczynski
finds his greatest pleasure and satisfaction in the associations of his fam
ily circle, every relation of which has been ideal. He has been unflagging
in his devotion to his wife and children and it is most grateful to him
that he has been able to give to the latter excellent educational advantages
and many other opportunities that were denied to him in his youth. He
has been a valiant soldier in the world's noble army of productive
workers, and his career offers specific lesson and incentive. As before
stated, he has virtually retired to a large extent from the active direction
of his business interests, and as a lover of nature he finds special pleas
ure in floriculture and in the beautifying of his own properties and his
home city in general. He has wide acquaintanceship in leading business
circles of Detroit, Chicago and eastern cities, and his high reputation
makes his commercial credit virtually unlimited though his policy has
been never to extend the. same beyond most conservative bounds.
On the ioth of February, 1886, in the city of Port Huron, St. Clair
county, St. Stephen's church was the scene of the marriage of Mr.
Leszczynski to Miss Margaret E. Carroll, who was born in the province
of Ontario, Canada, and who is the gracious and popular chatelaine of
her beautiful home. In conclusion is given brief record concerning the
children of Mr. and Mrs. Leszczynski.
F. Carrol, the eldest of the children, is secretary and treasurer of the
company of which his father is president. He was born at Harbor
Beach, on the 3rd of December, 1886. He wedded Miss Anna Belle
Weir, daughter of Thomas Weir, who is a prominent merchant in the
village of Helena, this county. The two cbildren of this union are:
Joseph J., who was born May 23, 1901, and who was named in honor of
his paternal grandfather, and Anna Marie, born May 23, 1914.
Joseph S., the second son, was born at Harbor Beach, June 14, 1890,
and is now a student in the medical department of the University of
Michigan, as a member of the class of 1917. George A., the third son,
was born June 5, 1892, and is a member of the class of 1916 in the en
gineering department of the University of Michigan ; Mary Sabina, who
is bookkeeper and cashier in the mercantile establishment of her father,
was born April 24, 1894, and is a graduate of St. Mary's Academy, at
Monroe, this state. Marguerite Alice, who was born October 16, 1896,
is now a student in the same academy ; and Agnes Leonora, who was born
April 21, 1898; is attending St. Mary's Academy, at Monroe.
William, W. Potter, of Hastings, Michigan, was born in the town
ship of Maple Grove, in the county where he still resides, on August 1,
1869. His early life was spent on the farm. He attended district school
in that township and afterward graduated from the Nashville high school,
attended the Michigan State Normal School and graduated from the law
department of the University of Michigan, by way of completing his col
lege training in preparation for life. Prior to his graduation he had
taught in the rural schools of Barry county, and for three years he was
superintendent of the schools at Harrison, Michigan.
In 1894 Mr. Potter was admitted to the bar, and he commenced the
practice of his profession in Hastings in August, 1895. In November
of the same year he formed a partnership with the late J. Edmund Bar
rell under the firm name of Barrell & Potter, and in August, 1896, be
came associated with Philip T. Colgrove under the name of Colgrove &
Potter, and this association- still continues.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 769
Mr. Potter has been a member of the Board of Education of Hast
ings, Chairman of the Library Commission, City Attorney for several
terms, Prosecuting Attorney of Barry County two terms and State Sena
tor representing the Fifteenth Senatorial District of Michigan.
Politically Mr. Potter has always been a Republican and he has been
Chairman of the Republican City Committee and Chairman of the
Republican County Committee. During political campaigns since 1892
he. has been in the- employ of the County Committee, the State Central
Committee, or of the National Republican Committee as a member of
the speaking force.
He wrote the Historical Sketch of Barry County published in the
Standard Atlas of Barry County, A History of Barry County and the
Law of Interest in Michigan, besides a number of pamphelts on various
subjects. At the present time he is president of the Barry County Pio
neer and Historical Society.
He is president of the local Canoe Club, and for many years was a
director of the Michigan Field Trial Association.
During his residence in Hastings he has been closely identified with
the industrial growth of the city. He is a member of the Knights of
Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and of the Masons,
with Knight Templar affiliations. While he has been active in social,
political, official and business circles, it is to the practice of law that he
has devoted the best energies of the past two decades. He has partici
pated in many important civil and criminal trials; has been, president of
the local Bar Association, and is at present one of the trustees of the
State Bar Association.
In 1894 Mr. Potter married Margaret D., daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Charles J. Richardson, of Harrison. , They have six children, all at
tending the public schools of Hastings, or the University of Michigan.
James A. DeVore, M. D. One of the admirable institutions of the
city of Grand Rapids is the DeVore Hospital & Sanitarium, which is
owned and conducted by Dr. DeVore, and which is essentially modern
and metropolitan in its accommodations and facilities, its advantages
being such that its capacity is taxed the greater part of the time, the
while the proprietor finds that the demands of his general professional
work and those of his private hospital and sanitarium necessitate the
subordination of all other interests and matters with which he has to
do. Dr. DeVore is one of the representative physicians and surgeons
of Michigan, and he has been self-abnegating and indefatigable in the
work of his humane profession, the while special honor is due him for
the enterprise and broad humanitarian spirit which have prompted him
to establish and worthily maintain the fine private institution of which
he is the head and which has proved a most valuable acquisition to the
city in which it is located. The Doctor is a man of specially fine profes
sional attainments, but is free from all that smacks of intellectual intol
erance, so that he has the good will and confidence of his professional con
freres and of the general public. His character, his achievement and his
services are such as to make most consistent his recognition in this his
tory as one of the influential and honored members of the medical fra
ternity in Michigan.
Dr. James A. DeVore was born in New York, on the 21st of May,
1853, and is a son of William and Lucy (Pressey) DeVore, the former
of whom was born in the state of New York, in 1821, and the latter of
whom was a native of Connecticut, where she was born in the year 1819,
their marriage having been solemnized in the old Empire state and both
having passed the closing years of their lives in Michigan, where the

770 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
mother died in 1885 and the father in 1898. William DeVore devoted
virtually his entire active life to the great basic industry of agriculture,
and through the same he achieved definite and wortby success. He
came to Michigan in the pioneer days but later returned to the state of
New York. The attractions of Michigan appealed to him, however,
with such force that he came again to this state, where he purchased a
farm, becoming one of the successful agriculturists and influential citi
zens of his community. He was a staunch Republican, having united
with the party at the time of its organization, and he was affiliated with
the Masonic fraternity, both he and his wife having been consistent and
zealous members of the Baptist church. Of their six children only two
are now living, — Dr. James A., of this sketch, and Lorenzo D., who is a
prosperous farmer of Muskegon county. Another son, Dr. Ransom P.,
was engaged in the active practice of medicine at Lyons, Ionia county,
Michigan, at the time of his death.
Dr. James A. DeVore passed his boyhood days on the homestead farm
of his parents and after duly availing himself of the advantages of the
district schools he continued his studies for a short time in the high
school. He continued to be actively concerned with farm work until
he had attained to the age of sixteen years, and thereafter he gained no
insignificant pedagogic success, through his labors as a teacher in the
public schools. In consonance with a well matured ambition, he entered,
in 1874, the Cincinnati College of Medicine & Surgery, and in this well
ordered Ohio institution he was graduated in 1877, with the degree of
Doctor of Medicine. During the long intervening years he has con
tinued to give close study to the best literature of his profession, both
standard and periodical, and few have a broader and more practical
knowledge of modern methods and agencies employed in the practice
of medicine and surgery. The Doctor served his professional novitiate
at Freeport, Barry county, Michigan, where he soon demonstrated his
power and succeeded in building up a substantial practice. There he
continued his earnest and fruitful labors for a period of ten years, and
his practice grew to be so large as to tax to the utmost his time and his
personal powers of endurance.
In 1887 Dr. DeVore established his residence in the city of Grand
Rapids, and in this broader field he achieved success of unequivocal or
der, his general practice becoming one of extensive and representative
order. To provide more adequately for the care of his many patients
Dr. DeVore determined to establisb a private hospital and sanitarium,
and the outcome of this worthy desire was the founding of the fine in
stitution which bears his name. His initial venture was made in a
modest way, but the institution has grown to be one of the best of its
kind in the state. In 1904 he established in connection with his hospital
a training school for nurses, and this has proved a valuable adjunct, as
it has sent forth able professional nurses to assist in the alleviation of
human suffering and distress. In the DeVore Hospital and Sanitarium
are given treatment to all classes of ailments except those of contagious
type or those that are otherwise objectionable from a sanitary stand
point. The hospital is provided with thirty beds and the institution re
tains constantly the services of two graduate nurses besides nine or
more who are in training. The institution has the best of facilities for
treatment of surgical cases, and Dr. DeVore himself is known as a
specially skillful surgeon, with many delicate and successful minor and
major operations to his credit. He has taken several post-graduate
courses and spares neither time nor effort in keeping abreast of the best
modern thought and methods in the domain of his profession. The
Doctor is identified with the Kent County Medical Society, the Michigan

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 771
State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. His re
ligious faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal church and Mrs. DeVore
and her children are communicants of the Protestant Episcopal church.
The Doctor is affiliated Grand River Lodge, No. 34,- Free & Accepted
Masons, and with Columbian Chapter, No. 132, Royal Arch Masons. In
politics he is independent and gives support to the men and measures
meeting the approval of his judgment, his civic attitude being that of a
broad-minded and public-spirited citizen. He owns the property in
which his hospital is established and also has a well improved farm of
eighty acres, a few miles distant from Grand Rapids.
Of the first marriage of Dr. DeVore the two children are Elwin A.
and Ethelyn A. In .1900 the Doctor we.dded Mrs. Frances Sanborn, of
the province of Ontario, Canada, her two children by her first mar
riage being Hazel L. and Jean E. The two daughters, as well as the
mother, have special musical talent, Mrs. DeVore and Miss Hazel being
fine vocalists and the latter having also, definite skill as a violinist; Miss
Jean E. is now (1914) pursuing, a course in vocal music in a leading
conservatory at Cleveland, Ohio. The family enjoys marked popularity
in the social circles of Grand Rapids, and the attractive home is known
for its generous hospitality.
Byron Albert Litchfield. In naming the men whose activities
in business circles give Pontiac its high standing among the manufactur
ing cities of the country it is found that but few owe their high posi
tions to any adventitious circumstance. It has been the rule, rather than
the exception, that their rise has come about as a result of innate ability,
directed along well-chosen channels, and developed to the highest degree
through constant application and presevering endeavor. At any rate, it
would be incorrect to accredit the success of Byron Albert Litchfield,
president of the Hess-Pontiac Spring and Axle Company and of the
Blomfield Hills Land. Company, to any happy chance. Self-supporting
since he reached the age of seventeen years, he has made his own career,
has grasped opportunities when they have appeared, and when they have
been slow in appearing has created them. His has been a career of con
stant advancement, and a cursory review of its salient points shows that
it is representative of the highest type of American vim and energy.
Mr. Litchfield was born in the little town of Turin, New. York, Oc
tober 15, 1862, the fifth in order of birth of the six children born to
Chauncey B. and Martha (Coates) Litchfield. His parents were also
born in New York, where they spent their lives, the father attaining a
measure of success as a shoemaker. Byron A. Litchfield attended the
public schools of his native place until he was seventeen years of age.
He was of an ambitious nature, and decided that the place of his birth
did not offer any great opportunities for advancement, so finally, acting
on the advice of a cousin, who urged him to "come to a real live coun
try," he left the parental roof and journeyed to Humboldt, Iowa, where
he took up the trade of pairiter. It required but a few years, however-
to convince him that no future awaited him in that line, so that he re
moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, and there, at the age of twenty-one years,
entered upon an apprenticeship at the works pf the Cincinnati Spring
Company, an occupation which proved to be a congenial one. Here he
served as an apprentice for five years, thus becoming a skilled workman,
and it was not long before his employers, noting his skill and steady
habits, gave him an advancement. His promotions continued from time
to time until he became general superintendent of the plant, and he con
tinued in that capacity at Cincinnati and later in Carthage, Ohio, until
1905. In that year the company then known as the Hess Spring and

772 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Axle Company (having changed its name when moving to Carthage,
Ohio), purchased the Vehicle and Implement Spring Company and the
Pontiac Axle Company, separate concerns of Pontiac, and sent Mr.
Litchfield to this city as general manager, the new firm being incorporated
at $140,000. Since Mr. Litchfield's advent, the plant has been enlarged
to three times its original size, and now employs between 300 and 400
skilled employes. This branch of the parent company is known as the
Hess-Pontiac Spring and Axle Company, and is one of nine branches in
various parts of the United States, of The Western Spring and Axle
Company, the others being: Cleveland Axle Manufacturing Company,
Canton, Ohio; The Cleveland-Canton Spring Company, Canton, Ohio;
The Hess Spring and Axle Company, Carthage, Ohio; The Cincinnati
& Hammond Spring Company, Cincinnati, Ohio; Ansted Spring and
Axle Company, Connersville, Indiana; Spears Axle Company, Wheeling,
West Virginia; Champ Spring Company, St. Louis, Missouri; and The
J. B. Armstrong Manufacturing Company, Flint, Michigan. In the be
ginning of its career the firm manufactured springs and axles for horse-
drawn vehicles, but gradually has worked out of this line, and now con
centrates its output entirely upon automobile springs, using high class
alloy steel, known as "Chrome- Vanadium" steel; a metal of special
alloy. In his management of this great enterprise he has shown excel
lent executive ability, and his associates have every confidence in his
judgment, foresight and acumen. He is extensively interested in realties,
being president of the Bloomfield Hills Land Company, which was in
corporated at $20,000, December 31, 1900. J. N. Obrecht is vice-presi
dent of this concern, and F. F. Grimmelman treasurer, and offices are
located in the Crofoot Building, Pontiac.
Mr. Litchfield was married in 1890, at Cincinnati, Ohio, to Miss
Sarah Louise Hess, daughter of the late Sanford Hess, who was a
prominent agriculturist and business man of Oswego, New York. Dur
ing the year 1912 he built for himself and family a modern home on
Franklin Boulevard. He belongs to the Elks, and various other civic
and fraternal organizations, and his acquaintance in social and club life
of Pontiac is extensive. An enthusiastic automobilist, he holds mem
bership in the Wolverine Automobile Club, and frequently takes ex
tended motoring trips to points of interest with Miss Litchfield, having
on several occasions visited his old home in New York. His political
belief is that of the Republican party, although his extensive business
interests have precluded any idea of his entering actively into public life.
George H. Gordon. The ability to build up a business of large pro
portions, and to compete with the strenuous rivalry existing in the modern
commercial world has been the distinguishing characteristic of George H.
Gordon, proprietor of the American Laundry at Flint. Mr. Gordon is
at the head of a business which is the largest concern of its kind in Genesee
county, and extends its service to a large number of towns and villages in
the surrounding territory. Mr. Gordon has long been identified with
business in Flint, where he has had his home since childhood. Born in
Searsburg, New York, October 5, 1861, George H. Gordon was the only
son of Jonathan and Mary H. (Stadge) Gordon. Both parents were born
in New York, came from there to Flint in 1865, and are still living in that
city, the father being retired from business. He was during his active
career well known as a contractor and builder. During the Civil war he
enlisted in Company K, ist New York Veteran Cavalry, seeing a long and
active service, principally^ in scout duty, and was wounded in one of the
battles in whicb he participated. The mother is now sixty-eight years of
age, and she was reared and educated and married in New York State.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 773
George H. Gordon was four years old when the family came to Flint,
grew up in this city, had a common school education, and his first experi
ence in preparation for a business career was in a printing shop. Mr.
Gordon worked on one of the first newspapers published in Flint, and
was with that paper for several years. The name of the paper was the
Globe, its editor was A. L. Aldrich, one of the early newspaper men ofl
Flint. After that he was in the job printing business for himself several
years, but finally, sold out to Weller and Austin, the present proprietors.
He has since given his attention to other lines of business. In 1892 Mr.
Gordon established what is known as the Home Laundry Company. The
Home Laundry under his management grew to be more than a local enter
prise, and after being made a prosperous establishment, was sold by Mr.
Gordon in 1902. He retired from the laundry business temporarily on
account of ill health, but in 1908 returned to the field, and established the
American Laundry. This, like his first venture, was started in a small
way, but with long experience and with high ideals of service. The
American Laundry is now one of the largest plants of its kind in this part
of the state. It bas branches in several smaller villages and cities, and
it collects and distributes its work over all the lines of transportation,
leading in and out of Flint. The equipment is of the most modern type,
and Mr. Gordon is a man who never neglects to install new and progressive
features. There are forty employes, and the business represents a large
investment of capital. For one year in his earlier business career, Mr.
Gordon was engaged in the drug business at Flint.
While he has made a success in business, not all his time has been given
to private affairs, and he has worked for the community. He served as
supervisor from the second ward' for a number of years, and was in the
city council four years. In politics he is a Republican. Fraternally Mr.
Gordon affiliates with the Masonic Order, having taken the Knight Tem
plar degree in the Genessee Valley Commandery No. 15, belongs to the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the subordinate and the Fenton
Canton No. 27 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
At Flint, on October 15, 1884, occurred his marriage with Miss Ida E.
Skinner* Her parents -were Jobn and Minerva Skinner.
Richard J. Loree. The claims of the counties of the "Thumb" dis
trict of eastern Michigan have had no exploiter more enthusiastic and
well fortified than is this well known and highly honored citizen of San
dusky, the judicial center of Sanilac county. By individual ability and
effort he has won ihaterial success worthy of the name, and his sterling
character and broad views have caused him to place true valuations upon
men and things, so that he stands exponent of most loyal and progressive
citizenship, the while his abiding human sympathy and appreciation have
made him resourceful in aiding others to make their way to the goal of
success. Mr. Loree was born at Eramosa, Wellington county, province of On
tario, Canada, on the 27th of October, 1858, and is a son of James and
Lucy (Johnson) Loree. His maternal grandfather was the first white
man to be wedded in Guelph township, Wellington county, and was one
of the pioneers of that section of Ontario, where he established his
residence upon his immigration from England. He became a prosperous
farmer of Wellington county, where he passed the remainder of his life.
The genealogy of the Loree family is traced back to patrician French
Huguenot origin, and the founders of- the American line first settled in
New Jersey. The French ancestors were driven from their native land
to escape the persecutions incidental to the revocation of the Edict of
Nantes, in the first half of the seventeenth century, and all readers of his-

774 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
tory will recall the great French religious persecution which found its
culmination in the bloody orgies of the famous St. Bartholomew's Day,
in 1635. From New Jersey representatives of the Loree family finally
went into Canada, where the name has long stood for all that is worthy
in human thought and endeavor. Both the father and paternal grand
father of Richard J. Loree, of this review, were farmers, and their
residence on the old homestead farm in Wellington county, Ontario, cov
ered a total of seventy-three years. James Loree, father of the subject
of this sketch, died in September, 1908, at the venerable age of eighty-
four years, and his wife passed to the life eternal in February, 1910, at
the age of eighty-two years, so that "in death they were not long divided."
Of their ten children two are deceased : Jonathan continues to represent
the family as a representative farmer of Eramosa township, Wellington
county, as does also his brother, James ; Nancy is the wife of Luke Stout,
a retired farmer of Guelph, Ontario ; Anna is the wife of Roy Van Wie,
of Buffalo, New York; Mary is the wife of Albert L. Stevens, of De
troit, Michigan ; Bessie is the wife of Henry Long, of Crystal City, Texas ;
George C. is a resident of the city of Toronto-, Canada ; and Richard J.,
of this review, was the fourth in order of birth. The parents were de
vout communicants of the Church of England, and their faith was shown
forth in their daily lives, which were replete with kindly thoughts and
kindly deeds.
Richard J. Loree passed his boyhood days under the invigorating dis
cipline of the old home farm on which he was ushered into the world,
and in his native county he duly availed himself of the advantages of
the well ordered public schools. At the age of eighteen years he initiated
his independent career as a representative of the pedagogic profession.
For nearly three years he was a successful and popular teacher in the
schools of Guelpb township, Wellington county, Ontario, and at the
expiration of this service, in 1879, he came to Michigan and numbered
himself among the virtual pioneers of Sanilac county. Here he became
a teacher in the public schools, and he continued as one of the popular.
and able exponents of pedagogy for a full quarter of a century, nearly
all of his labor in this capacity baving been in Sanilac county. He taught
in' Greenleaf township ten years ; was thereafter a teacher at Sheridan,
Huron county, for three years ; the next four years found him similarly
engaged in Elk township, Sanilac county, and his further service as a
teacher was entirely confined to various schools in Sanilac county.
In 1902 Mr. Loree retired from this line of professional endeavor to
accept tbe position of acting county treasurer of Sanilac county, as proxy
for the regular incumbent, James Foster, a resident of the village of
Peck. His high reputation as a man of inflexible integrity and honor
was so well known that when he inquired the amount of bond he would
be required to furnish in assuming this responsible fiscal office, Mr.
Foster informed him that he would have to give no bond, as he, Foster,
had personally furnished this surety. He gave so careful and effective
an administration that in 1906 he was made the regular nominee of the
Republican party for the office of county treasurer. He was elected by
a flattering majority, as was he also at the expiration of his term, in
1908, and his administration thus covered a period of practically eight
consecutive years. In the campaigns incidental to the elections in the
county both in 1902 and 1904 Mr. Loree did not make a single speech or
offer other overture of any kind tp further his success at the polls. - His
election thus afforded the fullest testimony alike to his personal popular
ity and the unqualified confidence reposed in him by the people of Sanilac
county. After the expiration of his second term Mr. Loree was requested
by his successor, James L. Benedict, of Brown City, to continue as the

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 775
virtual executive .head of the office of county treasurer, and this he con
sented to do during the years from 1910 to- 1914 inclusive. -He has shown
special administrative ability and has done much to conserve the prosper
ity of the county, as well as to further its civic and material advancement
through zealous personal effort.
From the time when he became a naturalized citizen of the United
States Mr. Loree has been an uncompromising and effective advocate of
the principles of the Republican party, and he has contributed much to
its success in his home county. He has gained a specially wide acquain
tanceship throughout Sanilac, Huron, Tucola and Lapeer counties, and
has many personal friends in the city of Detroit. As a teacher he was
earnest in the imparting of knowledge to his pupils and also encouraging
them to prepare for lives of honor and usefulness. Many of the suc
cessful and representative citizens of the younger generation in Sanilac
and Huron counties owe to him a lasting gratitude for the kindly admoni
tion and encouragement which he gave to them in the formative period
of their. careers. Mr. Loree is a man of fine intellectual attainments and
has the culture resulting from persistent study and the reading of the
best in literature. His private library is exceptionally large and well
selected, and he finds his maximum pleasure in passing his leisure hours
with his family and in the companionship of his books. He is affiliated
with the Masonic fraternity, in which he has received the Knights Tem
plar degrees; he is also identified with the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows ; and in the Sandusky lodge of the Knights of Pythias he is now
in tenure of the office of keeper of records and seal. Both he and his
wife are earnest communicants of the St. Johns Episcopal church, and
they take active part in the various departments of church activity. Mr.
Loree has ever bad implicit faith in the prosperous future of his home
county, an.d here he is the owner of valuable farm land, as well as of
his attractive residence property in Sandusky. He 'is a stockholder
in the Sandusky Brick & Tile Works, and as a citizen he is always ready
to give co-operation to measures and objects advanced for the general
good of the community.
On the 10th of September, 1902, was solemnized the marriage oi Mr.
Loree to Miss Nellie A. Coon, who was born and reared in Sanilac
county, her father, John H. Coon, a native of Pennsylvania, having been
a pioneer farmer in Fremont township, this county, where he continued
to reside until his death; his widow, whose maiden name was Clara Wix-
son, now resides in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Loree, whose three chil
dren complete the attractive family circle. All of the children were born
at Sandusky, and their names, with respective dates of birth, are here
noted: Richard James, Jr., April 29, 1906; Clara, June 8, 1908; and
John H., March 27, 1910. * »
Lewis Henry Jones. The recent retirement from the presidency of
the Michigan State Normal College at Ypsilanti of Lewis H. Jones
marked the close of an active career of a distinguished educator, whose
work for more than ten years as executive head of the Ypsilanti school
is deserving of more than passing mention in a history of the state.
Lewis Henry Jones was born at Noblesville, Indiana, July 3, 1844,
a son of William and Huldah (Swain) Jones. It was not the custom of
parents in the days of his youth to furnish their children with advantages
as liberal as are enjoyed by the present generation, and so far as the
means necessary for schooling were concerned Mr. Jones supplied rriost
of them through his own efforts. His early education was attained in
the Spiceland Academy of Indiana, and he completed two courses, one
in 1868 and one in 1870, at the Oswego Normal School. He was a per-

776 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
sonal pupil of Professor Agassiz at Harvard during 1870-71. In later
years a number of scholastic honors have been awarded him. DePauw
University gaye him the degree of Master of Arts in 1888, and Wabash
College similarly honored him in 1889. In 191 1 Miami University con
ferred upon him the degree of D. Pd.
His career as an educator continued for more than forty years, be
ginning as a teacher in the Indiana State Normal School during 1871-74.
In 1875 he was an instructor in the Indianapolis high school, and in
the following year became principal of the Indianapolis Normal School,
on affice he held until 1884. From 1884 to 1894 Mr. Jones was superin
tendent of the Indianapolis public schools, and on leaving Indianapolis
became superintendent of the public school system of Cleveland, Ohio.
From that high position in public school work, he was called in 1902
to become president of the Michigan State Normal College at Ypsilanti,
and his duties continued from September, 1902, until the summer of 1912,
when ill health compelled his resignation.
Dr. Jones held a membership in the National Council of Education,
in 1896 was president of the department of superintendence in the
National Educational Association, and in 1909 was honored as presi
dent of the Michigan Schoolmasters' Club. He has also contributed to
text book and educational literature, being author of the Jones Readers,
first published in 1903, and of "Education as Growth" in 191 1. On March
21, 1872, Mr. Jones married Sarah Ellen Good of Indianapolis. Mrs.
Jones died October 5, 1901. Mr. Jones now lives retired at 115 N.
Adams street, Ypsilanti.
Andrew J. Sawyer, Sr. The bench and bar of Michigan had one
of its ablest and most influential members in the late Andrew J. Sawyer
of Ann Arbor. His practice covered a period of half a century. His
home throughout' this time was in Washtenaw county, but his reputation
as a brilliant and forceful advocate extended all over the state, and his
services were employed in some of the most important litigation in state
and federal courts and occasionally he was called as a counsel in trials
outside of Michigan.
Andrew Jackson Sawyer was born at Mottville, Onondaga county,
New York, November 18, 1834. He was nearly seventy-seven years of
age at the time of his death in Ann Arbor, August 18, 191 1. His parents,
Abraham and Polly (Phillips) Sawyer, were natives of New York state
and of old families in that commonwealth. One of the English ancestors
of the late Mr. Sawyer was Sir Thomas Sawyer, at one time attorney
general in England. John Sawyer, grandfather of the late Mr. Sawyer,
was a Baptist clergyman who lost his sight at the age of thirty years
and won a great reputation in New York city and in western New York
state as the "blind preacher." Horace Greeley once paid a fine tribute
to this consecrated minister. Abraham Sawyer, the father, was a black
smith and wagon maker in New York, also a merchant, held different
local offices, and late in life came with his wife to Michigan and spent
his declining years in the home of their son, Andrew J. Abraham died
in Washtenaw county at the age of seventy-two, and his wife at the age
of ninety-two. Their bodies were interred in the cemetery at Chelsea.
Of their seven children three sons besides Andrew J. were- residents of
Michigan at the time of death.
Andrew J. Sawyer was thrown upon his own resources at the a,°-e
of fourteen and won his enviable success through his own efforts. In
his native locality he attended school, and was eleven years of ao-e when
his parents moved to Caton in Steuben county, New York. When seven-

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 777
teen he began teaching, and divided his time between that work and at
tendance at school. At the age of twenty-two he was graduated from
Starkey Seminary in Eddytown, New York, and in 1857 came to Mich
igan and continued teaching until i860. His last work as an educator
was as principal of the Union school at Mason. While there he took
up the study of law under the preceptorship of Orlando M. Barnes and
H. L. Henderson, who were at that time prominent members of the bar
of Ingham county, Mr. Barnes later becoming one of the wealthiest and
most influential citizens of Lansing.
On being admitted to the bar in i860 Mr. Sawyer formed a partner
ship with J. T.- Honey and opened a law office at Chelsea in Washtenaw
county. In 1861 Mr. Honey removed to Dexter, while Mr. Sawyer
continued in practice at Chelsea until 1873, when he sought a broader
field in the city of Ann Arbor and for one year was associated with the
late Judge Lawrence. In 1879 Jerome C. Knowlton joined him in prac
tice under the firm name of Sawyer & Knowlton, a firm which con
tinued for eleven years until Mr. Knowlton accepted a chair in the law
department of the University of Michigan: During that time the court
records show that Messrs. Sawyer & Knowlton were associated with the
leading law cases tried in the courts of the district. In 1899, when Mr.
Sawyer's youngest son, Andrew J., Jr., was graduated from the law de
partment of the university, the fatber and son became associated in prac
tice, and the firm existed until the death of the senior member.
It was as a trial lawyer that the late Mr. Sawyer achieved his best
distinction." Some of his efforts before a jury were regarded as in
comparable, and such was his reputation that he was called- into every
judicial district in the state artd also to adjoining states. Some years
ago he was one of the counsel in the celebrated electric-sugar case, tried
in New York city, and involving several millions of dollars. Mr. Sawyer's
chief opponent in that trial was William Travers Jerome, former dis
trict attorney of New York. A professional tribute to Mr. Sawyer's
ability as a lawyer was in the following words : "He was one of the
learned lawyers of the Michigan bar, having an exact and comprehensive
knowledge of the science of jurisprudence in its various departments
and great facility in the application of this knowledge. His devotion to
his" clients' interests was proverbial, yet he never forgot that he owed
higher allegiance to the majesty of the law and to the true ethics of his
chosen calling. In his practice he gave careful preparation to his every
case and showed painstaking care in the presentation of his cause, giv
ing due prominence to every point, yet never losing sight of that upon
which the decision of the case finally turned."
The late Mr. Sawyer was always active in politics, casting his first
vote for John C. Fremont and remaining a Republican until his death.
He was a member of the Republican committee of Washtenaw county
from 1862 to 1874 and chairman of that committee from 1874 to 1880.
In 1876 he was elected a member of the Michigan house of representa
tives, was re-elected in 1878, and in 1896 was again elected to that office.
He was chairman of the judiciary committee for two terms, and made the
nominating speech fpr Thomas W. Ferry for United States senator in
1877, and for Zachariah H. Chandler in 1879. He was specially inter
ested in constructive legislation, and introduced the bill for the estab
lishment of a horrie for wayward girls at Adrian. He was author of the
law at present governing the drawing of jurors in Michigan and of the
law permitting congenitally deformed children to be sent to the clinics
of the University of Michigan for operation without expense to par
ents. Another law with which he was influentially connected was that
permitting water to be sent to the University for analysis from any dis-

778 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
trict where a contagious disease had broken out. He introduced the
measure which provides for the sending to the university the bodies of
those who have died without friends in evidence and the burial of whom
entails an expense to the public. One point of praise concerning his
legislative record is that during his incumbency of the judiciary commit
tee chairmanship no statute was approved by that committee which after
wards was declared unconstitutional.
It is said that during his many years of practice. at Ann Arbor more
students were prepared in his office than in any other law office in the
state. During his active work as a lawyer he commanded the largest prac
tice in his section of the state. Of his work both as a lawyer and citizen
it has been said of him: "He kept abreast with modern thought and
was interested in the great social, economic and political problems of
the day, while in his profession he displayed that concentration and
ready adaptibility' without which there is no assured success in the prac
tice of law." He had succeeded in making his ability and reputation im
pressive over a large part of the state, and his death brought tributes
of admiration and respect from the leading men of Michigan and also
from men of national prominence.
Mr. Sawyer took his first degrees in Masonry in 1856, and was one
of the organizers of the lodge at Chelsea, serving as its master. He sub
sequently took his memership to Ann Arbor, but never held office in that
lodge. He was also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order
of Elks. His church was the Methodist, of which Mrs. Sawyer, his
widow, is a devoted member. In 1858, during the period 6f his early
manhood, Mr. Sawyer married Miss Lucy Skinner, who was born and
reared in New York state, a daughter of the late Samuel C. and Hulda
(Howell) Skinner. Mrs. Sawyer and three of their five children sur
vive, the latter named : Frederick, Lorenzo and Andrew J., Jr.
Andrew J. Sawyer, Jr. The part taken by Andrew J. Sawyer, Jr.,
in the affairs of Ann Arbor and Washtenaw county has been that of an
able and conscientious lawyer, whose affiliations have always been straight
forward and honorable and iii a public way came into special prominence
a few years ago as prosecuting attorney of the county. While his father,
the late Andrew J. Sawyer, Sr., was one of the distinguished members
of the Michigan bar, whose career as a lawyer for more than half a
century in Washtenaw county has been sketched elsewhere, the junior Mr.
Sawyer has won his success entirely on his own merits and by down
right ability and exceptional powers of initiative and accomplishment.
Andrew Jackson Sawyer, Jr., was born at Ann Arbor, January 18,
1876. His education was acquired, in the public schools, graduating
from the high school in 1895, and as Bachelor of Arts from the Univer
sity of Michigan in 1898. His law studies had been continued along with
literary courses in the university, and in 1899 he was awarded the degree
LL. B. and was president of his class the senior year. On admission to
the bar Mr. Sawyer became associated with his father, and together
they handled a large and important business until the death of the latter,
in 1911. In the fall of 1904, Mr. Sawyer was elected prosecuting attorney of
Washtenaw county by a majority of i,745> and two years later his elec
tion came by an increased, majority. The second election was a special
tribute to his professional ability and personal popularity in the county.
The county was strongly Democratic, and his opponent was one of the
best known Democrats and lawyers of the county, General John P. Kirk.
The following brief comments on his official work deserves repetition:
"He proved a capable officer and is regarded as one of the leading at-

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 779
torneys of the Washtenaw county bar. Before a jury he is a power,
and recently obtained the largest judgment against the Michigan Central
Railroad Company ever secured in a negligence case in the history of
Washtenaw county. Judge Kinne once said to a client of Mr. Sawyer
after the conviction in a murder trial that said client had been defended
'by one of the best attorneys who ever stood before this bar.' "
Mention should also be made of Mr. Sawyer's work as a champion
of the cause of popular education, since it was largely through his in
fluence and efforts that the present compulsory school law was placed
on the -statute books of Michigan.. Politically his relations have always
been in harmony with the Republican party. In his native county and
home city he has friends in all classes, and fraternally is identified with
Masonry, in the Lodge and Chapter and Ann Arbor Commandery of
Knights Templar, and also the Order of the Eastern Star, Other social
relations are with the Loyal Order of Moose, the Benevolent and Pro
tective Order of Elks, the Royal Arcanum, tbe Knights of the Macca
bees, the Knights of Pythias and the Fraternal Order of Eagles. Mr.
Sawyer grew up in a Methodist family and is. a member of the First
Methodist Episcopal church of Ann Arbor. He was united in marriage
to Miss Marie M. Schmid, daughter of the present postmaster of Man
chester. Mr. Sawyer has two children : Irene, born in 1902 ; and Rich
ard Watkins, born in 1905.
William Sparks. In the mind of every Jacksonian the name of
William Sparks at once suggests the proud position which the city has
attained in the field of ' pressed metal work, radiator fans and electric
signals, alike with the inception and the development of this important .
department of manufactures and commerce in Michigan. As secretary,
treasurer and general manager of the Sparks-Withington Company, of
Jackson, he is the directing head of an industry which contributes mate
rially to the importance of this city as a manufacturing center, and in
the capacity of president of the Chamber of Commerce he is actively en
gaged in fostering the community's various business interests, yet not
withstanding the many calls made upon him he has found time and thought
and energy for the public welfare, as well as leisure for the social
amenities of life.
Mr. Sparks was born in Devonshire, England, May 9, 1873, and at
the age of twelve years came to the United States witb his parents.
George E. and Elizabeth (Way) Sparks, who now live at Jackson. Upon
coming to this country the family located on a farm three miles south of
Jackson, then known as the Tbeodore Bennett farm, but now as the
Probert Dairy Farm. George E. Sparks, being a practical farmer, lived
on and managed this property for nineteen years, and at the present
time it is one of the finest tracts in this section of the state. William
Sparks spent his youth much the same as other farmers' sons of his com
munity, and after completing the eighth grade of the country school en
tered tbe Jackson High school, which he attended until the senior year,
following this by a course in Devlin's Business College. He was gradu
ated from this institution at the age of eighteen years, and for about
one and one-half years thereafter clerked in a grocery store. When
twenty years old he embarked in the retail grocery business for himself,
but after five years disposed of his interests and spent two' years in the
employ of the Jackson Bridge Company. In the fall of 1900 he became
one of the organizers and founders of the Sparks-Withington Company,
which is today one of Jacksoii's leading industrial plants, capitalized at
$300,000. Since 1902 he has been secretary, treasurer and general man-

780 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
ager of the firm, P. H. Withington, of Cleveland, Ohio, being president,
and Winthrop Withington, of Jackson, vice president. The- company
manufactures pressed metal products of every variety and for all purposes
and specializes in the manufacture of radiator fans for automobiles, aero
planes, etc. It builds fans for all sorts of motor cars, from the lightest
pleasure car to the heaviest of motor trucks, and its products find a ready
market all over the United States and in foreign countries. Another
specialty is the manufacture of electric signals for both motor cars and
motor boats, and the "Sparton Signal" has been adopted by many of
the standard cars as standard equipment. From the date of its founding
Mr. Sparks has been the directing force of the company, and to him is
due in the greatest ¦ degree- the credit • for the firm's marvelous success.
Mr. Sparks was one of the founders of the Chamber of Commerce, and
in 1914 was elected its president, at which time a local newspaper said
editorially: "The election of William Sparks to tbe presidency -of the
Chamber of Commerce is one which ensures that body an energetic of
ficial, and promises' to gain, that expansion in membership which is one
of the plans for 1914. Mr. Sparks is one of the young manufacturers of
the city whose career proves his possession of traits to which the Cham
ber of Commerce is dedicated. From his early association with the in
stitution of which he is now the managing head there has been a steady
progression in its activities. It is a long step from pressing. ferrules for
agricultural tools to the line of automobile accessories now featuring
the products of the Sparks-Withington Company, and it is all the, more
credit to his initiative that this advance has been regular, and not, by the
accidental success of any one improved process. Through the evolution
of the automobile there has been manifested, the helpful efforts of men
in hundreds, of individual plants, all- giving the benefit of their experience,
gained perhaps in other lines of manufacture, to the production of the
parts which are assembled in that wonderful conveyance. It is from this
interest, coupled with the thoroughness with- which, he has thrown around
all the goods made by his plant, that his entrance into the automobile in
dustry has been so unqualifiedly successful. From the beginning of his
manufacturing experience he has had visions. The light of one success
has been used to discover other avenues; and as opportunities have arisen
they have been grasped and developed. In all his activities he has been
aggressive as well as thorough, and with all his concerns he has shown
good judgment and a level head. Under his direction the Chamber of
Commerce should continue, even surpass, its past record, nurturing pres
ent institutions and securing new ones. He has zeal, energy and abil
ity, clean in all respects, is- fearless and impetuous when a decision is
reached, and his elevation comes at a time when the city can gain much
from a utilization of his personal and business attributes."
Mr. Sparks is a thirty-second degree Mason, a Knight Templar and
a Shriner. He is well known to club life, and holds membership in the
Wolf Lake Boat Club, of which he is commodore, the Meadow Heights
Country Club, the Jackson City Club, the Wolverine Automobile Club of
Detroit, the Fellowcraft Club of that city, and the Society of Automo
bile Engineers of New York City. The Withington Zouaves, of which
he has been captain and commander since its organization, is one of the
best-drilled military organizations in the United States, and at numerous
national functions and celebrations has received most favorable press com
ments for its excellent appearance and its finely executed movements. It
is purely one of Mr. Sparks' creations, as it was he who first conceived
and organized it, and as its commander he has drilled it to the high state
of efficiency which it maintains. He gracefully gave it its name in honor

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 781
of Mr. P. H. Withington, the president' of the Sparks-Withington Com
pany. The Withington Zouaves hold the world's record for wall scaling,
the time being fourteen seconds. At the Hudson-Fulton celebration, the
Jamestown' Exposition and other national functions the company has
won distinction and attracted widespread attention;
On August 24, 1894, Mr. Sparks was married to Miss Tillie J. Peters,
and they have two sons : Harry G, born August 28, 1895, now a student
in the engineering department of the University of Michigan ; and Clifford
M., born in October, 1897.
George NoRthrope Kennedy. In many different sections of Michi
gan, Mr. Kennedy is best known as a minister of the Methodist Episcopal
church. From about 1886 until recently 'he was in the active work of that
denomination and was pastor and member of the larger and more impor
tant congregations. His voice finally- proved incapable of the strain of
continued* ministerial efforts, and since theri Mr. Kennedy has built up
a large insurance agency at Flint, where he had previously served as
pastor of the local Methodist church..
George N. Kennedy was born in Newark, New Jersey, March 25, 1863.
His family has a prominent record. George T. Kennedy, his father, was
born in Ireland, and came to America with two uncles, Samuel and Thomas
Kennedy. Thomas Kennedy later became secretary of state under Presi
dent Millard Fillmore, while Samuel Kennedy was a Presbyterian min
ister. Rev. T. Kennedy, after coming to America, spent all his years in
New Jersey, where he was a successful banker and real estate broker. He
-married Elizabeth Northrope Camp, who was of Norman French descent,
and was born in New Jersey, at Newark. Her family at one time had a
grant of land where the present' city of Newark stands. The original
name was "De Camp," and. before emigrating to America, its- members
possessed titles, and were among the people of distinction and prominence
in Normandy. In America her ancestors took the English side of the
controversy with the colony, and held official rank in the British army.
It was for this reason that their land estates situated in New Jersey were
confiscated by the American government. Mrs. Elizabeth Kennedy died
at Newark, tbe mother of three children : Caroline, who is unmarried and
lives in the old homestead in Newark; A. E. Kennedy, an attorney at law
at Dayton, Ohio ; and George N., who was second in order of birth.
Very liberal advantages were afforded him in his youth, and he is a
graduate with the degree of B. A., from McGill University of Montreal,
Canada, and in 1886 was graduated LL. B. from the law department of
Toronto University. Although qualified for the law he never practiced,
but entered . the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church, and soon
became prominent. He came to Michigan in 1886, and his first charge
was at Gaylord, where he remained three years. * After that he served
churches at Mt. Clemens, Flint, Alpena, Hudson, Tecumseh. A failure
of his vocal powers finally compelled him to give up the ministry, and in '
October, 1912, Mr. Kennedy organized his present business which is
known as the Cooper Agency, general insurance, commercial reporting,
and real estate. The firm in the brief time since its establishment has
become one of the most prosperous in this section of Michigan. At the
present writing articles of incorporation have bee"n filed, with Mr. Kennedy
as president, R. C. Willson as vice president, and E. Cooper Baldwin,
secretary and treasurer. The company's offices are in the Flint P. Smith
Building. Though a loyal Republican, Mr. Kennedy has never taken much interest
in party affairs. He has gone through the Lodge, Chapter, and has
recently taken the Commandery degrees of York Rite Masonry. He is a

782 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
teacher and so far as possible, an active worker in the Methodist church
and Sunday school, and has allied himself with the progressive citizen
ship of Flint, in the Chamber of Commerce.
At Alpena, Michigan, June 25, 1905, Mr. Kennedy married Miss
Edith May Tackabury, who was born at Bay City, a daughter of John B.
and Ada Tackabury, old residents of Michigan. They are the parents of
one daughter, Kathryn Northrope Kennedy, who was born at Hudson,
Michigan, May 2, 1907. Mrs. Kennedy is a member of the Eastern Star,
and very active in religious affairs. Their home is at 918 Detroit Street.
Joseph Adrian Graley. There are many ways in which to express
the prominent relationship of Joseph A. Graley to Pontiac and Oakland
county. He is vice president of the Oakland County Savings Bank, is
one of the leading farmers of the county, owns a large amount of prop
erty and real estate, has been idetified as a stockholder and directing
officer with half a dozen or more of the important corporations which
have given vitality to the business of this section of Micbigan. In point
of success he stands among the leaders in Pontiac, and it is noteworthy
that all his prosperity has been won through a career of self-achievements,
since he began with fewer advantages on the whole than those possessed
by the average young men of his day.
Joseph Adrian Graley was born in Switzerland, January 9, 1845.
His parents were Joseph and Agatha Graley. The family came to Mich
igan and settled in Detroit in 1850, when Joseph A. was five years of
age. The father was a man in humble circumstances, and had to ac
cept any honorable employment in order to support his family. After
one year at Detroit, they moved to Plymouth, which remained the place
of residence for the family until the close of the Civil war. The father
then came to Waterford township, in Oakland county, where he was
engaged in farming, with his son, Joseph, as an active assistant. The
father became an invalid and for several years was incapacitated for
work on the farm. In 1871 the parents moved to Bloomfield township
in Oakland county, where the father died at the age of eighty-two years.
His wife died in 1882. There were three children in the family: Al-
bertine, wife of John McCauley, died suddenly in Pontiac, some years
ago ; Mary is the wife of Leonard Gabel, of Pontiac.
Joseph A. Graley received his education in the district schools of Oak
land county, was reared on a farm, and has made a substantial success
as a manager of the resources of the soil. He still claims residence in
the country, and would probably prefer to have his vocation stated as
that of farmer rather than as banker, or as an official in the larger busi
ness undertakings of his community. He owns and operates a fine farm
in Bloomfield township.
For many years, however, Mr. Graley has evinced a steadfast con
fidence in the growth and development of the city of Pontiac, and has
done his full share in the work of upbuilding in that locality. Many
projects have had his support and have been successful largely through
his enthusiasm and leadership. He was one of the organizers of the
Oakland County Telephone Company, held a large amount of stock, and
served as president and a director for five years. The Oakland County
Savings Bank recognizes him as one of its organizers, and he is now its
active vice president. Mr. Graley organized the first creamery established
in the city of Pontiac, and was its first director. One of the well known
industrial concerns. in former years at Pontiac was the Standard Ve
hicle Company, of which he was a director. In character Mr. Graley is
liberal and broadminded and has a sterling integrity which in all the

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 783
years has never been questioned, and his word anywhere in Oakland
county would pass current as a bond. In religious matters he has given
his support without discrimination to all churches and philantrophies,
and has been ever ready to assist in his financial contribution. He has
had membership in the Grange since 1874, and has been a member of
the Masonic Order since twenty-one,years of age.
Mr. Graley was married to Miss Mattie Cole, a native of Oakland
county and a daughter of Grant and Mary (Keepler) Cole. The Cole
family settled in this part of Michigan in 1832, and its record is that
of the pioneers. The old Cole farm was purchased by Grant Cole dur
ing the early years, he and his wife lived on it until their death, and it is
now owned among his descendants who possess the original parchment
document conveying from the government title to this land. There were
three children born to Mr. Graley and wife : Norton Graley, who lives
in Texarkana, Texas, is engaged in the lumber business ; Lewis Graley
is at home with his patents; and Walter J., Graley is a hotel proprietor in
Toledo, Ohio. Mr. Graley has taken pains to give his sons the best
possible training for their career and furnished them liberal educational
advantages. James R. Bennett. One of Detroit's best known and most popular
railway men was the late James R. Bennett, who for nearly a quarter of
a century was identified with the Grand Trunk Railway, beginning as
a call boy, he won promotion through his fidelity and his proficiency in
the mechanical department, and for a number of years was engineer and
piloted the limited fast Montreal Express on the Grand Trunk, running
between Detroit and Port Huron. Many will recall the terrible acci
dent two days after Christmas in 1907, in which he met his death and
though like many brave railway. men he was summpned while on duty,
his loss was keenly felt not only by the company but among his many
friends in railway circles.
James R. Bennett was born on his father's farm near Woodstock in
Oxford county, Ontario, January 19, 1865, and he was still in the prime
of life at the time of his death. His parents were Thomas and Hannah
(Hutchinson) Bennett, both natives of New York state, /where they mar
ried, and subsequently moved to Ontario, locating near Niagara Falls,
and finally to -a farm in Oxford county. The father died there in 1895,
and his mother is still living.
While growing up on his father's farm in Ontario, James R. Bennett
attended the grade schools, and in 1883, at the age of eighteen, came to
Detroit to seek his fortune. In the same year he found a place with the
Grand Trunk railway as call boy. A little later he was promoted to
fireman, and finally to locomotive engineer, and eventually his service
won him a place as one of the most trusted engineers in tbe employ of
the company. In the memorable wreck on December 27, 1907, he stuck
to his post, applied the air to his engine, but could not stop the train in
time to avert disaster. His death was instantaneous.
Mr. Bennett was a natural mechanic, and in engineer's examinations
always had high rank, and was especially proficient in his knowledge and
handling of the air equipment, having an average rating in that depart
ment at 98 per cent. Personally he was a sunny, even-tempered man,
optimistic, dependable in his work, and never avoided a responsibility.
He enjoyed a large friendship, especially among railway men, and had
many ' associations with the city of Detroit, which was his home for
about twenty-five years.
Mr. Bennett was happily married, had a daughter and son, and was
devoted to his family and home. He was a member of the Baptist
vol. n— 10

784 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
church, and of the Star Council of the Royal Arcanum and also belonged
to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. He was' married March
14, 1893, to Catherine MacPhail, who was born in Bruce county, On
tario, April 12, 1874, daughter of Donald and Isabella (MacFadyn) Mac
Phail. Her father was born on the Island of Tyree, Scotland, and her
mother in Victoria county, Ontario. Her mother died in 1893 at the age
of forty-seven, while her father pasSed away September 13, 1909. Mrs.
Bennett came to Detroit when a girl of fifteen years to make her home
with an aunt. She was married in this city, with which she has many
happy associations. She is a member of the Baptist church. The two
children are : Violet G., who is in the Solvay Hospital training as a pro
fessional nurse ; and Alfred J., a student in the Cass high school.
Edward D. Kinne. Seldom does an individual career compass such
varied and important activities, as that of Judge Edward D. Kinne of
Ann Arbor. His services have given dignity and value to the annals of
the bench and bar of Michigan through a period of nearly half a century.
More than forty years ago he became active in city and county affairs,
and has been honored with nearly all the offices in the gift of his home
community. The service by which he has been most distinguished is as
judge of the circuit court, and his seat on the circuit bench has been
continuous for twenty-seven years. Judge Kinne is also regarded as one
of the most substantial business men of Ann Arbor, has long been presi
dent of the First National Bank and is active head of the Washtenaw
Gas Company.
Judge Kinne, who was graduated from the University of Michigan
fifty years ago and has practiced law at Ann Arbor since 1867, was born
at DeWitt Center near tbe city of Syracuse, Onondaga county, New York,
February 9, 1842, the youngest in a family of two sons and one daughter.
His parents were Julius C. and Rachel C. (Wetherby) Kinne, who spent
their lives in New York state and were of English origin. Julius C.
Kinne, a substantial Onondaga county farmer, was influential in civic
affairs, and represented his county in the state legislature several times.
His death occurred in 1855, and he was survived a number of years by
his wife.
Judge Kinne attended district schools until fifteen years of age, was
prepared for college at Cazenovia Academy, and in i860, having come to
Michigan, entered the literary department of the University of Michigan
and was graduated bachelor of arts in the class of 1864. An opportune
appointment to a clerkship in the treasury department at Washington en
abled him during the next three years to earn a living and at the same
time attend the law department of Columbian University, now the George
Washington University. His life and experience there also brought him
a close knowledge of national affairs at one of the most critical and in
teresting periods of the history of the United States.
Having been graduated in law and admitted to the bar of the District
of Columbia, Judge Kinne soon returned to Michigan and took up prac
tice at Ann Arbor. His subsequent years have been distinguished both by
success as a lawyer and prominence in affairs. His only partnership
during all those years was with the late Hon. Olney Hawkins, but was
dissolved in 1869. In that year Judge Kinne was elected city recorder for
Ann Arbor, and after two terms in 1871 was elected city attorney, filling
that office three consecutive terms, and in 1876 was chosen mayor, and
subsequently re-elected to that office. In 1879 Mr. Kinne became a candi
date and was elected to represent Washtenaw county in the state legisla
ture. For many years his influence has carried great weight in politics
not only locally but throughout the state, and even his political opponents

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 785
have admired the determination which causes him to fight to the last ditch
for a principle or for what he thinks is right.
After this varied service in local affairs and twenty years of active
practice in the law, Judge Kinne in 1887 was nominated by the Repub
licans for the office of circuit judge, and was chosen by a majority of more
than two thousand votes, although the counties of Washtenaw and Mon
roe were at the time decidedly Democratic. When his first term expired
it was largely formality in his re-election, and the people of the district
have again and, again confirmed his judicial administration so that he is
now in his fifth consecutive term. The legal attainments of Judge Kinne
were admirable when first elected to the bench. His record as a judge has
been such as to command the admiration of the bar, the confidence of
litigants and the approval of the public. Judge Kinne has always been a
student, not only of the law but of the sciences and of politics and his
tory, and along with scholarship possesses breadth of vision and depth of
thought. On the bench he has never manifested the slightest tincture of
partisanship. His treatment of the bar, his rulings, his jury charges, all
attest the possession of a judicial temperament. Judge Kinne has not be
trayed any narrowness or any disposition to regard mere technicalities as
being of prime importance, and his quick and accurate comprehension of
legal principles has enabled him to formulate with impartiality and sound
ness all points of equity and justice. Such has been the impression formed
of him by his associates, and of his manner and method it has also been
said : "There is no exhibition of haste or impatience, no appearance of a
desire to be autocratic or to exercise judicial authority as a prerogative and
to a degree that savors of oppression. He is earnest, thoughtful, con
scientious, impressed with the dignity and responsibilities of judicial func
tions, and conveys on the bench the definite impression that he is con
vinced that justice is the one object of courts of law."
judge Kinne is one of the prominent bankers of central Michigan,
and for the past sixteen years bas been president of the First National
Bank of Ann Arbor. For twenty-five years he was president of the
Ann Arbor Gas Company, and wben that company was re-organized in
191 3 under the title of the Washtenaw Gas Company he was made presi
dent of the new corporation, and still holds that office. He is also the
owner of valuable real estate in Ann Arbor. Judge Kinne is identified
'with various social and fraternal organizations, was made a Mason in
Washington, 0. C, before coming to Ann Arbor, and is a Knight Tem
plar in that fraternity. He supports the cause of religion and education,
being a member of St. Andrew's Episcopal church, and for many years
a vestryman. Mr.' Kinne contributes liberally to the churches in general,
and his generosity and effective leadership have been counted upon in
practically every enterprise affecting the welfare of his community. He
is among the first to give in any worthy cause and*the quality of his pub
lic spirit is as noteworthy as his ability on the bench or in the direction
of large business affairs.
In 1867 Judge Kinne married Miss Mary C. Hawkins, daughter of
the late Hon. Olney Hawkins, who for many years was a leader of the
Ann Arbor bar. Mrs. Kinne died in 1882, survived by two children:
Samuel D. and Mary W. Kinne. The son, who was graduated in both
the literary and law departments of the University of Michigan, is now
deceased. The daughter, Mary, was educated in tbe Packard Institute in
New York City, and is now the wife of LeClair Martin, of Cedar Falls,
Iowa. Judge Kinne's second wife was Winifred L. Morse, a graduate of
the Michigan University.
Charles P. Ramoth, M. D. Holding prestige in the ranks of his
profession by reason of superior natural ability, aided by a thorough

786 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
training, wide experience, an acute comprehension of human nature and
broad sympathy, Dr. Charles P. Ramoth is firmly established in the con
fidence of the people of Flint. Although engaged in practice here only
since 1910, he has shown himself such a thorough master of his calling
that he has been able to build up an excellent professional business, while
as a citizen he has demonstrated that he is ever ready to do more than his
share in advancing the public welfare. Doctor Ramoth is a Canadian,
born at Sarnia, Ontario, August 8, 1873, and is a son of Carl and Thecla
(Prooencher) Ramoth.
Carl Ramoth was born in Germany, a member of one of the old and
honored families of the Fatherland, and was there reared to manhood.
On coming to America, he first located in Quebec, Canada, subsequently
came to Michigan, and finally returned to Ontario, where he continued
to be engaged as a tailor during the remaining active years of his life.
He married Thecla Prooencher, also a native of Germany, and they be
came the parents of three children, of whom Charles P. is the youngest.
Doctor Ramoth received good educational advantages in his youth, first
attending the public schools of Windsor, Ontario, subsequently taking
the course in Assumption College, Sandwich, Ontario, and later becom
ing a student in St. Michael's College, Toronto. With this preparation,
he took up the study of medicine in the Detroit College of Medicine, and
in 1900 was graduated with his degree. He began practice at Saginaw,
Micbigan, where he continued successfully for ten years, and in 1910 came
to Flint which city has since been his field of endeavor. He maintains of
fices in his residence at No. 415 South Saginaw street. Doctor Ramath's
success is not the result of any happy chance ; luck has played no part in
his advancement. At the beginning of his career he was compelled to
meet and overcome the same obstacles which arise in the path of every
young practitioner. These, however, succumbed to his constant study,
his indomitable perseverance and the force of his ability, well applied,
and he may today take a pardonable degree of pride in tbe fact that he
owes his present position and prosperity solely to his own industry and
effort. He keeps fully abreast of the rapid strides being made in the
science of medicine by his attendance at clinics and lectures, his perusal
of the leading medical journals and his membership in the various or
ganizations of the profession, and his devotion to his calling is such that-
he finds but little leisure to take vacations. However, being of a genial
and sociable disposition, he enjoys the companionship of his fellows, and
is very popular with the members of the Knights of Pythias and the
Knights of Columbus. Reared in the faith of the Catholic church he has
always been a member thereof. The duties of his practice have precluded
any idea of his entering the field of politics. Doctor Ramoth is unmarried.
Howard Graves Meredith. Present Vice Consul for His Britannic
Majesty at Detroit, Howard Graves Meredith is one of the best known
members of the Canadian colony in Detroit, and for a number of years
has been prominent in business affairs. In spite of the responsibilities
of an active business career, Mr. Meredith has found time for social and
civic life, and his public duties are performed in the same efficient man
ner that has been his characteristic in business.
A native of Ontario, where his boyhood was spent and his early edu
cation acquired, Howard Graves Meredith entered the railroad service in
Canada during manhood. ' It was through the discipline of railroading,
both in Canada and in Detroit, that Mr. Meredith graduated into inde
pendent leadership of affairs. In 1905 he entered the wholesale coal
business as Vice President of the New York Coal Company with entire
charge of the company's business in Detroit and Michigan. That was his

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 787
chief business connection until 1908, when he retired from its active man
agement, but has retained his financial interests. Mr. Meredith is re
garded as one of the most successful coal operators in Michigan. The
company with which he has been identified owns a group of mines in the
Hocking Valley of Ohio, and they were opened and developed largely
through Mr. Meredith's business ability and foresight. Mr. Meredith is
still Vice President of the company.
In 1909 the British government appointed him Vice Consul at Detroit
and this honorary position he has made one of effective service to both
countries. Mr. Meredith has a prominent part in social and club life, with
membership in a number of the best known clubs, including the Detroit,
the Yondotega, the Country and the Racquette Clubs. He also is a mem
ber of the Toronto Shooting Club of Ontario and the Scugog Marsh Shoot
ing Club of Ontario. By his marriage to Miss Helen Newland, of one
pf Detroit's prominent families, Mr. Meredith has one son, Newland
Meredith. Colonel Oscar Francis Lochhead. One of the most distinguished
surviving soldiers and officers of the Civil war in Michigan is Col. Oscar F.
Lochhead of Flint, a city in which he has lived for forty-five years, and
where he occupies a position of peculiar esteem and affection among all
classes of people. Born in Wayne county, Michigan, in Plymouth town
ship, November 28, 1838, Colonel Lochhead is almost as old as the state
of Michigan, and represents one of the pioneer families in the south eastern
section of the state. His parents were Mathew and Miranda (Lyon)
Lochhead. His father was1 born in Glasgow, Scotland, and his mother in
Lima, New York state, near Avon. Mathew Lochhead when a young
single man in the early twenties came to Plymouth, Michigan. A miller by
trade, he worked at farming during his first five years in Michigan, and
then found a place as miller at Plymouth with tbe Hardenburg Milling
Company. He was with that firm until his death in 1864 at the age of sixty
years. In politics he devoted himself actively to the Whig principles, and
later became an equally staunch Republican. He was a Unitarian in
religious faith, and a man of moral probity and of fine character. His wife
was a devout Christian lady, and they reared only two children to ma
turity. The daughter, Mary, became the wife of Willard Roe, of Ply
mouth, and she died some years ago.
Colonel Oscar Francis Lochhead was reared at Plymouth, educated in
the village schools, and for a time attended an old red school house situated
about a mile distant from his father's farm. When a boy of sixteen he
left home to go to Detroit, in which city he found employment as clerk
in the wholesale grocery house of W. H. & J. Craig. After several years
experience there he became clerk in the hardware store of C. P. Woodruff
and Company. His progress towards business success was interrupted by
the outbreak of the war. He was among the early volunteers from the
state of Michigan, and enlisted, in the three months service April 21, 1861,
and on May 10, 1861, in Company H, Second Michigan Infantry for three
years service. He went in as a private, and his first enlistment closed in
1863. On December 31, 1863, he re-enlisted and fought with his command
until the close of the war. He was mustered out and given an honorable
discharge at the Delaney House in Washington on July 28, 1865. His
service had lasted for four years and three months, and going in as a
private he came out as First Lieutenant of Company E, Second Infantry.
At Blam's Cross Roads in Tennessee he was made corporal, in July, 1862,
and was commissioned first lieutenant of Company E on October. 12, 1864.
He was commissioned regimental quartermaster on September 30, 1864.
He participated in nearly all the battles in which the Second Infantry was

788 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
engaged, and his service was both in the great seat of the war in Virginia
and also in the South. His first fight was at Blackburn's Ford in Virginia,
just three days before the first battle of Bull Run. He was at the siege
of Yorktown, at Williamsburg, at Fair Oaks, Glendall, Malvern Hill, at
the second battle of Bull Run, at Chantilly, at Fredricksburg, the siege of
Vicksburg, Jackson, Mississippi, Blue Springs, Tennessee, Loudon, Lenoir
Station, Campbell Station, and at the siege of Knoxville he and bis com
rades lived for nineteen days on three days' rations. He was quarter
master in the battle of the Wilderness, at Spottsylvania, at Cold Harbor,
at Petersburg, at Pegram Farm, at Hatchers Run, Fort Steadman. His
was the first quartermaster's wagon to enter Petersburg after the fall of
that city.
After this long and honorable record as a soldier, Colonel Lochhead
returned to Detroit. One year was spent as a traveling salesman, and in
1867 he came to Flint. For eight years he served as assistant postmaster
under Washington O'Donoughue, and then for ten years was a bookkeeper
in the Citizens National Bank of Flint. For four years Colonel Lochhead
was in the Secretary of State's office at Lansing, and since 1897 has been
in practice as a pension attorney at Flint.
In politics he has been a Republican since casting his first vote in the
gloomy days of the Federal war, and has done much to keep up and main
tain tbe strength of this great political organization. Colpnel Lochhead
organized and was ist lieutenant of the Flint Union Blues, and was the
first officer who ever drilled the company. He became first lieutenant,
then for four years was captain and was finally promoted to major of the
Third Regiment, Michigan State Troops, and' finally was colonel of the
regiment until he resigned in 1882. He has long been prominent in Grand
Army circles, and for two years was commander of Governor Crapo's
Post, G. A. R., and was twice assistant adjutant general for the department
of Michigan, Grand Army of the Republic. Fraternally he is affiliated
with the Knights of Pythias, and the uniform rank of that order, and
attends the Episcopal cburch, of which his wife is a member.
On January 8, 1867, Colonel Lochhead married Mary Reynolds, who
was born: in Flint, a daughter of Almon and Betsey (MacCumber) Rey
nolds. The first child of that union was Dr. Harry B. Lochhead, who
graduated in medicine from the Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia,
and had already began a promising career as a surgeon when death called
him at Pittston, Pennsylvania, October 24, 1910. The second child was
Grace E. Lochhead, who was liberally educated and performed successful
service in the world as a teacher in the Deaf and Dumb Institution of
Jacksonville, Illinois. She died August 23, 1905, at Flint. Colonel Loch
head was devoted to his children, never spared expense in educating them
for their careers, and had the severe misfortune of losing both when just
started in their professions. Both children now rest in Glenwood cemetery
at Flint. For more than forty years Colonel Lochhead has lived in the
third ward of Flint, with his present home at 511 West Second street.
No man in the city has more sincere friends in all the walks of life, and he
has done much to deserve the esteem in which his declining years are
passed. He is cheerful at all times, is a man who never worries, and is
a true and tried gentleman of the old school.
Frank L. Doty, a member of the Pontiac bar since 1909, is promi
nent in affairs of his profession and in the office of prosecuting attorney
of Oakland county is proving himself one of the most efficient and ener
getic officials the citizens of this section have known. Mr. Doty is a
native son of Oakland county, having been born on his father's farm in
Rose township, February 10, 1880, his parents being Pardon H. and
Lora L. (Pratt) Doty.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 789
The Doty family is accounted one of tne oldest and most highly
honored families in Oakland, where both of Mr. Dory's parents have
spent their entire lives. The father, who is the owner of 320 acres of
fine land, all accumulated through his own efforts, has spent his life in
agricultural pursuits, and is now living retired, enjoying the fruits of his
years of strenuous and well-directed labor. He has a pleasant home in
PpntiaC. Mrs. Doty takes an active part in church, charitable work and
women's clubs. They are the parents of two children : Nina E„ who is a
teacher in the public schools of Pontiac ; and Frank L. The father has
always been a Republican in his political views, nd takes a keen and
intelligent interest in all things, pertaining to the welfare of his community.
Frank L. Doty received his early educational training in the district
school in the vicinity of his father's farm in Rose township, following
which he became a student in the Pontiac High school, where he was
graduated with the class of 1901. Pursuing his studies, he entered the
University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, and was graduated from the
literary department of that institution with the degree of Bachelor of
Arts, in 1905. Having decided upon a professional career, he next be
came a student in the law department of the same university, and grad
uated in 1907, almost immediately thereafter being admitted to the bar.
Mr. Doty began his law practice at Durand, where he was associated
with Hon. Byron P. Hicks, and for one and one-half years served as
assistant prosecutor of Shiawassee county, but in March, 1909, seeking
a broader field for the display of his abilities, came to Pontiac. In this
city he has since built up an excellent professional business, and has risen
to a high place in his vocation. He belongs to the Michigan State and
Oakland County Bar Associations. His connection with a number of
complicated cases of jurisprudence, in which he gave evidence of superior
attainments, placed bim favorably before the public, and in the fall of
1912 he was chosen by the people as prosecuting attorney of Oakland
county. In this .capacity he has labored earnestly- and conscientiously,
and the citizens of this section have had no reason to regret of their
choice. As a prosecutor he has shown himself fearless in his attack of
criminals, and his deep and thorough knowledge of the law make him an
opponent to be feared. His political belief is that of the Republican
party, and he is known as One of the wheel-horses of Republicanism in
the county. Fraternally, Mr. Doty is a thirty-second degree Mason and
a Shriner, and a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks. He also hplds membership in the Pontiac
Club, and is well-known in military circles as a second lieutenant in the
Michigan National Guard.
Daniel E. Murray. The average business man, be he energetic and
industrious, is loath to step aside from the path of labor to let pass the
younger generation of workers with their clear-cut hopes and unrealized
ambitions, and to whom life is still a vast and unexplored territory. In
1913, after an honorable business career, in which be met with unquali
fied success, Daniel E. Murray decided to retire from activities, but soon
found the call of the busy marts too strong to be denied, and is now
again found among Detroit's busiest citizens, a builder of promin'ence
and connected with various prosperous enterprises. Mr. Murray is a
.native of Kenockee, St. Clair county, Michigan, born April 23, 1868, a
son of George T. and Bridget (Kelly) Murray, the former a native of-
Tonawanda, New York, -and the latter of Ireland.
Thomas Murray, the paternal grandfather of Daniel E., was born on
Erin's Isle, and was a young man when he emigrated to America, be
coming connected with the construction of the Erie Canal. For a time

,790 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
he resided at Lockport, Tonawanda and other canal towns, but in 1837
came to Michigan and located in St. Clair county, where he was a pio
neer in, the lumber business of the Black River section and operated a
large farm. He became successful in both ventures, and throughout his
life was known as a man of the highest integrity and honorable purpose.
George T. Murray was born at Tonawanda, New York, in 1832, and
came to Michigan with his parents in 1837. He followed farming on
the old Murray homestead in St. Clair county, and after retiring from
active life removed to Detroit, where his death occurred in 1898. The
mother of Mr. Murray died in November, 1892, at the age of forty-eight
years, having had the following children : Thomas, who is a resident 'of
Detroit; Daniel E., of this review; Michael; Patrick J., of Cleveland,
Ohio; and William Joseph, who is deceased.
Daniel E. Murray was reared on the home farm in St. Clair county,
and attended the common schools. He was twenty years of age when
the quiet life of the farm began to pall upon him, and leaving home, he
joined the United States Regular Army. Eight months later his parents
secured his discharge, as he had been a minor, and he then came to De
troit, apprenticed himself to the trade of brick mason, and after com
pleting his apprenticeship began to work at that occupation as a journey
man. For about eight years he was a contracting mason, and then em
barked in the general building business and in dealing in real estate, and
in 1902, with James H. Holden, formed the firm of Holden & Murray,
real estate and building, which continued in business until April 1, 1913.
At that time the partnership was mutually dissolved, Mr. Murray leaving
the firm with the idea of retiring from business life, but during the same
year recognized opportunities that were too enhancing to be dismissed
arid accordingly reentered the activities of trade and commerce and began
building again, his initial enterprise being the erection of an eighteen-
family apartment house. At this time he is again in full swing in the
building line, erecting structures only for sale and not doing ariy con
tracting work. He now has a number of fine properties under way, and
in addition has been otherwise active, being a member of the board of di
rectors of the Candler Radiator Company of Detroit, and also connected
with Demory & Company, whose department store is located at the cor
ner of Woodward and Milwaukee avenues. He is a prominent member
of the Detroit Real Estate Board and of the Board of Commerce. In
tegrity and fair dealing have been pillars in his business life, and these
same qualities have drawn to, him the enduring esteem and confidence
of the people of the community in which he has resided for so many
years. With his family, Mr. Murray attends the Catholic church, and
holds membership in the Catholic Benevolent Society.
Mr. Murray was married to Miss Alice Crawley, who was born in the
city of Detroit, daughter of Thomas Crawley, and she died in 1908, leav
ing six children, as follows : Harold Thomas, George Edwin, Alice Irene,.
Marie Elizabeth, Helen Dorothy and Daniel E, Jr., the last-named de
ceased. Mr. Murray's second marriage was to Miss Clara Lichtenfield, of
Detroit, daughter of Andrew Lichtenfield.
Byron Pardon Hicks. Actively identified with his profession as a
lawyer at Durand for fifteen years, and now engaged in banking, Mr.
Hicks is a lawyer of unusual attainments and education, and established
one of the largest clienteles in Shiawassee County. His law and private
library is regarded as the finest in Durand. For a number of years he
has been closely identified with Republican politics, has served in official
capacity and has done much campaign work. It is not uncommon for
lawyers to have large interests in business affairs, and in October, 191 3,

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 791
Mr. Hicks gave up his practice to devote all his energies to the Shiawas
see County Bank, of which he is a director and assistant cashier.
Representing one of the oldest families in the state of Michigan,
-Byron P. Hicks was born in Tyrone township in Livingston county, No
vember 27, 1873. His parents were Reuben Mason and Jane S. (Feez-
lear) Hicks. Reuben Hicks, a native of White Lake in Oakland county,
where he was born in 1838, was the son of Pardon Hicks, who came to
Michigan in the early twenties, and for many years did a successful busi
ness as a blacksmith and wagon maker along the old Grand River road.
He acquired a large tract of land amounting to a full section in Oakland
county, and on his estate erected a stone schoolhouse. In' that school his
son Reuben was educated, and the Durand lawyer in his early career
taught school for one year in that building. Tbe old structure is still
standing and doing service as a country schoolhouse. Pardon Hicks
married Desire Jayne, of one of the oldest of American families. The
family name was originally Dejayne of French origin, arid during the
Reformation found refuge in England, and later a branch settled on Long
Island in 1640. In England the name was changed to- the form Jayne.
Jotham Jayne, one of the ancestors of B. P. Hicks, fought in the Second
Regiment of the Continental line during the American Revolution.
Jotham married Desire Young, and was given a patent to lands in
Cayuga county, New York, for his services as a soldier in the Revolu
tion. Jotham jayne was born at Cornwall, England, 1754, and his son,
Benjamin Jones Jayne, was born in New York state" and married Anna
Roaks, and of their large family a number are buried at Fenton in
Genesee ¦ county, Michigan. Reuben M. Hicks, father of the Durand
lawyer, was a prominent farmer in Livingston county, where his pos
sessions aggregated several hundred acres of land. His wife died in
1880 at the age of forty-two, and both are interred in the family burial
ground at Fenton. Tbere were seven children, mentioned as follows:-
Delbert Jerome Hicks is deceased. Frank Elmer Hicks lives' at Mance
lona, Michigan. Libbie Lodema is the wife of Frank L. Becker of
Plymouth, Michigan. Fred B. Hicks is manager of the old home farm,
owned by his blind sister, Theda J. Hicks, the old homestead having been
given to her owing to her affliction. Mina D., married Bert M. Stroud,
both of whom are deceased.
Mr. B. P. Hicks was reared in a cultured home and with the environ
ment and advantages which liberally prepared him for a useful career.
On graduating from the Fenton high school he spent five years as a
teacher. One of these years was spent in the old stone schoolbouse built
by his grandfather while the rest of the time was spent in district schools
in Livingston and Oakland counties. In the fall of 1894 Mr. Hicks en
tered the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he was graduated
LL.B. with the class of 1898. He earned his own way through the Uni
versity, and early learned the lessons of independence and self-reliance.
In September, 1898, Mr. Hicks located at Durand, and began what has
been a very successful practice as a lawyer. For one year he was asso
ciated with Hon. Selden Miner, now circuit judge, under the firm name
of Miner & Hicks, with offices both in Owosso and Durand. For four
years, from 1907 to 191 1, Mr. Hicks was prosecuting attorney of Shiawas
see county, and was city attorney of Durand for several terms. Pie is
local attorney for the Grand Trunk Railroad.
Since casting his first vote his activity has been in behalf of the Re
publican interests, and in 1912, he stumped the eighth congressional dis
trict in behalf of the candidacy of Joseph W. Fordney. Mr. Hicks is
well known in Masonic circles, his affiliations being with North Newburg

792 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Lodge No. 161, A. F. & A. M.; Durand Chapter No. 139, R. A. M.;
Corunna Commandery No. 21, K. T. ; the Durand Chapter No. 244, O.
E. S., and with the Mystic Shrine at Saginaw. He is a past master of his
lodge, has served as high priest of the chapter, and as past worthy patron
of the Eastern Star. Mr. Hicks is a warden in the Durand Episcopal
church. On December 24, 1902, he married Miss Lillie M. Rowley, who was
born in Burns township of Shiawassee county, a daughter of Albert and
Franke (Whipple) Rowley. They have no children of their own, but
their home and its advantages have been extended to the rearing and
educating of two adopted children. Mr. Hicks has his residence in
Durand, and he and his wife enjoy their summer outings in a cottage at
Linden on Day's Lake. Mr. Hicks is a man of liberal education and out
side of business his chief hobby is history.
Jay Alvah Campbell. The progress, development and advancement
of any community is largely -dependent upon the exertions of those men
who devote their energies to the exploitation of real estate. Without
their energy, enthusiasm, vim and progressive ideas, no locality can hope
to move out of the rut of mediocrity ; outside capital will not be attracted
to it, and property values will increase but little year by year. With the
advent of an enterprising, experienced man, well versed in the realty busi
ness, comes a grow.th at times remarkable. Many years have passed since
the initial work along this line was done in the older sections of Jack
son, Michigan, but the needs of this growing municipality have made nec
essary a constant expansion of the outlying territory, while a main
tenance of the value of property already built is correspondingly im
portant. Thus it is that the work of the realty dealer is accounted one
of the most important factors in the busy life of the city, and one of
the men whose name has for years been associated with development m
this direction is Jay Alvah Campbell, whose offices are located at No.
308 Carter Building.
Mr. Campbell was born on a farm in Parma township, Jackson county,
Michigan, February 8, 1853. His father, Alvah Campbell, a farmer by
occupation, was born in Monroe county, New York, came to Michigan
in young manhood, settled on a farm in Parma townsbip,' Jackson county,
and here passed the remaining years of his life, dying in 1867 at the age
of fifty-five years. He was a prominent and devoted member of the
Methodist church, and the North Parma church of that faith was erected
on a portion of his farm, he donating the land for the site, and, with an
other man of the neighborhood, furnishing the money with which it
was built. The building, a frame structure, still stands as a monument
to his generosity, and is in constant use. He labored faithfully and in
dustriously and became a prosperous farmer, and finally retired from
active life, passing the last years of his long and useful life in the
village of Parma. After locating in that village, he founded and fathered
the movement which led to, the erection of the First Methodist Episcopal
Church of Parma. He was a hospitable man, his home being headquar
ters for the Methodist clergymen, and it is probable that more ministers
were entertained at his home than at any other in Jackson county. His
farm of 240 acres is still owned by members of the family, although it
has since been divided so that it now forms a part of three separate
farms. Mr. Campbell married Miss Hannah Hemmingway, who was
born in New York and there married, and she survived her husband until
1881, when she passed away at the age of sixty-seven years. There were
three sons born to them: William and Frank, who became well-to-do

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 793
farmers and are now deceased ; and Jay Alvah. It may be said in passing
that no descendant of Alvah Campbell has ever been known to use tobacco
or intoxicants in any form.
Jay Alvah -Campbell was reared on the farm of his birthplace, and
spent his boyhood much in the same manner as .other farmers' sons of
his day and locality, attending the district schools in the winter months
arid assisting his father on the home place during the balance of the
year. Subsequently, he attended Devlin's Business College, of Jackson,
one year, and Albion College two years, thus securing an excellent edu
cation that has since been supplemented by much reading, experience and
close observation of men and affairs. Mr. Campbell has _ resided in
Jackson since reaching the age of twenty-one years,, and during this
entire period has been identified with the real estate business. He has
been very successful in his ventures, and of late years has operated
largely in his own holdings, it being his custom to build new homes and
dispose of them. He owns much valuable real estate, both improved
and Unimproved in Jackson and Jackson county at the present time, and
in all has built fully fifty substantial and attractive homes in this city,
the greater number of which he has sold. He was instrumental in
organizing the Jackson Real Estate Board, was its first president, and
served in that capacity during the first two years of its existence. He
was also one of the eight Jackson men who organized the Jackson Cor
set Company, in 1883. Mr. Campbell has been a member and liberal sup
porter of the First Methodist Episcopal church of Jackson since his
arrival in this city, and for many years has been a member of the board
of trustees, a capacity in which he is acting at the present time. During
the forty years in which he has lived in this city be has assisted in the
building of every church of the Methodist Episcopal ¦ faith erected here.
On September 23, 1874, Mr. Campbell was married to Miss Clara
Sidney Cummings, who died June 4, 1898, leaving an only daughter,
Cleora, who is now the wife of Reginald F. Fennell, of Jackson. Mr.
Campbell's second marriage occurred June 12, 1901, when he was united
with Miss Minnie Simmons, of Kansas City, Missouri, the daughter of
Milton F. Simmons, one of that city's leading business citizens and a
prominent member of the Methodist church. Two- children have been
born to Mr. and Mrs. Campbell, namely: Gladys, born May 24, 1906;
and Jay Alvah, Jr., born February 22, 1913.
William J. Kay, M. D. Since 1904 a physician and surgeon at
Lapeer, Dr. William J. Kay is a native of Canada, born in Belmore,
Ontario, April 5, 1867. He comes Of an old Scotch family, and inherits
his profession, since both his father and grandfather were capable phy
sicians. 'His parents were Dr. John Patterson and Margaret (Mon
teith) Kay. Grandfather Di>. John Kay was a graduate of Glasgow
University in Scotland, was a pioneer physician and one of the first
settlers at Farquhar, Ontario. Dr. John Patterson Kay graduated from
the Eclectic School at Philadelphia and for a trine attended Jefferson
Medical College of- the . same city, and from there served as assistant
surgeon in the Union army during the Civil War with the rank of cap
tain. Subsequently he became a physician at Belmore, Ontario, and
practiced until his untimely death, caused by exposure incident to faith
ful devotion to his professional duties. He died in 1882 at the age, of
forty-five, and his brief life was filled with unselfish and unremitting
toil in bebalf of his fellowmen. His widow moved to Lapeer, and had
her home with her daughter Mrs. Fame Crampton, wife of Congress
man L. C. Crampton, until her death in 191 1 at the age of seventy-three.
Of the eight children of Dr. John P. and Margaret Kay four are now

794 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
living • George A. Kay, a manufacturing pharmacist at Baltimore, Mary
land ; Dr. William J. ; Fred B., a merchant at Lapeer ; and Fame, wife
of Congressman L. C. Crampton. . '
William J. Kay, who was about fifteen years old when his father
died, had to win his education largely through his own efforts. He grad
uated in the literary department of Harrison Collegiate Institute m
Ontario, and later entered the Detroit College of Medicine, graduating
M. D. in 1897. His first seven years were spent at Attica in Lapeer
county, and to secure a more central location and a broader field he
moved' to Lapeer in 1904. His associate for six years was Dr. H. E.
Randall, now a leading physician of Flint. Dr. Kay has a large practice
both as a physician and surgeon and also in consultation work, having
an excellent reputation both in diagnosis and treatment.
Dr. Kay is a member of the Lapeer County and State Medical So
cieties and the American Medical Association, has served as councilor
for the seventh district of the State Medical Society a number of years,
and is active in the public health movement, being now health officer for
Lapeer. He is a member of the State Board of Asylums for the Eastern
Michigan district and a member of the board of trustees for the Pontiac
Hospital at Pontiac. For a number of years he has been resident sur
geon for the Grand Trunk Railroad. Fraternally he affiliates with
Lapeer Lodge No. 54, A. F. and A. M., and with Flint Lodge No. 222,
of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and with the Knights
of Pythias. He and his family belong to the Presbyterian church.
In November, 1889, at Clinton, Ontario, Dr. Kay married Miss Caro
line Gibbings, who was born at Clinton, where her father, John Gibbings,
was a merchant. Both the daughters of Dr. and Mrs. Kay were born at
Clinton: E. Bernice Kay, born in September, 1893, graduated from the
Ypsilanti Normal School, is a talented musician, and a teacher in the
Lapeer public schools ; Elaine Kay, born in April, 1897, has also received
excellent educational advantages. Dr. Kay is a Republican in politics,
and a member of the Lapeer school board. Mrs. Kay takes an active
interest in woman's club work and in the Ladies Aid Society of her
church. John H. Daly. The city of Jackson expressed in unmistakable terms
its appreciation of the life and works of John H. Daly, when death claimed
him on August 14, 191 1, and his name stands forth in the community
where he long maintained his home as one that is worthy of the most
respectful consideration from its citizenship. He was a man among his
fellow men at all times and on all occasions, and his life was one in all
its phases that entitled him to the high regard of those who came within
the circle of his influence. He was a business man, and as such he had
the confidence and good will of his associates. He was a man who was
always to be found active in public life, and in that character he was the
faithful friend of the people. Best of all, he was a family man, and
regardless of what the public has lost in his passing, his death deprived
his family of its head and heart at the same time.
John H. Daly was born in Stratford, Ontario, on June 12, 1852, and
he was the son of Hugh and Mary (Guilgan) Daly, both natives of Ireland,
who took- up their residence in Ontario in young life, and there continued
to spend their remaining days. In 1870 John H. Daly came to Jackson.
He associated himself with the Michigan Central Railroad- for a time and
in October, 1878, engaged in a business venture with James Barrett. The
two continued until the death of Mr. Barrett on March 10, 1908, dissolved
the partnership of years. Some few months later, on December 31st, to
state the case with precision, Mr. Daly sold his interest in the business to

V,4*£

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 795
his son, Frank Daly, and since that time it has been conducted under the
firm name of Daly & Rutherford. The nature of the enterprise founded
by Mr. Daly was that of a tin shop and galvanized iron works, and in the
tbirty years in which he was active in it the plant reached out in many
directions, each year seeing an appreciable increase in its activities, so
that when he retired the business was at the height of its prosperity. Itk
has since been ably handled by his son and his business associate, the son
having been well trained under the tutelage of his father, who was
acknowledged to be one of the most careful and conservative business
men of the city, combining, with his conservatism a degree of progressive-
ness that made for safe and certain progress.
In other lines,. too, was Mr. Daly a man who could not well be spared
to the public. A local paper, in speaking of the passing of Mr. Daly, bas to
say of him: "The death of John H. Daly removes from the business
circles of Jackson one of the city's most conscientious, progressive and
able citizens. During his earlier connection with the city he aided in build
ing up a prosperous business, and since retiring from active connection
with the firm now known as Daly & Rutherford, he had continued to
identify himself with other business enterprises.
"But it has been as a city official that the late Mr. Daly has been of
invaluable service to the city of Jackson. Although serving in other posi
tions of trust, it was as a member of the board of public works that he
did most for Jackson. During his many years of service on that important
board the city has undergone a great change in its methods of doing busi
ness. The system of handling the street work,, the ward work, the con
struction of sidewalks, the handling of the water department, the engineer
ing department — and, in fact, all the business of the city coming under
the control of the board of public works — was thoroughly revolutionized
during his service on that board, and in a large measure due to his ability
and untiring devotion to the city's interests.
"Few men there are in Jackson whose departure would prove a
greater loss to the community than has been that of the popular, loyal,
able and whole-souled John H. Daly."
In a business way, though Mr. Daly had practically retired with his
withdrawal from the plant with which be had so long been connected, he
was still identified with the American Oil Company as its president. He
was something of a f raternalist, having membership in the Jackson Lodge
of Elks, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Catholic Mutual Benefit
Association and the Royal Arcanum.
On October 19, 1875, Mr. Daly was married in Jackson to Miss Mary
Ann Houlihan, then a resident of Jackson, but a native of the village
of Newmanstown, Pennsylvania, where she was born on January 19, 1856.
She came to Jackson, Michigan, when a babe of fif teen months, in com
pany with her father and mother. She was the daughter of James and
Johanna (Hanley) Houlihan, both natives of Ireland, who were married
in the state of Connecticut. Mrs. Daly still survives and occupies the
family residence at 702 East Ganson street, where in a commodious and
conservative dwelling the family took up its abode in the year 1888.
Besides his widow, eight children survived Mr. Daly. They are
Leo, George, Frank, Harold, Mary, Josie, 'Elsie and Catherine. One
other son, Arthur, who was the eldest of the family, died at the
age of twenty-four. Mary is now Sister Mary Rosanna, and is sta
tioned at St. Mary's Convent at Monroe, Michigan, while another daugh
ter, Catherine, is a pupil in the same convent. Since the death of Mr.
Daly two of the sons, Leo and George,' have passed away. Leo was.
thirty-four years of age when he died," and George was thirty-two. Leo,
it should be stated was a twin, his brother Arthur having died at the age,
of twenty-four, prior to the death of the father. Of these children,

796 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Frank, as has already been stated, is carrying on the business enterprise
founded by his father more than thirty years ago, and he is reckoned
among the able young business men of the city.
Andrew L. Moore. One of the best known and most successful
.lawyers of Pontiac is Andrew L. Moore. Nineteen years of active prac
tice in that city have brought him many successes and triumphs from
many hard-fought legal battle grounds, and he is not only an able lawyer
but has important relations with business affairs and has been active in
civic and religious work. He is the type of citizen who began life with
no special advantages, except such as he secured by his own efforts, and
rose from a place among the multitude to the front rank in his learned
profession. While his friends say that Mr. Moore has been the archi
tect of his own fortune, his own modesty is content to say that the world
has been kind to him.
Andrew L. Moore was born in the township of West Bloomfield,
Oakland county, Michigan, October 28, 1870. His parents are Hiram
E. and Ellen E. Moore, his father for many years recognized as one ot
the leading stock farmers in that section of Michigan. On both sides of
the house Mr. Moore's ancestry goes back to early colonial days in
America. On one side his ancestors included General Nathaniel Greene,
one of the ablest military leaders in the Revolutionary war, while in an
other branch are found, some of the Puritans of New England.
Andrew L. Moore spent his early years on a farm, left home at the
age of eighteen, and having qualified for the work of teacher used that
vocation as a stepping stone to his professional career. On, the earnings
of his work in tbe schoolroom he paid his way through college, and in
1894 was graduated from the law department of the Northern Indiana
College at Valparaiso. Mr. Moore on April 15, 1895, began the prac
tice of law at Pontiac, and for a number of years was a member of the
strong and successful firm of attorneys, Baldwin, Jacokes & Moore.
Both Judge Augustus C. Baldwin and Judge James A. Jacokes are now
deceased, and tbeir business has been taken over by the surviving mem
ber of tbe firm. Almost from the beginning Mr. Moore has enjoyed a
practice hardly second to none in Pbntiac, and is regarded as one of the
most successful lawyers and business men in that section. He has in
terests in two local banks, the Oakland County Savings Bank and the
Pontiac Savings Bank, owns a large amount of real estate in the city
and has connections with several commercial companies. He is a di
rector and president of the Pontiac Turning Company, a director of the
Grand View Land Company, and holds the place of director and vice
president in the Pontiac Commercial Association.
A Republican in politics, Mr. Moore has done valuable work as a
speaker in a number of campaigns, but his only important public office
was as a delegate in Michigan's Constitutional Convention in 1907. An
energetic factor in local affairs, he was a member and chairman of the
Charter Commission recently elected by the city of Pontiac to formulate
a new charter, and the adoption of that charter inaugurated in Pontiac
the commission form of government for the municipality. Mr. Moore
is a prominent layman of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in 1912
served as a delegate to the General Conference at Minneapolis. His fra
ternal relations are with the Knights of Pythias and the Odd Fellows.
At Orchard Lake, Michigan, October 9, 1895, Mr. Moore married
Emma M. Hinkley, daughter of Milton and Ada C. Hinkley. Her par
ents were farming people and among the early settlers in Michigan. Mr.
Moore's interests extend beyond the rigid routine of his profession or
of his community, and he has preserved a love of literature, of travel,

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 797
t
and the pursuit of wholesome pastimes. With his wife he recently re
turned from several months' tour through Europe and the countries
bordering the Mediterranean.
/Dr. John G. McGuffin, of Hastings, Michigan, is a native son of
Canada, born in London, Ontario, on April 7, 1874, and he is the fourth
son of Joseph and Catherine (Donaldson) McGuffin, both born in Can
ada. The mother's people were natives of Scotland, but his father's
people were born in Ireland. The father was a farmer by occupation,
and he still lives, while the mother died a few years ago.
John G. McGuffin had his earliest educational training in the com
mon schools of London, Ontario, and when he, had finished the high
school he took up the study of veterinary surgery in the Ontario Vet
erinary College, and graduated in 1894. Afterward he continued studies
in the Detroit College of Medicine, from which he was graduated in
1900, after which he opened an office for general practice in Carlton
Center, Barry county, Michigan. Dr. McGuffin spent his first three years
of medical activity in practice there, when he removed to Hastings, and
he has since continued here, with a pleasing degree of success in his
chosen, profession.
In 1 901 Dr. McGuffin married Miss Anna C. Carruthers, of St.
Thomas, Canada, where she had been reared to young womanhood and
to them one son has been born, — Carroll C. McGuffin.
Dr. McGuffin is a member of the Hastings Academy of Medicine, of
which he is secretary and treasurer, and his fraternal associations are
with Hastings Lodge No. 52, A. F. and A. M. ; the Hastings Knights
of Pythias ; and the I. O. O. F. No. 58, of Hastings.
The doctor has added something to the community in his citizenship,
which is of a praiseworthy order, as well as in his professional attain
ments, and he and his family are beld in the highest esteem in the city.
Edwin D. Cowles is widely known throughout the state of Michi
gan,, for he is a newspaper man by profession. For fifty years of his
life he has been interested in the newspaper business, first as reporter
and then as editor. His many years association with men and affairs,
his analytical mind and close observation, have combined to make him
a power in the editorial circles of the state. Mr. Cowles is now editor
and president of the Bay City Tribune.
The father of Edwin D. Cowles, Horace Cowles was a native of
the state of Connecticut. The ancestral line of the family is traced
to two brothers who came to America from England, in 1632, settling
in New York. Horace Cowles was a successful farmer and removed
to New York in his early life, remaining there until his death. He
married Miss Lydia Cowles, his cousin.
Edwin D. Cowles was born in Wayne county, New York, on the
6th of December, 1843. His father died when he was six months old,
and his mother only lived until he was nine years of age. He was
reared by his grandfather and was early forced into -the world to earn
his own living. He was fifteen years of age when he began to support
himself. Having received a fair education in the district schools of
New York State, he had also acquired a taste for knowledge and the
printed page, so he entered a printing office. This was in 1859, and two
years later he enlisted in the Union army for service in the war with
the Confederacy. He enlisted in the Tenth Regiment of Michigan
Infantry and served four years, becoming Sergeant-Major of the regi
ment. He served under Grant and Halleck in the Corinth campaign,
and later under Rosecrans and Palmer in the Fourteenth Army Corps.

798 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
He was also with General Sherman in the famous march to the sea
through the Carolinas and Georgia.
After the close of the war Mr. Cowles returned to his newspaper
work. He settled in Lapeer, Michigan, and became connected with
the Lapeer Clarion. Later he removed to Flint, Michigan, and became
an employe of the the Wolverine Citizen. He remained here until 1870,
when he removed to Bay City. Here he was engaged- in newspaper
work until 1873, going during this year to Saginaw, Michigan, as city
editor of the Daily Enterprise. In March, 1874, he left the Enterprise
to become editor of the Saginaw Daily Courier. He was very success
ful in his work and did much to raise the standards of journalism in
the state. He was with the Daily Courier until 1889, when it was
merged with the Herald* He became part owner and president of this
consolidation and the paper was under his management until 1903 when
he sold his share. In April, 1904, he purchased a half interest in the
Bay City Tribune, becoming editor and president. He has made the
Tribune a powerful influence in Bay City and the surrounding country,
and is everywhere respected for courage and fidelity with which be
stands for high public ideals.
Mr. Cowles has no business interests outside of his paper, but he
has always taken an active part in politics. He is a member of the
Republican party and is one of the active workers during all cam
paigns, although he has never sought or filled public office. In the
fraternal world he is a member of the Benevolent, Protective Order
of Elks, and of the Maccabees. He is a member of the Grand Army
of the Republic and has never lost his regard for those men in blue
with whom he fought for the honor of the Stars and Stripes. He is a
member of no church but gives of his money and time to all denomina
tions. Mr. Cowles has been twice married. His first marriage took place
in Oakland county, Michigan, in 1865. His wife was Miss Lucy Ran
dall, a daughter of John Randall, of Oakland county. Her father
was one of the old settlers of that region. Mrs. Cowles died in February,
1909, at the age of sixty-four. Three children were born of this mar
riage. Fred G. Cowles, the eldest, is the publisher of the La Crosse
Leader-Press, of La Crosse, Wisconsin. Clarence L. Cowles is an
architect in Saginaw, Michigan, and Charles H. Cowles lives in Ala
bama, near St. Elmo, where he is engaged in farming. Mr. Cowles'
second marriage took place in 1909, on May 30. His wife was Miss
Hattie Kraemer, a daughter of Martin Kraemer, who was one of Mr.
Cowles' comrades during the Civil war. He was of German birth, as
was also Mrs. Cowles' mother, and like Mr. Cowles, he served through
the war. No children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Cowles. Their
home is at 415 Tenth street, and Mr. Cowles may be found in his
office, 715 North Adams street.
George A. Marston. One of the prominent members of the bar
in Bay City, Michigan, is George "A. Marston. Mr. Marston not only
has had splendid educational advantages, but he is also blessed with a
goodly inheritance, for his father was one of the most brilliant and
successful lawyers in the state. Mr. Marston has not yet reached his
prime, yet he has already accomplished much in his profession. Like
his father, he devotes all his time and energy to his work.
Isaac Marston, the father of George A. Marston, was born in Ire
land in 1840. His courage and self reliance were early shown by his
determination to come to America, when he was a lad of twelve years.
It was in 1852 that he came to this country, all alone and utterly ignor-

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 799
ant of the conditions he would- have to face.- He first settled in Michigan,
near Detroit. The ambition of most boys, taken thus from the life of
the Old World and plunged into the rushing. life of the new, takes the
form of a business career, with money as a goal, but not so with this
young Irish lad. He had his heart set on studying law, and by his
unaided efforts, succeeded in Obtaining a grammar school and college
education. He was graduated from the University of Michigan in
1862 and immediately entered upon the practice of his profession. In
1875 he was appointed by Governor Bagley, Judge of the Supreme
Court of the State of Michigan, thus becoming the youngest supreme
judge in the state. He succeeded Judge Christiancy and served in the
office for seven years, being a powerful factor in founding the bar of
the state, and in giving to it the high ideal of service which was his own.
He removed to Detroit upon retiring from the bench and took up the
practice of law in this city. He was one of the most prominent men,
not only in Detroit, but also in the state and for several years served
as Attorney General of the' State of Michigan. In politics he was a
member of the Republican party and in religious affairs he belonged
to the Presbyterian church. Although one of the leaders in the state
he never entered into commercial or industrial affairs, devoting himself
exclusively to his profession; He died in Bay City in 1891, at the
age. of fifty-one. Mr. Marston married Miss Emily Sullivan, the daugh
ter of Adam Sullivan. The Sullivan family had .lived in Michigan
for several generations, coming to Michigan from»New York state, but
they were originally among the first of the Dutch settlers in New Am
sterdam. Mrs.. Marston was born twelve miles from De.troit and is now
living, making her home in Bay City.. Four children were born to Isaac
Marston and his wife, three sons and one daughter.
George A. Marston was the third of his parenfs' children, having
been born at Bay City, Michigan, on the 10th of January, 1873. He was
educated in the public schools of Detroit and Bay City, being a graduate
of the high school of the latter city. He next attended the University
of Michigan, taking the literary course for two years> and then entering
the law school, from which he was graduated in 1896, with the degree
of LL. B.
Mr. Marston began his practice in Detroit where he lived until
1906. At this time he returned to Bay City where he opened an office
and has p'roved one of the most successful lawyers in the city. He
served one year under Fred M. Warner, as Circuit Court Commissioner,
and for the past three years, or rather, since 1910, he has been Referee
in Bankruptcy for the Eastern District, Northern Division, of Michigan.
Mr. Marston is steadily gaining prominence because of his work and
his friends look to see him attain the same high position in the state
which was held by his . father.
In politics Mr. Marston is a member of the Republican party and he
has always taken an active interest in the. affairs of the party in the
state. He is a member of the county and state bar associations, and in
religious matters is a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal church.
He is unmarried.
Charles Wright Hitchcock. The profession of pedagogy' has had
to surrender many of her best members to her sister profession, the law,
and a lawyer' could find no better preparation than in the schoolroom
This -has been the case with Charles Wright Hitchcock, of Bay City,
Michigan. He was well known as an educator before he entered the
legal profession, and the patience, fairness and ability to impart ideas
to others which distinguished his work as a teacher have also given
him an enviable name as a lawyer.
voi. n— 11

800 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Charles W. Hitchcock was born on the 24th of September, 1866,
in Perry county, Ohio. His father, Dr. S. A. Hitchcock, although he
has reached the age of seventy-two years, is in active practice of his
profession. He is a prominent obstetrician of Elida, Ohio, having been
a leading physician in this place for many years. He is a veteran of
the Civil war, having served in the Sixty-second Ohio Regiment, Com
pany "C." He was taken prisoner at Appomatox Court House, in
April, 1865, and remained in the hands of tbe Confederates until Gen
eral Lee surrendered. He served in many of the most important en
gagements of the war, the siege of Petersburg being especially vivid in
his memory. He has always been a member of the Grand Army of the
Republic and is still an active and prominent member of the Ohio or
ganization. For the past eighteen years Dr. Hitchcock has been Pensions
Examiner. He is a member of the Republican party and has always
been very active in politics, having been mayor of Elida, Ohio, for a
number of years. In the fraternal world he is a member of the Inde
pendent Order of Odd Fellows and in religious matters he belongs
to the Methodist church. Dr. Hitchcock married in Ohio, Miss Ellen
Beck, who was also a native of the state. Mrs. Hitchcock died at
the age of thirty-one years, leaving five children.
Charles W. Hitchcock received his education in the public schools
of Ohio, attending school until he was sixteen years of age. He then
left home and came to Bay City, Michigan, this being in 1888. His
first position in his new home was as a bus driver. But being am
bitious, such work could not content him long. Seeing that one could
do little without an education, he set out to acquire one, and succeeded
by his own efforts. His struggles for an education caused him to take
a great interest in the subject, and so active did he become in educational
affairs, that he was appointed a member of the Board of School Exam
iners in 1890. He served in this position for four years and then was
elected County Superintendent of Schools. After one term in the latter
office he took up the study of law. With this purpose in view he went
to the law school at Valparaiso, Indiana, where he studied for some
time. Upon his return to Bay Gity, he was re-elected to the office of
County Superintendent.
After serving two terms in the above office he entered upon the
practice of law. It was in 1900 that he hung out his shingle, and in
1906 he was elected prosecuting attorney. His services as attorney were
highly acceptable to the people as was evidenced by the fact that he
completed bis third consecutive term in January, 1913. Following his
retirement from this office he entered upon a general law practice and
has been very successful. In politics he is a member of the Democratic
party, and has been an active member of this party.
Mr. Hitchcock has always taken an ardent interest in the world of
secret societies. He is a member of the Masons, the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent, Protective Order of Elks, the Order
of Moose, the Foresters, the National League, and he also belongs to
the patriotic society, the Sons of Veterans. In addition to his educa
tional work and his legal practice, Mr. Hitchcock served as secretary
of Bacon, Weiss and Weggell Company for a number of years, and he
was a school teacher for eight years. He is a member of the county
and state bar associations.
Mr. Hitchcock has been twice married. By his first marriage there
were three children, Wright A., Dale and June. Mr. Hitchcock's
second marriage was to Miss Abbie Loeffert, a daughter of Louis
Loeffert, who was one of the old settlers of Bay City. No children
have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hitchcock.

r

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 801
Elmer Kirkby. In point of years of continuous practice, Elmer
Kirkby is one of the older members of the Jackson county bar. Along
with his number of years have come the rewards of success in his pro
fession and many public honors and responsibilities. Mr. Kirkby has
practiced law for a quarter of a century, and is still in the prime of his
strength and resources.
His birth occurred on a farm in Wayne county, Michigan, July 4, 1866.
He is a son of William Kirkby, who was born in England, and late in the
fifties crossed the ocean and settled in Michigan, in which state his remain
ing years were passed. He died in the city of Jackson in 1888 at the age
of sixty-seven. All his active career was devoted to farming, and he was
a man of substantial prosperity, provided well for his family, and lived
honorably in all his relations with the community. He was married in
England to Miss Mary Brown and their two oldest children were born in
that country. Mrs. Kirkby is still living, her home being in Jackson. Of
the children, three sons and one daughter are still living. The brothers of
the attorney are Walter and John D., the former of Jackson and the latter
of California. The daughter is Mrs. Alta M. Sickles, of Jackson.
Elmer Kirkby was reared on a farm, and most of bis boyhood was
spent in Grass Lake township in Jackson county. With the usual associa
tions and environments of a country boy while in public school he aspired
to a professional career, and all his subsequent efforts were bent in that
direction. After attending the Grass Lake high school, he entered the
law department of the University of Michigan, and took his degree of
LL. B. in 1888. Immediately on getting his certificate of admission to
the bar he started practice in Jackson, and has been there ever since.
Mr. Kirkby has long been a leader in the Democratic party in Jackson
county. He was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention in
Chicago in ,1896, where he helped to nominate William J. Bryan the first
time and was also a delegate to the National Convention at Denver,
Colorado, in 1908. For four years he served as chairman of the Jackson
County Democratic Committee. His career of public service began in
1889, when he became assistant prosecuting attorney of Jackson county,
and in 1893 assumed full charge of the office of prosecuting attorney,
serving as such from the first of January in that year to January, 1895.
He was again. elected and served as prosecuting attorney from January,
1897, to January, 1899. Mr. Kirkby represented the fifth ward in the
board of aldermen for orie term. He bas membership in the Jackson
County and Michigan State Bar Association, is -affiliated with the Inde
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, and the Benevo
lent and Protective Order of Elks, and is a member of the Michigan
Center Country Qub.
On October 10, 1889, Mr. Kirkby married Miss Minnie Schenk. Their
three sons are Ray E., Eugene D., and Walter A. *
John H. Patterson. Senior member of the firm of Patterson &
Patterson, lawyers of Pontiac, John H. Patterson is a son of Thomas L.
Patterson, and-a nephew of the late James K. Patterson, who were the
first constitutent members of the firm of Patterson & Patterson at Pon
tiac. As lawyers, the Pattersons have been among the leaders of the
Oakland county bar for many years, and John H. Patterson well upholds
the traditions of the family, and bas done much to advance the repu
tation of the name in the legal profession.
John H. Patterson was born at Holly, Oakland county, Michigan,,
in 1865. His father, Thomas L. Patterson, was born at Clarkston, Mon- .
roe county, New York, March 22, 1833, and was of Scotch-Irish stock.
Grandfather James Patterson was a native of Pennsylvania, and a son
of James Patterson, Sr., who is said to have served as a soldier in the

802 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Revolutionary war. James Patterson, Jr., came to Michigan in 1836,
and in 1839 settled on a farm in Oakland county. He served as a mem
ber of the first state legislature that convened in Lansing, for many
years was justice of the peace, and very prominent in business and local
affairs at Holly. James Patterson married Elizabeth Patton, and Thomas
L. was the last survivor of their nine children. The latter at the age
of ten years, came to the home of his parents in Michigan, attended one
of the early district schools of Oakland county, and in 1855 graduated
from the Brockport Collegiate Institute of New York. He began read
ing law in New York State, and in 1863 was admitted to the Michigan
bar. In 1884 he was elected judge of Probate for Oakland county, a
position which he honored for sixteen years. Early in his practice he
became associated with the late James K. Patterson, a relationship which
was continued until the death of the latter. Thomas L. Patterson in
1865 married Eunice A. Hadley, a native of Oakland county, and a
daughter of John and Eunice Hadley. Her death occurred August 5,
1902. Thomas L. Patterson had three sons: John H., William F. and
Stuart D.
John H. Patterson, from the public schools of Holly entered the high
school at Ann Arbor, and began his studies in the University of Michigan
in 1883, taking both literary and law courses for two years. In 1885 he
became clerk in the probate court at Pontiac, his father being then pro
bate judge. At the same time he continued his law studies under his
father, and Thomas J. Davis, and was admitted on examination before
the circuit court in 1887. He later was admitted to practice before the
federal courts. In 1901 was formed the partnership with his cousin,
Samuel J. Patterson, and for more than twenty-five years Mr. John H.
Patterson has been one of the prominent men in the Oakland Bar. His
early experience under his father in probate matters gave him much suc
cess in the handling of estates, and in that class of practice he has prob
ably had as much if not more than any other lawyer in Oakland county.
The firm represents many of the important industrial and business in
terests of Pontiac, and Mr, Patterson is general counsel for the Pon
tiac, Oxford and Northern Railroad Company, succeeding Judge A. C.
Baldwin, in that position in 1901.
In 1889 Mr. Patterson married Miss Ella Stanton, daughter of L. W.
Stanton, a former sheriff of Oakland county. Mrs/ Patterson was born
in Oxford, Oakland county. They are the parents of three children:
Donald S., Clarence K., and Marion. Mr. Patterson is a Democrat, and
is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, and the Benevolent and Pro
tective Order of Elks, and the Masonic Order.
Dewitt C. Brawn, the present deputy clerk of customs at Bay City,
Michigan, may be accounted one of the successful men of Bay City, not
that he has made a few millions or succeeded in buying more votes
than his opponent and thus seating himself in some one of our law making
bodies, but because, beginning life with practically nothing but a strong
body and clear mind, he has won his present post and kept at the same
time the honor and esteem of all with whom he has come in contact.
Dewitt C. Brawn was born at Port Rowan, Ontario, on the 18th of
December, 1850. He is a son of Peter Brawn, who was a native of
the state of Maine. The latter moved west and during the last ten years
of his life served as a lighthouse keeper for the United States. He died
in 1873 at the age of sixty-three. Peter Brawn married Julia K. Tobin,
who was also a native of Maine. She died in 1889 at the age of seventy-
three. After her husband's death she took up his work and for ten
years served as keeper of the lighthouse at the mouth of the North

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 803
Saginaw river. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Brawn, Dewitt
¦ C. Brawn being the youngest. The only other living members are Mrs.
George Durfee and Mrs. Cooper.
Dewitt C. Brawn received his education in the public schools of Bay
City, being graduated from the same at the age of eighteen. He re
mained at home until he reached the age of twenty-one, assisting his
mother in the care of the lighthouse. He next engaged in the River
Service and was for eight years thus engaged. He looked after the first
range lights entering the mouth of Saginaw River, receiving his com
pensation' from the boats entering the river. During this time he was
also engaged in doing clerical work in the tug boat office of W. H.
Sharp. He worked in this office for ten years and then entered the
United States service as deputy clerk of customs. He began his service
with the government on the ist of October, 1897, and has filled the post
ever since.
In the fraternal world Mr. Brawn is a member of the Knights of
Pythias, but he does not care greatly for clubs and societies, preferring
to find his recreation in his own home or on an occasional fishing trip.
Mr. Brawn was married to Miss Ida E. Sharp, on the 30th of Novern-
ber, 1876. Mrs. Brawn is a sister of W. H. Sharp, and to this marriage
have been born two children. William D. Brawn lives in Bay City and
is a mechanic by trade. Maude E. Brawn married R. H. Powers and
lives in Bay City, her husband being a commission merchant.
Philander L. Carter. One of the prosperous manufacturing en
terprises of Jackson, Michigan, is the Jackson Fence Company, of which
Philander L. Carter is president. This concern manufactures galvan
ized woven wire fencing, and in that line it has made a name and
reputation for itself that extends to every part of the country. The
success of the enterprise is generally acknowledged to be to a great
extent due to the excellent management of Mr. Carter as president,
who is ably seconded in the work by those associated with him.
Philander L. Carter was born in Jackson, Michigan, on December
.29, 1876, being the elder of two sons of George W. Carter, a sketch
of whom will be found elsewhere in this work. Mr. Carter has lived
in Jackson all his life. He had his education in the Jackson public
schools and the . Michigan Military Academy at Orchard Lake, and
when he was eighteen years of age he went to Tennessee, -where his
father had extensive lumber, and saw mill interests. Young Carter
spent between three and four years in that state, while there applying
himself to the varied tasks that attend the converting of timber into
finished lumber, and his experience there proved a most valuable one
to him. This work was carried on between the ages of eighteen and
twenty-two, after which he spent one year in the state of Washington.
Returning then to his Jackson home, he was for a short time thereafter
engaged with a partner in the electrical business, but in the year 1905
he became one of the founders and originators of the Jackson Fence
Company. He has given all his time and attention to the work ever
since, and for the past four years has served as president of the com
pany. The product of this concern is admitted to be among the best
produced in America and it is shipped to the remotest points in the
United States.
Mr. Carter is a member of the Jackson Chamber of Commerce and
of the Jackson City and the Meadow Heights Country clubs. He was
married on February 8, 1905, to. Miss Nellie C. Collins, of Jackson, a
daughter of the late Samuel B. Collins, formerly of Jackson. Two
children* have been born to them, Collins, born January 30, 1906, and

804 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Virginia, born December 24, 1910. The Carters are socially prominent
and have many friends in the city that has so long been their home.
Erastus L. Dunbar. A long and faithful service in connection
with one department of municipal activity has been the chief feature in
the record of Mr. Dunbar of Bay City. Mr. Dunbar is an engineer by
profession, has lived in Bay City since 1865, and after superintending
the construction of the Bay City Water Works, was made superintend
ent of operation of that plant, and has directed this important public
utility for forty years.
Erastus L. Dunbar was born August 13, 1846, in Ellsworth, Con
necticut, and is of staunch Scotch ancestry, many Dunbars being found
in different parts of the country from Maine to California, and all of
them descended from one original Scottish branch. His parents were
Horace and Ann Jeannette Dunbar, who were likewise natives of Con
necticut. His fatber was a Connecticut farmer and a man of consider
able prominence, having served two terms in the state legislature. Both
father and mother died in 1891. There were two sons and three daugh
ters in their family and only two are now living. The only living
daughter is Mrs. Jane Everett, wife of Charles W. Everett, who is liv
ing retired from active life at Washington, D. C. Another son, Everett
S. Dunbar, who died in 1892 in Connecticut, went through the Civil War
as a Union soldier and held the rank of first liesutenant in a company of
the Thirteenth Connecticut Regiment.
Erastus L. Dunbar grew up in his Connecticut home, and besides his
education in the public schools was tutored by a minister of the Congre
gational church at Ellsworth. At the age of eighteen in 1865 he came
to Bay City, then a village, and soon took a position as assistant to the
City Engineer, a Mr. Mercer. After a year they opened an office as
engineers and land surveyors under the firm name of Mercer & Dunbar.
In 1870, Mr. Dunbar was appointed city engineer of Bay City, and ad
ministered the duties of that position for two years. In 1872 he was
placed in charge of the construction of the city water works, and since
then has held the position of superintendent of this plant without inter
ruption. Also for seventeen years he served as assistant chief engineer
of the fire department.
Until 1912 Mr. Dunbar's politics was Republican, but he is now a
Progressive, believing that the midway position between the high tariff
of the old Republican party and the free trade tendencies of the Demo
cratic side is the safest policy for the masses of the people. His affilia
tions with the Masonic Order include several of the different branches,
and his church is the Presbyterian.
On October 11, 1870, at Walsingham, Ontario, Mr. Dunbar married
Miss Jennie McKay. Her father was a Canadian farmer, and origin
ally came from Scotland. The three children of this marriage are men
tioned as follows : Jessie, the wife of Dr. George B. Little, a dentist at
Palo Alto, California; James H, who is a graduate of tbe University
of Michigan, and is now mechanical engineer for the Grasselli Chemical
Company of Cleveland, Ohio; Everett S., who is a graduate of the
Leland Stanford University of California, and is now practicing his
profession as civil engineer at Almeda, California.
Mr. Dunbar very seldom takes a vacation from his official responsi
bilities, and has always led a busy life. His spare time is devoted to the
interests of his home, and he and his wife have an attractive residence
at 1200 Fourth Avenue in Bay City. Mr. Dunbar, during nearly fifty
years of residence, has seen Bay City grow from a small village to a
"city of over fifty thousand people, and his name was signed to tbe peti
tion to the State Legislature for the first city charter.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 805
Fred O. Leever. The firm of Leever & Sons, dealers in lumber,
sash, doors, and extensive operators in the wholesale and retail lumber
business, at Jackson, is an excellent illustration of the old adage, that
"great oaks from little acorns grow." This business, now one of the
largest of its kind in south Michigan, has been evolved from a little
acorn of business enterprise contained within the character and the
industry of Fred O. Leever some thirty years ago while he was serving
a hard apprenticeship in the practical side of lumbering in northeastern
Michigan. Fred O. Leever was born at Carleton, Monroe county, Michigan,
September 13, 1866. His father, Christian Leever, was born in Germany,
and was married there to Mary Hougt. Christian Leever died at tbe
home of his son Fred in Jackson, August 9, 1912. Born May 18, 1822,
he was ninety years and three months of age when the final call came.
The mother, who was born March 25, 1824, now lives with her son
Fred and at this writing is nearly ninety years of age. The first eight
-children of the parents, all born in Germany, died in childhood. The
parents then emigrated to the United States a few years before the
Civil War, settling on a farm in Monroe county, Micbigan, where two
more children were born to them, both now living. These are Gustave A.
Leever and Fred O. Leever,. botb of Jackson.
Fred O. Leever spent his early years on his father's farm in Monroe
county. Five years of his early manhood were spent in the employment
of M. B. Bradley & Sons, at one time a leading organization in the lum
ber field at Bay City. He began with that company when seventeen,
and left at the age of twenty-two. His first job was as tally, and when
he left he was a lumber inspector. This experience gave him a thor
ough knowledge of lumbering in all its details, and was in the nature of
a practical apprenticeship to the business in which he has subsequently
made his most marked success.
Mr. Leever has been a resident of Jackson since 1889. A number
of years ago he engaged in the lumber business independently, and is now
at the head of firm of Leever & Sons. This firm not only handles a
large retail lumber trade in Jackson, but also acts as a jobbing concern,
and supplies outside dealers with all grades of lumber supplies, but par
ticularly hard woods, and operates a large planing mill for tbe perfec
tion of all kinds of finishing. An important branch of the enterprise
is the buying of vacant lots in Jackson, improving them with residences,
and then selling them on the installment plan. In this way the firm
has done a great deal to build up Jackson and supply people in moderate
circumstances with good homes of their own. At this time the record
of the firm in this branch of business is three hundred and eighty-four
houses in the city of Jackson, all of which have been sold on a monthly
payment plan. The company has also bought large tracts of hardwood
timber throughout southern Michigan and elsewhere, and manufactures
it with their own saw mill.
During his experience with the Bradley firm at Bay City, Mr. Leever
learned the carpenter's trade, and his thorough knowledge of building
has been an important element in his subsequent success. When he first
came to Jackson he established a contracting business, and carried that
on until he got into the lumber trade. His operations have extended
beyond the limits of the one concern above mentioned. He has been
very successful in the development of different lumber yards, and as an
energizer of run-down businesses has proved very efficient. He has
bought several lumber yards which at the time could hardly be called
prosperous, has put them on a paying basis, and then sold out at a hand
some profit. In one instance he bought a yard for twenty-five hundred
dollars. It was then selling about thirty-five dollars worth of lumber

806 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
and supplies each day. In two years Mr. Leever had built up its busi
ness until it aggregated seven hundred dollars a day, and he sold the
entire plant for sixteen thousand dollars. -That business is now the
Corwin Lumber Company. At one time Mr. Leever owned the yards
of the present. Central City Lumber Company of Jackson, and the sheds
and buildings, all of first class construction, were erected during his
ownership. The firm of Leever & Sons comprises Mr. Leever, as the chief execu
tive, and his two oldest sons, Ray and Adrian J. On April 23, 1888,
Mr. Leever was married in Toledo, Ohio, where he lived for a year
before coming to Jackson, to Miss Flora McIntyre. She was born in
Tuscola county, Michigan, and before her marriage was a popular
teacher. To their union bas been born four sons and one daughter,
as follows : Adrian J., Ray F., Lawrence C, Flora A. and Fred O., Jr.
Three of the sons are magnificent specimens of physical manhood, stand
ing six feet or more in height, Adrian being six feet one and Lawrence
six feet two. Both Adrian and Ray are graduates of the Jackson high
school and Ray is a graduate of the University of Michigan. Mr. Leever
has been a busy man all his life, but believes in social organizations, is
a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and his support
can always be counted upon to further any movement undertaken for
the general welfare of his city.
Hon. Thomas H. Williams. The career of Thomas H. Williams,
who died at Jackson April 23, 191 1, was notable in more than one field
of activity. In the first place, be was a successful business man, was
president of one of Jackson's leading industries, and identified with a
number of commercial affairs. In the order of Masonry he attained to the
highest honors and responsibilities in the State of Michigan, and was
honored with many offices and received the thirty-third degree of the
Scottish Rite. The late Mr. Williams also had a record of a gallant and
faithful soldier, and was held in high esteem in Grand Army circles.
Many tributes were paid to his fine character and life of service, .and the
public announcement from the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons
of the state, contains the following brief estimate of him as a Mason and a
man : "He was a true and courteous friend, a valiant and magnanimous
Knight and a generous and noble Companion. He enjoyed the fullest
confidence and respect of the community in which he lived. He always
found time to befriend the unfortunate and to relieve the distress of the
needy, and many there are who will rise up and call him 'blessed' for
services rendered them in his good, fatherly way, giving money, counsel
and helpful assistance."
Thomas H. Williams was born at Kirtland, Ohio, May 27, 1844, and
was nearly sixty-seven years of age when he died. While in his indi
vidual career he accomplished much, it is also noteworthy that he sprang
from some of the oldest and stancbest American stock. The Williams
family was started in New England during the Colonial days, and a
volume of between four hundred and five hundred pages has recently
been published devoted to its genealogy. One of its earliest and most
famous members is the noted Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island
and Providence plantations. In England the family belonged to the gentry
and had connections with the nobility, and enjoyed the honor of a coat
of arms. The late Thomas PI. Williams was in the eighth generation
from the first American emigrant and founder of the family. Thomas
Williams, grandfather of the late Jackson citizen, was born in Massa
chusetts May 24, 1787, and was the son of a physician, Dr., William S.
Williams. In the various generations appeared a number of professional
men, doctors, lawyers and clergymen. Thomas Williams married Nancy

m^y^^J^^^

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 807
Hawks, who belonged to one of the early families of Deerfield, Massa
chusetts, Alexander Williams, father of Thomas PL, was a native of
Massachusetts, followed farming as his vocation, and married Martha
Cummings. She died when her son Thomas was only thirteen years old,
and Alexander Williams subsequently married Mrs. Charles S. Williams,
whose first husband, Charles S.,. was first cousin to Alexander Williams.
The late Thomas H. Williams was reared on an Ohio farm, had the
advantages of a country school, and on August 8, 1862, when eighteen
years old, enlisted as a private soldier in Company A of tbe One Hundred
and Third. Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry. With that regiment he
participated in all its campaigns, and though he remained in the ranks, he
was more than an average soldier both in efficiency and in the spirit and
example which he showed before his comrades. In the summer of 1866
Mr. Williams located at Pontiac, Michigan, where he furthered his educa
tion by attending a local school for one year, and then learned the trade
of- carpenter and joiner. Mr. Williams was. a resident of Jackson from
1867 until his death. Until November, 1871, he was engaged in work at
his trade, and then found a place in the Michigan Central shops, at Jackson
Junction. While with the railroad company, he was promoted to the posi
tion of assistant manager of the car repair department, and continued in
that office until March 20, 1892. He then became identified with the
Jackson Corset Company, as assistant manager, and on November 1, 1893,
became active manager of the concern. For some years prior to his deatb
he was president of the company.
His active business life gave him but little time to devote to matters of
a political nature, but he held the office of alderman in 1883-^84, and in
1887 was elected to represent the first district of Jackson county in the
legislature. He was one of the charter members of Edward Pomeroy
Post, G. A. R., at Jackson, and in December, 1885, was elected commander,
an office he held two years.
An editorial estimate copied from the Jackson Patriot, published at the
time of his death, will afford some pertinent comment upon his career:
"His life was one of continued activity and one of progress in all that he
interested himself.- In Masonry he passed the chairs in the chapter,
council and commandery, both local and grand bodies, and in the Scottish
Rite branch of Masonry attained the thirty-third degree, an honor only
reached by friendship and diligence. He was a power in the Grand Com
mandery, where -he was called upon to settle many delicate questions of
Masonic law which were acceptably adjusted through his fairness and
good judgment. In a similar way he was interested in all that related to
the experiences of 1861-65, the G. A. R. receiving from him the same devo
tion that was accorded the fraternal spirit of Masonry. He was a charter
member of Edward Pomeroy Post No. 48, and was its Commander for two
terms. He was also a member of the Soldiers and Sailors Relief Com
mission from its creation, and in this connection there can be related an
incident which illustrates perfectly the nature of the man. A case of
destitution was reported to him the day before Christmas, and investiga
tion disclosed the presence of several chilciren of tender years. An order
was placed at a grocery store that was made up of staple foods, but no
knick-knacks. After they had been placed in the wagon, along. with some
coal for the family, he said, 'Wait a minute ; I want to find something for
the children.' All the things in the wagon were charged to -the funds of
the Relief Commission, but he brought out a package containing candy,
oranges and other fruits as his present to the little ones, paid for by him
self. To have bought them with public money would have been violent
to his sense of honor, and to have known those children had no Christmas
would have been equal violence to his sense of affection.

808 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
"He was president of the American Building and Loan Association
and a director of the New Michigan Building and Loan Association. He
induced many young men and girls to start saving through these agencies,
and many of them would leave their books with him to present to the
secretary, they bringing the money to him at different times. This is
mentioned only to show the natural traits of the man and his great sym
pathy with all who would strive to help themselves, and this particular
trait in his character was evidenced in many other ways. In public ways
he served a term on the board of aldermen and a term in the state legisla
ture. He developed through his own energy a respectable fire insurance
business, bringing it to dimensions that were thought remarkable in the
time in which it was done.
"He was a strong man ; strong in his affections and strong in his dis
likes. He created enthusiasm among his associates, even in his army days,
and around the comrades of his army experience cast unbreakable ties of
enduring regard. In his development with which nature endowed him
Mr. Williams made a distinctive success. With a limited education he
became a good business man. With slight training he became an effective
talker, and at times, when relating known events, be became eloquent, and
in debate was able to present his views in.a manner that usually won him
his point. In social, business, fraternal and co-operative circles his death
on April 23, 191 1, left a gap which will be hard to fill."
Another quotation may be made from the official records of the Royal
Arch Grand Chapter: "His funeral was held in the Masonic Temple,
which was his pride, and a vast assemblage of his friends and admirers
filled the auditorium. The services were conducted by the Grand Com
mandery, K. T., of Michigan, followed by the ring service of the Scottish
Rite. The Grand Chapter, R. A. M., the Grand Army and the Eastern
Star were in attendance. Jackson Commandery No. 9 and Ann Arbor
Commandery No. 13, K. T., officiated as escort." His Masonic record
is thus given : "He has been active in Masonry ever since he was twenty-
three years of age, being initiated into Pontiac Lodge, No. 21, January 25,
1867, and raised February 11 of the same year. On removing to Jackson
he joined Michigan Lodge No. 50, and retained his membership there
until his death. He was made a Royal Arch Mason in Jackson Chapter
No. 3, November 17, 1870, and a Royal and Select Master in Jackson
Council No. 32, on the 28th of October, 1871. He received the orders
of Knighthood in Jackson Commandery No. 9, on December 14, 1870.
He was High Priest of Jackson Chapter, 1877-78 ; Eminent Commander
of Jackson Commandery, 1880-81 ; Thrice Illustrious Master of Jackson
Council, 1882. He was elected Grand Commander of the Knights Tem
plar in Michigan in 1887 and served one year with ability and zeal. At
the annual Convocation of the Grand Cbapter Royal Arch Masons in
1897 he was elected Grand Master of the First Veil and his well known
skill and ability and the high esteem in which he was held by his Com
panions in Michigan promoted him step by step until he attained the high
est office in the gift of the Grand Chapter, and presided over the Royal
Craft in this state in 1905. He was a member of the Michigan Sovereign
Consistory of Detroit, and in September, 1898, received the thirty-third
and last degree at Cincinnati, Ohio. He was a member of the Shrine of
Moslem Temple of Detroit."
Mr. Williams was married October 2, 1867, to Miss Frances M. Mar
tin, the only daughter of John R. Martin. She was born in Cleveland,
Ohio, April 9, 1843. Her father was twice deputy warden of Jackson
State Prison, first from 1858 to i860 and again from 1866 to 1872. He
died at Tackson in 1882, aged sixty-eight. His daughter, Mrs. Williams,
still occupies the old family home at 535 North State street. This home,

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 809
which is one of commodious and ample comforts, was built by her father,
John R. Martin, and was his home up to the time of his death when it
became the property of Mrs. Williams, his only child. Mrs. Williams
has two living children : Fred M. Williams, of Jackson ; and May Frances,
the wife of Clare A. Kingsley of Detroit.
Edward L. Parmeter, M. D. Prominent and honored among those
who are maintaining the high prestige of the medical profession in Cal
houn county is Dr. Parmeter, who is engaged in successful practice in
the city of Albion and who has long maintained a place of distinctive
priority as a physician and surgeon of high attainments and as a citi
zen of fine ideals and utmost loyalty. He is a scion of a sterling pioneer
family of Michigan, within whose gracious borders his life has been
thus far passed, and there are many elements that render most conso
nant his recognition in this history. The Doctor is today the dean of
his profession in Albion, as he has here been engaged in active practice
for a longer consecutive period than any of his present confreres, and
he has inviolable vantage-ground in the confidence and esteem of all who
know him.
Dr. Edward L. Parmeter was born in the village of Concord, Jack
son county, Michigan, on the 9th of November, 185 1, and is a son of
James R. and Caroline (Worth) Parmeter. James R. Parmeter had the
distinction of being one of the earliest settlers of Jackson county and he
left a strong and beneficent impress upon the pages of its history. He
was born in Warren township, Addison county, Vermont, on the ist of
October, 1802, and throughout his entire life he exemplified the best tra
ditions and cbaracteristics of the New England stock from which he
was sprung, the Parmeter family having been founded in America in
the early colonial era. James R. Parmeter made good use of the educa
tional advantages which were accorded him in his youth, and the passing
years brought to him broad -knowledge and mature judgment. In his
young manhood he assisted in the construction of the Erie canal, in the
state of New York, and the early years of his married life were passed
in Allegheny county, that state. In 1831 he came with his family to
Michigan Territory and numbered himself among the early pioneers of
Jackson county, which was then little more than an untrammeled wilder
ness. The journey to the new home was made by one of the primitive
vessels plying Lake Erie and, passing up the Detroit river, the family
landed in the future metropolis of the state of Michigan. From Detroit
Mr. Parmeter drove an ox team through to Jacksonburg, a little hamlet
that was the nucleus of the present city of Jackson and that then boasted
of but three houses. The overland journey was a difficult proposition,
as roads were noticeable principally for their absence, or their roughness,
and all streams en route had to be fofded by the ox team.- In the wagon
Mr. Parmeter gave, somewhat precarious transportation facilities to his
devoted wife and their three children, and in the same sturdy vehicle
was conveyed the small stock of household supplies needed for the new
home in tbe wilderness. Upon arriving at Jacksonburg Mr. Parmeter
found his cash capital represented in the sum of fifty cents, but he was
well supplied with courage and ambition, — well equipped for the respon
sibilities and burdens of the pioneer. He entered claim to a tract of
eighty acres of government land, two miles west of .the present village
of Concord, and on this old homestead he continued to reside until his
death, in 1872, at the age of seventy years. He was the first and original
settler of Concord township, and there he changed his land from primi
tive forest to cultivated fields. The old homestead is now one of the
fine farms of that township and county and it was the abiding place of

810 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
this sterling pioneer for the long period of forty-one years. Mr. Par
meter was a man of strong individuality and this fact, as coupled with his
impregnable integrity and civic loyalty, made him an influential figure
in public affairs in the community that- so long represented his home and
in which his memory is held in lasting honor. , His cherished wife was
summoned to the life eternal in 1866, at the age of fifty-nine years, and
she was loved by all who came within the sphere of her gentle and
gracious influence. Mr. and Mrs. Parmeter became the parents of five
sons and six daughters', of whom Dr. Edward L., of this review, is the
youngest. The only other surviving child is Mrs. Matilda M. Mann,
who maintains her home in Albion and who was eighty-three years of age,
in 1914. With all of self-abnegation and devotion Mrs. Caroline
(Worth) Parmeter reared her eleven children, and manifold were the
duties and labors devolving upon her in the pioneer days. She presided
with ability over the home and there spun the flax and wool from which
she wove the cloth used in making clothes for her family. The clothing
itself was made by her, and her two surviving children can recall how
the gentle mother found occupation at odd moments in knitting the
mittens and stockings for them and all the other members of her family.
At the present day Dr. Parmeter sleeps beneath an old-fashioned cover
lid that was made by his mother more than half a century ago, and it
may well be imagined that the ancient and homely quilt recalls to him
many gracious memories and associations.
Dr. Parmeter was reared to the sturdy discipline of the home farm
and early began to contribute his quota to its development and cultiva
tion. During the winter terms he studiously availed himself of the
privileges of the district school, and that he made good use of his oppor
tunities is evidenced by the fact that he proved himself eligible finally
for pedagogic honors. At the age of twenty-one years he taught one
term of school in the same school-house that be had attended as a recep
tive and ambitious pupil. Prior to this, however, he had been enabled
to attend Albion College for three years, and through this means he
acquired a liberal academic education, — an adequate basis for that of
professional or technical order.
In the autumn of 1874, in consonance with well formulated plans
and ambitious purpose Dr. Parmeter was matriculated in Bennett Med
ical College, in tbe city of Chicago, and in this institution he was
graduated as a member of the class of 1876, duly receiving his well
earned degree of Doctor of Medicine. His professional novitiate was
served as a practitioner in the village of Concord and he then, in 1877,
removed to the city of Albion, where he has continued his professional
labors during the long intervening years and where he has long retained
a very large and essentially representative practice. It is equally worthy
of note that during this period of nearly forty years he has consecutively
maintained his professional headquarters in the same office that he as
sumed upon his removal to Albion. His practice has been of a general
order and he is a loved and honored friend in the many families to
whom he has ministered with zeal and fidelity and with a full apprecia
tion of the dignity and responsibility of his chosen calling. He has con
tinued a close student of medical and surgical science and keeps in
touch with advances made in both departments of his profession. The
Doctor is a valued member of the Calhoun County Medical Society and
is its vice president at the time of this writing, in 1914. He holds mem
bership also in the Michigan State Medical Society and the American
Medical Association, besides which he is a director and member of the
medical staff of the city hospital of Albion.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 811
In politics Dr. Parmeter pays allegiance to no party, and he is known
as a liberal and public-spirited citizen. He is at the present time a mem
ber of the board of park commissioners of his- home city, and he has vari
ous important capitalistic interests. He is president of the Union Steel
Screen Company, which gives employment to 160 men and represents one
of the important and flourishing industrial enterprises of Albion. He is
also a stockholder in the Albion Malleable Iron Company. The Doctor
is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, in which he has received the
degrees of the blue lodge and chapter, and he is likewise identified with
the Knights of Pythias.
On the 4th of September, 1882, was solemnized the marriage of Dr.
Parmeter to Miss Sarah E. Graves, who was born at Albion, and who is •
a daughter of the late Colonel Phineas Graves. Colonel Graves was
a prominent and honored citizen of Albion and served with distinction
in the Civil war, as colonel of the Twelfth Michigan Volunteer Infantry.
Mrs. Parmeter is closely identified with the best social activities of her
native city and is also active in religious and charitable work. Dr. and
Mrs. Parmeter have but one child, Dr. Roland L. Parmeter, who is senior
surgeon of the celebrated Harper hospital in the city of Detroit.
Reverting to the lineage of -Dr. Parmeter, it may be stated that he is
of staunch FrencfiTHuguenot descent in botb the paternal and maternal
lines. His father was a son of Jesse Parmeter, who was a valiant soldier
in the War of 1812. While Jesse Parmeter was on his way to join his
command and take part in the battle at Plattsburg, New York, bis wife
set forth with her children for a mountain top from which she hoped
to witness the battle. She approached sufficiently near to hear the guns
and other noises of the conflict, but the engagement was not within her
range of vision. On this momentous occasion her son, James R., father
of the Doctor, accompanied his mother, and he was at the time a lad
of about twelve years.
Monfort D; Weeks. For nearly forty years has Mr. Weeks been
actively engaged, in the practice of his profession in the city of Albion,
Calhoun county, and. he has long held unequivocal prestige as one of
the representative members of the bar of this sectior^of his native state.
He is a scion of a family that was founded in Michigan in the territorial
epoch of its history and in this state he has passed the major part. of his
life, though a considerable portion of his boyhood and youth were spent
outside the limits of the state which he claims as that of his nativity. Mr.
Weeks is known as a broad-minded and progressive citizen, has control
of a substantial and. representative law business, and has served in vari
ous positions of public trust. In all his activities as a lawyer he has ex
emplified the highest ethics of his profession, of whose dignity and re
sponsibility he is fully appreciative.
In the village of Flowerfield, St. Joseph county, Michigan, Monfort D.
Weeks was born on the 14th of February, 1849, and he is a son of
Lorenzo D. and Betsy Ann (Monfort) Weeks. His father, Lorenzo Dow
Weeks, named in honor of the distinguished clergyman of the pioneer
days, was born in the state of New York and came with his mother and
stepfather to Michigan when he was a youth, the family having arrived
here several years prior to the admission of the state to the Union.
Lorenzo D. Weeks learned the trade of carpenter, to which he gave
more or less attention for a number o'f years, but his principal vocation .
was that of farming. After his marriage he continued to reside in St.
Joseph county, Michigan, until the year 1849, when he removed with his
family to Monroe county, New York, his son, Monfort D., of this review,
having at the time been a mere infant. In 1866 the family removed to
Kent county, Delaware, and there the death of Lorenzo D. Weeks oc-

812 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
curred in the year 1873! His devoted wife survived him by more than
a decade and passed the closing years of her life in Albion, Michigan,
where she was summoned to eternal rest in 1885. She was of Holland
Dutch lineage — a descendant of Peter Monfort, who immigrated from
Holland to America in the early part of the eighteenth century, long
prior to the war of the Revolution, and who was a representative of a
patrician Holland family, as indicated by the coat-of-arms held by those
of the name in Holland. David C. Monfort, maternal grandfather of
him whose name initiates this review, served as a fifer 111 the War of
1812, and was with his regiment in much active service. Lorenzo D.
and Betsy Ann (Monfort) Weeks became the parents of two chil
dren, of whom two are now living — Monfort D. and Bruce M., the. lat
ter being a resident of Detroit, Michigan.
Monfort D. Weeks, as previously intimated, was an infant in arms
at the time of his parents' removal from Michigan to New York, in which
latter state he was reared to the age of seventeen years, in Monroe county.
From 1866 to 1870 the family home was maintained in Kent county, Dela
ware. He received excellent educational advantages of a preliminary
order and from 1869 to 1873 he pursued higher academic studies in Cor
nell University, at Ithaca, New York. Prior to entering this fine old in
stitution he had taught one term of school in Delaware, and after leav
ing the university he continued his pedagogic service in Delaware for
three additional terms. In 1876 he returned to Michigan, his native
state, and for two terms he was engaged in teaching in the schools of
Calhoun county. In the meanwhile he had been giving close and ap
preciative attention to the study of law, and he so thoroughly fortified
bimself in the science of jurisprudence that in 1878 he was admitted to
the Michigan bar. He forthwith engaged in the practice of his profession
at Albion and his technical ability, close application and integrity of pur
pose made his professional novitiate one of practically brief duration.
He has continued in the active general practice of law at Albion during
the long intervening period of thirty-six years, and his success has been
on a parity with his recognized ability. He has been concerned with a
large amount of important litigation in the courts of this part of the state,
and has presented numerous causes also before the state supreme court
and the federal courts of Michigan. In point of years of consecutive
practice there are very few lawyers in Calhoun county who can claim
precedence in comparison with Mr. Weeks, and he has ever maintained the
confidence and high regard of his professional confreres.
In connection with his effective work as a member of the bar of his
native state Mr. Weeks served six years as circuit-court commissioner
for Calhoun county and for eleven years as city attorney of Albion. Mr.
Weeks is at all times staunchly fortified in his political convictions and
has been an effective advocate of the principles and policies of the Re
publican party. He has never been ambitiqus for political office but has
shown himself at all times liberal and public-spirited as a citizen. He is
identified with the Calhoun County Bar Association and the Michigan
State Bar Association, and in a fraternal way he is affiliated with the
Knights of Pythias. For a third of a century Mr. Weeks has served as
a trustee of the First Baptist church of Albion, and he has been one of
the earnest and influential members of this religious body, as was also his
wife, a woman of gracious personality and one who was zealous in
church and charitable work, as well as a loved and prominent factor in
the social activities of her home city.
On the 7th of June, 1882, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Weeks
to Miss Louisa Foster, and she was called to the life eternal on the 18th
of December, 1910, secure in the affectionate regard of all who knew

HISTORY OF -MICHIGAN 813
her. The only child to survive the devoted wife and mother is Harold
B. Weeks, who was graduated in the Michigan Agricultural College as
a member of the class of 1907 and who is now a chemist and bacteriologist
in the service of the board of health of the city of Detroit. In 1909 he
married Miss Cornelia BoUes, and they have three children — Monfort
Foster, John Myron, and Margaret Louise.
Gen. William Herbert Withington. With an honorable career
as soldier, legislator, business genius and financier, a man of many at
tainments and widely diversified talents, the late Gen. William Herbert
Withington was for a period of forty-six years one of the foremost
figures in the life of Jackson, Michigan. A gentleman of the old school,
modest, dignified, kind and courteous, and a delightful social companion
among his friends, he was an ideal citizen, broad, intelligent and patri
otic, a noble example of upright, conscientious manhood. General With-
.ington was born at Dorcbester, Massachusetts, February 1, 1835, and
belonged to a family descended from Henry Withington, a native of
England who came to the American Colonies in 1635, with the Rev.
Richard Mather, the first minister of Dorchester, in whose church Henry
Withington was ruling elder. In common with others of the best fam
ilies of New England, the Withingtons placed a high valuation upon
liberal educational advantages, and as a result many of the name have
been prominent in the learned professions. That the family were vig
orous and sturdy in body, as well as in intellect and character, is shown
by the fact that Rev. William Withington died as the result of an acci
dent at his son's home in. this city at the age of ninety-four years, his
sister reached the age. of one hundred years, while "his brother, Dr.
Leonard Withington, a Congregational minister, of Newburyport, Mas
sachusetts, . who was a graduate of Yale, died at the age of ninety-six
years. The parents of General Withington were Rev. William and
Elizabeth W. (Ford) Withington, of Dorchester, Massachusetts, and
he was the eighth in direct descent from the progenitor. His father was
an Episcopal clergyman, and a graduate of Harvard in the same class
with Ralpb Waldo Emerson.
General Withington received good educational advantages in the
Boston public schools and at Phillips Andover Academy. His father
was a scholar, retiring and unworldly in character, and the home re
sponsibilities were thrust to a large extent upon the young man, turning
him towards business channels. When he left the academy he gave his
attention to practical affairs, first entering a leather store in Boston as
a salesman. He soon became :bookkeeper for the North Wayne Scythe
Company, and in a short time was given full charge of the details of
their extensive business. Some idea of his capacity, even at this early
age, may be inferred from the fact that when but nineteen years old his
employers entrusted him with important missions to New York, Balti
more, Philadelphia, and other points at which they had large patronage.
When in this connection the young man came into contact with the large
agricultural implement manufacturing company of Pinney & Lamson,
who had a contract for prison labor at Jackson, and who engaged him
to come to Jackson and take a position as bookkeeper in its factory here.
The death of Mr. Lamson had left the whole control in the hands of
Mr. Pinney, who resided in Columbus, Ohio, and was not in Jackson
upon the arrival of Mr. Withington, and the business had no head and
no management. The forrrier bookkeeper had left some months before,
and the office was in charge of a traveling man. There was full scope
for the energy, enterprise and new life that had been sent to the rescue.
It was not long before the effect was seen and felt all through the con
cern, although the business was new to the young bookkeeper from the

814 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
East, and there was no one on hand to give him direction or even initia
tion into his duties. His first effort was to bring the books up from their
arrears entanglement. The correspondence, the oversight of sales, the
purchase of material for manufacture and shop supplies, the control of
foremen, the collections and payments, in short, all the office work of a
manufacturing business employing 125 workmen and six traveling sales
men, dropped at once on his young and inexperienced shoulders, but he
met the work courageously and performed it thoroughly.
The financial panic of October, 1857, came on in its full force, and, un
able to stand before the storm, Mr. Pinney committed suicide, and the
burden that he refused longer to bear had to be taken up by another.
The labors that fell upon Mr. Withington were greater than ever. It
was directed in Mr. Pinney's will that tjie business should be continued
until the termination of the contracts with the state then in force. An
administrator was appointed, an official from Connecticut, unfamiliar
with the business, and the chief labor, therefore, remained where it had
been previously laid. A year after the death of Mr. Pinney the business
was offered for sale, and was promptly purchased by Mr. Withington
and another employe by the name of Harold Sprague, and others. The
newly-organized firm of Sprague, Withington & Company, was composed
of men already in the employ of the old company. In the early days of
his .career as a manufacturer Mr. Withington was aided by the late
Elihu Cooley, a man of admirable organizing power and a splendid
business man: The company soon took a higher place in the manufac
turing world, and has continued to the present day, the firm name for
many years past having been Withington, Cooley & Company. Their
trade is not only co-extensive with this country, but extends to Aus
tralia and South America and throughout Europe.
General Withington's energies, however, were not entirely devoted
to the management of this business, extensive as it was. The extent of
his operations, and the estimate placed by his business associates upon
his administrative ability, were shown by the fact that he was chosen
president of the following organizations, in addition to the one already
mentioned : The Union Bank, Grand River Valley Railroad and Jackson
Vehicle Company, all of Jackson; the Withington Handle Company, of
Fort Wayne and Huntington, Indiana; the Geneva Tool Company, of
Geneva, Ohio; the Oneida Farm Tool Company, of Utica, New York;
the National Snath Company, of Erie, Pennsylvania; and the Steel
Goods Association, of New York, New York. Since 1875 he had also
been an owner and director in the Iowa Farming Tool Company, of
Fort Madison, Iowa. A year prior to his death when nearly all the
manufacturers of agricultural implements merged, he was chosen presi
dent, and a large part of his tifne from then on was spent in Cleveland,
Ohio, attending to the onerous duties of the position.
The outbreak of the Civil War broke into General Withington's
business career. A pure patriot and a natural soldier, with a deep love
of country, he was willing to risk life and fortune in the defense of the
flag he loved. He had previously aided in the organization of the lack-
son Greys, a military company, and the day before Governor Blair's
call for volunteers was issued, April 16, 1861, Captain Withington had
called a special meeting of tbe Greys for this important crisis. The
enlistments made included a large portion of the company, which became
Company B, First Regiment, Michigan ' Volunteer Infantry, with Mr.
Withington as captain. He tendered the services of the company to the
governor at the great meeing held at Jackson Hall, and it was accepted.
It was in the first battle of Bull Run, where Captain Withington was
taken prisoner, but not until he had performed a service for which he
was given one of the congressional medals of honor. This in its terms

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 815
was for "most distinguished gallantry in voluntarily remaining on the
field, under heavy fire, to aid and succor your superior officer in the
battle of Bull Run, Virginia,. July 21, 1861." It was some time after
the battle before Captain Withington's whereabouts became known, and
he was given up for dead until three weeks afterward, when his wife
was informed by a dispatch that he was alive and unhurt, but was a
prisoner in Richmond. He ,was exchanged January 30, 1862, came
bome, and received a hearty welcome from his townsmen. Still desiring
to serve the Union, he was made colonel of the Seventeenth Infantry,
August 11, 1862, and continued in the service until March 21, 1863. On
March 13, 1865, he was breveted brigadier general United States Volun
teers, "for conspicuous gallantry at the battle of South Mountain, Mary
land, September 14, 1862," where his comman.d won the title of the
"Stonewall Regiment." He and his regiment also won laurels at An
tietam. He was a good soldier and a fine commander, and in spite of
his stern discipline, had the affectionate regard of all who served under
him. In his political views, General Withington became a Republican with
the organization of that party, and cast his first presidential vote for
President Lincoln. In addition to local positions of trust, serving as
alderman of the First Ward, he was a member of the house in the state
legislature in the session of 1873 and the special session of 1874, and
state senator in the session of 1891. The most important single piece
of legislation with which he was intimately associated was the law passed
by the legislature of 1873, under which the state troops, now the Na
tional Guard, were organized. He drafted this bill, and it was largely
through his intelligent and persistent advocacy that it was passed. To
all matters of general legislation he gave careful attention, and in the
discussion of many of them he. took part, both in the regular sessions
of 1873 and 1891, and the constitutional revision session of 1874. Gen
eral Withington often attended state conventions as a delegate, and went
in this capacity also to the national conventions of 1876 and 1892. He
did his sbare of political committee work in Jackson city and county,
and was four years a member of the state central committee. He also
served the state as a member of the board of trustees of- the Michigan
Asylum for the Insane, at Kalamazoo, and of the board of managers of
the Soldiers' Home, at Grand Rapids.
In the civic affairs of Jackson, General Withington ever took a deep
and helpful interest and labored steadfastly for the city's advancement.
He was active in securing many railways for Jackson, helped to organ
ize the Young Men's Library Association, of which he was president for
many years, and under his supervision this association formed a fine
library, which was subsequently presented to the Public Library. He
was also president of the Jackson Board of Trade, ,as long as that body
was in existence. General Withington's society affiliations had generally
been of a military or political character. He was a member of the Mili
tary Order of the Loyal Legion, of which he had been department com
mander for a long period; the Grand Army of the Republic, Society of
the Army of the Potomac, Michigan Club, Detroit Club, and otbers.
For fifty years he was one of the prominent laymen in the Episcopal
church of Michigan, and served as delegate to the general convention
of the United States on two occasions; was vestryman of St. Paul's
parish for forty-two years, and for twenty-two years served as warden.
On June 6, 1859, General Withington was married to Miss Julia
C. Beebe, daughter of Hon. Joseph E. Beebe, deceased, and to this
union there were born six children, of whom three are now living : Kate
W., Philip H. and Winthrop.

816 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
The high regard in which General Withington was generally held, is
evidenced in an article printed in a local newspaper at the time of his
death, which, in appreciation, said in part: "General Withington exem
plified the best citizenship ; he was a patriot, a lover of his country, and
as a soldier won honor for himself and the nation. He was a manly
man, sturdy of character, honest, stanch and upright. Men walk among
us and we know them not until death breaks the reserve and brings its
revelations. Now we learn of the sweetness of life, the integrity, use
fulness and honor of our dead fellow-citizen. Charitable without osten
tation, he never turned a deaf ear to sorrow's cry. He was a successful
man in the affairs of life. He won that success which is indeed success
ful when built on the foundation of intelligence, zeal, loyalty, integrity
and comradeship. His life will be an inspiration to others, for he has
shown that labor, lofty purpose and perseverance will win ; his was a
life well wrought, and all think of his honorable career with his high
abilities, his- devotion, manliness, sense of duty and courage ; his achieve
ments were won by labor — labor so exacting that it brought his life to
a close before his time, at the age of sixty-eight years, crowned with fine
results for good for his fellowmen. He found leisure amid his exacting
duties as tbe head of large enterprises for study, and was always a
student. A Christian gentleman, he had advanced the cause of Christian
ity by his earnestness, love of truth and liberal views. Thus passed away
an exemplary Christian, a loyal citizen, a kindly neighbor, a devoted hus
band and affectionate father, an honest man; in every relationship he
bore 'the white flower of a blameless life.' Jackson and its people will
mourn the going away of this useful citizen, who abided here forty-six
years, participating in the activities of trade — 4he city in which he took
so much interest, in whose welfare he rejoiced, and whose progress he
did so much to perpetuate — will ever cherish a sweet remembrance of
his good deeds and useful life. With his death a beautiful and benefi
cent star has set."
General Withington's widow, Mrs. Julia C. Withington, still resides
at the palatial Withington home located at No. 228 Wildwood avenue,
Jackson, and is held in affectionate esteem and regard by the city's
entire populace. Both of the sons are prominent in the manufacturing
world, and both are men of large affairs, the elder, Philip H., being a
resident of Cleveland, Ohio, while Winthrop, the younger, resides in
Jackson. The only daughter, Kate Winifred, is now the wife of Dr.
Flemming Carrow, a prominent and well known oculist of Detroit.
Hon. Adrian F. Cooper. One of the leading members of the Cal
houn county bar, and a resident of Albion since 1891, when he came as
a student of Albion College, Adrian F. Cooper was at one time a farm
boy. Some years of his earlier career were spent in the school room
as a teacher, and he fitted himself for law by paying his way, and for
nearly fifteen years has been active in official affairs and in his profession.
Adrian F. Cooper was born on a small farm near the village of
Harrietsville, Ontario, January 27, 1873, a son of Joseph and Elizabeth
(Amoss) Cooper. His father, Joseph Cooper, was a native Canadian
of Irish descent, and his mother a native Canadian of English descent
and a daughter of Thomas Amoss, a merchant and manufacturer, who
for many years preceding his death lived on his farm at Mossley, On
tario. Joseph Cooper began life as a carpenter and builder, but abandoned
his trade to become a farmer on a small farm which he purchased near
the village of Harrietsville, Ontario, and his three sons spent their boy
hood in that vicinity. In 1883 he moved his family to what was then the
territory of Dakota, and began farming on a larger scale near where the

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 817
village of Park River sprang up. The family lived at Park River until
the fall of 1890, when the father brought his, family to Michigan, taking
up his residence temporarily at Marlette, where he secured employment
for his teams, and the following September brought his family to Albion,
which continued his home until his death on April 4, 1904. His wife
survived him six years, or until February 7, 1910, and botb are buried
in Riverside cemetery at Albion. Among their children are two other
sons, Wilfred A., engaged in farming in Jackson county, and Oscar H.
Cooper, a member of the cartage firm of. Wilfinger, Cooper & Pettibone
of Albion. "
With a farm training during his early youth Adrian F. Cooper was
educated in the public school at Park River, North Dakota, spent one
year in the high school at Marlette, Michigan, and from there entered
the preparatory department of Albion College, from which institution
he was graduated in 1896. Before entering college he taught district
school for one term at the age of seventeen, and after graduation from
college again resumed teaching, an,d spent four years in that occupation
in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Houghton county, at Dollar Bay
and Chassell. While teaching he devoted his spare time to the study of
law and during vacations read law in the office of M. D. Weeks at Al
bion. In 1900 he quit teaching and entered the law office of Kramer &
Greenfield of Chicago as a law clerk, but returned to Michigan in 1901
and took the bar examination and was admitted to practice May 10th of
that year. With the exception of a brief time spent in Jackson, his legal
career has been identified with Albion since January 1, 1902. In that
city he formed a co-partnership with his former tutor, and the firm of
Weeks & Cooper has been one of the strongest in Calhoun county. In
addition to his law business Mr. Cooper has built a number of substantial
modern tenant houses from the proceeds of his law practice.
Mr. Cooper has for a. number of years been one of the leading Repub
licans in the southern part of the state, and is now serving his fourth
year as Republican county chairman. The first office to which he was
elected was that of circuit court commissioner, which he held for two
terms. In 1903 he was elected city clerk of Albion and was re-elected the
following year, and in 1909 was elected mayor of the city, and suc
ceeded himself for a second term in that office. He has served seven
terms as city attorney of Albion. He also served as secretary and treas
urer of the Albion Business Men's Association, has been president and
secretary of the Alumni Association of Albion College, and for four years
he was a member of the board of directors of the Association, and a
member of the board of Athletic Control of Albion College. His fra
ternal affiliations are chiefly with the Masonic Order and include mem
bership in Murat Lodge No. 14, A. F. & A. M., Albion Chapter No. 32,
R. A. M., Albion Council No. 57, R. & S. M., and he is a past Worthy
Patron of the Eastern Star. His church is the Methodist Episcopal.
On October 31, 1906, he was united in marriage with Miss Emma L.
Worden, of Reading, Michigan, whose acquaintance he had made while
she was a student in the Albion College conservatory of music. Mrs.
Cooper's father, George W. Worden, was a prominent merchant of Read-
' ing, where he was 'engaged in the hardware and implement business, and
formerly was an extensive buyer of grain and other farm produce; Her
mother, whose maiden name was Ella L. Chester, was a daughter of Eeson
T. Chester, one of the early settlers of Hillsdale county, a prominent and
ardent Democrat, and a man of large business interests, owner of a bank
at the village of Camden, and of the flour mills and saw mills of that
place, was also government land agent for many years, and was the largest
individual land owner in the township of Camden. Mr. and Mrs. Cooper

818 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
have two children living: Helen Marie, born May 23, 1911, and Donald
W., born September 16, 1912. Their first child, Elva L., born April 22,
1909, died at the age of seven months.
Leverett A. Pratt. The best examples of Bay City architecture,
both in public and business structures is a credit to the splendid pro
fessional skill and ability of Leverett A. Pratt, whose reputation as an
architect is pre-eminent in the city, and his name is well known in various
parts of the state.
Leverett A. Pratt was born December 16, 1849, in Scio, Allegheny
County, New York, a sonof N. C. and Eliza (Bushnell) Pratt. His
father was a lumber merchant and shipper, later moved to Pennsylvania,
where he engaged in coal mining, and later in mercantile lines, and
from Pennsylvania moved to Ohio, and about 1870 to Bay City, Mich
igan, where he again resumed the lumber trade and continued it until his
death about 1903. The mother died about 1901. Of the five children
in the family, four of whom are now living, Mr. L. A. Pratt was the
fourth. His early education was very limited and was acquired in the public
schools in New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. It is by reliance upon
his native talents and by thorough experience and a studious attention
to the business in hand that he has risen to his present successful posi
tion. Having learned the trade of carpenter in early life, he began busi
ness as a master carpenter in Bay City in 1869, and since 1870 has been
practicing the profession of architecture, and for many years has devoted
all his time to that work. He was associated for more than thirty years
with Walter Koeppe, a noted architect, who retired about three years
ago and returned to his old home in Germany, where he died in 1912.
Mr. Pratt is now head of the firm of Pratt, Bickel & Campbell, wbose
offices are in the Crapo Block. It would require a long list to indicate
even the more important results of Mr. Pratt's skill as an architect.
They include the Bay City City Hall, the Presbyterian church, the Ma
sonic Temple, the Crapo Block, and all the Catholic churches and insti
tutions of that city.
In politics Mr. Pratt has been a staunch Republican since he reached
his majority, but has had little time for politics either as a vocation or as
an avocation. He is affiliated with the Masonic Order through the Blue
Lodge, Chapter, Commandery, and Consistory, is a past commander of
the Bay City Knights Templars, and is also affiliated with the Elks.
On December 27, 1874, Mr. Pratt was married in Waterloo, New
York, to Miss Ida Towsley, a daughter of Alonzo and Lora (Lee)
Towsley. Her father was in the stone business in that state, and operated
large quaries there until his death in 1898. Mr. and Mrs. Pratt are the
parents of a son and a daughter: Lora Lee is the wife of Fisher A. B.
Wenk, of Buffalo, New York, where her husband is cashier in the Buf
falo Branch of the John Hancock Life Insurance Company. The son
is Jesse F. Pratt, now about thirty-four years of age and who is a me
chanical engineer.
Mr. Pratt is of English descent. He has for years been very attentive
to his business and seldom takes a vacation, almost the only exception
to that rule being an occasional -visit to his daughter in Buffalo.
Michael Tinney. It is in the field of plastering contracting that
Michael Tinney has been chiefly identified with the business interests of
Detroit for the past twenty years, and in that time he has established a
reputation not only as a successful business man but as a broad-minded,
public-spirited citizen, whose name is entitled to respect wherever spoken.

ftlftAeus \/u^i^rjiy'

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 819
Michael Tinney was born at Norwich, Oxford county, Ontario, May
13, 1856, a son of John and Honora (Hanely) Tinney. John Tinney,
who was born in the north of Ireland, was descended from a family which
emigrated from Scotland to the north of Ireland many years ago, and were
of Scotch Presbyterian stock. The father of John was a travelling min
ister for the Presbyterian church in different sections of north Ireland.
Honofa Hanely was born in the south of Ireland, and both she and her
husband came to America early in life and were married in Hamilton,
Ontario, subsequently locating and spending their lives in Oxford county.
The birthplace of Michael Tinney was a farm situated two miles' from
Norwich, and his early years were spent in the atmosphere of the country
and under the educational and community influences of the village of
Norwich. His career has been one of more than ordinary experience,
and his success has been self won. At the age of sixteen he began an
apprenticeship of the cabinet making trade under James McIntyre, an
old Scotchman who for many years conducted a shop at Ingersoll in Ox
ford county. His proficiency in this business afforded him a comfortable
living for seven years and four months, when his employer suddenly failed
in business, and let him out at a time when industrial conditions every
where were hard and all work scarce. There was no opportunity for
work at his trade, and one summer was spent in building culverts for the
Canadian Pacific Railroad. The following two summers he worked as a
painter. His next-door neighbor was a plasterer, and as the painting trade
was by no means to his liking, he found work carrying a hod for his neigh
bor, and this, curiously enough, was his introduction to a line of business
which has been continued ever since and which has enabled him to secure
a substantial position in the business world.
During 1888 and 1889 Mr. Tinney did contracting in a small way at
Ingersoll, Canada, and in February, 1890, came into Michigan. His first
work was on a large building then in course of construction at Ishpeniing,
but in September of the same year he came to Detroit and began work
on the Hammond building, which was then being erected. The first two
years in Detroit were spent as a,, journeyman, but since then he has been
an independent contractor. Mr. Tinney is a member of the Detroit
Employers' Association and for 1914 is vice-president of the Master
Plasterers' Association. Fraternally his affiliations are with Zion Lodge
No. 1, A. F. & A. M-, with Michigan Consistory of the thirty-second de
gree Scottish Rite, with Moslem Temple of the Mystic Shrine, and with
Diamond Lodge, I. O. O. F.
Mr. Tinney was married in Ontario to Mary Melissa Kelsey, who was
born at Syracuse, New York, daughter of Rufus M. Kelsey, who took
his family from Syracuse to Ontario. Mr. and Mrs. Tinney are the
parents of the following children : Eva Louise, who married James Benzie
of Detroit, and has a daughter named Elsie; Ernest LeRoy, who married
Carrie Smith of Detroit; William H. ; Lucy May, who married Cecil
Burse of Detroit, and has a daughter, Helen ; and John Calvin, by whose
marriage to Ethel Hayes of Detroit there is one son, Edwin.
The Bay City Times was founded January 3, 1899 — the most unpro-
pitious time of the year in which to launch a business enterprise, es
pecially when the field is already occupied. Bay City was then served
by the Morning Tribune and tbe Evening Press, both owned by one
management, but neither at that time was on a prosperous basis. Twenty-
four years have since come and gone, and the Times is now supreme in
the evening field at Bay City, and is one of the ablest managed and most
prosperous newspaper enterprises of the state.
It was with much trepidation that Wilbert H. Gustin and Leonard

820 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
L. Cline surrendered their positions of city editor and advertising man
ager respectively on the Tribune, to join hands with Fred. M. Van
Campen, owner of a job printing office, to start a new newspaper, in a
field that was paved with wrecks of journalistic efforts. However, they
united their limited means in an enterprise that eventually was brought to
success. The promoters were all young men and well acquainted in the city.
They had canvassed the field and had received encouragement. They
recruited their force mainly from the other daily papers of the city.
These employees, confident of the success of the new paper, gave up a
certainty for an uncertainty.
Witb a force of men trained in newspaper work, the promoters began
the publication of the Bay City Times. It was then a four-page paper,
seven columns to the page. Tbe type was all set by hand, it was printed
on a flat-bed, two-revolution press, capable of turning out eight hundred
papers per hour. The office was located in a two-story building on Fifth
avenue between Washington and Saginaw streets, which Mr. Gustin
had purchased for the purpose. So interested was he in the success of
the enterprise that he charged no rent while the company occupied the
building. The success of The Times the first year was of a doubtful character,
It depended upon a plate service, supplemented by "grape-vine," for
some of its telegraph news. It also had a wire running into the office
over which a special service was supposed to come from Detroit, but this
was so often interrupted by wires being broken because "they were mov
ing a house across the tracks down at Drayton Plains," that the service
was discontinued as inadequate and unsatisfactory. It is said that there
has not been a "house moved across the track at Drayton Plains" since
the special service was given up.
The principal telegraphic news service of that day was supplied by
the Associated Press, the evening franchise of whicb was held by the
Evening Press. The Times wanted it but could not get it. The Evening
Press would not dispose of it, therefore, the publishers of The Times
decided to bend their energies in getting out a much better local news
paper and with timely local editorial comment such as would tell in its
race against the competitor. This course had its effect. The Times
grew and prospered. Archibald McMillan, one of the publishers of the
Evening Press, saw the inevitable. He disposed of his interest in 1890
and became a member of the Times Company and staff. With addi
tional strength and growing favor, The Times went ahead. It became
recognized as the leading paper of the city, even though it had no accred
ited press association from which to secure its telegraphic news.
Early in 1891, The Times, having outgrown its Fifth avenue quarters,
moved to the Birney block on Water street. In this location it remained
upwards of ten years when it purchased the Cottrell building. When
the people of Bay City voted to buy Water street property to establish
Wenonah Park, The Times building was one of those that were within
the Park zone. The Times, in preparing to vacate, bought the north
west corner of Adams street and Fifth avenue, where it erected its pres
ent modern building and installed within it the latest improved printing
machinery. The new building was occupied in September, 1909.
In May, 1891, Mr. Van Campen retired from the company and de
voted himself exclusively to the job printing department. At about this
time the publishers reorganized as a corporation known as The Bay City
Times Company. In June of that year The Times purchased and ab
sorbed the Evening Press, securing thereby the much coveted Associated
Press privileges and at the same time relieving the business men of w hat
they had regarded for some time as a burden — a third daily newspaper.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 821
The Evening Press was established in 1879 and had up to that time
absorbed or forced to surrender the field, the Advocate, tbe Daily Star,
the Daily World, the Evening News, the Morning Call, and a few others
of minor importance. Whatever prestige and business these papers ac-
uired came to The Times when it bought the Press. From that time
The Times has been the sole occupant of the evening field.
Since 1889 The Times has outgrown six presses. The last move was
the enlargement of the present perfecting press so that its capacity has
been doubled. The type-setting capacity of the office has been increased
twenty-fold, and there are five times as many compositors in the "ad"
alley as there were in 1889. Of the original force in the mechanical
department, only one remains — Fred J. Wharton, foreman of the "ad"
department. The Times was started as an independent newspaper and it has main
tained this position. Its aim has been to serve the people honestly, to
gain their confidence by dealing fairly with them in all things and at all
times, and thus acquire a prestige that cannot be shaken. Its circulation
and advertising patronage have consequently enjoyed a steady growth
from its inception to this day.
Of the founders- of The Times, Mr. Gustin is the only one remaining
with the paper. Mr. Cline disposed of his interest in 1892 to take the
business management of the Grand Rapids Democrat. He later went to
Detroit and engaged in the advertising business, and died in the harness.
Mr. VanCampen became interested in photography and is now engaged
in that line in Grand Rapids. Mr. Gustin disposed of his interest in 1903
at the time the present company acquired possession of the paper. He
has been acting rn the capacity of managing .editor since.
The present officers of the Bay City Times Company are Ralph H.
Booth, president; and B. M. Wynkoop, secretary-treasurer and general
manager. Hon. Samuel Dickie. Many of the well known Michigan citizens
whose names and careers are recorded in these pages give credit for
their finishing education and preparation for life to Albion College, an
institution with a history of more than seventy years, and one of the
strongest denominational schools in the state. Its possibilities fpr use
ful service are now greater than ever, owing largely to the aggressive
work of its president, Dr. Dickie, who graduated from Albion more than
forty years ago, was connected with the institution in various capacities
as instructor and business and official capacity, and since 1901 has been
president. Dr. Dickie was made acting president of Albion College in February,
1 90 1, and was elected to the permanent presidency in June, 1901. The
important features of bis work as president were described by Prof.
DeLos Fall in a history of Albion College written in 1912, and two para
graphs from that article are herewith quoted:
"He has served most acceptably and successfully in that office from
that time to the present writing. He was thoroughly conversant with
the college in all phases of its life, having been intimately and officially
connected with it for .a long series of years — as student, member of the
faculty, member of the board of trustees, and chairman of the endow
ment fund committee. The first important task which confronted him
was the clearing away of the great debt which had been incurred through
the previous administrations. Although no part of the endowment fund
had been used for current expenses, it still remained that to care for the
interest on a debt which now had grown to be one hundred thousand
dollars, required the earning of a like amount of the permanent endow-

822 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
ment fund. With great energy and tact, President Dickie aroused the
interest of the friends of the institution, who responded promptly and
liberally, with the result that on December 31, 1902, there was secured
in cash and good securities the sum of $103,400, and the school was free .
from debt.
"The financial problem is one ever present in the management of any
live, growing, and expanding institution of learning, and so it will ever
be with Albion. Recognizing this fact, President Dickie has taken a sec
ond notable step in the present year of 1912. Mr. Andrew Carnegie
had promised to give twenty thousand dollars when the college, through
its friends, should show him eighty thousand additional, the entire sum
to be placed in the permanent endowment fund. This has been most
successfully accomplished, thus placing the school upon a much better
financial foundation."
One of Michigan's most distinguished educators, and also a leader
in the work of state and national temperance, Samuel Dickie was born
in Canada June 6, 1851, a son of William and Jane (McNabb) Dickie,
both natives of Scotland. The father was born at the home of the poet,
Robert Burns, in Mauchlin, Scotland, while the mother was a native
of Glasgow. In early life tbe family emigrated to Canada, and in 1858
to Lansing, Michigan, where the parents spent the rest of their lives.
Dr. Dickie was educated in the publiG schools of Lansing, and in
1868, at the age of seventeen, entered Albion College and remained until
graduating in 1872. His career as an educator began as superintendent
of schools at Hastings, where he remained four years, and from 1877
to 1888 held the Chair of Astronomy and Physics at Albion College. He
was one of the most popular instructors in the faculty, and from the
year 1888 until taking the position of president in 1901 continued to
be identified with his Alma Mater by loyal interest and also various
official services.
In 1872, at the age of twenty-one, Dr. Dickie refused allegiance to
the party which he favored for its economic principles on account of
its stand on the temperance question, and has ever since (been one of the
strongest and ablest members of the Prohibition party in Michigan. In
1884 he was chairman of the National Prohibition convention, and in
1886. was Prohibition candidate for governor, receiving a vote one-third
larger than was given to St. John, the presidential candidate in 1884.
He was the leader of the campaign in 1887 for the amendment of the
state constitution to prohibit the manufacture and sale of liquor in the
state, and his work at that time gained him recognition in his party
councils in the nation at large, and in the Chicago convention of Novem
ber, 1887, he was made chairman of the national committee. The follow
ing four years were spent in New York City, where he maintained his
headquarters as executive head of the party. Returning to Albion in
1893, Dr. Dickie has had his home in that city ever since.
On December 22, 1872, Dr. Dickie married Mary Brockway, daugh
ter of Rev. William H. Brockway of Albion. Their four children are :
Clarissa, Ada, Mary, and Brockway.
. John M. Phelan. The spirit of twentieth century enterprise which
has stimulated and produced in such an important degree the develop
ment of Jackson and vicinity as one of the chief industrial centers of
Michigan, has no better representative than John M: Phelan, who has
lived in that city since he was ten years of age, and whose invention of a
special process for the manufacture of reinforced concrete pipe has added
to the world's mechanical facilities. Mr. Phelan is superintendent of the
Reinforced Concrete Pipe Company, a corporation specially organized

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 823
to manufacture his invention. He also holds an honored place in the civic
community as alderman from the Seventh Ward.
John M. Phelan was born in Washtenaw county, Michigan, on a farm
December 12, 1866. His father was Michael Phelan, a native of county
Waterford, Ireland, who came to the United States in 1848. Throughout
his active career until his death in 1885, he combined farming and busi
ness pursuits, engaging first in one and then in the other. The mother,
whose maiden name was Sarah Guinon was born in Queen's County, Ire
land, and was a direct descendant of Guy the Earl of Warwick. She
died in 1897.
When John M. Phelan was ten years of age, his parents located at
Jackson, and that city has ever since been his home. Here he attended
St. John's parochial school, but left off his studies at the age of fourteen
in order to learn a practical vocation. His first work was as a cigar
maker, and at the age of 'eighteen, he began an apprenticeship at the
machinist's trade, which was more in keeping with his natural inclinations
and early manifested genius for mechanical contrivance. For two years
he was an apprentice in the old Bennett Machine Shops of Jackson, and
thoroughly mastered his trade and became an expert, so that at this time
there is probably no better mechanic in the city of Jackson than Mr.
Phelan. , In following his trade he was employed in several different ma
chine shops, and also in the shops of the Michigan Central Railway at
the Junction. Still later, he was for ten years in the shops of the Nov
elty Manufacturing Company. In 1903, Mr. Phelan perfected and se
cured a patent upon a reinforced concrete pipe. He himself foresaw great
commercial possibilities in its manufacture, and it was not difficult to in
duce capital to back the invention. Accordingly there. was organized
the Reinforced Concrete Pipe Company, and subsequently it was incor
porated. Mr. Phelan has been one of tbe large stockholders of the con
cern, and has been superintendent of the manufacturing since the be
ginning. Today this is one of Jackson's best industries. It is capitalized
at six hundred thousand dollars, and the products are shipped all over the
world. To comparatively few men comes such a distinction as an in
ventor and manufacturer as to Mr. Phelan and he may well take pride*
in the fact that he has added to the world's commercial resources. While
the reinforced concrete pipe is most conspicuous and valuable invention,
Mr. Phelan has a mechanical genius which has been manifested in other
original ways, and at least twenty patents have been granted by the gov
ernment for the government.
A Democrat in politics, Mr. Phelan has long been active in local af
fairs, and for the past fourteen years has represented the Seventh Ward
in the City Council, of which he is one of the most valuable working mem
bers. He belongs to the Catholic Church, and is affiliated with the
Knights of Columbus, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
On October 16, 1891, Mr. Phelan married Mary McGuin. They have
three children, two sons and a daughter, Marguerite, Harold and Roy.
Henry R. Wochholz. The position which he has gained as one of
the representative business men and progressive, public-spirited citizens
of the city of Albion well entitles Mr. Wochholz to specific recognition
in this publication. He is, senior member of the enterprising firm of
Wochholz & Gress, which tonducts a finely appointed department store in
the city of Albion and which has gained high reputation and substantial
business through fair and honorable dealings and marked circumspec
tion in meeting the demands of an appreciative and representative patron
age. Further interest attaches to the career of Mr. Wochholz by reason

824 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
of the fact that he is a scion of a sterling pioneer family of Michigan
and a native of the county which is now his home.
Henry R. Wochholz was born on a farm in Albion township, Cal
houn county, Michigan, on the 26th of May, 1862, the exact place of his
nativity being situated four miles southeast of the city of Albion. He is
a son of John Ludwig Wochholz and Henrietta (Frederick) Wochholz,
both of whom were born and reared in Germany, where their marriage
was solemnized, and where the father served six years in the German
army, in which he attained official preferment. Tbe subject of this re
view is one of a family of nine children and was the first of the num
ber born in Calhoun county, four having been born in Germany. In 1861
John L. Wochholz severed the ties that bound him to home and native
land and immigrated with his family to the United States, the voyage hav
ing been made in a primitive sailing vessel, the "Washington," and this
having been the final trans-Atlantic trip of the boat. Six weeks were
consumed in making the voyage, and soon after landing in New York
city the Wochholz family set forth for Michigan, making Calhoun county
their destination. John L. Wochholz acquired land in Sheridan township,
and eventually became one of the prosperous agriculturists of the county,
where both he and his devoted wife passed the remainder of their lives
and where both retained inviolable place in the confidence and esteem of
all who knew them, their names meriting enduring place on the roll of
the sterling pioneers of this favored section of the state. Mrs. Wochholz
was summoned to the life eternal on the 13th of October, 1898, at the
age of seventy-four years, and her husband passed away June 8, 1906, at
the age of seventy-nine years. Of the nine children all save one survive
the honored parents : Lena is the wife of August Waldvogle ; Charles is
a resident of Albion, Michigan; Henrietta is the wife of Philo D. Wright;
Henry R. is the immediate subject of this sketch; John F. maintains his
home at Albion, Michigan ; Mary is the wife of William Beilfuss ; Ida is
the wife of Robert Glascoff; and Frank A. is engaged in the clothing
business in Albion, where all of the children reside. Hannah, the one
child deceased, was the first wife of Robert Glascoff, who after her
death married her younger sister, Ida.
Henry R. Wochholz has been a resident of Calhoun county from the
time of his birth, and, like his brothers and sisters, has shown by this
condition his lively appreciation of the manifold advantages and attrac
tions of the county. His initial experiences were those gained in con
nection with the home farm, in the work of which he assisted during the
days of his boyhood and youth, the while he continued to attend the
district school during the winter terms until he had attained to the age
of eighteen years. This discipline was supplemented by his attending for
one year a German Lutheran parochial school in Albion, his parents hav
ing been zealous adherents of the religious denomination mentioned. He
had gained more or less familiarity with the German language through
the associations of his home, but in the parochial school he perfected him
self in the correct usage of the language, which he speaks, reads and
writes with marked facility. Mr. Wochholz continued to lend his aid in
the work and management of his father's farm until he attained his legal
majority. He then set forth into a new field of endeavor, and the results
that he has since achieved fully justify the course which he thus followed.
He established his residence in Albion after leaving the farm and here he
was employed for two years as a clerk in the hardware store of the late
A. P. Gardiner. It may be mentioned incidentally that Mr. Wochholz
now owns and occupies the attractive residence that was at that time the
nome of Mr. Gardiner. After the experience gained in the hardware
establishment Mr. Wochholz entered upon an apprenticeship at the mould-

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 825
er's trade, in the plant of the Gale Manufacturing Company, long one of
the foremost representatives of the plow manufacturing industry in the
country, and with this Albion company he continued for thirteen years
after the. completion of his apprenticeship of three years. His steadfast
ness, determination and good judgment were significantly shown in this
connection, for during the long period of sixteen years in the service of
the Gale Company, Mr. Wochholz lost but one day's time, this beirig the
momentous occasion of his marriage.
In 1898 Mr. Wochholz resigned his position as one of the skilled
workmen and valued employes of the Gale Manufacturing Company, and
he then initiated his independent career as a merchant in Albion. From
that time to the present he has been known as one of the reliable pro
gressive and representative business men of the second city of Calhoun
county, and his record has been one of consecutive advancement along
the line of prosperous enterprise and that of tenure, of popular confidence
and esteem. At the initiation of his mercantile career he formed a part
nership with Edgar C. Deyoe, under the firm name of Wochholz & Deyoe,
and this alliance continued seven years, the enterprise being that of gen
eral merchandise, including the handling of coal and wood. In 1905 Mr.
Wochholz purchased his partner's interest in the now well-developed busi
ness, and at the same time he sold a half interest in the enterprise to his
brother-in-law, Frederick W. Gress, who has since been his able and valued
coadjutor, under the firm title of Wochholz & Gress. The large double
store of the firm is situated at the corner of Cass and Superior streets,
and the same is metropolitan in its facilities, stock and service in the
various departments. The firm also owns and operates the principal coal
elevator of Albion and deals extensively in grain, feed, lime, cement, etc.
Mr. Gress has charge of the coal elevator and its allied enterprises and
Mr. Wochholz gives his personal supervision to the large and well ap
pointed mercantile establishment.
Distinctive public spirit has characterized Mr. Wochholz as a citizen
and man of affairs. He has been aligned from early manhood as a staunch
supporter of the cause of the Republican party, but he has refused to be
come a candidate for any public office save that of member of the Albion
board of education, a position which he has held for the past nine years
and in which he has done effective work in behalf of the city schools.
He was for two years president of the Albion Business Men's Association,
having been the first to hold this office and having been prominently con
cerned in the founding of the progressive organization. In the Masonic
fraternity he has attained to tbe Knights Templar degree, besides being
affiliated with the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic
Shrine. Mr. Wochholz has important capitalistic interests aside from those
already mentioned. He is a member of the directorate of the National
Spring & Wire Company, of Albion and Windsor, Ontario, and is a stock
holder in both the Albion Chemical Works and the Albion Commercial
&' Savings Bank.
On May 26, 1889, there was recorded the marriage of Mr. Wochholz
to Miss Emma Gress, who was born at Parma, Jackson county, Michigan,
and they have two sons, — Louis F., who was born June 18, 1892, and
Harold F., who was born June 26, 1896. The elder son was graduated in
the University of Michigan on his twenty-first birthday, June 18, 1913,
and completed in this great institution a five years' course in four years.
The younger sori was graduated in the Albion high school as a member
of the class of 1914, the date of graduation having been June nth. Both
sons are sterling and popular young men of Albion, and their circle of
friends is coincident with that of their acquaintances.

826 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Frederick W. Gress. The ability to succeed in the strongly competi
tive walks of mercantile life is possessed by Frederick W. Gress, one of
Albion's best known merchants, and of the well known mercantile firm
of Wochholz & Gress.
Of stanch German stock which has been conspicuous in the develop
ment and enterprise of many sections of America, Frederick W. Gress
was bom at Albion, Michigan, May 17, 1864. His father, John Gress,
was a native of Germany, a blacksmitb by trade, and died when his son
Frederick was three years of age. The mother, whose maiden name was
Wilhelmina Steinkrass was also born in the German fatherland, and
after the death of her first husband married August Stecher. Mr. Stecher
is also now deceased, and his widow lives at a good old age in Albion. Of
the three children born to John Gress and wife, two are now living, Fred
erick W. and Mrs. Henry R. Wochholz, both of Albion. To the second
marriage were born six children, of whom five are living as follows:
George F. ; Louis ; Otto ; Eva and Ella, twins, who are now respectively
Mrs. John Dean and Mrs. Henry Penzotti.
Frederick W. Gress has spent practically all his life in Albion, was
educated in the common schools, turned his attention to a trade, and for
many years was one of the city's industrial workers. As junior member
of tbe firm of Wochholz & Gress he is a leading business man, this being
one of the most prosperous merchandise houses of the city. They con
duct a large general store, supply the community with all kinds of mer
chandise, and also are extensive dealers in coal, wood, grain and feed.
The partners are brothers-in-law, and they began business together in
1906. Previous to his mercantile career Mr. Gress put in twenty-one years
in the employ of the Gale Manufacturing Company at Albion. For many
years before he resigned from that establishment he was foreman in the
malleable iron department.
Mr. Gress has other noteworthy relations with the community, is a
member of the German Lutheran church, has taken the Knight Templar
degree in the Masonic order with membership in Marshall Commandery
No. 17, and also belongs to the uniform rank of the Knights of Pythias,
Apollo Company, No. 23, of Albion. In his civic relations he served four
years as a member of the city council from the First ward, and is Repub
lican in his political principles. Besides his interest in the store, he is a
stockholder in the Commercial and Savings Bank of Albion. On April
17, 1890, Mr. Gress married Amelia Reather. They have one daughter,
Miss Margaret Ida Gress, who is a well educated young lady living at
home, and a helpful assistant to her father as bookkeeper with the firm
of Wochholz & Gress.
Julius J. Best. Within the past year Julius J. Best embarked in the
real estate and insurance business in Jackson, and the indications are that
his career on that line will be a successful and creditable one. Mr. Best
came to this country from his native land, Poland, in May, 1898, and since
that time he has been a resident of this city. He was born on July 19,
1 881, and it is more or less interesting to follow the upward steps of his
career thus far in America.
When Mr. Best first came to Jackson from Poland he entered the em
ploy af the Lewis Spring & Axle Company, and for four years he was
thus occupied, acting in the capacity of shipping clerk. For three years
thereafter he was variously employed, and in 1905 he entered the service
of W. W. Wright in the real estate and insurance business as- a solicitor,
andhe continued with Mr. Wright until February 1, 1914, when he es
tablished a real estate and insurance agency on his own account. Prior
to this however, and while still in the employ of Mr. Wright, Mr. Best had

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 827
conducted a steamship agency at Jackson on his own account and also a
foreign money order office, and he still conduts both the steamship agency
and money order office in conjunction with the real estate and insurance
business. His offices are located at No. 213 Carter Brothers Building.
Mr. Best is the son of John and Lucy Best, both now deceased, who
spent their entire lives in their native land. One brother, Frank Best,
followed him to America. He is now a prosperous grocer of .Toledo,
Ohio. Mr. Best occupies a position of considerable importance in Jacksori,
not alone by reason of his business enterprises, but in some degree be
cause of his standing with his brother Poles. Tbe city has a Polish popu
lation of something like five thousand, many of them having come to
America in very recent years and having but little knowledge of the man
ners and customs of their new land. These people firid in Mr. Best a
sympathetic friend and adviser, and they are always free to come to him
with their problems. Mr. Best has studied hard since he established
himself on American soil and he is comparatively familiar with the Eng
lish language and with the methods of legal procedure of our courts, so
that he is well equipped to act as a sort of "big brother" to his country
men. A large proportion of the Jackson Polish Colony depend implicitly
upon him and his word, and he directs them in the manner of the disposi
tion of their savings as well as in other matters of vital interest to them.
If they wish to send their savings back to their native land to those they
left behind them, Mr. Best attends to the matter for them with the facili
ties at his- command in his foreign money order department. On the other
hand, if they wish to invest in Jackson property, Mr. Best is never chary
of the best advice of which he is capable in regard to a satisfactory in
vestment. And it is a source of much pride and pleasure to him that he
is able to act as a friend to his fellow countrymen in their adopted country.
Mr. Best has, himself, made some judicious and profitable investments
in Jackson realty, and he is rapidly gaining in financial standing in the
city. He has most thoroughly demonstrated to the people of Jackson
that a young man of foreign birth, with little or no educational advan
tages, may, by the application of a fair measure of energy and the pos
session of good habits, win a solid success in an American city, and the
people of Jackson have a measure of pride in his achievements, and re
gard him as a valuable acquisition to the citizenship of the community.
Henry Schust. The president of the Schust Baking Company has
for thirty years been one of Saginaw's leading business men. He estab
lished and developed a bread bakery, which in its time was notable for
the high standard of its product, and since transferring his resources to
the baking branch of the industry has made a business hardly second to
any of its kind in the state, and the Schust crackers are now eaten by
thousands of consumers who never visited Saginaw, where the big factory
is located. Mr. Schust's character and reputation has given him a high
place in his community, he is a man of honor and of high ideals and while
always interested and a liberal contributor to the upbuilding of his city, has
at the same time provided well for his immediate family, and all his chil
dren are a credit to him. Mr. Schust in spite of his long and active busi
ness career, and the large establishment of which he is at the head, is sure
to impress a stranger as one man who has no cares or worries, and is
happy and contented with every fortune that state has brought him.
Henry Schust is a native of Wurttemberg, Germany, born May 24,
1850, a son of John H. V. and Margaret (Schmidt) Schust. His
education acquired in the schools of his native province was of a
substantial character, and early in youth he began learning the

828 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
baker's trade as an apprentice in his native city. With his accumu
lation of savings, he finally went to Basel, Switzerland, being ac
companied by his wife, wbom he had married in Stuttgart, Ger
many. In Basel he engaged in the baking business for himself, and
remained there from 1875 until April, 1882. In the meantime in
spite of a fair prosperity, he had become soundly impressed with the great
resources and opportunities offered in the United States, and this finally
led to his selling out his business in Switzerland, and with a considerable
amount of capital he arrived in Michigan and located at Cass City. A
business career there of eighteen months proved somewhat disastrous,
since he lost nearly all of his investments, and left Cass City, with a some
what poor opinion of that locality. In the fall of- 1883, he arrived in Sagi
naw, and with what remained of his capital bought a smallbake shop on
LaPeer Street. Being an expert baker, he applied himself with all the
characteristic earnestness and industry of his nature to his undertaking,
and in a short time was making goods which were very popular through
out the city. After his first success he bought a block on the corner of
Sixth and LaPeer Streets, ground measuring eighty-five by one hundred
and forty feet, and there erected a large and modern steam bakery. His
business increased with rapid strides, and in time became the most im
portant of its kind in Saginaw. In 1902, his success with bread having
stimulated his enterprise in other directions, he started in a small way the
manufacture of crackers and cakes. The Schust Baking establishment at
that time gave employment to some twelve to fifteen people. The cracker
business soon outdistanced the larger department entirely, and in a short
time Mr. Schust erected additional factory room, and in 1907 sold out the
bread bakeries altogether. At that time was organized the Schust Baking
Company, whose plant covers nearly thirty-six thousand feet of floor space,
employs upwards of one hundred hands, and the goods are shipped and
sold on the markets of Chicago, Detroit, Cincinnati, and all the intermedi
ate territory. There are two branch houses, one in Bay City, and one in
Flint. Mr. Schust owns the majority of the stock, and has been president
of the company since organization in the present corporate form.
A new plant will be erected on the west side, at the foot of Congress
Street and Michigan Central tracks. Mr. Schust is building a new- plant,
and will be known as the Schust Baking Company. It will be erected at a
cost of $100,000, with be five stories in height besides the basement, and it
will be a concrete building.
Besides giving Saginaw one of its employing industries, Mr. Schust has
done much for the upbuilding of his home city, in other ways. He has
built and owned eight fine residence properties, besides business blocks, and
has been public-spirited in every movement he has made. During recent
years he has turned over the active management of the business to his.
sons, who are all capable young men, and rapidly advancing the business
to still larger success. Their father took each of them into the factory at
an early age, and thus they are familiar with practically every detail. At
the present time, Mr. Schust takes little part in business affairs and en
joys a rest which is well earned after his long and busy career.
He and his wife are inveterate travelers. Mrs. Schust has made three
European trips, and also spent several months in Yellowstone park' and
elsewhere in America. Mr. Schust has gone to Europe twice, once in 1905,
and once in 1910. He and his wife have visited all the well known Euro
pean centers, including Rome, and its historical vicinity, Switzerland, Al
giers, Spain and elsewhere.
To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Schust were born ten children, four
of whom are deceased. Those living are Fred, Emanuel Schust, who is
vice president and manager of the Baking Company ; Edward Schust, who

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 829
is general manager of the plant ; Gustav Adolph, manager of the shipping
department; Eugene, one of the traveling salesmen representing the
Schust Baking Company; Margaret, wife of Gustav C. Heineman, of
Saginaw ; Sophia, widow of Charles Housner, of Saginaw. Mr. Schust
is a Republican in politics, but has never manifested any desire for public
office, and has several times declined such honor. He believes in and sup
ports several church denominations, but is very liberal in religious matters.
He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Foresters, arid is an hon
orary member of the Germania Society.
Morton Gallagher, M.D. A native of Canada, but since 1894
a resident of Bay City, Dr. Gallagher by his skill in practice and his high
character and sterling qualities of citizenship, reflects great credit both
on the land of his nativity, and the city of his adoption. He is one of
the leading physicians of Bay City, enjoys a large private practice, and
is well known in social and fraternal circles.
Morton Gallagher was born at Portland,. Ontario, May 19, 1863.
His parents were William and Jane Hanna Gallagher, his father a
native of Ireland and his mother of Canada. The father came to
Canada when nineteen years old, and spent his entire active career as a
farmer until his death in 1897. ^-e was born in 1811. The mother, who
was born in 1820 and died in December, 1895, was reared and lived all
her life in Ontario. The eighth in order of birth of a family of nine chil
dren, Dr. Gallagher at an early age had to rely on his efforts to earn his
living and prepare for a career of usefulness both to himself and his
fellowmen. After completing his high school work at Athens, On
tario, he spent two years as a teacher, and then entered Queen's College,
where he was graduated in medicine in April, 1887. For seven years
Dr. Gallagher was engaged in practice at Campbellford, Ontario, and
then after six months of post-graduate study in the New York Poly
clinic came to Bay City in 1894, His success here has been distinctive
and has given him a practice which is equal to the best. For six years
he has been honored by his fellow workers, with the presidency of the
Bay County Medical Society, and his membership is also in the State
Society and the American Medical Association. In Masonry the doctor
has taken thirty-two degrees of the Scottish Rite and belongs to the
Shrine, and is also affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order
of Elks. He is a member of the Bay City Club and the Bay City
Country Club, and gives his services to the city as a member of the
board of education.
On Christmas Day of 1889, Dr. Gallagher married Miss Emily
Tecker, of Centerton, Ontario, her father, Rev. William Tecker, having
long been a well known minister in Canada, and no,w living in Toronto.
Dr. Gallagher and wife have eight children as follows: Sherman G.,
born at Campbellport, Ontario, and now in the United States Army;
Florence, born at Campbellford, March 17, 1892, and a graduate of the
Ypsilanti Normal School; William H, born at Bay City, September 16,
1894, and a graduate in the high school; Fletcher T., born at Bay City,
in March, 1896, and also a graduate of bigh school ; Helen, born at Bay
City in September, 1897, and in the high school ; Marion N., born at
Bay City, in April, 1899; Pauline, born in Bay City, in 1901 ; and
Blanche M., born in December, 1906, at Bay City.
Rev. Casper M. B. Schenkelberg, pastor of St. John's Roman
Catholic church, of Jackson, has now served about twenty years in his
present capacity. His service has been a valued one to the church and
the community, and the work of the church has prospered under his
wise administration.

830 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
The St. John's church property, comprising a number of substantial
and handsome brick buildings, will aggregate approximately $150,000,
and is one of the most valuable and well kept parcels of property in
the ownership of the church in Michigan. -Besides the church, itself a
handsome structure, there are St. John's Academy, a four-story brick
building; the rectory and a home for the Sisters, and also a perfectly
equipped heating plant.
The history of the church is a most interesting one, and unfortunately,
lack of space forbids more than a brief mention of its experience here.
It may be said, however, that it is the oldest Roman Catholic church in
Jackson, founded by missionaries in 1841. The first resident pastor of
the church was Father Carl Moutard, who assumed the duties of pastor
in 1855. The corner stone of the first church edifice was laid in that
year, since which time the church has been several times rebuilt. The
present church was complete in 1896, one year after Father Schenkelberg
took charge. The second pastor of the church was Rev. P. Dudley
O'Brien, who served in the years 1870 and 1871. He was followed by
Rev. Tbeophilus Buyse, who served a continuous pastorate from then
until 1895, when he was relieved by the present pastor, who has since
been in charge. The present church edifice was finished in the year that
Rev. Schenkelberg assumed the duties of pastor, and in the nineteen
years of his service since then he has brought the property up to its
present valuable state, adding the Academy, the parsonage and the home
for the sisters. Improvement has been sure and steady in the property,
and scarce a year has passed that has not noted some needed addition to
the well being of the church property as a whole. St. John's Academy
was completed in 1901, and has been a tremendous impetus to the work
of the church in the community.
Father Schenkelberg was born in Detroit on January 20, 1857, and re
ceived his early education in St. Francis Seminary of Milwaukee; where
he spent twelve years. He was ordained priest in Detroit, on June 9,
1883, and for ten years thereafter, or until 1893 he was pastor of St.
Mary's church at St. Clair, Michigan. His next pastorate was the Holy
Cross church at Marine City, where he spent two and a half years, and
since 1895 his service has been confined to his present pastorate.
William T. Bope. It is with distinctive satisfaction that in this work
may be given a brief review of the career of William Thomas Bope, who
may well be termed the dean of the .bar of Bad Axe, judicial center of
Huron county, for he has here been engaged in the successful practice of
law for nearly forty years, and in point of years of consecutive practice
within its borders be now takes precedence of all other members of the
present bar of Huron county. He is not only a man of high professional
and general intellectual attainments but he has ever shown a deep appre
ciation of the best ethics of his profession and has striven with much of
ability and distinction to uphold its dignity. He has long controlled a
large and representative practice, has commanded the unqualified confi
dence and respect of his colleagues at the bar, as well as of the general
public, and in the meanwhile he has exerted potent influence in further
ing the civic and material prosperity and progress of his hpme city and
county, where he has a coterie of friends that is limited only by that of
his acquaintances.
Mr. Bope finds marked satisfaction in reverting to the fact that the
Wolverine state is the place of his nativity and that he is a representa- '
five of one of its pioneer families. He was born on a farm in Lapeer
county, Michigan, on the 3d of January, 1853, and is a son of Dr. Phile
mon Jefferson Bope and Ellen M. (Sloss) Bope, descendants of sturdy

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 831
German ancestors who settled in the north of Ireland in the days of
William of Orange. Dr. Philemon Bope was born at Lancaster, Ohio,
and was a schoolmate and friend of Hon. John Sherman, who achieved
national reputation. The wife of Dr. Bope was born on a vessel in mid-
ocean, while her parents were en route from their old home in the north
of Ireland to the United States. She was a daughter of Joseph Sloss, who
settled in Michigan in the early '50s and became one of the honored pio
neers of this commonwealth, where he lived for the remainder .of his long
and useful life. The paternal grandfather of him whose name introduces
this review was a general of the southern division of the Ohio state
militia in the pioneer era of the* history of the old Buckeye state, and his
son Philemon served as his aide-de-camp. Dr. Bope was graduated in
Starling Medical College, at Columbus, Ohio, and he began the practice
of his profession at Dearborn, Wayne county, Michigan, where his mar
riage was solemnized, and where he continued his residence four years.
His health had' become much impaired and to recuperate his powers he,
in company with his wife, passed a year at New Orleans, Louisiana. On
his return to Michigan he located at Lapeer, where he continued in active
and successful practice until his death. He died in 1866, at the age of
forty-two years, and it was the irony of fate that his devoted wife met
her death in, a runaway accident, in 1861. Her husband also had a simi
lar accident and was seriously injured and probably died later as a result
of this accident. Also their eldest child, Charles M., was kicked in the
head by a horse when he was a young man of nineteen years but lived
several years after and taught school,1 but died suddenly from the effects
of the accident. Frances E., the eldest of the four children, is now Mrs.
George W. Carpenter, of Bad Axe, Michigan; and Elizabeth E. is the
widow of Dr. Thomas B. McNabb, a pioneer physician of Fremont, Indi
ana. She now resides in Bad Axe.
William T. Bope was doubly orphaned when but thirteen years of age,
but he was favored in the circumstances that permitted him to continue
his educational work, his preliminary discipline having been received in
the common schools at Lapeer. At the age of fourteen years he entered '
the Northeastern Indiana Seminary, at Orland, where he gained effective
training in higher academic branches of study, and upon attaining to his
legal majority he began reading law in the office and under the precep
torship of the firm of McBride & Morlan, of Waterloo, Indiana. At tbe
age of twenty-three, to fortify himself fully for the work of his chosen
calling, he returned to Michigan and was matriculated in the law depart
ment of the University of Michigan, in which grand old institution he was
graduated as a member of the class of 1876, with the degree of Bachelor
of Laws. He was forthwith admitted to tbe bar of his native state and
his professional novitiate was served at Butler, Indiana. There he re
mained one year, at the expiration of which he removed to Manchester,
that state, which place continued to be the stage of his professional en
deavors for a period of equal duration. He then, in 1879, established his
home in the little village of Bad Axe, Michigan, where he soori forged
to the front as one of the strong and resourceful members of the Huron
county bar and where his practice has kept pace with the development and
upbuilding of the town and surrounding country. He has been identified
with much of the important litigation brought forth in this county, his
practice extending into the federal and supreme courts of Michigan, and
his undeviating determination to make his work justify the name of his
profession has made him an honored exponent of the law, with its su
preme functions of conserving justice and equity. His character and his
achievement have made him a man altogether of the unqualified esteem
in which he is held, and his advice and counsel are frequently sought bv
Vol. 11— is ' J o- J

832 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
the younger members of his profession, his courtesy to them and all other
confreres being marked by invariable consideration and a desire to prove
helpful, as well as to inculcate appreciation of the dignity and sanctity
of the law.
Mr. Bope long continued to be aligned under the banner of the Demo
cratic party, and for sixteen years he served as a member of the Demo
cratic state central committee of Michigan, besides being a delegate to
nearly all of the state conventions of his party in Michigan. Though not
ambitious for personal preferment he has been a zealous political worker
and a specially effective campaign orator. His only definite service in
public office has been confined to the line of his chosen profession, and
he made an admirable record during his four years' incumbency of the
office of prosecuting attorney of Huron county. In earlier years Mr.
Bope did active campaign work as a stump speaker for the Democratic
party, but he has never lacked the courage of his convictions, as shown
by the fact that in the national campaign of 1912 he transferred his alle
giance to the newly organized Progressive party and had the distinction
of being made a member of its Michigan state central committee. He
has been for twenty years an appreciative and honored member of the
Michigan State Bar Association and since 191 1 he has been the honored
president of the Huron County Bar Association. He is a royal arch
Mason, and is also affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
in which he is a charter member of the lodge at Waterloo, Indiana. He
is the owner of an attractive home, besides income realty, in Bad Axe
and also owns in Huron county 300 acres of excellent land, his farms
being for the most part thoroughly improved and yielding due returns.
He is a director and vice president of the Sebewaing State Bank, at Sebe-
waing, Huron county, and. he has been liberal and progressive in his
civic attitude, ever ready to lend his influence and co-operation in the
furtherance of measures put forward for the best interests of his home
city and county. Mr. Bope gives support to and attends the Methodist
Episcopal church, of which his wife is a zealous member, her activities
being potent in the various women's societies of her church, she being
treasurer of the Ladies Aid of Bad Axe, as well as a popular factor in
the best social life of the community.
At Butler, Indiana, in the year 1882, was solemnized the marriage of
Mr. Bope to Miss Binnie E. Plowe, who was there born and reared and
whose father, the late John Plowe, was a native of Ohio, where his
parents were pioneer settlers. Mr. and Mrs. Bope have no children.
Melroy Andrew Corey. That wanting to do a thing real Hard
brings it around is a truth often overlooked. This Bay City business
man, while between the plow-handles, wanted first of all an education,
and went to work to get it. He wanted a business career and putting
himself at the bottom learned a trade and made success come to him.
The senior member of this firm was born near Argo, Indiana, on a
farm, May 17, 1861, a son of William Douglas and Cynthia (Alleman)
Corey, both of whom were born in New York State. William D. Corey,
when a child was brought by his parents, thrifty farming people to
Marshall county, Indiana, and spent most of his life on a farm in that
section. He was always an active factor in county politics, and towards
the close of the Civil war went in as a Union soldier, and served until
the end of the struggle. His death occurred in 1908 in Alabama, where
his home had been for the past two years. The mother now resides
in Rochester, Indiana. Of the four children, Melroy A. was the oldest,
and the others are: William D. Corey, a farmer in Marshall county,
Indiana; Molly, wife of George Harer, of Milford Junction, Indiana;
and Ivy, wife of a Mr. Leland.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 833
Melroy A. Corey had his education in the country schools of Mar
shall county, Indiana, his early training in this way only aggregating
about eighteen months. His ambition to get a further education was
attended with difficulties, but he succeeded in taking courses in night
schools, and also took a correspondence business course. At the same
time he lived at home and helped his father on the farm until he was
twenty-one years of age, and then returned to Warsaw, Indiana, and
found a job as clerk in a hardware store and tinshop. After mastering
the tinning trade, he went to work as a journeyman, and following his
trade worked in various cities of the country. In 1902 Mr. Corey came to
Bay City, and entered the employ of the Sullivan Plumbing & Heating
Company, which had been established in 1874. Mr. Corey with proper
faith in his own ability and judgment, bought the stock and fixtures,
and in 1909, sold an interest in the concern to Claude Nichols, thus
making the firm of Corey & Nichols under the able management of
these partners. When they started they had only three men to do the
work in addition to their own performance, and at the present time
ten expert workmen are constantly in their employ. Their establish
ment is at 709 Washington Street.
Mr. Corey is affiliated with the Masonic Order, having taken the
Consistory degrees in the Scottish Rite, and with the Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks. In politics be is a Republican. In March,
1887, Mr. Corey married Miss Carrie E. Robinson, who was born, in
New York State, a daughter of Jasper Robinson, now deceased. To
their union has been born one daughter, Diana Corey, who is a gradu
ate of the Bay City High school.
W. Scott Hobbs, one of the largest contractors in the United States
in the line of structural slate and blackboards, is prominently connected
with an enterprise which has a direct bearing upon the commercial pros
perity and industrial activity of Detroit, in which connection he has kept
thoroughly in touch with the trend of modern thought and progress in
the business world and manifested an aptitude for successful manage
ment that has made the concern of which he is the directing head an ex
ceedingly profitable enterprise. He is widely known in the line of his call
ing, and on frequent occasions has been honored by appointment and elec
tion to positions in which his executive ability has served to promote the
general welfare. Mr. Hobbs was born at Brownville, Maine, April 24,
1861, and is a son of Henry Wilson and Hannah (Wilkins) Hobbs.
William Hobbs, the grandfather of W. Scott Hobbs, was born at
Frankfort, Maine, of English ancestors, and met his death by being thrown
from his horse on the muster-field in his native state. He married Eliza
beth Dickie, also a native of Maine and of Englisl^descent, and after his
death she married Elijah Daw, of Maine. Henry Wilson Hobbs was born
in 1828, in Maine, and there for many years was engaged in contracting.
In 1880, with his son, W. Scott, he went to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where
he followed contracting until 1895, but in that year returned toward the
East, and after residing about six months in Detroit, went to Attleboro,
Massachusetts, where he lived a retired life until his death in 1906 He
married Hannah Wilkins, who was born March 17, 1834, at Brownville,
Maine, and she is still living, a resident' of Attleboro, Massachusetts, aged
eighty years. She is the daughter of Harry and Mary (Varney) Wilkins,
and a member of the old Wilkins family, well known and higbly honored
in Maine. W. Scott Hobbs was reared at Brownville, Maine, and there educated
in the public schools. He early adopted the calling of his father, whom he
joined in business as a young man, and when but nineteen years of age

834 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
accompanied him to Minneapolis, where they remained until 1895. In
that year Mr. Hobbs established himself in his present line, his first work
here being the placing of blackboards in the Central High school. From
that time on until 1912 he had the blackboard contracts for every school
built in Detroit with the exception of three, also fitted out many of the
city's parochial schools, and did work in fifteen different states, although
he now limits his contracting to the state of Michigan. He is numbered
among those who in recent years have contributed to the business devel
opment and progress that have made Detroit one of the leading industrial
centers of Michigan, and is well qualified for the successful conduct of the
enterprise which he is carrying on, having wrought along modern lines and
utilized the means at hand toward the acquirement of desirable success.
Few of Detroit's citizens are better known in business circles of the city
and in business organizations. He is a leading member of the Detroit
Builders' and Traders' Exchange, of which he was treasurer in 1912 and-
1913, and in the latter year became a member of the board of directors, a
position which he still retains. He is a member of and very prominent in
Star Council No. 89, Royal Arcanum, of which he is past regent; is presi
dent of Banner Council No. 170, National Union, and is state sec
retary of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, and secretary
of Lincoln Council of the same order. He has represented that same order
as representative in the meetings of the national body every year since
1899, attending conventions in different cities, among them San Francisco,
Minneapolis, Buffalo and Philadelphia.
Mr. Hobbs was married October 26, 1902, to Miss Castara Lucretia
Brooks, who was born at Londonderry, Vermont, daughter of Elmer and
Ellen (Timm) Brooks. The father was-born at Londonderry, Vermont,
in 1847, the son of Washington and Lucretia (Woods) Brooks, natives of
Vermont, while the mother of Mrs. Hobbs was born at Norwich, Ohio.
To Mr. and Mrs. Hobbs there have come a son and a daughter : Virginia
Ella, born July 29, 1905 ; and Wendell Wilson, born June 8, 1908.
John G. Clark. Who is familiar with the various counties of Mich
igan will recall that those in its "Thumb" district, so designated became
of its relative contour as an integral part of a state whose outlines are
comparable to those of a mittened hand, constitute one of the most at
tractive divisions of this commonwealth, with cities and towns recog
nized for progressiveness and general beauty. This section of the state
claims as one of its thoroughly representative men of affairs the sterling
citizen whose name initiates this paragraph and who is one of the fore
most figures in the commercial and civic activities of Bad Axe, the thriv
ing metropolis and judicial center of Huron county. Here his capital
istic interests are many and varied, and none has been more enthusiastic
and liberal in promoting the advancement and material prosperity of the
city and county, so that consistency is observed when he is given specific
mention in this history of his native state.
John Galbraith Clark was born on a pioneer farmstead in Speaker
township, Sanilac county, Michigan, on the 22d of April, 1877, and is
a son of George C. and Mary (Galbraith) Clark, both of sterling Scotch
descent. George C. Clark and his wife were both born in Canada shortly
after the immigration of the respective families to America, settlement
being made on farms near the city of London, Ontario, Canada. The
paternal grandfather of John G Clark was born and reared near the
city of Edinburgh, and the Galbraiths had their home near Glasgow.
George C. and Mary (Galbraith) Clark were reared and educated at
London, Ontario, where their marriage was solemnized and whence they
came to Sanilac county, Michigan, in the Centennial year, 1876. Mr.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 835
Clark, a man of exceptional ability in the directing of business and in
dustrial enterprises became one of the extensive land-owners of Sanilac
and Huron counties, and he did much to further the development of
this section of the state. In addition to reclaiming to cultivation a
number of excellent farms he also made judicious investments in town
realty and was specially prominent in connection with the upbuilding
of Bad Axe. He suffered severe financial losses in the panic of
1893, but his versatility of expedient was equal to his courage, and he
went to Alaska, where he largely recouped his fortune through his
identification with extensive timber and fishing enterprises. Definite
success attended his efforts and he finally settled in the city of Seattle,
Washington, where he is nOw known as one of the largest timber opera
tors in the state. A man of positive character and inflexible integrity,
he has not only made his life a productive one but also seems to have
imbued his sons with the intrinsic qualities that augur for success. The
parents now have their home in the city of Seattle, but their names are
held in high honor in that section of Michigan where they ever made their
influence felt in a beneficent way. Of the five sons the eldest is George
McMillan Clark, who was born on the nth of November, 1875, near
London, Ontario, and who was about one year old at the time of his
parents' removal to Sanilac county, Michigan, where he acquired his
early education. Iii 1893 he was graduated in the high school at Bad
Axe, and thereafter he taught two years in the school in Colfax, Huron
county. While thus engaged he was elected county clerk, in which office
he served six years. He also began the study of law, and in 1906 he was
admitted to the bar, upon examination before the Michigan supreme
court. He is engaged in the practice of his profession at Bad Axe and
is recognized as one of the versatile and most successful lawyers of
this part of the state, besides which he has achieved high reputation as
a campaign orator, through his services in support of the principles of
the Republican party. He wedded Miss Eva Scott, and they have four
children — June, Millicent, Mary and John. John G. Clark, whose name
initiates this article, was the second of the five sons, each of whom has
accounted well for himself. Donald, the third son, was born in Sanilac
county and is now a prominent capitalist of Huntington, West Virginia,
in which state he is largely interested in timber and mineral lands, though
he went there after leaving the parental home with a capital of only five
dollars. Archibald James Clark, the fourth son, has likewise depended
upon his own resources in achieving success and is a prosperous banker
at Brimley, Chippewa county, Michigan. Oliver Clark, the youngest of
the sons, is successfully identified with banking operations at Reed City,
Osceola county. Thus, though the parents are no longer residents of
this state, the family bas still representatives who are held fully up
holding tbe prestige of the name.
John G. Clark is indebted to the public schools for the educational
privileges of his youth, and he made good use of these advantages, as
shown by the fact that after his graduation in the Bad Axe high school
he was a successful and popular teacher for three years at Grassmere,
Huron county, his career in the pedagogic profession having been ini
tiated when be was seventeen years of age. At the age of twenty Mr.
Clark assumed the position of clerk in the modest grocery store of Ezra
H. Crosby, of Bad Axe, and two years later he not only was given the
management of the business but bad in meantime also won the heart
and hand of his employer's daughter. Thus doubly spurred to ambitious
effort, he put forth his best energies, with' the result that he built up a
large and prosperous enterprise, the most extensive of the kind in this

836 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
section of the state. In association with his father-in-law he expanded
the functions of the business to include other lines of merchandise in
addition to groceries, so that the business is a retail enterprise of gen
eral order, with a large and appreciative trade controlled. At the age of
thirty years, while still largely interested in the Crosby Company, Mr.
Clark became one of the organizers and incorporators of the Clark & Mc-
Caren Company, the first to engage in the wholesale grocery trade with
headquarters at Bad Axe. He has beeri a dominating force in con
nection with the upbuilding of the substantial and constantly expanding
trade of this important corporation, especially its operations, through its
outside territory, and is at the present time in charge of its general sales
force and its traveling representatives. Further details concerning this
business are given in the sketch of the career of James McCaren, on
other pages of this work! Mr. Clark is interested in other local enter
prises of important order, is the owner of three excellent farms in Huron
county, and holds valuable realty in his home city, including his own at
tractive residence property.
Mr. Clark is a stalwart in the camp of the Republican party- and
has given effective service in the cause of the same. He served six
years as secretary of the Bad Axe board of education and six years as
a member of the board of trustees of the Eastern Michigan Hospital for
the Insane, at Pontiac, a position to which he was appointed in 1907.
He is affiliated with the Bad Axe lodge and chapter of the Masonic fra
ternity and both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal
church. Mr. Clark began his business career in the capacity of driver
of the delivery wagon for the Crosby grocery, and he reverts with earn
est appreciation to the aid and encouragement given him by Mr. Crosby,
who was long one of the most honored and influential citizens of Bad
Axe, where he died in 1913, at the age of seventy years.
On the 10th of November, 1897, Mr. Clark wedded Miss Ida Crosby,
daughter of his employer, the late Ezra H. Crosby, of whom mention
has just been made: Mrs. Crosby, whose maiden name was Ellen Stuart,
still resides at Bad Axe, and she was born in Wayne county, this state,
a representative of a prominent pioneer family. Mr. and Mrs. Clark have
a fine son, David Crosby Clark, who was born at Bad Axe on the 5th of
March, 1901.
George L. Whitney. An enterprising and public-spirited citizen
and wide-awake business man of Bad Axe, the county seat of Huron
county, is George Lewis Whitney, who is mayor of the city and presi
dent of the Whitney & Chatfield Company, which conducts an extensive
hardware and lumber business, based upon fair and honorable policies
and also upon the personal popularity of the interested principals in the
corporation. Mr. Whitney has won large and worthy success as a busi
ness man of stability and aggressiveness and has proved a most valuable
acquisition in both business and civic activities at Bad Axe, where he
has maintained his residence since 1891. Further interest attaches to
his career by reason of the fact that he is a native son of Michigan and
a member of a family whose name has been identified with the annals of
this commonwealth since early pioneer days.
_ Mr. Whitney was born on a farm in Shelby township, Macomb county,
Michigan, and the date of his nativity was February 14, 1865. He is a
son of Horace Isaac and Mary Elizabeth (Jackson) Whitney, the former
of whom was born in Chesterfield township, Macomb county, about
eight miles northwest of the present city of Mount Clemens, and the lat
ter of whom is likewise a native of the Wolverine state. The genealogy of

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 837
the Whitney family is authentically traced back to the time of the great
Norman, William the Conqueror, who was a direct kinsman of Sir Turs-
tin the Fleming, also known as Sir Turstin de Wigmore. As a reward
for assistance in the wars of the period, William the Conqueror gave to
Sir Turstin the Fleming, among other lands, that part situated on the Wye
river in England and known as Whitney. At some time within the
twelfth or thirteenth century a grandson of Sir Turstin the Fleming
took up his residence at- Whitney on the Wye, and thus, in consonance
with tbe custom of the times, he acquired the surname of De Whitney,
implying "of Whitney." The prepositional prefix was eventually elim
inated and the family became known by the name of Whitney alone. John
Whitney, a descendant of the family in England, came with his family
to America, presumably on the sbip "Truelove," and he settled at
Watertown, Massachusetts, in June, 1635. Jason Whitney, a great-
grandson of this progenitor of the American branch, was the great-great
grandfather of George L. Whitney of this review, and served in Cap
tain Samuel Bullard's command in the Lexington alarm incidental to the
war of the Revolution. Authentic data also show that Jason Whitney
was a gallant soldier in the French and Indian wars, and that he re
ceived a wound that made him permanently lame. His son, Isaac, re
moved from New England to Middlesex, Ontario county, New York, and
there became an extensive farmer. He was twice wedded, his second
marriage having been with Mrs. Susanna Hall, who had five children by
her previous marriage. Of the second union were born eight children,
and after the death of her second husband Mrs. Whitney wedded a man
named Dodge, one son, Lewis, being born of this marriage. Five of the
Whitney children came to Michigan in the early pioneer days and they
settled in Macomb county, where they became closely concerned, with
the development and upbuilding of that now opulent section of the state.
From the college of heraldry in England has been obtained the follow
ing description of the Whitney coat of arms, which is retained by the
American branch : "Arms- Azure, a cross chequeyor and sable upon a
canton, gules ; a lion rampant argent. Crest — a bull's head couped sable ;
horned argent ; horns tipped with red. Motto — Mortis sed non ferox."
Jesse Whitney, grandfather of him whose name initiates this article,
reclaimed from the sylvan wilds of Macomb county a productive farm,
and he became one of the influential citizens of his community. Horace
Isaac Whitney served with marked valor as a soldier of the Union in
the Civil war, as a member of what was known as the "Bloody Thirtieth,"
and two of his sons sacrificed their lives in defense of the Union, as did
also three uncles of the wife of the subject of this sketch. Mr. Whitney
was reared to maturity in Macomb county, became a civil engineer but
during the latter years of his life he was a prosperous farmer, having
resumed his allegiance to the great basic industry under the influence of
which he had been reared. He was an uncompromising advocate of the
principles of the Republican party and was a man of positive convictions
and mature judgment. He continued his residence in Macomb county
until his death and his widow still resides at Washington, that county.
Of the children of Horace I. and Mary E. (Jackson) Whitney the eldest
is George L., to whom this sketch is dedicated ; William Henry, who was
a farmer in Washington township, Macomb county, died in 1910; Jesse
Luther is a merchant in the village of Washington, Macomb county ; John
Jackson, the next in order of nativity, holds a position, under the civil
service regulations, at Mount Clemens, this state ; Helen is the wife of
Julius Knapp and they reside at Washington, Macomb county; James
Thomas is identified with the automobile business in the city of Detroit ;

838 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
and Horace Frank is a farmer of Shelby township, Macomb county.
These brief data show that the family still has many representatives in
the county in which it was founded so long ago. By the father's first
marriage there were two children, Herbert A., Mrs. Minnie Payne, of
North Branch, Lapeer county. The mother of these two children was
Marion Preston, of Shelby township.
George L. Whitney duly availed himself of the advantages of the
public schools, including the high school .at New Baltimore, Macomb
county, and as a youth he learned the trade' of carpenter, as well as that
of builder of fanning mills. In 1891, at the age of twenty-six years, he
established his residence at Bad Axe, Huron county, and after follow
ing the work of the carpenter's trade for three months he became identified
with the planing mill and lumber business. In 1902 he here purchased
the hardware arid lumber business of F. W. Hubbard & Company, and
for the continuing of the enterprise he formed a partnership with Rob
ert Grandy. One year later Mr. R. Grandy sold his interest to Reinhart
Kleinpell, and the firm of Whitney & Kleinpell thereafter continued the
business until the ist of March, 1912, when Mr. Kleinpell retired, his
interest passing to Ray P. Chatfield. The business was forthwith in
corporated under its present title of the Whitney & Chatfield Company,
with Mr. Whitney as president and Mr. Chatfield as vice-president and
secretary. Mr. Whitney has been the potent force in the upbuilding of
the large and important business enterprise of which he is still the
executive head and which is the most extensive of its kind in Huron
county. He has proved a man of excellent initiative and administrative
ability and his success has been on a parity with his recognized integrity
and progressiveness. The company of which he is president has a large
and well equipped hardware establishment and in its lumbering opera
tions it utilizes several acres of land, the yards lying contiguous to the
railroad and thus having the best of transportation facilities.
Bad Axe has no citizen who has shown more loyalty and liberality
than Mr. Whitney, and the year 1914 finds him serving his fourth con
secutive term as mayor of the thriving little city, besides which he is
vice-president of the Bad Axe Board of Trade. As a master Mason he
is affiliated with Bad Axe Lodge, No. 365, Free & Accepted Masons ; his
political allegiance is given to the Republican party ; and he is a trustee of
the local Presbyterian church, of which his wife and daughter are
zealous members.
In October, 1890, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Whitney to
Miss Elizabeth M. Curry, of Port Austin, Michigan. She was born in
the city of Montreal, Canada, but was reared at Port Austin, Michigan,
where her father, Robert Curry, established his home when she was a
child. Mr. and Mrs. Whitney have one child, Jessie Margaret, who was
born at Bad Axe, on the 22d of May, 1891, who was graduated in the
local high school and who also graduated from the Michigan Agricultural
College, at Lansing, 1914. The family is prominent in the best social
life of Bad Axe and the Whitney home is known as a center of gracious
and refined hospitality.
Paul Woodworth. In the profession that was honored and dig
nified by the services of his father, long numbered among the distinguished
members of the Michigan bar, Paul Woodworth has achieved high pres
tige and success, and he stands today as one of the leading members
of the bar of Huron county, being engaged in the successful practice of
his profession at Bad Axe, the judicial center of his native county. He
is a representative of one of the honored pioneer families of this county

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 839
and is one of the influential citizens of this section of the state, where he
has fully upheld the high standing of the family name and proved him
self loyal and liberal in all that pertains to the duties and responsibilities
of citizenship. Mr. Woodworth was born in the village of Caseville, Huron county,
Michigan, on the 3d of September, 1869, and a son of Hon. Thomas B.
and Mary Gertrude (Smith) Woodwortb, the former of whom was born
at Jamestown, New York, and the latter at Auburn, that state, where the
respective families were founded in an early day. The original progeni
tors of the Woodworth farriily in America settled at Scituate, Massa
chusetts, in 1638, upon immigration from England, and the name has
been closely 'and worthily linked with the annals of our national his
tory during the long intervening years. Stephen Woodworth, grandfather
of him whose name introduces this review, established his home in Mich
igan in 1866 and his son, Thomas Bell Woodworth, came to this state in
the following year. The family record gives authoritative data to the
service of its representatives as valiant officers and private soldiers in
the war of the Revolution, as well as in the early Indian wars of the
colonial era. It is most pleasing to record in this connection that Sam
uel Woodworth, a kinsman of the Michigan representatives of the fam
ily, was the author of that loved and classical song, "The Old Oaken
Bucket," and that this same ancient bucket that gave title to the gentle
ode is still hanging in the historic old well of the Woodworth homestead
in New England.
Thomas Bell Woodworth was a graduate of the Cazenovia Seminary,
in the state of New York, and in 1867 he came with his wife and their
two children to Michigan, the other four children having been born in
this state. He maintained his home at Caseville, Huron county, for
many years and was one of the leading members of the bar of this sec
tion of the state, besides which he represented Huron county in the
state legislature for two terms. He continued in the active work of his
profession, at Caseville, until his death, which occurred on the 16th of
January, 1904, his age at the time of his demise having been sixty-two
years. He was a man of fine attainments and sterling character, and
his name and memory are held in enduring honor in the county that
so long represented his home. He was a valued member of the Huron
County Bar Association and, as an effective exponent of the principles
of the Republican party, he was specially active in campaign work in his
county and district, being of his party's strong campaign speakers in
Michigan. He was affiliated with the lodge .and chapter bodies of York
Rite Masonry. His widow still maintains her home at Caseville and
is held in affectionate regard by all who have come within the compass
of her gracious influence. Of the six children the eldest is Professor
Philip Bell Woodworth, who was born at Auburn, New York, on the
17th of November, 1866. He was graduated in the Michigan Agricul
tural College, as a member of the class of 1886, and in the engineering
department of Cornell University, at Ithaca, New York, in 1888. There
after he completed a two years' post-graduate course in the University
of Berlin, Germany, and upon his return to the United States he became
professor of physics in tbe Michigan Agricultural College, an incum
bency which he retained twelve years. He is now holding the professor
ship of electrical engineering in the Lewis Institute, one of the admirable
educational institutions of the city of Chicago. He is a member also of
the firm of Rumler, Woodworth & Rumler, representative electrical pat
ent attorneys in the great western metropolis, and as a lecturer on scien
tific subjects his services are in much demand in all parts of the Union.

84o HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
[n 1893 he wedded Miss Lucy Clute, daughter of the president of the
Michigan Agricultural College, and they have four children — Paul Mer-
rilee, Robert, Marian Clute and Gertrude Elizabeth, the daughters being
twin's. Robert S. Woodworth, the fourth of the children of Thomas B.
and Mary G. (Smith) Woodworth, was graduated in the Michigan Agri
cultural College in 1894 and his promising career was terminated by his
death on the 17th of July of the following year. Paul Woodworth, of
this review, was the third son. Frederick L. Woodworth, the fifth son,
was born at Caseville, Michigan, January 18, 1877, was graduated in the
Michigan Agricultural College as a member of the class of 1893 and he
is now one of the most successful and thoroughly scientific representa
tives of the agricultural industry in Huron county, his fine homestead be
ing situated in Chandler township. He gives special attention to the rais
ing of Jersey cattle and thorough-bred horses and blooded swine of reg
istered type, his farm being the show place of its kind in Huron county.
He married Miss Gertrude Lowe, who was born in the city of Jackson,
this state, and who was his college classmate. They have four children —
Clara G., Elizabeth, Thomas Bell, and Mary Lowe. Frederick L. Wood-
worth served two terms in the lower house of the state legislature and
is, in 1914, serving his first term as a member of the state senate, in
which he has recognized leadership, as did he also have while in the
house. He is deeply interested in the work of farmers' clubs and in fur
thering the advancement of agriculture and stock-growing in his native
state. John Woodworth, the next of the sons, died in boyhood. Ger
trude Elizabeth, the only daughter, received special courses of instruc
tion in the Michigan Agricultural College and the Lewis Institute, and
she resides with her widowed mother at Caseville.
Paul Woodworth, the immediate subject of this sketch, gained his
preliminary education in the public schools of Caseville and thereafter
attended the Michigan Agricultural College for three years. In con
sonance with well defined ambition he then entered the law department
of the University of Michigan, in which he was graduated as a member
of the class of 1893 and from which he received his well earned degree
of Bachelor of Laws. After his graduation Mr. Woodworth became as
sociated with his honored father in the practice of law at Caseville, and
his success was unequivocal. After this effective alliance had been main
tained four years he passed two years as a gold-seeker in Alaska, and it
is- scarcely necessary to say that his experiences in this connection were
far different than those he had encountered in his professional work.
He made the trip to the famous Chilcott Pass with dog sleighs, and pro
vender was transported to sustain life for eighteen months. He was meet
ing with appreciable success in the gold fields but was attacked with
typhoid fever, which forced him to return to civilization. Thereafter Mr.
Woodworth continued to be associated with his father in practice until
January, 1900, when he was elected prosecuting attorney of his native
county and removed from Caseville to Bad Axe, the county seat. He gave
an admirable administration as public prosecutor and the popular estimate
placed upon him was voiced in his successive re-elections to office, so that
he served four consecutive terms. Since his retirement from office Mr.
Woodworth has continued in practice at Bad Axe and he gives more spe
cial attention to the trial department of law business, in which he has
won marked success and high repute. He has presented important causes
before the state and federal courts of Michigan and also the supreme
court of the United States. One of his most celebrated cases was in the
defense of Dr. McGregor, and this attracted much attention. Mr. Wood-
worth now controls a large and representative law business, and he is

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 841
known also as an able advocate of the principles and policies for which
the Republican party stands sponsor, his work as a campaign speaker
having been given with all of loyalty and ardor. He is identified with
the Masonic fraternity, the Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and
the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is active in the af
fairs of the Huron County Bar Association and holds membership also
in the Michigan State Bar Association. He finds his principal diversion
and recreation through hunting, fishing and athletic sports, in which last
mentioned he made a splendid record during his student days in the agri
cultural college and the university. Mr. Woodworth still permits his
name to be enrolled on the list of eligible bachelors in Huron county.
George E. English. The best ideals in non-metropolitan newspaper
work are exemplified in the career of George E. English, who is editor
and publisher of the Huron County Tribune, one of the representative
papers of the progressive "Thumb" district of Michigan and one that,
under his management and control, wields much influence throughout the
section in which it circulates. The Tribune is now, 1914, in tbe thirty-
ninth year of its existence, and few weekly journals in Michigan can
show a record of greater consecutive publication. Further than this, Mr.
English stands as an exponent of progressive ideas in his chosen field of
endeavor and the office of the Tribune is equipped with the best of f a-
ciliti.es for modern printing and book-publishing, special attention being
given to the manufacturing of blank books for banking and general busi
ness purposes, the trade in this line covering a wide territory through the
counties in the central eastern part of the state, the plant of the newspaper
and job offices being unexcelled by any save those in cities of the size like
Detroit and Saginaw. The office equipment represents an investment of
fully $10,000 and includes Linotype machines, the most modern of press
facilities and all other accessories demanded in a high-grade newspaper
and book-manufacturing establishment. The building occupied was
erected expressly for the purpose to which it is applied and represents
an investment of $10,000, so that it may readily be understood that Mr.
English is the owner of a very valuable property, — one that'in a generic
sense is the tangible evidence of his own ability and well ordered endeav
ors. This fine office is in the thriving little city of Bad Axe, the judicial
center and metropolis of Huron county, and in addition to the publication
of the Journal recognized as one of the model weekly papers of the state,
the business has been expanded under the supervision of its present owner
to include the special features of manufacturing bank books and other
specialties in leather for business purposes, with a virtual control of bank
book work throughout several counties. Mr. English is essentially a prog
ressive and public-spirited citizen and is worthy of definite recognition in
this history of his native state.
George Ernest English was born in St. Clair county, Michigan, on
the 19th of February, 1865, and is a son of William and Mary Ann
(Mills) English, the former of whom was born in the county of Guelph,
province of Ontario, Canada, and the latter in England, from whence she
accompanied her father to America when she was a child, the family
home having been established in the province of Ontario. William Eng
lish and his wife were numbered among the sterling pioneers of St. Clair
county, Michigan, where they established their home in the early '50s and
where Mr. English reclaimed and developed a productive farm. He was
one of the representative pioneers of that and Sanilac counties and, now
venerable in years, he is passing the declining period of his life in the
homes of his four sons,.wbom he visits in turn and each of whom accords
to him the utmost filial solicitude. His cherishedand devoted wife died

842 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
at Sandusky, Sanilac county, Michigan, in 1903, at the age of seventy-
two years. She was a devout and consistent member of the Presbyterian-
church, as is also her husband, and in this faith their, children were care
fully reared. In politics Mr. English is an unwavering advocate of the
principles of the Republican party and he has been an effective exponent
of its cause. Of the nine children only four are now living: Sarah, who
was the wife of William Cummings, of Port Huron, Michigan, died in
1913; James is a prosperous farmer of Sanilac county, as is also John;
George E., of this review, was the next in order of birtb ; Dr. William F.
is a representative physician in the city of Saginaw; and the other four
children died in infancy.
After duly availing himself of the advantages of the public schools of
his native county and teaching country schools for four years, George E.
English continued his studies along higher academic lines in the Michigan
State Normal School at Ypsilanti and in the Ohio Normal University, at
Lebanon, in which latter institution he was graduated as a member of the
class of 1888. Thereafter Mr. English devoted one year to
teaching in the public schools of Deckerville, Sanilac county, Michigan
and at the expiration of this period, he purchased the plant and business
of the Sanilac County Republican at Sandusky, of which paper he con
tinued the editor and publisher for twelve years. Under tbe administra
tion of President McKinley he was appointed postmaster at Sandusky,
Sanilac county, a position of which he continued the incumbent for seven
years. In the meanwhile he had become active and influential in local
politics and both in a personal way and through the columns of his paper
he had effectively advocated the principles and policies of the Republican
party. For four years he was chairman of the Republican county com
mittee. In addition to publishing the Republican he became also the
editor and publisher of the Croswell Jeffersonian and the Minden Herald,
both in Sanilac county.
In 1902 Mr. English disposed of all of his interests in Sanilac county
and removed to the city of Saginaw, where he assumed the position of
assistant city and telegraph editor of the Saginaw Courier-Herald. One
year later he resigned this place and went to Pontiac, Oakland county,'
where he purchased the Pontiac Gazette, which was at that time the oldest
newspaper in the state. He changed tbe publication from a weekly to a
daily paper and for the expanded business he organized a stock company,
in which former Governor Warner and Hon. S. W. Smith, member of
Congress, were associated with him. In 1906 Mr. English sold his inter
ests at Pontiac and removed to Bad Axe, where he purchased the Huron
County Tribune, of which he has since continued editor and publisher
of the plant wbich he has developed into one of the best in this part
of the state. The paper had much influence in the forming and directing
of public sentiment in the territory through which it circulates, and is
widely known for its high civic ideals and able editorial utterances, and
it has proved a most effective exponent of the cause of the Republican
party. The job-printing and blank-book departments control a large and
substantial support, and the trade extends throughout several' counties,
as has been previously noted in this context.
Mr. English is a man of vital progressiveness and public spirit and
is at the present time secretary of the Bad Axe Board of Trade, besides
being also a member of the local board of education. He is a stalwart in
the Michigan camp of the Republican party and in this state he has been
a delegate to nearly every state convention of his party since the time of
the late Governor Pingree, for whose nomination he worked vigorously in
the convention. Mr. English is well known to the representative men of
Michigan, is a student and a man of fine intellectual attainments, and he

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 843
»
takes special interest in the history of his native state, as well as in fur
thering popular appreciation and knowledge of the annals of the fine old
Wolverine commonwealth. In the Masonic fraternity he has completed
the circle of the York Rite bodies and his maximum affiliation is with the
Lexington Commandery of Knights Templars. He and his wife are zeal
ous members of the Presbyterian church in Bad Axe and Mrs. English is
prominent in the social activities of the community, as well as in the sup
port of charitable and benevolent work.
In June, 1891, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. English to Miss
Ethel Hathaway, daughter of David M. Hathaway, of Lebanon, Ohio.
Mrs. English was. born in the same house as was her honored father and
also received the advantages of the same schools. She was graduated also
in a business college and for several years prior to her marriage she was a
successful teacher of shorthand. Mr. and Mrs. English have three child-
dren, concerning whom brief record is made in conclusion of this review,
all of the children having been born at Sandusky, Sanilac county : Irene,
who was born on the 16th of June, 1893, was graduated in the Bad Axe
high school and the Michigan State Normal School at Mount Pleasant,
and she is now a popular teacher in the public schools of Bad Axe ; David
Vaughn, 'who was born August 18, 1895, is a student in the engineering
department of the Michigan Agricultural College; and Helen, who is at
tending the Bad Axe schools, was born March 21, 1903.
While a resident of Sandusky Mr. English there had large real-estate
holdings, and upon disposing of the same he made judicious investments
in Bad Axe realty, where he has valuable property interests in this and
other lines. His success has been worthy and pronounced and stands as
the direct result of his own ability and earnest endeavors, the while he has
so ordered his course as to merit and receive the unequivocal esteem of
his fellowmen.
Hon. Albert Washington Atkins. When Albert Washington At
kins was elected mayor of Vassar, in 1913, the people of this thriving and
progressive community voiced their appreciation of the good and helpful
labors of one of its capable and energetic citizens. As a business man he
had always shown himself fully able to handle affairs of an important
nature arid as president of the Tuscola County Agricultural Society he
had given evidence of his public spirit and general usefulness, and since
taking hold of the reins of municipal government he has demonstrated
that the people made no mistake in entrusting to him the management of
civic matters.
Mayor Atkins was named in honor of George Washington, having been
born February 22, 1882, at Vassar, and is a son of Daniel Charles Atkins,
one of the leading business men of this place, who through his own well-
directed efforts, energetic labor and untiring perseVerance has brought
himself to the forefront among the men of this community. He came to
Vassar from Canada, where in early life he had worked as a day laborer
in sawmills. Believing that better opportunities awaited him in Michigan,
he came to Clare county and in a modest way began operations in the lum
ber and sawmill business, his activities gradually building his enterprise
up to large proportions. He had become one of the prominent factors in
tbe business life of Clare county when the total destruction of his mills
by fire left him without a dollar in the world. It was here that Mr. At
kins' indomitable courage and persistence asserted themselves, for he did
not allow himself to become disheartened, but started again at the bottom
of the ladder, accepting a postion with a friend, Mr. Clyne, who persuaded
him to come to Vassar and enter his pump manufacturing works. Here
he steadily rose in position as the years passed, and finally purchased Mr.
Clyne's interests in the Clyne Pump Manufacturing Company, and for a

844 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
quarter of a century manufactured what was known as the Blue Force
pump. In 1894 Mr. Atkins turned his attention to the implement busi
ness, and four years later established in connection therewith what has
since become the largest hardware and furniture business in Tuscola
county. He has always taken an active interest in the affairs of Vassar,
and has been accorded all the honors in a public way that he has been will
ing to accept. In politics he is a Progressive Republican, his fraternal
connection is with the Masons, in which he is past Master of the Blue
Lodge, and his religious affiliation is with the Methodist Episcopal church,
where he acts in the capacity of deacon. His acquaintance throughout
the country is wide, and his friends are legion. Mr. Atkins was married
in Canada to Miss Jennie Graham. They have been the parents of eight
children, as follows : Agnes, who is the wife of Frank Oakes, of Saginaw,
Michigan ; George, who is engaged in the undertaking business at Vassar ;
Mayme, who is the wife of Dr. Earl W. Sanford, of Marlette, Michigan;
William E., a prominent clothing merchant of Vassar ; Albert Washington,
of this review; Thomas and Daniel, twins, the former of whom is asso
ciated with his father in business and in charge of the hardware and fur
niture department, which employs six persons, and the latter of whom is
cashier of the Michigan Savings Bank of Vassar ; and Josephine, who re
sides at home. All of the children were given good educational advantages.
Albert Washington Atkins was educated in the public schools of Vas
sar, but at the age of fifteen years began his business career in his father's
hardware store, where he learned the business thoroughly from the bot
tom to the top, working industriously and continuously night and day in
order that he might gain a foothold in the business world. In 1910 he
bought the implement department of his father's business, and to this he
has since devoted his attention, his ability, earnest labors and modern
ideas having been instrumental in making this the large business enter
prises of its kind in Tuscola county. As a member of the Board of Trade
he has been able to advance the commercial and industrial interests of his
community, and his abilities have been exercised in behalf of the public
schools as a member of the Board of Education. In 1912 he was elected
president of the Tuscola County Agricultural Society, and his fraternal
connections are with Vassar Lodge, No. 163, F. & A. M., and the K. O.
T. M., of which latter he has been commander for the past three years.
He is also an Odd Fellow, treasurer of his lodge, a Past Grand, and a
member of the Grand lodge for thirteen terms, and also a member of the
Knights of Pythias and other secret societies. He has always taken an
active part in politics, and in 191 1 was elected township clerk on the Re
publican ticket. When the Progressive party was born in 1912 he was at
once chosen leader of the Progressive forces in Tuscola county and subse
quently stumped the county in behalf of the so-called "Bull Moose" party
with much success. In 1913 he became the candidate of that organization
for the office of mayor of Vassar and his general popularity and worth
is evidenced by the fact that he was elected by a good majority over a
mayor who had been in office for six terms. As chief executive of his
city he has displayed good judgment, foresight and an appreciation of the
needs of the community and the people, and is giving the municipality a
clean, sane and business-like administration, living up in every particular
to the promises made in his speech of acceptance.
Mayor Atkins was married December 25, 1903, at Vassar, to Miss
Ella Sutherland, a native of Watrousville, Tuscola county, and daughter
of Joseph Sutherland. To this union there has been born three children,
of whom two are deceased, the other being : Carson, born at Vassar, March
30, 1905, and now attending the public schools.
Mayor Atkins is possessed of no mean literary ability, and from the
following address, entitled "Vassar of My Dreams," whicb was delivered

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 845
before the congregation of the Presbyterian church, some idea of his ideals
of citizenship and public service may be gained : "At one time where our
village now stands was a vast forest, with a small stream running through
it, now called the beautiful Cass, which derived its name from General
Cass, then a public officer, who surveyed the river. Saginaw was first to
be started, then coming up to the Cass to Tuscola, Vassar, and so on up.
Saginaw is only a few years older than Vassar, but there is no comparison
in size at the present. I have been advised that our village was named
after a man by the name of "Vassar," who loaned and furnished the
money to carry on the great lumbering business being done here at that
time. This lasted for a period of years, carried on by Townsend North
and Edmonds Bros., who were great benefactors to Vassar.
"By these men furnishing lots and homes to live in, our village began
to grow. Many of course, whose names are forgotten, have contributed
good service — their rewards are in our blessings; they labored and we
have entered into their labors. The first school held in Vassar was in a
small board shanty where the Preston residence now stands. The first
public school was held on South Main street opposite the old tannery.
Years later the present high school was built, also the McKinley and
Townsend North schools have been added. Among the men at that time
who lived and worked here and did something toward helping to bring
about the present hopeful conditions were Townsend North, Harvey Har
rington, John Johnson, Fred Bourns, Aaron Pennell, E. J. Hovey, B. W.
Huston, Chancy Furman and Chancy Irons and others. By the way, I
have been informed that William Furman was the first white child born
in Vassar. Mrs. Elliott and Mrs. Bellows settled here in the early sixties
and a number of others came at the safne time.
"Vassar suffered many great losses during the early days. The war
called many men away from their homes. A disastrous fire swept over
our village and it was some time before it was revived. At one time Vas
sar was the county seat, and when that was removed it was a great draw
back to Vassar. The building of cities figures largely in Bible history.
The Biblical City was Jerusalem. The model of that was conceived to be
the Heavenly Jerusalem. The writer of the Book of Revelations speaks
of the city of God coming down from Heaven. The old teaching of which
is, 'we have to build the cities to the model thus supplied.' When Moses
was going to build the Tabernacle which was to be the center of the city
life until they should finally settle in the land- of Promise, God called Moses
up to the mountain and showed him a vision and Moses saw all that was
to be shown him. God gave him this final instruction : 'See that thou make
all things according to the pattern that I have showed thee on the mount.'
"What has Vassar to be proud of today ? Three fine churches ; three
live and wide-awake ministers who can get together and talk over things
to help out the cause for which they are seeking. If, on the other hand,
we, men and women as citizens of our town, could do likewise, we could
see a vast improvement in the town and surrounding community. We
cannot expect something from nothing, and if we expect to get anything
we must first do or give something for it. We have today in our town
things to be proud of, and also have things that are of no credit to us in
the least, but most of this could be remedied if we could lay aside some
of the things that now exist, and all pull together for the one thing, the
building and uplifting of our town, which would lead to a better Vassar
and a happier community. We have everything here with a few excep
tions that any town of this size could ask for. We have our own munici
pal electric light plant and water works, which makes a savings of several
thousand dollars a year to our citizens. For example, other towns nearby
pay $50.00 per hydrant a year for fire protection, $2500.00 per year for
lighting, which makes in tbese two items a saving of about $5000.00 per

846 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
year. The lights and water have been extended to the end of nearly every
street within the village limits. Every main street and part of the cross
streets in our village have been graveled at a very large expense to the
town. Vassar today has a very small indebtedness compared with other
towns of this size. Tax rates are low ; water and light rates are low. We
have an electric light plant and water works with its extensions which
are worth twice our whole city indebtedness.
"It is on my heart that Vassar should be progressive; that we should
make it useful for business and desirable as a place of residence. Desir
able as a place where men and women would care to bring up their chil
dren — where there are features of beauty and educational advantages.
The best we can attain, both as to the interior and exterior of the build
ings and the instruction within the walls. To attain these best things, we
must learn to work together. We wish well to our nation and to our state
and are willing to work and sacrifice for the best results. But Vassar is
our miniature state and nation — here we must live, here many of us will
die, here we shall leave our record for good or ill. Republican, Democrat
and Progressive are all right — so far ; but, if they so divide us as a com-
riiunity that our own little state suffers, it is time to think whether we
cannot leave the larger out of the question when we are considering the
welfare of our own town and people.
"We cannot rule the world any more than we can live all over it at
the same time. But this we can do. We can tend to our own vineyard
and make it yield us all the profit we need for our temporal well being,
and also the beauty that is equally needed if one's character and the char
acter of our children are to be useful to men and pleasing to God."
Gustof A. Persson, M. D. It is scarcely possible, in these modern
days, for a man to be a successful physician without also being a man of
learning and of solid, scientific acquirements. Often the youth who feels
the inspiration that ultimately leads him to the medical profession, finds
his progress one of difficulty from lack of encouragement, opportunity or
capital, and when all these drawbacks are overcome, through personal
effort, battles have been won that make firm the foundations of character.
In the medical profession of Mount Clemens, Dr. Gustof A. Persson is
holding prominent position not alone because of his high attainments in
the line of his calling, but because of his general talents in all important
fields, and his success is all the more commendable in that it has been self
gained. He is a native of Sweden, born at Helsingborg, July 23, 1875,
and is a son of P. A. and Maria Augusta (Von Nordenfeldt) Persson,
both natives of that country, where the father is engaged in the grain
business. He has made several trips to the United States, but will prob
ably spend the remainder of his life in his native land, as he has reached
the age of sixty-eight years, while the mother is sixty-five. They have
been the parents of five children, of whom Gustaf A. is the oldest.
The early education of Doctor Persson was secured in the private
schools of his native country, following which he became a student in the
University of Lund, Sweden, and after graduation, in 1891, came to the
United States. Here he entered the University of Buffalo, New York,
where he studied medicine for three years, and took a post-graduate course
in the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor. Succeeding this, he en
tered Rock Island University, there taking a post-graduate course in the
science department for two years, and this was followed by one year in
Loyola University, from which he was graduated in 1898. With this
thorough preparation, the Doctor began practice as house surgeon at Lex
ington Pleights Hospital, but after two years went to Loomis Sanitarium,
in the mountains of Pennsylvania, where he remained one year, his next
field being Sault Ste. Marie, Micbigan, from whence he came to Mount

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 847
Clemens three years later. Here he has continued in general practice to
the present time. Doctor Persson has never ceased being a student, having
taken post-graduate courses in New York and at McGill College, Montreal,
Canada. He belongs to the Michiga'n State and Macomb County Medical
Societies, American Medical Association, and is an honorary member of
the American Public Health Association. It is the Doctor's laudable am
bition to keep fully abreast of the times in all modern discoveries, and
he himself has done much research work, although he is conservative
enough to adhere to the old and tried methods in the greater number of
his cases. Socially, he is deservedly popular, and has numerous friends
in business, professional and fraternal life, especially among his fellow-
members in the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Masons.
He uses his right of franchise in supporting the nominees and principles
of the Democratic party.
On May 7, 1902, Doctor Persson was married at Ottawa, Canada, to
Miss Jessie Fisher Shaw, daughter of Charles S. Shaw, of that place, and
two children have been born to this union: Christina Lucille, born in
1903, at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and now attending school in Mount
Clemens ; and Gustof A., Jr., born October 12, 1912, in this city.
William Davies. In the person of William Davies, the thriving vil
lage of Vassar, Michigan, has a citizen whose aim it has ever been to ad
vance the best interests of his community and to so conduct his own opera
tions that they redound to the greatest public good. As president of the
State Savings Bank he is the directing head of an institution that has an
important position among the financial houses of Tuscola county, in stock
circles he is known as a large and progressive operator, and his high char
acter as a man and a citizen is shown by the universal confidence and es
teem in which he is held.
Mr. Davies is a native of Wales, and was born June 20, 1844, the
seventh in order of birth of the nine children of James and Ellen (Cruse)
Davies, honest, God-fearing agricultural people of Wales, who never left
their native land. William Davies attended the public schools of his na
tive community until he was eleven years of age, at which time he began
to contribute to the family support. He was an ambitious and industrious
lad, and managed to further his education through his own exertions.
Feeling that America offered better opportunities than he could secure in
Wales, he left his home at the age of twenty-three years and came to this
country, locating at Grand Blanc, Michigan, where he secured employ
ment as a farm hand. He was without influential friends, and had no
capital, but thriftily saved his earnings and at the end of a year came to
Tuscola county and for four months worked on a farm. His first venture
in a business way was as a farmer on shares on a small tract of land, and
thus he laid the foundation of his present large fortune. Mr. Davies was a
persistent and energetic workman, and, believing confidently in the future
growth and development of his community, invested his earnings from
time to time in land, so that at one period in his career he was cultivating
640 acres. He also began trading in livestock, and for forty years did a
large and successful business in this direction, his reputation for honesty
and integrity being so well known in the county that he had no trouble
in carrying through enormous transactions. He is still the owner of the
first property that he purchased, adjoining Vassar, to which he added
until it contained 100 acres, and in addition to this bad 535 acres in Vas
sar township, all of which he cultivated until recent years. In 1870 Mr.
Davies came to Vassar and erected a pleasant home, and this village has
since been his place of residence. He became a director of the Exchange
Bank of Vassar at the time of its organization, and this was reorganized
and named the State Savings Bank of Vassar, Mr. Davies being elected
president in 1909, a position which he still retains. A Republican in poli-
Toi. n— 14 r

848 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
tics, Mr. Davies has served for many years as a member of the school
board and has been instrumental in securing the present system of schools
of which the citizens of Vassar are so justly proud. Aside from this serv
ice he has never held an office, although urged frequently by his friends to
accept honors from his party. He has steadfastly declined because of per
sonal interests, believing that he could better serve his community and its
people by promoting material prosperity. His management of financial
affairs stamps him as one of the able bankers of Tuscola county, and the
confidence placed in his judgment, foresight and acumen by the people of
this section has done much to popularize the institution's interests. His
career has been one of constant industry and consecutive advancement,
and his success in life should be all the more gratifying in that it has
been entirely self secured. Mr. Davies is an active member of the Meth
odist churcb and has taken an active and helpful interest in its work.
In 1870 Mr. Davies was married to Miss Adelaine Sturgis, whose
death occurred within one after her marriage. Mr. Davies has been three
times married. His only child was by his present wife, Ida E. Lovejoy.
This daughter is Emily Ida, who is a popular teacher of music residing at
Vassar. Max and Otto Zemke. In business circles of Caro there are few
names better known or more highly esteemed than that of Zemke, rep
resentatives of which have always stood for honorable dealing and good
citizenship. Max and Otto Zemke, brothers, are prominent dry goods
and general merchants here, and their operations have been carried on
in such a straightforward and honest manner as to win the confidence
and esteem of their fellow-men, while as citizens they have at all times
shown themselves ready to contribute to the welfare of the community in
any manner that lies in their power.
The Zemke brothers are sons of Herman and Fredricka (Peters)
Zemke, who emigrated to the United States from Old Stetten, Germany,
in 1891, and settled at Vermontville, Michigan, where the father contin
ued to be engaged in agricultural pursuits during the remainder of his
life, and passed away in 1900, at the age of seventy-four years. Through
honest effort and untiring labor he was successful in his ventures, and
at the time of his death was known as one of his community's substan
tial citizens. The mother passed away in 1905, when sixty-nine years
old. They reared a family of ten children to habits of thrift and in
dustry, and educated them in a manner that fitted them well for the posi
tions in life which they have since been called upon to fill. The children
were as follows : Plerminia, who is the wife of Albert Seiman, a teacher
with a life tenure in office, at Klein Carzenburg, Germany; Theodore,
who returned to Germany after residing in the United States for one
year and is now a prominent and successful wholesale commission mer
chant of Berlin ; Bertha, who is employed in the store of her brothers at
Caro; Reinholdt, who is successfully engaged in farming on the old
homestead at Vermontville, Eaton county; Richard and Herman, who
are also farmers on the homestead ; Frieda, who is the wife of Howard
Cooper, engaged in the automobile business at Sumter, South Carolina;
Erwin, who is employed in the store of his brothers at Caro.
Max Zemke was born at Klein Carzenburg, Germany, June 13, 1877,
and there received his early education in the public schools/He was four
teen years of age when he accompanied the family to the United States,
and here completed his schooling, attending the district institutions of
Vermontville and the Ferris School at Big Rapids, where he took a com
plete business course and was graduated. Mr. Zemke began his business
career with Lyon Brothers of Chicago, Illinois, as an office employe, and

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 849
after one year decided to go to the West, and accordingly removed tQ
Cass Lake, Minnesota, where he secured a position as bookkeeper and
clerk for the C. M. Taylor Company, merchants. Four years later he
resigned his position and went to Deckerville, Michigan, and there in
1903 was joined by his brother, Otto, they forming a partnership and
engaging in a general merchandising business. This venture proving
very successful, they remained in business there for seven years, at the
end of which period they sold out, being desirous of finding a larger
field for their abilities. Accordingly, in 1910, they came to Caro and
purchased one of the best corners on the Main street, where they erected
a modern department store, on a lot 40x100 feet. Here they now occupy
the entire three stories, with a floor space of 12,000 square. feet, and carry
a full line of dry goods and general merchandise, employing eleven people.
Max Zemke is a Democrat in his political views, but has not been par
ticularly active in public matters, having preferred to give his entire
time and attention to his business interests. Movements of a beneficial
nature, however, have always received his stanch support, and he may at
all times be relied upon to contribute to the best interests of his com
munity. He is well known in Masonic circles, having joined the Blue
Lodge of that order at Deckerville, in 1904, and has many warm friends
therein. He has long taken an active interest in the work of the Pres
byterian church, and is at this time serving as elder. Mrs. Zemke is active
in the work of the Ladies' Aid Society, is a valued member of the Twen
tieth Century Club, and holds membership also in the Order of the
Eastern Star. They reside in their pleasant home, a center of social
culture and refinement.
Mr. Zemke was married October, 5, 1904, at Deckerville, Michigan,
to Miss Edith Clement, who was born at Carsonville, Michigan, daugh
ter of Charles H. Clement, an early settler of Deckerville, where he has
for some years been engaged in tbe hardware business. Two children
have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Zemke: Marjory, born at Deckerville,
January 12, 1909, and Louise, born at Caro, January 16, 1912.
Otto Zemke was born at the same place in Germany as his brother,
Max, March 13, 1876, and was fifteen years of age when he came with
his parents to the United States. He was give* his early education in
the public schools of the Fatherland, and after coming to this country
attended the district schools and then took the business course at the
Ferris School, Big Rapids, Michigan. After his graduation from that
institution he adopted farming as his vocation, but after some experience
in that line turned his attention to mercantile pursuits, and for five years
acted in the capacity of clerk for Neaudeau Brothers, of Neaudeau, Mich
igan. In 1903 he joined his brother at Deckerville, and from that place
came to Caro, where, as above related, the brothers have been very suc
cessful in their business ventures. Like his brother, Otto Zemke is a
Democrat. He has joined other public-spirited citizens in promoting
movements for the general welfare, and has withheld his support from
no movement which promises "the advancement of Caro's educational,
commercial or moral prosperity. Fraternally, he is connected with the
Masons and the Modern Woodmen of America, and in both of these or
ders has made and retained numerous friendships. Both he and his wife
are active members of the Presbyterian church, and Mrs. Zemke is widely
known in social and religious circles, being an untiring worker, in the
Ladies' Aid Society, a member of the Wixson Club and president of the
Federation of Ladies' Clubs.
On September 17, 1903, Otto Zemke was married at Big Rapids,
Michigan, to Miss Anna Oleson, a native of that place.

850 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Carl Sieland. Since the year 1747, when Marggraf, in Germany,
discovered that sugar could be extracted from the common beet, that
country had led all others in the beet sugar industry. However, during
the past several decades the United States has been rapidly forging to the
forefront in this enterprise, but this country is largely indebted to Ger
many for its prestige, for the Fatherland has furnished a number of the
men who have made it possible for the American output to grow to such
large proportions. One of the men who has devoted his entire life to
this line of activity, and who claims Germany as his birthplace, is
Carl Sieland, superintendent of the technical and mechanical departments
of the American Beet Sugar plant at Caro, the largest works in the state
of Michigan. He is a self-made man, and has won his way to his pres
ent high position through earnest effort and honest labor.
Mr. Sieland was born October 2, 1865, at Diedorf, Province of
Saxony, Germany, the second eldest of the nine children of Henry and
Marie (Mehler) Sieland. The father, who was a merchant and farmer
all of his life, became a prominent man in his native town of Diedorf,
and there passed away in 1908 at the age of seventy-two years, while the
mother still survives at the old home in Germany. Beside Carl, one son
is a resident of the United States, Albert Sieland, who is engaged in the
manufacture of beet sugar at Santa Anna, California.
Carl Sieland was given a good education in the public schools of his
native land, but at the age of fifteen years laid aside his books to work
in the beet sugar factories of his native place. He began at the bottom,
and gradually and thoroughly familiarized himself with each and every
detail of the business, becoming known as an expert in every phase of
beet sugar manufacture. After being employed in various factories of
Germany, he joined six other sugar men, in 1890, and set out for Cali
fornia, where the beet sugar industry was just in its infancy. He had
at this time no knowledge of English, but was able to secure a foreman-
ship in a plant at Cheno, California, where he remained for five years,
during which time this grew to be one of the important factories of the
state and at the finish of Mr. Sieland's employment there was employing
some 400 men. He was subsequently transferred by his company to
Oxnard, California, where he took charge and started the sugar plant
of that place, acting there as superintendent for some time. His next
location was Leavitt, Nebraska, where another new factory was created
by him, and for three months had charge, or until it was in good working
order. He was then returned to Oxnard and in the following season
was sent to Rockyford, Colorado, where he superintended the construc
tion of the sugar factory, and in 1900 came to Caro, Michigan, which
has since been his location. Here he took charge of the complete re
modeling of the plant, becoming assistant superintendent, and in the
early part" of 1902 was given entire charge of the technical and mechan
ical workings of this, the largest beet sugar works in the state, where in
the busy season from 450 to 500 persons are employed. , In addition to
the beet sugar all by-products are manufactured here, and the goods from
the plant are shipped all over this and adjoining states. Mr. Sieland has
devoted his entire career to his present business, and there are few men
in the country who are better known in this line or who are considered
more expert therein. He is thoroughly a home man; and is wrapped up
in his family, finding his greatest pleasure when surrounded by his chil
dren in his pleasant home in Caro. He is a firm believer, in the bene
fits of education, and it is his wish and intention to give his children the
best of advantages in this connection. He also desires to take up life on
;; ranch, for, as he expresses it, "I have nine reasons therefor — my nine

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 851
children." He has been successful in a business way, and at present is a
member of the directing board of the People's Savings Bank. Politically,
a Republican, he has not cared greatly for public life, but has shouldered
his shares of the duties of citizenship, and is serving very acceptably and
conscientiously as a trustee of the city. With his family he attends the
Roman Catholic church. During the fourteen years in which Mr. Sieland
has resided in Caro he has formed a wide acquaintance, in which he num
bers many warm friends.
Mr. Sieland was married first at Anaheim, Orange county, Cali
fornia, to Miss Theresa Knapka, who died in 1901 and was laid to rest
in the cemetery at Bay City, Michigan.. Two children were born to this
union, both in California, Theresa and Rose. Mr. Sieland's second mar
riage occurred in Leopold, Missouri, when he was united with Miss
Marie Vandeven, of that place, and they have had seven children, namely :
Carl, Jr., and Clara, who were born at Croswell, Michigan ; and Joseph,
Edmond, Harold, Adolph and Bernard, all born at Caro.
Eugene Orlando Spaulding. Holding prestige as the pioneer dry
sroods merchant of Tuscola county and the leading department store
proprietor of Caro, few men are better or more favorably known in this
part of Michigan than is Eugene Orlando Spaulding. For thirty-six
years a resident of this place, he has watched its growth and development
and through his own helpful and well-directed activities has done much
to stimulate business and add to his community's welfare. Mr. Spauld
ing was born in Monroe county, New York, September 7, 1849, and is a
son of Charles W. and Ordelia (Osborn) Spaulding.
Charles W. Spaulding was given a thorough education, and in his
youth learned the trade of machinist. This he followed until the outbreak
Of the Civil War, when he became a member of the famous New York
regiment known as Gray's Sharpshooters, and continued to serve with
that organization for thirty-four months, or until the close of the war,
during which period he participated in some of the most hotly-contested
battles of the great struggle between the states. When his military serv
ice was closed, with an excellent record, he removed to Iowa and set
tled on a farm, remaining there until 1870, when he came to Jackson,
Michigan, and worked as a machinist for some time. He soon, how
ever, returned to farming, in Barry county, and remained there until
entering the employ of his son, Eugene O., at Caro, with whom he con
tinued as cashier until the time of his death at tbe age of eighty-one
years. Mr. Spaulding was widely known to the citizens of Caro and
had their esteem and respect because of his many sterling qualities. He
was. married in Monroe county, New York, to Ardelia Osborn, also a
native of the Empire state, who died at Caro at the age of seventy-five
years. Mr. and Mrs. Spaulding were consistent members of the Meth
odist church, and were buried side by side in the Caro Cemetery. Two
children were born to them : Edward A., who- enlisted during the Civil
War as a member of the New York Heavy Artillery and was terribly
wounded at the battle of Cold Harbor, losing one arm, being injured in
the other, and receiving a shot in the bead, and who is now successfully
engaged in the real estate business at Tacoma, Washington ; and Eugene
Orlando. Eugene O. Spaulding is indebted' to the public schools of New York
for his educational advantages, and his business career began when he
was sixteen years of age, at which time he became a clerk in the stores
of Rochester, there remaining three years. When he was nineteen years
old, realizing the need for further preparation,- he took a course in the
Rochester Business College, upon^ leaving which he came to Jackson,

852 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Michigan, and first worked as clerk for the firm of Sabin & Mason, the
leading dry goods merchants here. He rose rapidly in their service, owing
to his ability, fidelity and energy, and during the latter part of the eight
years that he remained in their employ acted as confidential man and de
partment manager. During this time Mr. Spaulding, being thrifty and
ambitious, had carefully saved his earnings, and haying -built up a good
credit decided it was time that he enter business on his own account. Ac
cordingly, in 1878, he came to Caro and formed a partnership with a Mr.
Burnham, under the firm style of E. O. Spaulding & Company. They
began in a prosperous manner and after two years of business were en
couraged to open a branch house at Saginaw, also known under the same
name, but two years later Mr. Spaulding purchased his partner's interest
in the Caro establishment and sold his holdings in the Saginaw store, and
since that time has continued to concentrate his interests on the business
of which he is now the proprietor. As the years have passed, Mr. Spauld
ing has added constantly to his holdings, and is now at the head of a
business that is distinctly a credit to a city the size of Caro. Five de
partments are now maintained, one each for groceries, shoes and dry
goods, millinery and carpets, and on the two floors there are utilized
13,000 square feet of floor space, while twelve or more clerks are neces
sary to handle the trade. Tbis is tbe oldest established business in Caro
and the largest in Tuscola county, and is a monument to Mr. Spaulding's
enterprise, energy and honorable dealing. In addition to this business,
he is interested in the manufacture of gas engines, the factory being
located at Lansing.
While Mr. Spaulding has amassed a goodly competence, he has not
gained a princely fortune, for his energies have not been devoted entirely
to that purpose. On the contrary, he has divided his time between his
business affairs and those interests which affect local improvement and
progress, which strive to ameliorate the hard conditions of life for the
unfortunate, and which affect man in his fraternal and social relations.
Although- methodical in his business methods, he has been generous in
his charities, the extent of which are probably not known even to him
self. He has ever been an advocate of a fair wage for a fair service, is
broad-minded, liberal in his views, and tolerant of the views of others,
and has the friendship and esteem of all men. Mr. Spaulding believes
in getting all the pleasure out of life possible, and is very fond of travel.
He takes frequent fishing and hunting expeditions, and goes on numer
ous automobile trips with Mrs. Spaulding, who, like her husband, is fond
of nature and the woods. They have made twelve trips to the western
coast, in addition to many journeys to the lakes of Michigan, and are
contemplating an extended trip in 1915, when they will go to Panama
by way of New York. Formerly a Democrat, Mr. Spaulding is now
more or less independent in his views, and takes only a good citizen's in
terest in public matters. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, in
which he has many friends. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal
church, where he served as delegate to the Conference held at Minne
apolis, Minnesota, in 1912, and has ever taken an active interest in its
work, being at present a member of the board of trustees. Mrs. Spauld
ing is also a consistent worker in this church, and belongs to the Ladies'
Aid Society.
Mr. Spaulding was married at Sodus Point, Wayne countv, New
York; February 2, 1875, to Miss Emma Doxtater, a native of Rochester,
New York, and a daughter of George W. and Clarissa (Baker) Doxtater.
Two children have been born to this union. Clara O. married Henry
Llewellyn Smith, a well-known banker of Portland, Oregon, and son

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 853
of Hon. John M. Smith, for some years probate judge of Tuscola county,
and who now has two children — Nathalie, born in Chicago, , Illinois ; and
Francis B., born' at Freeland, Michigan. Charles W. is a graduate of
Caro High school, and cashier of E. O. Spaulding & Son. He is the
father of three children — Calvin, Elise and Amy.
Henry Binkle.. When it is stated that Mr. Binkle is mayor of his
native city it becomes evident that in this connection there can be no con
sistent application of the scriptural aphorism that "a. prophet is not with
out honor save in his own country." He is chief executive of the munic
ipal government of the beautiful little city of Harbor Beach, Huron
county, and his administration is being distinctively liberal and progress
ive, though marked by wise conservatism and by circumspection in direct
ing the various departments of the city government. The mayor holds
prestige as one of the most prominent and influential business men of the
younger generation in Huron county, and here his circle of friends is
coincident with that of his acquaintances. He has been closely identified
with banking interests in Harbor Beach from the initiation of his busi
ness career, and was the organizer of the State Bank of Harbor Beach,
of which he is cashier, besides which he is a member of the directorate of
the Commercial Bank of Beckerville, Sanilac county. '
Henry Binckle was born at Harbor Beach, then known as Sand Beach,
on the 7th of February, 1880, and is a son of Philip and Lena (Whip
pier) Binkle, who still reside in this thriving little city, which has been
their home for more than thirty years. The parents are natives of the
province of Ontario, Canada, Philip Binkle having been born at Clif
ford, Wellington county, and his wife at Listowel, Perth county. In
his native town Philip Binkle learned the trade of harnessmaking, and
soon after his marriage he came to Michigan, in 1879, first settling at
Whiterock, Huron county, but removing thence to Harbor Beach before
the close of the same year. He is the pioneer in the harness business in
this city, where he now has a well equipped establishment and controls
a substantial and representative trade. He has given active assistance in
the development arid upbuilding of the city and county, and no citizen
has more secure place in popular confidence and esteem, as he has been
generous to a fault and is ever loyal and considerate as a friend, as will
be readily assured by many who have been aided by him in time of need.
In addition to his continued allegiance to the trade which he learned in
his youth he also conducts the largest farm-implement establishment in
Harbor Beach. He has applied himself with all of vigor and earnestness
for many years and his success has been worthily achieved. He has
manifested much judgment and ability as a dealer in real estate, and has
handled a large amount of town and farm property. He served as treas
urer of Sand Beach township, and was for several terms president and
mayor of Harbor Beach, the designation of the office having been changed
upon the obtaining of a city charter. He is a staunch Demcorat and bas
been an active party worker in Huron county. He was born April 21,
1858, and his wife was born January 13, i860. Of their children. Henry,
the present mayor of Harbor Beach, is the eldest; Anna is the wife of
Albert W. Cowan, of Deckerville, Sanilac county ; Edward is a clerical
assistant in the State Bank of Harbor Beach ; Carl is cashier of the Com
mercial Bank of Deckerville; Albert has active charge of his father's
implement business ; CJara and Lena remain at the parental home ; and
one son, William, died at the age of thirteen years.
Henry Binkle attended the public schools of Harbor Beach until he
had completed the curriculum of the high school, and soon after his
graduation he became a clerk and general assistant in the Huron County

854 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Savings Bank. By faithful and efficient service he won advancement
and he remained with this institution twelve years, during the last five
of which he was cashier. In November, 1908, after his resignation, he
effected the organization and incorporation of the State Bank of Harbor
Beach, which bases its operations on a capital stock of $25,000, and of
whieh'he has been cashier from the time of incorporation, his ability and
personal popularity both having, come into effective, play in the develop
ment of the substantial and representative business of the institution.
He is likewise a director of the Commercial Bank of Deckerville, as previ
ously stated, and he is secretary of the Harbor Beach Board of Trade, of
the progressive civic ideals and policies of which he is a staunch supporter.
In politics Mayor Binkle is found aligned as an uncompromising ad
vocate of the principles and policies of the Democratic party and he has
given active service in behalf of its cause. He has served as treasurer
of Sand Beach township, as city treasurer, and as a member of the city
council. In 191 1 he was elected mayor, and the best voucher for the
efficiency and acceptability of his efforts in this capacity is that afforded
by the fact that he was re-elected in 1912 and again in 1913, his record
as chief executive standing specially creditable to the family name, even
as had that of his father in a similar capacity.
In 1904 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Binkle to Miss Daisy
Cunningham, who was born and reared at Harbor Beach, a member of
one of the representative families of Huron county, and she is a popular
figure in the leading social activities of her native city. Mayor and Mrs.
Binkle have two children — Keith, born September 2, 1907 ; and Harriet,
born November 11, 1910.
Charles H. Mann. It is doubtful if there has been a more forceful
or helpful figure in the upbuilding and development of Flint than Charles
H. Mann, who since 1899 has been identified with the city's interests in
the field of real estate and loans. Mr. Mann is a Canadian, having been
born near Port Dover, April 14, 1865, and is a son of Nathan W. and
Elizabeth (Knapp) Mann.
Nathan W. Mann was born in Canada, and came to Michigan in 1866,
settling at Mount Morris, Genesee county, where he established himself
in a mercantile business. Later he moved to Clio, where he still carries
on a successful venture, and is known as one of his community's thoroughly
progressive men. He married Elizabeth Knapp, a daughter of Orson J.
and Jane P. Knapp, who came to Genesee county from New York state
about 1850 and engaged in farming. The father died in 1900 and the
mother is still living, aged ninety-one years. Mrs. Mann was a native of
New York. She died about the year 1866, leaving but one child. Mr.
Mann has a half-brother, William H. Mann, of Detroit, who is engaged in
the real estate business. Charles H. Mann was an infant when his mother
died, and he was reared by his grandparents, William H. and Laura J.
Mann, who settled in Genesee county about 1852, coming from Port Dover,
Canada, and engaged in the mercantile business at Mount Morris. Mr.
Mann received only ordinary educational advantages, attending the public
schools of Mount Morris until reaching the age of twelve years, and find
ing his first employment as a clerk for H. G. Mann, of Mount Morris, an
uncle in the general merchandise business. He continued to follow clerk
ing for upwards of eight years, in the meantime thoroughly familiarizing
himself with every detail of the business, and when he was but twenty
years became the proprietor of a hardware establishment of his own at
Clio. This was entirely a self-secured advancement, for the money with
which he purchased his first modest stock had been saved from his earn
ings as a clerk. Mr. Mann continued in the hardware trade for some

6&4^L^>C_

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 855
fifteen years, his business gradually expanding and widening its scope until
it became one of the largest of its kind in that part of the state. For some
years, however, Mr. Mann had had his eye on the real estate and loan
business, and had carefully studied realty values, so that he eventually
came to the conclusion that this field offered excellent opportunities for
the man of energy; brain and foresight. Accordingly, in 1895, he disposed
of his mercantile interests at Clio and for the following four years carried
on a thriving real estate and loan business at that point. In 1899, desir
ing a more extensive field, he came to Flint, and here he has since con
tinued. Mr. Mann has been one of the most important factors in build
ing lines in the city. He has erected in the neighborhood of 200 buildings
since coming to the city, and probably 125 residences alone were built by
him in 1909 and 1910. He devotes his time principally to real estate and
real estate loans. His transactions have ever been of a strictly reliable
nature, and his presence among Flint's men of business adds to the city's
prestige in commercial lines. Politically a Republican, he has found little
time to devote to public affairs, his varied interests in other lines demand
ing his exclusive attention. He belongs to the Loyal Guards, the Benevo
lent and Protective Order of Elks and the Board of Commerce, although
he finds his greatest pleasure in his home, located at No. 821 Detroit street.
He maintains well-appointed offices at Nos. 5 and 6 Fenton Block.
On August 6, 1889, Mr. Mann was united in marriage with Miss Mary
E. Hughes, a native of Genesee county, Michigan, and daughter of Stephen
and Rose Hughes, an old family of Flint. To this union there has come
one son : Charles H, Jr., born at Clio, Michigan, September 5, 1893.
Robert M. Jenks. As secretary of the Huron Milling Company and
of the Mihlenthaler Company, Ltd., of Harbor Beach, where he has other
large and important capitalistic interests, Mr. Jenks is known and honored
as one of the most aggressive and influential business men and liberal
citizens of Huron county, and he is a popular member of a family whose
name has been conspicuously identified with the development and up
building up the Lake Huron coast counties of Michigan. Further de
tails concerning the family achievement in Michigan may be found on
other pages of this work — in the sketch dedicated to Bela W. Jenks,
brother of him whose name initiates this paragraph, and in the memoir
dedicated to their uncle, the late Jeremiah Jenks.
Robert Miner Jenks was born at Crown Point, Essex county, New
York, on the 18th of August, 1859, and is a son of Jesse L. and Mary
(Martin) Jenks, concerning whom adequate mention is made in the ar
ticle descriptive of the career of their elder son, Bela W., on other pages
of this history. Robert M. jenks was about one year old when, in i860,
his parents came to Michigan and established their home at St. Clair,
where he passed the days of his boyhood and early youth, and in whose
public schools he acquired his preliminary educational discipline. He
made such advancement in his studies that as a lad of fifteen years he
found himself prepared to take up a business course. He accordingly
went to Mount Morris, Illinois, where he completed a thorough course
in a well ordered commercial college, His active business career was
initiated in the position of agent for the J. Jenks Steamboat Company, of
which his uncle Jeremiah Jenks was the head and which had in commis
sion a number of vessels on the Great Lakes. The corporation of J.
Jenks & Company has been one that has, since incorporation and for
many years prior thereto, stood forward as the exponent and medium of
progressive enterprise in eastern Michigan, and with the same Robert
M. Jenks has been identified from his youth to the present time, being
now its secretary, as noted in the opening paragraph of this article. Un-

856 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
der this original title was produced the nucleus from which has been
evolved the splendid industrial enterprise now represented by the Huron
Milling Company, which is the pioneer in the field of manufacturing en
terprise in this part of eastern Michigan and which gives employment to
a corps of about 250 men, including man-skilled operatives and a num
ber of persons of high scientific attainments. The products of the fine
and essentially modern plant, which is one of the largest of its kind in
the middle west, include corn starch, wheat starch, flour, macaroni, etc.,
with such important bi-products as the Jenks gluten food, doughnut flour,
flue and several other valuable products. The corporation sells most of
its extensive output in the eastern markets, and the concern figures as
the largest dealers in wheat, oats, corn, beans, peas, etc., in eastern Mich
igan, if not in the entire state. The capacity of the company's wheat
elevator at Harbor Beach is 1 10,000 bushels ; of the coarse-grain elevator,
25,000 bushels; of the corn elevator, 35,000 bushels. It may well be un
derstood that the operations of this corporation have had great influ
ence in furthering the prestige of Harbor Beach as a manufacturing and
commercial center, the while contributing materially to the general de
velopment and upbuilding of the beautiful little city and the country
tributary thereto. The officers of the Huron Milling Company are as
here noted: George J. Jenks, president; Lewis 'R. Speare, of Boston,
Massachusetts, vice president; Bela W. Jenks, treasurer; Robert M:
Jenks, secretary ; and Gilmore G. Scranton, general manager.
In February, 1902, the Mihlenthaler Company, Ltd., of Harbor Beach,
was organized with a paid up capital of $80,000, and the company was
incorporated under the laws of the state, for the retailing of merchandise.
For the use of the company were erected large and modern business and
office buildings, and here has been developed a department store that would
be a credit to a metropolitan center, the establishment being the largest
engaged in the retail mercantile business in Huron county and the same
affording employment to a large corps of clerical and office assistants.
The company has as its official board of managers the following per
sonnel : Darius Mihlenthaler, George J. Jenks, Bela W. Jenks and Oscar
H. Kuchenbecker. Robert M. Jenks, subject of this sketch, is one of the
principal stockholders of the company. Mr. Jenks is a member of the
directorate of the Huron County Savings Bank, in his home city, and con
cerning him it may be said with all of consistency that as a man of affairs,
as a broad-gauged and progressive citizen and as a genial and considerate
gentleman he has gained and retained a circle of friends that is limited
only by that of his acquaintances. He has supported those undertakings
of generic order that have conserved the best interests of his home city
and county, is a staunch Republican in his political proclivities, and he
and his family are most prominent and popular factors in the best social
activities of Harbor Beach. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity
and the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks, and Mrs. Jenks is a zeal
ous member of Harbor Beach Presbyterian church, in which she is treas
urer of the Ladies' Aid" Society, a position she has held for several years,
besides which she is actively identified with the leading social, literary,
musical and benevolent organizations maintained by the ladies of her
home community.
September 4, 1889, bore record of the marriage, at Harbor Beach, of
Mr. Jenks and Miss Susie E. Chamberlain, the latter having been born
at Almond, Allegany county, New York, and having been a child at the
time of her parents' removal to Harbor Beach, Michigan, in 1871. She is
a daughter of the late Almond W. and Matilda (Lockhart) Chamberlain,
who continued to maintain their home at Harbor Beach until their death.
Mr. and Mrs. Tenks have one son. Tesse Chamberlain Jenks, who was

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 857
born at Harbor Beach, on the 4th of August, 1890, and who was graduated
in the local high school. He thereafter completed a thorough course in
the engineering department of the Michigan Agricultural College, where
he likewise studied chemistry, being graduated in the institution.
Oscar George Cowley, M. D. The numerous friends of this prom
inent physician of Vassar have been vindicated in their early predictions
of success for him in his chosen calling. Energy, perseverance in what
ever he undertakes, and many other strong traits of character are notice
able qualities in his nature, and these combined with his inherent ability
and sympathy give him distinct prestige in the line of his calling. The
same will power and determination which he manifested in gaining an
.education and a foothold have brought him to the front ranks, and al
though he has been engaged in practice for but ten years he has already
achievements to his credit that many members of the profession would
envy even after the better part of a lifetime of effort.
Dr. Oscar George Cowley was born January '23, 1881, at Peck, Sanilac
county, Michigan, and is a son of Maurice and Sarah A. (Cash) Cowley.
His father, a native of London, England, was educated in that city, and
came to America in young manhood, settling in Sanilac county, Mich
igan, where he has spent his career as an agriculturist. A man of in
dustry, perseverance and ability, he has succeeded in his business ven
tures, and at this time is the owner of a handsome property of 160 acres,
on which he still carries on operations. He is a Republican in politics,
and has been active in the ranks of his party for some years. Mr. Cowley
was married at Cash City, Michigan, to Sarah A. Cash, who was born
at that place, a daughter of Edward Cash, a native of England who was
the founder of the family in America. He early settled in Sanilac county,
engaged in lumbering on a large scale, and became the leading citizen of
his community, Cash City being named in his honor. Four children were
born to Maurice and Sarah A. Cowley, namely : Oscar George, of this
review ; Martha, who is the wife of William Cook, of Yale, Michigan ;
Jessie, who is the wife of Lee Cook, a brother of William, of Metamora,
Lapeer county, Michigan; and Arthur, who resides with his parents
on the old homestead. «
Doctor Cowley received his preliminary training in the public schools
of his home district in Sanilac county, and later pursued tbe curriculum
of studies comprised in the course at the Ferris Institute. Having fully
made up his mind as to his future vocation, he took up the study of his
profession in the medical department of the University of Michigan, and
after three years entered the Detroit College of Medicine and Surgery,
where he remained one year, being graduated therefrom with his degree
in the class of 1904. In the fall of that year he came to Vassar and es
tablished an office in a convenient part of the business district where he
has since continued to successfully practice, and at this time his profes
sional business, comes from all parts of Tuscola county. He is a
great student and passes much of his time in the perusal of the various
journals devoted to medicine, it being his laudable ambition to keep fully
abreast of the various changes and advancements which have marked the
calling. He belongs to the Michigan State Medical Society, the Tuscola
County Medical Society and the American Medical Association, and has
served for some time as health officer, as well as a member of the school
board. A man of pleasing personality, one cannot be long in his presence
without realizing, that he is a scholar and a man of gentlemanly attain
ments, and as a result he numbers many warrn personal friends in his ex
tensive acquaintance. Fraternally he is prominent in Masonry, being
a Shriner and having attained to the thirty-second degree, and also holds

858 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
membership in the Order of the Eastern Star. In political matters he is
a Republican, but he has never cared for nor sought office. His chief
recreation is found among the books of his large and valuable library,
but he is also fond of out-of-door life and the woods, finds much pleas
ure in hunting and fishing, and is an enthusiastic automobilist.
Doctor Cowley was married in Saginaw, Michigan, in 1903, to Miss
Gertrude B. Smith, daughter of Earl K. Smith, a pioneer farmer of
Sanilac county. One son has come to this union, Don. M., born at Vassar,
in April, 1906. Doctor Cowley is president of the Vassar Rifle Club, and
Mrs. Cowley is also well known in literary and social circles, being sec
retary of the Ladies' Literary Club, an active and helpful member of the
Order of the Eastern Star and an enthusiastic worker in the Ladies' Aid
Society. Charles H. Frame. He whose name initiates this review is one of
the progressive and successful business men of Harbor Beach, Huron
county, where his interests are varied and important and of an order
touching the general well being of the community. He here conducts an
extensive lumber business, with well equipped yards, and he is vice-presi
dent of the Harbor Electric Company and president of the Croswell Tele
phone Company, the service of which extends through Sanilac county.
Mr. Frame early became a sailor on the Great Lakes, and he was prom
inently identified with navigation interests for more than a score of years.
He is well known along the Huron coast and has a host of friends in the
state that has long represented his home.
Charles Henry Frame was born in the beautiful Georgian Bay district
of the Provice of Ontario, Canada, the place of his nativity being the vil
lage of Wiarton,- Bruce county, about twenty miles northwest of Owen
Sound and at the head of Colpoy's Bay, the harbor of the village being one
of the best on Georgian Bay. In this little maritime village he was
born on the 20th of November, 1863, and his memory recalls the scenes of
his early childhood in the town, where, perhaps, he gained his inspiration
for the career of a sailor, though he was about five years of age at the
time of the family removal to Michigan. He is a son of John and Sarah
Elizabeth (Kribs) Frame, both of whom were born near Guelph, Ontario,
and both of whom were reared and educated in their native province,
where their marriage was solemnized and where the father followed the
life of a sailor until 1868, when he came with his family to Michigan, his
first location being at Chesariing, Saginaw county, and the family home
thereafter having been maintained in turn at Ovid, Clinton county ; Ionia,
the judicial center of the county of the same name ; Whitehall, Muskegon
county, and Traverse City, Grand Traverse county. In 1880 permanent
settlement was made by the parents at Harbor Beach, Huron county, and
here the death of the honored father occurred in January, 1912, at which
time he was seventy-six years of age. His widow still resides in the old
homestead at Harbor Beach, and was seventy years of age at the time of
this writing, in 1914. After coming to Michigan John Frame followed
the life of a sailor on Lake Huron for many years, the major part of the
time as owner and master of his own vessel, but during the later years
of his life he had supervision of the lumber business of his son Charles H,
of this review. Of the five children two died in infancy and Herman was
twenty-five years of age at the time of his death. The younger of the two
now living is Burton William Frame, who is employed by his brother
Charles, in the capacity of foreman of the latter's corps of carpenters,
retained in connection with the contracting department of the lumber
business. Charles H. Frame acquired his early education in the public schools

ROWLAND CONNOR

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 859
of the various towns in which the family lived during his childhood and
early youth, but he was only fifteen years of age when he began to earn
his own livelihood, his attention being given to any kind of honest work
that came within his powers. Finally he responded to the lure of the sea
faring life, and for twenty years he continued to be a sailor on the Great
Lakes. In time he became a master navigator and the owner of a, num
ber of sailing vessels, his long experience and genial nature gaining to
him a wide circle of friends in navigation circles. In 1880, long before
his retirement from the lakes, he began contracting along various lines,
and in 1902 he engaged in the lumber business at Harbor Beach, initiating
this enterprise primarily for the purpose of giving congenial occupation
to his father, who assumed active charge of the business. The new ven
ture proved successful from the start, and finally the business attained to
such large proportions that Mr. Frame found it expedient to abandon en
tirely his association with the lake-marine service and give his entire at
tention to his lumber trade. .In that year he amplified the enterprise by
purchasing the lumber yards and planing mills of George W. Monroe,
and the consolidated business has since been successfully continued under
his direct management and control. Mr. Frame has done a successful
contracting and building business in connection with his lumber and plan
ing mill and has improved much real estate in his home city, where he is
the owner of valuable business and residence properties. In association
with, four other representative business men of Harbor Beach, Mr. Frame
effected the purchase of the property and business of the Fremont Farm
ers' Telephone Company, and brought about the reorganization and incor
poration of the business, under its present title of the Croswell Telephone
Company. He is presiderit of the company and in this executive office has
done much to extend and improve the service.
Mr. Frame is a Republican, and while he has not been a seeker of of
ficial preferment he has served as a member of the city council of Harbor
Beach, as a matter of civic duty. He is a Knights Templar Mason and
is affiliated also with the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks, the
Knights of Pythias and the Concatenated Order of Hoo Hoos, the last
mentioned being the . national fraternal organization of those identified
with the lumber business.
At Bad Axe, the county seat of Huron county, on the 24th of October,
1892, Mr. Frame wedded Miss Linnie Jane Wade, daughter of Frederick
and Sarah (Williams) Wade, natives of the Province of Ontario, Canada,
and now residents of West Branch, Ogemaw county, Michigan. Mr. and
Mrs. Frame became the parents of three children, of whom one is de
ceased : Lloyd Stanley, who was born October 14, 1894, was graduated in
the Harbor Beach high school and is now his father's assistant in the
office of the lumber business ; Lawrence, who was born February 23, 1897,
died on the 7th of July, 1904 ; and Ruth Evelyn was' born September 7,
I905- Rowland Connor. Coming to Saginaw as a minister of the gospel,
and for several years having charge of a church in that city, Mr. Connor
was soon drawn into the field of practical secular life, was elected to the
legislature, was admitted to the bar, and for more than twenty years has
been one of the leading lawyers of Saginaw. Mr. Connor is a man of
broad experience, of liberal education, and for half a century has been
identified with newspaper and literary work, with the church and the law.'
Rowland Connor was born in New York City, June 16, 1842, and
was the oldest of three children born to John Henry and Catherine M.
(Reiner) Connor, both of whom were natives of New York City, and
spent their lives there. His father was active as a hardware merchant.
He was born in 1809 and died at Brooklyn, in 1854. The mother was a

860 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
remarkable woman, and at her death in Boston, Massachusetts, in Janu
ary, 1913, had attained the great age of ninety-eight years. The two other
children in the family were : Addison Connor, who died in 1891 ; and Mrs.
Emma Connor, a resident of Saginaw.
Rowland Connor is a graduate of the College of New York, taking his
degrees of A. B. and A. M. in that institltion in 1863 and celebrated his
fiftieth anniversary as an alumnus in 1913. In early life Mr. Connor be
came connected with newspaper work, and in 1870 bought an interest in
the New York Nation, that being subsequently consolidated with the New
York Evening News. During his newspaper career and also in connection
with his other professions, he was a more or less regular contributor of
news and special articles to the New York Tribune, the New York World,
and many magazines. Soon after his graduation Mr. Connor entered the
active ministry, and had charge of various churches, including some at
Boston, North Hampton, Massachusetts, at Milwaukee, and in Saginaw.
His work as a minister was concluded in. 1889, when he was elected a
member of the Michigan legislature, this entrance into politics ' causing
him to leave the ministry. In 1890 he was admitted to the Michigan bar,
and on retiring from the legislature took up the active practice of law at
Saginaw. Mr. Connor served as a member of the State Legislature two terms,
was a member of the State Board of Pardons under Governor Warner,
has served his home city on the board of education, and has been a worker,
and in many ways directed his influence for the cause of education, re
ligion, and general morality. He is Independent in politics, but cast his
first vote for Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Connor has membership in the Sag
inaw County and the Michigan State Bar Associations, is affiliated with
the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias, and
is Grand Commander of the Knights of the Maccabees for Michigan.
At Boston, Massachusetts, in 1869, Mr. Connor married Miss Emma
Hilton, who died in 1902 at Detroit. Her father Andrew J. Hilton was
of a well known family of New Hampshire and of Boston. The two chil
dren born to the marriage of Mr. Connor and wife are: Miss Mildred,
born in Boston in 1870; and Rowland M., born in Boston in 1871, and
now a practicing attorney at Detroit.
Henry Tiffany Cole. It would be difficult to give too much credit
to a man who during his active life in any community directs his strength
and capabilities towards the upbuilding of those enterprises which add
prestige to the locality and provide employment for many of its workers.
To be at the head of such an industry requires more than ordinary ability
and strength of purpose, purpose which is not easily deflected from a
certain course. Among the men of Detroit, who have brought fame to
their city in its commercial circles and have demonstrated their ability
to cope with the keen competition of modern trade and commerce in such
a manner as to make them leaders in their various lines, is found Henry
Tiffany Cole, vice president and treasurer of the United States Radiator
Corporation. Mr. Cole is a native of Ohio, born in the city of Cleveland, June 29.
1870, and is a son of the late Delos O. and Isabella (Tiffany) Cole. The
father was a native of New York state, born at Utica in 1834, and died
in Detroit, in 1903, and was the son of Henry Stever Cole, who was of
Holland Dutch stock, born at Schaghticoke,- Rensselaer county, the Hol
land Dutch settlement on the upper Hudson river. Delos Cole moved
from New York to Ohio and to Detroit in 1877. His wife was a native
of Buffalo, New York, born in 1840, and is still residing in Detroit. She
is the daughter of the late Lucius F. Tiffany, a banker of Buffalo, who

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 861
was a cousin of Charles Tiffany, the noted New York jeweler. The Tif
fany family was founded in America by Sir Humphrey Tiffany, a titled
Englishman. Dr. Benjamin Tiffany, a direct ancestor of the Detroit Tif-
fanys, fought under General Starke of Revolutionary fame, and Mrs.
Delos (Tiffany) Cole is a member of the Society of the Daughters of the
American Revolution and of the Mount Vernon Society.
Henry Tiffany Cole came to Detroit with his parents when he was
seven years of age. He received his education in the Detroit public
schools, and in 1887 became a clerk in the wholesale carriage and hard
ware house of H. Scherer Company, of Detroit, continuing with that firm
for a period of six years. In 1893 he became identified with the Capitol
Heater Company, of this city, as treasurer, a company which became the
United States Heater Company in 1895, and of which he was made sec
retary two years later. He was made vice president and general manager
thereof in 1902, continuing as such until 1910, when the United States
Heater Company merged with four other boiler and radiator concerns
and formed the United States Radiator Corporation, of which Mr. Cole
continues to be vice president and treasurer. Mr. Cole's activities in the
business world of Detroit have done much to forward the city's interests,
and while he has not been active in politics he has ever displayed a com
mendable willingness to aid in those movements in which men enlist for
the public weal. He belongs to the Chamber of Commerce, the Detroit
Club, the Detroit Athletic Club, the Country Club, the Grosse Point
Hunt Club, and the Detroit Racquet and Curling Clubs.
Mr. Cole was married at Catskill, New York, in 1900, to Miss Alice
Jerome Day, who was born at Catskill, the daughter of Jeremiah Day,
a banker of that place, and a great-granddaughter of Jeremiah Day, who
was president of Yale College in 1834. Since 1756 every generation of
the Day. family has graduated from Yale. Jeremiah Day, the father of
Mrs. Cole was of the class of 1873, and was a noted Yale oarsman, and
for his four college years was a member of 'varsity crew. - Mr. and Mrs.
Cole have two daughters : Eunice Tiffany and Ruth Spencer.
Thomas Muneoe — William Munroe. In the story of the transfor
mation of Michigan from a wilderness of forest and tangled vinery into
a great commonwealth with nearly three millions of population, there is
no episode more vital and absorbing than the meteoric rise of Muskegon
from a mere trading post to the Queen of the lumber world. Her story is
in epitome the story of Michigan — the story of the sturdy race of pioneers
who in little more than a generation drove back tbe Indian, conquered his
fastnesses of towering pines and hemlocks, and bfezed tbe way for the
farmer and the manufacturer.
Indissolubly linked with the tale of Muskegon's marvelous rise to the
proud position of the world's greatest lumber producing center is the name
of Munroe. In the forefront of Muskegon's builders they stand — Thomas
Munroe, the elder brother, who for nearly thirty years devoted his brain
and energy toward the upbuilding of the Thayer Lumber Company, one
of Michigan's leading lumbering industries; and William Munroe, the
younger brother, who assumed tbe burden at his brother's death and com
pleted winding up the affairs of the great company. During the tragic
days of reconstruction, when the lumber industry began to wane, mill after
mill was torn down or burned, and the city's future looked darkest, it was
Thomas Munroe whose sage counsel and keen business acumen kept the
Thayer Lumber Company's mill in operation for years after his fellow-
townsmen thought it had cut its last stick of timber. And since his death,
his policies have been perpetuated by his brother and successor, William
Munroe, whose name is synonymous with the development of Muskegon'
in recent years as a city of diversified industries.

862 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Thomas Munroe was born at Rushville, Schuyler county, Illinois, Oc
tober 26, 1844. On both the paternal and maternal side he came of true
American stock. One branch of his ancestors came to this county in 1650:
their descendants being afterward found in Connecticut, New York, Vir
ginia and Maryland. Thomas Munroe, Senior, his father, a member of
the Maryland branch, born January 4th, 1807, at Annapolis, Maryland,
was educated at St. Johns College and Baltimore Medical College, prac
ticed medicine for a few years at Baltimore, Maryland, and removed in
1834 to Jacksonville, Illinois, and later, in 1843, to Rushville, Illinois. He
was a Christian gentleman of broad culture and a student of deep learning.
During the war he was a surgeon in the Union army. He died April 23,
1901. Mrs. Annis (Plinman) Munroe, his mother, born at Utica, New
York, December 10, 1815, was the only daughter of Majpr Benjamin
Hinman, who served in the War of the Revolution under General Nathan
iel Greene. She was thus a true Daughter of the American Revolution,
and became a member of the order of that name April 26, 1898. In 1824
her brother was mayor of Utica, and she had the honor at that time of
meeting the Marquis de La Fayette, defender of American and French
liberties, on his American tour. Her death occurred at Rushville, Illinois,
February 6, 1905.
There were seven children in the family, Thomas Munroe being the
eldest, save one, who died in infancy. As a boy he attended the district
school and the Illinois Wesleyan College at Bloomington, where he was a
student for two years. His practical education began with six years of
employment as a clerk in a general store at Rushville.
It was in 1870 that Mr. Munroe came to Muskegon and began the
splendid career which made him so prominent among the builders of the
city. Entering the office of L. G. Mason and Company, lumber manu
facturers, as a book-keeper, his assiduous attention to bis duties, keen
judgment, and energy soon won him the confidence and esteem of his em
ployers, and he was promoted to have charge of the office, and later made
manager of outside work.
In February, 1878, when Nathaniel Thayer of Boston acquired owner
ship of L. G. Mason and Company's manufacturing plant and property,
he recognized Mr. Munroe's superior talents, and placed him in charge of
the business as superintendent. In 1881 the Thayer Lumber Company,
successor corporation to the L. G- Mason and Company, was formed by
Mr. Thayer and Mr. Munroe was made its superintendent. The story of
the Thayer Lumber Company under Mr. Munroe's management is one of
the inspirational chapters of western Michigan history. The company
rapidly leaped to the front as one of the foremost of Michigan lumbering
enterprises. It operated a mill huilt by L. G. Mason and Company in 1864,
and in 1887 increased its capacity by the purchase of the Bigelow and
Company mill, which it rebuilt. It owned large tracts of timber land in
Newaygo and Missaukee counties, and for years was recognized as one
of the city's most stable industries.
In 1896 the Company's supply of timber became exhausted. It ap
peared to everyone as if the mill must close. Finally the day came when
the mill's whistle blew what all thought was its final blast. Employes of
the company — many of them workmen who had given nearly a lifetime of
service to it, others who were making payments on their homes — looked
into the future with apprehension.
It was then that Mr. Munroe conceived the idea that has won him the
everlasting gratitude of his fellow-citizens. Learning that the famous
Canfield timber tract in Kalkaska county could be purchased, he made a
trip to Boston in an attempt to persuade the members of the company to
puy it. The country was just recovering from the panic of 1893, and
Mr. Munroe's associates were apprehensive of business conditions and de-

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 863
clined to buy. He continued his solicitations, and in January, 1897, the
purchase was made. The consideration was $1,250,000. _ In 1900 the com
pany acquired of Charles F. Ruggles of Manistee an adjoining tract for a
consideration of $450,000. The two deals form the largest transaction in
the history of Michigan timber tract sales to that time.
Mr. Munroe's courisel did not only keep the mill in operation for a
long period, but also resulted well for the members of his company. The
profits were far in excess of his conservative estimate, and the excellence
of his judgment was never more truly demonstrated.
Despite the close attention which he gave to the affairs of the Thayer
Lumber Company, Mr. Munroe was actively engaged in many other enter
prises. He was for many years a stockholder and director of the Muske
gon Booming Company; its treasurer for four years, and in 1888 was
elected its secretary. In 1880 he was one of the incorporators of the Mun
roe Manufacturing Company, which he served as president and general
manager. This company operated for over twenty years a planing mill
which was recognized, when at the height of its activity, as one of the
foremost in the country. He was one of the members of the firm of
Munroe and Brinen, manufacturers and wholesalers of lumber, of which
his brother, William Munroe, was manager. Other business institutions
in which he was interested were the Hackley National Bank, of which he
was president for some time; the Grand Rapids-Muskegon Power Corn-
pany, of which he was vice-president ; the Newcastle Box Company, which
he served as president; the Indiana Box Company, which he served as
vice-president; the Muskegon Washing Machine Company, which he
served as president ; and the Muskegon Valley Furniture Company, Sar
gent Manufacturing Company, Grand Rapids Desk Company, Quinn Sup
ply Company, Muskegon Traction and Lighting Company, and Citizens
Telephone Company, all of which he served as director.
His well rounded life was not without its measure of public service.
Always interested in the cause of education, he served for eight years as
a member of the Board of Education of tbe Muskegon Public Schools.
For most of this period he was secretary of the board.
In- politics, there was never any question of Mr. Munroe's position.
He was a faithful, energetic, uncompromising Republican, and held party
' loyalty as highly as he held loyalty to his friends. The esteem in which
Mr. Munroe was held by Republicans of Western Michigan was evidenced
when he was chosen as one of the representatives of the Ninth Congres
sional District to the National Republican Convention held at Chicago, in
1904, when Theodore Roosevelt was renominated for the Presidency of
the United States.
Mr. Munroe was prominent in Masonic activities, and at the time of
his1 death had received the thirty-third degree and was an honorary mem
ber of the Supreme Council at Cincinnati, Ohio. He joined the Masonic
order in the city of his birth, becoming a member of Rushville Lodge,
No. 9, May 29, 1869. Upon his removal to Muskegon, he changed his
affiliatiori and became a member of Lovell Moore Lodge No. 182, Febru
ary 21, 1877. He held the office of Senior Warden for two years, 1880
and 1 881, and in 1882 was elected Worshipful Master, an office which he
filled for the ensuing three years, and again in 1888. He became a member
of Muskegon Chapter, No. 47, Royal Arch Masons, and was its Excellent
High Priest from 1892 to 1895, inclusive. A furtber affiliation was with
Muskegon Council, No. 54, Royal and Select Masters. In 1878 he be
came a member of Muskegon Commandery, No. 22, Knights Templar,
and in 1889 and 1891 was Eminent Commander of this body. He received
all the various degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, and
was Illustrious Commander-in-Chief of De Witt Clinton Consistory in
1903, 1904 and 1905.
vol. n— 15

864 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
His private life was beautiful. He was married June 19, 1872, to
Miss Kathrine A. Jones, daughter of John R. Jones, of Remsen, Oneida
County, New York. No children were born to this union. His nearer
relatives were a sister, Miss Mary A. Munroe, of Rushville, Illinois ; and
four brothers, James E. Munroe, of Chicago, Illinois; Hinman Munroe
and Charles G. Munroe, of Rusbville, Illinois; and William Munroe, of
Muskegon, Michigan.
The popular appreciation of Mr. Munroe as a citizen and a man was
probably best expressed by the press of his home city at the time of his
death, October 17, 1906, when it was declared of him :
"It is said that no friend in real need ever appealed to him in vain."
Thus briefly is his character epitomized: unswerving loyalty to his
friends ; zealous in the performance of his duties ; living to the highest
ideal of citizenship and contributing always his best to the city he called
"Home." William Munroe, the younger of the two brothers whose enterprise
has done so much for the upbuilding of Muskegon, was born at Rushville,
Schuyler County, Illinois, April 29, i860. He was educated at Illinois
College, Jacksonville, Illinois, graduating in 1882. His early choice of
profession was the law, but his practical mind soon inclined toward more
active pursuits. On April 17th, 1885, he came to Muskegon, joining his
elder brother, Thomas Munroe. When the Thayer Lumber Company pur
chased the Swan, White and Smith timber tracts and sawmill property at
a cost of $425,000, Mr. Munroe was placed in charge, and ran the mill
for one year, when it was sold to Torrent and McLaughlin.
Thomas Munroe and William Brinen organized tbe firm of Munroe
and Brinen, and William Munroe was made manager of the business. The
firm did a general lumbering business, buying logs and converting them
into lumber. On January 1, 1905, William Munroe was elected assistant
treasurer of the Thayer Lumber Company, and made assistant to his
brother, whose health was declining. Upon the latter's death, October
17, 1906, he succeeded him as superintendent and secretary and treasurer
of the company. It remained for him to complete his brother's work in
winding up the affairs of the company, which was finally dissolved in
March, 191 1, when its charter expired. Its vital successor is the W. J.
Brinen Lumber Company, dealers in lumber both wholesale and retail,"
which Mr. Munroe helped organize among the old employes of the Thayer
Lumber Company, and of which he is manager. The mill property of the
Thayer Lumber Company was sold to Mr. Munroe, William Brinen and
William J. Brinen.
In recent years Mr. Munroe's chief interests have been in box manu
facturing concerns. He is vice-president of the Indiana Box Company of
Elwood, Indiana, president of the Newcastle Box Company of Newcastle,
Pennsylvania; and president of the La Belle Box Company of Martins
Ferry, Ohio; the Vandergrift Box Company of Vandergrift, Pennsyl
vania, and the Elkins Box Company of Elkins, West Virginia. He is a
leading stockholder and vice-president of the Hackley National Bank of
Muskegon, and a director and stockholder in several leading Muskegon
corporations. Mr. Munroe married Miss Nellie B. McMillan, a daughter of William
and Barbara (Reid) McMillan of Muskegon, April 3, 1889. Her parents
were of Scotch nativity, and her father was for years prominently con
nected with the lumber industry of Muskegon. Four children have blessed
the union ; namely, Kathrine, a graduate of the Muskegon High School
in the class of 1908, and a former student at Wellesley College; Helen, a
graduate of Rogers Hall Academy, Class of 191 1, and at present a student
at Wellesley College ; Thomas, a graduate of the Culver Military School
of Culver, Indiana, class of 1912, and now a student in the Wharton

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 865
School of Commerce and Finance at the University of Pennsylvania ; and,
William R. (nine years of age) a student in the public schools of Mus
kegon. Mr. Munroe, like his brother, is a firm believer in Republican princi
ples and has always been a staunch supporter of the party. Although dis
inclined toward politics, he served his home city fpr one year as alder
man. He is a trustee of the First Congregational Church of Muskegon,
of which Mrs. Munroe is a member.
Mr. Munroe's many public services are too numerous to recite, but he
has always contributed generously of his time and best efforts towards
the upbuilding of his home city. The many industrial enterprises in which
he is interested form the backbone of the city, and much of Muskegon's
prosperity is due to his wise direction. It is citizens of Mr. Munroe's
type, who remained in Muskegon when the lumber industry waned and
helped lay the foundations for a new industrial growth, whom the people
of Muskegon recognize as the real builders of their city.
John Ferguson Seeley. Banking has been the field to which Mr.
Seeley has devoted the energies of his active career for thirty-six years,
and it is not only as a practical executive and as president of the Com
mercial Savings Bank of Caro that he has prominent relations with his
community, but is also a recognized authority on financial and currency
matters, and was one of the prominent men who in recent months con
tributed to the discussions relative to the reform of banking systems,
and his suggestions were approved by the Treasury department as to
the form of currency issues under the direction of the national govern
ment. John Ferguson "Seeley was born in Ovid, Seneca county, New York,
June 27, 1844, a son of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Kinne) Seeley. His
mother's father was Captain Kinne, a veteran of tbe war of 1812. Mr.
Seeley's father was born in Saratoga, New York, and his mother in
Ovid of the same state. A special talent in manufacturing, financial and
business affairs have been characteristic of the Seeley family for several
generations. His father was an expert in the manufacture of steel, and
became prominent as the inventor of a peculiarly shaped axe, with a
characteristic bulge that made it known and popular all over the timber
countries of the United States. It was called the Seeley axe. The father
manufactured this axe at a shop in Ovid for many years. His expert
knowledge in the tempering of steel and the form of the axe blade,
which made it especially useful for wood chopping, gave his output a
prestige which continued all his life. Had he obtained a patent on his
axe, the invention would have been worth a fortune, but as it was he
contented himself with a fair degree of prosperity and contributed gratis
an important improvement to the world of mechanics. He and his wife
were active members of the Methodist church and prominent people in
their community in New York. The father died in 1888 at the good old
age of eighty-seven, and the mother passed away in 1869 when sixty-
seven years of age. On both sides the family is of English origin.
The only survivor of the nine children of his parents, John F. Seeley
acquired his early training in the grade and high schools of Ovid and in
the Seneca Collegiate Institute. Leaving home at the age of seventeen,
he has from that time to the present, been engaged in a varied experience
which has led him from one stage of successful accomplishment to
another, until he is one of the leading bankers of the state of Michigan.
His first work was as cashier in the Erie Railroad Company's office at
Dunkirk, New York, and three years later he went to New York City
and was made a clerk in the correspondence department of A. T. Stewart

866 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Dry Goods Company. He remained with that great commercial enter
prise for a year and a half, and for a similar period was identified with
other mercantile establishments of New York City. Returning home,
he organized the co-partnership known as Seeley & Company, dealing
in dry goods and similar wares, and for eleven years the company did a
very prosperous business at Ovid. In the meantime Mr. Seeley had been
seized with the western fever, and in. response to the urgings of his de
sires in this line he sold out his interests in New York State, and 1878
moved to Caro, Michigan.
The beginning of his present extended and important relations with
Tuscola county was the opening of a private bank, employing his own
savings as the chief resources of the institution, which was known as
the Tuscola County Bank. For nearly twenty-six years Mr. Seeley con
ducted a successful banking and real estate business, and in 1904 organ
ized the Commercial Savings Bank, of which he has since been the active
head. He is also a stockholder in other banks in Tuscola county, owns
extensive real estate holdings and is one of the leading farmers of Tus*
cola county. He has taken an interest in fruit growing, and during the
past few years he has put out fourteen hundred fruit trees of various
kinds on a well situated farm near Caro. His contributions to the wel
fare and improvement of Tuscola county has taken the form of land
development. In the course of a period of years Mr. Seeley has in
vested more than twenty-five thousand dollars in raw lands in Tuscola
county, and has cleared up and improved nearly all of his property to
first class productive farms, which are now highly valuable, and which
increase the permanent wealth and resources of Tuscola county. Since
locating here it has been Mr. Seeley's firm conviction that Tuscola
county is a section whose prosperity will continue to increase as long as
it remains the home of civilized men, and his judgment in that way has
always been backed up by his varied investments. He is one of the
largest dealers in real estate in the county.
In 1898 a gentleman from Germany called on Mr. Seeley and inter
ested him in the beet sugar industry as carried on in Germany, and calling
his attention to the fact that the United States was importing nearly
$100,000,000 worth of brown sugar made from beets grown in Germany
and France each year, and refining same here. He convinced Mr. Seeley,
after several audiences, that beets rich in sugar could be grown in north
ern Michigan and around Caro, Tuscola county. Mr. Seeley became so
deeply interested in the subject that he caused a few other citizens of
Caro to join him in endeavoring to persuade farmers in the vicinity
to grow beets, and after months of hard work and endeavor about 3,000
acres were contracted for as a beginning, conditioned upon a sugar plant
being built at Caro. The enthusiasm of Mr. Seeley knew no bounds, and
as a result a large sugar refining company was located at Caro in 1899,
the second plant in the state to produce granulated sugar from beets
grown in the locality. This sugar plant has been enlarged several times
until now it requires over 10,000 acres of beets to supply it and produces
25,000,000 pounds of granulated sugar each year. All this was prac
tically brought about by the untiring efforts of Mr. Seeley.
It has already been noted that Mr. Seeley has not confined his atten
tion entirely to practical banking, but is a student of banking laws and
currency problems. He is one of the original members of the Michigan
State Bankers Association, of which he was an organizer, and has taken
an active part in its affairs. On the subject of bank note currency, he
addressed the American Bankers Association in 1912, and his plan of
issuing paper money, if adapted, would save tbe government nine hun
dred thousand dollars in paper bills, and the life of currency would be

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 867
a third longer than that now in use. His address, with this and various
other suggestions, met the hearty approval of Mr. McVeagh, then secre
tary of the treasury, who thanked Mr. Seeley for his valuable sugges
tions and expressed the hope that they might be adapted in any plan
of currency legislation which should pass through congress. Mr. Seeley
was appointed by Governor Ferris as commissioner to assist in the pas
sage of bills for. the prohibition of the shipment of liquor into dry terri
tory, and on this commission served as a delegate during December, 1912,
at Washington, D. C. His ideas on currency problems received wide
publicity in the metropolitan papers of the country, and a number of
editorial paragraphs were written in approval of his plan. While an
active Republican, Mr. Seeley has always preferred to exert his influ
ence on public affairs through the medium of his private business and
through bankers and other semi-public bodies, and has refused nom
ination from his party for the legislature, an honor which was equivalent
to election. He is an elder in the Presbyterian church, of which his
family are members. Naturally Mr.. Seeley is a business man whose
name is not only known and spoken with respect in his home county,
but enjoys a wide acquaintance among men of prominence and influence
throughout the United States.
In 1867 at Hamilton, Ontario, Mr. Seeley married Miss Mattie P.
Grover, who was born in New York state, and graduated from the Wes
leyan Female College of Hamilton, Ontario. Her death occurred in Feb
ruary, 1894, suddenly while visiting a daughter in Ann Arbor. She be
came the mother of four children, and the two now living are: Lewis
G. Seeley, who graduated from the local high school and the University
of Michigan and is now cashier in his father's bank ; Laura, who is the
wife of Sabin Hooper, a banker at Boyne City, Michigan. In August,
1895 Mr. Seeley was married at Midland, Michigan, to Miss Emily
Fuller, who was born in Saginaw. Her father, Rev. O. E. Fuller, was
one of the first graduates from the University of Michigan, for many
years served as a pastor of the Episcopal church, and is now deceased.
His daughter, Mrs. Seeley, graduated from the Ypsilanti Normal school
and became a teacher and for eight years taught in the public schools of
Caro, later was advanced to the office of principal and then of superin
tendent, and concluded her term of service as an educator as a teacher
in the girl's high school of Brooklyn, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Seeley are
the parents of three children: Clinton Fuller Seeley, Alice Seeley, and
Barrett K. Seeley, students in the Caro high school.
Harry B. Hutchins, LL. D. The successor of Dr. James B. Angell
as president of the University of Michigan, Dr. Hutchins, though a New
Englander by birth and early training, is a graduate* of the Department
of Literature, Science and the Arts of the institution of which he is now
the head, and has had a long and distinguished career in the law, in
original scholarship, and as a teacher and educational administrator. Dr.
Hutchins was acting president of the university during the year 1897-98,
and again from October 1, 1909, until June 29, 1910; at the latter date
he was formally chosen president.
Of New England colonial stock, a son of Carlton B. and Nancy "
Walker (Merrill) Hutchins, Harry Burns Hutchins was born at Lisbon,
Grafton county, New Hampshire, April 8, 1847. Educated in the com
mon schools, in the New Hampshire Conference Seminary at Tilton,
and Vermont Conference Seminary at Newbury, at the age of nineteen
he entered Wesleyan University at Middletown, Connecticut, but impaired
health compelled him to withdraw during tbe same year. After his

868 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
recovery he studied for a time anatomy, physiology and surgery at the
University of Vermont and at Dartmouth -College, his intention at that
time being to make medicine his career. About that time his parents moved
to Michigan, and in 1867 he entered the University of Michigan, and was
graduated Bachelor of Philosophy in the class of 1871. During his
undergraduate career Dr. Hutchins was editor of the Chronicle, the
official student paper of the university, was class orator in his senior
year, and one of tbe speakers at his commencement. The year following
his graduation was spent as superintendent of public schools at Owosso
in Shiawassee county, but in 1872 he returned to Ann Arbor as instructor
in history and rhetoric at the university. During the following year
Dr. Hutchins was advanced to the grade of assistant professor. For
four years he instructed classes in the subjects named, and at the same
time studied law. His admission to the bar was followed by resignation
from the university faculty, and the beginning of active practice in
partnership with his father-in-law, Thomas M. Crocker. The firm of
Crocker & Hutchins maintained offices both in Mount Clemens and De
troit, and for eight years represented a large and important clientage
in all the courts of the state.
Dr. Hutchins in 1883 was an unsuccessful candidate on the Republican
ticket for the office of regent of the university, and in the following
year was recalled to the university as Jay professor of law. His legal
scholarship and administrative ability caused him in 1887 to be chosen
by the trustees of Cornell University to organize the law department of
that institution. The eight years spent at Ithaca were exceedingly fruit
ful and securely established his own reputation as an educational
organizer and director, and the Cornell University Law School was
placed on a sound basis and had -grown to be one of the leading law
schools of the United States.
Since 1895 Dr. Hutchins has been permanently identified with the
University of Michigan, having been made Dean of the law department
in that year. In 1897-98, during the absence of President Angell as
United States Minister to Turkey, Dr. Hutchins served as acting presi
dent of the university, a service, taken in connection with other
qualifications, which undoubtedly made him the first choice ten years
later when the ruling body had to select a successor to the venerable
Doctor Angell.
His various official honors as an educator indicate his qualifications
in that field. Dr. Hutchins is also a profound lawyer and original
scholar. He is a member of the New York, and Michigan Bar Asso
ciation, the American Historical Association and the Michigan Political
Science Association. Several volumes of the Michigan supreme court
reports were revised and annotated by him. In 1894 Dr. Hutchins pub
lished an American edition of the English work, "Williams on Real
Property," having revised and adapted that familiar authority to the
requirements of American usage. Other evidences of his scholarship
are : "Hutchins's Equity Cases," published in 1900 ; the biography of
the late Judge Thomas M. Cooley, in the general work entitled "Great
American Lawyer"; consulting editor of the "American and English
Encyclopedia of Law and Procedure"; and numerous contributions as
a member of the advisory board, to the "Michigan Law Review." Dr.
Hutchins has also been the recipient of many scholastic honors, and
received the degree of Doctor of Laws from the University of Wiscon
sin in 1897. Dr. Hutchins is a Republican in politics. On December
26, 1872, he married Miss Mary Louise Crocker, daughter of his former
law partner, the late Thomas M. Crocker, of Mount Clemens.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 869
William K. Clute. A member of the Michigan bar for twenty-
five years, William K. Clute has become recognized not only in the state,
but in the nation as an authority on the question of water rights, and
in that highly important and extremely technical branch of law few men
have had more successful experience. He was recently one of the gov
ernment prosecutors in a big suit involving the power rights along the
course of the Sault Ste. Marie Canal, and has acted as special counsel
for the City of Grand Rapids in its matters relative to acquiring the
power rights in Grand River for city purposes.
William K. Clute, whose father was a prominent lawyer before
him, was born at Ionia, Michigan, September 6, 1865. His parents
were Lemuel and Ellen (McPherson) Clute, his mother being of Scotch
parentage, while his father was born in New York State of a Holland
family. His father began practice at Ionia, Michigan, in 1864, and
spent all his active career in that city.
William K. Gute received his education in the public schools at
Ioniaj and is a graduate of the Michigan Agricultural College. He
studied law in his father's office, and was admitted to the bar in June,
1888. His practice was begun in association with his father, and so
continued until the fall of 1900. In that year he was elected prosecuting
attorney of Ionia county, serving two terms from 1901 until 1905.
His ability as a lawyer was accorded special recognition in 1906 when he
was appointed assistant United States Attorney for the western division
of Michigan. His service in that capacity continued until December
1, 1910. From that date until October 1, 1912, came his work as
special assistant United States attorney in the suit of the United States
Government for the condemnation of all the land and water power right
at Sault Ste. Marie north of the line of the then existing canal, and as
far as the international boundary. This litigation involved damages or
claims for damages ranging from nothing to more than six millions of
dollars. These claims were preferred by the owners of property along
the canal for the alleged water-power rights, pertaining and inherent
in the land. The government claimed that it was not liable for damages
for such rights, since the movement was one undertaken under an Act
of Congress in the interest of navigation. The United States Supreme
Court finally upheld the case of the governrnent's counsel, and decided
that the United States be not held for damages for water-power taken
and the power companies against whom the condemnation suit was
brought were allowed nothing, since the property taken was primarily
for navigation, and since the navigable waterways of the United States
are the property of the nation, and it was unnecessary to pay damages
to the riparian owners for water power rights in case the improvement
of navigation took over the power possibilities.
Mr. Clute's residence for over eight years has been established at
Grand Rapids, his law offices being in the Michigan Trust Building.
Mr. Clute has membership in the Michigan State Bar Association,
the Grand Rapids Bar Association, and fraternally he is affiliated with
York Lodge of the Masonic Order and with the Columbian Chapter
of the Royal Arch Masons. He belongs to the Highland Golf Club.
Mr. Clute married August 6, 1890, Miss Lillie E. Sears, daughter of
Lucien E. Sears, of Lansing, Michigan. They are the parents of one
son, Donald S. Clute. The residence is at 571 Madison Avenue.
Rev. Francis H. Gres, pastor of St. Joseph's Church, Bay City,
Michigan, was born December 4, 1853, in the south ,of France. During
his fifty-eight years as student and faithful laborer in the spiritual
field, he has won the approbation of the church and the love of the

870 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
people on both sides of the Atlantic, and few priests have been more
earnest and zealous in their holy work.
Father Gres in his boyhood attended the schools of Rodez, his native
city, but his theological education was pursued in Brittany, where
he graduated in 1877, and in the same year was ordained to the priest
hood, taking his vows in 1878 in the Society of the Holy Ghost. His
scholarship and zeal made him eligible to a responsible position and he
was sent to be a professor in the seminary college at St. Pierre, in the
Island of Martinique, West Indies, which city was, only a few years ago,
destroyed by the terrible eruption of Mount Pelee. After six years
of educational work here, Father Gres returned to France and served
eight years as a missionary priest. In 1892 he came to America, and
located at Detroit, Michigan, where he was assigned as assistant pastor
of St. Joachim's Church, and remained there until June, 1894, when he
came to Bay City as assistant to Father Roth. In 1900 he was appointed
pastor of St. Joseph's parish, and is now on his 21st year here. His
pastorate has been marked with large accessions to the church and a
great increase in the church school and enthusiasm among the people.
The academy in connection with St. Joseph's church is managed by
the Dominican Sisters, a body of holy women whose reputation for piety
and scholarshp extends all over the world. Nearly all the grades are
represented here and careful and thorough instruction is afforded in all
ordinary branches, in the classics and in music. Accommodations are
provided in the classroom for 350 pupils.
St. Joseph's Church (French) from 1869, when Father Girard took
charge of the parish, until 1900, when Father Gres, the present pastor,
was appointed, has had a rapid succession of pastors. Father Girard
remained until January 1, 1872. Father Delbar succeeded him, but
remained only until the last of December of the same year, and Father
Cantor, the latter's successor, continued here until August 31, 1873.
Father Grilli, an Italian priest, supplied for a few months, or until
November 23, 1873, and was succeeded by Father Van Strallen, a Hol
lander, who remained until March 1, 1875. Father Grilli then again
took charge and remained until June, 1875, when Father Kemper, a
German, took charge and remained until October 19, 1879. The priest
who followed him died in 1880, and the next pastor was Father Ebert,
who remained but a short time. The latter was succeeded by Father
Thibeaudau, who continued here six years and died in 1886, and was
succeeded by Father Vitali, an Italian, who remained until August 21,
1887. Following this, Father Guerin remained seven years. In 1888
the parish fell into sore straits, due to unsettled financial conditions in
the country. Father Thibeaudau had built the new church in 1880,
and a debt of $6,000 burdened the congregation. The parish was there
fore placed under the charge of the Holy Ghost Fathers Society, which
relieved the diocese of the burden, while the parish still remained under
the jurisdiction of the bishop. Rev. F. J. Roth, C. S. Sp., was accord
ingly sent here in 1888, and on June 20, 1894, Father Gres, the present
pastor, was appointed assistant. When Father Roth left, in March,
1895, the debt of $6,000 had been cleared. He was succeeded by Father
Danglezer, and the good work of the Holy Ghost Fathers was still
further evidenced by the erection of a fine and commodious parsonage
at Third and Grant streets on property adjoining the church lot. In
1900 Father Danglezer returned to France, and Father Gres assumed
charge of the parish, which now includes about 500 families and is one
of the largest in the valley.
Frank Dyke Jenks was born at St. Clair, Michigan, on March 11,
1864, and is a son of Bela Whipple and Sarah (Carleton) Jenks, both

HI-STORY OF MICHIGAN 871
of whose ancestors were among the .earliest settlers of New England,
and occupied many positions of trust and prominence in Colonial and
Revolutionary times.
He attended the public schools of St. Clair and graduated from the
high school in 1879, and after working about one year in the office of
the Wyandotte Rolling Mills Company, at Wyandotte, Michigan, and
about two years for his father in lumbering near Allegan, Michigan, he
returned to St. Clair and attended Somerville school as a special student
for one term, going from there to Ann Arbor high school from which
he5 graduated in 1883. After attending literary department of the Uni
versity of Michigan for one year, class of 1887, he returned to Port
Huron where he has since resided.
Mr. Jenks bought out one of the largest lumber yards in this section
in 1889, and has been prominently identified with this industry since
that date. Among his other business activities has been the building
of several large grain elevators in this country and Canada and also
one in Scotland,. which was the first modern grain elevator in the history
of that country.
He early became connected with the vessel business on the Great
Lakes, and in 1901 formed the Port Huron and Duluth Steamship
Company, which now has three large modern passenger arid package
freight steamers, operating between Port Huron, Michigan and Duluth,
Minnesota, and is its president and active head.
He is also president of the South Park Lumber Company, vice-presi
dent of the American Machinery Company, chairman of the Factory
Land Company, and connected with other industries in Port Huron, and
his energy and judgment have been of great value to the various indus^
tries with which he has been identified.
1 Politically Mr. Jenks has been allied with the Republican party
and while hot taking an active part in politics he has been -honored by
his fellqw townsmen with several local offices, having been alderman of
the Second Ward for two terms, from 1890 to 1894; a member of the
Board of Water Commissioners, 1895 to 1899; City Comptroller in 1896;
and City Assessor from 1896 to 1899.
Mr. Jenks is a member of the Masonic Order including the Blue
Lodge Chapter, Knights. Templar and Mystic Shrine, and is also a mem
ber of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He has been
Master of Port Huron Lodge No. 58, F. and A. M., and was for some
years a member of the Board of Control of the Michigan Masonic Home,
and has acted on various committees of the Grand Lodge of Michigan.
On October 12, 1887, he married Kate Sanborn, daughter and only
child of General William Sanborn and Nancy (Howard) Sanborn. Her
mother's family, the Howards, were large lumber operators from an
early day and tbe Sanborns were also important fafctors in the lumber
industry of this section. Her father served with distinction in the Civil
War, and was wounded while in command of his regiment at the battle
of Chickamauga. Mr. and Mrs. Jenks have three children, William Sanborn, born Oc
tober 23, 1888, a graduate of the literary department of the University
of Michigan, Class of 1910, and is now the General Freight and Pas
senger Agent of the Port Huron and Duluth Steamship Company, and
who married Miss Elizabeth Sukey at Minneapolis, December 21, 1912,
Carleton Howard, born July 24, 1893, now a student in the literary de
partment of the University of Michigan, Class of 1915, and Edward
Whipple, born August 30, 1900, now attending the public schools of
Port Huron.

.

872 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Lee E. Joslyn. For more than a quarter of a century Mr. Joslyn
has been a member of the bar of Michigan, his home having been in the
state since boyhood, and both at Bay City and at Detroit his official career
has been one of usefulness and prominence, especially as referee in bank
ruptcy first in the Bay City district and since, 1910 his home has been at
Detroit, where he is now referee in bankruptcy for the Detroit district.
Lee E. Joslyn, who was born at Darien, Genesee county, New York,
July 23, 1864, a son of Willis B. and Amy R. (Mason) Joslyn, represents
an old French- English family and one that has been identified with Ameri
can history since the early colonial days. The Joslyn name was taken
from France to England about 1090, soon after the close of the reign of
William the Conqueror. The American branch was founded in 1635 in
Massachusetts, and many of the name were locally prominent in that
colony. Jabez Joslyn, great-grandfather of Lee, was a soldier on the
American side during the war of the Revolution, and in 1800 founded the
family in the state of New York. Jabez, son of this revolutionary sol
dier, moved from New York, to Michigan about 1861, and his death oc
curred at Bay City, Michigan, in 1869. He was the father of Willis
B. Joslyn. On the maternal side the Mason family was also of colonial
settlement in New England, gave several members to the American army
during the Revolution, and Mr. Joslyn's mother was a cousin to Hon.
William E. Mason, a former United States senator from Illinois. Willis
B. Joslyn, the father, had his home in the state of New York until 1871,
lived in Pennsylvania from 1871 to 1873, and on coming to Michigan
located at Dryden in Lapeer county, and in 1889 moved from that locality
to Bay City, where the remainder of his years were spent and where he
died at the age of seventy. His widow died in 1902 at the age of seventy-
five. Lee E. Joslyn attended public school in his native town in New York,
was about ten years old when the family moved to Michigan, in 1881 was
graduated from the Union school at Dryden, Lapeer county, and soon
after took up the study of law under Judge William W. Stickney of La
peer. Later his law studies were pursued under Judge George H. Durand,
at Flint. In the meantime it was necessary that he provide for his own
livelihood, and his way was paid chiefly by teaching in the district schools
during the winter seasons. In 1883-84 Mr. Joslyn was principal of the
graded school at Otisville in Genesee county, and later for one year was
principal of the First ward school in Bay City. With his admission to
the bar at Bay City in 1886, his active practice of the profession began in
that locality, and while his practice as a lawyer has been of a substantial
character much of his time during the past twenty-five years has been de
voted to public affairs. In 1888 Mr. Joslyn was elected circuit court com
missioner of Bay county, and that office was followed in 1892 by his elec
tion as prosecuting attorney of the same county. His retirement from
the latter office was followed by some years of active private practice,
but in April, 1904, came his appointment as referee in bankruptcy at Bay
City. On the death of Harlow P. Davock, who held a similar office in
Detroit, Judge Swan of the United States circuit court for the Detroit
district appointed Mr. Joslyn to fill the vacancy. The duties of both offices
in Bay City and Detroit were administered. by Mr. Joslyn until November
21, 1910, when he resigned from the Bay City district and received the
regular appointment as referee in bankruptcy for the Detroit district.
Since then his home has been in Detroit.
Mr. Joslyn has been prominent in the affirs of the Independent Order
of Foresters in Michigan, a fraternal organization with which his affilia
tion began in 1887. In 1892 the order elected him high counselor and in
the following year high-chief ranger for the state, and in 1894 high-chief
ranger, besides which he represented the high court of Michigan as dele-

¦&¦

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 873
gate to the supreme council of the world at Chicago in 1893, and in the
city of London, England, in 1895. His relations with the Masonic order
include thirty-two degrees of the Scottish Rite, and. other fraternities hold
ing his membership are the Knights of the Modern Maccabees, the Knights
of Pythias, and'the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.. Mr. Joslyn
belongs to the Detroit Board of Commerce, the Detroit Club, the Detroit
Golf Club, the Bay City Country Club, to the Detroit Young Men's Cbris-
tian Association, and with his wife has membership in the North Wood
ward Presbyterian church. He manifests a keen interest in all affairs
relating to the civic and material prosperity of his city and state. In 1893
Mr. Joslyn married Miss Alice L. Wilson, daughter of F. L. Wilson, of
Bay City. Their four children are': Lee E., Jr., a student in the Michigan
University; and Alan W., Laura Alice and Mary Anne.
Isaac B. Auten. ' In giving record concerning the representative
men of affairs in Tuscola county it is imperative that special mention be
made of the honored and influential citizen whose name introduces this
review and who has played an important part in furthering the civic
and material development of the county and particularly of Cass City,
his place of residence. Mr. Auten has been- prominently identified with
the banking business in Tuscola county for many years and in the mat
ter of continuous service he is now one of the oldest representatives of
this important line of enterprise in this part of the state. He was organ
izer of the Cass City Bank, of which he is still the executive head, and
he has also wielded large and beneficent influence through his extensive
and well directed real-estate operations. He also controls a large, and
substantial business as an insurance underwriter, and is essentially one
of the positive forces in furthering the continued advancement and the
well-being of the county in which he has maintained his home for the
past thirty years, and in which he commands unqualified popular confi
dence and esteem.
Isaac Bodine Auten was born in Ovid township, Seneca county, New
York, on the 6th of October, 1854, and he is a representative of families
whose names have been worthily Jinked with American history for many
generations. He is a son of Thomas and Johanna (Bodine) Auten, both
of whom were likewise natives of Seneca county, in the idyllic lake dis
trict of the Empire state. The father was born in 181 5, and his death
occurred in 1878. His wife, who likewise was born in 181 5, survived
him by about fifteen years and was summoned to eternal rest on the 15th
of June, 1893, at the venerable age of seventy-eight years. The Auten
family was early founded in the state of New York, and there its repre
sentatives stood exemplar of honest worth and productive industry as one
generation followed another on to the stage of life's activities. The
maternal ancestral line of the subject of this sketch is traced back to a
valiant soldier of the Revolution, Cornelius Bodine, who became a
pioneer settler in the fine lake district of central New York. In 1802 he
established his home in Ovid township, Seneca county, where he devoted
the remainder of his life to agricultural pursuits. He was a descendant
of Jean Bodine, a sterling French Huguenot, who was born in the village
of Medis, France, in 1645, arid whowas one of the many French Hugue
nots who fled their native land to escape the persecutions incidental to
the revocation of the famous Edict of Nantes. He found refuge in Lon
don, England, where he was naturalized on the 14th of October, 1681.
In the following year he came to America and established his home on
Long Island, New York, where his death occurred in 1695. He was one
of the strong political figures in France in the seventeenth century and
was aman of fine character and mentality. Certain of his descendants in

874 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
America crossed over from Long Island to the mainland and from
Perth Amboy, New Jersey, made their way from -the mouth of the Rari-
tan river to its source, this expedition leading to the establishment of
members of the family in New Jersey. Francis Bodine was a resident
of Cranbury, Middlesex county, New Jersey, in 1745, and was the
founder of the branch that became prominent in southern New Jersey
and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. John Bodine, a son of Francis, served
seven years as a gallant soldier in the Continental line during the war of
the Revolution, and during this long period of patriotic devotion he was
able to visit his family only once. He participated in many engagements,
including the battle of Monmouth, and he was captain of his company
at the time of receiving his honorable discharge. He died in the year
1826. Abraham Bodine, ancestor of him whose name initiates this arti
cle, married Adrientje Janse, of an old Holland Dutch family in New
York, and of their nine children one was Cornelius, who likewise was a
Revolutionary soldier and patriot and took part in the battle of Mon
mouth. Peter Bodine, maternal grandfather of Isaac B. Auten, died
in Seneca county, New York, in 1843, and of his seven children the
youngest was Johanna, mother of Mr. Auten.
Thomas and Johanna (Bodine) Auten became the parents of eight
children, and of the number only three are now living: Martha Cecelia,
who is the widow of William Seeley and resides at Elmira, New York;
Isaac B., who is the immediate subject of this review; and Dewitt B.,
who owns and resides upon the fine old homestead farm of his parents,
in Seneca county, New York.
Isaac B. Auten has been in the most significant sense the architect
of his own fortune, for he initiated his independent career when a mere
boy and has pressed steadily forward to the goal of large and worthy
success, the while his character has been moulded, and made symmetrical
by the discipline. In his native county he received a grammar-school
education but he was only thirteen years of age when he signified his
intense desire to begin work for himself. His parents consented to his
leaving home and working out his own salvation. At Havanna, New
York, he found employment in a grocery, and eight months later he went
to the village of Ovid, in his native county, wher,e he became clerk in a
grocery store. There he later obtained a clerkship in the dry-
goods store of John F. Seeley, and here he received in compensation
for his services the stipend of twelve dollars a week. He continued in
the employ of Mr. Seeley three years and his desire for broader experi
ence then led him to remove to the city of Rochester, New York,
where he entered the employ of a representative wholesale dry-goods
firm, his salary at the start having been but one-half that which he had
received while m the employ of Mr. Seeley. Remaining with the Roch
ester wholesale house for four years, he there gained special advance
ment in the department to which he was assigned, and he became an ex
pert m all matters pertaining to laces. Upon leaving Rochester Mr
Auten went to Springfield, Massachusetts, to assume charge of one of
the largest lace stocks in the Eastern market. His superior knowledge
of lace values and other details of the business gained to him the tender
of a responsible and remunerative position' in Manchester, England, but
he refused this overture. He remained at Springfield until 1884, when
his old friend and former employer, John F. Seeley, decided to come to
Michigan to engage in business and solicited the co-operation of Mr.
vua' u Varo' Jthe;u,d?cial center of Tuscola county, Mr. Seeley estab
lished a bank and of this new institution Mr. Auten became cashier, a
position which he retained for twelve years, within which he did much
to develop the enterprise to substantial proportions. In the autumn of

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 875
1895 Mr. Auten removed to Cass City, where he became an interested
principal in the organization of the private banking firm of Auten,
Seeley & Blair, his associates being John F. Seeley and Capt. Lemuel C.
Blair. Upon the death of Captain Blair, Mr. Auten purchased his inter
est in the business, and later purchased the interest of John F. Seeley,
and he has since continued as the executive head of the strong and popu
lar banking institution, which is one of the oldest in Tuscola cOunty and
which has long retained a large and representative patronage, the bank
being still conducted as a private institution and under the name of the
Cass City Bank of I. B. Auteii.
Mr. Auten has proved an executive and financier of mature judg
ment and great circumspection, has ordered his course along the un-
deviating lirie of integrity and honor and has retained at all times the
confidence of everyone with whom he has had dealings. Through his
business operations he has met and gained the friendship of many of the
prominent capitalists and representative - men of Michigan, and has had
charge of important investments for them. He has made a specialty of
real-estate loans, largely upon farm, properties, and has been specially
successful in the handling of realty in his section of the state. He has
been essentially optimistic in regard to the future to his home city and
county, and has shown his faith through his public spirit, his progressive
policies and the investment of his capital. He is the owner of three fine
farms near Cass City and also much valuable real-estate in" the village.
Mr. Auten is liberal and independent in his political proclivities and
gives his support to' men and measures meeting the approval of his judg
ment, without reference to partisan lines. He has shown special inter
est in educational matters and in the furtherance of those things which
promote high civic ideals along general lines. Both he and his wife are
zealous members of the Presbyterian church in their home city, and he
is a member of its board of trustees.
In the autumn of 1884 was solemnized^ the marriage of Mr. Auten
to Miss Elizabeth H. Libby, daughter of the late Dr. Abial Libby, of
Richmond, Maine. Mr. Auten is a leader in church, literary and social
activities in Cass City and is a gracious and popular chatelaine of the
attractive family home. Mr. and Mrs. Auten have two children: Mad-
elaine, who was born at Caro,' Tuscola county, on the 20th of July, 1889,
was graduated in Denison University at Granville, Ohio, and in the
Domestic Science department of Columbia University, New York City;
Meredith Bodine Auten was born at Caro on the 18th of April, 1891,
and was graduated in historic old Bowdoin College, at Brunswick,
Maine, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He is now cashier of his
father's bank at. Cass City. *
John C. Corkins. The present efficient postmaster of Cass City is
also known as one of the prominent members of the bar of Tuscola
county, where his success and precedence afford the best voucher for
his professional ability. He is junior member pf the representative law
firm of Broaker & Corkins, in which his associate is James D. Broaker,
of whom individual mention is made on other pages of this work.
Mr. Corkins is a native of Michigan and finds a due measure of
pride and satisfaction in this fact, the while his unfaltering loyalty tp
bis native state is shown by his continuous residence within its borders
and by his here proving the possibilities of attaining success and honors
in a personal way. John Calvin Corkins was born on a farm, in Van
Buren township, Wayne county, Michigan, on the 4th of May, 1873,
and is a son of Calvin and Melissa (Leonard) Corkins, who were like
wise born in Van Buren township, where the respective families were

876 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
founded in the pioneer epoch of Michigan history. This is further
assured when it is stated that in Wayne county,' in which is situate the
beautiful city of Detroit, Anson Corkins, an. uncle of the subject of this
review, was the first white child born in Van Buren township, September
22, 1827. Calvin Corkins, who was born in the year 1831, has continu
ously retained his residence in Wayne county during the long intervening
years and was long and actively identified with agricultural pursuits, in
connection with which he accumulated a valuable landed estate. At the
venerable age of eighty-three years (1914) he maintains his home on
one of his farms in Wayne county, and be is one of the honored and
influential pioneer citizens of that section of the state. His cherished
and devoted wife was summoned to the life eternal in 1901, at the age
of sixty-two years, and of the four children surviving her, John G, of
this review, was the second in order of birth. The eldest of the children
is George A., who is a prosperous farmer of Wayne county; Wilmer H.
resides upon and has supervision of one of his father's farms, in Washte
naw county ; and Mary A. remains with her father, having charge of the
home since the death of her mother.
In the public schools of Wayne and Washtenaw counties John C.
Corkins gained his preliminary education, and this discipline was sup
plemented by higher academic study in the Michigan State Normal
School at Ypsilanti. After devoting two years to teaching in the schools
of Washtenaw county Mr. Corkins was matriculated in the Detroit
College of Law, he having, been twenty-four years of age at the time
of entering this admirable institution, in 1897. He -completed the pre
scribed curriculum and was graduated as a member pf the class of 1900,
duly receiving his degree of Bachelor of Laws and being forthwith ad
mitted to the bar of his native state. Mr. Corkins had a desire' to visit
the western part of our great national domain and felt assured that in
that section of the country he would find opportunities for successful
work in his chosen profession. Soon after his graduation, therefore,
he established his residence* in the city of Butte, Montana, where he
entered into a professional partnership with Edwin Fisher, with whom
he was there associated in active practice for three years, under the
firm name of Corkins & Fisher. Tliough the firm built up a successful
law business Mr. Corkins eventually felt the superior claims made upon
him by the state of his nativity, and he has had no cause to regret the
decision made by him when he severed his professional alliance at Butte
and returned to Michigan, at the expiration of the period noted above.
Soon after his return Mr. Corkins assumed connubial responsibilities,
and he then located at Caro, the judicial center of Tuscola county, where
he continued in the practice of his profession for eight months. He
then, in the autumn of 1903, removed to Cass City, in the same county,
and in this thriving village he has since continued in active and successful
practice, as a member of the leading law firm of Broaker & Corkins, the
business of which extends into the various courts of the state and has
been of important order, implying the retention of a representative
clientage. Mr. Corkins has shown special progressiveness and public spirit and
has been an influential figure in local affairs and as a representative of
the Republican party in this section of the state. He most effectively
administered the matters pertaining to the municipal government of
Cass City, of which he was mayor for five years, and he now finds
the great part of his time and attention demanded by his duties in the
office of postmaster, to which he was appointed in 19 10, by President
Taft. He is one of the wheelhorses of the Republican party in Tuscola
county, and has been a valued and effective campaign speaker, besides
having served as a delegate to virtually every county convention held

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 877
by the Republicans of Tuscola county within the period of his residence
here. Mr. Corkins gives his support to enterprises and undertakings
that in a generic or specific way tend to advance the best interests of his
home city and county, and in 1907 he was one of the 'organizers of the
Cass City Telephone Company, of which he is secretary and general
manager. He did most aggressive and effective work in enlisting local
capital for this enterprise, and the company has provided facilities and
service of great benefit to the community. Mr. Corkins attends and
gives liberal support to the Evangelical church of Cass City, of which
his wife is a zealous member.
Mr. Corkins has been twice married. On the 14th of October, 1903,
he wedded, at Brookville, Pennsylvania, Miss Minnie Fell, who was
born in Washtenaw county, Michigan, and who was a daughter of
William Fell, who is a prominent manufacturer of woolen goods at
Brookville, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Corkins passed to the life eternal in
191 1, and her remains rest in the beautiful village cemetery of Cass City.
She is survived by three children, and it is a singular fact that all were
born in the year 1905 : Helen and Ivan, twins, were born January 2, of
that year, in Cass City, and here the daughter Lucille was born on the
16th of December of the same year. On the 22d of March, .1912, was
solemnized^ the marriage of Mr. Corkins to Miss Lena Muck, who was
born and reared in Cass City and who is a daughter of Adam Muck,
who still resides in this place and who is one of the sterling pioneer
citizens of Tuscola county.
Theron Wilson Atwood was born at White Oak, Ingham county,
Michigan, January 3, 1854, and is a son of Henry P. and Emily (Wilson)
Atwood. The family was founded in Michigan in 1835, when Zenas
and Hulda (Perrington) Atwood, the grandparents of the subject of
this review, came to Ingham county. They were natives of the Empire
state, and sturdy, reliable pioneers, taking up their homes in the midst
of tbe wilderness and aiding in paving the way for future generations.
Zenas Atwood died in 1854, while the grandmother survived him for a
time and was about eighty years of age at the time of.her demise. Henry
P. Atwood was born in New York, and, with the intention of entering
the ministry, had attended Oberlin (Ohio) College. He was about four
teen years of age when he accompanied his parents to Michigan, and
here decided upon a legal career, and .from the time of his admission to
the bar until his retirement about ten years before his death he was
one of the successful practitioners of Caro. He passed away in 1897,
at the age of seventy-five years. He served as county clerk of Ingham
county, on the Democratic ticket, an office in which he served one term,
and later, during a part of the Civil war, he served asprosecuting attor
ney of Tuscola county. The issues of the great War of the Rebellion,
however, had changed his political views, and he resigned the office
of prosecutor before the expiration of his term, in 1865, on account of
ill health. In 1872 and 1874 he was re-elected to that office on the Repub
lican ticket, having transferred his allegiance to that party. The mother,
also a native of New York, passed away in 1889. Mr. and Mrs. Atwood
were the parents of six cbildren, as follows: Lydia, Theron Wilson,
Martha, Almira, Mabel and Antoinette.
Theron W. Atwood was given excellent educational advantages in his
youth, attending the public and high schools of Caro and subsequently
the law department of the University of Michigan, from which institu
tion he was graduated in 1875 with his degree. For a time thereafter
he was associated in practice with his father, but at the time of the elder
man's retirement succeeded to the business, which he has continued to
carry on until 1904.

878 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
One of the leaders of the Republican party in his county, Mr. At
wood is a strong party man, and has been honored on various occasions
by election to public office. He capably served Tuscola county for eight
years in the capacity of prosecutor, was state senator from bis district
from 1892 until 1896, a member of the railroad commission for four
years and a member of the constitutional convention. He has been
identified closely with enterprises that have had a direct bearing upon
the material growth and development of his section, in the promotion
and management of which he has displayed marked executive and or
ganizing ability.
A man unspoiled by wealth and position, his democratic spirit has won
him the regard of all with whom be has come into contact, and it may
be truly said that he has friends in all walks and conditions of life.
In September, 1875, Mr. Atwood was married at Caro, to Miss Clara
E. Gibbs, who was born in this city, daughter of Melvin Gibbs. Their
children, all born at this place, are as follows : Newton B., who is presi
dent of the Caro Electric Light Company; Alice; Merrill G., who is
president of the Caro Water Works Company; Adeline; Florence;
Theron Wilson, Jr., who is a student at tbe University of DePauw;
Helen, who is attending Alma College ; and Frank Ellet, who is a public
school student.
Baxter Leroy Carlton. Mention of any of the well known business
men of Jackson, Michigan, must of necessity include something specific
with regard to Baxter Leroy Carlton, founder and former owner and
editor of the Jackson Daily Patriot, but now retired from his connection
with the paper, and from all business activity. The Detroit News of June
26, 1887, published an article so interesting in its general subject matter
and affording so many details in the career of this veteran journalist that
it is properly incorporated in this sketch of his life. The article is
quoted verbatim, due credit being given to the News as its source:
"B. L. Carlton, the managing head of the Patriot, is the veteran
editor of the newspaper fraternity of Jackson, and he has the good will
and respect of his contemporaries to an unusual degree. He is of Eng
lish and German ancestry, and was born in West Middlebury, New York,
June 3, 1839. After a few years in the common schools, he, at the age
of thirteen entered upon newspaper work in LeRoy in his native state,
and has followed the business closely ever since.
"His first trip west was made on the Western World, one of the three
magnificent steamers then connected with the Michigan Central, and
plying between Buffalo and Detroit. He first located at Niles, Michigan,
in 1855, working two years on the Inquirer, a Republican journal es
tablished by his brother, Monroe Guy Carlton. In 1857 he settled in
Jackson, and was at first employed on the Patriot, and afterward on
the Citizen as a compositor.
"His initiatory knowledge of the exacting duties of dailv journalism
was acquired in i860 in the Citizen office under C. V. D'eLand, who
became Colonel of the First Michigan Sharpshooters and who thought
the exciting times warranted a daily issue. The enterprise was for a
while enthusiastically' prosecuted. The only telegraph station in the
city was then located in the old Michigan Central Passenger station, and
to this point Mr. Carlton, who was detailed to secure the report, used '
to wend his way in the early twilight of the morning, after working at
the case up to nine o'clock the previous night. Here some of the most
interesting events of that historical period were taken down with pencil
as they were rapidly read to him from the printed strips which passed
through the hands of the operator. The work required intense appli
cation and a memory that would retain and bring accurately forward

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 879
whole sentences. The reports were sent through with hardly a break
and the young writer frequently arose from his cramped position with
stiffened fingers, and strong in the impression that daily newspaper
work was anything but pastime.
"In March, 1862, he first entered upon the publishing business, on his
own behalf, establishing the Jackson Eagle, an independent weekly,
which ultimately became a warm supporter of General George B. Mc
Clellan* and for that capable and accomplished soldier he cast his first
presidential vote. After four years of successful publication the Eagle
was merged in the Weekly Patriot, established in 1844, and the firm of
Carlton & Van Antwerp formed, which has now lasted twenty years.
The junior partner, Major W. W. Van Antwerp, still retains his interests,
although since his appointment as postmaster two years ago he has been
entirely disassociated with the editorial and business management.
"At the age of twenty-three Mr. Carlton accepted the nomination from
the Democrats of Jackson for city recorder, and after one of the hotly
contested campaigns of those days, he, with a portion of the ticket, was
defeated, the adverse majority in his case being but fifteen. This was
his first and last experience with public office, and to this timely political
check. and narrow escape he attributes much of his business prosperity
and practical enjoyment, of life.
"Few newspapers have been more carefully and intelligently man
aged than the Patriot, and it runs with even regularity in all its details.
Its editor thoroughly enjoys his work, and nothing affords him more
pleasure than to note the remarkable progress made by the interior press.
To one who has watched its growth for the past quarter of a century
its present elevated standing in his own state is a matter of pride and
gratification." It must be remembered that this article is copied from an issue of
the year 1887, so that there are additional details to be appended to the
above sketch. Among them is the death, in 1887, of his business partner,
Major Van Antwerp, a brave soldier and excellent citizen. The firm
of Carlton and Van Antwerp founded the Daily Morning Patriot in 1870
and continued the publication of both daily and weekly until the sale
of the property in 1889, Mr. Carlton acting as editor and sole manager
from the time. Major Van Antwerp assumed his duties of postmaster
under the appointment of President Cleveland until the paper passed
into other hands. The old employees with Dr. Carlton, before his with
drawal, were retained by the new proprietors, and three of them have
since become part owners, managing the paper with marked success;
indeed, the Patriot from the year of its inception down to the present
time has been an important and influential factor in the public welfare
of Jackson. Since 1889 Mr. Carlton has lived a life of retirement, enjoying his
friends and his books, and with his virile pen influencing tbe local public
mind to betterment of civic conditions.
Mr. Carlton was married October 22, i860, to Miss Margaret Graham,
daughter of Robert Graham, one of the pioneer merchants of Jackson,
and prominently identified with its early history. Mrs. Carlton died
September 19, 1895. Five children were born to them, four daughters
and a son.
Mr. Carlton is a Mason with Knights Templar affiliations, and is the
oldest living member of Jackson Lodge No. 50, Fs & A. M. He became a
member of the order in i860 and in 1862 was given the degrees in Jackson
Commandery, No. 9, K. T. He is an ardent lover of the altruistic prin
ciples and precepts of this noble and far-reaching organization.
A Democrat all his life, Mr. Carlton has had much to do with shaping
and promoting the local interests of his party during his long service

880 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
as a journalist. For more than a quarter of a century he was a vestry
man of St. Paul's Episcopal church.
By selection of the city council he served as a member of the Carnegie
Commission which had charge of the building of Jackson's beautiful and
stately public library. He acted as secretary of the commission for two
years while the details of its construction were being perfected. For
several years previous to the erection of the new edifice he was president
of the board of directors of the old public library, and his resignation
of the office because of impaired health was received with regret by the
community. The West Main street home of Mr. Carlton was built by him thirty-
six years ago. At that time it was accounted one of the choice residences
of Jackson, and at present, notwithstanding the erection of numerous
costlier and more modern types of dwellings, its architecture and sur
roundings are dignified and pleasing. The house was built entirely of
clear white pine, a grade of lumber whose scarcity and price now make
it practically prohibitive for building purposes. The magnificent elms
and maples which surround his home and attract the attention of passers-
by were planted by him and are a monument to a kindly, public-spirited
gentleman of fine tastes and literary attainments.
Frank Lee Millis. This is a name which has been borne success
ively by three generations in Oakland county. As farmers, as lumbermen,
as merchants, and as sterling, upright citizens, the men of the Millis
name have impressed themselves upon their community and state, and
have always been successful, have accepted greater burdens and obliga
tions than the majority of men, and have acquitted themselves honorably
in all their activities.
Frank Lee Millis is now the pioneer lumber dealer in Pontiac, having
a business which has a consecutive history since it was established by his
father many years ago. He was born September i, 1853, in Bloomfield,
Oakland county, Michigan, a son of John D. and Fannie Frances Fuller
(Fuller) Millis. The grandfather, Samuel Millis, was the founder of the
family in Michigan, having located in Oakland county and was one of
the pioneer farmers in this vicinity. He and his family were devout
members of the Congregational church, and both grandparents are now
at rest in the Oakhill cemetery at Pontiac. John D. Millis was reared
to manhood on the Oakland county farm, and entered upon a career as
a merchant and business man in Pontiac. Among his activities was pork
packing and grain. He owned a saw mill and operated extensively in the
lumber regions of Lapeer county. He owned and operated one saw and
shingle mill and was one of the men who did logging and lumbering on
a large scale. Among the farmers in Lapeer and Oakland counties, his
name was one of the best known. In character he possessed the old-
style honesty and hardihood and integrity of the true pioneer stock. He
had a firm belief in the future growth of Pontiac, and nearly all his
surplus wealth was invested in such a way as to demonstrate this faith.
A Democrat, he steadily refused to accept any political honors, and did
his best public service through his quiet and efficient citizenship and
business accomplishment. He and his wife now rest in the family plot
in Oakhill cemetery in Pontiac.
There were four children, two of whom are deceased: Hattie A.,
now deceased, was the wife of Henry Mead, of Sault Ste. Marie, Michi
gan; Elmer P. Millis, who was a prominent farmer in 'Lapeer county,
and also a sawmill owner and lumber operator with his father. He was
terribly mangled in a farm implement machine and died from the injuries
in 1910. Fred M. Millis, the youngest of the family has taken a promi
nent part in the upbuilding and business affairs of Pontiac, was for many

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 881
years associated with his brother, Frank L., in the lumber and coal trade,
and now lives retired in Poniac.
Frank Lee Millis grew up in his home city, attended the public
schools, and at the age of nineteen began his active career when he went
to Lapeer county and" found employment in the lumber camps of his
father. His experience there continued until he was an expert in all
the phases of lumber operation, and was his father's assistant for ten
years, overseeing the work in the woods during the winter, and in the
saw and shingle mills during the other seasons. In 1875, goirig to Sag
inaw, he was employed one year by the firm of Hill & Cuskey. From
there he went to Bay City, and for a time was with Switzer and East
wood. Returning to Pontiac, he was married and for two years was
with his father-in-law on a farm. He then engaged with his brother
Fred as a partner in the lumber and coal business, conducting the estab
lishment formerly controlled and operated by his father, and enjoyed
a large and successful business as partners until 191 o. At .that date
Fred retired, and Mr. Frank L. Millis has since continued the lumber
and coal yard, maintaining the same high standards in the business which
were set by his father many years ago. In fact, Mr. Millis is only a
more modern type of the same sturdy nature as was possessed by his
father. He is of the straightforward character of an old-school gentle
man, and enjoys the highest esteem of his friends and associates in
Oakland county. Since attaining his majority he has cast his vote with
the Democratic party, and for seven years represented the first ward as
alderman. In 1885 Mr. Millis married Miss Ella M. Benjamin, a native
of West Bloomfield, and a daughter of George W. Benjamin, a pioneer
farmer who lived on the farm where he was born until the close of his
life. Mr. and Mrs. Millis have one daughter, Hazel Florence, now the
wife of Cash W. Bowers of Pontiac. Mr. Millis resides in and owns
the homestead which his father built in 1861. It is in its original part
one of the land marks in the residence district of Pontiac. However,
he has remodeled and enlarged the old home, until it now contains
twenty-seven rooms, arid is modern in all its appointments and comforts,
being regarded as one of the finest and most hOmelike residences in the
city. It is located at 34 Bagley street. His wife and daughter are
members of the Congregational church, and to that denomination he gives
his support.
Verne W. Badgley. Though still a comparatively young man much
distinction and many worthy accomplishments have fallen within the
lifetime of Verne W. Badgley. Mr. Badgley is the present register of
deeds of Jackson county, has practiced law with success at Jackson for a
number of years, is a lover of country life, and a prosperous farmer, and
probably no citizen in his section of the state is better known.
Verne W. Badgley was born on a farm six miles from Jackson, No
vember 25, 1876. His parents were Dennis and Sarah (Christopher)
Badgley, his father now deceased, and the mother living in Jackson City.
Educated in the public schools and reared on a farm, Mr. Badgley has
always retained his affection and interest in farming and despite the re
quirements of professional and official life he still has his home in the
country. His law studies were pursued chiefly in , the University of
Michigan, where he graduated with the class of 1899 and with the de
gree of LL.'B. For ten years he was in active practice as an associate
of his brother, Forrest C, under the. name of Badgley & Badgley. In
the fall of 19 12 Mr. Badgley was elected on the Democratic ticket, to the
office of register of deeds, and has had charge of the office since January
7, 1913. .Though the year 1912 was Democratic throughout the country,
and all normal political conditions were changed, it was in the nature of a

882 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
personal tribute to Mr. Badgley that he should be elected, since Jackson
County had for years held a considerable Republican majority.
Mr. Badgley belongs to the Jackson County Bar Association, is affili
ated with the Masons, the Elks, and the Maccabees, belongs to the Jack
son City Club and the Chamber of Commerce, and can be found ready
to support any worthy measure for the advancement of his community.
Three miles south of Jackson, Mr. Badgley owns a fine farm and that is
his home, an automobile taking him back and forth between the fields and
his office daily. Pie has never been able to break away from the country
in favor of city life, and though he has long enjoyed a large professional
practice, and has the duties of a county office besides, he follows his long
established custom of early rising, and every morning milks several cows
before breakfast, and in busy seasons helps out with the general farm
work. On June 27, 1906, Mr. Badgley married Miss Mabel C. Pinegar
of Jackson. During his campaign for the office of register of deeds the Jackson
Morning Patriot said editorially of Mr. Badgley, concerning his qualifica
tions and personal character, statements which may be reproduced in this
connection : "Born in the country, raised in the country, educated in the
country schools, with the advantages which come from a final course at
Ann Arbor, Verne W. Badgley, the Democratic nominee for register of
deeds, combines all the qualities which guarantee the satisfactory per
formance of the duties of this office. His knowledge of the importance
of the correctness of all details referring to property and its transfer, his
training in methodical observance of all these essentials, his reputation
for faithfulness and integrity, his acquaintance with the real estate and
personality of the county, his age and his energy in business matters, all
appeal to the general public, who generally are inclined to encourage and
extend aid to those who possess and use their gifts so unobtrusively. His
training and natural inclination make the office suited to him, and the
county is fortunate that he is so well equipped for the position. The name
of Badgley and the members of the family of Badgley have been favor
ably known for three generations to the people of the county, and in the
nomination of Verne the Democratic party placed before the people one
who will in all ways be found to be efficient, and who will make a record
for himself in the conduct of the affairs of the real estate of the county."
James D. Broaker. In the county that has been his home from early
childhood, Mr. Broaker has attained to marked prestige in his chosen
profession and is known as one of the representative members of the bar
of Tuscola county, even as he has the distinction of being a scion of an
honored pioneer family of this favored section of the state. He is en
gaged in the active practice of his profession at Cass City, as senior
member of the firm of Broaker & Corkins, in which. his coadjutor is
John C. Corkins, the present postmaster of Cass City and a representative
citizen of whom specific mention is made on other pages of this publica
tion. He whose name initiates this paragraph has served as circuit-court
commissioner of Tuscola county and also as prosecuting attorney of the
county, his special familiarity with the work of each of which important
offices has led to his retention at the present time, 1914, as deputy in
each of these positions.
James Densmore Broaker was born on a farm in Escott township,
Leeds county, province of Ontario, Canada, and the date' of his nativity
was March 18, 1863. He is a son of James B. and Lois (Thompson)
Broaker, the former of whom was born in Scotland and the latter in
England, and his parents are now numbered among the venerable citi
zens and honored pioneers of Tuscola county, Michigan; their. marriage
was solemnized in Leeds county, Ontario, and in 1865, when their son,

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 883
James D., of this review, was about two years of age, they came to Michi
gan and numbered themselves among the pioneer settlers of Tuscola
county, where the father became interested in lumbering operations,
farming and merchandising, his residence being maintained for many
years at Ellington. He became the owner of valuable farm property and
had much influence in the material and civic development of the county,
where he served for half a century as justice of the peace. He is now
living retired in Cass City, at the venerable age of eighty-three years
(1914), and his wife has attained to the age of seventy-two- years. Of
their eight children, all are living except one: Addie, who is deceased,
was the wife of Thomas P. Zanders, a well known attorney of Union-
ville, Tuscola county; Nina is tbe wife of Charles W. Stacy, who is
engaged in the banking business at Akron, this county; Alfenia is the
wife of Rev. Richard Cleaver, pastor of the Presbyterian church at Big
Rapids, Michigan ; Lotta is the wife of Charles Campbell, a representa
tive merchant of Caro, Tuscpla county; Lois M. resides in the city of
Saginaw; Myrtle is the wife of George Galmitzer, of St. Paul, Minne
sota; Mary T. is a popular teacher in the public schools of Lansing,
Michigan ; and Jarries D., of this review.
James D. Broaker completed the curriculum of the high school at
Caro, judicial center of Tuscola county, and thereafter he continued his
studies in the Michigan State Normal School at Ypsilanti, in which con
nection he gave his attention specially to the study of law, which he
prosecuted also under effective private preceptorship. He was admitted
to the bar in 1886 and forthwith put forth his professional "shingle" in
Cass City, where he has since continued in the active practice of his
profession, and where he has assured precedence as one of the repre
sentative members of the bar of this part of the state. The firm of
which he is a member controls a large and representative practice, ex
tending into the state and federal courts, and he has been identified
with many important causes presented in litigation, his ability as a trial
lawyer being clearly proved through the work which he has achieved
and his power as a counselor being based upon thorough knowledge of
the science of jurisprudence.
Reared by his father in the faith of the Republican party, Mr. Broaker
has not deviated in his allegiance and he has given yeoman service in
behalf of the party cause. He has been active as a campaign! speaker,
but has had no ambition for public office save that in line with tbe pro
fession of law. He served four years, 1904-08, as prosecuting attorney
of Tuscola county, and is now assistant prosecutor of the county, as
is he also assistant circuit-court commissioner, the full office of which
he retained for the long period of sixteen years. Mr. Broaker is affiliated
with the Masonic fraternity and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
and is one of the popular and public-spirited citizens of the county in
which he has lived from childhood. He was one of the organizers of
the Cass City Telephone Company, is one of its largest stockholders
and holds the office of president of this prosperous corporation. Mr.
Broaker has made judicious investments in real estate in Tuscola county,
where he is the owner of a fine landed estate of four hundred acres, and
in addition to general farming he devotes special attention to the raising
of high-grade live stock, including Ayrshire cattle and standard-bred
horses. On the 1 2th of November, 1889, Mr. Broaker was united in marriage
to Miss Mamie E- Bader, of Cass City. She was born at Bridgeport,
Ontario, Canada, but was reared and educated in Michigan, to which
state her parents removed when she was a child. She is a daughter of
John and Eleanora (Fisher) Bader, who were born in Germany and
who passed the closing years of their lives in Michigan. Mr. and Mrs.

884 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Broaker have two children, both of whom were born in Cass City. Flor
ence Marie, who was born October 13, 1894, was graduated in the Cass
City high school and is a student in the University of Michigan; and
James Kent, who was born August 12, 1903, is attending the public
school of Cass City.
James McCaren. There is all of propriety in according in this pub
lication special recognition to Judge McCaren, who is one of the well
known -and most highly honored citizens of Huron county. He served
with marked ability as judge of the probate court of Sanilac county, and
has been a prominent factor in connection with business activities of im
portance. He is a native of the state in which he still maintains his
home and is a scion of one of its sterling pioneer families. Through
personal ability and effort he has won definite success and prestige, and
no citizen of the "Thumb" district of Michigan has more inviolable
place in popular confidence and esteem. Judge McCaren resides in the
thriving little city of Bad Axe, the judicial center of Huron county, and
is known as one of the most loyal and progressive citizens of the place.
-James McCaren was born in Bridgehampton township, Sanilac coun
ty, Michigan, on the 12th of December, 1857, and is a son of Andrew
and Martha (Smith) McCaren. Andrew McCaren was born in Ireland
on the nth of June, 1820, and his death occurred December 15,, 1910, at
which time he was ninety years of age, — one of the veritable patriarchs
and pioneer citizens of Michigan. He was reared and educated in his
native land and in the autumn of 1847, in company with a companion
named Kearns, he embarked at Glasgow, Scotland, and set forth to seek
his fortunes in the United States. The voyage was made on a sailing
vessel, and the young Scotsman landed in tbe port of New York city in
December of the year mentioned. Mr. McCaren's surplus cash, which
was very limited, was stolen from him on shipboard, and on arrival in
New York the two young men pawned their watches, to secure money
to pay their fare to Boston. In the latter city Mr. McCaren obtained
employment in cutting ice and he remained in Boston eight years. There,
on the 25th of November, 1855, he wedded Miss Martha Smith, who
was born in his own country and who had come to America In 1848, about
a year after his arrival. Shortly after his marriage Andrew McCaren
determined to remove to the west, in search of better opportunities. He
went to Mahoning county, Ohio, where he remained one year, and he
and his wife then decided to seek a home in the pioneer wilds of Michi
gan. They made their way to Detroit, which was then little more than
a village, the trip from Cleveland having been made by one of the Lake
Erie vessels, and after remaining a few days in the future metropolis
of the state they continued their voyage up into Lake Huron, making
Lexington, Sanilac county, their destination. In pursuance of their in
vestigation of the country in this district of the state they soon took a
stage passage to what is now Cherry Creek, where Mr. McCaren- ob
tained employment in the Mason lumber camp. He was thus engaged
during the first winter and in the following spring he purchased forty
acres of land, this proving the nucleus of the fine farm which he event
ually reclaimed in Sanilac county. He endured his full quota of the
trials and hardships of the pioneer days, was one of the early settlers of
Sanilac county, and became one of its honored and influential citizens.
He continued to reside on his old homestead farm until his death, his
devoted wife having preceded him to eternal rest by a number of years.
From the rude log cabin of the pioneer days Mr. McCaren made ad
vancement till he was the owner of a well improved landed estate of

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 885
two hundred acres, equipped with excellent buildings and bearing every
evidence of thrift and prosperity. He was active in the organizing of
Bridgeton township and was one of the influential forces in the regula
tion of public affairs in the township and county. He continued his
active labors until his advanced age compelled his retirement, and he
attained to the patriarchal age of ninety years, as has been previously
stated. His wife passed away in 1907, at the age of seventy-eight years.
Their names merit enduring place on the roll of the sterling pioneers
who did well their part in the development and upbuilding of that sec
tion of the fine old Wolverine state. Of the five children the firstborn
was James, to whom this review is dedicated, and another son, Andrew,
Jr., died in boyhood. Nancy is the wife of Hugh McNair, of Brown
City, Sanilac county; William J. is president of the Exchange Bank at
Carsonville, that county; and Robert J. is engaged in the mercantile
business at Carsonville.
Judge James McCaren passed the days of his childhood and youth
under the conditions and influences of the pioneer days and he continued
to give his father effective assistance in the development and other work
of the home farm until he had attained to the age of twenty-three years.
In the meanwhile he had laid the foundation for his ultimately well
rounded education by attending the country schools whenever oppor
tunity afforded. At the age noted he went to Carsonville, where he was
employed four years as clerk in various mercantile establishments. He
then initiated his independent business career by investing his savings
in a stock of general merchandise, in the purchase of which he became
associated with his brother William J., under the firm name of McCaren
Brothers. They built up a substantial and prosperous business at Car
sonville, and William J. McCaren still remains one of the representative
merchants of that place. At the expiration of eight years Judge Mc
Caren sold his interest in the enterprise and assumed the position of
cashier of the private bank conducted by Frank W. Hubbard and John
Ryan at Sandusky, Sanilac county, and he continued as a valued execu
tive of this institution for a period of ten years, when he retired to as
sume the office of probate judge of the county, a position to which he was
elected in 1890, and of which he continued the efficient and valued incum
bent for a long period of eight years, at the expiration of which he re
signed, after an administration that had gained to him the highest of
popular approval and that had given him secure vantage ground in the
estee,m of the people of Huron county. The Judge has ever been a stal
wart and effective advocate of the principles of the Democratic party,
but his supporters and friends have known no partisan lines in com
mending his work as a public official. At the time of his retirement
from the probate court a local newspaper gave the following statements:
"The voluntary withdrawal from the political arena by Judge James
McCaren takes one of the most prominent and influential Democrats in
the 'Thumb' of Michigan out of politics. There is not another Demo
crat in this section of the state who could have accomplished what Judge
McCaren has in the past eight years in overcoming a Republican ma
jority of 3,500 in this county and stepping gracefully into the office of
judge of probate for two terms, while the remainder of his ticket was
overwhelmingly" defeated. . As a citizen Judge McCaren is quiet and
unassuming, always willing to put his shoulder to the wheel to advance
any interest which he believes to be for the betterment of Sanilac county.
* * * As judge of probate he has made one of the best, if not the
best, presiding officers that ever graced the chair of that court. Fair,
just, upright and honorable in the handling of the large number of es-

886 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
tates that have come before him, with very few appeals, has made him
an ideal judge. Many a widow and orphan to whom he has given
friendly and sound advice have made themselves his life-long friends.
Many an estate has been kept intact and not been depleted by unneces
sary legislation, and this result has been accomplished by the gracious
counsel given by Judge McCaren to the contestants. We believe that in
the whole history of the county no public servant has ever stepped down
and out and carried with him more kindly words of commendation than
the Hon. James McCaren."
Judge McCaren is a member, of the directorate of the State Bank of
Snover, Sanilac county, and is a stockholder in the Bank of McGregor,
that county. In the autumn of 1909 he assisted in the organization of
the wholesale grocery house of Sleeper, McCaren & Clark, of Bad Axe,
Huron county, to which thriving little city he removed with his family.
The business is incorporated under the laws of the state and the Judge
has been secretary and treasurer of the company from the time of its
organization. The business has had a wonderful development and the
house is now one of the largest of its kind in the "Thumb" of Michigan,
throughout which territory it controls a substantial and profitable trade,
based on honorable dealings and effective service. The well equipped
establishment carries adequate stock in each of its departments and it is
represented through its trade' territory by five- traveling salesmen. Judge
McCaren has proved a most careful and progressive executive and it is
largely due to his efforts that this wholesale business has been built up
to its present substantial and constantly expanding proportions.
In the Masonic fraternity Judge McCaren has received the chivalric
degrees, being affiliated with the Bad Axe commandery of Knights Tem
plar, and he attends and supports the Presbyterian church, of which
his wife and children are members.
At Carsonville, Sanilac county, in the year 1881, was solemnized the
marriage of Judge McCaren to Miss Helen Graham, who was born at
Harbor Beach, Huron county, where her father, Robert Graham, was
a well known miller and representative citizen. Judge and Mrs. Mc
Caren became the parents of five children : Mary is the wife of Harry E.
Howe, who is a chemist by profession, and they reside in Rochester,
New York; Grace is the wife of Richard Sullivan, of Bad Axe, who is
a traveling salesman for the wholesale grocery house of Sleeper, Mc
Caren & Clark; Winifred is the wife of Dr. Robert J. Quinn, who is
engaged in the practice of his profession at Burke, South Dakota: and
Gertrude and Sandford remain at the parental home.
Daniel P. Deming, M. D. Large of mind and large of heart was
' the distinguished physician and noble citizen to whom this memoir is dedi
cated. For forty years he devoted himself to the practice of his profes
sion at Cass City, Tuscola county, and his life was one of significant
consecration to the humane vocation of which he was one of the leading
representatives in this section of the state and which he honored and
dignified by his exalted character and great services. As a mere youth
Dr. Deming gave evidence of his intrinsic patriotism by entering the
Union service as a soldier in the Civil War, and in all the relations of
life he ever afterward exemplified the same quality of loyalty that made
him a faithful and gallant soldier of the republic. His life history offers
both inspiration and incentive, and even the brief record possible of
incorporation in this publication cannot fail to bear its lesson. He was
the founder of the Pleasant Home hospital in Cass City and made this
a model institution for the alleviation of human suffering and distress.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 887
His was the deep and abiding sympathy that transcended mere emotion
to become an actuating power for helpfulness, and in his profession as
well as in his attitude as a citizen he stood for all that is best in human
thought and action.
Dr. Daniel P. Deming died at his home, on Seeger street, Cass City,
on Monday, December 22, 1913, aged%6g years, and the entire community
mourned his loss with a sense of deep personal bereavement. His death
was the' direct result of septic poisoning contracted only a few days
previously, while in the discharge of his professional duties, and his
fine physical powers were indicated by the fact that prior to this time he
had not known a day's serious illness within a period of thirty-five years.
Dr. Deming was a scion of one of the fine old pioneer families of
Michigan and was born on a farm near Clarkston, Oakland county, this
state, on the 18th of December, 1844, so that he was sixty-five years of
age at the time when he was summoned from the stage of his mortal
endeavors, secure in the affectionate regard of all who knew him. His
parents were natives of the state of New York, which gave a very large
quota to the settlement of Michigan in the pioneer epoch of its history.
The lineage of the Doctor on both the paternal and maternal sides is
traced back to staunch English origin and the respective families were
founded in America in the colonial days. The father, who was born near
the head of beautiful Seneca lake, New York, was a scion of about the
sixth generation- of the Deming family in America, and in his native
state he learned the trade of carpenter and joiner. He came to Michigan
within a short period after the admission of the state to the Union and
became one of the prosperous pioneer farmers of Oakland county, where
he also followed the work of his trade. Both he and his wife passed the
residue of their lives in that county, and their names find place on the
roll of its sterling pioneers.
Dr. Deming was reared to the sturdy discipline of the home farm
which was the place of his nativity, and his early educational advantages
were those afforded in the common schools of the locality and period.
ln the autumn of 1861, as a youth of sixteen years, he subordinated all
other ambitions to tender his services as a soldier in the Civil War, and
enlisted in Company I, Tenth Michigan Volunteer Infantry. Concern
ing his service the following data are available : "The regiment was or
dered to report to General Halleck, at Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee, and
after taking part in the conflict at that point it became a part of the Army
of the Cumberland, first under General Rosecrans and later in the com
mand of General Sherman. Dr. Deming served three years and nine
months and was one of those who took part in the march 'from Atlanta
to the sea. He was wounded in the battle of Resaca, Georgia, and re
mained in the service until June, 1865, when, at the close of the war,
he returned home." The Doctor participated in many sanguinary en-
¦ gagements marking the progress of the great internecine conflict and his
record as a youthful soldier was marked by utmost fidelity and patriotic
valor. In later years he perpetuated the more gracious memories and
associations of his soldier days by retaining membership in the Cass City
post of the Grand Army of the Republic, of which he was one of the
most appreciative and honored comrades.
After his return to Oakland county, at the age of twenty-one years,
Dr. Deming entered the high school at Clarkston, and in 1869 he was
graduated in this institution. He thereafter devoted three terms to
teaching in the schools of Ottawa county, and his preliminary study of
medicine was carried forward under tbe preceptorship of Dr. O. C.
Joslyn, of St. Johns, Clinton county. In 1871 be was matriculated in

888 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
the medical department of the University of Michigan, and after taking
a two years' course he returned to St. Johns, where for one year he was
associated in practice with his former preceptor, Dr. Joslyn. He then
fortified himself further for his chosen calling by the completion of an
effective supplementary course at the Long Island Medical College in
Brooklyn, New York, his work at Jhis institution being finished in 1883.
In the autumn of 1873 Dr. Deming established his residence at Cass
City, Tuscola county, and he called this place his home during the re
mainder of his long and useful life. Here he rose to eminence in his
profession, to which his devotion was on a parity with his recognized
ability, and he was ever known as a most liberal and public-spirited
citizen.' During the earlier years of his residence in Cass City he con
ducted a drug store in connection with his professional activities, and
for several years he served as postmaster of the town. The Doctor
made judicious investments in local real estate, and in 1904 he remodeled
his business block on Seeger street converting the same into an ad
mirably equipped private hospital, to which he gave the consistent name
of Pleasant Home hospital. He made this one of the noble institutions
of this part of the state and since his death it has been successfully con
ducted by his widow, who is a trained nurse and who had long been his
able and valued coadjutor in much of his professional work. The hos
pital privileges are extended to all physicians and its appointments in
every respect of the most modern type, with the best of sanitary pro
visions and with facilities not usually found in towns of the population of
Cass City. Doctor Deming took special pride and interest in his hos
pital, and made it a power for good in the community. Concerning the1
honored subject of this memoir the following estimate has been given:
"Dr. Deming had always .been an active and energetic man, both men
tally and physically. Outspoken in his views, he was never afraid to
state his position on any public question, and his public spirit induced
him to give liberally of his time and labor to«any movement which tended
for the betterment of the town and community. Several times his fellow
citizens honored him by election to positions of trust. He served as
village trustee, as a member of the board of education, as health officer
of both village and township, and as the incumbent of other offices. At
his funeral members of the Tuscola County Medical Society acted as
pallbearers and members of the Grand Army of the Republic as hon
orary pallbearers. The remains were laid in the family vault in Elk-
land cemetery."
Dr. Deming was a man of high intellectual attainments and of broad
and well defined opinions. He was humanity's friend and labored with
all of zeal and devotion for the aiding and uplifting of his fellowmen.
He was an appreciative student of history and science and his private
library, general and professional, remains one of the most comprehen
sive and select in Tuscola county. The Doctor had no love for money
for its own sake but duly valued it for the good uses to which it could
be applied. He won distinct success as one of the world's workers, and
his life was guided and governed by the highest principles. He had a
deep reverence for the spiritual verities, but was not bound by dogma or
creed, showing his independence of thought by acknowledging himself
an agnostic and ever standing ready to defend his convictions, though
giving to others the right to think as they would. There was naught of
bigotry or intellectual intolerance in his makeup, and he made his life
count for good in its every relation. He was a Republican in his politi
cal allegiance and was identified with the Tuscola County Medical So
ciety, the Michigan State Medical Society and the American Medical
Association.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 889
On the 18th of October, 1877, was solemnized the marriage of Dr.
Deming to Miss Clara A. Armstrong, daughter of James and Ordell
Armstrong, who came to Michigan from Indiana. Dr. and Mrs. Dem
ing became the parents of five children, — Harriet G, Irene H., Charles
Orrin, Margaret A., and William C. Three of the 'children survive the
honored father, Irene having died in infancy and Margaret having passed
away in February, 1908. Besides his wife and the three children Dr.
Deming is survived by four brothers, — Henry, of Missouri; Elisha, of
Silverwood, Michigan; Egbert, of Everett, this state; and Orrin, of Oak
land county. A number of years prior to his demise Dr. Deming erected
a fine residence of eighteen rooms, in which his family still maintain
their home, and this beautiful residence is one' of the most attractive in
Cass City. Mrs. Deming gives close attention to the Pleasant Home
hospital, which is a consistent monument to her honored husband.
Edward Goodsell Kay and E. Earl Kay. As bankers and business
men the Kay brothers are among the most active leaders in the little city
of Bancroft, where the older is cashier and the younger brother is assist
ant cashier of the State Exchange Bank. They belong to one of the
oldest families in Shiawassee county, the Kays having located here during
the decade of the forties when all the country was new, and when the
services and labors of the first generation were largely devoted to pioneer
tasks. The Kay brothers belong to the third generation in this part
of the state, and their enterprise and progressiveness are as valuable
to the modern community as the work and activities of their father and
grandfather were to their respective times.
Edward Goodsell Kay was born February 21, 1886. Though of an
old family of Shiawassee county, his birthplace was Brown county in
Dakota territory. His parents, Fred M. and Jessie (Goodsell) Kay are
now living at Corunna, the county seat of Shiawassee county. The father
was born in Shiawassee county, while the, mother is a native of the state
of Pennsylvania. Grandfather Edward F. Kay came to Michigan during
the early forties, locating in Shiawassee county, where his time was
alternately given to farming and to preaching the gospel in the Presby
terian church. He was one of the old-time circuit riders,. traveling about
from place to place, and preaching the gospel to scattered communities
in what was then an almost wilderness country. He was a man of ex
ceptional education and an expert accountant, being employed for ten
years by the Union Trust Company and the James Knoll Dry Goods
Company, of Detroit. The last ten years of his life were spent in asso
ciation with the Hutton Real Estate Company of Detroit.- Mr. Fred M.
Kay, the father, after finishing his education, became a victim to the
western fever, and went out to Dakota territory, where he met Jessie
Goodsell, whom he afterwards married, and he took.up a claim in Brown
county, and there his son Edward was born. Three years were spent
on that claim, at the end of which time he sold out and engaged in the
hotel business at Hecla, where he was known both as a landlord and as
the local postmaster. His residence in Dakota territory continued alto
gether for five years, at the end of which time he returned to the old
home in Shiawassee county, bought and operated a farm for ten years,
and in 1901 began the-'grocery business in Corunna. There his establish
ment has been one of the prosperous stores in the retail district for more
than ten years. Public honors have also come to Fred M. Kay, in the
shape of township offices, and twelve years of service on the school
board. His politics is Republican, and fraternally his associations are
with the Knights Templar Masons, and the family worship in the Bap
tist church. There were just two sons in the family, Edward G. and E.
Earl.

890 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Edward G. Kay was a child when the family returned to Shiawassee
county, and most of his education was attained in the Corunna public
schools, in addition to which he had business training in the Owosso
Business College. Early in his youth his ambition was definitely directed
to a career as a banker, and what he has accomplished at a very early
age has been due to the direction and concentration of his progress along
one line. In the vacations while he was attending school, he learned the
trade of machinist, and also of packer. His first regular work was as
a stenographer for Hon. John T. McCurdy, a prominent attorney at
Corunna. His work with Mr. McCurdy was in 1906, after which he
spent eight months in apprenticeship and without pay as stenographer
and assistant bookkeeper for the Old Corunna State Bank. That was
his introduction to the business which he had chosen for his life's occu
pation. At the end of the eight months, his abilities had been demon
strated so that he was made regular bookkeeper. Two and a half years
later in 1909, he took a place as assistant casbier for the State Exchange
Bank of Bancroft, and in January, 191 1, was made cashier of this im
portant local institution. Since that time Mr. Kay has had entire charge
of the management of the bank.
While all his time is devoted to business affairs, his recreation is af
forded by automobiling, and he is one of the vigorous and public spirited
young citizens of the town. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Masons,
the Knights of Pythias, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of
Elks. Financially his interests also include investments in a mercantile
establishment in Corunna. Mr. Kay has membership in the Baptist
church, is a Republican in politics, and at the present time a member of
the town council of Bancroft.
E. Earl Kay, the younger brother of Edward G., was born in Brown
County, Dakota, in 1888, had a public school education at Corunna, Michi
gan, and his business career likewise started in the Old Corunna State
Bank. Later he was bookkeeper with the State Bank of Perry, Michigan,
and in February, 191 1, succeeded his brother as assistant cashier and book
keeper for the State Exchange Bank of Bancroft.
Mr. E. E. Kay was married March 18, 1913, to Miss Kathrine Marie
Jillson, a native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and a daughter of Calvin E. Jill-
son. Mrs. Kay is a graduate in music from Ypsilanti Normal College,
and is an active member of the Congregational Church choir. Mr. Kay,
like his father and brother, is affiliated with the Masonic Order and the
Knights of Pythias. He bas one of the pleasant homes to be found in
the thriving little town of Bancroft.
John Hiram DeHart. Frank K. DePIart. The largest mercan
tile enterprise in the city of Vernon in Shiawassee county is conducted
by the DeHart Brothers. Their enterprise in this locality has been con
tinuous for more than thirty years. With a broad experience and abil
ity in business they have united the basic principles of square dealing and
strictest integrity, and year after year have served the community both
in the capacity of merchants, and as public spirited citizens.
John Hiram DeHart was born October 13, 1847, in Wilcox county,
Alabama, a son of Jacob and Frances Jane (Taylor) DeHart. Both
parents were born on Staten Island, New" York, and after their marriage
settled in Wilcox county, Alabama. His father, a carriage maker by
trade followed that vocation thirteen years in Alabama, and then early
after the discovery of gold on the Pacific Coast, went out to California,
and returned after two years, with more than the average profit made
by such ventures. His little fortune as a gold seeker was invested, in a
fine farm in Washtenaw county, Michigan, near Salem. It was con-

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 891
ducted successfully, and was increased in acreage, and the senior DeHart
Continued as one of the 'prosperous farmers and leading citizens of
Washtenaw county, until his death in 1879. His wife followed him in
death in 1880. Tbeir remains rest in Rose township in Oakland county.
There were seven children, and the only survivors are the two brothers
now engaged in business at Vernon.
John H. DeHart was a small child when the family moved to Mich-
gan, and his early education was received in the Union schools of Fen
ton, and Genesee county. At the age of nineteen, having qualified him
self for teaching, he followed that vocation nine winter terms at Grand
Blanc in Genesee county. The summer months were spent in work on
the farm, and finally with his savings, he opened a small stock of drugs
in Holly, with a partner, under the firm name of DeHart and Salisbury.
Six months later the partnership was dissolved, and Mr. DeHart opened
a combination drug and grocery store in North Newburg, in Shiawassee
county. That was his location three years. In 1879 his stock was re
moved to Vernon. There he engaged in business on a larger scale, with
George Cooper as partner unde'r the name of Cooper and DeHart. In
i88i,.Mr. Cooper sold his interests to Frank DeHart, and the firm of
DeHart Brothers was continued with excellent success ever since. Theirs
is the largest grocery and drug business in Vernon, and their stock is
housed in their own brick block. They also own a fine farm in Vernon
township, and pleasant homes in the city.
John H. DeHart has always interested himself in community affairs,
served twelve years as superintendent of the county poor house, and has
held the offices of township clerk and treasurer. In earlier years his
political support was given to the Democratic party, -but he is now an
equally ardent Prohibitionist. For thirty-three years his official mem
bership in the Methodist Episcopal church has kept him in the office of
steward. Mr. John H. DeHart has been three times married. In 1873 he
became the husband of Louisa H. Chappel, who died in 1893, leaving
one daughter, Clara Belle, wife of Guy A. Norton, of Detroit. The
second wife was Miss Carrie H. Person, who died in September, 1904.
The present Mrs. DeHart was formerly Miss Emma R. Strong, a native
of Vernon, and a daughter of Dr. Harrington and Sarah W. (Clark)
Harrington, the Harrington family having been among the pioneers of
Shiawassee county, and having owned and resided on one farm for half
a century. Mr. DeHart during his long, career has been very active in
the upbuilding of his home town, and his name in that community is a
synonym for energetic enterprise and good citizenship.
Frank DeHart, the younger of the two brothers was born June 26,
•1853, at Salem, Washtenaw county, Michigan, and -was educated in the
schools at Fenton. From the age of seventeen until twenty-eight he '
lived with his parents and was associated with his father on the farm.
Then in 1881 he left the farm and bought the Cooper interests and be
came a partner with bis brother. He is owner of a half interest in both
the farm and the store at Vernon.
On June 27, 1881, occurred the marriage of Frank DeHart with Miss
Mary Mead. She was born in Genesee county, and her parents, Ezra
and Elizabeth (Davis) Mead, were among the early settlers of Genesee
county, her father long a prominent farmer and now deceased. Mrs.
Mead lives at Grand Blanc. Two children have been born to Mr. and
Mrs. DeHart, Edith and Ruth. In politics his support is given to the
Democratic party, his church is the Methodist, and he is a member of
the Independent Order of Foresters, and for two years served as town
ship treasurer.

892 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Captain Frederick Dana Standish. Long prominent in1 business,
athletic and general social affairs of Detroit, Captain Standish belongs to
one of the pioneer Michigan families and is secretary and treasurer of
the Kurtz Paper Box Company, a large and important local industry of
which he was one of the organizers more than twenty years ago. His
name has long been prominent in Michigan on account of his splendid
record as an official with the Michigan Naval Reserves from the incep
tion of that organization until a few years ago, and also on account of
his record in amateur water sports, having for years stood as one of the
crack oarsmen in the country.
Frederick Dana Standish was born at Romeo, Macomb county, Michi
gan, November 15, 1852. He is in the seventh generation from the Cap
tain Miles Standish, of the "courtship" fame, and is a great-grandson of
Samuel Standish, who made an interesting record as a Revolutionary
soldier. His father, the late John D. Standish, who was born in" New
York state October 1, 1818, and died at Detroit December 2, 1884, be
came a pioneer settler in Oakland county of the territory of Michigan in
1836, was a teacher for several years, later became a merchant at Pontiac
and at Romeo, moved to Detroit about 1859, was in the commission trade,
also a pork packer, and invested the proceeds of a successful business
career in pine lands, becoming an extensive lumber operator and estab
lishing the first saw mill in Otsego county. The town of Standish in
Saranac county was founded by him and named in his honor. From 1880
until his death he served first as city assessor and then as a member of
the board of assessors of Detroit, and at the time of his death was presi
dent of the old Detroit Market Bank and a director in the Detroit Fire
and Marine Insurance Company. He was married at Pontiac in 1841 to
Miss Emma L. Darrow, of Connecticut, who died July 25, 1884.
When the family moved to Detroit Frederick D. Standish was about
six years old. His education was acquired in the public schools,- includ
ing attendance at the old Capitol high school, which occupied the building
formerly utilized as the Capitol of the state when Detroit was the seat
of government. He also attended the Mount Pleasant Military Academy
in Sing Sing, New York. After a varied experience in business at De
troit, in 1892 Mr. Standish was one of the organizers of the Kurtz Paper
Box Company, and has been treasurer from the time of incorporation, and
for a number of years has been secretary and treasurer of the company.
His success as a business man is not the only fact which gives him a
high place in Detroit citizenship. As one of the crack amateur oarsmen
in the United States, he made a reputation that was national in this form
of athletics, and has always been vitally interested in both land and aquatic
sports. In 1868, when about sixteen years old, he first showed special
skill with the oars, and made his first public appearance in 1871. His
regular participation in regattas and other aquatic sports continued up
to 1896, and during that time in all the more important amateur events
held from Duluth to New Orleans and from Canada to the city of Wash
ington he pulled an oar either as an individual or as member of a crew,
and helped to win many trophies for his home organization.
When in the full tide of his honors in this branch of sports, the follow
ing editorial appeared in the Spirit of the Times of New York, on August
23, 1890:
"Mr. F. D. Standish of Detroit (Mich.) Boat Club, the latest addition
to the executive committee of the National Association of Amateur Oars
men, though still a young man, is a veteran oarsman and his record has
never been beaten. After several minor club races he made his first really
public appearance as an oarsman at Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, July 12,
1871, in the third annual regatta of the Northwestern Amateur Rowing
Association, where his six-oared crew finished fourth for the association

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 893
championship. His first successful efforts were in the fifth annual regatta
of the N. W. A. R. Association at Toledo July 23rd and 24th, 1873, where
he won the junior fours and sixes and was second in the senior sixes.
Since then he has rowed and won races every season and now in 1890, in
the twentieth consecutive year of his racing career, he wins the senior
pairs of the Mississippi Valley A. R. A. regatta at Duluth, Minnesota,
July 23rd, the senior pairs and fours at the Northwestern regatta at De
troit, Mich., August 5th and 6th, the senior pairs at Canadian Association
regatta at Montreal, Canada, August nth, and the senior championship
pairs at the National regatta on Lake Quinsigamond, at Worcester, Mass.,
August nth. Did any other amateur ever row for twoscore years and
celebrate his twentieth successive season by winning five senior races in
open amateur regattas, including one national championship ?"
The records which Mr. Standish established and the medals won by
him made his name well known among all followers of this branch of sport,
and he continued to serve for a number of years as a member of the execu
tive board of the National Association of American Oarsmen. It might
also be added he began his forty-sixth consecutive season January 1, 1914,
by rowing a racing shell two miles over the course on Detroit river. Dur
ing the World's Fair at Chicago in 1893 he won, with Mr. Frank Lyon,
the pair oared championship in the world's regatta.
lt was apparently only following out the bent of these earlier activities
and associations wbich led Mr. Standish to his interest and prominent
participation in the Michigan Naval Reserve. In February, 1894, he
became one of the organizers and charter members of the Michigan Naval
Reserve, which had been authorized by Congress some years previously
with the object of stimulating interest in the navy. Up to that time
the states of Massachusetts and New York had been the only ones where
such reserves had been organized. Mr. Standish was elected ensign upon
the completion of organization, and then advanced to lieutenant, junior
grade. The government turned over to the, reserve the old sloop of war
Michigan, in which the cruises were made, and the general course of
instruction -and training conducted. So much enthusiasm was aroused
that Theodore Roosevelt, then assistant secretary of the navy, came out
and made a cruise with the Michigan reserve, and, realizing how inade
quate the Michigan was, used his influence so that in 1897 the U. S. S.
Yantic was turned over as a more appropriate training ship for the
reservists. Upon the declaration of war with Spain the Michigan Naval
Reserve offered to man a ship, and, upon the acceptance of their offer by
the Navy Department, were the first to start from the west for active
service. At the enlistment of the reserve into the regular service, the officers
were set back to subordinate positions and regular naval officers given
command, Mr. Standish being commissioned an ensign in the regular
service. The Michigan reserve, with its eleven officers and two hundred
and seventy men, were detailed for service on the auxiliary cruiser
Yosemite, and were on duty about Havana, Santiago, and also in Porto
Rican waters. In January, 1902, Congress granted a bounty of fifty
thousand dollars to the crew of the Yosemite for the sinking of tbe Spanish
vessel Antonio Lopez off San Juan, Porto Rico. Mr. Standish was with
the reserve through all its service, and after his return from the war was
promoted to executive officer of the Yantic with the title of lieutenant
commander, and in 1900 succeeded Commander Strathearn Hendrie in
the command of the Michigan Naval Brigade. Under his direction the
naval reserve gradually outgrew its quarters, and in 1908 he went to
Washington to make application for a larger and more modern ship. As
a result of his mission, Secretary of the Navy Newberry assigned one of
Admiral Dewey's captures, the Don Juan de Austria, which at the time

894 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
was undergoing thorough repairs and overhauling at the Portsmouth
navy yard, for .the use of the Michigan reserves. Mr. Standish was put
in command on the ship on its voyage through the St. Lawrence and the
Great Lakes to Detroit, and the safe conduct of the Don Juan from
Atlantic waters to the docks in Detroit was an exploit which has an
important place in the annals of the Michigan Reserve and reflected great
credit upon the skill of its commander. For the purpose Mr. Standish
took twenty men to Portsmouth, where he fitted out the ship for the trip,
and after all the details were perfected Executive Officer Duffield came
on with the balance of the crew, numbering over one hundred men. It
required exactly two weeks to get the Don Juan from Portsmouth to
Detroit, and it was a delicate and difficult undertaking, taxing the skill of
the commanding officer many times. In passing through the locks it was
necessary to lighten the ship, since its draft was fifteen and a half feet,
while some of the locks had only fourteen feet of water above their sills.
Much praise was given to Mr. Standish for the able manner in which he
handled the ship.
With the arrival of the Don Juan a second battalion of the reserves
was formed, and Mr. Standish was then advanced to the rank of Captain,
an office which has since been abolished by action of the legislature.
Captain Standish retired from the reserve in 1910, after having served
with distinction and varied usefulness for seventeen years. He is now
commander of the Michigan Division of the Naval and Military of the
Spanish-American war and Senior Vice Commander in Chief of the
National Commandery. Captain Standish also served on the staff of
Governor Bliss, and on that of Governor Warner for the entire three
terms of the latter's administration, and during this time made many trips
throughout the country with these governors. He was for ten years a
member of the State Military Board.
On December 17, 1878, Captain Standish married Miss Carrie Hub
bard, daughter of the late J. S. Hubbard of Detroit, for many years super
intendent of the Michigan division of the American Express Company.
Mr. Standish and wife have two sons : William Colburn Standish, now
manager of the Detroit branch of the United States Tire Company,
married Miss Marion Eddy, daughter of Frank W. Eddy of Detroit, and
has one son, Frank Eddy Standish; Sherwood Hubbard Standish, secre
tary of a steel castings company in Wisconsin, by his marriage to Miss
Mary Boyd Bransford, daughter of C. W. Bransford of Owensboro, Ken
tucky, has one daughter, Virginia Caroline.
Nolton Bigelow. For more than a quarter of a century has Mr.
Bigelow been numbered among the progressive and representative mer
chants of Cass City, Tuscola county, where he conducts a substantial
and extensive business as a dealer in hardware, stoves, ranges, farm
implements, etc. His two sons are now associated with him in the en
terprise and are well upholding the high pr.estige of the family name,
which has been most prominently and worthily linked with the civic and
business interests of Cass City and which stands exponent of the best
ideals of business activity.
Nolton Bigelow claims the old Empire state as the place of his
nativity, but he has been a resident of Michigan since infancy, his par
ents having been numhered among the honored pioneers of Oakland
county, where they established their home within ten years after the
admission of the state to the Union. He whose name initiates this ar
ticle was born in Dutchess county, New York, on the 31st of March,
1848, and is a son of Edmund James Bigelow and Eleanor (Butler)
Bigelow, the former of whom was born in the state of New York and

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 895
the latter in England. Edmund J. Bigelow was reared and educated in
Dutchess county, New York, where his marriage was solemnized and
where he was employed in cotton mills. In 1847 he came to Michigan
and purchased a tract of land in Oakland county. After erecting a
pioneer log house he returned to New York for his family, who forth
with came with him to the new home. The family endured the vicissi
tudes of pioneer life and the father reclaimed his land to cultivation,
becoming one of the substantial farmers and representative citizens of
Oakland county, where he reared his children to lives of usefulness and
honor arid gave to them the best possible advantages. Edriiund J. Bige
low was the owner of one Of the fine farms of Oakland county at the
time of his death and was seventy-five years of age when he was sum
moned to eternal rest. His first wife, mother of the subject of this re
view, died in 1856, and his second wife survived him by a number of
years. Of his six children only two are now living, Nolton, of this
review, and Mrs. Marietta Chafee, who is the widow of John Chafee
and who resides in the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
To the pioneer schools of Oakland county Nolton Bigelow is in
debted for bis early educational privileges, and this discipline was sup
plemented by his attending the public schools in the city of Detroit for
two and one-half years. His first independent earnings were obtained
through his labors as a farm hand in Oakland county, and his work in
this way was instituted when he was eighteen years of age. Prior to that
he had assisted in the work and management of his father's farm, and
he had waxed strong of mind and body through the invigorating dis
cipline involved. Finally he engaged in farming on his own account,
and he was a successful representative of the great basic industry of
agriculture, in Oakland county, until 1888, when he sold his interests
there to turn his attention to merchandising. In the year mentioned Mr.
Bigelow left his farm and removed to Cass City, Tuscola county. He
had purchased a stock of hardware and upon coming to Cass City he
consolidated this with that of James P. Howe, with whom he became
associated under the firm name of Howe & Bigelow. Under such con
ditions was laid the foundation for the large and prosperous business
which he now controls and which places him among the leading mer
chants of Tuscola county, where his reputation for fair and honorable
dealing has never been assailed and constitutes his best commercial asset.
At the expiration of seven years Mr. Howe retired from the firm, his
interest in the business being purchased by his partner, Mr. Bigelow,
who thereafter conducted the enterprise in an individual way until he
gave an interest In the enterprise to each of his two sons, who have
proved able coadjutors and are known as energetic and popular young
business men. Mr. Howe, the former partner of Mr. Bigelow, is now
a resident of California.
Mr. Bigelow erected the substantial and commodious brick building,
of two stories, in which his hardware business is conducted, and he is
the owner also of other valuuable realty in his home city, including his
attractive residence. He has not hedged himself in with tbe mere affairs
of personal advancement but has stood exponent of utmost civic loy
alty and public spirit, — a citizen always ready to lend his aid in the-
furtherance of measures for the general good of the community. In
politics he was arrayed as a supporter of the Republican party until the
organization of the Progressive party, in 1912, when he transferred his
allegiance to the latter in consonance with his convictions and his ad
miration for the party's distinguished leader, Colonel Theodore Roose
velt. He and his family hold membership in the First Methodist Epis-
voi. n— 17

896 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
copal church of Cass City, and he is a valued member of its board of
trustees. The year 1871 bore record of the marriage of Mr. Bigelow to Miss
Sarah A. Foster, daughter of Samuel Foster, who was a pioneer farmer,
as well as a representative contractor and builder of Oakland county.
Mr. and Mrs. Bigelow became the parents of three children, — Samuel
F., Frederick A. and Eleanor.
Samuel F. Bigelow, the elder of the two sons, was afforded the ad
vantages of the Cass City public schools, including the high school, and
he was reared in the business conducted by his father, so that he is
familiar with all details of the same. He became associated with the
conduct of the hardware store upon leaving school and finally was ad
mitted to partnership, as was also his brother, the firm name having
since been N. Bigelow & Sons. Samuel F. wedded Miss Jennie Walms-
ley, who was born and reared in Tuscola county, a daughter of Andrew
Walmsley. The five children of this union are Florence, Laura, Alice,
Andrew and Charles.
Frederick A. Bigelow likewise completed the curriculum of the Cass
City high school and his business career has been in every sense similar
to that of his brother. He married Miss Caroline Fenn, who was born
at Shelburne Falls, Franklin county, Massachusetts, and who is a
daughter of Rev. James W. and Eilzabeth (Hawley) Fenn, now resi
dents of Cass City, and the father being a retired clergyman of the
Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. and Mrs. Frederick A. Bigelow have
a winsome little daughter, Eleanor, who was born February 2, 191 1. Mrs.
Bigelow is a musician of much talent, devotes considerable attention to
teaching the "divine art" and is at the present time chorister of the
Methodist Episcopal church of Cass City. The representatives of the
Bigelow family are popular and valued factors in the best social life of
the community, and he whose name introduces this article has played
an important part in the progressive movements that have brought ad
vancement and prosperity to Cass City.
Charles T. Parris. George William Parris. The Vernon Mill
ing Company is now a valuable local industry in Shiawassee county.
When it was bought by the older of the two Parris brothers, about seven
years ago, the property was in a run-down condition, and was no longer
considered a "going concern." It requires special enterprise to build
up a decadent industry. Charles T. Parris was a practical mill man, had
a thorough experience in all branches of the business, and on taking
charge soon discovered and eliminated the sources of waste and in a year
or so had the mill on a paying basis. About three years ago his brother
George W. joined him and they have since expanded their enterprise,
dealing in grain, coal, and various other products, and now do a flourish
ing trade in all the country about Vernon.
Charles T. Parris was born in Gratiot county, Michigan, August 16,
T859, a son of George William and Eliza (Murdon) Parris, natives of
England, who came to Michigan in 1849. George Parris who died in
Gratiot county in 1859 was an honored and thrifty laboring man, but
died too soon to provide for his family as he would have desired. His
widow passed away in 1898. There were five children. Joseph C„
the oldest, is now a merchant and real estate man at Grand Rapids;
the next is George William; Emma, died at the age of twenty-one
months ; Elizabeth died at thirteen years ; and the youngest is Charles
T. Parris. Charles T. Parris was educated in the public schools of Genesee
county, and in the Flint schools. Owing to his father's early death, it

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 897
became necessary that all members of the family become self-supporting
as soon as possible, and when thirteen years old Charles T. Parris began
making his own way. His first employment was as a farm hand, at seven
dollars a month. There were some years of interruption to his school
ing, and he entered the school of Flint at the age of nineteen, and was
a student there for one year. He then began his mercantile experience,
and for three years he was employed at small pay as a clerk for William
McD. Edwards. His next work, lasting one year, was a second clerk in
the shoe department for the Smith, Bridgman & Company, and follow
ing that he got his first practical experience in the milling business when
he took charge of the books and shipments and other details for the
Thread Flour Milling Company of Flint. At the end of three years,
the firm sent him to Bay City to take charge of a wholesale fruit and
produce business. At the end of three years he returned to Flint, and
became junior partner in the firm of Kendrick, Leadbetter & Company,
dealers in produce, eggs and poultry. His interest as partner was sold
out at the end of one year, and in March, 1890, Mr. Parris rented a
grain elevator at Durand. He continued the grain business at Durand
for eleven years, and later he bought a clothing store at Durand, in com
pany with Mr. A. B. Freeman, that firm conducting business as Free
man & Parris for five years.
In 1906 Mr. Parris traded his interest in the clothing business for a
half interest in the Vernon Flour Mills. In 1910 his brother George
joined him as equal partner, and under their combined management the
mills have been rehabilitated, and are now a modern one hundred barrel
capacity mill, with a standard product that has the deserved high repu
tation and ready sales throughout this section of Michigan. In addition
to the milling business, the brothers have added a stock of coal, tile, salt,
and cement, have built in the vicinity of the brick mill warehouses and
sheds, and introduced many improvements that marked the progressive
character of their enterprise.
Mr. Charles T. Parris served as township treasurer, ,two years, is
now village trustee, and a member of the school board. Politically his
allegiance is given to the Prohibition party. He is a trustee of the
Methodist church at Vernon, is affiliated with the Knights of the Mac
cabees, and is county chairman of the Prohibition party. Mr. Parris was
married in 1888 to Miss Hattie A. Freeman, who was born in Muskegon
county, a daughter of DeWitt Freeman. Mrs. Parris died in 1896, and
on August 16, 1898, Mr. Parris married a sister, Clara M. Freeman.
There are two children by the second marriage. Susan Alice Gwendolen,
and Charles Llewellyan DeWitt Parris.
George William Parris, the partner of Charles T. in the large business
conducted under their joint name in Vernon was bsrn on the Chipman
farm in a little red cottage in Oakland county, January 31, 1853. His
early schooling was in Ionia county, in the Maple Rapids District, and
at fhe age of seven he started to work on the farm of Albert G. Russell,
with whom he lived. After one year of farm labor, he spent two years
as clerk for Chatterton Brothers, at Hubbardston. Jewett Chatterton
then put him in charge of .his store at Muir, and Mr. Parris remained
one year with Chatterton's successor, John W. Cowman. Failing health
then caused him to give up the confining duties of a store, and through
one year in the pine woods of northern Michigan, where he followed
tbe rugged work of a lumber camp, his health was restored, and he re
turned with one hundred dollars in savings, this being put out at inter
est. Jewett Chatterton again employed bim in his store at Muir, and
at the age of twenty-five Mr. Parris bought a half interest with his
brother Joseph, in Belltown. Two years later the stock was moved to

898

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN

Kent. City, where the brothers did a successful business. On May 12,
1885, Mr.' Parris sold his interests to his brother Joseph, and then
bought a small place in Kent City, and during the summer season, oper
ated a tubular well boring outfit, and the winter months were spent in
buying furs. That was his chief line of enterprise for several years, and
was conducted as a profitable business. In 1890 Mr. Parris traded his
home in Kent City for a farm in Muskegon county, and continued as a
farmer for' eighteen years. Sellng out in Muskegon county in 1910,
he has since had a half interest in the mill and general supply business
at Vernon. On November 2, 1882, at the home of the bride in Muskegon
county, Mr. Parris married Addie Stinson, a daughter of Thomas C. and
Katherine (All) Stinson, a prominent pioneer family. Thomas C. Stin
son, who served as a body guard for General Thomas during the Civil
War, was killed in a railway accident and died October 18, 1900, at the
age of seventy-seven. His wife died November 26, 1895, at the age of
seventy-two. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Parris, namely :
Winnie I., wife of Miller L. Hurst of Battle Creek ; Thomas G., a miller
employed at the Parris Mills in Vernon ; Faye F., a bookkeeper in Battle
Creek; and Bessie E., at home. All the children were given excellent
educational advantages, and the family are members of the Methodist
church. Joseph Frutchey. The attributes that make for worthy and un
equivocal success have been significantly manifested in the career of
Mr. Frutchey, who has been dependent upon his own powers and re
sources in winning advancement and who is now numbered among the
essentially representative and influential business men of Tuscola county,
where he is secretary and general manager of the Cass City Grain Com
pany. His character and achievement will entitle him to specific rec
ognition in this history.
Mr. Frutchey was born near Easton, Northampton county, •Penn
sylvania, on the 27th of September, 1872, and is a son of Amuel and
Lydia S. (Ettinger) Frutchey, both of whom were born and reared
in the old Keystone state, where the respective families were identified
with agricultural pursuits. In 1878 Amuel Frutchey came with his fam
ily to Michigan and established his residence on a farm of 120 acres,
in Oakland county. He rented this property and his energy and busi
ness acumen eventually enabled him to gain distinctive success, though
he had his full share of hardships and vicissitudes. After working
the rented farm two years he purchased 40 acres of land, one mile
north of the village of Big Beaver, Oakland county, but this property
he sold one year later, then returning to the place which he bad pre
viously rented and which he gave his supervision for another year. With
his savings he then engaged in the buying and shipping of cattle, the
most of his stock being bought in the "Thumb" counties of Michigan
and the cattle being driven through to Detroit for final shipment or for
sale in that market. By his indefatigable industry and good manage
ment Mr. Frutchey began to accumulate an appreciable capital, and
after about one year in the cattle business he removed to Deford, Tus
cola county. About three miles southeast of this village he finally
purchased 240 acres of fine land, and in addition to giving careful atten
tion to the cultivation and improvement of his farm he also continued
successful work as a buyer and shipper of cattle. Three years after
he had established his residence in Tuscola county he purchased the stock
and business of a general merchandise store in the village of Deford,
and he conducted tbere a successful . trade for the ensuing three years,
at the expiration of which he sold his store, having in the meanwhile

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 899
continued the operation of his farm and also, buying and shipping of
cattle. Upon disposing of his mercantile business Mr. Frutchey removed
to Cass City/where he engaged in the wholesale butter and egg business.
He purchased these products in large quantities and shipped by carload
lots to the Eastern markets. In 1895 he formed a partnership with Elmer
A. McGeorge and Alonzo H. Ale, both of Cass City, and they engaged
in the buying and shipping of grain and the maintenance of a well
equipped elevator in Cass City. The operations including the buying
and shipping of hay, wool and beans, as well as grain, and after the
lapse of a few years Mr. Frutchey purchased the interest of Mr. Ale
in the elevator and the business. The enterprise has since developed
into one of broad scope and much importance, and it has contributed
much to the civic and business prestige of Cass City. The firm have
erected elevators also at Gagetown, Kingston, Deford and Decker, and
in the latter two places the business of the concern includes also the
conducting of a successful lumber business, with well equipped yards.
The progressiveness of Amuel Frutchey has been on a parity with his
business sagacity and his dominating self-reliance, and he has been known
and honored as one of the most valued of the business men of Tuscola
county. In Deford he established the private bank of A. Frutchey &
Sons, and he is associated with his sons in the ownership of the Alpena
Ranch Co., Inc., which comprises 6,000 acres of land in Alpena and Al
cona counties, and which is given largely to the breeding of high-grade
Hereford cattle. At Swartz Creek, Genesee eounty, the father and sons
are interested and operate a grain elevator, and the incidental business
is conducted under the title of the Swartz Creek Grain Company. Mr.
Frutchey and his sons, who are his enterprising and effective associates,
give employment to a corps of fifteen to twenty-five persons, in connec
tion with their various business enterprises, and the senior member of
the firm is now living virtually retired, after long years, of earnest and
productive endeavor, his large business interests being now in the prac
tical charge of his sons, Joseph and Herbert, and he and his devoted
wife' find pleasure and happiness in their beautiful home in Cass City,
where their circle of friends is coincident with that of their acquaint
ances. Both are earnest member of the Lutheran church and in politics
Mr. Frutchey is a staunch advocate of the principles of the Democratic
party. Of the three children the eldest is Emma, who is the wife of
Frank Nettleton, of Cass City; Joseph, of this review, was the next in
order of birth; and Herbert has direct supervision of the elevator and
business of the firm at Swartz Creek.
Joseph Frutchey gained his early educational training in the district
schools of Oakland and Tuscola counties and when eighteen . years of
age he entered the Cleary Business College, in the city of Ypsilanti,
where he completed a thorough course. At the age of 15 years he became
associated with the mercantile business conducted by his father at Deford,
and several years later he went to the city of Detroit, where he formed
a partnership with Herbert G. Harris and engaged in the wholesale
butter and egg business. Mr. Frutchey here showed that he had in
herited much of the business ability of his father, and he matured his
powers through his association with an enterprise of important order.
After conducting a successful commission business for eight years he
sold his interest to Walter Throop, and the firm of Harris & Throop
is today one of the leading factors in the produce commission trade in
the Michigan metropolis.
After disposing of his business interests in Detroit Mr. Frutchey
removed to Brown City, Sanilac county, where he purchased the grain
elevator, the operation of which he continued one year, at the expiration
of which he made an advantageous sale of the property and business.

900 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
He then established his bome at Cass City, where he has since been asso
ciated with his father and brother in their various business operations,
which are of broad scope and which give him precedence as one of the
alert and representative business men of this section of the state.
In politics Mr. Frutchey gives unfaltering allegiance to the Demo
cratic party and he is liberal and progressive as a citizen. He has served
as a member of the village council of Cass City, but is essentially a
business man and has had no ambition for public office.
In the city of Detroit, on the 18th of January, 1899, Mr. Frutchey
was united in marriage to Miss Luella Atwell, who was born in Tuscola
county and who is a daughter of Ogden and Mary (Spencer) Atwell,
sterling pioneers of this part of the state. Mr. Atwell now resides at
Cass City and his wife is deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Frutchey became
the parents of two children, one of whom died in infancy. Lydia Irene
was born in Detroit, in the year 1900, and is now attending the public
schools of Cass City.
John A. McLaughlin was born in Muskegon, Michigan, March 18,
1869; was educated at the High School in Muskegon, the Michigan Uni
versity, and the New York Law School. Admitted to the practice of law in
1893 ; has been City Attorney for the City of Muskegon for four consecu
tive terms, and is at present City Attorney for the City of Muskegon
Heights. In politics a Democrat, he has been a member of the State
Democratic Committee, and was alternate delegate at large to the Na
tional Democratic Convention at Denver. He is a member of various
social and fraternal clubs, and has been active in movements for the
general welfare of the community.
Wellington Henry Holtzman, M. D1. For three decades, Dr. Holtz
man has practiced medicine at Vernon in Shiawassee county. In that
and adjoining townships, his character and name are known and hon
ored by nearly every resident. His has been a typical country practice.
With a thorough skill and experience in the art of healing, he has taken
more than technical knowledge to the bedside of his patients and his
kindly personality and sound judgment and sympathetic counsel has
been the factors which have endeared him to so large a patronage in his
home vicinity.
Dr. Holtzman comes of one of the oldest American families, founded
in the province of Pennsylvania, during the colonial epoch. John Holtz
man, founder of the American brancb of the name, hailed from near
Strassburg, Germany, on the good ship Mary, in the year 1766. Well
ington Henry Holtzman was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, at
Rehrensburg, August 21, 1849, a son of Jonathan and Luzette (Allen-
bach) Holtzman, both natives of Pennsylvania. The parents on both
sides traced their ancestry back eleven generations. In the Holtzman
line, John Holtzman, founder of the family, was born near Strassburg,
Germany, early in 1700, and after coming to America took a leading
part in the colonial life and enterprise of Pennsylvania. Members of
both families bore arms in the American cause during the Revolution,
and John Allenbach was taken prisoner by the Hessians, placed in an old
stone church, where he was so badly frozen that both legs were amputated
and brought about his death. Jonathan and Luzetta Holtzman came
west and settled at Brookston, Indiana, in 1869, when Dr. Holtzman
was twenty years of age. There the father continued his industry as
a stock buyer, and was an influential factor in the community. His
death occurred in 1880 at the age of sixty-seven, while his wife survived
a number of years, and died at the age of eighty-four. Both are buried

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 901
at Brookston. "There were five children as follows: Sarah Holtzman,
who still lives on the. old homestead at Brookston; Isabelle, wife of Alvin
Stout, of Brookston ; Dr. Holtzman ; Morris J., of Brookston ; and Emma
J., of Brookston.
The early education of Dr. Holtzman was obtained in Pennsylvania,
in the public schools, and in Freeland Seminary. His early experience
was in various occupations, and after reaching manhood he began the
study of medicine at Brookston and at the Ohio Medical College, where
he was graduated M. D, in 1878. The first five years of his practice
were at Brookston, at the end of which time failing health caused him
to spend one year in Florida. In 1883, Dr. Holtzman located at Vernon,
Michigan, and his residence has been continuous in that locality ever
since. Especially in his earlier years of practice, he was almost con
stantly driving over the- roads, about Vernon, and his practice is still
drawn from an extended country district in and about Vernon. The
doctor has membership in the county and state medical societies, and for
many years was affiHated with the Masonic Order. At his home and of
fice he possesses a splendid private and professional library, one of the
best in Shiawassee county, and in spite of his business career he has
alway been a scholar and thinker, and has. enjoyed the rich resources of
books as well as extended intercourse and knowledge of men and affairs.
Politically Dr. Holtzman is a Democrat in national matters, and takes
an independent stand with regard to county and state politics.
Dr. Holtzman in 1883 married Miss Clara Ellen Pettit, who was
born in Marion county, Ohio, a daughter of Ben_ and Patsy (Morris)
Pettit. The doctor has one daughter, Vida Lucetta, an accomplished
young woman whose record as an educator has made her known in sev
eral states. A graduate of the University of Michigan, with the degree
of Bachelor of Arts, she has for six years been a teacher of languages,
teaching German, Latin, English and French, in high schools and other
institutions in Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, and Indiana. She is also an
accomplished musician.
Rev. Joseph Reis. Thirty-seven years pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic
church at Saginaw, Father Reis has followed a life of service and benefit
to his church and the various communities in which his career has been
spent. There are few priests in Michigan whose active career has been
of longer duration, and in Saginaw the Sacred Heart Church, prosperous
in both its material and spiritual establishment, is to a large degree a monu
ment to the patient, hard-working and kindly endeavors of this consecrated
priest. Father Reis was born April 1, 1846, in the Kingdom of Wuerttemberg,
Germany, a son of Joseph and Theda (Bender) Reis. Both parents died
in Wuerttemberg, the father at the age of sixty-five and the mother at
sixty-three. The vocation of the elder Joseph Reis was that of stone
cutter, and for a number of years he was a contractor. Five of the eleven-
children are now deceased, and those living are : George, who follows his
father's calling in the old home city arid was a soldier in the war between
Prussia and Austria; Crescence, the deceased wife of Andrew Vass of
Wuerttemberg; Mary, who came to America and for many years served
as housekeeper to her reverend brother, but before the death of her parents
returned to Germany, where she now lives'; Dominick, who for many years
has served the town of Eglingen as schuldheiss, or city mayor ; Lena, wife
of Alois Beuter, of Tannhausen, Wuerttemberg.
Father Joseph Reis as a boy was trained in the parochial schools at
Ellwangen and finished his literary education at the age of nineteen. After
that he served his king as a private soldier for one year, then returned to

902 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
college to refresh his studies in order to pass the examination for entrance
at the University of Tuebingen. At that time the Franco-Prussian war
broke out, and in order to avoid the troubles which afflicted the country,
he came to America in 1870 and located at Westmoreland, Pennsylvania,
where he studied with the community of the Benedictine Fathers. Later
he was called by Bishop Borges, of Detroit, and sent to Cincinnati, where
he completed .his studies for the priesthood in 1872. After his ordination
in Detroit, at St. Mary's church, by Bishop Borges, his first position was
as assistant to Rev. Charles Bolte of Ionia. Fourteen months later he went
to Kalamazoo to become assistant to Rev. Father Turney, and seven weeks
later was assigned the pastorage of St. Joseph's church at Wyandotte,
Michigan. After three years at Wyandotte, Father Reis came to Saginaw
in 1876. Since then thirty-seven years have been devoted to the upbuild
ing of Sacred Heart parish and to the complicated religious and benevo
lent causes which center in that old and prominent church.
When he took charge it was a small parish, both in numbers and
influence, and is now one of the strongest in northeastern Michigan. The
church is a noble structure, built during the pastorate 'and largely through
the energetic work of Father Reis, and there is an excellent parochial
school with one hundred and fifty scholars and three sisters in charge.
Father Reis is a popular man in Saginaw, and by no means known alto
gether within the limits of his creed. Although nearly threescore and ten
years of age, he is almost as active as ever, enjoys good society; his
scholarly tastes have been satisfied by his splendid private library and by
his interest in music. He is instructor of the male choir, of fourteen mem
bers, and recently the choir organization, as an evidence of their esteem
for their instructor, presented him with a splendid leather chair, of which
he feels very proud. During his long and active life as a pastor Father
Reis has taken only one vacation of three months to rest. That was in the
year 1904, and was spent abroad in a visit to Rome and elsewhere in
Europe. He traveled alone and visited all the places of interest to him on
foot. A cherished plan of his now is to visit the Panama Canal and the
Fair at San Francisco in 1915.
Stephen A. Lockwood. Every commercial community has its lead
ers, a chosen few who as a result of their exceptional enterprise, their
unflagging attention to work, and by a concentration and direction of all
their energies towards one end, that of business precedence, eventually
pass and surpass their competitors in the same field, and thenceforth
have the right of way. In the little city of Lapeer, Stephen A. Lockwood
has enjoyed this distinctive place among men of business affairs, and it
is said that since he first entered commercial life in that town he has
transacted business with probably more people than any other local
merchant. His beginning was in a modest fashion, and he has survived
all the fluctuations of a business career, and even the hardship of a de
structive fire.
Stephen A. Lockwood was born August 8, 1863, in Macomb county,
Michigan, son of Ebenezer S. and Maria (Crowell) Lockwood. The
parents, both natives of New York state, settled in Michigan in early
life, his father having come to Macomb county in 1853. A mechanic by
trade, he followed his calling in Macomb county until 1872, and then
moved to Lapeer which was his home until 1899. His first wife died
in 1876, and in 1878 he married Margaret Furgeson. From Michigan
the father and his wife moved out to North Dakota, and from that
state in 1889 went to Topeka, Kansas, where his death occurred Feb
ruary 2, 1912. His body and that of his first wife now rest in the Mt.
Vernon cemetery in Macomb county. He was seventy-eight years old

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 903
at the time of his death. Fraternally he was affiliated with the Independ
ent Order of Odd Fellows. The three children by the first marriage are :
Ella Lockwood, who died at Lapeer at the age of nineteen and is in
terred at Mt. Vernon; Frank Lockwood, who is in the clothing busi
ness at Detroit ; and Stephen A.
The leading dry goods and general merchant 'of Lapeer received his
early education in the public schools of that city, and his practical-
career as a wage earner and a worker in the vocations of life began when
he was thirteen years old. Joseph Armstrong, a dry goods merchant, was
his first employer, and with whom he remained for twelve years. Then
at the age of twenty-five he formed a partnership with George Mahon
in dry goods and general merchandise, and though they started with a
small stock they soon had a good trade. Three years later Mr. Lock-
wood retired from that partnership and bought the stock of George W.
Durkee, who up to that time had been one of Lapeer's leading merchants.
With this introduction into independent merchandising Mr. Lockwood
built a fine business block in the west end of town, and customers began
finding their way to that store in increasing numbers so that the sec
ond year it. was necessary to enlarge his quarters. After remodeling his
store he had about six thousand square feet of space devoted to his gen
eral lines of merchandise, and everything went smoothly and with steadily
enlarging prosperity and more substantial business credit for fifteen years.
Then a fire destroyed his stock and badly damaged the building. This
was in 1910. As soon as the insurance companies had made their set
tlement, Mr. Lockwood sold what remained of his damaged stock — and
at once- made arrangements to occupy the new building then under con
struction by the Lapeer Saving Bank leasing the same for a number of
years. This block is known as the Lapeer Savings Bank building, and
cost about thirty-five thousand dollars to construct. It is partly used by
the Lapeer Savings Bank, and all of the upper floors are occupied by the
Masonic Lodge, but all the rest, comprising a total floor space of about
six thousand square feet, is devoted to the great bargain center store of
Mr. Lockwood. Some eight or more clerks and assistants are employed
in the different departments of the business, and the entire enterprise is
a monument to his commercial ability and long continued work in one
field. Mr. Lockwood has one of the pleasant home of Lapeer.
His attention to business has not prevented him from serving his com
munity efficiently whenever possible, and while always ready with his
influence to make Lapeer a better and greater city, he has also filled the
office of city treasurer two years. In politics he is Republican. Mr.
Lockwood for the past twenty years has been a trustee of the Baptist
church, is affiliated with Lapeer Lodge No. 54, A. F. & A. M., with the
Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of* Odd Fellows. His
reputation as a business man is not confined to Lapeer, and he counts
among his personal friends many of Detroit's leading financiers and mer
chants, and his reputation for honesty, business acumen and judgment
is secure among all his associates and patrons.
On October 30, 1889, Mr. Lockwood married Miss Annie Perkins,
of Lapeer, daughter of Judge Benjamin F. and Clara B. (Hough) Per
kins. Her father was a justice of Lapeer for thirty-five years. Mrs.
Lockwood was born. in Bay City, August 8, 1865. They are the par
ents of two children, Carl Hough Lockwood and Ralph D. Lockwood.
Carl H. Lockwood, who was born August 5, 1891, has for the past two
years conducted a successful garage in Lapeer, and is now his father's
assistant in the store. He married Edna Thrasher, daughter of Rev. O,
M. Thrasher of Detroit, and they have two children : Richard, born in

904 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
191 1, and Jane, born in 1913. Ralph D. Lockwood was born in Lapeer,
May 25, 1900, and is still a student.
Monroe V. Simonson. Among the old families of Shiawassee
county, the Simonsons have had a permanent place from the time when
this county was still on the Michigan frontier. Throughout the county
the name stands for all that is honest and of good report, for successful
thrift and business integrity, and for a position in the community which
all must respect. The late John L. Simonson was the pioneer merchant
of the town of Bancroft, and likewise one of the largest land owners in
this section. The careers of the different members of the family have
been led along the paths of quiet industry and prosperity, and as farmers,
merchants and good citizens they have done their full share for the en
richment of community life.
John L. and Rosina (Van Valkenburg) Simonson, the father and
mother of Monroe V. Simonson, were both born in Delaware county,
New York. John L. Simonson came west and founded a home in Shia
wassee county. He then returned to his home in New York and married,
bringing his bride here. Though without capital he was full of ambition
and energy, and few residents of the county have made a larger and
better deserved success than John L. Simonson. With the small means
at his command, he started his career as a peddler of goods sold from
a wagon drawn by a single horse throughout Shiawassee county. From
this bumble start he gradually prospered, and finally in 1877 opened a
small store at North Newburg. Soon afterwards the village of Bancroft
was established, and his was the first stock of merchandise opened in
that place. Energy and enterprise enabled him to keep abreast of all
improvements, and increases in population, and practically from that
time forward he was the leading citizen in the vicinity of Bancroft.
From merchandising his interests gradually extended to the ownership
of a large amount of land, and during his later years he owned and
had under cultivation one thousand acres of the finest farm land in
Shiawassee county. All his success was due entirely to his energy and
perseverance and the most scrupulous business methods. The flourish
ing town of Bancroft will always owe much to his effective public spirit
during its early years, since his co-operation was readily enlisted in be
half of any movement for the community welfare. The death of John L.
Simonson occurred in October, 1883, when he was sixty-three years of
age. His wife also died at the age of eighty-three, in 1909. The bodies
of both now rest in the Fremont cemetery. There were two children:
Charles Bradford and Monroe Van Valkenburg Simonson.
Charles Bradford Simonson was born at North Newberg, in Shia
wassee county, September 12, 1862. His education was received in the
public schools of Newburg and Bancroft, and at the age of nineteen
he entered his father's store, and continued to be associated with the
elder Simonson until the latter's death. At that time the mercantile
interests were sold. His attention since then has been chiefly directed
to farming, and probably no citizen of Shiawassee county conducts farm
ing operations on a more modern and progressive scale than Charles
Simonson. For ten years his activities were extensively employed in the
buying and shipping of stock, but for several years now he has devoted
his entire time to the cultivation of two hundred and twenty acres of as
fine farm land as is to be seen in any part of Michigan. These lands
adjoin the town of Bancroft on the south, the main street leading up to
and opposite the old homestead built by his father. That old home has
been remodeled since first built, and is now considered one of the three
finest residences in Shiawassee county.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 905
In politics Mr. Charles Simonson is a Republicap, and is affiliated
with the Masonic Order and the Knights of Pythias. In May, 1901,
he was united in marriage with Miss Eva Harrington, a native of Durand,
and a daughter of Marvin and Mary (Kitson) Harrington. The Har
ringtons have a place among, the pioneer farmers of Shiawassee county.
Mrs. Simonson's mother is now deceased. Mrs. Simonson takes an
active, part in the Ladies' Aid Society at -Bancroft, and she and her hus
band derive much pleasure and recreation from travel.
Monroe Van Valkenburg Simonson, whose name has been placed at
the beginning of this article, was born at North Newburg, in Shiawassee
county, November 3, 1859. His career has been an essentially busy
one, and marked with varied experiences, although chiefly devoted to
farming. With a public school education, completed at the high school
of Holly, he early becarhe associated in business with his father and
brother. In 1894, having a desire to see and perhaps locate in the West,
an extended trip took him throughout California, but after a thorough
investigation his decision was that his own county and state were better
suited for his purposes. A year later he was again drawn to the west,
this time to South Dakota, but after an extended survey of that country,
he returned well satisfied that nothing better could be bad than the four
hundred acres -of farm land owned by him in Shiawassee county. The
greater part of his land lies in close vicinity to the town of Bancroft,
while his beautiful residence fronts on a city street, and is handsome and
modern in all its appointments.
Mr. Simonson has served six years . as a member of the Bancroft
Village Council. In politics he is a Republican. His family comprises
his wife and one child. Mrs. Simonson before her marrige was Miss
Cora Spencer, a native of Shiawassee county, and a daughter of Harry
Spencer, an old settler and prominent farmer in the county. The one
daughter born to their marriage is Selma.
Herbert William Smith. The' roster of prominent attorneys of
Lapeer county contains the names of a number of men who have achieved
eminence in their profession solely through the force of their own efforts,
and none is better or more favorably known than that of Herbert Wil
liam Smith, who as practitioner and public official has established an ex
cellent record. Mr. Smith is a native son of Lapeer county, having been
born in Imlay township, February 28, 1869, a son of Tilton E. and Phoebe
F. (Minard) Smith, natives of Canada but of American parentage.
The grandparents of Mr. Smith were natives of New York and Penn
sylvania, and^the family has an excellent military recofd. The great
grandfather of Mr. Smith, John Smith, fought as a soldier during the
Revolutionary War, while Jonathan Smith, the grandfather, was a first
lieutenant in the American forces during the War of 1812, his commis-
. sion being signed by Governor Hopkins of New York. Charles H. Smith,
an uncle of Herbert W. Smith, served in the Twenty-second Regiment,
Michigan Volunteer Infantry, during the Civil War, and was wounded
and confined for some time as a prisoner in the famous Libby Prison.
Later he became one of the capitol police at Lansing, under Governor
Luce, and is now a resident of Forrest, Canada. During the Civil War,
Tilton F. Smith, the father of Herbert W. Smith, was one of the first
to enlist under the Union colors, becoming a member of the Thirty-third
Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, and serving in the commands
of Generals McClellan and Hooker. He participated in numerous en
gagements, including the battle of Antietam, and made an excellent rec
ord as a soldier. In 1863 he came to Sanilac county, Michigan, and here
took up land and engaged in farming for several years, then moving to

906 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Adrian, Michigan, where he was engaged in working at his trade of
cabinet maker for one year. Following this he went to Black's Corner,
where in connection with his trade he engaged in the furniture and un
dertaking business, and after three years made removal to the then flour
ishing sawmill town of Attica, where he followed the same business for
seven years. The sawmill industry dying out in that section, Mr. Smith
came to Lapeer and entered the' ministry as pastor of the Free Methodist
Church, and continued as a preacher until his health failed and he was
an invalid five years prior to his death, which occurred in 1890, when he
was forty-eight years of age. The mother passed away at Imlay City in
1910, aged seventy-four years. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs.
Smith, namely : Volney and Obey, twins, the former a farmer of Hope,
Arkansas, and the latter a resident of Detroit; Herbert William, of this
review; Albert O., with the Detroit Creamery Company, of Detroit;
Tilton F., who is the manager of the Cottage Creamery Company, of
Detroit; and Ethel, who is the wife of Isaac McKillan, a well-known
banker of Imlay City.
Herbert William Smith received his early education in the public
schools of Lapeer, following which he was graduated from the Lapeer
High school in 1890. Having shown an early predilection for a pro
fessional career; he entered the office of Hon. W. W. Stickney, of Lapeer,
under whose preceptorship he read law for two years and then entered
the Detroit College of Law. After devoting another year to study at
college, he was admitted to the bar by the Circuit Court of Lapeer county,
January 10, 1893, and at once began practice at Imlay City where be
formed a partnership with William F. Brown. This association was dis
solved one year later and Mr. Smith continued in practice alone until
January, 1909. During this time he served Lapeer county as circuit court
commissioner for four years and as city attorney of Imlay City, for a like
period, and in the fall of 1908 he was elected prosecuting attorney of
Lapeer county, an office in which' he served two terms. An orator of
marked ability, he has done much campaign work for the Republican party,
and in his trips throughout this part of the state has formed a wide ac
quaintance and gained the friendship and esteem of men of all political
parties. He belongs to the Lapeer County Bar Association, and stands
high in the esteem of his fellow practitioners, being recognized as a man
who thoroughly respects the highest ethics of the profession. His prac
tice is a large and representative one, and his connection with a num
ber of important cases has made him a familiar figure in the courts of
the county. In his fraternal connections Mr. Smith is a thirty-second
degree Mason and a member of the Elf Khurafeh Temple of the Mystic
Shrine. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and
the Knights of Pythias, and also holds membership in the Eastern Star.
With his family be attends the Presbyterian church. A virile, energetic
man, he is fond of all out-of-door sports, and is an enthusiastic automo-
bilist. !
On March 18, 1896, Mr. Smith was married at Metamora, Michigan,
to Miss Cora L. Frasier, a native of Goodland township, Lapeer county,
and a daughter of Ronald and Lucinda (Harvey) Frasier. William
Harvey, Mrs. Smith's maternal grandfather, was the founder of the
Harvey family of Lapeer county, and a well-known pioneer. Two chil
dren have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Smith : Marion Irene and Ken
neth. Mrs. Smith is widely known in club and social circles of Michigan^
and a leader in literary circles and in the work of the Eastern Star. In
1913 she served as delegate to the State Federation of Ladies' Clubs, held
at Muskegon, and like her husband has many friends here.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN . 907
Willard H. Freeland. One of the villages of Saginaw county is
named Freeland, in honor of a pioneer settler and business man. That
pioneer was the grandfather of Willard H. Freeland, who has had a long
and active career as a lumberman and logger, and for a number of years
has been in the milling business, being now proprietor of the flour mills
at Mt. Morris.
Born at Freeland, in Saginaw county, June. 17, 1857, Willard H. Free-
land was the sixth in a family of seven children born to William and
Annise (Brace) Freeland. The mother was born in Cataraugus county,
New York on November 25, 1826, and died at Freeland, Michigan, in
1905. Grandfather Freeland came to Michigan at an early day, and set
tled in Saginaw county, where a village grew up with himself as one of
the chief factors in the community, and it was named in his honor. Wil
liam Freeland, the father, was born in New Jersey, and died in 1883.
He was for some years proprietor of a stage line, operating between
Pontiac, Flint and Saginaw. During the Civil war he went out with a
Michigan Regiment and saw a long and active service in that struggle.
After the war he took over the hotel business at Freeland, which his
father before him had established, and continued proprietor until his
death. Three of the children of the, parents died in infancy. Besides
Willard the other two now living are Fayette Freeland and Aneliza, the
'former living in Freeland and the sister at Otisville.
Willard H. Freeland attained his education in the country schools of
his birthplace, and at an early age entered the vigorous and rugged work
of the lumber woods and had a severe experience in logging along the,
Saginaw and other streams of northern Michigan. That was his regular
business for some twenty years, and on coming out of the woods and the
logging business he engaged in milling at Midland for eight years. From
there he went to Chesaning, and then to Mt. Morris, where in 1907 he
bought the flour mills which he still conducts.
Mr. Freeland has never neglected opportunity to serve the community
and was president one term of the village of Mt. Morris, and alderman
two terms. Each time he was elected on the citizens ticket, and in local
affairs has always maintained an independent attitude. In 1881 Mr. Free-
land was married at Midland to Miss Ida Martindale. She died in 1899,
and in 1900 he married Miss Agnes Breuning of Chesaning. There are
no children. Mr. Freeland is an example of the successful man in later
years, who started out without resources, and through hard struggles and
persistent industry has made his way to the top.
Edgar Judson Cox. The pioneer hardware establishment of Lapeer
is now owned and conducted by Edgar J. Cox, whose rise from a mer
chant's clerk to independent business success gives him a place among
the leading citizens of Lapeer county, and he has riiany friends and ad
mirers in various parts of the state.
Edgar Judson Cox was born in Judson township, in Blue Earth county,
Minnesota, January 4, 1873, a son of Charles W. and Mary Elizabeth
(Stickney) Cox. His father was a native of England and his mother
of Vermont, and the father was brought to America when three years
of age, obtained a country schooling in Vermont, and during his early
career had to combat many obstacles and difficulties in the path of suc
cess. Pie worked on a farm, as clerk in a store, and when a young man
found employment at Boston, Massachusetts, with the Adams Express
Company. Failing health finally compelled him to resign that vocation,
and be took advice to go west to Minnesota. The climate of the north
west completely rebuilt him, and he lived in Blue Earth county until
1880. In that year he came to Lapeer, Michigan, and became identified

908 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
as a buyer with several of the leading lumber companies and continued
in the business for twenty years. In the meantime he had invested in a
farm in Lapeer county, and made that his home after retiring from the
lumber industry. He and his wife still reside at their rural home, and
both have passed the age of threescore and ten. The father was born in
1838 and the mother in 1840. During the Civil war the father served
with a Vermont regiment of infantry until getting his honorable dis
charge. Of the nine children one is now deceased, and Edgar J. was
fifth in order of birth.
With an education in the district and high schools of Lapeer, he had
gained considerable training for his business career before leaving school,
as clerk with a grocery house during vacations. At the age of nine
teen his services as a clerk were accepted by B. F. Loder, the pioneer
hardware dealer of Lapeer, and during the following six years he ac
quired a very thorough and practical knowledge of the hardware busi
ness in all its details. Being economical and with a view to the future,
he finally left Lapeer and engaged in the hardware in Wayne county, start
ing on a very modest scale in 1898, and remaining there for five years.
At the end of that time the opportunity to secure the business formerly
owned by B. F. Loder and in a city where he had been known from boy
hood and where he enjoyed an established acquaintance, prompted him to
purchase the stock of A. H. Aimsworth, the successor of B. F. Loder.
Mr. Cox moved the stock from his store in Wayne county to Lapeer in
1903. His real success as a merchant began and has steadily increased
from that date. Naturally of a pleasant disposition, obliging and cour
teous, and having a complete knowledge of hardware and the many
accessories, Mr. Cox has built up a large and substantial business re
quiring more than nine thousand square feet of floor space, and his place
of business occupies a basement and three floors on the leading business
street of Lapeer, Nipissing street. His attention has been concentrated
along this line, and it is due not only to his competent knowledge but
also to his industry that his success has been so pronounced.
Mr. Cox is a Republican in politics, and is a trustee of the Presby
terian church. He has been twice married. His first wife was Anna D.
Williams, who was born in Attica, Lapeer county, daughter of Oscar
Williams. She died in 1905, and her body now rests in Mt. Hope ceme--
tery at Lapeer. In August, 191 1, Mr. Cox married Bertha Hough, daugh
ter of Hon. E. S. and Emily (Hart) Hough. Mr. Cox owns a pleasant
home and considerable other real estate in Lapeer, and his prosperity
has been so worthily won that it is not an object to be begrudged by
any of his numerous associates and friends.
George R. Perry. Among the many successful and enterprising men
who make up the ranks of business operators in Grand Rapids it is doubt
ful if many will be found who have advanced farther in commercial
prosperity and standing than has George R. Perry, and it is especially
fitting that some mention, however brief, should be made of him in these
columns. His family is one of the oldest established ones of the United
States, and while the habitat of the Perrys has chiefly been tbe east, the
family now under consideration have been residents of Michigan since
1852, in which year the father of George R. Perry located in Detroit and
engaged in business.
George R. Perry was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on January 30,
1849, and is a son of George H. and Hannah (Dobbs) Perry. The father
was born in Danbury, Connecticut, in 1819, and died in 1895, while the
mother's birth occurred in the state of New York in 1820, and she lived

4i^.d

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 909
to the fine old age of ninety-two years, death claiming her on September 5,
1912. She was a schoolmate of Phineas T. Barnum of the great Barnum
Shows and watched with much interest his unusual and altogether suc
cessful career to the end of his days. The marriage of George H. and
Hannah (Dobbs) Perry took place in the year 1840 in Danbury, Connecti
cut, and they continued there in residence for some years, their migration
to Michigan taking place in 1852.
The senior Perry was a hatter by trade, a term which in those days
carried with it a significance other than it now bears, for he was an expert
hatmaker, instead of merely a purveyor to the trade. Mr. Perry, in the
early fifties, opened up the first exclusive hat shop in the city of Detroit,
and for years he carried on a successful business in hats. Later in life he
became interested in furs and was a heavy dealer in hides and pelts for
some years, adding not a little to his accumulation of wealth in that enter
prise, which was the basis of the wealth of the Astors and others. Though
Mr. Perry did not amass a great fortune, still he prospered, and he was
regarded as one of the successful men of his time. He was a stockholder
in a tobacco concern, and that connection netted him considerable in
profits, as well as his other ventures, so that when he died he was comfort
ably well off and left a nice estate.
It should be mentioned in passing that the Perrys come of good old
English stock, certain of the name having settled in Massachusetts in the
sixteenth century. Commodore Perry, one of the immortals of American
history, comes of a branch of the family closely allied with the family now
under consideration. The father of George H. Perry and the grandfather
of George R. of this review, was one George Perry, a lifelong resident of
Massachusetts. He was in early life a cattle dealer and later devoted
himself to the business of trading in hides and furs, as did his son some
years later. The maternal grandfather of the subject was Hiram Dobbs,
who was born in New York state and there passed his life. He served
all through the War for Independence, and it is worthy of mention that
members of the family today, because of his service in that memorable
struggle, have membership in the Society of the Daughters of the Ameri
can Revolution.
George H. and Hannah (Dobbs) Perry became the parents of five chil
dren, four of whom are yet living. George R. was the third born. Of
these children, Sarah is unmarried. Cordelia married a Mr. Crawford of
Detroit and Carrie is the wife of a Mr. Nicols, of Memphis, Tennessee,
where they now reside. The parents were members of St. Paul's Episcopal
church of Detroit to the end of their days, and Mr. Perry was a stanch
Whig and an influential and active man in the public life of his city and
district all his life. When he died Detroit lost one of her esteemed and
valuable citizens and one who had long been a faithful member pf society.
George R. Perry had his education in the Detroit schools, and when be
was sixteen years old he began the serious business of life by entering a
drug store in his home city as a clerk. He continued there for four years,
and in 1868 came to Grand Rapids, which city has ever since been the
scene of his business activities and has represented his home as well.
Here again he became identified with the drug business as a clerk, and for
several years continued to be so occupied. It was not, however, until the
year 1874 that he became connected with the grocery business, and in 1892
he became a broker to the wholesale trade. He bas since continued in
that enterprise, which has grown to be one of the most extensive of its
kind in the city.
Though Mr. Perry began business without capital, he has come to be
the owner of considerable real estate in Grand Rapids, and is regarded as
being one of the financially responsible men of the city. Prosperity has
attended his efforts, and his position in business, political and social circles

910 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
is one of the best. He has found time to manifest an active interest in the
politics of his community, and as a Democrat in a city and state which has
long been stanchly Republican he has made an excellent showing in a
number of spirited contests. Since 1876 he has been found actively
engaged in the political issues of the day and has filled a number of offices.
In 1898 he was elected mayor of the city and served in that office for two
consecutive terms, proving himself a proper and capable man for such an
office. He has also served two terms as city treasurer, and in 1898 he was
named for Congress by the Democrats of his district, and, though nomi
nated, he was defeated at the polls. Considering the overwhelming Repub
lican sentiment, his defeat carried with it no dishonor, nor anything to
regret. Mr. Perry is a Mason of high degree, having affiliations with the Royal
Arch Masons, the Knights Templar, the Consistory and the Shrine. He
is also a member of the B. P. O. E. and has served as Exalted Ruler for
two terms. He was unanimously elected to the chair on a third occasion,'
but he declined to serve. Other fraternal affiliations are with the Knights
of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen, and in all his fraternal relations
he has manifested the true spirit of brotherhood and fraternity.
In 1874 Mr. Perry married Miss Jennie Blake, a daughter of Alexander
Blake, a well known lumberman of Grand Rapids. Five children were
born to them, but only one is now living, Jeannette Perry, who is at home
with her parents. Miss Perry gained her early educational training in
the public schools of her native city, and when she had completed her
high school course entered Vassar college, at Poughkeepsie, New York,
where she was graduated with honors in 1904.
The family are prominent in the leading social activities of the city.
Robert Turnbull. One of the thriving business industries of La
peer, which has developed from a modest beginning to large proportions
is the grain elevator and mill of Robert Turnbull, now one of the largest
enterprises of its kind in Lapeer county. Mr. Turnbull has been pre
eminently the architect of his own fortune, and his success has been
gained by persistent work, honorable dealings and concentration of effort.
He is a native of Gait, Canada, and was born April 21, 1839, a son of
George and Isabel (Dalgliesh) Turnbull, natives of Scotland.
The father and mother of Mr. Turnbull emigrated with their parents
to Canada shortly after the terrible epidemic of cholera. George Turn-
bull was a man of superior education, and devoted his life to teaching,
while his wife was also a lady of culture, education and refinement. He
passed away in his sixty-third year, while she reached the age of eighty-
four and both were laid to rest at Gait. The second oldest of his parents'
eight children, Robert Turnbull attended the public schools of Gait until
he was nine years old. He was a somewhat precocious child, and in spite
of the fact that his parents wished him to continue his studies, he was
determined to enter upon a career of his own, and accordingly began to
work at that tender age, accepting whatever honorable employment pre
sented itself. At the age of eighteen years he left home and went to
County Elgin, where, in the vicinity of St. Thomas, he secured employ
ment in a pail and pump factory, where he continued seven years and
learned a great deal about machinery. During this time he carefully saved
his earnings, and finally went to Orrwell, Canada, where he engaged in
business for himself, building a planing, saw and gristmill and doing a
money-making business for seven years at that point. While there he was
married, and on disposing of his interests brought his family to Ithaca,
where he established a gristmill and remained for eighteen months, but at
the end of that period sold out and went to St. Louis, Michigan, where he
operated a sawmill for three years. Succeeding this, he operated a mill at

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 911
Millville, Michigan, for two years, and then sold out and went to Oregon
Township, where several years were passed in the sawmilling industry.
Mr. Turnbull purchased his properties for what was then known as tbe
Pepper Mill, at Lapeer, where he began operations. On July 15, 1909,
the mills were destroyed by fire, and although he suffered a considerable
loss, Mr. Turnbull at once began their reconstruction, and rebuilt them to
twice their former size, equipping them with the newest and finest ma
chinery to be secured, this mill now having a capacity of seventy-five bar
rels per day. In 191 1 Mr. Turnbullbuilt one of the largest elevators in
Lapeer county, which has also been equipped with the latest and most
highly improved appliances. He now employs twelve men, and has a busi
ness that contributes materially to Lapeer's business importance. Always
a hard-working, industrious man, he is now enjoying the fruits of his
many years of honest toil, and occupies a high place in the respect and
esteem of his fellow-citizens. Among those who have had transactions
with him, he is known as a man of the strictest integrity, honorable and
above board in all his dealings, and his name is an honored one on com
mercial paper throughout the county. In politics Mr. Turnbull is a Re
publican, but he has been too busy to ever have had political aspirations.
Fraternally, he is connected with Lapeer Lodge No. 54, of the Masonic
order, while his religious connection is with the Baptist church, of which
he is an elder, and to which his family also belongs.
Mr, Turnbull was married in 1871 to Miss Permilla Simmons, of
County Elgin, Canada, daughter of Solomon Simmons, and five children
have been born to this union, namely : Frederick, who died at the age of
eight years; Ida, who is a teacher in the public schools of Lapeer county;
Elgin, who is associated with his father in the firm of Turnbull & Son, tbe
largest dealers in grain, beans, etc., in Lapeer county, married Mary Hol
land, a native of Lapeer county, and a daughter of D. E. Holland, a
prominent jeweler of Lapeer, and has three bright and interesting chil
dren, — Ruth, Jean and Louise ; Grace, who is the wife of Herbert W.
Smith, and resides at St. Joseph, Missouri; and Lillian, who is the wife
of Ernest Huff, of Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Turnbull is a friend of educa
tion, and all of his children have been given good advantages, fitting them
admirably for the positions in life which they have been called upon to
fill. He has always shown himself ready to assume his full share of the
responsibilities of citizenship, and supports all movements which promise
to advance his community in any way. His career has been one of con
sistent effort and consecutive advancement, and should prove encouraging
to the youth of today who are facing life on their own resources without
financial assistance or the help of influential friends.
Oscar W. Peck. The Peck family was one of the very first to locate
in that section of Michigan, now comprised within the boundaries of
Shiawassee county. A full account of the founding of the family and
their early experience would be a chapter out of pioneer history. George
D. and Mary (Young) Peck, came from New York State by canal, and
the great lakes as far as Buffalo, traveled north through tbe unbroken
wilderness through what is now Shiawassee county, where George D.
Peck with his ax cleared a space in the midst of the woods, arid hewed the
timbers for his first home near the present site of Byron. On the com
pletion of his rude cabin, he went to work and built another building, in
which he opened a stock of merchandise. That was the first store in
Gaines, Genesee county, and he conducted it for some years. He next
conducted a hotel there for some years and then went on a farm, where
he remained until his death on September 8, 1884. As the first merchant,
a pioneer settler, he always had an influential part in affairs of the county,
Vol. 11—18

912 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
and was on the original board which organized that county. He built one
of the first log school buildings in the locality. Mary (Young) Peck was
born in Deleware county, Ohio, and died in Shiawassee county in 1854,
at the age of thirty-three. George D. Peck was married the second time,
and altogether fifteen children were born to his two wives, these being
named as follows : Marvin, Melvin, Delia, Hiram, William, Lydia, Oscar
W., Libbie, Flora, Ellabell, Clara, George, Nellie, Frederick and Erasmus.
Oscar W. Peck, who was the seventh among these children and the
youngest born to his mother, Mary (Young) Peck, was born at Byron in
Shiawassee county, May 30, 1854. His early schooling was received
partly in Genesee county, and in 1871 he graduated from the Detroit high
school. From the end of his school days his career has been one of active
application to mechanical pursuits and business. A thorough apprentice
ship in the machine shop of the Pere Marquette Railroad was followed
by a long experience as a locomotive engineer on that road, for a time he
was a telegraph operator. His career as a railroader was finally aban
doned, in order to engage in business at Gaines, in Genesee county. For
several years after selling out his stock at Gaines he worked as a station
ary engineer, and then moved to Durand in Shiawassee county, where he
conducted a successful business for four years. This was followed by a
similar period in business in Battle Creek, and in 1897, on returning to
Durand, he established mercantile interests with which be has since been
connected. In November, 191 2, his district elected him to the office of
Justice of the Peace, and he now serves the public in that capacity. In
politics Mr. Peck is a Republican, is affiliated with the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, and the Rebekahs, and is highly esteemed in all local
circles of business and society. He is the owner of a comfortable home,
and considerable other property in Durand.
At Gaines, Michigan, May 17, 1884, Mr. Peck married Miss Minnie
Harrington, who died May 12, 1888, the mother of two children, both of
whom died in infancy. On June 25, 1890, at Durand, Mr. Peck married
Miss Emily J. Jewell, a daughter of Jacob Jewell.
Rev. Thomas L. Luby. The career of Father Luby as one of the
successful church builders and ministers of his faith in Michigan has been
identified chiefly with the St. Mary's Church at Mt. Morris, and that
religious community recognizes a great debt to the able pastor whose
labors have been performed there for the past thirteen years, and
who has succeeded in giving the parish one of the best small church
edifices in Genesee county.
St. Mary's Parish has an interesting history. While Michigan was
still a territory, during the early thirties, and while Genesee county was
still on the frontier a few Irish settlers formed the nucleus out of which
has grown the present congregation. For some years they were separated
from any organized parish by many miles of difficult travel, and the few
families located there received spiritual attention only at long intervals
from missionary priests sent out from Detroit. Finally, with the increase
of population, and improvement in roads and transportation, a church
was built at Flint, and it was there that the St. Mary's people worshipped
for some years. In 1863, owing to the continued increase in population,
permission was obtained to build a church in Mt. Morris. It was a frame
building and was attached to the parish at Flint as a mission. In 1870 it
became an independent parish with Rev. M. Canters as first resident
pastor. The succeeding pastors have been : Rev. G. M. Girard, six years;
Rev. E. M. DeKiere, five years; Rev. D. P. Coyle, from 1884 to 1887;
Rev. L. J. Van Straelen, eleven years ; Rev. T. J. Slattery, from 1898 to
1900; and Rev. Thomas L. Luby, from 1900 to the present time..

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 913
Father, Thomas L. Luby was born at Kalamazoo, Michigan, May 15,
1875, a son of Michael M, and Mary (McDonald) Luby. The mother
was born in Kalamazoo, and died in that city in 1883, at the age of thirty-
three years. The father, a native of Ireland, died at Kalamazoo in 1893.
Father Luby grew up in Kalamazoo, attended the parochial schools,
later was a student in Assumption College, Ontario, and St. Mary's Sem
inary, Cincinnati, Ohio. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1899, and
his first work was curate of a parish at Battle Creek, where he remained
four months. Later he was curate in Detroit for eight months, and from
there came to Mt. Morris. The Mt. Morris parish at that time had very
little vitality as an organization. The material resources were at a very
low ebb, and there was very little enthusiasm for church work. Father
Luby may be justly considered the creator of the present parish. After
several years of active work, he began the erection of tbe present St.
Mary's church building, the corner stone of which was laid in the fall of
1904, and the handsome building was dedicated about 1908. Its cost
originally was about thirty-three thousand dollars, and in July 1911, after
the interior had been frescoed and many paintings and other improve
ments added, the church was again dedicated. St. Mary's is a credit to
the Catholic people at Mt. Morris. It is a building of the English Gothic
Renaissance style of architecture, and the exterior material is paving brick
and field stone. It has been due to Father Luby's energy that the various
parish societies have been organized and put into effective activity. In
conclusion a brief paragraph may be quoted from the Flint Daily Journal,
from an article describing the re-dedication of St. Mary's church in 191 1 :
"It is eleven years since Father Luby went to Mt. Morris, and the success
of his administration is illustrated by the fact that the old church has
been replaced by the present structure, the mission church has been re
built at County Line, and a residence for the priest has been constructed
on the lot adjoining the church. Aside from the material success which
has been attained under his directorate, he has won the earnest co-opera
tion of the members of his parish, and the high regard ot a large num
ber of persons who are not of the same denominational faith. It is rec
ognized in Mt. Morris particularly and also in other parts ot the county
that he has been a powerful factor in the accomplishment of a great many
things along religious and humanitarian lines, which are of benefit to trie
community, the state and the nation. While the congregation merits
congratulations upon the successful completion of its large undertaking,
it is realized that Father Luby has been tbe moving spirit and the untiring
agent in the hands of Providence in adding to the . religious facilities of
the village."
Christopher England. On the principal business street of the city
of Lapeer is located the two-story business building on front of which
appears the title of the business which has its home there "C. England,
wholesale and retail harness." This is the largest f acto-ry and sales agency
for harness, horse collars and other accessories in Lapeer county and one
of the largest in the state. The entire establishment is a monument to
the fine business integrity and ability of Christopher England. It is the
outcome of years of toil, of conscientious endeavor to give the public what
they want at the lowest possible price, to use every one fairly, to carry out
all promises and obligations and to do business on the proper basic prin
ciples. Mr. England has accomplished the ideal of every man in business,
that of making his enterprise a success, commercially and financially.
Christopher England was born in Huron county, Ontario, November
15, 1854, the second son and child of Joseph and Jane (Van Orman)
England. Joseph England was a native of county Tipperary, Ireland,
and was an active orangeman. His wife was born in Huron county,

914 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Canada. Joseph England moved to Huron county, Ontario, when a boy
of nineteen, and soon afterwards married, and his child, Christopher, was
the first white child born in Morris township. The father took up one
hundred acres of wild land, cultivated it until 1874, and selling out moved
to Tuscola county, Michigan, where he and his son Joseph, who had in
the meantime reached manhood, bought a quarter section and conducted a
successful partnership as farmers and stock raisers. The father now lives
retired at the advanced age of eighty-five with his daughter Margaret, the
wife of Frank Sheppard in Tuscola county. The mother died at the age
of seventy-five in 1907. The father was born in 1829. Both have been
active members of the Methodist church, and they reared nine children,
the eight brothers and sisters of Christopher being as follows: Eliza;
Jane, the deceased wife of John Leichman, a farmer in Huron county,
Ontario; Margaret, wife of Frank Sheppard of Tuscola county; Emma,
wife of George' Wing of Detroit ; Joseph J., a prominent farmer and lead
ing citizen in Caro, Michigan; Fannie, wife of Isaac Philip of Huron
county, Michigan; Celia, wife of Dr. W. H. Flint of Perry, Michigan;
Anna, wife of Rev. Dr. Moon, who was for years a presiding elder in the
Methodist Episcopal church of Michigan and is now pastor of the church
of that denomination in Sandusky of this state.
Christopher England spent his early life on a farm, and at the age of
nineteen began to travel, and during the following six years as he jour
neyed about the country learned the trade of harness and collar maker,
and was in many towns and cities of Michigan and in other states. When
twenty-five years of age Mr. England was converted and joined the
Methodist Protestant church. His active interest in religion and his
ability to influence men led him at an early age to preach the Gospel, not
for pay, but from a sense of his obligations to mankind, and for more
than thirty-five years in the intervals of his business and often at a
sacrifice of his individual interest he has carried on his work as a preacher,
but has never held a remunerative post in church work, having made his
living through the avenue of his trade. His work has taken him into the
pulpits of many churches in many circuits of the state, and among the
communities where his services have been appreciated as a minister are
Bad Axe, Huron City, Cass City, Attica, Descoe, Plainfield, Gregory,
Pontiac, Fargo, New Lothrop, Lapeer and elsewhere. For the last four
years Mr. England has occupied the pulpit at Hunter's Creek church
where a number of Christians of many denominations have their church
home, and this, the Independent church of Hunter's Creek, is one of the
flourishing religious organizations of Lapeer county, and tbe pastor, Mr.
England, has gained many friends through his consecrated efforts in the
cause of religion.
It was in 1902 that Mr. England established his home and business at
Lapeer, and previous to that had conducted a harness shop on a small
scale at Gregory, Pontiac and New Lothrop. In 1903 he began preaching
the Gospel at Lapeer and continued it for eight years until he transferred
his work to the Hunter's Creek church. From almost the beginning his
business was in a prosperous condition, and in 1904 he erected the brick
building on Nipissing street, using the upper floor as a harness and collar
factory, while the lower floor is for the display of his goods and for the
general retail business. His customers in Lapeer county are numbered by
thousands, and he does a great amount of business outside the boundaries
of his own county, his large acquaintances over the state and the quality
of his wares having brought about a splendid increase of his trade, so
that his factory now gives employment to seven or more skilled artisans,
and his annual payroll is more than five thousand dollars. As a side
line Mr. England also has the agency for the sale of automobiles.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 915
Fraternally he is affiliated with Lapeer Lodge No. 54, A. F. &. A. M.,
with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is Commander of the
Knights of the Maccabees. Always an active Republican, he has never
sought any official distinction in politics.
In 1878 in Tuscola county, Michigan, Mr. England married Miss Ella
. Ethel LaRue, who was of French parentage. They are the parents of
four children : Christopher Wesley, Joseph Jay, Tressie M. and Kate E.
Christopher Wesley England, wbo is an able assistant to his father in
business, after getting his education in the public schools learned the
trade of harness maker under the supervision of his father, and at the
age of fifteen began to assist in the shop at New Lothrop. Since that
time his association has been constantly with his father. In 1903 he mar
ried Miss Amanda E. Hines, who was born at Millington, Tuscola county,
Michigan, a daughter of Sandford C. Hines, a pioneer farmer in that sec
tion of Michigan. They have two children, Margaret B. England, born
in Lapeer September 8, 1909, and Joseph C, born March 14, 1914. Chris
topher W. England affiliates with the Loyal Order of Moose and is treas
urer of the Lapeer Lodge. He is also active in the city fire department
and secretary of the department. Since 1904 Christopher England has
served as treasurer of the Methodist Protestant Conference of Michigan.
Melvin L. McNiel-. The largest and only exclusive hardware busi
ness at Mt. Morris is conducted by Melvin L. McNiel an enterprising
young merchant who has had a thorough experience in business affairs
in this part of Michigan, and has well earned his successful position
which is of such character as many older men might well envy. Mr. Mc
Niel represents one of the pioneer families of Genesee county.
He was born in the township of Thetford, in Genesee county, March
16, 1878, a son of Andrew O. McNiel, who was also born in Genesee
county, and a grandson of Andrew McNiel, who was the pioneer and
the founder of the family name and fortunes in this part of Michigan.
Grandfather McNiel who was of Dutch ancestry, was a farmer, car
penter and builder, and a prominent man in his day and generation in
Genesee county. The father during his early life followed farming,
later engaged in merchandising, conducting a large hardware and im
plement house at Flint for a number of years, and is now enjoying the
fruits of his business career in a quiet retirement. He is a Democrat in
politics, and a member of the Methodist church. He married Caroline
Peek, who was born and reared in Genesee county, and her father An
drew Peek was also one of the early settlers, having come to Michigan in
1852, from New York State, and having followed farming as his voca
tion. Andrew O. McNiel and wife have only two children, Melvin and
Flora, the latter being the wife of Otto Graff, now serving as treas
urer of Genesee county.
Melvin L. McNiel was reared in a home of substantial comforts, and
was given a good education in the Flint public schools, which he attended
until he was twenty years of age. A portion of his earlier years were
spent on a farm, and his first business experience was as clerk in the
store of Foote & Church, hardware dealers at Flint. This was- his ap
prenticeship at his present line of endeavor, and he continued for three
years. He was next with the firm of Morley Brothers at Saginaw for
one year and then went into business on his own account, opening a stock
of hardware at Grand Blanc. Returning to Flint, he became associated
with his father in the firm of A. O. McNiel & Son, and that relation
ship continued with mutual profit for four years. After Mr. McNiel
retired he spent two years in the building business at Flint, and during

916 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
that time completed successfully a number of contracts for important
building. In April, 1912, he established his present business at Mount
Morris, and now has the only store of its kind in that community.
In politics Mr. McNiel is a Democrat, and has membership in the'
Methodist church. At Flint on October 14, 1902, be married Miss Ger
trude Albro. She was born in Mt. Morris township, and her father, J. -
E. Albro was one of the old and substantial residents of that community.
To their marriage have been born four children : Howard, Irwin, Gladys,
and Norman.
John Campbell. For upwards of half a century John Campbell has
been a resident of Muskegon. He came here when a boy and started out
to earn a living in the lumber woods and by depending upon his skill and
strength of body. Gradually success came to him and, with experience and
maturing judgment, he became an influential business man. For a number
of years Mr. Campbell has done a large business as a contractor, has
served his home city in the office of mayor, and is one of the substantial
citizens of this section of Michigan.
John Campbell is a native of Ontario, Canada, where he was born
July 12, 1849. His parents were Donald and Catherine (McDonald)
Campbell, both of whom were born at Glengarry, in Ontario. The grand
father was also a native and lived and died in Canada. The father was
born in 1831, was married in 1852, and some time later moved to the United
States, where in 1861 he went to the front with the Union army and never
came back from the war. There were seven children in the family, three
of whom are now living, and John Campbell was the third in order of
birth. The parents were both communicants of the Catholic faith.
John Campbell was educated in Canada, and in 1866, at the age of
seventeen, came to Muskegon and went into the lumber woods in that
vicinity. He worked in the mills and in the camps, saved his wages, and
after a few years engaged in the lumber business himself, in partnership
with James Gow, in 1882. This business was continued until 191 1, at
which date he took up general contracting. Mr. Campbell has laid the
waterpipe for the city of Muskegon and has been connected with many
other important undertakings in his line. He is a prosperous man, and
it should be remembered that he started his career with nothing in the
way of capital except his own strength and good judgment. At the present
time he is a stock holder in some of the leading financial institutions at
Muskegon. In 1879 Mr. Campbell married Miss Florence Cursant, a daughter of
James Cursant, a native of Michigan and a lumberman for many years
connected with sawmilling in this state. To Mr. and Mrs. Campbell have
been born four children : Edna has finished high school and is now the
wife of Fred Crosby, who is manager of the Crosby Transportation Com
pany in Milwaukee ; Ethel, who completed her school course and also was
a student at the National Park Seminary in Washington, D. C, married
John Lennox and lives in Minneapolis; Martha and Beatrice have both
completed the high school course and are living at home. Fraternally Mr.
Campbell is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks
and in politics is a Democrat. He has held all the city offices, including
that of mayor, in North Muskegon, and was twice elected mayor of the
city of Muskegon, in 1908 and 1909.
Si-iadrach Newman Vincent. On February 15, 1914, the commu
nity of Lapeer took pleasure in celebrating the eightieth anniversary of
the birth of Shadrach N. Vincent, whose long residence, prominence in
affairs and notable character, have well earned him the position of "grand
old man of Lapeer."

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 917
Shadrach Newman Vincent was born in Cold Brook, Herkimer county,
New York, February 15, 1834, son of Dr. Justice H. and Lucinda (Over
ton) Vincent. The parents were Herkimer county people, and of old
Quaker stock that lived in different generations on Long Island, in
Rhode Island and in Fall River, Massachusetts. Dr. Justice H. Vincent
was a successful chemist and physician, graduate of the New York Med
ical College, held the rank of Colonel in the First Rifle Regiment of New
York, and in the fall of 1835 moved to* Ohio, locating at Chagrin Falls
and during a long and active career gained a wide reputation for pro
fessional skill. He was often called to the city of Cleveland for con
sultation. Dr. Vincent and wife had twelve children, only two of
whom survives, the sister of the Lapeer octogenarian being Dr. Mary L.
Vincent of Chicago. Medicine and surgery has been a favorite pro
fession of the family and its close relations. # Besides the father, a brother-
in-law who practiced medicine was Dr. J. W. Harmon, an uncle to Gov
ernor Harmon of Ohio; two of Mr. Vincent's brothers and one sister
are also in the same profession.
Shadrach N. Vincent graduated in the literary course at the Asbury
Seminary at Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and subsequently completed the course
in the original commercial college conducted by Platte R. Spencer and
others at Cleveland, the latter being the originater of the Spencerian sys
tem of writing. The possession of unusual musical talent and a splendid
voice caused Mr. Vincent to spend several years in the study of music,
and he had four years' instructions by the Boston academy teachers in
the pursuit of that art. In the early fifties Dr. Wesley Vincent, eldest
brother of Mr. Vincent, had established himself as a practitioner of medi
cine and as a proprietor of the first drug store in Lapeer county. It was
the presence of this pioneer in Lapeer that brought Shadrach N. Vincent
at the age of twenty-one in 1855, to Lapeer, where his home has been
continuous now for nearly sixty years. He became assistant to his
brother in the drug business, and subsequently his successor, and is now
regarded as the oldest druggist in point of years in the business in the
state of Michigan. The firm is now known as S. N. Vincent & Son. Mr.
Vincent has lived to see Lapeer develop from a small hamlet in the midst
of the wilderness to a thriving arid prosperous city in the midst of a
landscape of farms and substantial industry.
The public service of Mr. Vincent is as interesting as his business
record. He was an appointee of President Lincoln to the office of post
master of Lapeer, having taken up his duties as postmaster in 1861, and
by continuous service for twenty-two years, until President Arthur re
tired from the White House, made a record for continuous service in a
postoffice which has probably been seldom excelled in the state of Mich
igan. Four terms were /Spent as mayor of Lapeer, and for twenty-five
years he was Republican chairman of the county committee. Another
part of his record that should be noted is that for forty years Mr. Vin
cent had charge of the local express office, and was the first agent at
Lapeer. Of prominent men past and present in Michigan Mr. Vincent has
had personal relations and friendship with nearly all. Among his closest
friends was the famous Zach Chandler. A leader in Republican politics,
his presence was often required at Washington and in the councils of his
party in the state, and he became well known to President Grant and
other great Republicans of the time. During his long and active career
in Lapeer Mr. Vincent has endeared himself to all the people of his
county. He has always been a leader in musical circles, possesses a fine
tenor voice even at his present age, and is the leader of the vested choir

918 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
in Grace Episcopal church. He possesses wonderful health, is still active
in business, and has a remarkable memory which is a storehouse for the
interesting events that have occurred in Lapeer and eastern Michigan
for the past sixty years.
Mr. Vincent has been twice married. In 1857 Miss Emma Turrill
became his wife. The Turrill family was from Vermont and one of the
first to settle in Lapeer county, its members becoming prominent as land
owners in the vicinity of Lapeer city Mrs. Vincent died in 1862 and her
body rests in Mt. Hope cemetery. By that marriage was born one son,
James T. Vincent, associated with his father in the drug business, a gradu
ate of the Lapeer public schools, the Military Academy and having at
tended for a time the University of Michigan. In the fall of 1865 Mr.
Vincent married Miss Mary L. Dean, who was born in Coburg, Ontario.
Of this union there were six children, the first four of whom are de
ceased. Florence Vincent has inherited the musical taste and talent of
ber father, and has distinguished herself as a pianist and was a member
of the faculty of the Conservatory of Music of Detroit. Shadrach Dean
Vincent, the youngest child, is now president of the Realty Board of
Portland, Oregon, and one of Portland's foremost business men and
citizens. Mrs. Vincent died April 27, 1914.
John E. Aitken. Probably no educational institution in Owosso has
a more practical relation to the business community than the individual
welfare of many, young men and women than the Owosso Business Col
lege, which under the management of Professor J. E. Aitken during the
past six years has been brought to the front rank of institutions of its
kind in Michigan. It has been the aim of its owner to make this as thor
oughly equipped and as complete in its every detail as any business col
lege in the state, and his success is beyond a matter of question. The
school is completely equipped for the teaching of expert bookkeepers,
stenographers, and business men and women in general. With fifteen
years of practical experience to fit him for his chosen profession, Pro
fessor Aitken ranks as one of the foremost educators in his line, and
keeps every department of his school up to the highest standard.
John E. Aitken was born in Norfolk county, Ontario, Canada, Sep
tember 17, 1872, and all his early ancestors were of Scotch stock, some of
the very first having been of the nobility. His parents were James L.
and Anna (Mackay-Burns) Aitken, his maternal grandfather having
been James Mackay-Burns. Both parents were born in Kincardine on
Forth, Scotland, where they were married. The father, who died in
1909, at the age of seventy-seven, lived in his native country until he
was twenty-three years of age, following first the trade of mason and
that of farmer. At the age of twenty-three hevcrossed the Atlantic and
settled in Norfolk county, Ontario, where he was a prosperous farmer
until his death. He died in Port Dover, in Norfolk county, and during
his active career filled several municipal offices. The mother was mar
ried at the age of eighteen, and her death occurred in Port Dover in 1908
at the age of seventy. Of the nine children, five are deceased, and John
E. Aitken was the eighth in order of birth. His early career was spent
in Canada, and his education was received from the district schools, and
also from a high school. From the Canada Business College at Hamil
ton, he was graduated in 1895, and began his practical commercial career
as a bookkeeper in a large wholesale firm of Chicago, after which he
was accountant in the Laconia National Bank at Laconia, New Hamp
shire. With this practical experience, he engaged in school work, being
connected with a business college at Laconia from 1899 to 1902. On

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 919
January i, 1903, Professor Aitken opened a business college at Green
ville, Michigan, and developed the enterprise and conducted it success
fully until June 3, 1907. The school was then sold, and Mr. Aitken bought
the Owosso Business College, which he has made one of the most pros
perous schools in this part of the state.
On December 2, 1899, at Boston, Massachusetts, Dr. George C. Lori-
mer pronounced the wedding ceremony for Professor Aitken and Miss
Abbie J. Porritt. Mrs. Aitken was born in Norfolk county, Ontario, a
daughter of William and Ruth (Waddle) Porritt, her parents now liv
ing at Port Dover. Mrs. Aitken was the fourth child in their family.
Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Aitken : Alexander Aitken,
born at Port Dover, and died in infancy ; Linden Keith, born February
2, 1903, and died June 8, 1904, at Greenville, Michigan;. Ruth Aitken,
born February 15, 1912, and died May 3, 1913, at Owosso; Rowena Gert
rude, the oldest of those still living, born June 15, 1905, at Greenville, and
now attending the Owosso schools ; Hilton Porritt, born at Owosso, Au
gust 5, 1907, and attending school; Anna Maxine, born at Owosso, July
4, 1909. Professor Aitken is a master mason, and affiliated with the Canadian
Home Circle. In politics he is a Republican, and he and his family wor
ship in the Congregational church. A man pf broad information, an ex
cellent educator, Professor Aitken is an enthusiastic believer in the great
ness of the state of Michigan, both as to its material resources, and its
splendid educational advantages, and fine citizenship.
George Willard Dickerson. One of the most popular officials of
Lapeer county is the present incumbent of the county clerk's office, George
Willard Dickerson, now serving his fourth term in that responsible posi
tion. His popularity has been gained not alone because of his pleas
ant personality, but by reason of the able and conscientious manner in
which he has discharged the duties of his office and the faithful manner
in which he has looked after the interests of the people whom he repre
sents. Mr. Dickerson is a product of Lapeer county, born in Almont
township, January 31, 1854, a son of Chilon Ford and Susan (Howder)
Dickerson, natives respectively of New York and Pennsylvania.
The Dickerson family is one of the old and honored ones of Lapeer
county, having been founded here in 1832 by the father of Mr. Dicker-
son, a shoemaker by trade. After spending four years here at his trade,
he returned to New York, where he had left his wife and three children,
and brought his family back to Almont, then little more than a scatter-
ring settlement in the wilderness. He was an honest, industrious work
man, and in spite of primitive conditions managed to give his children
good educations, so that his seven daughters all became school teachers
of Lapeer county. He died at the age of eighty-six years, hon^
ored and esteemed by all who knew him. Mr. Dickerson managed to
accumulate considerable farming property, although he never engaged
actively as a farmer himself. He took some interest in local political af
fairs, and his opinion had much to do in influencing others. In New York
he had received a military training in his youth, but saw no active serv
ice as a soldier, being rejected when he volunteered/because of a phys
ical disability. The mother passed away when sixty-three years.
Ten children -were born to Chilon F. and Susan Dickerson, of whom
seven are living at this time: Don, who is a resident of Arcadia, Ne
braska; Albina, who is a resident of Almont and the widow of James
Seaton; Helen, who is the wife of Thomas H. Waller, of Mayville, Mich
igan ; Mary, who is the wife of John Mackey, of Almont township ; Retta,

920 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
who is the wife of Leonard Lovelace, of Portland, Oregon ; Arabella, who
is the widow of Elisha Whitacker, of Metamora, Michigan; and George
Willard. George Willard Dickerson received good educational advantages, like
all of his parents' children, attending first the district schools of Al
mont township and later the Almont High school. A reliable youth, in
dustrious and energetic, he was but eighteen years of age when he was
given the responsibility of the management of his father's farm, of which
he had charge for four years, and at the end of that period embarked in
operations on his own account. At that time he purchased a farm in
Goodland township, which he continued to cultivate successfully until
January, 1906, proving himself an able agriculturist and excellent man
of business. In January of the year mentioned he came to Lapeer, and
this city has still been his home, although he still owns his Goodland town
ship property, which he rents.
Mr. Dickerson has long been interested in republican politics, and prior
to coming to Lapeer served four years as township clerk and nine years
as supervisor of Goodland township. In 1906 he became the candidate
of his party for the office of county clerk of Lapeer county, to which he
was elected by a good majority, and his work in that position proved so
satisfactory that he was re-elected in 1908, 1910 and 1912, and is now
serving his fourth term. Widely known in his county because of the
active part he has taken in campaigning, he has formed a wide acquain
tance throughout this part of the state, and his numerous friendships
have been strengthened by the desire he has shown to forward the coun
ty's best interests. Mr. Dickerson is a Blue Lodge and Chapter Mason
and a member of the Knights of Pythias.
Mr. Dickerson was married to Miss Julia North, who was born
in Lapeer county, daughter of William and Laura (Babcock) North,
pioneer settlers of Lapeer county and prominent farming people. Four
daughters have been born to this union, namely : Laura, who is the wife
of Dr. Adam Price, of Almont, a successful practicing physician ; Susan,
who is the wife of William H. McNally, of Imlay City, Michigan ; and
Mabel and Bernice, who reside at home with their parents.
Willis Earl Hall. Prominent among the more successful business
men of Owosso is Willis Earl Hall, a leading merchant and well known
banker of this city. He has risen gradually from a position of dependence
to one of absolute control and has proven his prowess in the field of
business to be one of no uncertain order. A native son of Owosso town
ship, he was born there on April 16, 1859, and is the son of Earl Simp
son and Angelin C. (Fox) Hall, both natives of Rochester, New York,
who came west in their young days and settled in Shiawasse county. The
father purchased government land in Owosso township and gave his at
tention to farm life as long as he continued in active business. He«erved
in the Civil war as a member of Company B, First Cavalry, Capt. Simp
son in command, and after three and a half years of service retired with
the rank of sergeant. He participated in many of the hard fought bat
tles of the war, and saw his full share of the discomforts and sufferings
attendant upon active military service. After the war, he returned to
private life in Owosso, and in the years of his activity there he held a
number of more or less prominent offices, among them those of township-
treasurer and clerk ; is now living retired in his pleasant home in Owosso,
at the advanced age of eighty-four years, while his wife is aged seventy-
five. They became the parents of four children. Willis Earl of this
review was the first born; Louis Crawford Hall is prominently known

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 921
as a grain dealer here ; Burt Chester Hall is a doctor, practicing in Pom
peii, in Gratiot county; and Myrtie married -Otis G. Waugh of Owosso.
Willis Earl Hall was given his early education in the schools of his
native township and he finished the Owosso high school at the age of
eighteen years. He remained on his father's farm until he was twenty-
three years of age, when he invested his savings of the five years past in
a dray line in Owosso. He sold the business soon after, and then began
his successful career in the merchandise business. He started as a
grocer's clerk, with C. C. Duff, of Owosso, continuing in that position for
three and a half years, when he resigned and entered the employ of F.
H. Bannister, of Owosso. Here he remained for more than five years,
and in the spring of 1891 he felt himself sufficiently familiar with the
grocery business to be able to do something for himself in that field. He
accordingly joined his brother, Louis, and they engaged in the retail
grocery business in a modest way, becoming successful and prosperous
in the enterprise. In 1900 they abandoned the retail field and engaged
in the wholesale grocery business, and under their wise and able manage
ment the business prospered most favorably. In 1904 the brothers sold
out to the National Grocer Company, a firm that operates widely through
out the state, and Mr. Hall was placed in charge of the business as its
manager, the stock being moved to Durand, Michigan. Mr. Hall man
aged the business at Durand for one year, when he resigned, returned to
Owosso, and here bought out the firm of Hooking & Son. He took his
eldest son, Earl F., into partnership with him in 1905, and they con
tinued successfully until 1910, when Mr. Hall purchased and refitted
the Grow block, on the corner of Bell and Exchange streets, and there
engaged in the department store business. His establishment is one of
the largest and best equipped of its kind in the city, and they utilize more
than 24,000 square feet of floor space and employ a force of ten sales
people in the operation of the business. Mr. Hall has thus demonstrated
his business ability as a retail and wholesale grocer as well as a depart
ment store owner and operator, in both those widely diverging lines prov
ing successful. Further comment upon his practical business skill is not
necessary. Mr. Hall is a man who has always devoted a deal of his time to the
business of promoting and upbuilding the city in its best features, and has
been a leader in public thought, where others have followed. In his serv
ice as a member of the Board of Public Improvements he did excellent
work for the city, and he has also served for two years as city treasurer,
with a further record for public service to his credit as having been a
member of the Owosso School Board for seven years. In all those offices
he proved well the character and quality of his citizenship, and showed
where he stood in matters relating to the common weal. As a man self-
made in those features that have contributed so largely to his business
success, he is a splendid example of what may be accomplished by that
man who applies the qualities of energy, honesty and perseverance to the
task in hand. In addition to his other business and financial connections,
Mr. Hall is vice president of the Citizens' Savings Bank since 1912, and
he has been a depositor of the bank since it was organized many years
ago. He has come into ownership of numerous fine pieces of property
in the city and county, his own home in Owosso being not the least of
them- He is a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and
with his family has membership in the Congregational church.
Mr. Hall was married on April 19, 1882, to Miss Caroline A. Langer-
wisch, who was born in Germany and came as a child to Michigan in
company with her parents, who were Frederick and Mary Langerwisch.

922 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
To Mr. and Mrs. Hall three children have been born. Earl' Frederick
Hall is the business associate of his father, and is one of the promising
younger business men of the city. Laura Wilhelmina Hall is a teacher of
English in the Owosso high scbool, and is a young woman of excellent
attainments. Helen L. Hall is the youngest of the family. The family is
one that is prominent and popular socially, and they have a wide circle of
friends in and about the county.
Lincoln Avery. During a long and successful practice as a lawyer
at Port Huron, since 1886, Mr. Avery has accepted many opportunities to
serve the public in office and as a private citizen, and has for many years
been one of the real leaders in that community.
Lincoln Avery was born at Elksbridge, Ontario, October 24, i860.
His parents, Anthony R. and Sarah (Killborn) Avery, the former a
native of Vermont, and the latter of Pickering, Ontario, had a large fam
ily of thirteen children of whom the Port Huron lawyer was twelfth in
order of birth. They all came to Michigan in 1861, locating in Grant
township of St. Clair county. The father was a farmer, a man of sub
stantial character, and lived on the old homestead until his death in 1896
at the age of eighty-three years. His wife died in 1890, when seventy-
four years old.
Lincoln Avery, who was about a year old when the family came to
Michigan, grew up on a farm, attended the common schools as a boy,
later received the advantages of the normal school and agricultural col
lege, from which he was graduated in 1888, and in 1886 graduated LL. B.
from the law department of the University of Michigan. In fhe same
years he was admitted he opened his office in Port Huron, and in a few
years had gained recognition as one of the rising attorneys, and has since
won as his share of business all the practice that he could well attend to.
He has also interested himself in business affairs, and is a director of the
First National Bank at Yale, of the Memphis State Bank and of the
Capac Savings Bank.
His relations with the community in a public capacity include service
as prosecuting attorney of St. Clair county from 1892 to 1896, as city
attorney of Port Huron from 1896 to 1899, and after resigning from the
latter office he was appointed collector of customs, and gave seven and a
half years administration to that position. His first appointment came
from President McKinley, and he was continued in office by President
Roosevelt. The Supreme Court of the state selected him as one of the
state board of law examiners, and his commission for that office expires
in 1918. Mr. Avery is a prominent Republican, has membership in the
county and state bar association, is a Knight Templar Mason and a mem
ber of the B. & P. O. of Elks, and his church is the Episcopal.
At Port Huron, in August, 1892, he married Miss Lizzie Northup, a
daughter of Dr. Meyer Northup, now deceased, and of a well known fam
ily. Mr. and Mrs. Avery are the parents of four children: Florence
Avery, born in 1893; Elizabeth Avery, born in 1895, and now a student
in the high school; Lincoln Avery, born in 1898; and Alexander Avery,
born in 1903.
Frank H. Smith. Head of the mercantile house of F. H. Smith, Mr.
Smith is one who has made a creditable ascent in the business career he
chose for himself and has long occupied a place of prominence at Fremont.
He began his career as a clerk, and by close attention to work and with
exceptional ability has promoted himself to a place of leadership among
the merchants in his section of Michigan.
Frank PI. Smith was born in Van Buren county, Michigan, Decem
ber 16, 1853, a son of Edwin A. and Mary A. Smith. The parents were

\77/y2^^L^<^. // j®u^z£?C

NO.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 923
both born, in Steuben county, New York, the father in 1825 and the mother
in 1828, After their marriage they came west and settled on a farm in
Van Buren county, Michigan. The father was a wagon manufacturer and
for many years bad a plant at Lawton, Michigan. He prospered in his
' affairs and accumulated considerable property before his death. He and his
wife were members of the Methodist church, and he passed all the chairs
in the lodge of Odd Fellows. A Republican, he served in the office of sheriff
of Van Buren county. Of the five children, all Of whom are living, Frank
H. was the fourth, and the others are: Eber A., who is a farmer at
Chappel, Nebraska ; Mary, who is the wife of Danf ord DeWaters, a retired
farmer at Aurora, Nebraska; DeWitt C, a carpenter, who lives in Aurora,
Nebraska, and George M., who is roadmaster for the Union Pacific Rail
way, with headquarters at Denver, Colorado.
Frank H. Smith received his early education in Paw Paw, Michigan,
graduating from the high school in 1878. After a brief experience as clerk
in a dry goods store, he went to the city of Chicago to broaden his busi
ness training, and was for five years connected with the great wholesale
and retail mercantile house of Carson, Pirie, Scott & Cornpany, being one
of the local staff for part of the time and on the road fOr the company
for a year or so. With this thorough training for the mercantile business
Mr. Smith came to Fremont in 1884 and bought a half interest in the
James H. Darling general store. For eighteen years that business was
successfully conducted under the firm name of Darling & Smith, at the
end of which time Mr. Smith bought all the interest, and has since con
tinued as sole proprietor. He has a very large and well stocked store, and
the quality of his goods and the service offered to his business organiza
tion are such that the name and good will of the business alone are worth
more than, some of the stocks of merchandise in establishments less ably
conducted and of briefer standing. Mr. Smith has acquired other interests,
being a stockholder in the Old State Bank of Fremont, is the owner of
both city and farm property, is a stockholder in the Fremont Canning
Company, and is one of the leaders in business affairs.
In 1884 he married Ella A. Ocoback, whose home was at Paw Paw.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith are members of the Congregational church, and he
has taken nearly all the degrees in both the York and Scottish Rite of
Masonry, being affiliated with the Lodge, the Royal Chapter, the Knights
Templar Commandery, the Council, the Scottish Rite Consistory and the
Mystic Shrine. He is a Republican and takes much interest in party
affairs. Roy Monroe Chrouch. One of Owosso's successful and rising
young attorneys and a citizen of more than ordinary merit is Roy Monroe
Chrouch, who has been located in practice in this city since 1916. His
professional experience has been of but few years duration thus far, as
his admission to the bar took place in 1908, but in the time that has
passed his rise has been of steady growth, so that his position in legal
circles is one of merit today. Mr. Chrouch was born in Monroe, Ogle
county, Illinois, on the 29th day of December, 1883, and is a son of Louis
B. and Estelle (Ostrom) Chrouch, the father a native of the state of
Michigan, and the mother born in Stockholm, Sweden.
Mr. and Mrs. Chrouch are now residents of Owosso, where they have
made their home since 191 1. They became the parents of two children,
the second one being Mabel Chrouch, now the wife of Joseph B. Day of
Owosso. Roy Monroe Chrouch gained his early education in the public schools
of Shiawassee county, whither the family had removed in his young boy
hood from Illinois, and in addition to his public school training, he was
given some years of special schooling by private tutors. In 1905 be began

924- HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
to read law in the offices of Brennan & Cooks, prominent in the legal
profession in Flint, Michigan, and on the 17th of April, 1908, he was
admitted to the bar. Mr. Chrouch began the practice of his profession in
Flint and there continued for a period of six months. His stay there was
ended by his desire to see something of the west and in the latter part of
1908 he left Flint and went to Colorado, where after a bit of prospecting
about, he settled in Colorado Springs. He was engaged in practice there
for two years, after which he returned to Michigan and took up his abode
in Owosso, here he has since been active and prominent in his profession.
He has built up a splendid legal practice and is counted among the most
successful attorneys of the place. While his success in all branches of the
law is good, he especially devotes himself to damage suits, in which he is
seldom known to lose for his client.
Mr. Chrouch is a progressive Republican, and in the campaign of 1912
he stumped his district in the interests of local option, making more than
fifty speeches in its behalf in Shiawassee county. He is undeniably a man
of prominence in the county, politically and in his profession, and he
enjoys the unqualified friendship of a host of friends in these parts.
Mr. Chrouch is a member of the State Bar Association, and his fra
ternal associations are confined to membership in the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, in which he is now holding the office of warden. He
and his wife are active members of the First Methodist Church, and he is
superintendent of the Sunday school as well.
On July 11, 191 1, Mr. Chrouch married Kathryn Bowen, of Sylvania,
Ohio, a daughter of Julius Bowen of that place, and to them have been
born a son, Richard Bowen Chrouch.
Mr. and Mrs. Chrouch have a pleasant home in Owosso, and as rep
resentative people of the community, they take a leading part in the social
activities of the city.
Albert P. Ryan. A well known and popular young citizen of St.
Clair county is Albert P. Ryan, present county clerk, who has lived in
that section of Michigan all his life, and has a large circle of Influential
friends in both city and country.
Albert P. Ryan was born on a farm in St. Clair county, October 31,
1882, a son of John W. and Margaret (O'Rourke) Ryan. His father, a
native of Cleveland, Ohio, was brought when three years of age to St.
Clair county, grew up on a farm, and after his marriage continued the
life of an agriculturist until he retired, and moved to the city of Port
Huron, where he is now living at the age of seventy-three. The mother.
who was born in London, Ontario, was two years old when she came with
her family to St. Clair county, and is now seventy-two years of age. The
parents celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in June, 1913, and
are arhong the olde'st wedded couples in St. Clair county. They were the
parents of nine sons and two daughters, all of whom are still living, and
the county clerk was the ninth in order of birth in this large household.
As a boy he attended the St. Joseph's parochial school, and on leaving
school became a plumber's apprentice. He was employed in that work
with William Gibson for ten years, and then with Jefferson G. Brown,
then county clerk, as his deputy. After four years he became deputy,
during which time he acquired a complete knowledge of all the details of
the office, and was himself nominated and elected county clerk in 1912,
beginning his term of official duties in 1913.
Mr. Ryan is an active Republican, and affiliates with the Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Columbus, and the German
Aid Society. He is a member of the Catholic church.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 925
At Port Huron, on November 18, 1903, he married Miss Mary Louise
Schwickert, daughter of John Schwickert, formerly engaged in the whole
sale cigar business at Port Huron, and now living in that city retired.
Mr. and Mrs. Ryan have, two children: Helen Ryan, both November 17,
1904, and died August 22, 1908; and Catherine M. Ryan, born April 9,
1906, and a student in St. Joseph's school. Mr. Ryan, outside of busi
ness, is especially fond of the recreation derived from water sports, owns
a fine launch and boat house on Lake Huron, and gets a great amount of
pleasure out of that form of wholesome recreation.
Mortimer Willson, M. D. For more than thirty years Dr. Willson
has practiced medicine in Port Huron. Though a native of Canada, he
has lived in Michigan for more than fifty years, and growing up on a
farm had to depend upon h^ own efforts for advancement into profes
sional life. Dr. Willson though he graduated in medicine nearly forty
years ago, has always been a student, and by private study, and by ex
tended clinical courses abroad has kept to the forefront of his profession.
Mortimer Willson was born at St. Thomas, Ontario, Elgin county,
August 2, 1847, a son of Christian S. and Anna (Willson) Willson. His
father was born in New Jersey, and the first American ancestor was
Robert Willson, who came to America as a follower of William Penn,
arriving in -the ship Welcome from Scarborough, England, in 1682. He
settled in New Jersey, and thus established the family from which Dr.
Willson has descended. Dr. Willson's father moved to Canada in 1836,
was for many years engaged in farming in Welland county, and from
there came to Michigan and located on a farm in Tuscola county, in 1861.
His active career continued until his death in 1907. He was born Novem
ber 17, 1813. The mother, who was born in 1818, was educated and mar
ried in Canada and died in 1858. There were seven children, the doctor
being fourth.
He was fourteen years old when the family moved to Michigan, and
his education begun in Canada was continued in the schools of Tuscola
county, in the Ypsilanti schools, and the University of Michigan. Dr.
Willson is a graduate of the medical department of the Detroit Medical
College with the class of 1874. The first two years were spent in practice
in Reece, Michigan, and he then was for five years in the state of Mis
souri. Returning to Michigan he located in Port Huron in 1881, and
with the exception of time taken for post-graduate work has devoted him
self continuously to the practice which has rewarded his ability. Dr.
, Willson went abroad during 1899-91, was a student in the University of
Berlin, in the great medical center of Vienna, and also in London, taking
courses of lectures, and attending the hospital clinics. Dr. Willson be
longs to the county and state medical societies, and the American Medical
Association, and for. five years was a member of the Council of the Mich
igan State Medical Society. Outside of. his profession he served as
director and treasurer of the Grand Trunk Elevators Company.
Dr. Willson in politics is an Independent Republican, and a Knight
Templar. At Carthage, Missouri, in 1879, he married Miss Lizzie Chase,
daughter of D. S. Chase. She died at, Port- Huron in 1884. There was
one child, Elizabeth May, who was born in 1882 and died in 1884. In
1889, Dr. Willson was married in Port Huron to Miss Jennie Jenkinson.
Mrs. Willson, who was a daughter of William Jenkinson, died in 191 1,
leaving one son, William Jenkinson Willson, born at Port Huron, Sep
tember 14, 1894, a graduate of the local high school, and now a student in
the University of Michigan.
Theodore Hammen. No longer is science in the household an un
familiar demand ; one by one the old methods are being replaced by mod-

926 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
ern customs that practically revolutionize former ways, and in large de
gree do away with the arduous tasks that in former years confronted
the housekeeper. Thus the modern laundry has become recognized as
one of the most helpful of enterprises, and conducted as the present ex
cellent conditions require, along sanitary lines, gives relief from hard
household labor, and in addition its results are more generally satisfac
tory than those ordinarily secured in the home. Among the modern laun
dry establishments of Michigan, one which has been developed from a
small beginning to large proportions is the City Laundry, founded by its
present proprietor, Theodore Hammen, a man who has attained a sub
stantial position among the men of his city solely through his own energy,
perseverance and well-directed effort. Mr. Hammen is a native son of
Port Huron, and was born May 4, 1863, a son of Nicholas and Christina
Hammen. His parents, natives of Germany, came to Michigan at an
early period in the history of the state, and here the father carried on
cabinetmaking throughout the period of his active career. Although in
moderate circumstances, he was an industrious workman, and through his
integrity and straightforward dealing and his good citizenship won the
respect of those with whom he came into contact.
Theodore Hammen was given ordinary educational advantages in the
public schools of Port Huron, and was seventeen years of age when he
first became connected with the laundry business.. He saved his earnings
until he was able to embark in business on his own account, and from
that time to the present his advancement has been steady and continued.
By 1900 his trade had grown to such proportions that it was found nec
essary to engage larger quarters, and be accordingly located in his pres
ent building, which is equipped with the most modern machinery known
to this line. The business is situated at Nos. 217-219 Butler street, com
mands a large trade all over the city, and requires the services of thirty-
five employes. In the management of this enterprise, Mr. Hammen has
given evidence of excellent business ability, foresight and good judgment,
and his progressive and energetic nature enables him to constantly in
crease the scope and volume of his operations. He has been very active
in fraternal circles, being a member of the Benevolent and Protective Or
der of Elks, the Knights of Pythias, the Woodmen of the World, the Mac
cabees, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Foresters and the German
Aid Society. He has interested himself in all matters pertaining to the
welfare of his native city, and for thirteen years has served as a member
of the board of estimates.
In 1885 Mr. Hammen was married to Miss Beatrice Gilbert, who was
born in the city of London, England, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William
Gilbert. To this union there bas come one son: Theodore Hammen,
Jr., born at Port Huron, Michigan, in 1888. He was reared and edu
cated in this city, and after his graduation from the Port Huron High
school entered his father's business, of which he has been manager since
1906. He married in June, 1910, Miss Mabel Struthers, of this city,
daughter of James Struthers, and two children have been born to them:
Shirley Lewis, born September 24, 191 1; and Theodore Hammen III,
born September 6, 1913.
Albert B. Carlisle. The career of Albert B. Carlisle is an excellent
illustration of the rewards which are attainable in a life of industry,
enterprise and perseverance. It proves that through his own well-directed
efforts a man may rise to a position of material independence and busi
ness prestige, even though at the outset of life he has been handicapped
by lack of capital or influence. Mr. Carlisle, now at the head of a large
and prosperous business, the Carlisle Creamery, at Port Huron, Michigan,
started out in life a poor boy, his chief assets being faith in self and a

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 927
strong determination to succeed. He is a native of Ontario, Canada,
and was born March 12, 1862, a son of William N. and Harriet (Ranier)
Carlisle. His parents, natives of the Dominion, came to the United States
in 1863 and located in St. Clair county, Michigan, where the father was
engaged as a ship and cabinet builder throughout the active years of his
life. His death occurred in 1907, when he was seventy-four years of
age," at Port Huron. Mr. Carlisle was one of the well-known figures in
the business and public life of that city for some years, serving for a
number of terms as a member of the city council and in the capacity of
superintendent of public works for a long period. He was married in
his native country to Harriet Ranier, who was born, reared and educated
there, and she died in Port Huron in 1912, being seventy-seven years of
age at the time of her demise.
After attending the public schools of Port Huron, to which city he
had been brought by his parents as an infant, Albert B. Carlisle became a
student in the high school, and upon leaving that institution secured em
ployment as a traveling salesman for a wholesale confectionery house.
He was thus engaged for five years and in the meantime carefully saved
his earnings, with the result that in 1885 he was able to enter the con
fectionery and creamery business on his own account as a manufacturer.
He necessarily began operations in a very modest way, and his first ca
pacity was but five gallons per day. The first five gallons of ice cream
made by him were shipped to Justice Brooks, of Minden City, but his
business rapidly grew as the excellence of his product became recognized,
and at this time his creamery capacity is 1,500 gallons per day, and he
manufactures 500 gallons of ice cream daily, this being shipped to all
parts of the state, and requiring the services of ten hands in its making.
Mr. Carlisle began his business activities with but little capital and en
countered many obstacles and difficulties in his upward climb, but a
resolute purpose and unfaltering energy has enabled him to overcome
these, while his business interests have increased in scope as the years
have gone by until today he is known as one of the substantial men of
Port Huron. Politically a Republican, he has stood so well in the con
fidence of his fellow-citizens that he has been "elected to various positions
of trust and responsibility, having been a member of the city council for
sixteen years, coroner of St. Clair county for eight years, and a member
of the board of supervisors for a like period. In all of his public offices
he has given the utmost satisfaction, and has demonstrated a desire to
discharge his duties fully and conscientiously. Mr. Carlisle's fraternal
connections are with the Knights of the Maccabees and the Woodmen of
the World. He is a Congregationalist and belongs to the first congrega
tion of that denomination in Port Huron.
In 1888, at Vassar, Michigan, Mr. Carlisle was married to Miss Mar
garet Mae Breeze, daughter of William N. and Anna Breeze, of a pioneer
family. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Carlisle: Lloyd H.,
born in 1892, married and in business with his father at Port Huron ;
Mildred, born July 31, 1898, attending the public schools; Lillian May,
born May 1, 1907; Robert, born in 1890, who died in 1897; and Ethel,
born in 1889, who died the same year.
William J. Branstrom. Although Mr. Branstrom has been in the
practice of law only a few years, he is recognized throughout Newaygo
county as one of the best of his profession. He has a thorough education
and practical experience, and has already taken his place as one of the lead
ers in affairs and a young man for whom is forecast a brilliant professional
and political future.
Born in Muskegon, Michigan, January 5, 1885, William J. Branstrom
is the second in a family of eigbt children of Isaac and Amelia S. (Lunber)
r0i. n— 19

928 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Branstrom. The parents were both natives of Sweden, the father
born in 1854 and tbe mother in 1857. Grandfather John Branstrom was
at one time a very wealthy land owner in Sweden. The parents came to
America in 1878 and were married in Muskegon in 1879. The father has
been engaged in the lumber industry and occupied a position as sawyer in
a mill at Muskegon, but now owns a fine farm in Oceana county, where
he and his wife reside. They are members of the Methodist church, and
the father is a Republican in politics.
William J. Branstrom received his early education in the Muskegon
high school and finished his literary training in the University of Chicago.
In June, 1909, he graduated from the Illinois College of Law at Chicago
' and was admitted to the bar in Illinois in that year. He at once began
practice in Fremont, and with his office in that city has built up a large
general practice. In 1910 Mr. Branstrom was elected prosecuting attor
ney of Newaygo county, and in 1912 his election came without opposition.
The first time he won the office over a man who had been continuously
prosecuting attorney for twenty-six years. Mr. Branstrom is also serving
as city attorney of Fremont and owns a well developed fruit farm near
Hesperia. On November 20, 1912, he married Margaret Cain, a daughter of
Frank and Ellen Cain. Her people are substantial farmers of Newaygo
county. Mr. Branstrom and wife are members of the Methodist church,
and he is affiliated with the Masonic Order, including the Royal Arch
degrees, and with the Independerit Order of Odd Fellows. While in
college he was an Alpha Kappa Phi.
H. Kirk White. The Press-American of Owosso, of which under
its present combination title, Mr. White was the founder and is the pres
ent owner and publisher, has a unique distinction in Shiawassee county,
as the only Democratic daily published in that strongly Republican com
munity. Moreover it is a flourishing enterprise, gets its share of the
business, furnishes the news, is an excellent advertising medium for the
local merchants, and exerts no small influence in social, civic and political
affairs. Mr. White as an editor has a vigorous utterance, and his editorial
paragraphs are frequently quoted in the state's press. When the need
arises, be knows how to be controversial, and makes his sentences count,
and his opinions are always marked by a sanity of judgment and broad
mindedness, which makes them good reading even among those opposed
to the political principles of the paper.
H. Kirk White was born June 21, 1863, in what was then the village
of Owosso. He represents one of the early families in this section of
Michigan, and his loyalty for the locality is increased from the fact that
he still resides in the old White homestead in which he was born, a resi
dence erected by his father, the late Erastus E. White. The maiden name
of his mother was Anna A. Mather. The parents were natives of Ver
mont, and of Massachusetts respectively and of old New England stock.
Their settlement in Michigan was in the year 1856, at which time they
founded a home at Owosso. The elder Mr. White in association with two
brothers established a planing mill, and afterwards became prominent as
a .manufacturer of tables, being one of the most successful of the early
manufacturers of Owosso. He retired from active business affairs in
1 881. Erastus White, with his wife and his brothers, Philetus' D. and
Wellington Whjte, organized and were constitutent members of the First
Baptist Church, in which they all continued as active workers and sup
porters. Erastus White was a fine type of pioneer citizen, and besides
his business was honored in official capacities, and was always a leading
Republican. Both parents are now deceased, and their two children were
the Owosso publisher, the younger, and his sister Lucy Louise White,

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 929
now the wife of William S. Shelton, formerly a resident of Owosso, but
now in Seattle, Washington.
Mr. H. Kirk White was well educated, and from the grammar and
high schools of Owosso entered the State University with the class of
1888, being graduated Bachelor of Philosphy in that year. His first work
was as a teacher, and he served as superintendent of public schools at
Fenton, Michigari, from 1888 to 1890. In 1890 he bought the Owosso
Press, arid continued to publish it as a weekly paper until 1900. He then
bought the Shiawassee American, a daily and weekly, and combining the
two names in the present form has since successfully published the Press-
American as a daily; the weekly issue having been discontinued. His
newspaper is not only successful from the standpoint of influence, but
also as a business proposition, and Mr. White stands alone in the history
of Shiawassee county journalism as a fearless Democratic editor and
publisher, who for more than twenty years has been able to maintain a
successful paper.
Mr. White has served one term as school director in Owosso, and is
well known in civic and social circles. He is past commander of the
Knights Templar Masons, and for twenty years has been a trustee in the
Baptist church which was founded by his parents and uncles. His efforts
have been very beneficial in promoting the welfare of the Democratic
party. On June 27, 1889, Mr. White married Miss Ida Belle Durkee, a
native of Saginaw, Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. White are the parents of
one son Harold Kirk White, a graduate of the local high schools, and now
a student in the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.
Samuel O. Aikman. A business career characterized by steady ad
vancement and ultimate success has placed Samuel O. Aikman in a posi
tion of importance among the substantial men of Port Huron. When he
came to this city, some thirty-five years ago, he was possessed of little
capital save that represented by his ambition, his self-confidence and his
determination, but these were sufficient to. form the nucleus for what has
rince proven one of the community's flourishing enterprises, the Aikman
Bakeries Company, of which he was the organizer and developer, but he
disposed of the plant in" about 1908. Like many of the best business men
of this part of Michigan, Mr. Aikman is a Canadian, having been born
at Paris, County Brant, Ontario, April 1, 1854, a son of Richard and
Mary A. Aikman, both natives of the Dominion. The family came to
the United States at a very early day, settling at Port Huron as pioneers
and here the father passed away. The mother survived some time and
died at Frewsburg, New York.
Samuel O. Aikman received an ordinary education in the public schools
of Canada, and there learned the trade of baker in his youth. After com
ing to Port Huron he was engaged at that occupation for a time, and in
1879 embarked in business on his own account. His start was modest;
his trade was so confined that he was able without assistance to fill his
orders, but the excellence of his goods- soon began to attract attention,
and as bis trade increased he added to his stock, moved into larger quar
ters and began to find that he needed help to carry on the business. This
has steadily developed and at the present time Mr. Aikman employs a
force of twenty men. In 1901 he became the founder of the Aikman
Bakeries Company, incorporated, and in 1903 started the Port Huron
Bread Company, which is' now one of the model industries of -its kind in
the state. In tbis business there are twenty people employed and the
trade expends throughout the surrounding country. The bakery is
equipped with the latest machinery and accessories, only the finest goods
are used in the preparation of the famous Aikman bread, and close at
tention is paid to maintaining sanitary conditions and to observing the

930 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
laws of hygiene. As the directing head of this large enterprise, Mr. Aik
man has demonstrated business ability of a high order. In his political
views he is a Republican, has served as a member of the board of as
sessors, and is acting in the capacity of city commissioner, being one of
the first elected to this office under the commission form of government.
He is popular in fraternal circles as a member of the Masons, the
Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
In 1881, at Lexington, Michigan, Mr. Aikman was united in marriage
with Miss Fannie E. Bennett. Three children have been born to Mr.
and Mrs. Aikman, namely: Earl H, born at Port Huron, August 15, 1883,
a well known business .man of Port Huron and manager of his father's
establishment, married Miss Ethel M. Welsh of this city, and has three
children, — Dorothy, attending school, Marguerite and Earl J. ; Harry
S., born February 6, 1886, in Port Huron, educated in the city schools,
and now in business with his father, married Miss Minnie Meringo, of
this city, and has two children, — Eleanor and Clarence; and Clarence,
who died at the age of three years. Mr. Aikman's place of business is
located at Nos. 1301-1313 Eleventh Street.
Jesse Obed Parker, M. D. Both in the broad field of citizenship and
in devotion to the interests of his profession, Dr. Parker has had a notable
career during his years of residence in Owosso and Shiawassee county.
Probably to no other profession than medicine are equal opportunities
for civic leadership presented. Succeeding to the old-time individualism
of the local doctor, the modern physician has become an important factor
of social service engaged in the unostentatious performance of duties that
affect the general welfare. Thus many leading physicians of today are
devoting themselves in a large measure to the prevention of disease as
well as its cure. They are exerting all the force of their authority to
wards persuading people to use better methods and are spending their
time and money in the endeavor to find more satisfactory methods of
handling disease and to make the general public realize that in their own
hands lies the prevention of a great deal of human misery. It is with this
class of progressive physicians and surgeons that Dr. Parker has been
allied during his residence at Owosso, but he has been almost equally
prominent as a vital factor in the general work of civic betterment in
Owosso with which Dr. Parker has been identified as a spirited worker
and leader. Dr. Parker came out of medical college with the young
American's desire to do something not only for himself but for his
country. In the field of his own profession he found a generous success,
and has also reserved both time and energy for the promotion of other
things which he considered essential to the well-being of his city and
county. The following paragraphs give a brief outline of his career, and
indicate some of the more tangible objects of endeavors, while it must be
left to the judgment of the readers to determine the energy and vigorous
public spirit which have characterized him in all his labors and activities.
A native son of Michigan, Dr. Jesse Obed Parker was born at Mason,
August 15, 1876, a son of Buell and Irene L. (Snyder) Parker. His par
ents were natives of Ohio, who came to Micbigan and settled at Mason
when young people. The paternal grandparents were natives of Sheffield,
England, and Grandfather Samuel Parker was a scholar, a man of educa
tion, and possessed a strong influence in every community of his residence.
He was tbe founder of the American branch of the family. The paternal
grandmother of the doctor was a native of Germany. On the mother's
side, his grandfather was John Snyder, who was a native of America, and
who married a young woman of Pennsylvania Dutch stock, her given
name being Emma, and she is still living in advanced years at Grand
Lodge, Michigan.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 931
The only son of his parents, Dr. Parker had the advantage of liberal
opportunities for education. He graduated from the Mount Pleasant high
scbool in 1895, and from the medical department of the University of
Michigan, with the class of 1899. For one year he was on the surgical
staff of the University Hospital and in 1899 graduated in the class of
surgery. His first practice began in July, 1899, when he took charge of
the large professional business of Dr. Burke, at LaSalle, Illinois, Dr.
Burke having been absent for six months on an extended trip to Scotland,
leaving the young surgeon in entire charge of his clientele. Previously
Dr. Parker had registered under Dr. P. E. Richmond, his father-in-law,
and spent four months in practice at the town of Weideman, Michigan.
He then returned to the University to finish his college course.
In January, 1900, Dr. Parker with his family located at Owosso. He
went there as a stranger, but in a short time, due. to his pronounced
ability as a physician and surgeon, and his ready public spirit, he had
built up a large private practice, and in the extent and value of his patron
age stands second to none of the physicians and surgeons of Shiawassee
county. At the same time he became prominent both socially and in civic affairs.
Possessing exceptional gifts in a musical way, especially as a singer, Dr.
Parker has been identified with the choir organizations in several
churches, and has taken the lead in the musical activities of the city.
Largely due to his work and leadership, several high-class operas have
been produced by home talent, the profits from the entertainment going to
fraternal benefits. Dr. Parker has also delivered many lectures, especially
on the White Slave Traffic, both in this county and elsewhere.
The citizens of Owosso are especially grateful to Dr. Parker for his
work in connection with the local military organization. In 1900 he be
came a private in Company H of the Michigan National Guards at
Owosso, retiring to private life in 1903. Then in 1909 he was elected and
commissioned captain of the same company, serving one year as its chief
commanding officer. While captain of the Owosso Military Company, he
succeeded in securing from the local citizens of Owosso an appropriation
to purchase an armory site, and then through his further efforts the state
appropriated fifteen thousand dollars to build an armory. This appro
priation came in 1913, and the armory will be erected at the foot of Ex
change Street. The building of the armory is only the culmination of
the enthusiastic efforts of Dr. Parker in behalf of the military organiza
tion. Almost as soon as he took command of the company, he brought
about a great change in the financial condition of the organization which
at that time had suffered many discouragements and was greatly in debt.
In the encampment of the National Guards at Ludington, in 191 1, the
Owosso Company was the largest band of soldiers that ever left this city.
Three months after taking command Dr. Parker' by diligent discipline and
practice had created more expert rifle shots than had ever been produced
before in the history of the company. He then set to work in cooperation
with the city council and with the general public and eventually bonds
were issued to purchase the site for the armory. In March, 1914, he was
again made captain of Company H, preparatory to the expected complica
tions with Mexico. Since 1906, Dr. Parker has very successfully specialized
in the branches of electro-therapeutics and Xi-ray work. He is the only
practitioner in these lines at Owosso, and has splendid roomy offices and a
laboratory excellently equipped with all modern appliances for his special
line of work. Dr. Parker is a member of the Shiawassee county and the
State and American Medical societies, and is an ex-president of the local
society. Fraternally he is past commander of Owosso Knights Templar
Commandery No. 49, and also belongs to the Moslem Temple of the
Mystic Shrine at Detroit. He is also a member of the Elks, which lodge

932 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
presented him with a life membership for the assistance given in raising
funds for their temple.
During his second year as a resident of Owosso, Dr. Parker received
appointment as health officer. In that connection he had a notable part in
safeguarding his home city during an epidemic of smallpox. This disease
raged both in the city and county, and it was only by the vigorous efforts
of the health officer and his influence in securing the cooperation of local
citizens that the disease was kept well within bounds. As a result of his
campaign, a detention hospital was secured, and all the smallpox patients
were at once isolated. Also compulsory vaccination of school children
was adopted, and the salutary effects of that campaign are still felt in
Owosso. In 1893 Dr. Parker married Miss Imogene Richmond, a native of
Mount Pleasant, Michigan. They are the parents of one daughter, Felice
Gray Parker, now a senior in the Owosso high school. Miss Felice pos
sesses exceptional talent in music, is a pianist of both technical and artistic
resources, and the chief desire of Dr. Parker is to give her a thorough
musical education.
In politics Dr. Parker is a Republican of the old party stamp, and as
yet has manifested no evidence of ambition or desire for public honors.
He and his wife and daughter enjoy the comforts of one of the finest
homes in Owosso, located at the corner of West Olive and Adams Streets.
Each year he and his family enjoy their vacation in travel to distant parts
of the country, and they are a family whose interests comprise the best
things in life, and who have a cultured appreciation of such things.
The distinguishing characteristic of Dr. Parker may be summed up
in his own words : "I hope to see the day arrive when our government
will assume the responsibilities of the public well-being in so far as to
have district appointments of physicians who shall be paid through the
government for attendance upon all patients, thus providing the best skill
for the poor as for the rich, and best of all relieve the physician of the
thought that we live through the suffering misfortunes of our brothers."
George E. Yokom. When George E. Yokom took his place among
the business men of Port Huron, he possessed little save a set of electri
cal tools and a working knowledge of repair work as applied to electrical
apparatus and bicycles. These, with the opportunities which the era of
automobile construction then opening in Michigan afforded, with the
skill which his energetc nature supplied, and with the sturdy self-reliance
which he had gained from making his own way from boyhood, enabled
him to achieve, through a long period of faithful labor in his chosen
line, financial independence. The modest little establishment has grown
until today it is one of the largest of its kind in the state, and its trade
has developed and broadened in scope and volume, the establishment
now standing as a substantial monument to the energy and perseverance
of its proprietor.
Mr. Yokom is a native son of Port Huron, and was born December
•22, 1872, his parents being Rev. William and Mary Jane (Smith) Yokom,
natives of Ontario, Canada. There they were married, but at an early
date came to Michigan, the father being a well known Methodist minister
with charge of the Port Huron church. He was later transferred to
Minnesota, but when his health failed he returned to Canada and located
at Arkona, where he was a member of the Conference at the time of
bis death, in 1874, when only thirty-four years of age. The mother still
survives and makes her home at Port Huron, being now in her seventy-
first year. There were five children born to Mr. and Mrs. Yokom, of
whom three are deceased, the survivors being: Frank, who is engaged
in business in Detroit; and George E.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 933
George E. Yokom was the youngest of his parents' children, and
was but two years of age when his father died. Pie was given good
educational? advantages, however, attending the graded and high schools
of Port Huron, and following his graduation from the latter took up
the trade of electrician. This he followed in connection with bicycle
repairing at a time when the universal use of wheels made this a pro
lific field, and when he was but twenty years of age was the proprietor
of a modest business venture of his own. The advent of the automobile
gave Mr. Yokom the opportunity he had been seeking, and in this new
field he at once met, with success. His first connection with the new
vehicle was as a repair man, but he soon branched out into the sale of
cars, and in 1908 bought the building which he now occupies and added
one of the finest and most completely equipped garages in the city. He
handles Overland, Cadillac and Hudson cars, in which he has a large sale,
and a full and up-to-date line of accessories. His garage has a floor
space of 150x200 feet, and is well patronized. Mr. Yokom is not only
widely known in the trade, but is one of the most popular business men
of the city. The success which has come to him is well-merited, as it
has been achieved solely through his own efforts. As- a youth he was
a newsboy for four years, and also a messenger boy for the Western
Union, under David McCarrion.
Mr. Yokom is independent in his political views, giving his support
to the man whom he considers best. fitted for the office at stake rather
than to the accepted choice of any particular party. He is well known
in fraternal circles and is a valued member of the local lodges of the
Woodmen of the World, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks
and the Knights of Pythias. His place of business is located at Nos. 1005-
1019 Military street.
Heman Bacon Sturtevant. Among Shiawassee county business
men none stands higher for practical achievements for the liberal use of
means and efforts in behalf of the community and his friends, and for
'scrupulous integrity, than Heman B. Sturtevant, now of Owosso. Mr.
Sturtevant is a veteran of the Union army, began his career as a poor boy
after the war, taught school, did farm work, and experienced all the ups
and downs of business life. His home has been in Owosso for the past
thirteen years, and the greater part of his active business experience was
at Sherman. Heman Bacon Sturtevant was born in the town of Waybridge, Mad
ison county, Vermont, May 30, 1840, a son of Milo and Elizabeth (Taft)
Sturtevant, both natives of Vermont and substantial farming people. His
father died at the age of fifty-eight years on January 10, 1865, and the
mother passed away at the age of forty-four on March 26, 1863, both now
resting in the cemetery in their native town. There were six children:
Helen, died at the age of fifteen ; Ethan Allen Sturtevant, who graduated
from Middlebury College of Vermont, with the degree of B. A. and later
from the law department of fhe University of Michigan, built up a large
practice in Saginaw, from which he was finally compelled to retire on
account of failing health, and then returned to his native state and died
at the age of forty years, his body now lying beside those of his parents
in Waybridge township. The third among the children is the Owosso
business man. Freeman D. Sturtevant, who was liberally educated, spent
many years as a teacher in Wexford county, Michigan, and now lives
retired. William S. Sturtevant of Owosso, is manager of one of the
farms owned by his brother Heman. Walter is a farmer in Wexford
county. Heman B. Sturtevant has lived in Michigan since he was twenty years
of age. From the fall of 1859, until 1862, he was a student in the Normal

934 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
School at Ypsilanti. In the latter year he was one of the one hundred
students who composed Company E of the Seventeenth Michigan Infantry",
that company being entirely a student body. It fought through the Mary
land campaign, in the battles of Antietam and South Mountain, and Mr.
Sturtevant continued a soldier until poor health gave him his honorable
discharge. Returning to Ypsilanti, he spent two years in teaching, and
then began farming on shares in Livingston county. His first accumula
tion of capital was gained while farming, and with his savings he came to
Owosso in the fall of 1867, and opened a small stock of groceries. The
enterprise was abandoned after a year on account of his health, and selling
out his interests in Owosso, he moved to Sherman in Wexford county. A
little later the citizens of that county elected him on the Republican ticket
to the office of county clerk and register of deeds, and his capable admin
istration of those offices continued for six years through three terms. On
retiring from office, Mr. Sturtevant engaged in the general merchandise
and lumber business, and continued a resident at Sherman for thirty-two
years. It was in that city that the foundation of his prosperity was laid.
Always interested in public affairs, while there he served as justice of the
peace, throughout the entire period of his residence of thirty-two years,
and for many years was a supervisor. Among the vicissitudes experi
enced by Mr. Sturtevant in his business career were two disastrous fires,
which occasioned him very heavy losses. In connection with his mercan
tile enterprise at Owosso, he owned and operated sawmills, and still has
large interests in Sherman and vicinity.
In 1897 Mr. Sturtevant operied a lumber yard in Owosso. The busi
ness iricreased rapidly, and caused him to take up his permanent resi
dence in the city in 1902. By 1907 the lumber business had reached such
proportions that in connection with other enterprises its management was
too much for Mr. Sturtevant's individual attention, and William J. Blood
then became a partner, the firm now being Sturtevant, Blood Lumber
Company, one of the, leading companies in Shiawassee county. In later
years Mr. Sturtevant has given his personal attention and much of his
time to the cultivation of two fine farms. One of these farms is located
seven miles from the city, but within half an hour's ride by automobile.
The life of the out of doors, and especially farm activities afford Mr.
Sturtevant his chief recreation, and he is at the same time a very busi
ness like and energetic farmer, and makes it profitable as well as pleasant.
A business leader whose efforts have always been given to promot
ing the interests of his home locality, Mr. Sturtevant is now president
of the Business Men's Improvement Association. This association has
brought a number of industrial concerns to Owosso, and its efforts are
being generously directed toward a further expansion of the commer
cial developments of the city. In early years his politics was Republican,
but for a long time he has been a Democrat, but has never sought office.
For eight years he represented his ward as alderman, and was elected in
the face of a large Republican majority in that ward. Among other busi
ness interests, Mr. Sturtevant is director of the State Savings Bank of
Owosso. Fraternally he is a Mason and belongs to the Grand Army of the Re
public ; both be and his wife are active in the Congregational church, and
take a prominent part in social affairs.
Mr. Sturtevant was first married in November, 1863, to Miss Rhoda
Dunn, a native of Livingston county, Michigan, and a daughter of Hillier
Dunn. Her death occurred in Owosso in 1905, and she is buried in the
Oakwood cemetery. The present Mrs. Sturtevant was before her mar
riage, Mrs. OUie B. (Ford) Stratton. With no children of his own, Mr.
Sturtevant has adopted and reared and educated two young women.

cuu^r.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 935
Asenath M. Sturtevant, who was liberally educated in Lake Forest and
Albion College, is now the wife of Vincent C. Wall of Sherman, Mich
igan. Rhoda A. Sturtevant, graduated from the Albion Normal and the
University of Michigan with the degree of Master of Arts, and now
lives with her foster parents in their splendid home at 809 West Oliver
Street, the finest residence thoroughfare in Owosso.
Mr. Sturtevant has done much in many ways . for the upbuilding of
Owosso and his former home town of Sherman. A man of means, he
could have acquired great wealth, but his liberality has been as promi
nently characteristic as his ability to make money. Many individuals and
families have been helped by him, always quietly, but substantially, his
charity and benevolence are little known, except among their recipients.
Mr. Sturtevant in spite of early years of ill health is a well preserved and
vigorous gentleman, active both in mind and body, and though now
past the age of three score and ten is still a leader in affairs.
Charles A. Hauser. It has been given to Mr. Hauser to gain marked
prestige as one of the representative contractors and builders of Michi
gan's second city and he has been concerned in the erection of many of
the fine buildings of Grand Rapids, which has been his home from his
boyhood days and in which he has achieved success through his own well
directed efforts. He is president Of the strong and influential corporation
known as the Hauser-Owens-Ames Company, which is one of the foremost
in the contracting and building business in Michigan, and he finds a due
measure of satisfaction and pride in the fact that his native state has
given him ample opportunities for fhe achieving of large and worthy
success. ¦ -
In the quaint and thriving little German town of Westphalia, Clinton
county, Michigan, 'Charles A. Hauser was born on the 2d of February,
1855, and the writer of this brief sketch takes special pleasure in prepar
ing the same by reason of the fact that he himself, as a native of St. Johns,
the judicial center of Clinton county, recalls as one of the grateful experi
ences of his childhood days a visit to the village of Westphalia, a settle
ment made up of the sturdiest of German stpck. Mr. Hauser is a son of
Hubert and Mary (Bohr) Hauser, who were numbered among .the sterling
pioneers in the little German settlement in Clinton county, the father hav
ing been born in Wurtemberg, Germany, in 1829, and the mother having
been born in Prussia in 1833. Hubert Hauser came to Michigan in the
year 1849, and in Detroit he formed the acquaintance of Miss Mary Bohr,
who became his wife in the year 1851. He was a skilled artisan as a brick
and stone mason, and his life was marked by industry and by inflexible
integrity of purpose. Within a few years after his^marriage he joined
the colony of his countrymen at Westphalia, Clinton county, but in 1855
he removed with his family to Grand Rapids, where he* followed the work
of his trade for many years and where he gained a fair measure of pros
perity through his indefatigable efforts. He was one of the venerable and
honored pioneer citizens of Grand Rapids at the time of his demise, which
occurred in December, 1912, his devoted wife having passed away on the
1 ith of November, 1891. Both were devout communicants of the Catholic
church and Mr. Hauser held membership in the St. Joseph Society. He
was a son of Karl Hauser, who immigrated with his family to America in
1849 and who passed the remainder of his life in Detroit, Michigan, his
trade having been that of brick mason. Michael Bohr immigrated from
Prussia to America and settled in Detroit, whence he later removed to
Westphalia, Clinton county, where his death occurred; he was a tailor
by trade and was the maternal grandfather of him whose name initiates
this review, the latter being thus a representative of Michigan pioneer
stock on both the paternal and maternal sides.

936 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Charles A. Hauser was an infant at the time of the family removal
to Grand Rapids, where he was reared to manhood and where he has con
tinuously maintained his home. Here he was afforded the advantages of,
a Catholic parochial school and of the grammar school department of the
city schools. At the age of thirteen years he entered upon a practical
apprenticeship to the trade of brick mason, under the direction of his
father, and he continued to work as a journeyman at his trade for many
years, ln 1890 he engaged in the contracting business, as senior member
of the firm of Hauser & Hayden, which later was amplified and became
known as Plauser, Hayden & Owen. The business of the firm met with
steady and substantial expansion, owing to the able service given in its
every contract, whether great or small, and to meet the demands placed by
the large and important business it was found expedient, in 1901, to effect
the incorporation of the present Hauser-Owen-Ames Company, which
bases its operations on a capital stock of $125,000, of which $91,000 are
paid in. The company, of which Mr. Hauser is the president, is the most
important of its kind in Grand Rapids, and here Mr. Hauser, under this
and the former partnership relations, has been identified with erection of
many large, buildings, including the Michigan Trust building, the Young
Men's Christian Association building, the Empress theater, the new build
ing of the Peninsular Club, and the Keeler office building of seven stories,
the two last mentioned having been completed in 1914. Many other fine
structures in Grand Rapids stand as evidences of the technical and execu
tive ability of this company, and outside of the city the corporation has
completed such important contracts as the erection of the plant of the
Kalamazoo Sugar Company, in the city of Kalamazoo, and the Plainwell
factory of the Michigan Paper Company. The company has a large tract
of land with the best of railroad facilities, and this Grand Rapids property
is used for the storage of building material utilized by_ the company.
Mr. Hauser is recognized as one of the most broadgauged and pro
gressive citizens of Grand Rapids and takes a vital interest in all that
touches the welfare of the city. His genial personality has won to him a
host of friends, in both business and social circles, and be has made definite
contribution to the material and civic advancement of his home city. In
politics he is a stanch Democrat, and he served four years as a member of
the city board of aldermen. For five years he was a member of the board
of police and fire commissioners, and in 19 12 he was a candidate in the
Democratic primaries for mayor of Grand Rapids. Mr. Hauser is past
exalted ruler of the local lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order
of Elks and is affiliated also with the Knights of Pythias. He has marked
musical talent and is interested in the furtherance of musical art in his
home city, where he was formerly a member of the orchestra of Power's
opera house.
In the year 1882 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Hauser to Miss
Rosa W. Smith, who was born and reared in Grand Rapids, where her
father, the late John Smith, was a pioneer merchant, having here been
engaged in the retail grocery business for many years.
Fred Merrill Crowe. Two very enterprising Michigan business
men are represented in the Crowe Implement Company of Owosso. Fred
M. Crowe, the president of this corporation, had a very early ambition
to succeed and- excel in business, and it was through the route of com
mercial salesman that he satisfied many years of energy, and gained a
success equaled by comparatively few of the great army of traveling
men. At a comparatively recent date, he determined to retire from the
road, and has since been devoting all his energies to the sale of farm im
plements and supplies at Owosso. The secretary and treasurer of the

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 937
Crowe Implement Company is W. LeRoy Crowe, who is an Owosso busi
ness man of long standing, having started in here as a delivery boy for
one of the local firms many years ago, and having marched steadily to
ward larger responsibility and prosperity. The firm have a large estab
lishment on east Main Street in Owosso, and handle vehicles, harness,
robes, blankets, gasoline engines, and all kinds of farm supplies. The
Crowe Implement Company when bought by the Crowe brothers suc
ceeded the'Gerow Implement Company, the oldest and largest firm of the
kind in Shiawassee county.
Fred Merrill Crowe was born in Owosso, March n, 1868. His par
ents were William and Jane Ramsey Crowe. His father was a native
of the north of Ireland, while the mother was born in Massachusetts.
William Crowe on coming to America settled* at North Egremont, Mas
sachusetts, and after his marriage came west and found a home on a
farm in Middlebury township of Shiawassee county. There the father
lived and prospered for many years. In 1870 he took charge of a large
section of construction work for the' Michigan Central Railway, and con
tinued it for six years. Later he received appointment as superintend
ent of the county farm of Shiawassee county, and his administration of
that county institution was one of the most efficient in the history of this
county. In 1885 the senior Crowe moved with his family to California,
which state remained-his home for two years. On returning, to Owosso,
William Crowe lived retired, having in the meantime accumulated a good
competence, and while enjoying the high esteem of a broad circle of ac
quaintances, his death occurred February 2, 1913, in Owosso, at the age
of eighty-eight years. The mother died in 1887, and both parents are
buried in Oak Hill Cemetery at Owosso. The father was for many years
affiliated with the Masonic Order. Of the four children, one is now de
ceased, and the others are : William LeRoy Crowe, the oldest, Emma,
wife of Albert Clemens, of Los Angeles, California, and Fred M.
Fred M. Crowe spent his boyhood in Owosso, had a grammar and
high school education, and at the age of eighteen began to earn his own
living, as a clerk in the store of Murray & Terbush, dealers in clothing
and shoes. After several years as a clerk his experience enabled him to
get work as a traveling salesman. Perhaps few young men have been
so fully possessed with the desire to get a thorough commercial training
and in line with this ambition he utilized every opportunity to increase
his skill and ability. His first firm was the McClure & Eggert shoe manu
facturing company of Buffalo, New York, for whom he sold goods eight
years. Mr. Crowe not only sold big bills of goods every year, but had
the disposition to save, and with his accumulated capital, he finally re
turned to his native city, and opened a retail shoe business with his
brother LeRoy. Two years later, LeRoy retired, selling his interests to
August Wesner, at which time the firm was changed to the name of
Crowe- Wesner Shoe Company. Two. years later, Fred M. Crowe, was
again actuated by the desire to get out and sell goods from samples.
Selling out to his partner, he accepted an offer to go to St. Louis, with
all expenses paid, and arriving there the Hamilton Brown Shoe Com
pany assigned to him the territory of the states of Michigan and In
diana. Mr. Crowe thus became the sole representative of the largest shoe
factory in the United States in those two states, and quickly had a large
business developed under his energetic management. After three years,
he met a fate common to many traveling men, and in a serious railroad
accident was incapacitated. His successful record for the Hamilton
Brown Company was rewarded by the continuation of his regular salary
for nearly a year, until Mr. Crowe absolutely refused to accept the

938 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
compensation any longer, since he could not conscientiously accept what
he did npt earn. Returning to his native county, and buying a farm in
Shiawassee county, Mr. Crowe lived quietly until he was able to go on
the road again. For three years he bad the state of Michigan as his
territory, representing the Robert Johnson Rand Shoe Company, of
St. Louis.
Desirous of settling down in life, Mr. Crowe in December, 191 1, bought
out the Gerow Implement Company, the oldest and largest concern of its
kind in Owosso. His brother LeRoy again became associated with him
as partner, and they have since built up and maintained a very prosperous
business. In 1912, Mr. Crowe sold his farm. One of the attractive and
interesting places in the city of Owosso, is what is known as "Crow's
Nest," at 923 North Wasbington Street. This is the home of Mr.
Crowe and family. He built there a beautiful bungalow residence, and
has considerable grounds, where he pursues his chief hobby and recrea
tion. That is the growing of prize winning white Wyandotte chickens.
Many years ago he became interested in poultry, educated himself to
all the fine points of the business, and now possesses some of the finest
specimens in the white Wyandotte fowl to be found anywhere. His
premier cock, "White Prince," won the gold medal in the Detroit show of
1912, and one of their hens was also first prize winner at the State
Round-up Show in Detroit in January, 1912. For the past ten years
Mr. Crowe has been treasurer of the State Poultry Men's Association.
In December, 1887, Mr. Crowe married Miss Delia E. Lytle, a native
of Ohio, and a daughter of John and Emma (Henderson) Lytle. The
Lytle family has been in Shiawassee county since pioneer times. With
no children of their own, Mr. and Mrs. Crowe have adopted a girl, now
sixteen years of age, and bearing the name of Nina Crowe. Fraternally
Mr. Crowe had a large acquaintance in connection with the traveling
men's orders, and is affiliated with the Masonic and Elk Lodges. He and
his family worship in the Episcopal church, and for many years he has
been vestryman. His politics is that of the Democratic party.
William LeRoy Crowe, the older brother of Fred Merrill, was born
November 17, 1857, and at fhe age of fourteen left the public schools and
for the next seventeen years, until reaching his majority worked as
grocers' clerk, for C. C. Duff, the pioneer grocer of Owosso. In those
days it was not the practice of merchants to give free delivery to goods
to their customers, and Mr. Crowe has the distinction of having delivered
the first wheel-barrow of groceries to a private customer free of charge
in Owosso. Soon afterwards he drove the first free delivery wagon in
that town. When he was twenty-one years of age he had a little capital
which was invested in a teaming outfit, and the next two years were
employed by him in running a transfer and teaming business in his home
city. Selling out, his services were next employed as a clerk for the Mc-
Hardy Implement Company, and, continued after the death of Mr. Mc-
Hardy by his successors, tbe Stever Brothers & Williams for five years.
Later .that firm became Albert Hartshorn & Son, and Mr.. Crowe con
tinued his employment with them one year, at the end of which time he
purchased a third interest. At the end of five years, his interest was
sold back to Hartshorn & Son and then opened up a new implement busi
ness, under the firm name of Crowe & Payne, continuing for five years
when he sold out to his partner and again entered the employ of Hart
shorn & Son. In 1906 Hartshorn & Son sold out to the Gerow Im
plement Company, wbich firm in turn sold the business to Crowe Brothers
in November, 191 1. ,

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 939
Mr, W. LeRoy. Crowe in politics is a Democrat, and fraternally is
affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of For
esters and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In November,
1876, he married Miss Ella Knapp, a native of New York and a daugh
ter of Jacob Knapp. Of their three children one is now deceased, their
names being; AddieM. ; Nellie, who died at the age of twenty-two; and
Bert A., who graduated from the University of Michigan in the law class
in 1902. Rev. Thomas Wilson Monteith. From 1873 until his death nearly
forty years later, there was no more efficient church organizer and
builder, and no pastor whose service in pulpit and in the varied activities
of religion was characterized by greater consecration and by more in
spiriting sympathy than the late Rev. Thomas Wilson Monteith. Rev
erend Monteith from his first pastorate until 1889 was a minister of the
United Presbyterian church, and from that time until his death was in
the work of the Presbyterian denomination.
Thomas Wilson M&nteith was born at the village of Martin, Michi
gan, December 3, 1843, a°d died at Port Huron, Michigan, July 22,
191 1. His parents were William T. and Margaret (Sinclair) Monteith,
both natives of Caledonia, New York, the father being of Lowland
Scotch, and the mother of Highland Scotch ancestry: Both died in
Martin, Allegan county, Michigan.
After his early home and common school training, Thomas W. Mon
teith prepared for college at Kalamazoo Baptist college in the city of
Kalamazoo. Part of one year was spent in the University of Michigan,
but in June, 1869, he graduated from Monmouth. College at Monmouth,
Illinois, witb the degree A. B. ' Three years later, in 1872, he graduated
from the Theological Seminary at Newburgh, New York, and at that
time Monmouth College conferred upon him the degree of A. M. His.
active entrance into the ministry of the United Presbyterian church came
with his installation as pastor of the Port Huron church on July 8, 1873.
At once his ability and resources as a church builder were confronted
with a heavy task. The church at Port Huron had thirty members,
owed a debt of five thousand dollars, and needed fifteen hundred dollars
to finish the building. To make matters worse, the year in which Rev.
Monteith took charge was one of financial crisis throughout the country,
when debts contracted at inflated prices had to be paid on a gold basis,
and when interest was from ten to thirteen per cent. It was no wonder
that it took .years for Rev. Mr. Monteith to accomplish the task, and at
the time the debt was paid it had aggregated nine thousand dollars. In
1882 Mr. Monteith organized the United Presbyterian church at Fort
Gratiot, dismissing twenty-one members from the fijst church to enter
the new organization.
After thirteen years as pastor at Port Huron, he resigned in 1889,
for a brief time was in the ministry in the state of Wisconsin, and for
nine years was pastor of a Presbyterian church at Martin, his native
town. Then again he was recalled to Port Huron, to take the pastorate
of the First Presbyterian church of the city. During his absence that
church had been organized from the United Presbyterian church of
which he had been pastor. This congregation also was burdened with a
debt of five thousand dollars, and when the Rev. Monteith succeeded by a
supreme effort in raising the money to cancel this obligation, the min
isters of Port Huron united in saying that he had earned the right to
be called D. D. — "Debt Destroyer." After a few years the church be
came self-supporting, and at the end of twelve and a half years as pastor
in Port Huron, Rev. Mr. Monteith entered into his final rest.

940 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
No other pastor has ever preached to Port Huron as many years as
did the late Rev. Monteith, his entire term of service in that city being
twenty-five and a half years. When he returned to Port Huron the
church had a membership of eighty-seven, and at his death the rolls
showed one hundred and ninety-six members.
Rev. Mr. Monteith became well known throughout Michigan. At the
meetings and Presbytery he was considered as an authority on ecclecias-
tical law. He was one of the hard workers in the ministry in Michigan,
and will always be remembered as one who did much to build up the
churches of the state.
On June 24, 1875, at Crown Point, Indiana, Thomas Wilson Monteith
and Miss Sarab J. Turner were united in marriage. She is a daughter of
Judge David and Caroline (Bissell) Turner. The children of their mar
riage are as follows : Caroline V. Monteith, a teacher in the city schools
of Port Huron ; David T. Monteith, city editor of the Port Huron Times-
Herald for two years, a member of the Michigan State Legislature in
1913 and now serving as police commissioner of Port Huron; Wilson H.
Monteith, teller in the First National Bank in Port Huron; Percy L.
Monteith, a member of the staff of the Detroit News Tribune; and two
children who died in infancy.
Brock E. Brush, M. D. In the field of surgery, to which Dr. Brush
now gives his exclusive attention, while his home and office have been at
Port Huron, he is frequently called to many different parts of the state,
and has a reputation much beyond the limits of his immediate community.
Brock E. Brush was born July 14, 1865, in Maiden township, Essex
county, Ontario. His father, Wheeler Brush, also a native of Canada,
was a farmer during his active career and a man of no little prominence
in his community. He died in August, 1886, at the age of sixty years.
He held several county offices, and long enjoyed a position of substantial
means and influence in Essex county. The maiden name of his wife was
Margaret Anderson, who was born in Falkirk, Scotland, was seven years
old when she came with her parents to Maiden township in Ontario,
and she is still living, a resident of Amherstburg, Essex county. There
are eight children living, and Dr. Brush is the fifth in line.
His early education was the result of attendance at the common and
high schools of Essex county, and after leaving the public schools he lived
on the farm until he was grown. The following five years were spent as
clerk and bookkeeper in a store, and in that way he paid his own way
and secured the means for professional preparation. Entering the De
troit College of Medicine, he graduated M. D. in 1896, and the first eleven
years of his practice was spent at Crosswell, Michigan. Since October,
1907, Dr. Brush has been located at Port Huron, and in that city has
confined his attention entirely to surgery, for whicb he has special talent,
and in which he has gained high rank. His private practice has been
several times interrupted in order to take post-graduate courses in New
York City, and he also went abroad and studied in England for a time.
Dr. Brush belongs to the county and state medical societies and the
American Medical Association. In politics he is a Republican, while
his fraternal affiliations are with the Masonic Lodge and the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows at Port Huron. He worships in the Methodist
faith. In 1888 Dr. Brush married Miss Lottie Leongard, who died in 1899.
In 1901 Dr. Brush married Mrs. Josephine Sherk. They have one daugh
ter, Aileen. Dr. Brush with his family resides at 909 Prospect Place,
and his office is at 317 Huron avenue.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 941
Hon. Hugo C. Loeser, one time state senator of his district from
Jackson and long a prominent hardware merchant of this place, is a
native son of Michigan, born in Detroit on the site where the Wayne
county Court House now stands, on October 20, 1858. He is a son of
August Loeser, a native of Saxony, Germany, who came to the United
States in 1850, and located in Detroit, where he died in 1868 at the early
age of forty-four years.
In Detroit, August Loeser met and married Therese Mauch, the- mar
riage taking place in the year 1853. She was a native of Wurtemburg,
Germany, who came to America in young womanhood, and at the time
of hef marriage she was a member of the family of her brother, Bernard
Mauch. The latter had come to this country some years previous, and
prior to the Civil war period had been the proprietor of the Mauch Hotel,
which stood on Cadillac Square, between Randolph and Bates streets.
Mr. Mauch served in the Union army during the war and became a lieu
tenant, gaining his promotion from the ranks for gallantry in service and
for especial ability in military tactics, due, no doubt, to his German train
ing in the Fatherland. He was captured in the first battle of Bull Run,
and died while a prisoner at Libby prison in Richmond.
The mother of Mr. Loeser of. this review, after the death of the
father, married a second time, and she died in 1878, when she was forty-
eight years of age. ,
. Hugo C. Loeser was ten years of age when his father died, and was
twenty when his mother passed away. He has four living sisters, but
his only brother, August Loeser, died at the age of four years. The
sisters are all married. Anna is the wife of Jacob Knapp ; Clara mar
ried Fred Dittmer; Louise is Mrs. Julius Berns, and Therese married
Jacob Simon. The three first mentioned are residents of Detroit, while
Mrs. Simon lives in Jackson.
Mr. Loeser was reared in Detroit and had his education in the old
German American Seminary that was formerly located on LaFayette
street, near Russell. Later be was graduated from the Mayhew Business
College, of Detroit. In 1867, when he was nineteen years old, Mr. Loeser
came to Jackson, where he bas since made his home. Here he was first
employed for seven years in the Haehnle Brewery, and for two years
thereafter he clerked in Fred Sauers' grocery store. For some time
after that he was engaged as the proprietor of a sample room, and in
1892 he formed' a partnership with John J. Lehr and engaged in the re
tail hardware business. The firm then organized under the name of
Loeser & Lehr still exists and is one of the leading hardware concerns
of Jackson today. For twenty-one years the firm has been continuously
engaged in business. For eleven years their place of business was located
at No. no East Main street,, but for ten years past tbe concern has held
forth at 215-217 East Main street, where they occupy three floors of a
business house, with rooms 114 feet in depth extending from Main street
on the front to Liberty street in the rear, with entrance on both streets.
The concern carries on a thriving business and is one of the prosperous
and representative establishments to be found in the city.
Aside from the fact of his leading an active business life, Mr. Loeser
has been prominent in public affairs and has held numerous positions
of honor and trust in the city. He has never been a seeker after honors
of that nature, however, and has only entered upon his duties as a public
official because he felt it his duty to respond to the call of the people
to serve. For four years Mr. Loeser has been a member of the board
of aldermen, and two years of service on the board of county supervisors
are placed to his credit. He served three years as fire commissioner,
three years as police commissioner and one term as state senator
from Jackson, Washtenaw and Wayne counties. His election to

942 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
the office of joint state senator came in 1900, and after one
term in the office he declined re-election and retired to private
life. At the present time Mr. Loeser is serving on the board
of police commissioners of the city. He is a member of the Jackson
Chamber of Commerce' and fraternally has membership in the Masons and
the Elks. He is also affiliated with the Loyal Order of Moose, the Mac
cabees and the Arbeiter Verein, a German Workingmen's Society. He is
president of the Germania Building and Loan Association, in addition to
his other business affiliations.
On December 2, 1885, Mr. Loeser was united in marriage with Miss
Emma Frank, of Detroit, who died on March 26, 1905, leaving two chil
dren, William H. Loeser and Viola T. The son is married and is a
resident of Jackson, while Miss Viola makes her home with her father.
On January 9, 1907, Mr. Loeser was married to Mrs. Christina
Waltz, the widow of Peter Waltz, of Jackson. She died on April 3,
191 1, without issue.
Paul Allen Leidy. The secretary of the Jackson Chamber of Com
merce is a young man who it is generally believed will yet be heard of
in public life, for his advance already has been phenomenal, and should
he decide to continue in the study of law which he began in his college
days, he will one day take a foremost place among the legal men of the
state. His talents are undeniable, and coupled with a degree of ambition
that is seldom encountered, there is in him a combination that is hard
to worst under the most adverse conditions.
Mr. Leidy is a native son of the state, born in Detroit, on September
5, 1888, and his parents were Clarence F. and Emma (Brown) Leidy.
The father died in 1893, and the mother is now living in Toledo. Clarence
F. Leidy was one time editor of the Detroit Journal, and he was a son
of Hon. Paul Leidy, a Pennsylvanian, who several times served his state
in Congress. The mother of Paul Allen Leidy was born at Princeton,
Indiana, though her girlhood was spent principally in Toledo, Ohio,
where she now resides, and where she is principal of one of the ward
schools of the city, a position she has held for the past eighteen years.
Paul Allen Leidy was graduated from the Toledo high. school at the
age of sixteen, in tbe year 1905. He at once entered the University of
Michigan, despite his extreme youth, and in 1909 he was graduated from
its literary department. He then applied himself to H teaching mathe
matics in the high school at Sheboygan, Michigan, during the school
years of 1 909- 10, after which he returned to the university to further
prosecute his studies. It must not be Omitted that he was, in 1909,
awarded a fellowship in political economy for his excellent work on
that subject, and when he returned in 1910 to resume his studies he de
voted himself chiefly to the subjects of political economy, history and
political science. The terms of his fellowship allowed him $30.00- a
month, which he applied toward his living expenses during the year of
his post graduate work, and when he concluded his work in 191 1 he was
awarded the degree of Master of Arts. He then entered the law depart
ment of the university and for six months carried on his studies' there,
intending to fit himself for a legal career, but a shortage of money made
it necessary for him to withdraw for a time and devote himself to some
thing that would provide some funds for the furtherance of his studies.
Returning to Toledo, then his home, he became assistant secretary of
the Toledo Commerce Club, which position he resigned early in
1913 to accept his present post of secretary of the Jackson Chamber of
Commerce. It may be stated here that the post he holds is one that
carries with it signal honor, with heavy responsibilities for one so young
as is Mr. Leidy, but he has thus far proven himself equal to the demands

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 943
*
of his position, and the association has received an impetus from the
virility and genius of the man that is already felt in the commercial
activities of the city. It is probable that Mr. Leidy is the only young
man of his age in the state of Michigan today who holds so responsible
and lucrative a position, and his many friends here and in his former
home look forward to a brilliant and worthy career for him.
While Mr. Leidy was attending the University of Michigan he paid
his expenses, for the most part, through his work as a correspondent of the'
Detroit Journal and the Chicago Tribune, as well as certain of the Toledo
papers, so that it will be readily understood that his college days were
not the continuous round of pleasure that many of the young men make
of it, but rather were they marked 'by hard work all along the line, a
fact that augurs well for his further progress.
Mr. Leidy is a member of the Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity, and in
Jackson he is a member of the Jackson City Club and the Meadow
Heights Country Club.
Thomas F. Carroll. In his public and professional relation the
service of Mr. Carroll has been that of one of the leading lawyers and
citizens of Grand Rapids for more than thirty years. Long since he won
recognition as one of the ablest of the Kent county bar, has been attorney
in many of the most important cases in the local and state courts, and the
firm of Carroll, Kirwin & Holloway, of which he is senior member, is
regarded as one of the strongest aggregations of legal talent in western
Michigan. The offices of the firm are in the Houseman Building. Mr.
Carroll has for many years been prominent in Democratic politics and is
known among the leading Democrats throughout the state.
Thomas F. Carroll was born near Rochester, New York, November 23,
1854, a son of James and Mary (Kennedy) Carroll. The Carroll family
had its original seat in Ireland, and one branch was fouhded in America
during the colonial era, and the Carrolls of Carrollton, Maryland, are of
that line. The parents of the Grand Rapids attorney came to America
from Ireland in 1848, settling in western New York, and soon after the
birth of Thomas moved to Michigan, locating in Van Buren county.
The boyhood and youth of Thomas F. Carroll were spent in Van Buren
county and the public schools supplied most of his education. When he
was seventeen years old Mr. Carroll started his career as a school teacher
in Van Buren county. His record in that work was one of efficiency, but
education was not the field in which he had determined to make a career
and, as in the case of many other successful professional men, he taught
school only long enough to enable hini to start properly equipped in his
chosen work. His work as a teacher continued for about six years, and
in the meantime he took up the study of law and in 1872 entered as a
student the law offices of Hughes, O'Brien & Smjley, in Grand Rapids.
His admission to the- bar came on October 14, 1879.
In 1880 Mr. Carroll entered a partnership with Hon.. Isaac M. Turner.
This relationship continued until the death of the latter in 1895. At that
date Mr. Kirwin, who had previously been in the employ of Mr. Turner,
came into the firm, and the title then read, for some time, Carroll, Turner
& Kirwin. Since then the present partnership of Carroll, Kirwin & Hollo-
way has been formed. From 1883 to 1886 Mr. Carroll was assistant prose
cutor of Kent county. In 1890, having for several years taken much inter
est in Democratic politics, he was made secretary of the Democratic State
Committee, a position which he resigned in order to take a place on the
Democratic State Executive Committee. During 1,892 Mr. Carroll was
chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for the
Fifth District of Michigan. On March 9, 1894, President Cleveland
appointed him postmaster of Grand Rapids, and his service as such ran
vol. n— 20

944 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
from April 3, 1894, to June 1, 1898. In 1904 the name of Mr. Carroll
headed the Democratic electoral ticket for Michigan.
Mr. Carroll has been vice president and counsel for the Grand Rapids,
Grand Haven & Muskegon Railway. Company since 1900. He is director
and counsel of the Commercial Sayings Bank at Grand Rapids, a director
in the Grand Rapids Railway Company and a director in the Grand Rapids
Trust. Company. In 1906 he was a member of the board of estimates of
Grand Rapids, and for a number of years a director in the Grand Rapids
board of trade. His social relations are with the Peninsular Club of Grand
Rapids and the Kent Country Club.
On October n, 1880, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Carroll with
Miss Ella Remington, daughter of W. B. Remington of Grand Rapids.
Her death occurred in January, 1882, and a son, Charles, survived her.
For his second wife Mr. Carroll married on August 19, 1889, Miss Julia
Agnes Mead, daughter of the late Major A. B. Watson of Grand Rapids.
They are the parents of one daughter, Katharine. The Carroll home is at
24 LaFayette Avenue, S. E.
Albert Smith Todd. There are many pleasing distinctions to be ac
corded the Todds, both as a family and to tbe individual members. They
were among the pioneers of Genesee county, where John Todd had a
long and useful career of varied activities from 1835 until his death.
Albert S. Todd, a son of the pioneer, is one of Owosso's leading busi
ness men, and has had many experiences which prove his an interesting
character. Mr. Todd is a man of unusual education, has an outlook over
life resulting from three score and ten years, and his family are leaders
in the social circles of Shiawassee county.
Born March 18, 1843, Albert Smith Todd was one of the family of
John and Polly M. (Smith) Todd. Both the father and mother were
natives of New York State, reared near Onondaga, and after their mar
riage came to Michigan territory in 1835. After a brief stay in Pontiac,
they took the Indian trail to Flint, where they made their home for many
years. The local history of Genesee county will always give the figure
of John Todd a prominent place. He was a pioneer landlord, kept a
tavern in Flint, and his house was a place for entertainment of a large
share of the travelers through the early days. He became famous as an
Indian trader, and in many ways was one of the leaders in his commu
nity. Successful in business he acquired large tracts of land, and for
many years carried on farming successfully. He finally retired from the
active cares of life, and spent his last days in Owosso, where he died
when eighty-nine years of age. His wife had passed away at the age
of sixty-five and both now rest side by side in the Owosso cemetery.
John Todd, before coming to Michigan had made a record as a soldier
in the War of 1812, having gone to the front with the American troops
when a boy in his teens. He and his wife were the parents of four chil
dren mentioned briefly as follows : Edwin A. Todd, who died in Owosso,
at the age of eighty-four years; was a prominent railroad and business
man, was twice honored by election as mayor of Owosso and held other
positions in public affairs. Mary L. Todd, is the widow of David Gould,
who was prominent as a railway builder, contractor and lumberman, and
she now lives with her daughter, Mrs. Anna Dudley at Owosso, at the
age of eighty-two. Julia I. Todd, now deceased, was the wife of Gil
bert Lyon, one of Owosso's prominent attorneys.
Albert Smith Todd grew up in Genesee county, attended the coun
try schools, and lived at home with his parents, until he was nineteen
years of age. He has always been a man of active enterprise, and has
never had to depend upon others to assist him to fortune. His first dol-

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 945
lar was earned by cutting cordwood, but he did not long remain in the
ranks of those who depend upon a daily wage for their livelihood. Sub
sequently he became agent for the Amboy, Lansing and Traverse Bay
Railroad, now a branch of the Michigan Central. He learned the art of
telegraphy in the early days, and it is his distinction to have received the
first telegraph message ever taken from the wire at Lansing. He worked
as agent for the railway continuously for five years, after which he be
came identified with the lumber business as state agent for Mills Bros.,
of Boston, Massachusetts. This business brought him to Flint as his
business headquarters, where he remained three years, and was six years
at Saginaw. Mr. Todd then .engaged in the stave manufacturing in-
, dustry at Owosso, and with the development of his business established
another factory at Mikfm, Tennessee. The factory in Tennessee was
destroyed by fire, then rebuilt and operated for three years and then
disposed of. In 1898 he engaged in the wholesale grain and hay, coal
and wqod business in Owosso. In 1907, the establishment was incor
porated as the Albert Todd Company, of which he is president.
Besides his extensive business interests, Mr. Todd has not neglected
the concerns of the civic community. He served Shiawassee county as
treasurer two years, was city treasurer of Owosso one year, and has done
a great deal for the upbuilding of his home city. He is a director in the
Citizens Savings Bank. In politics he is a Progressive Republican- He
is a member of the Masonic Order and a life member of the Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks. His wife is one of the active members
of the Congregational church, and he gives his support to that denomina
tion. On June 24, 1873, Mr. Todd married Miss Mary I. Gould, daughter
of Col. Ebenezer Gould. Mrs. Todd was born in Owosso. They are
the parents of two children: Leroy W. Todd, is associated with his
father in the hay and grain business and has charge of the Boston, Massa
chusetts office; Nellie Anna Todd has devoted herself to social and
philanthropic work, and for the past three years has been prominent in
rescue work in New York City. As a recreation from business cares,
Mr. Todd finds his greatest enjoyriient in his yearly vacation with his
wife at a cottage at Beulah on Crystal Lake.
¦ George Albert Perrigo. The Perrigo family has been residents of
Michigan upwards of sixty years. For the past quarter of a century the
name has been prominently identified with manufacturing in the city of
Owosso, where one of the largest of the local industries, and of its kind
one of the largest in the state, was for many years conducted by George
A. Perrigo, now retired, and now by his son, Hayes Perrigo, whose enter
prise is a substantial factor in the city's material prosperity.
George Albert Perrigo was born in the city of Burdette, New York,
July 27, 1845. His parents were Lemuel and Roxie Ann (Clapp) Per
rigo. In 1856 the family came west and settled in Novi township of
Oakland county, Michigan. George A. was then eleven years of age..
Their home was in the village of Wixom, where Lemuel and wife spent
their remaining years. Manufacturing is apparently a family vocation
with the Perrigos. Lemuel Perrigo was the owner of a large foundry
and machine shop in Burdette, New York, conducting the plant as a
prosperous industry for a number of years until the shops were destroyed
by fire in the year previous to the removal of the family to Michigan. On
reaching this state, Lemuel Perrigo; whose reputation as a fo'undryman
and machinist had preceded him, found a place in the foundry of Larcum
and Pinny. For more than twenty years his skill was employed by that
firm, and he was practically in charge of the entire manufacturing opera-

946 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
tions. His death occurred at the age of seventy years, while his wife
passed away at the venerable age of eighty-six. They were highly re
spected and honored citizens of Oakland county, and their remains now
rest in the cemetery at Richland. Lemuel Perrigo was not only an ex
pert mechanic, but was well educated, much above the ordinary qualifica
tions of his generation, and during his youth had also been given a thor
ough military training. Lemuel Perrigo and wife were the parents of
four children, namely : Charlotte, became the wife of Daniel Johnson,
and died at her home in Pontiac, Michigan, where she had lived for- many
years ; Harriet, was the wife of Warren Baker, and died at Fowlerville,
though her home for a number of years had been at Walnut Creek, 'Mich^
igan ; the next in order of the children is* George A. ; Lyman C. Perrigo
lived and died in the city of Detroit.
The early schooling of George Albert Perrigo was obtained from the
public schools of Burdette, New York, and also at Wixom, Michigan.
As a boy he displayed special aptitude for mathematics and mechanical
arts. During his young manhood he bought a farm three-quarters of a
mile distance from Wixom and continued .to operate it for twenty-five
years, though in the meantime his interests bad been directed to con
structive affairs. In 1869 Mr. Perrigo married Miss Emma Baker, who
was born iri Oakland county, a daughter of Abner and Matilda (Cud-
worth) Baker. Mr. Baker was one of the pioneers of Oakland county,
and successful as a builder and contractor. In the fifth year of his career
as a farmer, Mr. George A. Perrigo became the traveling representative
for the Groton Manufacturing Company, of Groton, New" York. He was
given the state agency for their output of bridge, structural iron and
threshing machinery. Though continuing his farming operations at the
same time, he rapidly extended the business of the Groton Company, and
continued in that firm's employ for twenty years. It was due to his
energetic management in Michigan that the headquarters of the firm were
opened in Owosso, to which city he moved with his family in 1888. His
work with the Groton Company continued until 1897. His exceptional
success in the agency would have justified him departing and venturing
an individual enterprise several years previously, but every time he sug
gested such a change the firm used sricb influence and efforts to retain his
services that he remained with them a while longer. Throughout the
twenty years with the Groton Company, Mr. Perrigo had been accorded
the most generous treatment and as he had received practically all his
business training from that firm, he felt in duty bound to continue with
them as long as his individual interests would not suffer thereby. In 1897.
Mr. Perrigo established a business of his own, for bridge building and
contracting, and the selling of threshing machinery, and soon had his un
dertaking developed on a prosperous scale.
In 1901 Mr. Perrigo bought from M. Wood and Fred Gould the
handle factory known and conducted under the title of the M. Wood
Company. At that time the factory had a daily capacity of one hundred
and fifty-seven tool handles. Mr. Perrigo turned over one-half interest
in the concern to his son, Hayes Perrigo, and remained a partner in the
establishment until 1907. In that year he retired to a well earned rest.
Mr. Perrigo has been a leader in civic affairs at Owosso, having served
two years as an alderman, five years as a member of the Board of Pub
lic Works, and seven years as supervisor. On national issues his politics
is Republican. In 1891, he drew up his own plans and built a splendid
home at 213 North Cedar Street in Owosso, and now lives there in the
peace and contentment and plenty which has been the well-won reward
of his long and industrious career. Though he started in life with only
ordinary advantages, Mr. Perrigo has made a success of his career from
every standpoint.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 947
His four children are: Hayes, who has succeeded his father as a
manufacturer at Owosso; Ruth, who died at the age of twenty-two, a
short tiine before she was prepared to graduate from the University of
Michigan; Gertrude May, the wife pf Herbert Galbraith, general agent
for the M. C. & D. Steamship Company, with headquarters and residence
at Mackinaw City; Grace Perrigo, who lives with her parents.
Hayes Perrigo, son of George A., was born June 13, 1876, at Wixom,
Michigan. His home has been in Owosso since he was twelve years of
age, and he completed his education in the Owosso high school. At the
age of twenty-one he had mastered the trade of stationary engineer, and
of wood turning, having acquired his knowledge in his father's factory
during the vacation period of school. He was soon after taken into part
nership by his father, and later bought out his father's interest. At that
time he associated with himself Samuel Chevey and Stephen Baker, who
had been long employed by his father. These enterprising men, with
Hayes Perrigo at the bead of the establishment have increased the size of '
their plant and its output from one hundred and fifty dozen to five hun
dred dozen handles per day. The plant gives steady employment to from
twenty to thirty hands, and its payroll is an important asset in the indus
trial prosperity of Owosso. The company is one of very few manu
facturers which specialize on bow socket fillers used in the construction
of automobiles. Several years ago the firm bought out the A. B. Moore
plant of Pontiac, Michigan, an establishment of a similar nature, and
moved the machinery to Owosso, thus enlarging the local industry, and
they now have one of the best equipped plants of its kind in the state.
Though these several changes noted have been made in the past fifteen
or twenty years, the title of the business is still the M. Wood Manufactur
ing-Company, retaining the original firm name established in 1876.
Mr. Hayes Perrigo like his father, is a man of action, gives close atten
tion to all details of his business, and can f requeritly be found about the
factory in his overalls, ready if called upon to fill any part in the works.
That is no doubt the secret of his success. In public affairs he has done
his share, having served as alderman from the Fifth Ward. His politics
is Republican, and his fraternal affiliations are with the Knights of
Pythias, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Mr. Perrigo
married Miss Anna Osmer, a native of New York State, and a daughter
of George Osmer. They reside in their pleasant home at 815 West Ex
change Street. The principal recreation of Mr. Perrigo and family are
driving their own motor car, and he also enjoys an occasional fishing
excursion. Clarence B. Hayes. As president of the Hayes Wheel Company
of Jackson, undeniably one of the foremost manufacturing plants of the
city, Clarence B. Hayes has a place of prominence among the business
men of the city that entitles him to specific mention among those men
who have contributed something to the industrial, commercial and finan
cial progress of the city, and without such mention of him this historical
and biographical work could not be regarded as complete in its relation
to the city of Jackson.
Mr. Hayes is not a Michigan product. He was born on a farm in^
Lorain county, Ohio, on September 21, 1866, and is a son of Almon L.
Hayes, also a native of Lorain county, Ohio, born in 1836, who died in
Kalamazoo, Michigan, in November, 1898. In early life Almon L.
Hayes was a farmer, but he later became prominently identified with the .
lumber industry as a manufacturer of sash, doors and blinds at Lima,
Ohio, and for many years he was prominent there in that enterprise. He
took up his- residence in Kalamazoo only a few years prior to his death.
He was a son of William L. Hayes, an early pioneer in Lorain county,

948 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Ohio, who came from Danbury, Connecticut, in pioneer times, making
the trip in the then popular overland schooner. At the time of his death
William L. Hayes was the oldest man in Lorain county, in point 6f resi
dence there.
Almon Hayes married Virginia E. Hitchcock, who was born in
Cleveland, Ohio. She died in 1900 in Jackson. Clarence B. Hayes of
this review, is the youngest child of his parents, and he has but one
living brother, Lorin H. Hayes, of Petersburg, Virginia.
Clarence B. Hayes spent his early boyhood on his father's Lorain
county farm, in Ohio, and at the age of thirteen he moved to Lima with
his parents. There he was graduated from the Lima high schools at
the age of seventeen, after which he entered the Ohio Wesleyan Uni
versity of Delaware and continued attendance there until he was nineteen
years old. Upon leaving the university he came direct to Jackson, Michi
gan, remaining here, at that time, for about two years as bookkeeper
* for the Smith Middlings Purifier Company, and later as bookkeeper for
the Jackson Cracker Company. That was in the year 1885, and in 1888
he entered the employ of the meat packing firm of G. H. Hammond &
Co., of Chicago. He was with that firm one year as bookkeeper, and in
July, 1889, he became bookkeeper for the Kalamazoo Wheel Company,
of Kalamazoo, Michigan. This firm was engaged in the manufacture
of buggy wheels, and this was the beginning of Mr. Hayes' connection
with the wheel manufacturing industry, though since then he has trav
eled far from his earliest associations with the enterprise. The concern
sold out to the American Wheel Company, a corporation that then owned
practically all the wheel plants in the country, operating twenty-four
factories in all. Mr. Hayes was then made manager of the Kalamazoo
branch, and he continued in that capacity from 1889 to 1898. The Ameri
can Wheel Company, however, was in 189Q succeeded by the Standard
Wheel Company, a concern tbat is still in existence, and is today the
largest manufacturer of buggy and carriage wheels in the United States.
From 1890, therefore, until 1898, Mr. Hayes was manager of the Kala
mazoo plarit under the direction of the Standard Wheel Company. In
October, 1898, he resigned his position with the Standard concern and
associated himself with W. C. Durant and J. D. Dart, the three men
organizing the Imperial Wheel Company. The concern established fac
tories both at Jackson and at Flint, Mr. Hayes becoming its vice president,
as well as general manager. He continued as such for ten years, manag
ing both plants. It was generally conceded at that time that the Imperial
Wheel Company's product exceeded in point of excellence that of any
other wheel concern in the country. Its product and capacity was 2,500
wheels daily, and the plant was run at its height continuously. Mr.
Hayes was tbe head and front of the concern, his two partners furnishing
the capital, or a good share of it, while he supplied the wheel knowledge
and general ability to manage the plant successfully. In 1908 Mr. Hayes
sold his stock in the concern, and in October of the same year he or
ganized the Hayes Wheel Company of Jackson, already spoken of as
one of the largest and most important manufacturing industries of the
city. The company was organized for the express purpose of manufac
turing wheels to be applied to all kinds of motor driven vehicles, and
its success and prosperity has been of the most pleasing character. The
manager of the company, which is none other than Mr. Hayes himself,
has had twenty-five years of practical wheel experience, and is rec
ognized throughout the country as an authority on the product in which
he is interested. Mr. Hayes has been president of the concern from the
first, and may be regarded as the life of the industry, for he fathered
its establishment, and has been its president and general manager since
its inception. Mark Meriman is vice president and factory manager,

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 949
while R. H. Loveland is secretary, with A. C. Bloomfield, treasurer.
The main plant of the concern at Jackson occupies about thirteen acres,
and it has a sub-plant at Albion. The capital stock of the concern is
$600,000. Its daily capacity is 1,000 sets of wheels, or about $3,000,000
of business annually. There are 861 employes at the Jackson plant, while
at Albion 178 is the average payroll.
The Hayes Wheel Company has made a point of choosing for its
department heads men who are known to be widely experienced in the
wheel world, and they are assisted by the ablest and highest priced wheel
wrights in the business, so that the working force is as near perfect as
care and selection on the part of the department heads can make it. The
factory is modern and up-to-date in every point, all machinery in use
being of the latest improved types, with many exclusive special machines
in use. It is the policy of this progressive company to have on its working
force men who pride themselves on the superiority of their special work,
and this lends much of perfection to the output of the plant. The man
agement insists at all times on the most rigid inspection of all material
and workmanship on it from the time it enters the factory in tbe rough
until it leaves in the finished product, and no detail is omitted that
could make for greater perfection in the output of the plant. It is the
watchword of the company that No Wheel is Stronger Than its Weakest
Part, and knowing this, the greatest stress is laid upon a rigid and
thorough inspection of the work in every separate department. The
result is a uniformity of excellence that has put Hayes Motor wheels
in the forefront of the wheel market, and the same thing will keep the
Hayes produce in its present enviable position. Today the majority of
the leading automobile manufacturers are using Hayes .Wheels.
Mr. Hayes is a member of the Jackson Chamber of Commerce and
he is vice president of the Jackson Rim Company, a firm engaged in the
manufacture of automobile rims. He is a member of the Jackson City.
Club, the Michigan Centre Country Club, the Meadow Heights Country
Club, and he is a member and a director of the Michigan Manufacturers
Association. In his political affiliations he is Republican, and he is a
member of the Society of Automobile Engineers.
On August 21, 1889, Mr. vHayes was married to Miss Katherine M.
Ballard, of Findlay, Ohio. They have two daughters: Margaret B. and
Virginia, both of whom share the parental home as yet. They are ac
complished and cultured young ladies, the elder being now a student in
Miss Ely's school at Greenwich, Connecticut, where she is specializing
in the study of music.
Carl Cook Wright. A business man whose interests have been con
stantly expanding since he located in Shiawassee county some twenty
years ago, Mr. Wright is now engaged in the wholesale and retail hay,
grain and feed business at Owosso. His early career was spent as a
farmer, and with increasing years his interests in various lines have ex
tended, and he is now not only an important business factor, but also a
man of influence in the civic life of this section of Michigan.
Carl Cook Wright was born at Avon, New York, December 31, 1861,
a son of Heman N. and Martha (Cook) Wright. Both oarents were
natives of New York State, and of the town of Avon. The mother is
now deceased, and her remains rest in the cemetery at Avon. The
father continued to live in the old New York village until 1908, when at
the request of his son Carl he came to Michigan, and took the manage
ment of the Wright store in Corunna, Shiawassee county. In New York
State, the father for many years successfully followed the vocation of
farming, and was a highly respected citizen. He was fairly prosperous

950 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
and reared and educated his family for useful places in life. With the
exception of the son Carl, the children are chiefly identified with educa
tional and benevolent work, and have distinctive places in these depart
ments of social betterment. Of the five children, the Owosso merchant
is the first; Jasper H. Wright is professor of biology at the Mechanic
Institute at Rochester, New York; Ruth M. Wright, is a' graduate of
the well known Pratt Library School of New York City, and is now
librarian of tbe Normal School at Temple, Arizona ; Theodore H. Wright,
is also a teacher in the Mechanic Institute at Rochester ; _ Francis
has chosen a career of more active benevolence and is prominent in rescue
and settlement work in Boston, Massachusetts.
Carl Cook Wright graduated at the age of eighteen from the Avon
high school, and some years of his early career were spent in the east.
Coming to Owosso in 1893, he bought in Shiawassee county a large tract
of land, and was engaged in its successful cultivation for twelve years.
In 1905, his attention was directed to commercial affairs in the city of
Owosso, at which time the hay and grain establishment of E. B. Tubbs
came under his ownership and control. The business has been increased
very materially in order to keep pace with expanding demands, and two
years after Mr. Wright took charge, he built a large and commodious
brick storeroom and warehouse occupying the street numbers from 112
to 116 on South Ball Street. Mr. Wright ranks as one of the foremost
business men of Owosso, and has a very large wholesale and retail trade
in hay, grain, and flour, and other seed products. Among his personal
friends are tbe leading men of the city and county, and for a number of
years, his has been a keen and active interest in both city and county
political affairs. His readiness to assist any cause for the benefit of his
locality has made him an influential factor in this part of the state. In
1913 Mr. Wright was a candidate for the office of mayor. In politics his
support is given to the Progressive party.
Fraternally his affiliations are with the Masonic Order, in which he
has taken the Chapter and Knight Templar degrees. November 15, 1903,
Mr. Wright married Miss Alta M. Howe, who was born in Owosso, a
daughter of Joseph H. and Helen M. (Brewster) Howe. Their three
children are: Helen M., a student in the Owosso high school; William
Sackett ; and Ruth M. Wright. The family home is a pleasant residence
at 603 North Washington Street.
Dr. Presca Isaac Edwards. One of the foremost medical men of
Jackson county is Dr. Presca Isaac Edwards, actively engaged in 'the
practice of his profession here since 1889, tbe year in which he was
graduated from the University of Michigan with the M. D. degree. Dr.
Edwards, in addition to his general practice, is the local representative
in a professional way, of numerous insurance and industrial concerns
here, it being estimated that he does more business of that character than
any other one physician in Jackson. He served two years as county
physician of Jackson county and one year as city physician of the city
of Jackson, and proved himself an efficient and valuable official in those
capacities. Altogether, his career thus far in Jackson has been one of
the highest order, praiseworthy and admirable.
Dr. Edwards was born in Franklin township, Lenawee county, this
state, on October 28, 1859, and he is a son of Randolph D. M. Edwards
and Harriet (Powers) Edwards. The father, a farmer all his life, was
born in Seneca county, New York, and he is now a resident of Jackson
county, living on a comfortable farm there at the age of eigbty-five.
His wife, a daughter of Hon. Isaac Powers, a well known lawyer and
justice of the peace of Springville, Lenawee county, Michigan, in the
pioneer days, died in 1895.

(S2^~^LA<^^^C^i far.*)

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 951
When Presca I. Edwards was four years old his parents moved to
Albion, Michigan, and when he was nine he removed to a farm in
Liberty township,- Jackson county, and there the family home is yet
maintained. Here did Dr. Edwards spend his youth. He had his early education
in a district school, and later attended school at Napoleon and Jackson.
He studied medicine in the University of Michigan, and was duly grad
uated in 1889, since which time he has devoted himself to active practice.
Dr. Edwards is a member of the Jackson County Medical Society,
of which he has been treasurer for the past four years. He is also a
member of the State and American Medical Associations, and of the
American Insurance Examiners' Association. He has been local ex
aminer for a number of large insurance companies in Jackson for some
time, as well as a number of accident companies, and he is official surgeon
for the Michigan United Traction Company. Fraternally the Doctor is
a member of the Knights of Pythias.
On May 31, 1894, Dr. Edwards was married to Blanche Wisner
Plough, of Detroit. They have no children.
Otto L. Ridker, M. D. It has been given to Dr. Ricker to gain se
cure prestige as one of the representative physicians and surgeons of
Wexford county and he is engaged in the active practice of his profession
at Cadillac, the judicial center of the county. He is a native son of the
Wolverine state and here has accounted well for himself and to the world,
for his advancement has been principally the result of his own ambition
and well directed efforts.
Dr. Ricker was born in Lake county, Michigan, on the 22d of Septem
ber, 1877, and is a son of Levi W. and Frances Virginia (Stratton) Ricker,
the former of whom was born in the state of Maine, in 1835, and the latter
of whom was born in Pennsylvania, on the 15th of January, 1845. The
marriage of the parents was solemnized on the 3d of December, 1861, at
Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and both passed tbe closing years of their
lives at Cadillac, Michigan, where the father died in 1900 and the mother
on the 28th of January, 1909. They became the parents of five sons and
six daughters, and of the number Dr. Otto L., of this review, was the
ninth in order of birth. Levi W. Ricker came with his family to Michi
gan in the year 1875 and he became one of the pioneers of Lake county.
He had been identified with lumbering enterprise in his native state and
with this line of enterprise he was more or less closely concerned after he
had established his home in Michigan. He finally ^purchased 320 acres
of wild land in Lake county, the timber from which he cleared and manu
factured, and eventually he reclaimed a goodly part of his land to cultiva
tion. He continued to be actively engaged in lumbering and farming
operations in Lake county until the spring of 18*89, when he met with
heavy losses, in the fire that practically obliterated the village of Chase.
Mr. Ricker was a'man of invincible integrity and of strong mentality. His
life was marked by consecutive industry, and it was but unpropitious cir
cumstance that prevented him from achieving greater financial success.
Both he and his wife were devout members of the Congregational church
at Chase, in which he served as deacon, and he was specially active in the
promotion of the cause of temperance. He was made a Knights Templar
Mason at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and he continued to be an earnest
worker in the great fraternity after his removal to Michigan. Mr. Ricker
was a thoroughgoing Republican in his political allegiance and he served in
various local offices in Lake county. At the time of the Civil war he enlisted
in defense of the Union, and as a member of a Pennsylvania regiment he
proceeded to Philadelpbia, the war closing before the command could
reach the- front.

952 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Levi W. Ricker was a scion of a family founded in New England in
the colonial era of our national history. His parents, Hosea and Priscilla
(Garrish) Ricker, were likewise natives of Maine, where the father de
voted the greater part of his active career to lumbering and where he
continued to reside until his death : his wife, who was born in 1812, was
a resident of Lake county, Michigan, at the time of her demise, on the
4th of October, 1889. Both were members of the Congregational church.
The maternal grandparents of Dr. Ricker were Robert and Sarah
(Green) Stratton, the former of whom was born April 7, 1819, his death
occurring September 6, 1900, and the latter of whom was born April 6,
1814, she having passed to the life eternal January 24, 1885. Mr. Stratton
was a harnessmaker by trade and vocation, but in his earlier life he
assisted in the construction of the locks on the old Erie canal. He came
to Michigan in 1887, after the death of his wife, and after residing for a
term of years at Benton Harbor he removed, in 1891, to Cadillac, where
he passed the residue of his life.
Dr. Otto L. Ricker is indebted to the district schools of Lake and
Wexford counties for his earlier educational discipline, and in 1899 he
was graduated in the high school at Cadillac. During his school days in
this city he was employed for some time in the drug store of A. H. Web
ber, and this association doubtless had much to do with his choosing the
medical profession. In September, 1899, he entered the medical depart
ment of the University of Michigan, and in 1901 he became a student in
the Detroit Medical College, in which he was graduated as a member of
the class of 1904 and from which he received his degree of Doctor of
Medicine. Thus admirably equipped for his chosen vocation, Dr. Ricker
initiated the active practice of his profession in association with Dr. B. H.
McMullan, of Cadillac. He has been indefatigable in his study and re
search and has kept in touch with the advances made in both medical and
surgical science. The Doctor has taken effective post-graduate courses
in leading medical institutions of Chicago, Philadelphia and Detroit, and
in 1908 he completed a special course in the Chicago Eye, Ear & Nose
College, to fortify himself more fully for the surgical branch of his pro
fession, this receiving much of his thought and attention. In 1913 he
was appointed oculist and aurist for the Owosso-Frankfort division of
the Toledo & Ann Arbor Railroad, and he is still the incumbent of this
position, besides being a member of the medical staff of Mercy hospital,
in his home city of Cadillac. He controls a substantial and representative
practice of individual order, his partnership with Dr. McMullan having
been dissolved in 1913. He is president, for 1914, of the Tri-County
Michigan Medical Society, and is also identified witb the Michigan State
Medical Society and the American Medical Association.
Dr. and Mrs. Ricker are most zealous and valued members of the
Congregational church in Cadillac, and he is affiliated with the local or
ganizations of the Knights of Pythias, the Masonic fraternity, the Knights
of tbe Maccabees and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
At Cadillac, in the year 1905, was solemnized the marriage of Dr.
Ricker to Miss Nellie B. Shupe, who was born and reared at'Fostoria,
Ohio. They have three children, — Margaret, Florence and Otto L., Jr.
PIon. Burt D. Cady. In the consistently progressive career of Hon.
Burt D. Cady, postmaster of Port Huron, a prominent attorney and
helpful citizen, several personal characteristics are noticeable, among
which is versatility of attainments combined with thoroughness of prep
aration and depth of legal knowledge. A practical man of affairs, skill
ful, farseeing and reformatory, he has been an originator of actualities
as well as a producer of good and true movements, and as such is known
as one of his city's strong characters. Mr. Cady is a native son of Port

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 953
Huron, born July 25, 1874, a son of Elwin M. and Mehitable E. (Kim
ball) Cady. His father, born in the Buckeye state, came to Michigan
among the early settlers, established himself -in the grain and lumber
business, and became a prosperous and influential factor in Port Huron's
important affairs. He was a Republican, in politics and held various
offices within the gift of his fellow-citizens, being a member of the city
council at the time of his death, January 31, 1896. Mr. Cady was a life
long member of the Congregational church as was his wife. She was
born in_ Michigan, a daughter of Everett Kimball, a pioneer settler of
St. Clair county and still remembered by old-time lumbermen. She
survives her husband and resides at Port Huron, the mother of six
living children : Ella E., who is single and lives in Port Huron ; Erwin
A., of this city; Maude, who is the wife of Russell N. Wade, of Port
Huron; Elwin M., also of this city; Burt D. ; and Clay C, of Lansing,
Michigan. Burt D. Cady secured educational advantages in the public graded
and high schools of Port Huron, and after his graduation from the lat
ter entered the law office of Avery Brothers & Walsh, where he contin
ued* to study and prepare for his chosen profession until his admission
to the bar, July 25, 1895. Since that time he has been in continuous
practice in Port Huron and his connection with numerous important
cases of litigation has made him a more or less familiar figure in the
courts of St. Clair county. In 1903 he formed a co-partnership with
Clifford W. Crandall, under the firm name of Cady & Crandall, and
this was known as one of the strongest legal combinations in general"
practice in the city. The firm dissolved in 1909, Mr. Cady continuing
the practice of law and Mr. Crandall shortly afterward occupying a
chair in the' legal department of the University of Florida. While Mr.
Cady is devoted to the profession which he has made his life work, he
has also been deeply interested in local governmental affairs. He has
particularly given of his thought and time to a study of all matters per
taining to the welfare, representation and public service of his home
community. In politics he has ever been an active and consistent Repub
lican, has served two terms as prosecuting attorney of St. Clair county,
and in 1907 was the successful candidate of his party in the Eleventh
Senatorial District. In 1909 he was appointed by President Taft to
the postmastership, and in tbis capacity has done much to improve the
service, being known as a man who has ever been able to get results.
His activities have extended to various lines of endeavor. His work in
the field of morality and good citizenship has been particularly noticeable
as president of the Young Men's Christian Association and trustee of
the Congregational church. He shows his enjoyment of healthy sports
and outdoor life as president of the Port Huron Driving Pa'rk and the
Agricultural Society. In the realty field he is prominent as the presi
dent of the Plome Realty Company of Port Huron and as trustee and
director of Cozy Homes, Limited, of Welland, Ontario. Into whatever
line his activities have led him he has made his strong and dominant
personality felt. Mr. Cady's acquaintance -is extensive and his friend
ships many, especially in. club and fraternal life. He belongs to the
Masons, in which he is a Shriner ; to the Benevolent and Protective Or
der of Elks, being secretary of the Board of Directors of Port Huron
Lodge No. 343 ; to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Sons of
the American Revolution and the Knights of Pythias, and to the Fellow-
craft and Athletic Clubs of Detroit, and to the Welland Club of Welland,
His modern residence is located at No. 733 Court street.
On June 4, 1902, Mr. Cady wag united in marriage at Lapeer, Michi
gan, with Miss Mary K. Beamer, daughter of Robert Beamer, an early
settler of that city. To this union there have come two children:

954 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Eleanor, born October 3, 1903; and Gordon, born March 2, 1913, both
at Port Huron.
Daniel J. Campau. The City of Detroit, by its very name, pays
a tribute of honor to its early French settlers, and of the old-time French
families there yet remain many worthy representatives within the gra
cious borders of the beautiful metropolis of Michigan. Traced through
long and illustrious lines of French ancestry is the genealogy of a num
ber of the foremost citizens of Detroit today, and prominent among
such scions is Daniel J. Campau, who is a representative of the oldest
and most distinguished French family of the city, with whose annals the
name has been identified for more than two centuries and from the
time when Detroit was but an outpost on the frontier of civilization.
The first of the Campau family to establish residence in Detroit were
Michael and Jacques Campau, who came from France with Antoine de
la Mothe Cadillac, the founder of Fort Pontchartrain, on the site of the
present city of Detroit, in 1701. The generic history of Michigan bears
ample record of the worthy achievement of those who have borne the
name of Campau, as one generation has followed another on to the stage
of life's activities, and thus it is unnecessary to attempt in this brief
sketch an extended genealogical review, for such information may be
found in many other published works touching the development and up
building of Michigan. It may well be said that Daniel J. Campau is
well upholding the prestige of the honored name which he bears, and he
is today one of the representative and influential citizens of Detroit and
Michigan. Mr. Campau was born in Detroit on the 20th of August, 1852,
and is a sori of Daniel J. and Marie Frances (Palms) Campau. His
grandfather, Joseph Campau, the famous merchant and trader of early
Detroit, was born in the old family homestead in this city, then a mere
frontier village, and the date of his nativity was February 20, 1769. He
received his preliminary education under the direction of his mother and
at the age of ten years was sent to school in the city of Montreal, Can
ada, where he remained five years and received a liberal French educa
tion. He returned to Detroit in 1786 and was recognized as one of the
most accomplished Frenchmen of the aristocratic old town, the regime
of which was at that time of most patrician order. His name was an
acknowledged title to French nobility, and his polished manners, fin
ished education and general characteristics made him a personage of
distinction and influence in the community. His father died while young
Joseph "was in Montreal, and upon the latter's return to Detroit he found
it expedient to identify himself with the practical affairs of life. He ac
cordingly entered the employ of a man named McGregor, — a pioneer
merchant and trader in the neighboring village of Sandwich, Ontario,
and remained with this sterling Scotsman for some time. Having ac
cumulated some funds, he next entered into a contract with the British
government to construct a fort or frontier military post at Maiden, Can
ada. He had collected a large amount of timber for construction work
on the fort, when the material- was swept away in a freshet, leaving the
young contractor virtually penniless. He then abandoned his contract
and re-entered the employ of Mr. McGregor, but shortly afterward en
gaged in business on his own account, in Detroit. His first place of busi
ness was situated on what is now Atwater Street, and his principal cus
tomers were the French folk of the town, who were still much in pre
dominance, besides which he built up a nourishing trade with the In
dians, many of whom came from points far distant. Finally, Mr. Cam
pau removed to the south side of Ste. Anne Street, the present Jefferson
Avenue, and eventually he established branch trading posts at Saginaw,

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 955
St. Clair and on the Clinton River, then known as Huron River. He
controlled a large and profitable Indian trade and his success as a mer
chant and trader was great. He continued in active business for more
"than forty years. He procured his supplies of goods mainly from Mon
treal, but was the first merchant of Detroit to purchase goods in Boston
and to transport the same to the isolated frontier settlements in the
region then considered as the far west. Joseph Campau was the great
pioneer merchant of Michigan and became the leading and most success
ful merchant of his day in Detroit.
As early as 1786 Joseph Campau initiated the buying and selling of
Michigan real estate, and in this connection he manifested marked
enterprise and progressiveness, as well as mature business judgment.
It was his policy to buy unimproved lands, on which he would erect com
fortable dwellings, and he would dispose of the properties after they had
been thus prepared for the uses of civilization. His . operations in this
line were largely confined to Detroit and its environs and he exerted
great and beneficent influence in connection with the development and
upbuilding of his native place, as he utilized his means and business sa
gacity in providing homes for rnany early settlers. When Detroit was
incorporated, in 1802, Mr. Campau was elected a member of its first
board of trustees, and he was one of the dispensation members, of Zion
Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, the first to be established in Detroit:
In 1812 he received, from President Madison a commission to the office
of major, and he was actively concerned with military operations in the
war of 1812. He took great interest in the development of live-stock
interests in the new country, especially the raising of horses. As early
as 1798 he was found enrolled as a member of the Board of Trade
Britannic. In 1812 he was associated with John Jacob Astor, James
Abbott and L. S. Schwarz in the Northwestern Fur Company. In 1809
he had nine branch stores in the territory of Michigan, and he was one
of the original stockholders of the first banking institution in Detroit,
The Territorial Bank, of which General John R. Williams was president.
He was associated with General Williams in the founding of the Demo
cratic Free Press, the lineal successor of which the Detroit Free Press
of the present day. He was one of the original stockholders of the De
troit & St. Joseph Railroad, now a part of tbe Michigan Central Railway
system, and a resourceful and dominating factor in many enterprises
and projects that had potent influence in furthering the development of
progress of his home city and state. He was prominently associated with
affairs relative to the war of 1812 and his noble life was sufficiently pro
longed to enable him -to witness the inception and earlier conflicts of the
great Civil War, his death having occurred in Detroit on the 25th of
July, 1863.
Joseph Campau was one of the eight children of James and Catherine
(Meriard).Campau, whose marriage was solemnized in 1760. He was the
second of the children, the first having been Jacques, born in 1762, and
the youngest having been Cecile, who was born in 1765 and who in 1781,
became the wife of Judge Thomas Williams, father of -General John R.
Williams. In 1808 Joseph Campau wedded Miss Adelaide DeQuindre,
daughter of Major Antoine P'ontchartin DeQuindre, who distinguished
himself in the War of 1812. Joseph Campau was survived by eight
children, Joseph, Jr., having met death by accident early in life, all of
whom are now deceased, namely : Daniel J., Sr., Denis J., James J., Alex
ander T., Adelaide, Catherine D., Emily and Matilda. Concerning the
son's adequate record is given in other publications and this article may
thus proceed to a consideration of the career of Daniel J. Campau, Jr.,
the representative Detroit citizen, of the present day. _ _ ¦
Daniel J. Campau gained his early educational discipline in the schools

956 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
of Detroit and thereafter was graduated in St. John's College, at Ford-
ham, New York. He read law under effective preceptorship and in 1879
was admitted to the bar of his native state. Later he was admitted to
practice in the United States Supreme Court, and followed his profes-*
sion here for some years and then engaged <in the real estate business.
The impaired health of his father rendered it virtually incumbent upon
him to assume practically the entire management of the extensive and
important Campau estate, a responsibility that soon engrossed the greater
part of his time and attention. He continued his able and effective serv
ices in this line until, the estate. was finally settled and distributed equita
bly among the several heirs. Since that time Mr. Campau has found
ample demands upon his attention in the supervision of his own large
and varied capitalistic interests, which in many ways touch closely the
material and civic prosperity and advancement of his native city.
For many years Mr. Campau has been one of the most influential fig
ures in the Michigan Councils and activities of the Democratic party.
His special ability and finesse in connection with the directing of political
affairs finally brought him into prominence in the national manoeuvers
of his party, and in 1884, in the State Convention of his party in Michi
gan, he was chosen by acclamation a delegate to the Democratic National
Convention in Chicago. Two years later he was chosen a member of the
Democratic State Central Committee of Michigan, of which he was
elected treasurer. He continued in active and effective service as a mem
ber of this important committee for more than twenty years, and was
its treasurer from 1886 to 1890. In 1886 President Cleveland appointed
Mr. Campau Collector of Customs for the port of Detroit, and after
serving in this capacity for nearly four years he voluntarily resigned the
office, owing to av change in the national administration. At the Demo
cratic State Convention of 1890 Mr. Campau was chosen by acclamation
to be Chairman of the State Central Committee and in the campaign
that followed he showed the highest generalship in the manoeuvering
and directing of the political forces at his command, as shown by the
decisive Democratic victory gained in the election of that year in Michi
gan, — this having been the first Democratic victory won in the state
since 1853.
In 1891 Mr. Campau tendered his resignation as Chairman of the
State Central Committee, but the State Convention refused to accept this
resignation. In 1892 he was unanimously re-elected Chairman, and in
the same year, at the National Convention in Chicago, he was chosen a
member of the National -Democratic Committee. In 1893 Mr Campau
received the votes of the Democratic members of the State Legislature
in support of his candidacy for the United States Senate. In the mem
orable national campaign of 1896 Mr. Campau served as Chairman of
the Campaign Committee of the National Democratic Committee and
toured the country with the candidate, Mr. Bryan. He was loyal to the
regularly constituted ticket of his party and gave a zealous and effective
support to its presidential nominee, William J. Bryan. Few men who
have not sought or held public office have been able to wield so great in
fluence and attain to so much political prominence as Mr. Campau, and
he has proved a most able and zealous exponent of the principals and
policies of the staunch old party with which he has been aligned from
the time of attaining to his legal majority, the while his every motive and
action have borne the evidence of sincerity and an earnest desire to pro
mote the general welfare of the state and nation.
Mr. Campau has also been a most prominent figure in connection
with turf events and has exemplified the best type of sportmanship in
this direction. As a patron of the trotting turf he has done much to ad
vance its interests in America. In 1885 he assumed control of the track

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 957
Detroit, and became also the principal stockholder and exploiter of the
Detroit Driving Club, which developed in. Detroit the annual Blue Rib
bon meeting of the Grand Circuit. He also became prominent in his
identification with national affairs on the trotting turf. At the time
when the government of trotting contests in the Unied Sates was in
the control of the National Trotting Association, which was largely
dominated by self-seeking interests, there came widespread agitation in
opposition to these conditions, especially in the west, and Mr. Campau
gained distinctive recognition as the leader of the reform movement in,
favor of clean and legitimate turf activities. Thinking to silence him,
the national association elected him a member of its board of review,
but this move of expediency signally failed in its purpose, with the result
that Mr. Campau continued his efforts and that a convention was finally
called for the organization of a new trotting association. The conven
tion was held in Detroit and resulted in the organization of the American
Trotting Association. Mr. Campau was tendered, but declined, the presi
dency of the new organization. In 1887 he purchased a controlling inter
est in the Chicago Horseman Newspaper Company, publishers of a rep
resentative periodical known as "Tbe Horseman" and shortly afterward
he became the sole owner. He subsequently purchased The Spirit of
the Times of New York and consolidated it with The Horseman under
the name of The Horseman and Spirit of the Times. He has shown
loyal interest in making the paper a representative of the highest ideals
in all that pertains to the horse and turf events, and it is now the recog
nized authority in all that pertains to American turf matters.
Elmer J. Ottaway. One of the best known newspaper men in
southeastern Michigan is Elmer J. Ottaway, one of the publishers of the
Port Huron Times-Herald. Mr. Ottaway began his newspaper career
on leaving college, has had an extensive experience in all grades of the
service both on country and metropolitan journals, was Washington
correspondent for a Detroit paper, and left that work to take the man
agement of the present establishment. The Herald was organized August
1, 1900, and on January 1, 1910, the Times-Herald Company bought the
Port Huron Times, which had been established in 1873, and since then
'the consolidated paper has been called the Times-Herald. Mr. Ottaway
is also interested in the Detroit Times, and at one time had interests in
both Flint and Ann Arbor papers.
BOrn June 18, 1871, at Flushing, Michigan, Elmer J. Ottaway is
descended from good old English stock on both sides. His grandfather
George Ottaway came from England and was one of the founders of the
name in this country. William J. Ottaway the father, was born in Clay
ton township, Genesee county, a son of the pioneer settler in this section.
He grew up and became a farmer and cattle dealer, being very success
ful in his line of business, and towards the end of the Civil War served
as a private in the Thirteeth Michigan Light Artillery. He is now living,
retired, at St. Clair. William J. Ottaway married Helen M. Brown,
who was born in Clayton township, Genesee county, Michigan, a daugh
ter of Justin Brown, one of the pioneer settlers of Genesee county, and a
member of one of the early boards of. supervisors in that county. Mrs.
Ottaway died in 1901 at Bay View, Michigan, and is buried at Flushing,
Michigan. She was the mother of two children, Edith, the wife of E.
M. Langdon, of St. Petersburg, Florida, being tbe daughter.
Elmer J. Ottaway received bis early training in the grammar and high
schools of Flushing and Flint, graduating from the former in 1887 and
the latter in 1889, and took his literary course in the University
of Michigan, from which he graduated in 1894. His inclinations had al
ready directed him to newspaper work, and he did reporting and other

958 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
work on the Ann Arbor Courier and the Argus, until the fall of 1895,
when he found a place on the staff of the Detroit Free Press. He went
through all the routine of reporting and editorial management, and at
last was Washington Correspondent of the Free Press. He resigned
in 1900, and took an active part in the organization of the Daily Herald
Company at Port Huron. Mr. Ottaway is now president of the Times-
Herald Company, president of the Herald Printing Company, which
conducts a large general printing plant in this city. He is a director in
the German-American Savings Bank of Port Huron. The Times-Herald
is conducted as a strictly independent paper, as regards politics.
Personally, Mr. Ottaway is of the independent type of Democrat,
and has never sought any political position. He affiliates with the Blue
Lodge and Chapter of Masonry at St. Qair, in which city he has his
home, with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and with both
branches of the Maccabees. His other affiliations are with the Woodmen
of the World, the Royal Arcanum, the Knights of Pythias, and the
American Insurance Union. Socially, he belongs to the University Club
of Detroit, the Port Huron Golf Club, the Port Huron Masonic Club,
the St. Clair Social Club, and is president and director of the Port Huron
Y. M. C. A. He is a trustee of the Methodist church at St. Clair. For
two years he served as president of the St. Clair County Alumni Asso
ciation of the University of Michigan. Outside of business he finds di
version in automobiling and golf, and in everything is systematic and
energetic, pursuing his pleasures with the same zeal that characterizes .
his work in the editorial and business rooms of the Times-Herald plant.
On June 22, 1899, at St. Clair, Mr. Ottaway married Miss Blanche
O. Whiting, a native of St. Clair, and a daughter of Hon. J. R. Whiting,
a former congressman from Michigan, and of a very prominent family
of St. Clair county. The four children of this union were : Elmer J., now
deceased; William Whiting, born March 7, 1902, at Port Huron ; Richard
Henry, born March 6, 1904, at St. Clair, and died in February, 1905 ; and
John Palmer, born March 3, 1907 at St. Clair. Mrs. Ottaway died
shortly after the birth of her last child. On August 31, 1910, Mr. Otta
way married Miss Ruth Louise Haller, a daughter of Rev. J. G. Haller,
then living at St. Clair, and now at Ishpeming, Michigan. ¦ There is one
child by the second marriage, James Haller Ottaway, born July 8, 191 1.
Jacob Rauschenberger. A well known Grand Rapids business
man, Jacob Rauschenberger established himself as an undertaker in that
city in 1887, has been continuously in business for more than twenty-six
years, and is now the Dean of the Funeral Directors of the city. The
chief feature of his success has been his close attention to his work, and
he believes in the principle and has profited by affording personal service
instead of the machine-like routine with which so much modern business
is conducted. Jacob Rauschenberger was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, July 2,
1858, a son of Thomas and Rosa (Katz) Rauschenberger. Botb parents
were natives of Germany, the father born in Wuertemberg June 17,
1835, and died March 18, 1907. The mother was born on June 18, 1834,
and died in 1863. They were married at Ann Arbor, Michigan, having
come to America in 1855. Thomas Rauschenberger was a cabinet maker
by trade, and in his shop manufactured a great deal of furniture for the
custom trade. While he came to America with nothing, he prospered
by steady labor year after year, and reared his family in good circum
stances. There were eight children, seven of whom are living, with Jacob
as the oldest ; John lives at Manchester, Michigan, and is a farmer ;
Barbara married Mr. Grossman, in the carriage business at Ann Arbor;
Mary lives at home ; Emma is the wife of Mr. Arnold, a jeweler at Ann

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 959
Arbor; Pauline married a Mr. Zeeb, a farmer in this state;. Carrie is the
wife of Mr.. WoodSj a jeweler at Hillsdale. The parents were both
members of the German Lutheran church, and the father was a Democrat
in politics. Jacob Rauschenberger, who was reared and received his education
in the grade and high schools of Ann Arbor, after graduating in 187^
found employment in a .furniture store, and under the direction of his
father and- in the latter's shop acquired a careful skill and knowledge of
the cabinet making trade. Thus be has been well equipped on the prac
tical side, and continued as a workman in shops for others until 1887.
In that year he opened a modest establishment on Front street in Grand
Rapids. Later his shop was on Bridge street, and from there he moved
to his present place at 415-417 Scribner avenue. Year after year he
has increased his facilities to keep up with the times and with the growth
of the community which he serves in his professional capacity, and has
never allowed himself to get into a rut. He has a fine equipment and
his show room is admittedly one of the best in Michigan. In conformity
with the changing conditions of modern urban life, he has provided a
good chapel for funeral services, capable of seating one hundred per
sons. Although he has become one of the large , undertakers, Mr:
Rauschenberger still gives his personal attention to every funeral. He
attends all of them in person, except when two or more at the same time
makes that impossible, and even then he makes all arrangements and sat
isfies himself that every detail is correct. Mr. Rauschenberger became
the oldest and the dean of local undertakers at the death of the' late
Patrick H. O'Brien. His two spns are associated with him in the
business. In 1885 Mr. Rauschenberger married Carrie Stein, a daughter of
Mathias Stein, of Adrian, Michigan, where he was a cabinet maker.
The four children of the marriage are : Paul, in business with his father,
who was educated in the Grand Rapids high school ; Albert, also asso
ciated with his father; Alma, at home and attending high school; and
Karl, a student in the high school. The family worship in the German
Lutheran church, and Mr. Rauschenberger is affiliated with Lodge No.
48, B. P. O. E. In politics he supports the Democratic party.
George Thompson. This Port Huron business man, who has the
distinction of being one of the oldest undertakers in the state still in
active work, represents a family that was one of the first to locate at
Port Huron, and' there are many interesting circumstances connected
with the family name and also much of note in the individual record
of Mr. George Thompson.
Born August 5, 1853, George Thompson was a native of Port Huron,
and a son of the late Edwin Thompson, who died af Port Huron in 1883,
aged seventy-four years. The family is an old one in America, the
great-great-grandfather, Jphn Thompson, having come from London
derry, Ireland, driven out of that country on account of religious mat
ters, and on emigrating to America established or helped to establish
the town of Londonderry in New Hampshire. Subsequently he moved
to Saratoga county, New York. The early generations of the Thompson
family were nearly all professional people, doctors, lawyers, ministers,,
and educators. Edwin Thompson, who' was born March 4, 1813, at Ovid,
in Seneca county, New York, came to Michigan during the early thir
ties. A tanner by trade, he was one of the first to set up a tan yard,
in St. Clair county. His first settlement v/as at Wadhams, a village on
the banks of the Black River. Subseouently he moved to Port Huron,
where he bought twenty acres of land, on the river front, getting this
tract direct from the government. To his new location he moved his
Vol. 11—2 1

960 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
household effects, family and children down the Black River on a raft,
and the site of the old home now adjoins the principal thoroughfare of
Port Huron, Military Street. Edwin Thompson never took any active
part in politicS; was a quiet unassuming man, and in business very suc
cessful. During the early days, most of the products of his tan-yard
were shipped to eastern markets, particularly to Boston. For years he
devoted his time and energies to tanning and also to farming. In the
community, and among the older settlers, he was familiarly known as
Deacon Thompson, a name that originated in the fact that he was one of
the first and for many years held the position of deacon in the First
Congregational church. Edwin Thompson married Jane Miranda Bet-
teys Greenfield. Her father came to Michigan at an early day. She
was born at Charlton, New York, and came to Michigan with her first
husband, H. G. Greenfield, during the early thirties, and they also set
tled at Wadhams, where she subsequently married Mr. Thompson. She
died in 1881 at Port Huron aged seventy-two, and by her two husbands,
was the mother of thirteen children, ten by Edwin Thompson. Of these
children, Charles, William, Edwin, Montgomery, are all deceased ; George ;
Ella is widow of William Rogers, of New York State ; Hoyt is deceased ;
Alice died in infancy; and Mary is also deceased.
George Thompson received his education in the public schools of
Port Huron, up to the time he was sixteen years of age. He started-
in life a member of a good and substantial family of Port Huron, but
was not set up in business, nor did he receive any substantial support
during his earlier career. His first employment was in his father's tan
nery, but after several years he found a position in the grocery business,
under F. A. Weyers, with whom he remained for several years. In 1876
his father and bis brother-in-law, A. C. -Sloan, had established a furni
ture and undertaking business, which were conducted under their joint
proprietorship until 1880. The business was then sold to William
Thompson, older brother of George, who was its proprietor until 1884,
when George and his brother Charles bought the establishment. The
former had for some years been identified with the business, and with
his brother Charles conducted it until 1888. In the meantime Mr. George
Thompson had become proficient as an undertaker, and in 1888 brought
about the division of the firm by which he acquired sole control of the
undertaking department. He now has a record of thirty-five years' con
tinuous service as an undertaker, and he conducts an establishment, which
in its equipment and service is a credit to the city. He has made his
success all by his own work, at the death of his father he inherited con
siderable money from the sale of the old Thompson estate in Port Huron,
land which in the meantime had become very valuable from its choice
location. Mr. Thompson is a Republican who has never sought nor
filled any public office. He affiliates with the Lodge of Mason at Port
Huron, with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Independ
ent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Wood
men of America, the Woodmen of the World, and the Independent Or
der of Foresters. His church is the First Congregational. He was one
of the original members of the National Guards, and was with the organ
ization six years.
In 1876 at Port Huron, Mr. Thompson married Miss Hattie Goodale,
who was born in this state, a daughter of Hiram Goodale, an old set
tler. She died in November, 1880, aged twenty-seven and without chil
dren. In 1886, Mr. Thompson was married at Port Huron to Clarissa
J. Talbot, who was born at Port Huron, a daughter of James Talbot,
who, with his wife Maria House Talbot, came from Canada to Michi
gan. Mr. Thompson by his second wife has three children: Margery,
born July 22, 1888; Dudley, born August 21, 1890; and Dorothy, born

%l^l£t+^ /ty.fi)y

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 961
May n, 1897. The business address of Mr. Thompson is at 934 Sixth
Street, and his home is at 11 17 Pine Grove Avenue.
Bartlett H. McMullen, M. D. During a period of more than a
quarter of a century Dr. Bartlett H. McMullen has been engaged in the
practice of medicine and surgery at Cadillac, Michigan,- and in this time
has become known as one of the leaders of bis calling in this part of the
state. A man of high attainments and great force of character, he has
exerted an influence for good in various lines of activity in the city of
his adoption, having acted as mayor in 1907 and 1908, and is not alone a
skilled physician and surgeon but a man of excellent business ability.
Doctor McMullen is a Canadian by nativity, and was born in Stratford,
Ontario, September 15, 1857, a son of John S.'and Margaret (Holland)
.McMullen. John S. McMullen was born at Kingston, Canada, in 1832, and there
received good educational advantages, being graduated from the Kingston
High school. He subsequently adopted the profession of civil engineer
ing, and in 1856 came to Saginaw, Michigan, where he entered the lumber
business. In 1890 he removed to Bay City" and later went to Seattle,
Washington, where he continued to be identified with the lumber business
until his death in January, 1912. He was a man of much executive and
organizing ability and stood high in the confidence of his business associ
ates, who looked to him constantly for counsel and advice. In politics a
Democrat, he took an active and leading part in local matters, and his
fraternal connection was with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Mr. McMullen was married in 1853, at Detroit, Michigan, to Miss Mar
garet Holland, who was born in 1,830, in Ireland, and she died in 1904,
at Seattle, Washington, having been the mother of four sons and two
daughters, as follows : Dan. H., who is engaged in the lumber business
at Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Seattle, Washington ; Dr. Bartlett H., of
this review ; Dave and John, who are engaged in the coal and wood busi
ness- at Seattle; Margaret, a teacher in the schools of Memphis, Ten
nessee; and Minnie, who is now Mrs. Jas. Armstrong, living at Butte,
Montana. Dr. Bartlett H. McMullen received his early education in the public
schools of Michigan, and began to study medicine under the preceptor
ship of Dr. W. E. Magill, of West Bay City. In 1876 he became a student
in the Detroit Medical College, from which noted institution he was
graduated March 4, 1879, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He
immediately established himself in practice at Morley, Michigan, which
was the scene of his endeavors until 1888, when he came to Cadillac. This
city has continued to be his field of practice to the present time. He has
built up an excellent professional business by reason of his ability, his
experience and his kindly, sympathetic nature, and is known among his
professional brethren as one wbo strictly adheres to the unwritten ethics
of his profession. He has never ceased to be a close student, and in 1890
took a post-graduate course in New York City, in 1899 a course in the
Polyclinic Hospital of that metropolis, and since then has taken various
other hospital and lecture courses in tbis country and in Europe. By his
membership in the Michigan State Medical Society, of which he has been
Councilor for the ninth district since its reorganization in 1904, and the
American Medical Association, he keeps fully abreast of the constant
advances being made in medicine. The Doctor is especially well known
in the field of surgery, is division surgeon of the Ann Arbor Railway and
chief surgeon of Mercy Hospital, and his offices are equipped with the
latest improved instruments. He has been successful in his business
ventures, and at this time is interested in the Weber Benson Drug Com-

962 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
pany, the Cadillac Chair Company, St. John's Table Company, all of
Cadillac. Pie is a Knight Templar Mason and a Pythian Knight.
Doctor McMullen was married September 7th, 1882, to Miss Alice
M. Sams, and they have three children: Florence, who is the wife of
Charles A. Jewett, of Cleveland, Ohio ; Donald, who married Helen Dig
gins, daughter of the junior member of the firm of Cummer & Diggins
Company of Cadillac ; and Edward, of New York City, a talented mu
sician, who has spent three years in advanced study at Munich, Germany.
Richard C. Forman. One of Port Huron's most highly esteemed and
successful men is Richard C. Forman, who after an absence of about
twenty years in the west, returned to Michigan and is now occupied
with business affairs, largely as a diversion, since he long ago acquired
a competence. Mr. Forman is a self-made man, having started out when.
a boy to win a fortune, and while he is very modest with regard to his
accomplishment his success has been none-the-less substantial and
worthy. Richard C. Forman- was born in New York State, August 14, i860,
being of English stock on his father's side, and Irish on his mother's.
Richard H. Forman was born in New Jersey, came to Lexington, Michi
gan, in 1862, and while in New Jersey was a merchant. At Lexington,
he followed farming, was also a stock dealer, built and had charge of the
docks at Lexington, being for more than twenty years engaged in the
freight and express business. He died in 1897 at Port Hope, at the age
of sixty-seven, and is buried at Port Hope. The maiden name of. his
wife was Sarah Quinn, who was born in Ireland, and when nine years
of age, her parents settled in New Jersey, at Jersey City. She is living,
at -the age of 80 years, in Butte, Montana. She was the mother of nine
children, seven sons and two daughters, three of whom are still living.
L. H. Forman is in the wallpaper business at Butte, Montana, while W.
D. Forman is a sign painter and decorator at Spokane, Washington.
Richard C. Forman, the third among the children, received his early
training in the common schools of Lexington. At the age of fifteen he
cut loose from home, and determined to make his own way. His first
employment was in the cabinet maker's trade, but a short experience
convinced him that this was not to his liking, and he then worked at
farming for some time. During 1877-78, he went to the Black Hills
in Dakota, locating at Deadwood, and two years were spent in mining.
Returning to Port Huron, he lived in that city until 1882, when he
was again stricken with the western fever, and this time did not stop
until he reached Butte, Montana. Butte was his home for twenty years,
and during the greater part of that time for fifteen years, he was in the
Wallpaper business. The first five years in the west were spent in mining
and prospecting. In 1902, after an absence lacking only three days of
twenty years, Mr. Forman returned to Michigan, and located in Port
Huron. His business affairs had prospered in Butte, and after coming
back to Michigan he was ten years practically without any active business
connections. In 1912 he went into the shoe business, buying the old
Boyce Bank Building at 509 Water Street, and establishing the Forman
Shoe Company, an incorporation of which he is secretary and treasurer.
This is one of the finest shoe stores in Port Huron, and is a credit to
the city. Mr. Forman interests himself only in a financial way with this
concern, and also finds employment for his leisure in looking after the
interests of the local branch of the Order of Elks at Port Huron. He
is manager of the Port Huron Lodge, and very popular in that order.
Mr. Forman possesses all the typical traits of tbe true western man,
being public spirited, and ever ready to extend a helping hand to -his
fellow men. In politics he is independent, and is a member of the

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 963
Methodist church. At. Butte, Montana, on November 26, 1897, he mar
ried Miss Elizabeth Oliver, who was a- daughter of Frank Oliver. There
are no children, and Mr. and Mrs. Forman live at 415 Fourteenth street.
William L. January began the practice of law at Detroit
thirty, years ago. His ability and success in his profession are
beyond question, and the same is true of his valuable work and effective
influence in public affairs, particularly those affecting the .good govern
ment of his home city.
William Louis January was born on a farm near Xenia, Greene
county, Ohio, January 3, 1853^ a son of George Wadman and Mary
¦Standiford (Garnett) January. With an education from the district
schools of his native county and an elective course in the literary depart
ment of the University of Michigan he took up the study of law and was
graduated LL. B. from the university law department in 1883. His admis
sion to the bar was followed by his removal to Detroit, in which city his
entire career as a lawyer has been spent. For many years a considerable
share of his practice has been in the' federal courts, and he has handled
,-perhaps as large volume of important litigations as any one of his contem
poraries. In 1905 Mr. January was a candidate for the office of circuit
judge, and in 1907 was candidate for election as delegate to the Michigan
constitutional convention. In the world's congress of lawyers and jurists,
held in connection with the Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis
in 1904, he sat as a delegate, and the Detroit Bar and Michigan Bar
Association appointed him to compile and edit a memorial for the cele
bration in honor of. America's foremost jurist, John Marshall. His
political party is the Republican, and he has done a great deal of active
campaign work, both as a speaker and writer. Mr. January has made
a reputation as clean debater either in the court room or on the public
platform, and has an effective and fluent style in literary composition, and
has often argued on subjects of public interest in the public press. •
His home city, has cause to gratefully remember his service in the
state legislature, where it has been said his. determined efforts resulted
in the passing of many admirable bills particularly valuable to Detroit.
Elected representative from Wayne county in 1896, during the following
session he was the only Detroit member of the committee on city corpora
tions, a committee to which was intrusted specially important functions
at that time. The bill for the amendment of the city charter of Detroit
was introduced and championed by Mr. January, and he also secured
the enactment of a bill providing for the protection of the parks and
boulevards of Detroit, especially in the matter of controlling the Belle
Isle bridge approach, which as a result became part of the park system
and was placed under the control of the park commissioners. The history
of primary reform in Michigan could not be written without reference
to Mr. January's pioneer work. The first measure providing for general
primary election reform in the state was .drawn and introduced into the
legislature by him, and though the bill was not passed, it furnished data
and the forms which subsequently were used in evolving the legislation
affecting that subject. Mr. January did much to promote the measure
providing for a reduction of the rate of general taxation and for the
repeal of the charter of the Michigan Central Railroad Company.
His professional and social relations are with the Wayne County
Bar Association, the Michigan State Bar Association, the American Bar
Association, and the International Law Association ; with1 the University
of Michigan Alumni Association, the Ohio Society of Detroit, and the
Detroit Yacht Club. . At Shelby, Ohio, May 25, 1886, he married Miss
Carrie B. Brucker, who was born and reared in Ohio.

964 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Hon. John L. Black. When, on November 4, 1913, the Hon. John
L. Black was elected mayor of Port Huron, the people of that city evi
denced their appreciation of a career of signal usefulness to the com
munity and their just recognition of a life at all times characterized by
the strictest integrity and probity. As lawyer, jurist and public-spirited
citizen during a period of thirty-five years he has played an active and
helpful part in the affairs of the city of Port Huron and the county of
St. Clair, and the fact that he carried ten of the city's eleven wards
should go far to prove his universal popularity. Judge Black is a native
of Canada, having been born at Strathroy, Ontario, June 17, 1857. His
father, John Black, was a son of Scotia, and as early as 1838 emigrated
to America, settling at Strathroy, where he followed agricultural pur
suits and worked at the trade of carpenter. Inheriting the sturdy,
thrifty traits of his race,' as well as its honesty and industry; he became
quite successful for his day and was able to spend the last fourteen
years of his life in comfortable retirement, making his home with his
son at Port Huron, where he died December 22, 1904, aged eighty-four
years. Mr. Black married Miss Jessie Campbell, wbo was also born
in Scotland, and who came to Canada in 1839 with her brothers and sis
ters and settled two miles north of Strathroy on a farm. Mrs. Black
died at the age of eighty-eight years, six months, July 18, 1908, at Port
Huron, the mother of three children : Archibald, a successful farmer and
stockraiser, with a large residence in the Saskatchewan country of North
west Canada; John L., of this review; and Mary A., who passed away in
1891. John L. Black received only ordinary educational advantages, as
his father at that time was in modest circumstances. He possessed in
large degree the admirable traits of his father's race, and was earnest
and painstaking in his tasks, making the most of his opportunities and
taking advantage of every chance that presented itself for his advance
ment. When he was eighteen years of age he was employed by his
brother, who was in the hardware business at Watford, County Lambton,
Ontario, but commercial lines did not appeal to Mr. Black, who had
determined upon a professional career, and after two years he left his
brother's store and June 3, 1878, arrived in Port Huron.
Here, in the office of Atkinson & Stevenson, Mr. Black began his
legal studies, and after five years of the most thorough preparation
he was admitted to the bar. At that time also he was admitted to the
firm with which he has spent so long a period, and has since developed
a large general law practice of his own. He now has an office in the
Stevens Block. He has always used his fine legal talents in the further
ance of what he has believed to be for the best interests of the city and in
this way has not alone become recognized as one of the leading members
of his calling, but as one of his community's most useful men. A Re
publican in politics, he was elected justice of the peace in 1884 and served
four years in that capacity, in the meantime, in 1886, being elected circuit
court commissioner, to wbich he also gave his attention for two years.
This service was followed, in 1888, by his election as judge of probate,
an office which he honorably filled for a term of eight years In 1913
the Republican party, seeking a candidate strong enough to defeat the
forces of Democracy, against whom serious charges of graft and misap
plication of public funds had been made, chose Judge Black as the most
able and incorruptible man whom it could select. A fierce campaign
ensued, but Judge Black was returned the winner by a majority of 753
votes, and, as before stated, carried ten of the eleven wards of the city.
It is still a little early to speak of his achievements in the mayoralty
chair, for as yet he has had not much more than chance to firmly grasp
the reins of city government. However, it is safe to assume, if past

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 965
records may be taken as a criterion of the future, that his administra
tion will be progressive, helpful and strictly honest. During the cam
paign, a local newspaper said, in part, as follows: "The people who
know John L. Black — and he is about as well known as anyone in St.
Clair county, know that he is a good, square, honest, upright citizen.
He does not shoot off any unnecessary fireworks for display, or make
grandstand plays about his honor and citizenship, but when you take hold
of his hand you know that it is clean and has not been contaminated by
foul or unfair methods in his dealings with his fellow men."
Mayor Black is essentially a home man and spends the greater part
of his leisure in his handsome library among his beloved books, his
home being located at No. 1403 Willow street. However, he is not in
different to fhe pleasure of companionship with his fellows, and is popular
with his brother members in the Woodmen of the Wojld, the Knights.
of the Maccabees and the Modern Woodmen of America. In the line
of his profession, he is connected with the county and state bar associa
tions. At one time he was a member of the Michigan National Guards',
but has since severed his connection with that body. With his family
he attends the Presbyterian church.
On March 8, 1886, Judge Black was married at Port Huron to Miss
Eliza J. Walsh, who was born in this city, daughter of John Walsh, a
pioneer groceryman and for years proprietor of the well-known Walsh
Hotel. Mrs. Black died January 3, 1894, at the age of thirty-one years,
having been the mother of two children : Bonna Belle, and one who died
in infancy. Judge Black was married June 28, 1900, at Detroit, Michigan,
to Miss Julia L. Walsh, the sister of bis first wife.
Michael J. Murphy. The Murphy Chair Company, one of the
older industries of Detroit, was established forty-one years ago, and
Michael J. Murphy, the originator of the business, developed it through
the initial stages of growth, long since made it a profitable business, and
as president of the company is a leader in Detroit manufacturing circles.
Mr. Murphy has also been actively identified with Detroit banking affairs.
Born at Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, in 185 1, Michael J. Murphy is a
son of Irish parents. His father, born in Limerick, Ireland, cafne to
America in 1828, was a pioneer settler in Lambton county, Ontario, in
1844 moved to Iowa county, Wisconsin, but in 1850 returned to Canada
and was engaged in farming in the vicinity of Sarnia, where his son
Michael was born.
At the age of sixteen, in 1868, Michael J. Murphy came to Detroit,
after a local school education, to attend a commercial college. That
was the beginning of his long and active career in this city. When he
had finished his commercial course, the college retained him as assistant
instructor one year, and his active business career began as bookkeeper
for C. H. Dunks, a manufacturer of bed springs. His next work, after
one year with Mr. Dunks, was as bookkeeper in the Second National
Bank of Detroit, where he remained until 1872, and then bought the
business of his former employer, Mr. Dunks. It was a comparatively
small enterprise, but under his energetic management prospered and
grew, and in 1878 its scope was broadened by installing equipment for
the manufacture of chairs. Eventually that became the most important
part of the output, and in 1884 the factory was incorporated under the
name of the Murphy Chair Company, since which time chairs have been
the sole product. Mr. Murphy became president at the time of the
organization, and counting his relations with the business in both its
early phases and as a chair factory, has been at its head continuously for
more than forty years.

966 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Though the sources of his success came from his manufacturing
business, Mr. Murphy is best known to many Detroit business men as a
banker. He was first president of the Security Trust Company, held
that office four years, and is still a member of its board of directors;
is also a director of the First National Bank, of the People's State Bank
and the Michigan Savings Bank, and has interests in several other im
portant concerns of the city. In 1877 Mr. Murphy married Miss Eliza
Gleeson. John F. Ruff. To the business of supplying high-grade dairy
products, particularly butter, John F. Ruff has devoted the bestyears of
his active life and is today at the head of a large and successful industry
at Port Huron and in St. Clair county. In concentration of effort lies
the secret of hi,s success, and he has been not only a practical man, but
a student, always eager and ready to accept new knowledge from others,
as well as relying upon his individual training and discoveries.
John F. Ruff was born May 3, 1863, on a farm near Milwaukee,
Wisconsin. His father, Rev. Frederick J. Ruff, was born in Germany,
came to America in the early fifties, first located at Bloomington, Illi
nois, where he organized the First Lutheran Church of that city, of
which he became pastor. Recently was celebrated the semi-centennial
of that church. He was a hard worker, and was especially known as a
church builder and organizer, having established a number of churches
in various states. In 1870 he became a permanent resident of St. Clair,
Michigan, and took the pastorate of St. Peter's Lutheran Church. Dur
ing his later years he lived retired on a small surburban farm, and died
in St. Clair in 1880 at the age of fifty-three. He has the distinction of
having established the first Lutheran church at Port Huron known as
the Trinity Lutheran. Rev. Ruff married Charlotte Posner, who was
born in Germany and came to America on the same boat which brought
her husband across the ocean, the two becoming acquainted on that type
of sailing vessel which remained between ports twelve weeks. She died
in 1904 at St. Clair at the age of sixty. There were eleven children, and
eight are still living.
The third in the family, John F. Ruff, received his education in the
Lutheran Parochial Schools at St. Clair until fourteen years of age. At
that time, being the oldest son, and the youngest children needing the
care and attention of the parents more tban himself, he started out to
make his own way and contribute something to the family exchequer.
His services during the following eleven years were largely given in
tending his father's truck farm and marketing its products. He then
bought twenty-five acres of land of his own, and began selling milk. His
dairy herd at first consisted of one cow, but that was the foundation of
the present large business, known as the Port Huron Creamery Company.
Mr. Ruff gradually increased the farm and dairy, and when he was pro
prietor of a plant with twenty-five cows, he discovered that he needed
more theoretical and scientific knowledge than he possessed and there
fore took a course in the Agricultural College, studying everything he
could pertaining to the creamery and dairy business. With that equip
ment in 1898 he started a creamery, establishing the St. Clair Creamery
at the village of that name. It was the second establishment of its kind
in the county, and when he got his plant in working order, the older
concern stopped operations, so that he was left alone in the field. In
1903 Mr. Ruff established also the Port Huron Creamery, which in
April, 1909, was incorporated, and of which he has since been general
manager and vice president. The St. Clair plant is not incorporated,
and is owned jointly by Mr. Ruff and his brother-in-law, Charles H.
Otter. The capacity of the Port Huron Creamery Company is more

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 967
than one million pounds of butter a year, and twenty-five thousand
gallons of ice cream, besides supplying the city with ordinary dairy
products in milk and cream. Now that the duty on da'iry products. has
been taken off between the United States and Canada, or reduced to a
material extent, the company send across the boundary large amounts
oi milk, cream and butter. Both the plants are equipped with all the
latest and most. modern machinery, and conducted along the lines of
scientific and sanitary ideals. An ice plant is an auxiliary of the main
concern, and every kind of ice used by the company is made in the firm's
plant. The Port Huron plant employ on an average about eighty people,
thirty of whom work directly in the factory. The St. Clair establish
ment is much smaller, and employs six persons. Mr. Ruff has no other
interests outside of these, and his success in this one line is sufficient to
entitle him to high standing among the business men of the state.
In politics he is a Republican, and has been quite active in political
affairs. He served one term as supervisor, two terms as assessor, was
for six years an alderman, two years city treasurer, and was candidate
for mayor. This political activity came during his residence at St. Clair.
He is a rnember of the Herman Lutheran Church. On November 15,
1888, at St. Clair, Michigan, Mr. Ruff married Miss Anna M. Otter,
who was born at St. Clair, a* daughter of Jacob and Augusta Otter, old
settlers of St. Clair, who came from Germany. To their marriage have
been born four children, as follows : Lydia, a bookkeeper in her father's
office ; Walter T., who is also employed in the dairy and creamery busi
ness; Oscar, a bookkeeper at Port Huron; and Albert, who is studying
for the ministry of the Lutheran Church in the College at Fort Wayne,
Indiana. The family residence is at 2487 Military Street and Mr. Ruff
has a beautiful place on the river front, two hundred and fifteen feet
along the bank, and with grounds comprising four acres. The creamery
at Port Huron is located at 325 Court Street, and occupies an entire
block of ground on the front with a depth of seventy feet and the main
building has ground dimensions of two hundred and twelve by sixty-two
feet. Harold C. Cornelius. One of the prosperous and important indus
trial enterprises contributing definitely to the prestige of the city of Grand
Rapids is that conducted under the title of the Wolverine Brass Works,
and the facilities of the well equipped plant have specific influence in the
furtherance of the successful operations of many other manufacturing
industries in the progressive "Valley City." As secretary and' treasurer
of the company incorporated under the title noted, Mr. Cornelius is num
bered among the representative business men of Grand Rapids, and as
such he is consistently given specific mention in this publication.
Mr. Cornelius was born in the city of Adrian, judicial center of Lena
wee county, Michigan, and the date of his nativity was December n,
1873. He is a son of John M. and Anna T. (Russel) Cornelius, the former
of whom was born in Dutchess county, New York, in 1833, and the latter
of whom was born in the same year, a native likewise of the old Empire
state of fhe Union. The marriage of the parents was solemnized at Plym
outh, Wayne county, Michigan, both of them having come to this state
in youth. Of their eight children six are living, and of the number Harold
C. is the youngest; Charles S. is general manager of the Canadian-
Wolverine Company, at Chatham, province of Ontario ; Emma M., who
is the wife of Albert S. Lamond, resides in the city of San Francisco,
California ; William R. is identified with the Wolverine Brass Works, in
the capacity of cashier and assistant treasurer; M. Bertha is the wife of
Clinton L. Dayton, of Traverse City, Michigan; and Louis A. is presi
dent of the Wolverine Brass Works. John M. Cornelius was a birthright

968 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
member of the Society of Friends and long held to the faith in which he
was thus reared. In the climacteric period that led up to the Civil war he
was a staunch abolitionist and did effective service in connection with the
operations of the historic "underground railroad," by the medium of which
many southern slaves were aided in fleeing to the North and gaining their
freedom. Mr. Cornelius was a stalwart Republican and he was called
upon to serve in various local offices of public trust. In the earlier period
of his independent career in Michigan he gave his attention to farming,
after which he was engaged in the boot and shoe business at Adrian for
a number of years. He finally resumed his association with the agricul
tural industry, and he passed the closing years of his long and exemplary
life in the city of Grand Rapids, where he died in the year 1909 and where
his widow still maintains her home, the lineage of both being traced back
to staunch English origin.
After continuing his studies in the public schools until he had com
pleted two years' work in the high school at Grand Haven, Harold C. Cor
nelius turned his attention to the practical affairs of life. At the age of
nineteen years he identified himself with the jobbing business, in the
handling of brass products, and finally he became associated with his
brother, Louis A., in the founding of the Wolverine Brass Works, in
Grand Rapids. The concern has grown to be one of the largest and most
important of the kind in Michigan, bases operations on a capital stock
of $700,000, and in its well equipped plant are manufactured brass goods
for plumbers' use, as well as many specialties of brass. The products of
the establishment are shipped to all sections of the United States and an
excellent export trade also is controlled, the superiority of the goods
manufactured constituting the best advertisement and commercial asset of
the company. The corporation also owns the business conducted in Canada
under the title of the Canadian- Wolverine Company, and branch estab
lishments are maintained in New York City and San Francisco. Harold
C. Cornelius has been secretary and treasurer of the company from the
time of its organization and has shown admirable initiative and adminis
trative ability in connection with the upbuilding of the large and prosperous
business. In politics Mr. Cornelius is found arrayed as a staunch supporter of
the principles of the Republican party, and he is now serving as a valued
member of the board of public works of his home city, in which his in
terest is unflagging and marked by distinctive public spirit. He was one
of the organizers of the Grand Rapids Trust Company and is a member
of its directorate, and he is a member of the Grand Rapids Credit Men's
Association, of which he was president in 1910. He and his wife attend
and support the Baptist church, and he is affiliated prominently with the
Masonic fraternity, in which he holds membership in Doric Lodge, Free
& Accepted Masons; Columbia Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; DeMolai
Commandery of Knights Templar; Dewitt Clinton Consistory, Ancient
Accepted Scottish Rite ; and the local temple of the Ancient Arabic Order
of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
On the 21st of September, 1895, Mr. Cornelius wedded Miss Edith M.
Glidden, of Grand Rapids, and she is a popular factor in the social activi
ties of her home city.
Frank J. Haynes. Now the official head of the extensive lumbering
and timber land properties, which have long been controlled under -the
Haynes name, Frank J. Haynes represents one of the five successive
generations which has been identified with lumbering in various sections
of the United States. The Haynes family originated in Pennsylvania,
and were of Pennsylvania Dutch stock. Grandfather Haynes was in the

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 969
lumber business on the Susquehanna River in that state, and few families
have furnished more prominent men in one industry than this.
Frank J. Haynes was born April 6, 1861, in Port Huron. His father,
Jacob P. Haynes, a native of New York State, came to Michigan in 1839,
when seven years of age, being brought thither by his parents, James and
Celeste K. Haynes. After his removal to Michigan, Grandfather James
Haynes continued his activities as a lumberman, and was one of the
pioneers in the industry, known far and wide as "Uncle Jimmie." The
late Jacob P. Haynes grew up and received his education in the schools
of Port Huron, and in 1855 graduated from what was then known as
the Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College. From that time forward
for half a century he was identified with the land and lumber business.
He was also a banker, engaged in real estate operations, but chiefly in
the handling of pine timber lands, and was the founder of the Haynes
lumber business now conducted by his son. He was a Republican who
never sought official honors, and though a member of no church, helped
to support many. His death occurred at Port Huron, April 8, 191 1,
in his eightieth year. Jacob Haynes married Mary J. Young, who was
born in Port Huron a daughter of James and Catherine Young, and of
Scotch stock. The Youngs settled at Port Huron during the early forties,
her father having been a pioneer farmer. Mrs. Jacob Haynes died in
June, 1906, at Port Huron. There were four children, and the sons,
Fred R., William J. and James are now deceased, Frank J., being the
only survivor and representative of the family in his generation.
Frank J. Haynes was educated in the public schools of Port Huron,
and in 1882 graduated from the Orchard Lake Military Academy. In
the following year he graduated from the business department of the
Detroit University, and then was taken in as an active assistant to his
father in the real estate business. In 1884 was organized the F. J.
Haynes & Company, in which the son became a full partner, and from
that time forward had a great deal to do with the extensive lumbering
and milling operations carried on under the name in the Upper Penin
sula. In the year 1886 the Port Huron Lumber yards were established,
and in 1889 the elder Haynes sold his interest in that concern to his son
Fred, the business being subsequently carried on by Fred and Frank.
In 1892, on the retirement of the father, William J. Haynes likewise
joined the firm which had undertaken business in both the wholesale
and retail dealing in lumber, also as lumber manufacturers. William
J. Haynes died February 23, 1908, and Fred passed away in February,
1909. Since that time Frank J. Haynes has conducted the large business
as the sole proprietor, and besides his Michigan holdings, has timber
tracts in the state of Oregon, and in several southern states. He is a
director and president of the Port Huron Paper Company, and interested
in other commercial and industrial enterprises. '
His Republicanism has always been of the active kind, and he has
done much as a public spirited citizen of Port Huron. He served as
alderman in 1886-87, and his election to the office of mayor in 1888
gives him the distinction -of being the first man so young to be elected
to that important position either before or since. He also served, on
the school board and gave seven years of service on the police commis
sion. Mr. Haynes was one of the men who a few years ago drew up the
plan of commission government, and took an aggressive part in the
campaign, by which that fprm of municipal rule was granted to Port
Huron. Mr. Haynes served as the first exalted ruler pf Lodge No. 343, B.
P. O. E. at Port Huron, and was chairman of the building committee,
which supervised the construction of the Elk Temple, and practically
had the entire responsibility for that handsome structure. He affiliates

970 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
with Lodge No. 18 of the Knights of Pythias. He is a member of the
Port Huron Golf Club and the Deer Park Hunting Club. He is one of
the most highly honored members of the board of commerce, and in
his church connections is a Methodist.
On December 19, 1883, at Port Huron, Mr. Haynes married Miss
Anna E. Crawford, who was bom at Port Huron, a daughter of Alex
ander Parmalee Crawford, the former one of the old residents of
Port Huron. To their marriage have been born three children: James
J., who is associated with his father in business ; Edward A., a graduate
in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan; now general
manager of the Port Huron Paper Company, and also member of the
Haynes Lumber Company ; Mary L. is in the Port Huron school. Mrs.
Haynes and her children are active members of the Grace Episcopal
church, and Mrs. Haynes is a member of the Library Board and espe
cially active in social and literary circles at Port Huron. Mr. Haynes
from 1887 to 1899 was a member of the Michigan National Guard,
entering with the rank of sergeant major, served as lieutenant and under
Governor Rich was appointed inspector general of the National Guard.
For eight years he was captain of his local company.
Judge Matthew Bush. Since the year 1889, Judge Bush has held
the office of probate judge in Shiawassee county. There is only one
other probate judge in the state whose length of service is longer. The
re-election of Judge Bush for one term after another, is in itself con
clusive evidence of the confidence of the citizenship in his official integ
rity and capability, and in the administration of the many delicate and
important duties entrusted to the office his work has always been of the
character and value to the community. Judge Bush has been an active
member of the Shiawassee county bar, for more than thirty years, and
he and his son are now among the leading law firms in the county seat
of Corunna. Judge Matthew Bush was born in Ulster county, New York, Decem
ber 6, 1853. His parents, Peter M. and Eleanor (Mayes) Bush, natives
of New York, settled in Michigan in 1867, where the father was a pros
perous and influential farmer until his death in 1877. The mother passed
away in 1881. The family home in Michigan was in Montcalm county.
Their five children were : Zacariah T., who lives retired at Ann Arbor ;
Judge Matthew; Elizabeth, wife of William Palen, of the state of
Louisiana; Jennie, wife of Frank Smart, living in Iowa; Rowena, wife
of Frank Beardsley, a farmer in Montcalm county.
Matthew Bush, after getting his early education in the public schools
of Ulster county, studied law, and was admitted to practice by the New
York Supreme Court at the general term of 1876. His first experience as
a lawyer was in his native state, and in 1879 he established his home
and began his professional career in Shiawassee county, Michigan. The
first ten years of his residence was at Vernon, and during that time he
served as president of the village board. In 1889, Matthew Bush was
elected for his first term as probate judge of Shiawassee county. Each
succeeding election the people have set the seal of their approval upon
their official conduct, and his service has now been continuous for a
period of twenty-four years. He has also held a membership on the
school board of the city of Corunna for eighteen years, and is now presi
dent of the board. Judge Bush was one of the organizers of the Pro
bate Judges Association in Michigan, and was honored by election to the
office of president, being the second to hold that honor in the association.
Judge Bush was a director in the First National Bank of Corunna, dur
ing the existence Of that bank.

^^ -£^<2<t71Z*7»-?€>g

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 971
His fraternal affiliations are with the Masonic Order, the Independ
ent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of
Elks. He is past commander of Commandery No. 21, K. T., and is a
member of the Mystic Shrine, having also taken all the official chairs in
the Odd Fellows Lodge. His church is the Presbyterian. Judge Bush
has been twice married.
In 1882 at Vernon, he and Miss Flora McKercher were -married.
Mrs. Bush was born at Vernon, a daughter of Alexander McKercher.
By this marriage was one son, Walter M. Bush, now associated with his
father in practice the firm of Bush & Bush. He is a graduate of the
Detroit College of Law. Judge Bush, after the death of his first wife,
married Annie E. Verney,' of Battle Creek, Michigan, daughter of Rev.
James Verney. To 'the second union have, been born eight' children,
namely: James Verney Bush, of Corunna; Russell Alger, of Detroit;
Lowell M., a student in the Detroit College of Medicine; Helen Eliza
beth, a student in the University of Michigan ; Wendell Holmes ; Homer
N.j and Florence R. The children have all been given the best of edu
cational advantages, and the family home in Corunna is a center of cul
ture and refinement. Judge : Bush is himself a scholar, possesses a fine
library, both in the law and general literature, and it is said that no citizen
of Shiawassee county can claim more friends in this locality than Judge
Bush, whose official record and private character entitle him to the
esteem and respect of all people. In politics, he has for years been a
staunch supporter -of the Republican interests.
George Diamond. On February 20, 19 14, • death removed from
Jackson one of its most prominent citizens in George Diamond, .one of
the veterans in the employ of the Michigan Central Railroad Company,
a member at the time of bis death of the Jackson school board and one
of the best known religious workers in the city, founder of the well
known Diamond Mission. For a quarter of a century he had been fore
man of the pattern department in the Michigan Central shops, and few
men, whatever their position in Jackson, had a greater following or a
wider circle of friends than George Diamond. He was a man who by
the very nature of his personality drew other men to him.
The late George Diamond was of British birth and ancestry, born at
Torrington, Devonshire, England, March 10, 1845, a son of James and
Mary Diamond. The father died when the son was a child, so that his
early life until he took upon himself the burden of existence, was one
of many hardships and few compensations.
Only a few weeks before his death Mr. Diamond and his wife cele
brated on November 24, 191 3, their golden wedding anniversary. That
was the occasion, for the appearance of a sketch of this venerable couple
in the Jackson Patriot, and most of the facts for the following article are
taken from the report of that celebration.
At the age of fourteen years George Diamond took up his residence
in a place called Bishop Hull, situated about two miles from the city of
Taunton in Somersetsbire. While there he attended a boarding school
or young men's academy, and at sixteeri moved to Taunton and served"
a five years' apprenticesbip as a house joiner and cabinetmaker with John
Southey, a Methodist deacon.
On November 24, 1863; Mr. Diamond married Hannah Simmons,
whose birthplace was Taunton. She, like her husband, had been orphaned
in childhood, so that when they decided to come to America in later years
they had none to leave behind and few, if any, regrets at leaving their
native land. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Diamond in
England. They were Alfred, Lily, Agnes and Ada Blanche, but the last
named died in infancy.

972 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
In 1873 Mr. Diamond decided to come to America, and as Jackson,
Michigan, had been cited to him as a desirable and enterprising young
city he decided to make that place the objective point in his journey.
Leaving his family in England, he embarked on April 16, 1873, from
Cardiff, Wales, on the steamer Glamorgan. He came to Jackson direct
from New York, making the trip by way of the Lake Shore and Michi
gan Southern Railroad, arriving in the city at midnight on May 1, and
it is a notable fact that he stepped off the Lake Shore train at almost
the identical spot where the old Diamond Mission now stands.
Little time was required in getting acquainted with the city, for it
appeared so scant and so unlike his conception of what a city should be,
even in America, that there was nothing for him to do in the way of ,
investigation. It may be mentioned here, as a sidelight on the character
and inclination of the young man, that on his first Sunday in Jackson
he presented his church letter and his credentials as a local preacher, to
the Methodist Episcopal church.
Mr. Diamond's religious work in the city, has long been a feature of
his life, and his activities in the church began when he was in England,
at the age of twenty-one. He was converted at that time, joined the
church, became a local preacher, and oftimes in those early days walked
fifteen miles on a Sunday to hold religious services at some point not
reached by the regular clergy.
Five months after the arrival of Mr. Diamond, Mrs. Diamond and
their three children joined him at Jackson, and thenceforward their
happy lives flowed together, and their good works were carried on with
a wholesome and hearty sympathy, so that their years of life in Jack
son have been a blessing to the community. Two children were born to
them in America, and of the five, three are living today: Alfred G.
Diamond of Waukesha, Wisconsin; Mrs. Eugene Cochrane, and Mrs.
James Coulston, both of Jackson.
On coming to Jackson Mr. Diamond early associated himself with the
Michigan Central Railroad in their shops at Jackson Junction, and ad
vanced steadily in his work until about twenty-four years ago, he was
made foreman of the pattern department.
Mr. Diamond was always a man of great public spirit and a citizen
of the highest type. At one time a candidate for the office of mayor on
a temperance and socialist ticket, he lacked a few votes of election at
the polls. Other than for that experience, he never went into politics
to any extent. His best work for the city was as a member of the First
Methodist church of Jackson, with which his affiliation continued tor
forty years. An ordained deacon of the church, on occasions he filled
the local pulpit and other pulpits as supply pastor. When he joined the
church it was the only one of the Methodist denomination in Jackson.
Today there are seven, and Mr. Diamond was an active factor in the
building of each of the other six, and in several of them was the chief
leader in their founding. He founded the Diamond Mission on Mill
street, which has since become the Beatrice Isbell Methodist church, at
the corner of Martin and Ford streets. His public service as a member
of the Jackson board of education was continued until his death, and
he was also vice president of the Jackson Trades and Labor Council.
In Masonry he had taken the Master's degree.
The golden wedding anniversary of Mr. Diamond and wife was an
event for hundreds of Jackson people, and the entire city displayed a
genuine interest in the celebration. From the columns of the Jackson
Patriot the following partial report of the anniversary is taken: "Mr.
and Mrs. George Diamond celebrated their fifty years in married life
yesterday, having been married in England in 1863. The event was
made the occasion for a demonstration of regard and affection, which in

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 973
depth of feeling and extent of participants was as remarkable as this long
marriage relation is unusual.
"Naturally all the descendants and relatives gathered to celebrate the
affair, and in addition there were gathered at a dinner a party of inti
mate friends, whose regard has existed and grown during the forty
years of their life in this city, and one, Thomas Harper of Toledo, being
the sole remaining descendant of the friend who accompanied Mr. Dia
mond as an emigrant from England. There were forty-two in this
party and in the family portion there were represented three generations.
These were Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Cochrane and four children ; Mr. and
Mrs. Gaines Finch and sori, Harvey Diamond, of Lawton ; Mr. and Mrs.
James E. Coulston and two children and Mr. and Mrs. Alfred G. Dia
mond and two children, of Waukesha, Wisconsin.
"During the progress of the dinner a pleasing program was carried
out, including grace by Rev. Ames Maywood ; a song by Hannah Coch
rane; reading of letters of congratulation; history of the family by J.
E. Coulston, and a number of musical selections. There were present a
number of prominent men of the city, who made brief and appropriate
addresses, and the Methodists of the city united in a demonstration for
Mr. and Mrs. Diamond in the evening,- the observance of which packed
the auditorium of the First Methodist church. Among the audience
were families of the fellow workmen of Mr. Diamond at the Michigan
Central shops, and among the many expressions of esteem showered
upon the happy couple none was more impressive than the presentation
from them of a magnificent loving cup. At the close of the program
Dr. Maywood asked the celebrants to arise, and repeating the marriage
service presented them each with a handsome gold ring, the gift of the
members of the church. Many other handsome gifts were showered
upon Mr. and Mrs. Diamond, and the event was one that in the richness
of affection displayed and everywhere evidenced in word and action will
long be remembered by those who were so fortunate as to participate in
the happy event."
John Fred Lee. Now living retired at his home in Laingsburg, Mr.
Lee was for a long period of years actively identified with farming and
commercial enterprise in Shiawassee county, and built up a reputation
for integrity and standing as a merchant second to none. The Lee fam
ily has been identified with this section of Michigan for over half a cen
tury, and were among the pioneers who helped to clear off the forest, and
develop the land for the uses of modern civilization.
John Fred Lee is a native of Germany, in which country he was born
December 14, 1852. His parents, Frederick and Wilhelmina (Genrich)
Lee, came to America about 1861 and settled in Sciota township of Shia
wassee county. The father bought a small farm/put up his first home
in the midst of the woods, and many years were spent in clearing and
subduing the soil to farm uses. He had an honorable place among the
old settlers, was a man of strict honesty, and possessed the hearty in
dustry so typical of the 'better class of German citizens, and at his death
was able to leave to each of his five children, eighty acres of land as
their- individual portions. During his life in the old country he worked
at the trade of miller. There were six children, one of whom died in
infancy. John F. was the oldest; William a successful farmer, is now
deceased ; Herman, also deceased, was a farmer ; Henry is deceased ; and
Charles F. resides on and owns the old homestead in Sciota township.
John Fred Lee after his school days, spent in Laingsburg and Owosso,
learned the trade of butcher. Two years of experience in that work con
vinced him that it was not a pursuit that would satisfy his tastes, and

974 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
he then returned to the home of his parents and assisted in the cultiva
tion of the many acres possessed by his father, and also eighty acres that
had been given him by his father in 1876, and he continued Actively as
a farmer for thirteen years. With increasing success as an agriculturist,
in 1888 he extended his enterprise to the proprietorship of a small hard
ware and implement business in Laingsburg. Beginning on a very mod
est scale, he kept increasing the stock, and built up a splendid trade, in
Laingsburg and vicinity. At the same time his farming operations were
continued, and this combination of business enterprise, through twenty-
three years bought him the competency sufficient to enable him to spend
his last years in comfort. Mr. Lee has been successful and has never
been avaricious for great wealth, and is content with the fortune he has
won by his well directed efforts, and has' always borne his share of re
sponsibilities in the life of the community. He is still owner of consid
erable town and country real estate and finds occupation for his farm in
supervising his varied interests, especially his farm. Mr. Lee served
two years, 1876-78, as township commissioner of highways, was presi-'
dent of the town board in 1896, and again elected president in the spring
of 1913. His political party is the Democratic, and fraternally his rela
tions are with the Blue Lodge and Eastern Star of the Masonic Order.
In Laingsburg he owns one of the pleasant and comfortable homes. On
March 15, 1876, Mr. Lee married Miss Emelia C. Haker, who was born
in Detroit, a daughter of John and Minnie (Herrman) Haker. The
parents were pioneer farmers of Clinton county, Michigan, and her
father was a native of Germany and served in the German army before
coming to America. He was married in Detroit, and died at the age
of eighty-one, while his wife passed away at the age of fifty-nine. To
the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Lee have been born five children, one of
them now deceased; Herman lives in Lansing, Michigan; Freda, is the
wife of Frank Rohrabacher, a prosperous farmer in Sciota township,
and a member of a prominent family of early settlers ; Emelia is tbe
wife of Irving L. Stoney, of Lansing; Fred G. Lee is an active farmer
and managing the old homestead of his father.
John O. Gilbert. There is no business or vocation which can be
made more dignified, or which is more essentially important than that of
feeding the people. To furnish wholesome food products is a task worthy
of the best efforts of any man, and modern life each year is coming to
place a higher value upon such service. For more than twenty years
this has been the business and profession of John O. Gilbert, whose repu
tation as a wholesale and retail confectioner and baker at Jackson needs
no cpmment, since his establishment is easily the largest of its kind in
the city, and its products are household words. Mr. Gilbert has a large
candy factory, a bakery, and conducts two large retail candy stores in
the city, and the fame of his chocolates has gone abroad, and there are
thousands of people who were never in Jackson who are familiar with
and lovers of that brand of confection.
John O. Gilbert was born in the village of New Stark, in Hancock
county, Ohio, near Findlay, on February 20, 1863. His parents, John J.
and Phoebe (Pipes) Gilbert, were born, reared and married in Wash
ington county, Pennsylvania* and soon after their marriage moved to
New Stark in Ohio. The father, who was during his active career a
timberman and sawmiller, died at New Stark, Ohio, in 1907. His widow
still lives in that village. During the Civil war John J. Gilbert was a
soldier in the Ninety-ninth Ohio Regiment, was twice badly wounded,
but after the war lived many active and useful years. He possessed a
splendid constitution and a powerful physique, and his death at the
age of seventy years was the result of tumorous growth. He had always

'/e^4^r

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 975
been an industrious worker, provided as liberally as possible for his
family, and left a good name. The mother, whose active career was also
characterized by much energy and a strong character, had twelve chil
dren, and is still in a vigorous old age, being threescore and ten. The
Jackson manufacturer was the second of six sons and six daughters, and
the five sons and four daughters still living are : John O. ; Effie A., Mrs.
James Bowers; Oliver I.; Mary L. ; Benjamin F. ; Minerva A., Mrs.
Christopher Hilty ; Grace, Mrs. Reuben Hilty ; Clyde E. ; and Clifford
Ross. Minerva and Grace married two brothers, Christopher and Reuben
Hilty. Oliver I. and Benjamin F., the latter better known as Frank,
are both in the employ of their brother John O. in the business at Jack
son, and are active assistants in carrying on the large business built
up by John O. Gilbert. Both these sons are married.
John O. Gilbert spent his early years at New Stark, Ohio, and at
tended the district school for about four months in each year until he
was twenty-one. -From the time he was a small boy the time not spent
at school was employed at work in his father's sawmill. He continued
at home with his parents until he was nearly twenty-two, and all he
ever received during this time was his board and clothes. His father
died a poor man, and John O. Gilbert started life without a legacy ex
cept the inherent energy and ability of his own character. What he has
made is the result of his own efforts, and all of it has come since he was
twenty-two years of age. At that age he went to Washington county,
Pennsylvania, and for the following five years worked as a farm hand-
at eighteen dollars per month. In 1890, having returned to his old
home at New Stark for a visit, he went from there to Findlay, the nearby
city, and it was there that he laid the basis for the present extensive
business conducted by him in Jackson. During the early months of his
residence at Findlay he took almost any work that came to his hand,
was employed by lumbermen for a time, later drove one of the old-
fashioned borse cars, and still later was in a local planing mill.
After he had been in Findlay about three years, Mr. Gilbert found a
job as driver of a bakery wagon on commission. The owner of a small
bakery in Findlay about that time proposed to sell his establishment to
young Gilbert, the price he asked being three thousand dollars. Mr.
Gilbert had no money and no means of securing capital for such invest
ment. However, the owner was so anxious to sell in. order that he might
return to his old home at Springfield, Ohio, that he proposed turning
over the establishment to Mr. Gilbert on a contract of sale and allowing
the latter to pay the purchase price from the proceeds of the business.
With pencil and paper he proved conclusively that the business would
soon pay for itself, and on such terms Mr. Gilbert acquired ownership
and was thus launched in an independent enterprise. That was in 1893.
In the meantime, on March 24, 1892, Mr. . Gilbert had married Mary
A. Fellers, of Findlay. Mrs. Gilbert, in many ways proved the main
spring of his success during later years. Being a woman of exceptional
energy and ambition, she joined her husband, and together they took
hold of the bakery business. As a result of hard work they were able
to pay off on the business during the following five years. They not
only did that, but greatly enlarged the capacity of the plant, extended
the trade into new channels, and had made of a second-rate concern a
bakery whose products were the best sold in the entire city. After
mastering the business of producing wholesale bread, they turned their
attention to the manufacture of candy, and Gilbert's cbocolates soon
came Into a well deserved popularity in that part of the country. No
other candy, whether produced'locally or from abroad, could successfully
compete with their confection. Naturally the popularity of Gilbert's
chocolates soon spread to adjacent towns and cities, and at the end
vol. n— 22

976 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
of seven years they were supplying a large trade, both wholesale and
retail. Also by that time, the business had greatly outgrown the small
city in which it was located, and Mr. Gilbert realized that its future
expansion and success depended upon a better location and a larger
city. After a tour of investigation, in 1900 he came to Jackson, and
found that local conditions were ideal for the location of his kind of busi
ness. After having satisfied himself on this point, he returned to Findlay
and as soon as possible sold out his plant, and moved to Jackson. In
this city he established a plant for the production of bakery goods and
candy. Flour in his ovens was converted into the finest of bread and
cakes, while sugar was utilized for the manufacture of the Gilbert's
candy, which soon came to have as great a popularity in Michigan as
they had enjoyed in Ohio. Since then Mr. Gilbert has built up one of
the largest and best bakeries in Jackson, and sells all of his products
in the city at retail. His two retail stores on Main street are familiar
to every visitor to the city. One is conducted exclusively as a candy
and ice cream parlor, while the other is for the sale of both the Gilbert
candies and bakery goods. On west Courtland street in. 1912 was begun
the erection of a two-story brick building, on a foundation 60x132 feet,
with a basement under all. When this was finished in 1913, it furnished
quarters for the splendidly equipped Gilbert Candy factory, and _ all
three floors are now utilized in the production of this noted confection.
In his factory and stores Mr. Gilbert employs about fifty people. For
the local trade he manufactures various grades and lines of candies,
but his specialty, and that which ' is emphasized in the outside trade,
is Gilbert's fine cbocolates. He has taken great pains and pride in main
taining the uniform standard of excellence and quality in his candies,
and the successful business is based upon thorough merit.
Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert have their own home at 306 West Washington
street, having bought their residence in 1903. Mr. Gilbert affiliates
with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. They are the par
ents of two children : Hazel Marguerite, born November 3, 1901 ; and
Russell F., born August 23, 1903.
William A. Hatcher. A man of distinctive mechanical genius and
business ability, Mr. Hatcher has been a resident of Grand Rapids since
1907 and has here become a prominent figure in industrial circles, as is
indicated by the fact that he is vice-president, and general manager of
the Wernicke-Hatcher Pump Company, to the development and super
vision of whose business he bas given close attention, with the result that
the concern is proving a splendid addition to the industrial and commercial
interests of Michigan's greatest manufacturing city. Mr. Hatcher has
achieved success through his own ability and has shown excellent initiative
and executive powers, besides which his advancement has been furthered
by his fine technical knowledge and practical skill along mechanical lines.
He is one of the aggressive and popular business men of the younger
generation in Grand Rapids and is consistently accorded recognition in this
history of the state.
William Albert Hatcher was born in the city of South Bend, Indiana,
on the 31st day of December, 1872, and when he was two years old his
parents removed to Pennsylvania, where he was reared to the age of
eight years and where he acquired the rudiments of his education. At
the age last noted his family removed to Cleveland, Ohio, where he was
afforded the advantages of the public schools and also completed a course
in a business college. He soon turned his attention to mechanical pur
suits, and his practical apprenticeship represented the first stage in the
development of his exceptional ability as a skilled mechanician. As a
mechanical engineer Mr. Hatcher soon gained reputation and success. For

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 977
five years he was chief engineer and superintendent for the Winton Motor
Car Company, at Cleveland, Ohio, and the following four years he held
a responsible position with the Packard Automobile Company, at Warren,
Ohio. Finally he founded in Cleveland, Ohio, the Hatcher Auto Parts
Company, of which he became president and with which he continued to
be actively associated four years. He then sold his interest in the well
established business and came to Grand Rapids, Michigan, to assume the
position of superintendent of the Harrison Automobile Company. , This
business was discontinued in the following year, and in April, 1908,
Mr. Hatcher organized the Anthony-Hatcher Company, which dealt in
automobiles and motor supplies. He became associated with O. H. S.
Wernicke in the invention and development of a number of new me
chanical devices, and in this way they finally developed the wonderful
new air-compressor which is the principal device manufactured by the
Wernicke-Hatcher Pump Company. The great superiority and value of the
new compressor soon gained for it a wide demand and the business grew
apace, its expansion having been wonderful in consideration of the com
paratively short period of the ,existence of the Wernicke-Hatcher Pump
Company, which is now incorporated with a capital stock of $200,000
and which has a modern plant with the best of mechanical equipment and
accessories. The company ships its products into all parts of the United
States and into many foreign lands, and it controls valuable patents, ob
tained in protecting its devices both in America and other countries.
Mr. Hatcher has had the supervision of the work of large corps of men
during nearly his entire active career, and has proved a splendid executive
as well as one who has not been denied the fullest measure of confidence
and esteem on the part of his associates and those employed under his
direction. He was a child of two years at the time of his father's death,
and he has been in the most significant sense the artificer of his own for
tunes, much of his early education having been gained by self-application
and by attending night school, his days having been replete with arduous
toil in the meanwhile. Success is the natural prerogative of such valiant
souls, and Mr. Hatcher has achieved success that is worthy the name.
Political activities have taken but minor attention on tbe part of Mr.
Hatcher, but he has been a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Re
publican party. In his home city he is affiliated with Malta Lodge, Free
& Accepted Masons, and in the time-honored fraternity he is also a mem
ber of the Michigan Sovereign Consistory of the Ancient Accepted Scot
tish Rite, as is he also identified with the Ancient Arabic Order of the
Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is an appreciative and popular member
of Peninsular and Plainfield Clubs of Grand Rapids and is identified with
other representative civic organizations. Both be and his wife are mem
bers of Westminster Presbyterian church.
In June, 1901, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Hatcher to Miss
Amelia Von Sick, of Sandusky, Ohio, and the two children of this union
are Belva Marie and William A., Jr.
Joseph R. Gillard. An able lawyer who also possesses special qual
ification as a business man, Joseph R. Gillard has been in the practice
of his profession in Michigan since 1907 and for the past four years
has had his office in Grand Rapids. It was due to his enterprise and
special ability in business that he was able to get an education, since
he started out without money, and not only paid his way through the
university, but at his graduation found himself in the very unique posi
tion of being worth many times more money than he had when he
entered school as a freshman.
Born in Erie county, Ohio, August 28, 1881, Joseph R. Gillard was
the fourth of seven children born to James and Sylvia (Brown) Gil-

978 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
lard. Grandfather John Gillard was a native of Scotland and came to
America when very young. He settled in Erie county, Ohio, where _ he
married, and spent the rest of his life as a farmer in that state, living
retired during the last ten years of his life. He was possessed of un
usual mental powers, was an able student, and fitted himself for work
as a veterinary surgeon. The ability to make money was prominent _ in
his career. The maternal grandfather was Solomon Brown, a native
of Erie county, Ohio, and a member of the Brown family which settled
in America with the colonists, brought over by the Mayflower, and an
uncle of Solomon Brown was Joseph R. Brown, who served as adjutant
general in the war of 1812. James Gillard, the father, was born in Erie
county, Ohio, in 1843, and died in 1906. The mother was born in
1849, and is still living. They were married in 1868. James Gillard
was a physician and surgeon and a man of unusual prominence and
success in his profession. He was educated in the Homeopathic Medical
College of Cleveland, and the Cincinnati Eclectic Medical College. In
religion, he and his wife worshipped in the Episcopal faith, and he was
a Republican in politics. Of their seven children, six are still living,
as follows: William B., a printer of Los Angeles, California; Charles
E., a printer in Sandusky, Ohio; Elsie M. Millner, whose husband is a
miller and lumberman at Hattiesburg, Mississippi; Joseph R., James H.,
an attorney in Oakland, California ; and Solomon J., who is with the
Republic Oil Company in Kansas City, Missouri.
Joseph R. Gillard grew up in Northern Ohio, and graduated in 1901
from the Sandusky high school. When he entered the University of
Michigan as a student he had ten dollars as his only visible asset to
pay his way until graduation. In 1905, four years after he left high
school, he had completed a literary course and was graduated with the
degree of Bachelor of Arts. Then two years later he graduated from
the law department with the degree of LL. B. in 1907. In the meantime
he had applied himself to several enterprises which proved successful
and left college possessing a capital of many times that with which he
started. In March, 1906, before graduation, Mr. Gillard married Miss Cora
Rosamond Moos, a native of Sandusky, Ohio, and the daughter of a
well known wine manufacturer there. To their marriage have been
born four children: Richard E., attending school; Sylvia R., in school;
Constance, a school girl; and Joseph R., Jr. The family are members
of the Episcopal church and Mr. Gillard is affiliated with York Lodge,
A. F. & A. M., and Cowan Lodge, K. of P., at Grand Rapids, while in
politics he is a Progressive-Republican.
Mr. Gillard began practice at Grand Rapids in 1909. The previous
two years he had been located at Marquette, with the firm of Hill &
Smitb. For two years at Grand Rapids he practiced as a member of the
firm of Smedley, Hall & Gillard, and in 191 1 formed a partnership with
Mr. C. J. Hall. They have a large general practice, and Mr. Gillard
is a member of the county and state bar association.
John William Scully. One of the most forceful figures in Demo
cratic politics in Lapeer county is the present incumbent of the sheriff's
office, John William Scully, whose high standing, faithful performance
of duty and fidelity to trust are shown in the fact that he has been twice
elected to his present responsible position despite the fact that his party
is outnumbered in the county by two to one. On numerous occasions he
has demonstrated that he is possessed of a high order of courage, and
in the maintenance of law and order has established a record that en
titles him to the gratitude and respect of the people of his community.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 979
Mr. Scully is a native Michigander, born in St. Clair county, Feb
ruary 6, 1865, a son of John B. and Eunice (Holcomb) Scully. His
father, a native of Ohio, settled in St. Clair county during the latter
'fifties, and for many years was well known in business circles as a
large dealer in lumber. He was a man of industry, business ability and
foresight, and at the time of his death, in August, 1894, at the age of
sixty-nine years, was one of the substantial men of his locality. He was
a radical Democrat and took an active interest in public ¦ affairs, but
could never be persuaded to accept public office. Fraternally, he was a
prominent Mason. Mr. Scully married first Miss Eunice Holcomb,
a native of New York State, who died in August, 1871, and they became
the parents of nine children, of whom four are living: : James, who is a
resident of Prescott, Michigan; Fidelia, who is the wife of Fred Hall,
of Waters, Michigan; Oscar D., who resides in California; and John
William. In 1872 John B. Scully was married to Miss Charity Bristol, a
native of Lapeer county, Michigan, and they became the parents of one
son: Charles B., of Almont.
John William Scully is a product of the farm, having grown up in
the township of Almont, where his early education was secured in the
district schools. This was supplemented by a course in the Almont
High school, following his graduation from which he returned to his
father's farm and worked thereon until he reached the age of twenty-
six years. At that time he established himself in the produce business
at Dryden, Michigan, where for seventeen years he carried on an ex
tensive trade, gradually building up a prosperous enterprise through
hard work, energy and well-directed effort. During the greater part of
this period he was the incumbent of one or another township or village
office, in all of which he displayed marked executive ability. Mr. Scully
became the candidate of the Democratic party for the office of .sheriff of
Lapeer county in 1910, and although the county is Republican by a two
to one majority, he was successfully sent to tbe sheriff's office. In his
official capacity Mr. Scully immediately impressed the people of the
community that he intended to strictly uphold law and order, and so
ably did he discharge the duties of his position that he won the friend
ship and admiration of men of all political parties, so that in 1912, wheri
he again became candidate, he was re-elected by a handsome majority.
The highest compliirient that can be paid to Sheriff Scully is the general
opinion among all who know him that he is a man who does his duty
as he sees it, fully and courageously, and that he is upright, fearless and
absolutely sincere. Fraternally, he is associated with the Masons and
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has numerous
friends, as he has, indeed, in all walks of life. Reared in the Episcopal
church, he has been faithful to the teachings of that denomination, and
for ten years or, more has served in the capacity of warden.
On February 28, 1891, Mr. Scully was married to Miss Margaret
Anderson, who was born in St. Clair county, Michigan, daughter of
William and Jessie (Sheppard) Anderson, of Scotch lineage and pioneer
farmers of St. Clair county, where they are now living in quiet retire
ment. Mr; and Mrs. Scully have one son: John Anderson, who was
born February 21, 1893. Mrs. Scully is widely and favorably known as
a church worker and club member, and takes a great deal of interest in
historical research work. Like her husband, she has numerous friends
in Lapeer, and their pleasant home is frequently the scene of social
gatherings. Spencer D. Hinman, M. D. As a representative of the beneficent
Homoeopathic school of medicine, Dr. Hinman has achieved a secure

980 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
place as one of the able and successful physicians of his native county
and state and is engaged in the active general practice of his profession
in the city of Grand Rapids. His parents established a home in Kent
county in the pioneer days, but soon returned to the state of New York,
so that their son Spencer, of this review, did not pass the period of his
childhood and youth in the state of his nativity, though he bas found all
of satisfaction in returning to Michigan and here finding ample field for
successful effort in his chosen vocation, which he dignifies alike by his
character and services.
Dr. Hinman was born on a pioneer farmstead in Sparta township,
Kent county, Michigan, on the 16th of September, 1850, and is a son
of Charles D. and Sophia (Hutchins) Hinman, botb natives of the state
of New York, where the former was born on tbe 14th of February, 1824,
and the latter on the nth of November, 1823, their marriage having
been solemnized in the state of their birth. Charles D. Hinman was
a scion of a family that was founded in America in the early colonial
days and the genealogy is traced back to sturdy English origin. His
father, Noble B. Hinman, came to Kent county, Michigan, in 1852,
and here he became a pioneer farmer. He passed the residue of his life
in Kent county and died in about 1873. The lineage of the American
branch of the Hinman family is traced back to Sergeant Edward Hinman,
who came from England in 1650 and who became a substantial citizen of
one of the New England colonies, where he gained, through effective
service, his military title. He wedded Priscilla Smith, who was a de
scendant of the historic character, John Alden.
Charles D. Hinman came to Michigan about 1848, a little more than
a decade after the admission of the state to the Union, and he settled
on an embryonic farm in Kent county, where he began the work of
reclamation and improvement. He remained here only four years and
then returned with his family to the state of New York, various condi
tions having made this change expedient. In the old Empire state he
continued to reside in Genesee county for more than thirty years, and
he then, in 1883, came again to Micbigan, the closing years of his life
having been passed at Ionia, this state, where he died in 1907, at the
venerable age of eighty-three years, his cherished and devoted wife
having been summoned to eternal rest in 1905, at the age of eighty-two
years and both having been most devout members of the Methodist
Episcopal church, in which he was for many years an official. Mr.
Hinman was originally a Whig and later a Republican in bis political
allegiance, but he never sought public office. He was a man of fine men
tality and high principles and ever commanded implicit confidence and
esteem. He was for many years in active affiliation with the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows and both he and his wife were most zealous
church workers. Of their three children, Dr. Hinman, of this review,
is the elder of the two surviving, and Adine is the wife of Dwight Z.
Brooks, engaged in the agricultural implement business at Ionia, Michi
gan. Asa Hutchins, maternal grandfather of Dr. Hinman, was born
in New Hampshire and was comparatively young at the time of removal
to the state of New York, where he continued to reside until his death, he
likewise having been a representative of staunch New England stock.
Concerning the brothers and sisters of Charles D. Hinman certain data
are available and are worthy of consideration in this connection : Norman
C, who was a valiant soldier of the Union in the Civil war, died at the
age of sixty-one years; Zebulon M. was eighty-seven years old at the
time of his death; Columbus C. died at the age of seventy-eight; and
Alfred S., who is now a resident of Kent City, Michigan, is eighty-eight
years of age, in 1914, all of the brothers having been substantial farmers
and valued citizens of their respective communities. Of the sisters,

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 981
Celeste C. is the wife of Edwin Bradford and resides in Los Angeles,
California, and Celina, a resident of Spartaj is the widow of Jason S.
Bradford, the latter having been a brother of Edwin Bradford.
Dr. Hinman was a child at the time of his parents' return to the
state of New York, and there he was afforded the advantages of the
public schools Of Batavia, Genesee county, and of the fine old academy at
Cazenovia. In preparation for the work of his chosen profession he
entered the New York Homoeopathic Medical College, in the national
metropolis, and« in this excellent institution he was graduated in 1877,
with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. His initial work as a physician
was achieved at Batavia, New York, where he was associated- with his
uncle, Dr. Horace S. Hutchins, . who, now venerable in years, still con
tinues in active practice at that place. In 1881 Dr. Hinman returned to
Michigan and established his home in his native county of Kent, by
taking up his residence in the village of Sparta. There he built up a
large practice, to which he continued to give his attention for fifteen
years, and within this period he had gained prestige as one of the repre
sentative physicians and surgeons of Kent county. In 1896 the Doctor
found a broader sphere of professional endeavor by removing to the
city of Grand Rapids, where he formed an alliance with Dr. Homer C.
Bingham, with whom he is still associated, and he has control of a large
and representative practice in Michigari's second city, where he is rec
ognized also as a progressive and public-spirited citizen. He is a member
of the West Michigan Homoeopathic Medical Society and the Michigan
State Homoeopathic Medical Society, having served as president of the
former and as vice-president of the latter. He is retained as surgeon to
the Elliott Machine Company, of Grand Rapids, and he subordinates
all else to the demands of his profession, in which his success vouches
for his ability and close application. Dr. Hinman is a Republican in his
political proclivities and both he and his wife are members of the Park
Congregational church in Grand Rapids. In the Masonic fraternity he
is affiliated with both the York and Scottish Rite bodies, and with the
adjunct organization, the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the
Mystic Shrine.
In the year 1883 was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Hinman to Miss
Isabelle M. Durfee, who was born in the city of Rochester, New York,
but who was a resident of Mason, Ingham county, Michigan, at the
time of her marriage.
Bela W. Jenks. No name has been more conspicuously and worth
ily linked with the history of the section constituting the "Thumb" dis
trict of Michigan, on the shores of Lake Huron, than has that of the
Jenks family, which was here founded in the early 'pioneer days and
which, from that time to the present, has stood exponent of the highest
civic loyalty and progressiveness, of much initiative and constructive
ability and of paramount influence in the ordering of civic affairs and
the developing and conducting of business enterprises of broad scope
and importance. No history that touches the development and upbuild
ing of the Lake Huron section of Michigan can be consistent with itself
if there is failure to accord special recognition and high tribute to the
past and present representatives of the Jenks family. On other pages
of this work is entered a memoir to the late Jeremiah Jenks, one of the
most honored and influential pioneers of the district of Michigan that has
just been mentioned, and to this article reference should be made in
connection with other records touching the family history. "
Bela Whipple Jenks, one of the foremost citizens and men of affairs
of the beautiful little city of Harbor Beach, Huron county, is the treas"
urer of the Huron Milling Company, one of the most important indus-

982 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
trial corporations of the county, and he has other large capitalistic in
terests that give him further prestige and influence, the while he has
secure place in the confidence and high regard of the community to whose
development and upbuilding he has contributed in most liberal measure.
Mr. Jenks was born at Spoon Lake, Essex county, New York, on the
18th of July, 1849, and is a son of Jesse L. and Mary (Martin) Jenks,
representatives of the staunchest of New England lineage, both families
having been founded in America in the colonial era of our national his
tory. Jesse L. Jenks was a native of New Hampshire and his wife was
born in the state of New York, where their marriage was solemnized.
The family genealogy is further outlined in the Jeremiah Jenks memorial
mentioned below. In i860 Jesse L. Jenks came with his family to Michi
gan and settled in the village of St. Clair, whence they shortly afterward
removed to Port Huron, the present metropolis of St. Qair county. Mr.
Jenks became one of tbe most prominent and influential figures in the
development and upbuilding of St. Clair, Huron, Sanilac and other coun
ties of this Lake Huron section of eastern Michigan, and his business
activities were greatly diversified. He was for some time engaged in the
hotel business and later he became prominently concerned with the lum
ber industry and with the real-estate business. In the earlier years of his
residence in Michigan Jesse L. Jenks entered into a contract to carry the
mail from Port Austin to Sanilac, a distance of sixty miles, and his con
tract called for service twice a day on this route. This was before the
construction of railroads in this part of the state, and he utilized eight
teams of two horses each in transporting the mail, the while he demanded
the employment of fifteen or more men as drivers, the roads being almost
impassable at times and the service being most arduous in the extreme.
Mr. Jenks also became extensively engaged in the buying and shipping
of horses, with a well equipped livery stable at Harbor Beach, which
was then known as Sand Beach, and he was sixty-five years of age at the
time of his death. His loved and devoted wife survived him by many
years and was eighty-four years of age at the time of her death, the
remains of both being interred at Harbor Beach. Of the six children
two died in infancy and William Jenks died at the age of eighteen years.
Of those now surviving the eldest is Bela W., of this sketch ; Robert M.
is individually mentioned on other pages of this work ; and Jennie is the
wife of Nelson R. Arnold, of Chicago.
Bela W. Jenks gained his early educational discipline in the schools
of his native state and was a lad of about eleven years at the time of
the family removal to Michigan, where he availed himself of the ad
vantages of tbe public schools of St. Clair and Port Huron. His first
employment was as a clerk in the postoffice at St. Clair, and after being
thus engaged for one year he was given the position of bookkeeper for the
firm of Peck, Jenks & Company, at Harbor Beach, Huron county, where
he assumed bis duties in tbe year 1866. It will be recalled that it was
not until many years later that the town received its present name of
Harbor Beach, the original cognomen having been Sand Beach, and the
place being renowned at the present day for having the largest and finest
harbor of refuge on the Great Lakes. In 1872 the title of the firm was
changed to J. Jenks & Company, and Jeremiah Jenks was its head, spe
cific tribute being paid to this honored pioneer elsewhere in these pages,
as already stated. The firm of J. Jenks & Company had as one of its
interested principals Bela W. Jenks, who had thus won advancement
from the position of bookkeeper, and it is interesting to record that the
original title of the firm is retained to the present time, after the lapse
of more than forty years, though the business was incorporated in 1902,
with capital stock of $485,000. Bela W. Jenks has been treasurer of the
corporation from the time of its organization as such, and the business

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 983
has been one of the largest in this part of the state, including the han
dling of general merchandise, with a far reaching trade, and the manu
facturing of salt and flour having early been made an important feature
of the enterprise. The broad extent of the business is indicated by the
large capital enlisted in its prosecution. Mr. Jenks is treasurer also of
the Huron Milling Company, of Harbor Beach, a corporation that con
trols an extensive industrial enterprise in the manufacturing of wheat
and corn products and in dealing in white field peas and seed grains.
The corporation of J. Jenks & Company now gives attention almost ex
clusively to the handling of real estate and improved city properties in
Harbor Beach, its operations having been a dominating force in bring
ing about the development and upbuilding of Harbor Beach in both a
civic and material sense. Mr. Jenks is president of the Huron County
Savings Bank, at Harbor Beach, and he bas held this position since 1912,
though he has been closely identified with the institution from the time
of its organization, in 1880.
As one of the substantial capitalists and influential citizens of Huron
county Mr. Jenks has shown the utmost liberality and progressiveness,
and he has given ready co-operation in the supporting of enterprises and
measures that have conserved the general welfare of the community.
He is a stalwart in the camp of the Republican party and has given yeo
man service in behalf of its cause. He was the first mayor of Harbor
Beach, having been elected to this office immediately after the town, had
received its city charter, and though he held office only one term, owing
to the demands of his private business affairs, yet he has served seven
teen years as a member of the city council, besides which eighteen years
of zealous service stand to his credit as a member of the board of educa
tion, of which he was formerly president and of which he is .secretary at
the present time, 1914. Distinctive honors were won by Mr. Jenks dur-
irig his service as a member of the state senate, in the years from 1905
to 1908, inclusive. He was specially active in the legislative session of
1908, marked by the strenuous controversy concerning the governor of
the state.
Mr. Jenks is affiliated with the lodge, chapter and commandery Of
the Masonic order, his membership being in the bodies of these orders in
his home city, and in the city of Detroit he is affiliated with Moslem Tem
ple of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
In Harbor -Beach he is also actively identified with the lodges of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. He
gives liberal support to the Presbyterian church in Harbor Beach, of
which his wife is a zealous member, the family having distinct leader
ship in the representative social activities of the community.
At Memphis, Macomb county, Michigan, on the 18th of July, 1871,
was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Jenks to Miss Alfna E. Stafford,
who was born at Swiftwater, New Hampshire, and whose parents,
Henry B. and Abbie Stafford, were' sterling pioneers of Huron county,
Michigan, where they settled in the early '50s. Concerning the children
of Mr. and Mrs. Jenks brief record is given in conclusion of this sketch:
Allie M. is the wife of Darius Mihlenthaler, who is a representative
business man of Harbor Beach and of whom specific mention is made
on other pages of this work, incidental data concerning their three chil
dren being as follows : Keith was born in 1902, Bela Darius in 1904, and
Esther D. in 1908. Minnie B., the second daughter, is the wife of Rev.
S. Carmichael, pastor of the Presbyterian church in the city of Bad Axe,
Huron county, and they have two children, Douglas, born in 1908, and
Alma E., born in 1913. Bela Walton Jenks, the only. son of hini whose
name introduces this article, was born at Harbor Beach, on the 18th of
August, 1882, and after his graduation in the high school of his native

984 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
place he completed a special course in chemistry in the Michigan Agri
cultural College, besides which he has taken a supplemental course of
like order in the University of Michigan. He is now superintendent of
the macaroni factory, that represents one of the departments of the
manufacturing industries of the Huron Milling Company. He wedded
Miss Alma B. Kelly, daughter of Joshua B. Kelly, a well known citizen of
Pluron county. Hazel Stafford Jenks, the youngest of the six children,
was graduated in the Harbor Beach high school and later continued her
studies in the St. Thomas School for Girls, and at Alma College, Alma,
Michigan. She is now at the parental home and is a leader in the younger
social circles of Harbor Beach.
Jeremiah Jenks. Measured by the scope and character of its
achievements, the life of the late Jeremiah Jenks counted for much,
but further bonor is due him for the nobility of his character and for
the moral and intellectual force that made his influence ever potent in
good. He was one of the very early pioneers of the Lake Huron district
of Michigan, and his activities proved most fruitful in furthering the
development of what is consistently known as the "Thumb" section of
the state. Here he established his. residence in 1854, and here he con
tinued to maintain his home until the close of his signally long and useful
life. He wielded a specially strong influence in the development of the
resources of Sanilac and Huron counties, and was the founder of several
of the most important business and industrial enterprises in this section
of the state. He was an uncle of Bela W. and Robert M. Jenks, both
of whom are individually represented in this history, and no family
has been or continues one of more prominence in the Lake Huron coun
ties of Michigan than that of which he was a worthy scion.
Jeremiah Jenks did much to foster the development of the lumber,
salt, milling, commercial and agricultural interests of eastern Michigan,
and he was also concerned with transportation service on the Great
Lakes. He was the founder of the corporation of J. Jenks & Company,
of Harbor Beach, which still perpetuates his name- and of which ade
quate mention is made in the sketch of the career of Bela W. Jenks.
Mr. Jenks was born on the 13th of December, 1810, at Newport,
Sullivan county, New Hampshire, and was a son of Jeremiah W. and
Hester (Lane) Jenks, who likewise were natives of the old Granite
state and representatives of families that were founded in America in
the colonial era. The father of Mr. Jenks was born June 11, 1780,
at Newport, New Hampshire, and at the same place the mother was born
January 2, 1784. In 1814 the family removed from New Hampshire
to Bridport, Addison county, Vermont, but shortly afterward removal
was made to Crown Point, Essex county, New York, where the father
died on the 12th of August, 1852, his wife having passed away on the
24th of October, 1850. Of their eleven children Jeremiah was the fifth
in order of birth, and two of his brothers, Bela W. and Robert H., like
wise became influential pioneers of eastern Michigan.
Jeremiah Jenks received good educational advantages, as gauged by
the standards of his youth, and in 1854, about two years after the death
of his father, he came to Michigan. He passed the first eight months
in St. Clair county and then removed to Lexington, Sanilac county,
where he conducted, for the ensuing five years, the Exchange hotel. For
an equal period thereafter he was manager of and interested principal
in the Cadillac hotel. In the meanwhile he made heavy investments in
connection with the lumbering industry. He became the owner of a saw
mill and 500 acres of timber land, five miles north of Lexington, and
there he engaged in the manufacturing of lumber, prosecuting operations
with his characteristic vigor and ability. In 1864 he entered into part-

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 985
nership with J. L. Woods and George W. Pack, and the firm of Pack,
Jenks & Company became one of the foremost in the lumbering operations
of this part of the state. A little more than two miles south of the
present village of Harbor Beach, Huron county, he established a saw
mill, which was operated by steam power and through the medium ot
which a vast amount of lumber was manufactured. The firm of which
Mr. Jenks was a member became the owners of 15,000 acres of timber
land, and from the same was derived the material in which the mill
turned out within about a decade fully 50,000,000 feet of lumber, the
firm also owning and operating a large steam barge and scow, utilized
in the transportation of lumber to Cleveland, Ohio.
Concerning other salient points in the career of Mr. Jenks, the fol
lowing data are available, the same being obtained from a sketch written
prior to his death : "The firm of Pack, Jenks & Company was dissolved
in 1876, and thereafter Mr. Jenks continued to press his own local
business interests, besides which he bought one-third interest in the
lands owned by Carrington, Pack & Company, of Sand Beach (now Har
bor Beach). Within the same year, 1876, he purchased the remaining
interest in this tract of 18,000 acres and the incidental transaction also
brought into his possession the Dow House at Sand Beach, a hotel
property which he forthwith greatly improved. Upon the dissolution
of the firm of which he Was originally a member, Mr. Jenks divided his
estate and business equally between himself and bis son George W., and
he formed a new company, which included this son and also two nephews,
James M. and Bela W. Jenks. The firm of J. Jenks & Company put into
active operation an exterisive business at Sand Beach, where it built a
flour mill, initiated salt works and established a mercantile enterprise upon
a very large scale. All these enterprises were developed to large and
substantial proportions and all had great influence in advancing the civic
and material growth and prosperity of Huron county, the firm of J.
Jenks & Company expanding its operations along many normal lines, to,
• include the handling of real estate, the improving of business and resi
dence property in Sand Beach (Harbor Beach), and the members of
this sterling family merit enduring honor for the great and benignant
influence that has been and still continued to be exerted in this favored
section of the Wolverine state."
It may be said that the firm mentioned has sold many thousands of
acres of land to actual settlers in this section of the state, and that
through this means, as well as through their personal development work,
the members of the Jenks family have been leaders in the march of prog
ress, with special reference to industrial and commercial development.
Jeremiah Jenks was a man. of great business acumen and of well
fortified opinions. He served as a member of the state senate, to which
he was elected in 1874, and in 1876 he was alternate presidential elector
from Michigan, on tbe Republican ticket. His life was crowned with
large and worthy accomplishment, his course was guided and governed
by the highest principles, and his name and memory shall ever be revered
in the section of eastern Michigan that was long the stage of his zealous
and fruitful endeavors.
John L. Brennan. In the beautiful little city of Harbor Beach,
Huron county, widely known for its possession of the finest harbor around
the Great Lakes, a citizen of a particularly progressive and public-spirited
type has been John Lester Brennan. Harbor Beach has been his home
since boyhood, and as a representative business man he has contributed
not only to its material upbuilding but to those movements which effect
civic progress and prosperity in a community. Mr. Brennan during his
active career has had a variety of interests, has been identified with mer-

986 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
chandising, with banking, insurance and real estate, and through his owner
ship of valuable farm property has also contributed to the advancement
of the agricultural and stock-growing industries. In a civic way he is
honored as having been the first village and the first city clerk of Harbor
Beach. Harbor Beach was one of the first cities in Michigan to adopt
the commission form of government, and Mr. Brennan was one of the
committee of nine chosen to draft the city charter. His career has been
such as to furnish excellent material for biographical consideration.
John Lester Brennan was born in Whitehall, Washington county, New
York, December n, 1855, and was about ten years of age when his family
moved to Michigan. His parents, Robert and Mary (Mara) Brennan,
were both born and reared in Ireland, were married there, and soon after
wards emigrated to the United States. After a residence of several years
in New York state, they moved to Massachusetts, and from there came to
Michigan about 1865. As one of the early settlers in Huron county Robert
Brennan bought a tract of wild land, reclaimed it from the wilderness and
made a productive farm, and long before his retirement was regarded as
one of the leading farmers of that section. Now venerable in years, he
is retired from active labor and resides at Harbor Beach, secure in the
regard of all who know him. Politically he is a Democrat, and is a de
vout member of the Catholic church, as was his wife, who died in 1881.
Of their four children one died in infancy; Mary is the wife of John F.
Murphy, a Huron county lawyer; Hattie is the wife of Archibald B.
Mcllhargie of Harbor Beach ; and John L. is the youngest.
Educated in the public schools of Harbor Beach, John L. Brennan
made such excellent use of his advantages that at the age of seventeen he
was qualified for teaching. Then followed three years as a successful
teacher in the Huron county public schools. His career for the past forty
years has been one of steady progress. In 1875, at the age of twenty, he
engaged in the grocery business at Harbor Beach. Three years later he
opened a music store, and was the pioneer dealer in the handling of organs,
pianos and musical merchandise, and built up a large trade. His confi
dence in the future of HarbOr Beach, and his foresight, caused him to
invest his surplus in local real estate, and the results have more than
demonstrated his wisdom. A number of houses and business blocks in
the town have been erected with his capital, and he is still owner of con
siderable property, and in connection with real estate he also looks after
a large insurance business, which has been developed in a course of many
years, and as underwriter for a score of leading insurance companies. In
1910 Mr. Brennan became associated with four other citizens of Harbor
Beach in the erection of the only fireproof business block in the city, which
was completed af a cost of twenty-five thousand dollars and a portion of
which is now occupied by the postoffice. Mr. Brennan is the owner of
two fine farms in the immediate vicinity, and since 1906 has been vice-
president of the Huron County Savings Bank. That institution was or
ganized in 1882 and is one of the strong financial institutions of the county.
Among the many progressive movements with which his name has been
associated, he was one of the organizers and is now president of the Har
bor Beach Building Company.
A successful business man, Mr. Brennan has been frequently called
upon for civic duties. He has filled the offices of village clerk, township
treasurer, justice of the peace and member of the village council, and was
postmaster of Harbor Beach during both of President Cleveland's ad
ministrations. His political affiliation has identified him continuously with
the Democratic party. Incidental to his duties in the office of justice of
the peace, Mr. Brennan acquired more than ordinary knowledge of the
law, and though never admitted to the bar he has frequently performed
services usually assigned to a practicing lawyer. His undoubted integrity

-HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 987
as a business man and his accurate knowledge of the law and affairs have
caused many to seek his counsel and service in legal matters. Those who
have been longest acquainted, with his career say that every dpllar that
stands to his credit has been made by himself and fairly and deservedly,
so that the unqualified esteem in which he is held is only a just tribute to
his character and activities.
Mr. Brennan and family are communicants of the Catholic church,
and he is active in parish work and is affiliated with the Knights of
Columbus. He and his wife find recreation in travel, have visited many
parts of the United States, and employ their automobile for extended
trips. The home associations of Mr. Brennan are ideal, and his family
take a prominent part in social activities. At Detroit on September 19,
1888, Mr. Brennan married Miss Mary D. Cunningham, who was born in
New York state but has lived in Michigan since girlhood. Her father,
Henry Cunningham, brought his family to Michigan many years ago.
Mr. and Mrs. Brennan are the parents of four children, all of whom were
born and reared at Harbor B.each. Mary Muriel, who was born Novem
ber 2, 1889, was accorded the best of educational advantages, is a favorite
in the social circles of her home city, and one of the most talented young
women in northern Michigan. After her graduation in the Harbor Beach
high school she was a student in St. Mary's Academy at Monroe, and
later a graduate of the Noble School of Elocution at Detroit, and finally
took a finishing course at the Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts.
Her talents have been developed both as an elocutionist and musician, and
she has gained a more than local reputation through her specialty in pre
senting what she terms "pianologues," in which she combines her musical '
interpretation with dramatic or elocutionary interpretations. John R,, the
second of the children, was born August 20, 1891, and is a member of
the class of 1915 in the civil engineering department of the University of
Michigan. Ralph, born July 3, 1899, is a student in the Harbor Beach
high school. Katblyn, the youngest, was born November 5, 1906.
Arthur Dundas. A resident of Bad Axe since 1892, Mr. Dundas is
a member of the firm of Lankin & Dundas, hardware merchants, who
have in the past twenty years built up an extensive business with branches
in other towns. Starting as a poor boy, he has won success in the business
field, and has also made his citizenship a useful factor- in his home
community. Arthur Dundas was born at Lindsay, Victoria county, Province of
Ontario, Canada, April 5, 1865, and is a son of Hugh and Elizabeth
(Beardon) Dundas, the former of whom was born in County Cavan,
Ireland, of remote Scotch ancestry, as the name implies, and the latter
in Victoria county, Canada, of English lineage. Hugh Dundas, a child
at the time of his parents' immigration from Ireland to Canada, was
reared and educated in Victoria county, as was also his wife. He became
one of the substantial farmers and honored citizens of Victoria county,
where his death occurred in 1878, at fifty-three years of age. His wife
survived him and died at the age of forty-six years, the remains of both
being interred in a cemetery in Victoria county, near their old home. Of
their eight children, only two are living, Ar^bur and William, of High
land Park, a suburb of the city of Detroit.
On the homestead farm of his parents Arthur Dundas was reared to
the. age of sixteen years, in the meanwhile making good use of the ad
vantages afforded in the local schools. A boy at the time of his father's
death, he became dependent. on his own resources, and at the age of six
teen years came to Michigan and located at Harrisville, Alcona county,
where he served an apprenticeship to the tinner's trade. Going to the
city of Detroit, as a journeyman, he worked one winter in the hardware

988 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
establishment of Coleson & Morehouse. In 1892 Mr. Dundas removed
to Bad Axe, Huron county, where the following year he started an inde
pendent business. In 1893 he formed a partnership under the firm name
of Lankin & Dundas. The firm began the hardware business on a modest
scale, as the financial resources of each of the partners were limited, but
enterprise and fair dealings made their success assured. The original
establishment was a store 25 by 50 feet in dimensions, on the main busi
ness street of Bad Axe. In the same year the firm purchased, on the
installment plan, the site on which is situated its present large and modern
business block, the firm now utilizing an aggregate floor space of fully
15,000 square feet, in addition to a commodious storeroom on the oppo
site side of the street from the headquarters. The annex affords an
additional floor space of 5,000 square feet. In 1913 the firm opened a
well equipped branch store at Palms, Sanilac county. The firm of Lankin
& Dundas not only carries full lines of heavy and shelf hardware, stoves
and ranges, farm implements and machinery, but also has a department
devoted to plumbing and heating. Employment is given to an average
corps of ten persons in the various departments of the business.
As a citizen Mr. Dundas is liberal and progressive, and supports
measures and enterprises advanced for the general good of his home city
and county. He has been specially interested in the bringing of the
educational facilities of Bad Axe up to the highest possible standard,
and the public schools of the city are known for their exceptional excell
ence. In politics he is a Republican. He was called upon to serve as a
member of the city council of Bad Axe, and was one of the progressive
members of this municipal body for six years, besides which he served
four years as an official of the local school district. He and his family are
active members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
On the 5th of September, 1894, Mr. Dundas married Miss Bella G.
Scott, who was born and reared in Huron county, Michigan, and who is
a daughter of Alexander and Ann (Grant) Scott, her father being a
pioneer farmer of the county. Mrs. Dundas is a figure in the best social
life of her home city, is president of the Woman's Club, and treasurer of
the Port Huron district missionary society of the Methodist church. Mr.
and Mrs. Dundas have three children : Muriel Elizabeth, who was born
August 21, 1897, was graduated in the Bad Axe high school in 19 14, and
is popular in the social activities of her native city; Frances Madeline
was born on May 20, 1900 ; and Dorothy Alice was born on the 12th of
May, 1905.
Warren E. Carter. For four years treasurer of the Bay County
Savings Bank of Bay City, Warren E. Carter spent nearly all his life in
this part of Michigan. He was born and reared on a farm, but moving to
the city he developed a business training, taking up commercial lines, and
eventually getting into the banking business, in which he is considered
very competent.
Warren E. Carter was born December 16, 1879, at West Richfield,
Ohio, a son of F. A. and Margaret J. (Garman) Carter. The Carter
family traces its ancestry back to the early colonial days of New England.
The American founder, Thomas Carter, a native of England located
among the first settlers of Woburn,, Massachusetts. From New Eng
land the family finally drifted westward and located in Ohio, in what
was then known as the western reserve, where Lorenzo Carter, one of
Warren E. Carter's ancestors, became the first white settler on the site
where the city of Cleveland afterwards grew up, and was among the
first to engage in the ship-building industry at that point, building the
first schooner on Lake Erie, known as the "Zephyr." F. A. Carter, the
father, was born in Ohio, and there followed the vocation of farming

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 989
until his removal to Michigan in 1880. In this state the same vocation
was continued on a property in Bay county until his retirement. He has
been moderately successful as a business man and enjoys a comfortable
competency for his declining years. * His wife, whose maiden name was
Margaret J. Garman, belonged to a German family which settled at an
early date in Ohio, where Mrs. Carter was born. There are three chil
dren: John F., residing in Detroit; Albert B., engaged in farming and
stock raising at Auburn in Bay county ; and Warren E.
Warren E. Carter enjoyed ordinary educational advantages in his
youth, attending the public schools in the vicinity of his father's farm and
later moving to the city to develop a higher education. His earlier years
were spent on the farm until he reached the age of 18 years, at which
time he left home and came to Bay City to improve his education and
take up a business training. His banking experience began in 1904, when
he was accepted in a minor position in the Bay County Savings Bank.
From that time to the present his promotion has been steady and con
tinuous, as his able and faithful services have been duly appreciated. In
1909 he was elected treasurer of the bank, which is considered one of
the strongest institutions in northeastern Michigan, and has had a suc
cessful record of thirty years.
In his political views Mr. Carter is a Republican, but has taken only
a good citizen's interest in public matters. He is connected with the First
Methodist Episcopal church, belongs to the Knights of Pythias and the
F. and A. M., being a past master of Joppa Lodge No. 315, F. and A. M.
His chief diversion is hunting, and that form of recreation has been a
favorite one among his family for several generations. Mr. Carter was
married June 16, 1903, at Bay City to Miss Olive B. Carter, daughter of
Hugh Carter, a native of Canada. The one son born to their marriage
is Clare Franklin, born December 23, 1907. The Carter home is at 104
West John street.
Darius Mihlethaler. The business career of Darius Mihlethaler in
Huron county has identified him with banking and with merchandising on
an important scale.
Darius Mihlethaler was born on a farm in Greenwood township, St.
Clair county, Michigan, January 6, 1870. His parents were Godfrey and
Mary (Miller) Mihlethaler. His father was born near the city of Berne,
Switzerland, and his mother at New Hamburg, in the county of Water
loo, Ontario, Canada. The founder of the Mihlethaler family in America
was Rudolph Mihlethaler, grandfather of Darius. On emigrating with
his family to America, he established a home in Canada, and his descend
ants later came to Michigan. Rudolph Mihlethaler was an expert silver
smith and watchmaker in Switzerland, but after establishing his home in
Waterloo county, Ontario, became a farmer and "in time acquired con
siderable property. Godfrey Mihlethaler lived in Switzerland long
enough to acquire his education in the local schools, and after the removal
of the family to Canada, also became identified with farming. In 1869
he brought bis family to St. Clair county, Michigan, bought a tract of
wild land, and from the forest reclaimed a productive farm of eighty
acres. That homestead is the place where he and his wife still live, and
they now enjoy the comforts won by their earlier years of toil and self-
denial. They are Methodist Episcopal church people, and Godfrey Mihle
thaler is a Republican and has been honored with several township
offices. Of their seven children three are deceased, and of the survivors
Darius is the oldest; Jason is in the United States light-house service,
now located at Flint, Michigan ; Lavina is married and lives in Toronto,
Canada; and Leta is at home.

990 HISTORY "OF MICHIGAN
Darius Mihlethaler acquired his early education in the district schools
of his native township in St. Clair county, and in the high school at Yale.
Two years were spent as a teacher in the St. Clair county public schools,
and with the means acquired through that work he attended for one
term the Michigan State Normal School at Ypsilanti. His home since
,early manhood has been in Huron county, and for seven years he was
cashier in the Huron County Savings Bank of Harbor Beach. Mr.
Mihlethaler then effected the organization of the Wagner-Mihlethaler
Company of Port Hope in Huron county, where they established a gen
eral mercantile store and also conducted a bank. In 1912 the bank was
reorganized, and since then Mr. Mihlethaler has been its vice-president.
In 1902 was incorporated the Mihlethaler Company, Harbor Beach, of
which he is president. This company has a complete department store at
Harbor Beach, also a store at Port Hope, and while Port Hope claims
less than five bundred inhabitants, it draws a substantial trade from the
prosperous district tributary, and much of this trade is concentrated in
the Mihlethaler Company store. At Port Hope the Mihlethaler Com
pany erected a grain elevator, with a capacity of 30,000 bushels, and also
owns and operates one of the most complete and modern bean-packing
plants in the state. Mr. Mihlethaler is a director of the Huron County
Savings Bank of Harbor Beach, in which he was formerly cashier. He
is affiliated with the Lodge and Chapter of the Masonic fraternity, with
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Politically he is a Republican.
Mr. Mihlethaler married Miss Alice M. Jenks, who was born and
reared in Harbor Beach and is a daughter of Bela W. Jenks. The. Jenks
family has long been prominent in Huron county, and a brief sketch of
its several members is found on other pages of tbis work. Mr. and Mrs.
Mihlethaler are the parents of three children, namely: Keith, born in
1902 ; Bela, born in 1904 ; and Esther D., born in 1908.
Charles M. Swift. The enterprises which have occupied the
attention and energies of Charles M. Swift, of Detroit, have made his
name widely known in the field of railway construction. His reputation
has spread to other countries, and lines of his building may be found
not alone in the United States, but in the Philippine Islands. Mr. Swift
is a Vermonter, having been born in the town of Middlebury, March
19, 1854, and is a son of George Sedgewick and Louise (May) Swift.
When a child Mr. Swift was brought to Detroit by his parents, and
here secured his early education in the public schools. Graduating
from the high school in 1870, he subsequently embarked upon his career
as a stenographer, and while thus engaged studied for the law, being
admitted to the bar of Michigan in 1877. He continued in the enjoy
ment of an excellent practice until 1890, when he entered the electric
railway field, in which he has been prominent ever since. Among the
more notable of his enterprises may be mentioned the Wyandotte and
Detroit Railway, the Rapid Railway and the Detroit and Port Huron
Shore Line Railway. Following the completion of the latter road and
its absorption by the Detroit Union Railway, he went to the Philippine
Islands, where he became interested in building the Philippine (steam)
Railway, and the Manila Suburban Railway, of all of which companies
he is president. He is also president of the Nepigon Mining Lands
Company. Mr. Swift has not been indifferent to the social amenities, and is
well known as a member of the Detroit, Yontodega, Country, Detroit
Golf, Racquet, Witenagemote and Old Clubs.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 991
Roger Williams Butterfield. One of the longest established law
'firms in western Michigan is that of Butterfield & Keeney at Grand
Rapids. These partners have been continuously engaged in the gen
eral practice of law in the local, state and federal courts since 1887, a
quarter of a century. Mr. Butterfield, the senior member, is one of the
early graduates of the University of Michigan law scbools, and his
career as a member of the Michigan bar covers almost the entire period
since the close of the Civil war. As a lawyer his place is one of the
most prominent in Michigan, he has been eminently successful, and his
advice and judgment are sought after by a great many of the leading
business and individual clients of the Grand Rapids bar.
Roger Williams "Butterfield was born at Elbridge, Onondaga County,
New York, April 23, 1844, a son of Rev. Isaac and Sarah A. Butterfield.
His father had a remarkably long and active career as a minister of
the Baptist church, continuing for over half a century. During its
earlier years his ministry was largely itinerant, and the family residence
was accordingly seldom in one place for more than a few years. In
1846 the family moved to Oswego, New York, and nine years later to
Watertown in ¦ the same state. Two years were spent there, and they
then came west and located in Davenport, Iowa.
In these different localities, Roger Williams Butterfield grew up
and received his education chiefly in the public schools of New York
state. At the age of fifteen he entered Griswold College at Davenport,
and was also a student for a time in the Adrian College of Michigan.
February 1, 1865, in the middle of the junior year, Mr. Butterfield
entered Princeton College in New Jersey, where he was graduated A. B.
with honor, in June, 1866. The same institution gave him the degree of
Master of Arts in 1869. His purpose had already been formed to take
up the law as his profession, and on leaving college he entered the law
department of the University of Michigan. His studies were carried
on both during the school year and during vacation, and, as a result he
was graduated LL. B. in 1868.
Mr. Butterfield has been for forty-five years a resident and lawyer of
Grand Rapids. His first practical experience was in the office of the Hon.
John W. Champlin, and within a few months Mr. Champlin offered
him a junior partnership. The firm of Champlin and Butterfield came
into existence January 1, 1869. Four years later the Hon. J. C. Fitz
gerald came to Grand Rapids from Marshal, Michigan, and was admit
ted to the firm. Mr. Butterfield remained in that partnership relations
until March, 1876, when he retired and for two years practiced alone.
In June, 1878, Edward W. Withey became associated with him under
the firm name of Butterfield and Withey. That lasted for about two
and a half years, and again for several years Mr. tButterfield was alone
in his profession. Mr. Williard F. Keeney next joined forces with Mr.
Butterfield, and the long existing firm of Butterfield and Keeney was
formally launched on January 1, 1887. For a long period of years that
partnership title has suggested legal strength and ability of tbe highest
order, and many of the best professional services have been rendered
by the firm. Mr. Butterfield's name as attorney and counsel will be
found in connection with cases reported in the Michigan .Supreme
Courts, and in the Federal Supreme Courts. His is one of the largest
and best selected law libraries in the state, comprising over five thou
sand volumes.
To the practice of law he has given his best efforts since leaving
college, but in the meantime has also become identified with public
affairs and with business. In 1887 Mr. Butterfield was elected one of
the regents of the University of Michigan, and in 1895 at the expiration
of his first term was re-elected for a second term. Mr. Butterfield is

992 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
president of the Grand Rapids Chair Company, president of the
Clamllam Lumber Company, president of the Florida Cypress Lumber '
Company, president of the Drew Timber Company, and the Buffalo
River Lumber Company, vice president of the Imperial Furniture Com
pany, director of the Grand Rapids Savings Bank, and a member of the
Peninsular Club of Grand Rapids. In May, 1876, he married Miss Leo
nora I. Drake, daughter of Moses Drake of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Her
father was postmaster at Fort Wayne during President Lincoln's
administration. To their marriage have been born four children — Mary
B., Isaac L., Roger C. and Archibald D. The Butterfield home in
Grand Rapids is at 231 Paris avenue, while the offices of the firm of
Butterfield & Keeney are in the Michigan Trust Building.
Rev. Thomas Rafter. A life of service for mankind and the exten
sion of the beneficent activities and influences of his church has given
Father Rafter a place of special regard in Bay City. He began his work
there forty years ago, when churches of all kinds were few in number, and
struggling for existence. St. James Church has had his capable director
ship through all these years, and the entire social community, regardless
of creed, has maintained a higher level of life, through the constructive
leadership of this devoted priest of the Catholic church.
Thomas Rafter was born in Monroe county, Michigan, December 8,
1846, of one of the old families in that part of the state. His parents
were William Alphonse and Julia (Keanally) Rafter, both of whom were
born in Kilkenny, Ireland. The father, who was born December 25, 1797,
emigrated to America and located in Massachusetts in 1816. He was
married in that state and settled in Monroe, Michigan, in 1837, the year
in which Michigan became a state. A farmer by vocation, he followed
his calling in Monroe county, until he retired, and died in 1894, at the
extreme age of ninety-seven. His wife lived to be seventy-eight, and both
are now interred in St. Joseph's Cemetery at Monroe. They were devout
Catholics, and reared their children in that faith. Of the seven children
all are now deceased except Father Rafter and his sister, Margaret Rafter,
the widow of John Carroll, of Monroe.
Father Rafter as a boy was educated in the parochial schools of Mon
roe, later was sent to school at Montreal, Canada, and studied theology
and prepared for his life work in the great University at Louvain in Bel
gium. Ordained to the priesthood in 1868, his first position was as assist
ant pastor at Dexter, Michigan. He showed himself exceptionally capable
in handling the arduous responsibilities of church organization in a com
paratively new field, and after six months at Dexter was sent to Fenton,
where he remained three years ' and succeeded in dedicating St. John's
church. From Fenton Fatber Rafter came to Bay City, and on May 31,
1873, began his long pastorate of St. James Parish. At that time two
Catholic churches were in Bay City, and since then with the growth of
population and the development of religious activities there are now ten
churches of the faith and many related institutions of benevolence and
education. St. James church has always held its place as the old center
of Catholicism in the city, and still has one of the largest congregations.
Father Rafter for some years assembled his congregation in a modest
frame structure, which was destroyed by fire, December 21, 1884, and
since then through his energy and perseverance a splendid brick edifice
has taken the place of the old churcb home.
St. James Parish and Father Rafter's activities have at various times
attracted attention in the public press, and there recently appeared in the
Detroit Free Press a story referring to the St. James high school, and as
a supplement to this article and for its historical value, it seems appropri
ate to quote some of the paragraphs of that article:

i Kue^C&V &£. ]ktfL\ ***•<*' C*£±~<-**"Lt

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 993
"The oldest Catholic high school in the United States is the distinction
claimed by St. James' high school in this city, now in its forty-first year.
The claim is based on the authority of the historian of the Sisters of
Charity in Cincinnati, who, in compiling the history of the order there,
made the discovery from her data, and communicated the fact to Rev.
Father Thomas Rafter, pastor of St. James' Parish, who founded the
institution. "Father Rafter last June awarded diplomas to the class of 1913, the
total of those who had received their credentials at his hands was raised
to nearly two hundred. The school ranks with the best high schools in the
country, and its graduates are received on diploma at Michigan, Notre
Dame, and similar institutions.
"The school was started by Rev. Father H. J. H. Schutges in 1872,
and completed by Father Rafter the following year. It opened that Sep
tember with a full twelve grades under the direction of the Sisters of
Charity of Cincinnati. The boys in the two higher grades were' taught by
the brothers of Notre Dame, Indiana, but later only nuns and a couple
of lay teachers were employed. In a short time the sisters taught all the
grades. The principal of the school was Sister Cornelia, although the
school was under the direction of Father Rafter, as it has always been.
"In 1885 the frame building erected as St. James' Church by Father
Schutges in 1868 was destroyed by fire. The upper floor' of the school
was used temporarily for a church and a new brick structure was begun.
This was dedicated on Christmas Day, 1886, and though large then for
the congregation, it is none too roomy now. The crowded condition of
St. James' school caused steps to be taken a few years ago towards the
erection of a more modern and commodious building. It was completed
at a cost of thirty-five thousand dollars."
Bishop. Richter appointed Father Rafter as dean of the Bay district
of the diocese of Grand Rapids in 1903. It has been well said that Father
Rafter's charities are countless. He has made many sacrifices to build
up the church property of his parish, and he has often denied himself
necessities in order to look after the needs of his poorer communicants.
Outside of his own parish, it can be said that no man in public or private
life in Bay City has more sincere friends than Father Rafter, whose kindly
nature and loving heart has endeared him to men regardless of religious
differences. Alexander M. Campbell, M. D.. Few men in the field of medicine
have had greater capacity to grow in proportion to their opportunities
and the demands of the time, and have had more successful and service
able careers than Dr. A. M. Campbell of Grand Rapids. Locating in
that city at the age of twenty-three, a young medical graduate, having
no local acquaintance or friends, he depended upon his own resources
and the thorough ability which was his chief qualifications, and with
courage and energy started to build up a name and a practice. That
was seventeen years ago, and Dr. Campbell now possesses a practice
equal to any in the city, and in the field of surgery obstetrics, is regarded
among the competent surgeons in this city and perhaps in all western
Michigan. Alexander M. Campbell was born at St. Thomas, Ontario, May 27,
1873, the youngest of the children of Angus and Anna Belle (Campbell)
Campbell. Both parents were born in Scotland. The paternal grand
father was Duncan Campbell, who died in young manhood in Scotland,
and his widow subsequently took her family to Canada. The doctor's
maternal grandfather was James Campbell, who brought his family to
Canada. Angus Campbell, the father, was born in 1829 and died in
1907, and his wife was born in 1840 and died in 1909. Both were chil-

994 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
dren when brought to America, and were married in Ontario, where
the father followed the vocation of farming. He served for many
years as a deacon in the Baptist church, and stood high in the commu
nity as a citizen, being honored with the office of Justice of the Peace,
and in politics belonged to the Reform party. Besides Dr. Campbell
the other children were: Mrs. W. J. Philpott, of Spokane, Washing
ton; Dr. James D., of Grand Rapids; Mrs. Duncan Patterson, of Ionia,
Ontario ; J. P. Campbell, who is connected with the Spokane Water and
Gas Company in Washington; Dr. Spurgeon Campbell, of Winnipeg,
Manitoba, and Mrs. Donald Miller, of Detroit.
Dr. A. M. Campbell grew up at St. Thomas, finished his literary
education in the high school, entered Toronto University and attended
the Western University Medical School at London, and in 1896 finished
his professional training and took his degree of Doctor of Medicine
from the Detroit Medical College. He had considerable practice in the
hospitals both of Detroit and Grand Rapids before finishing college.
In 1897 Dr. Campbell established himself in regular practice at Grand
Rapids, and following out the best and special abilities manifested dur
ing his university career has specialized in surgery and obstetrics. Since
leaving college he has taken three courses in post-graduate work in
surgery. His standing as a surgeon is indicated by the fact of his
membership in the recently organized College of American Surgeons,
membership in which is limited to those who have demonstrated special
fitness and have special experience in the field of surgery. Dr. Campbell
is president of the Kent County Medical Society, is a member of the
Michigan State Medical Society, and belongs to the American Medical
Association and the Academy of Medicine. He is medical director to
the Preferred Life Insurance Company, and is medical examiner for
twenty other insurance companies. He is chief of staff and visiting
surgeon to the U. B. A. Hospital at Grand Rapids, and is consulting
surgeon to the Blodgett Home for Children. He and his wife are mem
bers of St. Mark's Episcopal church in Grand Rapids, and he stands
high in Masonic circles, having taken thirty-two degrees of the Scottish
Rite and has membership in the Mystic Shrine. In politics he is a
Republican. He has done a good deal of work in the life insurance
field, though it is through surgery and the special work of his profes
sion that he has applied himself with greatest success and enthusiam.
On April 10, 1901, Dr. Campbell married Annie Fraser Maclean.
Her father was the late Dr. Maclean of Detroit, at one time professor
of surgery in the University of Michigan, one of Michigan's most
eminent physicians and surgeons, and at one time president of the
American Medical Association. Dr. Campbell and wife have one daugh
ter, Constance, now attending school. •
Rev. John T. Husted. The close of the year 1913 marked the
forty-seventh year of service in the Christian ministry of Rev. John T.
Husted, forty-four of which have been devoted to the ministry as a
pastor of Congregational churches. To quote direct from an article
appearing in a Grand Rapids paper, under date of January 5, 1914, will
serve to state the facts briefly and yet concisely in that respect : "Forty-
seven years a pastor, and forty-four of those as a pastor of Congrega
tional churches, Rev. J. T. Husted appears to have just attained the
apex of his useful activities.
"During the year just ended, in addition to attendance upon his
duties as president of the Board of Health of the city of Grand Rapids,
Mr. Husted, who is pastor of Wallin Congregational church, has
preached ninety-six sermons, delivered forty-three additional addresses,

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 995
attended forty prayer meetings, made three hundred and twenty-five
calls upon his parishioners, officiated at one hundred and fifteen
funerals and performed one hundred and thirty-seven wedding cere
monies, the number of funerals and weddings exceeding all his previous
records. "So far as evidence is available, Rev. Husted has been engaged in
the active ministry longer than any other man of this section of the
country. During his forty-seven years of service as a clergyman he
has been absent from his pulpit on account of personal illness not to
exceed a dozen times. And be has never been without a pulpit. He
is still in vigorous health, and he avers that he is good for twenty years
more of active endeavors."
Rev. Husted is a native Canadian, born April 21, 1844, the son of
Peter and Sarah (Searl) Husted. The mother was born in Aberdeen,
Scotland, on September 7, 1795, and died in 1906, while the father was
of English birth and ancestry, born in Hampsbire, England, in the year
1790, and dying in 1874. He met and married Sarah Searl in England
in the year 1828, and two years later the young couple came to Canada.
Mr. Husted was a mason by trade, and he worked at that business until
1859,. when he came to Michigan and settled on a wilderness farm in
Tuscola county. There he spent the remaining years of his life. Mr.
and Mrs. Husted had a remarkable family of twenty-one children, seven
of that number yet living. The second child, Esther, is now the widow
of Mr. Freluck. Elizabeth married a Mr. McCartney and is also
a widow, living near Maysvil-le, Michigan. Lucy A. is the widow of
Mr. Markham, and lives at Maysyille. Philip, now past ninety years
of age, lives in Iowa. Peter lives in Detroit, aged eighty-nine years.
William is a resident of West Branch, Michigan, and he is seventy-six
years of age. The twentieth born child of these parents is John T.
Husted of this review.
Peter Husted was a faithful member of the Episcopal church, in
which he was reared, and his wife was a Baptist. The father was. the
son of another Peter Husted, and it is a matter of authentic family
record that the family sprang directly from the line of John Huss (or
Hus), the celebrated Bohemian religious reformer, who was burned
at Constance, Baden, Germany, in 141 5.
The maternal grandfather of the subject, John Searl, was born in
Scotland and there he died. Pie came of an old family, well established
there, and one that produced some of the best citizensbip of the country.
John T. Husted had his early education in the common schools of
Canada, and in Street's Academy at Lundy's Lane he began his higher
education. He had his theological training under private -tutors, and
began to preach at the early age of nineteen years. He began his regu
lar work in the ministry when he was twenty-one, and for two years
thereafter devoted himself to preaching in the lumber camps of Michi
gan, and he also worked in the camps a part of the time. For three
years he was a preacher of the Methodist Protestant church, and in 1869
he first began to be identified with the Congregational church in at minis
terial capacity. He has been so occupied from that time to the present
date, and Jie has been pastor of the Wallin church in Grand Rapids for
the past six years without a break.
A comparatively comprehensive commentary on his active services
in the church was copied from a local paper and appears in the opening
paragraphs of this all too brief review, and further details as to his
ministry other than along general lines being lacking, it is impossible
to give to that phase of .his life the attention that it deserves in a sketch
of, this character. His life, however, has been an open book in Grand

996 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Rapids, and little could be said here that would add aught of weight
or emphasis to a career that has been so exemplary or so beneficial to
the community as has that of Rev. Husted.
Rev. Husted has taken an active part in the civic life of the city
of Grand Rapids, feeling himself as much bound by the demands of
citizenship as one might well be, and the result of his wide-mindedness
lias been apparent in his actions as well as in his preaching. A stanch
Republican, he has not felt it out of his sphere to permit his name to
be used on the party ticket, and he has served on the Board of Educa
tion worthily, as well as being a present member of the Grand Rapids
Board of Health. However, he has never permitted these activities to
detract from his duties of a ministerial nature, and the result of his
wider range of interests has been that he has been a more sympathetic
pastor to his people, rather than a less dutiful one.
Neither has Rev. Husted declined to affiliate fraternally with the
men of Grand Rapids, for he is to be found as an active member of the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Lodge No. 48, and of the A. F.
and A. M. Lodge" No. 86, with Scottish Rite and affiliations. He is past
grand chaplain of the State Blue Lodge, and with his family has member
ship in the Order of the Eastern Star and the White Shrine. He is also a
member of Lillie Lodge, Knights of Pythias, and is past chancellor of
Lodge No. 406, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
In 1866 Rev. Husted was married to Miss Emma Taylor, of LePere,
Michigan. Of the four children born to them, two are now living.
Seneca J. is a resident of Manchester, Michigan, where he is a hotel-
keeper and blacksmith. Lemuel J. is a resident of Kansas City, where
he is engaged in the real estate business. Mrs. Anna B. Stone, bis eldest
daughter, and one of the most prominent workers in the Eastern Star,
died on December 6, 1912. In 1882 Mrs. Husted died, and in 1884
Rev. Husted was married to Miss Emma Lucia, of Lexington, Michigan.
Two children were born of this second marriage. Charles is an actor
and -Lucia is a high school student at this time, and is also the organist
in her father's church.
Seventeen years of residence in Grand Rapids as the pastor of two
churches have given to Rev. Husted an acquaintance in tbe city that is
wide and ever widening, and few, if any, men in the city are more
securely placed in the general confidence and esteem of the community
than is he. His work has been effective, wholesome and far reaching,
and he has proven himself in every way the sympathetic pastor and the
true friend of those who are in need of the offices of such an one, so
that his record in Grand Rapids is one that will bear the closest scrutiny
and will reveal only the finer things of life as his contribution to the
communal life of tbe city.
Joseph Edward Hugg. For twenty years Joseph E. Hugg has been
known as an independent operator in the building circles of Detroit.
His home has been in the city for twenty-five years, and he served his
trade apprenticeship there. With a reputation for thoroughness in
mason work long established, patronage in increasing value has come
to his organization and much of it unsolicited, so that he stands as one
of the leaders in his line.
A native of New York state, born in Poughkeepsie, New York, on
June 9, 1865, Joseph Edward Plugg is a son of Francis and Kate (Ryan)
Hugg. Plis father was a native of France, having come to America
about i860 and locating at Poughkeepsie, where his vocation was that
of a farmer for a number of years. From Poughkeepsie, moving to
Tompkins county, New York, he continued his career witb substantial

998 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
with a high standard of traditions and culture. His parents were Rev. L.
G. and Sarah P. (Harlow) Marsh. His grandfather, Elnathan Marsh,
a native of New York state, built flour mills all over tbe state, and
finally established his home at Hemlock Lake, where he met death by
drowning. The maternal grandfather, Nathaniel Harlow, was born in
the state of Maine, where the Harlow family goes back to the earliest
settlement, and one of the ancestors was Mary Chilton, who came over
in the Mayflower, and was the first woman to land on Plymouth Rock.
Nathaniel Harlow, who was a prosperous farmer, lived at Bangor for a
number of years, and left a large amount of property there to his descend
ants. Charles W. Marsh and his sisters and brothers have recently deeded
a lot in Bangor to the Federal government to be used as a site for a new
Federal building.
Rev. L. G. Marsh was born at Hemlock Lake, New York, in 1823,
and died in 1906, and was married in 1855 in the state of Maine to Miss
Harlow, who was born there in 1827, and died in 191 1. Rev. L. G. Marsh
was a minister of the Presbyterian church, and for more than half a
century carried on his work in that profession. He was a graduate of
Amherst College of Massachusetts, first preached in Thomaston, Maine,
then at Nunda, New York, in 1875 came to Michigan, and was in charge
of the church at Plainwell five years, then returned to New York, and was
a minister at Lewiston for eighteen years, at the end of which time he
retired. His family comprised six children, of whom the Muskegon
manufacturer was the youngest. The others are mentioned as follows:
Marion, who has charge of the hospital at Worcester, Massachusetts;
George, who is a Presbyterian minister, and whose career as a preacher
has taken him to a number of places, including Kenmore, a suburb of
Buffalo, for a number of years, at Cape Vincent, at Lead City, Dakota,
at Kilbourn, Wisconsin, and is now living retired on a farm at Vineland,
New Jersey; Anna, the wife of D. C. Perkins, of Vineland, New Jersey;
Grace, who is a teacher in one of the Chicago high schools; and
Florence, who for several years has been employed in the offices of
the publishing house of Henry Holt & Company at Chicago. Three of
the daughters are graduates of Wellesley College. Rev. L. G. Marsh was
an independent in politics and was affiliated with the Masonic order.
Charles W. Marsh acquired what might be called a liberal education,
although his schooling was seldom continuous for any length of time in
one institution. He attended schools in New York, in Pennsylvania,
spent some time at the Moody School at Mount Hermon, Massachusetts,
had an early ambition to follow in the footsteps of his father and study
for the ministry, carried on his studies for a time, but finally abandoned
that intention, and for a brief while was a student in schools at Minne
apolis. In the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor he took a course of
mechanical engineering, and with that training took charge of the .machine
department in a private technical school in the city of Buffalo. During
the panic of 1893 that school failed, and Mr. Marsh not only lost his
position, but also his investment in the school. During his residence in
New York he had considerable experience in machine shops, and, from
Buffalo going to Chicago, he found employment there in the shops of
Cutting-Kaestner Company. That firm in 1900 moved to Muskegon,
where it failed the same year. Mr. Marsh moved with the company to
Muskegon, and remained in its employ until the failure. In the closing
months of 1900 he began in a very small way the manufacture of leather
packings. His plant was increased as rapidly as he could turn over his
capital and get additional money, and the business has been conducted
on a secure basis from the beginning. At the present time C. W. Marsh
Company have a well equipped plant, employ twenty workmen, and in
1907 the business was incorporated with a capital stock of five thousand

(=:^7c^;^<^v-7^< -B

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 999
dollars. The products of the factory are sent all over the world, and the
business has been brought to extensive proportions. Besides the factory
which in the past thirteen or fourteen years Mr. Marsh has built up from
the foundation, he is also a factor in other business ways at Muskegon,
and is a director of the Union National Bank.
In 1895 Mr'. Marsh married Miss Charlotte Gillette, a daughter of
John W. Gillette, a native of New York, and a merchant by occupation.
Mr. and' Mrs. Marsh have one daughter, Luelia, a student in the high
school. Mrs. Marsh is a communicant of the Episcopal church. Mr.
Marsh has taken much part in social and civic affairs in Muskegon. He
served as exalted ruler of the Elks Lodge from 191 1 to 1912, and was a
member of the building committee for their beautiful new temple. A
Democrat in politics, he ,served as a member of the Charter Revision
committee of the city and was for two years president of the Muskegon
Baseball Association, and his support and co-operation are always to be
counted upon in any undertaking projected for -the general improvement
of the city.
Louis. W. Zander. One of the younger men in the Detroit building
trade, Mr. Zander's success is far greater than his years. As a general
mason contractor he has performed a great deal of fine work, and this
in turn has enabled him to build up and maintain an efficient organization
for a business service that is increasing in scope every year.
On the west side of Detroit on November 21, 1879, Louis W. Zander
was born a son of the late Albert L. Zander. The father was a native
of Germany, born in 1852, when a boy of fourteen came with two brothers
to the United States and to Detroit, joining a still older brother in that
city who had preceded the rest of the family by a few years! In Detroit
Albert L. Zander learned the brickmason's trade, worked at brick laying
as a journeyman for many years, finally took up contracting for excava
tion and sewer work, and so continued with a satisfactory degree of
prosperity until his death in 1908. He married Henrietta Liphart, who
was born in Detroit and is still living. Her father was the late David
Liphart, who was one of the pioneer blacksmiths of Detroit and had his
shop on a farm out Woodward avenue, a location that is now the site of
the present Ford Automobile factory.
The early- training in books and schools of Louis W. Zander was ac
quired in the Lutheran parochial schools. When sixteen years of age he
began an apprenticeship of the brick laying trade, and after gaining a fair
degree of expertness in that line was employed as a journeyman for
different firms in Detroit until 1906. That was the year that marked his
beginning as an independent mason contractor, and his success has been
of an unqualified nature. His work is along the line of general mason
contracting, and has comprised the construction of churches, stores, apart
ment houses, flats and fine residences.
Mr. Zander has membership in the Detroit Builders and Traders'
Exchange and in the Detroit Master Masons' Association. Fraternally
his connections are with Friendship Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and Western
Lodge of Odd Fellows. His church is the Lutheran in which he-was
reared, and his politics is Republican. Mr. Zander married Miss Augusta
Baumgartner, who was born in Pontiac, Michigan, daughter of Joseph
Baumgartner, a native of Germany. The three children of Mr. and Mrs-.
Zander are named Lucille Josephine, Emma Marie and Hugo Louis.
-Dr. Virgil L. Tupper, who in the practice of his profession has
shown intimate and accurate knowledge of the principles of medicine and
surgery, making continued advancement through his broad study and re
search, has won the right to be numbered as one of Michigan's foremost

1000 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN •
practitioners. Located in Bay City since 1897, of late years he has con
centrated his entire energies upon the practice of surgery and in this line
has gained material success and widespread reputation. Doctor Tupper
was born March 14, 1869, at Oil City, Pennsylvania, and is a son of Benja
min S. and Seline B. Tupper.
Doctor Tupper is of English descent, and both of his great-great
grandfathers, Gen. Benjamin Tupper and Gen. John Oliver, fought in the
Continental army at Bunker Hill, the former subsequently becoming at
tached to the staff of Gen. George Washington as an aide. Benjamin S.
Tupper, the father of Doctor Tupper, was born in Albany, New York,
was there reared and educated, and when still a young man entered the
oil fields of Pennsylvania, where he became successful in accumulating a
handsome property. At this time he is living a retired life at his home
in Buffalo, New York, being now eighty-two years of age, although still
alert in mind and active hkbody. The mother, a native of New York
City, also survives, is eighty years of age, and in the best of health. There
were four children in the family, one son and three daughters, of whom
three survive, Doctor Tupper being the youngest.
After passing through the usual public school experience, Dr, Virgil L,
Tupper came with his parents to Michigan, but subsequently went to
Washington and Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, for one year and then
continued his literary course in the University of Michigan, at Ann Ar
bor. There he took a special course preparatory to his medical studies,
which he pursued at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, where he
was graduated in 1896, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. For some
time he served as resident physician at St. Mary's Hospital, Philadelphia,
and in the Jefferson College Hospital, and furthered his studies in Johns
Hopkins University. He first began practice in Bay City, where he suc
ceeded to the practice of his uncle, the late Dr. H. Tupper of this city,
and here Doctor Tupper has continued to carry on his professional labors
for the past sixteen years. In 1908 he discontinued general practice to
devote his entire attention to surgical work. He has taken several courses
of study in surgery in various cities of Europe, where he observed the
methods of a number of institutions and hospitals, and has just returned
from a trip to London and Edinburg, where he took special work and
study in his chosen field. His vacations, if they may be called such, are
spent in visiting surgical institutions, and in this way he has kept fully
abreast of the various advancements and changes which have marked the
progress of his calling. In a profession where advancement depends en
tirely upon individual merit, intellectual force and correct application of
scientific principles to the practical needs of the sick room he has made
steady progress, and by his close conformity to a high standard of pro
fessional ethics, combined with his ability, has won the unqualified re
spect and admiration of his fellow-practitioners as well as of the general
public. Doctor Tupper has been surgeon of the Mercy Hospital of Bay
City for about twelve years, and has worked steadfastly and earnestly
for its welfare and growth. At this time the institution has about eighty
beds, where many patients are accommodated and treated, the greater
number of whom come from Bay City. Although the hospital has its own
staff of physicians and surgeons, other practitioners are not excluded.
About one-third of the patients treated are charity cases, no worthy poor
are turned away, and all charges are moderate to those able to pay. For
his general practice, Doctor Tupper maintains an office in the center of
the residence district of the city, at No. 812 Grant street.
Doctor Tupper has always been identified with the Republican party
in his political connections, although the extent of his general practice
and his professional duties keeps him from entering actively into the
battles of the public arena. His services on the outside, however, have

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN. 1001
been of as beneficial a nature to his adopted city as though he were holding
office of preferment. Pie is a liberal contributor to all worthy religious
and charitable movements, although not a regular member of any 'de
nomination. Aside from the societies of his profession, he is popular in
club life and is a member of the Bay City Club and president of the Bay
City Country Club.
On December 12, 1901, Doctor Tupper was married in Bay City, Michi
gan, to Miss Mary Hill Cranage, daughter of Thomas Cranage, a pioneer
lumberman of Bay City, who died in 191 1. One son has been born to
Doctor and Mrs. Tupper: Thomas C, ten years of age, now attending
the Bay City public schools. The pleasant Tupper home is located at No.
1001 Center avenue.
Robert McFate. Vinton Company, of Detroit, one of the largest
building and manufacturing concerns west of New York city, has fur
nished a field of opportunity and enterprise for one of the men now num
bered among the business executives "of Detroit. Beginning his employ
ment something more than twenty years ago, and when, a very young
man, as an inspector for this company, Robert McFate has gone by suc
cessive promotion from one position to another until he is now treasurer
and general manager of the company.
Though of an old American family, Robert McFate was born at St.
Catherines, Ontario, Canada, June 13, 1871. The public schools of Can
ada furnished him bis public and high school training, and when twenty
years of age, in 1891, he came to Detroit, fresh from his books, and with a
desire to do something for himself in the world.. The late G. Jay Vinton,
then at the head of the concern which is now the Vinton Company, gen
eral builders, gave the young man a place and an opportunity. As his
father before him was a lumberman, he inherited his predilection for the
business, and was not entirely without training and experience when he
began his career with the Vinton Company. Besides an industrious ap
plication to his duties, he possessed a natural ability in handling executive
affairs, and these are the chief reasons for his advancement from a posi
tion as inspector to head of the company. From inspector he was pro
moted to the general office as shipping clerk, was then made purchasing
agent, was next placed in the estimating department, and from that was
made treasurer of the company, to which was subsequently added the title
vice-president, and upon the death of Mr. Vinton on December 23, 1910,
he was given the chief executive responsibility of the vast business as
general manager, still retaining the office of treasurer.
The McFate family is of Scotch-Irish descent, and the original ances
tor was from Scotland. Mr. McFate's grandfather, Joseph McFate, was
born in Pennsylvania, where the father, whose nan^e was also Robert, was
born in Venango county in Western Pennsylvania in 1833. While in his
native state he was in the lumber business, moved west to Iowa previous
to the Civil war, and in 1861 enlisted in the Third Iowa Battery, and
continued as a soldier of the Union until mustered out in 1865. Follow
ing the war he moved to Canada, and at St. Catherines, Ontario, was
engaged in the manufacture of spokes and hubs. From St. Catherines
the home was moved to Amherstburg, Ontario, and the father continued
in the same line of business there and later at West Lome on. the line of
the Michigan Central railway in Ontario. His death occurred at West
Lome in 1898. Robert McFate Sr., married Margaret Killman, who was
born in Welland county/Ontario, daughter of William Killman, the Kill-
man family having been long established in Ontario.
Mr. McFate is an active member of the Detroit Builders & Traders'
Exchange, and also belongs to the Detroit Board of Commerce, the Y. M.
C. A., the -Detroit Athletic Club, and in Masonry has membership in

1002 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Oriental Lodge, A. F. & A. M., in the Michigan Consistory of thirty-
second degree Scottish Rite, and in the Moslem Temple of the Mystic
Shrine. He rnarried Maude M. Todd, who was born in Detroit, daughter
of Frederick J. Todd.
William Chandler Wells, as directing head head of the Iroquois
Company, manufacturers - of cigars, is prominently connected with an
enterprise which has a direct bearing upon the commercial prosperity and
activity of Flint, in which connection he has kept in touch with the modern
trend of thought and progress in the business world and manifested an
aptitude for successful management that has made the concern of which
he is the head a profitable industry. Mr. Wells was born in 1863, at. Mil
ford, Oakland county, Michigan, and is a son of Daniel W. and Nancy M.
(Lee) Wells.
The great-grandfather of William C. Wells was the founder of the
family in America, coming to this country from England in 1763 and
settling in New York state, where Philip Wells, his son, was born in 1800.
Daniel W. Wells was born at Fredonia, New York, in 1837, the youngest
son of his parents, and was five years of age when he was taken to Mil
ford, Michigan. There he grew to manhood, became an inventor, and
was a member of the firm of Wells Brothers, which for many years was
engaged extensively for that period in the manufacture of cultivators,
land rollers and plows. He was a man of public spirit and patriotism
and during the Civil War served as a sergeant in the First Michigan Vol
unteer Cavalry. He married Naricy M. Lee, daughter of Ezra and Polly
(Chandler) Lee, whose progenitors also came from England to New
York early in the eighteenth century. Polly (Chandler) Lee was a
cousin of Zachariah Chandler. The Lee family came to Michigan in 1840,
and settled in the village of Milford.
William Chandler Wells started his commercial career by entering the
employ of Hubbell & Smith, grocers at Milford, in the spring of 1878, at
which time he was in. his fifteenth year. This introduction to business
activities was followed in the fall of that year by a three months' term
at Goldsmith's Bryant & Stratton Business University, at Detroit, then
located in the McGraw Building opposite the City Hall. After complet
ing the course at Detroit he returned to Milford and taught school the
succeeding year. As he was then but sixteen, Mr. Wells states it as his
belief that he owed this opportunity to play the role of schoolmaster to the
exigencies of the times when teachers were few. The years following
were devoted to the wholesale grocery line, Mr. Wells being employed by
Detroit firms : A. R. & W. F. Linn, as bookkeeper, and five years later
as traveling salesman for W. J. Gould & Company. He began the manu
facture of cigars in November, 1894, when tbe firm of Holmes & Wells
was established in Flint, this association continuing until the present busi
ness, under the style of the Iroquois Company, was founded in 1900.
Mr. Wells' career bas been one of uninterrupted advancement. Brooking
no obstacles that could be overcome by determined, earnest and honor
able purpose, he has steadily worked his way upward in business life and
is a valued representative of the commercial interests of Flint, where he
is known for his thorough reliability and his close adherence to a high
standard of business ethics. He has a number of outside interests, and
holds a directorship in the National Bank of Flint. In political matters
he is a Republican on national issues; otherwise he uses his own dis
cretion in casting his ballot. He is prominent in Masonry, belonging to
Genesee Valley Commandery, K. T. No. 15, and Elf Khurafeh Temple,
A. A. O. N. M. S., at Saginaw, Michigan, and maintains membership also
in Flint Lodge of Elks, No. 222. His summer home is located at Long
Lake, some twelve miles from Flint.-

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN , 1003
On February 9, 1893, Mr. Wells was married at Flint, to Miss Maude
O. McGregor, daughter of William McGregor, one of Flint's most promi
nent business men in the early days when lumber formed the principal
product offered to the world, under the slogan "Made in Flint." He is
at this time Flint's oldest surviving mill owner, and in spite of his ad
vanced years still carries his six feet straight as a Norway pine. One
son, McGregor Wells, was born to this union, April 20, 1894, and was
graduated from the Tennessee Military Institute in June, 1913.
Horace E. Potter. As county commissioner of schools in Genesee
county, Mr. Potter, whose active career has been devoted wholly to edu
cation, has attained through a regular progress .of promotion his present
position. Mr. Potter's life is also interesting for his representation of a
family name that has been creditably identified with Genesee county
since the first settlers blazed their ways through the woods and opened
up the land to civilization.
His birthplace was Davison township in Genesee county, where the
family first located when Michigan was a territory. Born there on June
17, 1879, he is a son of William E. Potter, also a native of Michigan, and
a grandson of Robert E. Potter, who was the pioneer settler in Davison
township. Robert E. Potter born in New York, with his brother, I. Wil
son Potter, has a place on the pioneer annals of Genesee county, since
these two brothers were the very first to cut a road through the woods
into Davison township, and establish homes there before any other perma
nent settlers had ventured into that section of the state. These brothers
were hardy frontiersmen and farmers, and men of more than ordinary
influence in the community. Grandfather Potter was one of the first
supervisors of the town, and was active in shaping affairs both political
and otherwise, during the formative epoch. Robert E. Potter died in
1886, in Davison township, at the age of seventy years, and his brother,
I. Wilson, died in 1890, at the age of seventy-two. Of these children of
Robert E. Potter four are still living. Of these, Ira was the first white
child born in the town of Davison, and the other seven children were
named: Horace, William, Oscar, George, Harry, Nelson and Mary.
The children of I. Wilson Potter were two daughters, both now deceased.
William F. Potter, father of the Genesee county commissioner is still
living on a farm near the old home place at Davison, and agriculture has
been his vocation all his active life. He married Justina Troop, who was
born in Genesee county, a daughter of Warren Troop, who came from
his native state of New York and found a place among the early settlers
of Genesee township in the same county. Mrs. Justina Potter is still
living, and the mother of five children: Alice, unmarried; Horace E. ;
Zoa, wife of Henry Blight, a Genesee county farmer; Ernest, of Flint;
and Omar, superintendent of schools at Montrose.
While a boy Horace E. Potter attended what was known as the Potter
school in Davison and Richfield townships. From that institution he
entered the Davison high school and later the Ferris Institute, was a
student in the State Normal at Kalamazoo, and for one year attended
the University of Michigan. His early life up to the age of eighteen was
spent on the farm, and since then he has been almost continuously identi
fied with teaching as a profession. His first school was taught in Atlas
township in Genesee county, he also taught in the village school of Davi
son, in the consolidated school at Grand Blanc, and outside of his chosen
work has never formed any business connections, realizing that in the
schoolroom he has found his highest usefulness as a worker in the world.
Mr. Potter served as a member of the Board of School Examiners for
three years, from 1905 to 1907, and was then appointed to fill the unex-

1004 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
pired term of Fred J. Johnson, deceased, as county commissioner of.
schools. His duties in that office began January i, 1908, and in 1911 his
previous administration was endorsed by a popular election, so that he is
now in his sixth continuous year of his official work.
In politics, Mr. Potter is a Republican. His fraternal affiliations are
with the Masonic Lodge, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the
Gleaners, and the Grange, and he belongs to the Baptist church. On
December 24, 1908, at Davison, he married Miss Ilga Hewitt, who was
born in Michigan, a daughter of Milo H. Hewitt. Mr. and Mrs. Potter
reside at 802 East Street, where he owns his home. While his profession
keeps him quite constantly busy Mr. Potter finds diversion in his favorite
sports of fishing and as a spectator of baseball.
John Escott Sills. The field in which Mr. Sills has gained a sub
stantial position in business affairs is that of electrical construction and
contracting. He is now at the head of the J. E. Sills Electrical Company
of Flint. This is by no means a local enterprise, and its contracts for
installation and construction of electrical equipment are taken all over
the states, and the business has been built up to successful proportions.
John Escott Sills was born in Gault, Ontario, November 16, 1875, the
third of nine children born to Escott and Jennie (Stewart) Sills. Both
father and mother were born in Gault, Ontario, and the former has for
many years peen a master mechanic, and connected with various indus
trious institutions in Bay City. The family located in Bay City when
John E. Sills was four months old. The parents are still living there.
John E. Sills received his education in the public schools of Bay City,
but at the age of fourteen left school and took up a vocational training
in a practical apprenticeship. At that age he began learning the electrical
business and spent five years as an apprentice. After that he worked as
a journeyman up to 1906, and in that year became superintendent of con
struction for the Henry Newgard Company, of Chicago, having charge
of the contracts for that company in the states of Michigan, Ohio and
Indiana. It was a responsible place which he filled with credit for two
years, and then resigned and located in Flint. Here he organized his
present business, the J. E. Sills Electrical Company, which does a general
contracting and also supply business. The firm is a co-operation, the
other two members being John E. Arnold and Henry F. Ramm, both of
Bay City. On an average, twenty-five expert workmen are employed by
this concern the year around, and contracts and orders for supplies come
to the house from all over the state. The business headquarters are at
412 Saginaw street, in Flint.
Mr. Sills is a Progressive Republican, but has been too busy to iden
tify himself actively with party affairs. While the Spanish-American
war was in progress, he enlisted and served in the Thirty-Third Regi
ment of Michigan Volunteers, with the rank of quartermaster sergeant.
He is a well known Mason, having taken thirty-two degrees of Scottish
Rite, and is affiliated with branches of the order chiefly in Bay City and
Saginaw. He is also connected with the Mystic Shrine.
At Flint he has membership in the lodge of Elks, and has been a
member of the Loyal Guards since the organization of that fraternity.
As one of Flint's progressive business men he is a working member of
the board of commerce. His church is the Presbyterian.
On June 21, 1899, Mr. Sills was married at Bay City to Miss Lillian
Hoffman, who was born in Bay City, a daughter of George Hoffman.
They are the parents of four children: Gladys, Geraldine, Hazen, and
Leona. The home of the family is at 329 West Eighth street, where Mr.
Sills has erected a substantial and attractive residence. All his success

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1005
has been won through his own industry and efforts, and he well deserves
his present position and standing as a business man.
Charles Torrey Bridgman. Among the many men in Michigan
who have started in life with practically nothing and have attained suc
cess in spite of the handicaps, Charles Torrey Bridgman of Flint,., should
be given a prominent place. Nearly fifty years ago he began as a clerk
in a general store, at Flint. In a few years he had gained an independent
position as a partner, and for years has ranked as one of the ablest mer
chants, bankers and business men of the city. At the same time he has
taken an active part in the upbuilding of the city and state. He has de
voted himself to making his business succeed, but in such a way as to win
the admiration of his associates, and he has never forgotten those equally
important duties to society as a citizen of his community. The public
service he has rendered to the town has always been given with a gener
osity and a real interest in the welfare of the community.
Charles Torrey Bridgman was born December 6, 1845, at Huntsburg,
Geauga county, Ohio. His parents were Charles and Juliana (Warren)
Bridgman, both natives of Massachusetts, and of old American and New
England stock. The Bridgman ancestry, according to a recent work on
genealogy, is traced back along a direct line to Hengst, King of the Sax
ons, 434 A. D., and along other lines to Alfred the Great, early Scottish
Kings and French Kings, including Charlemagne, William the Conqueror,
etc. The American Bridgmans were established by James Bridgman,
-who came from England to Massachusetts about 1630. On the maternal
side the ancestry is traced back to the Warren and White families, both
of whom settled in New England about the same time as the Bridgmans.
Elder White was a minister of the Plymouth colony.
Mr. Bridgman as a, boy attended the public schools of Ohio, was a
student in the old Chicago University, and in Russell Military School at
New Haven, Connecticut. Since he was nineteen years old his career
has been continuously identified with Flint. Entering, the employ of Will
iam L. Smith & Company, general merchants, in 1864, he made his
services so valuable as to win a partnership in 1871, in which year the
name was changed to Smith, Bridgman & Company. The business was
incorporated under the name in 1907. Mr. Bridgman is now secretary
and treasurer of the corporation, which does a business of nearly half a
million dollars annually. Mr. Bridgman is president of the Union Trust
and Savings Bank of Flint, and there are many minor relations with busi
ness affairs which, in the case of a less successful man, would be given
an important place in his career. Especially has he been honored with
many positions of business trust. Some of the largest estates ever pro
bated in Genesee county have had his services as administrator. For
the past three years Mr. Bridgman has been endeavoring to unload his
business cares, since he has earned a rest, and has ample means for his
own declining years and as provision for his family.
Mr. Bridgman has served as a member of the common council of
Flint. He served six years as a member of the Board of Education, and
was president of the board during the last two years of his incumbency
from 1888 to 1890. His views in politics are Republican. In the Masonic
order he has taken thirty-two degrees, and socially is a member of the
Flint Country Club and the Shakespeare Club. He also belongs to the
Board of Commerce. His church is the Congregational, and he is presi
dent of the board of trustees.
On September 13, 1870, at Caledonia, New York, Mr. Bridgman
married Miss Sarah McKay, daughter of James B. and Ann (Dean) Mc
Kay. They have one child, Lewis Henry Bridgman, who married Nellie

1006 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
J. Davison, now deceased. Mr. Bridgman, though he has given close
attention to business' for many years, has not neglected the opportunities
supplied by his success for broad culture and much travel. He is one of
the best traveled men in Michigan, and has visited both North and South
America, Europe, Asia and Africa, and made one trip around the world.
Rev. John G. Wyss. The Catholic clergy numbers among its mem
bers men of broad education, religious enthusiasm and enlightened views ;
men whose example and teaching exercise an influence for morality that
must be counted as one of the great factors in advancing any community.
Not alone must a Catholic priest be a spiritual guide to his people, but be
must also possess a large measure of tbe practicality which will help him
to advise and teach in the ordinary events of life, and to protect the in
terests of his parish while also promoting its temporal affairs. Much, in
fact, is demanded of those who choose the unselfish life of the Catholic
priest. Not all, as in other walks of life, are fitted by nature for the same
sum of responsibility, and perhaps' few, under the same circumstances,
could have accomplished so much as illustrated in the achievements of
Rev. John G. Wyss, pastor of St. Boniface Catholic Church at Bay City,
Michigan, a charge which he has held during more than a quarter of a
century. Father Wyss was born June 24, i860, at Reiden, Canton of Luzern,
Switzerland, the youngest of the nine children of Kaspar and Mary
(Lang) Wyss. His father, a farmer by vocation, died when the youngest
child was still an infant, and the mother followed him to the grave some
ten years later. Educated in the colleges of Luzern, Father Wyss came
to America in 1882 and entered the seminary at Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
from which he was graduated in 1887 and ordained during that same year.
His first charge was at St. James Church, Montague, Michigan, but in
1888 he was transferred to St. Boniface Church, at Bay City, and here he
has continued in charge to the present time, having celebrated his Silver
Jubilee in February, 1913. During this period the church here has grown
in strength and numbers, repaying Father Wyss for his self-sacrificing
and untiring efforts. When be came, in i888,.the church and school were
both held in one building, but in 1896 he began the erection of a new
church, which was completed and consecrated in 1899, and is known as the
first consecrated church in the Diocese of Grand Rapids. In 1904
he built a substantial brick and stone parsonage of ten rooms, and two
years later, under his pastorate, the Holy Rosary Academy was completed,
adjoining the church. This institution, for the purpose of educating
young ladies, accommodates 200 pupils, while 100 may bave a comfortable
room and board. The academy is under the management of the Sisters
of St. Dominic. In connection with St. Boniface Church, a parochial school
accommodates 150 pupils, children of the parish, this being a two-story
brick structure, with the first floor devoted to school purposes and the
second used as a lecture hall. In addition to his duties as pastor, Father
Wyss has the spiritual direction of about ten societies of the church.
Father Wyss is still in the prime of life, is active and alert, and never
tires of doing good for his flock. His accomplishments here are monu
ments to his zeal, devotion and earnest endeavor, and his kindly nature
and friendly assistance to all in adversity have endeared him to all classes,
regardless of denomination or nationality. When he feels that he can
leave his congregation for short periods, . he makes occasional trips to
Rome and other European points, thus recuperating his strength in order to
continue the good and great work in which he has been engaged for so
many years.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1007
Daniel Vincent Wolf. The family represented by Mr. Wolf has
been especially well known for its prominence in the building trades
at Detroit for .a period of more than forty years. While the father is
among Detroit's oldest building contractors, the son has prospered along
the same ljnes, and, not yet thirty, is secure in the possession of a fine
and growing business and has a large amount of capital in service in
the upbuilding of Detroit real estate.
A native of Detroit, Daniel Vincent Wolf was born November n,
1885, son of Joseph and Mary (Crowley) Wolf. The father was born
in Baden-Baden, Germany, in 1847, and came to the United States in
1865, locating immediately in Detroit. Reared and educated in that city,
learning the carpenter's trade, he was employed as a journeyman for a
number of years and then took up contracting. At the present time he
is one of the city's oldest builders, having been identified with contract
ing for a period of forty years. Among the many well known buildings
which he has erected may be mentioned the Providence Hospital, sev
eral school houses, a number of .fine apartment houses, and has em
ployed his own capital and his skill and business organization for the
erection of several flats and terraces, which he still owns. His wife,
Mary Crowley, was born in Detroit. The senior Wolf is an esteemed .
member of tbe Detroit Builders and Traders' Exchange, and he and
his family are members of the Catholic faith.
Daniel V. Wolf started life with the influences of a good home and
with a fairly good education, having graduated from the Detroit public
schools and from St. Vincent's parochial school. When seventeen years
of age his father put him to work at the carpenter's trade as an appren
tice, and he continued to be associated with his father until 1912. In
that year he started out independently, as a contractor under his own
name, and his prestige as a dependable builder was established from
the first. Mr. Wolf has paid' special attention to the construction of
apartment houses, flats, residences and stores. For the past several
years he has bought real estate and employed his own capital for the
erection of houses, flats and terraces and has been very successful in
selling, trading and renting these properties. Mr. Wolf is a member
of the Builders and Traders' Exchange and of the Master Carpenters'
Association. He and his wife have membership in St. Agnes Catholic
church, and he affiliates with the Knights of Columbus. Mr. Wolf was
married at Detroit to Mary L. Sheehan, who was born in that city
November 21, 1886, daughter of Michael and Margaret (Hastings)
Sheehan. Her father was a native of Ireland, came to Detroit in
1879, and for a number of years has been manager of the wholesale
grocery house of O'Brien & Company. Mr. Sheehan married Margaret
Hastings, who was born in Detroit, daughter of Henry Hastings, also
a native of Ireland, and for many years ideritified with the pay depart
ment of the Michigan Central Railway with headquarters in Chicago,
but later in the coal and wood trade. Mr. and. Mrs. Wolf have two
daughters: Margaret May, born January 3, 191 1, and Kathleen Marie,
born May 27, 1912.
George W. Baker. The residence of the late George W. Baker in
Jackson covered a period of forty-one years. While he was not one of
the first settlers, substantially the entire growth of the prosperous city
was under his eye, was watcbed by him with the interest andpride of a
proprietor, and was materially aided by his wise counsels and firm
hand. The place of his nativity was the town of Durham, Maine, whose
best contribution to the country has been the men of resolute, purpose
and firm principle that it has sent forth to lay again the foundations of
Vol. 11—24

1008 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
New England institutions in other and far distant states. The date of his
birth was November 2, 1837, and when he was but a child he was taken
by his parents to Hamilton, Madison county, New York, and there in
the famous Colgate Academy (now University) Mr. Baker completed
his education. , «
On January 1, 1871, Mr. Baker came to Jackson, and here almost
immediately his business enterprise was felt in the establishing of the
firm of Birdsell, Baker & Company, wholesale grocers, which later be
came Kellogg & Baker, then Clark, Baker & Company, and is now the
Jackson Grocery Company. It is believed that Mr. Baker was the oldest
business man in point of continuous activity (forty-one years) in the
city. Mr. Baker was made a Master Mason at Greene, New York, in
1859. At the age of twenty-one years Mr. Baker was elected to the
vestry of Zion Episcopal church at Greene, New York, and had been a
vestryman of St. Paul's church since Easter Monday, 1871, until his de
mise. For several years he was on the public library board, and for
six years served as its president. When he died, July 5, 1912, the city
sustained a loss which it could ill afford. On June 1, 1859, Mr. Baker
was married to Miss Christina Gray Wilson, who died at her home at
269 Wildwood avenue, April 6, 1914. She was born at Greene, Che
nango county, New York, September 7, 1836, a daughter of Joseph and
Miranda (Gray) Wilson.
In speaking of the career of Mr. Baker, a local newspaper said, in
part, at the time of his death: "In the death of George W. Baker fhe
city loses a citizen who since 1871 had been a prominent figure in the
various activities of the city. At that time he, with Mr. Birdsell, came
from the East and established the first exclusively wholesale grocery in
the city — a departure which was one of the manifestations of the city's
possibilities as a wholesale point. The firm of Birdsell, Baker & Com
pany was followed by Kellogg & Baker, and this by Clark, Baker &
Company, from which grew the present prosperous corporation, the
Jackson Grocery Company. In all of these Mr. Baker was an active
figure and in these years of participation in the grocery interests of the
city he established a circle of customers who as personal friends were
loyal to the house with which he was identified. He continued his
labors until January 1, 1912, when he laid down the cares of active
business and resigned himself to an end which he realized could not be
long postponed. The period of his performance of business duties was
exactly forty-one years, and he has seen the business venture estab
lished by him expand and keep pace with the growth and importance of
the city. Mr. Baker was a devout Episcopalian, and from his twenty-
first year had been a member of the vestry, first in the church at Greene,
New York, and later here when he made this city his home and St.
Paul's his church. He was junior warden for seven years — a position
to which he was chosen when Gen. W. H. Withington died. He passed
the chairs in the Blue Lodge and Chapter of Masonry in the East and
was made eminent commander of Jackson Commandery two years after
identifying himself with the order in this city — a striking instance of
his ability to impress his personality upon tbose with whom he was
thrown in contact. He was the oldest past commander at the time of
his death, and was repeatedly called upon to confer the ritualistic work
of the order in past years. He was also active in the conduct of the
public library, serving as president of the board for six years. In all
the forms of human relationship into which he was thrown, he wac
accorded a prominent place, and as churchman, Mason and business
man he left bis record of duty well done."

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1009
John E. Nolan. One of the oldest and best known shoe dealers in
Michigan is John E. Nolan, of Flint. Mr. Nolan has lived in Michigan
the greater part of his life, although his business was such as to take him
to many sections' of the country. His father was killed as a Union soldier,
and the son early had to get out and earn his own way. He has known
all the changes and vicissitudes of mercantile life, has sold goods on
the road and over the counters, has clerked and been manager, and for a
number of years has had an independent business of his own, and his suc
cess has been warranted by a long and thorough experience and capable
judgment and untiring industry in the prosecution of his affairs.
Grand Rapids in this state was his birthplace, born there in July 19,
1858,, a son of Peter and Susan (Quealy) Nolan. Both parents were
natives of Ireland. The mother came to America when eight years of
age with her parents, her father dying in Canada, and later she came with
her older sister, Mrs. Patrick Keane, to Grand Rapids, where she still
lives at the age of seventy-six years. The father came to Michigan when
twenty-five years old, settled in Grand Rapids, with two brothers and a
sister, and a few years later was married. At Grand Rapids he did busi
ness as a contractor and builder. He went out with an Illinois company
in defense of the union, was a member of Mulligan's famous brigade of
Irishmen, and was killed in one of the engagements in the notable record
of that body of troops.
John E. Nolan is the only son of his parents. His early education
was obtained by attending school at Grand Rapids. At the age of thirteen
he entered the employ of Levi Brothers' Star Clothing and Hat Company,
at Grand Rapids, where he worked five years and learned many of the
essential details which prepared him for his later career. After that he
managed the shoe department for J. Jacobson, Clothing and Shoes ; later
he was with King & Company, Boots and Shoes, and then went on the
road selling shoes for Ellis & Putnam, of Chicago, covering territory in
Michigan and northern Indiana. His work for that firm continued from
1 88 1 to 1884, after which he went to Kansas City, and later to Leaven
worth, Kansas, where he managed the shoe department for Ernest Sell-
inger for one year. Once more he was in Chicago, and then from 1886
to 1895 was with the Union Shoe Company of Chillicothe, Ohio, covering
the territory between Michigan and the Missouri River, north as far as
Duluth and south as far as Kansas City. On the failure of the company
in the fall of 1895, he once more returned to his former employer, Mr.
King, and managed the latter's" store at Ann Arbor, later the Flint store,
and finally the Detroit establishment. This work kept him busy until
1901, in which year he first engaged independently in the shoe business
at Rochester, Michigan. Mr. Nolan was in business at Rochester four
and a half years, and in 1906 came to Flint, where he has since had a
high class shoe store, and carries one of the largest and best selected stock
of goods to be found in this part of the state.
In politics he is independent, affiliates with the Knights of Columbus,
and has membership in the Catholic church. At Ann Arbor, Michigan,
on February 13, 1899, Bishop Kelly solemnized the union of Mr. Nolan
and Miss Elizabeth O'Connor, a daughter of Patrick and Mary O'Con
nor, a well known pioneer family of Michigan. Mrs. Nolan was born
near Hunters Creek, in Lapere county. Mr. Nolan's business establish
ment is at 514 South Saginaw Street.
Charles H. Meldrum. , Of little value would be every medicinal
agent employed by science as curative without waterhealing, cleansing,
soothing water — and some of the great fortunes of the kingdoms of Eu
rope, and the world-wide fame of particular sections of this country have

1010 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
had their foundation in the specific qualities found in this gift of Nature.
In many parts of America these healing waters have been discovered and
are being utilized and in the pure-flowing currents of Macomb county,
Michigan, are found qualities which yearly carry health to thousands.
One of the most famous of these streams is found in Mount Clemens, and
at the Fountain Baths, every convenience and comfort may be found for
the relief of those seeking health. The proprietor of these baths, Charles
H. Meldrum, is one of Mount Clemens' foremost citizens, a man who has
worked his way upward from the bottom, and who is deserving of the
high esteem in which he is held.
Mr. Meldrum was born August 17, 1856, in Erie county, New York,
and is a son of Robert O. and Julietta (Brown) Meldrum. The father,
a native of Nova Scotia, went to New York in young manhood, was there
married, and subsequently went to the oil fields of Pennsylvania, where
he was engaged in business until 1886. In that year he came to Michigan
and settled at Mount Clemens, where, with his son, he established the
Fountain Baths. He made his home in Buffalo, New York, where his
death occurred in 1895, at the age of eighty-six years. The mother, a
native of New York, still survives, a resident of Buffalo, and is seventy-
seven years old.
The eldest of a family of seven children, Charles H. Meldrum, re
ceived his early education in the public schools of New York, and later
went to Pennsylvania schools, completing his education in the Academy
of Pennsylvania. He subsequently received his initiation into commercial
life with his father in the oil business, and was so engaged until his
thirtieth year, when he came to Mount Clemens to take up the new enter
prise. Here, with his father, he established the Fountain Baths, building
a hotel in connection, and by reason of their great medicinal qualities
these waters have become famous throughout the United States. In the
management of these baths, Mr. Meldrum has shown himself an excellent
business man and a genial host. While he has been extremely busy with
his private affairs, however, he has found time to contribute to the welfare
of his city, and as a member of the board of public works is serving his
sixth year. He is independent in his political views, and exercises his
right to support the man he deems best fitted for public office, irrespect
ive of party lines. While living in New York he was made a member of
the Masons, and he is also identified with the Order of the Eastern Star.
With his family he attends the Presbyterian church.
In 1878 Mr. Meldrum was married in New York to Miss Augusta W.
Gemmer, who died in 1895, in Chicago. In 1896, Mr. Meldrum was
married at Mount Clemens, to Annie M. (Gents) Boyle. They have
no children. Charles H. Hummrich. Each a distinct branch of what is tech
nically termed "law," the science of justice and statutory law require
keen perception and brains. The mere fact that an individual is admit
ted to practice before the courts is of itself prima facie evidence of the
possession of superior intellectual endowments, although all do not
attain to the high positions in the profession. It may be true that each
individual is born with one natural gift, as was the belief of the an
cients ; but not every one seeks to discover it, or, finding it, has the
opportunity to nurture or develop it. History and biography prove,
however, that many of the most brilliant professional men of our land
have felt this natural bent from youth — in the direction of law, medi
cine, the church or literature, and, with enthusiasm, controlled by cir
cumstances, have sought advancement along this line. Not so many,
perhaps, have reached the cherished goal in their most receptive years;

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1011
some, indeed, not until middle life, but here and there are found those
who, at the open door of manhood, find also the door open to their
chosen field of effort. Respectful attention, in this connection, is called
to Charles H. Hummrich, prosecuting attorney of Macomb county, who
was admitted to the bar when but twenty-one years of age, and who
has since risen to a high place among Michigan lawyers.
Mr. Hummrich was born in the city of Detroit, Michigan, January
15, 1882, and is a son of Herman and Hulda (Boettcher) Hummrich,
natives of Germany. The father left the Fatherland as a lad of six or
seven years, in 1858, and upon arrival settled with his parents in De
troit, where he grew to manhood and engaged in the mercantile business.
In 1888 he came to Macomb county and located at Half Way House,
where he has continued to follow mercantile lines to the present time,
being a man of worth and substance. He has been an industrious, ener
getic and persevering workman, and at the age of .fifty-one years is in
possession of a handsome competency. The mother, also born in Ger
many, was seven years of age when she accompanied her parents to
America, and grew up in Detroit, where she met and married Mr.
Hummrich. She also survives, and is fifty-one years of age, the mother
of six children.
The first born of his parents' children, Charles H. Hummrich re
ceived his early education in the district schools of Half Way House,
and was graduated from the high school at the age of eighteen years.
He had early determined upori a professional career, and after some
preparation entered the law department of the University of Michigan,
from which he was graduated with the class of 1903. Upon his admis
sion to the bar, when he had just attained his majority, he chose Mount
Clemens as the field of his endeavor, and here he has since continued
in the enjoyment of an excellent practice. It was not long after his
arrival that Mr. Hummrich's abilities were given public recognition, for
in 1904 he was made circuit court commissioner, and in 1906 received
the re-election to that position. In 1910 he became a candidate for elec
tion to the office of prosecuting attorney of Macomb county, to which
he was subsequently sent by the people, and his services during his
first term were of such a satisfactory character that he received the
re-election in 1912. He has continued to give the most conscientious
attention to the duties of his office, and it is safe to presume that Macomb
county has had no more capable official. He is politically a Republican,
but he has never allowed himself to be tied down by party lines, exer
cising his prerogative of thinking for himself in matters of importance.
He has never ceased being a student, and maintains membership in the
Macomb County and Michigan State Bar Associations. His fraternal
connections are with the Masons and the Knights of Pythias, and he has-
numerous friends in both local lodges, as he has in the profession and
in public life. Like all strong, virile men, he takes his recreation in
out-of-door life and sports. •
John Donald MacKinnon. That Bay City now has a distinctive
place among Michigan centers of industry is due to the presence and
activities here of a notable group of business organizers and promoters,
men of exceptional, capacity, skilled and thoroughly trained in the
mechanical arts and with a vision and foresight that enable them to estab
lish and build up concerns of more than ordinary local importance. Among
such establishments which have existed and given prosperity to Bay City
for many years the MacKinnon Boiler and Machine Company is easily
one of the most iiriportant, and the industry in its formative and later
development has existed and flourished in the city upwards of half a
century. i

1012 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Its founder and a citizen to whom Bay City owes much for'its material
prosperity was John Donald MacKinnon. For some years he was retired
from active executive control of the business, but his career deserves a
memorial as one of the strongest industrial leaders of his time in Bay City.
The president and general manager of the works at this time is Hector
Donald MacKinnon, and the vice-president is Arthur Custer MacKinnon,
both being sons of tbe founder.
John Donald MacKinnon, whose death on June 4, 1914, bereaved the
community of a most honorable member, was born at Cape Breton, Nova
Scotia, March 17, 1841. When nineteen years of age, in i860, he moved
to New York City, and his early career was passed as a sailor. Eighteen
months were spent before the mast on a vessel plying between New York
City and the West Indies. In 1863 he came to Cleveland and, giving up
maritime pursuits, he learned the trade of boiler making in the shops of
the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad Company, under Neil Mac
Kinnon, an uncle, who was superintendent. On leaving that service Mr.
MacKinnon worked in shops in Columbus, Ohio, Chicago, and in Dubuque,
Iowa, and on July 8, 1864, took another important step in life when he
married Miss Agnes Kirk. She was born in Scotland. In 1866 John
Donald MacKinnon became one of the organizers of the Variety Iron
Works at Cleveland, Ohio.
Selling out his interests in the last mentioned enterprise in the spring
of 1867, Mr. MacKinnon moved to Bay City, Michigan. There a partner
ship was formed with William Bestor and they engaged in boiler making.
In 1868 the firm became MacKinnon & Kirk, Joseph T. Kirk being the
junior partner. That in a short time was the leading concern of its kind
in Bay City, but in 1869 the firm was dissolved and Mr. MacKinnon con
tinued alone under a new title, the Bay City Steam Boiler Works. Some
years' later Mr. MacKinnon added a general machine shop, foundry, pat
tern making and blacksmith shop to the original establishment, and the
new concern became known as the MacKinnon Manufacturing Company.
Under his vigorous enterprise and management the manufacturing
included a general line of structural steel, boilers, tankage, heavy castings
and general machinery. Mr. MacKinnon had started out with little or no
capital, had begun by relying on his skill as a journeyman worker, had the
capacity for growing with his opportunities, and at the time of his retire
ment in 1902 was the esteemed employer of a force aggregating about one
hundred men, and had the satisfaction of knowing that his energy had built
up one of the most substantial industrial plants in Bay City.
John Donald MacKinnon served Bay City in the office of alderman of
the Fourth Ward for two terms, from 1878 to 1882. For four years he
was bridge commissioner for Bay City, and during that time did a great
deal of public spirited work in behalf of the city, a monument to which
service is now seen in the Third Street Bridge across the Saginaw river,
that being considered still the best bridge in the city. Mr. MacKinnon also
had much other public service to his credit, -including four years as police
commissioner and five years as a water commissioner. Outside of his
industrial interests he built up a large property in general real estate and
throughout his active career was ready to do his share of improvement
and to take a hand whenever needed in public enterprise. In politics he
was always a Democrat, affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, and, with his family, worshipped in the Presbyterian faith. On
retiring from business, John Donald MacKinnon and his wife spent two
winters in travel, during which they visited the Bermudas and Porto Rico,
and then took up their home at Ocean Park, in California. Of their five
children, three are deceased, and the two now living are Hector D. and
Arthur C. MacKinnon.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1013
Hector Donald MacKinnon was born in Cleveland, Ohio, January 19,
1867, had a public school education at Bay City, and was a student in the
Orchard Lake Military Academy. When seventeen years of age he chose
to enter the shops of his father and find there the opportunities for his
individual career. He thus grew up in the business, and since his father's
retirement has been the active head of a concern which has not by any
means ceased to expand and grow under his management.
Mr. MacKinnon, in addition to other business interests, is a director
of the Crystal Ice & Water Company, director in the Bay City Market
Compa'ny, director in the Michigan Manufacturers' Association, vice-
president of the Bay City Board of Commerce, vice-president of American
Boiler Manufacturers' Association, and takes a leading part in business
and social and civic affairs. Like bis father, he is a Democrat in politics
and is a thirty-second degree Mason, a Knight Templar, belongs to the
Shrine, and also to the Bay City Club, the Bay City Boat Club, and the
Country Club.
On January 19, 1905, Mr. MacKinnon married Mrs. Frank H. Durell,
a daughter of Charles W. Bradford, who is deceased, but Mrs. Bradford
lives at Lafchmont, New York. Mr. and Mrs. MacKinnon have one son,
Hector Donald, II.
Arthur Custer MacKinnon, vice-president of the MacKinnon Boiler
and Machine Company, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, August 3, 1870, was
educated in the local schools, then entered the Michigan Agricultural
College at Lansing, and was graduated in mechanical engineering in 1895.
With this equipment he returned to Bay City and entered his father's
manufacturing plant, and has demonstrated his technical and business
ability in many ways and has earned his present place as superintendent of
the works. He is also identified with a number of- business and civic con
cerns in the city.
Arthur C. MacKinnon married Miss Charlotte. Hodgkins of Bay City,
in 1898. Their three daughters are : Jessie Hodgkins, Mary Kirk, and
Charlotte Agnes MacKinnon. Mr. MacKinnon belongs to the Bay City
Club, is a Mason and Shriner, and a Republican in politics.
Hon. A. J. Johnson was the first elected to the mayoralty of Pon
tiac in 1908. In the mayoralty, as in the city council, he became noted
as a man who could obtain results, and he chose his subordinates and
advisers from the standpoint of practical efficiency, which primarily com
prised energy, faithfulness, loyalty, experience and honesty. Having
evinced in a marked degree that faculty possessed by men of success
ful affairs of bringing about him able co-workers and inspiring them
with his enthusiasm and determination to get the greatest and best results
from the matters at hand, as well as having gained the confidence of the
public in his own ability, conscientiousness and *public spirit, he was
chosen chief executive of the municipality for a second time in 1913, when
the people elected him under the commission form of government. He
has been true to his every promise in his official position, and is giving
Pontiac a clean and business-like administration.
Mr. Johnson was born in Pontiac township, Oakland county, Michi
gan, April 16, 1865, and is a son of Charles B. and Adelia (Balch) John
son, natives, respectively, of Oakland county, Michigan, and Vermont,
the latter coming to this county with her parents when an infant. The
paternal grandfather, Piatt Johnson, was a native of New York City.
He migrated to Michigan in 1829 and settled in Oakland county, here
participating in agricultural pursuits during the remaining years of his
life, and passing away in Pontiac at the age of eighty-six years. Charles
B. Johnson was reared on the old farm, on which he remained until
reaching manhood, at which time he located .in Pontiac and was en-

1014 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
gaged in the manufacture of harness and saddles for three years. Then
he returned to the farm, where he lived until ten years before his death.
He then moved back to Pontiac, where he died in 191 1, when he was
seventy-six years of age. Mrs. Johnson still survives her husband and
makes her home in Pontiac. They were the parents of three sons, name
ly: Albert, an architect, who is located at Tampa, Florida; A. J., of
this review, and Rev. Arthur, a minister of the Baptist faith, stationed
at Corpus Christi, Texas.
The education of A. J. Johnson was secured in the public schools of
Pontiac, and he was reared to habits of industry and honesty. He was
a determined, self-reliant and ambitious youth, and at the age of twenty
years started in a small way to engage in contracting and building. His
early activities in this line met with success, and this encouraged him
to extend the scope of his business, which during the next twenty years,
grew to large proportions, many of the city's largest factories, office
buildings, churches, schools and residences standing as monuments to
his skill, honest dealing and good workmanship. In the meantime he
began investing in city realty, and as the municipality grew and pros
pered his interests in this line increased, and at this time he is the owner
of several score houses and improved properties. His operations have
had a distinct and helpful bearing upon the city's growth and develop
ment, and in aiding himself to prosperity and position he has also con
tributed to the community's welfare. Always a Democrat, in 1900 Mr.
Johnson began to take an active part in the movements of his party. At
that time he was elected alderman of the Third ward, in which office he
served six years, and in 1906, when he changed his residence to the Sec
ond ward, he became his party's successful candidate for the city coun
cil from that section of the city. In 1908 he was elected mayor on the
Democratic ticket, serving one term, 1908 and 1909, and in the spring of
1 91 3 became the people's choice for the mayoralty under the commis
sion form of government. He served as a charter member of the com
mission that framed the new city charter of Pontiac and has been grati
fied to see his faith in the new form of city government vindicated.
From the first his administration has carried out, to the best of his abil
ity, the promises of his speech of acceptance. He continues his interests
in manufacturing enterprises and financial- institutions of Pontiac, to
which he gives his time outside of that occupied by the mayoralty.
Mayor Johnson is interested in fraternal work, being a member of the
Foresters, the Knights of the Maccabees, the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks and the Order of the Moose.
On June 22, 1893, Mayor Johnson was married at Pontiac to Miss
Bessie A. Axford, a native of Oakland county, Michigan, and daughter
of William and Mary (Newman) Axford, and to this union there have
been born four daughters: Winnifred, Marguerite, Pauline and Lor
raine. Dwight I. Oliver. The present sheriff of Oakland county, serving
as a result of election in November, 1912, is a leader not only in politics,
but in business affairs at Pontiac, and has for many years been success
fully identified with the laundry business both in the city of Jackson and
in Pontiac. He now owns and operates one of the largest plants in his
part of the state, and has succeeded far beyond his expectations. He
has devoted himself to making this business succeed in a way that has
won the admiration of the business men of the town, and his ambition
has always been to render first-class service in which his ideals have
been more than realized.
Bom September 8, 1873, Mr. Oliver is a son of Robert B. and Har-

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1015
riet E. (Gallup) Oliver. Both the father and mother were born in New
York state, came to Michigan in 1868, settling in Jackson county, where
the father successfully followed farming until his death on November
8, 1888, when forty-nine years old. The mother is now an old lady, with
her home in Jackson. There were just two sons in the family- Reuben
A. Oliver, who was long an associate of his brother in business, was
killed in an automobile accident on August 2, 1907, when out driving
with his family and friend. His widow subsequently married Fred
Yapel, who is also deceased, and she now lives in Jacksonville, Florida.
Dwight Oliver grew up in Jackson county, had his education in the
district schools, and in the Jackson high schools. His business career
had its definite beginning on March 4, 1895, when in partnership with
his brother Reuben he engaged in the laundry business at Jackson. At
his brother's death he assumed entire control of the business which in
the meantime had been built up to successful proportions. He continued
it until 1912, when he sold out the plant at Jackson. In 1897 Mr. Oliver
located in Pontiac, and there bought a laundry which had already been
established. Under his able management it has grown into the largest
and best equipped concern of its kind in Oakland county, and would be
a credit to a city of any size. At the beginning Mr. Oliver employed
only five assistants to conduct the business. Such have been the im
provements and general increase of business that more than fifty people
now find steady employment, and the business represents a large invest
ment and has facilities for the best of laundry service in Pontiac and in
a large territory adjoining the city. Mr. Oliver owns the large building
in which his business is conducted, and has other investments in Pontiac
real estate besides owning and operating a modest farm adjoining the
city. A leader in Republican politics, he served as alderman from the.
Third word for two years, and for three terms was supervisor of his
ward. In November, 1912, he was elected to the office of sheriff of
Oakland county, and his administration of the duties of his position
have been greatly appreciated by not only his political supporters, but by
the people of Oakland county in general. His fraternal affiliations are
with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of
Pythias, and he is a member of the Congregational church.
On June 24, 1897, Mr. Oliver married Miss Myrtie A. Gallup, a
daughter of Benjamin E. and Flora Gallup, natives of Michigan.
Though Mrs. Oliver has the same name as Mr. Oliver's mother, they
are not related. The four children born to their marriage, all. of them in
Pontiac, are as follows: Helen, born January 24, 1904; Robert, born
April 7, 1906; Dorothy, born August 17, 1908, and Russell, born July
20, 1910.
Ralph T. Keeling. Now engaged in the successful practice of the
law at Pontiac, and one of the social and civic leaders in that city, Ralph
T. Keeling confesses to two actuating principles in his life. One of
these was an ambition to become a lawyer, and the other was a desire to
live in Michigan, a state which he has always admired for its people, and
its beautiful topography of forest and lakes and rivers. Mr. Keeling
has accomplished both purposes, and is already entered upon a field of
still larger achievements in his chosen home. His father lived in Ham
ilton county, Ohio, and as he had only modest means and a large family
to support, after giving the son a high school education the latter had to
get out and win his own living and provide those means necessary to
carry him into the realms of his ambition. By hard work and concen
trated purpose, he has already set himself in a high position in the law
and in useful citizenship.

1016 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Ralph Tennyson Keeling was born in Hamilton county, near Cincin
nati, Ohio, February 6, 1886, a son of James G. and Alfaretta (Barnes)
Keeling. On both sides he comes of old and distinguished family stock.
Mr. Keeling was born in Barnesburg, Ohio, a town that was nam'ed for
his mother's family. Martin Barnes, his grandfather, was one of Ham
ilton county's old and notable residents. He came from Pennsylvania
when a child with his father, who was one of the pioneers of Hamilton
county, and lived in that vicinity a farmer until his death at the age of
eighty-four years. The Keeling ancestry is traced back to Lord Chief
Justice of the English bar. On the Keeling side, one of the early an
cestors was Captain Keeling, an able seaman during the Elizabethan era,
and the discoverer of Keeling Island in the Indian Ocean. Those Islands
were discovered in 1609, and were visited and described by Darwin in
1836. James G. Keeling father of the Pontiac lawyer was a man of
superior education and for a number of years taught in high schools
about Cincinnati. He is now an official in the Internal Revenue Depart
ment of the United States Government. He has always taken an active
part in politics and for many years was a Republican, but is now in
dependent. The parents still live in the suburbs of Cincinnati. There
were six children, one of whom is deceased, namely : Dr. Mark Keeling,
who is now practicing dentistry at Cheviot, a suburb of Cincinnati ; Virgil
B., who has charge of a suburban postoffice at Cincinnati ; Leslie Keeling,
who is in the sales department of the Proctor Gamble Manufacturing
Company at Cincinnati; and Herbert" Dewey Keeling, who is a student
and lives at home.
Ralph T. Keeling graduated from the Cincinnati high school, and
when he began to earn his own living he taught school for two years at
Pleasant Run in Hamilton county. After that for six years he was em
ployed as a clerk in the Cincinnati postoffice, and at the same time studied
law. He was a night clerk in the postoffice, and a large part of his day
light hours were spent in study at the Cincinnati Law School, graduating
with the class of 191 1. He was admitted to practice in Ohio, on Decem
ber 22, 1 9 10. In August of the following year he came to Michigan, re
ceived admission to practice in the state courts in October, 191 1, and has
since devoted his energies to building up a practice in Pontiac. He is a
member of the Oakland County Bar Association.
Mr. Keeling is interested in fraternal matters, having membership in
the Masonic and Knights of Pythias Orders, and is particularly well
known in Masonry. A great many Masons throughout the state know
him as the editor of the Masonic Bulletin, a four-page journal devoted
to the interests of Pontiac Masonry. Mr. Keeling organized and launched
this publication in June, 1913, and it already has more than six hundred
subscribers, and is established on a sound and profitable basis. Mr.
Keeling counts among his personal friends many of the leading men of
the state, and has the genial manner, the fine intellect and the gift of
oratory which will eventually win him a large place in public affairs.
With all his varied experiences he has put through the high ideals of
manhood, and his success is no less a matter of character than of his
professional gifts. Mr. Keeling is fond of hunting and fishing, takes
much interest in the work of the Young Men's Christian Association, is
secretary of the Lincoln Republican Club, and does much work in be
half of his party.
On March 18, 1909, at Cincinnati, Mr. Keeling married Miss Ednah
G Brannan. She was born in Dayton, Ohio, but was reared in New
York State. Mrs. Keeling is a woman of splendid intellectual powers
and of thorough culture, and is a valuable assistant to her husband. She
is a graduate of Nazareth Academy at Rochester, New York, and also

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1017
a graduate of the Macedon Academy where she received the gold medal
than one million pounds of butter a year, and twenty-five thousand
with the class' of 1901. She is also a graduate in pharmacy from the
University of Buffalo. Her father, Alexander P. Brannan, is a well
known citizen of Pontiac.
Floyd B. Babcock. Now in his second elective term as county clerk
of Oakland county, Mr. Babcock has given an excellent account of him
self as a public official, has been identified more or less with public affairs
since leaving school, and represents one of the old and stanch families
of Oakland county.
Floyd Bernum Babcock was born in Highland township of Oakland
county, November 20, 1879, the son of Newton B. and Lorena (Ruggles)
Babcock. His father was born in New York and his mother in Michigan,
and her death occurred in February, 1907. The father came to Michigan
in 1857, and since that date the name Babcock has been well known in
Oakland county. He went out of business in 1910 and is now living a
retired life at Pontiac. For many years he was a very successful mer
chant at Milford, had a flourishing establishment there, and is now enjoy
ing the fruits of a long and well spent career. His first wife was tbe
daughter of a pioneer farmer in this section of Michigan, and died in Feb
ruary 1907. Two years later Newton B. Babcock married Mrs. Elsie
Rexford, and she is still living. The elder Mr. Babcock has always taken
an active part in Republican politics, and has held a number of township
offices, being held in especial esteem in the town of Milford. He was the
father of three children, namely : K. C. Babcock, who died at the age of
sixteen years; Etta B., wife of George B. Johns, also deceased; and
Floyd B.
Floyd B. Babcock received his education in the Oakland county
schools, attending until graduation from high school. His business train
ing was received under his father's direction at the store in Milford, and
he was actively associated with that concern for three years. He then
became assistant postmaster at Milford, and served in that office for four
years, during the administration of President McKinley. Mr. Babcock
had become increasingly popular among the citizens of Oakland county
and on January 24, 1909, was appointed county clerk to fill the term of
George A. Brown, who bad resigned. In the same year he was elected to
the office, and was reelected in November, 191 1 . He is one of the leading
Republicans in Oakland county. Fraternally he is affiliated with the
Masonic Order, the Knights of Pythias, and the Benevolent and Protec
tive Order of Elks at Pontiac. He and his family worship in the Presby
terian church. Mr. Babcock was married June 15, 1903, to Lulu B.
Hewitt, daughter of John S. and Delia (Greig) Hewitt. Her parents
were both born in this state and now live at Milfofd, where her father is
a druggist. Mrs. Babcock was the only child of her parents, but her
father by a previous marriage had one son, now a Detroit physician.
Frank H. Carroll. The career of Mr. Carroll has been more or less
closely identified with the city of Pontiac for many years. He is a law
yer by profession, having qualified for practice in New York State, but
since coming to Michigan has been chiefly concerned with railway serv
ice in official position, and is one of the well known bankers of Oakland
county. Frank Hinckley Carroll was born at Rome, Oneida county, New York.
His parents were K. Carroll and Frances (Plinckley) Carroll, and on
both sides his ancestry is of old and distinguished American stock. His
¦father's great-grandfather, Amos Carroll, of Connecticut was a lieutenant
in the Continental ;Army, arid went out at the Lexington alarm. On the

1018 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
mother's side, Grandfather Timothy Wylde Wood, came from England
to New York and did service on the American side in the Revolutionary
war and died at Camden, New York, and another grandfather, Jared
Hinckley, was also a soldier in the Revolution and was killed in bat
tle. Mr. Carroll is a lineal descendant of Elder William Brewster, and
of William Bradford, both of whom are characters of New England his
tory known to every school boy. Ammi H. Hinckley was a general mer
chant at Camden, New York, for many years, served as colonel in the
Sixty-Eighth Regiment of New York Militia, and died in 1856.
K. Carroll, the father was born at Springfield Center, in Otsego
county, New York, and died at Rome in that state. He was a graduate
of Union College at Schenectady, spent more than forty years as a prac
ticing lawyer, and saw service as special county judge of Oneida county.
Frances Hinckley, his wife, was educated at Cazenovia Seminary in
New York. She was born at Norwich, New York, September 20, 1829,
and died at the home of her son in Pontiac, February 10, 1910.
Francis H. Carroll was reared in Oneida county, graduated in 1876
from the Rome Academy, studied law in his father's office, and was ad
mitted to the bar in the New York State Supreme Court in 1881. Instead
of taking up practice, he accepted a position as paymaster on the con
struction of the Pontiac, Oxford arid Port Austin railroad in 1882. For
several years he served as auditor and treasurer of that railroad com
pany, and from 1905 to 1909 was general freight and passenger agent,
and general superintendent of the Pontiac, Oxford and Northern Rail
road. Mr. Carroll is now known as a banker. Since 1912 he has been
president and director of the First Commercial Bank of Pontiac, which
succeeded the First National Bank, which was organized in 1892. The
First Commercial National Bank is capitalized at one hundred thousand
dollars, and is one of the flourishing institutions of Oakland county. Mr.
Carroll has also been a director of the Pontiac Savings Bank, from its
organization in 1898 until 1912. Since 1904 he has been vice president
of the Pontiac Light Company.
In the way of public service Mr. Carroll was mayor of his home city
in, 1895, and was re-elected in 1896. In politics he is a Democrat. In
Masonry he has been prominent in the different branches of the York
Rite, having served in 1895 as Master of Pontiac Lodge No. 21, A. F.
& A. M., for several terms was eminent commander of Pontiac Com
mandery No. 2 Knights Templar, and was president of the Masonic
Temple Association of Pontiac for several years. For one term during
1912-1913, he has served as exalted ruler of the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks No. 810. For one term of three years he was state treas
urer of the Foresters of America. He has membership in the Transporta
tion Club of Detroit, and worships in the Presbyterian Faith.
At Rome, New York, in 1886, Mr. Carroll married Mary Cornelia
Thacher, a daughter of Robert J. Thacher, a retired merchant of Water-
ville, New York. Mrs. Carroll is likewise of Revolutionary ancestry, and
is a descendant of Captain David Barton. They have one child, a daugh
ter, Florence Helen. Mr. Carroll is very popular in Pontiac, and one of
the leaders in business affairs.
Pierre O. Wagener, M. D., is essentially one of the representa
tive physicians and surgeons of the state of his adoption and is
eminently entitled to specific mention in this history of Michigan. His
career has been varied and interesting, compassing far more of incident
and experience than falls to the average citizen of the United States, and
few members of the medical profession have received such superior
advantages for technical discipline and experience as have fallen to the

PIERRE O. WAGENER

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1019
portion of this well known and popular physician of Harbor Beach, Huron
county. The Doctor is known as one of the most skillful surgeons of the
"Thumb" counties of eastern Michigan, with many delicate and critical
operations to his credit, both in major and minor surgery, and in this
department of his professional work he is frequently called into consulta
tion and active service by other physicians of this part of the state. He
is serving as surgeon for the Pere Marquette Railroad, is health officer of
his attractive home city, and is an honored member of each the Huron
County Medical Society, the Michigan State Medical Society and the
American Medical Association, besides which he is examining physician
for thirty different old-line life insurance companies. He is one of the
progressive and liberal citizens of Huron county, and his genial and
courtly bearing, democratic ways and broad human sympathy and tolerance
have made for him a friend of every acquaintance.
Dr. Pierre Oscar Wagener was born in the city of Paris, France, on the
ist of March, 1848, and is a son of Jean and Marguerite (Medinger)
Wagener, who passed their entire lives in France. Jean Wagener was a
lawyer by profession and was a man of distinguished ability.. He was
appointed district attorney in the Department of de la Marne in i860, and
as a citizen and public official he wielded much influence in the land of his
nativity. After due preliminary discipline, Dr. Pierre O. Wagener, in
i860, entered the royal college of Luxemburg, in the fine old capital city
of the grand duchy of Luxemburg, Germany, where he prosecuted higher
academic studies for several years. In 1866 he was matriculated in the
French army .school at Cherbourg, and in the autumn of the same year
he began the study of medicine, at Montpelier, one of the leading educa
tional centers of France, where he prosecuted his technical studies for two
years. In 1868 he entered the celebrated University of Bonn, in Rhenish
Prussia, where he continued his study of medicine and surgery and where
he was graduated.
On the 10th of July, 1870, Dr. Wagener was given his passports to
leave Germany, as the Franco-Prussian war was impending, and on his
way home he joined the army of General Duay, in the artillery arm of
which command he served until the 22d of August, that year, when he was
assigned to and enrolled in the medical department of the army commanded
by Marshal Bazaine. When the command was closed in at Metz, Dr.
Wagener entered the corps of General Ducrot, and with this command he
proceeded to Sedan and thence to Paris. He remained in Paris, as military
surgeon, during the great siege of the city, and there he also took part in
the subduing of the historic commune. After the close of the war he
served two years as a military surgeon, in Martinique, in tbe French West
Indies, and in 1874 he joined the French navy, with which he visited the
different French provinces in Cochin China, as well as different Pacific
islands under French control.
In 1878 Dr. Wagener resigned his commission in the navy and came to
the United States. He devoted two years to traveling in the Western
states, and in 1882 he established his residence at Harbor Beach, Michigan,
where he engaged in the practice of medicine and where he now stands
as the dean of his profession, even as he is one of its most distinguished
and honored representatives in this section of the state.
Dr. Wagener has entered thoroughly into the spirit of American institu
tions and customs and his loyalty is of the most insistent order. He became
a supporter of the Republican party in 1888 and has given to it unqualified '
allegiance during the intervening period of more than a quarter of a
century. He has served as a member of the city council of Harbor Beach
and was one of the city charter commissioners at the time when Harbor
Beach adopted the commission form of municipal government. He is
broad-minded and public-spirited as a citizen and is thoroughly appre-

1020 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
ciative of the attractions and advantages of the fine little city in which he
has long maintained his home and in which his circle of friends is limited
only by the number of inhabitants.
Dr. Wagener has continued a close student of his profession and in
a more generic way is a man of high culture. He speaks, reads and writes
six different languages, and his private library, both literary and profes
sional, is especially comprehensive and select. He is the owner of an
appreciable amount of real estate in Harbor Beach, including his home,
wbich is a recognized center of gracious hospitality, with Mrs. Wagener
as its popular chatelaine. The Doctor is a member of the board of water
commissioners of Harbor Beach and is ever ready to lend his co-operation
in the furtherance of measures and enterprises advanced for the general
good of the community. His practice is extensive and representative and
places ample demands upon his time and attention, as he is, in point of
continuous service, now one of the oldest physicians in Huron county,
where he has long ministered with zeal and ability in the alleviation of
human suffering and distress.
In the year 1889 was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Wagener to Miss
Leontine Spiro, daughter of Henry and Bertha Spiro, of New Orleans,
Louisiana. Dr. and Mrs. Wagener have three children — -Adelaide, who
was born in 1891, is now the wife of William S. Evans, of Jackson, this
state ; Bertha, who was born in 1893, is a student at Alma College, at Alma,
Michigan, where she is a member of the class of 1914, and Carnot, the only
son, who was born in 1895, is assistant manager of tbe Fremont Telephone
Company at Crosswell, Michigan.
William John Fisher. In Pontiac and Oakland county might be
found many conspicuous examples of the work done by Fisher Brothers,
architects and engineers, the leading firm of its kind in Pontiac. They
have created the design for many of the largest and most costly structures
erected in this county and city, and have been notably successful in the
supervision of the various contracts accepted by them. Both brothers
are thoroughly capable men, have splendid technical preparation for their
profession, and their success is of a character that can be readily demon
strated by brief inspection of their work.
William John Fisher was born in Pontiac, November 2, 1870, the
youngest of three sons of Charles E. and Barbara (Schultz) Fisher.
Both parents were bom in Germany, and the father came to Michigan
before the Civil war and for more than forty years was a prominent shoe
merchant in Pontiac. He was married in tbat city, and reared and gave
his three sons a college education, and made of them men of character
and standing in the world. It was largely due to the advantages which he
supplied, and the influence of his character that his sons have made such
notable progress in business, and they ascribe a great deal of credit to
their honored father. He was a prominent member of the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows for many years, a successful merchant, and his
loyalty to his home city led him into public spirited cooperation for every
movement for its improvement and greater progress. His death occurred
in 1898 when seventy-three years of age, while his widow still lives in the
old home at the age of seventy-eight. Of their five children two died in
youth, and the three sons surviving are George L. Fisher, who graduated
from the University of Michigan with the class of 1880, has a recognized
position as the leading architect west of Chicago, and is at the head of the
firm of Fisher & Lawrie in Omaha, Nebraska. This firm has built many
of the large business houses of Omaha, and also of public and semi-public
structures, including the- half million dollar Y. M. C. A. building, and also
the building of the Modern Woodmen of America, costing a million dol-

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1021
lars. Charles A. Fisher, the second son, and partner of William J. in the
firm of Fisher Brothers at Pontiac, was born in this city in July, 1868,
and graduated Bachelor of Science from the University of Michigan in
the class of 1889.
William J. Fisher grew up in Pontiac, attended the public schools,
graduated from the high school and in the class of 1893 finished his work
in the University of Michigan in the civil engineering department. His
first regular employment in a professional capacity was with the engineer
ing department of the Frederick & Charlevoix Railway. With two years
of experience with that company, he returned to Pontiac in 1895, and
started in partnership with his brother Charles, as a firm of architects
and engineers. Any statement as to their high standing in the profession
is perhaps superfluous, and the only reference will be to some of the more
important of their works. They designed and supervised the construc
tion of the Rapids Motor Company's plant, many of the school houses
and business blocks in the city, including the Fisher Block at the corner
of Huron and Wayne Streets, completed -in 191 3, and which with its'
pressed brick material, is six stories, devoted to offices and stores, would
be a credit to a city of any size, and indicates the firm faith of the Fisher
brothers in the future growth of Pontiac. Another creation of the broth
ers is the Waite Building, the largest department store and office build
ing in Pontiac.
Mr. Fisher is a Democrat, in politics, though independent in most
matters, it being his belief that a vote should be cast for the man rather
than for the party, and he has always given his support to movements for
good civic government. Outside of his private practice, Mr. Fisher served
seventeen years as city engineer of Pontiac. Fraternally he is affiliated
with the Masons, the Knights of Pythias, and the Benevolent and Pro
tective Order of Elks. His chief diversion is in automobiling, and with
his wife and son be enjoys many pleasant drives over the country about
Pontiac. He was married April 6, 1899, in Pontiac, to Miss Josephine Gaukler,
a native of Pontiac, and a daughter of Philip and Ellen (Chaptaton)
Gaukler, of a prominent pioneer family in Detroit and Pontiac. Mr.
Fisher is especially proud of his young son and only child, Truman Fisher,
who was born in Pontiac April 15, 1903.
Albert A. Devantier. The present efficient city clerk of Mount
Clemens, Michigan, serving his third term, Albert A. Devantier, until
taking up the duties of official position had spent the greater part of his
life, in connection with newspaper work. His career has been one of
constant activity and continued advancement, and he has gained a posi
tion of responsibility because he is worthy of it.,, Mr. Devantier was
born in Macomb township, Macomb county, Michigan, August 8, 1874,
and is a son of Frederick W. and Louise (Hildebrandt) Devantier.
Frederick W. Devantier was born in Prussia, Germany, and came to
America and Macomb county, Michigan, in 1853, -locating on a farm in
Macomb township, where he passed the active years of his life in agricul
tural pursuits. A man of industry and energy, he accumulated a hand-
' some competency from modest beginnings, and was able to retire some
years before his death and to enjoy the fruits of his early years of toil.
He died at the age of seventy-three years at his comfortable home in
Mount Clemens, where he had spent the last eighteen years. of his life.
In 1862 Mr. Devantier enlisted for service in the Fourth Michigan
Cavalry, Company G, under General Pritchard, with which organization
he was connected until receiving his honorable discharge in 1865. While
a member of Wilson's Raiders, May 10, 1865, at Irwinsville, Georgia, he
belonged to" the party which captured Jefferson Davis, the Confederate

1022 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
president. Mr. Devantier was always a brave and faithful soldier, being
constantly in the thick of each engagement, but came through the war with
out a wound, and was never captured by the enemy. He married
Louise Hildebrandt, who was born at Stettin, Germany, and who came to
America in 1867 and settled in Macomb county, Michigan, where she
met and married her husband. She died February 10, 1913, at Mount
Clemens. Mr. and Mrs. Devantier had two children: Johanna, wife of
Charles Schock, a contractor of Mount Clemens; and Albert A. By a
former marriage Mrs. Devantier had three children: Augusta, who
married William Loeschke, of South Dakota; Albertine, the widow of
Albert Kampfer, a resident of Rising City, Nebraska; and Carl Sass,
whose residence is in Minnesota.
Albert A. Devantier received his education in the public schools which
were located in the vicinity of his father's farm in Macomb township,
and until he was fifteen years of age assisted his father in the homestead
duties. At that age he was apprenticed to learn the printer's trade, and
following his three years of apprenticeship he worked as a journeyman
printer for a period of seven years. His first venture into the newspaper
field on his own account occurred at Persia, Iowa, where he established
the Globe, a weekly independent journal, which he conducted with a
fair measure of success for two years. He then sold this sheet and re
turned to Mount Clemens, where, with the late Everett Russell, he estab
lished the Mount Clemens Advertiser, and continued to be connected
therewith for some seven years. Mr. Devantier then disposed of his in
terests, and during the following year was engaged at the printer's trade
in New Orleans, but again returned to Mount Clemens, and this time es
tablished the Modern Press, which he continued to publish until April,
1912, and then retired from the journalistic field, selling his interest in
that paper in June, 1913. He was first elected to the office of city clerk
in April, 1912, and his excellent services in that position won his re-elec
tion in April, 1913, he having since proved one of the most popular of
ficials of the city government. He is an enthusiastic and hard-working
Democrat, but has conducted his affairs in such a straightforward and
honorable manner that he has warm friends among the leaders of all
parties. Fraternally, he holds membership in the Knights of Pythias,
the Modern Woodmen of America, the Woodmen of the World and the
Modern Maccabees, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Foresters
of America, and he is also a member of the Mount Clemens Club.
With his family, he attends the Presbyterian church, and has been active
in its work, being its present treasurer.
On September 11, 1900, Mr. Devantier was married at Mount Clem
ens, to Miss Grace A. Savage, a native of Michigan, and a daughter of
Moses Savage, an early settler and well-known citizen of the Wolverine
state. Seven children have been born to this union: Catherine, born
May 31, 1 901, who died July 9, 1901 ; William, born August 31, 1902;
Helen, born January 22, 1905 ; Dorothy, born January 9, 1906, who died
March 28, 1906; Geraldine, born September 14, 1907, who died Decem
ber 12, 1907; Jean, born February 25, 1910; and Frederick, born August
19, 191 1. Tbe family residence is located at No. 34 Maple avenue.
Mr. Devantier has always been prominent in affairs of his city, and
bas been called upon to fill various positions of responsibility and trust,
where his abilities have done much to aid in municipal reform. He has
been favorably before the public as a clerk of the police commission,
the board of public works and the charter revision commission, and as
clerk of all of these bodies has rendered signal services. The records
show that few men have discharged their duties in a more capable or
conscientious manner.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1023
Samuel J. Patterson. The name Patterson has been prominently
identified with the legal profession and also with tbe bench of Oakland
county for many yea'rs, Patterson & Patterson is the name of a firm
which has practiced with eminent success in Pontiac and its present mem
bers are Samuel J. Patterson and John H. Patterson cousins, and tbe
sons of the respective former members of the original firm of Patterson &
Patterson. Samuel J. Patterson was born at Holly, Oakland county, Michigan,
November 12, 1874, a son of the late James K. and Martha (Hadley) Pat
terson. James K. Patterson was born at Brockport, New York, and the
mother was borri in Oakland county, the daughter of John Hadley, who
founded the Hadley family in this section of Michigan, who was a farmer
and a leading Presbyterian. Grandfather James Patterson came with his
parents during the late thirties to Oakland county. He was a prominent
business man and was active in business as a contractor along the Erie
Canal in New York in the early days. He was also active in Democratic
politics. His death occurred in 1909 at the very advanced age of ninety-
one years. His wife died in 1908 aged eighty-nine, and both are interred
in the Lakeside, cemetery at Holly. The great-grandfather Patterson was
James Sr. The late James K. Patterson is still well remembered by the
older attorneys of Oakland county.. He was associated in practice with
his uncle, Judge Thomas L. Patterson, and continued a member of the
firm until elected to the office of prosecuting attorney on the Democratic
ticket, and held that position until his death in 1879. At the time of his
death he was only thirty- three years of age, and was just beginning to
reap the reward of a brilliant professional career. His wife died in 1885,
also at thirty-three years of age, and the bodies' of both now rest in
Lakeside Cemetery. They were tbe parents of four children, as follows :
George, who died at the age of fourteen; Bertha, wife of. William H.
Hyman of Port Huron; Samuel L. ; and Ada L., wife of Milton A.
Holmes of Lps Angeles, California.
Samuel L. Patterson received his education in the public schools of
Holly. After the death of his parents, being eleven years Old, when his
mother died, he was taken into the home of his uncle, Thomas L. Pat
terson, and received the same advantages which a son would have enjoyed.
He early determined to follow the example of his father and uncle in a
professional career, and took up the study of law with Henry W. Holmes,
of Holly, and afterwards entered the Detroit College of Law, continuing
his readings in the office of Fred A. Bakerat, Detroit. Since graduating
with the law class of 1898, he has been in active practice as an associate
of his cousin, John H. Patterson, a son of Thomas L. The firm represent
many of the most important interests of the state and county, especially
the industrial enterprise of Pontiac, and are also attorneys for the Grand
Trunk Railroad. Mr. Patterson is a director and attorney for the Oak
land County Savings Bank, and is a member of the County Bar Associa
tion. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Masonic Order, and the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and his wife is a member of
the Presbyterian church, to which he gives his support. In politics he
is a Democrat.
On November 12, 1901, Mr. Patterson married Miss Harrie Van
Schaick, who was born at Cape Vincent, New York. Two sons have
been born to their union: Harcourt S. Patterson, born at Pontiac,
November 4, 1909; and James K. Patterson, born at, Pontiac, November
20, 1912. The family enjoy a pleasant home at 81 Norton Street. Mr.
Patterson owes much of his early training and his successful accomplish
ment to the influence and kindly protection and advice of his uncle,
Tho'mas L. Patterson, and his present associate, Johri H. Patterson. He
Vol. n— 25

1024 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
is a man of high character, devoted to the ideals of his profession, and
is regarded as one of the ablest lawyers of the Oakland county bar.
John Kuhn. Now the oldest established merchant in the city of
Mt. Clemens, John Kuhn is one who has made a truly creditable ascent
in the business career he chose for himself, and has long occupied a place
of no little prominence in his home city. Coming to America a German
youth with no knowledge of the English tongue, though with considerable .
practical experience in mercantile affairs, he began his career as a clerk in
Detroit, and by close attention to his work and with exceptional ability in
the handling of the complications of business, has promoted himself to a
place of leadership among the merchants of the state. A veteran retail
merchant, he understands the business in all its details, and his dry goods
store at Mt. Clemens has for years been the center of the best trade in
Macomb county
John Kuhn was born at Niederwald, in Hesse, Germany, November 30,
1842. His father, Franz Kuhn, was a linen weaver, and was quite pros
perous, though his career was cut short at the age of fifty years. Elizabeth
Kuhn, the mother, was born at Gross Saelheim, in Hesse, and was the
mother of nine children. Three of these died in infancy, and the other six
all came to America. The mother lived to the age of ninety-one years,
having crossed the Atlantic in 1869, and her last years were spent in Detroit
with a younger daughter, Mrs. Charles Zange.
The oldest of the sons and third in order of birth, John Kuhn was
educated in the common schools of his native land and completed his
studies in the University of Marburg. He paid his own way through the
higher branches, attending school during certain hours of the day and
working as an apprentice in a book store during the rest of the time. Thus
he not only acquired an education, but also learned the details of a branch
of. merchandising. Four years were spent in the book business, and then
through acquaintance made in Marburg and through some, friends of the
family he found employment in a banking house at Frankf ort-on-the-Main,
and learned a great deal about banking and general business while with that
establishment. Finally resigning he left Germany and arrived at Detroit,
Michigan, in October, 1865. The sailing vessel which brought him over
was five weeks in crossing from the German port to New York City. He
had an older sister who had lived in Detroit for some years, and first lodged
with her until he got established independently. He was employed by
the Dolty Brothers, leading merchants of that time, and during the ten
years he remained with that firm he familiarized himself with all the details
of merchandizing, perfected himself in the English language and otherwise
tested himself by practical effort in business affairs.
On June 17, 1874, Mr. Kuhn moved his family to Mt. Clemens, and in
the following month resigned his place with Dolty Brothers, and began
what has been forty years of continuous residence and business activity
in Mt. Clemens. His first connection was in a copartnership with Paul
Ullrich. Their business was conducted under the name of Ullrich & Com
pany, and later changed to Ullrich, Kuhn & Company, and the enterprise
went on flourishing under that name for a number of years. When Joseph
F. Upleger was taken into the firm the style was changed to John Kuhn &
Company. During the first administration of President Cleveland, Mr.
Kuhn bought the interest of Mr. Upleger who had accepted the appoint
ment as postmaster of Mt. Clemens. The firm continued as John Kuhn
& Company, and Mr. Kuhn is now not only the leading leader in dry goods
in Macomb county, but also the oldest merchant of the city.
In politics a Republican, he has taken much part in both practical party
affairs and the civic life of his community, having served one term as

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1025
alderman, and for twelve years was on the board of public works. Fra
ternally his affiliations are with the Lodge, Chapter and Commandery of
the Masonic order and he has been very active in the Evangelical church,
for years having served as trustee and president of the board.
On January 5, 1870, Mr. Kuhn was married at Detroit to Miss Anna
C. Ullrich, a native of Germany, and a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth
Ullrich, old and prominent people of Mt. Clemens. Mrs. Kuhn died Janu
ary 25, 1907, at Mt. Clemens, aged fifty-nine and is buried in the Clinton
Grove cemetery. Of the five children born to their union, three are now
living : Franz C. Kuhn, who has attained distinction in the Michigan bench
and bar and is a justice of the supreme court living at Detroit ; Laura, who
is the wife of Paul J. Ullrich of Mt. Clemens.; and Mathilda P., who lives
at home and is her father's housekeeper.
Rev. Thomas Joseph Ryan,, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul's Catholic
Church, of Pontiac, Michigan, was born at Deftford, England, July 21,
1858, tbe son of Thomas and Frances (Long) Ryan, of Irish parentage.
The family came to the United States in 1870 and settled at Port Huron,
Michigan, where the father, a boilermaker by trade, was for many years
prior to bis retirement foreman and superintendent of the boiler works.
He died in 1903, at Pontiac, whence he and the mother had moved in 1897
to live with their son, he being seventy-one years of age at the time of his
demise. The mother passed away in 1907, when ninety years old, and
both were laid to rest in the cemetery of Mount Hope, Pontiac.
The only child of his parents, Thomas Joseph Ryan was twelve years
of age when the family arrived in Port Huron, and here he attended a
select school kept by Miss Coyle, a lady who was much beloved by all
who knew her. When he was sixteen years of age he entered St. Francis
Seminary, at Milwaukee, where he spent six years, then going to St.
Mary's Seminary, at Baltimore, Maryland. Owing to poor health, how
ever, he soon returned to St. Francis Seminary, and in 1885 was ordained
priest by Bishop Borgess at Detroit. - His first charge was as assistant to
Father Frank A. O'Brien, at St. Augustine's Church, Kalamazoo, where
he remained seven years, at the end of that period being appointed pastor
of St. Augustine's Church at Lenox, Macomb county, Michigan. His
pastorate, there continued two and one-half years, and during that period
he built a new rectory, and he was then appointed pastor of the Church
of St. Vincent de Paul, in 1895. In 1897 Father Ryan built St. Frederick's
school, which opened with an enrollment of 170 pupils and now has 400
students. He also redecorated the church, and built a pleasant rectory
and St. Thomas Hall, at a cost of $12,000, and in 1913 bought the old
Monroe homestead, adjoining the beautiful and well-kept church proper
ties, at a cost of $8,000, to be used for convent purposes. He has increased
his flock from 170 families to over 400 families, and has done much to
further the growth and development of Catholicism in Pontiac since his
arrival here. Father Ryan is a man of lovable disposition and is held in
the deepest affection by the members of his congregation, who have
learned to trust implicitly in him. He is the editor and publisher of the
Catholic Guardian, an excellent, well-printed magazine published monthly
in the interest of St. Frederick's school, and now in its tenth volume.
From this valuable journal we are allowed to quote a short description
Of the Church of St. Vincent de Paul :
"The first edifice in Pontiac seen by an approaching traveler is the
Church of St. Vincent de Paul. It stands on an eminence, and the
gilded cross that tops the one hundred and forty-six foot spire is more
than four hundred feet above the level of Detroit. The building is in
the Gothic style of architecture, of red brick, with stone foundations and

1026 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
trimmings. Its length is one hundred and thirty-eight feet, width of
transept fifty-nine feet, and height from floor to crown of ceiling forty-
two feet. The interior decorations are chaste and artistic, the frescoing
being of quiet tints and discriminatingly placed. The stained windows
would do credit to a cathedral, and the entire structure reflects honor on
the munificence of the congregation and the taste of the pastor."
Father Ryan- is a member of the Knights of Columbus and of the
Catholic Mutual Benefit Association.
Conrad Keller. Nearly half a century ago Conrad Keller came to
Detroit. He was at that time a skillful worker with carpenter tools, and
was employed in succeeding years on a great deal of building constructions
in the city during the sixties and seventies. About thirty years ago Mr.
Keller engaged in carpenter contracting under his individual name, and
is one of the veteran builders and has been one of the most successful in
the city. Still active in business, Mr. Keller is at the head of the firm of
C. Keller & Company, Inc., general carpenter contractors and builders.
Conrad Keller is a native of Switzerland, where he was born on Janu
ary 14, 1842, son of Michael and Theresa (Winga) Keller. Both parents
died in Switzerland, where the father was by trade a cabinet maker and
also a vineyardist and farmer. Switzerland was the home and early
environment of Conrad Keller until after he was grown. An education
in the common schools of that country was followed by an apprenticeship
of the carpenter's trade, and when he came to America in 1864 he
possessed the substantial skill of the Swiss workman, which served him
well as a stranger in a strange land. The first year and a half was spent as
a journeyman carpenter in the city of Pittsburg, and from there he came
to Detroit and has been continuously identified with this city ever since.
As a carpenter under the employ of various contractors and builders he
continued until 1882, and then began contracting on his own account.
While in years of business connections he is now one of the oldest, Mr.
Keller's successful record makes him one of the most prominent in build
ing circles. Many of Detroit's finest residences and business houses have
been constructed under his supervision and with his business organization.
Only casual mention can be made of his work, but some of the more con
spicuous examples are the handsome residence of Richard P. Joy at Grosse
Pointe, the Abend Post newspaper office building, the Hugo Scherer busi
ness block on Jefferson avenue, and the firm at the present time has sev
eral large buildings in course of construction. On January 1, 1912, Mr.
Keller organized and incorporated the C. Keller Company, with himself
as president, Joseph Alfes as vice-president and manager and Mr. Keller's
daughter Clara as secretary and treasurer.
Mr. Keller married Barbara Orth, who was born in Detroit. Their
children are: Clara; Emma, who married John Henk, of Detroit; and
Elmira. Mr. Keller is one of the oldest and most honored members of
the Detroit Builders and Traders Exchange and of the Master Carpenters
Association. Plis church is the Catholic. , 1
John David Riker, M. D. It is not unusual to find the men in a
family following the same profession or vocation, the son inheriting the
natural inclination and predilection of the calling from the father, and
in turn passing his skill and knowledge on down to his son. It is probable
that in the field of medicine this peculiarity, if it may be termed such, is
most frequently found. To illustrate the point, mention may be made
of the Riker family, than which no more illustrious name appears in the
medical annals of Michigan. The immediate subject of this review, Dr.
John David Riker, a leading specialist of Pontiac, is the son and grandson

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1027
of physicians, whose achievements have added much to the state's profes
sional prestige, and is ably maintaining the high reputation gained by his
ancestors. Dr. John D. Riker was born at White Lake, Oakland county, Michigan,
March 2T, 1866, and is a son of Dr. Aaron W. Riker, and the grandson of
Dr. Marcus W. Riker, the lattera man of fine education, high professional
ability and sterling qualities of citizenship. He was of Dutch lineage and
was born in New York, from whence he came as a pioneer to Michigan,
and during his day was one of the most sought after men of his calling.
Dr. Aaron W. Riker studied for two years, 1854 and 1855, at Ann Arbor,
Michigan, and completed his preparation for the profession at Albany,
New York, in 1856. In that year he entered upon the practice of medicine
at Owosso, Michigan, but after four years removed his field of activity
to the town of White Lake, Oakland county, where he built up a large and
representative practice, remaining there ten years. He then moved to
Fenton, Michigan. Some four years prior to his death he retired from
active practice. He passed away October 30, 1909, aged seventy-eight
years, six months and twenty-one days, interment being made at Oak Hill
Cemetery, Pontiac. A man held in high eseeem not alone in his profession
but in all walks of life, he was honored by election to various offices, serv
ing several terms as president of his town and as a member of the school
board for a period of a quarter of a century. He was a devout member
of the Presbyterian church, and served in the capacity of deacon for a
long period of years. Doctor Aaron W. Riker married Mary Windiate,
who passed away April 12, 1914, being seventy-eight years of age.
Dr. John D. Riker received his early education in the public schools
and graduated from the Fenton High school with the class of 1884. He
subsequently entered the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor," where he
was graduated with the degree of B. S. in the class of 1888, received his
medical degree in 1890, and in 1891 took a post-graduate course. During
his last two years he served as assistant to Prof. Victor C. Vaughn of the
medical department of the university. After his graduation he was asso
ciated with his brother, E. V. Riker, in' practice at Parma, Michigan, for
a short time, but determined to further his education, and accordingly took
a post graduate course at New York City where he specialized in diseases
of the ear, eye, nose and throat. On his return to Michigan he opened
offices in Pontiac, and began a special practice, but in 1893 left this country
and spent six months at Vienna, Austria, subsequently attending clinics
at Paris and London. , At this time it is probable that he controls the
largest practice in his line in the city. It was owing to his broad knowl
edge of physiological chemistry that he was chosen assistant to Professor
Vaughn of the University of Michigan, and he has never ceased making.
researches and investigations along this line. He is a member of the
Oakland County Medical Society, the Michigan State Medical Society and
the American Medical Association, and his standing among the members
of his profession is of the highest order. Fraternally he is connected with
Lodge No. 21, of the Masonic order, the Knights of Pythias and Elks
Lodge No. 810, of which last-named he is a charter member. Aside from
the line of his profession, Doctor Riker has contributed materially to the
upbuilding of Pontiac. The owner of valuable city realty, in 1912 he built
the Huron hotel and' office building, and the Huron garage in 191 1. His
holdings in Washtenaw county include 280 acres of excellent farming land,
and of this property 150 acres is devoted to apples. In political matters
Doctor Riker is an independent Democrat, and as such served as alderman
of the Fifth Ward for two terms and as mayor of Pontiac in 1904 and
1905. . His administration of the duties of these offices was characterized
by a conscientious desire for reform along all lines tending towards the

1028 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
city's welfare, and during his service his straightforward and courageous
methods made him friends among men of all political parties.
On June i, 1891, Doctor Riker was married to Miss Mittie Adams, of
Grand Blanc, Michigan, daughter of Charles Adams, a pioneer, prominent
stockman and respected citizen of Grand Blaric, who at the age of eighty
years is still actively engaged in business. , Five children have been born to
this union: Dahne Adams, born August 26, 1892, at Pontiac, and now a *
student in the Michigan Agricultural College, at Lansing ; Aaron Dudley,
born March 21, 1895, at Pontiac, and now a student at tbe University of
Michigan, at Ann Arbor ; Robert Mansell, born April 23, 1900, at Pontiac,
Michigan, just 100 years after the birth of his great-grandfather, Dr.
Marcus W. Riker; John Henry, born March 5, 1903, at Pontiac; and
Eleanor, born November 13, 1910, at this city. Doctor Riker and wife
are members of the Presbyterian church. Both are popular in social circles
of the city and their friends are limited only by the number of their
acquaintances. «
Albert B. Gem mer. The largest retail shoe house in Macomb county
at the present time is the F. P. Ulrich Company, incorporated This busi
ness was started at Mt. Clemens about five years ago, and has behind it
men of substantial means and with thorough experience in this partic
ular line. The chief executive head of the company is Albert B. Gem-
mer, secretary and treasurer of the company, who learned the shoe busi
ness in Buffalo, New York, and is a young man with solid achievement
behind him, and a promise of a splendid career of success ahead.
Born at Buffalo, New York, March 14, 1882, Albert B. Gemmer is
a son of Oscar and Mary E. (Humbert) Gemmer. On his father's side
the family came from Germany, and on the mother's side the ancestors
were residents of Alsace Loraine, which at one time was French terri
tory and is now a portion of the German Empire. Oscar Gemmer was
a banker and one of the prominent men of Buffalo.
Educated in the Buffalo public schools and graduating from the high
school at the age of eighteen in 1901, Albert B. Gemmer at once put
himself in line for advancerhent in a commercial career. His first posi
tion after leaving school was as bookkeeper in a bank at Buffalo, a posi
tion which he held for four years. On entering a wholesale shoe house,
the George Farnhum Company, he gained during the next two years a
thorough knowledge of the shoe business, not only at the manufacturing
end, but at the larger problems of both wholesale and retail distribution.
With this experience he came to Mt. Clemens, in February, 1908, and
became associated with Mr. E. P. Ullrich in the establishment of the F.
P. Ullrich Company. Mr. Ullrich is president, while George Longstaff
is vice president, while the practical management and the success of the
business devolve upon Mr. Gemmer. In politics he is Independent, and
has been too busy with private affairs to concern himself with politics.
He is affiliated with the Masonic Order through the Lodge, Chapter,
Council and Commandery. He is also a member of the Mt. Clemens
Business Men's Association and is a deacon in the first Presbyterian
church of Mt. Clemens.
On September 12, 191 1, he married Miss Elsie May Kendrick, who
was born in Mt. Clemens, and her father, F. G. Kendrick, is an old
resident and a prominent man of that locality. They have one son, Ken
drick B., born October 7, 1912.
Duncan B. Hubbard. The duty of the undertaker, properly esti
mated, is not less one of helpfulness and comfort than of the mere prep
aration for burial of the dead for a monetary consideration. Viewed in

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1029
the higher sense, it' is on a level with that of the family doctor, and but
little less sacred than that of the spiritual adviser. The proper discharge
of the duties calls for consideration, genuine human sympathy and tact,
and the conscientious funeral director who labors through long years in a
community comes, through association in trying times, to know the peo
ple intimately. In this connection mention may be made of Duncan B.
Hubbard, of the undertaking and embalming firm of Hubbard & Son,
at Mount Clemens, and of the firm of Hubbard & Skelton, manufacturers
of and dealers in marble and granite monuments.
Mr. Hubbard was born August 2, 1879, in Mount Clemens, Michigan,
and belongs to a family long identified with this part of the state. His
father, William B. Hubbard, was also born in this city, May 4, 1843, and
is a son of Joseph Hubbard, of Ulster county, New York, who came to
the Badger state as early as 1835 and settled in Macomb county, where'
he served as the first sheriff and was extensively engaged in the real estate
and insurance business for many years. William B. Hubbard was reared
and educated in Macomb county, and at the outbreak of the Civil War
enlisted in the United States Navy, participating in a number of engage
ments as steward on the gunboat "Forest Rose." At the close of his mili
tary experience he returned to Mount Clemens and. embarked in the- dry
goods and clothing business, in which he continued to be engaged until
1875, at that time establishing himself in the undertaking business, this
forming the nucleus for the present firm of Hubbard & Son. Mr. Hub
bard still continues to be engaged in business although he has passed his
seventieth birthday. He is widely known in business circles of the city,
and his career has been such as to gain him the respect of those who
know him. Mr. Hubbard married Miss Katherine Elizabeth Shook, who
was born at Tivoli, Dutchess county, New York, who also survives. They
became the parents of three children, of whom two are living : Robert J.,
who is successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits in Harrison town
ship ; Macomb county;' and Duncan B.
Duncan B. Hubbard was given good ' educational advantages, attend
ing the graded and high schools of Mount Clemens,- and a business col
lege in Detroit. At the age of nineteen years he became a sailor on the
Great Lakes, but after one year went to Chicago, where he was employed
by Harry Ralston, the proprietor of an undertaking establishment on
Adams street, witb whom he continued for one year. Succeeding this,
he went to Colorado, and for three years was engaged in ranching in asso
ciation with his brother on a property of 520 acres, situated nine miles
west of Alamosa, Conejos county, and upon his return to Mount Clemens,
in 1963, became his father's partner in the undertaking business, the firm
then adopting the style of Hubbard & Son. He still retains his interest
in his western ranch. Mr. Hubbard is also the owner of a one-half inter
est in the firm of Hubbard & Skelton, manufacturers of and dealers in
marble and granite monuments, with an office at No. 71 North avenue,
and works at No. 353 Cass avenue. This plant is equipped with polish^
ing machine, and all lettering and carving are done with pneumatic tools.
Some of the finest work in the city is turned out by this firm, which also
acts as agent for iron fences, settees and plant and bouquet vases. Mr.
Hubbard is widely and favorably known in business circles of Mount
Clemens, and is a director of the Mount Clemens Business Men's Asso
ciation. His standing in his home city may be judged by the fact that
he has repeatedly been given public office, serving as mayor of the city
in 1912, and as county coroner from 1902 to 1908. He has always been
active in politics, and is regarded as one of the influential Republicans of
the city. In fraternal circles he is also well known, being a member of
the Masonic Blue Lodge, Chapter and Council, the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Woodmen of the World, the

1030 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Modern Maccabees and the. Foresters of America, and he also holds
membership in the Mount Clemens Club. His religious affiliation is with
the Presbyterian church, and at this time he is a member of the board of
trustees thereof.
Mr. Hubbard was married September 27, 1904, at Detroit, to Miss
Inez Mercer, a native of Kansas and a daughter of John Mercer, and three
children have been born to this union, namely : Katherine Electa, Char
lotte Sanders and Giles Burton. The pleasant family home is situated at
No. 83 North Admiral street.
Charles S. Ferrin. About thirty years ago Charles S. Ferrin was
a boy earning his way as clerk in a grocery store. Among his natural
endowments and the result of careful training, energy, and business
ability, he has been conspicuous, and upon these qualities as a founda
tion, he has developed and prospered until he is now recognized as one
of the foremost merchants of Mt. Clemens. Charles S. Ferrin was born
at Old Fort Gratiot, now a part of the city of Port Huron, on April 15,
1869. His father Samuel C. Ferrin, who was born in the state of New
Hampshire and grew up in New England, worked as a young man in the
locomotive works in Boston, and became a skilled locomotive engineer.
He came west and was identified with the Michigan Central while that
road was being constructed towards Chicago, and had the distinction later
of being one of the first to pilot trains over the completed line into Chi
cago. He followed railroading the greater part of his life, retired in 1885,
and died at Mt. Clemens, June 23, 1888, when sixty -three years of age.
His wife, Arvilla H. Smith, who was descended from ancestors who had
fought in the Revolutionary war was born at Hebron, New Hampshire,
was married in Detroit, and now occupies the old homestead in Mt.
Clemens. She became the mother of five children, all of whom are still
living, as follows: Mrs. G. T. Tibeaudo of Detroit; H. L. Ferrin of
Detroit; Mrs. S. J. Dalby, of Mt. Clemens; Miss Winifred of Mt.
Clemens; and Charles, who was fourth in order of birth.
The public schools of Mt. Clemens were the source of his early edu
cation, and at the age of fifteen he left school and found employment as
clerk and delivery boy with the grocery firm of Law and Shook. His
salary at first was three dollars a week, and four years of hard work gave
him a fair start, not so much in the way of money as practical experience.
Two years were then spent with the firm of E. J". Olde & Company, and
after that he was for six years with the hardware house of Czizek Broth
ers. That gave him knowledge of the new department of merchandising,
and for two years he traveled on the road as salesman for the R. H.
Ingersoll & Brothers of New York. On January 1, 1907, Mr. Ferrin be
came associated with A. F. Glover, in the plumbing and heating business
at Mt. Clemens. In 1909 he purchased a hardware business and in 191 1
the C. S. Ferrin Company was incorporated. The company is operating a
large plumbing and beating establishment, the entire concern being the
most extensive and with the largest facilities for good service in Macomb
county. Mr. Ferrin i? president of the concern, and A. T. Houghton is
president. Mr. Ferrin is also a director in the Mt. Clemens Garage &
Motor Sales Company.
With independent leanings in politics, he has interested himself chiefly
in local affairs, and served as police commissioner of Mt. Clemens^ dur
ing 1909-10-n. He is affiliated with Mt. Clemens Lodge No. 6, A. F. &
A. M. and also with the Chapter, the Council, the Knights Templar Com
mandery, and the Mystic. Shrine at Detroit. He has membership in the
Knights of Pythias, the Mt. Clemens Business Men's Association, of
which he is now chairman,' and is a Presbyterian in church faith.

^t^(&«iwl

^-*-^--^

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1031
On October 27,' 1909, on a farm in Shiawassee county, Mr. Ferrin
married Miss Katherine Driscoll, who was born in Michigan, her father
John Driscoll being an old settler. To their marriage have been born
two children : Catherine and Margaret, both born in Mt. Clemens. The
family home is at 12 Ferrin Place, a thoroughfare named after Mr.
Ferrin's father.
Arthur T. Houghten. A native son of Macomb county, and repre
senting a piorieer family of the state, Arthur T. Houghten is one of Mt.
Clemens younger business men, has for a number of years been identified
with the hardware trade, and is now vice president of the C. S. Ferrin
Company, the largest and most complete bardware and plumbing and
heating establishment in Macomb county.
Born March 11, 1876, in Macomb county, Arthur T. Houghten was
a son of Thomas M. and Mary A. Whiting Houghten, both natives of
Michigan. Grandfather John H. Houghten came from England about
1838, settled in Michigan, and was one of the early farmers in Wayne
county. On the maternal side Grandfather James Houghten was a
pioneer of Macomb county, served here as a judge of probate, and during
his residence in Wayne county was supervisor and an early hotel keeper
at Detroit, and a man of. success and prominence both in public and
private affairs.
Arthur T. Houghten was educated in the city of Detroit, graduating
from the Detroit Business University in 1896. After some preliminary
experience in business he entered the hardware trade in 1901, and after
nine years in that business at Mt. Clemens, was elected in 1910, vice
president of the incorporated firm of C. S. Ferrin & Company. He is a
loyal Democrat, but not prominent in party politics, is a member of the
Presbyteri.an church, and is a hardworking and successful business man.
In March, 1898, at Detroit, he married Miss Emma Most, a daughter
of John Most, and a native of this state. They have three children:
Hazel M., Fern A., and Eunice E.
August Henry Bierkamp. A resident of Detroit and vicinity for
fifty-five years, and since early youth identified with the building and con
tracting trades, August H. Bierkamp is regarded as one of the veteran
business men of his section of the state, and has a career deserving the
following brief sketch in the history and biographical annals of Michigan.
Mr. Bierkamp is now head of the well known. firm of A. H. Bierkamp &
Son, general carpenter contractors.
Born in the Kingdom of Hanover, Germany, November 6, 1852, he is
a son of William and Frederica (Court) Bierkamp, both of whom were
native's of the same locality. During his residence in the old country the
father followed the trade of butcher and was also a farmer, and in 1859
brought his little family to the United States. The voyage was made by
sailing vessel, which was six weeks between ports, and landed at New
York. Their destination was Iowa, but on the road to that then far western
state they passed through Detroit, and were so much attracted by the
locality that they settled in Wayne county. At that time there were three
children in the family, Henry, August H, and Annie, besides the grand
father and Plenry Bierkamp, a brother of William. Henry Bierkamp.
served in the Iron Brigade Regiment of Michigan during the Civil war.
The family first settled on the KinUess road, but later moved to David
son, or Five Mile road, where William Bierkamp spent the rest of his life
as a substantial farmer, and died at the age of seventy-nine years. His
wife passed away at the age of seventy-six. After coming to this country
one other child was born, William Bierkamp, who.js now deceased.

1032 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Seven years of age when the family crossed the ocean, August H.
Bierkamp had received some schooling in the old country, and attended
the district school near the old home in Wayne county. His years were
spent on the farm until fourteen, and since then his work and residence
have identified him largely with the city of Detroit. For nearly three years
he was employed by W. N. Carpenter of Detroit, and then took up an
apprenticeship in the carpenter's trade. The master carpenter under whom
his apprenticeship was served was Captain I. W. Ingersoll, who had been
an officer in the Iron Brigade of Michigan during the Civil war. Follow
ing his apprenticeship came several years of general work as a journey
man, and he then began building railway bridges for what is now the Grand
Trunk Road, and was afterwards employed in the same capacity by the
Michigan Central Road. His experience in the railway service comprised
altogether thirteen years. Mr. Bierkamp has for many ye*ars been an
independent contractor, and did business under his own name until ten
years ago he took his son into partnership, making the firm, as it stands at
present, A. H. Bierkamp & Son.
Mr. Bierkamp married Mary McLeod, who was born in Canada,
daughter of Finley McLeod. At her death in 1902, at the age of forty-
nine, she left the following children : August Finley, who is the partner
of his father in the contracting business, and who married Letitia Kretzch-
mar, and has one son, Walter Frederick ; Margery Mabel, at home ; Mary
Alice ; and Catherine Isabell. The family are members of the Church of
the Messiah, Protestant Episcopal. Mr. Bierkamp has many fraternal and
business relations in Detroit, including membership in the Builders and
Traders Exchange; Zion Lodge No. I, A. F. & A. M.; Monroe Chapter
No. 1, R. A. M., and Michigan Sovereign Consistory of the Thirty-second
degree Scottish Rite and .Moslem Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He also
affiliates with Columbus Lodge No. 215, I. O. O. F., and with Ingersoll
Encampment of that order. In politics he supports the Republican party.
Henry B. Ameel. Now one of the leading merchants of Mt.
Clemens, Henry B. Ameel was at one time a telegrapher and a drug clerk,
and by concentration of effort and hard work has established himself
independently, and is now one of the vigorous younger business men of
his home community.
Henry B. Ameel was born March 5, 1872. His father, Louis Ameel,
was born in Belgium, came to America in 1853, first settling at Detroit,
and subsequently moving to Mt. Clemens. His death occurred at the
advanced age of eighty-three years in Mt. Clemens in June, 1909. He
was a merchant and for many years conducted a merchant tailoring estab
lishment, which was of the bighest class and a very prosperous concern.
In politics he was a DemocYat, but never participated in public affairs and
was a man of somewhat retiring disposition, held in high esteem among
his circle of friends, and never neglecting the dutie^ and obligations of the
father and the citizen. The maiden name of his wife was Anna Winkler,
who was born in Germany and came to America during the early fifties,
with her parents, her marriage occurring after she arrived in this state.
Of their eight children six are living, as follows : Joseph, Albert, Frank
and Charles of Mt. Clemens; Henry B. ; and August, of Royal Oaks,
Michigan. Wbile attending the parochial school of Mt. Clemens, Mr. Ameel
secured a practical education, and at the age of eighteen began earning his
own way as clerk in a drug store. He also learned the art of telegraphy,
and those two occupations gave him employment for twenty years, all of
which time he worked in Mt. Clemens, excepting six months spent in
Detroit. On January 6, 1913, he found a copartnership with J. C.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1033
Pannow, and he is now one of the partners in what is known as the
Bannow Drug Company, formerly known as the Chamber of Commerce
Drug Company, with a fine establishment, well stocked with drugs and a
complete line of accessories, at the corner of New and Walnut Streets.
Mr. Ameel during his career has also acquired other business and financial
interests at Mt. Clemens.
He is a Democrat in politics, is affiliated with the Benevolent and Pro
tective Order of Elks, the Knights of Columbus, the Woodmen of the
World, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Knights of Pythias, the
Fraternal Order of Eagles and his church is the Catholic.
On November 21, 1906, was solemnized at Mt. Clemens the marriage
of Henry B. Ameel and Miss Edna Daly, who was born in Cincinnati,
Ohio, a daughter of John Daly. To their union has been born two chil-
' dren: Mary Clementine on September 17, 1907; and Francis Henry, on
April 27, 1908. The family live in a comfortable home of their own at 88
Grand Avenue. Outside of his home and his business Mr. Ameel depends
upon no resources for his complete contentment, and has no desire for
the excitement of political or other public affairs.
Hon. Edwin Denby. In the law and in state and national political
affairs the career of Edwin Denby has been such as to make his name one
of the best known in the state of Michigan. His home has been in De
troit since 1896, and for three terms he represented the first Michigan
district in congress. The Denby family, since it was brought over from
England and established in America in colonial times, has furnished many
distinguished men to the public and professional and military life of the
nation. One or more men of the name served as American soldiers dur
ing the war of the Revolution. Charles Denby, a brother of Edwin, is
now consul general at Vienna, Austria, has been identified with the
diplomatic service upwards of forty years, and gained special distinction
during the Boxer Revolution in China.
Edwin Denby was born in the city of Evansville, Indiana, February
18, 1870, a son of Colonel Charles and Martha (Fitch) Denby, the former
a native of Botetourt county, Virginia, and the latter of Indiana. The
mother's father, Hon. Graham N. Fitch, was an Indiana pioneer and at
one time represented the state in the United States senate. Colonel
Charles Denby, who was educated in the Virginia Military Institute at
Lexington, and at Georgetown University in the District of Columbia,
during -his early career taught school in Alabama, followed the same work
in Indiana, where he settled in 1854, but in the same year was elected a
member of the State Legislature and soon afterwards admitted to the In
diana bar. Though of southern birth and training, Colonel Denby was
steadfast in his allegiance to the Union during the^war. The first call of
President Lincoln in 1861 brought him to the front, and as lieutenant-col
onel of the Forty-Second Indiana Volunteer Infantry he went south and
made a splendid record as a soldier. On the field of Perryville he was
twice wounded. In 1863 came his transfer from the Forty-Second Regi
ment to the Eighth Indiana Infantry, which he commanded as colonel
until the end of the war. Colonel Denby was in the active practice of law
at Evansville until 1885, and for the succeeding thirteen years was United
States Minister to China. His death occurred at Jamestown, New York,
in 1904, while on a trip through the east, and his widow died at Evans
ville in 1906. They are survived by five sons and one daughter. Colonel
Denby was long one of the most prominent citizens of Indiana, and was
a man of high character and distinguished ability.
Edwin Denby was attending the public schools of Evansville when
his father was appointed Minister to China, and from the age of fifteen

1034 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
his education was continued under American instructors in that country.
During 1887-94 Mr. Denby was in the Chinese Imperial Maritime Cus
toms service under Sir Robert Hart. Returning to America in 1894, he
entered the University of Michigan and was graduated LL. B. in 1896.
His law practice was begun at Detroit in the same year, and among bis
early associations were those with the law firm of Keena & Lightner,
later with May, Denby & Webster, and since 1907 the firm has been
Chamberlain, May, Denby & Webster. When the Michigan Naval
Reserve was called into service during the Spanish-American war in 1898,
Mr. Denby went with the command and for four months was gunner's
mate, third class, on the United States auxiliary cruiser Yosemite, which
did some very valuable work in patrolling the Cuban waters during the
months of hostility. After his discharge from service on August 23,
1898, Mr. Denby resumed his practice at Detroit.
His political service began with a term in the lower house of the
Michigan legislature in 1902-03. In 1904, the first Michigan district
elected him to congress, and his majority in that election over his Demo
cratic opponent was nearly nine thousand votes. By two re-elections he
served from the fifty-ninth to the sixty-first congress, from 1905 to 191 1,
and was again a candidate for congress in 1910. In May, 1908, Mr.
Denby was chosen one of the two American representatives on the com
mission appointed to effect a settlement of questions pertaining to prices
and titles of lands held by private parties in the Panama canal zone, and
the duties of that position kept him on the isthmus during a portion of
the following summer.
Besides his practice as a lawyer, Mr. Denby is a director in the Na
tional Bank of Commerce of Detroit, treasurer of the Hupp Motor Car
Company and vice president of the Federal Motor Truck Company, and
has association with a number of professional, fraternal and social or
ganizations. On March 18, 191 1, Mr. Denby married Miss Marion B.
Thurber. Her father, the late Henry B. Thurber, was a member of the
law firm of Dickinson & Thurber of Detroit, and during 1892-96 was
private secretary to President Cleveland. Mr. and Mrs. Denby have one
son, Edwin Jr.
William M. Burkhardt. The builder of a successful business is
always entitled to credit and properly commands the respect and admira
tion of his fellows. At Mt. Clemens, the pioneer laundry man is William
M. Burkhardt, who has been in that business in that locality longer than
any of his competitors, and has established and built up an enterprise
which is more than local in its trade and service.
Born in Houghton county, Michigan, April 11, 1864, William M.
Burkhardt is a son of German parents. Christian Burkhardt, his father,
came to America, during the early fifties and was a pioneer in Houghton
county. He was a ship carpenter by trade, took up mining for a number
of years, and finally lost his life in the mines of upper Michigan, in 1870
when only forty-one years of age. As an American citizen he voted and
gave earnest support to the Democratic ticket, but was never an office
holder. Christian Burkhardt married Louise Heintz, who came to Amer
ica with her husband and was the mother of six children, two of whom
died in infancy. The survivors are Charles H. Burkhardt of Mt. Clemens ;
Henry Burkhardt of Detroit; Louis Burkhardt, who died in April, 191 1;
and William M. The mother of these children died June 17, 191 1, at Mt.
Clemens, aged seventy-nine.
Reared in Houghton county until fourteen years of age, William M.
Burkhardt had practically no educational advantages as a boy, the death
of his father when the son was six years of age having bereft the family

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1035
of its main support, and the time usually spent by boys in attending
school was employed in more practical and vital work. When thirteen he
went on the great lakes, starting in as a utility boy, on one of the boats,
and by practical experience and study qualified and became a licensed
marine engineer. As an engineer he sailed on the great lakes until 1891,
and then retired from the water and established his home in Port Huron.
As an employe of Theodore Hammond he learned the laundry business in
all its details, and in 1896 came to Mt. Clemens, and with his brother
Louis entered into a co-partnership, establishing the Burkhardt Steam
Laundry. That was a successful enterprise until 1909, when Mr. Burk
hardt sold out and invested his capital in a new plant, now known as the
City Steam Laundry. It is modern in every detail, employs about twenty
persons all the year around, and its service is extended not only over the
city but to many of the outlying communities. The location of the busi
ness is at. 169 N. Gratiot Avenue.
A Republican in politics, Mr. Burkhardt has confined his attention
strictly to business and is not a politician. He affiliates with the Inde
pendent Order of Odd Fellows and the Arbeiter Verein, and is a member
of the Lutheran church. At Mt. Clemens, on December 26, 1889, he mar
ried Miss Mathilda Sherbeck, who was born in Denmark. To their mar
riage have come two children: William Burkhardt Jr., born January 24,
1891, at Port Huron; and Henry Burkhardt, born June 1, 1894, in Port
Huron. The family home is at 51 Washington Street. The son, William
Jr., married Delia Hubbarth, of Detroit.
Benjamin H. Scranton. Forty years a resident of Detroit, where
his entire business career has been worked out, Benjamin H. Scranton
is president of the American Electrical Heater Company, which is one of
the pioneer industries in the field of electrical heating. Of recent years
the product of this company has invaded the foreign market, and has met
with marked favor. Besides being a successful business man, Mr.
Scranton is an earnest, hard-working citizen, who has found his line, and
whose individual success has been not without important benefit to the
community at large.
Though a native of New England and of old colonial stock, Mr.
Scranton came to Detroit when a young man, to join his uncle, Judge
George E. Hand, who was one of the pioneer .judges of Michigan, he
having settled here in 1830. Thus all his subsequent career has been
identified with this city. He was born at the home of his ancestors, Mad
ison, New Haven county, Connecticut, November 7, 1856. The first
member of the Scranton family in America was Captain John Scranton,
who left England in the early part of the seventeenth century and became
a member of the New Haven colony in Connecticut. His son was also
named Captain John Scranton, and tbe third ancestor bore a similar name
and title, indicating not only the prominence of these three men in military
affairs but also in early community life of Connecticut. Captain Ichabod
Scranton, a son of the third Captain John, was a soldier during the French
and Indian war, and fought at Lewiston and Fort Ticonderoga. The
relationship of tbis Captain Ichabod to the Detroit manufacturer was that
of 'great-great-great-grandfather. Next in line came Captain Ichabod
Scranton, second, then Theophilus, whose son Ichabod, the thir-d, was a
soldier and the colonel of a regiment in the War of 1812.
Ichabod Lee Scranton, father of Benjamin H, was born at Madison,
Connecticut, where the family home had been established in 1639. He
married Deborah Ward §cranton, who died in 1887. Her father was
Ichabod Benjamin Scranton, a descendant of the Captain Ichabod already
mentioned as a soldier in the French and Indian war. Thus on both

1036 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
sides the ancestry of Benjamin H. Scranton goes back to the original Cap
tain John of the New Haven Colony. Abraham Scranton, his maternal
great-grandfather, was a soldier of the Revolution and fought at Bunker
Hill. After getting a preliminary education in his native village and also in
the schools of New Haven, Benjamin H. Scranton, in 1874, at the age of
eighteen, came to Detroit. His first ten years in that city were spent in
work as cashier with the old and still existing grocery house of G. & R.
McMillan. He then became a stockholder and one of the officials of the
Ward L. Andrus & Company, wholesale grocers, and was one of the
important factors in extending the scope and trade of that concern.
The American Electrical Heater Company was organized by Mr.
Scranton in 1894, and he has been president and executive head of the
business ever since. It was one of the first companies in America to
undertake the manufacture of electrical heating apparatus, and is now
the largest concern of its kind in the country. Its products are shipped
to all parts of the world, and the name of the manufacturing company is
familiar wherever this type of heating apparatus is used. It is likewise
one of the large and valuable industries of Detroit, and has had its share
in making Detroit a great industrial center.
Mr. Scranton has membership in the new Detroit Athletic Club and
the Fellowcraft Club of Detroit; belongs to the Madison Country Club
in his native town in Connecticut ; also the Electrical Manufacturers Club
of Hot Springs, Virginia, the Detroit Board of Commerce and the Society
of Colonial Wars. He married Miss Nancy Andrus, daughter of the late
Loren Andrus. Their two children are Ward Andrus Scranton and Alice
Deborah Scranton.
Donald R. Westendorf. For about forty years the Westendorf
family have been prominent in business affairs at Mt. Clemens, where a
large and flourishing drug house at 19 North Gratiot Street is a monu
ment to their commercial enterprise and at the same time the late John
H. Westendorf had a conspicuous part in public affairs, especially in his
home city.
John H. Westendorf was born in Germany, and when two years of
age, in 1852, was brought to Michigan by his father, Henry Westendorf.
Henry Westendorf was a farmer in Macomb county, and the son was
reared and educated in that locality, and practically all his life was spent
in the county. When he was a boy he learned tbe apothecary business
as a clerk for Dr. Henry Babcock, whose daughter he later married.
Early in the seventies he succeeded Dr. Babcock in the business, and at
the present writing the drug store is the oldest establishment of its kind
in Mt. Clemens, having a continuous proprietorship, beginning with Dr.
Babcock, and continuing under the late John H. Westendorf, and now
under a son of the latter. John H. Westendorf died June 23, 1912, at
the age of sixty-one, and was succeeded in the management of the store
by his son Donald R.
In public affairs, the late John H. Westendorf served two terms as
mayor of Mt. Clemens, during 1904-5, and was treasurer of the city dur
ing 1895-1898. He was an active Democrat, and a member of the Pres
byterian church. Besides the store which he made the center of his busi
ness activities, he had interests in banks and other local enterprises. John
H. Westendorf married M. Luella Babcock, who was born at Mf
Clemens, a daughter of Dr. Henry Babcock, the well remembered pioneer
physician of this locality. The Babcock family was established in Amer
ica during the seventeenth century by Smith Babcock, who located in the
province of New York. Mrs. John H. Westendorf is still living and the

a^t, (k^/pCM^

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1037
mother of four children as follows :• Harry J., a resident of Mt. Clemens;
Howard W., who lives in California; William C, of Mt. Clemens; and
Donald R., the youngest.
Donald R. Westendorf, who takes up the business so long conducted
by his father, and whose capable management has already been demon
strated, so that he is one of the leading young business men of the city,
was born at Mt. Clemens, November 22, 1888. His education was ac
quired by attendance at tbe grammar and high schools of Mt. Clemens,
and in 1909 he graduated in pharmacy from the Ferris Institute at Big
Rapids. After- graduating he became an active helper to his father, and
is now at the head of what is known as the Westendorf Weather Flag
Drug Store. In politics he is a Democrat, but has as yet riever entered the
political field, and has no desire for office. He affiliates with Mt. Clemens
Lodge No. 6, A. F. & A. M., the Royal Arch Chapter No. 69, the Council
of Royal and Select Masters No. 8, and the Knight Templar Commandery
at Romeo. ¦ He is also affiliated with the Mystic Shrine at Detroit. He
belongs to the Mt. Clemens Club and the Mt. Clemens Business Mens
Association, and is a Presbyterian. His home with his mother is at 158
Cass Avenue.
John McNa'bb. A former president of the Grand Rapids city council
and since the ist of May, 1914, a member of the police and fire commission,
John McNabb has for years been actively identified with the city govern
ment. Mr. McNabb started life without any special advantages, but he
has always been a hard and persistent worker, and during a residence of
thirty years in Grand Rapids has developed a business of large and suc
cessful proportions as a building contractor.
Born in Canada December 11, 1853, John McNabb is a son of Duncan
and Hannah (Cameron) McNabb. His father was born in Scotland in
1814 and died in 1856. His mother was born in the year 1835 and died
in 1912. They were married in Canada, where the father was a farmer.
The family were Presbyterians in religion. Their four children were as
follows : Mary, the wife of John McClellan, of Ontario ; Anna Belle, wife
of John Blake of Canada; John; and Alexander, who is a farmer in
Canada. John McNabb lost his father when he was three years old, and,
although reared on a farm, he early showed the disposition for mechanical
pursuits and took up and acquired a thorough skill in the carpenter's trade.
He worked as a journeyman in Canada for five years, and in 1880 moved
to Grand Rapids. For some years he was employed as a carpenter and in
a local furniture factory, and in 1885 began contracting. His business
was along general lines, and some of the principal buildings of Grand
Rapids have been erected under his supervision and with the facilities com
manded by him: For several years his son has been associated with him
and the firm name is John McNabb & Son.
In 1882 Mr. McNabb married Mary Ann Ryan. Her father was Major
William L. Ryan, who won his rank in the Civil war as a Union soldier
and for a number of years served as sheriff of Muskegon county. The
four children of their marriage are: William J. McNabb, associated in
business with -his father ; Duncan J. McNabb, who is connected with the
William Elliott Company; Isabelle, who lives at home; and Carl A., a
bookkeeper for his father. Mrs. McNabb is a member of St. Andrew's
Catholic church. He affiliates with the Benevolent and Protective Order
of Elks, in which he is a life member.. A Republican in politics, he was
first elected city alderman in 1904, afterward served his second term as
president of the city council, and on May 1, 1914, was made a member of
the police and fire commission.

1038 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
John Christian Ban now. The -important and high class drug house
of John C. Bannow at Mt. Clemens is one which testifies to the truth of the
saying that in concentration of effort lies success. Such concentration,
combined with special ability for that work, Mr. Bannow has employed
with notable results, and is now one of the leading men in his line of busi
ness in this part of the state.
Representing one of the pioneer families of Macomb county, he was
born on a farm in Macomb township, March 10, 1885. His father, Henry
Bannow, was born in Macomb township in 1854, and the grandfather was
John Bannow a native of Germany, who settled in Macomb county in 1830,
among the first pioneers of that section. John Bannow had four children,
two sons and two daughters, Henry being the oldest. The latter was reared
and educated in Macomb county, and was for a number of years a pros
perous farmer, and for the past eighteen years has held the office of super
visor. He is quite active in civic and political affairs, as a Democrat. He
is a member of the German Lutheran Church. Henry Bannow married
Othelia Upleger, a native of Macomb county, and a daughter of Christian
Upleger, who was likewise born in Germany, and an early settler of
Macomb county. Mrs. Henry Bannow was the only child of her father and
mother and there was a half brother by another marriage. She is still
living and the mother of five children, two sons and three daughters, four
of whom are still living. John C. Bannow grew up in the country, had a
district schooling, and at the age of sixteen left the farm and found employ
ment as a clerk in a grocery store at Mt. Clemens. Two years later, he
began an apprenticeship in the drug store of J. H. Joyce, at Mt. Clemens.
As it was his ambition to make the most out of his business career he
studied pharmacy, so far as possible in the store, and then took his earn
ings and entered the University of Michigan, where he spent one year
in the literary department, and in 1908 was graduated from the phar
macy department, with his degree as a Pharmaceutical Chemist. For
two years following his graduation he was in the employ of the J. P.
Sauer Drug House at Detroit, and then returned to Mt. Clemens, and in
January, 1910, bought the establishment owned by his old employer,
J. H. Joyce. He has continued this and made it one of the best stocked
and most reliable drug houses of Mt. Clemens. It is located at a fine
corner of the business district, in the Chamber of Commerce Building.
Mr. Bannow also has other financial interests in the city.
He affiliates with the Masonic Order, the- Knights of Pythias, the
Chamber of Commerce, the Mt. Clemens Club, and the Presbyterian
church. In politics he is a Democrat, and though he has had opportunities
for official preferment has always declined participation in practical
politics, except as a good citizen.
At Detroit on September 21, 1910, occurred his marriage to Miss
Erma Wolfslager, who was born in Detroit, a daughter of John Wolf-
slager. On June 24, 191 1, at Mt. Clemens was born to tbem Robert
John Bannow. Their home is at 66 South Avenue.
James E. Danaher. For a quarter of a century Danaher & Melendy
Company have been among the largest operators in the buying and selling
of timber land and the manufacture of lumber products in the state of
Michigan. The manufacturing headquarters of the concern are at Lud
ington in Mason county, but for a number of years the general offices
have been in Detroit, where reside the president of the company, James E'.
Danaher. This name has been identified with lumbering in both the
states of Wisconsin and Michigan for over half a century, and the father
of Mr. Danaher was one of the pioneers in the business in Wisconsin,
subsequently transferring his operations to Ludington, Michigan.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1039
James E. Danaher was born at Plymouth, Sheboygan county, Wiscon
sin, October 16, 1853. His parents, Patrick M. and Mary (O'Brien)
Danaher spent the closing years of their lives at Ludington. The father
lived in Wisconsin and was engaged in the lumber business until 1863,
after which he operated from Ludington as his headquarters. For many
years after the war all the region about Ludington was practically a wild
erness, and one of the most active centers for lumbering. Patrick Dana
her was a thoroughly experienced and skillful lumberman and sagacious
business man, and one of the well known figures in the lumber operations
of that time. His death occurred at Ludington in 1886, at the age of
sixty-four, and his widow passed away in 1907
James E. Danaher, who was about ten years old when the family
moved from Wisconsin to Michigan, attended some of the early schools
at Ludington, and became actively associated with his father in 1877,
getting a practical experience and a thorough training under that capable
direction. His independent operations began in 1887, soon after the
death of his father, and at Ludington the present Danaher & Melendy
Company was organized. The lumber trade has long been familiar with
the standing of this concern, and it is one of the important corporations
of its kind in the state. Aside from the buying and selling of timber
lands, it operates a large plant at Ludington for the manufacture of both
pine and hardwood lumber. During his residence at Ludington Mr. Dan
aher served in 1888-89 as mayor. In order to be nearer the practical
operations of his company, in 1890 he moved to Sault Ste. Marie, and had
executive charge of the business from that point. The offices of the com
pany have been in Detroit since 1902, and that city has since been the
home of Mr. Danaher. He is a director of the Detroit Trust Company
and of the Old Detroit National Bank.
His interests as a citizen in the civic and business welfare of Detroit
is shown by his membership in the Detroit Board of Commerce, and
other associations connect him with the Detroit Club, the Detroit Golf
Club, and the new Detroit Athletic Club. In 1880 at Watertown, Wis
consin, was celerbrated his marriage with Miss Hattie A. McMann.
Their son, Roy E., is president of the R. E. Danaher & Company, engaged
in the timber loan and investment business, with headquarters at Deroit.
Harry F. Taylor, M. D. No name has been longer or more prom
inently identified with the practice of medicine in Macomb county, and
especially at Mt. Clemens than that of Taylor. Dr. Harry F. v Taylor
is the third successive representative in as many generations to practice
medicine at that locality, and both his father and grandfather before him
were eminent in their work. A special distinction belongs to his grand
father Taylor as having originated the Mt. Clemens baths and having
first brought them a more than local reputation'^ as a center for the
restoration of health. Grandfather Taylor opened the first bath in Mt.
Clemens in 1873.
Dr. Harry F. Taylor was born at Mt. Clemens, July 31, 1862, a son
of Dr. Henry and Marion (Farris) Taylor. Both parents were likewise
natives of Michigan. Grandfather Taylor graduated from the New
York Medical College in 1836, practiced in Ohio for a time, and in 1826
passed his examinations and began his professional career in Michigan.
He was one of the pioneer physicians in Macomb county, and after a
long and useful career died at Mt. Clemens in December, 1876. Dr.
Henry Taylor after becoming of age entered the University of Michigan
and was graduated in medicine in 1853. He practiced from that time at
Mt. Clemens, until his death in 1889, at the age of fifty-six years. Marion
Farris Taylor, the mother, is now living at Mt. Clemens at the age of

1040 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
seventy-five. They had two sons, both of whom became physicians.
J. Seymour Taylor, graduated from Rush Medical College, Chicago, and
practiced for many years at Frankfort, Michigan. His death occurred
in 1899 in Mt. Clemens.
Dr. Harry F. Taylor, who was one of two children, as a boy attended
the Mt. Clemens Public schools, graduating from the high school in
1880, and soon afterwards entered the Detroit College of medicine where
he took his degree in 1886. Since then, for more than a quarter of a
century, he has enjoyed a large practice at Mt. Clemens and vicinity, and
is one of the oldest in point of residence and one of the leaders in his
work. He belongs to the Wayne county and Macomb county Medical
Societies, and the State Society and the American Medical Association.
For two terms he served as health officer at Mt. Clemens. In politics,
the doctor is a Republican, is a Master Mason and a member of the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Dr. Taylor has one child by his first marriage, Myrtle Avery Taylor,
born in 1887 at Mt. Clemens, and now the wife of William Bohn of
Cleveland, Ohio. At Mt. Clemens on September 24, 1905, Dt. Taylor
married Miss Maude Embrey, daughter of Joseph T. Embrey, who with
his wife was a native of Ohio, and is still living. Dr. Taylor and wife
have one child, Henry Embrey Taylor, born April 8, 1907, and attending
school. Hon. James V. Campbell, LL. D. "He exercised more influence in
settling and fixing the jurisprudence of this state than any other man, and
to him we are indebted more than to any one of his associates for the high
reputation attained by the Michigan Supreme Court." This language of
a leading member of the Michigan bar, concerning the late Judge Camp
bell, states the prominent truth in a career which will always hold a high
place in the history of Michigan's judiciary. As a judge he rendered
many eminent services, and his work had a worthy complement in his
noble character. For nearly twoscore years, he was a judge of the
supreme court of Michigan, having been one of the first judges elected
at the time of the reorganization of the Supreme Court in 1857.
Judge James Valentine Campbell was born at Buffalo, New York, Feb
ruary 25, 1823, and died suddenly while sitting in his library March, 26,
1890 at the age of sixty-seven. His ancestry goes back to the historic
Campbell clan of Scotland. His great-grandfather, Duncan Campbell,
was amofficer in a Highland Regiment, and was the founder of the branch
of the family in America. He settled along the Hudson River in the
eastern part of New York where he lived until death. Grandfather
Thomas Campbell was for many years an influential citizen of Ulster
county, New York.
Tbe father of the late Judge Campbell was Plenry M. Campbell, who
was born in Ulster county, New York, September 10, 1783, and died at
Detroit in 1842. In early manhood he moved to Buffalo, then a mere
village and at the beginning of the war of 18 12 promptly enlisted in a
company of Artillery, of which he was made captain. In October, 1812,
he married Miss Lois Bushnell, a member of an old New England fam
ily. Leaving his bride in Buffalo, he was absent with his command at
the time that village was burned by the British in 1813. His own home
was destroyed, and his wife and her kinsfolk found refuge in the neigh
boring forests. With a record for efficiency and gallantry in the war,
Captain Campbell returned to Buffalo, and there became one of the repre
sentative business men. For some time he served as judge of the Erie
county court, an office to which laymen were then eligible. In 1826 he
left Buffalo, and became a resident of Detroit, ten years before the close

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1041
of the territorial period. In Detroit, he reached a high place in the re
gard of his fellow citizens, and his wife, who died in 1876, held a high
place in social circles, one of the revered pioneer women of Detroit. Cap
tain Campbell became a successful merchant in Michigan, and later en
gaged in the real estate business, where he prospered, though during later
years he suffered severe financial reverses. His prominence in public af
fairs was continued in his adopted city, and he was called upon to serve
as associate justice of the county courts, county supervisor, city alderman,
director of the poor, and in other places of public trust. He was also presi
dent of one of the early banking institutions of the city. He and his wife
were prominent members of the old St. Paul's parish, the first branch of
the Protestant Episcopal church in Detroit. He became senior warden
of the vestry, and held that place until his death. Of their children,
six reached years of maturity, and all were well educated and active
members of the Episcopal church. Two of the daughters married law
yers, who reached distinction at the Detroit bar, and another daughter
was for nearly twenty years at the head of a successful school for girls
in Detroit. Two of the children, a daughter and a son, died in early life.
James V. Campbell, from the time he was three years of «age, always
called Detroit his home. He was nineteen years of age at the time of his
father's death, and his chief heritage from his father was a name unim
peachable for integrity and public spirit. From the local public schools
the late Judge Campbell studied in an excellent institution at Flushing,
Long Island, conducted by a clergyman of the Episcopal church and an
educator of repute. This school was amplified into a college, and
Judge Campbell was graduated a member of the class of 1841, with the
degree of A. B. On his return to Detroit, he took up the study of law
in the office of Douglas & Walker, and in 1844 was admitted to the bar at
the age of twenty-one. At once he became a partner of his preceptors,
Samuel T. Douglas and Henry N. Douglas, who were at the time lead
ing members of the bar of the state. Mr. Douglas, who married a sister
of Judge Campbell, was editor , of the Reports of the Supreme Court of
Michigan from 1843 to 1847, while Mr. Walker reported the decisions
of the State Chancery court from 1842 to 1845. ' F°r thirteen years Mr.
Campbell was engaged in successful private practice at Detroit, and in
that time gained a reputation as one of the ablest attorneys of the local
bar, representing many important interests in both the state and federal
courts. Early in his career he had been appointed secretary to the board
of regents of the University of Michigan, a place he held for several
years. In 1857, James V. Campbell was one of the four justices of the re-
'organized supreme court of Michigan, becoming one of the first on the
supreme bench under the new regime. His associates Judges Manning,
Martin and Christiancy were all many years older than he, and all had
been chosen by the recently organized Republican party. By successive
reelections Judge Campbell continued on the same bench until his death,
thirty-three years later.
Concerning Judge Campbell as a lawyer and jurist, the following was
written by Hon. Charles A. Kent, who was long associated with the judge
as a member of the faculty of the law department of the State Univer
sity :
"Judge Campbell had great learning, not only in the American and
English cases and text books, including admiralty law, but also in the
history of our institutions, local as well as general. He knew much of
Roman law, and the law of nations and of early French customs and
something of other continental laws. He was remarkably free from po
litical bias or fear of public opinion or subservient to any temporary wave

1042 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
of public passion. The trust in his absolute integrity of motive was justly
perfect. He was very independent in his opinions. He had a very strong
sense of the justice of a case, and was very reluctant to yield his views
of justice to the opinions of courts, or to any precedents. He wished to
decide every case that appeared to him to be right, but he never mani
fested that love of arbitrary power, that disposition of have one's own
way at all hazards, which is natural to almost all human beings, and ap
pears occasionally on the bench. He had great faith in the people and
in popular institutions, and in all the great maxims and traditions of the
common law, but he bad not the slightest trace of the demagogue. He
had strong prejudices, but they were generally good prejudices, of a kind
necessary to stability of character in the best men. He had no subtle
theories or much refined, abstruse reasoning. In all of his opinions he
appeared to have chiefly in view the effect of the decision on what he
thought the merit of the case before him. I think he seldom made a de
cision likely to strike the average mind as unjust."
Later on Mr. Kent wrote as follows : "Perhaps the largest bar meet
ing ever held in Detroit attested the shock of his sudden death and the
universal feeling that a great and good man, a learned and upright judge
' had passed away. His memory is lovingly cherished by all who knew
him. His fame as a judge will depend on the number and importance
of the legal principles established in his opinion. His life is a worthy
model for imitation by all lawyers who would be governed by the highest
ideals in private and public life."
Though Judge Campbell was prominent in many affairs outside of his
profession, his best work was done as a jurist. His opinions as a justice
of the Supreme Court appear in the state reports from the Fifth to the
Seventy-Ninth volumes, and the opinions thus credited to him number
about three-thousand. This record is in itself an important part of the
history of Michigan, and is the evidence of the patient and conscientious
labors of a noble man an honest and able jurist. In 1876 Judge Camp
bell published a volume of several hundred pages and gave it the title of
"Outlines of the Political History of Michigan." His other publications
not great in number, were articles in law magazines, and addresses on
various public occasions.
When the law department of the University of Michigan was estab
lished in 1858, Judge Campbell was called to the Marshall professorship
in that department, and served as a member of the university faculty for
a quarter of a century. The law department of the university now ranks
as one of the best law schools in America, and its upbuilding during
earlier years was in many ways influenced and promoted by the late
Judge Campbell. Thousands of lawyers now in active practice in many
parts of the country are witness to the richness of knowledge and capac
ity for instruction possessed by the late Judge Campbell. In 1866, the
University of Michigan granted its first honorary degree of Doctor of
Laws, and that was conferred upon Judge Compbell, a unique distinction.
His interest in educational matters never ceased, and from 1854 to 1858
he served as a member of the Detroit Board of Education. One of the
public schools of Detroit now bears his name. In the early days, Judge'
Campbell was a member of the Young Men's Society of Detroit. This
literary and social organization of which he was president in 1848 formed
the nucleus of the present fine public library. In 1880, when the public
library was placed under the control of a board of commissioners, Judge
Campbell was made president of that body. In politics Judge Campbell
was a Republican from 1856 forward to the close of his life, but always
wisely kept away from politics and popular opinion.
For many years Judge Campbell was one of the liberal supporters and

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1043
active workers in the Episcopal church of Detroit, served as a member of
the vestry of St. Paul's parish, and for more than thirty years was sec
retary of the standing committee of the diocese of Michigan.
On November 9, 1849, Judge Campbell married Miss Cornelia Hotch
kiss, who was born in Oneida county, New York, August 17, 1823, of
an old New England family. Her death occurred in Detroit, May 2, 1888.
Of their children six reached adult life and five are now living. Henry
M. and Charles H, the oldest sons are lawyers of Detroit. James V.
Campbell, Jr., born in Detroit, July 8, 1856, was a stock broker, and died
in September, 1894. Miss Cornelia Lois Campbell, oldest daughter of
Judge Campbell lives in Detroit. Douglas H. Campbell, born September
16, 1859, graduated from the University of Michigan and later received
the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. He studied abroad in Germany, took
the chair of botany in the University of Indiana in 1888, and since 1891
has held the chair of botany at the Leland Stanford University of Cali
fornia. Edward D. Campbell, the youngest son, born September 8, 1863,
graduated from the State University in 1885, and since 1891 has been a
member of the faculty, as director of the chemical laboratory. The
mother of this family was a daughter of Chauncey Hotchkiss, who was
one of the builders of the Erie canal.
Henry Munroe Campbell. In the field of jurisprudence perhaps
the name Campbell will never be placed higher in the annals of Michigan
than it was as the result of the record made by the late Judge James V.
Campbell. However, in the general field of legal practice, his son Henry
M. Campbell has added many distinctions to the name, and for some
years has probably had no superior as a corporation lawyer in the state,
and few equals. Mr. Campbell has likewise been very prominent in
public affairs, particularly as a moulder of public opinion and a worker
for the larger ends of political life. Concerning his professional stand
ing, it has been said of Mr. Campbell: "He is a lawyer of broad and
comprehensive knowledge of the science of jurisprudence, and is strong
in tbe presentation of causes before a court or jury, but he has given his
attention more specifically to corporation law, in which branch of his
profession he is a recognized authority and in which his services have
been retained by many of the most important corporations in Detroit as
well as by others which are not of local order."
Henry Munroe Campbell was born in Detroit, April 18, 1854. His
educatiori in the public schools of Detroit was followed by his entrance
to the University of Michigan, where he graduated Ph. B. in 1876, and
from the law department, LL. B. in 1878. For thirty-five years he has
been an active member of the Detroit bar. He began practice in partner
ship with Mr. Henry Russel, now general counsel for the Michigan Cen
tral Railroad Company. Mr. Russel continued his relations with Mr.
Campbell until 1912, since which time the law firm has been Campbell,
Bulkley & Ledyard. In 1880, Mr. Campbell was appointed master in
chancery of the United States Circuit Court, and held that position until
the court was abolished on January 1, 1912. He is general counsel for
the more important and financial and industrial concerns of Detroit, and
has for many years numbered various prominent eastern interests in his
clientele. It is not unusual for the successful lawyer to be almost equally
prominent in business affairs and Mr. Campbell's name will be found on
the list of directors of various enterprises, and he is vice president of the
Parke, Davis & Company, manufacturing druggists, and a director of the
People's State Bank. He is also general counsel for the Pere Marquette
Railroad. In his political and public activity the ends sought by him have
never been office or honor, but rather the practical accomplishment of
what he has regarded as essential improvements in civil, state or national

1044 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
government and administration. Since casting his first vote he has
always supported the Republican principles. In 1908 he was elected by
the largest vote cast for any candidate in the city of Detroit and county
of Wayne as a delegate to the constitutional convention of Michigan. In
that convention he became a leader, and was made chairman of the com
mittee on permanent organization and order of business, and was chair
man of the committee on the legislative department. When the conven
tion determined that the revised constitution should be submitted to the
people for ratification at the November election instead of April, as the
legislature had provided, Mr. Campbell represented the convention before
the supreme court of Michigan, and secured a decision sustaining the
action of the convention. In 1911 Mr. Campbell was appointed by the
United States Circuit Court of Appeals for tbe Sixth Circuit, a member
of the committee to revise the rules of equity practice in the Federal
courts. Mr. Campbell has published various essays on studies of constitu
tional practice and theories of government, and in particular has written
many articles attacking the expediency and legality of the initiative, refer
endum and other forms of so-called direct legislation and political action.
He has membership in the Detroit Bar Association, the Michigan Bar
Association and the American Bar Association. His association with the
University of Michigan has always been kept fresh since his college days.
He is now counsel for the board of regents and when the literary society,
Phi Beta Kappa, was organized at the University he was made one of tbe
members from the class of 1876. Mr. Campbell was an original member
of the Michigan Naval Brigade, and during the Spanish war was presi
dent of the Detroit Naval Reserves. His club membership is with the
Yondotega Club, the Detroit Club, of which he was president three years,
the University Club, the Detroit Boat Club, the Witenademote Club, and
the Prismatic Club, all of which are at Detroit, and he belongs to the
Huron Mountain Club. Reared in the Episcopal church he has for many
years been a vestryman of Christ church.
On November 22, 1881, Mr. Campbell married Carolina B. Burten-
shaw, a daughter of Mr. James Burtenshaw, a Detroit merchant. They
are tbe parents of two sons, Henry Munroe, Jr., and Douglas Campbell.
Victor Hugo Wolfson, M. D. While not a pioneer in the medical
profession, Dr. Wolfson is considered one of the leading physicians of
Mt. Clemens, and in a few years has established an office and a general
practice including both medicine and surgery, which served to- increase
the facilities and the reputation of Mt. Clemens as a center for the res
toration of mind and body diseased. As a specialist in X-Ray and kindred
lines, Dr. Wolfson has expertness and facilities equal to any found in
the state.
Victor Hugo Wolfson was born at Port Hope, Michigan, August
20, 1885, the second of three children born to Max and Fredericka
(Miller) Wolfson. His father, who was born in Germany, was a soldier
in the Franco-Prussian war, and at the close of that war emigrated to
America, and made settlement in McComb county, near Mt. Clemens.
In 1884 he moved to Port Hope, Huron County, and in 1897 came to
Mt. Clemens, and has since been interested in the mineral water business.
In 1899 he organized the Carlsbad Mineral Salt Co. He is now fifty-nine
years of age and one of the well known business men of Mt. Clemens.
Hi's wife, who is forty-nine years old, was born at Frazier, Michigan,
where she gre"w up and was married, and she has become the mother of
three children, the other two being Martha and Alvin.
While a boy Dr. Wolfson attended the public schools at Bad Axe,
and in 1904 graduated from the Mt. Clemens high school. Entering the

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1045
Detroit College of Medicine he was graduated in 1909 M. D., arid has
since given all his time to his profession at Mt. Clemens. Besides a
general practice in which he is well established, he conducts a thoroughly
equipped office,, with facilities in the way of operating rooms and instru
ments, representing the last word in scientific attainment in that direc
tion. Dr. Wolfson was the first to install a modern X-Ray machine in
Mt. Clemens and it is said that his X-Ray and photographing machines
and high pressure sterlizer equipment are the finest and largest in the
state. In his practice he has a corps of well trained assistants, and his
reputation is already extended much beyond the bounds of local p'ractice.
Dr. Wolfson stands high among his associates in medicine, and belongs
to the County and State Medical Societies, and the American Medical
Association. In politics he is independent. The doctor resides with his
parents in Mt. Clemens.,
Arthur J. Irwin. One of the oldest residents of Alpena, Arthur
J. Irwin has -been identified with this city for more than half a century.
He was here when Alpena was nothing more than a milling and shipping
point for the lumber industry, has been an interested spectator and a useful
factor in the varied developments which have placed Alpena among the
better cities of the northern section of the state.
John C. Irwin was born at Hinsdale, Massachusetts, December 10,
1846, a son of James S. and Elizabeth (McNutt) Irwin. Both his par
ents were natives of England, but were married in Boston, Massachusetts.
The four sons were : Franklin, deceased ; William F., whose home is in
tbe state of Washington ; Lona D., who lives in Michigan ; and John C.
John C. Irwin first came to Alpena in September, 1857, when eleven
years of age. He was trained in the trade of stationary engineer, and
that has been his regular vocation, in many different plants, including
service in some of the public plants of Alpena. At the present time he is
engaged as a marine engineer.
Mr. Irwin has a record of faithful service as a soldier during the Re
bellion. In 1864, at the age of eighteen, he enlisted in Company G of
the First Michigan Cavalry, and continued until the close of the war in
1865, when he was mustered out at Detroit. He is an honored member
of tbe Grand Army of the Republic at Alpena, and his church is the
Congregational. Mr. Irwin married Frances Selleck, daughter of Denton Selleck. They
are the parents of seven children : Harry D., Arthur J., Saba, wife of
Robert Kennedy, William, Frank, , Lilla and Helen, who married Earl
Yake. All the children were born 61 Alpena.
Oliver Chapoton. The late Oliver Chapoton was one of the found
ers of the carrying trade on the Great Lakes, and for upwards of a quar
ter of a century was a builder and owner of craft wbich sailed out of
Mount Clemens and adjacent points. In the early period of the city's
history, before the railroads had so thoroughly covered every port, lake
navigation was one of the most important factors in building up various
Michigan cities, and in this department, alone, his name is worthy of
being numbered among those of the city's builders. However, he was
equally prominent in the field of finance, and for thirty years he was
president of the Mount Clemens Savings Bank, through his skill, judg
ment and foresight building up an institution which has long been recog
nized as a leading one in this part of the state. In public life he was
likewise a dominant figure, and the services rendered to his adopted city
and county by this sterling citizen were of a distinctly helpful and useful
nature.

1046 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Oliver Chapoton, as his name would suggest, was of French descent.
He traced his ancestry back to Jean Baptiste Chapoton, of Cazolle,
France, who was a major in the French army, and accompanied that force
as a surgeon to Detroit, Michigan, in 1718. In 1720 he married Mary
Madeline Estene, and his death in 1760 was followed by that of his wife
in 1763. Jean Baptiste Chapoton, son of the progenitor, was born in
1721, and was married in 1755 to Felicite Cecyre. A fur trader and
interpreter, he took part in the negotiations with Chief Pontiac during
the war with that chieftain. His son, also named Jean B. Chapoton, was
born iii 1758, and died in 1836. He was mentioned by the British com
mandant as being in active communication with the Americans, at Vin
cennes. In 1780 he married Theresa Pelletier. His son, Henry Chapoton,
was married in 1817 to Madeline Drouillard, who died in 1826. He took
part in the War of 1812 as a member of Captain Adrian's company of
scouts, and was in the skirmish at Long Woods.
Oliver Chapoton was born January 18, 1826, in the little city of
Detroit, where he remained until 1830. He was but four years of age
when the family moved to Mount Clemens, and here, July 16, 1841, he
was apprenticed to his brother-in-law, C. Genereux, who was a cooper,
and with whom he remained two years. Afterwards he worked at his
trade in the village of Frederick until 1845, at which time he entered
the general store of J. & M. Stephens, with whom he remained four years.
Mr. Chapoton then became a partner in the firm of H. W. Babcock &
Company, and after two years became associated with Moore Stephens,
entering business under the firm name of Stephens & Chapoton. This
firm conducted the general store until i860, at which time Mr. Chapoton
became interested in building lake craft. His first vessel was a scow, the
"Union," which he built in company with Louis Charbonneau, Sr. This
they used in the cordwood trade for some years, and when they retired
from that line and sold the "Union," Mr. Chapoton built the "Frances,"
also a scow. This was followed by the steam barge "Florence," which
was used in the trade for many years. In the winter of 1879-80,
with Capt. Gilbert LaCroix, Mr. Chapoton built the "City of Mount
Clernens," and this became a famous carrier of lumber and coal between
Lake Huron and Lake Erie points. In 1883 this vessel was sold and the
partners constructed another vessel, bearing the same name, which was
used until Mr. Chapoton disposed of his interests therein to Captain
LaCroix. In 1868 Mr. Chapoton was elected county treasurer of Macomb county,
and continued to hold that office until 1878. He was made deputy treas
urer and held that office until 1890, when he retired to concentrate his
energies upon the interests of the Mount Clemens Savings Bank. This
institution had been founded June 1, 1877, and from the time of its
organization Mr. Chapoton had been interested in its affairs. In the
capacity of president he so ably directed its affairs that it became known
as one of the most solid institutions of the state. He continued to be
connected therewith until his death, October 29, 1907. Mr. Chapoton was
known as a methodical man, careful, conservative and painstaking, but
withal possessed of the courage so necessary to the successful financier.
His entire business career was characterized by consecutive and com
mendable progress, and by the strictest integrity and probity. At various
times he held high position in public life, and he ever gained and held the
confidence of the public for the conscientious manner in which he ful
filled the duties of office. With him public office was a public trust and
he never failed to give to his work in that connection the same careful
attention that he gave to his private affairs. In i860 he was elected
recorder of the village of Mount Clemens, holding this position until

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1047
1862; in 1864 he was made treasurer, and from 1865 until 1869 acted in
the capacity of village president. He was also a trustee of the school
board from 1867 to 1875. When St. Peter's Catholic Church of this city
was erected, Mr. Chapoton became a member of the building committee
in charge. In 1852. Oliver Chapoton was married to Miss Vienna Weston, a
daughter of Leonard and Almira Weston, who died three years later.
, In May, 1857, he was married to Katherine Kearney, whose parents,
Daniel and Katherine (Donovan) Kearney, were married at Bandon,
Ireland, in 1825, and on coming to the United States settled at Black Rock,
New York. The family came to Michigan in 1840, locating in that part
of Warren known as Red Run country. Mrs. Chapoton was one of the
pioneer teachers of Macomb county, beginning her work in the profession
in 1 851. Two of the children of this family are living, and both reside
at the home of the mother, namely, Florence and Henry Oliver.
Henry Oliver Chapoton was born October 23, 1872, in Mount Clemens,
and here graduated from the graded and high schools, following which
he entered the University of Michigan, and was graduated therefrom in
1894. He became associated with the Mount Clemens Savings Bank,
and now holds the responsible position of vice-president of that institution.
Adolph Eisen. Junior member of the firm of Mildner & Eisen,
architects, with offices in the Hammond building, Adolph Eisen has made
a successful record in his profession, has drawn the plans for a number
of business and private structures in Detroit, and graduated from a trade
as carpenter, into the higher sphere which he now occupies.
Adolph Eisen is a native of Switzerland, born in Lausanne, March 18,
1878. His.parents were Rev. Gottlieb and Albertine (Leimbacher) Eisen.
The. father was born in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1849, and the mother in
Wintertuhr, Switzerland, in 1848. Gottlieb Eisen, who lost his mother
when he was a boy, spent his early years and received his training in an
orphan asylum at Basel. He was given a good education in the asylum,
and he subsequently attended college in Switzerland. His early profes
sion was that of teaching, and he continued as an educator in Switzerland
until 1883, when he brought his family to the United States. After land
ing at New York city they visited an uncle at Newark, New Jersey, then
moved out to Buffalo, New York, where Gottlieb Eisen was employed as
a teacher about one year. For a number of years he had contemplated
the profession of the ministry in the German Evangelical church, and
after coming to America it became possible for him to enter this sacred
calling. At Buffalo he finished his preparation for the ministry, and
after being ordained received his first charge at Oakfield, Missouri, near
St. Louis. The family moved from Buffalo to that village, and subse
quently lived, while the father was on his pastoral duties, at Areola, Illi
nois, then at Andrews, Indiana, and later at Chelsea, Michigan. In 1897
Rev. Gottlieb Eisen moved to Detroit to take charge as superintendent
of the German Protestant Orphan Asylum. It is a matter of curious in
terest in a biographical way that one who had spent his own tender years
in such an institution should later have the superintendance of many boys
and girls similarly situated. The orphan asylum of that church at Detroit
had encountered many vicissitudes both of management and of financial
discouragement, and was in a bad condition at the time Rev. Eisen took
charge. He had not only a singular ability in administering the affairs
of such an institution, but also in securing for it the necessary financial
support, and in a short time he had put it on a prosperous footing, and
at the end of five years, when he discontinued his services there, the finan
cial affairs were in such shape that it was possible to begin tbe erection

1048 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
of a new building, which was much needed. On leaving Detroit. Rev.
Eisen took charge of the Gerrnan Evangelical church at Three Oaks,
Michigan, and subsequently moved to a charge eight miles south of
Chelsea, where he now lives and performs the active work of the ministry.
To the marriage of Gottlieb Eisen and wife were born three children, as
follows: Adolph Eisen of Detroit; Rev. Theopile Eisen, a minister of
the German Evangelical church at Sandusky, Ohio; and Johanna, who
married Bert Koffberger, of Manchester, Michigan.
Adolph Eisen, who was about five years old when the family came to
America, acquired his early education in the public schools. As his father
from the nature of his calling was not in affluent circumstances, the son
early began to depend upon his own efforts to advance him to success,
and at the age of sixteen left home and at Tuscola, Illinois, began an
apprenticeship in the carpentry trade. After three years of service he
came to Detroit, and spent five years as a carpenter journeyman. It was
an unsurpassed method of getting a practical education in building con
struction, and with that experience he entered upon the study of archi
tecture in the offices of Mueller & Mildner, well known Detroit architects.
In 1906 Mr. Mueller withdrew from the firm, and the remaining partner
and Mr. Eisen then formed the present firm of Mildner and Eisen.
This firm conducts a general architectural practice, including the plan
ning and supervision of construction of factories, stores, churches and
residences. Among the buildings put up by them during their active asso
ciation as a firm it is worth while to mention the following : The Glaser
Cafe, at the corner of Broadway and John R. streets, and the Frontenac
Cafe, on Monroe avenue, these being two of the handsomest cafes in
Detroit ; the Arthur Colton Machine Company's factory on East Jefferson
avenue ; a number of the buildings of tbe» Hammond-Standigh Packing
Company ; the residence of A. J. Meyer in Detroit ; and the residence of
Ralph Page at Grosse Pointe.
Mr. Eisen is a member and is now serving as treasurer for the year
1914, of the Architects League of America. He is also a member of the
Michigan Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and of the
Detroit Architectural Club, of which he served two years as president and
two years as secretary. In religion he belongs to the German Evangelical
church, and has membership in the Harmonic Society. His politics is
Republican. At Chelsea, Michigan, on October 15, 1905, Mr. Eisen mar
ried Lettie Wackenhut. Mrs. Eisen was born in Chelsea, Michigan, the
daughter of George and Elizabeth (Steinbach) Wackenhut, both of whom
are natives of Germany. Mr. Eisen and wife have two daughters : Mar
guerite, aged seven years ; and Elizabeth, aged four years.
Edward G. Folsom, M. D. Few Michigan physicians have done a
finer quality of work in their community than Dr. Folsom at Mt. Clemens,
where he has been in active practice for nearly thirty years, and where
his influence and efforts have been extended much beyond the usual
routine of the average practitioner.
Dr. Folsom belongs to a family of pioneer business men and settlers
in the middle west. His grandfather, Rev. Ezekiel Folsom, who was born
in New Hampshire, when thirteen years of age went with his father to
fight the British during the war of 1812, and remained on the field until
the close of hostilities. He acquired considerable wealth for his time as
a grain buyer, and erected the first grain elevator on the shores of Lake
Michigan, at Racine, Wisconsin. That old building stood for many years
and was one of the interesting landmarks of business development around
the great lakes.
Edward G. Folsom was born at Attica, New York, May 25, 1854, and

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1049
is a son of Rev. George P. and Lilias G. (Fraser) Folsom. His father
was born at Buffalo, New York, and his mother was a native of Scotland,
coming to America when a child and being married at Buffalo. Rev.
George Folsom had pastorates at Attica and Genesee, New York; Iowa
City, Iowa ; Baraboo, Wisconsin ; and Carroll, Iowa. He came to Mt.
Clemens to make his home with his son in 1894, after serving fifty-two
years in the ministry, and he died in 1904, at the age of seventy-eight, his
wife passing away in 1909 when eighty-four years of age. Of their six
children all are deceased, except Dr. Folsom.
As a boy he attended the Temple Hill Academy in New York State,
and received most of his literary training in the east. In 1877 he gradu
ated from the Chicago Homeopathic Medical College, and during the
succeeding years practiced in the vicinity of Chicago and also at Albion,
New York. Since locating at Mt. Clemens in 1884, he has ranked.as one
of the most successful men in his line. Dr. Folsom is president of the
Macomb County Medica,l Society, belongs to the State Society, and the
American Medical Association, is City Health Officer, and was secretary
of the Macomb County Pension Board, and was postmaster at Mt. Clemens
during the McKinley administration. Various other places of trust and
honor have been given him, and his standing as a citizen is not less than
his rank as a physician.
Dr. Folsom was married December 26, 1878, at Chicago, Illinois, to
Miss Harriet F. Miller, a daughter of Albion R. and Martha (Tambling)
Miller, both of whom were born in New York State and are now deceased.
Dr. Folsom and wife have five children: Claude M., who was born at
Oak Park, Illinois, in 1879, and who died at Mt. Clemens in 1904, took
his literary studies in the Universities of Minnesota and Michigan and
died a short time before completing his course in the latter institution.
Miss Elizabeth G, born at Oak Park in 1881, graduated from high school,
and then from the Clarkson school of technology at Potsdam, New York,
and is now a domestic science teacher at Minneapolis. George A., born at
Mt. Clemens in November, 1884, is married and lives in Los Angeles,
California. Edward G, born at Mt. Clemens, in April, 1886, has taken
up the profession of veterinary surgeon, and is chief veterinary for the
Fairmont Coal Company at Fairmont, West Virginia. Robert F., born
at Mt. Clemens in 1896, graduated from the local high school in 1912, and
is now a clerk with the Citizens Saving Institute at Mt. Clemens.
Aside from the various other duties which has engaged his time during
his residence in Mt. Clemes, Dr. Folsom has interested hirnself in the
cause of the physical welfare of the community, and his work along that
line deserves a better name than a hobby, although he is and has for many
years been' an enthusiastic believer in the value of physical training as a
supplement to mental and moral development. *
Francis T. McGann. Since his admission to the bar in 1910, Mr.
McGann has made a very successful record as a lawyer, served for a
time with much credit in the office of assistant attorney general of the
state, and for the past three years has been a member of the well known
Detroit firm of McHugh, Gallagher & McGann. Both during his college
days and subsequently, Mr. McGann has been noted as a hard and con
scientious worker, and his success is only a logical result of the talents
and energies employed in directing his career. _
Francis Thomas McGann was born in Detroit; March 4, 1888, a son of
Thomas F. and Catherine (Dolan) McGann. His father was born in
Milford, Massachusetts, July 14, 1857, a son of Cornelius McGann,
a native of Ireland, who came to tbe United States in the. early
forties, settling in Massachusetts. Catherine Dolan, the mother, was born

1050 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
at Marshall, Michigan. Thomas F. McGann came to Detroit when fifteen
years old, and was for many years engaged in the retail meat business
retiring about six years ago. The family are members of the Holy Rosary
Catholic church.
Francis T. McGann grew up in Detroit, was educated in the parochial
schools, and his college work was done in Detroit College, now the Uni
versity of Detroit, from which he graduated in 1907 with the degree of
A. B. Mr. McGann is a graduate from the Detroit College of Law with
the class of 1910 with the degree of LL. B. His work while in college,
and immediately afterwards was soon recognized with his appointment
on December 1, 1910, as assistant attorney general of Michigan, and he
performed the duties of that office with great credit, and gained a very
valuable experience for his individual career, up to July 1, 191 1. Re
signing, he then entered the law firm of McHugb, Gallagher & McGann.
Mr. McGann has membership in the Detroit Chicago Alumni, the Theta
Lambda Phi, college fraternity and the Young Men's Order. He is a
member of the Detroit Bar Association.
Hon. William F. Nank. Mount Clemens is an exceedingly prosper
ous and well governed city. Its municipal prosperity must be attributed
in a great degree to the businesslike and economical administration of
the city's affairs. Its good government must be attributed likewise to the
enforcement of law and the preservation of order, so essential in everv
well regulated community, by the city's chief executive, Hon. William F.
Nank. Mr. Nank was elected to the mayoralty in 1913, and was elected
mayor by the largest majority ever known. He has the distinction of
being the first Republican mayor ever reelected in this city. In his present
office, as in the legislature, he has been noted as an official who can obtain
results, and has chosen his assistants and advisers purely from the stand
point of practical efficiency, which primarily implies experience, integrity,
loyalty and enterprise. In fact, throughout his entire public career, from
sheriff to mayor, Mr. Nank has evinced in a marked degree that faculty
possessed by men of large and successful affairs of bringing about him
efficient co-workers and inspiring them with his enthusiasm and deter
mination to get the greatest and best results from the matters in hand.
His public service, also, has been characterized by a high ideal as to the
responsibilities and duties of office and a courageous stand for what he
has believed to be right, which, while he was a member of the legislative
body, gained him the expressive appellation of "The Watch Dog."
Mayor Nank is thoroughly a self-made man. He was born July 21,
1867, at Schoenhausen, Germany, the son of John and Augusta (Haeker)
Nank, natives of the Fatherland, who brought their children to the United
States in 1873, on October 30th, of which year they settled at Frazier, in
Macomb county. There the father died in August, 1894, at the age of
sixty-nine years, while the mother passed away June 1, 191 1, when sev
enty-one years of age. They were the parents of four children : Henry,
who is successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits in Oakland county;
Minnie, who became the wife of August Miller, and is a resident of
Detroit; Anna, who is the wife of Albert Koch, and resides at Utica,
Michigan ; and William F., who was the first born.
William F. Nank was educated in the public and parochial schools of
Macomb county, and spent his boyhood and early youth in the hard, un
remitting work of the farm. Subsequently he turned his-attention to the
manufacture of bricks, learning the trade, "with which he was connected
with a fair measure of success until Marcb 1, 1890, at which time he pur
chased his father's farm, located in Sterling township. This he continued
to conduct until 1894, in the fall of which year he was elected sheriff of

hrfm Ho.%r<MU<£nnJ,

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1051
Macomb county, assuming the duties of that office January i, 1895. His
faithful and conscientious service in this position won him the re-election,
and after the close of his second term he was elected from Macomb
county, in the fall of 1904, to the state legisature, and served in that body
during 1905, 1906, 1907 and 1908. There his services were of a character
that left no doubt as to his superior ability and attainments, and he was
instrumental in proposing and passing some very helpful legislation.
During his entire legislative career he was a member of the Ways and
Means Committee. On May 16, 1908, Mr. Nank was appointed customs
agent, and served in that capacity 'until August 1, 191 2, when he resigned,
and was then made the Republican nominee for tbe legislature, being again
elected to that body. While serving there, in 1913, he was made the can
didate of his party for the mayoralty of Mount Clemens, and he has
since his election carried out, to the best of his ability, the promises of
his speech of acceptance. Although he has occupied the chief executive's
chair for a comparatively short period, he has already inaugurated many
needful reforms, and has prevented exploitation on the part of pro
fessional politicians, unscrupulous contractors and grafters in general.
There is every reason to believe that he will prove one of the most pop
ular and efficient mayors Mount Clemens has known. Mr. Nank's busi
ness connections fit him eminently to carry on a business administration.
He was one of the organizers and is now a member of the board of direc
tors of the Citizens' Savings Bank, and since March 1, 1899, has been
associated with John Priehs in the ownership of the Palace Livery Barns.
He has not cared for secret societies or clubs, preferring to spend his
leisure time in the quiet of his home and among the members of his fam
ily. His religious faith is that of the Evangelical Lutheran church.
On December 3, 1891, Mr. Nank was married to Miss Anna Oehmke,
a native of Michigan and a daughter of Fred Oehmke, an old settler of
Macomb county, formerly of Germany. Four children, Roland D., born
January 16, 1892, and educated in the district schools of Sterling town
ship, and tbe University of Michigan, where he took a course in marine
engineering; Hilda, born December 27, 1893, a graduate of the Conserva
tory of Music; -Theodore, born February 3, 1904; and Reinhardt, born
February 5, 1908, both in Mount Clemens.
John H. Hosken. For a long number of years the name Hosken has
been closely identified with the contracting and building business in Grand
Rapids, and the aggregate of construction work done by the men of that
name would make a total representing values of several million dollars at
least. The association of the name with one particular line of industry
and in the city of Grand Rapids began about forty years ago, as a result
of the enterprise of the late John H. Hosken, whqse death on March 24,
1913, bereaved the city of Grand Rapids not only of a successful business
man, but of a splendid type of citizen.
The late John H. Hosken was born in Cobourg, Ontario, in 1849, a son
of Henry Hosken, a native of England, who came to Ontario when a young
man and was a brick and stone- mason. Thus the successive generations of
the family have been identified for a long period of years with the construc
tion trade. John H. Hosken came to Michigan during the decade of the
'60s, locatirig in Grand Rapids, and after several years of working for
othe'rs began' business on his own responsibility, and eventually his name
came to be regarded as that of one of the most successful contractors
in western Michigan. In 1900 he took his son Harry E. into partnership
under the name of John H. Hosken & Son, and this enterprise has been
continued by the son since the father's death and for a number of years
some of the most profitable and largest contracts have been awarded the

1052 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
firm. Some of the principal buildings of Grand Rapids have been con
structed by Hosken & Son, and people who have building to do recognize
a certain quality of reliability, and thoroughness in this firm.
The late John H. Hosken was married in Grand Rapids in 1871 to
to Jennie M. Baker, who survived her husband about six months, passing
away August 9, 1913. She was born in Trenton, Ontario, in 1851, and
her family originated in Pennsylvania, moving from there to the Province
of Ontario and finally to Grand Rapids, where her father, who was a car
penter by trade, died. Both John H. Hosken and wife were members
of the Trinity Methodist Episcopal church, and the former was a Blue
Lodge and Royal Arch Chapter Mason. In politics a Republican, he was
well known as a citizen, and for fourteen years served as a member of
the City Council, being a member at the time of his death. His term in
the council was filled out by his son, Harry, who was appointed to the
vacancy. Thus the son continues both the business and the public affairs
long entrusted to the skilled administration of his father.
John H. Hosken and wife had three children : Harry E. ; Rhetha Pearl,
the wife of Clyde L. Ross, cashier of the Commercial Savings Bank of
Grand Rapids ; and John C, also a resident of Grand Rapids. Harry E.
Hosken, who was born in Grand Rapids January 12, 1875, is a graduate
of the local high school, and while still a boy entered bis father's office
and learned both the business details and the practical side of contracting
and building. Since 1900 he has been the junior in the firm of John H.
Hosken & Son. In connection with his major business, Mr. Hosken is a
buyer and seller of local real estate. In 1900 Harry E. Hosken married
Bessie F. Chapman, daughter of Florence Chapman, of Ionia, Michigan.
Mr. Hosken is a Mason and a Republican in politics.
Bernard C. Wetzel. The work of Mr. Wetzel as a successful archi
tect of Detroit, where he has practiced his profession for the past fifteen
years is readily exemplified in some important buildings with which all
the citizens are familiar. The Carnegie Library at Detroit is one of the
structures for which he drew the plans and supervised the construction,
also the Carnegie Library at Wyandotte, the Ralph Phelps, Business Block,
the Pere Marquette Office Building, the Good Samaritan Hospital, and
a number of others.
Bernard C. Wetzel was born at Zilwaukee, Michigan, March 18, 1876,
and is still a young man in his profession, and with the promise of much
greater success in the future than has been his lot up to this time. His.
parents are Ernest and Mary A. (Huss) Wetzel. His father is a Michi
gan pioneer, and one of the best known men in the northeastern section of
the state, where he has been an influential business man and citizen. Ber
nard C. Wetzel grew up and received his education in the public schools
of Saginaw, and to insure his means of living and have a solid trade, he
became a carpenter. Four years were spent in that work in northern
Michigan, and also in the city of Detroit. From that he naturally gravi
tated into the higher field of which his trade may be considered tbe basis,
and in 1895 to°k up the study of architecture in Detroit. In 1907 he
engaged in practice for himself, establishing the firm of B. C. Wetzel &
Company, which has since prospered, and its offices are now in the Ham
mond Building. Mr. Wetzel is a member of the Board of Commerce of
Detroit. In 1901, in this city he married Miss Mary Winter.
Anthony Feldher is secretary and treasurer of the well-
known dry goods firm of Cook & Feldher of Jackson, organized in
1892, and having grown from a small beginning to be one of the
most prosperous and thriving concerns of its kind in the city in its twen-

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1053
ty-two years of business life. Mr. Feldher is one who has made his
way from the bottom of business prosperity to the top-most place there
in, and he is accounted one of the foremost business men of the city
today. Mr. Feldher is a native product of the state, born on Crogan street,
in Detroit, on December 16, 1847. He is a~ son of John B. and Kather
ine (Hunterman) Feldher, botb natives of Prussia, where they were
united in marriage. Of their six children, only one was born in Prussia,
the others being of American birth. They came to the United States
and settled in Detroit, there spending the remainder of their lives, and
the mother died of cholera there during the epidemic in the fifties, and
the father, long a mason and builder in the city, died in 1875.
Anthony Feldher was only five years old when his mother died, and
of the six in the family one sister only remains beside him, Mrs. Philo-
mena Gies, of Detroit.
Reared in Detroit, Mr. Feldher received there his early education
and training. He attended the St. Mary's parochial school there, and
his education was along German lines and in the German language,
though he later studied English in the Barstow Union public school of
Detroit. When he was nineteen years of age, Mr. Feldher came to Jackson,
and for ten years he was in the employ of the American Express Com
pany. During a portion of that time he was an express messenger on
the Fort Wayne, Jackson and Saginaw Railroad. For fourteen years
after he had discontinued his connection with the express company Mr.
Feldher was engaged in the merchant tailoring business as a partner of
Joseph J. Brenk. The firm of Brenk & Feldher controlled the leading
business of its kind in Jackson for years, and was a successful and pros
perous one. In 1892 Mr. Feldher became the business associate of Mr.
E. G. Cook in the dry goods business, and the firm of Cook & Feldher is
now entering upon its twenty-second year of business life. It has met
with ups and downs in its career, but has in the main been very suc
cessful, and each year has witnessed something of growth and prog
ress to the credit of the proprietors. The establishment occupies three
floors and basement of a building on Main street, and is constantly tak
ing on new floor space.
On October 14, 1874, Mr. Feldher was married to Miss Gertrude
Gilson of Jackson, and they have three daughters. Gertrude is the wife
of Charles E. Moore of Battle Creek; Clara is unmarried, and Mary is
the wife of William H. Youm of Jackson.
Mr. Feldher is a Democrat in his political faith, active in a whole
sale degree in the activities of the party in his town and county, and he
is a member of the Jackson Chamber of Commerce. He and bis family
have membership in St. Mary's Roman Catholic church.
Angus McLean, M. D. In the field of surgery Dr. McLean has for
nearly twenty years stood as one of the ablest'operators in Michigan, and
his practice in the city of Detroit, which has been his home .since he entered
the profession twenty-five years ago, is of such character and extent as to
well justify his standing as one of Michigan's ablest surgeons. Dr. McLean
has won many of the most coveted honors of the profession. He is attend
ing surgeon to the Harper Hospital, Children's Hospital and to Providence
Hospital in Detroit. Since 1905 he has been professor of clinical surgery
in the Detroit College of Medicine, and since 1900 has been surgeon to
the Wabash Railway Company. From 1895 to 1901 he was surgeon of
the Detroit City Police Department, and city physician between 1888 and
1891. He served as president of the Wayne County Medical Society in

1054 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
191 1, and was president of the Michigan State Board of Health from 1907
to 191 1.
Dr. McLean who is descended from Scotch ancestors on both father's
and mother's side, was born at St. Clair, Michigan, April 4, 1863, a son
of Donald and Catherine (McDonald) McLean. His father was a child
when brought from Scotland to Canada, settling in Glengarry county
near Montreal about 1836, and after his marriage he came to Michigan.
His death occurred in 1896 at the age of sixty-six years, and his wife was
of the same age when she died in 1899. She was born in Lambton, Ontario,
and her father Angus McDonald was a Scotchman who emigrated first to
Canada and later came to St. Clair, Michigan.
Dr. McLean in 1880 graduated from the Ontario Collegiate Institute,
took up the study of medicine, and was graduated M. D. in 1886 from the
Detroit College of Medicine. In 1888 he opened his office and began prac
tice in Detroit, and for several years did a general practice. In 1895 Dr.
McLean went abroad, and pursued post-graduate studies in the University
of Edinburgh, Scotland. Since his return he has specialized in surgery,
and has practically abandoned the field of general medicine. He has mem
bership in the Wayne County Medical Society, the Michigan State Medical
Society, and the American Medical Association. His social clubs are the
Detroit Club, the Bloomfield Hills Country Club.
April 9, 1907, Dr. McLean married Miss Rebecca Scotten, daughter
of the late Oren Scotten of Detroit. They are the parents of two daugh
ters, Marian and Bessie.
M. Thomas Ward. A Grand Rapids lawyer, who in five years has
won a distinctive position in his profession. Mr. Ward is also well
known through the Fifth district as one of the young and progressive
leaders of the Democratic party. Mr. Ward is not yet thirty years of
age, and judging from his accomplishments in the past, a broad career
of public and professional achievements lies before him.
M. Thomas Ward was born December 27, 1884, at Harvard, Kent
county, Michigan, the third in a family of five children born to Michael
and Mary (Kain) Ward. His father was born in Ireland, and his
mother in Michigan. Michael Ward came to Grand Rapids in the pio
neer days, and has long been recognized as one of the leading lumber
men of western Michigan. He still owns large interests in timber lands
in this state and in Wisconsin, Minnesota and California. The son of
a wealthy farmer, Mr. Ward never had any disposition either in his
youth or in manhood to lead a career of leisurely activity, and has
always been under the stimulus of a propelling ambition. He attended
the district schools until about fourteen years of age, then spent one year
in school at Ottawa, Canada, and on returning to his native state en
tered the high school at Greenville, where he was graduated at the age
of twenty. As a boy he often spent his vacations on a farm, and by
work of that kind earned, not from necessity, but from a desire to be ,
busy and early get into real life, he earned enough to defray his ex
penses through, college. In 1905 he entered the University of Michigan,
and was graduated in 1908 from the law department with the degree
LL. B. During, his first year after admission to the bar he was asso
ciated with the law firm of McKnight & McAllister at Grand Rapids,
and has since then practiced alone, his offices being in the Houseman
Building. Mr. Ward is not only one of the leading attorneys but prominent in
politics, and was a Democratic candidate for prosecuting attorney in 1912,
but went down to defeat with the rest of the party ticket. He was secre
tary of the congressional committee when Mr. Sweet was first elected to

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1055
Congress, and was one of the two original Wilson men in Grand Rapids,
and it was largely due to his personal efforts that Grand Rapids had the
opportunity to hear Mr. Wilson in his presidential campaign during 191 2.
On August 17, 1909, was solemnized the marriage of M. Thomas
Ward and Mame Hale, a daughter of Dr. Herbert J. and Pauline Hale
of Grass Lake, Michigan. Mrs. Ward was educated at Grass Lake and
is a graduate of the University of Michigan. She takes a very promi
nent part in Grand Rapids society, and is one of the working members
of the Ladies' Literary Club. Mr. Ward is affiliated with the Ancient
Order of Hibernians, and belongs to the Catholic church. His resi
dence is at 422 Lyons street, N. E.
Charles Frederic Heyerman. A Detroit business man whose con
nection with a number of enterprises has contributed to the city's pros
perity, Charles Frederic Heyerman represents an old and prominent
family both in Michigan and with lines of ancestry extending back to
colonial days.
He was born in the city of Toledo, Ohio, March 24, 1874, a son of
the late Commander Oscar Frederic Heyerman of the United States navy.
Born in Germany, February 17, 1844, Commander Heyerman was a son
of Charles Frederic Heyerman, wbo brought his family to the United
States and to Detroit in 1852, was associated with the late Judge Witherell
in the Government Land Office in Detroit, but about the close of he Civil
war returned to Germany with his wife and daughter, and died there in
1877. His widow continued to make her home in Germany until her
death in , 1894, and her daughter, Marie M., now the widow of Rev.
Theodore Sauer, a clergyman, still resides in Dresden, Germany. Com
mander Heyerman, who was eight years old when his parents came to
the United States, was graduated from the United States Naval Academy
in 1864, and after a long career in the navy retired with the rank of Com
mander in May, 1895, and died at sea on board the Steam Ship Havel,
October 27, 1895, while on his way to Germany for a visit. His body
was brought back to America and buried by the side of his wife and son
in Detroit. Rebekah Kearsley Webster, who married the late Commander Heyer
man, was born in Detroit, April 8, 1851, and died in Brooklyn, New York,
September 10, 1895. Her father, Mathew Howard Webster, born at
Albany, New York, July 4, 1816, and who died at his home at Grosse
Isle in the Detroit River, near Detroit, May 30, 1893, was an old-time hard
ware merchant of Detroit and a man of prominence in business affairs.
His wife, whose maiden name was Martha Immel Kearsley, was the third
child of Major Jonathan Kearsley, a Detroit pioneer of considerable note.
Major Kearsley, a native of Pennsylvania, saw service as major of a
Pennsylvania regiment during the War, of 1812, losing a leg in the bat
tle of Niagara or Lundy's Lane, was subsequently appointed United
States Receiver of Public Monies at Detroit, and moved from Pennsyl
vania to Michigan to take up his official duties. His memory is perma
nently fixed in the city records as one of the early mayors and a regent
of the University of Michigan and in many other ways prominent. Major
Kearsley was the son of Captain Samuel Kearsley, an officer in the
Revolutionary war who for meritorious service rendered at Valley Forge
.was presented a sword by General Washington, a weapon which is still
in the family's possession.
The Webster, or maternal line, of Mr. Heyerman runs back directly
to John Webster, at one time governor of Connecticut. Governor Web
ster, who was born in Warwickshire, England, became one of the original
proprietors of Hartford, Connecticut, and served first as deputy gov-

1056 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
ernor and later as governor in 1656. In 1669 occurred his removal from
Hartford to Hadley, Connecticut, and his place was that of a leading man
in that community. His son, Lieutenant Robert Webster, of Middletown
and Hartford, served as an officer in the Revolutionary war, in which his
father likewise held a high rank, and for patriotic services received a
large land grant. John Webster, son of Lieutenant Webster, was born at
Middletown, Connecticut, November 10, 1663, his son, Ebenezer Webster,
was born at Hartford, Connecticut, in 1689 and died in 1776; Mathew
Webster, son of Ebenezer, was born in 1720 and died in 1807, and the
latter's son, George Webster, was father of Mathew Webster, maternal
grandfather of Mr. Heyerman.
Charles Frederic Heyerman, after attending the Detroit graded and
high schools, was a student in the Stevens Preparatory School at Hoboken,
New Jersey, and Stevens Institute of Technology, of the same city, after
which his study of civil engineering was continued at Cornell University
at Ithaca, New York. After leaving the latter university came his ap
pointment to service with the Deep Waterways Survey under the Fed
eral government, during 1898-99. Plis membership in the Michigan Naval
Reserve during the Spanish- American war in 1898 brought him into
active service on board the Yosemite, an auxiliary cruiser whose fighting
force was made up with the Michigan reserve, and which made an ex
cellent record in the several months spent about Cuba. In 1899 Mr.
Heyerman established himself in the real estate and insurance business
at Detroit, and has since been successfully identified with those lines.
Mr. Heyerman is a member of the Michigan Society of the Sons of
the American Revolution; of Gilbert Wilkes Naval Command No. 142,
Spanish- American War Veterans ; Michigan Cornell Alumni Association,
the Chi Phi College fraternity, the University Club, the Detroit Boat
Club and various other social organizations. On June 6, 1901, Mr.
Heyerman married Miss Elizabeth Hosie, third daughter of the late Rob
ert Hosie, of this city.
Fred L. Smith. Three successive generations of the Smith family
have furnished architects to the city of Detroit, and while the profession
belongs to the family it can also be said that its members have honored
their calling and have stood at the forefront in their work, with which
they have been identified in this city for more than half a century.
Fred L. Smith is now senior member of the firm of Smith, Hinchman
& Grylls, Detroit architects who have an established reputation not only
in the city but in many towns and cities of the adjoining territory.
Fred L. Smith was born in Detroit in 1862, and is a son of the late
Mortimer L. Smith, who was prominent both as an architect and artist
at Detroit. Mortimer L. Smith was born at Jamestown^ Chautauqua
county, New York, in 1840, and his father was one of the pioneer archi
tects of Detroit, coming to Michigan from New York in i860. Morti
mer L. Smith received his early education in the schools of Oberlin and
Sandusky, Ohio, and from 1861 to 1868 was associated with his father
in their professional activity. At the latter's death, he was in his pro
fession alone until 1888, when his son Fred became associated with him
as a junior partner. Mortimer L. Smith drew the plans and supervised
the construction of many important buildings in Detroit and other parts
of the state, including tbe Woodward Avenue Baptist church, the Hud
son store building, the Campau office building, the State Reformatory
Building at Ionia, the State School for boys at Coldwater, the Industrial
Home at Adrian, and the store building of Newcomb, Endicott and
Company. Though best known as an architect in which field his attain
ments were of a very high order and his success commensurate, he was

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1057
also a talented artist, and many of his canvases found a ready sale in
different parts of the country, his sketches of winter scenes being espe
cially admired and sought.
Fred L. Smith derived his educational advantages from the Detroit
public schools, and served a practical, apprenticeship to his profession
in his father's office, beginning as a draughtsman. In 1888 he became
junior member of the firm of Mortimer L. Smith & Son, a relationship
which continued with mutual advantage and profit until the father's death
on January 19, 1896. From 1896 until 1903, Mr. Smith was in business
by himself, and in the latter year took an influential part in the organiza
tion, of a corporation known as Field, Hinchman & Smith, in which he
was vice president. This company was reorganized in 1907, under the
preserit title of Smith, Hinchman & Grylls, Mr. Smith becoming presi
dent. He is a member of the Michigan Chapter of the American Institute
of Architects, belongs to the Detroit Club and the Detroit Board of Com
merce, and is a successful architect, and also a man of affairs. Mr.
Smith was married at Detroit in 1886 to Miss Jennie M. Dodge, and
their five, children are, Florence E., Alice D., Esther M., Mortimer L.
and Fred L.
Adolphus A. Ellis. In that most perplexing and difficult of pro
fessions, the law, it is an interesting and instructive study to note how
opportunity waits on fitness and ability. The occupancy of high posi
tion argues in . itself , for its possessor superior talents, unusual skill,
"broad learning, indomitable perseverance and uncompromising probity.
The distinguished place which has been attained among Michigan legists.
by the Hon. Adolphus A. Ellis of Grand Rapids has been gained through
the possession of these qualities and the ability to recognize and grasp
opportunity as it has presented "itself . For some years before the public
as the incumbent of offices of responsibility and trust he won recognition
as one of the ablest men of his day, and since his return to private prac
tice his connection with many important and complicated cases of juris
prudence has made him justly accounted a leading member of the state
bar. Mr. Ellis" is a native of Michigan, born October 5, 1848, at Vermont
ville, Eaton county, a son of Elmer F. and Jane (fialstead) Ellis. His
parents were married in New York and in 1846 came to Michigan, set
tling in Vermontville, where they passed the remainder of their lives.
There were six sons in the family: Eugene, who enlisted in Company
B, Second Michigan Cavalry, for service -during the Civil war, at the
age of fifteen years, and died in Andersonville prison; Abraham H.,
who served during that struggle as a member of the Seventh Michigan
Cavalry, and at the time of his death, in 1902, was a justice of the
supreme court of Kansas; Edgar C, a prominent attorney of Kansas
City, Missouri, who has been twice elected to Congress on the Repub
lican ticket in a strong Democratic district; Ernest S., also a leading
member of the Kansas City bar; Howard A., who was one of the
"boomers" to ride into Oklahoma, locating on a farm near Oklahoma
City, which he subsequently platted for city purposes and sold for $200,-
000, and Adolphus A.
Adolphus A. Ellis attended the district schools until he was sixteen
years of age, at which time he became a student in the public schools of
Charlotte. In 1869 he entered Olivet College, where he studied for
three years, and for four years succeeding this was engaged as a teacher,
two years at Muir and two years at Grand Ledge. During this period
as an educator he assiduously prosecuted his legal studies, and in Janu-

1058 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
ary, 1876, was admitted to the bar. He embarked upon his professional
career, at Muir, where he remained five years, following which he moved
to Ionia and for one year was in partnership there with H. C. Sessions.
For the ensuing eight years he practiced alone. From 1885 until 1889
he served as prosecuting attorney of Ionia county, and in 1888 was nomi
nated as the candidate of the Democratic party for the office of attorney
general of the state, but met defeat with the balance of the ticket. In
1890 Mr. Ellis was renominated and elected, and again in 1892 received
the nomination and won the election. Some contested cases of unusual
importance were disposed of during his incumbency of that office, among
them being the celebrated Malitor murder cases, tried in Alpena, whence
they had been brought from Presque Isle county. Another was the case
of the notorious Daniel Heffron of Manistique. These criminal cases
were important and attracted widespread attention, the former by reason
of the high social standing of the parties accused and the fact that sev
enteen years had elapsed from the time of the murder until the prose
cution was commenced ; and the latter because of the notoriously bad
character of the defendant, who was a perpetual menace to society when
at liberty. These cases were won for the state. After his retirement
from the office of attorney general, Mr. Ellis was retained by the com
monwealth as special counsel in "The State of Michigan vs. Bay Coun
ty," a case in which the defendant county resisted the payment of taxes
claimed by the state. He won the case and the state treasury was en
riched to the amount of $115,000 as a result. In 1890 Mr. Ellis was
elected to the mayoralty chair of Ionia, and also acted in that capacity in
1891, 1897 and 1899. In 1906 he came to Grand Rapids and has here
continued to be engaged in private practice, with offices at No. 220
Houseman Building. Mr. Ellis has brought to the practice of his
chosen profession the natural aptitude which is inherent in a mind of
rare logical and analytical power, as well as the culture which is the
product of a thorough, education, aided by intelligent and persistent
study. In clearness, force and logical arrangement his briefs are rarely
excelled. To untiring industry he joins a thorough knowledge of the
law and an unsurpassed familiarity with authorities, and his citations
are made with unerring judgment. While he is a deep thinker and a
profound student, he is genial and fond of social pleasures, and holds
membership in the Royal Arch Masons, the Knights Templar, the
Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the
Knights of the Maccabees, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the
Royal Arcanum and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. The
home, at No. 306 Auburn avenue, affords Mr. Ellis those domestic en
joyments which he prizes far more highly than his well-earned profes
sional honors.
On April 2, 1874, Mr. Ellis was married to Miss Mattie Nichols,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George W. Nichols of Oneida, Michigan.
Two children have been born to this union : Howard A. and George N.,
both educated at Olivet College and graduates of the law department of
the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, and now associated with
their father in the practice of law at Grand Rapids. Howard A. Ellis
married Enid Holmes, a daughter of H. S. Holmes, a banker of Chelsea,
Michigan, and they bave a daughter, Edith Enid, and a son, Howard
Holmes. Mrs. Adolphus A. Ellis, who was educated in the schools of
Grand Ledge and private schools, is widely known in social circles of
Grand Rapids and is a leading member of the Ladies' Literary Club of
this city.
Judge John Logan Chipman. Harry F. Chipman. In the public
life and legal profession no name has been more distinguished since the

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1059
early history of Detroit down to the present time than that of Chipman,
three generations successively having increased the wealth of association
and honors that belong to that name.
The late Judge Jobn Logan Chipman was one of Michigan's distin
guished lawyers and jurists. He was born in Detroit, the scene of his ac
tivities and honors, on June 5, 1830, when Michigan was still a territory.
The old American family from wbich he was descended had members
prominent in all the different generations from colonial times to the
present. His first American ancestors, and the founder of the Chipman
family now widely distributed in America, was John Chipman born n
Barnstable, England, in 1614, who emigrated to America, in 1630, set
tling on a farm at Barnstable, Massachusetts, a locality named in honor
of his, birthplace. He married a daughter of John Howland, one of the
Pilgrims who came over in the Mayflower, and their son, Samuel, mar
ried Sarah Cobb", one of whose children was John, born in 1691. This
John graduated from Harvard College, became a distinguished clergy
man at Beverly, Massachusetts, and died in 1775. In 1740, John Samuel
Chipman, witb five of his sons, removed to Litchfield, Connecticut, and
was chosen first representative from that town in the legislature and also
appointed judge of the county court. His son, Samuel, married Han
nah Austin, of Suffield, Connecticut, and of their six sons Nathaniel be
came the grandfather of Judge John Logan Chipman. Nathaniel born
at Salisbury, Connecticut, November 15, 1752, entered Yale College, from
which he withdrew while in the senior class in order to enter the Con
tinental Army during the Revolution. He was commissioned second lieu
tenant, being at that time about twenty-four years of age. He was at
Valley Forge and in the battles of Monmouth and White Plains, and
while serving in the army with distinction Yale College awarded him the
degree of A. B. He finally resigned his commission studied law, located
in Vermont, where he practiced his profession until his death. He mar
ried Sarah Hill, and of their seven children the oldest was Henry, father
of Judge Chipman.
Henry Cbipman when a young man went to South Carolina, w,here
he married Martha Logan, daughter of a weathy and prominent planter
of that state, who had served in the Revolutionary war. In 1824 Henry
Chipman moved to Michigan, settling in Detroit. Thereafter he was
constantly prominent- in the public affairs of the territory and state. He
held office" as one of the territorial judges from 1827 to 1832, was chief
justice of the county court of Wayne county in 1825, and judge of the
recorder's court of Detroit in 1835. He was senior member of the
firm of Chipman & Seymour, who published a Whig paper at Detroit
from 1825 to 1829.
The late Judge John L. Chipman was educated in the common schools
of Detroit, and in the Detroit branch of the University of Michigan, an
institution then in its infancy. Before completing his college course he
was employed in the service of the Montreal Mining Company, and made
explorations in the wilds of the upper peninsula of Michigan, in search
of eligible locations for mining operations. In the meantime he prepared
himself for the law, for which he had inherited not only talent, but a
strong predilection. His admission to the bar was granted while he was
in the wilds of the upper peninsula. Upon returning to Detroit he en
tered upon the active practice of his profession, and his success as a
lawyer was equaled by his prominence in public affairs. In 1853 he was
assistant clerk of the Michigan House of Representatives; in 1856 he
was elected city attorney of Detroit, an office he held for four years; in
1864 was elected a member of the Michigan legislature, and in 1866 was
Democratic candidate for congress, but was defeated owing to the domi-

1060 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
nance of the Republican party in the state at that time. In 1867 Judge
Chipman became attorney for the city police board, and acted in that ca
pacity until elected to the bench of the superior court in 1879. The court
was abolished for political reasons after his election, and thereupon he
was elected by the people to congress.
Judge Chipman's service to the state and the nation while in congres.-
was characterized by the same qualities of scholarly ability and disinteJ
ested statesmanship which marked him in all his other relations with pub
lic affairs. He was one of Detroit's eminent citizens, • and was so re
garded during his life time and at his death on January 25, 1894.
A son of this distinguished Detroit lawyer and jurist, and a descend
ant from the other prominent men of the name, previously mentioned,
Harry F. Chipman, was born in Detroit, June 29, 1859, has likewise won
many honors and a distinguished position in the Detroit bar. He was a
student of the public schools and in 1878 entered the service of the Paris,
Cumberland Gap &, Southern Railway Company as a civil engineer. On
returning to Detroit he began the study of law, having for his preceptor
his distinguished father and also the Hon. John D. M. Dickinson. In
1880 he was admitted to the bar and soon after was elected circuit court
commissioner, At different intervals in his private practice he has stepped
aside to fill important public positions. In 1894 Governor Pingree ap
pointed him a member of the board of police commissioners of Detroit,
an office he resigned in 1896 to become Democratic candidate for sher
iff of Wayne county. Elected sheriff he made an admirable record of
efficiency during his first term, and in 1900 the Democrats nominated him
for the office of circuit judge, but he was defeated for that office for
which his qualifications so well fitted him. Since then he has given his
entire attention to his private practice.
In 1891 Mr. Chipman married Rose C. Copeland, daughter of David
Copeland of Detroit. They have three 'children : Etole, Dorothy and
Helen. Earl R. Stewart. A Grand Rapids lawyer, who has practiced in
that city since 1900, Mr. Stewart has gained other distinctions along with
his standing as a lawyer. He has served as a member of the state legis
lature and has been prominent in the Michigan National Guard for the
past twenty years being now a major in the service. He comes of a mili
tary family, and the Stewarts have been identified with this "section of
western Michigan since the pioneer days.
Earl R. Stewart was born on a farm in Kent county October 5,
1872. His parents are Charles R. and Alta M. (Sadler) Stewart. The
grandparents were James and Delia (Marsh) Stewart. James Stewart
was born in 1809, while on a sailing vessel between Scotland and New
York, the Stewarts having originated in the land of hills and heather.
Grandfather James grew up in New York state, but in 1836 came west
and settled in Michigan. A shoemaker by trade, he followed his voca
tion at Grand Rapids during the early days, and later moved to Grand
ville, in Kent county, where he spent the rest of his life. In Grandville
he bought a farm and was one of the prosperous men of his community.
On the maternal side there is a still more interesting genealogy. The
maternal grandparents were Henry and Julia A. (Root) Sadler. The
Sadler family was founded in America by a German Hessian, a name
which has not a pleasant sound to American patriots, but which in this
case has certain mitigating circumstances. This Christopher Sadler, a
mercenary hired by the British government to put down the rebellion
of the colonies, deserted from the English army during the Revolution
and fought on the American side until the end of the struggle. He was

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1061
a captain in the engagement at Black Rock. This old German soldier
was a great-great-great^grandfather of the Grand Rapids lawyer.
Great-grandfather Christopher Sadler saw service as a soldier in the war
of 1812; Henry Sadler, grandfather, was born in Cuyahoga county,
Ohio, July 4, 1 81 7, and moved to Michigan in 1855, settling in Kent
county. Charles R. Stewart, the father, was born in Kent county, Au
gust 12, 1846, and is still living. His wife was born in Cuyahoga county,
Ohio, May 20, 1850, and is also living. They were married in 1871. Tbe
father followed farming actively until 1897, when he retired and came
to Grand Rapids. He and his wife are members of the Methodist
church, and he fraternizes with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
and the Knights of Maccabees. He is a Republican in politics, having
supported that party since the war, in which be saw service as a soldier.
He went out June 18, 1864, in Company I of the First Michigan Engi
neers and Mechanics, and continued until the close of the war. He was
with Sherman on the famous march to the sea, and for nine years has
been active in Grand Army circles. While living on a farm in Kent
county he held several township offices. There were three children, of
whom Earl was the first, Alice Theodie lives at home with her parents,
and Virginia is the wife of Louis F. Buchsieb, an automobile^man living
in Chicago. Earl R. Stewart grew up on a farm, had a comriion school education,
graduated from the Grand Rapids high school in 1892, and in 1900 took
bis degree in the law department at the University of Michigan. His
practice as a lawyer began with the firm of Butterfield & Keeney,. but
since 1903 he has been in practice alone.
In 1903 Mr. Stewart married Miss Louise Buchsieb, a daughter of
Louis J. Buchsieb, who located in Grand Rapids in 1877, and was a jew
eler in that city. Mr. Stewart and wife have one child, James, who is
now being educated in the public schools. Mr. Stewart and family attend
the Methodist Episcopal church and fraternally he is affiliated with the
Masonic Order, the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows.
One of the Republican leaders in Kent county, he served as circuit
. court commissioner four years, was a member of the legislature in 1909
and 191 1, and has given much of his time to political affairs and to the
promotion of good government. Mr. Stewart in 1891 enlisted in Com
pany B of the Second Regiment of Michigan State Troops, and has been
identified with the state military forces for twenty-two years. He served
as regimental sergeant major in 1898, during the Spanish- American war,
and continued on duty until mustered out. He became lieutenant in
1899, was promoted captain in the same year, and in 1905 was made
major. He has been detailed a member of the. Military State Board by
Governor Osborn and Governor Ferris.
Edwin E. Armstrong. Among the pioneer merchants of Detroit
was the late Thomas Armstrong, who came to Michigan the same year
it was admitted into the union as a state, settling in Detroit. His career
was one of remarkable interest, both for his family connections and for
his own experience and achievements. He died many years ago, and
among his family who have continued the name, and the exceptional
business qualifications which characterized the founder in Michigan is
•Edwin E. Armstrong, head of the largest saddlery and harness manu
facturing establishment in the state.
The late Thomas Armstrong was a native of Dublin, Ireland, where
he was born June 2, 1805. His father Launcelot Armstrong, of Dublin,
Ireland, died in 1810. His wife was Ann Chamberlain, who died in

1062 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Detroit in 1883. The official records in Dublin Castle show that Thomas
Armstrong was the only remaining Irish-born representative of the fam
ily known as the Armstrongs of Longfield, and KiUibracken in County
Leitrim, Ireland. That family was for many generations prominent in
civil and military life. The family was founded by William Armstrong
of Gilnockie, Scotland, an officer in the army Charles I, who settled in
Ireland about 1620, and was killed in battle in the Cromwellian wars. He
was a great-grandson of John Armstrong, Laird of Gilnockie, who died
in 1630, and who was a noted border cbief, named and mentioned in
many of the old Scottish ballads. The stronghold of that Scotch borderer
is still standing near Langholm.
The recollections and reminiscences of the late Thomas Armstrong
covered the Napoleon and Wellington periods of the early nineteenth
century, and the celebration in Dublin over the fall of Napoleon at Water
loo was vividly remembered by him. He was present at the opening of
the first passenger railroad in the' world, connecting Liverpool with Man
chester in 1829. In 1832, accompanied by his mother, Thomas Arm
strong came to America, locating in New York City. In 1834, he re
turned to Ireland, but was back again in the same year. In 1835, he
invested in a tract of land in Maine. That was a poor investment, since
the land, upon investigation, proved to be at the bottom of a lake. With
such experience in the east, Thomas Armstrong in 1837 set out for Mich
igan, coming by way of Erie canal, and from Buffalo, New York, taking
passage on the steamer North America for Detroit. The voyage up the
lake required more than three days. His arrival in Detroit did not
impress him with the advantages of the situation, and his discouragement
over the outlook was such that he quickly determined to return to New
York City. However, he finally decided to give the frontier town one
trial, and bought some property and engaged in the general mercantile
business. His success was almost immediate, and from that time forward
he and his successors have continued to be identified in a large and promi
nent way with the commerce of the Michigan metropolis. Thomas Arm
strong retired from business in 1858, after a very successful career. In
1845, he married Miss Catherine Hopson, who died in 1855. In 1863 he
married Miss Rebecca Gourley. Thomas Armstrong was the father of
eight children.
Edwin E. Armstrong, a son of the late Thomas and Catherine Hopson
Armstrong was born in Detroit in 1853. With a public school education
gained in his native city, he entered business as a clerk, and for a num
ber of years was identified with the hardware trade in this city. In
1880 Mr. Armstrong organized the firm of Armstrong & Graham, a con
cern which has grown and developed until it is the largest wholesale
dealers and manufacturers in harness and saddlery goods in the state of
Michigan. Mr. Armstrong has membership in the Detroit Board of Commerce,
the Detroit Club and other social organizations. In 1883 at Detroit was
celebrated his marriage to. Miss Louise McCutcheon, of Detroit, a daugh
ter of Hon. Sullivan McCutcheon. He has one son, Philip McC. Arm
strong, secretary and general manager of The Armstrong Tannery Com
pany, Detroit, and two daughters, Catherine, wife of James M. Acklin. of
Toledo, Ohio, and Josephine Moore Armstrong.
George W. Thompson. The professional career of George W. Thomp
son in Grand Rapids extends over a period of forty years, and during this
time he has risen to a foremost position at the Michigan bar. Probably no
attorney in the state has a better record for straightforward and high pro
fessional conduct and for success earned with honor and without animosity,

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1063
and certainly none has gained in greater degree the sincere respect of the
people. Mr. Thompson is a product of the farm, is self-educated and
entirely .self-made. He was born in Jefferson township, Hillsdale county,
Michigan, March 3, 1844, and is a son of Warren and Electa (Foote)
Thompson. Warren Thompson was born in Vermont in 1806, and was married in
that state to Electa Foote, who was born in New York, daughter of Elijah
Foote, of Vermont. In 1838 Mr. and Mrs. Thompson migrated to Michi
gan, and on December 25th of mat year settled in Hillsdale county, on a
iarm which Mr. Thompson purchased from a man who had bought it from
the Government. This tract of eighty acres, located in Jefferson township,
is still in the family name and possession, and was conducted by Mr.
Thompson up to the time of his death in 1882, after a career that was
marked by a fair measure of success. He was an influential Democrat, and
was prominent in his community's affairs, serving as postmaster of Osseo,
Hillsdale county, from the time he carried the mail in his hat until he was
in charge of a.commodious office. He was looked up to and esteemed by his
fellow citizens as a man who loved a useful and helpful life. Mrs. Thomp
son was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and she died in that
faith in 1865, at the age of 50 years. They were the parents of eight chil
dren, of whom two survive : Eliza, who married Morris Lamb and lives at
Hillsdale, Michigan, and George W.
George W. Thompson received his early education in the public schools
of Hillsdale county, and in the Hillsdale College, and was brought up to
agricultural pursuits. It had been his ambition from early boyhood to enter
the field of law, but his father was in modest circumstances at that time,
and the means for him to complete his education were not available. How
ever, this did not daunt the ambitious and determined youth, who secured
a position as a school teacher during the winter months, and after eight
terms thus spent found he had accummulated enough to attend Hillsdale
College. Succeeding this, he began to read law in the office of George A.
Knickerbocker, and after a long period of assiduous study he was admitted
to the bar in 1869 and immediately began practice at Hillsdale. Mr. Thomp
son came to Grand Rapids January 24, 1874, and this city has since been
the scene of his numerous achievements. For some time after his arrival
he was associated in partnership with a Mr. Kennedy, but in 1884, with
Fred C. Temple, formed the firm of Thompson and Temple, which has
existed ever since, and which is now known as one of the strong legal com
binations in the western part of the state. A stalwart Democrat, he was
formerly greatly interested in politics, serving as a member of the city coun
cil for one term and as a member of the legislature in 1883, but of late years
has concerned himself chiefly with the pressing and constantly broadening
duties of his profession. His training and experience have fitted him ad
mirably for gerieral practice, to which he devotes himself, and his scholarly
attainments and his exact and comprehensive knowledge of the law have
made him an acknowledged leader in the line of his calling.
On December 9, 1874, Mr. Thompson was married to Miss J. Rossette
Fisher, of Hillsdale, and to this union there were born six children, of
whom four are living, namely : Kate, who married Doctor Westfall, of
Ypsilanti, Michigan ; John R., of Clarion, Iowa, division superintendent of
the Chicago & Great Western Railroad ; Mabel F., a teacher in the city
schools of Grarid Rapids ; and Howard E., a student in the University of
Michigan, at Ann Arbor. Mrs. Thompson died in 1910, and in 1911 Mr.
Thompson was married to Isabelle H. Hammond. Mrs. Thompson
is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Thompson be
longs to the Masonic fraternity, in which he is a Knight Templar and a
Shriner. He is the owner of considerable city realty and to some extent
has engaged in dealing in real estate.

1064 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
William L. Gile. The wonderful success which has marked the five
years which represent the life of the Gile Boat and Engine Company, of
Ludington, Michigan, attests the sagacity, foresight and business skill of
its members, whose watchful care and fidelity are building up and per
petuating their fortunes. The life of the manufacturer is a less conspicu
ous one than that of a member of a learned profession or of one who
mingles in public affairs, but it is none the less one of arduous labor and
thorough engrossment, requiring a high order of organizing talent, watch
fulness of the trend of affairs, and financial skill. The general manager
of the Gile Boat and Engine Company, William L. Gile, has been a resi
dent of Ludington only since 1909, but within the short space of five
years he has achieved a success such as many men would consider a tri
umph if accomplished through long years of earnest and patient effort.
His success has been achieved through the exercise of sound judgment,
allied with a certain degree of venturesome determination, and the higb
esteem in which he is held is ample evidence of his integrity and straight
forward dealing.
Mr. Gile was born in Allegan county, Michigan, January 25, 1869, and
is a son of Chauncey and Adelia (Liscoe) Gile. His father, born in
Pennsylvania, in 1829, was educated in the public schools of bis native
place, and at an early date moved to Michigan with his father, John Gile,
who had been born in Scotland and emigrated to the United States in
young manhood. He settled first in Pennsylvania and later moved to
Michigan, and in the latter state passed away after a number of years
spent in agricultural pursuits. Following in the footsteps of his father,
Chauncey Gile adopted the vocation of agriculturist, and continued as a
tiller of the soil throughout life, his death occurring in 1874. He married
Adelia Liscoe, who was also born in Pennsylvania, and who still survives
at the age of seventy years. She was a daughter of William Liscoe, who
was born in New York and came to Michigan at an early date, settling
on a farm which he cleared from the timber and on which he continued
to make his home until his death, when ninety-one or ninety-two years of
age. Chauncey Gile was a Democrat in his political views, and for a num
ber of years was in the government service, his duties taking him fre
quently to the South. He was a consistent member of the Methodist
Episcopal church, which his widow also atterids. They were the parents
of five children, namely: William L. ; Hattie, who married C. Gordon,
of Seattle, Washington; Maude, who became the wife of Mr. Curtis
and makes her home at Kalamazoo, Michigan ; and Lena and Nellie, who
are single and live with their mother.
William L. Gile was fifteen years of age when his father died, and it
was necessary that he early begin to contribute to the family support. His
educational training was secured in the public schools of Montague, Michi
gan, but when he was fifteen years of age he put aside his books and began
to work in a planing mill. Later he secured employment on the river and
in the lumber woods, and at the age of nineteen years went to work for the
Muskegon Street Railway Company. He was enterprising, faithful and
industrious, and at the age of twenty-two years was made master me
chanic and chief engineer of the company, positions which he held until
1907, when he went to Greenville, with tbe C- T. Wright Company, an
implement concern. On March 1, 1909, Mr. Gile came to Ludington,
Michigan, and organized the Gile Boat and Engine Company, a modest
enterprise for the manufacture of boats and engines which grew so rap
idly that it was soon capitalized at $150,000, and it was found necessary
to treble the size of the factory. The present capacity of the factory is
fifty engines per day, and during the winter of 1913-1914 it was necessary
to run the factory day and night in order to supply the demand for the

JrXAA

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1065
company's popular product. Considerable goods are shipped to Minne
apolis, but the company's manufacture does not have its sale confined to
this country, for many of these engines are in use in foreign lands. Mr.
Gile is general manager of this enterprise, with J. S. Sterns, president,
and W. L. Mercereau, secretary. Mr. Gile is a careful, prudent and suc
cessful business man. His accumulations have not been the fruit of wild
speculation or adventure, but have been gathered in the pursuit of legiti
mate business, to which he gives his constant attention. Fraternally, he
is affiliated with the local lodge of the Masonic order, and with Lodge
No. 736, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His political belief
is that of the Republican party, but he has never been a seeker for public
honors. In March, 1908, Mr. Gile was married to Miss May Moriarity, of Grand
Rapids, and they have one daughter, — Josephine, who is three years of age.
Clare J. Hall. It is doubtful if any profession develops with so much
accuracy and manly vigor the native intellectual predominancies as that of
the law. Not alone opening a vast field for philosophic inquiry, it also im
periously demands an acute and close observation of the daily workings of
practical life. The materials for the foundations of society, which are
scattered about broadcast and in confusion, often the most crude and irre
lative, have to be molded into symmetry and form by the application of
great principles. These rude materials and these profound principles, have
to be formed together in the crucible, and the melting down and refining of
the former is undergone by firm and unyielding contact with the latter. The
very highest development of intellectual vigor, the most profound and com
prehensive knowledge of principle, is often found inadequate to this ardu
ous task; for with these must be united a clear and quick sagacity, an
adaptation to the habits and modes of those surrounding the legist, or all of
his labors will fail of accomplishment. Among those who thus act con
spicuously in thus molding and forming society in Michigan, stands emi
nently forward Clare J. Hall, of Grand Rapids, whose success in a number
of important cases has made him a familiar figure in the courts of his state.
Mr. Hall was born at Port Austin, Michigan, November 23, 1873, and is
a son of James H. and Jessie (Emery) Hall, and a descendant of tbe Hall
family, of Holland extraction. James H. Hall was born in 1843, in New
York, and came to Michigan as a young man, where completing his law
studies in the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, he at once engaged
in practice at Port Austin, and that place continued to be his field of labor
until 1912, in which year he moved to Detroit. He was prominent in Re
publican politics for some time, serving as prosecuting attorney of Huron
county for a time and also being a member of the Constitutional Convention
of 1907, and was fraternally connected with the Knights of the Maccabees.
Mr. Hall was a member of the Presbyterian church, while his wife was con
nected with the Baptist faith. Mrs. Hall was born in Michigan, a daughter
of Andrew Emery, an early settler of Michigan, who, at the outbreak of
the Civil War, enlisted in a Michigan volunteer regiment, and was wounded
in battle, which eventually caused his death. Nine children were born
to Mr. and Mrs. Hall, of whom six are living, and Clare J. is the third in
order of birth. -
After completing the curriculum of the public schools of Port Austin,
Clare J. Hall became a student in the law department of the University of
Michigan, from which he was graduated in 1906 with his degree. He at
once entered upon the practice of his calling at Hart, but after two years
came to Grand Rapids and entered the office of Mr. Smedley, with whom
he was associated for about three years. In 191 1 he formed a partnership"
with Joseph R. Gillard, and they bave since built up an excellent profess-

1066 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
ional business and maintain offices at No. 1023 Michigan Trust Building.
Mr. Hall has built up a- wide reputation for his legal acumen and sagacity,
and is rapidly making a place for himself among the leading attorneys of
Grand Rapids. He is a Republican in politics, but his practice demands his
whole attention, and aside from membership in the Masons he has no out
side connections.
Mr. Hall was married January 22, 1910, to Miss Violet Hart, of Grand
Rapids, and to this union there has come one daughter : Jane, born August
20, 1913.Charles E. Tarte. As the telephone business has in the course of
thirty-five years developed into an almost universal public utility, it has
naturally afforded a splendid field for executive and managerial skill,
and some of the best talent in American business enterprise are devoted
to this particular field. A Michigan- man who has risen to important
responsibility in the telephone world is Charles E. Tarte, general manager
of the Citizens Telephone Company at Grand Rapids. He has been in
the telephone business practically all his active career and his first experi
ences as an operator were in connection with the telephone technic of
thirty years ago, when telephony was still in a crude and experimental
state, and he has as a practical worker witnessed nearly every important
modification and improvement in the telephone service.
His individual career has been one of hard work since early boyhood,
and his success is an illustration of the value of concentration along one
line. Charles E. Tarte was born at Muskegon, Michigan, October 31,
1869, a son of Joseph and Adeline (Graves) Tarte. The Tartes were
a French Canadian family. The father was born in, Canada in 1837 and
died in 1870, while the mother was born in New York state in 1843 and
died in 1910. After their marriage they spent a time in Wisconsin, and
then settled at Muskegon. His father was a ship carpenter by trade,
and was killed while employed in that work at Muskegon. The family
have always been Catholic, and the father was a Democrat in politics.
The four children were: Louis E., who lives retired in Muskegon;
Elizabeth and Caroline, both unmarried; and Charles E.
With an education in the Catholic parochial schools of Muskegon,
Charles E. Tarte at the age of thirteen began earning his living as a
messenger boy for the Western Union Telegraph Company. That was in
1882, and in the following May he transferred his services to the Michi
gan Bell Telephone Company, as a night operator. While attending to
his duties in tbe telephone exchange, he managed to secure two years of
study in high school, and it can be said that he has seldom lost an oppor
tunity to better himself and make himself more efficient in his work.
From operator he became collector and office man, trouble man, and his
promotion was steady and in September, 1898, he came to Grand Rapids
as traffic manager for the Citizens Telephone Company. Pie served as
local manager for the Grand Rapids Exchange, and in 1904 was appointed
general manager over the system embracing Western Michigan.
In May, 1899, he married Maude Uebelhoer, a daughter of Fred
Uebelhoer, who served for twenty years as a member of the detective
service in Detroit. Their three children are : Charles E., Louis E. and
Elizabeth, the two older being in school. The family are members of the
Catholic church, Mr. Tarte affiliates with the Knights of Columbus and
in politics is Republican.
Ernest T. Tappey, M. D. It is as a surgeOn that Dr. Tappey has
his chief distinction, and his achievements in that line have given him
a position among the leaders, not only in the city of Detroit, where he

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1067
has practiced medicine and surgery for more than thirty years, but also
in the United States, where his name is spoken among the ablest in his
profession. A Virginian by birth, born at Petersburg, March 30, 1853, the son
of Leopold C. and Ann (Parish) Tappey, Dr. Tappey attended the
public schools of New York City from i860 to 1868, was graduated from
the University of Michigan with the degree A. B. in the class of 1873,
and received the degree M. A. from the same University in 1876. His
study of medicine began at Detroit in 1873 in the office and under the
direction of the late Dr. D. O. Farrand. After one course of lectures
in the Detroit College of Medicine, he returned to New. York City, and
in 1879 was graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons,
fhe Medical Department of Columbia University. Dr. Tappey then went
abroad, where he had some unusual opporunities for completing his
preparation for his chosen profession. In 1880 he was a student in
Berlin, Germay, and in Vienna, Austria. In 1890 he again went abroad,
arid spent two months as a studerit under the noted Dr. Tait in Birming
ham, England, and in the same year was a pupil under Dr. Schede of
Hamburg. Dr. Tappey In 1880 began the practice of medicine in Detroit, and
has been closely identified with his profession in that city for more than
thirty years. His professional relations with the Wayne County Medical
Society, the Michigan State Medical Society, the American Medical As
sociation, and the American Academy of Medicine. In 1894, he was vice
president of the Detroit Medical and Library Associaion.
For a number of years he has confined his attention largely to sur
gery, especially in gynecology and abdominal practice. He has success
fully performed many of the most difficult of abdominal operations. His
work includes the successful removal of the ovaries, opening of the gall
bladder, successful end to end suturing of the intestines after resection,
and in 1894 he removed by lateral perineal section a bullet from the
bladder. In the course of his experience, Dr. Tappey has invented a,
number of surgical appliances and instruments. In 1908, with his wife,
he made a journey around the world, taking ten months to it, and, at that
time, definitely retired from the practice of medicine.
Dr. Tappey is a member of the board of directors of the National
Bank of Commerce of Detroit, is secretary of the Universal Button Com
pany, a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce, and his social rela-,
tions are with the Detroit Club, the University Club and the Country
Club. In 1880 Dr. Tappey married Pamelia W. Waterman, of an old
Detroit family. She died, leaving two daughters, Ernestine £>., and Pa
melia W. In 1891, Dr. Tappey was married in Detroit to Sallie H.
Lightner. #
Frederick Henry Wolf. The name Wolf is conspicuous in Detroit
for .its association with brick - manufacture. For a great many years
Wolf enterprise has produced some of the finest qualities of clay products
used in the building constructions of this city and vicinity. Brick is one
of the oldest known building materials, and after centuries of competi
tion with every other kind of material brick is still regarded .as the most
useful, the most permanent, the most economical and the most beautiful.
In the building up of the industry known as the F. H. Wolf Brick Com
pany, of which he is president, Mr. Wolf has had no small share in the
progress of Detroit industries.
Though his home has been in Detroit "and vicinity since early youth,
Frederick Henry Wolf was born in. the Kingdom of Prussia, Germany,
January 22, 1847, his parents were Wilhelm and Fredericka Wolf, and

1068 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
the mother died when Frederick H. was about fifteen months old. The
father brought his family of five sons to America in 1865, about the
close of the Civil war, and arrived in Detroit on May 25, 1865. Their
first home was on Junction avenue near the Grand Trunk railway, in a
district that was then out in the country in Spring Wells township. The
father was a farmer, a vocation he had long followed in the old country,
and after coming to Detroit he and his sons were employed at wages by
Richard H. Hall, a prominent pioneer brick manufacturer of the city.
Later the father bought a farm, resumed his original vocation, which be
followed until his death on April 15, 1899. He was then seventy-nine
years of age, having been born in 1820. His religious connection was
with the German Lutheran church.
Frederick H. Wolf was about eighteen years old when he came to
America. His schooling had been acquired in the old country, and he
also brought with him full experience and skill as a carpenter, having
learned his trade in Germany. From 1865 until the fall of 1869 Mr. Wolf
was employed in Hall's brick yards, then after a year spent in the north
west, in the state of Minnesota, he returned to Detroit in the fall of 1870
and once more found a place in the Hall brick yard. In time he came to
be one of the most trusted and efficient men under Mr. Hall, who made
him foreman, succeeding Conrad Clippert in that capacity.
The beginning of Mr. Wolf's independent operations as a manufacturer
was made in 1881, when, with Richard H. Hall Jr. as partner, under the
name of Hall & Wolf Brick Company, a brick yard was established on
Warren avenue alongside the Pere Marquette Railway. In 1886 the firm
bought fifty- three acres of land on what is now Central avenue and the
Michigan Central railway, and moved their kilns to that point. The firm
of Hall & Wolf continued to do a prosperous business until February
10, 1888. In that year a stock company was organized, known as the
Hall & Wolf Brick Company, Inc. The next change came on June 10,
1897, when the company was re-incorporated as the F. H. Wolf Brick
Company, the Hall interests having been purchased by Mr. Wolf. The
official heads and directors of the company at present are : F. H. Wolf,
president; his sons, John E., vice president; Frank H., secretary and
treasurer; and Frederick C, a stockholder. This is one of the larger
brick making concerns of the state, its product is chiefly common building
brick, the daily capacity of the plant being about one hundred thousand
brick. Mr. Wolf's wife was Mary Kokash, who was born in Austria and came
to America in 1866 with her parents. She died in 1907 at the age of
sixty-three years. Eight children were born, six of whom live to honor
the memory of their mother, as follows : John E., vice-president of the
F. H. Wolf Brick Company, married Annie Schultz, and their two sons
are Edmund Frank and John Frederick ; Frederick G.j who is engaged in
the coal business and also is a stockholder in the brick company, married
Emma Zimmerman, and their five children are named Harriet, Rowena,
Herbert, Julia and Alice; Anna L. married Joseph Bledow, and their
two children are Wanda and Henry; Frank HO, secretary and treasurer
of the company, married Catherine Thomas and has a child, Dorothy;
Charles, who now is a resident of Seattle, Washington, married Jeane
Haggerty, of the old Detroit family of that name; Richard L., who is a
mining engineer by profession and in the employ of a company operating
mines both in Arizona and California, and he divides his time between
those two states.
Mr. F. IT. Wolf is a prominent member of the Detroit Builders and
Traders Exchange, and is one of the well known Masons of the city.
His affiliations are with Schiller Lodge, A. F. & A. M. ; Peninsular Chap-

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1069
ter, R. A. M.; Monroe Council, R. & F. M.; Detroit Commandery No. I,
K. T. ; Michigan Consistory of the thirty-second degree Scottish Rite,
and Moslem Temple of the Mystic Shrine.
Elmore Dennis. A notable personality and remarkable business
career has been that of this venerable citizen of Jackson, now passed the
age of eighty-six, yet strong and vigorous and bearing the weight of four
score six, as many uphold their three-score. His home has been injack-
son county, since 1838, and he can recall events and circumstances that
were long ago written in history. For forty years he has been proprietor
of the Dennis Machine Company at Jackson, one of the oldest industrial
establishments of the city. He is a Democrat, who began voting for the
party candidates in 1848, and still is staunch to the tried virtues of
Andrew Jackson.
The birth of Elmore Dennis occurred in the village of Dover plains,
Dutchess county, New York, June 11, 1827. His father was Cornelius*
Dennis, who was born in the same New York village, and for many years
followed the trade of millwright. His grandfather was Joseph Dennis of
American birth, but the son of an Englishman who came to the American
colonies, just prior to the Revolutionary war. The mpther of Elmore
Dennis was Clarissa Taylor, who was a native of New York, the daughter
oi Nathaniel Taylor, and who died in the year 1847. Cornelius Dennis
was born in 1798, and died in 1850 at the age of fifty-two. Elmore Dennis
is the older of two children, his sister, five years younger, being Mrs.
Rachel E. Brundage, a widow, living in Oklahoma City. The Dennis
family made settlement in Jackson county, Michigan, in 1838, when
Elmore was eleven years old. Their settlement was on a farm in Spring-
port township in the northwest corner of the county. A portion of the
farm was entered directly from the government, and the rest was bought
from local owners. Under such conditions it was but natural that Elmore
Dennis got more training from practical work than from school attend
ance. Almost as soon as he came to Michigan he began assisting his
father in the improvement of the land. The old homestead was located
eighteen miles from Jackson, and the intervening country was so sparsely
settled that for a distance of seven miles not a single habitation broke
the continuity of the original wilderness. It was on that old homestead
that both the parents died. When they settled there Springport township
had only about one dozen voters, and of these Mr. Dennis cannot recol
lect one who is still living. Cornelius Dennis in the early days held the
office of highway commissioner in his township. ;
During his early manhood, Elmore Dennis learned the trade of mill
wright at Ami Arbor, and worked as a journeyman and built mills on his
own account for many years. In 1867 he located in Jackson, and here
gave his attention to general work in mechanics. He bad a natural bent
for mechanical pursuits, and having acquired a knowledge of everything
pertaining to the machinist's trade, soon had all the business he could
attend to.. In 1873 Mr. Dennis established the Dennis Machine Company,
which has been successfully conducted under his principal supervision
ever since. There is perhaps no other establishment in Jackson, that has
been in continuous operation under the same name so long as that of the
Dennis Machine Company. Its work might be characterized as a general
jobbing business, but for the most part it has put out a large line of wood
working machinery. For twenty-five years, the concern was conducted
as an incorporation, of which Mr. Dennis was president. One of his
partners was Henry Kline, now deceased. Mr. Kline was an orphan boy
who came into the Dennis home at the age of thirteen, was reared to use
ful manhood, and when old enOugh was given employment in the Dennis

1070 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Machine shop. He later acquired a partnership, and also became one pf
Jackson's prominent citizens. Henry Kline was born in New York City,
September 12, 1852, and died July 7, 1910. After being taken into the
Dennis home he was given by his foster paren.ts the same care as if he
had been their own child, and came to manhood with industrious habits
and integrity of character fully established. In Masonic circles and as a
citizen, he was highly esteemed. Not obtrusive or officious, he led a quiet
life, faithful to honor and duty in every way, and lived up to all the
requirements of an honest private citizen. As a Mason he had member
ship in Lodge No. 17, in Royal Arch Chapter No. 3, and in Commandery
No. 9 of the Knights Templars, and at his death was a past eminent com
mander of the Knights Templars. Henry Kline married a sister of Mrs.
Elmore Dennis, and this made the two men brothers-in-law, though the
relation between them was more like that of father and son. Henry
Kline left a son, Elmore Kline, a namesake of Mr. Dennis, now employed
in the Dennis Machine Shops.
On May 27, 1855, Elmore Dennis married Alice Pinkney, who died in
1906. Mr. Dennis has been a Jacksonian Democrat all his life, and for
two years was president of the Andrew Jackson Society. At the annual
meeting of this organization on January 8, 1908, Mr. Dennis, then presi
dent, delivered the annual address, which was published in full in the
Jackson Patriot, and which shows him to be possessed of much ability as
a public speaker, and thoroughly familiar with the life and achievements
of "Old Hickory." In his address Mr. Dennis gave a review of the
Andrew Jackson Society, which was organized at Jackson on January 8,
1864, comprising in its original membership only men who had voted for
Andrew Jackson for president. So far as could be ascertained, not one
of the original members was living in 1908. In sketching the career of
the society, from its founding, Mr. Dennis concluded with several para
graphs of a more general nature, and it seems appropriate to quote these
paragraphs as expressions of his own political feelings, and as opinions
delivered by an old-time Democrat, who regards with considerable doubt
the changing policies of his party in modern times :
"With most of these men I had the. honor of a personal acquaintance,
and with many of them a very intimate friendship. To the fundamental
principles of government, enunciated by Thomas Jefferson, the founder
of the Democratic party, and exemplified by Andrew Jackson in his
opposition to monopoly and special privileges granted to a few, now the
great industrial evil of our time, they were intelligently devoted. There
is an apparent disposition on the part of the rising generation to depart
from the fundamental principles of government, announced by Jefferson
and upheld by Jackson when he waged his successful warfare against the
old United States Bank chiefly because it sought to control the politics of
the country. The old maxims, 'that government is best which governs
least,' 'the world is governed too much,' are ignored, if not forgotten, and
in the protection of monopolies and trusts, which are fostered and nur
tured by the tariff, individual initiative and enterprise from which the
greatest progress and prosperity came, are crushed, and the people are
made mere hewers of wood and drawers of water for the privileged
classes of legislation.
"Already a change has taken place, under the forms of law, that was
not contemplated by the founders of this government. Their democracy
was based upon the idea of equal rights for all and special privileges for
none. With the great transportation interests controlled by a few, with
the coal mines in the grasp of a few, and the prices of fuel and warmth
dictated by their desire for gain, with the iron mines owned and worked
by a single corporation, with the disappearing supply of lumber, making

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1071
the building of homes for the people next to impossible, and with all these
and many other interests protected in their extortions by the government,
the dependent class is all the time increasing, dependent upon others for
the opportunity to work and earn a living. Under such a policy, the
individuals wither and the corporation is more and more. The founders
of this association hoped for different conditions. Their work was well
done, but they were overwhelmed by the abhorrent forces of monopoly
and special privileges. They adhered to the vital principles of self-govern
ment, and the policies that would thus promote the general welfare. They
have left in the hands of the people of today,, a duty to resume and finish
the work they desired to accomplish. In this country the people have the
remedy in their own hands. If they fail to use it the fault is their own.
And now, fellow members of this association, and younger men of the
time, upon whom the largest measure of responsibility rests, I adjure you
to stand firmly by the faith of the fathers of the Republic — the founders
and upholders of true Democracy — the principles of Thomas Jefferson
and Andrew Jackson." .
Mr. Dennis has for forty years been a Knight Templar Mason, and a
member of the Jackson commandery, being its oldest member in. point of
age, and there are but four others who have belonged to the local organi
zation longer than he. Mr. Dennis has been a moderate user of tobacco
for seventy years, and has never experienced any bad results from the
practice. Though eighty-six, he is still strong and it seems probable that
his vitality will continue for years to come. His eyesight and hearing are
clear, his memory is good, and his rnental faculties are those of a, man
many years younger. His hand is so steady that he writes as legibly as a
youth. Mr. Dennis is now practically alone in the world, having only his
foster-grandson to keep him company. His wife was in every way a
woman Of noble character, and a true helpmate in every sense.
John Pehrson. This sterling and honored citizen of Mason county
has here maintained his home for more than thirty years, and this interval
has shown on his part the consecutive endeavor and the determined pur
pose that ever make for personal success and advancement. He came from
bis native land to America as a young man, without more than nominal
financial resources and dependent upon his own exertions in fighting the
battle of life. He has shown to the fullest degree the admirable qualities
of the race from which he is sprung, and integrity, ambition and close-
application have signalized his career in its every stage. That he has
commanding place in the regard of the people of Mason county Is indi
cated by the fact that he has served continuously as register of deeds for
the county since 1904, his record in this connection having been that of a
faithful, circumspect and efficient public officer.
In accordance with the custom of his native land Mr. Pehrson gains
his surname from the personal name of his father. He was born in
Sweden, on the 14th of December, 1859, and is a son of Pehr and Chris
tina Olson, both of whom passed their entire lives in the land of their na7
tivity, persons of unassuming worth of character, of marked industry
and of the type mentioned by the immortal Lincoln in speaking of the
life records of his parents as being the "short and simple annals of the
poor." The father was born in 1816 and died in 1902, his cherished and
devoted wife having been born in 1818 and having been summoned to
eternal rest in 1907, so that both attained to venerable age. They were
devout members of the Lutheran .church and manifested their Christian
faith in their daily lives, the subject of this review being their only child.
John Pehrson gained his. early education in tbe schools of his father
land and has effectively supplemented this through self-discipline and the
Vol. n— 28

1072 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
lessons gained under the direction of the wise head-master, experience.
He early learned the lessons of practical industry and thus he was not
poorly fortified when, as a youth of twenty-one years, he immigrated to the
United States. In 1880 he first came to Ludington, the beautiful little
city that is now his home. For a time he was employed at railroad work,
thereafter he gave one year to work in a saw mill, and finally gained a
due quota of experience in connection with operations in the lumber woods.
Industrious, abstemious and frugal, he saved his earnings and finally
was able to purchase a small farm, to the reclamation and improvement
of which he directed his attention and labors. He became one of the
substantial farmers of Mason county and contributed his quota to the
industrial development of this section of the state, even as he has ever
stood as a loyal and public-spirited citizen. In 1904 Mr. Pehrson was
elected register of deeds of Mason county, and prior to this he has served
eight years as supervisor of Amber township. His administration in
the office of register of deeds has been punctilious in the extreme and he
has brought all records into excellent order, with the best of reference
facilities and general systematization.
Mr. Pehrson has entered fully into the spirit of American institutions,
has fortified himself in his opinions concerning matters of public polity
and is a stalwart in the camp of the Republican party, having served as a
delegate to its state conventions in Michigan, as well as to the more local
ized conventions for which he was eligible. He is affiliated with the In
dependent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, and holds
membership in the Swedish Aid Society.
In the year 1882 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Pehrson to Miss
Hilma Andersen, who was likewise born in Sweden, and they have four
children, concerning whom the following brief data are given : Louis G.
is a carpenter by trade and vocation and resides in Ludington ; Victor C.
is employed in this city also ; Charles W. is a mail carrier on one of the
rural routes extending from Ludingtori; and Agnes L., who remains at
the parental home, is her father's able assistant, as she is deputy register
of deeds for her native county.
Albert M. Henry. The career of Mr. Henry as a lawyer covers
a period of forty-four years. Since 1875 he has been identified with the
Detroit bar, and has taken a prominent part in business and civic affairs.
'At various times his services' have been sought for responsible positions
in both the state and city government, and as one of tbe older members
of the local bar, Mr. Henry enjoys a dignity and influence proportionate
to his long years of active experience and achievement.
Albert M. Henry was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on the twen
tieth of September, 1845, a son of William G. and Huldana (Squier)
Henry. The parents were among the pioneer citizens of western Michi
gan. Grand Rapids was the city in which Albert M. Henry spent his
boyhood and youth. From the public schools he entered the University
of Michigan, and was graduated in the literary department with the class
of 1867, and in the law class of 1869.
From 1869 to 1875, Mr. Henry practiced law in Omaha, Nebraska,
in which city he was admitted to the bar. Since 1875 his home has been
in Detroit. In the field of business and civic affairs, Mr. Henry was one of the
organizers and the first president of the Dime Savings Bank of Detroit.
Governor Alger during bis administration appointed Mr. Henry to mem
bership on the Michigan State Board of Pardons.
His civic record also includes service in the Detroit City Council and
as a member of the Board of Estimates. Mr. Henry is an active worker

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1073
with the Detroit Board of Commerce, and served as chairman of the edu
cation committee in that organization.
He belongs to the Psi Upsilon College Society, to the Michigan Chap
ter of the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, of which he
is President at the present time, is a charter rhember of the Detroit Club,
the Country Club and the Grosse Pointe Riding and Hunting Club, and is
a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason.
'On January 23,' 1875, Mr. Henry was married in Detroit to Miss
Frances M. Burnes, a daughter of the Hon. James Burnes,.long promi
nent in the citizenship of Detroit. Mrs. Henry died February 1, 1879,
leaving two children. His son, Burnes Henry, is associated with him
in business. His daughter, Edith, is the wife of E. S. Barbour, treas
urer of The Michigan Stove Company of this city.
John Wood. In connection with the lumber business Mr. Wood has
become the executive head of one of the important corporations now
operating in Michigan, and he is identified with the line of industry to
which his father gave attention during the years when Michigan was
known far and wide for its great lumbering operations. Mr. Wood is
secretary, treasurer and general manager of the Marquette Lumber Com
pany, of which he effected the organization iri February, 1909, and the
co'mpany, which is capitalized for $20,000, confines attention principally
to the manufacturing and handling of building material, its principal re
tail lumber yards being in the city of Grand Rapids, where Mr. Wood
-has maintained his home since 1893 and where he is known and valued
as a progressive business' man and loyal and public-spirited citizen.
Mr. Wood was born at Saginaw, Michigan, on the 12th of October,
1871, and is a son of Richard M. and Eleanor (Savage) Wood,both of
.whom were born in the province of Ontario, Canada — the former in the
year 1840 and the latter in 1845, their marriage having been solemnized
in their native province. The parents came to Michigan about the year
1867 and established their home in the City of Saginaw. Richard M.
Wood was long and actively concerned with the great lumber industry of
Michigan and was a practical woodsman of sterling character and much
ability. He knew all details of the lumber business, from the cutting of
the timber to the rafting of the logs and the manufacturing of the finished
products. He retired from active labors in 1904 and has been a resi
dent of Grand Rapids since 1907. He is a Republican in his political
allegiance and his life has been orie signalized by integrity and honor.
His devoted wife, whose death occurred in 1895, was a zealous commu
nicant of the Catholic church. She was a daughter of Henry and Bridget
(Strain) Savage, who were born and reared in Ireland, where their mar
riage was solemnized. Upon coming to America they first settled in
Canada, but they eventually removed to Bay City, Michigan, in which
state they passed the remainder of their lives. Of the twelve children of
Richard M. arid Eleanor (Savage) Wood the subject of this sketch was
the fourth in order of birtb, and of the number nine are now living.
John Wood gained his early education in the public schools of Bay
City and St. Ignace, Michigan, but at the age of fourteen years he laid
aside his books and began work in the St. Ignace office of tbe Mackinaw
Lumber Company. He continued in the service of this corporation about
six years and in the meanwhile gained .varied and practical experience
in connection with the details of the lumber business. At the expiration
of the time noted he went to Muskegon, this state, where he was employed
one year by a lumber company. His next change was made in 1893,
when he established his residence in the city of Grand Rapid.s and entered
the employ of the Fuller & Rice Lumber Company, witb which he cori-

1074 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
tinued to be associated for seventeen years, in executive capacity, and
of which he was secretary for several years. In February, 1909, Mr.
Wood organized the Marquette Lumber Company, as stated in the open
ing paragraph of this article, and of this vital and successful corporation
he is secretary and general manager, the substantial business of the com
pany having been built up largely through his well ordered efforts and
progressive policies.
Political matters have due interest in the case of Mr. Wood, and he
is a loyal supporter of the principles for which the Republican party has
ever stood sponsor in a basic way. He is affiliated with the Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks and with the Knights of Columbus, in
which latter he served one term as lecturer. He and his family are com
municants of the Catholic church.
In the year 1893 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Wood to Miss
Cecilia G. Madden, daughter of Thomas F. Madden, a successful general
and railroad contractor residing at that time in St. Ignace, Michigan. Mr.
and Mrs. Wood have three children. Vincent R. is a student in the
Grand Rapids high school, in the class of 1915; Eleanor is attending a
Catholic academy in Grand Rapids; and Maurice is attending the paro
chial school of St. Andrew's church.
Hon. Frederick C. Martindale. Three successive terms in the
office of secretary of state for Michigan, indicates better than any formal
analysis the high position which Frederick C. Martindale holds in the
esteem of the people of this state, who- have thus set the seal of their ap
proval upon one of the most popular and able leaders in the political life
of Michigan. Mr. Martindale has long been prominent in Republican
politics, and has practiced law at Detroit for about fifteen years.
Frederick C. Martindale was born in the Province of Ontario, Canada,
December 18, 1865. When he was two years of age the family settled
on a farm in Greenfield township of Wayne county, Michigan, so that
his home has been in this state nearly all his life. As he grew to man
hood he attended the Detroit Grammar and high schools, and spent six
years as a teacher for half of which time he was in charge of the Delray
schools in Detroit. Poor health finally compelled him to give up the
confining duties of the school room, and he spent three years in re
cuperating in the southern states. His studies for the law were pursued
in the Detroit College of Law, until his admission to the bar in 1897.
In the same year he formed a partnership with Edwin Henderson, a
relationship which continued with mutual satisfaction and profit up
to 1913. It was a number of years ago that Mr. Martindale first began to
participate actively in local and state politics. From 1901 to 1902 he
represented Wayne county in the lower house of the legislature, and rep
resented the first district in the state senate during 1905-06-07-08. In
September, 1908, his services and attainments having in the meantime
attracted to him wide attention and favor from the state party, Mr. Mar
tindale was the unanimous choice of the convention for the office of
secretary of state. His election was brought about easily in the follow
ing fall, and at the convention in 1910 he was again nominated without
opposition, and in 1912 came his tbird election to this important office.
As secretary of state Mr. Martindale is by virtue of his office a member
of the public domain commission, and at its annual meeting in May, 191 1,
he was chosen president of the commission.
On .February 23, 1899, Mr. Martindale married Miss Mary Tireman,
whose grandfather settled on a farm near Detroit, in the early part of
the last century.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1075
Ithiel J. Cilley. Few Michigan families can claim longer estab
lishment in America than can the Cilley family of 'Grand Rapids, mem
bers of the family on its maternal side having been among the foremost
patriots in the Continental line, and it is worthy of mention that the
Cilley line itself had its foundation in Rome in Empire days, and dates
its ancestry back to that period with unfailing accuracy. Men1 of both
the Cilley and Monroe branches have for several generations had to do
with the fortunes of the United States, and each has produced worthy
citizens in goodly number.
Ithiel J. Cilley was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, on
June i, 1848, and is a -son of James and Mariam (Monroe) Cilley, both
native New Yorkers. The father was born in, 1827 and died on October
15, 1912, while the mother was born in 1828 and passed away on April
10, 1906. They were married in New York on May 8, 1846. Mr. Cilley
was an attorney, admitted to the bar 1868, and was successful and promi
nent. He came to Michigan in the year 1855, settling in Lamont, Ottawa
county, and he conducted a factory there until 1865. He entered the
service of the Union Army as a member of the Tenth Michigan Cavalry
in 1864 and served until tbe close of the war, as hospital steward. After
the war he returned to Lamont and engaged in the practice of law, suc
cessfully and creditably. He was a man of extraordinary talents and was
everywhere regarded as a brilliant man. He continued in the practice
of law until his death and was reckoned among the more successful at
torneys of the district. Of the six children born to him and his wife,
four are now living. He was a Mason and an Odd Fellow, and was also
a member of the G. A. R. He was a Republican in his political adherence,
and it should be said in that connection that he voted the second Repub
lican ticket that was run in Ottawa county. For a good many years he
served capably and faithfully as Justice of the Peace, and he brought to-
that office a service that in its character and justice was worthy of a
higher court. Mr. Cilley may well be spoken of as a self made man,
for he was orphaned at the tender age of eight years, and his education
was gained through close attention to his books and a sweeping disre
gard of the prerogatives of youth in the matter of the pleasures of life.
He was an able orator and was widely known in Ottawa and adjoining
counties for his talents as -a public speaker. He was a son of William
Cilley, who was born in New Hampshire, and who moved to New York in
young manhood, later going to Canada where in his prime he was cut
down by the cholera scourge that swept the locality wherein he was
resident. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Cilley of this review was John
Monroe, born in Canada, and a resident of the United States from young
manhood. He reared his family in New York state and there he died, at
the age of eighty-six years, He was a son of another John Monroe, who
was. a famous old Tory, and who lived to the age of one hundred and five
years. He was a soldier on the British side in the War of 1812, and at
one time held General Scott a prisoner.
Ithiel J. Cilley began his education in Ottawa county as a student in
the schools of that community. In young manhood he identified himself
with manufacturing interests in Lamont, Michigan, and he followed that
field of activity for twelve years. He was convinced by that time that
he was destined for other walks in life, and he began reading law in the
latter part of his experience in Lamont. In 1881 he began practice as a
patent attorney, in which field he has since exercised his legal talent. He
has met with a most encouraging success, and is one of the successful
men of Grand Rapids today, this city having been his home and the
center of his legal activities since 1884.

1076 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Mr. Cilley was married in 1881 to Miss Georgia Thurston, who was
born in the state of Maine. Six children have been born to them. Cor
nelia Verne married E. L. Groff, who is connected with the Grand Rap
ids National Bank. Marian Lavinia married A. L. Snowden, who is
with the Adams Express Company in this city. Georgia Estelle married
C. B. Corbin, an inventor and salesman of Grand Rapids. Cecil Clare
married F. C. Toot, who is associated with the Grand Rapids Herald.
Vrl Ithiel is in Grantsburg, Wisconsin, where he is connected with the
Crex Grass Rug and Furniture Manufacturing Company. All are fill
ing worthy places in the circles to which destiny has called them, and
they are worthy sons and daughters of their parents. Glen Thurston died
in infancy. Mr. Cilley is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and has
passed all chairs in the local lodge. He is a Republican and has a whole
some and enthusiastic interest in the politics of the city, state and nation,
though he has never held office or been an office seeker at any time. He
finds his time well occupied with the demands made upon his skill as a
patent attorney, and has little opportunity to become otherwise inter
ested. He may well be said to be one of the successful men of the city
and he has here a wide circle of friends in professional and other circles.
John Miles Spaulding. Few Detroit business men still in active
service have had a longer "career in the city than John Miles Spaulding,
who about forty-five years ago began traveling out of Detroit as his
headquarters selling hides and leathers. He was already a three-year
veteran of the Civil War, and thus began life under the honorable star
of a military record. For forty years Mr. Spaulding has been almost
continuously identified with independent business activities, and is one
of the oldest contractors of the city. His contracting has been chiefly
in the lines of excavation work, and his organization represents in the
highest possible degree efficiency and reliability.
Plis birth occurred in Franklin county, New York, on September 17,
1844. His birthplace was Fort Covington, on Trout river on the Cana
dian boundary line. This branch of the Spaulding family was founded
in America in 1619, in which year Edmund and Edward Spalding, broth
ers, landed at Jamestown, Virginia. The original seat of the family in
England was the town of Spaulding. There are ten different coats of
arms back of the two brothers who came to America. Both brothers
left England as non-conformists of the Church of England. In America
Edmund's descendants became Roman Catholics, and Archbishop Spauld
ing of Baltimore and Bishop Spaulding of Peoria were'descended from
him. The brothers resided at Jamestown, Virginia, until after the Indian
massacre, and then accompanied Captain Helm to Bermuda. About
1630 Edmund returned to America and settled in Maryland among the
colony of his co-religionists in that section. The other brother, Edward,
who was the progenitor of the family to which the Detroit contractor
belongs, returned from Bermuda to America in 1630 and settled at
Barnstable, Massachusetts, where the rest of his years were spent. The
line of descent through the heads of the various American generations
is as follows: (1) Edward, who was the emigrant founder; (2) Andrew;
(3) Andrew'; (4) Andrew; (5) Solomon, who was a lieutenant in the
Navy, American forces during the Revolutionary war, and during the
latter years of that conflict commanded a privateer; (6) Andrew, a
soldier in the war of 1812; (7) James; (8) John Miles Spaulding, who
is in the eighth generation from the first of his family in America.
Grandfather Andrew Spaulding was born at Shelburn, Vermont, was
a shoemaker by trade, was married there, later moved to northern New

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1077
York, where his death occurred. His son James, father of John M.,
was born in Bangor, New York, was a farmer, and also owner of a grist
mill and supplied valuable service to the community in which was his
home. He married Ann Allen, who was born in Vermont, and both
died in New York state.
The grist mill operated by his father was located at Fort Covington^
the birthplace of J. M. Spaulding. With a fine family record behind
him, and with stimulating environment he grew up in New York, at
tained a common school education, and when eighteen years of age
went out to fight the battles of freedom as a Union soldier. In August,
1862, he became a member of Company D in the One Hundred and
Forty-second New York Regiment pf Infantry, was with the regiment
in the defense of the capital at Washington, then in South Carolina,
back to Virginia, and at the close of the war after two years of almost
continuous campaigning and duty was mustered out at Fortress Mon
roe, Virginia. During the last year he was ward master at Fortress
Monroe. After a brief visit at his old home in New York, Mr. Spauld
ing went west to Missouri, and was then an egg buyer for the St. Louis
market for one year. In 1866 he was at Galveston, Texas, and in 1867
began working for W. R. King, owner of the Illinois Leather Company
at Chicago. In the following, fall the company sent him on the road and.
. as its representative he. arrived in Detroit on the last day of the follow^
ing May this city becoming his headquarters as he traveled over all the
surrounding territory buying hides and leather. That was his regular
business until 1873. Mr. Spaulding then formed a co-partnership with
George T. Davis, making the firm of Davis & Spaulding, dealers in
building material. This partnership was unfortunate, and the affairs
of the firm got into such a tangle that in 1876 Mr. Spaulding bought out
his partner in the hope that he might individually do business on a firm
financial basis, but did not realize this hope. He took in Mr. H. Holton,
and a year later Mr. Holton took the business.
Since his earlier career Mr. Spaulding has been pursuing the straight
road to business prosperity. In 1881 he became senior member of the
firm of Spaulding & Lenane, dealers in sand for contractors, also hanr
dlirig sewer pipe and- doing excavating. Two years later that partnership
was dissolved, and Mr. Spaulding continued the handling of sand inde
pendently, handling pipe, lime, cement and other building supplies. In
the meantime Mr. Spaulding had perfected a small working organiza-:
tion for the handling of excavation contracts, and as his business grew
in this, department his other interests were gradually abandoned, and for
a number of years his attention has been confined to general excavating
and sewerage construction. His contract- work also includes thirty miles
of street paving in Detroit. There is perhaps- no other contractor in
Detroit who has handled a greater amount of that work in the last
twenty years than Mr. Spaulding., Somewhat as a side line Mr. Spauld
ing has done considerable building for himself in Detroit, and now owns
about thirty-five apartments which he himself planned and built. Among
these are the following: The Spaulding Terrace, a stone apartment at
475-483 Twelfth street, consisting of twenty apartments ; six apart
ments at the corner of Poplar and 14th streets; three apartments at
40-44 Calumet avenue ; two flats at the corner of Elizabeth and Orchard
streets.- Mr. Spaulding also owns two- fine farms, one in _ Washtenaw
county, one of one hundred and fifty acres situated one mile out from
the city of Ann Arbor, and another of two hundred acres between South
Lyon and Hudson. The first mentioned place is a beautiful country
home and now the permanent residence. of Mr. Spaulding and family,
though he maintains his business headquarters and offices in Detroit.

1078 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Mr. Spaulding married May Belle Bradt, who was born at the corner
of Bragg street and Trumbull avenue in Detroit, the daughter of Simon
Bradt, an old-time carpenter contractor. To Mr. and Mrs. Spaulding
the following children have been born: John Miles (2d) who died at
the age of ten months; Ruth, at home with her parents; John Miles
(3rd), a student of the Michigan Agricultural College; Chester C,
James Allen, Charles R., and Mary V., all at home.
A special distinction has been paid him as one of the veteran con
tractors of the city. He is the only member emeritus of the Detroit
Builders and Traders Exchange, and at the formal ceremony which trans
ferred him to this honorable degree of membership the exchange pre
sented him with a gold medal on March 21, 1913, and that is tbe only
time in the history of the Detroit Exchange when such an honor has
been paid to one of its members. Mr. Spaulding has also taken thirty-
two degrees of Scottish Rite Masonry, and is affiliated with Fairbanks
Post of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Howard W. Cavanagh. One of the most successful and reliable
practitioners at the Calhoun county bar, Howard W. Cavanagh, is also
recognized as a leader of Democratic politics in the state, and is now serv
ing efficiently as city attorney of Battle Creek. He is a man of settled
purpose, firm convictions, practical -in his aims, whether as official, attor
ney or man, and has, therefore, risen steadily to an eminent professional
standing, and has been effective in the realization of a number of those
projects which are advanced by good citizens of modern tendencies. Mr.
Cavanagh is a native of Michigan, born at Alpena, June 12, 1867, a son
of James Cavanagh and a member of an honorable old Irish family, which
was founded in this country by the paternal grandfather, Michael Cava-
. nagh, a native of Ireland and an emigrant to New York state in 1826,
where he was subsequently married.
James Cavanagh, the father of Howard W., was born in Jefferson
county, New York, in 1833, was educated in the public schools, and re
mained in his native state until i860, when he came to Michigan and
settled at Alpena. Here he entered business as a lumberman and for a
number of years was connected with the Burts, the Gilchrists and others,
but in 1873 took his family to Oakville, Canada, and there has since been
actively engaged in agricultural pursuits. He continues to be a citizen of
the United States, as he has never voted in Canada. In Michigan he
took much interest in politics and was sheriff of Alpena county for four
years. Mr. Cavanagh married Mary Williamson, who was born at Oak
ville, Canada, in 1835, the marriage ceremony being performed in the
city of Toronto. She was a daughter of James Williamson, a Protestant,
who emigrated from Ireland to Ontario, Canada, in 1826, about the same
time that Michael Cavanagh, a Roman Catholic, came to tbe United States.
James and Mary Cavanagh were the parents of two sons and two daugh
ters, of whom one daughter died in early life, while three children survive :
Fred, Howard W. and Mrs. Laura McKay, the last-named of Oakville,
Canada. Fred Cavanagh was born July 27, 1865, at Alpena, Michigan, received
his early education in the public schools of Canada, and after his gradua
tion from the Oakville High school engaged in teaching for one year. • He
then entered upon his legal studies, and in 1888 was graduated from the
University of Michigan with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, being ad
mitted to the bar in the spring of the same year. From January, 1909,
until November, 1909, he was engaged in the practice of bis profession at
Battle Creek, but since the latter date has had offices at Homer, Michigan,
and is in the enjoyment of an excellent professional business.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1079
i The public and high schools of Oakville, Canada, furnished Howard
W. Cavanagh with his early educational training, succeeding which he be-
cafne a student in the University of Toronto, which he attended until
1885. At that time he entered tbe law department of the University of
Michigan, at Ann Arbor, and in June, 1887, was graduated with the de
gree of Bachelor of Laws, the youngest member of his class, being but
nineteen years of age. He was admitted to the bar in that year and spent
the following winter in Detroit, in the office of Plon. John W. McGrath,
who was afterwards to rise to the office of chief justice of the Supreme
Court of Michigan. Mr. Cavanagh was twenty-one years of age when
he returned to Alpena, and in his birthplace spent five years in the prac
tice of his calling. While there Mr. Cavanagh received his introduction
to politics in a rather peculiar manner. A committee called at his office
to tender him the nomination for justice of the peace on the Republican
ticket, but he was out at the time, and his uncle, a brother of his father,
declined the nomination for him on the grounds that Mr. Cavanagh, being
a Democrat, could not run on the Republican ticket, but that he, himself,
would accept the honor. Mr. Cavanagh subsequently campaigned untir
ingly for his uncle and secured his election^ many who cast their ballots
for him thiriking that they were voting for the younger man, whose father
had been widely and favorably known during the years he served in the
capacity of sheriff of Alpena county. It was not until after the election
that Mr. Cavanaugh ever knew that he had been considered as a candidate
for the office. As he was then a youthful practitioner, struggling to over
come the obstacles that arise in the path of all youthful aspirants in the
legal field, he feels that, he might have accepted the office, the $3,000
salary of which would have been a grateful addition to his legal emolu
ments, and thus have joined the Republican ranks. At this time,, however,
he is satisfied that he did not.
Mr. Cavanagh was troubled with ill health in 1893, and left Alpena
for Oakville, Canada, for rest and recreation. While there he studied
Canadian law, and was slightly interested in politics, although only to
the extent of assisting others to secure votes. In 1896 he returned to
Michigan and opened an office at Battle Creek, removing to Homer, how
ever, shortly afterwards. From 1896 until November, 1909, he made
bis home at Homer, where he maintained an office, but since the latter
year has made his. home at No. 35 Broad street, Battle Creek. While a
resident of Homer he became actively interested in public affairs, serving
two years as village trustee, or alderman, and becoming a candidate for
village president, an office for which, however, he was defeated. He was
justice of the peace for four years, village attorney for five years and
for four years was secretary of the board of education. During 1909
and 1910 he was prosecuting attorney for Calhoun county, and during the
latter year had as his assistant his brother, Fred,' who is an expert ab
stractor and for three years an employe of the abstract office at Marshall.
In 1912 Mr. Cavanagh became a candidate for the Congressional nomina
tion before the Democratic primaries, but was defeated by Claude Carney,
of Kalamazoo, who subsequently was defeated at the polls by the Repub
lican candidate. Mr. Cavanagh made a splendid race before the Demo
cratic primary, carrying his home county of Calhoun and others in the
district, but when the votes were counted, the fact was revealed that he
had been defeated by a small majority. The generous support given him
in those portions of the district where he is best known demonstrates his
popularity and the high place he holds in public esteem. In 1913 Mr.
Cavanagh was appointed city attorney of Battle Creek, a position which
he is filling with ability and a conscientious regard for the responsibilities
of public service. As a lawyer, he is known to be thoroughly versed in

1080 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
his calling and his success in many hard-fought contests has made him
valued as an associate and respected as an opponent.
Mr. Cavanagh holds membership in the Athelstan Club and the Con
versational Club, both of Battle Creek, and is also a member of the Irish
Historical Society, of which he was formerly vice-president for the state
of Michigan. He is very prominent in fraternal circles, being a member
of Battle Creek Lodge No. 12, Free and Accepted Order of Masons; of
Battle Creek Chapter No. 19, Royal Arch Masons; of Zabud Council
No. 9, Royal and Select Masters, of Battle Creek ; of Battle Creek Com
mandery No. 33, Knights Templar, of this city ; of Bryant Chapter, Order
of the Eastern Star, of Battle Creek ; of Moslem Temple, Ancient Arabic
Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Detroit; of the Modern
Maccabees; of Homer Camp, Modern Woodmen of America; of Battle
Creek Lodge No. 131, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; and of
the Loyal Order of Moose, of Battle Creek. His religious connection is
with the Episcopal Church of Alpena.
Mr. Cavanagh was married at Albion, Michigan, August 29, 1899, to
Miss Ula M. Cunningham, a daughter of James P. and Helen Cunning
ham, of Albion township, where Mrs. Cavanagh's birth occurred. Mr.
Cunningham is still living, but the mother has passed away. One child
has come to Mr. and Mrs. Cavanagh, Helen M., who was born July 1,
1904, at Homer, Michigan.
Gilbert W. Lee. Few Michigan men have so notable a record as
that of Gilbert W. Lee head of the firm of Lee & Cady, one of the
largest wholesale grocery concerns in the state. Mr. Lee was an inde
pendent business man at the age of twenty-one, and his resourcefulness
and energy have been energizing factors in the success of the present
business for nearly thirty years. Lee & Cady is one of the firms whose
business gives additional distinction to Detroit as a commercial center.
The business is incorporated under the laws of the state, and its active
officers are: Gilbert W. Lee, president; David D. Cady, vice-president;
George R. Treble, secretary and treasurer. The main offices and ware
houses are in Detroit at Fort Street West, and the Michigan Central
Lines, and there are also the following branches: Lee & Cady, eastern
market branch, Detroit ; Lee and Cady, Saginaw ; Bay City Grocer Com
pany, Bay City; Valley City Coffee and Spice Mills, Saginaw; .and
Lee & Cady, Kalamazoo.
Gilbert W. Lee was born in the village of Romeo, Macomb county,
Michigan, March 28, 1861, a son of Nathan H. and Amelia (Peck) Lee,
both from the state of New York and pioneers of Macomb county,
where they lived the rest of their lives. Graduating from the Romeo
high school in 1879, at the age of eighteen Gilbert W. Lee came to De
troit, and began bis business career as a clerk with George C. Weather-
bee and Company, wholesale dealers in wooden and willow ware. In
1882, at the age of twenty-one, he bought an interest in that business,
but three years later made the beginnings of the business of which he
is now the head. In 1885, a young man of twenty-four years, Mr. Lee
formed a co-partnership with Ward L. Andrus, and bought the old
wholesale house of D. D. Mallory & Company. They continued the
business under the original name until 1892, when they, took the title
of Lee & Cady. On March 1, 1907, a stock company was • organized
under the name of Lee, Cady & Smart, with a capital stock of seven
hundred and fifty thousand dollars. On January 1, 1910, the corporation
was reorganized, and the present name Lee & Cady substituted. The
firm has unrivaled facilities for the handling of its -extensive trade all
over Michigan, and they have also large business in adjoining states.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1081
Their traveling salesmen who go into all quarters of Michigan and ad
jacent territories, number about seventy-five and the main offices and
branch establishments give employment to approximately 350 persons.
It is not a rhetorical statement to say that this business is to a large
degree a monument to the enterprise of Mr. Lee, who has been its guid
ing genius for nearly thirty years, and who has been able to realize
the widest extent of his early ambitions as a business builder.
In 1898 Mr. Lee founded the Peninsular Sugar Refining Company,
manufacturers of beet sugar, with a plant at Caro, Tuscola county,
Michigan. He was president of the company until 1906, when the busi
ness was absorbed by the Michigan Sugar Company, in which he has
since been a stock holder and director. Mr. Lee is a director of Ham
mond, Standish & Company, provision packers, and of the First National
Bank of Detroit, and is treasurer of the Paige-Detroit Motor Car Com
pany. Mr. Lee was president of the Michigan Wholesale Grocers As
sociation during the years 1899-1900 and 1901, and is one of the most
prominent wholesalers in the state. He has also operated extensively
and successfully in the buying and selling of Detroit real estate. Mr.
' Lee is a member of the Detroit Club, the Yondotega Club, the Grosse
Pointe Country Club, the Old Club, St. Clair Flats, and other social
organizations. He has never been a politician, but has done his duty
in a civic capacity and borne his full share of the responsibilities and
obligations of a successful business man.
Mr. Lee was married June. 16, 1885, to Miss Sara Hammond, who
was bom March 31, 1864, and died October 7, 1892. Her father, the late
George H. Hammond, was long a prominent business man and influen
tial citizen of Detroit. To this marriage was born on September 17,
1887, one son, George Hammond Lee, who died October 24, 191 2. On
January 26, 1896, Mr. Lee married Miss Harriet Norton, daughter of
the late John D. Norton of Pontiac. They have one son, Norton Dorman
Lee, born June 15, 1899.
Charles H. Lillie. One of the younger members of the legal fra
ternity of Grand Rapids today and one who bids fair to experience a gen
erous measure of success in his profession in the years to come is Charles
H. Lillie, who, after leaving college entered the practice of law as the
junior member of the firm of Smedley, Linsey & Lillie of this city, where
he continued for a period of three years. Since this time he has engaged
in practice by himself.
Charles H. Lillie was born on February 26, 1884, in Ottawa county,
Michigan, and is. a son of Joseph and Amanda (Hatch) Lillie, both
¦ natives of Michigan. The father was born in 1851 and the mother one
year later. Both are now living. Mr. Lillie is atwell. driller by trade,
and was in earlier years a farming man. He is one of a phenomenally
large family, his father having reared a family of twenty-four children,
and is himself the father of five. They are named as follows : Ray D.,
an attorney of Washington, D. C. Charles H, of this review. Lois,
living at home ; *Martin, city assessor of Grand Rapids; and Ida, also at
home, a student at Ypsilanti. The mother, is a member, of the Methodist
Episcopal church and an active worker in that denomination. The father
is politically identified as a Democrat, and he has. membership, in the In
dependent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Lillie .is a son of Timothy A.
Lillie, who took up his residence, in this state as early as 1840, coming
here from New York, and he was one of the first to settle in Ottawa
county. He bought land in that county and there lived to the_ end of his
days. He was a prosperous man, considered well-to-do for his day, and

1082 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
a man of some prominence in his community. As a cattle man he was
active and successful.
The maternal grandsire of the subject, Reuben Hatch, came to Mich
igan in the early days of the state and settled on a farm where he passed
the rest of his life. He enjoyed a fair degree of prosperity and reared
a family that came to fill useful places in lite.
Charles H. Lillie had his high school education in the city of Grand
Rapids, and in 1903 he was graduated therefrom, soon after which he
entered the University at Ann Arbor, .finishing in the law department with
the class of 191 1, after thorough literary and law courses there.
As has been stated, he early formed an association with Messrs.
Smedley and Linsey, but is now in an independent practice.
Mr. Lillie is a member of the A. F. & A. M., of Valley City, and of
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a Republican in his
political adherence; and has an active interest in the political activities of
the city, though he has exhibited no tendency to office seeking. His suc
cess thus far is pleasing to contemplate, and it augurs well for future ad
vancement and prosperity in his profession.
Philip A. McHugh. Senior member of the prominent Detroit
law firm, McHugh, Gallagher & McGann, Philip A. McHugh has been
in active practice in that city for the past ten years, and has many prom
inent connections with social and civic affairs, and is a very successful
and capable lawyer.
Born in Essex county, Ontario, July 12, 1879, the son of Philip and
Jane (Goodwin) McHugh, he was brought to Detroit in 1884, and in
that city grew up, attending the parochial schools and the public schools,
and the Detroit Business University. Mr. McHugh received his degree
LL. B. from the Detroit College of Law in 1904, and at once set up in
practice. In 1907 he became associated with Charles P. O'Neil, prac
ticing under the firm name of McHugh & O'Neil. In 1908 that partner
ship was dissolved and William Henry Gallagher then joined with Mr.
McHugh as McHugh & Gallagher, and in July, 191 1, the firm became
McHugh, Gallagher & McGann by the addition of Francis T. McGann.
In May, .1913, Charles P. O'Neil entered the partnership, the firm name
being cbanged to McHugh, Gallagher, O'Neil & McGann.
The various relations of Mr. McHugh with professional and social
orders include the following: Detroit Bar Association, The Michigan
Bar Association, Detroit Board of Commerce, The American Bar As
sociation, Lawyers Club of Detroit, Detroit College of Law Alumni,
Cooley Chapter of The Delta Theta Law Fraternity, Knights of Colum
bus, Knights of Equity, Young Men's Order, Catbolic Mutual Benefit
Association, Ancient Order of Hibernians, Catholic Knights and Ladies
of America, Catholic Order of Foresters, Harmonie Society, Rush-
mere Club, Cathedral Club of Detroit, Detroit Yacht Club and the De
troit Light Infantry.
William Henry Gallagher. A young lawyer whose early career
has been distinguished by many of the honors of scholarship and by suc
cessful work in his profession, William H. Gallagher is a member of the
well known Detroit law firm of McHugh, Gallagher, O'Neil & McGann.
William H. Gallagher was born at Alabaster, Iosco- county, Michigan,
October 28, 1884, the son of William H. and Clementine Gallagber.
Plis father a native of Donegal, Ireland, born in 1851, was brought to
America when a child, grew up and followed the trade of cooper, but
died in early life. His wife, wbo was born in Detroit was a daughter of
Francis DeBrabander, one of the early settlers at Detroit, during the thir-

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1083
ties, a native of Belgium, who died in St. Clair county. Mrs. Galla
gher died in April, 191 1, having spent many years in Detroit where she
was a member of St. Aloysius Parish of the Catholic Church.
After the death of the father the family came to Detroit in 1887,
where William H. Gallagher was a pupil in St. Aloysius parochial school,
and in 1903 was graduated with high honors and the degree of A. B.
from Detroit College. He was a gold medal graduate, and in 1906 was
honored with the degree of Master of Arts from the same College. In
1903 he began preparing for a profession in the Detroit College of Law,
and left that institution with the degree of LL. B. in the class of 1906.
, During his college 'career he attained distinction in the oratorical contest,
and was honored with the presidency of his class for one year. While
in law college he also worked in a Detroit law office, and supported him
self by tutoring classes in Latin, Greek, English and mathematics. Mr.
Gallagher has been in active practice since 1906. In 1908 he became
junior member of the' firm of McHugh & Gallagher, and the association
has since been strengthened under the title of McHugh, Gallagher,
O'Neil and McGann.
Mr. Gallagher is a member of the college fraternity Theta Lambda
Phi, and is prominent in Catholic organizations, including the Knights
of Columbus, Knights of Equity, Young Men's Order, having been the
founder of the latter, and having served as its president. He was presi
dent of the Wayne County Federation of Catholic societies in 1907 and
1908. Mr. Gallagher has brought into the practice of law, the same high
ideals and abilities that made his college career conspicuous, and is re
garded as one of the very able lawyers of his home city, a man of high
character, and enjoying the confidence and respect of all who know him.
Hilding Brothers. Grand Rapids attorneys whose practice have
brought them into relation with some of the more important business of
western Michigan during the past ten years, the firm of Hilding & Hild
ing is composed of two brothers, both of whom are college men, and are
both men of fine ability and have a growing recognition among the able -
lawyers of the state.
Charles V. Hilding, the senior member, was born in Sweden, Novem
ber. 6, 1877, a son of Gustay E. and Anna M. (Lundborg) Hilding. The
father was born in Sweden and the mother in that country in 1855, and
they were married in 1876. The grandfather was John Hilding, a sub
stantial farmer who spent all his life in Sweden and was a man in good
circumstances. The maternal grandfather, Carl Lundborg, was also a
farmer, and a life long residence of Sweden. There were ten children in
the family of the parents, all of whom are still, living, and Charles V.,
was the oldest. The family in 1889 emigrated *to America, and first
settled at South Bend, Indiana, moving to Michigan in 1902, where the
father bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Montcalm
county, and where he and his wife still live. . Gustav Hilding came to
America without money, and by his energy and thrift has prospered and
educated his family well. He is now one of the leading farmer citizens
of Montcalm county. "Both parents are members of the Lutheran
church and the father is a Republican in politics, believing entirely in the
principle of high protection.
Charles V. Hilding received his education in the public schools of
Sweden and in South Bend, Indiana. His early training was completed
with a course in the South Bend Commercial College after which he en
tered a South Bend law office as stenographer. That gave him his first
acquaintance with the law, and a practical experience which he im
proved by study at Notre Dame University in the law departmerit, where

1084 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
he was graduated LL. B. in 1902. In the same year he moved to Grand
Rapids, and entered the office of Peter Doran, a prominent attorney and
Democratic leader of Kent county. Mr. Hilding remained an assistant
to Mr. Doran until the latter's death in 191 1, after which he took over
the greater part of his senior's practice, and has continued in the same
office. He took in his brother as a partner in 1912, and the firm now
have a very large and profitable practice.
Mr. Hilding is active in Masonic circles, having taken the Chapter
and Council degrees in the York Rite, and is a Consistory Scottish Rite
Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine. He is also affiliated with
the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. A Republican in politics,
he is now serving as secretary of the Young Men's Republican Club,
and since 1903 has been identified with the Michigan National Guards,
being now first lieutenant of Company H in the Second Infantry. He
has membership in the Highlands Country Club. Mr. Hilding is unmar
ried. John W. Hilding, the junior member of the firm was born in Sweden,
July 17, 1885, and was four years old when the family came to America.
He is a graduate of the South Bend High School, with the olass of 1902,
after which he entered Knox College at Galesburg, Illinois. After grad
uating Bachelor of Science from Knox College, he taught two years In
the Kemper Military Academy in Missouri, and during that time coached
the baseball and football teams of that school. His law studies were
pursued in the University of Chicago, where he graduated in 1912 with
the degree J. D.
On August 27, 1913, he married Mabel Anderson, a native of Rose-
ville, Illinois. She graduated from the Knox College in 1908, and was
a member of the Phi Beta Pi College Sorority. They have membership
in the Congregational church, and Mr. Hilding is a member of two col
lege fraternities, the Phi Delta Theta and the Phi Delta Phi (law fra
ternity), and also of the Masonic Lodge No. 86, of Grand Rapids.
Charles E. Hogadone. Few men in Grand Rapids have been more
widely identified with public life in its various phases than has Charles
E. Hogadone and long identified with real estate activities in this com
munity, both as a broker and an independent operator. Mr. Hogadone
is one who has always manifested a fine public spirit and his connection
with affairs related to the communal well-being has been a natural result
of the display of that worthy characteristic. His life in Grand Rapids
and in the county has been one of the utmost usefulness and none might
be mentioned who are more properly entitled to a place in this historical
and biographical record, than he.
Mr. Hogadone is a Kent county, Michigan, product, born on February
5, 1863, and he is a son of Edwin D. and Lucretia A. (Luther) Hoga
done. The father was born in Ontario, Canada, in the year 1828 and died
in 1909, while the mother, born in New York in 1840, still lives. Edwin
Hogadone came to Kent county with his parents when he was a boy of
twelve years, and he was here reared to farm life, here marrying in young
manhood. He and his wife were the parents of three children : Frank D.,
the eldest, lives on the old home farm, and owns a part of the place.
Charles E. is the next in order of birth, and Mary E. married Silas Barker
and lives in Grand Rapids, now a widow. Edwin Hogadone was a stanch
Democrat and a man who had worthy influence in his community all his
days. His father, John D. Hogadone, was born in New York and moved
to Ontario, where he spent a great many years of his life. In 1838 he
came to Michigan, taking up one hundred and sixty acres of land in Kent
county, which he cleared up and made a creditable farm of it in his day.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1085
He ended his life on that place. The family is one that had its origin in
Germany, but has been identified with American life' for several genera
tions. Charles E. Hogadone had his early education in the schools of Grand
Rapids, followed by a business college training, after which he studied
law for four years. While he never completed his studies so as to gain
admission to the bar, his legal training has added much to his business
success. He was diverted from his original purpose in some manner, how
ever, and instead of engaging in that profession, he went into business as
a proprietor of a news and stationery store. Some little time after that
he went into the real estate business and that enterprise- in the main
claimed such of his attention as he has devoted to private interests up to
1910. Pie carried on a large brokerage business and has negotiated a
number of sales on his own responsibility, having carried out some large
transactions in southern and western lands.
In 1910 Mr. Hogadone retired from the real estate business and went
to Washington, D. C, where he was engaged as private secretary for Con
gressman Sweet, whose congressional campaign he had previously man
aged and was acknowledged as a potent factor in, the election of that
gentleman. Mr. Hogadone has been a leader in state Democratic politics for a
number of years, and has filled important places on county and Congres
sional, committees. For a number. of years he was chairman or secretary
of Congressional or County committees, and other places of greater or
less importance have been filled by him. At present Mr. Hogadone is
Deputy Labor Commissioner of the State of Michigan, and he served as
supervisor of his ward for five years, an office which he resigned in 1894.
During the last Cleveland administration he was finance clerk in the
Grand Rapids post office, and he has recently been nominated by the Presi
dent to be post master. Under the administration of Mayor Sweet Mr.
Hogadone was appointed City Superintendent of the Poor. His service
in that office was one that was highly creditable to the city, and it is gen
erally agreed that never in the history of the city have the city poor
funds been more wisely administered. In each and every instance of
his public service,. he has laid down his official duties with a record behind
him for efficiency that has at no time-been exceeded, and it is a foregone
conclusion that when, Mr. Hogadone enters upon a public service of any
order, the results will be as creditable to him as pleasing to the city.
In 1887 Mr. Hogadone was married to Miss Maria Walker, a Grand
Rapids girl, who died in 1892, leaving two children, Clara E. and Erma L.
On January 1, 1906, Mr. Hogadone was. married again, when Lotta C.
Buck, a daughter of Samuel Buck, of Vermont, became his wife. One
child has come to them, — Edwina B. Hogadone. Mrs. Hogadone is a
member of the Baptist church, and he is a Pythian Knight. He has no
other fraternal affiliations. The family is one of the oldest in Kent
county and they have the unqualified esteem and high regard of the best
people of Grand Rapids and vicinity.
John P. Greenwald. Once a farmer boy, now one of Bay City's
well known and prosperous business men, John P. Greenwald at twenty
years of age found a place as driver of a laundry wagon. He earned his
four dollars a week and a great deal more, was a hustler for business,
eventually bought out the man who first employed him, came to Bay
City and by that progressive development, which is characteristic qf
solid 'enterprises, built up the largest concern of its kind in this section
of Michigan. .,.,,- t o , i_
Bom in Lenawee county, Michigan, November 11, 1871, he was the

1086 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
fifth in a family of ten children reared by John George and Elizabeth
(Flickenstein) Greenwald, both of whom were born in Germany. The
father came to the United States in i860, settling in Pennsylvania, near
Pittsburg, where he was for several years engaged in tobacco growing.
He married at his Pennsylvania location, and in 1864 moved to Lenawee
county, Michigan, where he turned his attention to dairying. His career
went on with a fair degree of prosperity on a farm until 191 1, in which
year he moved to Adrian, where he and his wife now live retired.
John Phillip Greenwald, until twelve years of age, attended the public
schools of Lenawee county, and then stayed at home and assisted his
father until he was twenty. As already stated he then started out to make
his own way, and at Adrian began at four dollars a week to drive a
wagon for the Troy Laundry Company. A year later, his salary amounted
to eighteen dollars a week, and three years after that he was able to buy
out his employer, that being in 1894. His business continued to grow
and prosper at Adrian until 1900, wben he sold it to advantage and moved
to Bay City. Here was establisbed the Greenwald Steam Laundry. At
the beginning, its force of employes numbered only four. Mr. Greenwald
showed himself an able manager and business builder, and at the present
writing, his payroll includes fifty persons, and he has the satisfaction
of knowing that his is the largest and best conducted laundry business in
Bay City.
Mr. Greenwald is affiliated with the Masons, the Elks, the Knights of
Pythias, the Order of Eastern Star, and is a member of the Methodist
church. He is also a member of the various social clubs of Bay City.
Edmund Davis Jackson. The head of the general contracting firm
of Jackson & Maurice, who have constructed several of the large factory
plants of Detroit, is one of the city's successful and influential business
men. Seventeen years ago he spent two weeks walking the streets look
ing for a job. It was a case of a technically trained man who had
considerable difficulty in getting his ability recognized. Since those pre
liminary struggles there has been no question of his steady rise to secure
independence and success.
Edmund Davis Jackson was born in Miami county, Indiana, March
25> z873- His was one of the earliest families identified with that sec
tion of the Wabash valley. His parents were John M. and Emma
(Davis) Jackson. His father was born in Miami county, Indiana, in
1834, a date which of itself indicates the pioneer residence of the family
in a county which only recently had been organized. The grandfather's
name was John McKim Jackson, and he was born in North Carolina, and
his grandparents in turn were both named Jackson and were also natives
of North Carolina, of Scotch-Irish descent. The Jacksons were estab
lished on this side of the Atlantic before the Revolutionary war, and
had lived in North Carolina many generations. Emma Davis, the mother
of the Detroit contractor, was born in Miami couny, Indiana, in 1836,
a daughter of Jonathan and Nancy (Hiatt) Davis. Jonathan Davis
was a native of North Carolina, and the family came from English stock,
and was likewise in America previous to the Revolutionary war. Jona
than Davis left the family home in North Carolina when he was twenty-
one, and at that time received from his father a saddle and bridle to help
him on his road to fortune. He found a horse to use these equipments,
and first went into South Carolina, later came north to Indiana and
settled in Miami county about two miles west of the city of Peru, then a
mere point of settlement on the Wabash river. He bought land arid'lived
upon it the rest of his days.
John McKim Jackson, grandfather of Edmund D., on coming from

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1087
North Carolina to Indiana first located in Wayne county, and was hon
ored with the office of sheriff in that locality. Subsequently he moved
to Miami county, and the rest of his days were spent on a farmin that
vicinity. John M. Jackson, the father, for several years of his early
manhood was a teacher, and about 1858 went to what was then the. north
western frontier in the territory of Minnesota. He took charge of a
general store at what was then known as Blue Earth City in Fairbault
county, and on the organization of that county became the first clerk.
Thus both the grandfather and the father of Mr. Jackson were partici
pants in the pioneer affairs of the west and men of more than ordinary
influence and prominence in their respective localities. In Minnesota
John M. Jackson was identified for several years with merchandising,
but finally returned to Miami county and after a period spent in farm
ing moved to the city of Peru, the county seat, where his death occurred
in 1898. His widow still lives in that city.
Edmund D. Jackson grew up in Miami county, attended the Peru
public schools, graduating from tbe high school in 1891. His higher edu
cation was acquired at Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana, and
with the class of 1895 he was , graduated in electrical engineering and
with the degree Bachelor of Science. Early in 1897 found Mr. Jackson
in Detroit, where two weeks were spent, in seeking work suitable to his
ability. The telephone company finally took him into its employ in a
position which required night work. Two years were spent with that
public service corporation, and later he went to Youngstown, Ohio, and
was engineer in charge of the installation of a plant for the Youngstown
Telephone Company. On his return to Detroit Mr. Jackson was with the
Detroit Railway Company for a time, and then became a draftsman in
the Russell Wheel Company. His services to that large Detroit indus
try continued for seven years, and after the first few months he was
made superintendent of erection and placed in charge of outside work..
His resignation from the Russell Wheel Company was followed by ap
pointment as superintendent of the mason work for the Vinton Com
pany, with which concern he remained a year, and then engaged in
general contracting on his own account. In April, 191Q, Mr. Jackson
formed a partnership with Walter B. Maurice, under the firm name of
Jackson & Maurice, general contractors. This firm specialize in com
mercial buildings, especially factories, manufacturing plants, and similar
construction. They have done a large amount of work for the Chalmers
Motor Car Company, the Hudson Motor Car Company, and other large
manufacturing corporations.
Mr. Jackson is a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce, is presi
dent of Purdue University Club of Detroit, a member of the Employers'
Association and of the Detroit Boat Club and the. Woodward Avenue
Baptist church. In 1904 was celebrated his marriage to Isabel Diack,
daughter of Alexander Diack of Detroit, now deceased. Their two chil
dren are Edmund D. Jr. and Catherine E.
J. H. Moore. The city of Muskegon has been fortunate in having
gained the interposition of so. able and progressive a chief executive as
its present mayor, Mr. Moore, who is giving a most effective and business
like administration of municipal affairs and whose policies are marked by
distinctive progressiveness and public spirit, as well as by their element
of wise conservatism. The mayor is numbered among the representa
tive business men of this section of the state and is one of the leading
factors in connection with the lumber business in Muskegon, a city that
was long one of the principal centers of the great lumbering, industry of
Michigan.
Vol. It— 29

1088 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Mr. Moore was born in the province of Ontario, Canada, on the 8th
of July, 1859, and is a son of Lucian P. and Louisa (Keeler) Moore, the
former of whom was likewise a native of Ontario and of staunch German
lineage, and the latter of whom was born in the state of New York.
Lucian P. Moore was reared and educated in his native province arid there
learned the trade of carpenter. Upon coming to Michigan he established
his home near Spring Lake, Ottawa county, and he successfully followed
the work of his trade at both Spring Lake and Grand Haven. He became
one of the leading contractors and builders of Ottawa county, was a man
of sterling character and much ability, and he ever commanded the un
qualified esteem of his fellow men. Both he and his wife were most
zealous and devout members of the Baptist church, of which he served
as an official for many years. His political allegiance was given to the
Republican party and he was ever true to the best ideals of citizenship.
He was a son of Peter Moore, a native of Pennsylvania and of staunch
German descent, three brothers of the name having been the progenitors
of the various branches of this Moore family in America. They immi
grated from Germany and one settled in Pennsylvania, one in Tennessee
and the third in the state of New York, the mayor of Muskegon, as inti
mated, being a descendant of the Pennsylvania pioneer. From the old
Keystone state Peter Moore finally removed to the province of Ontario, '
Canada, where he engaged in farming and where both he and his wife
passed the residue of their lives. The maternal grandfather of Mayor
Moore was one of the early German settlers in the Mohawk valley of
New York, and in that state he enlisted for service in the Mexican war,
in which it is supposed he sacrificed his life, as his family never heard
from or of him after the close of that conflict.
J. H. Moore gained his early educational training in the schools of his
native province. For a brief interval after coming to Michigan he attended
the public schools in Muskegon and finally he completed an effective course
in a business college in the city of Grand Rapids. When but fifteen years
of age Mr. Moore began working in a saw mill, and he, has been closely
identified with the lumber business throughout his entire active career.
His independent operations as a dealer in lumber have been attended with
marked success and he is interested in the manufacturing of and dealing
in lumber not only in Muskegon but also in other places in this section of
the state. He has not only won distinctive success but has also so ordered
his course as to merit and receive the unqualified confidence and esteem
of those with whom he has come in contact in the varied relations of life.
He is one of the stockholders of the United Home Telephone Company,
of which he is treasurer, and he is also a member of the board of trustees
of the Hackley Hospital, one of the noble institutions of Muskegon.
In politics Mr. Moore has been found arrayed as a loyal supporter of
the principles and policies of the Republican party, but ip the national
election of 1912 he supported the Progressive ticket and its distinguished
presidential candidate, Theodore Roosevelt. He has not been imbued
with any desire to enter the arena of practical politics, but in 1904 his
friends in Muskegon placed him in nomination as tbe Republican candi
date for the office of city treasurer, this action having been taken without
his knowledge. He was elected by a majority that fully attested his per
sonal popularity in his home city and as treasurer he ably administered the
fiscal affairs of the city for a period of eight consecutive years, as he was
re-elected at the close of his first term. From this municipal post he was
soon afterward called to the more important one of whicb he is now the
incumbent, as he was elected mayor of Muskegon in the spring of 1913.
He entered with characteristic vigor and earnestness upon the duties of
this office, his administration of which is fully justifying the wisdom of

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN , 1089
the popular choice which gave him the preferment. He is a believer in
the expediency of the commission form of municipal government and is
putting forth earnest efforts to have the same adopted in Muskegon. He
is affiliated with the local lodge and chapter of the Masonic fraternity and
has served as junior deacon of the latter. The -mayor is liberal in his
religious views and is a supporter of the various denominations, though
not formally identified with any of them. Mrs. Moore is a member of the -
Congregational church, is a popular figure in the social activies of her
home city and is well fortified for the upholding of the social duties devolv
ing upon the wife of the mayor of one of the most attractive and thriving
municipalities of Michigan.
In the year l888 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Moore to Miss
Minnie C. Van Zalingen, who was borri and reared in this state and whose
parents were natives of Holland. Mr. and Mrs. Moore have no children.
Charles P. O'Neil. Though only thirty years old Mr. O'Neil has
numerous distinction's and successes as a lawyer. With the exception
of a year spent in the Panama Republic, Mr. O'Neil has been identified
with Detroit since beginning practice in 1906, and is now a member of
the firm of McHugh, Gallagher, O'Neil & McGann. This is an associa
tion of four of the younger Detroit lawyers, and is regarded as one of
the strongest and ablest combinations of legal talent in the city, having
all the prestige usually associated with old established firms.
Charles Parnell O'Neil was born in the city of Detroit, September
26, 1883, a son of John J. and Mary (Dwyer) O'Neil. His father, who
is still living, was born in Toronto, Ontario, in 1856, a son of Thomas
O'Neil,- a native of Ireland, who on cOming to America first settled iri
Canada and about 1866 moved to Detroit, where he was connected with
the Michigan Stove Works as a foundryman when that industry was
first started. Mary Dwyer, the mother, was born in Quebec, Canada,
in 1855, a daughter of William Dwyer, who was born in Ireland, and
first liyed in Canada and later in Detroit, moving to the latter city -when
his daughter was a child. Her death occurred November 22, 1903.
Charles P. O'Neil grew up in Detroit, attended Our Lady of Help
parochial school, and the Detroit College; now the University of Detroit,
where he was graduated Bachelor of Arts with the class of 1903. The
same college conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts in ioo5.:
Mr. O'Neil is an alumnus of the Detroit College of Law, from which
he took his degree LL., B. in 1906, and was admitted to the bar in the
same year, Mr. O'Neil began practice at Detroit in association with
Philip A. McHugh, headof the firm with which Mr. O'Neil is now con
nected. A year and a half later, Mr. O'Neil dissolved partnership and
practiced alone for one year, then became associated with Edward Com
mand, who is now one of the justices of the peace in Detroit. In De^
cember, 1910, Mr. O'Neil left Detroit, and went to Colon, Panama, and
was engaged in the practice of law in that city, until May, 1912. While
on the Isthmus he organized the Colon Board of Commerce, and was its
secretary from June, 191 1, to May, 1912. He had much valuable ex
perience while in the canal zone, and is thoroughly well informed about
conditions in that now important and conspicuous possession of the
United States. On returning to Detroit, he resumed tbe practice of law,
and in May, 1913, again became associated with Mr. McHugh in the firm
relationship already noted.
During the 1912 campaign, Mr. O'Neil was chairman of the State
Committee of the Progressive party in Michigan, and did a splendid work
in the cause of the new political organization. He is a member of the
Lawyers Club of Detroit, and affiliated with the Knights of Columbus
and the Knights of Equity.

1090 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
He was married February 12, 1914, to Minerva Max, daughter of
Jacob and Louise Max, of Warren, Ohio.
James Buchanan. The business career of James Buchanan serves
to illustrate what industry, perseverance and integrity can accomplish
when directed along the proper channels. Coming to the United States
a boy in years, with a fairly good education, such as a country school
afforded in those days, without trade or capital, and possessed of no influ
ential friends, he has by his own efforts made a solid success of his life
and today is one of the well-known and successful builders of Detroit.
Mr. Buchanan was born on a farm just outside of the village of Drum-
quinn, in County Tyrone, Ireland, September 19, 1858, .and is a son of
Patrick and Mary (McCormick) Buchanan.
John Buchanan, the grandfather of James Buchanan, was a manu
facturer of woolen and linen cloth by water power, he having built his
mill at Drumquinn, in 1804, in the management of which his sons were as
sociated with him. This mill was destroyed by fire, in which the grand
father lost his life, but the sons built a second mill, in the subsequently
burning of which one of the sons, James, was killed. After the destruc
tion of the second mill, the brothers engaged in the manufacture of reeds
for weaving purposes by hand. The mother of Mr. Buchanan died on
the old homestead in Ireland in 1866, while the father passed away there
in 1894. Mr. Buchanan making a visit to his old home that same year to
see him before he passed away. In 1898 he made another visit to the old
home to see his brother, but arrived too late to see him alive.
James Buchanan attended the common schools of his native land and
spent one year and a half in studying mechanical engineering irt the city
of Belfast, and in 1875 left Erin and came to the United States, locating
in the city of Detroit. He was only a lad of seventeen years, without
money and without friends in the new country, and his sole capital when
he arrived in Detroit consisted of thirty dollars in gold. It is character
istic of the man that he never drew on that original capital. About that
time men of some mechanical ability were in demand at the Michigan
Central Railroad Company's shops, and Mr. Buchanan secured a position
there. It was there that his knowledge of mechanical engineering, gained
in Belfast stood him in good stead, for it soon gained him promotion to a
place in the pattern department, where he made drafts and patterns for
castings for large cars, and was advanced steadily. He put in some two
years in the car works, and then resigned, to engage in the building busi
ness, a business in which he has since continued with marked success. Of
late years, however, he has slacked off in his business, and does not now
attempt to carry on as large a business, as formerly. He has erected many
residences, public buildings, and factories for other people, and a number
pf stores and dwelling houses for himself, which he still owns and rents.
Mr. Buchanan is a member of the Carpenter Contractors' Association,
of which he has been vice-president three terms, president two terms and
treasurer two terms, a position in which he is now serving.
In 1879 Mr. Buchanan was married to Miss Mary Farry, who was born
in Ireland, and who died August 7, 1897, leaving the following children :
John, who is engaged in business with bis father ; Mary, who married Dr.
Fred Arner of Dexter, Michigan, and died February 18, 1914; James, who
is associated with his father in business ; Margaret, who is a teacher in the
public schools of Detroit; and Thomas, who is a brick mason by trade.
In 1899 Mr. Buchanan was married to Miss Jane Tyne, who was born
at Wallaceville, Michigan, and they have six children, namely : William,
Henry, Caroline, Jeannette, Robert and George.
Mr. Buchanan feels proud of being a citizen of this "Great Republic,"
which he calls "God's Own Country."

/WT

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1091
James Fulton Rumer, M. D. The oldest resident physician of Davi
son, Genesee county, Dr. Rumer has practiced medicine in that locality for
thirty-five years, and the scope of his service to individuals and the com
munity has been such as to make him one of the most useful men in the
entire county, and at the same time his abilities and attainments as a
scholar and skilled practitioner have given him a reputation among medical
men throughout the state.
. James Fulton Rumer was born in Logan county, Ohio, December 12,
1852, being the eighth of ten children born to James and Elizabeth
(Shrum) Rumer. His father was born in Harding county, Virginia, and
his. mother in Kentucky. After the death of James Rumer in 1854, the
mother was left with the care of a large family, and in i860 moved to
Cass county, Michigan, where she died in 1885. Her oldest child, Joseph,
enlisted at Chicago in an Illinois regiment of infantry during the Civil
war and died while in service.
The early education of Dr. Rumer was acquired in the primary schools
of Logan .county, later in the Columbus, Ohio, high school of that state,
he was graduated in the literary course from the Covenanter College at
NorthwOod, Ohio. His study of medicine was begun at Chicago in Rush
Medical College, but in 1889 he graduated M. D. from the Kentucky
School of Medicine at Louisville. In the same year of his graduation his
practice began at Davison, and in that community his work has gone on
for thirty-five years, and his practice in town and country has absorbed
all his time and energies. Dr. Rumer in 1890 went abroad and took post
graduate work in the London University for one year. Since his return
to Davison he has been recognized as fhe foremost physician and surgeon
of that village, and the demands upon his service have often been greater
than he could meet.
Dr. Rumer is a member of the Genesee County and State Medical So
cieties and the American Medical Association, and has been deeply inter
ested in the larger phases of public health- movements. During 1906-07
Dr. Rumer served as a member of the state senate, and while in that party
advocated and was instrumental in securing the passage of the first bill
establishing the tuberculosis hospital at Howell, and for his services in be
half of the bill received a vote of thanks from the State Medical Society.
Governor Warner later appointed him a member of the state board of
pardons, and his service continued until the close of Governor Warner's
administration. For the past twenty years Dr. Rumer has been surgeon
for the Grand Trunk railway at Davison. He is a thorough scholar in his
profession, a man of broad information and an original thinker on current
public questions, arid his name has often appeared in medical journals as
a contributor of special articles. He is affiliated with Davison Lodge of the
Masons, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. For many years he
has been one of the leading Republicans in his section of the state, and
besides his work. as state senator has served the town as president two
terms, and as a member of the school board for thirty years. His recrea
tion from the severe burdens of his profession and other work is chiefly
found in hunting and fishing.
In 1881 at Davison Dr. Rumer married Clara E. Golden, who was
born in Mount Morris, Michigan, a daughter of Enos and Sarah (Allen)
Golden, her father a prominent merchant of Mount. Morris, Michigan.
They are the parents of six children, one of whom is deceased, the others
being: Dr. Edward C. Rumer, who is a graduate of the Detroit College
of Medicine and now engaged in successful practice at Flint; James. F,
Rumer, who is in the service of the Santa Fe Railroad at Los Angeles,
California; Blanche, wife of Charles Demanois, member of the firm of
Dodd & Demanois, undertakers at Flint; Jesse -R. Rumer, who is travel-

1092 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
ling representative for an automobile supply company at Flint; Alan J.
Rumer, still pursuing his studies.
Horace J. Caulkins. A business firm which has been growing and
prospering through a period of thirty-five years at Detroit is that of H.
J. Caulkins & Company, of which Horace J. Caulkins is president and
manager. Mr. Caulkins has lived in Detroit more than" forty years,
built up a large business, and has long been an important factor in gen
eral business and civic circles.
Horace J. Caulkins is a native of Canada, born at Oshawa, in On
tario, July 12, 1850, a son of William and Elizabeth (Burns) Caulkins.
Educated in the public schools of Canada, his first business experience
was in a dry goods house at Niagara Falls, Ontario. In 1871 began his
residence in Detroit, and he was connected with the dry goods trade until
1877. In that year he began dealing in dental supplies, and then organ
ized the firm of H. J. Caulkins & Company. This business has been
steadily growing from its establishment. Its output is china kilns,
enamel furnaces, dental and high-heat furnaces, and the firm also han
dle a general line of dental supplies. Mr. Caulkins is likewise president
of the Pewabic Pottery Company, manufacturers of artistic pottery and
tile. In 1888 Mr. Caulkins was married in Detroit to Miss Minnie F.
Peck, daughter of the late George Peck, the well known Detroit banker
and philanthropist, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this publication.
George Peck. The late George Peck of Detroit was one of Michi
gan's best known bankers and honored citizens. For over half a century
he was closely identified with the banking and business interests of the
city, and in that time achieved a high reputation which made him known
all over the state, and it can be truthfully said that wherever he was
best known there was he most honored.
George Peck, like many successful business men, began his life on a
farm. His birthplace was the town of Lyme, New London county,
Connecticut. He was born there November 5, 1834, the son of George
R. and Elizabeth (Lee) Peck, both natives of Connecticut. The Peck
family were founded in America by William Peck, who came over from
London, England, in 1638. In 1639, he became one of the founders of
the colony of New Haven, Connecticut. From William Peck there is
a direct line of descent to the late George Peck.
On the old farm in Connecticut George Peck spent his early days,
had a good home and the stimulating atmosphere of New England life,
as part of his early training. His education was supplied first by the
¦district schools, and later by the Essex Academy of Connecticut. In
August, 1850, during his fourteenth year, his business career began as
general utility boy in a dry goods house at Utica, New York. There
his business capacity was rapidly developed, until he was offered a part
nership in the store. In the winter of 1856-57, ill health compelled him
to resign, and some time later he made a trip to the west, traveling
through Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa, chiefly for recupera
tion. With the result of his experience and observation, he returned to
Utica, and formed a partnership with James W. Frisbie, and they came
at once to Detroit and opened a retail dry goods store at 167 Jefferson
Street. Three years later the partnership was dissolved. Mr. Peck at
once engaged in the same line of trade independently, opening a store
on November 1, i860, at 137 Woodward Avenue. In tbat eligible sit
uation, in the heart of the retail district, he steadily prospered, and in
a short time was recognized as one of the leading retail merchants of

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1093
Detroit. In October, 1871, his store was moved to 155-57 Woodward
.Avenue, where the business was continued until February, 1887. At
that time ill health again compelled him to give up , the close confine
ment required by -merchandising, and that closed his career in that line
of business. In 1880 Mr. Peck had become president of the Michigan Savings
iBank, and continued as the head of that institution until his death. His
was a -fine /"ability -and genius in financial and general business affairs.
His influence and enterprise were communicated to many substantial
concerns in the Michigan metropolis. He was president of the Edison
Illuminating Company, a member of the board of directors of the De<-
troit Fire and Marine Insurance Company; of the Michigan Mutual Life
Insurance Company, and of the Detroit Trust Company.
¦ His success in business was equaled by his broad philanthropy, and
for many years, there was hardly a. movement or undertaking in that
direction with which his name was not associated, or to which his means
were not contributed. He was financial agent of the Protestant Orphan
Home, and made generous donations of : both time and money to the
support and management of its affairs, the institution being liberally
remembered in his will. For over twenty-five years he was- a trustee of
the First Presbyterian church. Mr. Peck :died at Detroit January 11,
1913; .-:.-.¦.
He was married on October 28, 1858, to Miss Sarah F. ¦ Butler,
daughter of the late Samuel F. Butler of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Mrs.
Peck died February 14, 1872. Their children were : Julia E., who resides
in Detroit; George B., who died November 3, 1906; Minnie F., who
married H. J. Caulkins of Detroit; and Barton L., ;
Hoyt Library. Saginaw has several fine public buildings, but the
most attractive one is the Hoyt Library, a gift to the city from the late
Jesse Hoyt of New York.
Mr. Hoyt was much interested in the development of East Sagiriaw,
and, his interest culminated in a legacy of $106,000 "for a suitable and
substantial building to be used as a library." ¦
The design is antique, the building material is bluish-gray limestone,
with red sandstone trimmings, and nature has outdone the architect by
covering the building with a rich growth of Japanese ivy. Ample grounds
showing rare trees and shrubs, add to the outside beauty.
The interior is finished in oak, walls and frescoes are in good taste,
and all the rooms are well lighted, spacious, and quiet, thus insuring an
ideal place for students and readers.
The library was established in 1891 as a Ref erence library. It opened
with 20,000 volumes and now numbers 34,000,' selected for every departr
ment of study.
On the reading room tables are 170 periodicals, the cream Of the
-English, American, French and German, and the whole collection of
books and periodicals is absolutely free to every one who desires to use. it.
John D. S. Hanson. Among hundreds of people in the middle west
the name John D. S. Hanson and of Hart, the county seat of Oceana
county, is almost synonymous. Though a _ lawyer by profession, Mr.
Hanson is best known in his own community and elsewhere as a real
estate operator, and he conducts the largest loan business, in western
Michigan. Along with unusual sagacity and judgment Mr. Hanson has
employed his energies so successfully that he would easily rank among the
foremost land men of the state.
John D. S. Hanson was born at Whitehall, Michigan, January .1, .1852,

1094 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
a son of John D. and Betsy (Austin) Hanson. The parents were of
Oceana pioneer stock, and were the first to select and purchase land in
the county and one of the first families to make a home there, settling in
1856. John D. Hanson, who was born in Norway in 1830 and died in
1888, came to America a child in company with his uncle. In March,
1 84 1, they located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but very shortly afterwards
came to western Michigan, where John D. Hanson became identified with
the lumbering business at Whitehall, and he and his uncle were among
the first in that industry in that locality. John D. Hanson subsequently
secured a large tract of land direct from the government costing only a
dollar and a quarter per acre, lived and prospered as a farmer, and though
coming to Michigan' a poor boy succeeded in rearing a large family, giving
them good home advantages and something to start in life, and left an
honored name. For a number of years he was a deputy United States
marshal in his district of Michigan. In politics he was a Republican and
a member of the Lutheran church. There were nine children, seven of
whom are living, among whom the Hart lawyer and real estate man is
¦fifth. The other children are: Lena, who married George C. Myers, an
Oceana county farmer; C. H., who is a farmer at Frankfort, Michigan;
M.- W., a farmer in Oceana county; W. S., in business at Hart and circuit
.court commissioner; Lillie, who married Will Peck, a machinist at Mus
kegon; and F. M., who is at the head of a borse farm at Balti
more, Maryland.
The early boyhood days of J. D. S. Hanson were spent on what is
familiarly known as the "old Hanson farm" in Claybanks township. In
the same locality his early education was received, and the instruction of
country schools was supplemented by a two years' course at Hillsdale Col
lege. He left college in order to return home and assist his mother in the
management of the home place, and also did some teaching. Mr. Hanson
early took an interest in public affairs, and held the offices of constable,
supervisor and school inspector in Claybanks township.
The country remained the scene of his efforts until 1882, when he
became a candidate on the Republican ticket for the office of sheriff of
Oceana county, and his election caused his removal to Hart. He was
re-elected in 1884 by an increased majority. Mr. Hanson also held the
office of deputy United States marshal for several years. Meanwhile he
had been devoting his attention to the study of law, and was admitted to
practice in 1885. After leaving the office of sheriff he was clerk in the
senate of the Michigan legislature during the session of 1887. In 1888 he
entered active practice in the law office of M. H. Brooks, but in the fall
of the same year was elected prosecuting attorney of Oceana county, and
in the following year, while still holding his place as prosecutor, was
appointed probate clerk by the Hon. W. H. Churchill, the probate judge
of the county. In addition to these offices of trust he has also held that
of village president and of village attorney of Hart. He is also a member
of the Board of Education and has been its secretary for the past 20 years.
During his administration in the village he was an effective instrument in
abolishing the liquor traffic and saloons from Hart.
At the expiration of his term as prosecutor Mr. Hanson resumed prac
tice, building up a very fine business in the law, and on January 1, 1895,
took in as partner his younger brother, Winfield S. Almost from the
first Mr. Hanson has combined real estate and loan business with his
practice as a lawyer, and for a number of years the latter has been subor
dinate in value to the former. He handles real estate all over the country,
and operates both as a broker and as a dealer on his own account, buying
a great deal of property in his own name. At the present time Mr. Han
son owns some sixteen hundred acres of land in Oceana county, and has

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1095
helped to swell the fame of Oceana county as a fruit center by his orchard
of one hundred and sixty acres, where bis crops of peaches, apples and
cherries are among the finest in quality produced in the county. Mr.
Hanson has been a man of varied affairs and interests, and in addition to
his business and offices above enumerated, he was publisher from 1892 to
1902 of the Hart Journal.
The Hanson home at Hart is one of the finest in Oceana county and
has long been a center of social and musical activities in the community.
On October 22, 1876, Mr. Hanson married Miss Ada Tower, a daughter
of Harvey Tower, who was born in the state of Maine and, was an early
settler in Oceana county, where he followed farming and lumbering and
at his death left a substantial amount of property. To. Mr. and Mrs.
Hanson have been born six children, four of whom are living, namely:
Laura D., who is the wife of James B. McCaullan, an abstractor at Hart;
Edith, who is a graduate of the Hart schools and of the Michigan Con
servatory of Music at Detroit ; Verna I., the wife of Fred A. Luther, whp
is the owner of a two hundred acre farm near Hart ;. John D. S. Jr., in
business with his father. Mr. Hanson affiliates with the Congregational
church and belongs to Muskegon Lodge No. 274 of Elks, to the Independ
ent Order of Odd Fellows and to the Maccabees at Hart. A Republican
in politics, he has always taken an active interest in the success of his
party and has done the substantial work of a civic nature. Among his
friends and business associates Mr. Hanson has enjoyed a reputation fpr
a genial personality combined with generous and courteous traits of social
and business relationship.
John Brennan. One of the, oldest industries of Detroit is the John
Brennan & Company Steam Boiler Works. Its history goes back to a
time more than sixty-five years ago when John Brennan and his uncle
James invested a moderate amount of capital in a small boiler shop in
the city, and thus laid the foundation for the business which has beeri
conducted under its present title for over a half a century. John Bren
nan was a man of exceptional business capacity, and his name deserves
a prominent place among those of early Detroit manufacturers. Since
his death twenty-four years ago the business has been conducted under
its original corporate title, with his nephew Frank S. Werneken as presi
dent of the company. ,
Born in Ireland March 16, 1820, the parents of John Brennan in the
same year emigrated to America, and died in the city of New York a
few years later. Left an orphan, John Brennan had to depend upon his
own resources from the time he was ten years of age, received very
limited schooling, and finally won success by sheer industry and native
ability. His early training in the trade of blacksmith was gained in the
shops of the Allair Iron Works of New York. In 1847, an energetic
and ambitious young man of twenty-seven, he came to Detroit, and join
ing his uncle,' James Brennan, invested his moderate savings in a small
shop fpr the manufacture of boilers. This was conducted under the
firm name of J. & J. Brennan for some years, but in 1865 John Bren
nan became sole owner, and with his thorough technical knowledge of
business arid his skill as a manager it expanded into one of the largest
concerns of its kind at Detroit. The business was incorporated as John
Brennan & Company in 1882, and Mr. Brennan remained its president
until his death in 1890.
Occupying a high place in business affairs, John Brennan was equally
liberal and public spirited as a citizen, and has much part in the civic
and social life of Detroit during the middle decade of the city. As a
member of the old volunteer fire department, in the Continental com-

1096 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
pany No. 8, he was one of the young men who "ran with the machine"
for the protection of life and property from the ravages of fire at a
time when modern equipment of fire apparatus was unknown. Possess
ing fine musical taste, be lent his influence to the promotion of musical
affairs in Detroit, and for some time was treasurer of- the Handel &
Haydn Musical Association. His political affiliation was with the Dem
ocratic party.
In 1839 Mr. Brennan married Miss Matilda Van Drummond at Long
Island, New York. She died in Detroit and their only child, a son, is
also deceased. April 28, 1851, Mr. Brennan married Miss Hannah Hil
ton Butler, a'native of Maine and a kinswoman of General Benjamin F.
Butler of Massachusetts. ' Her death occurred three years after that of
Mr. Brennan, and their only son is also deceased.
Frank S. Werneken. President of the pioneer Detroit industry
known as the John Brennan & Company Steam Boiler. Works, Frank S.
Werneken is a nephew of John Brennan, founder of that industry, and
his own active connection with the work covers a- period of forty years,
in which time he became a master of the business and well earned his
present position as its executive head.
Frank Stevens Werneken was born at Jersey City, New Jersey,
March 16, 1850. During his early childhood his parents Francis J., and
Mary A. (Brennan) Werneken both died, and in i860 the orphan boy
came to Detroit to live with his uncle, John Brennan, for whose, fatherly
care as well as for his upright and successful business career Mr.
Werneken will always feel a supreme gratitude. Educated in the De
troit public schools and the' old Goldsmith Business University, in 1873,
he was taken into the employ of his uncle, and the Steam Boiler Works
have ever since been the field in which his individual career has been
worked out. His training was both in the mechanical details of manu
facture as well as in the business office, and for a number of years John
Brennan relied upon his assistance and younger eriergy for the greater
part of the business management. Since the death of Mr. Brennan in
1890 Mr. Werneken has been president of the company, and its rank
as a Detroit industry and continued prosperity are largely due to his
capable direction. Other business interests outside the Steam Boiler
Works have claimed his attention, and at one time Mr. Werneken was
director of the old American Exchange National Bank of Detroit.
Plis relations with the community at large are indicated by his mem
bership in the Detroit Board of Commerce, the Detroit Club, the Coun
try Club, the Lake St. Clair Hunting and Fishing Club (Old Club), the
Detroit Boat Club, of which he has been president, a charter member
of the Detroit Athletic Club, and his fraternal membership is with Ori
ental Lodge, A. F. & A. M. Mr. Werneken was a charter member and
the first president of the Michigan Naval Reserve.
His marriage occurred in 1873 in Chicago to Miss Helen R. Scott,
who was born at Auburn, New York, and died in Detroit December 15,
1908. The son and three daughters born to their marriage are : Frank
E., who graduated from Yale University in 1907 and is now treasurer
of the John Brennan & Company Steam Boiler Works, married in June,
1913, Miss Frances Russel, daughter of the prominent Detroit business
man, George' H. Russel ; Maude, the oldest of the three daughters, is the
wife of Frank S. Taylor, of Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts; Margaret
is the wife of Arthur C. Tilton of Norwood, Massachusetts; and Miss
Helen lives with her father, in Detroit.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1097
a
Charles G. Matzen. President and cashier of the Clio State Bank,
also in the real estate and insurance business at that place, Mr. Matzen
has been identified with banking practically all his active career. He is
one of the successful younger men in business affairs in Genesee county,
and his early accomplishments presage a large and useful career in busi
ness affairs.
Charles G. Matzen was born April 15, 1878, in Port Huron, Michi
gan. He was the third in a family of five children born to Mattbias and
Marie (Petersen) Matzen, both natives of Germany, where they were
married. The father was a miller by trade, and came to America and
settled in Michigan about forty years ago. His first location was at Delhi
in Washtenaw county, and he followed milling there and at other points
very successfully until his death in 1907 in Cass City of Tuscola county,
at the age of sixty-nine years. He was an Independent Republican in
politics, and a member of the Lutheran church. Tbe mother is still living,
a resident of Flint, and her four living children are as follows : George,
a resident of Seattle, Washington; Sophia, who lives in Saginaw; and
Edna, of Flint ; and Charles- G.
Mr. Matzen was educated partly in Port Huron, and in 1897 gradu
ated from the Croswell high school. His first position after leaving
school was in the State Bank of Carsonville, and with -the exception of
one year spent in the post office at Carsonville, his experience has been
almost exclusively that of a banker. He assisted in the organization of
the Clio State Bank, which was formerly a private bank conducted by
Charles H. May and Company. The Bank was organized in June, 191 1,
and Mr. Matzen was made its vice president and cashier. In January,
1914, at the annual meeting of the directors, he was elected its president.
During his earlier career he served as assistant cashier in the Exchange
Bank at Cass City.
In politics, Mr. Matzen is a Republican, has membership in the Sagi
naw Canoe Club, the Clio Board of Trade, and is a member of the
Episcopal church. He was married on June 24, 1913, at Clio, to Miss
Edith Oliff, who was born in this state, a daughter of Thomas and Emily
Oliff, well known old settlers of Clio, where the father' is a brick manu
facturer and has a prominent part in business and civic affairs of that
locality. Besides the business of the Clio State Bank, Mr. Matzen handles
many transactions in real estate and .insurance, and would easily be desig
nated as one of the ablest business men in Clio at this time.
Charles Corbishley. - In touching the annals of Sanilac county and
its thriving, village of Sandusky there is special propriety in according a
definite tribute to the honored citizen whose name initiates- this para
graph. He has been a most influential force in furthering the develop
ment and upbuilding of Sandusky and stands today as the pioneer busi
ness man of the village, even as he has been long recognized as one of its
most liberal and public-spirited citizens. His sons are associated with
him in the conducting of a mercantile business and he is the owner of much
valuable realty in his home town, including both business buildings and
excellent residence properties. Mr Corbishley established his residence
at Sandusky when this county seat was in its incipiency and here he has
exerted his influence for the general advancement of tbe community, be
sides being foremost in the work of upbuilding the attractive and prosper-*-
ous village in which his varied interests have continued to be centered and
in which he is known and honored. He is a scion of a sterling pioneer
family of Michigan, within whose borders he has lived from the time of
his nativity.
Charles Corbishley was bom in St. Clair, St. Clair county, Michigan,
on the ist of August, 1848, and he is a son of Joseph C. and Susan

1098 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
(Mahon) Corbishley, the former of whom was born in the city of Lon
don, England, and the latter of whom was a native of the north of Ire
land, their marriage having been solemnized in London. Joseph C.
Corbishley, in company with his wife and his brother John, immigrated
from London to the United States in 1848, and in that year he established
his home at St. Clair, Michigan, which was then a mere village, as was
also Port Huron, the judicial center of the same county. He was an
expert tanner and furrier, and in the work of his trade he became well
known throughout Michigan, as he went from place to place and did tan
ning and curing of leather, there having been at that early date practically
no established tanneries in the new state. He thus visited various places
where hides had been accumulated and there gave his supervision to the
manufacturing of the same into leather. He became one of the leading
citizens of St. Clair county, commanded the implicit confidence of all who
knew him and continued to be identified with the tanning business until
his death, in 1882, at the age of sixty-two years. His widow was seventy
years old at the time of her demise, in 1900. The brother John located at
Port Huron and he likewise became a successful business man. Joseph
C. and Susan (Mahon) Corbishley became the parents of four children,
Jennie, who died at the age of twenty years; George W., who was
twenty-two years of age at the time of his death, in 1879; Charles, who
is the immediate subject of this review ; and Albert, who is next to Charles
in age. Charles Corbishley completed the curriculum of the St. Clair high
school when he was sixteen years of age, and after his graduation he was
a sailor on vessels plying the Great Lakes until he had attained to the age
of twenty-two years. In 1870 he assumed a position as clerk in the gen
eral store of Colonel Henry Whiting, at St. Clair. After three years he
became manager of the branch store maintained by Colonel Whiting at
Smith's Creek, St. Clair county, and after being in the employ of the
Colonel for a period of six years he purchased this branch store, which he
conducted for two years. He then removed to the" site of Sandusky, the
present county seat of Sanilac county, and at that time there was not a
completed house or business building to mark the site of the town which
has owed much to his enterprise and energy for its upbuilding and civic
advancement. Several buildings were, however, in course of erection, and
Mr. Corbishley forthwith instituted the building of a store and a dwelling.
After establishing his family in the new home he gave his close attention
to the development of his general merchandise business, and his fair and
honorable dealings gained to him a substantial support, the same increas
ing with the general settling up and development of the village and sur
rounding country. Finally Mr. Corbishley found it necessary to enlarge
his first store, and later he erected at the side of the original structure a
modern- two-store building of brick, containing two store rooms. This
fine new building is utilized in connection with the enlarged store that has
from the first been the business headquarters of Mr. Corbishley, and the
aggregate floor space now available is nearly 95,000 square feet, making
the establishment one of the largest in Sanilac county, even as it controls
a trade that is not exceeded by that of any similar concern in this section
of the state. The Corbishley store is situated directly opposite the county
court house, and aside from this admirably equipped business house Mr.
Corbishley has also erected and still owns several other business blocks in
the town, as well as a number of dwelling houses. Adjoining Sandusky
he owns a well improved farm of eighty acres, and upon this he now main
tains his home.
Mr. Corbishley's success has been worthily won, the while he has been
able to make ample provision for declining years and to make generous

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1099
home environments for his wife and children. It may be said with all of
consistency that every person who knows him is his friend, and he places
deep appreciation on bis friends, one and all, for loyalty and integrity
having been dominating elements in his nature.
Taking a vital interest in all that has tended to conserve the material
and social advancement of his home town and county, Mr. Corbishley has
wielded much influence in public affairs of a local order, and while he
has not been ambitious for official preferment he consented to- serve two
terms, of two years each, as county treasurer, an office to which he was
first elected in the autumn of 1893. Owing to the demands of his busi
ness, affairs he has refused to accept further political trust. He. is a
staunch Republican, and has been affiliated witb the Masonic fraternity
since 1872, in which year he was raised to the degree of Master Mason in
the lodge at Memphis, Macomb county. He has since become affiliated
with the chapter of Royal Arch Masons. He is a member of the Sandusky
commandery of Knights Templars and also holds, membership in the
Independent Order of Foresters.
On the 2d of July, 1876, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Corbish
ley to Miss Mary Vincent, who was born and reared in St. Clair county,
this state, Her death occurred in March, 1897, and was the occasion of
deepest mourning in the community in which she lived. She was a woman
of highest ideals and was a beautiful character. In conclusion of this
review are given data concerning the five children of Mr. and Mrs. Cor
bishley : Fred A. Corbishley, who was born at Smith's Creek, St. Clair
county, on the 9th of November, 1878, gained the major part of his edu
cation in the public schools of Sandusky. When but fifteen years of age
he began to assist in his father's store,- and at the age of twenty-one years
he engaged in the clothing business in an independent way. He now
conducts one of the leading clothing and shoe stores of Sandusky, and in
a separate establishment he associated with his father and brother in the
hardware business, this enterprise likewise being one of broad scope and
importance as considered in a relative way. He is a Republican in politics
and served as village treasurer of Sandusky in 1909-10. He is affiliated
with the local lodge and chapter of the Masonic fraternity and he and his
wife are communicants of tbe Protestant Episcopal church. On the.ioth
of November, 1898, Fred A. Corbishley wedded Miss Carrie C. Sherman,
who was born at Richmondville, on the 19th of July, 1874/ and whose
father, the late Andrew Sherman was a pioneer in the lumber industry
in this part of the state. Mr. and Mrs. Corbishley became the parents of
two children, of whom one is living, — Charles was born on the 15th of
November, 1901 ; and Fred Winston, who was born March 23, 1903, died
on the nth of March, 1914. Mrs. Corbishley is secretary of the San
dusky Women's Club, and is also active in local fraternal circles, includ
ing those of the Order' of the Eastern Star, the Maccabees and the For
esters. Lee J. Corbishley, second son of the subject of this review, is
associated with his father in the hardware business at Sandusky, in which
village he was reared and educated. In 191 1 he wedded Miss May Ger
trude Detweiler, of Brown City, Sanilac county, and they have one son,
John, who was born in 1912. Harry" Corbishley, the third son, is asso
ciated with his father in the general merchandise business. In 1912 he
wedded Miss Katherine Passage of Plymouth, and they are popular
in the social activities of Sandusky. Miss May Jennie Corbishley, the
only daughter of him to whom' this review is dedicated, remains with
her father. Alger Cprbishley, the youngest of the children, was likewise
reared arid educated in Sandusky, where he is nbw associated with, the
business of his father.

1100 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
John M. Donaldson. For more than thirty years the leading firm
of architects in the city of Detroit has been that of Donaldson & j^leier.
Architecture was a boyhood passion of John M. Donaldson, and it was
the happy fortune of both himself and the large community which he has
since served that he had unexcelled opportunities for cultivating his
taste and pursuing his art under most favorable circumstances. Mr.
Donaldson has a long record of achievements in his work, and in any
well chosen list of American architects his name would very justly have
a place. John M. Donaldson was born at Stirling, Scotland, January 17, 1854.
His parents, John W. and Isabella (McNaughton) Donaldson, came to
America in 1856, locating in Detroit the same year. Later the parents
moved to St. Clair, Michigan. Two years of age, when brought to De
troit, Mr. Donaldson grew up in this city, was educated in the public
schools, and early showed marked aptitude and genius for drawing and
that art which is most closely associated with architecture. His first
experience and the cultivation of these tastes were obtained in the office
of J. V. Smith, a pioneer Detroit architect. After an apprenticeship
with Mr. Smith he went abroad, studied art and architecture in the
Polytechnic and Art Academy of Munich, Germany; and in the Atelier
Andre, Ecole des Beaux Arts, at Paris. Returning to the United States
in 1877 Mr. Donaldson took charge of the office of George Metzger in
Buffalo, New York, for one year. On his return to Detroit, his first
association was with the late Henry T. Brush, until the death of the
latter in 1879. In 1880 was formed the present firm of Donaldson &
Meier, of which Mr. Donaldson has since been the senior member.
A complete list of the achievements of this firm in Detroit would be
too long for a brief sketch, but among the better known buildings for
which they have drawn the plans and have had the architectural super
vision are the following: The Union Trust Building, the Penobscot
Building, the Washington Arcade Building, the St. Clair Hotel, the
Alumni Memorial Hall at University of Michigan, the New Board of
Commerce Building, Chapel and Crematorium at Woodmere Cemetery,
the Bagley Buildings, besides many other important structures.
Mr. Donaldson is a member of the board of directors of the Ameri
can Institute of Architects ; is a member of the Architectural League of
America, the National Institute of Arts and Letters, the America Civic
Association; the Detroit Museum of Arts, the Detroit Board of Com
merce, the Detroit Club and the Detroit Boat Club. Mr. Donaldson was
married at St. Clair, Michigan, November 30, 1882, to Mrs. C. E.
(Grosvenor) Brush. They have three sons, Fred T., Alexander G. and
Bruce M.
Karl Eugen Guthe. In the field of higher 'scholarship and educa
tion, Karl Eugen Guthe is best known as a physicist and as department
dean of the University of Michigan. Dr. Guthe became identified with
the faculty of the university more than twenty years ago, and with the
exception of four years spent in the University of Iowa his work as a
scholar and educator has been chiefly done in this state. Besides his posi
tion as a university professor, Dr. Guthe has numerous relations with
learned societies, has been a contributor to scientific literature, and has
served on various- scientific boards.
Karl Eugen Guthe was born in Hanover, Germany, March 5, 1866,
a son of Otto and Anna (Hanstein) Guthe. He was educated in the
Gymnasium at Hanover, tbe Hanover Technical School, and the Uni
versities of Marburg, Strassburg and Berlin. In 1889 he passed the state
examination at Marburg, and was awarded the degree Doctor of Philos
ophy in 1892.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1101
Dr; Guthe came to the United States in 1892, and in the same year
was married at Grand Rapids, Michigan, to Clara Belle Ware. From
1893 to 1900 he was instructor in physics at the University of Michigan,
served as assistant professor during 1901-03, and from 1903 to 1905 was
associate physicist with the Bureau of Standards under the Federal
government. Dr. Guthe was professor of physics and head of the depart
ment in the State University of Iowa in 1905-09, and was then recalled
to the University of Michigan, where he has held the chair of Professor
of Physics since 1909. In 19*12 the University of Michigan established a
Graduate Department and Dr. Guthe was appointed its first Dean. This
position he still holds.
At the St. Louis Exposition in 1904 Dr. Guthe was a member of the
jury of awards in the electricity department. He is a Fellow of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science, of which he was
vice president in 1908 ; a member of the American Physical Society, being
it's vice president since 1914 ; of the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaf t,
the Societe Francaise de Physique; the Society for the Prorriotion of
Engineering Education ; of the Philosophical Society of Washington ; the
Washington Academy of Sciences, and the Iowa Academy of Science.
His work as an author includes many contributions of papers on physics,
particularly on electricity, to scientific journals, and also of the following
text books and -scientific treatises: "Manual of Physical Measurements,"
with J. O. Reed as joint author, three editions of which were published,
namely in 1902, 1907 and 1912; "Laboratory Exercises with Primary and
Storage Cells," 1 1903 ; "Text Book of Physics," of which he is a joint
author, published in 1908 and another edition in 1909; joint author with
J. O.- Reed of "College Physics," published in- 191 1; "Definitions in
Physics," published in 1913. Dr. Guthe's home is at 725 Cambridge Road
in Ann Arbor.
DeVere: Hall. For a number of years before his death DeVere
Hall of Bay City was regarded as one of the ablest and- most successful
members of the Michigan bar. His death on December 15, 1913, was
widely noted by the press of the state and through the Middle West.
DeVere Hall had a limited education when a' youth, taught school and
worked in various occupations, read law in his spare hours, and after
being admitted to the bar labored until he attained a place among the
leaders of his profession.
DeVere Hall was born in Michigan, August 23, 1854, and was a son
of early settlers of this state. The death of his parents when he was
quite young threw him upon his own resources and under the care of
others outside of his immediate family. By hard work he qualified him
self for, teaching, and- eventually became principal of a high school, con
ducting his law studies at night and during vacation. On being- admitted
to the bar Mr. Hall began practice in Genessee county and then moved to
Caseville, where- he was also identified with school work for a time. His
next location was at West Branch, where he practiced until moving to
Bay City.
During his residence at West Branch, Mr. Hall was elected and served
a member of the legislature of Michigan for two terms, and proved his
services in the passage of many important measures for the benefit of his
constituency and the state at large. In politics Mr. Hall was first a
Republican and then a Progressive. He held membership in both the
State and American Bar Association.
By his marriage to Augusta Ora Brown, Mr. Hall had six children,
menioned as follows : - Sidney DeVere Hall is a Detroit contractor and
has one child, named Catherine Hall. Vera M. is the wife of Congress--

1102 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
man Woodruff of the Tenth Congressional District, and their children
are Gretchen D. and DeVere Woodruff. Ray A. Hall, born at Caseville,
Michigan, a member of the firm of DeVere Hall & Converse which suc
ceeding his father in practice at Bay City, has two children, Mary Anna
and DeVere Hall, II ; the latter was married on July 8, 1908, at Bay City
to Marjory H. Finn, read law in office with his father, and is a grad
uate of the Portland Law School at Portland, Oregon, in 191 1, since
which time he has been in practice with his father in Bay City. Irving J.
Hall has his home in Detroit. The two youngest are Cecil M. Hall artd
Jack C, the latter attending the Bay City high school.
Hon. Peter B. Loomis. The settlers in Jackson during the early
years of the city's history are nearly all gathered to their final rest. Among
the venerable men who until within the last few years have survived, as
reminders of the small beginnings and rapid growth of the municipality,
was the late Hon. Peter B. Loomis, who passed away at, his home at
Jackson, December 30, 1905, in the eighty-sixth year of his age. He was
full of years, crowned with the fruits of an industrious life, and with an
unsullied reputation for business integrity and for fidelity to all the public
and social relations that surround the citizen. For a longer period than
any other of its citizens he was identified with the history, growth and
progress of the city which for sixty-two years had been his home, and in
the welfare of which he took a laudable civic pride. Among those who
were the makers of Jackson he was an acknowledged leader. It is a notable
fact that most of the men to whom this city owes its largest debt of grati
tude were from the state of New York. Mr. Loomis' name was identified
with that of Amos Root, Moses A. McNaughton, William D. Thompson,
Henry A. Hayden, Hiram H. Smith, Jerome B. Eaton, William H. With
ington, Eugene Pringle and Enoch Bancker, who, while not all natives
of the Empire state, showed the same enterprising spirit in their operations
that had made New York the greatest American commonwealth.
Peter B. Loomis was born at Amsterdam, New York, April 14, 1820,
and when a few months of age he was taken by his parents to Rochester.
That flourishing city was then a small village, but five years later the Erie
Canal was finished and modern western progress began. There he re
ceived a fair education, and at the age of sixteen years opened a general
store in a village near Rochester. This was the early beginning of his
business career, but dissatisfied with the credit system then in vogue he
disposed of his business in the next year and decided to accept a position
offered him in the government survey of Texas, at that time belonging to
Mexico. However, on his way there, having reached Little Rock,
Arkansas, he was recalled to Rochester by what seemed a favorable open
ing, and at the age of eighteen years, in 1838, became a dry goods merchant
in that city, where he carried on a business for about four years. Thus
equipped with seven years of experience, in 1843 Mr. Loomis came to
Jackson, and this continued to be his home until the time of his death.
From that time until the year 1850 he was a member of the dry goods firm
of Loomis & Dwight, and in the latter year became sole proprietor of the
Kennedy flouring mill in this city, which he operated until 1854. In the
year 1856 he embarked in the banking business, and later was a partner
in the banking firm of Loomis & Whitwell. From that time on he was
prominently and continuously identified with banking interests, a period
of almost a half a century. Succeeding this, the firm of P. B. Loomis &
Company was organized, and continued in business until merged with the
City Bank, Jackson's oldest and most prominent financial institution
several years before Mr. Loomis' death. Through all vicissitudes and
panics tbe Loomis banks retained public confidence in a marked degree.
Taking a leading part in a movement to supply the city, with gas, a com-

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1103
pany was organized in 1857, and Mr. Loomis was the incorporator and
first president of the Jackson Gas Company, a position he held for many
years. In 1868, at a citizens' meeting, Mr. H. H. Smith and Mr. Loomis
were requested to take charge of the project to build a railroad to Fort
Wayne, Indiana, a distance of one hundred miles. They organized a
company, of which Mr. Smith became president, and Mr. Loomis treas
urer. The men of the present generation know nothing of the persistent
work that was required forty or forty-five years ago, of the diplomacy
that was needed to combine the efforts of the communities, and of the
showing that was demanded to obtain .financial assistance from established
companies to insure success. No other movement in the history of Jack
son more thoroughly attests the ability of its pioneer citizens than their
successful efforts to make it an important railroad center for all future
time. A little earlier start in these enterprises would have resulted in
failure ; a little later would have been of no use. In this work Mr. Loomis
was an essential factor, and the Fort Wayne Railroad was completed in
1871. Mr. Smith retiring to take charge of the construction of the Detroit
& Bay City Railroad, Mr. Loomis succeeded him as president, and also
became general manager, holding these positions until the lease of the
road to the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern. Before engaging in this
enterprise, he had been a director of the Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw, and
was a member of the financial committee and treasurer of the Grand
River Valley Company. Earlier he was active in obtaining the extension
of the Jackson branch of the Michigan Southern into the city in 1857,
which was the real beginning of the careers of several of Jackson's citi
zens as railroad builders. Here it may not be inappropriate to insert an
incident which occurred iii 1877, and which indicates the judgment, im
partiality, acumen and justice which characterized each of Mr. Loomis'
business methods. During that year of intense labor troubles, a meeting
of prominent railroad presidents and managers was held in New York
City. With them Chief Arthur, of the Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers, requested an audience and an interview. At first there was a
disposition to refuse this reasonable request, but President Loomis, who
was present, openly advocated the wiser policy of compliance, with the
result that the railroad presidents and managers held a conference with
Chief Arthur, and the first working .agreement with organized railroad
employes was entered into. Strikes were frequent among railroad men
that year, but there were none on the Fort Wayne road during the presi
dency of Mr. Loomis.
It is not possible in a sketch of this nature to give more than a brief
outline of a man whose business life extended through the average dura
tion of two generations of the human family. In all spheres of activity,
as a merchant, a manufacturer, a banker, a railroad official, and in public
life, he was clear-headed, efficient and painstaking. Business principles
were with him one thing ; charity was another. Beautiful Loomis Park,
on East Main street, was one of his gifts to the city of Jackson. In 1858
he was elected the second mayor of the city, Hon. James C. Wood having
been chosen in 1857, the year the village became a city, and in his message
to the council he advocated the improvement of Grand river, then the city's
only sewer, a work which at the time of his death, forty-seven years later,
the municipality had fairly entered upon. In the fall of 1858 he was
elected a representative in the state legislature, and was an influential
member of that body. The same thoughtful attention that he gave to
his private affairs he devoted to the details of legislation.
The year 1880 saw Mr. Loomis' retirement from the active manage
ment of business, to the details of which he entrusted younger men. In
1883 he took a trip to Japan in company with his friend Robert Harris, of
Connecticut, but upon his return again plunged into the activities of life.
Vol. n— 30

1104 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
He served a term on the Board of State Charities and Corrections, was
a member of the City Board of Public Works, edited a newspaper, the
Daily Courier, predecessor of the Daily Press, devoted much time and
thought to projects for the benefit of the public; devised plans for adver
tising the many business advantages possessed by Jackson, with which no
citizen was more familiar, and was the promoter and leading factor of
the "General Welfare Association." Earlier, he served for several terms
as a member of the city council, and for one year was chief of the fire
department. Every public office he accepted as a public trust, and the
public recognized and appreciated his efforts.
The possessor of a retentive memory, an extensive reader and an
independent thinker, Mr. Loomis was an excellent conversationalist.
Socially he was a general favorite. Sham and false pretenses were his
special abhorrence. The same liberty of thought he claimed for himself
he tolerated in others. His mind and his methods were practical. As a
merchant, it was said of him that he made his store attractive ; as a mill
owner and manager he made a competence with the poor machinery of
the early 'fifties; as a banker he was prepared for such emergencies as
those of 1857, 1873 and 1893 ; as a railroad manager he operated loco
motives at less than half the average cost per mile; and as his crowning
act in that capacity, which originated in his sense of fairness to all men,
he secured a hearing for Chief Arthur which resulted in peace between the
railways and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers; and as a public
speaker he was forcible and direct upon all public questions that called
for an expression of opinion or the elucidation of matters that were under
consideration. Yet, with all of his public service, he was never a poli
tician ; for he followed his convictions into whatever new associations they
might lead him. With an independence as absolute as that of the Scotch
laird who asserted that "Where McGregor sits is the head of the table,"
he awarded to others all the rights that he claimed for himself. His
conversation was always clean, and in his social life he was as successful
as in his business associations. "In public matters, especially in the conduct
of city affairs, he was always a consistent advocate of economy, of per
manent improvements, and of civic righteousness — the righteousness of
right conduct. He never used public office to promote private gain. Pos
sessing the courage of his own convictions, ever unwilling to accept any
makeshift policy, and admiring integrity of character and purpose, explains
why he was never, in the ordinary sense of the term, a politician; and
yet no prominent citizen of Jackson was better qualified to serve the public
and promote the general welfare.
In the field of literature Mr. Loomis was a wide gleaner, as well as
a concise and forcible writer. Carlyle was his favorite author, probably
because of his strong and graphic language and his hatred of shams. In
Japanese life and literature, he also felt an abiding interest and his esti
mate of Japanese character and courage, formed from personal observa
tion, has been fully verified by recent events. His chief pleasures were
found among his friends, in his large library, and among the members of
his family. He was married first in 1848 to Miss Harriet Kennedy, with
whom he celebrated a silver wedding anniversary in 1873, and a few
months later she passed away, having been the mother of three children :
Peter Burr and George E., residents of Jackson ; and Irene K., who later
became Mrs. N. S. Potter and who died in this city. Mr. Loomis was
married to Miss Emma S. Gilbert, in 1874. She was born at Roch
ester, New York, June 6, 1837. Her fatber, Grove S. Gilbert, was
a well-known artist and portrait painter of his day, and spent his entire
life in New York state, following his vocation for a great many years in
the city of Rochester. Three children have been born to the second union :

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1105
Edna, who is now the wife of Benjamin F. Chase, of Jackson; and Allen
and Gilbert S., both residents of Detroit, and holding responsible positions
with the Packard Motor Car Company.
George N. Brady. One of the most highly honored of the native
sons of Detroit, where he was born in the year that marked the ad
mission of Michigan to the Union, Mr. Brady has witnessed the devel
opment of Detroit from the status of a small town, the original capital
of the state, to that of one of the most beautiful metropolian centers
of the United States. He has marked the intervening years with large
and worthy achievement, was long numbered , among the most active
and influential business men of his. native city, and his life has been or
dered upon the highest plane of integrity and honor, so that he has emi
nently merited the high esteem in which he has ever been held by all
who have known him or have in the least been familiar with his earnest
and upright career. Further interest attaches to the record of his life
by reason of the fact that he is a representative of distinguished ance'stry
and of a family whose name has been most conspicuously identified with
Michigan history since the early territorial epoch. Mr. Brady is now
living virtually retired, after years of earnest and prolific endeavor, and
though his interests still center in Detroit, where he still maintains an
office, he is signally favored in having of late years his home in the
beautiful Bloomfield hills district near . Birmingham, Oakland county, a
section readily accessible to Detroit by means of an electric interurban
line. The Brady family is of Scotch-Irish lineage and was founded in
America about 1736, the first settlement being made in New Jersey,
whence removal was made to Pennsylvania, where representatives of the
name became prominent in colonial affairs. Two sons of Captain John
Brady became famous as Indian fighters, and one of these, Captain
Samuel Brady, is known in history as the person who made the daring
"Brady's Leap," in Ohio, after having been captured by the Indians,
the scene of this historic action still perpetuating his name and fame.
One of the sons was the-gallant and distinguished General Hugh Brady.,
Major General Hugh Brady, of the United States army, was born
at Standingstone, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, July 29, 1768, and
was the fifth son of Captain John and Mary Brady, his father, having
been a captain in the Twelfth Pennsylvania Regiment in the war of
the Revolution and having, with two of his sons, finally been killed by
the Indians. As he grew to maturity General Hugh Brady frequently
joined small parties who retaliated on the Indians for their misdeeds,
and he thus gained a clear insight into the riianners and customs of the In
dians, especially their methods of warfare. In 1792 he received from
General Washington a commission as ensign in the army commanded by
General Anthony Wayne, known in history as "Mad Anthony Wayne."
He was promoted lieutenant in 1794 and. took part in the historic western
campaigns of that year. In 1799 he received from President Adams an
appointment as captain, and subsequently he essayed the improvement
of a tract of land about fifty miles from Pittsburgh, on a branch of 'the
Mahoning river. He there remained until 1807, when he removed to
Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, where he maintained his home
until 1812, when he received from President Jefferson a military com
mission and again joined the army, in which he was soon promoted to
the command of the Twenty-second regiment of infantry, with which
he took part in the battle of Lundy's Lane, where he received a wound
that incapacitated him for further active service in the war of 1812.
He was in several other engagements of this second conflict with Great
Britain.

1106 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
In 1819 General Brady was transferred to the Second United States
Infantry, then stationed at Sackett's Harbor, New York, and in 1822
he was promoted brigadier general, in recognition of his ten years of
faithful service. In 1828 he was in command at Detroit, and in 1837,
the year in which Michigan became a state, he was placed in command
of Military Department No. 7, with headquarters in this city. He re
tained this command seven years, within which period he superintended
the removal of several Indian tribes to the country west of the Missis
sippi river and did much to allay the troublesome border difficulties in
cident to what was known as tbe "Patriot war." At the outbreak of
the Mexican war, though past the age of active field service, General
Brady took a prominent part in the raising and equipping of troops and
the shipping of supplies to the seat of war. He was made a major
general in 1848. Of him it has been written: "As a soldier he was
eminent for his bravery and faithfulness, and as a citizen free from re
proach and won the esteem of those with whom he was associated."
In October, 1805, General Brady wedded Miss Sarah Wallis, and of
their six children the second in order of birth was Samuel Preston
Brady, father of him whose name initiates this review. General Brady
died in Detroit, April 15, 1851, his death being the result of an acci
dent, — the running away of his horses. It is gratifying to enter here,
in an incidental way, brief tribute to the memory of this gallant soldier
and sterling pioneer of Michigan.
George Nexsen Brady, the immediate subject of this article, was
born in the old family bomestead on the site of the present Detroit
Museum of Art, on Jefferson avenue, and the date of his nativity was
August 25, 1837. He is a son of Samuel Preston Brady and Elizabeth
Mary (Nexsen) Brady, the former of whom was born in Indiana
county, Pennsylvania, and the latter in the city of New York. Samuel
Preston Brady was born in the year 1809, and was reared at Sackett Har
bor and educated at Watertown, having been a youth of about nineteen
years at the time of the family removal to Detroit. He early began to
accompany his father on the latter's campaigns, and thus developed
self-reliance. In 1832 he was made post sutler at old Fort Dearborn,
Chicago, but he soon returned to Detroit. In 1849 he was one of the
argonauts to California, where he was engaged in the mercantile business
with Alex. H. Sibley. Upon his return to Detroit he engaged in the
general merchandise business, in which he continued for a number of
years, and thereafter was engaged in the wholesale grocery trade and
in the handling of mining supplies, as a member of the firm of Brady
& Trowbridge. In 1847 this firm dissolved partnership and Mr. Brady
then engaged in business in ari independent way, in the old Brady build
ing, at the foot of Woodward avenue, where he remained until 1867,
wben he retired from active business. In the following year he traveled
abroad, for the benefit of his health as well as for recreation. In that
year he left Paris for the South of France, in company with General
Hooker, of Civil War fame, and upon arriving at Cologne, Germany,
he became seriously ill, his death there occurring shortly afterward. His
wife survived him by thirty years and continued to reside in Detroit till
she was summoned to eternal rest, in 1888. They became the parents
of seven sons and six daughters, of whom seven attained to maturity,
and of the number only two are now living, — George N., of this sketch ;
and Samuel who is engaged in mining operations in the Lake Superior
district. Samuel P. Brady was one of Detroit's honored citizens and suc
cessful business men, and he well upheld the prestige of the family
name, as have also his sons.
George N. Brady was reared and educated in Detroit, and it is

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1107
worthy of note that he here attended the private school conducted by
Washington Bacon, as well as the Gregory Commercial College, besides
which he was for some time a student in the academy conducted by
Professor Nutting, at Lodi, in Washtenaw county. After leaving school
he became associated with his father's business, in the Brady building
near the foot of Woodward avenue, and there he continued his business
activities during virtually his entire active career, his retirement having
occurred about the year 1900. He still maintains an office in the orig
inal location and is the part owner of the Brady building, one of the .
historic structures and veritable landmarks of lower Woodward avenue.
In the years of his gracious retirement he finds pleasure- and grateful
environment in his beautiful home in the Bloomfield hills of Oakland
county, as intimated in an earlier paragraph of this sketch. He was
long numbered among the most prominent and influential men of affairs
in his native city, and here his capitalistic interests are of broad scope
and importance, besides which he has ever been animated by the high
est civic loyalty and has contributed his quota to the development and
upbuilding of the greater Detroit. His political support is given to the
Democratic party, he is identified with various representative social or
ganizations in Detroit, and is known and honored as one of the sterling
pioneer citizens of the state which has ever been his home.
In 1865 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Brady to Miss Augusta
McClelland, who likewise was born and reared in Michigan, where her
father, Hon. Robert McClelland, established his home in the pioneer days
and who not only served as governor of this state but who was also
secretary of the interior in the, cabinet of President Franklin Pierce.
Mrs. Brady was summoned to the life eternal in 1910 and her memory
is revered by all who came within the compass of her gentle and gra
cious influence. She is survived by two children, — Robert McClelland
Brady, of Detroit, and Mary Augusta, who resides at Berryholm, Birm
ingham, Michigan, and who is the wife of Rear Admiral Robert M.
Berry, retired, of the United States navy.
Roy Andrus. The present county clerk of Barry county, Michigan,
Roy Andrus, elected to bis present office in 19 12, is, like many of his fel
low-citizens of Hastings, a product of the farm and a native of the county.
He is a typical American, energetic, social, alert and thoroughly edu
cated, and in the administration of tbe affairs of his position has shown
himself zealous, honest and capable. A man of high ideals regarding the
responsibilities of public service, his election came as a result of the
appreciation of his townspeople of his fitness to act as a public servant,
• and he has giVen them no reason to regret of their choice.
Roy Andrus was born on his father's farm in Barry county, Mich
igan, February 1, 1878, and is the second son of Enoch and Hattie
(Spaulding) Andrus. Seymour Andrus, the grandfather of Roy
Andrus, was a native of New York, and as a young married man migrated
to Barry county, Michigan, in 1843. Here he took up land from the
Government and settled down in a little log house in the green woods,
there experiencing the hardships incident to the life of the Michigan
pioneer. He cleared his land from the timber, put it under cultivation,
erected good • buildings, and finally developed a valuable farm, being
known as one of the prosperous men of his vicinity at the time of his
death. He married Maria Hammond, and she also passed away on the
farm, highly esteemed by. all who knew her. Enoch Andrus was born
on the pioneer farm in Barry county in 1845, and on this property grew
to sturdy manhood. His education came by attendance at the district
school when he could be spared from the work of the home place and

1108 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
at the Ypsilanti Normal School. In his active career he contributed in
full measure to the development of his locality. Reared to agricultural
pursuits, he passed his active career in the tilling of the soil, and through
earnest and well directed effort became very successful in his ventures.
He has now retired from active labor, and is making his home at Clare.
A prominent and public-spirited citizen, he has shown much interest in
the public affairs of the communities in which he has resided, and has
been frequently honored by election to positions of trust and responsibility.
. In 1878 he was elected county clerk of Barry county, and his excellent
and conscientious service was rewarded by re-election, altogether his
service lasted four years. He was also county commissioner of schools
for a period of six years, and through him the schools were graded. In
addition he served as a member of the county board of supervisors.
The second of his parents' children, Roy Andrus received his early
education in the district schools of Barry County, in the meantime as
sisting his father in the work of the homestead during the summer months.
Subsequently, he became a student in the Hastings high school, and after
his graduation therefrom adopted the vocation of educator, being a
teacher for three years in this county. In 1900 desiring further educa
tional training, he entered the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor,
but after two years left college and returned to his home. In 1912 he
became the candidate of the Republican party for the office of county
clerk, and was elected thereto, taking charge of the office in January, 1913,
for a term of two years. He has shown himself one of the best county
clerks Barry county has had, and has gained widespread popularity by
reason of his courtesy and social qualities.
In April, 1914, Mr. Andrus passed the State Bar examination, per
mitting him to practice law in this state. He was head of the class of
twenty-five. In 1905 Mr. Andrus was married to Miss Mary Wooton, a daughter
of James Wooton of Hastings, who originally came from the state of
Ohio. Three children have been born to this union : Ruth L., Carl H,
and Adah P. Mr. Andrus is interested in fraternal matters, with mem
bership in Hastings Lodge, No. 52, F. & A. M. ; Hastings Chapter, No. 68,
R. A. M. ; Giblum Council, No. 49, R. & S. M.; and Hastings Lodge,
No. 58, I. O. O. F. He has passed the chairs in Hastings Lodge, No. 52,
Hastings Chapter, No. 68, and Giblum Council, No. 49, and in May, 1914,
was elected grand master of the first veil, which is the first place leading
to the head office of the state in the Royal Arch Masons. Mr. Andrus
has a pleasant home at No. 657 W. Green street.
Frederick Moulton Alger. A son of Michigan's distinguished
citizen and statesman, the late Russell A. Alger, Frederick Moulton Al
ger has proved himself worthy of the name be bears, and is regarded as
one of Detroit's most influential and energetic business men.
He was born in the city of Detroit, June 27, 1876, a son of Russell
A. and Annette H.. (Henry) Alger. The record of the late General
Alger and the family memoirs may be read on other pages of this work.
Mr. Alger was reared in Detroit, was sent for his preparatory educa
tion to Phillips Andover Academy and graduated from Harvard Uni
versity with the degree of A. B. in the class of 1899. In the following
year he entered business at Detroit as secretary and director of the
Alger, Smith & Company, the great lumber manufacturing concern
with which his father has so prominently been identified. Mr. Alger is
a director in the Packard Motor Company of Detroit, a director of the
Anderson Forge & Machine Company of Detroit, director of the Michi
gan Copper & Brass Company, and a director in the National Bank of
Commerce and Union Trust Company, all of his home city.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1109
Mr. Alger saw service in the Spanish-American war, having been
captain and assistant adjutant general of the United States Volunteers
during the Santiago Campaign in 1898, and retired with the rank of
captain. He is a member of the Detroit Club, the Detroit Athletic Club,
the Yondotega Club, and University Club, all of Detroit; the Metro
politan and the Army and Navy Clubs of Washington, D. C, and the
University and Harvard Clubs of New York City. Mr. Alger was
married in Detroit, May 2, 1901, to Mary Eldridge Swift, of Detroit.
William A. C. Miller, president of the W. A. C. Miller Company,
is a native son of Detroit, and was born July 25, 1881, a son of the late
William A. C. Miller, deceased.
Mr. Miller's father was born in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, July
5, 1848, and died in Detroit, June 12, 1904. He came to America with his
parents about the time of the close of the Civil War, the family settling
in Canada, although William A. C. remained in New York city, where he
secured employment in a jewelry store in Maiden Lane, the great jewelry
district of the metropolis. While there he made the acquaintance of the
late M. S. Smith, long one of Detroit's leading jewelers, who induced the
young man to come to this city and enter his place of business, this being
in 1868. He remained with Mr. Smith until 1874, in which year, in order
to get into a business offering more open air employment, he became iden
tified with the lumber industry as junior member of the firm of Gage &
Miller, with a place of business at the corner of Tenth and Fort streets.
This firm was dissolved in 1876, and Mr. Miller organized the W. A. C.
Miller Lumber Company, with yards at the foot of Adair street, on the'
river. , He had intended to dispose of his interests in 1904 and retire,
when he was overtaken by death before the consummation of his plans,
and after his demise his son liquidated the business. Mr. Miller was also
interested in various other business enterprises in Detroit, and was for
years a member of the Masonic lodge and the Fellowcraft and Old Clubs.
He married Miss Annette I. McGowan, of Buffalo, New York, and a
daughter of James McGowan of that city, and she still survives, with the
following children : William A. C. ; Mae, who is the wife of Raymond
P. Lipe, of Toledo, Ohio ; Jessie A. and Albert C.
William A. C. Miller was educated in the Detroit High school, the
Detroit University school and the University of Michigan, in which lat
ter institution he was in the class of 1904. He had become identified with
the W. A. C. Miller Lumber Company in 1903, and after he had liquidated
the affairs of that concern, in 1904, became interested in the business of '
Thomas Forman Company, lumber manufacturers, with whom he con
tinued until 1906, when he left active membership in the business. In
1906 Mr. Miller became secretary, treasurer and general manager of the
Holden Miller & Murray Company, but in 1909 withdrew from that com
pany and organized the W. A. C. Miller Company, of which he has since
remained at the head. Mr. Miller is widely known in the trade and is a
member of the Michigan Retail Lumber Dealers Association and of the
Detroit Board of Commerce. He is also prominent in club life, belonging
to the Detroit Club, the Detroit Athletic Club, the University Club, the
Country Club, and the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity.
On January 8, 1908, Mr. Miller was married to Miss Ruby C. Boyer,
daughter of Joseph Boyer, of Detroit, and to this union there have been
born two sons : William A. C, Jr., and Joseph Boyer.
Hezekiah M. Gillett. Many years of practice and professional suc
cess have given Mr. Gillett a standing in the front rank of Bay City's
lawyers. His home has been at Bay City since 1876. His relations with

1110 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
his clientage and with the community have been characterized by service
of the most capable kind and by high ideals and steadfast devotion to
duty. Hezekiah M. Gillett was born in Stafford, New York, January 9, 1852,
a son of Samuel and Susan (Board) Gillett. Both parents were natives
of New York, lived in that state all their lives, and the father was a
farmer, who died in his native state in 1898 at the age of seventy years.
while the mother is now living there at the age of ninety. Of their ten
children the Bay City lawyer was third.
As a boy he had only ordinary advantages supplied him by his par
ents, and much of his schooling and his progress toward professional suc
cess is the result of his individual effort. He attended the LeRoy Acad
emy, then entered Cornell University, graduating from the literary de
partment in 1874. His law studies were carried on chiefly in the office
of the county judge of Genessee county, New York, and in 1876, on
coming to Michigan he entered the office of Hatch & Company as law
clerk, and at the end of about two years was admitted to tbe bar. Mr.
Gillett began practice with John E. Simonson, with whom he was asso
ciated for twenty-five years. In 1900 the firm became Simonson, Gillett
& Clark. In 1904 Mr. Simonson left Michigan, and the firm has contin
ued as Gillett & Clark to the present time. They enjoy a large practice
and a good reputation in legal circles, especially as corporation lawyers.
They are attorneys for the First National and Bay County Savings Bank,
for the Pere Marquette Railroad, and many other large business concerns
in this part of the state. Mr. Gillett is vice president of the North Amer
ican Chemical Company, one of the chief industries pf Bay City.
With all his business as a lawyer Mr. Gillett has not neglected any op
portunity to serve the community in a public spirited manner, and was for
a number of years a member of the board of education. In politics he is
a Republican, is affiliated with the Bay City Commandery of Knight Tem
plar Masons, and has membership in all the social clubs. For thirty
years he has served as vestryman of Trinity Episcopal church.
In 1879 at Detroit, Mr. Gillett married Miss Leconey, who died in
1883. Their one son is John Gillett, a practicing engineer at Toledo, Ohio,
who has two children. In 1885 Mr. Gillett married Minnie E. Orton,
daughter of Charles Orton. Their children are: Mrs. Courtney D.
Allington of Grand Rapids and the mother of three children; and Mrs.
Richard H. Morgan of LaGrange, Illinois.
William A. Richmond, Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan.* The
Richmond genealogy, compiled by Joshua Richmond of Boston, traces the
family to Wiltshire, England, on the upper Thames. In the little village
of Ashton Keynes is a church of the nth century, where may be seen
several Richmond tombs, many baptismal records, and in the belfry their
coat of arms. Nearby is the Richmond manor house, which passed out
of the family to the Duke of Cleveland in 1856.
The first recorded Richmond in America was John, who, with his
wife, came from England in 1638 and was one of the founders of the
town of Taunton, Massachusetts. His grandson, Sylvester, born in 1672
at Little Compton, R. I., served as Colonel in the British Army and
commanded at Cape Britton during our French and Indian War. Pie
located at Westport, Massachusetts, and became an American citizen.
Sylvester Richmond married Elizabeth Rogers, granddaughter of John
Alden and Priscilla Mullens. Their son, Nathaniel, born in 1737 at West-
*Written by request for State Historical Society of Michigan by Rebecca L.
Richmond, Grand Rapids, May, 1914.

3

O-T^C/

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1111
port, was educated at Harvard College and designed for the Church, but
was diverted by the Revolutionary War, and served as captain in the
Battle of Bunker Hill, with Pardon Brownell as his first lieutenant. He
married . Polly Brownell of Little Compton, R. I., aunt of Thomas
Church Brownell, first Bishop of Connecticut; and some years later they
settled in Ontario County, New York, founding the town of Richmond.
They had nine children, four of whom were boys, John, Samuel, Sylvester
and Jonathan. Jonatban was born at Westport, Massachusetts, July
4, 1774- At eighteen years of age he joined a cousin in Cayuga County, New
York, and took up 150 acres of land bordering the lake at Aurora, de
veloping it into a fine farm, stocked with imported cattle and sheep.
In 1806, in his 24th year, he brought his bride, Rebecca Millet Almy,
from Westport. Jonathan Richmond's standing in the community through
a long life was- well stated in an article in the Albany Journal at the time
of his death in 1853 : "Mr. Richmond was a man of mould and mind, pne
before whose strong .arrn the forest disappeared, and one who helped to
form and fashion the institutions of a growing community; a high-
minded, honorable gentleman. He held various public offices under Presi
dent Madison, and Governors Jay, Lewis, Tompkins and Clinton, and
was a member of the 16th Congress, 1818-20."
Jonathan Richmond's family consisted of twelve children, eight of
whom reached maturity. Of the four boys, two inherited the pioneer
spirit and pressed further westward in 1836, locating in the Territory of
Michigan, William in the Grand River Valley and Charles at Ann Arbor
on the Huron River. William's son, Jonathan, was in turn a pioneer
explorer in the Territory of Arizona, and Charles, Jr., made his home in
California ; — so, in three generations the Richmond family, under the lure
of the West, spanned the continent, contributing their vitality and eriter-
prise to our advancing civilization.
William Almy Richmond, the subject of this sketch, whose active life
was identified with Michigan, was born at Aurora-on-Cayuga, New York,
January 28, 1808. The village academy under Professor Salem Town
(of "Speller-and-Definer" fame), furnisbed the basis of a good education,
supplemented by experience on a well-managed farm, by a superior social
atmosphere, by annual trips with his 'father to Boston to dispose of the
wool-clip, by visits to Washington where his father was Democratic Con
gressman for two years, and by mercantile experience in Moravia and in
New York City. Intimate association with a public-spirited father and
with leading men of affairs at the National and State capitals gave
William an insight into the science of government, and a vision of the
possibilities of national extension; therefore, when the Erie Canal had
opened the gateway westward, it was natural that he should in 1836 join
the enthusiastic procession of young men who flocked into the territorial
region between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. Detroit, To
ledo and Chicago were all inspected, but later, making a friendly call upon
his maternal uncle, John Almy, a surveyor, engineer and lawyer at the
'little village of Grand Rapids (theri only three years old, with a white
population of perhaps 200), he was so fascinated by the wild beauty of
the region and its apparent natural resources that he decided to make a
location and invest there the funds his father had intrusted to him for
that purpose. Another fascination was in the family of Major Abel Page,
who had recently arrived from Rutland, Vermont, bringing three attractive.
daughters, one of whom, Loraine, Mr. Richmond wooed and won in the
following year. Harriet Page became the wife of Dr. Cyrus Knapp of
Cincinnati, and Sophia married Judge Daniel S. Bacon of Monroe, —
their only daughter, Elizabeth, is the widow of Gen. Geo. Armstrong
Custer, U. S. Army.

1112 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
No sooner had William Richmond identified himself with Grand
Rapids in 1836 than he was sent as a delegate from the District com
prising the counties of Kent, Ionia and Clinton to the first "Convention
of Assent," meeting at Ann Arbor, which accepted the conditions pro
posed by Congress for the entrance of Michigan into the Union, and
which drafted its first State Constitution.
In 1837 he was appointed by Governor Mason on the committee, with
Jacob Beeson of Niles and Samuel Axford of McComb, which located
the Penitentiary at Jackson.
In 1838 he was appointed by President Van Buren Receiver of the
Federal Land Office at Ionia, where he was closely associated with Sen
ator Lucius Lyon.
In 1842 he was appointed by Governor Barry Inspector of the 8th
Division of the State Militia.
From 1843 to 1845 he served as Democratic State Senator at Detroit,
and in that capacity obtained an appropriation of 6,000 acres of land to
apply on the construction of a canal for water-power and a bridge at
Grand Rapids. He served on committees for Internal Improvements,
Public Lands, Militia and Agriculture, being chairman of the first in con
nection with Messrs. Littlejohn of Allegan, Thurber of Monroe and Niles
of Oakland County.
In 1845 he was appointed by President Polk, Superintendent of In
dian affairs for Michigan and Wisconsin, and for four years he made the
Treaty-payments at LaPointe on Lake Superior ; at the Sault Ste. Marie,
where he was entertained by the interesting family of the Rev. Abel
Bingham, Baptist Missionary ; at Mackinaw, where his headquarters were
with Mr. Franks of the Mission House; at Cross Village, Saginaw and
Grand Rapids. In all his lonely and perilous journeys through the forests
by wagon, and over the Lakes by the small boats of that period, convey
ing the government boxes laden with silver specie, he was never molested,
and never met with a serious accident. His attitude towards the Indians
was one of great friendliness, which was fully reciprocated by the promi
nent Chiefs of the Pottawatomies, the Ojibways and the Ottawas.
In 1848 Governor Ransom appointed Mr. Richmond Brig. General
of the 16th Brigade in the Militia of Michigan, which office he held several
years ; and again in i860 he was appointed by Governor Wisner to serve
in the same capacity with the 6th Brigade, 3rd Division.
In September 1854, the Democratic State Convention assembled at
the City Hall of Detroit for the purpose of nominating candidates for state
offices. John S. Barry received the nomination for Governor, and Wm.
A. Richmond for Lieutenant Governor, he having 69 votes, and his nearest
competitor, Andrew Parsons, 50. Barry won in the election, but Mr.
Richmond was defeated by the Whig candidate by a small majority. Gen.
Lewis Cass was an honorary member of this convention ; and the other
members from Kent were Robt. P. Sinclair and Thomas B. Church, Mr.
Richmond's cousin.
So much for the honors conferred by his adopted State. "In the dis
charge of all official duties," it was said of Mr. Richmond, that "he made
a most creditable record for faithfulness and efficiency. He had none of
the arts of the demagogue; his personal presence was commanding and
dignified; his intellectual and moral vigor were convincing; and, with
few words, he was easily a leader. His earnest effort was ever for the
formation and development of his State and his town according to the
highest standards."
In civic service he was ever active and enthusiastic, having unbounded
faith in the future greatness of the isolated little village on the banks of
the Awashtanong. Appreciating the importance and value of transporta-

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1113
tion facilities, he applied his influence and personal "effort to the construc
tion of bridges and gravel and plank roads, and finally railways. Through
all the stress and strain of these many enterprises, from 1840 to 1868, he
never lost heart, but encouraged all concerned in the effort, and the result.
in every case was a commentary on his good judgment and wise manage
ment. He was a member of the first board of village trustees, operated
a farm at Lyons, twenty miles up the river, the grain crop being brought
to Sweet's grist mill by the little steamer "Hummingbird" ; was a charter
member of the Grand Rapids Gas Company, organized in 1855; and he
lent his influence, furthermore, to all religious and educational move
ments. Dr. F. H. Cuming received his cordial support in the building of
St. Mark's Episcopal Church (where he served many years on the Vestry),
and in the establishment of the flourishing Parish School which bore the
ambitious title of "St. Mark's College."
He belonged to the order of Masons, a member of the Lodge at Aurora-
on-Cayuga. During these thirty years of public activity, Mr. Richmond had a home
which always afforded much needed rest and recuperation. His wife was
richly endowed with New England courage, endurance, thrift and re
sourcefulness, qualities so valuable in the pioneer life — she was his 'help
mate in every sense of the word.
Literature from New York, Boston and Philadelphia came weekly to
their fireside, furnishing the enjoyment and mental stimulus which offset
the many deprivations incident to a new country. And music was another
fireside pleasure, the combined baritone and contralto voices of father and
mother giving to the children at twilight the songs which still echo de
lightfully for them down the half century. Of these children, Jonathan
served a year in the navy during the Civil War. In 1862 he accompanied
Governor Goodwin and Judge Howell over the Santa Fe Trail to the
newly created territory of Arizona, and later located and spent the balance
of his life on a Kansas ranch. Mary, wife of Charles F. Kendall, lived
in Topeka, Kansas^ twenty years, and on the death of her husband moved
to Hollywood, California. Rebecca Loraine lives still (19 14) in her na
tive town, and by active participation in civic welfare movements, aids
in the realization of her parents' lofty ideals for the Valley City.
In that paralyzed period after the Civil War, William A. Richmond
retired to his suburban home, "Belle Plaine," on the Plainfield Road
north of Grand Rapids, and there spent in tranquility the last few years
of his life, passing beyond in 1870 at the age of sixty-two.
Dexter M. Ferry. The late Dexter M. Ferry, who for forty years
was head of the great seed house of D. M. Ferry & Company of Detroit,
was at one time a clerk in a book and stationery store of Detroit. It was
in 1852, the year which marks his first connection with Detroit. Through
out a long and prosperous business career, Mr. Ferry was one of the
best friends and benefactors of the city of Detroit. His business career
was remarkable not only in the brilliant success he attained, but in the
fact that it was won, not by speculation, but by rare business talent and
ability, and by the fact that in his business ventures and acts he was guided
by integrity of purpose and he sought what was honorable, and for which
there was a legitimate demand. Through an unerring judgment and
unfailing energy and indomitable will, he built up the largest concern of
the kind in the world, and one which bears to every town, hamlet and town
ship in the United States and to a less degree in the Canadian provinces
the reputation of Detroit as a distributing and commercial center. At
the same time the house of D. M. Ferry & Co is known in many foreign
lands through its large importations. Above all his business success, the

1114 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
late Mr. Ferry acquired the supreme attribute — character, the vital force
that underlies all worthy accomplishment, that commands honor and affec
tion, that is the basis of all enduring greatness, that lives on when the
earthly tabernacle is dissolved. Men tested him, believed in him.
Dexter Mason Ferry, born at Lowville, Lewis county, New York,
August 8, 1833, was a son of Joseph N. and Lucy (Mason) Ferry. The
family ancestry goes back to French Huguenot stock, but the first American
of the name left England in 1678 and settled in the colony of Massa
chusetts. This first settler, Charles Ferry, established a name which was
prominently identified to various succeeding generations with the New
England States. Dexter Mason, maternal grandfather of Dexter Mason
Ferry, was a man of influence in the Berkshire district of Massachusetts,
serving in the legislature several times. The paternal grandfather of Mr.
Ferry moved from Massachusetts to Lowville, New York, where he was
a farmer, and also connected with various lines of business. Joseph N.
Ferry was reared in Lewis county, New York, had the trade of wagon
maker for many years, and was a highly honored citizen at Lowville at
the time of his death. His wife survived him many years, and died in
Penfield, Monroe county, New York.
Dexter M. Ferry was about three years old at the death of his father
and grew up in the village of Penfield. His education was obtained from
the common schools, and from boyhood to the end of his life, he was
noted for his eagerness in making the best use of every opportunity and
advantage presented to him, whether for culture or in a business way.
At the age of sixteen he began doing for himself, and worked two sum
mers, at ten dollars a month, on a farm, attending the district school during
the winter. In 185 1 he secured employment with a man whose home was
near Rochester, and he was thus able to continue his education in the city
schools, when his services were not demanded on the farm.
Coming to Detroit in 1852, he found his first work in the book store
of S. D. Elwood and Company, and eventually was promoted to sales
man and later to bookkeeper. The turning point of his destiny came in
1856, when he assisted in the organization of the firm of M. T. Gardner
& Company, seedsmen, for which he was a junior partner. The business
was conducted under the original organization until 1865, when Mr. Ferry
became head of the firm, then known as Ferry, Church & Company. In
1867, the title of D. M. Ferry & Co. first came into existence, and in 1879
the business was incorporated under that name.
The peculiarly intimate, almost domestic relationship which the house
of D. M. Ferry & Co. bears to the average home is what makes the repu
tation of the business, and the name of Mr. Ferry so widely known, for
few homes there are, in which seed, either flower or vegetable, are not
demanded, and no other concern in the world can claim as ample arid
high-grade facilities. A proper estimate of the influence of this enter
prise in Detroit has been written as follows : "The building up of this
great industry, which is far-reaching in its influence and which contri
butes not only to the prosperity of Detroit, but also to that of an army of
employes is doubtless a more beneficent factor in commercial affairs
throughout the country than almost any other establishment in the west.
In its management from the beginning, Mr. Ferry had a decisive influence
and that its great success is largely attributable to his persistent energies,
sagacity, integrity and rare talent for organization is freely and readily
acknowledged by those most conversant with its beginning, growth and
development. Through this extensive commercial enterprise his name
and work has been made more widely known than that of almost any
other merchant in.the United States.
"A man of effective ideas and high ideals, Mr. Ferry made for him-

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1115
self a high place in the civic and commercial life of his home city, and
from his vantage, ground nothing could dislodge him. He held the ground
because he had won and merited it. Among the varied interests with
which his name was connected besides the principal industry, he was at
the time of his death president of the First National Bank of Detroit,
also of the Union Trust Company, the American Harrow Company, the
National Pin Company, the Standard Accident Insurance Company, and
the Michigan Fire & Marine Insurance Company. He was one of the
organizers of the Wayne County Savings Bank, and the last survivor of
the original incorporators of that institution. A large amount of real
estate was Owned by him in Detroit and suburbs, most of it being used
in connection with his seed industry. The fine building on Woodward
Avenue, occupied by the drygoods house of Newcomb-Endicott Company
was built and owned by him, and it was the first and largest modern
structure erected on that beautiful business and residence thoroughfare.
The late Mr. Ferry was essentially public spirited in all his relations with
his home city and state. Much of his success and prominence were due
to the thorough knowledge of men, a faculty characteristic of him from
his younger years. Though a man of imposing physical presence and
address, he never relied upon any pretense to secure his end, and he was
the very embodiment of sincerity and power.
For many years the late Mr. Ferry was a prominent figure in political
affairs in Republican politics. In 1877-78 he was a member of the Detroit
Board of Estimates, and declined renomination at the end of- his term.
In 1884 he was appointed a member of the board of park commissioners
by Mayor Stephen B. Grummond. While in that office he led a valiant
campaign against the sale of beer and other intoxicants on Belle Isle,
the city's beautiful river park. That action gained for him the hearty
approval of the best element of citizenship. In 1900 Mr. Ferry's name
was one of the strongest presented in his party for the nomination as
governor, but he was defeated in a three-corner contest in the convention.
From 1896 to 1898 he was chairman of the Republican State Central
Committee, and did much effective work over the state during the cam
paign against free-silver. In 1892 Mr. Ferry was delegate at large from
Michigan to the Republican Convention in Minneapolis, and in 1904, at
the ¦ Convention in Chicago.
For nearly forty years Mr. Ferry was actively connected with, the
control and management of Harper hospital, one of the finest institutions
of the city. He also helped to found Grace Hospital and was president
of its board of trustees at the time of his death. He was a trustee of
Olivet College at Olivet, Michigan, an institution maintained under the
auspices of the Congregational Church. He was a trustee of the Wood
ward Avenue Church of the same denomination in Detroit. Both he and
his wife contributed liberally to this society.
The death of Dexter M. Ferry occurred in Detroit, November 10,
1907, when he was in. his seventy-fourth year. His wife had died just a
year previous, and her loss undoubtedly hastened his own end. The pass
ing of few citizens in Detroit during tbe last generation has been attended
with more sincere sorrow on the part of all classes, including thousands
in the working class, than that of the late Mr. Ferry. His life meant
much to Detroit, and the city was always the object of his most devoted
loyalty. Dexter M. Ferry was married October 1, 1867, to Miss Addie E.
Miller, of Unadilla, Otsego county, New York. Her death occurred,
November 2, 1906. Of their children one son and two daughters survive :
Dexter M. Jr.; Blanche, wife of Elon H. Hooker of Greenwich Con
necticut ; and Queenie, wife of Avery Coonley of Riverside, Illinois.

1116 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Dexter Mason Ferry, Jr., was born in Detroit, November 22, 1873.
After graduating from Columbia College he became associated with his
father in the conduct of the large seed house and other business affairs,
and assisted to a large extent in the responsibilities carried by his honored
father, being elected a director and official in various corporations and
banking institutions and succeeding his father in several other similar
positions. He has served two terms in the Michigan Legislature and was
a member and President of the Michigan State Board of Education for
six years. His individual interests are of large scope, and as a public
spirited citizen and business man he is upholding the high prestige of the
Ferry name in Detroit and Michigan: In 1907 be married Miss Jeanette
Hawkins, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
John F. Murphy. Recognized as one of the specially strong and re
sourceful members of the Huron county bar, Mr. Murphy has not only
achieved definite success and prestige in his profession but has also been
an alert and effective exponent of the principles and policies for which
the Democratic party stands sponsor. He is a leader in the ranks of
his party in his section of the state and has been, with not little con
sistency, designated as the "war horse of the Democratic party in Huron
county." He is one of the representative lawyers of the Michigan bar.
John Francis Murphy was born in the city of Guelph, Province of
Ontario, Canada, and the date of his nativity was June 6, 1857. He is
a son of William and Margaret (Lavelle) Murphy, the former of whom
was of staunch Irish lineage and the latter of whom traced her genealogy
back to French origin. The parents passed the closing years of their
lives in Guelph, Ontario, where the father was for many years a pros
perous farmer and highly esteemed citizen, both he and his wife having
been earnest communicants of the Catholic church. Of the four chil
dren the eldest is he whose name introduces this article ; Misses Ann and
Margaret Murphy still reside in Guelph county, Ontario ; and William is
a resident of St. Louis, Missouri.
Tbe parochial and public schools of his native county afforded to John
F. Murphy his early educational advantages, and he incidentally had due
fellowship with the arduous but invigorating work of the home farm.
In the literary department of the University of Toronto he pursued higher
academic studies, arid in 1878, at the age of nineteen years, he entered
the law department, of the University of Michigan, in consonance with
his cherished ambition and well formulated plans. He was there gradu
ated as a member of the class of 1881, and received his coveted degree
of Bachelor of Laws, with admittance to the Michigan bar. Soon after
his graduation Mr. Murphy was signally fortunate in being enabled to en
ter the office of and became professionally associated with the late Colonel
John Atkinson, a most distinguished member of the Detroit bar. In 1882
Colonel Atkinson sent him to Harbor Beach, Huron county, as a per
sonal representative in connection with an extensive law business. That
Mr. Murphy became impressed with the attractions and advantages of
fered in this field is shown conclusively by the fact that during the long
intervening years he has here continued in the work of his profession,
which he has dignified by his character and services and in which he has
long held high reputation as a skilled and versatile trial lawyer, as well
as a counselor admirably fortified in the science of jurisprudence. He
is a formidable adversary, and his great vitality comes into effective play
in his pleas before court or jury. Many victories stand to his credit in
his professional career and his practice is not only very large but also
distinctly representative in character, showing the popular estimate placed
upon the man and his ability.

T)

MAJOR L. DUNHAM
Attorney.

UNHAM, MAJOR LOCK-
,. WOOD. Born, March 19, 1850,
r Highlard, Oakland County,
Mich. Son of John Dunham (born
1820, died 1914, and Mary A. (Mc-
Dermott) Dunham (born 1832, died
1905). Educated at Hartland and
Howell High schools and Fenton
Seminai y. Admitted to bar and be
gan practice in Oct., 1875. In 1882
formed partnership with brother,
H. M. Dunham. In 1887 entered in
to partnership with Godwin & Ad-
sit of Grand Rapids. Taught school
several years. Held offices of Vil
lage Clerk, County Superintendent
of Schools, Circuit Court Commis
sioner, City Attorney, Prosecuting
Attorney and elected Judge of the
Superior Court of Grand Rapids,
Mich., in April, 1915. Republican.
Mason, Elk; member of the 0-
Wash-ta-Nong Club. Baptist. Mar
ried Oct. 16, 1875, to Sophie Heimes.
Children: Mrs. Gertrude Camp
born May 5, 1878; H. Monroe Dun
ham, born March 26. 1885. Office,
City Hall, Grand Rapids, Mich'
Residence, 414 Benjamin Ave. S. E

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1117
« Mr. Murphy is a member of the Michigan State Bar Association and
has ever retained the confidence and good will of his professional con
freres. He served two terms as prosecuting attorney of Huron county,
two terms as circuit-court commissioner, and sixteen years as city at
torney of. Harbor Beach. Under the administration, of President Cleve
land he held the office of deputy collector of customs at Harbor Beach.
' He is attorney for the Pere Marquette Railroad Company in special
cases of importance, and is also attorney for the Huron County Sav
ings Bank.
As already intimated Mr. Murphy is one of the wheel-horses of the
Democratic party in Michigan and has served sixteen years as chairman'
of the Huron county Democratic committee. His ability as an orator
makes him a most effective campaign speaker, and he has been specially
active in political affairs since the time when Bryan was first nominated
as the Democratic candidate for the presidency. He and his family are
zealous communicants of the Catholic church and give earnest support
to the various activities- of their home parish, besides which they are pop
ular in the representative social life of the community.
On the 14th of January, 1883, was solemnized the marriage of Mr.
Murphy to Miss Mary Brennan, who was born in the state of New York,
but reared in Huron county, Michigan, where her father was a pioneer
farmer. Mr. Brennan has attained to the. venerable age of eighty-four
years and now* resides in the city of Harbor Beach." Mr. and Mrs. Mur
phy have four children: Harold, who was born June 12, 1888, was
graduated in Detroit College, an admirable Catholic institution in the
Michigan metropolis, and he is now office assistant to his father; Mar
guerite was born in May, 1891, and remains at the parental home ; Frank
was born in April, 1892, and is now a student in the law department of
the University of Michigan ; and George Ignatius, who was born in 1896,
is a student in the literary department of the University of Michigan,
where he has made a reputation as an athlete, with high records on the
track team-^-in the half-mile dash, which he made in 1.59, besides making
fine achievement in the 440-yard dash. He was representative of his
university as a member of its track team in the meet held at Syracuse,
New York, in the spring of 1914.
Major L. Dunham. In a community of lawyers representing the
best abilities and attainments of the Michigan bar, Major L. Dunham has
long been conceded a premier place as a criminal advocate and counsel.
Nearly forty years ago he was admitted to the bar. The precedents es
tablished in his own time, and in the reports of Michigan courts through
many years besides are basic foundations of his legal learning. With
comprehensive knowledge he unites all the acumen of a brilliant mind,
quick and searching in its acquaintance with human nature and the logic
of cause and effect. Mr. Dunham has stood before juries in a large
number of cases -that have made Michigan criminal annals, and his pres
tige is still undiminished. With his son, H. Monroe, and nephew, John
M. Dunham, he now practices at Grand Rapids, under the firm- name of
Dunham & Dunham.
A son of John and Mary A. (McDermott) Dunham, he was born at
Highland, Oakland county, Michigan, March 19, 1850. His father was
born at Mayfield, New York, August 6, 1820, and now a resident of Alma,
Michigan, is enjoying good health at the age of ninety-three. Grandfather
Jacob Dunham was also born at Mayfield, New York, in 1788, and was a
son of English people who came to America and first settled in Massa
chusetts.

1118 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN '
It '
Major L. Dunham attended the public schools at Highland until about
twenty years of age. His experience during vacation was in the whole
some environment and the work of the farm, and before entering upon
the law, he spent six years as a school teacher. His first school was in
the country, and his salary was twenty-five dollars a month with board,
though, after the fashion of the time, he had to board around at the
houses of those who had children in school. While working on the farm,
he decided to become a lawyer, and thereafter directed all his energies to
that attainment.
The only available copy of Blackstone was twelve miles from where
he was living, and he walked that distance in order to borrow the book.
and taking it home pored over its pages at night and during all the spare
intervals of his regular labor. Later he, was a student in the office ot
G. H. Beardsley, and was admitted to the bar in .October, 1875. Dur
ing his early career as a lawyer, Mr. Dunham served four years as prose
cuting attorney of Ontonagon county and as city attorney for three years.
At Cadillac he entered a partnership with his brother, Judge H. M,.
Dunham, at one time judge of probate court, and their relationship was
¦continued with mutual satisfaction and profit until 1887. In that year
Mr. Dunham moved to Grand Rapids, and now for more than a quarter
of a century has been one of the foremost figures in the Kent County Bar.
His specialty for many years has been in criminal practice, and it is in
that difficult field of jurisprudence that his reputation has reached his
highest heights. For some time Mr. Dunham was in practice with God
win & Adsit, the former having been at one time United States district
attorney. On October 16, 1875, Mr. Dunham married Miss Sophia, a daughter
of August Heimes, a real estate man of Greenland, Michigan. They are
the parents of two children: Gertrude is the wife of T. H. Camp, of
San Francisco, California. H. Monroe is the junior partner of the firm
of Dunham & Dunham. He was educated in the Grand Rapids schools
and was graduated LL. B. from the Northwestern University of Chicago.
Mr. and Mrs. H. Monroe Dunham have two children, Dorothy E., and
M. Monroe, Jr. Mrs. Dunham has for a number of years had a promi
nent part in women club work in Grand Rapids, and her activities have
centered about the St. Cecelia Club of the city. Mr. Dunham is affiliated
with the Masons and the Elks, is a Republican in politics, and he and his
family worship in the Presbyterian faith. His offices are in the Widde-
comb Building, and his home is at 414 Benjamin Avenue.
John G Emery, Jr. One of the leading Muskegon manufacturers
and business men is John G. Emery, Jr., a resident of the city for more
than twenty years, is well known in banking circles, and was until re
cently, secretary and treasurer of the Shaw Electric Crane Company. All
of his active career has been identified with practical affairs, his father
before him was a manufacturer, and skilled machinist, and Mr. Emery's
success has been gained solely, on merit and accomplishment.
John G. Emery, Jr., was born at Peshtigo, Marinette county-, Wis
consin, August 20, 1858. His parents were John G. and Martha H.
(Waterhouse) Emery. Plis grandfather Temple Emery died at the age
of thirty years in the state of Maine. The maternal grandfather, Abraham
Waterhouse lived and died in the same state. -Both parents were natives
of Maine, the father born in 1828, and the mother in 1829. They were
married in 1855, and in the following year moved to Wisconsin, where
they were among the early settlers. The father was a millwright, built
a number of sawmills, and later took up the manufacture of sawmill ma
chinery. His death occurred in 1893, while his wife passed away in 1907.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN, 1119
In 1864 he moved to Bay City, Michigan, which was his home until 1887,
and from that time until his death his home was in Minneapolis, where
he was engaged in the granite business. Though a Republican in politics,
the senior Mr. Emery never participated in practical politics. There were
three children, two of whom are now living. The daughter, Helen, is
the widow of R. H. Minty.
The early education of John G. Emery, Jr., was received in Bay City
public schools. His first experiences were as a logger. In association
with his father he learned the millwright trade and did. much work in
the building of sawmills and the manufacture of sawmill machinery.
With a varied experience in manufacturing lines, and with some capital,
Mr. Emery moved to Muskegon in 189 1, and since that time has been
closely identified with commercial and industrial affairs in this city. The
Shaw Electric Crane Company, of which he was one of the organizers,
and secretary and treasurer, employs about four hundred men and manu
facture a large line of overhead cranes. Its product goes all over the
world. For over twenty years Mr. Emery has been a director of the
Lumbermen's National Bank of Muskegon, and is now vice president ;
has served on the board of education for twelve years ; was one of the
projectors of the Grand Rapids & Muskegon Power Company, for a num
ber of years was its treasurer, and now director; was sixteen years di
rector of the Chamber of Commerce,, and his name and influence have
been valuable in forwarding many movements of business and civic im
portance. In 1883 Mr. Emery married Genevieve H. Wilson of Columbus, Ohio.
His fraternal associations are with the Benevolent and Protective Order
of Elks, and in politics he is a Republican.
Allen F.- Edwards. Now vice-president of the Detroit United Rail
way in charge of the purchasing department, Allen Fullton Edwards Ms
had an active career in railroading since he left college eighteen years
ago. Before coming to Detroit in 1900 he had served in places of official
responsibility, and at Detroit, besides his connection with the Detroit
United Railway, has numerous relations with transportation, industrial
and financial affairs.
Allen Fullton Edwards was born at Crawford; Georgia, June 14, 1876,
a son of James M. and Elizabeth (Scudder) Edwards. When he was a
child his parents moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where he was educated
in the. public schools, attended private school at Charlotteville, Virginia,
and completed his education at Columbia University in New York. His
active career began with the Yonkers Railroad, at Yonkers, New York,
in 1896. In 1898 he was made general manager of the Electric Light
and Railway Company of Petersburg, Virginia. With this experience
he came to Detroit in 1900 to become general manager for -the Toledo
and Monroe Railway, and general manager of the Detroit and Toledo
Shore Line Railroad. In 1901 he was appointed receiver of the latter
line. Mr. Edwards has been identified witb the Detroit United Railway
since 1904, when he was made purchasing agent, and in 191 3 was elected
vice-president in charge of purchases. His other important business
associations are director of the Union Trust Company of Detroit, of the
Detroit, Monroe and Toledo Short Line Railway, of the Detroit, Jack
son and Chicago Railway, of which he is also treasurer, and of the Sand
wich, Windsor and Amherstburg Railway.
Mr. Edwards is a Republican, a member of the Presbyterian church,
his. college society is the Alpha Delta Phi, and he is a member of the
Detroit, the Country, the University, the Grosse Pointe Riding and Hunt
ing, the .Transportation, the Fontinalis Fishing Clubs, and takes his
recreation in golf, fishing and hunting. At Detroit on January 21, 1904,

1120 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
he married Christine Muir Russel. His offices are in the Union Trust
building and his residence at 212 Seminole avenue.
Charles Austin. It is most gratifying and consonant to present in
this history a record concerning the career of this honored and venerable
citizen of Battle Creek, and Mr. Austin may well be designated as one of
the pioneers of Michigan, for he has here maintained (1914) his residence
for sixty years and has been prominently identified with the civic, social,
business and political agencies that have conserved the upbuilding of the
state. Pie was a youth of eighteen years when he left his native land to
establish a home in the United States, and here he entered fully into the
spirit of the great American republic, his loyalty to and appreciation of
which have never faltered. He is now one of the most venerable citizens
of Calhoun county, which has represented his home since 1855 and to the
development and progress of which he has contributed in generous meas
ure, as a broad-minded and public-spirited citizen and as one whose
character and ability have well qualified him for leadership in thought and
action. He has been called to various positions of public trust and respon
sibility, including service in both houses of the Michigan legislature, and
for many years he has been one of the leaders of the Michigan contingent
of the Republican party. A man of distinctive intellectual force, of sterling
character and of much business acumen, he has made a deep and enduring
impress upon the history of his county and state, and, now that he has
passed the eightieth milestone on the journey of life, he retains the
unqualified affection and respect of the community in which he has long
lived and labored to goodly ends.
Charles Austin was born in the city of London, England, on the 18th
of April, 1834, and concerning him the following pertinent statements
have been made : "He began his active business life when a. boy, and his
success came as a result of his own efforts and his force of initiative. His
father was in early life a farmer, later became a boot and shoe merchant
in London, and finally immigrated to New Zealand, where he continued to
be identified with agricultural pursuits up to the time of his death, which
occurred when he was nearly eighty-eight years of age. Both in England
and New Zealand he was active and zealous as a minister of the Wesleyan
church, and his life was one of signal consecration to lofty ideals."
Hon. Charles Austin, known for worthy achievement as a merchant,
banker and legislator, was reared in his native city to the age of eighteen
years, and he was not denied substantial and adequate educational advan
tages, including those of one of the institutions of the British and Foreign
School Societies. In his father's store in London he early gained practical
experience, and when he had attained to the age of eighteen years his self-
reliance and ambition led him to sever the gracious ties that bound him to
home and native land and to seek his fortunes in the United States. He
made the voyage to America on a sailing vessel and landed in the port of
New York city in February, 1852. Concerning the early stages in his
career in the United States the following data have been given and are
worthy of perpetuation : "The metropolis did not at once offer him the
kind of work he desired, so he went up the Hudson river to Albany, where
he soon obtained a position as clerk in a boot and shoe store, the line of
occupation in which he had gained experience in London. In the autumn
of the same year he proceeded to Little Falls, New York, and from that
place he removed to Utica, that state, where he continued to reside until
1854. The year last mentioned was marked by his removal to Michigan,
with which state he has been identified for sixty years."
Upon coming to Michigan Mr. Austin first established his residence
at Concord, Jackson county, but in September, 1855, he removed to Cal-

t^^L^L^-Co<5 d^tsc^^CLs~<J

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1121
houn county, within the borders of which he has maintained his home
during the long intervening years, the while he has witnessed and aided
the development of this section of the state from the status of the pioneer
era to that of twentieth-century opulence and progressiveness. During
the first two years of his residence in Calhoun county Mr. Austin was
engaged in the boot and shoe business in the village of Homer, and his
initial venture as a merchant was one of modest order. At the expiration
of the time noted he removed to the attractive pioneer town of Bedford,
where he expanded his scope of operations by the establishing of a general
store. He was identified with the village of Bedford for many years, and
there he built up a large and prosperous business, based alike on fair and
honorable dealings and upon those personal characteristics that ever beget
popular confidence and esteem. Mr. Austin continued his operations at
Bedford until 1872, when he found a broader field of endeavor by remov
ing to the city of Battle Cheek, which was then, as now, the most impor
tant business center of Calhoun county. Here he founded a dry-goods
establishment which long maintained precedence as the largest in the city,
and he also founded the large mercantile and commission house of Austin,
Godsmark & Durand, which has played an important part in furthering
the commercial prestige of the metropolis of Calhoun county. The busi
ness is still continued and Mr. Austin retains an interest in the same, the
present title of the firm being Godsmark, Durand & Company. Mr. Austin
has likewise been an influential force in the upbuilding of that fine and
valued institution, the Old National Bank of Battle Creek, in which he
has been a stockholder for many years and of which he is vice-president at
the present time.
Mr. Austin has been a close student of economic and governmental
affairs and has been fully fortified in his political convictions, even as he
has shown the utmost civic loyalty and public spirit. He has the distinc
tion of be.ing one of those who attended the famous meeting "under the
oaks" at Jackson, Michigan, where the deliberations are conceded his
torically to have resulted in the birth of the Republican party. He thus
witnessed the organization of this great political party, and he has voted
for every Republican presidential candidate from Lincoln to Taft, his
naturalization as a citizen of the United States having been perfected a
little too late to permit his supporting the first presidential nominee of the
Republican party, — General John C. Fremont. He has been steadfast in
his allegiance to the cause of the Republican party and has been influential
in its various activities in Michigan, a state long known as a Republican
stronghold. Mr. Austin served as justice of the peace while residing at
Bedford, and in 1875 he was elected a member of the city council of Battle
Creek, about one year after here establishing his home. The hold that he
had soon obtained on popular confidence was significantly shown in 1876,
when he was elected mayor of the city, as candidate on the Republican
ticket: He gave a most admirable administration of municipal affairs
during his first term, and appreciation of his efforts was shown by his
re-election at the expiration of his initial term.
In 1880 Mr. Austin was elected to represent Calhoun county in the
lower house of the state legislature, in which his loyal and effective service
marked him for higher honors. In 1882 he was representative of his dis
trict in the state senate, to which he was re-elected in 1884. He took an
active part in the deliberations and other work of the senate and proved
one of its influential members. He was chairman of the senate committee
on railroads, and also held membership on the committees of finance,
insurance, education, and asylums for the insane. Mr. Austin is a zealous
and honored member of the Independent Congregational church of Battle
Creek, and has been specially prominent in. the work of its Sunday school,
his wife likewise having been a devout adherent of- this church.

1122 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
At Concord, Jackson county, Michigan, on the ist of January, 1855, was
solemnized the marriage of Mr. Austin to Miss Lucy D. Taylor, who was
a representative of one of the sterling pioneer families of that county and
who remained as his devoted companion and helpmeet for more than fifty-
eight years, the gracious ties having been severed when she was summoned
to the life eternal, on the 17th of November, 1913, and her passing away
having constituted the supreme loss and bereavement that has come to Mr.
Austin in the course of his long and useful life. Mr. and Mrs. Austin
became the parents of five sons, two. of whom died in infancy. Oliver T.,
who is a bachelor, is a traveling salesman and maintains his headquarters
in the city of Chicago ; Charles J., who is married but has no children, is
manager of a wholesale grocery in the city of Toledo, Ohio ; Edward D.,
who is engaged in the art-crockery business in Battle Creek, is married
and has three children, — Helen G, Oliver C, and Darwin E.
Few citizens of Calhoun county are better known than the venerable
man to whom this sketch is dedicated, and few have entered more fully
and worthily into the civic and business life of this section of the state,
where his circle of friends and admirers is coincident with that of his
acquaintances. Mr. Austin has been affiliated with the Masonic fraternity
since 1858, and he holds membership in the York Rite bodies in his home
city, including Battle Creek Commandery of Knights Templars. He has
passed many of the official chairs in the various Masonic bodies with
which he is identified.
Sidney D. Miller. One of the oldest American families of south
eastern Michigan was represented by the late Sidney D. Miller, who
himself for more than half a century was . prominent, first as a lawyer
and later as a banker, at Detroit. Three generations of the Miller fam
ily live in Detroit and vicinity, and as merchants, lawyers, bankers and
public-spirited citizens have associated the name with the larger affairs
of business and with those attainments and influences which count for
wholesomeness and progress in civic life.
The late Sidney D. Miller was born at Monroe, Michigan, May 12,
1830, and died at St. Augustine, Florida, April 2, 1904, nearly seventy-
four years of age. His parents were Dan Bramble Miller and Elizabeth
(Davy) Miller. The mother was of English ancestry, the daughter of a
retired captain of the British navy, and was born at Belleville, Canada.
Dan Bramble Miller was born in New York state, of French Huguenot
and Holland Dutch stock, and the family settled in America during the
colonial period.
Dan Bramble Miller was long an influential citizen and merchant at
Monroe, Michigan. He gained the title of "Honest Dan." 'He was
one of the most prominent of that colony of New England and New
York men who settled in Monroe in the decade of the twenties, and
bent their energies to making that place a formidable rival of Detroit
as a western terminus for eastern commerce on the great lakes. In
1827 Dan B. Miller shipped from Monroe two hundred barrels of flour,
and this constituted the first export product from the territory of Michi
gan. Concerning this period of Monroe history and the part of Mr.
Miller therein, the following paragraph is an interesting addition to
local and family history :
Among those illustrious pioneers one finds Conant, Wing, Noble,
McClelland, Christiancy and others imbued with the progressive spirit
and well qualified to be founders of a new colony. Dan Bramble Miller
was selected by his associates and neighbors for mayor of the city of
Monroe, and served in that office during the .railroad war which pre
vailed at the time of the building of the Lake Shore, Michigan Southern

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1123
and the Michigan Central Railroad. It is a matter- of record that Mayor
Miller as the chief executive officer of the ambitious little city, then
known as the "Independent State of Monroe," felt it to be his duty to
defend at all hazards the rights, protect her interests, and preserve the
foundations of her future greatness already so carefully laid. In the
course of his duty he courageously defied the allied powers of the State
of Michigan and the Michigan Central Railroad Company for some
time, believing them to be acting without authority of law ; and the sequel
proved his judgment correct. He was a man of unquestioned probity
and remarkable force of character, courageous in the exercise of his
official prerogative when acting from deep convictions. Mayor Miller
was also receiver of public moneys, at that time an important office at
Monroe, under President Andrew Jackson.
It was in the Monroe of the thirties and forties that Sidney D. Miller
grew to manhood. After the common schools he continued his studies
in a branch of the University of Michigan, located then at Monroe. He
then entered the university itself, and was graduated in 1848 at the age
of eighteen. He was a hard student during his college career and con
tinue to be so throughout his professional career. From college he
returned to Monroe and took up the study of law under the preceptor
ship of the firm of McClelland & Christiancy, one of the strongest law
firms in the state at that time. The senior member of that firm, Hon.
.Robert McClelland, later served as governor of Michigan, and was Sec
retary of the Interior in the Cabinet of President Pierce. The junior
member, Hon. Isaac P. Christiancy, afterwards had a place on the bench
of the supreme court of Michigan, and later was a United States sen
ator. Another preceptor of Sidney D. Miller was Alexander D. Frazer.
From study in local offices he entered the Dane Law School, then the
law department of Harvard University, where he was graduated LL. B.
in 1850. The career of the late Mr. Miller as a Detroit lawyer began in
January, 1852. From that time until his death, more than half a century
later, he was recognized as having few equals as a eounselor, and was
also strong as a trial lawyer, though he devoted most of his time and
attention to work as counsel. He was retained as legal representative
for many corporations in Detroit and elsewhere, among which may be
mentioned the Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railroad Com
pany, the Detroit City Railway Company, the Eureka Iron Works, the
Detroit Savings Bank, and the Michigan State Bank. He became a mem
ber of the board of directors of the Detroit Saving Fund Institute, and
in 1883 succeeded Alexander Adams as president of the Detroit Savings
Bank, an office which he held until his death. Thus the last twenty years
of his career were devoted to banking, and during that period of his
life most of his associates knew him as a banker rather than as a law
yer. He continued to serve, however, as advisory counsel to several
large corporations.
A Democrat in politics, Mr. Miller was never a politician, but none
excelled him in public spirit and devotion to the interests of good gov
ernment and civic and social welfare. For twenty-three years he served
as a member of the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners, and during
most of that time was president of the board. The board of education
of the city also was benefited through his presence as a member, and it
was while he was connected with the board that the public library of
Detroit was established. His work was also instrumental . in helping to
secure to Detroit the unique and beautiful island park, Belle Isle, and
in the. founding and maintenance of the Detroit Museum of Art.
Devoted in his membership with the Episcopal faith, he was for many
vears a member of the vestry of the parish of Christ Church, and a

1124 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
member of the standing committee of the diocese of Michigan, and his
wife was likewise a communicant of the same church. He was liberal
in his benefactions to church and charities, and yet comparatively few
were aware of his broad philanthropy, since in bis well doing he was
extremely modest at all times and never ostentatious in giving. During
the earlier years of his residence in the city he was president of the
Young Men's Society, a leading literary and social organization of the
time. A man of high attainments and noble character, the late Mr.
Miller left an impress for good upon all who came within the sphere
of his influence. He honored his profession and also the state in which
his entire life was passed.
In 1861 Sidney D. Miller married Mrs. Katherine (Trowbridge)
Rodgers, daughter of Hon. Charles C. Trowbridge, a distinguisbed
pioneer of Michigan. Mrs. Miller, after surviving her husband a little
tnore than a year, died at her home at Grosse Pointe in July, 1905. They
were the parents of four sons, and the only survivor is Sidney Trow
bridge Miller.
Sidney Trowbridge Miller. Prominent in the same profession
which was honored by his father for half a century, Sidney T. Miller has
been a member of the Michigan bar since 1887, and is regarded in his
home city of Detroit as one of the most resourceful and versatile trial
and corporation lawyers.
Sidney Trowbridge Miller was born in the family homestead on Jef
ferson Avenue, Detroit, January 4, 1864. From tbe public schools he
gained his preparation for college in Brown Academy, an excellent pri
vate school of that time. In 1881 he entered- old Trinity College at Hart
ford, Connecticut, where he graduated A. B. in the class of 1885. The
same institution in 1888, gave him the degree of Master of Art. The
first year after leaving college Mr. Miller studied law under his father
and then entered the law department of Harvard University, where he
remained one year. Admitted to the Michigan bar in 1887, upon examina
tion before the Supreme Court of the State, and later admitted to practice
in the Federal courts he at once established himself as a local attorney in
Detroit, and has had more than the usual success of Detroit attorneys and
counselors. His ability has brought him in connection with, a great mass
of litigations in the different courts, but in later years he has devoted him
self more and more to corporation practice. Mr. Miller has membership
in the Wayne county, the Detroit, the Michigan, and the American Bar
Association, and also the International Law Association. His successes
have all been worthily won, and he has the confidence and high regard of
his legal brethren, as well as of the public.
To politics Mr. Miller has given the interests of a good citizen, with
no evidence of aspiration for the offices and emoluments of public life.
He is a director and counsel for a number of important industrial and
financial corporations in Detroit. He is also a director in the Wyandotte
Savings Bank at Wyandotte near Detroit, and succeeded his father in the
presidency of the Detroit College of Medicine, still holding that office.
Mr. Miller is devoted to his profession and its immediate interests. He
has been president of the Bar Association of the City of Detroit since
1912, covering two terms, and has also served as a member of the City
Gas Commission and on the Board of Commissioners of the Detroit
Public Library. He and his wife worship in Christ Episcopal Church, in
which, like his father before him, he serves as vestryman, and has mem
bership in the standing committee of the diocese. His connection with
club and social life is with different organizations including the Detroit
. Club, the Country Club, the Yondotega Club, The University Club, the

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1125
Raquet Club, 'the Detroit Boat Club, and the Delta Psi College fraternity.
Both he arid his wife have much part in Detroit society,' and they have
one of the beautiful and attractive bomes of the city.
On November 20, 1889, Mr. Miller married Miss Lucy T. Robinson,
daughter of Hon. Henry C. Robinson, of Hartford, Connecticut. They
are the parents of two children : Sidney Trowbridge Miller, Jr., and Eliza
beth Trowbridge Miller.
F. H. De Golia. The monetary interests of a community are un
doubtedly among the most important, for financial stability must be the
foundation stone upon which all great enterprises are erected. Those in
dividuals who control and conserve the moneys of corporation or coun
try must, of a necessity, possess many qualities not requisite in the make-up
of the men engaged in other lines of endeavor, and among these may be
mentioned foresight, acumen, exceptional financial ability, high commer
cial integrity, poise and judgment. It is imperative that public confid
ence be with them, a fact illustrated on numerous occasions in this coun-
try when panics that have threatened the stability of government institu
tions have been averted by the wisdom and sagacity of the men whose
•- entire training has been along the lines of finance. A man who has been
prominently connected with the banking interests of Eaton Rapids for
many years, and who has done much in the effective upbuilding of this
community along additional lines is F. H. De Golia, president of the First
National Bank. •
The First National Bank of Eaton Rapids was founded in 1877, as
a private institution, by F. H. De Golia, H. J. Bowner and Daniel Strieker,
all of Hastings, and on September ist became a national bank with a
capital stock of $50,000, at which time A. J. Barnes was elected presi
dent, William Strieker, vice president, and F. H. De Golia, cashier. The
latter held his position continuously until January, 1914, when he was
elected president of the institution, which is now known as one Of the
most substantial banks of the county, with $50,000 capital, $50,000 surplus
and $25,000 undivided profits. J. B. Herbert is now cashier, with A. B.
Hale, assistant cashier.
F. H. De Golia was born on his father's farm in the vicinity of Grand
Rapids, Kent county, Michigan, in February, 1847, and is the oldest son
of William and Clarissa (Stewart) De Golia. The father, a native of
New York, migrated to Kent county, Michigan, as a pioneer, settling on
a farm in the lumber woods, where he cleared his land and became the
owner of a handsome and valuable property. The early log buildings
were replaced by substantial structures, attractive and modern, and the
various improvements on the farm which were made by Mr. De Golia
showed his progressive spirit, thrift and good workmanship. He died in
1868, on his farm, while the mother survived him one year, both passing
away with the respect and esteem of all with whom they had come into
contact. F. H. De Golia was reared a farmer boy, and his education was se
cured during the short winter terms at the district schools of Kent county.
He laid, aside his books at the age of eighteen years, to devote himself
entirely to the work of the homestead, and continued to make the parental
roof his home until his twenty-second year. In that year his mother died,
and, his father having died one year before, he left the homestead and
joined the world's army of workers as a clerk in a general store. Through
thrift and good management he managed to accumulate a small capital,
and after several years as a clerk became interested in business, under
the' firm style of De Golia, Webster & Company, groceries, a firm which
coritiriued in business for four years. At tbe end of that period he dis-

1126 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
posed of his interest to his partner, and in 1872, at Middleville, Barry
county, embarked upon his career as a banker, at the head of a small
private institution. In 1877 he sold out at Middleville and came to Eaton
Rapids, where he organized the bank of which he is now the directing
head, and this city has continued to be his home to the present time. In
his management of the affairs of the First National Bank, Mr. De Golia
has shown himself an able financier, capable of gaining and retaining
public confidence and eminently worthy of the patronage of the people
of his community. He has worked his way upward from a humble posi
tion by unflagging attention to business and by due regard to the rights
of others, and has won a high place in the respect and esteem of his fel
low men by his own intrinsic worth and merit. For thirty-seven years a
resident of Eaton Rapids, he has made its advancement and prosperity
one of his ruling principles, and has gloried in the progress it has made
during the year of his residence here.
In 1869 Mr. De Golia was married to Miss Mary Stringer, of Kent
county, Michigan, and to this union there have been born two children:
Grace M., who is the wife of Clifford Stringer, of Eaton Rapids; and
Harry, also of this city. Mr. De Golia is a prominent Mason, being a
member of Charlotte Lodge No. 63, F. & A. M., of Charlotte Chapter No.
24, R. A. M., and of Charlotte Commandery No. 37, K. T. He has large
property holdings in Eaton Rapids and the vicinity, and is universally con
sidered one of the men upon whom his county may depend.
Luke Waters. One of the oldest and most successful enterprises at
Hastings is that now conducted under the personal name of Luke Waters.
The business was established nearly forty years ago, in 1876, by F. H.
Barlow and Mr. Waters under the name F. H. Barlow & Company. That
title was continued representing the same partners until the death of Mr.
Barlow in 1912, at which time Mr. Waters succeeded to the business and
it has since been conducted under his individual name, as the sole owner.
The nature of this enterprise is best indicated by the commodities in
which he deals, comprising wool, grain, hay, straw, seed, coal, lime, hair,
stucco, hides, pelts, etc. The warehouse, yards and elevators were con
structed in 1888, and the elevator, which has a capacity of twenty-five
thousand bushels, is operated with modern machinery run by electric
power. Luke Waters, who represents one of the early families of Barry
county, and has been known to the community of Hastings since child
hood, was born in Orleans county, New York, May 4, 1853, the oldest
son of Patrick H. and Mary (Hovan) Waters. His father was born
in Ireland, and came to the United States when quite young, lived in
New York state, for a time in St. Lawrence county, and in October, 1855,
arrived in Michigan and became one of the pioneers of Barry county.
Being in only moderate circumstances, his first purchase was a -small
piece of land located in the woods, and his subsequent efforts for many
years were employed in clearing up, improving and increasing his prop
erty, and by the productive industry of general farming and stock rais
ing he eventually became one of the most prosperous farmers of Barry
county. His death occurred in 1894, while bis wife passed away in 1898.
It was on the farm in Barry county that Luke Waters spent his boy
hood and early youth, attending the district schools during the winter
time, and strengthening both mind and muscle by application to the duties
of the farm during the remainder of the year. This was his career until
he was twenty-one, and in April, 1876, was formed a partnership with
Mr. F. H. Barlow as above noted. His late partner was one of the most
thorough business men of Barry county, a than whose reputation and

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1127
dealings were based upon honesty and integrity, and- whose death took
away one of the most valued citizens of the community.
In 1878 Mr. Waters married Miss Adel L. Wickham, whose family
lives in Barry county. The children of this marriage are: James P.,
who is a mechanical engineer at Detroit; Sophia M., the wife of Louis
Barkley, of Hastings; and Mary M., the wife of M. B. Cobert, who is
employed as an engineer with a coal company in Indiana. For his sec
ond wife Mr. Waters married Miss Ruth M. Handy, of Hastings, a
daughter of Harny Handy. Mr. Waters is a pronounced Republican in
his political views and activities, and his business interests have not kept
him from active participation in local affairs. He gave service as a mem
ber of the board of review for two terms, was mayor of Hastings two
terms, a member of the common council twenty-two years, and a mem
ber of the school board two terms. His fraternal membership is with
the Knights of Pythias. His home at Hastings is at 403 S. Jefferson
street. George H. Russel. One of Michigan's most prominent bankers is
named at the beginning of this paragraph. Mr. Russel is probably known
to every banker in the state, and to hundreds in many other states. He
has had a long and varied career, and fifty years ago was working in
Detroit as yard foreman with a local iron industry. For a great many
years, Mr. Russel was closely identified with iron and steel manufacture
in Detroit, and still has large interests in that direction.. The People's
State Bank of Detroit, of which he is president, owes much of its solid
prosperity and influence to the able management of Mr. Russel.
George H. Russel was born in the city of Detroit, November 29, 1847,
a son of the late Dr. George B., and Anna (Davenport) Russel. Reared
in his native city, he attended the public schools and the Patterson's
School of his town. In 1863, at the age.of sixteen, he became yard fore
man for the Detroit and Lake Superior Iron Manufacturing Company.
That was his introduction to a business in which his own name and
activity subsequently became prominent. Three years later he became
bookkeeper for the company, and after two years was made secretary and
treasurer of the Hamtramck Iron Works. In 1872 Mr. Russel became
secretary and treasurer of the Detroit Car Works, which had been organ
ized in that year. Both these companies failed in 1876, after having
weathered the panic of 1873. Mr. Russel then leased a building, and
established an iron foundry on a very small scale. Soon afterwards his
brother, Walter S. Russel, joined him, and under the reorganization, as
the Russel Wheel & Foundry Company, came into existence what is today
one of Michigan's largest and most important industries. George H.
Russel continued as president of the company, giving his active super
vision and management to its affairs until 1906, and still holds a large
afnount of stock in the enterprise.
His career as a banker began in 1889, when he was made president of
the State Savings Bank of Detroit. In a. few years, the State Savings
Bank had become one of the largest financial institutions of Michigan.
The State and Peoples Savings Bank were in 1907 consolidated, under
the title of People's State Bank, and Mr. Russel has continued as presi
dent. In 1891-92, Mr. Russel was honored with office of president of
the Michigan Bankers' Association. In 1898 the National Conventiori of
American Bankers gave him distinction by election to the place of presi
dent. He has also served as president of the Detroit Bankers Club, and
as chairman of the Clearing House Committee. Aside from his activities
as a manufacturer and banker, Mr. Russel has been_ identified^ in many
important ways, with other industrial and commercial undertakings in

1128 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Michigan, and has performed many services which have been largely
public in their character. He was president of the River Rouge Improve
ment Company. One of the projectors of the Detroit Radiator Company,
was Mr. Russel, and he served as president of that company until it was
merged under the corporation now known as the American Radiator
Company, probably the greatest industry of its kind in the world. For
many years he was vice president of the Michigan Carbon Works of
Detroit, which was sold to the American Agricultural Chemical Co. Mr.
Russel is a director and treasurer of the Detroit United Railway Company,
a director in the Union Trust Company, director and vice president of
the Great Lakes Engineering Company and director in the American
Car & Foundry Company.
In political affairs, as a Democrat, Mr. Russel has had an influential
and active part for some years: However, he has shown no evidences of
aspirations for political office or honors. He has the distinction of having
been the first president of the present board of Park & Boulevard Com
missioners of Detroit. In 1899-1900 he was president of the Detroit Club.
In 1872 Mr. Russel married Frances E. Bagg, daughter of the late John
S. Bagg, whose name for many years was a household word in Detroit,
as editor of the Detroit Free Press.
William Jarvis Wickes. One of the foremost manufacturers and
leading men of affairs of Saginaw, William J. Wickes is president of The
Wickes Boiler Co. and officially identified with several others of the
largest and best known industrial and commercial enterprises in this part
of the state.
Mr. Wickes, like his father, possesses exceptional mechanical genius.
Mr. Wickes, Sr., was the inventor of what are known as the "gang mills,"
known all over the world, and the operation pf which is taught in all text
books on mechanical engineering in the United States and Germany.
William Jarvis Wickes was born in Saginaw, August 2, 1862, a son of
Henry D. and Ann (Bailey) Wickes. Ann Bailey, a native of Michigan,
was a daughter of Jarvis Bailey, who came from New York State to
Michigan in 1840, was an early Indian agent, and built the first saw mills
at Flushing. He was a prominent lumber man, very active in affairs, and
later became owner of extensive ranch lands in Texas, to which state he
moved in 1872, and during the rest of his life engaged in raising cattle on
a large scale near Austin, where he and his wife died. Henry D. Wickes,
the father, came to Flint, Michigan, in 1852, spent four years in a machine
shop, and in 1856 came to Saginaw, where, with his brother Edward, he
built and founded the first local industry for the manufacture of sawmill
machinery. Their machine shops were the nucleus for the large industry
now carried on under the name of Wickes Brothers. Henry D. Wickes
was a man of exceptional business enterprise and a leader in the public
life of his city. His death occurred in 1904 at Saginaw and his name
deserves remembrance as that of one of the pioneer industrial leaders.
William J. Wickes has been identified with Saginaw all his life. After
completing the course in the public schools at the age of eighteen he entered
his father's factory, learned boiler making in all its details, and after the
death of the father he and his brother Harry T. assumed tbe entire man
agement of the large plant. Mr. Wickes is president of The Wickes
Boiler Co., and its importance in the life and welfare of Saginaw is
indicated by the fact that four hundred men are on the payroll. Mr.
Wickes is also president of the Saginaw Plate Glass Works, employing
four hundred and fifty men ; is vice president of the United States Graphite
Company, employing one hundred men on its office staff and two hundred
in the shop and factory ; is president of the Consolidated Coal Company

<^^<m^L

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1129
of Saginaw, whose payroll amounts to upwards of one million dollars each
year, and one of the best financed and best operated in the coal industries
of tbe United States. The product of the United States Graphite Com
pany is sold to all the leading lead pencil makers throughout the world,
especially in Germany, France,. England and the United States, and the
graphite is -also used for various other commercial purposes. The raw
material is brought from old Mexico. Mr. Wickes was one of the organiz
ers and is president of the Manufacturers' Association of Saginaw, and
is a director in the Bank of Saginaw.
^Fraternally his affiliations are with the Saginaw Lodge No. 303, the
Masonic Order, and his family affiliate with the Congregational church,
but is liberal to all other denominations. His father took a leading part
in the building, of the First Episcopal, church in Saginaw. His political
support is in the interests of the Republican party.
In June, 1886, Mr. Wickes married Miss Cornelia Johnson Mershon,
who was born in New York State, a daughter of Augustus H. and Helen
(Johnson) Mershon. The six children of their union are mentioned as
follows.: Helen, widow of Melville D, Brooks, of Saginaw ; Edward Bailey
Wickes, who is now learning his trade in the boiler shop and machine works
under his father ; Ann ; William J., Jr. ; John Y., and Elsie Mershon. Mr.
Wickes finds his chief recreation in tbe management and supervision of
his beautiful fifty acre farm near Frankenmuth, on the Big Bend of the
Cass River. The location of this farm is very near the place where Lewis
Cass signed the treaty with the Indians about Saginaw. His city home
is a beautiful residence at 1016 Genesee. Street. Mr. Wickes is a member
of the Saginaw Club, and his place is that of leader in affairs in all this
part of the state. He and his brother have made a splendid business
record in maintaining the prestige and the large industry founded and
built up by their father and uncle, and through three generations the family
has a record in Michigan of which the descendants may well be proud.
Harry Tuthill Wickes. The industrial history of Saginaw could
not be written without mention of the enterprise of the Wickes family.
For many years Saginaw was the center of lumber manufacturing, had
a host of mills for sawing lumber, but its other industries were insignifi
cant. It was the Wickes enterprise and foresight that perceived an op
portunity for the establishment of a factory to supply saw mill machinery
of all kinds, and from establishment of the early machine shop business
has 'been conducted on an increasing scale until it now ranks among the
largest manufacturing concerns of the state.
. Harry, Tuthill Wickes, who is in the second generation of this Saginaw
family of manufacturers, was born in Flint, Michigan, November 2, i860,
the oldest of three children born to Henry D- and ^nn (Bailey) Wickes.
The other children in- the family were William Jarvis, a prominent invent
or and manufacturer, whose career is given elsewhere in this history, and
Mary, wife of Robert M. Randall, general manager of the Consolidated
Coal Company of Saginaw. The Wickes family goes back a couple of
centuries or more to three brothers who came from England and founded
homes in New York State. The maternal grandfather, Jarvis Bailey,
came to Michigan in pioneer days, following the trail from Detroit to
Flint, where he was an Indian agent and played a helpful. part in settling
difficulties between Indians and the early settlers.
The wife of Jarvis Bailey was a direct descendant from John Carroll,
one of the signers of the declaration of independence.
Harry T. Wickes was educated in the public schools of Saginaw and
at the age of seventeen entered the machine shops conducted by his father
and uncle. His apprenticeship was a thorough one, and he acquired a

1130 HISTORY OF MICPIIGAN
detailed experience, not only in the shops, but in the offices of the com
pany. Some years ago, with his brother William J., he acquired the con
trolling interest in what was originally the Wickes Brothers Company, the
membership of which was Henry D. Wickes and Edward Wickes, father
and uncle respectively of Harry T. and William J. Wickes.
Henry D. Wickes first became identified with Saginaw in 1856. Dur
ing the four previous years he had been employed in the Genesee Iron
Works, at Flint, Mich., and on coming to Saginaw saw a splendid opening
for shops for the manufacture of sawmill machinery. Having some means
of his own, he sent for his brother Edward, who also came on from FHnt,
and these brothers cleared off a tract of land, built a small shop, introduced
machinery, and in a modest way began the manufacture of sawmill equip-
ment, the first concern of its kind in Saginaw. Since the younger gen
eration, Harry T. and William J. Wickes, took the active management and
control of the business, they have added a boiler works, and at the present
time more than four hundred employed are on the payroll. Besides his
interests in the Wickes Brothers, of which he is president, Harry T. is
vice president of the Consolidated Coal Company, vice president of the
Saginaw and Bay City Railroad and Electric Light Company, a large stock
holder in the Saginaw Glass Works, president of the Merchants & Manu
facturers Associations, and a director in the People's Savings Bank.
Plis politics is Republican, he is a Knight Templar Mason and Shriner,
and belongs to the Saginaw and the Saginaw Country Club. Mr. Wickes'
chief recreation is yachting. The Capitola, owned by him, is one of the
finest yachts on the lake, is one hundred and fifty feet in length, has com
plete furnishings and equipments for both short and extended cruises, and
is a magnificent boat in every line and for every purpose. In September,
1885, Mr. Wickes married Miss Fannie H. Hamilton, who was born in
Ohio, a daughter of William Hamilton. Mrs. Wickes, who is now
deceased, was the mother of five children : Arthur Wickes, aged twenty-
seven, was educated in Ossining and the University of Michigan at Ann
Arbor, graduating in the engineering department, and is now associated
with his father in the macbine and boiler works; Elizabeth Wickes;
Frances Wickes; Randall Wickes, who was educated at Ossining, and in
the Engineering Department of the State University; Helen Wickes —
all these children living at home with their father. Mr. Wickes built and
owns one of the finest homes in Saginaw, at 324 N. Jefferson Avenue.
Herbert H. Hamilton. The precedence of every community is
based upon the character of its financial institutions, for unless they are
stable and have the public confidence, the credit of the municipality and
its people is impeached. The Michigan State Bank of Eaton Rapids,
Michigan, is an institution which grew out of the needs of its locality and
was organized by men of exceptional standing, whose interests have been
centered in it, and whose honor and personal fortunes are bound up in its
life. Under such desirable conditions, a bank is bound to maintain a
high standard and to make money for its stockholders, while at the same
time it safeguards the interests of its depositors.
The Michigan State Bank of Eaton Rapids, Michigan, was established
in 1884, its founders being H. H. Cobb, Charles S. Cobb, F. C. Cobb, H.
P. Webster, George W. Webster, E. S. Harris, C. W. Steven, Joseph
Carr, E. D. Coburn, John M. Corbin, Phillip Leonard, E. F. Keropp, I.
N. Reynolds, H. H. Gale, Fidelia D. Gale, Stella F. Higby, A. D. Saxton,
G. M. Andrews, Henrietta Carr, Maud Carr, Joel Swain, Albert Rogers,
George Walworth, O. J. Walworth, and C. P. Bissell. The above were
the original stockbolders of the bank. The capital stock of this institu
tion, which carries on an extensive general banking business, is $75,000,

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1131
including surplus, and undivided profits are $22,000. The present officers
are: Herbert H. Hamilton, president; H. P. Webster, vice president; E.
S. Haines, cashier; Guy Rogers, assistant cashier, and Jennie S. Hamil
ton, teller.
Herbert H. Hamilton, whose excellent judgment, foresight, acumen
and ability have been largely responsible for the success whicb has at
tended the Michigan State Bank of Eaton Rapids, is a native of Michigan,
having been born in Washtenaw county,. June 12, 1848. He is the second
son of Plorace M. and Elizabeth (Hamilton) Hamilton, the father of Pel-
ham, Massachusetts, and mother of Old Romanlef , New York. The fam
ily moved to New York when the father was six years old and from that
state to Michigan ten years later, settling in the woods of Washtenaw
county, where -Horace M. Hamilton cleared up a good farm, put up sub
stantial buildings, and made a comfortable home for his family. He con
tinued to be engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1865, and then engaged
in the drug business with his oldest son, A. N. Hamilton, now of Los
Angeles, California. He was appointed postmaster of Eaton Rapids in
1868, serving for 18 years. He was known as one of his community's
substantial men, and passed away in 1891, with the respect and esteem of
those who had known him. The mother was born in 1820 in New York
State, and was brought to Washtenaw county at an early day. She
passed away in 1899, when seventy-nine years of age.
Like the majority of farmers' sons of his day and locality, Herbert H.
Hamilton divided his boyhood between attending the district schools dur
ing the short winter terms and assisting his father and brothers in the
work of the homestead place in the rest of the year. He continued to
remain on the home place until 1875, when he decided to enter mercantile
life, and accordingly engaged in the drug and grocery business with his
brother, F. Z. Hamilton, under the firm name of Hamilton Brothers, with
which be remained nine years, winning constant success by reason of his
fidelity and energy. At the end o'f this period he received his introduc
tion to the banking business when he entered the employ of the Michigan
State Bank in the capacity of assistant cashier, a position which he held
until 1890, when he was promoted to cashier of the same institution. In
this capacity he continued until 191 o, and at that time was chosen by his
associates as president. Under his direction the house has grown and
prospered and continues to maintain its position as one of the most sub
stantial state institutions in Michigan. Pie has devoted himself exclu
sively to its interests, and so ' faithfully has he conserved the interests of
its depositors that he has won the implicit confidence of all who have had
transactions of any kind with the house. He has been foremost in public
matters in his community, and is never too busy to lend his aid, his means
and his time, to the furtherance of beneficial measures.
On February 12, 1873, Mr. Hamilton was united in marriage with
Miss- Millie M. Stirling, of Scotch descent, she being a daughter of David
Stirling, an old resident of Eaton county, Michigari, where he located in
1849. To Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton tbere have been born the following
named children : Bertha M., who is the wife of Dr. H. B. Cole, a dentist
of Charlotte, Michigan; and Jennie S., a graduate of Albion College,
Michigan. For a number of years Mr. Hamilton was a Democrat, but in 1896
voted for William McKinley. Since 1896 he has given his support to the
Republican party. He was the first mayor of Eaton Rapids, and was the
youngest mayor serving in the state of Michigan at that time. He is a
prominent Mason, being a member of Eaton Rapids Lodge No. 63, F. &
A. M. ; Charlotte Chapter No, 64, R. A. M. ; Charlotte Commandery No.
37, K. T., Charlotte Council. His substantial residence is located at No.
122 River street, Eaton Rapids.

1132 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
William J. Chittenden. A unique position has been maintained
by Mr. Chittenden in connection with business and civic activities in De
troit, a city that has been his home for more than half a century, and
it is most consonant that in this history of Michigan be entered a tribute
to him, for he has honored the state by his character and by his loyal
attitude as a citizen and man of affairs. He stands today as one of the
pioneer hotel men of Michigan, as he was long the executive head of the
old Russell House, which was the leading hotel of the state as well as
of Detroit for fully fifty years, and he has held prestige as one of the
ablest and most popular hotel men in the State. Aside from this, Mr.
Chittenden, who is now living virtually retired in Detroit, has ever
maintained the highest civic ideals and has done much for the promo
tion of the material and social interests of the city, his allegiance to and
affection for which have never wavered. A man of fine intellectuality,
and gracious personality, progressive ideas and utmost loyalty, he has
made his influence benignant in its various ramifications and he holds
inviolable place in the confidence and esteem of the people of Michigan.
He continued to be identified with the management of the Russell House
until the same was closed, its demolition ensuing, in order that it might
give place to the magnificent modern structure tbat now adorns the site,
— the Hotel Pontchartrain, which was opened in October, 1907, and of
which his youngest son is manager, so that the family name bids fair
to continue a veritable hall mark in connection with the supreme hotel
interests of Detroit and Michigan. Mr. Chittenden has long been known
to the writer of this article, and the latter finds pleasure in utilizing
largely the tribute previously prepared by him as touching the character
and services of this honored citizen.
The name of Chittenden has been long and prominently linked with
the annals of American history and was early known in New England,
where the original American progenitor settled upon immigration, from
England, in the early colonial days. He became one of the sterling
pioneers of Connecticut, and representatives of the family were found as
valiant soldiers in the various colonial wars, including that of the Revo
lution. Mr. Chittenden himself is a native of the old Empire state, as
he was born at Adams, Jefferson county, New York, on the 28th of
April, 1835. He is a son of Thomas C. and Nancy (Benton) Chittenden,
the former of whom was born in Connecticut and the latter of whom was
likewise a member of a representative colonial family in New England.
Thomas C. Chittenden became a lawyer of fine attainments and of
marked prominence and influence. He was for many years engaged in
the practice of his profession at Watertown, New York, and represented
his. district in congress from 1840 to 1845. In politics he was originally
an old-line Whig, but upon the organization of the Republican party he
transferred his allegiance to the same. He continued his residence at
Watertown until his death, in 1866, and his wife, a woman of most
gracious personality, survived him by several years.
William J. Chittenden was reared to maturity at Watertown, New
York, and was afforded the advantages of the best schools of the lo
cality and period. At Watertown he gained his initial business experi
ence, as clerk in a mercantile establishment, and in 1853, when eighteen
years of age, he came to Detroit. Soon after his arrival in the Michi
gan metropolis Mr. Chittenden obtained a clerkship in the retail dry-
goods establishment of Holmes & Company, but within less than a year
he found a wider field of endeavor, by assuming a position in the money-
order department of the state postoffice, under Colonel T. F. Brodhead.
In 1856 he returned to Watertown, New York, where he became book
keeper and teller in the Black River Bank, but the lure of Detroit proved

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1133
sufficient to call him back to that city in 1858, in which year he became
bookkeeper and secretary to his brother-in-law, the late William Hale,
who was proprietor of the Russell House from 1858 to 1861. Under
.these conditions Mr. Chittenden acquired his early experience in con
nection with the line of enterprise along which he was destined to
achieve success, and it is interesting to note that his entire active asso
ciation with the hotel business was with the house with which he orig
inally identified himself in the capacity mentioned. After the retirement
of Mr. Hale he held the same official position with the latter's successor,
L. T. Miner, who was proprietor of the Russell House from 1861 to
1863, inclusive.
In 1864 Mr. Chittenden became associated with Charles T. Witbeck
in purchasing the business of the Russell, of which they assumed control
under the firm name of Witbeck & Chittenden. This alliance continued
until the death of Mr. Witbeck, in 1882, after which Mr. Chittenden was
sole proprietor of the hotel until 1896, when Louis A. McCreary was
admitted to partnership, under the firm name of Chittenden & McCreary.
Mr. McCreary retired from the firm in 1896, and thereafter Mr.
Chittenden remained in individual control of the business until the hotel
was closed^ in 1905, in which year was instituted the dismantling of the
building, one of tbe landmarks of the city, that the site might be used
for the splendid structure that now graces it. With the elosing of the
house with which he had been identified for many years and which he
had maintained at the highest standard, gaining a reputation on a
parity with that of the city itself, Mr. Chittenden virtually retired from
active business, though he still gives his personal supervision to the
management of his various capitalistic interests and shows an unwaning
interest in the welfare and progress of Detroit. His circle, of acquaint
ances among the representative public men of the state and nation has
been especially wide, and Michigan has had no boniface more popular
with the general public. " Genial and kindly in his intercourse with all
with whom he has come in contact in his long business life of semi-
public character, appreciative of all that represents the higher ideals
of life, a man of broad and comprehensive knowledge and personal
dignity, Mr. Chittenden has never failed to impress his individuality and
to gain inviolable friendships. He is a member of the directorate of
the First National Bank of Detroit, is president of the Hargreaves Manu
facturing Company, and president of the Michigan Wire Cloth Com
pany, besides which he has other important capitalistic investments in
Detroit, including valuable realty. He is a valued member of the De
troit Club, the Fellowcraf t Club, the Detroit Boat Club, the Audubon
Whist Club, and the Old Club, at St. Clair Flats, and in the time-hon
ored Masonic fraternity he has received the thirty-second degree of the
Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, with vital interest in the various Ma
sonic bodies with which he" is affiliated. In politics Mr. Chittenden has
ever given staunch allegiance to the Republican party and while he has
always shown a loyal concern in public affairs he has never consented
to accept office, save that of commissioner of the Detroit House of
Correction, of which he remained the incumbent for twenty years, his
original appointment having been made by the late Stephen B. Grum-
mond, who was then mayor of Detroit.
On the 18th of January, 1866, was solemnized the marriage of Mr.
Chittenden to Miss Irene Williams, daughter of the late General Alph
eus S. Williams, one of the distinguished pioneer citizens of Detroit.
Mrs. Chittenden died on the 7th of April, 1907, in the city, of Chicago.
She was taken ill on the train while on her way home from the Pacific
coast. She had been taken to the Auditorium Annex, now the Con-

1134 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
gress hotel, Chicago, and with her in her last hours were the immediate
members of her family, with the exception of her son Frederick L.,
who was at the time lying critically ill in Detroit and who survived her
by only two weeks. It is certainly fitting that in this article be entered
a memorial tribute to this most noble and gracious woman, who played
an important part in the social life of Detroit and who was here loved
and honored by all who came within the sphere of her influence. Such
a tribute can not be better gained than by reproducing the following
statements which appeared in the Detroit Free Press on the day fol
lowing her demise :
"Detroit had no more splendid example of womanhood than Mrs.
Chittenden, and it would be no exaggeration to say that there is none
whose loss will be so deeply felt. In her activities, both charitable and
social, it was her province to meet with many persons, and to those she
endeared herself as a noble, whole-souled woman. The eldest daughter
of General Alpheus S. Williams, Mrs. Chittenden was born in Detroit
sixty-four years ago (January 3, 1843), and she spent her entire life
in this city. Her greatest activities were centered in St. Paul's church,
Protestant Episcopal, of which she was a lifelong communicant and
always an active worker. It was her proud distinction to have held
office in every organization to which women are eligible in -that church.
That her social and charitable work was highly appreciated by the many
women with whom she was associated is evidenced by the honors that
have been bestowed upon her in the various organizations to which she
belonged. Mrs. Chittenden had just entered upon her sixth year as
state regent of the Daughters of the American Revolution and, had she
lived, would have gone to Washington to the national gathering. Much
of her social activity was centered in the patriotic societies. She was
past regent of Louisa St. Clair Chapter, Daughters of the American
Revolution, and only a few days before her death she had completed
her term of office as president of the Mount Vernon Society. Numerous
other organizations claimed a share of her attention. She was a charter
member of the Dames of the Loyal Legion, a member of the Founders'
and Patriots' Society, a member of the state board of the, Daughters
of 1812, a member of the national board of trustees of the Daughters of
1812, a member of the King's Daughters, a member of the Colonial
Governors, a member of the Society of American Memorial Ancestry,
and a member of the New England Society. Her charitable work took
a great deal of her time, and she was an active worker in behalf of the
Children's Free Hospital of Detroit. She was past president of the board
of that institution. The Needle-work Guild of America, an institution
recognized throughout the land for its worthiness, claimed a share of
Mrs. Chittenden's attention. She was a member of the board of the
Detroit branch of that society. Besides her social and charitable work
Mrs. Chittenden had much time for interest in music and art. She was
a member of the Tuesday Musicale Society and the Fine Arts Society,
She was an active worker in the Twentieth Century Club."
Concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Chittenden the following
brief record is given : Frederick L., who was born in Detroit, Decem
ber 12, 1866, and who passed his entire life in this city, died at tbe family
home, 134 Fort street west, on the 21st of April, 1907, exactly two
weeks after the death of his loved mother. He was identified with the
Russell House from his youth and was secretary of the company that
controlled the hotel at the time it was closed. In his home city his circle
of friends was coincident with that of his acquaintances, and he remained
a bachelor until the close of his life. Alpheus Williams Chittenden,
the second son, is a leading architect in Detroit, and William J., Jr.,

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1135
is one of the managers of the magnificent Hotel Pontchartrain, in this
city. Margaret C. is the wife of William T. Barbour, president of the
Detroit Stove Works, and Mary C. is the wife of Henry L. Newman,
Jr., of Newman, New Mexico.
Charles M. Putnam. The career of Charles M. Putnam has for
nearly fifty years been a vital part of life and progress of his home city
of Nashville. While many people know him as president of the State
Savings Bank of that city, bis public spirit and the various substantial
acts of generosity in behalf of the town, in which his wife has been his
associate, has made both Mr. and Mrs. Putnam highly esteemed in that
community. The little city has been in ways advanced to prosperity and
welfare through the presence of such a rrian as Charles M. Putnam.
His birth occurred at Bridgewater, Williams county, Ohio, Decem
ber 25, 1846, the youngest son of Miles and Mary Anne (Eddy) Putnam.
His father was born in New Hampshire, October 6, 1799, and the mother
in 1804. On coming to Ohio they located on a farm in Williams county,
and did a pioneer part in clearing out the woods, cultivating the virgin
soil, and making a comfortable home in which they lived till death, the
father passing away in 1864 and the mother in 1865.
The district. school in Ohio, which supplied most of the early educa
tion of Charles M. Putnam, was taught for some time by his sister. His
early career was that of a typical farm boy during the '50s and early '60s,
and his horizon was bounded by the country and rural environment until
his twenty-first year. Mr. Putnam first located at Nashville, Michigan,
in October, 1866, and for some years his part in the community was that
of a hard-working and earnest young man, without special capital except
his individual enterprise and ambition. After a few months of varied
employment, George W. Francis employed the services in his general
store, and later Francis and Putnam went into business together for a
year until Mr. Putnam sold his interest.
On November 1, 1869, Charles M. Putnam and Miss Agnes Smith
were united in marriage. Mrs. Putnam is a daughter of Lemuel and
Sarah Ann (Parker) Smith, who were among the early settlers of Barry
county. After his marriage Mr. Putnam erected a store building, put in
a stock of goods, and in a few years was proprietor of a flourishing estab
lishment. His active career as a merchant continued for twenty-two
and a half years, and his close attention to details, his reputation for
square and fair dealing, arid his liberal but business like methods proved
the source of his prosperity, the fruits of which he has since diverted into
different channels. His business as a merchant was finally sold to Bratten
& Ingersol, who has subsequently conducted his business. In 1909 Mr.
Putnam became interested in the State Savings Bank, was soon after
wards elected president, and has continued at the head of this ably man
aged institution to the present time. Its business is general banking and
savings and its largest support comes from the leading farmers in the sur
rounding country.
In politics his support has always been given to the Democratic party
since he cast his first vote, but he has done his best work in the public
interests not through politics nor public office, but by his personal influence
and liberality. However, he served three years as a member of the school
board and was president of Nashville three years. His fraternal affilia
tions are with Nashville Lodge No. 255, A. F. & A. M., pf which he was
treasurer for fifteen years and master six years, and -with Eastern Star
Chapter No. 31. His membership is also in the Nashville Club. The con
fidence of the people in his integrity and fidelity as a business man has-
been evidenced by his selection, as administrator in the settling up of, a
number of estates in Nashville and the surrounding country.
vol. n— 32

HJ36 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
i
Perhaps the most attractive feature of the little city of Nashville is
the beautiful Putnam Park, occupying an elevated tract of land, com
manding a fine view of the town and surrounding country. Its many
kinds of native and imported plants and trees, its grass and flowers, its
well kept walks and natural beauty, make it a very desirable and attractive
resort for the people of Nashville during the summer months. Mr. Put
nam and his wife took the lead in organizing and founding this public
park. He has also done much other improvement work in the city; and
in 1870 a business house on Main Street was erected and is now used for
stores and offices and known as the Putnam building. About 1912 the
building known as Woman's Rest was put up as a result of the generosity
of Mr. and Mrs. Putnam, and that is a public enterprise for which the
people of Nashville and surrounding country have special reason to be
grateful to this public spirited citizen.
James S. Holden. Prominent as a real estate man and banker,
James S. Holden is one of the younger business men of Detroit, and
besides his relations with the city in a commercial way has also taken an
active part in political and public affairs. James S. Holden was born
in the city of Detroit on June 12, 1875, a son of Edward G. and Jean
Stansbury Holden. During his boyhood spent in his native city, he
attended the public schools graduating from the Cass school in Janu
ary, 1890, and from the Detroit high school in June, 1894. He soon
afterwards entered the Detroit College of law, and was graduated with
the class of 1897 with the degree of LL. B. Mr. Holden's first business
experience was in connection with real estate in 1893, and since March,
1898, he has been an independent operator in that line. He is president
of the James S. Holden Gompany, vice-president of the Michigan Sav
ings Bank of Detroit, and a director in the Security Trust Company of
Detroit. In local Republican politics, he has for some years been active as
a party man, and served as a member of the city Board of Estimates,
during 1905, 1906, and 1907, being president of tbe board in 1907. Mr.
Holden has membership in the Detroit, the University, the Country,
the Detroit Boat; the Old, the Prismatic, and the Bankers Clubs of
Detroit. Joseph D. Powers. In the exploitation of Eaton county agricultural
resources, perhaps no other citizen has done a more effective service than
Joseph D. Powers, who is in the real estate and insurance business at
Charlotte, a very successful man in his private enterprise, and at the same
time has done much to promote the public welfare of the community
through his liberal aid and efforts to make this part of the state known
to the general public and to improve local conditions and bring in a sub
stantial class of farming people.
Joseph D. Powers was born in the township of Bellevue, Eaton county,
in 1 87 1. His parents were John D. and Hattie E. Powers, the former a
native of New York state and a farmer by occupation. On coming to
Michigan he located near Bellevue but moved to Charlotte in 1876, where
he lived until his death.
With a common and high school education at Charlotte, Joseph D.
Powers started out in life as a clerk in a grocery store, and was thus em
ployed until 1894. His first independent venture was at Lake Odessa,
Michigan, where he was in the grocery trade over a year, then returned
to Charlotte and thence went to Eaton Rapids, where he was in the groc
ery trade for four years. In January, 1899, he went on the road as sales
man for the Steele- Wedeles Company, witb territory in Southern Mich-

aSf'SW

"*•

yvr^

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1137
igan, and subsequently represented the Austin-Burrington Grocer Co., of
Lansing, Michigan. He sold goods in Central and Southern Michigan,
and at a later time was employed by the Clark-Jewell-Wells Company of
Grand Rapids, also by the Phelps-Brace Company of Detroit, and for
some time was with Lee-Cady & Smart, the largest wholesale grocery
house in Michigan.
In 1910 Mr. Powers returned to his natiye city and opened up as a
real estate and insurance office. He sells both city and farm property,
and a general line of insurance and has a large and representative clientage
both among sellers and buyers. He has done much to co-operate with the
organized agricultural community, and in his office keeps a farm display
of the grains and vegetables produced in Eaton county, where visitors
may acquaint themselves with the quality of wheat, oats, barley, corn,
beans, potatoes, apples and smaller fruits raised in this section of the
state. Mr. Powers is a member of the Michigan Farmers Benefit Associa
tion, of which he is local manager. The Farmers Home is located on the
same floor with Mr. Powers' office, and the association's meetings and
conventions are held there. From his close acquaintance with farmers
and with farms and farm products, Mr. Powers is easily able to demon
strate that Eaton county under improved methods of farming is one of
the most productive centers of agriculture in Southern Michigan. The
fruit, especially apples, is very perfect in growth and rich in flavor and
unsurpassed in beauty.
Mr. Powers married Miss Villa Oatman of Owosso, Michigan. They
have one boy, named William Francis Powers. Mr. Powers is active in
Masonic circles, having affiliation with Charlotte Lodge No. 120, F. & A.
M. ; with the Royal Arch Chapter and with the Knights Templar Com
mandery at Charlotte. He is also a member of most all of the other
fraternal and secret organizations represented in the city.
Perry Schurtz, M. D. Beginning his professional career in Grand
Rapids, Michigan, in 1876, the year in which he received his medical
degree, Dr. Perry Schurtz has since been engaged here in practice, and
few if any, among the profession in Grand Rapids, have a wider practice
than he. Special attention to surgery brought him early into prominence
as a result of his exceptional. skill and success, and he ranks today among
the leading surgeons of the state.
Dr. Schurtz is distinctly a Michigan product. He was born in St.
-Joseph county, on April 19, 1855, and is a son of James and Hanna
(Krebs) Schurtz, both of whom were born in Northumberland county,
Pennsylvania. The father was born in 1812 and died in 1892, while tbe
mother was born in 181 1 and died in 1896. They were married in their
native state in 1833 and came to Michigan as early as 1841, settling in
St. Joseph county, where the father bought one hundred and sixty acres
of land and established himself as a farmer. He made his first purchase
from the government, and in later years he accumulated a great quantity
of land in the lower part of the state, becoming one of the richest men in
St. Joseph county. Of the ten children born to these parents nine are
now living, and Perry Schurtz of this review is the seventh in order of
birth. Mr. and Mrs. Schurtz were long members of the Congregational
church and Mr. Schurtz was an active member in the Grange, a society
whose chief aim is the stimulation of progress among the farming element
of the state. He was a Republicari in politics, but he never accepted any
political office, though he was often solicited to enter the lists as a candi
date for office. An honest man, his word was accepted anywhere without
question, and like many honest men, he suffered from the virtue at the
hands of others less scrupulous than himself. He was a son of Frederick

1138 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Schurtz, born in Germany, who came to America as a young man and
settled in New York state. He returned to Germany after a time, mar
ried, and brought his wife to America and here spent the remainder of
his life. He came direct from the family of which Carl Schurtz, or Schurz,
the German-American statesman and journalist, was a member.
Perry Schurtz had his early schooling in the schools of Kalamazoo,
Michigan, and in 1869 was graduated from the high school of that city.
He began at once with the study of medicine, to which he had early re
solved to devote himself. He entered the University of Michigan in
1873, and in 1876 was graduated M. D., in his last year taking a special
course in surgery and physical diagnosis. In the same year of his gradua
tion the young doctor located in Grand Rapids, and this city has been the
scene and center of his medical and surgical activities up to the present
time. Early in his practice he began to devote himself especially to surgical
work and associated himself with Dr. Elliott, of White Pigeon, an old
army surgeon and a most skillful man. Dr. Elliott was of great assistance
to Dr. Schurtz in the early days of his surgical activity, and today, thanks
to his careful training and the sincere devotion to his work that has char
acterized his entire career, Dr. Schurtz is one of the foremost surgeons
of the state. He operates in all the hospitals of the city and is surgeon of
Butterworth Hospital and chief-of-staff for two years, or up to the time
when he became connected with the U. B. A. Hospital. Abdominal sur
gery is a specialty with Dr. Schurtz, and he has many critical and successful
operations to his credit.
Dr. Schurtz has identified himself with Grand Rapids, not alone in the
sense of a professional man, but as a citizen of the finest type. He has
been- found identified with practically every project that has had for its
object the upward and onward progress of the city, and no service that
he performed in the interests of the community has been regarded by him
other than as a distinct pleasure.
Aside from his local activities, he was a member of the Pure Water
Commission of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, and was a
member of the committee that formed the by-laws of the association,
which has since come to be an international affair. Dr. Schurtz served
on the commission for a number of years, and his work was always direct
and to the point. He is a Republican in ..his politics, and though he has
not held office, he has been active, and might always be depended upon
to sustain with his influence the proper candidates for office. Dr. Schurtz
was a member of the Grand Rapids Board of Health for four years, and
he was instrumental in building two hospitals in this city, as well as having
assisted in the building of the first tuberculosis hospital here. He is a
member of the Kent County and State Medical Society, and he has served
as president of the Grand Rapids Academy of Medicine on three separate
occasions. Pie is a member of the National Civic League.
The fraternal relations of Dr. Schurtz are with the Knights of Pythias
and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and he is a member of the
Peninsula Club as well.
In 1879 Dr. Schurtz was married to Miss Bella Brewer, of Kalamazoo,
and they have one son, — Shelby Brewer Schurtz, an attorney engaged in
the practice of law in this city. He is a graduate of the literary and law
departments of the University of Michigan, and is one of the rising young
professional men of Grand Rapids.
Homer Warren. A resident of Detroit for more than forty years,
Mr. Warren's name is associated with various phases of the city's com
mercial and public activities. Real estate and insurance has been his chief
line of enterprise, and probably no other firm in the city has handled so

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1139
large a volume and such an aggregate of important land transactions as
the Homer Warren & Company, of which he is the senior member. Re
cently Mr. Warren retired from the office of postmaster, which he had
held for eight years,_and into the administration of an office which is of
vital concern to every business man and citizen he carried the same im
personal rules and principles of efficiency which have always governed
his management of private business.
A native of Michigan, Homer Warren was born at Shelby, Oceana
county, December i, 1855, and belongs to pioneer Michigan families. His
parents were Rev. Square E. and Ellen (Davis) Warren, both of whom
were natives of Macomb county. Rev. Square E. Warren was a promi
nent clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal church in Michigan, and
labored with much zeal and effectiveness in the establishment and up
building of many churches which he served as pastor. The closing years
of his long and useful life were spent at Armada in Macomb county,
where his death occurred in 1900 at the age of seventy-five. The grand
father was likewise a clergyman, Rev. Abel Warren, a native of Vermont,
and one of the pioneer clergymen of the Methodist church in Macomb
county. While looking after the spiritual welfare of that community he
also reclaimed a farm from the wilderness. The Davis family was not
less active in the pioneer settlement and development of Macomb county,
where Mrs. Ellen (Davis) Warren was born and spent her declining
years. The itinerant character of his father's profession caused Homer
Warren to spend his youth in several different localities in Michigan. He
attended school in the different places, and early showed the qualities of
self-reliance and energy which have been dominant in his independent
career. In 1873, at the age of eighteen, leaving South Lyon in Oakland
county, where his father was then pastor of a church, Mr. Warren came
to Detroit, and found work as clerk in the book and stationery store of
J. M. Arnold & Company. That firm employed his services until 1878,
when he resigned to become deputy collector of customs for the port of
Detroit under Digby V. Bell, who for many years presided over the office
of collector in that port. When the first Cleveland administration began
in 1885, Mr. Warren offered his resignation to the new incumbent, Daniel
J. Campau, who, however, refused to follow the usual political rule and
retained the services of his deputy in the position of cashier until 1886,
when ill health compelled Mr. Warren's resignation.
It was soon after leaving the collector's office that Mr. Warren engaged
in the business for which he has since been best known in Detroit and
Michigan. His first transactions in real estate were on a modest scale,
and his business has grown on the basis of reliable relations with all cus
tomers. The sale of the property at the south west corner of Woodward
avenue and Sproat street to Richard H. Fyfe, long one of the prominent
merchants of Detroit, was the first important transaction handled through
the Warren real estate office. In time a large and important clientage
came to Mr. Warren, including some of the most influential property
holders of Detroit. Among his early "clients may be mentioned Levi L.
Barbour, Joseph H. Berry, Theodore H. Eaton, Hugo Scherer, Colonel
Frank J. Hecker, James F. Joy, David Whitney, Jr., and many others
whose names are equally well known in the city and state. With the
rapid growth of his real estate business, in 1892, Mr. Warren took in as
associates Cullen Brown and Frank C. Andrews, organizing the firm of
Homer Warren & Company. Under this title the business has grown and
continued to expand for more than twenty years, and has held an unques
tioned prestige in the real estate circles of this city. Detroit property has
not only been the medium of the firm's transactions, and some of the

1140 HISTORY OF -MICHIGAN
largest estates in Michigan and elsewhere have been handled through
this company. On Woodward avenue alone the Homer Warren & Com
pany has acted as brokers and sales agent for the transfer of fully two
million dollars worth of real estate. Among the transfers that have been
effected through this company and that are especially noteworthy are the
following: The grounds of the Washington Arcade to Colonel F. J.
Hecker; the Bresler Block, to E. L. Ford and B. F. Berry; the Bagley
homestead, to the Fowler estate; and many others of equal importance..
Since April, 1907, Charles L. Walker has had a membership in the firm of
Homer Warren & Company. Besides its general operations in both im
proved and unimproved realty, the firm has a large business in renting
and collecting. The * following buildings and property are under the
management of this company : Chamber of Commerce, Fine Arts, Glad
win, Cleland, Inglis, Bresler, the old building of the Young Men's Chris
tian Association, now the Bamler Building; the Detroit City Gas Com
pany's buildings, the Cynthia, Kimball and Crook buildings, and the
apartment building of the People's Loan Association. In January, 1907,
the firm negotiated the sale of property at the corner of Woodward ave
nue and High street, and that was one of the largest real estate trans
actions in Detroit in that year.
A short time after the organization of the Homer Warren & Com
pany, an insurance department was added, but in 1894 this branch of the
business was made independent and was organized under the title Warren,
Burch & Company, Mr. Warren having been the moving spirit in that
as also in the real estate firm. Charles E. Burch, who became a member
of the insurance company, died in 1896, and his interest was purchased
by Cullen Brown. This gave a new name to-the firm, the Warren, Brown
& Company, the title which is still retained. Warren, Brown & Company
have been leaders in the insurance field in Detroit, and they represent
such well known fire and casualty companies as the Providence-Wash
ington Insurance Company of Providence, Rhode Island; German Alli
ance of New York City; Springfield Insurance Company of Springfield,
Massachusetts; the Phoenix Fire Insurance Company of Hartford, Con
necticut, and the Aachen and Munich, of France. Since he cast his first
vote Mr. Warren has been an active Republican, has done much campaign
work, and over the state at large has been recognized as a Republican
leader. On January 15, 1906, President Roosevelt appointed Mr. Warren
postmaster of Detroit, and his duties began on the first of March in the
same year. A re-appointment to the same office came from President
Taft on December 16, 1909, and he remained in charge of the local post-
office until the expiration of his second term in 1913. He handled the
affairs of the post office in a way to attract the commendation of all
patrons, and introduced many changes for the good of the service.
Mr. Warren is prominent in the social and fraternal life of Detroit.
He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, belongs to the Detroit Club,
the Detroit Golf Club, the Detroit Automobile Club, the Country Club,
the Detroit Athletic Club, and the Young Men's Cbristian Association.
A charter member of the Detroit 'Board of Commerce, he was chosen
president of the board in 1912. For a number of years Mr. Warren has
been prominent in musical circles, and as a baritone has been connected
with various singing societies and has appeared as a soloist on many
social and public occasions. On December 9, 1878, Mr. Warren married
Miss Susie M. Leach, daughter of the late Colonel Daniel E. Leach, a
distinguished officer of the United States Army. Mrs. Warren, who was
with her husband in all his social activities at Detroit, died November 16,
1907. In 1909 Mr. Warren married Miss Flora M. Perry.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1141
William M. Beekman. As secretary and treasurer of the Fenn
Manufacturing Company of Charlotte, William M. Beekman is one of
the leading business men of Eaton county, and for many years has held
a public place in the affairs of his community, being well remembered for
his service in the office of recorder of deeds, and- also as a former post
master at Charlotte.
William M. Beekman was born in Eaton county, Michigan, on a farm
in Chester township, January 2, 1843. He is the second son of Martin
and Mary V. (Miner) Beekmari. His father was born in New Jersey,
November. 18, i8o6._ He came to Michigan in 1837, the year in which
that territory was admitted to the Union, and located as a pioneer in
Chester township, Eaton county, where be acquired one hundred and
forty-seven and one half acres of land. He was one of the honored early
settlers, and improved a farm out of the wilderness, on which he con
tinued as a diversified farmer and raiser of cattle and hogs for many
years. He surrounded himself with the evidences of prosperity, and lived
the life of a farmer until his death on January 13, 1881. His wife, who
came from Lodi in Seneca county, New York, was a devoted mother and
wife, and died April 29, 1893. There were four sons, only one of whom
survives besides William M., he being John C. Beekman of Charlotte.
William M. Beekman was reared on a farm, attended the district
school during winter seasons, and as a boy saw much of the pioneer con
ditions which existed in this section of Michigan before the war. He was
eighteen years of age when in 1861 he enlisted in his country's service in
Company B of the Second Regiment of Michigan Cavalry, the regimental
commander being Col. Gordon Granger. The regiment first went to St.
Louis, Missouri, later to Commerce in the same state, was in camp at
New Madrid for a time, and then crossed the Mississippi and took part
in many of the campaigns in the Mississippi valley. On May 25, 1862, P.
H. Sheridan was appointed colonel of the regiment, The regiment was
stationed at Chattanooga, Tennessee, for a time, and took part in two of
the greatest engagements of the war, at Franklin and Nashville* Ten
nessee. Mr. Beekman- saw much arduous service in scouting and other
cavalry service, and escaped without any serious injury. His honorable
discharge was given him on August 17, 1865, and he then returned to his
old home in Eaton county. Fifteen years were spent as a farmer, and
he became one of the influential men in public affairs.* In 1886 he was
elected recorder of deeds of Eaton county, and beginning with January 1,
1887, he served a term of four years. He has always been an active
Republican, and his official honors have come through tbe medium of that
party. Following his term as recorder he was appointed chairman of the
county commission four years. He was also supervisor of Eaton town
ship six years or three terms. In 1897'President William McKinley ap
pointed Mr. Beekman to the office of postmaster at Charlotte, and he
began his duties in July of that year and held office by reappointment for
twelve years and six months.
While postmaster at Charlotte Mr. Beekman became interested in the
Fenn Manufacturing Company, and has given all his time to that local
industry since leaving the postoffice. The company was organized in
1901, and as one of the largest stockholders Mr. Beekman took the offices
of secretary and treasurer. In 1908 the company was incorporated under
the name Fenn Manufacturing Company. The output is posthole augers
and scythesnaths. A large force of men are employed, and the payroll
amounts to one of the important current assets of the community. The
company has a capital stock of $60,000.06 and George Fenn is president.
Mr. Beekman also owns a firie farm of one hundred and eighty acres in
Eaton county.

1142 HISTORY, OF MICHIGAN
On March 21, 1866, Mr. Beekman married Miss Christenia Pugh, of
Chester township, Eaton county, a daughter of David Pugh, an old resi
dent and highly respected citizen. Mrs. Beekman was born in Ohio in
1843. Their children are *as follows: Mary B., now the wife of William
C. Markham ; and Martin H., who was born November 10, 1874, and died
March 21, 1889. Mrs. Beekman died February 12, 1896. Mr. Beekman
has had a long and varied career, and has upheld, the same principles of
fidelity to his country and loyalty to his community as were displayed
when he was a soldier of the Union during the dark days of the Civil
War. In that war he rose from the ranks to second lieutenant, and finally
to first lieutenant of his company. In politics he has long been one of the
influential members of the Republican party, and besides his public offices
served two terms as chairman of the Republican county central com
mittee. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Masonic order and with the
Knights of Pythias, and is especially prominent in the former, having
membership in Charlotte Lodge No. 120, F. & A. M. ; Charlotte Chapter
No. 82, R. A. M.; Charlotte Commandery No. 37, K. T.; and Saladin
Temple of the Mystic Shrine of Grand Rapids.
Thomas C. Starret. A resident of Detroit since 1901, Thomas C.
Starret began his career, in Michigan forty years ago as a tally boy, and
has since gained a position of prominence and success as a dealer and
operator in timber land. His operations have extended to many states of
the Union, especially the northwest. His offices in Detroit are in the
Hammond building.
Thomas Cyrus Starret was born at Brampton in Peel county, Ontario,
February 9, 1855, a son of Andrew and Fanny (Merigold) Starret, both
natives of Ontario. Grandfather Starret was born in Scotland, moved
to the north of Ireland and lived in county Tyrone until about 1813, when
he emigrated to America and established his home in Canada, the brother
who accompanied him to the New World having settled in Pennsylvania.
The Merigold family was of Welsh stock, and the maternal grandfather
lived in Georgia at the time of the American Revolution, and remaining
loyal to the British crown left the revolting colony and became what is
known as one of the United Empire Loyalists of the Dominion, first set
tling at St. Johns in the Province of New Brunswick, and subsequently
moving to Merigbld's Point on Lake Ontario, a locality named in his
honor. Andrew Starret, father of the Detroit business man, spent a long
and active career in the lumber industry and in contracting, and both he
and his wife died in Ontario.
In 1874, after acquiring an education in his native province, Thomas
C. Starret at the age of nineteen^ went to Muskegon, Michigan, and was
given work as a tally boy under his older brother, Edgar, who had already
actively identified himself with the lumber business in tbat section of the
state. His next work was as clerk in a general store conducted by
Blodgett & Byrne at Holton, and at" the end of two years, in 1877, the
firm made him bookkeeper and also active manager of tbe sawmill at
Holton. His services continued in this capacity until 1880, and in the
following year came his first independent venture with the purchase of
the store formerly conducted by Blodgett & Byrne at Holton, and also
acquiring the sawmill in the locality. His business as a merchant and
sawmill man was continued for three years and about that time he made
his first investment in some small tracts of pine timber. Moving to the
city of Muskegon in 1886, and after a brief service as bookkeeper in the
main offices of the firm of Blodgett & Byrne, in 1887, Mr. Starret became
associated with Hovey & McCracken, extensive lumber operators and
was with that firm for eight years. In 1888 during a trip to Arkansas

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1143
Mr. Starret made some investments in pine timber land in Ouachita
county, and continued the buying and selling of pine lands on a modest
scale until 1895. His operations were then placed on a more extensive
basis as to capital and otherwise, and he became interested in pine lands
and lumbering both in Arkansas and Louisiana. Horatio N. Hovey, one
of his former employers, joined him in business, an alliance which further
increased the scope of the operations, and in 1906 their firm bought a
large tract of timber land in the state of Oregon, since which time Mr.
Starret's operation has continued on an extensive scale in the north
western lumber regions.
Mr. Starret is a director of the Detroit Trust Co., president of the
Sinslaw Boom Co., Florence, Oregon, and is a member of the Detroit
Board of Commerce, of the Detroit Club, the Rushmere Club and the De
troit Automobile Club. In politics his support has always been given to
the Republican party, but not as an aspirant for public office. At Mus
kegon, Michigan, on June 2, 1880, Mr. Starret married Miss Delphene
Anderson, who was born and reared in this state, a daughter of John W:
and Mary (Stevens) Anderson. Both the Anderson and Stevens family
were founded in Michigan in 1855, coming from the state of New York.
The four children born to Mr. and Mrs. Starret are: Alza, a graduate
from the University of Michigan in 1903, is the wife of Dr. Charles Lewis
Chambers, a Detroit physician; Howard Andrew was graduated at Cor
nell University, Ithaca, New York, in 1912; John William graduated
from Yale University in 1913; and Muriel is in Liggett School for Girls
at Detroit. Robert Donovan. For twenty years Mr. Donovan has been closely
identified with the business and public affairs of Charlotte. He is well
remembered for his official service as mayor and also as sheriff of Eaton
county. In a business way he has been identified with the furniture trade
for a number of years, and is now at the head of the firm of Donovan and
Son, in the operation of a motor garage and a general repair establish
ment. Robert Donovan was born in the city of Hartford, Connecticut, Au
gust 4, 1848. His parents were Dennis and Elizabeth (Mahoney)
Donovan. Both were born and reared in Connecticut, but in 1850, two
years after the birth of Robert, the family left Hartford and located in
Marshall, Michigan, where the father died in 1858. The mother sur
vived many years and passed away in Charlotte in 1896.
The early youth of Robert Donovan was spent in Marshall, where he
grew up and received an education in the common and high schools.
On leaving school he found employment in a furniture store conducted
"by Mr. Warren and Fred Ganes. With considerable experience in that
trade, in 1874 he came to Charlotte, and during the following ten years
was a salesman with the Robinson Furniture Company. He then formed
a partnership with Charles Manning at New York, and sold farm im
plements for two years. For three years he was with Wella Packard once
more in the furniture business, and then formed a partnership with F.
A. Ives under the firm name of Donovan and Ives in the furniture trade.
In the meantime Mr. Donovan had become a leader in political af
fairs, and in 1908 was elected to the office of sheriff of Eaton county.
At the end of his first term of two years he was re-elected, and made a
splendid record as an official during his two terms. Some years before,
in 1896, he had been elected mayor of Charlotte, and during his adminis
tration many important improvements were originated and completed.
He has long been one of the leaders in the local Democratic party, has
served as chairman of the Democratic central committee, and is well

1144 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
known outside of Eaton county. Mr. Donovan is a director in the First
National Bank of Charlotte, and on December 7, 1912, towards the close
of his last term as sheriff, he opened a sales store for light vehicles, and
somewhat later established what is known as the Donovan & Son Motor
Garage and Auto Livery. This garage is one of the largest and best
equipped in the city. The firm does general repair work, machine work,
painting and upholstering, top building, rubber tiring of all kinds of
vehicles, maintain a place for the storage of motor cars, and also handle
and distribute to the retail trade each year many automobiles, represent
ing the well known Maxwell, the Buick and the Oakland.
Mr. Donovan is prominent in Masonic and other fraternities. His af
filiations are with Charlotte Lodge No. 120, F. & A. M. ; Charlotte Chap
ter No. 82, R. A. M.; Charlotte Commandery No. 37, K. T. ; Saladin
Temple of the Mystic Shrine of Grand Rapids; he bas passed all the
chairs in the subordinate lodge of Odd Fellows and has served as Grand
Representative to the State Grand Lodge; belongs to the Knights of
Pythias, and has membership in one or two of smaller beneficiary orders.
Mr. Donovan married Miss Millie Smith, a daughter of John O.
Smith, one of the old citizens of Charlotte. They are the parents of the
following children : Edwin Arnold, who is the younger member of the
firm of Donovan & Son; and Martha M., wife of Dr. H. A. Moyer of
Charlotte. '
Herbert W. Noble. For twenty years an active factor in Detroit
financial life, Mr. Noble is head of the well known firm of H. W. Noble
& Company doing a large business in the handling of bonds, local stocks
and other securities, with special attention to the placing of public utility
securities of high grade. Mr. Noble began his career a quarter of a
century ago as a clerk in one of the Detroit Banks, and a few years later
had reached a place where he was recognized for his individual ability.
The Noble family has been identified with Michigan for more than"
seventy years, practically throughout the entire period of its history as
a state. Herbert W. Noble was bom in the city of Detroit, February 8, 1867,
a son of Garra B. and Eliza (Crosman) Noble. His father was born
in New York State, and the mother in Scio, Washtenaw county, Michi
gan, where her parents established their home in the early pioneer days.
The lineage of the Noble family is traced back to Englisb origin, 'and
the first American of the name was Thomas Noble, who left England in
1640 and established his home in Boston, Massachusetts. Cyrenus Noble,
grandfather of Herbert W., was born in Wethersfield, Connecticut, and
as a young man moved to Unadilla, New York, where until the close of
his life he was an honored and influential citizen of Otsego county. He-
married Hannah A. Weston, daughter of Benjamin Weston of Connecti
cut. Benjamin Weston was a soldier of the continental line in the war
of the Revolution, for which he enlisted in a Connecticut regiment, tak
ing part in the battle of Lexington and many following engagements.
He received promotion to the office of ensign, but resigned to enter the
navy in which he served until the end of the war.
The late Garra B. Noble was for more than fifty years a useful and
honored citizen of Michigan. Reared in New York he came to Michi
gan three years after the admission of the state to the union, in 1840.
His first home was in the village of Dexter, in Washtenaw county, where
he opened a stock of general merchandise and was also first postmaster
of that village. Moving to Detroit in 1856, he soon afterwards became
associated in the operation of the old Ward line of lake steamboats..
Later. for many years he was financial manager of the firm of K. C.

C- ' ^ ¦/^^^^-^-u-u

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1145
Barker & Company, and did much in the upbuilding of an enterprise
which was long recognized as one of the most important of its kind in
the west. His executive place in the company was held until the Ameri
can Eagle Tobacco Company succeeded to the business, and after that he
lived retired from active affairs until his death. Garra B. Noble died
af Detroit in 1897, at the age of eighty-one years. It was said of him :
"He was a man of exalted integrity, and great business acumen, was
broadminded and public spirited and ever commanded the confidence and
esteem of the community in which he so long maintained his home, and
with whose business and civic interests he was so closely identified." His
wife had died in 1892, and of their children the two still living are:
Herbert W., and Dr. Charles C, the latter a dentist in the city of Los
Angeles, California. The late Garra B. Noble had an influential place in
the Masonic fraternity, and in 1865 served as Grarid Commander of the
Grand Commandery of Michigan, and in 1868 was Grand Commander
of the Grand Council of Michigan Royal and Select Masters. In 1867
he was Commander of Detroit Commandery No. 1, Knights Templar.
The beautiful jeweled insignia presented to him by the Masonic body are
now in the possession of his son Herbert W.
Herbert Weston Noble, up to the age of sixteen, attended public
schools at Detroit, and then began his practical career as clerk in the law
offices of Conely, Maybury & Lucking. In 1887, he found place as a
clerk in the Third National Bank of Detroit, and was promoted from
time to time until in 1893 he was paying teller. In the following year
his ability and influence were recognized, when he was elected assistant
manager of fhe Detroit Clearing House under Clement M. Davidson.
In 1896 he was made manager of the clearing house, a position which he
has retained to the present time, and his services have been very im
portant in making the clearing house a useful factor in the machinery of
banking in the city.
In 1894 Mr. Noble first engaged independently in the stock and bond
business with Mr. William E. Reilly, under the firm name of Reilly &
Noble. In 1896 Mr. Reilly retired, and Mr. Noble then took entire
charge of the business under the present name of,H. W. Noble & Com
pany. The company is represented on the , membership rolls of the
American Banking Association, and the Michigan Bankers Association,
connections which well indicate its status in finance. The Detroit offices
are located in the Dime Bank Building on Fort Street West.
Mr. Noble is a member of the American Bankers Association, also
of the Michigan Bankers Association, and belongs to the Detroit Board
of Commerce. He is well known in club and social circles, having mem
bership in the Detroit Club, the Bankers Club, the Detroit Boat Club,
and tbe Detroit Automobile Club. He is an independent in politics.
Mr. and Mrs. Noble are communicants of St. Paul's church, Protestant
Episcopal, and are active in religious and benevolent work in the city.
Mr. Noble on April 22, 1891, married Miss Gertrude Delbridge,
daughter of James B. Delbridge of the firm of Delbridge, Brooks &
Fisher, leading lumber manufacturers and dealers of Detroit. The two
children of Mr. Noble and wife are : Sheldon Roby, born April 3, 1892 ;
and Irene, born April 23, 1896.
Michael E. Houran. The late Michael E. Houran occupied a con
spicuous position among the business men of Flint during a period of
more than forty years. Commencing at the time when tbe little town
entered upon an era of most remarkable growth in numbers and expan
sion of business, he took a hand in its busy life, grew in fortune and
business experience with its growth and lived to see it become one of

1146 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
the leading industrial and manufacturing centers of the state. He became
one of the best known of Flint's citizens and was as universally respected
and beloved as he was known. His life had been marked by industry,
probity and enterprise, and his character was enriched by such high
qualities of generosity and kindliness as had made him popular.
, Mr. Houran was born at Rochester county, New York, in 1853, a
son of Dennis and Mary (Broderick) Houran, natives of Ireland. His
father, a farmer of New York, moved from that state of Canada in
1856, and settled on a farm in Ontario, where Michael, E. Houran was
reared to the age of sixteen years. At that time, equipped with only a
district school education, he left the parental roof and faced life on his
own account, coming in 1869 to Flint, Michigan, where he secured a
position at small wages in tbe lumber yards of H. C. Crapo, former
governor of the state. Mr. Crapo's business was sold after his death to
Mr. Z. Chase, a large lumber manufacturer of Flint, and Mr. Houran
was given charge of the management and of the shipping of lumber
for the company, continuing in this responsible position until 1889. At
that time he decided he had the experience to enter business on his own
account, and, accordingly, formed a partnership with I. W. Whitehead,
under the firm style of Houran & Whitehead Lumber Company. This
connection proved remarkably successful, in spite of the fact that the
company experienced two large fires during operation. The business
was first located at the old stand of the Crapo firm, where they remained
until the plant was destroyed by fire, October 1, 1891, then moving to
the McFarland stand, where the second conflagration, almost a total
loss, occurred in 1900. The plant was rebuilt, however, and resumed
operations, but in 1901 the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Houran pur
chasing the interest of his partner and continuing as the sole owner of
the plant until his death. . He developed this into the best saw and
planing mill in this part of the state, prospering because of his honesty,
integrity and reliability. On April 28, 1910, at his home at No. 723
Saginaw street, Mr. Houran was suddenly stricken with apoplexy, and
died shortly thereafter, surrounded by his family and friends. He was
a member of St. Michael's church, and the priest thereof, Father Murphy,
conducted the funeral services, wbich were said to be the largest attended
of any which 'have occurred in the city. Friends and acquaintances from
all walks of life came to do honor to the memory of one whom they had
known and loved, and he was laid to rest in Calvary Cemetery. Mr.
Houran was one of the strongest figures in the business life of Flint.
But, while he devoted himself assiduously to the gaining of a fortune
and the building up of a successful business, he was never indifferent
to the needs of his city and his public gifts were many and his public
labors decidedly helpful. No movement had its full share of assistance
until his name was placed upon the list of its promoters ; nor did his
activities cease there, for, as in his private affairs, he did not rest until
he had seen the enterprise brought to a successful termination. Such
a man is a welcome addition to any community. Just prior to his demise
he donated to the city a large amount of money for the furthering of
various municipal improvements, including the building of a park system.
His private benefactions were large; probably he himself did not know
their full extent, although his business affairs were always, carried on
with the greatest precision and mathematical exactness. He was never
a politician in the generally accepted term of the word, but was a stalwart
Democrat, ever faithful to the best interests of his party, upon whose
ticket he was twice elected a member of the city council. There, as
elsewhere, his labors were helpful. His fraternal connections included
membership in the Knights of Columbus and the Benevolent and Pro-

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1147
tective Order of Elks. From his childhood he was a member of the
Catholic church, and its movements always found in him an enthusiastic
and liberal supporter.
On January 28, 1880, Mr. Houran was united in marriage at Grand
Rapids, Michigan, to Miss Mary M. Ryan, a daughter of Patrick J. and
Mary (O'Connell) Ryan, and a close relative of the Hon. Daniel O'Con-
nell, the great Irish statesman. Mrs. Houran was the eldest of nine
children. There were six children born to Mr. and Mrs. Houran, of
whom three survive: Cornelius A., a resident of Flint, who is ably
carrying on the business which his father founded ; Miss Marie, aged
twenty-two years, who is attending St. Mary's College at Monroe, Michi
gan, a talented musician now finishing her musical course in that institu
tion; and Miss Lucille, aged twenty years, who is attending St. Mary's
Academy, Notre Dame.
Mr. Houran has passed away, but the memory of his kindly, genial
personality remains; his influence, always for good, is still felt in the
circles in which he was wont to congregate; his family has the comfort
ing knowledge of his Christian life, and the priceless' heritage from him
of an honored and honorable name.
Frank W. Blair. When Frank W. Blair was elected in 1908 presi
dent of the Union Trust Corripany of Detroit, he was one of the youngest
men in the state ever called to the head of so large and important a bank
ing institution. Mr. Blair was at one time a state bank examiner in
Michigan, and his close relationship with financial and industrial affairs in
Detroit and the state is a matter of common knowledge to all business
men. The three elements which constitute a good banker have been
enumerated as ability, integrity and capital. The fact that Mr. Blair was
at one time a drug clerk in a small village of Michigan makes it apparent
that in the matter of the third element, capital, he was at the beginning
of his bank career rather able to command that resource rather than
supply it from his own means. In the matter of ability and integrity no
one could question the fitness of Frank W. Blair for his present position
as one of tbe leaders in finance and business.
Frank W. Blair was born on the old homestead farm of Henry M. and
Sara (Warrener) Blair in Troy township of Oakland county, Michigan,
May 13, 1870. His parents were early settlers in Oakland county and good
substantial farming people. Features in the career of Frank W. Blair in
clude the familiar circumstances of a boyhood on a farm, a district school
ing and later attendance in high school, at Birmingham, and that followed
by his first place of banking in a minor clerkship in the Exchange bank of
Birmingham. At Birmingham a druggist employed his services for a time,
and his broader and larger career may be said to have»begun in 1900 with
his appointment to a place in the office of Auditor General of Michigan.
His services at the state capitol were continued until 1905, and during the
greater part of the time he performed the duties of inheritance tax ex
aminer. His appointment as a state bank examiner came in 1905, but in
1906 he resigned to become auditor of the State Savings Bank of Detroit.
Somewhat later the State Savings Bank was merged with the People's
Savings Bank, under the present title the People's State, Bank, and Mr.
Blair continued as auditor of the consolidated institutions until 1908, when
the Union Trust Company elected him president. His capable adminis
tration of this large and substantial institution has well justified the wis
dom of his selection for its duties and responsibilities.
From banking his enterprise has extended to many other important
business, concerns of the state. He is president of Berry Bros., Incorpor
ated, of Detroit, one of the largest manufacturers of varnishes and paints

1148 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
in the country. A special honor was paid him as a financier in 1912, when
the Federal court appointed him to membership in the board of receivers to
handle the affairs of the Pere Marquette Company, and he is still connected
with the receivership. Mr. Blair is a director in each of the following cor
porations : Michigan State Telephone Co., the Lake Superior Iron and
Chemical Company, the O. & W. Thum Company, Hayes Manufacturing
Co., Jackson, Lansing and Saginaw R. R. Co., Lake Erie Coal Co., the
Northern Iron and Chemical Company, and the Standard Loan and Sav
ings Company of Detroit.
Mr. Blair is a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce, and some of
his social affiliations ase with the Detroit Club, Country Club, Fine Arts
Society, and the Detroit Automobile club, while the church at which he and
his family worship is the St. Paul's Episcopal. In politics alignment is with
the Republican party, and in every movement for the advancement or best
interests of Detroit he is always liberal and ready with his co-operation.
November 22, 1899, Mr. Blair married Miss Ellen P. Ferrier of St. Johns,
Clinton county, Michigan.
Edward L. Palmer. A conspicuous figure in the business life of
Jackson, Edward L. Palmer is a large property holder in the city, and as
a real estate and fire insurance agent, is carrying on a substantial business.
A native of Jackson county, Michigan, he was born on a farm in Colum
bia township, February 16, 1876.
His parents, Oscar and Mary (Wright) Palmer, came from New
York state to Michigan in early life, locating in Jackson county, where
they spent their remaining years. Five of their children are living, as
follows: Frank L., of Clinton, Michigan; Alice, wife of Brackston Pel-
ham, of Clayton, Michigan; William E., of Jackson county; Edward L.,
the special subject of this brief sketch; and Elmer L., of Jackson county.
Brought up on the home farm, Edward L. Palmer gleaned his pre
liminary education in the district schools of his native township, com
pleting the course of study up to the eighth grade, after which -he at
tended Devlin's Business College in Jackson, where he was graduated at
the age of twenty-one years, fie was subsequently employed for several
years as a bookkeeper, working for different firms in Jackson, and later
was for two years here engaged in the grocery business, and for seven
years carried on a successful business as a dealer in coal and wood. Since
1912 Mr. Palmer has dealt extensively in real estate, and has retained the
agency of various insurance companies, his offices being located at the
northeast corner of Jackson and Main streets. He handles a large amount
of city realty, and being a man of large capital and means does an ex
tensive business in the line of buying and selling, many of his business
transactions yielding him a good profit. He likewise improves much of
the property he buys, building houses for rent or for sale, and also sells
real estate for others on commission. Mr. Palmer has for many years
been intimately acquainted with the values of real estate in Jackson, and
is himself a large owner of valuable city realty, and is constantly buying,
improving and building and selling, his transactions in that line being
varied and numerous. He also has valuable real estate holdings adjoin
ing the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, where the country is being rapidly
developed into a rich agricultural region. In the commission part of his
business Mr. Palmer has a partner, Mr. Fred Lewis, the firm name being
Palmer & Lewis.
On April 1, 1902, Mr. Palmer married Miss Lydia M. McLaughlin,
daughter of the late Dr. Miar J. McLaughlin, of Jackson. Four children
have been born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Palmer, one of whom died
in infancy, and three are living, namely : Cecil Cox ; Miar McLaughlin,

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1149
and Mildred Irene.- Fraternally Mr. Palmer belongs to the Ancient Free
and Accepted Order of Masons ; and religiously he is a member, and a
trustee, of the First Baptist Church.
Anthony F. Grosfield. Prominent among the well known and hon
ored citizens of Detroit of German birth is the Hon. Anthony F. Gros
field, who for nearly fifty years has been identified with the business in
terests of the city and has been frequently honored by election to re
sponsible and honored official positions. He is a native of Westphalia,
Germany, born January 4, 1843, a son of. the late Theodore and Francesca
(Grobbel) Grosfield.
Theodore Grosfield, the father, was born in Germany, in 1815. He
brought his family to the United States in 1866, and engaged in the re
tail grocery business on the west side of Detroit,, continuing there until
1880, when he disposed of his business interests. Two years before his
death, which occurred in 1906, he returned to Germany, and he died
there at the home of his daugbter. Anthony F. Grosfield received ex
cellent educational training in private schools and in a college at West
phalia, and his first business was as a clerk in a general store in his native
city. He came to the United States in 1863, when twenty years of age,
preceding his father by three years, and located first at Cold Springs, New
York, where for one year he was employed in the armament department
of the United States government. In 1864 he went to Collinsville, Con
necticut, where he learned the trade of polishing and grinding edged tools,
and two years later came to Detroit and engaged in the retail grocery
business under the name of Grosfield & Company, in partnership with his
father, continuing in this line until 1881. In the latter year he entered the
hardware trade, and continued so engaged until 1887, and in the mean
time engaged also in the real estate business. In 1889 he became asso
ciated -with Mr. Peter Schulte in buying, platting, building and selling
real estate on a broad scale, the two partners platting tracts in various
parts of the city. One of their enterprises was the "Retreat" (asylum for
the insane) tract in the west end, which they platted and out of which
they donated to the city the right-of-way for West Grand Boulevard-, ex
tending from Michigan avenue on the north to the Michigan Central Rail
road on the south, a donation which represented a net loss to the part
ners of $60,000. In 1887 Mr. Grosfield added fire insurance to his real
estate business, and in that line has since continued. From 1892 until
1910 he was senior member of the firm of Grosfield & Scanlon, real estate
and insurance, but since the latter year has been alone in business. A
man of excellent executive ability, be has steadfastly endeavored to as
sist his city to better things, and is a valued member of the Detroit Real
Estate Board and the Detroit Board of Commerce. For many years he
has been prominent in Democratic politics. In 1874 he was elected an
alderman from the Twelfth ward, and served as such one term ; in 1876
he was elected a member of the City Board of Estimates, where he served
one year ; in 1882 he was made a member of the Board of Education*, and
continued as such until 1886; and in 1889 was elected from the Third
Senatorial District to the Michigan State Senate, and continued to serve
in that body until 1900. Mr. Grosfield is a member of St. Boniface
Roman Catholic church, and has long been prominently active in the af
fairs of that denomination. He is also a member of the Catholic Mutual
Benefit Association and of the Harmonic Society.
On November 14, 1871, Mr. Grosfield was married to Miss Eliz
abeth Vogt, who was born on a farm at Grosse Pointe, Michigan (now
the village of that name), the daughter of John Vogt, a German pioneer
of that locality. To this union there have been born the following chil-

1150 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
dren: Theodore, who died January 21, 1905, at the age of thirty-one
years ; John, Frank, Charles, Frederick and Arthur.
Levi Robert Welcome. The president of the Union Truck Company
of Jackson is one of the best known business men of that city, has been
a resident there for twenty years, and was the founder of the large cor
poration of which he is now president. Mr. Welcome has had a long
and varied business career, and the greater part of it has been spent in
the state of Michigan.
Born at Charlotte, Vermont, December 20, 1859, he is a son of Levi
and Minerva (Sears) Welcome. His father was a French-Canadian,
and moved from the Dominion of Canada to Vermont, where he and his
wife lived the rest of their lives.
Levi R. Welcome was reared in Vermont until he was twenty-one
years of age, and received a substantial though not a college education.
At that time an unusual opportunity was presented to him for service as
an assistant to Professor C. E. Pringle of Harvard University. Profes
sor- Pringle was an eminent botanist, who at that time was engaged in
collecting specimens of all sorts of tree and plant life throughout the west
for the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The
three years spent with Professor Pringle were not only a congenial occu
pation and tbe source of many delightful associations, but also gave him
an experience which has since proved very useful in his business career.
Most of the time was spent in the southwest, in Arizona and other states
and territories. Mr. Welcome in 1883 moved to Michigan, and for ten
years was connected with the Stevens Lumber Company of Detroit, serv
ing that corporation in different capacities. In 1893, when he came to
Jackson he at once took a position as a man of affairs, and has been
prominent in the business' life of fhe city. In 1904 he incorporated the
Union Truck Company, of which he has been president and which under
his management has become one of the leading industries of Jackson.
Mr. Welcome is also treasurer of the Advance Grease & Chemical Com
pany, and is treasurer of the Jackson Brass Foundry, and director in the
Central State Bank.
Mr. Welcome is a member of the Jackson Chamber of Commerce, a
member of the Jackson City Club, is a Royal Arch and Council Mason,
an Elk, being one of the trustees of the Elks Lodge of Jackson, and in
politics supports the Republican party. On April 7, 1887, he married
Miss Margaret McGlashan, who was born in Scotland and came to the
United States with her parents when she was seven years of age. Mr.
Welcome and wife have no children.
Frederic Beckwith Stevens. In the upbuilding of Detroit as one of
the leading industrial centers of the United States a vast amount of dy
namic force has been expended by its representative men of affairs, and
each of those who has contributed to the civic and material development
of the fair metropolis of Michigan merits specific recognition in this pub
lication. To such distinction Mr. Stevens is specially entitled, as be is
one of the representative manufacturers and loyal and influential citizens
of Detroit, where he commands inviolable place in popular esteem.
Mr. Stevens is a scion of staunch New England stock and a representa
tive of a family that was founded in America in the colonial era of our na
tional history. He was born at Canton, Hartford county, Connecticut, on
the 24th of September, 1855, and is a son of Samuel Frederic and Mary
Anne (Beckwith) Stevens, the respective families having early been
founded in New England, the gracious cradle of much of our national his
tory. The original American progenitors of the Stevens family immigrated

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1151
from Scotland, and there is a family tradition to the effect that the geneal
ogy is to be traced to English origin. In this connection it is maintained '
that the name was originally spelled Stephens and that representatives of
the same became involved in insurrectionary movements in England, with
the result that they were banished to Scotland, whence came the founders
of the American branch. Another tradition in the family places a different
version upon its origin, which is given to be Spanish, with the original
patronymic of Estevan. The Beckwith family is of staunch English line
age and has been one prominent in the history of Connecticut. Lady Beck
with,- of England, wedded a husband who assumed her family name at the
time of marriage, and they were the originators of the distinguished Ameri
can line of the name.
Henry Stevens, grandfather of bim whose name introduced this review,
was a native of New Haven, Connecticut, and in that city also was born
Samuel Frederic Stevens, the date of his nativity having been February
22d, 1829. Samuel was reared and educated in his native state and was for
many years engaged in the buying and selling of Connecticut leaf tobacco.
In 1879 he came to Michigan, to which state his son Frederic B., of this
review, had preceded him, and he established his home in Detroit, where
for several years he was engaged in the manufacturing of cigars. He was
one of the highly honored citizens of Detroit at the time of his death, which
occurred in 1902. His wife was born at Newington, Hartford county,
Connecticut, in 1833, and in the same state was born her father, Lot Beck
with. Mrs. Stevens likewise passed the closing years of her life in Detroit
and was summoned to eternal rest on the 27th of December, 1898.
Frederic B. Stevens gained his early education in the public, schools of
his native state and after completing a course of study in the high school
at Collinsville, Connecticut, he entered Williston Seminary, at East Hamp
ton, Massachusetts, in which institution he was graduated as a member of
the class of 1873. Soon afterward he assumed the position of entry clerk
In a wholesale carpet establishment in the city of Hartford, Connecticut,
and in 1876 he came to Detroit, Michigan, where he first secured employ
ment in the foundry department of tbe Detroit Stove Works. He was
promoted from this department to the office of the corporation, where he
continued to be employed for a number of years. In 1882 Mr. Stevens
engaged in the foundry and supply business in an independent way, by
opening a modest establishment in a building on Congress street west,
nearly opposite his present fine block of buildings. By close application,
excellent service and fair and honorable methods he soon gained a sub
stantial standing, and with the expension of his business he removed to
more eligible quarters, at the corner of Atwater and Griswold streets,
where he materially augmented his facilities and' enlarged his scope of
operations. In 1902 he erected his fine brick block at the corner of West
Congress and Third streets, where he now controls the most extensive
enterprise of its kind between New York and Chicago, the well equipped
plant being devoted primarily to the manufacturing of foundry facings and
buffing compositions. The business is still conducted by Mr. Stevens in an
individual way and it may well be understood that in the development of
this admirable and important industrial enterprise he has brought to bear
excellent technical and executive powers, the while the business stands as
a monument to his energy, ability and sterling integrity of purpose. The
enterprise is conducted under his own name and he has never found it
expedient to incorporate the business, as he has been able to meet all de
mands and exigencies that have presented themselves in connection with
the incipient industry as well as in the period of the great growth and sub
stantial expension. Mr. Stevens has achieved worthy success, and further
evidence of this is given by his retention of the office of a member of the
Vol. n— 33

1152 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
board of directors of the First National Bank of Detroit. He is likewise a
director of Nelsonville Brick Company, of Nelsonville, Ohio. He shows
a loyal and vital interest in all that touches the civic and material wel
fare of his home city and signifies this by his membership in that pro-.
gressive body, the Detroit Board of Commerce. He also bolds member
ship in the Detroit Club.
Mr. Stevens is prominently identified with the time-honored Masonic
fraternity and has been an appreciative student of its history and teachings, '
besides which he has attained to the thirty-third or maximum degree in the
Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of the fraternity, being the only active
Detroit member of the supreme council of 'this limited and honorary body
of Masonry. He also has the distinction of having served as commander
in chief of the Michigan Sovereign Consistory of Ancient Accepted Scot-
ish Rite Masons. He is also past sovereign prince of Carson Council,
Princes of Jerusalem, 16th degree of the Scottish Rite, besides which he
has been zealous in the York Rite bodies with which he is affiliated. He
was a member of the executive board which took over and refitted the fine
Alma Sanitarium, at Alma, which was generously presented by its owner,
A. W. Wright, to the Masons of Michigan, with tbe understanding that the
property should be converted into a state Masonic home. Mr. Stevens is
president of the board of trustees of Michigan Sovereign Consistory, the
supreme organization of Scottish Rite Masons in the state. In politics he
accords allegiance to the Democratic party.
In the year 1880 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Stevens to Miss
Anne E. Shipman, daughter of Ozias W. Shipman, long one of the most
honored and influential citizens of Detroit, where both he and his wife
continued to reside until their death. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens have one
daughter, Winnif red M., who is now the wife of Lewis H. Kirby, of Kala
mazoo, this state. Mr. and Mrs. Kirby have three children: Frederic
Stevens, Anne Louise, and Lewis William.
John Smith, Jr., who, at the age of eighty-five years, with the vig*-
orous mind and active step of a man a score of years younger,
still attends to the details of his interest, and keeps himself in knowledge
and sympathy abreast of the new generation among whom he survives,
like a monarch of the forest among the younger growths that surround
it, is the oldest living banker in the state of Michigan. For a half a cen
tury he has been connected with the financial interests of Macomb county,.
and as president of the Citizens National Bank of Romeo holds a place
of prestige among the financiers of this part of the state.
Mr. Smith was born twenty miles north of Manchester, England,
June 17, 1828. His father, John Smith, was also a native of Scotland,
and was a bleacher by trade in the cotton mills of Manchester, and had
also been apprenticed to the calling of block printer, to put designs on
cloth, work which at that time, about 100 years ago, was done by hand,
and which method is now entirely in disuse. In 1837, after preparing to
come to the United States, the family rode on the first railroad in the
world running on schedule time, between Manchester and Liverpool, and
at the latter city, boarded a sailing vessel for America. After a long
journey they arrived in this country and settled at Hudson, New York,
where the father secured employment at his trade. John Smith, Jr., then
a lad of something' more than nine years, was given but few advantages
of an educational nature. He began to be self-supporting when he was
ten years old, at which time he secured a position in the dyeing depart
ment of the cotton mills at Hudson, at a salary of two dollars per week.
He was diligent, faithful and industrious and won promotion through
the medium of his earnest efforts, in the meantime carefully saving every

X

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1153
dollar that he could. It was his ambition to see the West, and in 1842
he left the parental roof and journeyed to Lake county, Illinois, near the
small town of Chicago, where he was engaged for a time in agricultural
pursuits. His advent in Michigan occurred in June, 1844, when he
located m Macomb county, six miles north of Romeo, and there purchased
160 acres of land. This farm he operated successfully for many years,
and is still the owner of 220 acres, this being devoted to general farming
and to the breeding of livestock.
In 1873, Mr. Smith organized what is now known as the Citizens
National Bank, although previous to this time he had been instrumental
in the founding of the First National Bank, now known as the Romeo
Savings Bank, and of this- latter institution he held a position on the
board of directors for more than fifty years. From the time of the
inception of the Citizens National Bank until 1902, Mr. Smith acted in
the capacity of vice-president, and at that time he became president of
this institution. He is, as before stated, the oldest living banker in the
state of Michigan, where his name is synonymous with integrity, probity
and solidity. The Citizens National, thanks to Mr. Smith's wise man
agement and conservative policy, is known as one of the most substantial
in Macomb county. To show that its operations are constantly increas
ing, it may be stated that the deposits during the year 1913 increased
$77,024.57, a gain of thirty-five per cent, in appreciation of which the
directors decided to make an equitable distribution of the profits of the
business with its depositors by paying them four per ce'nt. The officers
at this time are John Smith, Jr., president; S. A. Reade, vice-president;
Henry J. McKay, cashier ; and R. S. Reade, assistant cashier, all men of
worth and standing in the community. Mr. Smith has given his chief
attention to the management of the bank and of his farm, yet other
enterprises have frequently sought the benefit of his vast experience
and known ability in the furtherance of their prosperity. He has at all
times been ready to discharge the duties of citizenship, and although at no
time an office seeker he has served his district for some fifty years in
the capacity of road commissioner. Since the founding of the Republican
party, Mr. Smith has supported its candidates and principles. At the
outbreak of the Civil War, Mr. Smith showed himself a red-hot Union
man. He at once attempted to enlist, but an accident, some few years
before, in which he had been thrown by a runaway horse and his leg
permanently injured, caused his rejection by the enlistment officers. This,
however, did not prevent him from assisting the Union in every way he
could, and he rendered yeoman service in raising troops, while bis means
and his time were ever at. the service of the government. 'Mr. Smith is
a member of the Congregational church and has been active in its affairs.
Himself a successful and wealthy man, he has always rejoiced in seeing
others succeed. His disposition has been to dispense charity with a
liberal hand and he is known to many for his deeds of benevolence. How
ever, his nature is naturally retiring, he has shrunk from allowing his
charities to be made public, and their extent will probably never be known.
Mr. Smith is a careful and methodical business man, a kind and generous
neighbor. He is a man of the present, despite his ripeness of years,
alike careless of the dead dogmas of the past, and the unsolvable problems
of the future.
On March 3, 1854, Mr. Smith was married at Detroit, Michigan, to
Miss Nancy A. Black, a native of Connecticut, and a daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. John R. Black. Mrs. Smith *died in 1883, -having been the
mother of five children, of whom two survive: Agnes M., who has always
resided with her father, and Florence, who is the widow of Benjamin
F. Wood, and resides in Ogdensburg, New York.

.1154 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
John J. Bagley. True biography has a more noble purpose than mere
fulsome eulogy. The historic spirit, faithful to- the record, the discerning
judgment, unmoved by prejudice and uncolored by entbusiasm, are as
essential in giving the life of the individual person as in writing generic
history. Entitled to the closest and mdst appreciative study are the life,
character and services of Hon. John J. Bagley entitled, — not only on the
part of the student of biography but also of every citizen who, guided by
the past, would in the present build wisely for the future. A strong man
and true was this distinguished citizen of Michigan, and his influence and
labors had significant bearing upon the civic and material prosperity of
the great commonwealth of which he served as governor and upon whose
history he left a deep and benignant impress. The fair fame of Governor
Bagley rests on the firm basis of work accomplished and honors worthily
won. His character was the positive expression of a strong and loyal
nature, and the laurels of high personal acbievement were his, even as was
his the heritage of a worthy ancestry. No publication touching the his
tory pf Michigan can be consistent without due tribute to Governor
Bagley.. John Judson Bagley was born at Medina, Orleans county, New York,
on the 24th of July, 1832, and was a son of John and Mary M. (Smith)
Bagley, the former a native of Greene county, New York, and the latter of
Connecticut. His paternal grandfather, who likewise bore the name of
John, was born at Candia, New Hampshire, and was a representative of a
family that was founded in New England in the seventh century, the
original progenitors having immigrated to this country from England.
The maiden name of the paternal grandmother of Governor Bagley was
Olive Judson, and she was a daughter of Captain Timothy Judson, a
patriot soldier in the war of the Revolution and a descendant of William
Judson, who immigrated from Yorkshire, England, in 1634, and who,
after having lived a few years at Concord, Massachusetts, became one of
the first settlers of Stratford, Connecticut.
The Bagley genealogy in America is traced to- Orlando Bagley, who
immigrated from England in 1635 and who settled in Massachusetts
There, on the 6th of March, 1635, he married Sarah Colby, and he died in
1662, his wife passing away in the following year. Their son, Orlando II.,
was born at Amesbury, Massachusetts, February 18, 1658, and as a young
man, was united in marriage to Sarah Sargent, who was born February 28,
165 1, their son, Orlando III., having been born December 14, 1682, and
having wedded Dorothy Harvey. Jonathan Bagley, son of Orlando and
Dorotby, was born at Amesbury, Massachusetts, August 25, 1711. The
latter's son, Jonathan, was born at Candia, New Hampshire, August 5,
1736, and married Annie Favour, December 10, 1757. Jonathan Bagley
was commissioned a colonel in the Continental arrriy, in 1767, and his
son, John, who was born at Candia, New Hampshire, April 21, 1759, died
at Durham, New York, August 29, 1833. January 29, 1789, he wedded
Alice Judson, who was born October 9, 1767, and who died in 1839. Soon
after the close of the Revolution Captain John Bagley removed to Greene
county, New York, where he purchased land on the eastern slope of the
Catskill mountains, near Durham, where the father of the future governor
of Michigan was born on the 21st of January, 1800. From his native
county John Bagley, father of the governor, removed to Medina, Orleans
county, New York, and finally he located at Lockport, where be gained
recognition as one of the wealthiest and most influential citizens
of the central part of the Empire state. His home was one
of refinement, and his devoted wife, who was a woman of more
than average attainments, reared her children with great fidelity
and discrimination. The Bagleys were always active communicants

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1155
of the Protestant Episcopal church, and it was the wish of the mother that
John J. should enter its ministry. It is worthy of note that he later became
a Unitarian in his religious faith, to which he continued to adhere until the
time of his death. Business reverses, resulting from no fault of his own,
wrecked the fortunes of John Bagley, and he decided to come to the west,
where he hoped measurably to retrieve his losses. He came with his family
to Michigan in 1838, the year subsequent to the admission of the state to
the Union and when his son, the later governor of the new commonwealth,
was a lad of but six years. The family home was established at Constan-
tine, St. Joseph county, and there the father engaged in the tanning busi
ness, which he had followed previously at Lockport, New York. The
family was now in moderate circumstances, and thus the subject of this
memoir early began to assist in the support of himself and the other mem
bers of the family circle. His first employment was in a country store in
St. Joseph county, and thereafter he lived for a time in the home of Dr.
J. B. Barnes, of Owosso, Shiawassee county, where he was enabled to
attend school. His parents also removed to Owosso about this time and
they continued to reside in Michigan until the close of their lives, honored
by all who knew them.
When fourteen years of age John J. -Bagley left the store in which he
had been employed at Owosso and sought a business connection in Detroit.
Here he obtained a situation with Isaac S. Miller, a tobacconist, with whom
he remained until he was. twenty-one years of age, when he was enabled to
start in business for himself, by establishing a small tobacco factory on
Woodward avenue, below Jefferson avenue. The venture proved success
ful and the growth of- the enterprise was most rapid and substantial, neces
sitating the procuring of more ample quarters from time to time. In 1867
the trade controlled was of vast volume, and Mr. Bagley was still the domi
nating force in the management and control of the business.
His enterprising nature urged him into scores of ventures, all of which,
with a few minor exceptions, proved profitable. He was one of the original
stockholders and president of the Detroit Safe Company, a stockholder in
the Detroit Novelty Works, an incorporator of the Wayne County Savings
Bank, a stockholder in the Wetherbee Wooden Ware Company, and inter
ested in various other industrial concerns. He was vice-president of the
American National Bank of Detroit and was for some time president of the
Michigan Mutual Life Insurance Company.
By very nature Mr. Bagley was destined to become a leader in public
sentiment and action. His father was a Democrat, but his own independ
ence of thought prevented him from gaining his political opinions by in
heritance. He was a supporter of the Whig party until the organization of
the Republican party, when he transferred his allegiance to the latter, to
thereafter continue as a stalwart advocate of its principles and policies.
Shortly after he engaged in independent business in Detroit he was elected
a member of the board of education. After the completion of his term he
was chosen a member of the city council, and here also he proved a distinct
power for good. His pronounced executive ability at once gave him a
mastery of public work and party machinery, and long before he was called
to a state office he was a recognized leader in the Republican councils in
Michigan. During his service in the city council he came to a realization
of the necessity for a radical reform in the police system of Detroit, and he
lost no time in obtaining co-operation and drafting a plan for the organiza
tion of the present metropolitan police system of Detroit. With the
draft of the new law he proceeded to Lansing, and he worked ear
nestly and zealously until the measure was passed by the legislature.
He was made one of the members of the first board of police commissioners
and as such he did the greater part of the work in organizing the depart-

1156 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
ment, perfecting its plan of operation and defining its work. Mr. Bagley
continued to serve on the police commission until 1872, when he received
the Republican nomination for governor of Michigan, to which office he
was elected by the significant and overwhelming majority of fifty-seven
thousand votes, — a distinct testimonial to his personal popularity and the
uniform confidence reposed in him. In 1874 he was re-elected, by a much
decreased majority, — the result of ordinary political exigencies, as that
year stood for Democratic victories throughout the entire country.
As governor Mr. Bagley brought to bear the same intelligent force that
had made his business ventures successful, and his administration was
remarkable for his active concern in the state institutions. He personally •
investigated every asylum, college and other state institution, and brought
about many beneficent changes in their management. No governor of
Michigan ever surpassed him in the improving of the charitable and penal
institutions of the state. He had long been a student of prison methods,
knew their defects, and was able to suggest many needed reforms. He de
voted much time to juvenile offenders and dependent children, and was in
strumental in establishing local agencies to look after children charged with
crime ; thereby much injustice and suffering was prevented. He gave much
time and attention to perfecting and expanding the work of the school for
dependent children, an institution that had been founded by his prede
cessor, and at the Centennial Exposition in 1876, few educational exhibits
attracted so much attention as the exploitation of this great and noble
Michigan charity, the same having been thus represented at the exposition
through Governor Bagley's efforts and direction. Within his administra
tion were taken measures to enlarge the state provision for the insane. The
reform school for boys was changed from a close prison to a refuge, and it
thereby became a far more effective medium for the reformation and en
couragement of youthful malefactors. In the various changes which Gov
ernor Bagley instituted in the treatment of unfortunates of all orders, the
most prominent feature was the broad and constant sympathy which he
manifested. His heart was tender, and he was ever moved deeply by all
forms of human suffering and distress. Concerning him the following per
tinent statements have been written and are worthy of perpetuation :
"His habit of keeping in mind the moral and social bearings of all his
public conduct was his most prominent characteristic. Few men with his
ardent temperament and ready sympathies could have been safely trusted
with the control of school and prison management and social reform. But
while he was an undoubted enthusiast, his careful habits and his experience
saved him from rash action, and he never lost his head. His state papers
were models of excellence and, in clear, concise and forcible diction, gave
his views on the issues and affairs of the day. His speeches, and they were
many, were always felicitous and delivered in a manner that appealed to the
intelligence of his auditors. His administration was in all respects credit
able, and particularly so for the care given to the charitable and other pub
lic institutions. He took a lively interest in the educational advancement of
the state, and obtained liberal appropriations for the university and other
general establishments. Outside of his official acts relative to the univer
sity, he personally donated to it many rare and costly books, and also had
made and gave in facsimile a complete set of all the coins and medals ever
minted by the United States government. He was careful and exact in
the duties of chairman of the state boards, and his knowledge of business
economics suggested various improvements whereby money was saved
without parsimony. It was he who suggested the idea of the centennial
tree-planting, since followed by many otber states, and his suggestions in
this connection rang with true patriotism and appreciation."
Governor Bagley left the public service with the respect of all classes

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1157
of citizens and with a well earned reputation as a loyal and zealous execu
tive. His administration ranks with the best. He was the choice of the
people for the United States senate as the successor of Hon Zachariah
Chandler, who died while in office, but the governor of Michigan at that
time failed to respond to the popular call, and in the regular election which
followed Mr. Bagley was defeated for the senate by perfidy among the ring
politicians of the state which he had honored and dignified by his generous
and able services as governor. It can not be doubted that this lack of
loyalty on the part of those whom he had considered his friends, had a
decided influence in hastening the death of Governor Bagley, in the follow
ing winter. He visited California, in the hope of restoring his health, but
in spite of the best medical skill obtainable and the tender ministrations of
a loving and devoted wife, he passed away in the city of San Francisco on
the 27th of July, 1881, mourned by all who knew him, honored by all who
admire integrity and justice, and secure in a fame that is a part of the
nation's history. In Detroit the citizens manifested a deep sense of per
sonal bereavement, and this came significantly into evidence on the occa
sion of the funeral of the honored death, on the 7th of August. Rich and
poor, high and low, civilian and soldier ,— all assembled to do reverence to
the great, noble heart which had been stilled in death.
In 1889 there was erected on the Campus Martius in Detroit, a bronze
bust of Governor Bagley, and on the granite pedestal of the same appears
the following inscription : "From the people, in grateful remembrance of
John J. Bagley." On the Campus Martius is also erected a beautiful
memorial fountain, which was willed to the city by George Bagley,
Governor Bagley married Miss Frances E. Newbury, daughter of Rev.
Samuel and Mary Ann (Sergeant) Newbury, of Dubuque, Iowa, and their
wedded life was one that was ideal in its every relation and association.
She passed away in 1898.
Governor Bagley was a liberal contributor to the benevolent institutions
of the state, not only in gifts of money, but also of time and counsel when
these were more important than money. He aided in many ways the cause
of religion, in which connection his generosity knew no creed. His benev
olence was manifest in a constant and unwearied desire to contribute to
the happiness of all who came within the sphere of his influence. He had
a high sense of his stewardship and of the responsibilities that wealth im
poses, but the great, tender heart of the man is the basis of the love and
veneration in which his memory is held in the city and state to whose
progress and welfare he contributed in a large and generous measure.
John Newbury Bagley, the only surviving son of Governor John J.
Bagley, is well upholding the high prestige of the family name and is one of
the representative business men and influential citizens of Detroit, where he
is president of the John J. Bagley Company, of which'his honored father
was the founder. He was born in Detroit, on the 8th of September, i860,
and is indebted to the schools of his native city for his early educational
discipline. In 1880, when about twenty years of age, he became associated
with the tobacco manufacturing business of his father, and he gained his
practical experience under most auspicious conditions. He was first elected
vice president of the company, and since 1883 he has been president of the
same his administration of its affairs having been such as could be expected
of the son of such a father. He is a director of the Security Trust Com
pany of Detroit, is loyal and public-spirited in all that touches the wellbeing
of his native city and state and is an active and valued member of that
progressive and admirable organization, the Detroit Board of Commerce.
He is a popular figure in the best business and social circles of Detroit and'
holds membership in the Detroit Club, the Yondotega Club, the Detroit

1158 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Boat Club, the Country and Prismatic Clubs and other representative civic
organizations, including the Witenagemote Society and the Michigan
Society of Colonial Wars, of which he is governor for the years 1912-13.
At Grand Haven, Michigan, on the nth of March, 1884, was solemn
ized the marriage of John N. Bagley to Miss Esther P. Cutler, and they
have three children : Frances, John D., and Philip N., the only daughter
being now the wife of William H. Wallace, Jr., of Detroit.
Frank Augustus Palmer. Prominent among the leaders in the pub
lic life of Jackson and among the older citizens of the community, Frank
Augustus Palmer occupies a position that entitles him to mention in this
historical and biograpbical work, though there are many other reasons
why his name should be perpetuated in the written history of the city and
county. A man of sixty-nine years of age today, he has the bearing and
appearance of a man of fifty, and his mental and physical vigor are on a
par each with the other. He has been a lifelong resident of this city, his
birthplace being the corner of Pearl and Jackson streets, a scant block
and a half from the courthouse where he has his daily employment as
deputy clerk of the Jackson Circuit Court — a position in itself no sinecure,
and calling for a generous supply of energy and activity in its incumbent.
Mr. Palmer's career in the city of his birth has been a distinctly honorable
one, and he has the high esteem and genuine friendship of the best peo
ple of the city and county.
Frank Augustus Palmer's birth occurred on February 12, 1845. He
is the son of Hon. Samuel H. Palmer, who came to Jackson in tbe early
days when it was yet known as Jacksonburg. He settled here in 1836,
coming from New York state where he was born, and here he carried on
the trade of a carriage maker for a good while. He was always a promi
nent man in his community and more or less of a leader. His county once
sent him to the Michigan State Legislature, the date of his service there
being about 1848. He died in 1853, when he was but fifty-two years of
age. In New York state he married Cynthia Culver, also a native New
Yorker, and of their nine children, seven were born in the Empire State,
the other two being born in Jackson. One of the two was Frank Au
gustus, of this review, and the other was Charles H. Palmer, and it should
be stated here that they are the sole surviving members of this goodly
family. When the father died in 1853, the wife and mother survived him
but three short months, her death occurring in June, 1853, when she was
only forty-nine years of age.
Frank Augustus Palmer was reared in Jackson and this city has been
his home all his life. He passed a very ordinary boyhood up to the time
of the outbreak of the Civil war, when he enlisted on September 7, 1861,
in Company C, Ninth Michigan Infantry. He was then but sixteen years
of age, and with many another youth of similar age he braved the perils
of the four years' siege with the hardihood of a man of seasoned years,
and came out in command of his company, He entered the ranks as a
private, and advanced from rank to rank, and on November 14, 1864,
was commissioned Second Lieutenant of Company I, Ninth Michigan In
fantry. On February 15, 1865, he was commissioned First Lieutenant of
Company F, the same regiment, and though he only bore the commission
of a First Lieutenant, he was in command of his company from February,
1865, until the regiment was mustered out, in September, 1865.
It is notable that a brother of Mr. Palmer, somewhat older in years
than the subject, in 1852 went to Georgia to live, and he enlisted on the
side of the Confederacy, and fought throughout the war wearing a grey
uniform, while his young brother fought with equal ardor on the opposite
side.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1159
After the war was over and Mr. Palmer had returned to Jackson he
continued to reside there until 1868, when he engaged in the newspaper
business in Saginaw, and continued there until 1877. For many years
after his return to this city in 1877 he conducted a job-printing office.
and he has held the office of Deputy County Clerk and Deputy Clerk of
the Jackson Circuit Court during the past eight years, his service having
extended through the terms of three different county clerks. Prior to
entering upon the duties of his present position, Mr. Palmer served as
secretary of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of Jackson, in
which order he is a past Exalted Ruler. He is also a member of the
Knights of Pythias and the G A. R., and is a Republican in politics.
On April 10, 1865, Mr. Palmer was married to Miss Sarah L. Rock
well, of Jackson, and almost fifty years of wedded life have been spent
in unison by these devoted people. They have three living children:
Edward M. Palmer, Frank B. Palmer and Stella May, who is the wife
of John M. Felthouse, and lives in Weiser, Idaho. The two sons, both
of whom are married, are residents of Jackson, and like their honored
father, are filling useful places in the life of the city of their birth.
Mr. and Mrs. Palmer have two grandchildren, — Clyde Palmer Felthouse
and Kenneth Gordon Felthouse, the sons of their daughter* Mrs. Stella
May Felthouse, of Weiser, Idabo.
Ernst Jahnke. With a successful record as a plastering contractor,
Ernst Jahnke, has a secure position among the building trades of De
troit, and his friends predict for him a position of pre-eminent leader
ship in business affairs based on the quality of his record as a young
man. Ernst Jahnke is a native of Germany, born near the city of Berlin
October n, 1877, a son of the late Adolph and Minnie (Sell) Jahnke.
The father was born in Germany in 1831 and the mother in 1837; they
were married in that country and lived there for a number of years.
They finally brought their family to the United States in 1880, going
direct from their place of landing to Detroit, which city has been their
home for the past thirty-odd years. The father had followed the car
penter's trade in the old country as a journeyman, and continued in the
same occupation at Detroit for a number of years. At the end of three
score and eleven years in 1902 he passed peacefully away after a career
in which he had won the esteem of family and friends and had pro
vided wejl for those dependent upon him. His good wife had preceded
him by seven years to the grave, having died in 1887 at the age of fifty
.years. Both parents were members of the Holy Cross Evangelical
Lutheran church at the corner of Joseph Campau avenue and Illinois
street. A boy of only three or four years when the family came to the
United States, Ernst Jahnke was reared and educated in Detroit, attend
ing the Holy Cross Lutheran parochial schools, and when only fourteen
years of age beginning an apprenticeship to learn the trade of plasterer.
His apprenticeship career of four years was passed under the direction
of his older brother, Gustave Jahnke. Then as a journeyman he con
tinued until 1910, in which year his name was placed .in the directory
of the building trades of Detroit as an independent contractor. Mr.
Tahnke handles all kinds of contracting in his line, and has successfully
carried out his contracts for plastering in many residences, flats, apart
ment houses, stores and other structures. _
Mr Tahnke is a member of the Detroit Builders and Traders Ex
change and of the Master Plasterers' Association. His religious affilia
tion is with the First English Lutheran church at Mt. Elliott and Pul-

1160 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
ford streets. Mrs. Jahnke before her marriage was Alma Wunsch, who
was born in Detroit, and whose father, John Wunsch, was a native of
Germany and is connected with commercial lines in Detroit. Mr. and
Mrs. Jahnke have two children: Leonard Paul, who is two and a half
years of age, and Erma, a year younger than her brother.
Charles A. Parrish. In the business activities of Jackson, one of
the most important factors for a number of years has been Charles A.
Parrish, who is president of the Ruby Manufacturing Company, and
officially identified with several other large local industries. Since his
boyhood Mr. Parrish has never spent a year which might be regarded as
wasted, and without definite achievements toward larger ends. He started
as a printer, later got into electrical contracting, supervised the installa
tion of the first electric street railway in Jackson, was in the railway oper
ating service for a few years, and then entered a larger field of independ
ent relationship with local industry. The Ruby Manufacturing Company,
of which he is now president, was founded in Jackson a number of years
ago, and for a considerable time enjoyed only the shadow of prosperity.
His first relation with the business was only as a stockholder, but he was
finally induced to take charge of what appeared a moribund organization,
and by his talent for efficiency and systematic management, soon had the
concern on its feet, and prospering until it is now one of Jackson's most
successful manufacturing concerns. Mr. Parrish for several years has
been president and general manager of this company.
The birth of Charles Albert Parrish occurred on a fa'rm in Thorn-
town, Indiana, August 20, 1869. When he was six months old his par
ents removed to Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he was reared to the age
of fourteen. His father was Homer Parrish, who from farming finally took up
electrical lines, and is still living in Kalamazoo. The mother's maiden
name was Alice Maria Rodgers, who died at the age of forty-eight. Both
parents were born in Kalamazoo county. Of the children still living Mr.
Parrish is the eldest/having two brothers and one sister.
Reared and educated in Kalamazoo, Mr. Parrish came to Jackson at
the age of .seventeen, and began serving an apprenticeship at the printer's
trade, under L. J. Brooks in the job printing department of the Jackson
Patriot, the morning newspaper published in that city. His apprentice
ship was very thorough and lasted for seven years, and from Jackson he
went to Detroit, and for a year and a half was chief operator for the Bell
Telephone Company. Since leaving the office of the Patriot he has never
resumed his original trade, his energies having been called into widely
different fields. On returning to Jackson from Detroit, he superintended
the electrical work for the first electric street railway in the city. Then
for six and one half years he was employed by the Michigan Central
Railroad, for six months as a locomotive fireman, on a freight train, and
for the rest of the time on a passenger locomotive. That work was natur
ally too restricted for a man of his wide capabilities, and in 1901 he re
signed his place with the Michigan Central and started in business for
himself. Since then he has been one of the prominent figures in local
business affairs. The Ruby Manufacturing Company, of which he is
president, manufactures and distributes a great output of structural steel
for building, and other purposes, and the enterprise is now one of Jack
son's largest. Mr. Parrish is also secretary-treasurer and general man
ager of the Wolverine printery and of the Magic Foot Draft Company,
tbe latter being a large mail order house.
While a citizen who is much interested in the progress of his com
munity, Mr. Parrish has never been desirous of political distinction, and

Oaaj

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1161
his only office was as a member of the city council for two terms. He
accepted that more from a sense of duty than in the line of political pre-
lerment. He was one of the organizers of the Jackson Chamber of Com
merce, and ls a member of the Jackson City Club. His brand of politics
is Republican, and while Charles E. Townsend in 1912 was making his
rate for the office of United States senator, Mr. Parrish was local man
ager in Jackson county of his campaign. He is well known in Masonry
having taken thirty-two degrees of the Scottish Rite branch of the order
and is a Knight Templar and a Shriner. He also belongs to the Benevo
lent and Protective Order of Elks, and his church is the Baptist.
Tv?-arrish has been twice married. When he was twenty-four years
of age Miss Rose Sherwood became his wife. She died a few years later,
leaving three children, Homer G, Irene A., and Myron M.
On May 25, 1908, Mr. Parrish and Miss J. Grace Baker were united
in marriage. They have three children : Charles A. Jr., Grace E,, and
Ralph B. j » .
Colonel Henry S. Dean. To have lived eighty-four years is of itself
an accomplishment in human affairs, but when with length of life has been
combined success in business, honorable participation in public affairs, and
patriotic loyalty and fidelity of service in relation to every responsibility,
such a career is one that deserves more than ordinary attention. Colonel
Henry S. Dean is one of the oldest and at the same time one of the most
honored business men and citizens of Ann Arbor, which city has been his
home since 1840. There his name has been closely identified with mer
chandising, manufacturing, military and public affairs.
His membership in the Society of the Sons of the American Revolu
tion indicates the character of his ancestry. Henry Stewart Dean was
born at Lima, Livingston county, New York, June 14, 1830, a son of Wil
liam W. and Elizabeth (Hand) Dean. Members of the family on both
sides were enrolled as soldiers in the war of the Revolution, His father
was born at Albany, New York, and his mother at New Lebanon, Columbia
county, in the same state, and the English ancestors of both the Deans and
the Hands were located in the colonies several generations ago. William
W. Dean was a son of Captain Stewart Dean, captain of a sloop sailing
from New York, and the vessel was commissioned as a sloop of war dur
ing the Revolution. Nathan Hand, the maternal grandfather, was a native
of Connecticut. -
When Colonel Dean was six years of age the family moved from New
York to the territory of Michigan, which • in the following year was
admitted to statehood. His father was a pioneer in Green Oak township,
of Livingston county, and he and his wife spent the rest of their lives
there. Besides hewing a farm from the wilderness, his enterprise was of
even more practical benefit to the community. A man of considerable
means for those days, he erected the first saw and flour mills in the pioneer
country of Livingston county.
Colonel Dean had an education corresponding to the pioneer equipment
and opportunities of early Livingston county.. In 1840, at the age of ten
years, he was sent to the village schools of Ann Arbor, attended one year,
spent 'the following twelve months at Bloomfield Academy, Bloomfield,
N. Y., and then continued his schooling at Ann Arbor until 1846.
Pli's early experiences in merchandising began at the age of sixteen in
the general store of Jonathan H. Lund, one of Ann Arbor's early mer
chants. From 1849 until 1851 he was a clerk for F. J. B. Crane & Com
pany, and with the intention of preparing for college entered the academy
conducted by Rufus Nutting at Lodi Plains, Washtenaw county. Owing
to his poor health his doctor advised a sea voyage. California, with its

1162 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
gold mines and frontier excitement, was then the lodestone attracting
thousands of young men of the east, and Colonel Dean set out for the new
Eldorado in 1852, going by way of Cape Horn. The following five years
were spent among the gold mines of the Pacific coast, and while there he
became president and manager of the Union Tunnel Company. His return
to Michigan in 1857 was made by the Isthmus of Panama. The capital
acquired in the west was invested in his father's flour and sawmills at
Green Oak, in Livingston county, and he paid cash in twenty dollar gold
pieces for the property. His enterprise was directed to the operation of
those plants either under his personal supervision or by the services of a
hired manager until after the close of the war. While a resident of Green
Oak township he served as justice of the peace and resigned that office to
enter the Union army.
Colonel Dean in 1862 was commissioned as a recruiting officer by
Michigan's governor with the rank of second lieutenant to raise a company
for the Twenty-second Michigan Infantry. This company, known as
Company H, was mustered into service July 31, 1862, and he was com
missioned its captain July 31, 1862. Colonel Dean was promoted to major
January 5, 1863, being mustered as such two days later ; in June of the same
year was made assistant inspector general on the staff of Brigadier
General R. S. Granger at Nashville, and on June 16, 1864, was discharged
to accept promotion, being commissioned lieutenant colonel to date
from July 7th and being mustered under this title July 17th. He assumed
command of his regiment September 27, 1863, and commanded it as major
or lieutenant colonel until 1865. His active service continued until the
close of the war and his muster out at Nashville, Tennessee, June 26, 1865.
In October, 1864, Colonel Dean was granted a thirty days' leave of absence,
and while in Detroit saw a notice that General J. B. Steadman had been
ordered from Chattanooga to Nashville. Supposing that the Twenty-
second Michigan Infantry would march with the command of General
Steadman, Colonel Dean started at once for Nashville, arriving in that
city eight days prior to the expiration of his leave of absence. General
George H. Thomas, to whom he reported, called his attention to his leave
of absence, but Colonel Dean stated that he was there for duty and
requested instructions. General Thomas told him to report to General
Steadman, who was on the extreme left. Colonel Dean was on the staff
of the latter commander during the memorable two days' battle of Nash
ville, and was in the most desperate conflicts waged on tbat field, his service
having been as a volunteer owing to the non-expiration of his leave of
absence. Earlier in the war, in 1863, Colonel Dean was in the Chattanooga
campaign ; was in the Atlanta campaign up to October, 1864, then return
ing to Chattanooga with General Thomas, at whose headquarters he had
been stationed during the Atlanta campaign. Other service rendered in an
incidental way by Colonel Dean was as a member of the military com
mission to try cotton speculators and as a member of the examining board
to commission officers for the colored troops.
With a record of long and gallant service as a soldier and officer of
the Union forces, Colonel Dean returned to Michigan, actively managed
his business interests at Green Oak until 1866, and, having sold his mills,
returned to Ann Arbor in 1866. The business- of Dean & Company has
been successfully continued throughout the long intervening years and is
the largest of its kind in Ann Arbor. The trade of the city and of a large
surrounding territory know this house as a wholesale and retail grocery,
manufacturers of baking powder, roasters of coffee and grinders of spices.
It is now incorporated under the title Dean & Company; Limited, with
Colonel Dean as president. Though past fourscore years, his more or less
active supervision is still given to the business. His other interests include

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1163
the ownership of valuable real estate in Ann Arbor, and he is president
of the Michigan Milling Company and the Forest Plill Cemetery Associa
tion at Ann Arbor, and of the Owosso Gas Light Company at Owosso.
For many years Colonel Dean was treasurer and manager of the Ann
Arbor Publishing Company, publishers of a general line of books, and
also of the Ann Arbor Register, the leading weekly paper.
With his old. comrades in arms Colonel Dean maintains associations
through the Grand Army of the Republic and the military order of the
Loyal Legion of the United States, having been commander of his post at
Ann Arbor and having served as commander of the Michigan Department
of the order. He is also a past commander of the Michigan Commandery
of the Loyal Legion. His other relations are with the Masonic Order, the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the American Historical Asso
ciation. In both local and state affairs Colonel Dean has long been a factor as
a citizen, and for many years was regarded as one of the influential Repub
licans of Michigan. Governor Luce made him a member of the Board of
Trustees of the state prison at Jackson; from 1870 to 1874 inclusive he
was postmaster at Ann Arbor; served as one of the supervisors of Ann
Arbor, and as a member of the board of directors of the Ann Arbor School
of Music. Governor Rich appointed him a regent of the University of
Michigan, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Henry Howard, and
four years later he was regularly elected for the full term on the Repub
lican ticket for eight years, so that his service with the ruling body of the
State University continued for twelve consecutive years. A noteworthy
political honor came to him in 1912, when the Progressive party, by a
plurality of eight thousand, nominated him as one of the presidential
electors in the state. These offices indicate the wide scope of his public
service, and all of it has been accomplished with a public spirit and dis
interestedness that never allowed him to make his duties a matter of mere
routine. The years still rest lightly on this sterling pioneer, and his physical and
mental vigor is that of a man many years his junior. Colonel Dean on
August 6, 1865, married Miss Delia Brown Cook of Detroit. They are the
parents of one daughter, Miss Elizabeth W. Dean, who lives with her
father and mother.
William Henry Huebner. Though in independent business only
six years, William H. Huebner is properly recognized among the vari
ous members of the Detroit building trades as one of the most successful
and competent plastering contractors. Examples of his work can be
found in almost every quarter of the city, and some of the largest con
tracts in that line within recent years have been handed under his ex
pert direction.
A native of the city of Detroit, borri November 22, 1878, William
Henry Huebner is a son of the late William and Emma (Dyer) Hueb
ner. His father was a native of Germany, born in 1857, when twelve
years accompanied his parents in 1869 to the United States, and the
family all settled -in Detroit. The grandfather was William Huebner,
Sr., who was best known during his career in Detroit and vicinity as a
dealer in wood and also as a farmer. William Huebner, the father, who
died in December, 1912, had a successful teaming and cartage business
at Detroit. The mother of W. H. Huebner was born in England and
is still living. .
Starting life with a common school education, acquired by attend
ance at the Detroit public schools, William H. Huebner enjoyed only a
brief interval between his school career and his practical work as an

1164 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
apprentice in the plasterer's trade. When his apprenticeship was
finished, he served as a journeyman plasterer until 1908, and since then
has been contracting in that line. It would take too long to enumerate,
however briefly, his numerous contracts, but it may be mentioned that
he did the work on the addition to the Addison, apartments, recognized
as one of the largest apartment houses in Detroit at Woodward avenue
and Charlotte street, and also his services have been employed on many
flats, residences and other buildings.
Mr. Huebner is a member of the Detroit Builders and Traders' Ex
change and of the Master Plasterers' Association, of which organization
he served as secretary for three years, and is now a member of its
board of trustees. Mr. Huebner married Matie -Sisman. Her brother,
Andrew C. Sisman, is one of Detroit's largest general contractors.
Daniel M. Zeigin. Since 1910 county treasurer of Jackson county,
Mr. Zeigin has been known to the citizens of this county since childhood,
has been recognized as an industrious, independent man of action, and
few men have entered office in this county with so thorough a confidence
on the part of their supporters.
Daniel M. Zeigin was born in Monroe county, Michigan, April 7,
1885, and is still a young man, with the promise of a great field of useful
ness before him. His parents are George and Amelia (Langley) Zeigin,
whose home is now in Jackson, where the father has for many years fol
lowed his trade as painter. The family moved to Jackson in 1893, when
Daniel was eight years old. His education was acquired chiefly in the
Catholic parochial schools, and while a student in the local schools he
learned bookkeeping, stenography and typewriting, and that paved the
way for his entrance into the business world, and also enabled him to
get in touch with politics.
For two years and two months Mr. Zeigin served in the office of
deputy sheriff. In 1910, as one of the strongest, names on the Democratic
ticket, he was elected to the office of county treasurer. In order to be
elected to that office he had to overcome a normal Republican majority of
over fourteen hundred votes, and the fact that he was successful indi
cates not only the confidence felt in his qualification for the office, but
also his great personal popularity among all classes of citizens in Jackson
county. At the time of his election in 1910, Mr. Zeigin was twenty-five
years old, and had the distinction of being tbe youngest county treasurer
in Michigan at that time. In 191 2 he was re-elected, and is now giving
capable service in his second term.
Mr. Zeigin is a member of the Catholic church. He is affiliated with
the Knights of Columbus and with the Benevolent and Protective Order
of Elks. On January 30, 1912, occurred his marriage to Miss Lauretta
M. Roche, of Chicago.
John Shea. The keen competition which exists in the contracting
and building trades makes a successful career all the more conspicuous,
and of Detroit contractors who have successfully met the trying condi
tions of that business and have carried with increasing success the bur
dens of a growing enterprise, one of the best known is John Shea, a
prosperous contractor, and for more than thirty years identified with
this city.
Mr. Shea comes naturally by his trade and profession, which has
been a family occupation for generations. He was born in the city of
London, England, in that district known as Kensel Green, on June 4,
1855, a son of John and Mary (White) Shea. Though the Sheas have
been Londoners for the last five generations, the family is of Irish ori-

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1165
gin. The great-grandfather of the Detroit-business man was Cornelius
Shea, who was born in London, and in the early part of the nineteenth
century was married in St. Martin's church in Fields, a locality that
is now Trafalgar Square in London, to Miss Cosgrove. The grand
father s name was also Cornelius, and he was born in London. There
are tour generations of the family that furnished plasterers, and all
ot them worked for the same contracting firm in London. John Shea,
lather of the subject of this sketch, was born in St. Pancrist's Square,
London, m 1835, and his wife was born in 1833. In April, 1869, the
father emigrated to the United States, and was engaged in work at his
trade in New York City, having his home in Brooklyn. The following
October his son John joined him in New York, and in 1870 the rest of
the family crossed the ocean to America. The father died in Brooklyn
in 1887 and the mother in 1891.
John Shea, who was about fifteen years old when he first came to
America, had a limited education in the city of London, and when only
ten years of age began an apprenticeship at the trade of plasterer. His
apprenticeship was almost completed when he secured his release from
the indenture in order to join his father in America. Arriving in New
York, he was given. work at once, and while handling a trowel during
the daytime spent an hour or so every night in increasing his educa
tional training by attending night school. Following the panic of 1873,
there was a general depression in building trade activities throughout
the country, and as a result in 1877 he returned to England, and for
three years worked as a journeyman plasterer. It was while in- Eng
land that he married at Brighton in 1881 Louise Grover. She was
born in Sussex, just outside of Brighton, a daughter of William Grover.
In June, 1881, Mr. Shea, brought bis bride to America, was em
ployed at his regular trade in New York City until the following year,
and then came to Detroit. For more than thirty years his activities
have identified him with the building interests of this city. A consid
erable part of the time he served as superintendent of the plastering
department of Vinton & Company, the largest building and lumber com
pany west of New York City. A year and a half was spent as plaster
inspector for the Detroit Board of Education. The organized interests
of the building trades and labor have received much attention and
service from Mr. Shea for more than a quarter of a century, and for
twenty years he was a member of the Building Trades Council and
business agent of the council for four years. While one of the best-
known men in the state in labor circles, he has also gained prominence
in political affairs, and in 1902 was elected a member of the Michigan
legislature for the session of 1903-04, and during that time had mem
bership on the house committee on state affairs, on public buildings, and
on the Eastern Asylum for the Insane.
Mr. Shea is a member of the Detroit Builders and Traders' Ex
change, and in 1913-14 was president of the Master Plasterers' Associa
tion and also a trustee of the latter organization. His interests have
also taken him actively into fraternal work. In Masonry he has mem
bership in Ashlar Lodge, A. F. and A. M., Peninsula Chapter, R. A. M.,
and Detroit Commandery No. 1, K T., and has attended the Knights
Templar conclaves at Flint and Saginaw and the triennial conclave at
Denver, Colorado, in 1913 as a member of the Detroit Commandery's
prize drill corps. His part should also be mentioned in the work and
extension of the English Society of the Sons of St. George? with which
he became identified in New York City in 1881. Mr. Shea organized
the first lodge of. this order in Detroit— Britannia Lodge, No. 114, in
1883, and also organized the first lodges in Ann Arbor, Jackson, Grand

1166 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Rapids and at various places through the Upper Peninsula, and assisted
in the organization of the Grand Lodge of the order of Michigan, and
was elected grand president in 19 12. Such have been his services in
this order that when he retired from the office of president he was pre
sented as a testimonial of esteem on the part of his fellow members with
a handsome gold medal. During his early residence in New York in
1876 he joined the 69th Regiment of New York State Militia. In poli
tics he is an active Republican, and he and his family worship in the
Episcopal church.
The children of Mr. Shea and wife are as follows: Mabel, who
married Alexander Cook of Birmingham, Michigan, and their three
children are Grover, Mabel and Irene; Grace Evaline, who married
William E. Sanborn of Detroit, and has a son, William E., Jr.; John
Grover, who is associated in business with his father and lives at home,
and William E., also at home.
Henry Harrison Smith. Every profession has its leaders, men who
either tacitly or openly are recognized by their associates and the people
in general as the ablest and most effective workers in their respective
lines. In Tuscola county a place of pre-eminence in the law is ascribed to
Henry Harrison Smith, who at the present time is serving as prosecuting
attorney of Tuscola county. All his successes as a lawyer have been
worthily won, and in many ways he has established himself firmly in his
profession in that section of the state. Perhaps no man ever worked
harder for success than Mr. Smith, and though he started life with a
heavy handicap, he surpassed many others in the race and has won the
dignity of position and has well served his community.
Born in North Branch in Lapeer county, Michigan, May 17, 1870,
Henry Harrison Smith is a son of John P. and Fannie J. (Williams)
Smith. Milton Williams, his maternal grandfather, was a veteran of the
Civil war and a soldier in a regimet of Michigan Infantry, was captured
and put in Libby prison, and died from starvation in that notorious pest
hole of the Confederacy. Both Mr. Smith's parents were born in New
York state, and when children were taken by their respective families
to Belleville, Canada. In 1846 they moved to Burlington township in La
peer county, where John P. Smith engaged in farming and continued that
vocation there until his death in 1878 at the age of sixty-seven years. The
mother died in 1906 aged seventy-six. John P. Smith deserves a perma
nent memorial as one of the pioneers of Lapeer county. He was one of
three white men who comprised the first settlers of that part of that
county. He moved his family from Detroit by means of an ox team and
had to blaze a trail through the woods over tbe greater part of the jour
ney. The hardships of frontier life became thoroughly familiar to him
and his household, and eventually he gained a substantial tract of land,
nearly all of which was swept away by adversity and sickness before his
death. The Smith family have long been active in the Methodist church.
The eleven children of John P. and Fannie Smith are briefly mentioned
as follows: Melzanie, who died in early womanhood; Hiram, who was
a glass blower by trade and died at Alton, Illinois, in 1906; Ithamer, a
prosperous farmer who lives near Little Rock, Arkansas ; Kenyon Smith,
engaged in the real estate business at Tampa, Florida ; Sarah, who is the
wife of A. PL McKillop and lives at North Branch, Michigan ; John P.,
who is an editor at Rochester, Michigan ; Nancy, the wife of Frank D.
Williams of Los Gatos, California; Charles W, a farmer at North
Branch in Lapeer county; Dennis, a contractor and builder at Flint,
Michigan ; Henry H. ; and Almeda, the wife of T. E. Riley, a druggist
at Grand Rapids, Michigan.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1167
Next to the youngest in this large family of children, Henry Harri
son Smith acquired bis early training in the district schools of Lapeer
county, and owing to the death of his father and the large number of
other children he found it convenient, if not necessary, at an early age
to shift for himself, and provide his own opening into the arena of suc
cessful accomplishment. At the age of- fifteen he qualified as a teacher,
and for the following eight years earned his living and the means to
pursue professional studies by teaching. His work in the school room
was chiefly during the winter months, and during the vacation times he
pursued the study of law. That was a time of self-sacrifice and .the un
dergoing of many privations, but he endured them all willingly for the
sake of the future. When twenty-one years of age Mr. Smith was ad
mitted to practice before the supreme court of Michigan, but for the
following two years he kept up his school work during the winter months
and gained his initial experiences as a lawyer by appearance in several
of the minor courts and by office practice during the summer seasons. In
1893, having already made himself recognized as a lawyer to whom could
be entrusted business of important nature, he established himself in regu
lar practice and opened his office in North Branch. That was his home
for the following ten years and in that time he enjoyed a growing prestige
as an able lawyer. For nine years of that time he was circuit court com
missioner of Lapeer county. On behalf of the Republican party Mr.
Smith has for many years appeared as a worker and campaign orator
every year, and is regarded as one of the most convincing speakers of
his party in that section of Michigan. In 1903 Mr. Smith moved to the
county seat of Tuscola county, and there formed his first law partnership
with S. Q. Pulver, under the firm name of Pulver & Smith. That was
a prosperous association during its continuance of four years, and at the
same time Mr. Smith held the office of city attorney of Caro. The part
nership was dissolved in 1907, and since that time Mr. Smith has practiced
alone and built up a large clientage, which calls him into the more im
portant litigation of the district. In the fall of 1912 came his election to
his present office as county prosecutor. His name was on the Republican
ticket, and those familiar with political events in Tuscola county during
that year will recall that the party had been badly split by the irruption
of the Progressive movement, which drew nearly all its strength from the
Republican ranks. In spite of this situation, Mr. Smith won his election
by nearly four hundred votes over his next competitor. He is a member
of the County Bar Association, affiliates with Mt. Moriah Lodge No. 131,
A. F. & A. M., with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,. for the past
four years has represented Lodge No. 271 in the Grand Lodge of the
Knights of Pythias, and the church in which he and his family worship
is the Methodist Episcopal.
On June 26, 1895, Mr. Smith married Miss Mary Gohs, who was
born at Mayville in Tuscola county, a daughter of Anthony and Christina
(Weisenburn) Gohs. Both her parents were born in Hesse Cassell,
Germany, and her father, now deceased, was one of the pioneer farmers
of Tuscola county. Her mother lives at the old home in Mayville. To
the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Smith were born five children, as follows :
Marion H., born July 31, 1896, at North Branch; Julius, who died in
1902 at the age of three and a half years; Genevieve, born at North
Branch November 6, 1900 ; Eleanore, born August 6, 1907, at Caro ; and
Maynard H., born May 19, 191 1, at Caro.
George W. Thorpe. Too constant use of the term "self-made" has
lessened the significance of it to a great degree, but there are times when
it would seem that no other phrase conveys the meaning one has in mind,
vol. n— 34

1168 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
and this is particularly true in the case of George W. Thorpe, wholesale
and retail dealer in feed and flour at Jackson, Michigan. Mr. Thorpe
has seen something of the seamy side of life, and he has had every op
portunity to cultivate his own resources, for bis own have been the only
resources that have entered into the making of his business success and
prosperity. He was born in Buckingham, England, on September 16,
1871, and is a son of James and Lucy (Miller) Thorpe.
When George W. Thorpe was tbree years old he came to America
with his parents. That was in the year 1874, and the family located at
Jackson, Michigan, at once. Two other cbildren were members of the
family. Mary, the older, was born in England, and she is now Mrs. O. T.
Dewey, of Jackson county, Michigan. The other, Alice, wife of Charles
Braund, of Jackson, was born in Jackson.
Soon after the location of the family in this city, they moved to Rives
Junction, Jackson county, and there the father died when George Thorpe
was eight years old. The mother, in later years, married again, and she
died on January 15, 1904.
The years immediately following the death of the father were diffi
cult ones for the little family. He left them no means, and the mother
was compelled to earn what she could for the support of her little brood.
George, being the only son, early recognized his responsibility and he was
still a mere child when he went out to service in the farming community
thereabout. He worked his first three months for a neighbor and all he
received for his pay was a new 10 cent jack knife. In the following
year he received a quarter for a full month's work, a sign that spelled
awakening on the part of the boy, and it was only a little while until he
was able to command a wage of five dollars a month. This was a con
siderable assistance in the maintenance of the family, and from then on
the boy was a wage earner. For three years he worked for five dollars
a month, after which his wages were raised to seven dollars per month.
Small as his wages were, he gave the most of it to his mother and thus
helped her to make a living for the family. It will be seen that the op
portunities of the boy for anything like an education were well nigh im
possible, for his boyhood labors continued into manhood, and though his
earning capacity increased somewhat as he gained in strength and knowl
edge of the farm and its needs, he made no great advance until he gave
up working for another, rented a farm and began to farm independently.
He continued thus for about four years, in which time he accumulated
a farming outfit, but he felt that he would advance more rapidly in the
city, and he was impelled by that idea to sell his farm tools and remove
to Jackson. He had but little capital, insufficient to help him into any
regular business, and he continued working as a wage earner, securing a
place with the Eldred Mill. He began as a driver and later became a
salesman for the mill. He made such rapid strides in the knowledge and
understanding of the business that the year 1908 found him embarking
in the flour and feed business at 311 North Mechanic Street. This place
has since witnessed his business activities, and he has prospered even
beyond his own expectations in the business. A branch feed store is
maintained at No. 304 N. Jackson street, and a good part of the business
of the concern is handled here.
Mr. Thorpe is a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks,
of the Knights of Pythias and the Odd Fellows. He is prominent and
popular in all those orders, and has a high standing among his fellow
citizens in Jackson. He is a Republican in his political faith, and while
he manifests a wholesome interest in the politics of the city and county,
he has never been a politician in any sense of the word.
On March 20, 1895, Mr. Thorpe was married to Miss Sarah J. Styles,
and they have one daughter, Bernice Louise, born December 5, 1898.

CcA

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1169
Carl Eberle, who has lived in Jackson since 1882, was- born in
Bavaria, Germany, on April 1, 1859. He is a son of Andreas and
Catherine (Glass) Eberle, German born people who passed their lives
m their native land. Their son Carl was one of their seven sons,
seven daughters also making up the family group. Of this goodly family
iour sons -and five daughters are yet living, and though the subject is
the only one of the sons living in the United States, he has two sisters
here Mrs. Lent Freitag and Mrs. Marie Schnell, both of Jackson,
Michigan. J
Carl Eberle was fourteen years old when his father apprenticed him
to a brewer to learn the business. He served three years as an appren
tice, receiving no pay for his work. On the contrary, his father paid
the brewer one hundred dollars for teaching the boy the business, in
addition to the work he had from the youth. When he completed his
apprenticeship, however, he was thoroughly proficient in his work, and
he worked at his trade in Germany until 1882. In that year he came
to the United States and located in Jackson, where he has since con
tinued to reside. Here for four years Mr. Eberle was in the employ
of the Haehnle Brewery, and in 1886 he purchased the old Frey brewery
at the corner of Bridge and Water streets, and there he established
what is now the Eberle Brewing Company. The old Frey brewery was
a small affair, but the present brewery is a fine plant and is thoroughly
modern in every respect. There is nothing left of the old building
today, every part of the Eberle Brewing Company's plant having been
erected by Mr. Eberle since he engaged in business. The main building
is a four-story brick, erected^ in 1891, and the equipment and fitting of
the plant is most complete and modern. The business was incorporated
as the Eberle Brewing Company in 1898 and its capital fixed at $100,000.
Since that time Carl Eberle has been president and treasurer. His
wife, Mrs. Sophie Eberle, is secretary, and their eldest son, Carl Eberle,
Jr., is vice president and manager, w'hile Miss Sophie C. Eberle, a grad
uate of the Jackson Business University/ is bookkeeper of the concern.
The stock of the company is owned entirely by Mr. Eberle and members
of his family.
Mr. Eberle is a man of considerable public spirit, and he is an active
member of the Chamber of Commerce. He is a Democrat but has never
been an office holder or seeker. He and his family are members of the
German Lutheran church. Mr. Eberle is an Elk and is also a member
of the Royal Arcanum, and he is a member of the Michigan State
Brewers' Association, the National Brewers' Association and the German
Arbeiter Verein.
On May 31, 1886, Mr. Eberle was married to Miss Sophie Cherier,
born in Jackson on April 29, 1862, and a daughter of Frederick and
Augusta Cherier, who were married in Germany and came to Jackson
in 1854. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Eberle : Frieda
Augusta, who died at the age of thirteen years ; she was born on October
16, 1887, and died on August 6, 1901 ; Carl, Jr.,, born January 15, 1890;
Sophie Carolina, born November 18, 1891 ; and Erwin Andreas, born
October 16, 1893, the last named is now superintendent of the bottling
works department of the Eberle Brewing Company.
James A. Reynolds. One of fhe live and progressive real estate
and insurance agencies of Jackson is that of the Reynolds Company, of
which James A. Reynolds is the leading spirit. ' He has given his full
time to its promotion since the business was organized in 1908, and as
president of the company has made of it the progressive and prosperous

1170 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
concern that it undeniably is. Mr. Reynolds is a man who has long been
prominent in the city, and his position is one among the best.
A native born son of Michigan, James/ A. Reynolds was born on a
Concord township farm, in Jackson county, on April 4, 1873. He is a
son of William L. Reynolds and his wife, Rachael Taylor, natives of
New York state and of Concord township respectively. William L. Rey
nolds came to this state in 1850, and he is yet living on his Concord
township farm. He served in the Civil War, and has filled a worthy
place in the life of his home community through all the years of his resi
dence therein. The wife and mother, born on February 22, 1842, still
lives at the age of seventy-two. She is the daughter of James and Rachael
Taylor who were born, reared and wed in England, and who came to
America in about 1825. James Taylor was a tailor by trade, and it is
said of him that he brought the first sewing machine to Jackson county.
It may be said further of the father of the subject that he was wounded
at the first battle of Bull Run, was captured and spent eleven months
in a southern prison before he gained his freedom through an exchange
of prisoners. After his release he again enlisted, and went -with Sher
man on his March to the Sea. He is now seventy-four years of age, and
despite his war record and the storms and stress of more than three score
years and ten, is still fairly hale and hearty.
James A. Reynolds was reared to farm life, and as a boy at home,
in addition to • his farm duties, he clerked now and then in a country
store. He also learned the trade of a printer in the office of the Con
cord Independent, and at the age of nineteen he went to Detroit, there
working for a year in the office of the Daily Sun as a printer. Later he
was employed on the Tribune in the same city, and in 1892 he came to
Jackson. He worked at his trade for a short time, then became a re
porter on the Morning Patriot, and later became sporting editor of the
paper. Thus he was for fifteen years employed variously as printer,
reporter and editor on the Patriot, before he withdrew from the news
paper field and launched out into new and untried waters.
It was in 1908 that he helped to organize the Reynolds Company, to
which he has since given his entire attention in his capacity as manager
of the concern, and he has proven himself well fitted to operate in in
surance and real estate in the years of his connection with the company
previously named. The firm, 'which is one of the largest and best known
agencies in Jackson, has its offices in the Dwight building.
Mr. Reynolds is a Democrat, and is a man who has always made it
a point to take an active part in the political affairs of his community.
For fourteen consecutive years he has been a member of the County
Board of Supervisors from the Sixth Ward, and he has done excellent
work in the interests of the city and county from first to last. He
served as chairman of the County Board in 1914.
The fraternal affiliations of Mr. Reynolds are with the Elks and the
Odd Fellows, and he is also a member of the Jackson City Club. As a
youth he was a member of the Concord Cornet Band, and he has always
been fond of outdoor sports. Baseball is a favorite diversion with him,
and he was one time president of a local baseball league. During the
season of 1908 he was the active head of the Michigan State Base Ball
League, and has in other ways manifested his loyalty to the Great Ameri
can game.
Mr. Reynolds was married on August 16, 1899, to Miss Lena Martha
Strobel, of Jackson. No children survive.
Albert Strelow. A place of acknowledged leadership as a builder
and general carpenter and contractor at Detroit ' is accorded to Albert

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1171
Strelow, head of the firm of Strelow & Pepp at 700 Mack avenue, and
both on the strength of his reputation and on the basis of his accom
plished work one of the most successful men in his line in Detroit. A
brief sketch of his career will be appreciated by his many friends and old
business associates.
Albert Strelow was born in Prussia on November 11, 1853. His
parents were Ernst and Caroline (Ahmert) Strelow, both natives of
Prussia, where they were married. Ernst Strelow, in Prussia, was best
known as a shepherd, and had one of the largest sheep ranges in that
country. Besides his prominence as a sheep raiser, he was a man of more
than ordinary influence and standing in the community, and when he came
to America was possessed of means far above those of the average emi
grant. He brought his family to the United States and to Detroit in
1869, and after coming to America lived largely retired from business
affairs. Physically and mentally he was a remarkable man, and when he
died at Detroit in 1908 he was one hundred years, three months and
twenty-one days of age, having retained his mental faculties until the
end. His wife died in 1903 at the age of eighty-four years, and thus Mr.
Strelow has behind him an ancestry of remarkable vigor and length of
years. As he was sixteen years of age when the family came to the United
States, Albert Strelow had acquired schooling in the old country, and
soon after coming to the city found a place as an apprentice at the car
penter's trade under the late George G. Jenson, who was then and for a
number of years one of Detroit's leading contractors. Mr. Strelow for
eighteen years was employed with the contracting firm of Candler Bros.,
worked two years as a journeyman and twelve years as a foreman and
four years as manager of that firm. The year 1890 witnessed the begin
ning of his independent career as a contractor under his own name. He
steadily prospered alone until 1906, when the firm of Strelow & Pepp was
established, the junior member of which is Mr. Strelow's son-in-law.
As his contracting experience covers nearly a quarter of a century,
it would manifestly be impossible to enumerate anything like a complete
list of his individual contracts. Some brief mention of the more con
spicuous examples of his work is as follows: All the buildings of the
Boydell Bros. Paint Company; the Holmes building on John R. and
Broadway ; eight public school buildings ; the Wyandotte Polish Roman
Catholic church; the Lutheran church at Woodmere; the residences of
John Pridgeon, Robert C. Traub, George Monaghan, C. W. Kotcher,
John Boydell, Fred P. Moran, Stratton Henry and many other fine
homes. His business prominence has made him well known among building
circles and in social affairs of Detroit. Mr. Strelow is a member of the
Detroit Builders and Traders Exchange, the Employers Association and
on the board of directors of the Carpenters Association. For eight years
in succession he was president of Branch No. 5 of the Arbeiter Verein.
Mr. Strelow's first wife was Henrietta Pahnke, who was born in
Prussia, daughter of the late John and Caroline Pahnke. Mrs. Strelow
came to' the United States with her family in 1866. When she died in
1900 she left two children, as follows: Adeline, who is the wife of
Emil R. Pepp, the partner of her father, and their four children are:
Helen, Irvin, Hazel and Milton Pepp ; and Albert J., who completed the
work of the' public schools, learned the carpenter's trade, and is now a
student preparing for a business career in a commercial college. In 1901
Mr. Strelow married Augusta Pahnke, a sister to his first wife.
Charles T- DeLand. In the practice of law at Jackson since 1907,
Charles J. DeLand is a successful lawyer, and one of the local leaders in

1172 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
politics. Mr. DeLand was born at Saginaw, Michigan, December 18,
1879, and is the son of one of Michigan's distinguished citizens, the late
Col. Charles V. DeLand.
Col. Charles V. DeLand came to Michigan from Massachusetts with
his parents in 1832, when he was four years old. His life was of such
varied activity and accomplishment that a complete recital would be a
running history of politics and affairs in this state, covering a period of
half a century, but some of the salient points of his biography are as
follows : He was a child when the family located at Jackson in 1832,
when the little cluster of houses at that point was called Jacksonburg.
After he reached manhood he founded the Jacksonburg Sentinel, which
he published for many years. He was one of the organizers of the Re
publican party at Jackson, the birthplace of that political organization,
in 1854. During the Civil War he gained distinction and official rank
in the Union army. He went out as captain of Company C of the
Ninth Michigan Infantry, later raised the regiment known as the First
Michigan Sharpshooters, of which he was colonel. When the war closed
he held the rank of brevet brigadier general. His regiment was the first
to enter Petersburg after the long and bloody siege. Colonel DeLand
was clerk of the Michigan House of Representatives from 1858 to 1859,
was a member of the state senate from Jackson in 1861-62, and State
Senator from Saginaw in 1873-74. His home was in the city of Saginaw,
from 1865 to 1883, but without exception his career was identified with
Jackson county, and he lived on his farm near Jackson from 1883 until
his death on September 21, 1903. For many years the destinies of the
Republican party in Michigan were as much in the keeping of the late
Colonel DeLand as of any other one individual. It is not a mere bit of
rhetoric to say that he was a "wheel horse" of the party for many years.
As a stump speaker, he had few equals, and he had an immense follow
ing of supporters, who acknowledge his leadership and were warm ad
mirers of the qualities of his heart and mind. During his residence in
Saginaw he served as collector of internal revenue of that district, and
later became state statistician. At the close of the war President An
drew Johnson appointed him American Consul at Cadiz, Spain, but that
was an honor which he was obliged to decline. Colonel DeLand was
three times married, and Mary Elizabeth Perry, who became the mother
of the Jackson lawyer first mentioned, was his third wife. She died
October 31, 1903, and of the five living children, Charles J. is the
youngest. Charles J. DeLand spent the days of his childhood and youth on his
father's farm near Jackson, and his first lessons were learned in a coun
try school. He was twenty-one years of age when he took up his resi
dence in Jackson in 1900, and there began earning his living as book
keeper in a plumbing establishment. When not otherwise engaged in his
clerical work, he applied himself to the study of law, and with such
progress that on April 21, 1905, he was admitted to the bar.. In the
meantime from January 1, 1903, until January 1, 1907, he performed
the duties of deputy county treasurer. Since the latter date he has
been one of the active members of the Jackson bar.
Mr. DeLand from 1905 to 1909 served as chairman of the Jackson
County Republican Committee. In the fall of 1907 he went as a dele
gate from his county to the Michigan State Constitutional Convention,
and was a member of the body which drafted the present organic law
of the state. In politics he is classified as a Republican, and has been a
vigorous worker for that party, but during the campaign of 1912 gave
enthusiastic support to Theodore Roosevelt. He was one of the organ
izers and incorporators, and one of the first directors of the Jackson

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1173
Chamber of Commerce, and is secretary and a director of the Jackson
Road Construction Company. Socially he belongs to the Michigan
Center Country Club and to the Meadow Heights Country Club,
and to the Jackson City Club, which he served as secretary for five
years, and in the line of his profession has membership in the Jack
son County Bar Association and the Michigan State Bar Association.
On September 26, 1905, Mr. DeLand married Miss Jessie Alice Hutch
ins, of Jackson. v They are the parents of two children: Mary Elizabeth
and William Robert.
• Judge William Leland Carpenter, born at the old Carpenter home
stead at Orion, Oakland county, Michigan, November 9, 1854, was reared
on a farm, attended the public schools, graduated in 1875 Bachelor of Sci
ence from the Michigan Agricultural College at Lansing, and in 1878
took his LL. B. from the law department of the University of Michigan.
Locating in Detroit, he soon became a lawyer with a large private prac
tice, and in 1893 was elected a judge of the circuit court of Wayne
county, holding that office from January, 1894, until 1902. In 1902
Judge Carpenter was elected an associate justice of the supreme court
to fill out the unexpired term of Judge Long, deceased. The reputation
he made on the circuit bench was repeated in the higher court, and in
1907 he was re-elected associate justice for the full term. Eight months
later, however, he resigned from the supreme court in order to devote
his time to practice. Since leaving the bench, Judge Carpenter has been
a member of one of the leading law firms in the state, Stevenson, Carpen
ter & Butzel, with a practice in all the courts of the state and federal
courts. In 1913 he received the degree of LL. D., from the University
of Michigan.Judge Carpenter is a member of the Detroit Bar Association, the
Michigan State Bar Association and the American Bar Association, and
affiliates with the Masonic Order, the Detroit Club, the Detroit Athletic
Club, and other social and civic bodies in Detroit. On October 15, 1885,
he married Miss Elizabeth Ferguson at Goderich, Ontario, Canada.
Their two children are: Lela, at home; and Rolla, in the class of 1914
at Princeton University.
Dr. Herman Duane Brown. One of the promising younger phy
sicians and surgeons of Jackson, Michigan, is Dr. Herman Duane Brown,
since 1905 located in this city, but engaged in the practice of his pro
fession since 1899, in which year he was graduated from the Detroit
Colleo-e of Medicine, of Detroit. Thus far the experience of the doctor
has been of the most encouraging nature and his success has been one
well worthy of the name. *
Dr. Herman Duane Brown was born at Stockbridge, Michigan, on
February 9, 1872, and graduated from the Stockbridge High School
in 1889. For a year after his graduation there he gave his attention to
teaching in the grammar department of the local schools, after which
he entered the Detroit Medical College and was duly graduated in 1899.
Prior to this, however, in 1895, he was graduated from the Hahnemann
College of Medicine in Chicago, and with that he entered upon the
practice of his profession in his native community, Stockbridge, Michi
gan He continued there successfully, until 1905 when he was impelled.
to seek a broader field for his activities, and the result of his seeking led
him to locate in Jackson. Here he has been advancing steadily in his
profession, and he is regarded today as one of the promising younger
physicians of the state. . ,„-,.,. ... .
Dr. Brown is a member of the American Medical Association and

1174 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
of the State Medical Society. In a fraternal way he is a member of the
Royal Arch Masons, and is a member of the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks.
On June 3, 1902, Dr. Brown was married to Miss Ruth R. Noyes, of
Jackson, Michigan, and two children have been born to them. Philip
Noyes Brown was born on June 17, 1908, and Zoe Barbara was born on
October 31, 191 1.
It should be stated here that Dr. Brown is the son of Dr. Herman E.
Brown, long a resident of Stockbridge, and a graduate of the Medical
Department of the University of Michigan, class of 1870. He has long
had a large and lucrative practice in Stockbridge, and is one of the
most highly esteemed men of the community, His offices are located
on the fifth floor of the Dwight Building.
William H. Elliott. Among the merchants of Michigan few had
a record that compares as favorably with that of the late William H.
Elliott, who in 1864 was working as a clerk in a small store at Detroit,
and many years before his death had built up another enterprise, which
in size and scope of its trade was second to none in the city. Mr. Elliott
was a fine example of the self-made man, who attained an enviable posi
tion by means of his own unaided ability. In addition to his keen busi
ness talent, he was of the type of business man who believed that the
best method of doing business is to give value for values. He there
fore won the trust and friendship of every one with whom he came in
contact, and for this reason he outdistanced many competitors who
started their careers under far more favorable circumstances. The large
trade establishment on Woodward Avenue, as it stood was conducted
during his lifetime, represented to a large number of Detroit citizens the
business home of a man of sterling character and oft-tested civic lead
ership. William H. Elliott was born near Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada,
October 13, 1844, and in his fifty-seventh year, when at the climax of
his successful accomplishment as a business man, he died May 1, 1901.
The ancestors of the Elliott family were Americans for many genera
tions. The first was Andrew Elliott, who came from England in 1640,
and was a settler at Beverly, Massachusetts. His descendants were
prominent in their local community, and various members of the name
fought as soldiers in the Continental Line during the war of the Revo
lution. The parents of Mr. Elliott were James and Elizabeth (Pas-
torius) Elliott, both of whom spent most of their lives in Kingsville,
Essex County, Ontario, where the father was, for many years a store
keeper and operator of a grist mill, also occupying a farm in that vicin
ity. James Elliott was a son of Thomas Elliott, who settled at Amherst
burg, Ontario, early in the nineteenth century.
It was on the home farm and in the stimulating atmosphere of coun
try life that William H. Elliott grew to young manhood. Up to the time
he was fifteen years of age, he had more or less regular attendance at
the common schools, and then started out in life as clerk in a general
store in his home town. After several years of experience in this line,
he sought a larger city, and in 1864, came to Detroit, where he found
employment in a small dry goods store. The most influential associa
tion of his early career was with that noted old Detroit merchant George
Peck, who took young Elliott as an employee in 1866. It was a tribute
to the character of the young man and showed Mr. Peck's appreciation
of his ability that in 1872, Mr. Elliott was admitted to tbe firm of
George Peck & Company. In 1880, Mr. Elliott had advanced so far as
to have confidence in his own ability as a( merchant, and retiring from

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN. 1175
his association with Mr. Peck established a dry goods house of his own
at 139 Woodward Avenue. His business prospered, and in a short time
two stores were added to the original site. From about the middle of
the decade of the eighties the Elliott store came to stand for the highest
qualities of excellence and reliability in the minds of thousands of
patrons in Detroit and elsewhere. In 1895, to meet the demands of a
constantly expanding business the fine six-story building at the north
west corner of Woodward and Grand River Avenues was erected for
his occupancy, and the new building was opened with an extensive
metropolitan stock of dry goods, carpets, draperies, and children's cloth
ing. Mr. Elliott continued at the head of this successful business
which he had founded until his death. Since that time the enterprise
has been continued, at first under the title of the William H. Elliott
Company until 1909, in which year it was consolidated with the Taylor-
Woolfenden Company, another large mercantile house of the city. The
title of the establishment since then has been the Elliott-Taylor- Wool-
fenden Company. In 1910, Mrs. Elliott erected as a memorial to her
husband, a substantial modern building at the southwest corner of
Woodward Avenue and Henry Street, and this structure is now the
home of the Elliott-Taylor-Woolfenden Company.
In 1870 Mr. Elliott married Miss Lena Caverley, who died in March
1871. April 21, 1875, Miss Susan Fidelia Hogarth became Mrs. Elliott.
Miss Hogarth was born at Geneva, New York, a daughter of the late
Rev. William Hogarth, D. D. Both Mr. and Mrs. Elliott were active
and liberal members of the Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church of
Detroit, of which Mrs. Elliott's father was so long»the pastor. The one
child born to Mr. and Mrs. Elliott, William Hogarth Elliott, born Jan
uary 20, 1876, died on July 24 of the same year.
As to politics the late Mr. Elliott was a vigorous supporter of the
Republican party, though he never consented to accept any official
honors. In at least one instance he took an office where the opportunity
for service was great, but without corresponding reward in public
esteem or money remuneration. Governor Rich appointed him a mem
ber of the State Prison Board, and he brought to his duties in that con
nection the same ability and faithfulness which he had shown in the
management of his business enterprises. For some time he served as
president of the Michigan Club, one of the most influential political
organizations in the state, and during his later years was well known
among Republicans throughout Michigan. He served as a delegate to
the National Convention of the party at Minneapolis in 1892. Though
essentially a business man, Mr.1 Elliott possessed the finest of social
qualities, and was known in the most exclusive circles of Detroit social
life. He belonged to the Detroit Club, the Fellowcraft Club, the Detroit
Boat Club, the Country Club, the Lake St. Clair Fishing and Shooting
Club, commonly known as the Old Club. In Oakland County he was the
owner of a fine stock farm, and that place afforded him his principal
diversion from business.
Concerning the career and accomplishments of the late Mr. Elliott,
the Detroit Free Press said editorially at the time of his death : "While
Mr. Elliott was essentially a business man and devoted his time and
energy to the building up of the business which bears his name, he never
theless found time to take an active part in the city's general commer
cial and political life. His large knowledge and experience_ in handling
financial problems naturally drew him into the banking business and he
was one of the original directors of the Preston National Bank, a posi
tion which he long retained. He also served in a similar capacity for the
Union Trust Company, and the State Savings Bank. Outside of this line

1176 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
of work, he has represented the Thomson-Houston Electric Light Com
pany as treasurer and director, and acted as trustee of Harper Hospital."
Rev. William Hogarth, D. D. The late Rev. William Hogarth was
a venerated character in tbe Presbyterian ministry of Michigan, and
so great was his prominence and influence that he was often called
"Bishop of Michigan." He became pastor of the Jefferson Avenue
church of the Presbyterian denomination at Detroit, in 1858, and con
tinued his duties there for fifteen years.
He was born at Geneva, New York, April 3, 1814, a son of Judge
Richard and Julia (Seymour) Hogarth, both of old English and Amer
ican stock. The late Dr. Hogarth was liberally educated, graduating
from Union College with his Bachelor's degree, and completing his
theological course in the Auburn Theological Seminary, in the class
of 1841. Ordained to the ministry, his first charge was at Wilmington,
Delaware, and while there he married Fidelia Hastings, and they were
the parents of five children.
He remained there until 1846, and then assumed the pastorate of the
First Presbyterian church in his native town. In 1855 he succeeded
Rev. Samuel Cox as pastor of the First Presbyterian church of Brook
lyn, New York, and it was while there that the University of New York
conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. In March 1858,
Dr. Hogarth began his long and beneficent pastorate at the Jefferson
Avenue Church in Detroit, and in the next fifteen years he be
came preeminent in the Presbyterian ministry of" this city and state.
In 1873, resigning his work at Detroit, he returned to his native city,
where he built up a church which continues to be a lasting monument
to his noble character and untiring endeavors. His retirement came in
1886, and he died in August 1887, in the fullness of years and honor.
Clarence E. Markham. City comptroller of Jackson, Mr. Mark
ham is an old resident of Jackson, has been identified with various lines
of business effort in the city, much of his time having been spent with
the Michigan Central Railroad, and stands high in both civic and business
circles. Born on a farm in Blackman township of Jackson county, February
14, 1859, Mr. Markham is a son of David and Ann (Burch) Markbam.
His father was a farmer, but when Clarence was nine years of age the
family moved to the city of Jackson. Both parents are now deceased.
The son grew up in this city, had his education in the public schools, but
at the age of seventeen his school days were ended and he was ushered
into the more serious affairs of life. They began with his employment
in the local freight office of the Michigan Central Railway as the keeper
of car records. Later he became cashier in the Jackson freight office
for the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad, and for several
years was a bookkeeper with the Central City Soap Company of Jackson.
Mr. Markham was at one time in the men's furnishing goods business at
Jackson. In 1910 he took the office of paying teller in the Jackson City
Bank, and held that place two years.
A Democrat in politics, and always found a staunch adherent of his
party, Mr. Markham was appointed city comptroller in the spring of
1913, and his appointment did much to fortify the confidence of the
citizens generally in the present administration of municipal affairs. Mr.
Markham is affiliated with the Masonic Order, and is a past eminent
commander of Jackson Commandery No. 9 Knights Templars. He also
belongs to the Michigan Center Country Club.
On December 12, 1892, occurred his marriage to Mrs. Annie (Mac-

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1177
Donald) Lake. Mrs. Markham takes a prominent part in church and
social affairs in Jackson. Her father, Alexander MacDonald was at one
time a prominent railroad contractor, well known in Michigan and built
the Fort Wayne and Jackson Railroad, and the Sagimaw Branch of the
Michigan Central. Mrs. Markham by her former husband, Henry W.
Lake, has one son, Fred H. Lake, who is now married and lives in
Detroit. Hal PIorace Smith, who is a member of the well known and influ
ential legal firm of Beaumont, Smith & Harris, of Detroit, and promi
nently identified with the banking interests of Michigari as counsel for
the Michigan Bankers' Association, is a native son of Michigan, born at
Ionia, Michigan, on May i, 1873, and is the son of V. H. and Rachel
(Worthington) Smith. The father was one of the well known citizens
and attorneys of Ionia for many years.
Mr. Smith was educated in the Ionia public schools and at the Uni
versity of Michigan. He studied law at the university and under the
able preceptorship of his father was admitted to the bar of Michi
gan in 1896. He began the practice of his profession at Ionia, as the
legal associate of his father, under the firm name of V. H. and H. H.
Smith, continuing there for ten years. In 1905- he came to Detroit
where in 1908 he, with John W. Beaumont and Julian H. Harris, organ
ized the law firm since designated as Beaumont, Smith & Harris.
Mr. Smith served as secretary and member from Michigan of the
Pan-American World's Fair Commission at Buffalo in 1901, and of the
Louisiana-Purchase Exposition in 1904. He is counsel for the Michi
gan Manufacturers Association and for the Michigan Bankers' Associa
tion. In 191 1 he was appointed by Governor Osborne Chairman of the
Michigan Commission to draft the Workmen's Compensation Act, which
has since been in successful operation in Michigan.
Mr. Smith is a member of the Detroit Bar Association and of the
Michigan State Bar Association. He is a member of the Detroit Board
of Commerce, the Detroit Club, the University Club, the Fellowcraft
Club, the Country Club, the Prismatic Club, and the Alpha Delta Phi
Fraternity, the Alpha Delta Phi Club of New York and the Peninsular
Club of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
At Ionia, Michigan, on June 21, 1898, Mr. Smith was married to Miss
Bell Yates. They have two sons : Yates G. Smith and Hal H. Smith, Jr.
Henry Duncan. It is both a privilege and a matter of satisfaction
to be able to enter in this publication a brief tribute to the memory of
the late Henry Duncan, who not only gained definite precedence as one
of the representative business men and honored citizens of Detroit but
who also was a scion of a family that was founded in Michigan in the
territorial epoch of the history of this favored commonwealth, the name
of Duncan having been prominently and worthily linked with social and
material progress in Michigan for nearly a century.
Henry Duncan was born in the little frontier settlement at Sault Ste.
Marie, Chippewa county, Michigan, on the 14th of August, 1828, and is
a son of John Leslie Duncan, a native of the city of Dublin, Ireland, and
a representative of the historic old Scottish family of the name. John
L. Duncan was reared and educated in his native land and came to Amer
ica when young. It was his adventurous spirit and self-reliant zeal that
prompted him to come to the territory of Michigan in the early, pioneer
days, and he established his home in the little settlement on the site of
the present thriving city of Sault Ste. Marie, where he entered fully and
influentially into the activities of the pioneer community. He developed

1178 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
a prosperous business as a trader with the Indians in the . surrounding
territory and was a leader in the affairs of the settlement on the frontier
wilds. He continued his operations as a trader until his death, which
occurred in 1840, and his name merits enduring place on the roll of the
sturdy and honored pioneers of the Wolverine state, which was admitted
to the Union about three years prior to his demise.
The rugged environment and influences of the pioneer days in north
ern Michigan compassed the childhood of Henry Duncan, whose rudi
mentary education was acquired in a primitive school maintained in the
settlement in which he was born. He was a lad of about twelve years
at the time of his father's death and shortly afterward he removed with
his widowed mother to Detroit, which even at that time was a city and
commercial center of considerable relative importance and in which
his devoted mother passed the residue of her life. In the metropolis
of his native state Mr. Duncan was enabled to continue his studies
under the direction of the same able instructor who had been his
teacher at Sault Ste. Marie, and he laid a substantial foundation for
the broad and liberal superstructure of knowledge which he was later
enabled to rear through self-application and active association with men
and affairs. As a youth he entered upon a thorough apprenticeship to
the harnessmaker's trade, under the direction of Cullen Brown, one of
Detroit's pioneers in this trade. Having become a skilled workman in
his craft, Mr. Duncan removed to the little village of Orion, Oakland
county, where he opened a small shop and engaged in the work of his
trade in an independent way. A young man of ambition, ability and
sterling character, he soon won secure place in popular confidence and
esteem and thus was enabled to build up a prosperous business. He
continued to follow his trade at Orion for .several years but after his
marriage he sought a broader field of activity. He accordingly returned
to Detroit, where he established himself in business in a building at the
corner of Woodward and Jefferson avenues. His skill as a workman
at his trade combined with his fair and honorable business methods to
aid him in the upbuilding of a large and representative trade, and his
establishment gained a high reputation for the superiority of its products
and the efficiency of its service. With the inception of the Civil War
the demands for the harness and saddlery goods of his manufacture be
came so large as to tax the capacity of bis establishment to the utmost.
Large contracts came to him in connection with the outfitting of the vari
ous troops that were proceeding "to the front, and it is worthy of note
that from his establishment was secured the major part of the harness
and saddlery supplies for the first Michigan volunteer regiment that set
forth for tbe stage of military activities. Mr. Duncan's business was
signally prospered during the progress of the great conflict through
which the integrity of the nation was perpetuated, and he was vitally
loyal to the Union, the cause of which be supported by every means in
his power. He was summoned to eternal rest only a brief period before
the close of the war, his death having occurred on the 17th of March,
1865, and his loss having been greatly deplored in the city which he had
honored by his character and services and in which- he had gained im
pregnable vantage-ground as a public-spirited citizen and representative
business man. After conducting his business for several years in an
individual way he admitted his brother to partnership, and for several
years thereafter the harness and saddlery establishment of the Duncan
Brothers was the most extensive of its kind in Detroit. Mr. Duncan's
loyalty and patriotism were significantly manifested at the time of the
Mexican war, as he enlisted for service in the same, as a member of the
first volunteer regiment from Michigan. He was a man of impregnable

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1179
integrity, of excellent business ability and of generous and kindly nature,
so that he won and retained the confidence and esteem of those with
whom he came in contact in the various relations of life.
On the 17th of March, 1853, was solemnized the marriage of Mr.
Duncan to Miss Harriet S. Cady, who was born in New York, and who
is a daughter of Alpheus and Patty (Cambers) Cady, sterling pioneers
of Michigan. The ideal wedded life of Mr. and Mrs. Duncan continued
about a decade and the gracious bonds were then severed by the death
of the devoted husband and father, to whose memory the venerable
widow has continued devoted during the long intervening years. Mr.
and Mrs. Duncan became the parents of one child, Leslie PL, who was
-born at Orion, Oakland county, in 1858. The son was afforded the ad
vantages of Professor Bacon's school for boys, in Detroit, and those of
well ordered institutions in the city of New York. In bis early busi
ness career he conducted a drug store at Mount Clemens, Macomb
county, Michigan, and finally he retired to his excellent farm, in that
county, where he became a prominent agriculturist and stock-grower and
where he passed the residue of his life, his death having occurred in
1888, at which time he was but .thirty years of age. He wedded Miss
Gertrude McCall, who survived him by a number of years. They became
the parents of two daughters, Harriet and Jessie. Harriet Duncan be
came the wife of Samuel Coombs, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and their
only son, Duncan Shafter Coombs, who was born on the 15th of No
vember, 1907, is the only great-grandchild of Mrs. Henry Duncan,
widow of the honored subject of this memoir. Samuel Coombs is now
deceased and his widow still resides in Pittsburgh. Jessie Duncan,
younger of the the two daughters of Leslie H. and Gertrude (McCall)
Duncan is the wife of Homan Hallet, who holds large mining interests
in Mexico but who, with his family, is residing temporarily in Detroit,
Michigan, owing to the disturbed conditions incident to the recent revo
lution in Mexico.
Mrs. Henry Duncan still maintains her home in Detroit, a place en
deared to her by many hallowed memories and associations, and here
she is held in affectionate esteem by all who have come within the com
pass of her gentle and gracious influence. Venerable in years, she repre
sents old age as it should be from an ideal standpoint, for her noble and
kindly nature has found countless mediums for expression, the while
her life has been compassed by substantial prosperity in temporal re
lations. For little short of a half century she continued to occupy the
fine residence which her husband had purchased and which was the place
of his death. This property, at the corner of Woodward avenue and
Winder street, she finally sold, after which she purchased her present
modern and attractive residence, at 29 Woodward Terrace, where she
delights to extend welcome to her wide circle of devoted friends. She
was a child at the time of her parents' removal to Michigan and in this
favored commonwealth she has continued to reside during the long inter
vening years, the town of Cadyville, Lapeer county, having been named
in honor of the family of which she is a representative. She has been
a loved factor in connection with social and religious activities in the
Michigan metropolis, where she is a valued member of the Detroit
chapter of the Daughters of the Revolution and where, as a devout com
municant of the Protestant Episcopal church, she has been actively
identified with the parish of St. John's church for the past forty-five
Aipheus Cady, father of Mrs. Duncan, was one of the representative
pioneers of Lapeer county, Michigan, where he settled in the early '30s,
when that section of the state, then a territory, was virtually an untram-

1180 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
meled wilderness. He purchased a full section, of government land,
and the village now known as Hadley was originally named Cadyville,
in his honor. He was born on the old family homestead farm near
Chatham, Columbia county, New York, in 1789, and was a son of
Ebenezer and Annie (Babcock) Cady, his father likewise having* been
a native of Columbia county and a representative of one of the early
pioneer families of that section of the Empire state. The Cady family
has been one of especial prominence in New York state, and that dis
tinguished and noble woman, Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, was a cousin
of Mrs. Duncan's father. The Babcock family also was one of dis
tinctive note and influence in New York, and John Babcock, maternal
grandfather of Alpheus Cady, was the father of General Avery Bab
cock, a distinguished officer of the Continental forces in {he war of the
Revolution. Representatives of the Babcock family likewise were found
numbered among the sterling pioneers of Michigan, and numerous scions
of the same are to be found in various sections of the state at the present
time. Alpheus Cady, whose wife likewise was a native of Columbia county,
New York, finally decided to remove with his family to the territory of
Michigan, where three of his brothers had already established their
home. He proceeded as far as the city of Buffalo, but the outlook at
that time was so unfavorable in the Michigan wilds that he located in
the little village of Evans, Erie county, New York, where he engaged
in the general merchandise business. A few years later, however, he
came to Michigan with his family. To the new home he also transported
his horses and other live stock, bis furniture and general household sup
plies, and also a portion of his stock of merchandise. He had previously
purchased a section of land in Lapeer county, where his brothers had lo
cated, and he installed his family in the primitive log house which he
erected on his land. He began the work of reclamation and develop
ment and soon became one of the representative pioneer agriculturists
and influential citizens of Lapeer county. He developed one of the val
uable farms of that section of the state and there continued to reside
until his death, which occurred in 1864, his cherished and devoted wife
having been summoned to eternal rest in 1843. Alpheus Cady was a man
of strong and resolute character and of inflexible integrity. He was
zealous in religious work and the first church services held in the pres
ent village of Hadley, then known as Cadyville, were conducted in his
home. There he served for years as deacon of the Presbyterian church
and he also did effective work as superintendent of the Sunday school.
His life was guided and governed by the highest principles and he com
manded the unqualified esteem of all who knew him. His wife, Mrs.
Patty (Chambers) Cady was a noble and kindly woman who was well
equipped for the vicissitudes of pioneer life. A few years after the
family home had been established in Lapeer county Mrs. Cady turned
her attention to silk culture, mulberry trees having been brought by the
family at the time of immigration to the state. She sent to the east for
eggs of the silk worm, and in a room specially prepared for the purpose
she soon developed a miniature silk industry. She found diversion and
pleasure in the manufacturing of silk thread, and this product she
utilized in the knitting of gloves, stockings, etc. She was a woman of
special culture and fine literary tastes, and she made many contributions
to magazines, especially in the line of articles on silk culture and on
experiences in the pioneer community in which she lived. Alpheus and
Patty Cady became the parents of nine children, of whom only two are
now living,— Mrs. Duncan, who was the eighth in order of birth, and
Orson, wbo is the youngest of the number and the only one born in

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1181
Michigan, where he is now representative farmer. The names of the
other children are here given in the respective order of birth: Edward,
Ebenezer, Winthrop, William H., Julia, Jane, and Helen, the last men
tioned having died in infancy. Julia became the wife of Nelson Elliott
and after her death he wedded her next younger sister, Jane.
Dr. John T. Main. The late Dr. John T. Main was one of the best
known physicians of this section of the state of Michigan, and he was
long a resident of Jackson. Dr. Main was a native of the state of Maine,
born m Albion, Kennebec county, on May 25, 1831, his family having
been early settlers of the state. The Main family is one that dates its
establishment in America back as far as 1640, when John Main, who was
bom in England in 1614, came to America and settled in York, then
known as Agamenticus, Maine. It should be mentioned here that mem
bers of the family still maintain their residence upon the old homestead
then established, the place having been occupied continuously by men of
the name of Main from the year 1640 down to the present time, without
a break. The present family mansion stands today less than one hundred
feet from the spot where the first unpretentious house was built by John
Main. Here Josiah Main, the father of the subject, was born in 1788.
He married Mary Marble, a native of New Hampshire. She was the
daughter of an old sea captain and was born in 1797.
Josiah Main was a farmer and in that occupation Dr. John T. Main
had his early training. The father had been a teacher in his early life,
and the son in his boyhood manifested a keen desire for study. This ten
dency his father encouraged, taking personal charge of his studies, and
sending him to the public schools. Later the young man entered the
Academy at China, Maine, where he taught for several years. He then
went to Harvard, where he engaged in the study of medicine and was for
some time a pupil of Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes. He took his degree
M. D. at the Medical College, at Castleton, Vermont, where he was under
the tutelage of Dr. Corydon L. Ford, wbo was in later years called to
the chair of anatomy at the University of Michigan, where he was gen
erally conceded to have been one of the most capable teachers in his
especial branch of medical science that the world has yet known.
Dr. Main first located himself in the practice of bis chosen profession,
at Unity, Maine. He went west, to Jackson, Michigan, in 1872, and here
he continued to devote himself to his medical practice up to tbe time of
his death on May 1, 1907.
Dr. Main rendered valuable service to his State as a member of the
House of Representatives, in the early fifties and again in the sixties,
and he also gave service as assistant surgeon of the Second Maine Regi
ment during the Civil War. While in Michigan, he was for some years
a member of the Board of Health of Jackson and likewise gave valued
service as a medical director in the city hospital. In addition, to his
active work, the doctor carried on laboratory work in line with his re
searches in the field of bacteriology, and had he lived, it is believed that
he would have added materially to the scientific discoveries of the age.
Dr. Main was married in 1858 at Thomaston, Maine, to Miss Fero-
line M. Williams, a daughter of Peter Williams of that place. One son
was born to them, Frederick W., now engaged in medical practice in
Tackson and for some years associated with his father in the practice of
their profession.
The doctor was a member of the Masonic fraternity, in which he was
at one time particularly active, and he was also a member of the G. A. R.
Dr. Frederick W. Main. For some years after he found himself
ready to enter the medical profession as a practitioner, Dr. Frederick W.

1182 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Main was associated in practice with his father, the late Dr. John Traf-
ton Main, to whom a sketch is* dedicated on other pages of this historical
and biographical work. It was thus that the present Dr. Main had his
start in professional life, and he has continued in practice here in Jack
son, since the death of his father in May, 1907, with a pleasureable degree
of success, which he has well earned and wbich places him in the ranks
of the foremost medical men of the city.
Dr. Main was born in Unity, Maine, on January 25, 1861: His par
ents, John Trafton Main and Feroline Morse Williams, were natives of
that state also, and the mother still lives in Jackson. The father was a
man of wide learning, and associated in his college days with Oliver
Wendell Holmes, who tutored him at Harvard. Other details of his life
and work will be found in the sketch dedicated to him.
Dr. Main of this review graduated from the Jackson High School in
1881, and he has been a resident of this city since the age of eleven. He
studied medicine under his father and was later graduated from the
Medical Department of the University of Michigan in 1884. He has
since pursued his profession in this city with a marked success.
Dr. Main was married on August 26, 1886, to Miss Caroline Celesta
Brooks, of Jackson. They have no children. The doctor is a member of
the Knights of Pythias and of the Sons of Veterans, and both he and his
wife are prominent socially.
Louis Crawford Hall. Enterprise and progress have been key
notes in the career of Louis Crawford Hall, a lifelong resident of Shia
wassee county, and for twenty-five years identified with its business life.
At one time Mr. Hall occupied a humble position as a clerk, and through
his native intelligence and industry and close attention to his work has
made himself one of the strongest factors in the business life of Owosso.
He is now and for several years has, been sole proprietor of a chain of
elevators at Owosso, Kerby, and Oakley, and deals extensively in pro
duce, grain, beans, coal and wood.
Louis Crawford Hall was born in Shiawassee county, Michigan, Au
gust 31, 1862, a son of Earl Simpson and Angelina Samantha (Fox)
Hall. Plis parents, both natives of Rochester, New York, settled in Shia
wassee county during the pioneer days, the father buying government
land in Owosso township. He was a farmer throughout the remainder
of his life. During the Civil War he served with the rank of sergeant
three and a half years, in Company B of the First Cavalry. After re
turning from his military service he was frequently honored with places
of civic responsibility, in his home county, held offices of township treas
urer and clerk, and is now living in his pleasant home at Owosso at the
age of eighty-four years, while his wife is seventy-five. There were
four children in the family : Willis Earl, a former associate of Louis
Crawford, who is second in order of birth; Bert Chester, who is a phy
sician at Pompeii in Gratiot county; and Myrtie, wife of Otis G. Waugh
of Owosso. Mr. L. C. Hall was reared in his native locality, spent much of his
career on a farm, and at the age of eighteen had acquired a sufficient
education in the grammar and high schools. During the next five years
he lived at home, and assisted in the management of the farmstead, and
at the age of twenty-three left his native heath to win fame and fortune
in the city of Chicago. There he became driver and delivery clerk for a
retail grocery store, but remained only one year. Returning to' his native
county, and locating in Owosso, he used his previous experience to obtain
a similar position with the house of F. H. Bannister, retail merchant.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1183
The six years he remained with Mr. Bannister were very profitable, in
giving him a firm foundation for a business career, and he managed
to save a considerable part of his earnings. In the spring of 1891 he
and his brother Willis joined forces in establishing a small retail grocery,
and eventually built up a good business. In 1904, the brothers sold out
to the National Grocer Company, a firm with a long chain of stores
throughout the state, and Mr. L. C. Hall then engaged in the grain and
elevator business independently.. He bought out the interest of his
brother in the largest elevator at Owosso, which had been built by the
brothers in 1897. Since then as an independent operator, in the handling
of produce, grain, coal and wood and other products, his success has
been one of steady progress. He enlarged his operations until he now
controls the three elevators at* the places already mentioned. Through
out his career he has been looking after not only his private success, but
also the general welfare of Owosso, and is interested and willing to lend
his aid in any movement for the betterment of city or county. Mr. Hall
is a director in the State Savings Bank of Owosso.
As to politics he is a Republican who has never, sought official dis
tinction. His paternal affiliations are with the Masonic Order and the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He and his family worship in
the Congregational church.
On September 25, 1886, he married Miss Jennie Byerly, a native of
Shiawassee county, and a daughter of James Byerly, one of the old and
respected residents of the county. Mrs. Hall died June 9, 191 1, after
nearly twenty-five years of happy married companionship. Her remains
now rest in the family lot in the Owosso cemetery. There were two
children: Louis Carlyle Hall, Jr., is a student in the Culver Military
Academy of Indiana; Ethel Anna Hall, graduated from the Owosso
high school and is now a student at Phoenix, Arizona.
Henry Hale Hobart, a well known book store man of Jackson,
Michigan, who died here on December 14, 1906, was born on a farm in
Jackson county, Michigan, on January 1, 1839. When he was eight
years old his father died, whereupon his mother took her three children,
of whom he was the eldest, to the home of her people in Macomb county,
Michigan, and there his youth was spent.
Reaching young manhood, Mr. Hobart came <to Jackson and for
several years here he clerked in the book store of George E. Brown,
and it was there that he learned the business. After an apprenticeship
of a good many years with Mr. Brown, Mr. Hobart, together with a fel
low clerk, E. M. Foster, engaged in tbe business on their own account,
founding what is the present Hobart Book Store at No. 104 West Main
street. The firm of Hobart & Foster, after a successful business career
covering several years, was dissolved by the purchase by Mr. Hobart of
Mr. Foster's interest, and was thereafter continued as the Hobart Book
1 On July 4, 1863, Mr. Hobart was married to Miss Anna Mahan,
of Jackson. She was born in Waterloo, New York, on October 11,
1839, and she came to Michigan in company with her parents when she
was but six months old. Jackson has been the city of her home since
she was a babe. Her father and mother were John and Mary (Kelly)
Mahan both natives of county Sligo, Ireland, where they were married.
Mrs Hobart has one brother and one sister living,— John and Elizabeth
Mahan both of Jackson, the latter making her home with Mrs. Hobart
Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hobart. Mary Emma is
now the wife of James E. Donavan, of Racine, Wisconsin; Jay C.
Hobart is a promising young business man of Jackson, the owner of
Vol. 11—35

1184 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
several cigar and tobacco stores in the city ; John H. Hobart ; Miss Anna
Louise Hobart, who since her father's death has very successfully man
aged the Hobart Book Store, proving herself a capable business woman,
and Miss Catherine E. Hobart, who lives with her mother.
Mr. Hobart was a member and supporter of St. John's Roman Cath
olic church of Jackson, and his widow, together with their children, are
also communicants there.
Lambert Bunnell Cowley is engaged in the shoe business at No.
121 E. Main street, Jackson, as the proprietor of a business established by
his father at the present stand in 1884. It is the only shoe store in the
city that has been conducted for a period of thirty years under one name,
without any changes, and by reason of its long existence and its careful
and pleasing management, the concern commands a patronage in the city
and through the county that puts it well to the forefront in retail busi
ness in the city.
Lambert Bunnell Cowley was born in Jackson on June 6, 1871, and
is a son of the late Thomas Cowley, who was a Manxman, born on the
Isle of Man in 1831. When he was a young man he left his native land
and came to America, going from New York on to California as a gold
seeker, and there spending several years. He returned from the west
via the Isthmus of Panama, coming direct to Michigan, and not long
thereafter he was married at Grass Lake, Michigan, to Miss Harriett D.
Bunnell, on December 1, 1864. Later he located in Jackson, and there
they both spent the remainder of their lives. In 1884 Thomas Cowley
and a partner, Henry J. Davis, founded the present business, at its present
location, and they continued as its proprietors until the death of Mr.
Cowley on February 22, 1892, when the son, Lambert B., took charge of
the place. Mrs. Cowley survived her husband for a few years, dying
August 18, 1906. They had but one child, Lambert Bunnell, of this re
view, and he was named for a brother of his mother, Lambert Bunnell,
formerly of Jackson.
Mr. Cowley has lived all his life in Jackson. He was graduated from
the Jackson high school in 1891, and when his father died one year later,
though he was only twenty-one, he took charge of the shoe store, con
tinuing with its management ever since. The Cowley establishment is
a business landmark of Jackson, and more than thirty years of successful
business activity have been sufficient to establish it firmly in the com
munity. Mr. Cowley is one of Jackson's foremost business men. He is a
member of the Chamber of Commerce and of the Jackson City Club.
Fraternally he is a Mason with Knight Templar affiliations, as well as
being a Shriner, and he is a member of the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks. Pie belongs to the Michigan Centre and Meadow Heights
Country clubs, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the People's
National Bank.
Mr. Cowley was married on May 17, 1910, to Miss Agnes McGraw,
of Jackson, Michigan.
John Frederick Winkler. Probably no other active business man
of Saginaw can remember more clearly that city during the pioneer days
than John F. Winkler, who first became acquainted with the locality
in 1854, and who for nearly sixty years has been identified with business
affairs. Mr. Winkler has long stood in the front rank of local business
men, is now the second oldest ice dealer in Saginaw, enjoys the high es
teem and complete confidence of all the many associates both of his con
temporaries and the younger men who have come up about him.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1185
John F. Winkler was born in Windsbach, Bavaria, Germany, April
1 8, 1840, a son of John Stephen and Margaret (Meir) Winkler. The
parents, who came to Saginaw in 1854, both lived to venerable years, the
father dying at the age of eighty-four and the mother at eighty-six, and
they now rest in the Forest Lawn Cemetery. John S. Winkler on coming
to Saginaw Valley cleared up land, and went through all tlie hardships
of pioneer life. His career followed the lines of agriculture, for sixty
years previous to his death, and those later years were spent in ease and
comfort in Saginaw. His farm was sold to his youngest son. He stood
high in the confidence of his community, served ten years as treasurer of
Buena Vista township, was a Republican in politics, and active in the
German Lutheran Church. Of the nine children three are deceased, and
John F. is the oldest of those living, the others being: George Winkler,
who is bookkeeper in the Saginaw City Hall; Stephen Winkler, is a
•Saginaw contractor; Rev. Symon J. Winkler, who devoted twenty years
of his life to the active ministry of the Lutheran Church, chiefly in Ohio,
•and is now invalided and living in Saginaw ; Elizabeth, of Saginaw, and
Margaret, the widow of William Schultz, of Reese, Michigan.
John F. Winkler was fourteen years of age when the family emigrated
to America. His early training was in the German schools, and he ac
quired a good knowledge of the English branches also. Soon after coming
to America, and locating near Saginaw, he found a place as a clerk with
the firm of Beach & Morris, general merchants doing business at the
corner of Water and Genesee streets. In those days Water street was
practically the only thoroughfare in Saginaw. All the business houses
were located along that highway, and only a few residences straggled
along the course of Washington street. After three years young Wink
ler secured a better place at Sebewaing with the D. G. P. Hilbrick Com
pany, and remained with that firm four years. Out of his savings he was
able to start a retail grocery business in partnership with Richard Luster^
the firm being known as Luster & Winkler. At the end of three years
this business was sold to his partner, and Mr. Winkler started out on the
road as commercial traveler for the Terry, Seely & Spencer Company,
wholesale grocers. Two years were spent in covering practically all
the towns in the northern peninsula, and on resigning he found a place
with the firm of W. W. Wheathern & Lowe, wholesale grocers, and
traveled over the lower peninsula for four years. Mr. Winkler has
always been a money maker, and has exercised commendable thrift in
holding on to a portion of his earnings, so that by 1870 he had sufficient
capital to start in business for himself. In that year was established a
stave manufacturing plant, which he conducted successfully for eighteen
years. The scarcity of timber finally caused him to abandon that busi
ness and on retiring in January, 1888, he entered*the ice and coal
business. As already stated Mr. Winkler is now the second oldest ice
merchant in Saginaw. For twenty-five years he has employed a large
force of men every winter in cutting ice from the Saginaw River, and
owns a large frontage along the river for his operations in that line.
At the present time his force of ice cutters and haulers and other opera
tives number over one hundred, and during the spring, summer and fall,
he requires the help of sixteen men and ten wagons in supplying his large
trade throughout the city.. In 1907 Mr. Winkler disposed of his coal de
partment, and has since given all his attention to the ice trade. .
Aside from the ownership of the valuable property used in his busi
ness Mr Winkler possesses a pleasant home at 528 South Warren street.
Alw'ays public spirited in citizenship, he is a Republican as to political
creed and served as alderman four years from the old Fourth Ward,
now the Seventh Ward. For two years he held membership in the

H86 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Board of Public Works. Mr. Winkler is a Lutheran in religion, while
his wife is a Methodist. On July 25, 1865, in Saginaw, was celebrated
the marriage of John F. Winkler and Miss Frances M. Hunt. Mrs.
Winkler was born in Lockport, New York, a daughter of Abner D. Hunt.
To their marriage has been born one daughter, Cora Winkler, now living
with her parents.
William A. Gibson, M. D. Forty-seven years of active practice as
physician and surgeon have brought to Dr. Gibson many of the finer dis
tinctions of the profession, and in that time his work has brought a large
and unselfish service to his fellow-men. With the exception of three
years his home has been at Jackson throughout this time, and still in
active practice he is probably the oldest member of the medical fraternity
in point of years of continuous service. Dr. William A. Gibson was born
at Ypsilanti, Michigan, in 1843. His father, Thomas Gibson, who was
one of the early settlers of this state, was born on a sailing vessel while
in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, while his parents were emigrating-
from Scotland to the United States. Throughout his active career he
followed work as a mechanic, and died in 1900 at the advanced age of
eighty-four. Thomas Gibson married Maryett Piper, who was born in
Palmyra, New York State, and who died at the age of fifty-six. Dr.
Gibson has one brother, Robert A. Gibson, of Jackson; and one sister,
Mrs. Maryett Hawley, of Alma, Michigan.
Dr. William A. Gibson was reared and educated in Michigan. After
the years of his early manhood were spent in various lines of endeavor
be entered the medical department of the University of Michigan, where
he was graduated M. D. in 1866. The first three years of his practice
were spent in Marshall, and since then Jackson has been his home. Be
sides a large private practice, in attending to which he has served two or
three successive generations, of one family, in many cases, Dr. Gibson
has done much important work in .official relations. For' forty years he
has been a member of the board of United States Pension Examiners,
and for the past fifteen years he has been president of the board, a posi
tion he still holds. For many years he performed all the duties of that
board. For ten years he served as surgeon to the Michigan State Prison
at Jackson, and for four years was city physician in Jackson. The doctor
has membership in the Jackson County Medical Society, and he is now
its president. He is, also, a member of the Michigan State Medical So
ciety. Fraternally his relations are with the Royal Arch Masons.
On September 27, 1866, Dr. Gibson married Laura S. Kirkland, who
was born in Michigan, and has spent practically all her life in Jackson.
Their happy married life has been extended for more than forty-seven
years. In this time they have become the parents of two daughters, as
follows: Mrs. Isabelle LaRue, of Jackson; and Mrs. L. D. Campbell,
of Chicago. There are two grandchildren, Celia Campbell and Laura
Campbell. Wiley R. Reynolds. Tbe career of the late Wiley R. Reynolds, who
in his day was one of the foremost citizens of the city of Jackson, was a
most uncommon one. In the capacity of banker, merchant, manufacturer,
real estate owner, railway promoter, and builder of business blocks, he
was, for more than a generation, one of the pillars of his adopted city and
one of the leading spirits in every movement which had for its object the
city's civic welfare and advancement. His career was remarkable, not
only for the prolonged activities made possible by long residence, but even
more so by the quality and range of its accomplishments. From the
resources contained in his own character he built up a net work of business

* *

WILEY R. REYNOLDS

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1187
interests such as only a master mind and commercial genius can control.
He fairly earned the title "Captain of Industry," which has been applied
to men of smaller calibre. During his long residence in Jackson he took
an active part in placing the city in the position it now occupies as an
important railroad and industrial center, being closely identified with the
building of several of its railroads, and the prime mover in the establish
ment of many of its principal business enterprises. His influence through
out the state at large was also felt in various ways.
.Wiley Richard Reynolds was born of English' parents in Essex County,
New York, on July 7th, 1822, so that when death called him on October 15,
1902, he was more than eighty years of age. The first sixteen years of his
life were .spent on his father's farm in the state of New York, and his
book education was obtained during the same .period by attendance at
public schools. In 1838, having resolved to try his fortunes in the West,
he made the slow journey from the state of New York to Plymouth, Wayne
County, Michigan, where he arrived with but twenty-five cents in his
pocket. During the few months following he paid his way by clerking in
a grocery store, but could not see much opportunity for advancement in
that position, so he gave it up, and came to Jackson, arriving on the fourth
day of July, 1840. Here he became agent for two stage lines, one of them
being operated between Jackson and Benton Harbor and the other between
Jackson and Ann Arbor. In that day staging was the only mode of public
travel in any direction out of Jackson, sirice the first railroad, the Michigan
Central, was not completed and opened to travel for several years after
that. Through his agency for the stage proprietors Mr. Reynolds acquired
an extensive acquaintance, which later on became useful to him when- he
embarked in a business of his own.
It was in the fall of 1840 that Mr. Reynolds began his independent
career as a business man in Jackson by opening a small grocery store in a
building on the north side of the Public Square. In about six months he
found it necessary to increase his facilities for business, and accordingly
he moved to a building on "Main Street known as the "Checkered Front."
This building, which later became an old landmark, stood on the site now
occupied by Woolworth & Company. About that time George F. Gardner
became his partner, and the firm of Reynolds and Gardner continued for
one year, when they sold their stock to Henry H. Gilbert. Mr. Reynolds,
however,' soon acquired another stock of goods and re-embarked in the
same business at the same old stand. In 1844 he added a stock of dry
goods, and in 185 1 he became associated in business with his brother,
W'illia'm B. Reynolds, who afterward became a well-known citizen of
Tecumseh. In 1856 he sold his interest in the business to his brother
Sheldon, but in 1857 he bought his brother William's interest, and the two
brothers', Wiley and Sheldon, soon made of it a first-class dry goods store.
The new' firm in the course of time became widely known under the name
of W. R. and S. C. Reynolds, a combination of letters and sounds that
soon became familiar to the eyes and ears of the people of Jackson and
surrounding counties. The business grew- rapidly until its sales reached
almost incredible figures. Especially was this true during the last three
years of the Civil War. Meanwhile, on the fourteenth day of February,
1855 the new "'Marble Front Block," having been especially constructed
and completed for its use, the scene of their operations was changed to it,
and for more than twenty years the name of "Marble Front Block" and
that of "W. R. and S. C. Reynolds" were quite as familiar to the people
of this part of Michigan in a dry goods sense as is that of L. H. Field
today They occupied that location until 1868, when the stock was sold to
L H Field, and thus became the basis of the latter's present store.
Mr Reynolds was never satisfied with one kind of business at a time.
When he was running a grocery store he was also buying and selling wheat.

1188 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
In 1848 he formed a partnership in the grain business with H. A. Hayden.
Somewhat later the firm of Hayden and Reynolds bought the old Ford,
or Aetna Flouring Mills, and engaged in the manufacture of flour. In
1853 the firm bought the Kennedy Steam Flouring Mills from the late
Peter B. Loomis, and with the two milling properties in operation it became
the largest purchasers of wheat and manufacturers of flour in this section
of Michigan, the output reaching one hundred and fifty thousand barrels
a month. Most of the flour from the two mills was sold in New England
and North Carolina.
On June 5th, 1865, the People's National Bank was organized and
established in Jackson, and it has since had a continuous business career of
nearly fifty years. It was one of the earliest national banks established in
Central Michigan. Wiley R. Reynolds may be said to be the "father" of
that well-known institution, which is today one of the landmarks of Jackson
and one of that city's strongest and most popular banks. It was Mr.
Reynolds who took the initiative in its organization, and it was he who
made its establishment possible by becoming its largest stockholder. It
was also Mr. Reynolds who, with his own personal funds, erected on the
corner of Maine and Mechanic Streets the stately Peoples National Bank
Building, which has been the bank's home for a long period of years. Mr.
Reynolds served as a director of that bank from the date of its organiza
tion until the date of his death, and throughout that full period of thirty-
seven years he largely controlled its financial policies and helped to guide
it in the pathway of safe and sane banking. In addition to being a director,
Mr. Reynolds served as the bank's vice-president from 1865 to 1898, and
from the latter date until his death he was its president. No bank in this
Section of Michigan has had a more uniformly successful career than the
People's National, of Jackson. Whether in prosperous times or in panic,
its doors have never been closed. So thoroughly established has been the
public confidence in the bank under the guidance of Mr. Reynolds and his
associates that a "run" on it has never been precipitated among its patrons.
So long as he lived the public had the utmost confidence in his business
ability and in his conservative and "safety first" financial policies, and,
happily, that confidence was never misplaced. Since his death the same
conservative policy has been maintained by the bank's present officers and
by Mr. Reynolds' widow and two sons, who jointly own a majority of the
stock, and who also own in fee simple the splendid building which it occu
pies. It has been truthfully said that the good works of any man will live
on after his death. This has been especially true in the case of Mr.
Reynolds and the Peoples National Bank, for, though he died a dozen
years ago, the splendid financial institution which he founded still lives
and, with half a century of uninterrupted prosperity to its credit, it con
tinues to grow in the confidence and rjatronage of the public, and is an
enduring monument to the memory of its founder, Wiley R. Reynolds,
who shaped its policy and destiny for more than a third of a "century.
A few years after establishing the barik Mr. Reynolds became one of
the organizers of the Fort Wayne and Jackson Railroad Company, and
of the Jackson. Lansing and Saginaw Railroad Company. He was also
interested in the Peninsular Portland Cement Company of Cement City,
and was its president. At the same time, he was a stockholder or director
in many of the leading manufacturing concerns of Jackson, among them
being the Jackson Starch Company, The Michigan Paper and Bag Com
pany and The Jackson Paper Company. He was also a large owner of
valuable real estate in both Jackson City and Jackson County, his city
holdings including a number of the most valuable income properties on
Main Street, among them being the Peoples National Bank Building,
The Model Block, in which is located Jackson's principal clothing and
gents' furnishing store, the Cook & Feldher block, in which is conducted

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1189
one of the leading dry goods stores; The Reynolds Block, and the Wool-
worth Block. He also owned several large and valuable farms near Jack
son, and it was generally conceded that he paid the largest tax on real
estate of any man in Jackson County. In addition to his extensive hold
ings in Jackson and Jackson County, he owned twenty-two thousand acres
of timbered land in the state of Tennessee, and for some years prior to
his death he had been exploiting that large holding.
The late Mr. Reynolds was regarded as one of Jackson's far-seeing,
optimistic and enterprising private citizens. While the preceding para
graphs give somewhat in detail the outlines of his career, and are a fairly
accurate measure of his accomplishments, it is deemed proper to include
in this review portions of editorials which appeared in the local press at
the time of his death. These were written by men who had known Mr.
Reynolds for years, and who had had an opportunity to observe their
fellow citizen, and to study his important relations to the community.
From the editorials the following quotations are made :
"Down to the close of his life Mr. Reynolds gave personal attention
and direction to all of his various interests. He was richly endowed
with what may properly be called business intuition. He saw the merits
of a proposition quickly, and acted accordingly. Those associated with
him learned to respect bis clearness of perception. He was a man of few
words. He listened attentively to the opinions of his associates, and then
promptly made up his mind what course was best to pursue. If results
were not as anticipated, he found no fault. A Democrat in politics, he
would not allow his name to be mentioned for any political office, but he
frequently aided and promoted the political ambitions of some worthy
friend, while declining all such honors himself. Reserved and reticent
in conversation generally, he talked freely about business matters with
those who had his confidence. His whole life was that of a practical man
of affairs. .Whatever the situation he accepted it with patience, and kept
right on doing his best. In buying, real estate, it was his rule to obtain
that which would yield a sure income. Main Street property was his
preference. His mind did not revel in the illusions of speculative values.
He was intuitively practical. It was natural that a man of his qualities,
coming to Jackson when it was a small village, and engaging in business
at once, and at all times keeping pace with its growth, should acquire a
comfortable fortune, practically all of which came from investments and
business enterprises in this city."
Coming to Jackson when the place was a mere hamlet, with no capital
whatsoever, and with nothing to aid him but willing hands and an honest
heart, he pursued the most honorable and conservative business methods,
and died a millionaire. In spite of his quite unusual success, Wiley R.
Reynolds was never accused of an unrighteous act. No stain of dishonor
was ever coupled with his good name. All through life his rugged hon
esty and his correct business methods were known to all who enjoyed his
acquaintance, and these qualities helped to aid his success, rather than
to hinder or retard it. It will be conceded by all who knew him that
Wiley R. Reynolds was one of the builders of Jackson, and that City has
a number of substantial monuments in the way of business blocks erected
by him, which will long perpetuate his memory.
No sketch of Wiley Reynolds, no matter how brief, would be com
plete, if it failed to make suitable mention of his surviving widow, Mrs.
Mary H. Reynolds, and of his two surviving sons, Wiley R. Reynolds,
Jr. and Herbert S. Reynolds. The widow, Mrs. Mary H. Reynolds, is
quite as remarkable a woman as Mr. Reynolds was a man. . For twenty-
five years prior to his death, she was the devpted companion and loving
wife of Wiley R. Reynolds, and since his death, she has just as consistently
honored his name and memory by remaining his widow, despite the fact

1190 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
that she is a woman of rare personal charm, and in her extensive travels
both at home and abroad, she undoubtedly has been obliged to give a nega
tive reply to many admiring s'uitors. In truth, men of distinction at home,
as well as titled noblemen abroad, have attempted to win her heart and
hand, but in vain. To all such, she has thus far turned a deaf ear, elect
ing to remain the devoted, faithful widow of her late husband, and in so
doing she signally honors his name and memory. But unusual as is this
trait in her character, it by no means is her chief accomplishment. Her
dominant characteristic rests in her business ability, which has been shown
to be quite tbe equal of that of the late Mr. Reynolds. Even for several
years before his death, during which period failing health incapacitated
him to some extent, Mrs. Reynolds, under his direction and advice, began
gradually to familiarize herself with the vast and intricate Reynolds
estate, and to learn how to administer its affairs. Since his death its full
management, for the most part, has rested on her shoulders, though in
more recent years, as her two sons have grown older, much of the burden
of detail has been transferred by her to them. Under her care and man
agement the great estate has made signal and substantial increase, showing
conclusively that she possesses business ability of a high order. Though
she spends much of her time abroad, she constantly maintains a firm
grasp on the management of the large estate left by her husband, and, in
truth, she is its directing head all the time, no important move being made
without her full assent and approval. For the most part, the Reynolds
properties still remain intact as a part of the undivided whole, jnst as they
did at Mr. Reynolds' death, except that the widow has made many sub
stantial improvements and bas greatly increased their value, with the net
result that the estate is far more valuable now than it was when she took
charge of it. Both of the sons, Wiley R., Jr. and Herbert S., are promi
nent young business men of Jackson, and both are directors of the Peo
ples National Bank, and the latter is its vice president.
Robert A. Gibson. Connected with the municipal government of
Jackson in the office of plumbing inspector, Mr. Gibson represents one of
the pioneer families of western Michigan, and his own home has been
in Jackson county or the city of Jackson practically all his life. He has a
record of successful business activity, and is a man of highest standing.
Robert A. Gibson was born on a farm nine miles south of Jackson,
April 23, 1851, a son of Thomas and Maryett (Piper) Gibson, both now
deceased. The parents came to Jackson county at a very early day. The
father was born on a sailing vessel in the Atlantic ocean while his parents
were emigrating to America. While growing up he learned the trade of
a brick mason, finally located in Detroit, where he helped to construct
the fort, and from there came to Jackson and was one of the men who
laid much of the brick on the Michigan State Prison. After that work
was completed he determined to locate in the vicinity and bought a farm
in Liberty township. His death occurred when he was eighty-four years
of age. His wife was born in New York State and died when fifty-six
years old. Besides Robert there are two other children : Dr. W. A. Gib
son, of Jackson ; and Mrs. Maryett Hawley, of Alma, Michigan.
Robert A. Gibson has had bis home in Jackson since 1865, was edu
cated partly in the country and partly in tbe city schools, and early en
tered business life. For a number of years he was a traveling salesman
and left the road to take the position of plumbing inspector five years
ago. In 1 87 1 occurred his marriage to Miss Ida M. Carver, and they
have had more than forty years of happy married companionsbip. Their
only living child is Dr. Frank J. Gibson, a prominent physician at Jack
son. Their daughter, Nellie M., married William Hanaford, and at her

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1191
death three years later left a daughter, Nellie G. Hanaford, who lives
with her father at Los Angeles, California.
Mr. Gibson belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church, is a Knight
Templar Mason and Shriner, and has been a member of the official board
in the United Commercial Travelers. He owns an attractive home at 133
McBride Street.
The Merrill Family of Saginaw. The Merrill family in Michigan
goes back to the early territorial period, and the first settlers of that
name in Oakland county were pioneers during the early thirties. Prob
ably no other individual family of the state has been more closely identi
fied through successive generations with industrial and manufacturing
activities, and the Merrill -name for eighty years has consecutively been
connected with the foundry business, and since 1854 the Merrills have
conducted a large and flourishing business in that line at Saginaw. At
the present time the Mitts & Merrill Foundry Company of Saginaw is
not only the pioneer industry of its kind in the valley, but one of the
large and flourishing establishments that give life and prosperity to local
manufacturing. The history of the Merrill family in Michigan, even in
outline, would require mention of many names, and in this article atten
tion will be concentrated to one line of the family, leading back through
the present representative, Herbert W. Merrill, secretary and treasurer
of the Mitts & Merrill Foundry Company of Saginaw.
The founders of the name in America were John and Nathaniel
Merrill, brothers, who came from England to Ipswich, Massachusetts,
in 1633. Nathaniel Merrill married Susanna H. Wilterton, and their
son, John Merrill, during his youth moved to Hartford, Connecticut.
John Merrill married Sarah Watson. John Merrill, Jr., son of John and
Sarah, was born in 1669, and died in 1748. He married Sarah Marsh.
Nathaniel, son of John and Sarah, was born July 15, 1702, in Hartford,
Connecticut, and lived in Waterbury, where he died October 28, 1772.
He married Esther Warner. Ephraim, son of Nathaniel and Esther,
was born in Waterbury, October 9, 1733, and married Jerusha Tompkins.
Roswell, a son of Epbraim and Jerusha, spent his life at Goshen, Con
necticut, and died in Rutland, Vermont, in ¦ 181 7. Guy Carlton, born
July 22, 1-794, a son of Roswell, died at Pontiac, Michigan, June 6, 1872.
He was the oldest of the Merrill family to locate in Michigan. His
younger brother, Roswell T., and Alonzo Merrill, also died in Michigan,
where they spent their latter years.
Roswell Tompkins Merrill, a son of Roswell and Elizabeth (White)
Merrill, was born May 17, 1804, at Rutland, Vermont, and died April 12,
1892, at Birmingham, Oakland county, Michigan. He was married at
Gaines, New York, July 4, 1824, to Lucy Clift, who, had one son before
her death, which occurred at Pontiac on August 7, 1827. Roswell T.
Merrill married as his second wife Lucretia Murray, and had two chil
dren. She died December 10, 1910, at Birmingham, Michigan.
The career of Roswell T. Merrill is one that deserves mention in any
history of the early pioneers and prominent citizens of Michigan during
its formative period. In the vicinity of his native town of Rutland he
grew up to the age of sixteen, and tben went with his parents to Gaines,
New York. In. 1825, with his first wife, he came to Michigan, locating
in Pontiac. One year later his wife died, leaving one son, George W.
Merrill whose career will be given in later paragraphs. At Pontiac, in
1827 Roswell T. Merrill married his second wife, and in 1832 he became
a settler of Birmingham, in Oakland county, where he lived a busy
life for twenty years. In 1852 Battle Creek became his home, and twelve
years later, in 1854, he went to Iowa, in which state he spent twenty-five

1192 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
years. On returning to Battle Creek he lived four years there, and
finally returned to his old home in Birmingham, where he was tenderly
cared for by his only daughter, Mrs. M. L. Noble, until his death. Ros
well T. Merrill was one of the charter members of Birmingham Lodge
No. 44, A. F. & A. M., which was organized April 25, 1850, and was
chartered January 29, 1851. Among thq first officers of the lodge was
Mr. Merrill's oldest son, George W., who was secretary. For over twen
ty-five years Roswell T. Merrill has been a consistent member of the
Methodist Episcopal church, having joined it in Iowa.
Perhaps few other men were more closely and actively identified
with early business affairs in Birmingham tban Roswell T. Merrill.
Locating there when Birmingham was only a spot in the wilderness of
Michigan, he lived to see it grow to a thriving little city. The first
election of justices of the peace was held at the public house of Isaac
W. Taylor, at Bloomfield Center, August 22, 1836, and Mr. Merrill, with
Ziba Swan, Samuel Satteriee and John T. Raynor, were duly elected
first justices Bloomfield ever had elected. Prior to that date the office
had been filled by appointment from the governor. About the year
1833 Mr. Merrill, in partnership with George Allen, purchased the foun
dry business of John W. Hunter. That firm carried on the business
successfully for some time until Mr. Allen retired, Isaac Smith taking
his place. The foundry and machine shops were continued for a num
ber of years with a great deal of prosperity. The firm established a new
foundry and machine shop in Birmingham, replacing the pioneer estab
lishment they had first obtained, and there entered extensively into the
manufacture of mill work, agriculture castings, stove and similar articles.
They also erected a shop for the manufacture of threshing machines,
that being located on the west side of Pierce street in Birmingham, in
a building which for years afterwards was known as the "Old Academy,"
and was destroyed by fire in 1871. The extensive business of the foun
dry and machine shop went on prosperously under the management of
Mr. Merrill and his partner for a number of years, but his partners
gradually withdrew, leaving the concern exclusively in the hands of
Roswell T. Merrill. Afterwards his son, George W. Merrill, became an
associate, and finally the son became sole proprietor. On May 28, 1854,
the entire plant, except the threshing factory, located in the Old Acad
emy, was destroyed by fire.
Aside from his manufacturing interests, Roswell T. Merrill about
1840 engaged in the general merchandise business at Birmingham, with
J. B. Simonson. Afterwards Mr. Merrill continued the business alone
for a number of years. In 1841 Mr. Merrill built the first brick store,
and, in fact, the first brick building erected in Birmingham. That build
ing stood until after the death of its builder. Roswell T. Merrill made
the original plat of the village of Birmingham, which was surveyed and
dated August 25, 1836. During his early career Mr. Merrill was also
a landlord, and some time in 1834 opened a public house in a building
which he had erected for a dwelling in Birmingham. The closing years
of his life were spent peacefully and happily, and few pioneer names
deserve more honorable mention than that of Roswell T. Merrill.
George Washington Merrill, the only child of Roswell T. Merrill
by his first wife, was born at Gaines, New York, March 4, 1826. His
family record is given briefly as follows : He was married at Birming
ham, Michigan, May 17, 1848, to Mary Ann Walters, who was born at
Chenango Forks, New York, February 3, 1828, and died at Birming
ham, August 8, 1865. The children of this marriage were: William,
born January 13, 1851 ; Mary, born March 9, 1852; Margaret, born
March 9, 1854; Roswell Tomkpins, born September 15, 1855, and died

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1193
October 5, 1855; Lizzie, born August 17, 1857, died August 10, 1858;
Lillian Julia, born July 26, 1859, died June 23, 1861 ;' Agnes Augusta,
bprn June 9, 1862; Dollie, born April 2, 1864, died January 12, 1865.
George W. Merrill married as his second wife, at Saginaw, September
9, 1874, Katherine Ruth Buffum, who was born at Burt, Vermont, Au
gust 8, 1837, and died at Bay City, April 18, 1900. There was no chil
dren by this marriage.
The late George W. Merrill, who died at his home in Saginaw, Jan
uary 11, 1908, was for fifty years. one of the leading business men and
manufacturers of that city. His home was in Oakland county, from
1828 until 1854, and there he got his first experience in the foundry
business as conducted by his father. In 1854 he came to Saginaw, and
established the foundry and machine shop now conducted by the firm
of Mitts & Merrill. He was one of the discoverers of salt in Michigan,
and did as much as any other man in the state to develop that industry.
With Steven Kirby, in 1859, he went to Syracuse, New York, to inves
tigate the salt business as a manufacturing possibility, going as a com
missioner sent by an association of local business men. Upon his return,
Mr. Merrill manufactured the machinery and rigs for the first Michigan
salt well. Later he equipped many wells for Saginaw and Bay City
companies. George W. Merrill was prominent in public affairs, serving
for a long time as alderman and supervisor, and was a member of the
first common council of Saginaw. He was a charter member of three
Masonic branches, being a member and first secretary of the Birming
ham Lodge of Free Masons, as already stated, also of Saginaw Lodge
No. yy, A. F. & A. M., and was one of the original members of Saginaw
Valley Royal Arch Chapter.
Representing the next generation of this family was the late William
Merrill, who was born at Birmingham, Michigan, January 13, 1851, and
who was stricken with apoplexy while visiting friends in Boston, Massa
chusetts, and died suddenly February 16, 1907. William Merrill was
married at Ann Arbor, Michigan, October 15, 1873, to Eudora Blanche
Woodruff, who was born in that city, April 28, 1850. The Woodruff
family was established in Michigan in 1836, and Mrs. William Merrill
was in the eleventh generation from the first known member of the
family in England, going back to the year 1503, and the Woodruffs
were established in America about 1639, our records covering fourteen
generations of the Woodruff line in America and England. The children
of William Merrill and wife were: Herbert Woodruff, mentioned in
the following paragraph; Clara Margaret, born October 13, 1876, and
died June 24, 1880; Elizabeth Gertrude, born August 11, 1878; Alice
Eudora, born June 1, 1880; one daughter that died unnamed in 1882;
George' Peter, born September 29, 1887; Edith Jessie, born August 11,
1889; Alice Eudora, who married June 19, 1907, Erics Westborg, died
March 24, 191 3, without children; Elizabeth Gertrude was married Jan
uary 23 1 901, to Phillips Hughes Gage, and they live in Garrettsville,
Ohio arid have two daughters, Margaret Merrill and Katherine Hughes ;
George P Merrill married February 21, 1911, Eva May Owens, and
has no children; Edith Jessie Merrill married October 15, 1910, Wallace
Bruce Hudson, and they have one son, Arthur Scott.
Saginaw was the home of the late William Merrill from the time
he was three years of age. He grew up and received his education in
this city He was the first graduate of the East Side high school and
the first student graduating from Michigan University iri 1871. On
reaching his majority he entered the machine shop, which had so long
been under the family management and name. The business at that time
was carried on under the firm name of Merrill, Eastwood & Company,

1194 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
his father being the senior partner. In 1876 the firm was reorganized,
and has continued to the present day as Mitts & Merrill.
Concerning the character of the late William Merrill, the following
extract from the Saginaw Evening News is a statement of facts which
will be appreciated by his many former friends and acquaintances:
"Mr. Merrill was a man who beneath a somewhat reserved and quiet
manner hid a very strong character, and he was not one to be swerved
from what he considered the path of duty. A striking illustration of
his conscientious disposition and devotion to what he held to be the duty
of the hour, was given in young manhood, when he sacrificed . what
promised a brilliant opening for congenial scientific pursuits and a dis
tinguished career in order to enter business with his father. William
Merrill was graduated from Michigan University in 1871. He was
offered an appointment as mathematician or astronomer for the Hall
Arctic Expedition, but considered it his duty to decline it, and imme
diately went into partnership with his father. It was a fine example
of devotion to duty, and showed the strong character of the man.
William Merrill was a member of the Sons of the Revolution, and of
the Society of the Mayflower Descendants." Mr. Merrill left by will
the sum of $3,000 to found a scholarship known as the William Merrill
scholarship to be loaned to deserving students at the rate of $300 per'
year towards defraying expenses at the University of Michigan, the same
to be repaid by student so as to create a permanent fund.
Herbert W. Merrill, son of the late William Merrill, and secretary
and treasurer of the Mitts & Merrill Foundry Company of Saginaw,
was born at Saginaw, September 5, 1874. He received an university
education, graduating from Michigan University in 1896, and was early
trained for the large responsibilities of business management which he
took up at his father's death.. The Mitts & Merrill Company, incorpo
rated about three years before the death of William Merrill, employ
one hundred men in their shops, and specialize on key seating and hog
grinding machinery, used in working up refuse wood. ' Herbert W.
Merrill has been an active official in the company since his father's death.
Herbert W. Merrill was married February 12, 1907, to Miss Delia
Anna Milett, who was born at Howell, Michigan. They are the parents
of three children: William, born July 8, 1910; Herbert W., born Jan
uary 25/1912; and Jane, born October 11, 1913.
Sylvanus S. Mitts, head of the foundry firm of Mitts & Merrill, was
born at Huntingdon, Ontario, December 12, 1845, a son of William and
Catherine (Moon) Mitts, both natives of Canada, and of Holland Dutch
stock. His father died in 1849 at the age of twenty-six years and the
mother passed away at the age of thirty-five. She had come to Saginaw,
in 1854. There were only two children, and the daughter, Hanna, died
at the age of thirty-four, the wife of Charles Lennox.
S. S. Mitts was nine years of age when his mother came to Saginaw,
completed his education in the public schools, and early in life took up the
vocation of merchandising. In 1876 he joined the late William Merrill
in the foundry business, and has ever since been actively identified with
that large and extensive plant. Mr. Mitts is a Republican in politics,
and is affiliated with the Masonic Order.
At Saginaw, on November 27, 1873, occurred the marriage of Syl
vanus Mitts and Mary Merrill, Mary being one of the children of the
late George W. Merrill. Mr. and Mrs. Mitts are the parents of the fol
lowing children : Mabel Agnes, born July 12, 1875, and the wife of Ed
win S. Gutzman, a resident of Nashville, Tennessee ; Robert Merrill, born
December 22, 1881, and died October 10, 1900; Nellie Margaret, born

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1195
January 22, 1885, who lives with her father; and Phillip Sylvanus, born
September 1, 1888, and associated with his father in business.
Murray Dalziel, former president of the Jackson Chamber of Com
merce and a prominent coal dealer of the city for years, is a man~who is
entitled, by reason of his business achievements and the exemplary life
he has led, to specific mention in a historical and biographical work of
the nature and purpose of this publication. In the brief space that is
provided, it is not possible to enter into details concerning the life of the
man, but an effort will be made to sketch roughly, but with accuracy,
the salient features of his life and work thus far.'
•Born in London, England, on. October 30, 1862, Murray Dalziel is
the son of Davison Dalziel, a. wholesale merchant who passed his life in
England. The mother of Mr. Dalziel was in her maiden days Miss Helen
Gaulter MacClaggan, and both parents are now deceased. They never
left their native land, and though their son early severed the ties that
bound him to the land of his birth, they remained constant to their British
blood and traditions. Of the five living children of his parents, Mr. Dal
ziel is the youngest, and the only one who is an American citizen or
resident of the United States. One of his brothers, Hon. Davison Dal
ziel of London, is a member of the British Parliament at this writing,
and is one of the owners of the London Daily Standard. He is widely
known in London as the "Taxi King," from the fact that it was he who
established the present taxicab system in that city, and is one of its largest
owners. The other brother is William Gaulter Dalziel, of Australia.
The sisters are Nellie, now the wife of Frederick E. Colman, and Flor
ence, who married Alfred Benson. Both live in the county of Surrey,
England, just 'outside of London.
Murray Dalziel was reared and educated in London. He was gradu
ated from London University at the age of twenty years and at twenty-
one, in the year 1883, he came to the United States. Reaching New York
city, he at once made his way to Chicago, and for three years he held a
responsible position in the auditing department of the Michigan Central
Railway, one year being spent in the Chicago offices and the next two
years in Detroit. In 1886 he resigned his position with the Michigan
Central. It should be mentioned here that he had, on November 23,
1885, married Emma Jane Phillips, a daughter of Richard G. Phillips,
who was then proprietor of the British- American Hotel at Windsor, just
opposite Detroit. For some two or three years after he had resigned
his post with the Michigan Central, Mr. Dalziel was associated with his
father-in-law in the hotel business. He first spent a year at the British-
American Hotel in Windsor, and then became associated with Mr.
Phillips in the management of the Hurd House in Jackson, a hotel that
is no longer in existence, but which was in former years one of the best
known hostelries in the state.
In 1890 Mr. Daziel became identified with the large wagon manufac
turing concern of Jackson known as the Austen, Tomlinson & Webster
Manufacturing Company. In that day this concern was undeniably one
of Jackson's chief industries. It manufactured the famous "Jackson
Wagon," and that product became known from one end of- the country
to the other. Though Mr. Dalziel started in with this concern in a very
modest position, that of shipping clerk, he found many promotions to
be his good fortune in the thirteen years that he continued with the com
pany, and in that space of time it may be said that he occupied practic
ally every important official post in the business. When he resigned his
position in 1904 he was assistant to the general manager of the concern.
When he withdrew from this concern Mr. Dalziel did so to become a

1196 PIISTORY OF MICHIGAN
partner in the wholesale and retail coal firm of Collins & Hahn, which
for some years previous had been one of Jackson's best known business
houses, being more extensively engaged in the wholesale and retail coal
business than any other firm in the city. With the advent of Mr. Dal
ziel into the firm, the name was changed to Collins, Hahn & Dalziel, and
because of the fact that the initial letters of the combination are those
of a well known railroad system, the C. H. & D., the firm has become
widely known by that name. The adoption of this abbreviation by the
firm itself proved most fortunate, and it has undeniably been instru
mental in extending the popularity of the concern. They have made use
of the phrase in all their advertising and publicity work, and today the
term C. H. & D. in Michigan spells coal just as surely as it stands for a
railway system in Ohio.
The C. H. & D. handles many thousands of car loads of coal annually,
and so extensive and prominent is its business in Jackson and the vicinity
that its apt and popular title is thoroughly synonymous with the coal in
dustry. Mr. Dalziel is a member of the Chamber of Commerce of Jackson.
It was he who organized that body in the year 1909, and he served as its
first president, and has ever given of his time and labors to the interests
of the city through his activities in that organization. He is a member
and ex-president of Jackson City Club, and he is a member of both of
the Jackson Country clubs. He is also affiliated fraternally with the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Mr. and Mrs. Dalziel have two children, Miss Constance Dalziel, a
graduate of the Jackson high school, who finished her education in Lon
don, and Davison Dalziel, named for his distinguished uncle and grand-
sire. The son graduated ¦ from the Jackson high school, after which he
completed courses in the Culver Military Academy of Indiana, and the
Worcester Academy of Massachusetts. The only daughter, Constance,
was married on April 15, 1914, to Mr. John J. Morken, of Chicago, and
she now resides in that city.
Harry H. Stiles, despite his youth, has already reached a place of
prominence in business and other circles of the city of Jackson that is
unusual and deserving of mention at least. As president of the Jackson
Corset Company since 191 1, he has demonstrated amply his business
ability, and the success of the enterprise with which he is connected
reflects great credit upon his executive ability, at the same time adding
something of inestimable value to the well-being of the city.
Mr. Stiles was born in the city of Jackson, on March 16, 1884, and
he is a son of Albert Stiles, also a native son of this city, born here
on August 8, 1839, and who died here on March 6, 1899, a*teT having
spent his entire career in Jackson.
Albert Stiles was long one of the most prominent men in the city,
and was one of the flower of its citizenship. He was a Mason of high
degree, of the highest, in fact, for he was one of the comparatively few
to receive the thirty-third degree. He was Past Eminent Commander
of Jackson Commandery No. 9, and was a Past Grand Commander of
the State of Michigan. He founded the Jackson Corset Company on
May 31, 1883, and was its president up to the time of his death. He
was also president of the Jackson Ice Company, of which he was the
founder, and he had other connections with industrial enterprises of
the community. A Republican, Mr. Stiles was always more or less
active in politics, and in a local way he was prominent politically 'as one
who filled the office of city treasurer for two terms. For several years
he was a member of the Jackson Prison Board, and in that capacity he
performed an excellent service to the state.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1197
In 1868 Mr. Stiles married Roselle Rowan, born in Jackson on Sep
tember 16, 1841. She was the daughter of Stephen H. Rowan, who
came to Jackson from the vicinity of Batavia, New York, in the year
1839, and who was one of the founders of the present thriving city of
Jackson. Mrs. Stiles died September 16, 1910, aged exactly sixty-
nine years, death coming to her on her birthday anniversary.
Harry H. Stiles was adopted by these worthy people when he was
a child of six years, for they had no children of their own, and they
gave him their name and did for him just what a child of their own
flesh and blood would have received at their kindly hands. He, it is
pleasing to record, returned to them the filial duty and affection of a
true _ son, and he cherishes and reveres their memory In quite as fine
a spirit as though they had been his own parents. When Albert Stiles
died he was a man of considerable wealth, and he left his entire estate
to his widow, who in turn passed it on to their adopted son, Harry H.
Stiles, of this review.
Mr. Stiles had his early education in the Jackson schools, and he was
graduated from the high school in 1902, whereupon he entered Amherst
College, in Massachusetts, and was graduated therefrom in 1907. Upon
the death of the elder Stiles, the late Thomas H. Williams became presi
dent of the Jackson Corset Company, and he continued so until death
claimed him in 191 1. At that time Harry H. Stiles became president of
the firm, and though he is still under thirty years of age, he has taken
up the reins of management and carried forward the affairs of the com
pany quite as successfully as they have ever been conducted under the
regime of more experienced and worldly wise men.
The Jackson Corset Company is one of Jackson's principal manu
facturing industries. It employs a force of five hundred women and girls
and is the most important concern of its kind in the city, contributing a
nice figure to the weekly payroll of the community, and furnishing em
ployment to a large number of people in season and out.
Mr. Stiles is a man of much public spirit. It was manifested in the
interest he took in the founding and establishing of the Jackson Cham
ber of Commerce, of which he is a member and of which he seEved as a
member of its directorate for a period of three years. He was a founder
of the Meadow Heights Country Club also, and has served as its presi
dent, and in the line of his business, is a member of the Board of Direc
tors of the Corset Manufacturers' Association of the United States.
Like his father, Mr. Stiles has fared far in Masonry, and he is affiliated
with numerous bodies in the order. His college fraternity is the Alpha.
Delta Phi.
On June 5, 1908, Mr. Stiles was married to Miss Helen Hall, the
daughter of the late Harry R. Hall, of Jackson. They have no children.
William Whalen, Sr. One of the broadminded citizens of Jack
son who have contributed the resources of their good judgment and
much public spirit to the betterment of the city is William Whalen, who
for a number of years has represented the Sixth Ward in the Board of
Alderman, and in that time has done probably as much for the, advance
ment and 'solid improvement of the city as any other municipal official.
Mr. Whalen is an old railroad man, and for some years was also in
mercantile business in Jackson.
William Whalen was born at Marshall, Michigan, July 4, 1859. His
father Patrick Whalen, born in County Waterford, Ireland, was a land
scape gardener, and after emigrating to America was married in Roch
ester New York, to Margaret Hickey, who was born in County Kil
kenny, Ireland. From New York they came west and settled at Mar
shall, Michigan, in the fifties, where they both lived out the rest of their

1198 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
years. The mother died at the age of sixty-four and the father aged
eighty-nine. Besides William Whalen there were two other sons : James
Whalen of Jackson, and John Whalen of Marshal, Michigan.
The home of William Whalen has been in Jackson since 1879. He
was reared and educated in this state, and at an early age left school to
take up the serious responsibilities of life. He early became an em
ploye of the Michigan Central Railroad, was given a position as fire
man, and .was promoted to the larger responsibilities of locomotive en
gineer. On retiring from the railroad service, Mr. Whalen opened a stock
of groceries at Jackson, and spent fourteen years as one of the success
ful retail merchants.
Since 1900 he has been one of the city "fathers," having served on
the board of aldermen from the Sixth Ward. He has twice been hon
ored with the presidency of the board, and all his associates in the coun
cil entertain the greatest respect for his good judgment and unselfish
work in behalf of the public.
Mr. Whalen is a Democrat in politics, belongs to St. Mary's Catholic
church, and fraternally to the Ancient Order of Hibernians and to the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He also has membership in
the Michigan Center Country Club. On November 15, 1887, occurred
his marriage to Miss Sarah Folon. They have one daughter, Liola, now
the wife of Roy Atchison, of Lansing, Michigan.
William Henry Mason. Keen-sighted, progressive and energetic,
William Henry Mason occupies a place of prominence and influence among
the leading citizens of Battle Creek. At the age of seventy-two years,
with the active mind and vigorous step of a man of sixty, he still attends
to the details of his vast interests and keeps himself in knowledge and
sympathy abreast of the new generation amongst whom he survives, like a
monarch of the forest among the younger growth that surrounds it, one
of the oldest survivors of the great business men who claim the city as
their birthplace.
Mr. Mason comes from substantial New England stock, and was born
at Battle Creek, November 8, 1842, his parents having come here when the
now thriving city was a mere hamlet. His father, Alfred Mason, was born
and reared in Vermont, where he learned the trade of a carriage and wagon
maker, received a liberal public school education, and grew up amid the
sturdy New England surroundings. As a young man he heard and
answered the call of the West, and, migrating to Michigan, settled first in
Kalamazoo county, where he wooed and won a bride. Iu 1834 he estab
lished himself as a wagon maker at Verona, Michigan, but in 1840 trans
ferred his residence and activities to Battle Creek, Calhoun county, then
in its infancy and giving but little promise of the metropolis which it was
to become. Upon the organization of the manufacturing firm of Nichols
& Shepard, he sold out to this concern, as did other wagon shop owners
of this part of the county, although he continued as a resident of Battle
Creek until his death in November, 1880. Mr. Mason was married in
Kalamazoo county, Michigan, to Charlotte Goodrich, who was born of
German ancestors, in Connecticut, while he was of English descent. Mrs.
Mason passed away in Battle Creek in 1880, leaving four children, as fol
lows : Mrs. M. M. Plodskin, of Saginaw, Michigan, widow of Captain
Hodskin ; Margaret M., who is the widow of Hiram Tobey, of Battle
Creek; William Henry, the special subject of this brief biographical
review ; and Charles, who is now deceased. The daughters were born at
Verona, Michigan, but both sons were born at Battle Creek, and the oldest
daughter was graduated from the Battle Creek High and graded schools.
William Henry Mason received his education in the common schools
of his native place, and was still a student and eighteen years of age when

y[™ f/yh^zu^

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1199
the Civil war broke across the country in all its fury, and with youthful
patriotism he enlisted, April 2-1, 1861, for a period of three months, in
Company C. Second Regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry. Ere his
term of enlistment had expired he re-enlisted; May io> 1-861, for three
years m the same company, in which he served bravely until mustered out
of the service in May, 1864. He saw active service' in numerous hard-
fought engagements, and at all times proved himself a faithful and depend
able soldier. During the following four years Mr. Mason- was variously
employed,, and. in 1868 embarked in business on- his own account, as senior
member of the newly-organized firm of Mason & Rathburn, lumber manu
facturers and dealers,, with a plant at the corner of McCamly and West
Main streets. The firm subsequently, by the admission of a third partner,
became Mason, Rathburn & Company, and this style was adhered to until
January, 1899, when the business was sold to the firm of Rathburn & Kraft.
In 1881 Mr. Mason became identified with the Advance Thresher
Company, of Battle Creek, of which he was at first a director, and later,
for three years, served as its president, and of which, since the presidency
of Mr. Ammi Wright, he has been a member of the directing board. He is
also officially connected with other enterprises of great magnitude, being
a director of the American Steam Pump Company, of Battle Creek; of the
Citizens Electric Company, of this city ; president of the Michigan Carton
Company, of Battle Creek ; a director of the Oconee Timber Company; of
South Carolina ; and president of the Alma Oil Company, a San Francisco,
California, concern..
Politically, Mr. Mason has been prominent in the ranks of the Repub
lican party, and has represented both the Second and Third Wards- in the
Battle Creek city council. He has served as a member of the local board
of education, and under the administration of President Benjamin Har
rison was postmaster of the city. He was an active member of the com
mission which drafted a new charter for the city. In supporting Repub
lican principles, Mr. Mason but follows in his father's footsteps. ' He has
been prominent in social and club circles, and is a member of the Country
and; Athelstan Clubsr having- served the latter -as president for one year.
He delights in meeting his old army comrades in their reunions* and is a
valued and popular member of Farragut Post No. 32, Grand Army of the
Republic. On October 26v 1870, in Montgomery county, New York, Mr: Mason
was united in marriage with Miss Trypbena J. Kneeland, who was_ born,
reared and educated in that county, being a daughter of the late Ozias H.
Kneeland, who, after the death of his wife, came to Michigan and spent
the last years of his. life at the home of his son, E. O. Kneeland, in Battle
Creek. Mr. and Mrs. Mason have one child, Cora Belle, who attended the
Battle Creek High school and afterwards Alma College and a young
ladies' school; at London, Canada. She is now the widow of the late Harry
H. Flint, of Chicago, Illinois, and is the mother of one child, Barbara
Mason Flint.. In 19 12 Mr. Mason was 'unanimously elected president of
the Battle Creek Chamber of Commerce, a position which he has since
retained. He is a man of the present, despite his ripeness: of years, alike
careless of the dead dogmas of the past and the unsolvable problems of
the future.
Elmer J. Ellis, county clerk of Jackson county, is one of the most
popular officials of 'the county, and previous to his entrance into public
affairs had a long and active career in business, his home having been in
the city of Jackson for the past twelve years.
Elmer J Ellis was born in Calhoun county, Michigan, April r8, 1868.
His father John Ellis was a farmer, who died January 3, 1892. He had
come to Michigan in 1836 from the State of New York, and thus the
Vol. n— 36

1200 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Ellis family has been identified with Michigan since the beginning of its
existence as a state. The maiden name of the mother was Malinda A.
Batt, and she is still living. Elmer J. Ellis is the only living son in a
family of nine children born to John Ellis and wife.
Reared on a farm, he first attended a country school, later the Te-
konsha high school of Calhoun county, and for two years was in a col
lege at Sherwood, Michigan. During his early life be taught one term
in the old home school in the country vicinity where he grew up, and
some of his former classmates became his pupils. Mr. Ellis has had his
home in Jackson county, since 1890 and in Jackson City for the past
twelve years. His record of activity includes real estate and insurance,
and he was at one time a member of the county board of supervisors.
His election to his present office came in the fall of 1912 on the Pro
gressive ticket, and he was the strongest candidate on that party side
Up to 1912 Mr.. Ellis had always been a regular Republican.
October 19, 1892, Mr. Ellis married Miss Rosa Sheridan. They
have three sons, whose ages are three years apart, and all were born in
the month of August, as follows: Emmett Sheridan, born August 23,
1893; Harold John, born August 6, 1896; and Lyle Paul, born August
28, 1899. The oldest son, Emmett, graduated from the Jackson high
scbool in the class of 1912, and is now a student in the Michigan Agri
cultural College.
Alexander Maximilian Lemke. The large industries of the Sagi
naw' Valley have brought into this section men of ability from all parts
of the Union, and these men quickly took the lead in affairs of the city,
whose present industrial and also civic prosperities largely represent
the ideals and character of men who formerly lived in widely different
localities, but are now working together in the development .of this com
mercial and industrial center. One of these citizens, whose name is
promirfent in Saginaw, is Alexander M. Lemke, president of the great
A. F. Bartlett & Co., one of the largest concerns of its kind in the state.
Alexander Maximilian Lemke was . born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
December 14, 1862, a son of Louis George and Henrietta Lemke, who
were both natives of Germany. The father had a long and in many
ways remarkable career as a factor in the industrialism of Milwaukee.
Locating in that city in 1854, he was one of the first to operate a planing
mill and sash and door factory in the city. On selling out the mill,
he accepted a position as foreman and manager of the pattern depart
ment with the P Allis Company of Milwaukee, and continued with
that great enterprise for thirty-three consecutive years. He was born
in 1818, lived eighty-two years until his death in 1900, and the last ten
years were spent in retirement, so that his active service continued until
he was past three-score and ten years of age. Not only as a factor in
the industrial affairs, but also in local politics he was prominent in
Milwaukee, was a vigorous supporter of the Greenback economic policies,
and served as alderman and supervisor in his home city. His widow
still lives in that city at the age of seventy-nine years. Of their nine
children, four are deceased, and the others are mentioned as follows:
Adeline, wife of Herman Strothman, of Milwaukee; Louis Henry, a
pattern-maker, living at Bryantsville, Massachusetts ; Alexander M. ;
Tillie, wife of Philip Meachel, who is a miller with the J. B. A. Kearns
Flouring Mills of Milwaukee; and Martha, wife of Charles Goppelt,
representing the Wilbur Chocolate Company of Philadelphia.
Alexander M. Lemke got a public school education in his native city,
and at the age of sixteen entered upon an apprenticeship in the pattern-
making trade with the E. P. Allis & Company. After finishing his-

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN • 1201
trade he learned the work of mechanical draughtsman with M. C. Con
way a builder of steam pumps and other machinery. In 1887 Mr.
Lemke, then twenty-five years of age, and whose accumulations of
capital were practically nothing up to that time, although he was well
trained and had considerable experience, came to Saginaw, and was
employed as mechanical draughtsman by the Bartlett Company. A. F.
Bartlett, the founder of this business having died seven years previous,
the head of the firm, continued to be Mrs. Louise C. Bartlett, until 1890,
when the business was incorporated and Mr. Lemke became secretary
and treasurer. Mrs. Bartlett still continued as president, while Gurdon
Corning was vice-president. Upon the death of Mrs. Bartlett upon
October 26, 1903, Mr. Lemke was advanced to president. Thus in a
period of fifteen years he had risen from the ranks, until his position
assured him of a rank as one of the foremost business men of Saginaw.
Twenty-six city lots, each fifty by one hundred and fifty feet, are now
practically covered with the immense factories and warehouses. The
factory does a great variety of business, but its specialties may be con
sidered the . manufacture of steam boilers, smoke stacks, sheet metal
and structural steel, hoisting engines, coal mining machinery, the Bart
lett hog or edging grinders, castings of all kinds, ranging from shade-
roller spears, weighing eighty to the pound up to the largest triple ex
pansion engine beds, 'for twenty-five hundred horse-power engines,
weighing thirty-two thousand, two hundred and sixty pounds. This is
the largest grey-iron foundry in the state.
Mr. Lemke is a Republican in politics, belongs to the Knights of the
Maccabees, is a charter member of the East Saginaw Club, is a member
of the Country Club, is an ardent trout fisherman and fond of bird
shooting. On April 26, 1888, occurred the marriage of Alexander M.
Lemke with Miss Sophia Griswold, who was born at Bryan, Ohio. Her
death occurred May 15, 1913, in Saginaw, and she now rests in the
Forest Lawn cemetery. They had no children. Mr. Lemke is a man
of the finest business judgment, a hard worker, and a leader in every
thing he does, and without some such qualifications he could never have
reached his high position in industrial affairs at Saginaw. Personally
he is a man of genial temperament, has a faculty of getting along with
everybody, enjoys both tbe respect and confidence of his community,
and has a host of close personal friends in this entire quarter of Michigan.
Sidney M. Isbell. A career which has been successful from a busi
ness point of view, and of high value to the community has been that
of Sidney M. Isbell, one of Jackson's most prominent citizens and
, founder of the firm of S. M. Isbell & Company, wholesale dealers in
beans, seeds, grain and wool. Mr. Isbell has been active in Jackson
business life for more than forty years, and while his various enterprises
have brought him wealth, he has also been noted for the interests of his
fellow men and to the extension of the institutions which are founded
and maintained in the name of philanthropy and social welfare.
Sidney M. Isbell was born on a farm in Lodi township of Washtenaw
county, Michigan, August 15, 1842, and comes not only of a pioneer
Michigan family, but of a stock which is conspicuous for its long lives
and rugged virtues of character and physical manhood. His father.
Leonard Isbell, a farmer by occupation was born in New York State in
1794, and was married there to Ann Lewis._ With her he came to Michi
gan in 1832, when the state was still a territory, and when nearly all the
country a few miles west of Detroit was an unbroken wilderness. Wash
tenaw county was his first destination, and after a number of years there,
during which time he had borne his full share in establishing civiliza-

1202 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
tion, he moved to Ingham county in 1854, and lived there until his death
on November 2, 1858. His wife survived him until April 2, 1882. Into
their household came by birth fifteen children — -nine sons and six daugh
ters, one of them dying at birth. The other fourteen ah lived to mature
years. Only five are now living, three sons, and two daughters. Sidney
M. was the youngest of the family, and the names of all fourteen chil
dren in order of age are as follows : Lewis, John, Ann Maria, and Ann
Sophia, twins, Lucinda, Nathan JL, Sarah, Augustus,. Uri, Charles B.,
Matilda J., Marshall, Leonard M-, and Sidney M. There were two pair
of twins. The five living children are: Mrs, Lucinda Rogers, of Ann
Arbor, now ninety years oi age; Uri Isbell who is eighty-two years old
and lives in Ingham county; Charles B. who is eighty-one and has his
home at Saline, in Washtenaw county; Mrs. Matilda J. Robinson, of
Morrice, Michigan, who is now seventy-eight; and Sidney M. Isbell
who is seventy-one. Qf those now dead, John lived to be eighty-eight;
Lewis died when eighty-seven, and Augustus was eighty-two years old
when he died. Sidney M.. Isbell spent his early life on a farm in Wash
tenaw county until he was twelve years of age and then went with his
parents to Ingham county, where his days were continued on a farm until
he arrived at manhood. When his own schooling had given him sufficient
equipment, he started out to earn his living as a district school teacher,
and spent three terms in that occupation. While still a young man he
learned the trade of plasterer and followed that occupation for three
years. Coming to Jackson in 1871, Mr. Isbell eventually gave up bis
trade and for four years was a traveling salesman. In 1878 he estab
lished the nucleus of the present firm of S. M. Isbell & Company. It was
a very modest beginning and all the capital he had to start with amounted
to two hundred dollars. In many of his early deals almost his only re
sources were the money he had in his pocket and his reputation for in
tegrity. While he had an office, he did most of the business on the
street and out in the country and for several years such prosperity as
he had was a result of constant effort on his part. However, the foun
dation, was eventually laid, and well laid at that, and business began
coming to him without direct solicitation. He thus began wholesale
dealing, extensively, in beans, seeds, grain and wool. For many years
the house of S. M. Isbell & Company has been one of the best known
firms in the state in its particular line of business. As its founder, Mr.
Isbell can take much pride in the fact that it is a creation of his own
energies and good judgment and at the basis of the structure stands the
zeal and energy and personal integrity, which he displayed thirty years
ago while getting started. In 1898, the business was incorporated under
the name of S. M. Isbell & Company. It. has a trade-mark which is a ,
valuable symbol in business circles in Michigan consisting of a picture
of a bell, with the letters "I. S." engraved in the center of it. After a
continuous relationship with that firm covering a period of thirty years,
Mr. Isbell retired from active connection with it in 1908, selling out his
interests to- his nephew, Edward I. Isbell and other associates. But the
name of S. M. Isbell & Company and the trade-mark still remain as
valued and cherished assets.
In 1868 at the age of twenty-six, Mr. Isbell married Frances G. Bell
inger, who was born in Ingham county, Michigan. For forty-five years
Mrs. Isbell has been a devoted companion and a loyal supporter of her
husband, and is a woman of culture and talent well fitted for the many
responsibilities which have come to her. In her early days she was a
teacher, teaching from the time she was sixteen years of age until her
marriage. At one time she was employed as a teacher in the Saginaw
schools. She also possessed business ability, and a thorough education

-HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1203
and for several years after her marriage, kept the books in her husband's
office. Mrs. Isbell takes a prominent part in social, literary and religious
matters at Jackson. For many years she has been the Jackson corre
spondent of the Michigan Christian Advocate, and for fully twenty years
she has been foremost in Jackson in the foreign missionary work of the
Methodist Episcopal church. Their only child Cora, died when six
months of age. An adopted daughter, Mabel Beatrice Isbell whom Mr.
and Mrs. Isbell took to rear when she was only four years of age died
when twenty-six years old, having developed into a beautiful and talented
yoUng woman. She possessed the artistic temperament, was a skilled
musician, and as a poet had a grace and charm of diction which was ap
preciated by a large circle of friends and admirers. Since her death Mr.
Isbell. to whom she stood in the relation of a daughter has collected all
her poems and had them published. The Beatrice Isbell Memorial
Church of Jackson, to the erection of which Mr. and Mrs. Isbell con
tributed , largely of their personal means, was named in honor of this
adopted daughter.
Mr. Isbell although practically retired from active affairs is still
a stockholder in several important financial enterprises, including the
Commonwealth Power Company, the Jackson City Bank, the Union
Bank, etc. For many years he has been one of Jackson's chief bene
factors, and his acts of philanthropy have been as numerous as they
always have been unostentatious. Practically no movement for com
mercial or social welfare has been launched in the city without his co
operation and financial aid. He contributed generously to the Y. M. C.
A, Building at Jackson, and also to the more recent Y. W. C. A. Build
ing. Several churches have acknowledged him as a donor, and he has
seldom withheld his hand from the support of any worthy charity. Mr.
Isbell is proud of his home city and its achievements, and during his
own career here has seen Jackson grow, from 18,000 population to a
large industrial center with forty-five thousand inhabitants. In all his
good deeds and benefactions his good wife has done her full share and
deserves quite as much credit as himself. Both afe prominent members
of the First Methodist Episcopal church in which for many years he has
served as a trustee.
Charles H. Peters, Sr. In the sudden death of Charles H. Peters,
Sr., on November 12, 1910, a life of great arid .useful activity came to a
close in the city of Saginaw, where his residence had been since 1854. He
grew up in the printing business, was a boy soldier during the Civil war,
was one of the founders of the News, from 1879 until his death associated
with Mr. Seemann in the development of the large printing, bookbinding
and engraving business of Seemann & Peters, and always exerted a yig-
orous influence and held a place of leadership hi the public life and im
provement of his home city. Charles H. Peters was born in Germany
in the province of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, on June 23, 1847. His family
came to Saginaw in 1854, when he was seven years of age, and after
a brief schooling he learned the art of printing with Perry Joslin> one
of the pioneer printers of Saginaw. In 1864 he and Joseph Seemanh,
both enlisted in Company D of the Twenty-ninth Michigan Infantry,
and had thirteen months of experience in that exacting Service along
the borders between the north and south. After returning from the
war Mr. Peters was known as the "drummer boy" on account of his
youth. Since the war, and up to the date of his death, he was actively
identified with printing and publishing in Saginaw. In 1879 he became
associated with Joseph Seemann, and the business thus founded still
exists, not only as the oldest concern of its kind in the Saginaw Valley,

1204 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
but now as the most complete in the state, as a plant operating all the
departments comprised under the general art of printing and engraving
and book-making. A record more in detail of this important local industry
will be found in the sketch of Joseph Seemann elsewhere in this work.
One of the important events in Mr. Peters' life was the founding of
the Saginaw Evening News, now the Daily News. The first issue of
this paper was completed May 2, 1881, and under far from auspicious
circumstances. Both men had great faith in the undertaking and through
their strong personalities and energies put the enterprise on its feet,
and in a few years the paper began a career of prosperity which has
continued to the present time. On February 15, 1893, Mr. Seemann and
Mr. Peters sold the News to Mr. Dingley, of Kalamazoo.
The late Mr. Peters voted in support of the Democratic party until
the nomination of W. J. Bryan, and after that voted with the Repub
licans. His record of public service identified his name with Saginaw
in many ways. He was one of the active members of the Board of
Park and Cemetery Commissioners, and in the work of the board proved
himself one of the most valuable workers. Always an enthusiast at
his own home over his magnificent garden, he carried the same ideas
and the same interest into tbe work for the city, the result being a vast
improvement in the development of the parks of Saginaw. Through
his wise counsel and through his devotion and a vast amount of time
to this work, the parks and cemeteries of Saginaw have increased greatly
in beauty and attractiveness since he took his place as member of
the board. Mr. Peters was one of the original members of the Saginaw
Park Board, having been appointed at its organization on May 29, 1905,
and was reappointed January 1, 1909, for five years. Mr. Peters also
served as a member of the school board, and gave his active super
vision during the reconstruction of the present high school building and
also the building of the Houghton school. He was one of the incor
porators and a member of the board of governors of the East Saginaw
Club, and a past commander of the local post of the Grand Army of the
Republic. Various fraternal and social circles esteemed him as their
member. Among the organizations to which he gave much of his time
were Saginaw Lodge No. yy, A. F. & A. M. ; Saginaw Lodge No. 47,
B. P. O. E. ; Camp Sherman No. 1, N. L. V. S. ; the Germania Institute
and the East Side Arbeiter Society. He is remembered as an enthu
siastic member of several bowling teams in Saginaw.
The late Mr. Peters was married on February 17, 1869, to Miss
Anna Seemann, sister of his business partner. Their children who
survived him are: Mrs. Gustav F. Oppermann; Edwin C. Peters;
Mrs. Meta R. Hedrick ; Charles H. Peters ; Mrs. Harold B. Anderson —
all of whom live in Saginaw ; Joseph Seemann Peters, of New York
City; and Mrs. Alfred Ttte, of Chicago.
Joseph Seemann. President pf the firm of Seemann & Peters,
Joseph Seemann is a veteran printer and publisher, at the head of the
oldest firm in its line in the Saginaw Valley. Mr. Seemann learned
the printing business in Saginaw before he went away to serve in the
army as a Union soldier, and is one of the oldest printers still in active
service in the state. His early career as a printer was spent in the
days when everything was done by hand, it was hand composition and
very often hand power that operated the presses. His experience covers
all the field of printing and publishing and he was one of the founders
of the Saginaw New and the Courier, which in their present daily
editions are the leading papers of the city. Much credit belongs to Mr.
Seemann also as one of tbe men. who educated Michigan and, indeed,

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1205
all the middle west as to the opportunities and advantages of sugar-beet
culture and by his work had a very important influence in establishing
one of the most valuable industries in Michigan.
Joseph Seemann is a native of Bohemia, born at Goergan on Christ
mas Day of 1845. His parents were Joseph and Franciska (Klitzpara)
Seemann. They came to the United States in 1854, settling at Law
rence, Massachusetts, where the father was a weaver by trade, worked
in some of the large mills for three years. In 1857 the family came
west and located in East Saginaw, but owing to poor health and the
climatic conditions, the father in 1859 returned east, and his death
occurred in New York City in i860. The mother later went back to
her native land, and died in 1889 at the age of seventy-two. Of the
three children, Joseph was the oldest, the two daughters, being: Anna,
widow of Charles H. Peters, who died November 12, 1910, who was the
associate up to that time with Mr. Seemann, and whose career, closely
associated for many years with that of Mr. Seemann, is narrated on
other pages of this work; Rosa, widow of the late John H. Beese, of
Saginaw. Joseph Seemann at the age of fourteen had completed all the school
ing he was destined to obtain, and was then apprenticed to the printers'
trade. Despite his early deficiencies in the way of attendance at school,
Mr. Seemann would qualify as a man of liberal education, and the
nature of his profession was such that it afforded advantages for mental
training, superior to those offered by the average public schools. His
first experience iri learning the trade of printer was with the Courier,
a weekly paper then owned and published by Geo. F. Lewis. Two years
later he entered the office of the Enterprise, Perry Joslin, publisher,
where he completed his apprenticeship and began as a journeyman.
Mr. Seemann was about sixteen years old when the war broke out, and
in 1864 enlisted in Company D of the Twenty-ninth Michigan Infantry,
serving until the end of the war. His company was largely engaged in
border service, and that was the hardest and most trying kind of warfare.
After being mustered out he returned to Saginaw, and with Major
E. W. Lyon as partner, started a job printing shop. At that time .their
shop was regarded as the best of its kind in Saginaw. Later consoli
dating their plant with that of the weekly Courier, they took an active
part in the publication of both the daily and weekly Courier. The firm
of G. F. Lewis, Bradley M. Thompson, Major E. W. Lyon and Joseph
Seemann was not incorporated. The firm went under a year later.
With this disaster Mr. Seemann returned to his regular trade, and was
employed one year in the Enterprise office. Then the Courier was re
vived by O." S. Pomeroy of Lockport, New York. Mr. Seemann was
Offered the position of foreman in the Courier job office, and remained
with that journal a number of years. Fifteen mbrrjths after Mr. Pomeroy
started the paper the controlling interest was bought by W. H. Edwards,
a prominent lumberman, with whom Mr. Seemann remained as general
foreman until 1877. At that date occurred the only important inter
ruption to his career as a printer and publisher. The retail grocery
business was what drew him away from printing, and for two years
he was associated with his brother-in-law, John H. Beese. That expe
rience was sufficient, and he sold out his interests and returned to job
printing with Mr. Charles H. Peters, thus beginning the firm associatiori
which has continued for the past tbirty-f our years, and which has de
veloped the most complete establishment of its kind in the state.
Opening a job shop in 1879 in a small room, fifteen by twenty feet
on the second floor of 316 Genesee avenue, the firm of Seemann &
Peters developed rapidly, and iri 1885 acquired its present site, on

1206 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
ground 180x120 feet, at the corner of North Franklin and Tuscola
streets. They paid twenty thousand dollars for the property, erected a
new building, and have since put in improvements worth twenty thou
sand dollars. Since the death of Mr. C. H. Peters, the different depart- ¦
ments have been reorganized and incorporated under the present title of
Seemann & Peters. During the thirty-four years of its existence, the
concern of Seemann & Peters has grown to be, while not the largest,
yet the most complete establishment in the state of Michigan, embracing
under one roof all the allied branches of the printing class — printing,
binding, engraving, designing, plate printing, electrotyping, stationery
and office outfitting. The business was begun as a print shop, witb
two or three job presses, and with such an equipment of type as would
serve the ordinary establishment. The printing department has been
developed through many years, until the composing room alone occupies
seventeen hundred square feet, with a complete equipment of labor-
saving material, and with facilities for putting in type tbe most intricate
of general book or special composition. In the press room is a battery
of five cylinder presses and seven platens, operated by electric power.
Two of the latest linotype machines give facilities for the rapid handling
of straight composition work, including books and catalogues. The
first branch added to the business was that of binding, and the bindery
is in itself now a large plant, witb machinery and expert workmen for
producing all kinds of blank books and high-class general book-binding.
The establishment as now conducted has a thoroughly equipped art
engraving and electrotyping department. O. M. Pauscb started a process
engraving business in Saginaw in 1882, and from that has been developed
the department of the business now carried on in the Seemann & Peters
firm. The electrotyping department was installed in 1900. Some five
or six years ago another important branch of the business was created
in the stationery, office outfitting and plate printing and die stamping
department. A large store is now conducted as an adjunct, where all
classes of office outfitting furniture and appliance and business and
social stationery can be obtained.
In 1 88 1 Mr. Seemann and his partner, Mr. Peters, established the
Saginaw Evening News, now known as the Daily Evening News, and
both the newspaper and printing business were conducted together
until 1892, when they sold out the paper to Mr. Dingley, of Kalamazoo.
From seventy to eighty men and women are employed in the manu
facturing and sales departments of the Seemann & Peters concern, and
the weekly pay roll amounts to more than nine hundred dollars.
The firm of Seemann & Peters purchased the Saginaw Post-Zeitung
on January 1, 1914, and are now sole proprietors of this German journal.
The Post was established by F. & C. Reittee twenty-eight years ago and
the Zeitung forty-seven years ago. The first editor of the latter paper
was Count Solms, well known tbroughout Michigan among Germans of
the '48 (revolutionary) period in Germany.
During the years 1882-83 Mr. Seemann visited the land of his birth
in German-Bohemia, that is, that part of Bohemia principally settled
by Germans, and while there noticed the numerous sugar-beet factories
throughout the province. On his return home he gathered considerable
data as to the status of the sugar-beet industry of the United States,
but his investigations led him largely to negative results and found no
industries deserving of the name had been established in this country
at all. In 1889, on a second visit to Bohemia, he made a personal inves
tigation of one of the principal sugar factories, in. order to secure more
important data on the industry, and brought back to this country with
him a number of pamphlets printed in German especially for the edu-

s^&.

/W^s (Z6/^^/^

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1207
cation of the farmer. Also he mailed from Bohemia one kilo of Klein-
wenzleben sugar-beet .seeds addressed to his business partner, Mr. C. H.
Peters. Mr. Peters sent a large portion of these seeds to Professor
Kedzie of the Michigan Agricultural College, and the professor at once
experimented and ascertained that the soil and climate were adapted for
their culture. Thus, under the stimulus of the ideas of Mr. Seemann,
came about the beginning of the sugar-beet industry of Michigan. A
remarkable coincidence was that E. C. Peters, a son of C. H. Peters,
and then a student in the Agricultural College, was assigned one acre
of soil for sugar-beet experiment, and to him was also assigned the
duty of writing a treatise on the subject, that being the first written
from original data in Michigan. During that time Seemann & Peters
were publishing the German weekly newspaper known as the Saginaw
Zeitung, and through that medium published the contents of an entire
pamphlet in serial chapters, and of course in the German language, thus
giving the German-American farmers instruction and information as
to the culture of the sugar-beet. That was the first tangible informa
tion that was given the people of the state of Michigan on :what has
since developed into a large and important industry. The firm of See
mann & Peters, as publishers of the Saginaw Evening News, at that
time made their paper the pioneer journal in Michigan to advance the
sugar-beet industry in this ¦ state. - , , .
Joseph Seemann has long been a leader in German social and civic
affairs in Saginaw. Fraternally his affiliations . are with the Masonic
Order, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the Grand
Army of the Republic. He served as president of the Germania Society
four years and treasurer two terms. Until Bryan's free-silver cam
paign he voted the Democratic ticket, but has since supported and taken
an active interest in Republican politics. On May 4, 1869, Mr. Seemann
married Miss Mary Pauline Sandmann, who was born at Friedland,
Silesia, Germany. Her parents were Charles and Christiana (Wallish)
Sandmann. Her father, who was a soldier in the Civil war, was
wounded and his death occurred as a result of his military service.
Mrs. Seemann was two and a half years of age when her parents
located at Detroit. Mr. and Mrs. Seemann, who have no children, spend
their vacations at Crooked Lake, where fourteen years ago they built
a fine nine-room cottage, and enjoyed its comforts until it was recently
destroyed by fire. Plunting and fishing are the chief diversions of Mr.
Seemann from his active business responsibilities. At the present writ
ing he is on his second term as alderman in the Saginaw City Council.
During the long period of his residence in Saginaw, he has built up a
reputation for honesty and steadfast integrity, is charitable in his rela
tions with his fellow-men and his business enterprise has been one of
the important factors in the establishment and maintenance of Saginaw
as a commercial center,
Henry Clay Hodges. A man of distinct individuality, of fine in
tellectual attainments, remarkably successful in business, and with a
civic loyalty and progressiveness which have been demonstrated many
times, this venerable and honored citizen of Detroit has exerted an in
fluence far above that of the ordinary citizen in connection with the social
and material, advancement of- the city, and is one ©f the most representa
tive men of affairs in -the state. Wbile his own life has been one of ex
ceptional accomplishments, it is also noteworthy that he represents a
family whose name has been long and worthily identified with the an
nals of American history.
The Hodges family was founded in America in the latter part of the

1208 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
seventeenth century, when the original progenitor came from England
and established his home in Salem, Massachusetts, the lineage being
traced through many generations qf staunch English stock. Asoph
Nathaniel Hodges, great-grandfather of the Detroit business man, was
born at Salem, Massachusetts, in 1723, when a young man moved to
Essex county, New York, and was one of the pioneers and spent the
rest of his life in that locality. His son Ezekiel was born in the county
about 1750, and when twenty-four years of age enlisted from Washing
ton county, New York, his services as a soldier in the Continental line
during the Revolution.
Nathaniel Hodges, son of Ezekiel, and father of Henry Clay Hodges,
was born in Washington county, New York, in 1787, was reared in his
native state, but in 1813 moved to Grand Isle county, Vermont. During
the war of 1812 he was in the government service. He was known as a
man of strong character, firm in defense of his convictions, broad and
liberal in views, a thorough student of history and possessed of a re
markable memory. In politics he was a Henry Clay Whig, voted the
Whig ticket until the organization of the Republican party, and there
after was a stanch supporter of the policies of President Lincoln. His
death occurred in March, 1869, in his eighty-third year. His wife, whose
maiden name was Clarissa Phelps, was born in the town of South Hero,
Grand Isle county, Vermont, in 1793, and represented the Connecticut
branch of the Phelps and Pearl families, which settled in Hartford county
and vicinity in the colonial days. At the early age of twelve years she
became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, was throughout
life a devoted student of the Bible, and was for many years a regular
contributor to the religious papers, a service which was continued un
til she reached her eighty-fiftb year. Her death occurred at the venerable
age of ninety-one.
Henry Clay Hodges was born in the township of South Hero, Grand
Isle county, Vermont, March 2, 1828, and was reared under the invigorat
ing influences and environment of the old Green Mountain State. The
common schools of his native county furnished the only regular oppor
tunities for an education, but his native endowment and the work of a
practical career resulted in the. symmetrical development of his intel
lectual faculties. At the age of sixteen he began an apprenticeship to
the trade of carriagemaker, and at the end of four years had so far mas
tered his trade as to start a business for himself. On the first day of
December, 1850, a young man of twenty-two years, Mr. Hodges arrived
in Detroit-, soon afterwards went to Marshall, county seat of Calhoun
county, and became clerk and cashier of the Michigan Central Hotel,
at that time the most celebrated place of public entertainment between
New York and Chicago.
Mr. Hodges in 1852 took up the study of law under Judge James R.
Slack of Huntington, Indiana, and in the meantime taught country schools
in the vicinity during the winter. Returning to Michigan in 1853, at
Niles he found employment with J. F. Cross & Company, whose part
ners, the Field Bros., controlled marble quarries in Vermont. In 1855
Mr. Hodges was admitted to partnership, and went to Fond du Lac,
Wisconsin, _ to take charge of the business. His home remained in Wis
consin until 1862, when he returned to Michigan and became a part
ner with his brother, Charles C. Hodges, and Edward Barker under the
name of Barker, Hodges & Brother, which took the general agency for
the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company of Hartford, for the
states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota. In 1864 Mr. Barker
retired, and the new firrii of Hodges Bros, established headquarters in
Detroit.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1209
In addition to their operations in the field of life insurance, the
Hodges Brothers were numbered among the pioneers in the real estate
business in Detroit, handling chiefly their own property, which included
a portion of the Woodbridge farm, lying north of Grand River avenue.
In the early '70s they purchased a tract of land in the northern suburbs
and from it donated for street purposes a strip seventy feet in width,
which they named Lincoln avenue. Through the efforts of Henry C.
Hodges, Trumbull avenue, which was then sixty feet wide, was increased
to eighty feet, ten feet being donated by Hodges Bros, on one side and an
equal strip by Avery & Murphy on the other side. In the same year the
brothers purchased the property at the corner of State and Griswold
streets, where the Hodges building now stands and in which Henry
C. Hodges still retains a "naif interest.
To Mr. Hodges and the late David M. Richardson Detroit is in
debted for the conception of the idea of the magnificent boulevard which
now encircles the city. Though a somewhat different route was orig
inally projected, the interest aroused through their suggestions and ef
forts finally culminated in the building of the present driveway.
In 1879 Hodges Bros, purchased the business of John R. Grout, man
ufacturer of brass goods, and thereupon organized and incorporated the
? Detroit Lubricator Company, with Henry C. Hodges as president. The
plant of this company has been enlarged from time to time, and is now
one of the largest, if not the most extensive and important, of its kind
in the world, employment being given to more than one thousand men.
In 1872 Mr. Hodges became vice-president and one of the managing di
rectors of the Wyandotte Rolling Mills, and succeeded the late Captain
Eber B. Ward in the presidency. He was associated with Captain Ward
and others in the organization of the Detroit- Arizona Copper Mining Com
pany, was vice-president of the corporation until the death of Captain
Ward, and then became president. The company controls mines that are
among the largest copper-producing mines in the United States. In 1882
Mr. Hodges and his brother effected the incorporation of the Detroit
Steam Radiator Company, which was the first to manufacture the type of
cast-iron radiators that has since become the standard the world over,
and the Detroit business is now included in the American Radiator Com
pany. Mr. Hodges is still interested in Detroit real estate, and throughout a
long career has shown his public spirit wherever the welfare of tbe com
munity is concerned, and his name is a recognized synonym for in
tegrity and civic progressiveness. In national politics he is Republican,
and has the distinction of having attended in i860 the national con
vention at Chicago which nominated Lincoln for the presidency. He is
one of the Detroit Board of Commerce most honored members.
Many incidents might be related of Mr. Hodges' influential part in
public affairs, but this sketch will recall only two such cases. During
the first term of President Cleveland an appropriation was made by con
gress for the erection of a postoffice building in Detroit. A contest at
once arose as to the site, many contending that the ground occupied by
the old postoffice was not the proper one. Mr. Hodges, George Brady,
D. M. Richardson, Judge C. I. Walker, George Barbor, with many
others, were opposed to the old location as being away from the direction ,
of the' city's growth and for other substantial reasons. Many influential
property holders were strongly in favor of the old site, and tbrough their
influence a supervising architect was sent to Detroit. On his return to
Washington he reported that the site of the postoffice should not be
changed. When this news was received at Detroit numerous petitions
were put in circulation and signed by many people protesting against the

1210 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
old location. The government then appointed a commission composed of
men from different parts of the country, who came to Detroit and re
ported in favor of the present site on Fort and Lafayette, a location
which subsequent events have proved to be a wise choice.
In 1874, soon after the election of Hon. John Bagley as governor of
Michigan, a movement was started to purchase lands to be used as parks,
on the Owen & Burns farm to the west of the present waterworks over
looking the Detroit river. A bill was quietly introduced into the legis
lature enabling the city, of Detroit to make the purchase without refer
ence to the vote of the people. Thomas W. Palmer, afterwards United
States senator, and Mr. Hodges, together with many others, held that
this purchase should not be made unless ratified by a majority vote of
the people. . Their opposition was a signal for a general sentiment of
protest against the project. At a meeting in the Young Men's hall a
committee of twenty was chosen to conduct a campaign against the move
ment, and senator Palmer and Mr. Hodges went to Lansing to oppose
the bill and remained two weeks, but were unable to effect the defeat of
the measure in the legislature, the bill being strongly favored by the gov
ernor. Governor Bagley , accompanied these gentlemen on their return to
the depot for Detroit, and remarked "Boys, you can go home, this bill
is going to pass and I will sign it as governor." To this Mr. Hodges re
plied, "John, you'll beat us in the legislature, but we'll beat you in the
supreme court." In fact, the matter was subsequently taken to the
supreme court, which pronounced the act unconstitutional.
Thus far reference has been made to the business and public phases
of the career of Mr. Hodges. In the world of literature he has gained
a position of prominence. An original thinker, in his published works he
has given to the world a valuable contribution. In the ancient science
of planetary influences he has made extensive researches, and is one of
the leading exponents of that department of knowledge. His investiga
tions have concrete results in his published work of seven volumes, en
titled "Science and Key of Life; Planetary Influences," as well as in
other books on astrological science. These works show the wide scope
of his investigations and his profound knowledge of the subject. From
the prospectus of the "Science and Key of Life" are taken the following
extracts :
"Some are born to honor and others to dishonor ; some to wealth and
others to want; some in the riiidst of crime, ignorance and sorrow and
others environed in happy conditions. When and where is the law of
compensation applied to equalize these conditions, or why should these
things be ?" The statements and questions thus put by Mr. Hodges have,
been thus explained by him : "The necessity for a complete and scientific
answer to the above and like interrogatories relating to life, its pur
poses and destiny, is my excuse for presenting to the world tbe data
contained in my published work, 'Science and Key of Life; Planetary
Influences,' and it is with a consciousness that the great truth therein
elucidated will find lodgment in many receptive minds which are seeking
more light on these great problems of human existence, that I dedicate
these volumes to the welfare of humanity." A review of this com
prehensive work, born of exalted ideals and broad humanitarian spirit
and marked by profound thought as well as scientific knowledge of wide
scope, can not, of course, be given in a sketch of this order, but full in
formation concerning the publication may be obtained by applying to
the Astro Publishing Company, 409 Hodges building, Detroit. The en
tire life of Henry C. Hodges has been one of broad usefulness. By
nature a close student, possessed of a prodigious memory, his wide read
ing has given him a fund of information and knowledge possessed by

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN. 1211
few men who have been actively engaged in business affairs. Though
now venerable in years, he has the vigor and bearing, of a- man. many
years his junior, and practical business still engrosses much of his time
and attention, as is shown by .the fact that he recently completed the
erection of the fine fireproof Apartment Hotel known as the "Henry
Clay," at the corner of John R. and Center streets, Detroit. His resi
dence is at 839 Jefferson avenue. For many years he was one of the
leading workers and one of the trustees of the Unitarian church.
In 1854 Mr.. Hodges married Miss Julia Bidweil, of Hastings,. Mich
igan. She was born at Kinderhook, Columbia county,. New York,, a
daughter of Horace Bidweil, one. of the sterling pioneers of Michigan.
Mr. and Mrs. Hodges, became the parents of three sons and two daugh
ters, all of whom are living, namely: Clarence B., Charles H.„ Fred
erick W.„ Clara D. and Cora Virginia.
Mic,hael F. Murray. When Patrick Murray founded the grocery
business now operated under the name of Murray Brothers, at 11 14
Cooper Street, it is presumable that he did not anticipate at the time that
thirty-five years later the business would be still thriving in the care of
his sons and daughters, but that has. been the record of this old and well
established concern. Michael F. Murray, eldest of the family, is the
moving spirit in the. business today, though he is ably seconded in his
efforts by his brother, Timothy C. Murray, and his three sisters, Anna,
Ella, and May, all of. whom are connected with the conduct and manage
ment of the enterprise.
Patrick Murray was horn in Ireland. About thirty years ago he es
tablished a small grocery business at 1114 Cooper street, and when he
died on July 25, 1901, he left the business, in the hands of his children.
Eldest of these was Michael F., who was born in the identical ward in,
the city of Jackson in which he is now a voter. His birth occurred on
August 27, 1876, and he is one of the five, children of his parents, the
others having been previously mentioned.. The mother of Michael F.
Murray was Mary Tierney, a native Virginian and the daughter of Pat
rick Tierney and his wife, Ann Hayden. Mrs.. Murray died on January
12, 191 1, ten years after the passing of her husband.
Michael Murray was educated in St. John's Parochial School of Jack
son and in Assumption. College, of Sandwich, Ontario, Canada. He has
been actively identified with the business which his father founded and
of which he is now the head, practically all his life, and in the years since
the death of the father he has, in conjunction with his brother and sisters,
brought the. business up to a splendid state of prosperity. The concern
is owned jointly by Michael F. and his brother, Timothy C, and each
hag added something to the conditions that have brought about its present
prosperity. Mr. Murray is one of the popular young men of the city, and he is
well known in various circles of social and fraternal life in Jackson. His
fraternal affiliations are with the Elks, the Fraternal Order of Eagles
and the: Ancient Order of Hibernians, and of the latter order he has
been county president for the last four years. He is a member of St.
John's. Roman Catholic church, and his politics are those of a Democrat.
Other business connections of Mr. Murray occupy a share in his time,
one of which is the Jackson Retail Liquor Dealers' Association, of which
he is president. He has taken, an active part in local politics, and has
served as a member of the County Board of Supervisors from the Eighth
Ward for the past nine years.
On October 9, 1902, Mr. Murray was married to Emma Reeves, a
Jackson young woman, then a resident of Bliss, Michigan. Two daughters

1212 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
have come to them, — Rose Marlette and Mary Frances, aged eleven and
nine years, respectively.
Miles J. Purcell. A type of the man who wins success on his own
independent efforts, Mr. Purcell for the past twenty years has been
engaged in the practice of law at Saginaw, was prosecuting attorney a
few years ago, and is probably one of the best known Democrats and
campaign speakers in the northeastern quarter of Michigan.
Miles J. Purcell belongs to one of the old families in Saginaw county.
His birth occurred in Zilwaukee township of Saginaw county, August
25, 1868. His parents were James and Eliza (Gaffney) Purcell. His
father was born in Ireland and his mother in Elmira, New York. Patrick
Gaffney, the maternal grandfather, came from Ireland and, together
with several brothers, founded the Gaffney branch in the United States.
Plis business was that of salt manufacturer in New York State, as was
also that of James Purcell. When the saline deposit in Saginaw, county,
Michigan, was discovered to the world, the consequent excitement brought
Patrick Gaffney and James Purcell to this vicinity soon after the close
of the Civil war. Until their death they manufactured salt by the solar
and other evaporation processes. James Purcell died in 1873, and his
wife married for her second husband Silas Wilsey, and her death oc
curred July 4, 1912. James Purcell and wife had three children, one
of whom is deceased, and the other is Helen E. Purcell, a cultured and
highly educated woman who is a member of the faculty of the Wisconsin
State Normal School at Platteville.
The early education of Miles James Purcell was begun in the public
schools of Carrollton, in Saginaw county, and after graduating from
the East Saginaw high school he taught for two years at Carrollton.
At that time Timothy E. Tarnsey, then a member of Congress from
Michigan, and George W. Weadock, under the name of Tarnsey &
Weadock, were one of the leading law firms of Saginaw. Mr. Purcell
entered their office and gained his first knowledge of law under their
direction. In September, 1891, he stood the law examination, and was
admitted to the bar. Not yet ready to take up active practice he entered
the law department of the University of Michigan, and was graduated
LL. B. in 1892. In January, 1893, his practice began at Saginaw, as a
partner of George W. Weadock, his former preceptor, the firm becom
ing Weadock & Purcell. This association continued prosperously from
1893 to the end of 1906. In the meantime Mr. Purcell bad succeeded
in building up a splendid reputation as a lawyer, and his oratorical gifts
made him useful as an influential factor in Democratic politics. From
that party he accepted the nomination for the office of prosecuting
attorney of Saginaw county, was elected and served two years, from
January 1, 1907, to January, 1909. His official duties for the time inter
rupted his practice, and bis partnership with Mr. Weadock was dis
solved. Since retiring from office he has been engaged in attending to
his large clientage, and also in affairs of a political and public nature.
For five years Mr. Purcell served as a member of the East Side school
board of Saginaw, and is a member of the State Bar Association. He
had made campaign speeches in the Democratic interests all over the
state, and his name was on the Democratic ticket in November, 1912,
as a candidate for Congress, in the Republican stronghold where few
Democrats are ever elected. His fraternal affiliations are with the
Knights of Columbus, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks,
the Fraternal Order of Eagles, also with the East Saginaw Club. He
is a member of the Catholic church. Mr. Purcell outside of his pro
fession is vice president of the German Manufacturing Company of
Saginaw.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN 1213
He married Miss May Kennedy, a native of Saginaw county and
a daughter of James Kennedy. To their marriage has been born one
child, John Paul Purcell.
Dr. Charles Reinhardt Wendt. The late Dr. Charles Reinhardt
Wendt, who died at Jackson, Michigan, on September ii, 19 10, became
a resident of this city in September, 1880. Here he carried on a suc
cessful medical practice up to the time of his passing, and in the years
of his professional activity he furthered in a large measure a reputation
for skill and proficiency in his chosen field that he had already made se
cure in his native land, Germany, as his name would unfailingly indicate.
From 1881 to 1886 Dr. Wendt was county physician of Jackson county,
an office to which he brought a due measure of skill combined with a
pride in his citizenship and in his ability to further the best interests of
his county in the matter of the public health that made him a most valu
able official in. that place. The year 1888 saw his return to his native
land in response to a summons announcing the serious illness of his
mother. He hastily prepared for the trip home, and with the recovery
of his mother, the Doctor decided to indulge in a much needed vacation.
This trip took him on an extended tour through the Old World, and in
the three months of its continuance, he visited many points of interest,
adding to his already wide professional knowledge by visits to famous
hospitals of European capitals.
Concerning the parentage of Dr. Wendt, his education and emigra
tion to the United States, it should be stated that he is the son of Charles
and Adolphine (Naumann) Wendt, the father having been a hotel keeper.
He died when bis son was but four years old. Dr. Wendt was born in
Saxony, Germany, on -December 30, 1848, and at the age of six years he
entered the common schools, continuing until he was twelve. At that age
he entered St. Thomas College in Leipsic, there continuing until he had
reached his twentieth year, when he entered Leipsic University. There
he continued a student for the next two years, during a part of the time
serving as a volunteer on the medical staff in the German army. From
1871 to 1873 he was engaged in hospitals, and he was assistant in the
clinic of the diseases of children under Prof. Livins Fuerst during much
of the time. In February, 1873, he successfully passed his medical exam
inations and received his diploma. Two weeks later the young physician
sailed for New York city, and reached that city on March 9th. He rnade
his way almost immediately to Galien, Berrien County, Michigan, where
for a period of five years the young doctor gave his attention to medical
practice. In 1875 he joined tbe Berrien County Medical Society and he
was a useful and zealous member of that body as long as he retained his
membership therein. In 1878 Dr. Wendt removed* to Lansing, and there
for seventeen months he continued, after which he removed to Jackson,
here establishing himself in what proved to be a permanent practice. He
was active and prominent in his profession and had a high place in the
medical fraternity of the county to the end of his days, and he is still
remembered as one of the estimable and able members of the profession
by those who knew him in 'his work.
Dr. Wendt was a member of the State Medical Society and especially
was he held in excellent repute in that body, where he was known for his
splendid understanding of the science of therapeutics, his skill as a diag
nostician and for his general straightforward methods of practice. His
work was creditable, and his colleagues did not withhold the meed of
praise that was due him in his lifetime.
Some public service fell to Dr. Wendt, as has already been intimated.
From 1884 to 1886 he was county coroner of Jackson county, as well as

1214 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
being city physician for six years before his death, and from 1886 to i£
he was county physician. His service in both these offices was a credit
able and worthy one, and stamped him as a citizen of a high type, aside ,
from his professional honors.
Dr. Wendt was a member of numerous fraternal and other societies,
and the following named orders and societies he served in a professional
capacity as examining surgeon: The German Workingmen's Relief So
ciety ; the Improved Order of Red Men ; the Ancient Order of United
Workmen, and the Selected Knights of the same order; the Michigan
Landwehr; the Jackson Turnverein, and the Harmonie Society. That
the doctor was of a social and- genial nature is evidenced by his member
ship in these numerous orders.
He was devoted to music, and was a skilled pianist as well as being
something of a vocalist. At one time he taught classes in voice training
with a generous measure of success.
Dr. Wendt was married on November 25, 1897, to Miss Anna M.
Muhseleck, who is yet living. She was born on April 2, 1869, in the town
of Trier, Rhine Province, Germany, and came to America in 1892. She
maintains her residence at this time at No. 1509 East Main street.

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